DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated March 17, 2010

DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated March 17, 2010 Source: U.S. DoD issued March 17, 2010 (NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - March 18, 2010: U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) Contracts issued March 17, 2010 are undermentioned; CONTRACTS

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY ~Cardinal Health, Inc., Dublin, Ohio, is being awarded a maximum $206,434,187 requirements-type, prime vendor contract for distribution of pharmaceutical items. Other locations of performance are North Carolina and California. Using service is the Department of Defense. The original proposal was solicited on the Federal Business Opportunities Web site with four responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract is a 20-month base with two 20-month option periods. The date of performance completion is Feb. 28, 2012. The Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (SPM2DX-10-D-0027). ~Cardinal Health, Inc., Dublin, Ohio, is being awarded a maximum $150,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity, prime vendor contract for pharmaceutical items for the U.S. Naval fleet, USNS Mercy, and USNS Comfort. Other locations of performance are Massachusetts, North Carolina, Texas, Florida, Washington, New Jersey and California. Using service is the Department of Defense. The original proposal was solicited on the Federal Business Opportunities Web site with two responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is Feb. 28, 2012. The Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (SPM2DX-10-D-0001). ~Coastal Pacific Food Distributors*, Stockton, Calif., is being awarded a maximum $18,000,000 fixed-price with economic price adjustment, sole-source contract for full-line food distribution. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. There was originally one proposal solicited with one response. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is Sept. 13, 2010. The Defense Supply Center Philadelphia (DESP), Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (SPM300-09-D-3280). ~World Fuel Services, Inc., dba World Fuel Services of FL, Miami, Fla., is being awarded a maximum $9,606,443 fixed-price with economic price adjustment contract for fuel. Other locations of performance are in Hawaii. Using services are Army, Navy and Air Force. There were originally two proposals solicited with two responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is March 31, 2014. The Defense Energy Support Center (DESC), Fort Belvoir, Va., is the contracting activity (SP0600-10-D-0040). ~Oshkosh Corp., Oshkosh, Wis., is being awarded a maximum $7,157,519 firm-fixed-price, sole-source contract for transfer transmission. There are no other locations of performance. Using service is Army. There was originally one proposal solicited with one response. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is March 12, 2015. The Defense Logistics Agency -Warren (DSCC-ZG), Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (SPRDL1-10-D-0020). ~DMS Pharmaceutical Group, Inc.*, Park Ridge, Ill., is being awarded a maximum $2,245,907 requirements-type, prime vendor contract for distribution of pharmaceutical items. Using service is Department of Defense. The original proposal was solicited on the Federal Business Opportunities Web site with one response. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract is a 20-month base with two 20-month option periods. The date of performance completion is Feb. 28, 2012. The Defense Supply Center Philadelphia (DSCP), Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (SPM2DX-10-D-0130). NAVY ~Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, Inc., Newport News, Va., is being awarded an $80,886,408 cost-plus-fixed-fee, level-of-effort contract for fiscal 2010 advance planning to prepare and make ready for the refueling complex overhaul of the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) and its reactor plants. This effort will provide for all advanced planning, ship checks, design, documentation, engineering, procurement, fabrication, and preliminary shipyard or support facility work. The contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $678,568,820. Work will be performed in Newport News, Va., and is expected to be complete by February 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-10-C-2110). ~BAE Systems Land & Armaments, LP, Santa Clara, Calif., is being awarded $74,090,258 for firm-fixed-priced delivery order #0006 under previously awarded contract (M67854-07-D-5026) for the purchase of Marine Corps transparent armor gun system kits, battery powered motorized traversing unit - manual traversing unit kits, and turret assemblies. Work will be performed in Santa Clara, Calif., and is expected to be completed by September 2010. Contract funds in the amount of $4,740,748 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity. ~Lockheed Martin Corp., Maritime Systems and Sensors, Manassas, Va., is being awarded a $26,604,000 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-04-C-6207) to exercise a cost-plus-incentive fee/award-fee option for engineering and technical services for the acoustic system improvement and integration in support of the commercial-off-the-shelf Acoustic Rapid Insertion System (A-RCI) program. Work will be performed in Manassas, Va., and is expected to be completed by June 2010. Contract funds in the amount of $1,759,160 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. ~DCS Corp.*, Alexandria, Va., is being awarded an $11,499,976 modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-award-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N68936-05-D-0002) to provide weapons and systems integration support services to the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division’s integrated product teams and weapons support facilities, and their associated weapons. The estimated level of effort for this modification is 176,017 man-hours. Work will be performed in China Lake, Calif. (90 percent), and Pt. Mugu, Calif. (10 percent), and is expected to be completed in August 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, China Lake, Calif., is the contracting activity. ~Oasys Technology, LLC*, Manchester, N.H., is being awarded a $10,726,660 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for hand-held thermal binoculars. The thermal binoculars are used for detection, targeting, and surveillance in low visibility environments. Multiple lenses are available for use to modify the field of view for broader or more focused detection as required. The thermal binocular systems will allow the operators to fulfill their mission more quickly, efficiently, and safely. The thermal binoculars are thermal imaging devices that can be used as either a hand-held detector or a mounted detector. Work will be performed in Manchester, N.H., and is expected to be completed by March 2015. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities Web site, with one offer received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane, Ind., is the contracting activity (N00164-10-D-JQ65).

