Responsible for the cargo, personnel and safety of the aircraft, the loadmaster backs up the pilot on everything behind the flight deck, contributing to the full-crew concept of flight operations and setting the stage for mission accomplishment.
“While pilots fly the aircraft, the loadmasters fulfill the C-27s function as an air-mobility mover,” said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Chris Neufeld, a NATO C-27 loadmaster advisor.
Because of the importance of loadmasters to mission success, Neufeld and other advisors work hard to develop the Afghan Air Force loadmaster corps at the Afghan Air Force Base here through classroom training and practical exercises.
Beneficial as class-work and practice can be, Neufeld believes there is no greater training platform than performing the job of a loadmaster in a real-world scenario.
“They are coming along great,” Neufeld said. “All of the responsibilities a C-27 loadmaster has is a lot to ask for from any professional. The progress and dedication of the Afghan airmen is incredible.”
“We are learning how to be proper loadmasters to improve our career field and serve our country,” Khan said. “We are going to take what we learn and teach it to others who come after us. Right now, we are learning all that we can from our instructors so that in the future we can have Afghans teaching Afghans and help the Afghan Air Force become an independent force.”
Gukbahar feels qualified loadmasters capable of bringing the C-27 to its full mission potential provide his country and its people with a sense of protection.
“An army without a proper air force looks weak, and you need skilled professionals to make a proper air force. The air force not only helps project power, but also provides security to the people with its ability to reach anyone in the country and provide them with support,” he said.
The Source of Asia and Pacific Rim Comprehensive Financial, Political, Technology, Social, Defense News Updates
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
DTN News - AFGHAN WAR: Afghan Air Force Develops Loadmasters as C-27 Fleet Expands
DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated February 23, 2011
Source: U.S. DoD issued No. 148-11 February 23, 2011
CONTRACTS
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
McKesson Corp., San Francisco, Calif., is being awarded a maximum $1,081,313,108 firm-fixed-price contract for support to the TRICARE Pharmacy. Other location of performance is Tolleson, Ariz. Using service is Department of Defense. The originally proposal was solicited through the Federal Business Opportunities website with two responses. The date of performance completion is Feb. 29, 2012. The Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (SPM200-03-D-1666).
Dental Health Products*, New Franken, Wis, is being awarded a maximum $6,680,000 fixed-price with economic price adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for general dental supplies distribution. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. The originally proposal was solicited through Defense Logistics Agency Internet Bid Board System website with 10 responses. The date of performance completion is Feb. 27, 2012. The Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (SPM200-07-D-7436).
NAVY
Sodexo Management, Inc., Gaithersburg, Md., is being awarded a $66,263,607 performance-based, fixed-price service contract with incentive and award fee provisions (East Coast Regional Garrison Food Services Contract II) to operate and manage 31 Marine Corps garrison mess halls located on the East Coast of the continental United States. The contract includes seven one-year options which, if exercised, would bring the total cumulative value of the contract to $925,989,850. Work will be performed at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, S.C. (45 percent); Marine Corps Base, Camp Lejeune, N.C., and Marine Corps Air Station, New River, Jacksonville, N.C. (38 percent); Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Va. (7 percent); Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., and Boguefield, Havelock, N.C. (6 percent); Marine Corps Air Station, Beaufort, S.C. (2 percent); Marine Corps Barracks, Washington, D.C. (1 percent); and Marine Corps Air Station, Norfolk, Va. (1 percent). The basic contract will be completed Sept. 30, 2011 (with all options exercised, completed Sept. 30, 2018). Contract funds in the amount of $66,263,607 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via Request for Proposal M00027-09-R-0001 released and posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website under full and open competition procedures, with three proposals received. Headquarters U.S. Marine Corps, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (M00027-11-C-0003).
