US Awards ENCORE-II: $12.3 Billion I.T. Support Contract

Air strike... priceless
(click for relevance)

Back in August 2005, we noted that "ENCORE I.T. Contracts Raise Ceiling to $2.5B Until ENCORE II Arrives." Services under ENCORE II will include high level enterprise IT policy, integration management, communications engineering, and asset management. According to the Encore II RFP, DISA intends to use the contract to support users in the military services and agencies as they transition from legacy systems to Net-Centric Enterprise Services (NCES), which embodies the new techno-organizational opportunities described above. Encore II will help them effectively use core NCES product lines, including collaboration and discovery tools, and a planned joint services knowledge portal. That's the vision, anyway. In January 2006, we followed that up with "Pentagon's $13 Bn "Encore II" RFP Gets Revised, Extended," explaining the ENCORE vision, its origins, and its likely obstacles.

Now the wait is over. Six (6) companies have now received indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity multiple-awards contracts. They include provisions for Firm, Fixed-Price, Time-and-Materials or Labor-Hour and Cost-Reimbursement (CPFF, CPAF, etc), and will run from March 12, 2007 through March 11, 2017. The maximum not-to-exceed value for the ENCORE II contract over a 5-year period, plus 5 one-year option period, is $12.225 billion, slightly less than the $13 billion projected. Performance will be at various locations within the Continental United States (CONUS), and also outside the CONUS (OCONUS). The solicitation was issued as a full and open competitive action with 16 proposals received - but the Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization DITCO) at Scott AFB, IL picked just 6 winners:

• Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. (HC1013-07-D-2016)
• CACI, Inc (HC1013-07-D-2018)
• EDS, Electronic Data Systems Corporation (HC1013-07-D-2019)
• Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems, Inc. (HC1013-07-D-2020)
• SAIC, Science Applications International Corporation (HC1013-07-D-2021)
• Systems Research and Applications Corporation (HC1013-07-D-2022)

International Contract for AGM-158 JASSM Lots 6 & 7

JASSM with F-16

Jan 31/07: Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Orlando, FL received a $294 million firm-fixed-price contract for AGM-158A Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) medium range semi-stealth cruise missiles. This is a 2-year requirements contract for production Lots 6 and 7, and allows for purchase of both US and foreign military purchases during the life of this contract. Thus far, JASSM is the missile of choice for the US Air force and for Australia. Solicitations began April 2006, negotiations were complete January 2007, and work will be complete in March 2008. The Headquarters 308th Armament Systems Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, FL issued the contract (FA8682-07-D-0017).

DID has covered the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (AGM-158 JASSM) semi-stealth cruise missile's key characteristics and development troubles. In our February 2006 article "Breakup, Interrupted: JASSM Missile Back on Track" we noted its 2006 budgetary allocations: $67 million for continued research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E), and another $98.7 million for procurement of 75 missiles plus support. After covering Australia's selection and its regional military implications, we added notes about an $80 million USAF contract for Lot 5 unit production of 70 missiles plus support and minor R&D activities, as well as efforts to give the missile a full 2-way targeting and reporting link.

Lockheed & Kongsberg Partner to Bring NSM to JSF

NSM test launch

In a move that has been brewing since early 2005, Lockheed Martin and Norway's Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace just entered into a Joint Marketing Agreement to market an air-launched version of Kongsberg's Naval Strike Missile, which had a pair of successful tests in California recently. This "Joint Strike Missile (JSM)" is designed to be carried and launched internally from the F-35 Lightning II fighter's internal bays (2 missiles), or external hardpoints. The 1,000-pound, stealth-enhanced NSM missiles are a generation beyond the USA's GM-8 Harpoon, with a 130 nautical mile operational range. The missile uses Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation System (GPS/INS) guidance plus an imaging infrared seeker, in-flight data link and an automatic target recognizer (ATR). Then it strikes ships or land targets with a titanium warhead and programmable fuze.