ARMY ~Atlantic Diving Supply, Inc., Virginia Beach, Va., was awarded on March 12, 2010, a $45,576,936 firm-fixed-price contract for the delivery order to purchase Generation III extreme cold weather clothing system kits. Work is to be performed in Newark, N.J. (24 percent); Mayagüez, Puerto Rico (24 percent); Lansing, Mich. (18 percent); Fall River, Mass. (10 percent); Tullahoma, Tenn. (10 percent); Virginia Beach, Va. (5 percent); Post Falls, Idaho (5 percent); North Conway, N.H. (2 percent); and Mukilteo, Wash. (2 percent), with an estimated completion date of Dec. 20, 2011. Bids were solicited on the World Wide Web with three bids received. U.S. Army RDECOM Contracting Center, Natick Contracting Division, Natick, Mass., is the contracting activity (W911QY-07-D-0003). ~General Dynamics Land Systems, Sterling Heights, Mich., was awarded on March 12, 2010, a $37,380,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the modification P00142, exercising an option for systems technical support for the ABRAMS tank program. Work is to be performed in Sterling Heights, Mich., with an estimated completion date of Dec. 19, 2011. One bid was solicited with one bid received. TACOM-Warren, AMSCC-TAC-AHLC, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-07-C-0046). ~AC First, Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded on March 12, 2010, a $25,688,609 firm-fixed-price contract for the Installation Information Infrastructure Modernization Program telecommunications systems program management, information technology planning, logistics, and field support service, in support of Project Manager Network Service Center, Project Director Defense Communication Systems-Southwest Asia. This requirement was competed amongst the unrestricted suite of contractors covered under Task Area 12, within the Field & Installation Readiness Support Team multiple-award indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity. Work is to be performed throughout various locations worldwide with focus on Southwest Asia - primarily Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Iraq - with an estimated completion date of March 14, 2011. Fifteen bids were solicited with one bid received. Rock Island Contracting Center, Rock Island, Ill., is the contracting activity (W911SE-07-D-0004). ~Elite CNC Machining, Largo, Fla., was awarded on March 12, 2010, a $20,038,550 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of 1,628,827 M918 projectile assemblies in support of the M918 target practice cartridge. Work is to be performed in Largo, Fla., with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2013. Bids were solicited on the World Wide Web with two bids received. Army Contracting Command, CCRC-AL, Rock Island, Ill., is the contracting activity (W52P1J-09-C-0044). ~Laser Devices, Inc., Monterey, Calif., was awarded on Mar. 10, 2010 a $6,940,000 firm-fixed-price contract for a sustainment order 10,000 PEQ-15A multi-functional aiming lights for the U.S. project manager soldier sensors and lasers. Delivery of all units will be completed by January 2011. Work is to be performed in Monterey, Calif., with an estimated completion date of Jan. 31, 2011. Bids were solicited by limited sources justification with one bid received. U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., is the contracting activity (W91CRB-05-D-0029). MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY ~Raytheon Co., Integrated Defense Systems of Woburn, Mass., is being awarded a sole-source modification for $17,421,524 under contract HQ0006-03-C-0047. The modification includes both fixed-price and cost-plus-award-fee line items. Under this contract modification, Raytheon will continue concurrent test, training, and operations support unit integration (Phase II) for AN/TYP-2 X-Band radar. The work will be performed in Woburn, Mass. The performance period is through November 2010. Fiscal year 2010 research, development, test and evaluation funds will be utilized for this effort. The Missile Defense Agency is the contracting activity (HQ0006). ~Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Inc., of Canoga Park, Calif., is being awarded a cost-plus-fixed-fee change order modification for $14,222,473 under its contract, HQ0006-08-C-0044. Under this contract modification, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne will complete risk reduction efforts to demonstrate the technology and improve the technology and manufacturing readiness of the components needed in a high performance interceptor liquid fuel upper stage system. The work will be performed in Canoga Park, Calif. This performance period ends in March 2011. The amount obligated on this action is $12,300,000 using fiscal year 2009 research, development, test and evaluation funds. The Missile Defense Agency is the contracting activity. AIR FORCE ~United Launch Services, Littleton, Colo., was awarded a $15,065,010 contract which will provide for the acquisition of launch vehicle propellants and gaseous commodities for Air Force space missions. At this time, $15,065,101 has been obligated. SMC/LRSW, El Segundo, Calif., is the contracting activity (FA8816-06-C-0002, P00194). ~Aleut Facilities Support Services, LLC, Aurora, Colo., was awarded a $6,876,579 contract which will exercise the fourth option year, to provide non-personal services for customer support; infrastructure and facility maintenance; physical plant operation; and environmental and property management for Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, Colorado. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. 21 CONS/LGCAB, Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., is the contracting activity (FA25174-06-C-5005, P00027). *Small Business