Superior Services, Inc.*, Fresno, Calif., is being awarded a $55,426,171 performance-based, fixed-price service contract with incentive and award fee provisions (West Coast Regional Garrison Food Services Contract II) to operate and manage 20 Marine Corps garrison mess halls located on the West Coast of the continental United States. The contract also includes seven one-year options which, if exercised, would bring the total cumulative value of the contract to $764,220,603. Work will be performed at Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, Calif. (45 percent); Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, Calif. (30 percent); Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twenty-nine Palms, Calif. (10 percent); Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar, Calif. (5 percent); Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center, Bridgeport, Calif. (5 percent); and Marine Corps Air Station, Yuma, Ariz. (5 percent). The basic contract will be completed on Sept. 30, 2011 (with all options exercised, completed Sept. 30, 2018). Contract funds in the amount of $55,426,171 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via Request for Proposal M00027-10-R-0002 released and posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website under full and open competition procedures, with five proposals received. Headquarters U.S. Marine Corps, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (M00027-11-C-0002).
Raytheon Co., Portsmouth, R.I., is being awarded an $11,848,506 firm-fixed-price contract for Reeling Machine Test Bench (RMTB) intermediate level equipment, ancillary RMTB equipment and logistics services in support of the MH-60R AN/AQS-22 Airborne Low Frequency Sonar. Work will be performed in Portsmouth, R.I., and is expected to be completed in April 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, N.J., is the contracting activity (N68335-11-C-0138).
ARMY
IAP World Services, Cape Canaveral, Fla., was awarded on Jan. 31 a $60,000,000 cost-plus-award-fee contract. The award will provide installation support services for the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, Calif. Work will be performed in Fort Irwin, Calif., with an estimated completion date of June 30, 2012. The bid was solicited through the Internet with six bids received. The U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command, Fort Irwin, Calif., is the contracting activity (DAKF04-00-C-0002).
Lockheed Martin Corp., Grand Prairie, Texas, was awarded on Feb. 18 a $22,197,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract. The award will provide for upgrade kits including installation and training for Multiple Launch Rocket System M270 launchers to meet the requirements of the Universal Fire Control System. Work will be performed in Grand Prairie, Texas, and Camden, Ark., with an estimated completion date of Aug. 31, 2012. One bid was solicited with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-11-C-0171).
CDW Government, LLC, Vernon Hills, Ill., was awarded on Feb. 18 a $7,730,480 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for automation equipment to support Army efforts in Afghanistan. Work will be performed in Camp Marmal, Afghanistan, with an estimated completion date of March 31, 2011. The bid was solicited through the Computer Hardware, Enterprise Software and Solutions Program, with two bids received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island, Ill., is the contracting activity (W91QUZ-07-D-0009).
*Small business
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DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: UAE Air Force To Get Airbus Transporter Planes By Year-End
The UAE Air Force will receive the first of three new Airbus military transporter planes by the end of the year.
A military version of the Airbus A330 passenger airliner, the Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT), is designed as both a transport and an air-to-air refuelling aircraft.
Having ordered three MRTT planes in early 2008, the UAE will receive the first of them in December, Didier Vernet, the head of market development at Airbus, said yesterday.
The UAE is one of four countries to have ordered the new type of transporter, along with Australia, the UK and Saudi Arabia. The planes will be used to strengthen the UAE's homeland defences and increase its role in regional security and humanitarian relief.
Waha Capital, an Abu Dhabi finance company with interests in aviation leasing and property development, last year closed financing deals worth Dh6.7 billion (US$1.82bn) from a syndicate of international banks to buy nine military aircraft for the UAE Armed Forces.
This deal included finance for the purchase of the A330 MRTT planes. The Royal Australian Air Force will receive delivery of the first plane, which is now in final testing, in the next six months.
The UK has ordered 14 planes and Saudi Arabia six. They are due for delivery next year.
Mr Vernet said Airbus had received more "big interest" in the region for the new aircraft.
"We are in discussions with many parties here," he said. "But there are no more planes on order."
Airbus Military is testing four MRRT planes and is converting three A330 passenger aircraft. The company said it had also received strong interest from Middle East buyers for its A400M transporter plane.