NSM concept

Kongsberg brings experience in anti-ship missiles, weapons integration, target recognition software and mission planning systems to the partnership. Lockheed Martin will bring its experience in air-launched missiles, target recognition software, mission planning systems, integration of weapons into fixed-wing aircraft like its F-16 & F-35, F-22 et. al., and of course its marketing reach. Lockheed has a similar land-attack product in its AGM-158 JASSM, and other competitors exist from MBDA's Storm Shadow/Scalp to EADS/KEPD's Taurus to Raytheon's anti-ship and land attack SLAM-ER. Nevertheless, the partnership may help to tip Norway's coming fighter choice toward the F-35. The prospect of stealth-enhancing internal carriage, plus out of the gate integration with the F-35 Lightning II, could also give the JSM an entry hook for F-35 customers; Kongsberg adds that the adaptation study is being funded Norway and Australia. Other potential JSF-linked buyers may include Denmark, The Netherlands, Turkey, et. al. Lockheed Martin release | Kongsberg release.

The Wonders of Link 16 For Less: MIDS-LVTs (updated)

Link 16 Display
(click to see situation)

Jam-resistant Link-16 radios automatically exchange battlefield information - particularly locations of friendly and enemy aircraft, ships and ground forces - among themselves in a long-range, line-of-sight network. For example, air surveillance tracking data from an Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft can be instantly shared with fighter aircraft and air defense units. More than a dozen countries have installed Link 16 terminals on over 19 different land, sea, and air platforms, making it an interoperability success story.

While recent advancements may make AESA radars the future transmitters of choice, Link 16 is the current standard. The Multifunctional Information Distribution System-Low Volume Terminals (MIDS LVTs) were developed by a multinational consortium to provide Link 16 capability at a lower weight, volume and cost than the Joint Tactical Information Distribution System (JTIDS). This DID focus article describes the program, and covers international contracts associated with it. It will be updated and backfilled as time goes on. The latest award is a set of systems for Taiwan.

Continue reading...

BRAC Fallout: Walter Reed National Military Medical Center

Purple Heart
(click to view full)

DID has covered the USA's Base Realignment and Closure process before, a fairly unique effort whereby a commission draws up a list of bases to be closed, and the Congress must vote yes or no to the entire list. The result is that it becomes much harder (but not impossible) for Congressmen to protect each base, and easier to create a basing system whose priorities are shifted toward military rather than political needs.

The 2005 BRAC Commission's recommendation to realign and consolidate facilities in the USA's National Capital Region, in order to meet the medical and security needs of the 21st century, includes the realignment of all tertiary medical services currently located at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD. The new joint operational medical facility will be named the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and will be staffed by personnel from the Navy, Army and Air Force. The existing Walter Reed main installation is mandated to close by 2011 according to the BRAC law.

Specific changes at the realigned Bethesda campus will likely include construction and renovation of approximately 800,000 square feet of clinical space, plus additional alterations and construction of support facilities. About 1,000 Army and Air Force personnel will join the staff at WRNMMC, and depending on the final decisions made at the end of the Environmental Impact Statement process, as many as 1,500 additional personnel could join the campus workforce. Those employees would work at supporting facilities such as barracks housing and the Navy Lodge. The project has now issued its first contract, and we thought this was an interesting BRAC initiative to cover going forward...

Continue reading...

$6.1M SBIR-II Grant for Radiation Hardened Digital Electronics

Micro-electronics Research Development Corp. in Colorado Springs, CO received a $6.1 million SBIR Phase II, and cost-plus fixed-fee contract. This follow-on to a SBIR Phase I purchase order involves R&D to fully develop and realize "a cost-effective, practically oriented means to design and deliver radiation hardened digital electronic components capable of reliable operation in Missile Defense Agency and other Department of Defense space and interceptor environments." Translation: they have to be able to survive extra radiation, vacuum, and very high acceleration.

Solicitations began November 2004, negotiations were complete December 2006, and work will be complete April 2009. At this time, $2.1 million have been obligated from the Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base, NM (FA9453-06-C-0200).