DTN News: Boeing Receives Authorised Engineering Organisation Certification For Australian Super Hornets

DTN News: Boeing Receives Authorised Engineering Organisation Certification For Australian Super Hornets Source: DTN News / Boeing (NSI News Source Info) AMBERLEY, Queensland,- March 17, 2010: Boeing Defence Australia, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA], has received accreditation from the Commonwealth of Australia as an Authorised Engineering Organisation (AEO) for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) F/A-18F Super Hornet Weapon System.Boeing Defence Australia now is authorized to provide engineering services to support the RAAF’s 24 Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft through a combination of local engineering services and U.S. capabilities based in St. Louis. RAAF Wing Cmdr. Jason Murray, chief engineer of the Tactical Fighter System Program Office, presented the AEO certification to Murray Brabook, Boeing Defence Australia director of Platform Maintenance, on March 2. “AEO certification is a significant achievement, as it acknowledges Boeing Defence Australia’s compliance with the RAAF Technical Airworthiness Regulatory framework and will enable the company to provide critical engineering services to the Australian Defence Force,” Murray said. “Becoming an AEO is an important component of Boeing Defence Australia’s Super Hornet support capabilities, and is the result of excellent teamwork and collaboration between Boeing and the Commonwealth,” Brabrook said. Subcontracted to Boeing under the Commonwealth’s Super Hornet Sustainment Contract, Boeing Defence Australia will deliver sustainment operations at its facilities at RAAF Base Amberley. Australia became the first international Super Hornet customer in 2007 with an order for 24 aircraft. The first contingent will arrive in-country this month, and Boeing is on schedule to deliver the remaining fighters to the RAAF throughout 2010 and 2011. Boeing Defence Australia also is an AEO for Australia’s F-111 Weapon System and F/A-18A/B Hornet Weapon System. Boeing Defence Australia, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Company and a business unit of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, is a leading Australian aerospace enterprise. With a world-class team of nearly 2,000 employees at 13 locations throughout Australia and two international sites, Boeing Defence Australia supports some of the largest and most complex defense projects in Australia. A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is one of the world’s largest defense, space and security businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world’s largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is a $34 billion business with 68,000 employees worldwide.

DTN News: Boeing Announces New Names For Boeing 702 Satellite Series

DTN News: Boeing Announces New Names For Boeing 702 Satellite Series Source: DTN News / Boeing (NSI News Source Info) EL SEGUNDO, Calif., - March 17, 2010: Boeing [NYSE: BA] announced today that it will begin marketing the Boeing 702 satellite under two names: the Boeing 702HP for the high-power version, and the Boeing 702MP for the medium-power version. "In 2009, we announced a medium-power variation of the very successful Boeing 702 high-power satellite -- a variation that was the result of more than four years of research and development," said Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager of Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems. "This modified design -- originally called the Boeing 702B and now called the Boeing 702MP -- drew from the flight-proven technologies inherent in the Boeing 702 and added new capabilities that not only enabled us to re-enter the medium-sized satellite market, but also resulted in a more affordable and more technically adaptable design. Our approach was validated when Intelsat became the first customer for this satellite design with an order for four spacecraft in July 2009. "Today's name change aims to rebrand the Boeing 702," Cooning added. "Since we introduced it more than a decade ago, the Boeing 702 has continuously evolved. The renaming reflects the evolution of the 702 family and its ability to accommodate a wide variety of customers from the commercial, civil, defense and intelligence communities." The 702HP configuration carries a modern lithium-ion power system and other features designed to operate at power levels of greater than 12 kilowatts. This higher-power capability is required for satellite telephone systems and fixed satellite services. The 12-kilowatt-range 702MP is powered by a bipropellant system and can accommodate a wide range of payloads and hosted payloads for commercial, civil and government customers with lower power requirements. The 702 systems will continue to accommodate both analog and digital payloads. Boeing is an industry leader in providing digital payloads, which give customers greater flexibility by allowing on-orbit reconfiguration of payloads to respond to changing business and mission needs. "Boeing has sold 28 Boeing 702 satellites, and those in service have accumulated 867,000 hours of service life for both commercial and military customers," Cooning said. "The Boeing 702 -- high-power and medium-power -- has emerged as a powerhouse of capability, flexibility and reliability." Boeing has kept the 702 satellite affordable in part by emphasizing commonality in electronics, supplier agreements, the design approach and the production process. "Our legacy is built on technical excellence and product diversity," Cooning said. "But today's market demands higher affordability, broader technical options, and more creative design approaches. We've devised ways to eliminate some of the higher-cost items, such as deployable radiators, in order to improve our ability to compete. We've taken the necessary steps to update and streamline our satellite factory in order to contain costs and increase throughput, and we've regained the confidence of our many customers, both government and commercial. It's a new decade, and we're ready." A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is one of the world's largest defense, space and security businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world's largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is a $34 billion business with 68,000 employees worldwide.

