Tuesday, October 28, 2014

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: US DoD Awarded $ 220 Million Contract To Lockheed Martin For Support of Conventional Take Off And Landing (CTOL) For Israeli F-35A

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: US DoD Awarded $ 220 Million Contract To Lockheed Martin For Support of Conventional Take Off And Landing (CTOL) For Israeli F-35A
Source: K. V. Seth - DTN News + U.S. DoD issued No. CR-207-14 October 28, 2014
(NSI News Source Info) KOTTAKKAL, Kerala India - October 28, 2014: Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $220,748,611 modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract (N00019-12-C-0070). 

This modification provides for the System Development and Demonstration Phase I Increment 2, to continue support of F-35A Conventional Take Off and Landing (CTOL) air system for the government of Israel under the foreign military sales program. 

This modification includes the development and demonstration of the hardware and software for the Israel F-35A CTOL air system. 

Work will be performed at Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in March 2019. Foreign military sales funds in the amount of $77,777,441 are being obligated on this award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth - DTN News + U.S. DoD issued No. CR-207-14 October 28, 2014
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: US DoD Awarded $ 391 Million Contract To Lockheed Martin Support For Delivered Air Systems Related To The F-35 Lightning II Program

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: US DoD Awarded $ 391 Million Contract To Lockheed Martin Support For Delivered Air Systems Related To The F-35 Lightning II Program 
Source: K. V. Seth - DTN News + U.S. DoD issued No. CR-207-14 October 28, 2014
(NSI News Source Info) KOTTAKKAL, Kerala India - October 28, 2014: Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $391,607,952 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract to provide recurring sustainment support for delivered air systems for the F-35 Lightning II program including, but not limited to: ground maintenance activities; action request resolution; depot activation activities; Automatic Logistics Information System operations and maintenance; reliability, maintainability and health management implementation and support; supply chain management; and activities to provide and support pilot and maintainer initial training for the U.S Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, and international partners. 

Work will be performed at Fort Worth, Texas (35 percent); El Segundo, California (25 percent); Warton, United Kingdom (20 percent); Orlando, Florida (10 percent); Nashua, New Hampshire (5 percent); and Baltimore, Maryland (5 percent), and is expected to be completed by Nov. 30, 2015. Fiscal 2014 and 2015 aircraft procurement (Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps) funds, and international partner funds in the amount of $360,313,730, are being obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured according to FAR 6.302-1. The Naval Air System Command, Patuxent River, Maryland is the contract activity (N00019-15-C-0031).

*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth - DTN News + U.S. DoD issued No. CR-207-14 October 28, 2014
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS

DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated October 28, 2014

DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated October 28, 2014
Source: K. V. Seth - DTN News + U.S. DoD issued No. CR-207-14 October 28, 2014
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - October 28, 2014: U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) Contracts issued October 28, 2014 are undermentioned;

CONTRACTS
 
NAVY
 
Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $391,607,952 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract to provide recurring sustainment support for delivered air systems for the F-35 Lightning II program including, but not limited to: ground maintenance activities; action request resolution; depot activation activities; Automatic Logistics Information System operations and maintenance; reliability, maintainability and health management implementation and support; supply chain management; and activities to provide and support pilot and maintainer initial training for the U.S Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, and international partners. Work will be performed at Fort Worth, Texas (35 percent); El Segundo, California (25 percent); Warton, United Kingdom (20 percent); Orlando, Florida (10 percent); Nashua, New Hampshire (5 percent); and Baltimore, Maryland (5 percent), and is expected to be completed by Nov. 30, 2015. Fiscal 2014 and 2015 aircraft procurement (Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps) funds, and international partner funds in the amount of $360,313,730, are being obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured according to FAR 6.302-1. The Naval Air System Command, Patuxent River, Maryland is the contract activity (N00019-15-C-0031).
 
Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $220,748,611 modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract (N00019-12-C-0070). This modification provides for the System Development and Demonstration Phase I Increment 2, to continue support of F-35A Conventional Take Off and Landing (CTOL) air system for the government of Israel under the foreign military sales program. This modification includes the development and demonstration of the hardware and software for the Israel F-35A CTOL air system. Work will be performed at Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in March 2019. Foreign military sales funds in the amount of $77,777,441 are being obligated on this award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
 
Rockwell Collins, Inc., Government Systems, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is being awarded a $101,069,955 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the procurement of AN/ARC-210 electronic protection radio equipment in support of domestic and foreign military sales (FMS) aircraft. This contract consists of a maximum of 1,160 radios inclusive of potential FMS sales: 920 associated ancillary equipment; five training sessions; 15 FMS Have Quick software media downloads; 140 associated FMS license and royalty fees; 500 FMS standard commercial warranties; 250 receiver-transmitter conversions; 10 failure analyses; and one lot for data. Work will be performed in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and is expected to be completed in September 2015. Contract funds will not be obligated at the time of award. This contract was not was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302-1 The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland is the contracting activity (N00019-15-D-5501).
 
Raytheon Co., Integrated Defense Systems, Tewksbury, Massachusetts, is being awarded a $7,848,850 modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-10-C-5126) to exercise options for integration, production and life cycle support planning and management services in support of the DDG 1000 program. Work will be performed in Portsmouth, Rhode Island (80 percent), and in Bath, Maine (20 percent), and is expected to be completed by December 2015. Fiscal 2015 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $1,666,921 will be obligated at time of award. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.
 
U.S. TRANSPORTATION COMMAND
 
Twenty-four transportation carriers have each been awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, fixed-price with economic price adjustment contracts for transportation protective services. The transportation carriers are: TNI (USA), Inc., doing business as AATCO, Duenweg, Missouri (HTC711-15-D-R002); Ace Doran Hauling Rigging Co, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio (HTC711-15-D-R003); AAT Carriers, Inc.,* Chattanooga, Tennessee (HTC711-15-D-R004); Baggett Transportation Co.,* Birmingham, Alabama (HTC711-15-D-R005); Bennett Motor Express, Inc., McDonough, Georgia (HTC711-15-D-R006); T. F. Boyle Transportation, Inc.,* Billerica, Massachusetts (HTC711-15-D-R007); Chalich Trucking, Inc.,* Ramsey, Minnesota (HTC711-15-D-R008); Cole Motorsports, Inc.,* Douglasville, Georgia (HTC711-15-D-R009); FedEx Custom Critical, Uniontown, Ohio (HTC711-15-D-R010); Green Valley Transportation Co.,* Tracy California (HTC711-15-D-R011); Landstar Inway, Inc., Jacksonville, Florida (HTC711-15-D-R012); Landstar Express America, Inc., Jacksonville, Florida (HTC711-15-D-R013); Landstar Ranger, Inc., Jacksonville, Florida (HTC711-15-D-R014); McCollisters Transportation Systems Inc., Burlington, New Jersey (HTC711-15-D-R015); Mercer Transportation Co., Louisville, Kentucky (HTC711-15-D-R016); Martin Logistics,* Canton, Ohio (HTC711-15-D-R017); NEI Transport LLC., Duenweg, Missouri (HTC711-15-D-R018); Northern Neck Transfer, Inc.,* King George, Virginia (HTC711-15-D-R019); Prestera Trucking Co.,* South Point, Ohio (HTC711-15-D-R020); PTS Worldwide Inc.,* Somonauk, Illinois (HTC711-15-D-R021); Panther II Transportation, Inc., Seville, Ohio (HTC711-15-D-R022); R and R Trucking, Inc., Duenweg, Missouri (HTC711-15-D-R023); Secured Land Transport, Glendale, Arizona (HTC711-15-D-R024); and Bedrock, doing business as Tri-State Motor Transit, Joplin, Missouri (HTC711-15-D-R025). The total cumulative face value of the program is $205,971,494. Work will be performed throughout the continental United States, Alaska and Canada, with an expected completion date of Oct. 27, 2015. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2015 transportation working capital funds to be obligated by individual military services, Defense Logistics Agency, and government agency transportation officers/ordering officers. The U.S. Transportation Command Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity.

AIR FORCE
 
Raytheon Technical Services Co., LLC, Indianapolis, Indiana, has been awarded a $35,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Joint Miniature Munitions Bomb Rack Unit (JMM BRU) aircraft integration and lifecycle technical support. Contractor will provide aircraft integration and life cycle technical support throughout the technology development and engineering, manufacturing and development (EMD); and EMD F-15 flight test and production phases. Work will be performed at Indianapolis, Indiana, and is expected to be completed by Aug. 31, 2021. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2014 Navy research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $634,398 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity (FA8672-15-D-0054).
 