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DTN News - LIBYA UPRISING: Gadhafi Militias Clamp Down In Libyan Capital, Protests Spread In Cities Closer To Tripoli
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Maggie Michael,Paul Schemm, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press
Protesters said they had taken over Misrata, which would be the largest city in the western half in the country to fall into their hands. The military has also moved heavy forces into the town of Sabratha, west of the capital, to try to put down protesters who have overwhelmed security headquarters and government buildings, a news website close to the government reported.
International outrage mounted after Gadhafi on Tuesday went on state TV and in a fist-pounding speech called on his supporters to take to the streets to fight protesters. Gadhafi's retaliation has already been the harshest in the Arab world to the wave of anti-government protests sweeping the Middle East.
Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said estimates of some 1,000 people killed in the violence in Libya were "credible," although he stressed information about casualties was incomplete. The New York-based Human Rights Watch has put the death toll at nearly 300, according to a partial count.
Gadhafi's speech appeared to have brought out a heavy force of supporters and militiamen that largely prevented major protests in the capital Tuesday night or Wednesday. Through the night, gunfire was heard, said one woman who lives near downtown.
"Mercenaries are everywhere with weapons. You can't open a window or door. Snipers hunt people," she said. "We are under siege, at the mercy of a man who is not a Muslim."
During the day Wednesday, more gunfire was heard near Gadhafi's residence, but in many parts of the city of 2 million residents were venturing out to stores, some residents said. The government sent out text messages urging people to go back to their jobs, aiming to show that life was returning to normal. The residents spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
But Libya's upheaval, just over a week old, has shattered the hold of Gadhafi's regime across much of the country. Protesters claim to hold towns and cities along nearly the entire eastern half of the 1,000-mile Mediterranean coastline, from the Egyptian border. In parts, they have set up their own jury-rigged self-administrations.
At the Egyptian border, guards had fled, and local tribal elders have formed local committees to take their place. "Welcome to the new Libya," a graffiti spray-painted at the crossing proclaimed. Fawzy Ignashy, a former soldier, now in civilian clothes at the border, said that early in the protests, some commanders ordered troops to fire on protesters, but then tribal leaders stepped in and ordered them to stop.
"They did because they were from here. So the officers fled," he said.
A defence committee of local residents was even guarding one of Gadhafi's once highly secretive anti-aircraft missile bases outside the city of Tobruk. "This is the first time I've seen missiles like these up close," admitted Abdelsalam al-Gedani, one of the guards, dressed in an overcoat and carrying a Kalashnikov automatic rifle.
Protesters have claimed control all the way to the city of Ajdabiya, about 480 miles (800 kilometres) east of Tripoli, encroaching on the key oil fields around the Gulf of Sidra.
That has left Gadhafi's power centred around Tripoli, in the far west and parts of the country's centre. But that appeared to be weakening in parts.
Protesters in Misrata were claiming victory after several days of fighting with Gadhafi loyalists in the city, about 120 miles (200 kilometres) east of Tripoli.
Residents were honking horns in celebration and raising the pre-Gadhafi flags of the Libyan monarchy, said Faraj al-Misrati, a local doctor. He said six people had been killed and 200 wounded in clashes that began Feb. 18 and eventually drove out pro-Gadhafi militiamen.
Residents had formed committees to clean the streets, protect the city and treat the injured, he said. "The solidarity among the people here is amazing, even the disabled are helping out."
An audio statement posted on the Internet was reportedly from armed forces officers in Misrata proclaiming "our total support" for the protesters.
New videos posted by Libya's opposition on Facebook also showed scores of anti-government protesters raising the flag from the pre-Gadhafi monarchy on a building in Zawiya, 30 miles (50 kilometres) west of Tripoli. Another showed protesters lining up cement blocks and setting tires ablaze to fortify positions on a square inside the capital.
The footage couldn't be independently confirmed.
Further west, armed forces deployed in Sabratha, a town famed for nearby ancient Roman ruins, in a bid to regain control after protesters burned government buildings and police stations, the Quryna news website reported. It said clashes had erupted between soldiers and residents in the past nights and that residents were also reporting an influx of pro-Gadhafi militias that have led heaviest crackdown on protesters.