DTN News: Benjamin Netanyahu And Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Best Of Enemies?

DTN News: Benjamin Netanyahu And Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Best Of Enemies? Source: DTN News / Reuters (NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 17, 2010: As adversaries go, Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are oddly well-suited. The hardline Israeli prime minister and the fiery Iranian president seem to feed each other rhetorical ammunition to whip up fears that bolster them in domestic politics and beyond. Between them, they are stubbornly testing the limits of U.S. power in the Middle East and undermining the "new beginning" in relations between America and Muslims that President Barack Obama proposed in an eloquent Cairo speech nine months ago. Netanyahu contends that Iran is seeking a nuclear bomb to fulfill Ahmadinejad's declared wish for Israel's destruction. Confronting it, he argues, eclipses the importance of U.S.-led attempts to revive peacemaking with Palestinians and Arabs. For Ahmadinejad, who says Iran's nuclear ambitions are purely peaceful, any breakdown of U.S. mediation backs up his doctrine that armed resistance, not negotiations, is the only way to regain Israeli-occupied land, especially Jerusalem. His emotive calls for Muslims to defend the city, which is also holy to Jews and Christians, resonate across the Arab and Islamic worlds, as well as with many Palestinians. So Israeli plans to build 1,600 more homes for Jews on West Bank land annexed to Jerusalem -- announced last week during a visit to Israel by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden -- enraged Ahmadinejad's audience of choice. They also brewed a diplomatic storm with Washington, whose minor success in nudging the Palestinians toward indirect peace talks may have vaporized. Abbas indicated on Wednesday that there would be no "proximity talks" unless Israel froze all settlement building. Netanyahu offered regrets for what U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called "insulting" behavior, but did not scrap the plan. Instead he rejected any curbs on Jewish settlement in and around Jerusalem in a defiant parliament speech on Monday. "Ahmadinejad is justifiably thrilled," wrote Israeli journalist Akiva Eldar in the liberal Haaretz newspaper. "Jerusalem is the preferred arena for Iran and its regional allies to clash with the United States and its Mideast allies." Iran projects influence in the region partly by backing Islamist militant groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Palestinian Hamas movement, which mock peace talks between Israel and Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. SPOILER OR HERO? A U.S. failure to broker resumed peace negotiations of any sort would be a victory for Ahmadinejad, who casts himself as a resistance leader against U.S.-Israeli "hegemony" in the region. And a flare-up over Jerusalem can only make it harder for Washington to canvas Arab support for tougher sanctions on Iran. Obama sees Middle East peace talks as vital to broader U.S. interests, including efforts to combat al Qaeda; stabilize Iraq and Afghanistan; block any Iranian quest for nuclear arms; and reset U.S. relations with Arabs and Muslims across the world. Renewed tension in the Middle East complicates Obama's bid to tamp down conflict there, while he grapples with a host of other challenges jostling for his attention at home and abroad. "I don't think the president has the time or energy for this now. He has a whole economy to save," said Lebanese political analyst Osama Safa, adding that Washington wanted to buy time on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict so it could focus on Iran. "They are trying to muster an international consensus and impose sanctions, which are bound to get a violent reaction from the Iranians. So if you can keep the peace process at least cruising on auto pilot, even though not achieving anything, you are at least quietening that front," Safa argued. But a row over Jerusalem that fuels the wider confrontation between Iran and Israel may suit Netanyahu and Ahmadinejad. It may help the Israeli leader keep his rightwing coalition afloat and boost his appeal to Israelis who fear Iran -- though many would be alarmed if his policies damage ties with America. Ahmadinejad uses the threat of an Israeli or U.S. military strike on Iran's nuclear sites to rally nationalist sentiment and brush aside opposition challenges to his legitimacy. Obama's predicament, meanwhile, becomes ever more acute as he seeks to avoid war with Iran and salvage some momentum toward settling the Middle East conflict, with Jerusalem at its heart. He has seen his offers of dialogue and nuclear deals rebuffed by Ahmadinejad, prompting the United States to seek harsher sanctions, if only to dissuade Israel from attacking Iran, an act that would risk igniting a regional conflagration. Netanyahu has also proved unbending. His stonewalling of Obama's demand last year that Israel halt all settlement building, in the interests of peace, only confirmed for many Arabs that the United States would not stand up to Israel. Now, America's credibility and its own interests are again at stake in its handling of a conflict that stirs emotions and sways governments far beyond the Holy Land. "Clearly the tensions, the issues and so forth have an enormous effect," U.S. General David Petraeus, whose Central Command area includes Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq and much of the Arab world, said of the Israeli-Palestinian struggle on Tuesday. "They set the strategic context within which we operate in the Central Command area of responsibility." (Editing by Dominic Evans)

