Vehicle command and control transformation

Eagan, McAllister Associates, Inc., has been awarded a $22,071,517 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity performance-based contract with hybrid pricing arrangements to provide production engineering, integration product improvement, test and evaluation, and maintenance support as well as the capacity to modernize or introduce transformational technologies into systems and technical support services of various C5ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cryptology, Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance) programs for fielding on platforms such as: Marine Corps Up-Armored HMMWV, Joint Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Rapid Responded Vehicle, Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, other Department of Defense vehicle platforms, Navy C5ISR tactical vehicles, and Marine Corps C5ISR tactical vehicles, in addition to other tactical vehicles.

This contract includes four one-year options and three-award terms, which if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $221,972,342. Work will be performed in Charleston, S.C., and is expected to be completed by May 2009 (May 2016 with all options and award terms exercised). The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, Charleston, S.C., is the contracting activity.

Source: DoD

Editor's Note: Eagan, McAllister Associates is wholly owned by SAIC

US Army FLIR purchase

FLIR Systems of Wilsonville, Ore. had been awarded a $49,476,870 firm-fixed price contract for their FLIR STAR SAFIRE III sensors. Work is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2008.

The Star Safire III has long range sensor optics for day/night surveillance, and precise gyro-stabilization to counter the motion effects on tall towers. It is currently in use with the Army Rapid Assessment and Initial Detection (RAID) program.

Sources: DoD, FLIR Systems

Dingos for Luxembourg

Luxembourg will purchase 48 DINGO 2s from Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW). The vehicles are destined for the Army's reconnaissance companies and will come equipped with a mast system and electronics and optics from Thales.

The DINGO 2 has a range of 1000 km, a top speed of approximately 90 km/h and holds a crew of 8. It is protected by significant amour and a Kongsberg remote-operated turret. The vehicle can be transported in C160 Transall, C130 Hercules and A400M aircraft.

The contract will be coordinated through NATO's Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA) with Thales as the prime. Luxembourg will now share platform commonalities with Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Germany.

Source and Photo: KMW

Stryker mods awarded

General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) has been awarded a $32,665,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for fund engineering and manufacturing development for the Stryker mobile gun system and nuclear biological chemical reconnaissance vehicle.

Work will be performed in Sterling Heights, Mich., London, Ontario, Canada, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2010.

Source: Dod Photo: Army U.S. Army News Service

Editor's Note: The DoD posting also reads "There was one bid solicited on Apr. 6, 2008, and one bid was received." Just a typo ...

"New" engineering vehicles go into service in India

A number of indigenously developed engineering equipment are currently in service with the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army. A number of new combat engineering equipment newly developed by DRDO are on the verge of entering into service, further reducing the dependence of the Army on cost prohibitive imported equipment.

Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (VRDE) Ahmednagar, one of the premier laboratories of DRDO, have developed a range of combat engineering equipment which includes the Armoured Engineering Reconnaissance Vehicle (AERV), Armoured Amphibious Dozer (AAD) and the NBC Reconnaissance Vehicle.

The AERV and AAD are designed to provide engineering support in both offensive and defensive operations in plains, desert and riverine terrain. The AERV is designed to carry out terrestrial and riverbed survey to facilitate construction of assault bridges across water obstacles. The AAD is capable of providing integral engineering support to battle groups in offensive operations for construction of assault bridges and for construction of tracks, thereby improving the mobility of advancing armoured columns.

The NBC Reconnaissance vehicle is designed to diagnose the existence of life endangering nuclear, biological and chemical contaminants in the atmosphere during NBC warfare and cordon off such areas.

All of these equipments are based on tracked BMP 2 amphibious Infantry Combat Vehicle, which allows it to operate on land and on water bodies. The onboard equipment in each of these vehicles can be operated by the crew in hatch down condition from within the confines of the armour-protected vehicles.

Ordnance Factory at Medak has been entrusted with the responsibility of production of these vehicles in collaboration with Bharat Electronics Limited, Pune.

The AERVs are already under limited series production and have entered service with the Corps of Engineers recently.

New first off production vehicles in the category of AAD and NBC Recce Vehicle have been realized and a demonstration of capabilities of these vehicles to the Users is planned at VRDE, Ahmednagar, on 03 March 2008, in the presence of visiting Engineer-in-Chief, Lt Gen RR Goswami. Flagging off of new serials of AERV to be handed over to the Army is also planned on this occasion.

Source and Photo : DDRO

Visibuilding moves forward

Visibuilding is a program inside the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Strategic Technology Office (STO). "VisiBuilding will develop technology that will re-establish surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities into buildings to perform three main functions:

• Determine building layouts,
• Find anomalous quantities of materials,
• Locate people within the building.

VisiBuilding's approach to this addresses three main areas of technical concentration:

• Phenomenology of signal penetration into buildings,
• Sensor positioning and utilization to maximize information about the building,
• Model-based 3-D building deconvolution that operates in a multipath-rich, diffractive environment."

Science Applications International Corp., (SAIC) has been awarded a $5,270,000.00 cost-plus contract to develop and test the VisiBuilding concept.Work will be performed in San Diego, CA and is to be completed by Aug. 15, 2009. There were 70 bids received.

Sources: As cited and DoD
Photo: STO