Tuesday, August 30, 2011

DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated August 30, 2011

Asian Defense News: DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated August 30, 2011
(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - August 30, 2011: U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) Contracts issued August 30, 2011 are undermentioned;

CONTRACTS

MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is announcing the award of an Indefinite Delivery-Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract to Teledyne Brown Engineering, Incorporated, Huntsville, Alabama under contract HQ0147-11-D-0015. The maximum ceiling value of this action is $595,000,000 in Research, Development, Test & Evaluation funds. This IDIQ contract allows the award of orders using Cost-Plus-Incentive-Fee, Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee, Fixed-Price-Incentive-Firm Target and Firm-Fixed-Price Contract Line Items. Under this contract award, Teledyne Brown Engineering, Incorporated will develop a single objective simulation framework system with a modular, scalable, reconfigurable, and composable architecture to replace the existing digital simulation architecture and hardware-in-the-loop single stimulation framework systems. The work will be performed primarily in Huntsville, Ala. The performance period is from September 01, 2011 through September 01, 2016. FY2011 RDT&E funds to be obligated under two initial Task Orders will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The MDA in Huntsville, Ala. is the contracting activity.

ARMY

Lockheed Martin Corporation, Orlando, Fla., (W56HZV-11-D-0146); Action Target Inc., Provo, Utah, (W56HZV-11-D-0147); Meggitt Training Systems, Suwanee, Ga., (W56HZV-11-D-0148); Strategic Systems Inc., Decatur, Ala., (W56HZV-11-D-0149); and Saab Training USA LLC, Orlando, Fla., (W56HZV-11-D-0150); were awarded a $475,000,000 firm-fixed-price indefinite-delivery / indefinite-quantity multiple-award-task-order contract. The award will provide for the procurement of the Army Targetry Systems program. Work location will be determined with each task order, with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2016. The bid was solicited through the Internet, with five bids received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity.

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif., was awarded a $135,500,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract. The award will provide for the research services in advanced modeling and simulation, capitalizing on research and development in disciplines with the entertainment industry. Work will be performed in Los Angeles, Calif., with an estimated completion date of Sept. 29, 2014. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Durham, N.C., is the contracting activity (W911NF-04-D-0005).

Unified Business Technologies, Troy, Mich., was awarded a $42,000,000 firm-fixed-price level-of-effort contract. The award will provide for the information technology services for the Corporate Information Office/G-6. Work will be performed in Warren, Mich., and Anniston, Ala., with an estimated completion date of Sept. 28, 2016. The bid was solicited through the Internet, with nine bids received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-11-D-L555),

