$176.4M to Supply New M50 Gas Mask with Filters

M50 mask training

In December 2011, Avon Protection Systems, Inc. in Cadillac, MI won a 5-year, $176.4 million firm-fixed-price contract to make M61 filter canisters for the new M50 Joint Service General Purpose Mask. Work will be performed in Cadillac, MI, and is expected to run until Dec 22/16. The bid was solicited through the Internet, with 6 bids received by U.S. Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD (W911SR-12-D-0001).

The new M50 mask is designed to be more compact, lighter, more comfortable and more effective than the older M40. When worn in conjunction with a MOPP suit, the mask allows over 24 hours of protection against chemical or biological agents and radioactive particulates. Improvements include a single cast, optically correct visor with a wider field of view than the previous twin-lens design, and a twin conformal filter for a 50% improvement in breathing resistance. Anyone who has ever tried heavy physical exertion in a gas mask understands how much that improvement means. The convenient integrated 3L Camelbak for drinking, and clip-on sunglasses or corrective lenses, will also be appreciated.

Tracked RESET: Brazil Sticks With its M113s

Brazilian M113:
from BAE

In the early 1970s, the Brazilian Army acquired a number of tracked M113 armored personnel carriers from the US Army, to serve alongside their locally-built EE-11 Urrutu 6×6 wheeled APCs. The mix is a smart one; wheeled vehicles offer easier mobility, while tracked vehicles offer broader military options, and can handle all types of terrain. Both vehicle types are very old, however, and the Urrutus will soon be replaced by over 2,000 of Brazil’s new VBTP/ Guaranis.

That leaves the Army’s tracked APCs, which are set to get attention of their own now. Under a $41.9 million contract with BAE Systems Land and Armaments in Santa Clara, CA (W56HZV-12-C-0083), the Brazilian Army Depot in Curitiba will receive the supplies and training they need to upgrade 150 of Brazil’s roughly 600 M113A0s (“M113B”) to the M113A2 Mk1 configuration. “Upgrade” is really too modest a word – the depot will strip the APCs down to shells, leaving only the vehicle hulls, hatches and ramps. All other components including the engines, transmissions and cooling systems will be replaced or upgraded using components, tooling and spares from BAE, who will also train the depot staff. This RESET approach lowers the overall upgrade cost, but note that the true cost will be substantially above the BAE contract’s value alone. The M113A2 Mk1 program is expected to last until November 2014, by which time the Guaranis will also be in full production, and entering service. BAE Systems.

US Military Adds Heavy Trucks Under FHTV-III

THAAD on HEMTT

In 2009, with its bridge buy of FMTV medium trucks in place, and initial awards for the potential JLTV Hummer replacement designs underway, the next order of business on the US Army’s agenda was a new Family of Heavy Tactical Vehicles multi-year contract: FHTV-III. That multi-billion dollar FHTV-III contract has been awarded – not as a re-compete like FMTV, but as a single-source solicitation.

Oshkosh has provided the core of this capability for over 20 yeas now. Its Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks (HEMTT) and their 13-ton payloads are the mainstay of the FHTV fleet, serving in variants that include M977/985 Cargo, M978 Fueler, M982/983 Tractors, and M984 Wrecker/Tow; they also serve as heavy transporters for Patriot and THAAD air defense systems. M1074/75 Palletized Load Systems (PLS) and PLS trailers (PLST) are best known for their automated container/pallet loading arms, and for their Universal Power Interface Kit (UPIK) that can add modules for firefighting, construction, cranes, cement mixing, etc. The M1000/1070 Heavy Equipment Transporters (HET) are flatbeds that can transport a 70-ton Abrams tank – or anything less – in order to save wear and tear on expensive armored vehicles and on the roads. A specialized FHTV truck called the M1977 CBT can even lay bridges. This article details the FHTV-III trucks, and related developments and contracts:

• FHTV: Upgrades, LTAS, and RECAP [updated]
  
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
  
• Additional Readings
  

Rapid Fire 2012-01-04: National Guard Joins Joint Chiefs

• US SecDef Leon Panetta will present the result of the Pentagon’s latest strategic review tomorrow. Nothing dramatic or really new appears in the pre-announcement coverage so far: Bloomberg | NYT | Reuters. Expect a confirmation of a relative, but not drastic shift from Europe to Asia, and some program delays.

• As chief of the National Guard Bureau and in execution of the 2012 NDAA, US Air Force General Craig R. McKinley is now a statutory member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

• New experimental anti-IED device: the remote-controlled leafblower-wheelbarrow hybrid, courtesy of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) at Fort Halstead, Kent, in England (a site that incidentally DSTL will leave in the years to come). Meanwhile Dr Andrew Baxter at DSTL in Porton Down received an award for his design work on light protected patrol vehicles (LPPV).

• Boeing is meeting today with its workers in the Wichita, KS plant the company is said to be considering closing.

• Elbit gets another Hermes 900 UAV order from an unnamed customer in the Americas. Chile is known as the 1st export customer for that platform.

• Learnings about how the Americans are fighting in Afghanistan, as seen by the Chinese.

• Iran’s claims on the Strait of Hormuz are the usual bombastic nonsense but it’s still useful to have some context. The CSIS think tank has a primer. it’s not just the US reaction that’s worth watching (so far, a shrug), but also China’s.