The division of the country — and defection of some army units to the protesters — raises the possibility the opposition could try an assault on the capital. On the Internet, there were calls by protesters for all policemen, armed forces and youth to march to Tripoli on Friday.
In his speech Tuesday night, Gadhafi defiantly vowed to fight to his "last drop of blood" and roared at supporters to strike back against Libyan protesters to defend his embattled regime.
"You men and women who love Gadhafi ... get out of your homes and fill the streets," Gadhafi said. "Leave your homes and attack them in their lairs."
Gadhafi appears to have lost the support of several tribes and his own diplomats, including Libya's ambassador in Washington, Ali Adjali, and deputy U.N. Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi.
The Libyan Embassy in Austria also condemned the use of "excessive violence against peaceful demonstrators" and said in a statement Wednesday that it was representing the Libyan people.
International alarm has risen over the crisis, which sent oil prices soaring to the highest level in more than two years on Tuesday and sparked a scramble by European and other countries to get their citizens out of the North African nation. The U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting that ended with a statement condemning the crackdown, expressing "grave concern" and calling for an "immediate end to the violence" and steps to address the legitimate demands of the Libyan people.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy also pressed Wednesday for European Union sanctions against Libya's regime because of its violent crackdown on protesters, and raised the possibility of cutting all economic and business ties between the EU and the North African nation.
"The continuing brutal and bloody repression against the Libyan civilian population is revolting," Sarkozy said in a statement. "The international community cannot remain a spectator to these massive violations of human rights."
Italian news reports have said witnesses and hospital sources in Libya are estimating there are 1,000 dead in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, alone.
"We have no complete information about the number of people who have died," Frattini said in a speech to a Catholic organization in Rome ahead of a briefing in Parliament on Libya. "We believe that the estimates of about 1,000 are credible."
Libya is the biggest supplier of oil to Italy, which has extensive energy, construction and other business interests in the north African country and decades of strong ties.
Frattini said the Italian government is asking that the "horrible bloodshed" cease immediately.
___
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DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Pentagon Decision On Refueling Tanker To Come This Week?
U.S. Department of Defense Comptroller Robert Hale, during a Feb. 14 briefing on the agency's fiscal 2012 budget request, said the Pentagon will pick a winner in the KC-X aerial refueling tanker competition "within a month or so."
Some media outlets are reporting that the verdict could come as early as this week.
Chicago-based Boeing and Paris-based EADS, the parent company of Airbus, are fighting for an approximately $35 billion contract to replace the Air Force's aging fleet of aerial refueling tankers. The Air Force's current fleet of Boeing KC-135 tankers dates back to the Eisenhower days.
Boeing is proposing to build a fleet of its "NewGen" 767s, while EADS is proposing to build a fleet of A330-based KC-45s. The two aerospace giants submitted revised final bids Feb. 10, at the request of the Air Force, and fired a last round of salvos at one another.
Boeing asserted that its proposal will save U.S. taxpayers "up to $36 billion in lifecycle costs" compared with the EADS proposal.
"Our NewGen tankers will be built using a proven low-risk, inline manufacturing approach similar to the highly successful 737-based Navy P-8A, by an already trained and highly experienced U.S. workforce at existing Boeing facilities that have delivered more than 2,000 tankers and 1,000 commercial 767s," said Jim Albaugh, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
EADS, meanwhile, asserted in a news release that the aircraft and refueling systems proposed by Boeing "have never been built, flown or tested."
"We're offering a real aircraft that has proven what it can do for our men and women in uniform, not asking the Air Force and U.S. taxpayers to take a huge gamble on an airplane that only exists on paper," said Ralph Crosby Jr., chairman of EADS North America.
Funding Uncertainty Should Not Affect Program
Hale said the Defense Department is asking for $900 million for KC-X tankers in its fiscal 2012 budget request.
He also said he did expect the uncertainty surrounding the defense budget -- the DOD has been operating under a continuing resolution for nearly half a year -- to have any impact on funding the KC-X program.