The Damon Company, Newport, R.I., (W912LD-11-D-0031); ADS Construction Inc., East Providence, R.I., (W912LD-11-D-0030); Tower Construction Corporation, Cranston, R.I., (W912LD-11-D-0029); E. Turgeon Construction Corporation, Cranston, R.I., (W912LD-11-D-0028); Nadeau Construction Corporation, South Attleboro, Mass., (W912LD-11-D-0027); Enfield Enterprises Inc., Springfield, Mass., (W912LD-11-D-0026); TRAC Builders Inc., Johnston, R.I., (W912LD-11-D-0025); City Enterprises Inc., Springfield, Mass., (W912LD-11-D-0024); Tricore Inc., Hingham, Mass., (W912LD-11-D-0023); Iron Construction Group LLC, Warwick, R.I., (W912LD-11-D-0022); Advantage Services and Solution LLC, Providence, R.I., (W912LD-11-D-0021); Campbell Construction Group LLC, Peabody, Mass., (W912LD-11-D-0020); J E Prenosil & Company, Thorndike, Mass., (W912LD-11-D-0019); Alares LLC, Quincy, Mass., (W912LD-11-D-0018); The Nutmeg Companies Inc., Norwich, Conn., (W912LD-11-D-0017); J J Cardosi Inc., East Providence, R.I., (W912LD-11-D-0016); Five Star Building Corporation, Easthampton, Mass., (W912LD-11-D-0015); Northwind Engineering LLC, Shelocta, Penn., (W912LD-11-D-0014); The Cherokee 8a Group Inc., Newark, N.J., (W912LD-11-D-0013); Icarus Construction Services LLC, Worcester, Mass., (W912LD-11-D-0012); KMK Construction Inc., Eliot, Maine, (W912LD-11-D-0011); International Ventures Inc., North Smithfield, R.I., (W912LD-11-D-0010); Piquette and Howard Electric Service Inc., Plaistow, N.H., (W912LD-11-D-0009); E.W. Burman Inc., Warwick, R.I., (W912LD-11-D-0008); Pride Enterprises Inc., Norristown, Penn., (W912LD-11-D-0007); Janki Construction Inc., Lawrence, Mass., (W912LD-11-D-0006); Cornerstone Electrical Services, Salem, N.H., (W912LD-11-D-0005); Wampworx Inc., Mashpee, Mass., (W912LD-11-D-0004); Pezzuco Construction Inc., Cranston, R.I., (W912LD-11-D-0003); KGCI Inc., Saugus, Mass., (W912LD-11-D-0002); and Maron Construction Company Inc., Providence, R.I., (W912LD-11-D-0001); were awarded a $20,000,000 firm-fixed-price multiple-award-task-order contract. The award will provide for the construction and repair of federal buildings and facilities. Work location will be determined with each task order, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 18, 2016. There were 32 bids solicited, with 32 bids received. The National Guard Bureau, Providence, R.I., is the contracting activity.

North Carolina Business Enterprise Program, Raleigh, N.C., was awarded a $17,651,696 cost-plus-award-fee contract. The award will provide for the modification of an existing contract to provide food services at Fort Bragg, N.C. Work will be performed in Fort Bragg, N.C., with an estimated completion date of Aug. 31, 2011. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command, Fort Bragg, N.C., is the contracting activity (W91247-09-C-0035).

The Boeing Company, Mesa, Ariz., was awarded a $16,017,000 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the modification of an existing contract to provide for the procurement of AH-64D Apache Block III Low Rate Initial Production for Lot 1A and 1B support. Work will be performed in Mesa, Ariz., with an estimated completion date of Feb. 28, 2014. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-09-C-0161).

North Wind Services LLC, Idaho Falls, Idaho, was awarded a $14,000,000 firm-fixed-price indefinite-delivery / indefinite-quantity contract. The award will provide for the environmental services for White Sands Missile Range, N.M. Work will be performed in White Sands Missile Range, N.M., with an estimated completion date of Aug. 25, 2016. The bid was solicited through the Internet, with eight bids received. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa, Okla., is the contracting activity (W912BV-11-D-0028).

Wolverine Services LLC, Fort Knox, Ky., was awarded a $10,442,038 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the logistics support services to Fort Knox, Ky. Work will be performed in Fort Knox, Ky., with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2012. The bid was solicited through the Internet, with 16 bids received. The U.S. Army Mission and Installation Command, Fort Knox, Ky., is the contracting activity (W9124D-11-D-0056).

Quantum Dynamics Inc., McLean, Va., was awarded a $10,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the information technology services to the National Guard nationwide. Work location will be determined with each task order, with an estimated completion date of March 11, 2012. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The National Guard Bureau, Lansing, Mich., is the contracting activity (W912JB-11-D-4020).

PACE Pacific Corporation, Phoenix, Ariz., was awarded an $8,868,000 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the construction project on Cannon Air Force Base, N.M. Work will be performed in Cannon Air Force Base, Curry County, N.M., with an estimated completion date of Jan. 12, 2013. Sixteen bids were solicited, with eight bids received. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Albuquerque, N.M., is the contracting activity (W912PP-11-C-0013).

