Rapid Fire 2011-04-19: Nunn-McCurdy Breaches

• South Korea to spend KRW 2-3 trillion (about 1.8-2.8 billion dollars) on air and missile defense system to counter North Korean missile threat.

• DoD tells Congress that 95 weapons programs had $64 billion in net cost increases; 7 major weapons programs are in “critical or significant” breach of the Nunn-McCurdy limits on unit cost growth.

• Pentagon chief Robert Gates plans to propose an additional $400 billion in defense cuts through 2023 to President Obama.

• The Canadian defense budget is predicted to grow at a meager 0.44% per year through 2015, reaching US$19.7 billion, according to ASD Reports.

• RAF Voyager transport/tanker aircraft, based on the Airbus A330 airframe with a wingspan of 60mm, arrives in UK; the Voyager will replace VC-10 and Tristar fleets.

• Staff Gasket in Alpine, NJ, and company President Eric Helf plead guilty to fraud in using foreign manufacturers, instead of US-based firms, to supply replacement parts to the US military.

• General Dynamics snags $33 million contract to supply high-explosive incendiary rounds (new production of PGU-13 D/B and remanufacture of PGU-13 HEI cartridges) for 30mm GAU-8 Avenger cannon used in the Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt attack aircraft.

US Military on the Move: Rugged Notebooks Lead the Way

“Where does it hurt?”

The US military is a military on the move. It also is a military on the computer and the network. Linking those two aspects together are notebook computers that can be taken on patrol as well as used on the flight line, at a command post, or in a field hospital.

But US military’s notebooks are not like everyday laptops. They are built to withstand the harsh conditions of Afghanistan or the demanding conditions of flight-line maintenance. They need to be rugged and able to withstand sand, water, wind, heat, cold, jarring impacts, and various chemicals and fluids.

This article examines the US military’s standards and criteria for rugged notebook computers, the environmental and work environments that the rugged computers must be able to endure, as well as assessments of how rugged computers respond in practice. But first, let’s examine what we mean by the term “rugged.”

• What is rugged equipment?
  
• Gold standard
  
• On the battlefield
  
• Flight-line use
  
• Procurement of rugged computers
  
• Key Contacts
  
• Additional Reading
  

Up to $600M to TASC to Support DTRA WMD Program

“Go Ahead, Make My Day”

The US Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) has undertaken an R&D effort to provide an integrated approach to combating weapons of mass destruction (WMD) known as the Research and Development Enterprise [PDF]. Their efforts are aimed at improving situational awareness about the WMD threat, controlling WMD materials and systems worldwide, reducing the threat to US troops, protecting the homeland, transforming the US nuclear deterrent, and controlling the threat of loose nuclear weapons in the world.

As part of this effort, DTRA awarded a contract April 18/11 worth up to $600 million to TASC in Chantilly, VA to provide advisory services to the agency’s effort in this area…

USAF Uses SABER to Modernize Facilities

Off we go…

The USAF uses its simplified acquisition of base engineering requirements (SABER) contract to fulfill engineering requirements on a variety of projects, ranging from small renovations to large scale infrastructure needs involving pipelines, electrical substations, and life safety issues.

The SABER contract’s main purpose is to expedite contract award of civil engineer requirements through the issuance of individual delivery orders. The contract contains a collection of detailed task specifications that include most types of real property maintenance, repair, and construction work. A number of SABER contracts have been awarded.

New Orleans Flood Control Infrastructure Contracts Keep Coming

Lake Ponchartrain
& New Orleans (shaded area)
(click to view larger)

The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is in the process of doling out large contracts to repair and strengthen flood control infrastructure in New Orleans and the vicinity.

The contracts are being awarded under the Hurricane & Storm Damage Risk Reduction System (HSDRRS – formerly the Hurricane Protection System). USACE has developed an interactive map with the status of all of the projects under this program in the New Orleans area.

The USACE expects to complete construction under the HSDRRS in 2011.