Credence Management Solutions, LLC, Herndon, Virginia, has been awarded a $29,852,448 cost-reimbursable contract for advisory and assistance services (A&AS) for the Battle Management Directorate - Distributed Common Ground System. Contractor will provide A&AS support for all the weapon systems, platforms, cells, and capabilities managed by the C21SR Division in support of Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Battle Management. Work will be performed predominantly at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, and will have some additional performance at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, and Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 5, 2019. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition solicited as a Fair Opportunities Notice to Pool 3 awardees of the General Services Administration One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services Small Business indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, with 14 offers received. Fiscal year 2015 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $50,000 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8622-15-F-8100).
 
Boeing Co., Defense Space and Security division, Kent, Washington, has been awarded a not to exceed $25,640,000 firm-fixed-price, fixed-price-incentive-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee for the Japan Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) mission control unit design and production program to upgrade four E-767 aircraft and three ground support facilities. Contractor will provide procurement of mission computing, electronic support easures, traffic alert and collision avoidance system, interrogator friend or foe transponder, next generation IFF, automatic identification system, and data link upgrades. Work will be performed at Kent, Washington, and is expected to be completed by Feb. 28, 2015. The contract is 100percent foreign military sales. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity (FA8730-15-C-0003).
 
*Small business
*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth + U.S. DoD issued No. CR-207-14 October 28, 2014 
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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DTN News - Israel TODAY: Israel To Buy Second Batch of US F-35 Fighters

DTN News - Israel TODAY:  Israel To Buy Second Batch of US F-35 Fighters
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources AFP
(NSI News Source Info) KOTTAKKAL, Kerala India - October 28, 2014:  Israel and the United States have agreed the sale of a second batch of Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighters to the Jewish state, Israeli media reported Tuesday.

Haaretz newspaper said the deal, concluded by US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel and his Israeli counterpart, Moshe Yaalon, was for "at least 20" of the planes.

The Israeli defence ministry did not immediately respond to AFP's request for confirmation.

The Jerusalem Post said Israel signed a $2.75 billion (2.17 billion euro) deal in 2012 to buy a squadron of 19 F-35s from Lockheed Martin and received Pentagon approval to purchase an additional 75.

Both papers said delivery of the initial order should start by the end of 2016 and be completed by 2018.

The first planes of the second squadron should start arriving in 2019, they said.

The Post said that the two defence ministers finalised the new purchase "in recent days."

The men met last week in Washington to a backdrop of fresh tensions between the two allies over Israeli criticism of US foreign policy, Israeli announcements of settlement expansion and remarks by US Secretary of State John Kerry linking the growth of militant Islam to Israel's decades-long conflict with the Palestinians.

Israeli company Elbit Systems is taking part in the manufacture of hi-tech helmets for F-35 pilots and state-owned Israel Military Industries manufactures aircraft parts.

The planes, which comes in conventional, vertical takeoff and aircraft carrier versions, have been hit by production delays and cost overruns.


Designed to replace fighters in the US Air Force, Navy and Marines and supported by a consortium of eight countries, the programme is the most expensive in US military history with a price tag of $395.7 billion.

*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources AFP
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS

DTN News - India TODAY: India To Supply Vietnam With Naval Vessels Amid China Disputes

DTN News - India TODAY: India To Supply Vietnam With Naval Vessels Amid China Disputes
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Reuters
(NSI News Source Info) KOTTAKKAL, Kerala India - October 28, 2014:  India will soon be supplying naval vessels to Vietnam, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday, the first significant military transfer to Hanoi at a time when it is embroiled in a territorial dispute with China.

The announcement came after Modi held talks with his visiting Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Tan Dung, during which the two sides agreed to modernize the Vietnamese military as well as raise Indian involvement in Vietnam's energy sector.

Both India and Vietnam have territorial disputes with China - India in the Himalayas and Vietnam in the South China Sea. New Delhi and Hanoi are beefing up defenses even as they ramp up commercial ties with China, the world's second-largest economy.

"Our defense cooperation with Vietnam is among our most important," Modi told reporters, adding it will be expanded.

Top of the agenda is the sale of four offshore patrol vessels that Vietnam wants to improve its defenses in the energy rich-South China Sea where it is locked in competing claims with China.