Smiths Detection, Edgewood, Md., was awarded an $8,559,840 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the modification of an existing contract to procure 1,440 joint chemical agent detectors and 1,400 communication adapter kits. Work will be performed in Edgewood, Md., with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2016. The bid was solicited through the Internet, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., is the contracting activity (W911SR-07-C-0080).

Hospital Klean of Texas Inc., San Antonio, Texas, was awarded a $7,239,948 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the modification of an existing contract to provide hospital housekeeping services. Work will be performed in Madigan Army Medical Center, Tacoma, Wash., with an estimated completion date of Aug. 31, 2012. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Medical Command, Regional Contracting Office, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, is the contracting activity (W81K04-07-D-0012).

NAVY

Lockheed Martin Corporation Missiles and Fire Control, Orlando, Fla., is being awarded a $49,950,000 firm-fixed-price contract for procurement of 18 AN/AAQ-30 target sight systems (TSS) that will be integrated into the AH-1Z Cobra attack helicopter. This integration is part of the USMC H-1 upgrade program to remanufacture legacy aircraft with state of the art designs incorporated into the existing fleet of AH-1W’s, converting them to AH-1Z. The TSS provides target identification and tracking, passive targeting for integrated weapons, including Hellfire missiles, and a laser designation capability supporting friendly laser-guided weapons. Work will be performed in Orlando, Fla. (90 percent), Ocala, Fla. (10 percent), and is expected to be completed by August 2014. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The contract was not competitively procured. Sole source basis in accordance with 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1), as set forth in FAR 6.203-1(b)(1)(ii), only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements . Lockheed Martin is the only vendor that can provide AN/AAQ-30 TSS in time to meet the Government required schedule. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, Crane, Ind., is the contracting activity (N00164-11-C-JQ77).

Vigor Shipyards, Inc., Seattle, Wash., is being awarded a $19,006,086 option exercise modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-11-C-4401) for repair and modernization of naval assets. For modernization of U.S. naval assets typical work performed may include ship alterations, blasting, painting, and surface preparation for complete or touch-up preservation of the underwater hull, freeboard, struts, rudders, running gear, ground tackle, and sea-chest, as well as various interior tanks. Work will be performed in Seattle, Wash., and Naval Station Everett, Wash., and is expected to be completed by January 2012. Contract funds in the amount of $19,006,086 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Northwest Regional Maintenance Center, Bremerton, Wash., is the contracting activity.

The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $16,881,855 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, fixed-price -incentive contract (N00019-09-C-0019) for non-recurring and recurring engineering in support of Engineering Change Proposal 6213R2, “Trailing Edge Flap Honeycomb Redesign” of the F/A-18 E/F and EA-18G aircraft. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo., and is expected to be completed in May 2015. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

Alloy Surfaces Company, Aston Pa., is awarded a $12,971,839 firm-fixed-price modification under a previously awarded Basic Ordering Agreement (N00104-10-G-0726) to exercise an option to manufacture MJU-64/B Decoy Devices. Work will be performed in Aston, Pa., and work is expected to be completed by April 2013. The procurement of ammunition Navy and Marine Corp contract funds will not expire before the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. One company was solicited for this requirement and one offer was received in response to the solicitation. The NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support, Mechanicsburg Pa., is the contracting activity.

Sauer Incorporated, Jacksonville, Fla., is being awarded $9,441,100 for firm-fixed-price task order #0003 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N40085-09-D-5026) for the design and construction of a Special Operations Forces Cafeteria at Naval Air Station Oceana, Dam Neck Annex. The work to be performed provides for the design and construction of a command cafeteria facility and will serve personnel, from command staff, both military and civilian, to operators involved in extraordinarily physically demanding training. The task order also contains two unexercised options, which if exercised would increase cumulative task order value to $9,536,100. Work will be performed in Virginia Beach, Va., and is expected to be completed by Dec. 2012. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Seven proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity.

