Boom Box: APOBS Mine-Breaching Line Charge Shifts to Chemring

APOBS

The MK7 MOD 2 Anti-Personnel Obstacle Breaching System (APOBS) is used to clear mines or wire obstacles, and create a safe footpath for troops. APOBS can be carried by 2 people, takes 30 to 120 seconds to be set up, and fires a rocket from a 25-meter standoff position, sending a line charge with fragmentation grenades over the minefields or wire obstacles. The grenades clear the mines, and sever the wires. Developed by the US Army Armaments Engineering and Technology Center in Picatinny Arsenal, NJ, APOBS won a US Army top military inventions of the year award in 2004. It replaces the Bangalore Torpedo, which was heavier, took longer to set up, and required 4 times the number of people to carry.

In 2006, small business qualifier Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Co. in Simsbury, CT received a maximum $150.8 million, 5-year contract for up to 3,000 units. In 2011, however, the Army/USMC contract shifted to Chemring Ordnance, Inc. in Perry, FL…

$150M for Cost Engineering in Walla Walla, WA

Lower Monumental Dam

Project Time & Cost, Inc. in Atlanta, GA won a 5-year, firm-fixed-price contract worth up to $150 million. They’ll provide “architect-engineering services for nationwide cost engineering” in support of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Walla Walla District in Washington State. The district’s site offers a summary of the key projects it’s involved in, and the firm has been working with the US ACE for over 25 years now. Work location will be determined with each task order, with an estimated completion date of Nov 6/16. The bid was solicited through the Internet, with 4 bids received by the US Army Corps of Engineers in Walla Walla, WA (W912EF-12-D-0003).

According to AACE International, cost engineering is “…the area of engineering practice where engineering judgment and experience are used in the application of scientific principles and techniques to problems of cost estimating, cost control, business planning and management science, profitability analysis, project management, and planning and scheduling.” That scope includes Cost Estimating, Earned Value Management, Risk Management, and Schedule Management.

$480M to GIS As Security Contractors to the USACE in Afghanistan

In October 2011, Global Integrated Security (USA), Inc. in Reston, VA won a 4-year, $480 million firm-fixed-price contract from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, for Reconstruction Security Support Services throughout Afghanistan. Work will be performed in Afghanistan, with an estimated completion date of Oct 19/15. Five bids were solicited, with 5 bids received by the USACE office in Winchester, VA (W912ER-12-D-0001).

Global Integrated Security has performed RSSS work in Afghanistan before. A $34 million task order in December 2009 focused on Kabul and Kandahar, but a March 2010 contract [PDF] from the US Army Corps of Engineers saw them expand those services to encompass a National Operations Center providing intelligence and analysis, reconnaissance teams, interpreters, aviation services throughout Afghanistan; and “mobile security support services” to USACE personnel during travel to, and presence at, construction sites.

Up to $3.8 Billion for US CENTCOM AOR Construction

CENTCOM

June 20/11: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Middle East District in Winchester, VA awarded 14 multiple-award contracts, out of 43 bids received via FBO.gov for design-build and construction projects in U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility.

The firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery /indefinite-quantity task orders could be worth up to $3.8 billion, and run until June 30/16. Each task order will be competed among these winners:

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.

Iraqi Security Forces Order of Battle 2010 09/10

(c) DJ Elliott

DJ Elliott is a retired USN Intelligence Specialist (22 years active duty) who has been analyzing and writing on Iraqi Security Forces developments since 2006. His Iraqi Security Forces Order of Battle is an open-source compilation that attempts to map and detail Iraqi units and equipment, as their military branches and internal security forces grow and mature. While “good enough for government use” is not usually uttered as a compliment, US Army TRADOC has maintained permission to use the ISF OOB for their unclassified handouts since 2008.

This compilation is reproduced here with full permission. It offers a set of updates highlighting recent changes in the ISF’s composition and development, followed by the full updated ISF OOBs in PDF format. Reader feedback and tips are encouraged. This month’s developments include:

Landmines in Afghanistan: A Decades Old Danger

US Army explosives expert
defuses Russian landmine

Afghanistan is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world. These landmines are not just from the Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighting US and coalition forces. Many are left over from the Soviet occupation of the country from 1979 to 1989.

There are an estimated 100,000 landmines in Afghanistan. They pose a risk not only to US and coalition forces, but civilian Afghanis as well. Several international organizations, such as the UN Mine Action Centre for Afghanistan, have been working to clear the mines for decades. A video by filmaker Oliver Englehart provides a compelling view of a landmine clearing team.

The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has been working to clear landmines from Afghanistan since Operation Enduring Freedom began. The USACE uses a combination of US soldiers and contractors to perform the work. The USACE’s Engineering and Support Center in Huntsville, AL, recently awarded a contract worth up to $60 million to EOD Technology (EODT) in Lenoir City, TN, to clear mines and battlefield areas…

Up to $75M to Michael Baker Jr. for US Navy Environmental Compliance Support

Michael Baker Jr., Inc., a Virginia Beach, VA-based engineering unit of Michael Baker Corp., won a $75 million maximum value, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for multimedia environmental compliance engineering support for the US Navy and other US Department of Defense installations in the Northeast, Southeast and Mid-Atlantic continental United States and some overseas locations. These locations are within the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Atlantic’s areas of responsibility.

The maximum dollar value includes a base period and 4 option years.

Michael Baker Jr. will prepare studies, plans, specifications, design, reports, cost estimates and associated engineering services in support of the following environmental compliance programs:

NAVFAC Awards up to $20M to RBF for Civil Engeering Services

The Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southwest in San Diego, CA awarded a maximum $20 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity architect/ engineering contract to RBF Consulting in San Diego, CA to provide civil engineering services in NAVFAC Southwest’s area of responsibility.

RBF will be perform the work at various US Navy and US Marine Corps facilities and other government facilities within the NAVFAC Southwest AOR, including California (87%), Arizona (5%), Nevada (5%), Colorado (1%), New Mexico (1%), and Utah (1%).

RBF will provide the following civil engineering services…