Talks on the naval craft have gathered pace since last month when India announced a $100 million credit line for defense purchases, an Indian government official earlier told Reuters.

"We will quickly operationalise the $100 million Line of Credit that will enable Vietnam to acquire new naval vessels from India," Modi said.

Vietnam wants the craft for surveillance off its coast and around its military bases in the Spratly island chain in the South China Sea where it is building a credible naval deterrent to China with Kilo-class submarines from Russia.

Claims by an increasingly assertive China over most of the South China have set it directly against U.S. allies Vietnam and the Philippines. Brunei, Taiwan and Malaysia also claim parts of the waters.

Beijing's placement of an oil rig in disputed waters earlier this year infuriated Vietnam but the coastguard vessels it dispatched to the platform were each time chased off by larger Chinese boats.

India and Vietnam called for peaceful resolution of the disputes in the region.

"They agreed that freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea/South China Sea should not be impeded and called the parties concerned to exercise restraint, avoid threats or use of force," a joint statement said.

The two sides also signed an agreement under which India's state-run oil exploration arm, ONGC Videsh Ltd, will enhance cooperation with PetroVietnam.

"The agreement underlines Vietnamese invitation to OVL to expand its presence in Vietnam and further consolidate cooperation in exploration and other areas between the two countries in energy sector," the joint statement said.

China has previously criticized India's cooperation with Vietnam in the oil and gas sector, saying its exploration activities off the Vietnam coast are illegal.

On Tuesday, responding to a question on India and Vietnam exploring oil together in the South China Sea, Beijing said it would have no problem so long as it was carried out in waters that were not disputed.

"China has indisputable sovereignty over the Spratly Islands and its adjacent waters. We have no objection to countries who want to carry out legitimate and lawful oil and gas cooperation in waters that we have no dispute over," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said.

"But if such cooperation harms China’s sovereignty and interests, we will resolutely oppose it."


(Additional reporting by Sui-Lee Wee in BEIJING; Editing by Nick Macfie)

*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Reuters
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated October 27, 2014

DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated October 27, 2014
Source: K. V. Seth - DTN News + U.S. DoD issued No. CR-206-14 October 27, 2014
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - October 27, 2014: U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) Contracts issued October 27, 2014 are undermentioned;

CONTRACTS
 
AIR FORCE
 
Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, has been awarded a $486,506,664 modification to exercise an option year (P00566) to previously awarded contract FA8611-08-C-2897 for F-22 sustainment activities. Work will be performed at Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2015. Fiscal 2014 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,000,000 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8611-08-C-2897).
 
Exbon Development, Inc., Garden Grove, California, has been awarded a $45,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, Simplified Acquisition of Base Engineering Requirements contract for Edwards Air Force Base, California. Contractor will provide maintenance, repair, renovation/alteration, and minor construction of real property. It also contains a scope of a broad range of construction disciplines, including but not limited to: roofing, paving, utilities, HVAC, design, carpentry, excavating, electrical, steam fitting, plumbing, sheet metal, painting, demolition, concrete masonry, and welding. Work will be performed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, and Palmdale, California, and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2019. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition, with 18 offers received. No funds are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Test Center, Edwards Air Force Base, California, is the contracting activity (FA9301-15-D-0011).
 
Stellar Science Ltd. Co., Albuquerque, New Mexico, has been awarded a $7,429,454 cost-plus fixed-fee contract for research and development on the Directed Energy High Performance Computing Software Applications Institute. Contractor will develop a capability to perform end-to-end simulations of all directed energy weapon (DEW) systems by integrating laser source, target effects, ancillary system components, and propagation simulations along with directed energy (DE) platform system, engagement, and mission level models. In addition, the work to be performed will include basic research and development of underlying DE technologies and integration of simulations for improving DEW system component performance. Work will be performed at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, and is expected to be completed by Jan. 24, 2018. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition, with two offers received. Fiscal 2014 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,958,828 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Research Laboratory, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, is the contracting activity (FA9451-15-C-0028).
 