Impact Resources Technologies, Bethesda, Md., is being awarded an $8,896,823 firm-fixed-price contract for Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) logistic support system comprised of Common Logistics Command and Control System Support Services and Transportation Capacity Planning Tool that are tactical web-enabled logistics information management systems to provide the MAGTF commander with "planning, executing, and tasking" capabilities, and tactical logistics situational awareness of the battlefield. Battle Command Sustainment Support System is a workstation which the Marine Corps utilizes for its in transit visibility capability. This contract contains four options which, if exercised, will bring the total contract value to $47,232,710. Work will be performed in Camp LeJeune, N.C. (25 percent); Albany, Ga. (25 percent); Dumfries, Va. (25 percent); Afghanistan (15 percent), Okinawa (5 percent), and Marine Corps Base, Hawaii (5 percent), and work is expected to be completed by Aug. 29, 2016. Contract funds in the amount of $8,896,823 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the General Service Administration, with three proposals received. Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity (M67854-11-F-4683).

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

Raytheon Company, Andover, Mass., was awarded contract SPRRA2-11-D-0012/P00001. This delivery order is for fifteen additional NSN’s being added to the basic firm fixed price, indefinite delivery and indefinite quantity contract with a maximum $37,607,589 in support of the Patriot Missile System. There are no other locations of performance. Using service is Army. The date of performance completion is May 1, 2014. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Redstone Arsenal, Ala.

Woodward, Inc., Loves Park, Ill., was awarded contract SPRRA1-11-C-0071. The award is a firm fixed price contract for a maximum $15,889,000 for main fuel control. There are no other locations of performance. Using service is Army. The date of performance completion is August 31, 2012. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency, Redstone Arsenal, Ala.

DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY

The President and Fellows of Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass., are being awarded a $6,668,082 cost reimbursement contract (HR0011-11-C-0093). DARPA is funding the president and fellows of Harvard College for research to develop technologies and approaches to predict natural viral evolution. Work will be performed in Cambridge, MA (39%); Laurel, MD (37%); Baltimore, MD (9%); Ann Arbor, MI (9%); and Pittsburgh, PA (5%). The work is expected to be completed by Aug. 31, 2012. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is the contracting activity.


*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources
U.S. DoD issued No. 749-11 August 30, 2011
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DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: The Revolution In Unmanned Aircraft Is Overrated

Asian Defense News: DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: The Revolution In Unmanned Aircraft Is Overrated
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - August 30, 2011: In the ten years since the 9-11 attacks, remotely-piloted aircraft have become the signature weapons of America’s global war on terrorists. As Richard Aboulafia of the Teal Group aerospace consultancy observes in his August newsletter, the only stories concerning military aircraft that seem to make it into the news columns of most newspapers these days are reports about unmanned aircraft.

It isn’t hard to see why. From Boeing’s 40-pound Scan Eagle to Northrop Grumman’s ten-ton Global Hawk, unmanned aircraft have become ubiquitous on the modern battlefield. The military has bought literally thousands of them. They collect vital intelligence for warfighters at every level in the chain of command, sometimes loitering silently above enemy formations far longer than any manned aircraft could. They have killed hundreds (maybe thousands) of unsuspecting terrorists and insurgents with Hellfire missiles, often in places where other U.S. forces could not operate such as Pakistan and Yemen. Just last week, a CIA drone strike in Pakistan took out al Qaeda’s number-two leader.

Some observers think that unmanned aircraft amount to a revolution in modern warfare. Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institution told the Associated Press in August that, “The era of manned airplanes should be seen as over,” and his colleague P.W. Singer has written an entire book on how robotics will transform the conduct of war. Congress has legislated goals for replacing manned military aircraft with unmanned systems, and every major defense contractor is marketing products that contribute to the trend.