DTN News: Belarus To Build Air Defense For Venezuela In Oil Trade

DTN News: Belarus To Build Air Defense For Venezuela In Oil Trade

Source: DTN News / PressTV (NSI News Source Info) CARACAS, Venezuela / MINSK, Belarus - March 17, 2010: The President of Belarus promises to assist Venezuela build a national air defense system as Caracas agrees to supply crude oil to Belarusian refineries. "We can do this in a very short period of time," Alexander Lukashenko said following talks with his Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chavez.

Lukashenko added that with the new technology Venezuela will be able to live "peacefully" without worries about enemy conspiracies.

He made the offer during a two-day visit to Caracas aimed at solidifying industrial, commercial and diplomatic cooperation between the two nations.

Relations between Minsk and Caracas have strengthened dramatically in recent years.

Belarus and Venezuela trade about 1 million tons of crude a year (20,000 barrels a day), but beginning next May, the oil-rich South American nation will start exporting 80,000 barrel of oil a day to oil-thirsty Belarus.

DTN News: Boeing Sees Modest Growth In Space Over Five Years

DTN News: Boeing Sees Modest Growth In Space Over Five Years Source: DTN News / Reuters (NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - March 17, 2010: Boeing Co (BA - News) said on Tuesday it expects only modest growth in its space revenues over the next five years with commercial orders seen accounting for a growing share as government orders decline. Government orders comprised about 90 percent of Boeing's space business now, but would shrink to around 70 percent as defense spending flattened out, Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager of Boeing's space and intelligence systems, told reporters at the Satellite 2010 conference. He said commercial sales would increase from 10 percent to around 30 percent of the total, bolstered by the need for many satellite operators around the world to replace aging spacecraft in coming years. On the government side, Cooning said Boeing hoped to sell more of its Wideband Global Satellites (WGS) in coming years, noting that the Air Force had issued a request for proposals for up to six more WGS satellites and two were already included in the fiscal 2011 budget. The company also saw some "opportunities" in the classified sector, he said, without giving any further details. Overall, he said, Boeing would have 10 satellites available for launch this year, including two delayed from last year. Stephen O'Neill, president of Boeing Satellite Systems International, told conference participants later that his company foresaw few if any new starts for either military or civilian government agencies. Satellite orders had likely peaked around the world last year, but would likely stabilize at 20 or fewer longer-term, and the days of "Battlestar Galactica government programs" were likely over, O'Neill said. O'Neill forecast greater government interest in so-called "hosted payloads" or sending specific sensors into space on other satellites. That would help the Pentagon meet its needs at a cost of just tens of millions of dollars versus hundreds of millions for new dedicated satellites. Companies like Boeing were trying to innovate by responding to the military's changing needs and a shift in focus on more single-mission, single-customer satellites than the complex multimission spacecraft shared by multiple agencies that had sene problems in the past, he said. He said industry was also doing its part to prevent the constant adding of new requirements by the military that had led to cost overruns and schedule delays in the past. Cooning said Boeing was confident that it could "harvest" some of the capabilities developed for the now-canceled $26 billion secure, high-capacity Transformational Satellite program, and add them to the WGS satellite. These included enhanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, mobile communications and anti-jamming, Cooning said. He said costs ballooned on the TSAT program due to the military's requirement that the spacecraft and systems could continue to function after a possible nuclear explosion. The Pentagon spent about $3 billion on various technology demonstration projects for the TSAT program with Boeing and Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT - News), and officials have said they expect to use technologies developed for that program on existing satellites, including Boeing's WGS and Lockheed's Advanced Extremely High Frequency program. Boeing also expected the Air Force to issue a draft request for proposals for a follow-on Space-Based Surveillance Satellite (SBSS) as early as April, Boeing officials said. Cooning said Boeing offered the Air Force a fixed-price contract for a second SBSS satellite at a significant savings of more than 10 percent. The first satellite cost around $800 million, including nonrecurring development costs, he said. Such a deal would have allowed Boeing to maintain its production facility and personnel, saving money and allowing faster work on the second satellite, Cooning said, but the Air Force decided it needed to stage an open competition. Boeing also stands to benefit from NASA's new drive to commercialize space transportation through its own work and a rocket launch joint-venture with Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT - News).

