Friday, April 22, 2011

DTN News - INDIA DEFENSE NEWS: Boeing Has Hands Full With Indian Defence Deals Of $14 Billion

Defense News: DTN News - INDIA DEFENSE NEWS: Boeing Has Hands Full With Indian Defence Deals Of $14 Billion
(NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI, India - April 22, 2011:
US aerospace major Boeing is anticipating Indian defence orders worth $14 billion, with a company official saying its hands are "pretty full" with orders for fighters and choppers for the air force and reconnaissance planes for the navy.

Apart from being in contention for the $10.4 billion contract for 126 combat planes for the Indian Air Force (IAF), Boeing is a hot contender in the $650-million tender for 22 attack helicopters and a $700-million bid for 15 heavy-lift cargo helicopters.

The firm will also offer a 'diet' version of its P8 Poseidon plane for the Indian Navy's requirement of a medium-range maritime reconnaissance (MRMR) aircraft when the tenders are issued. Though there is no mention of the number of MRMR aircraft required in the present request for information, it is likely to be around 10 planes worth $2 billion.

Boeing has already bagged a $170-million order, through the US' foreign military sales route, to supply 24 units of Harpoon Block-II anti-ship missiles for the IAF's maritime-strike Jaguar fighter jets.

"Our hands are pretty full. There's lots going on," Christopher M. Chadwick, president of Boeing Military Aircraft , told IANS in an interview here.

Boeing has pitted its F/A-18 in the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) deal against US firm Lockheed Martin's F-16, Russian United Aircraft Corporation's MiG-35, French Dassault's Rafale, European consortium EADS' Eurofighter Typhoon and Swedish SAAB's Gripen.

The likely winner of the MMRCA contract is expected to be known in a month or two, with the deal being signed before March 2012.

"We are really excited about the opportunity that still exists in MMRCA. In the months that have gone by in the competition, we have a viable offering, because the F/A-18 Super Hornet provides the right capability at the right cost with fairly low risk. In addition it gives the right life cycle cost," said Chadwick, who was here to review his company's campaigns for these deals.

He said Boeing had worked "closely" with its Indian industry partners, particularly with the public sector Hindustan Aeronautics Limited , "not just to provide work but also to enhance their abilities" by holding classes and programmes in management and manufacturing.

If India chose F/A-18 in the MMRCA contest, Chadwick said, Boeing was willing to offer the "rapid production concept" that will allow accelerated delivery of the planes into the IAF force structure to "alleviate some of the challenges" that it has had lately.

The company too has offered an offset plan for four additional P8I maritime patrol planes, which India is keen to buy as a follow-on for the eight ordered in January 2009 for $2.1 billion.

Asked for details of the offset offers Boeing has made, Chadwick said he would not be able to share them now. "What we can do is once we have an offset project and once it is implemented, we can come out and discuss it," he said.

The four P8Is will be worth $1 billion and considering the 30 percent offsets (proportion of the order value to be invested in the domestic industry of the buyer) clause in the contract, it would fetch India about $300 million worth of investments from Boeing.

Chadwick said Boeing has had "a pretty good" track record of fulfilling offsets obligation worth $32 billion over the years, achieving them "on cost and on schedule."

On the MRMR aircraft, he said Boeing was waiting to see what the final tender contents would be. "Certainly, P8 (version) might be an option," he added.

Boeing's AH64 D Apache and Chinook CH-47 are in competition against Russian Mil's Mi-28NE and Mi-26 in the attack and heavy-lift helicopters tenders respectively. "Should have those (two tenders) hopefully in the next six months," Chadwick said.

With the defence ministry being allocated Rs.69,199 crore ($15 billion) for capital expenditure in India's annual budget, there are clear indications that the attack and heavy-lift helicopters procurement will happen this fiscal.