However, the notion that human pilots have no future on the modern battlefield finds few takers among military professionals. They see the value of unmanned aircraft — one combat commander likened Northrop Grumman’s Global Hawk to having his own personal spy satellite — but they also see the limitations. Aboulafia derides the exaggerated sales expectations that companies have for the systems, noting that his consultancy estimates the value of world unmanned aircraft output today at only 2.5 percent of the amount for manned aircraft, and forecasts it will remain below five percent in 2020. Thus, while well-positioned drones like Textron’s Shadow will continue making a significant contribution to tactical operations and corporate results, the skeptics say they aren’t about to eclipse the dominant role of manned aircraft in the military marketplace.
I think the skeptics have it right. Although there is a lot of intellectual and emotional force behind the idea of robotic planes, the current enthusiasm for unmanned aircraft has taken root at a time when threats were relatively modest and people’s minds were opened to new possibilities by the information revolution. Even a cursory assessment of the hurdles unmanned aircraft must overcome before they can displace human pilots from the performance of most military missions suggests the technology has been oversold. Here are five limitations worth considering.

First of all, unmanned aircraft typically lack defensive weapons with which to protect themselves. That doesn’t matter much today, because the United States has spent the last ten years fighting enemies who had no air forces and few surface-to-air missiles (Iraq’s air defenses were quickly suppressed in 2003). However, our military competitors in the last century were other industrial powers who sought to beat U.S. air power at its own game, so it would be dangerously naive to assume that defenseless drones will be a viable warfighting technology for the foreseeable future. The Serbs managed to down U.S. drones with antiaircraft fire during the Balkan air war in 1999, and when a Predator unmanned aircraft was attacked by an Iraqi fighter in 2002, the fighter’s pilot quickly destroyed his quarry — even though that was one of the rare occasions on which an unmanned aircraft had been equipped with air-to-air missiles. No unmanned aircraft in the U.S. arsenal today would survive long in Chinese air space.

Second, even in the absence of enemy air defenses, unmanned aircraft are relatively fragile. They cannot perform the kinds of maneuvers typical of manned tactical aircraft, and their flight routes are usually planned carefully with an eye to local weather conditions. Despite such caution, it is common to lose drones due to mechanical problems, disruption of command links and other problems. The U.S. Air Force had bought about 60 Predators by the time the Afghan campaign began in 2001, but a third of them had already been lost, reflecting the high attrition rates associated with operating unmanned air vehicles during the early years. As experience with flying remotely-piloted vehicles has increased, loss rates have fallen considerably, to a point where the Air Force projects that by 2013 they will be comparable to the loss rates for the manned F-16 fighter. However, nobody would seriously consider using a Predator to carry out most of the missions assigned to F-16s, and the U.S. has been conducting unmanned aircraft operations in Southwest Asia for a long time now. If mission requirements change or war zones shift, loss rates will probably rise.

Third, unmanned aircraft aren’t really robotic in the sense of functioning autonomously. They usually are operated by remote human pilots linked to the vehicles through line-of-sight datalinks or satellite downlinks. In other words, even though unmanned aircraft take human pilots out of the cockpit, they don’t remove them from the picture. Quite the opposite — without continuous links to a human operator, most drones would be unable to accomplish their missions and eventually crash. However, the fact that operators are often located far from the setting in which missions unfold helps explain both the high loss rates of early years and the collateral (unintended) damage that sometimes results from drone attacks on ground targets. Since current unmanned aircraft lack the agility and situational awareness of manned aircraft, their performance is relatively clumsy even if their endurance is considerably greater.

Fourth, there is little likelihood that emerging technologies will enable unmanned aircraft to become autonomously capable and survivable in the near future. Although proponents dream of removing people from any role in operating robotic aircraft, that vision under-estimates how crucial the human brain is to the conduct of effective air operations. Studies funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency indicate that the brain performs 38,000 trillion operations per second and has memory capacity equivalent to 3,584 terabytes. The biggest supercomputers don’t achieve even one-percent of those levels, while consuming much more energy and space than would be available on an unmanned aircraft. So even though companies like IBM are working on so-called cognitive computers that would mimic human learning and reasoning, there is no chance we will see autonomous drones that can survive the rigors of aerial combat anytime soon. In a fight against any adversary possessing halfway decent air defenses, unmanned aircraft must remain tethered to the brains of human operators or they will quickly be swept from the skies.