DTN News: Cubic Receives $30 Million Contract To Supply Small Arms Trainers To Saudi Arabian National Guard

DTN News: Cubic Receives $30 Million Contract To Supply Small Arms Trainers To Saudi Arabian National Guard Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) SAN DIEGO, CA - March 17, 2010: A defense unit of Cubic Corporation (NYSE:CUB - News) has been awarded a contract worth more than $30 million to supply small arms training systems to Saudi Arabia. Cubic will provide its EST 2000 Engagement Skills Trainer to the Saudi Arabian National Guard under a contract from the U.S. Army's Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI). The contract is Cubic's largest ever involving a foreign customer for the EST 2000 small arms trainer. Manufactured by Cubic's Simulation Systems Division in Orlando, EST 2000 uses digital video projectors, high-definition screens, game-based computer graphics, and ballistically accurate simulated weapons to create lifelike virtual combat scenarios. The systems are used for teaching and maintaining marksmanship skills, team and squad training, and for "shoot/don't shoot" simulations for soldiers and security teams. The Saudi Arabian National Guard will use an enhanced version of EST 2000, incorporating a new graphics engine that produces graphics that are detailed and realistic. The SANG systems will also operate in English or Arabic as selected at startup. "Cubic is honored that the Saudi Arabian National Guard has chosen the EST 2000 as its small arms training system," said John Naff, Vice President of Business Development for Cubic Defense Applications. "The systems will be deployed across the Eastern, Central and Western Provinces, for training members of the National Guard." Cubic is teamed with a local company to provide the building infrastructure to accommodate the EST 2000 systems, as well as 12 months of maintenance support. Cubic has fielded more than 1,000 EST 2000 systems to the U.S. military and to customers around the world. Cubic Simulation Systems, Inc. is part of the Defense Systems business of Cubic Corporation. Cubic Corporation is the parent company of three major business segments: Defense Systems, Mission Support Services and Transportation Systems. Cubic Defense Systems is a leading provider of realistic combat training systems and defense electronics. Mission Support Services is a leading provider of training, operations, maintenance, technical and other support services. Cubic Transportation Systems is the world's leading provider of automated fare collection systems and services for public transit authorities. For more information about Cubic, see the company's Web site at http://www.cubic.com/.