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Thursday, April 21, 2011

DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated April 21, 2011

Defense News:
DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated April 21, 2011
(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - April 21, 2011: U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) Contracts issued April 21, 2011 are undermentioned;

NAVY

Raytheon Co., Space and Airborne Systems, Goleta, Calif., is being awarded an $84,763,767 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-09-C-0052) to exercise an option for the procurement of 87 full rate production Lot 13 AN/ALR-67(V)3 radar warning receivers for the U.S. Navy (77) and the government of Switzerland (10). In addition, this option provides for the procurement of weapons replaceable assemblies for the governments of Canada and Australia. The AN/ALR-67(V)3 enhances pilot situational awareness by providing accurate identification, lethality, and azimuth displays of hostile and friendly emitters. It also controls the electronic warfare data bus and interfaces with electronic warfare systems, the onboard radar, airborne mission computer, and the F/A-18 weapon systems. Work will be performed in Goleta, Calif. (41 percent); Lansdale, Pa. (18 percent); Forest, Miss. (12 percent); Chatsworth, Calif. (11 percent); San Diego, Calif. (10 percent); Sydney, Australia (4 percent); Milwaukie, Ore. (2 percent); and McKinney, Texas (2 percent). Work is expected to be completed in December 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract combines purchase for the U.S. Navy ($72,099,001; 85 percent); and the governments of Switzerland ($9,359,600; 11 percent), Canada ($2,542,324; 3 percent), and Australia ($762,842; 1 percent) under the Foreign Military Sales Program. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

Oceaneering International, Inc., Hanover, Md., is being awarded a maximum value $12,100,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the advanced mooring system to improve vehicle, personnel and container transfer during skin to skin mooring within the sea base through sea state three (threshold), sea state four (objective). The total cumulative face value of this contract is $12,100,000. The action will be incrementally funded with this initial obligation of $643,983. The contract will be incrementally funded over a period of 36 months. Work will be performed in Hanover, Md., and is expected to be completed April 2014. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured under Broad Agency Announcement 10-016, with four proposals received. The Office of Naval Research, Arlington, Va., is the contracting activity (N00014-11-D-0327 and task order 0001).

ARMY

Chrysler Group International, LLC, Auburn Hills, Mich., was awarded on Apr. 19 a $17,977,169 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the procurement of 530 Jeep J8 kits, completely knocked down, and one lot of contractor furnished spare parts all under Foreign Military Sales to Israel. Work will be performed in Romulus, Mich., with an estimated completion date of Apr. 18, 2012. A sole-source bid was solicited with one bid received. The U.S. Army TACOM LCMC, Contracting Center, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-11-C-0273).

General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, Inc., Charlotte, N.C., was awarded on Apr. 19 a $7,647,765 fixed-price-incentive contract. The award will provide for the procurement of 15 joint service general lightweight standoff chemical agent detectors; 15 scanner transit cases; and 15 operator display unit transit cases. Work will be performed in Charlotte, N.C., with an estimated completion date of Nov. 21, 2011. One bid was solicited with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Edgewood Contracting Division, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., is the contracting activity (W911SR-08-D-0022).



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DTN News - BATTLE FOR LIBYA: Obama OKs Predator Strikes in Libya Confirmed By Defense Secretary Gates

Defense News: DTN News - BATTLE FOR LIBYA: Obama OKs Predator Strikes in Libya Confirmed By Defense Secretary Gates
(NSI News Source Info)

WASHINGTON, April 21, 2011: President Barack Obama has approved the use of armed predator strikes in the international fight against Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi's regime, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today.

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Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates calls on a reporter for a question at the Pentagon, April 21, 2011. Gates and Marine Corps Gen. James E. Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, fielded questions dealing mainly with the situation in Libya and the defense budget. DOD photo by R.D. Ward
(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.
Gates and Marine Corps Gen. James E. Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, briefed reporters at the Pentagon.

"The president has said that where we have some unique capabilities, he is willing to use those," Gates said. "In fact, he has approved the use of armed predators [in Libya]."

Armed predators have been used in Libya "purely as [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems] until today," Cartwright said.

Two unmanned armed predators capable of around-the-clock coverage are now in Libya, the general added. The first flights launched today but were cancelled because of bad weather.