Finally, unmanned aircraft are not cheap — at least, not the high-end vehicles for which proponents harbor the most ambitious hopes. The price-tag for a single MQ-9 Reaper (an advanced, armed version of the Predator) is about $30 million, and the cost of an entire Reaper unit capable of sustaining a continuous “orbit” is five times that amount. The unit will include several air vehicles, a ground control station, satellite datalinks and various other subsystems essential to combat operations. The price-tag looks even heftier when the limited versatility and survivability of unmanned aircraft are factored into the life-cycle cost equation. A typical F-35 joint strike fighter may cost a hundred million dollars to buy and sustain over a 30-year service life, but it will be able to autonomously perform a vast array of vital missions and it will be the most survivable tactical aircraft in the world. The Reapers will carry out a very limited range of missions, and be nearly useless against sophisticated adversaries — unless operators are willing to incur high loss rates.

Fortunately, sophisticated adversaries are not what we face today, and so the current operational environment affords maximum latitude for employing unmanned aircraft. But as Richard Aboulafia of the Teal Group points out, there’s a reason why even in today’s relatively permissive environment, the military has not applied unmanned vehicle technology to mission areas such as aerial combat and the collection of strategic reconnaissance. Some enthusiasts contend the military is simply too wedded to old ways of doing business, but Aboulafia is more believable when he suggests current unmanned aircraft technology simply isn’t capable of accomplishing most missions.

One day that may change. But advanced aerospace and information technologies are now widely diffused in the global economy, so the hope we can gain some long-term advantage over future adversaries in unmanned aircraft technology is unfounded. The more likely scenario is that one day soon we will face an enemy far more capable than the Taliban, and when that day comes we will see all too clearly the limitations of unmanned aircraft.



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DTN News - CANADIAN DEFENSE NEWS: General Dynamics Proposes PIRANHA 5 For The Close Combat Vehicle Program

Asian Defense News: DTN News - CANADIAN DEFENSE NEWS: General Dynamics Proposes PIRANHA 5 For The Close Combat Vehicle Program
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - August 30, 2011: General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada announced yesterday (Aug. 29) that it will offer the PIRANHA 5 vehicle fitted with Rheinmetall's LANCE 30mm Modular Turret System for the Government of Canada's Close Combat Vehicle (CCV) Program. The goal of the CCV program is to deliver a well-protected armoured vehicle with very high tactical mobility, able to deliver an infantry section in close combat, while operating in intimate support of main battle tanks. In response, General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada is leading an all-Canadian team that leverages the best of the Canadian
defence industry to deliver and support a vehicle that will meet those stringent requirements.

The PIRANHA 5 CCV is the latest evolution of the proven PIRANHA family of wheeled combat vehicles, incorporating the newest lethality, mobility, protection and communications technologies. It provides the best of both worlds, combining track-like performance with the strategic mobility of a wheeled platform. Advanced suspension technology allows the PIRANHA 5 CCV to go anywhere a medium-weight tracked vehicle can go with significantly lower fuel, maintenance and lifecycle costs.

Danny Deep, vice president of General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada, stated, "With the PIRANHA 5 CCV, Canadian soldiers will control the battlefield and fight, manoeuvre and communicate with agility and precise lethality. And they will do it in a vehicle that achieves the deployability and lifecycle cost benefits enjoyed by the rest of Canada's wheeled combat vehicle fleet."

Deep further stated, "With 35 years of experience in delivering and supporting vehicles that meet or exceed the requirements of the Canadian Army, General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada is committed to delivering to the Canadian soldier the best tools for the job and the best protection that we can give them. We know that our vehicles carry the soldiers we depend on to fight for the freedoms we cherish."