ARMY
 
AAI Corp. Hunt Valley, Maryland, was awarded an $82,215,853 modification (P00020) to foreign military sales, cost-plus-incentive-fee contract W58RGZ-14-C-0001 to acquire Shadow Unmanned Aircraft systems performance-based logistics and sustainment/operations. Fiscal 2015 operations and maintenance (Army) and other procurement funds in the amount of $15,599,124 were obligated at the time of the award. After award of this modification, the total cumulative contract value will be $215,842,143. Estimated completion date is Oct. 31, 2015. Work will be performed at Hunt Valley, Maryland (50 percent); Afghanistan (30 percent); Australia (5 percent); and Iraq 15 percent). Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal (Aviation), Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity.
 
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
 
Science Applications International Corporation,* Fairfield, New Jersey, has been awarded a maximum $20,500,000 modification (P0001) for additional delivery orders to be made to the maintenance, repair, and operations prime vendor, bridge contract SPE8E3-14-D-0908. The revised total being awarded, based on this modification, is $30,500,000. This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This is a sole-source acquisition. Location of performance is New Jersey, with a Dec. 17, 2014, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 through fiscal 2015 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
 
NAVY
 
Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Arizona, is being awarded a $19,024,373 cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-13-C-5402) to exercise options for fiscal 2015 Standard Missile (SM) depot and intermediate level maintenance; all-up-round recertifications and special maintenance tasks; and foreign military sales SM-2 repairs and maintenance. This contract combines purchases for the U.S. Navy (74 percent), and the governments of Australia (19 percent), and Taiwan (7 percent) under the foreign military sales program. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona (91 percent); Camden, Arkansas (8 percent); and Andover, Massachusetts (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by October 2015. Fiscal 2015 operations and maintenance (Navy) and foreign military sales funding in the amount of $6,691,800 will be obligated at the time of award. Contract funds in the amount of $4,956,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.
 
*Small business
*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth + U.S. DoD issued No. CR-206-14 October 27, 2014 
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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DTN News - Lebanon TODAY: Tripoli Battles Part of ISIS-Nusra Scheme To Establish Islamic Emirate

DTN News - Lebanon TODAY: Tripoli Battles Part of ISIS-Nusra Scheme To Establish Islamic Emirate
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth 
(NSI News Source Info) KOTTAKKAL, Kerala India - October 28, 2014: Lebanese soldiers patrol next to damaged buildings in the old market in Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood following clashes with militants, in Tripoli, Lebanon, October 27, 2014. 


Military operations continued in the northern port city of Tripoli on 27 October after clashes over the weekend reportedly left 10 soldiers and four civilians dead. 

Soldiers raided streets in searches for militants in the mainly Sunni neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh, four days after violence first erupted. Shops, businesses and schools remained closed in Lebanon's second-largest city, while most people living near the area of the confrontations have left their homes in fear that the violence will spread. 


Four days of fierce fighting between the Lebanese Army and Tripoli’s militants were part of a scheme by ISIS and the Nusra Front to establish a foothold in northern Lebanon, and eventually set up an Islamic emirate in the multi-sectarian country, analysts said Monday. They added that the Army’s determination to crush militants in northern Lebanon, regardless of the sacrifices that entailed in the ongoing battle against homegrown terrorism, has foiled attempts by ISIS and Syria’s Al-Qaeda affiliate Nusra Front to establish an Islamic state in the country.

“The scheme to establish an Islamic emirate in north Lebanon is a long-term objective of militant groups. ISIS and the Nusra Front had prepared this scheme two years ago,” Hisham Jaber, a retired Lebanese Army general and an expert on terrorism, told The Daily Star.

“Destabilizing north Lebanon and awakening sleeper cells to attack the Army are signs of laying the ground for establishing an Islamic emirate,” said Jaber, director of the Middle East Center for Political Studies and Research, a Beirut-based think tank. “The Army is being targeted because it is the only force confronting terrorist groups in the north.”

He added that the establishment of even an “illusory” Islamic emirate is “a very dangerous signal” for Lebanon, long known for its religious tolerance and sectarian diversity.

Fadia Kiwan, head of the political science department at Universite St. Joseph, said she shared fears voiced by Lebanese officials, including Army chief Gen. Jean Kahwagi, that ISIS and the Nusra Front were planning to set up an Islamic emirate in the north.

“In the past, extremist groups threatened to set up an Islamic caliphate or emirate in north Lebanon,” Kiwan told The Daily Star. “Now, part of the ISIS-Nusra Front scheme is to make a breakthrough to reach the sea and secure a safe access to the sea in order to export oil.”