The character of the fight in Libya has changed, Cartwright said. Gadhafi loyalists, he said, are digging in or "nestling up against crowded areas" to avoid being targeted by NATO aircraft.

The more-precise predators bring "their ability to get down lower and therefore, to be able to get better visibility, particularly on targets that have started to dig themselves into defensive positions," Cartwright said.

The aircraft are uniquely suited for urban areas where more traditional bombing can cause collateral damage, he added.

"This is a very limited capability," Gates said, adding that the president has been clear from the outset that the U.S. role would be specifically defined.

Obama structured the U.S. role in Libya as a limited one because "of all our friends and allies, we are the most-stretched military," Gates added.

"We have close to 100,000 troops in Afghanistan, we still have 50,000 troops in Iraq and we have 19 ships and 18,000 men and women in uniform still helping on Japan relief," the secretary said.

The president agreed to participate in the international effort against the Libyan government, Gates said, because "of the worry that Gadhafi could destabilize the fledgling revolutions in both Tunisia and Egypt ... and second to prevent a humanitarian disaster."

The president has been clear, the secretary said, "that the primary strike role has been turned over to our allies and our friends, and if we can make a modest contribution with these armed predators, we'll do it."


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DTN News - U.S. DEFENSE NEWS: Review To Consider Consequences Of Budget Cuts‏

Defense News: DTN News - U.S. DEFENSE NEWS: Review To Consider Consequences Of Budget Cuts‏
(NSI News Source Info)

WASHINGTON, April 21, 2011: Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said the comprehensive defense review he plans to launch soon will ensure any further defense budget cuts are based on a well-thought-out analysis of the consequences of decisions made.

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Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Corps Gen. James E. Cartwright hold a joint press conference at the Pentagon, April 21, 2011. DOD photo by R.D. Ward
(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.
"The worst of all possible worlds, in my view, is to give the entire Department of Defense a haircut that basically says 'Everybody is going to cut 'x' percent,'" Gates told reporters today during a Pentagon news briefing. "That is the way we got the 'hollow' military in the 1970s and the 1990s."

Gates said he does not know exactly how much of the additional $400 billion that President Barack Obama seeks to cut from national security program budgets between now and 2023 will come from DOD. The secretary said he's gratified that Obama has agreed to wait for the findings of a comprehensive DOD review before making specific budgetary decisions.

"I want to frame this so that options and consequences and risks are taken into account as budget decisions are made, first by the president, and then by the Congress," Gates said. "What I hope to do is frame this in a way that says, 'If you want to cut this number of dollars, here are the consequences for force structure. Here are your choices in terms of capabilities that will be reduced or investments that are not made. And here are the consequences of this.'"

The budget review "needs to be a process that is driven by the analysis," the secretary said, "and where it is about risk management with respect to future national security threats and challenges as well as missions that our elected officials decide we should not have to perform or can't perform any more because we don't have the resources."

Gates said he has had just one meeting to begin thinking about ways to conduct the review, and has not yet decided on an approach. One suggested approach, he said, would begin with the Quadrennial Defense Review and to consider the implications of scaling back or eliminating specific missions.

Marine Corps Gen. James E. Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the review will involve important strategic considerations about quantities and capabilities.

Cartwright said the review could challenge some long-held assumptions, such as the department's ability to fight two major theater conflicts simultaneously.

Some people believe that funding the Defense Department at the rate of inflation for the next 12 years could identify much of the cost savings that Obama seeks, Gates said. However, he noted, that approach wouldn't account for costs for health-care, fuel and critical big-ticket investments.

"We have some investments we have to make," the secretary said. "We have to buy the new [Air Force refueling] tanker. We have to replace some of the surface ships ...built during the Reagan years that will age out over that 12-year period...All elements of the [nuclear] Triad need to be modernized" -- bomber aircraft, land-based missiles and ballistic-missile submarines.

"You may have to make some choices there," Gates said. "I want to frame this so it is not a math exercise, but so people understand the strategic and national security consequences of the decisions that they are making."


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