General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada has assembled a powerful Canadian team for this program. General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada will be the prime contractor for the CCV program and will manufacture and assemble the PIRANHA 5 chassis at its facility in London, Ontario. Rheinmetall's LANCE 30mm turret technology will be transferred to its Rheinmetall Canada facility in Saint-Jean-sur Richelieu, Quebec, for full turret production. Armatec Survivability Canada of Dorchester, Ontario, will augment the PIRANHA 5's inherent protection with a survivability suite of advanced composite materials and the latest technology in energy-absorbing troop and crew seating, all designed and tested to meet rigorous blast, IED and kinetic-energy threats. The remainder of the team will be drawn from a supplier base of over 400 Canadian companies. This combined production effort offers a world-class vehicle built in Canada, by Canadians, to protect Canadians.
General Dynamics Land Systems, the Canadian company's parent corporation, is a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE:GD -News). For information about General Dynamics Land Systems–Canada, please visit www.gdlscanada.com.

More information about General Dynamics is available at www.generaldynamics.com.



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DTN News - PAKISTAN NEWS: Video - Pakistani Instability And The Violence In Karachi | STRATFOR

Asian Defense News: DTN News - PAKISTAN NEWS: Video - Pakistani Instability And The Violence In Karachi | STRATFOR
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - August 30, 2011: Analyst Kamran Bokhari explains how the continuing violence in Karachi aggravates matters for a weakened Pakistan and its implications for NATO’s efforts to withdraw from Afghanistan.

A senior Pakistani official resigned Aug. 28 in the aftermath of violence that has gripped the country’s largest city, Karachi, and has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people in recent months. The resignation and the violence bode ill for both civilian rule in the country and for the country’s need to combat extremism and terrorism.

Analyst Kamran Bokhari explains how the continuing violence in Karachi aggravates matters for a weakened Pakistan and its implications for NATO’s efforts to withdraw from Afghanistan.

Read more: Dispatch: Pakistani Instability and the Violence in Karachi | STRATFOR
A senior Pakistani official in the southeastern province of Sindh, Zulfigar Mirza, tendered his resignation Aug. 28 in a lengthy three and a half hour nationally televised press conference. Mirza attacked both the regional party in Sindh, the MQM, as well as his own political party for the violence and accused both sides of engineering the target killings that have gripped the city over the past several months and resulted in the death of hundreds of people from all political factions.

The resignation of Mirza speaks volumes about the problems that Pakistan has in terms of civilian governance and its efforts to combat violent extremism. Karachi is gripped in a frenzy of violence that is being perpetrated by militias affiliated with various political parties, rival political parties representing rival ethnic groups and ideological political forces. So if political parties that are responsible for civilian governance in the country are running their own militias then that does not bode well for the ability of the state to try and disarm religious extremists who have been waging a vicious insurgency in the country for the past four years.

The inability of the federal and the provincial governments to bring an end to the violence in Karachi has led to a sharp decrease in public confidence towards the government and civilian rule. There have been open demands and calls upon the army to step in, some actually going so far as to asking the army to get rid of the civilian government, while others in a more measured way have said that the army needs to be brought in to restore law and order in the city because the police and the paramilitary forces have failed. It becomes very difficult for a democratically elected government to combat extremism and terrorism when those same democratic forces are running their own militias in the country’s largest city, which happens to be the economic hub of the nation.

The situation in Karachi, which doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon, comes at a time when the United States and the international community needs Pakistan to move towards stability, political stability, that can bring the economy back online so that they can be able to combat extremism and terrorism, which will provide for the conditions in which NATO can withdraw its forces from neighboring Afghanistan. But so long as Pakistan is mired into insecurity and political instability, that goal will likely remain elusive.

Read more: Dispatch: Pakistani Instability and the Violence in Karachi | STRATFOR


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