Jan-07: US Buys $15M in Non-electric Delay Detonators

"It's the delivery boy..."
(click to view full)

Shock Tube Systems, Inc. in Moosup, CT received an estimated $15 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for MK154 Mod 0 Non-electric Delay Detonators. The MK154 Mod 0 Nonelectric Delay Detonator is a dual initiating/detonating device commonly used by the Navy, Marine Corps, and Special Forces to initiate various demolition materials.

Work will be performed in Sterling, CT and is expected to be complete by January 2012. This contract was competitively procured and advertised on the Internet, with 6 proposals solicited and 2 offers received by the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division in Crane, IN (N00164-07-D-4259)

$13.3M for Major Renovation of MSC Buildings in Norfolk

The Walsh Group, dba Archer Western Contractors in Chicago, IL received $13.3 million for firm-fixed-price Task Order 0006 for renovation of administrative buildings for use by the Military Sealift Command at Naval Station Norfolk. Work to be performed provides for repairs to Buildings SP-47, SP-48 and SP-64, including the gutting of three buildings and the replacement of all doors and windows. It also provides for the repair and replacement of roofs, exterior brick, heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, fire alarms, sprinkler systems, and steam connections. New construction includes upgrading the parking area, installing lighting, and moving load-bearing interior walls.

Work will be performed in Norfolk, VA under a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity multiple award construction contract (N62470-01-D-1138), and is expected to be completed by August 2008 - but contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic in Norfolk, VA issued the contract.

More Michelin: $852M for US Military Tire Production & Supply Chain Management (updated)

Oh, yeah!
(click to learn about Bib)

Michelin North America in Greenville, SC received a minimum $852 million fixed-price with economic price adjustment contract for supply, storage, and distribution for all tires on behalf of the US Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. Work will be performed in Akron, Columbus, and North Canton, OH; Fairfield, NJ; Des Moines, IA; Indiana, PA; New Haven, CT, and Toronto, Canada. There were 23 proposals solicited and 3 responded; this is a base year only contract via the Defense Supply Center Columbus (DSCC) in Columbus, OH (SPM7L10-07-D-7002). The date of performance completion is January 24, 2012, and the 5-year contract also has a 5-year option period worth over $850 million. Matt Geary, the project manager for DSCC's CMP contracting efforts, says that: "Michelin will now be accomplishing all the tasks related to supply, storage and distribution of tires... DSCC will have oversight of the contracts, but Michelin will be doing everything else."

A Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) release reveals that contract, as well as the Michelin's $368.4 million contract with the USAF and Navy, are the result of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Act 2005 that mandated commodity management privatization of tires. Michelin is cooperating with Lockheed on the supply chain dimension, and the US DLA estimates that having tires purchased under the CMP mandate and managed by DLA will deliver an estimated net savings of $172.8 million.

See also US Defense Logistics Agency release: "Michelin wins military ground vehicle tire contract worth $1.7 billion"

Lockheed Awarded 6th Option Year to Manage US Military's Retired and Annuitant Pay Service

Lockheed Martin Government Services, Inc. (formerly ACS Government Solutions Group, Inc. - the original awardee) in Seabrook, MD was awarded a 6th year option of $25.7 million as part of contract MDA220-01-D-0002. The contract covers management of the Retired and Annuitant pay service formerly managed by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), which was the subject of an A-76 action. Primary work is performed at DFAS Cleveland, OH and secondary work which includes document scanning and primarily imaging is performed at London, KY.

Under this option work will be performed between Feb. 1, 2007 through Jan. 31, 2008. Funding includes 8 months of FY 2007 dollars and 4 months of FY 2008 dollars. The estimated aggregate face value of this contract at time of award was $346.4 million. The DFAS Contract Services Directorate, Columbus, Ohio, is the contracting activity (MDA220-01-D-0002).

DefenseLINK adds: "Note that an administrative change to the contract number was made in the past year from MDA220-01-C-0002 to the present MDA220-01-D-0002 in order to eliminate system processing issues that exist with long-term contracts that are not input with a 'D' contract number."