“I have confidence in the Army commander’s statement when he says these groups were planning to establish an Islamic emirate in the north,” she added. “The Daesh [ISIS] phenomenon, which is alien to the Lebanese, has found home among Lebanese militants in the north.”

“ISIS and the Nusra Front have two goals: to incite Sunni-Shiite strife and build a foothold in Lebanon,” Kiwan said. “ISIS and the Nusra Front have shattered all borders [between Syria and Iraq] and are now trying to expand to Lebanon.”

Speaking at a news conference following clashes between Lebanese troops and ISIS and Nusra Front gunmen in the northeastern town of Arsal on Aug. 2, Kahwagi said confessions by Imad Ahmad Jomaa, the alleged ISIS commander in Syria’s Qalamoun region whose arrest by the Army triggered the fighting, showed that the militants planned to establish an Islamic state between the Bekaa Valley and north Lebanon.

Tripoli was calm Monday after Lebanese commandos, backed by helicopter gunships, captured the stronghold of militant leaders Shadi Mawlawi and Osama Mansour following four days of pitched battles that rocked the predominantly Sunni city, leaving 42 people dead and some 150 wounded. The two militants are reportedly linked to the Nusra Front.

The fighting in Tripoli and the Minyeh district was the worst spillover of Syria’s war into Lebanon since ISIS and Nusra Front gunmen briefly overran Arsal in August.

Both Jaber and Kiwan said the Tripoli militants were part of the regional ISIS-Nusra Front network operating the region with the aim of promoting an Islamic Shariah-based rule in the Arab and Muslim worlds. They also praised the Army’s role in foiling alleged plans to set up an Islamic emirate in the north.

“The Tripoli battle is over but the Army’s war against terrorist groups is not finished at all. This war will drag on for a long time,” Jaber said.

“With its offensive in Tripoli and the Dinnieh region, the Army has thwarted a major terrorist scheme aimed at undermining Lebanon’s security through three bomb-rigged cars, an arms cache and explosives belts and devices discovered by the military [in Minyeh],” he said.

Kiwan said: “The Army has so far succeeded in saving Lebanon from a scheme to set up an Islamic emirate. The Army has proved that it had prepared Plan-A and Plan-B for the battle against terrorism.”

Because the Army’s siege had severed supply routes to ISIS and Nusra Front militants who are holed up in Arsal’s outskirts and are still holding 27 servicemen hostage, Jaber said the gunmen would try to secure safe access to the sea.

“I expect these terrorist groups to try again to break into Arsal or attack villages in northern Bekaa with the aim of finding a logistical outlet to secure food, water, arms and ammunition during the winter,” he said.

However, Imad Salamey, a political science professor at the Lebanese American University, said he did not think ISIS and the Nusra Front were working to establish an Islamic state in north Lebanon for the time being.

“The strategy of all radical political Islamic groups, Sunni or Shiite, calls for the establishment of an Islamic state,” Salamey told The Daily Star. “ISIS and Nusra’s plan for now is to maintain Lebanon as a logistical backup for their operations in Syria, rather than establish an Islamic state.”

Although noting that the Lebanese Army has taken control of Tripoli, Salamey said: “The Tripoli battles definitely will breed more extremism, setting the stage for new rounds of fighting in the future.” He said the threat of renewed fighting in Tripoli will persist “unless there is a comprehensive solution under which the Lebanese government applies the law equally among all its citizens and the state is the sole authority politically and militarily on its own territory.”

Salamey said he expected Lebanon to continue to suffer from the fallout of turmoil in the region. “The regional environment is unstable. So it is difficult for Lebanon to be stable. Lebanon needs to take any possible measures to prevent a spillover of external conflicts,” he said.

In addition to strengthening and reasserting government authority across the country, Salamey said Lebanon needs to maintain “neutrality” on regional conflicts and comply with the Baabda Declaration.

Asked about whether the Tripoli militants were part of the regional ISIS-Nusra network, he said: “Some of them might be part of this network, but others are local residents who do not like what they see as the Lebanese Army’s ‘aggressive role’ against the Sunnis. These people reflect long-standing Sunni grievances.”

*Related images - Tripoli Battles Part of ISIS-Nusra Scheme To Establish Islamic Emirate





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