DTN News: Germany ~ Mitteleuropa Redux

DTN News: Germany ~ Mitteleuropa Redux Source: By Peter Zeihan STRATFOR (NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 16, 2010: The global system is undergoing profound change. Three powers — Germany, Iran and China — face challenges forcing them to refashion the way they interact with their regions and the world. We will explore each of these three states in detail in our next three geopolitical weeklies, highlighting how STRATFOR’s assessments of these states are evolving. We will examine Germany first. Germany’s Place in Europe European history has been the chronicle of other European powers struggling to constrain Germany, particularly since German unification in 1871. The problem has always been geopolitical. Germany lies on the North European Plain, with France to its west and Russia to its east. If both were to attack at the same time, Germany would collapse. German strategy in 1871, 1914 and 1939 called for pre-emptive strikes on France to prevent a two-front war. (The last two attempts failed disastrously, of course.) As much as Germany’s strategy engendered mistrust in Germany’s neighbors, they certainly understood Germany’s needs. And so European strategy after World War II involved reshaping the regional dynamic so that Germany would never face this problem again and so would never need to be a military power again. Germany’s military policy was subordinated to NATO and its economic policy to the European Economic Community (the forerunner of today’s European Union). NATO solved Germany’s short-run problem, while the European Union was seen as solving its long-run problem. For the Europeans — including the Germans — these structures represented the best of both worlds. They harnessed German capital and economic dynamism, submerged Germany into a larger economic entity, gave the Germans what they needed economically so they didn’t have to seek it militarily, and ensured that the Germans had no reason — or ability — to strike out on their own. This system worked particularly well after the Cold War ended. Defense threats and their associated costs were reduced. There were lingering sovereignty issues, of course, but these were not critical during the good times: Such problems easily can be dealt with or deferred while the money flows. The example of a European development that represented this money-over-sovereignty paradigm was the European Monetary Union, best represented by the European common currency, the euro. STRATFOR has always doubted the euro would last. Having the same currency and monetary policy for rich, technocratic, capital-intensive economies like Germany as for poor, agrarian/manufacturing economies like Spain always seemed like asking for problems. Countries like Germany tend to favor high interest rates to attract investment capital. They don’t mind a strong currency, since what they produce is so high up on the value-added scale that they can compete regardless. Countries like Spain, however, need a cheap currency, since there isn’t anything particularly value-added about most of their exports. These states must find a way to be price competitive. Their ability to grow largely depends upon getting access to cheap credit they can direct to places the market might not appreciate. STRATFOR figured that creating a single currency system would trigger high inflation in the poorer states as they gained access to capital they couldn’t qualify for on their own merits. We figured such access would generate massive debts in those states. And we figured such debts would contribute to discontent across the currency zone as the European Central Bank (ECB) catered to the needs of some economies at the expense of others. All this and more has happened. We saw the 2008-2009 financial crisis in Central Europe as particularly instructive. Despite their shared EU membership, the Western European members were quite reluctant to bail out their eastern partners. We became even more convinced that such inconsistencies would eventually doom the currency union, and that the euro’s eventual dissolution would take the European Union with it. Now, we’re not so sure. What if, instead of the euro being designed to further contain the Germans, the Germans crafted the euro to rewire the European Union for their own purposes? Germany and the Current Crisis The crux of the current crisis in Europe is that most EU states, but in particular the Club Med states of Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy (in that order), have done such a poor job of keeping their budgets under control that they are flirting with debt defaults. All have grown fat and lazy off the cheap credit the euro brought them. Instead of using that credit to trigger broad sustainable economic growth, they lived off the difference between the credit they received due to the euro and the credit they qualified for on their own merits. Social programs funded by debt exploded; after all, the cost of that debt was low as the Club Med countries coasted on the bond prices of Germany. At present, interest rates set by the ECB stand at 1 percent; in the past, on its own merits, Greece’s often rose to double digits. The resulting government debt load in Greece — which now exceeds annual Greek gross domestic product — will probably result in either a default (triggered by efforts to maintain such programs) or a social revolution (triggered by an effort to cut such programs). It is entirely possible that both will happen. What made us look at this in a new light was an interview with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble on March 13 in which he essentially said that if Greece, or any other eurozone member, could not right their finances, they should be ejected from the eurozone. This really got our attention. It is not so much that there is no legal way to do this. (And there is not; Greece is a full EU member, and eurozone membership issues are clearly a category where any member can veto any major decision.) Instead, what jumped out at us is that someone of Schauble’s gravitas doesn’t go about casually making threats, and this is not the sort of statement made by a country that is constrained, harnessed, submerged or placated. It is not even the sort of statement made by just any EU member, but rather by the decisive member. Germany now appears prepared not just to contemplate, but to publicly contemplate, the re-engineering of Europe for its own interests. It may not do it, or it may not do it now, but it has now been said, and that will change Germany’s relationship to Europe. A closer look at the euro’s effects indicates why Schauble felt confident enough to take such a bold stance. Part of being within the same currency zone means being locked into the same market. One must compete with everyone else in that market for pretty much everything. This allows Slovaks to qualify for mortgage loans at the same interest rates the Dutch enjoy, but it also means that efficient Irish workers are actively competing with inefficient Spanish workers — or more to the issue of the day, that ultraefficient German workers are competing directly with ultrainefficient Greek workers. The chart below measures the relative cost of labor per unit of economic output produced. It all too vividly highlights what happens when workers compete. (We have included U.S. data as a benchmark.) Those who are not as productive try to paper over the problem with credit. Since the euro was introduced, all of Germany’s euro partners have found themselves becoming less and less efficient relative to Germany. Germans are at the bottom of the graph, indicating that their labor costs have barely budged. Club Med dominates the top rankings, as access to cheaper credit has made them even less, not more, efficient than they already were. Back-of-the-envelope math indicates that in the past decade, Germany has gained roughly a 25 percent cost advantage over Club Med. The implications of this are difficult to overstate. If the euro is essentially gutting the European — and again to a greater extent the Club Med — economic base, then Germany is achieving by stealth what it failed to achieve in the past thousand years of intra-European struggles. In essence, European states are borrowing money (mostly from Germany) in order to purchase imported goods (mostly from Germany) because their own workers cannot compete on price (mostly because of Germany). This is not limited to states actually within the eurozone, but also includes any state affiliated with the zone; the relative labor costs for most of the Central European states that have not even joined the euro yet have risen by even more during this same period. It is not so much that STRATFOR now sees the euro as workable in the long run — we still don’t — it’s more that our assessment of the euro is shifting from the belief that it was a straightjacket for Germany to the belief that it is Germany’s springboard. In the first assessment, the euro would have broken as Germany was denied the right to chart its own destiny. Now, it might well break because Germany is becoming a bit too successful at charting its own destiny. And as it dawns on one European country after another that there was more to the euro than cheap credit, the ties that bind are almost certainly going to weaken. The paradigm that created the European Union — that Germany would be harnessed and contained — is shifting. Germany now has not only found its voice, it is beginning to express, and hold to, its own national interest. A political consensus has emerged in Germany against bailing out Greece. Moreover, a political consensus has emerged in Germany that the rules of the eurozone are Germany’s to refashion. As the European Union’s anchor member, Germany has a very good point. But this was not the “union” the rest of Europe signed up for — it is the Mitteleuropa that the rest of Europe will remember well. This report may be forwarded or republished on your website with attribution to http://www.stratfor.com/ *This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News, contact: dtnnews@ymail.com Disclaimer statement Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information supplied herein, DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions. Unless otherwise indicated, opinions expressed herein are those of the author of the page and do not necessarily represent the corporate views of DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News.

DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated March 16, 2010

DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated March 16, 2010 Source: U.S. DoD issued March 16, 2010 (NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - March 16, 2010: U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) Contracts issued March 16, 2010 are undermentioned;

CONTRACTS

AIR FORCE ~Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Orlando, Fla., was awarded a $41,898,184 contract which will provide for the purchase and contractor logistic support of sniper advanced targeting pods to support a foreign military sale customer, Saudi Arabia. At this time, $20,949,092 has been obligated. 448 PKHCB, Robins Air Force Base, Ga., is the contracting activity (FA8522-10-C-0003). ~Lockheed Martin Corp., Marietta, Ga., was awarded a $6,165,779 contract which will provide for the procurement of required data, support equipment, and spares to stand up five different C-5 avionics modernization program line replaceable units at the respective Air Logistics Center depot. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. 716 AESG/PK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-98-C-0006, P00231). NAVY ~American Rheinmetall Munitions Corp., Stafford, Va., is being awarded a $28,797,243 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the improved flash-bang grenade. Work will be performed in Camden, Ark., and is expected to be completed by March 2015. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities and Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Web sites, with six proposals solicited and four offers received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane, Ind., is the contracting activity (N00164-10-D-JM31).

~BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair, Inc., San Diego, is being awarded an $8,284,783 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-08-C-2300) to exercise an option for the accomplishment of the post-shakedown availability (PSA) for the USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108). Specific efforts include engineering and management in support of the PSA; labor and procurement of material to correct government-responsible deficiencies and accomplish system upgrades; perform specified PSA work items inclusive of tests and post-repair sea trials; and task additional man hours and material in order to complete emergent repairs. Work will be performed in San Diego and is expected to be completed by December 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. ~Progeny Systems Corp., Manassas, Va., is being awarded a $5,848,035 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-08-C-6288) to exercise an option for information assurance engineering and technical services for the Navy’s information assurance solutions and to integrate them into commercial-off-the-shelf-based combat and network systems. Work will be performed in Manassas, Va., and is expected to be completed by March 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.

DTN News: US-Indonesia Military Deal Uncertain Ahead of Obama Visit

DTN News: US-Indonesia Military Deal Uncertain Ahead of Obama Visit Source: DTN News / AFP By Stephen Collinson (NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - March 16, 2010: The United States said Monday it could not predict when it would resume full military ties with Indonesia, as it laid out the details of President Barack Obama's trip to Jakarta and Bali next week. Obama spent four years as a boy in Indonesia with his late mother, but the trip is more geared to business, focusing on trade, security and diplomacy rather than his biography or his childhood haunts. In the run-up to the visit, the administration has been preparing the way to resume training an elite Indonesian military unit as part of growing counter-insurgency and intelligence cooperation with Jakarta. But the move would be controversial as the Kopassus unit is implicated in past human rights abuses, including in East Timor, and some key players in Congress oppose embracing the force before it has accounted for past behavior. It remains unclear whether the dispute over Kopassus will be resolved in time for Obama's visit which begins on March 23. Officers from Kopassus were in Washington only last week in a bid to secure resumed US support for the unit, which was cut off in 1997. "It would be good if we could move to full cooperation, fuller cooperation to include the special forces, the counterterrorism capabilities within the special forces of Kopassus," said Jeffrey Bader, Obama's senior director for Asian affairs, briefing reporters on Obama's trip. "There is a certain history that needs to be overcome. There were human rights violations in the 1990s in former East Timor. "We hope to be able at some point to move past and resolve those concerns (but) I can't predict at this point when that day might arrive." US officials have been complimentary on the growing security cooperation between Washington and Jakarta. Last week, Indonesia confirmed that a major suspect of the 2002 Bali bombing, known as Dulmatin, an Al-Qaeda trained bomb specialist with a 10 million US dollar bounty on his head, has been killed by police. Obama will arrive in Jakarta on Tuesday, March 23 and have a meeting and a press conference with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, before being honored at a state dinner. The next day, Obama is likely to make his most expressive reference to his childhood years in Indonesia, in a major speech also intended to build on his address to the Muslim world in Cairo last June. "He'll be able to speak to some of the progress that's been made and that needs to be made on the issues that he spoke to in Cairo," said Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security advisor for strategic communications. Obama will then meet with local business leaders and make some so far unspecified stops, but the White House has already said he will not visit the school he once attended in Jakarta, or the house where he lived. The president will then head to the resort of Bali where he will hold an event with civil society groups to showcase Indonesia's democratic progress in recent years, before heading to Canberra, Australia. Obama's departure for Indonesia, which US officials see as an increasingly important player in East Asia, was delayed by three days until Sunday, March 21, allowing him to remain in Washington for the endgame of his health reform drive.