"If we are under a [continuing resolution] -- and I hope we're not -- then the Air Force would have to reprioritize within its [research, development, test and evaluation] funding in order to find the money for the initial contract," Hale said. "But I think they will do that, so I don't anticipate the [continuing resolution] will affect the KC-X contract award."
The protracted tanker bidding has been full of twists and turns, including several contract awards that have been reversed. The Defense Department last awarded the contract to a joint proposal from Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman and EADS in 2008, but Boeing's protest persuaded the agency to launch a new bidding competition.
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DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated February 22, 2011
Source: U.S. DoD issued No. 142-11 February 22, 2011CONTRACTS
AIR FORCE
Raytheon Co., Intelligence and Information Systems, Garland, Texas, was awarded a $68,000,000 contract which will provide the required support to perform activities associated with the lifecycle phases for the Cross-domain Enterprise All-source User Repository (CENTAUR) system in support of current and future CENTAUR deployments. At this time, $6,449,481 has been obligated. ESC/HSJK, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., is the contracting activity (FA8707-11-D-0001).
NAVY
Trident Systems, Inc.*, Fairfax, Va., is being awarded a $49,479,041 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the developmental engineering, prototyping, and providing limited quantity items in support of the Special Surveillance Program in support of the Navy and other Department of Defense and government agencies. This is a Phase III Small Business Innovation Research contract under topics SC05, OSD07-106, and N-01-136. The objective of this effort is the development and optimization of core technologies that will improve operational performance and effectiveness of small unmanned aerial vehicle systems for persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions. Work will be performed in Fairfax, Va. (90 percent), and Afghanistan (10 percent), and is expected to be completed in February 2013. Contract funds in the amount of $470,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302-5. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, N.J., is the contracting activity (N68335-11-C-0006).
Lockheed Martin Corp., Archbald, Pa., is being awarded a $21,867,788 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-10-C-0092) to exercise an option for the procurement of 7,665 enhanced laser guided training round Paveway II units for the Navy (7,217) and the governments of Pakistan (300), Spain (88), and Malaysia (60). In addition, this modification provides for the procurement of 589 wooden containers for the U.S. Navy (500) and the governments of Pakistan (74) and Malaysia (15); 23 replacement-in-kind wooden containers for the the governments of Pakistan (one) and Spain (22); associated data; and non-recurring engineering efforts. Work will be performed in Archbald, Pa., and is expected to be completed in June 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract combines purchases for the U.S. Navy ($20,573,292; 94 percent) and the governments of Pakistan ($866,850; 4 percent); Spain ($254,276; 1.2 percent); and Malaysia ($173,370; 0.8 percent) under the Foreign Military Sales Program. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, Burlington, Vt., is being awarded an $11,126,773 firm-fixed-price modification to existing previously awarded contract (N00024-10-C-5141) for the production of Aegis gun and guided missile directors (MK82 Mod 0) and Aegis Director Controllers (MK 200 Mod 0). The MK 82 director serves to position the fire control system antenna to a commanded and stabilized position in space for the purpose of illuminating a target. The director controller MK 200 houses the solid-state servo-amplifiers that provide the servo drive signals that position the director to the desired target position. Work will be performed in Burlington, Vt., and is expected to be completed by July 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.
The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $5,705,181 firm-fixed-price modification to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00019-08-D-0013) for additional persistent unmanned aerial vehicle intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance services in support of naval maritime missions. Work will be performed in Bingen, Wash. (65 percent), and St. Louis, Mo. (35 percent), and is expected to be completed in November 2011. Contract funds in the amount of $5,705,181 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Sikorsky Aircraft Services, Shelton, Conn., is being awarded a maximum $39,882,800 firm-fixed-price contract for helicopter hub rotors. There are no other locations of performance. Using service is Army. There were originally two proposals solicited with two responses. The date of performance completion is Feb. 22, 2016. The Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (SPRRA1-11-D-0048).
W&G Machine Co., Inc.*, Hamden, Conn., is being awarded a maximum $7,638,243 firm-fixed-price contract for fan shaft assemblies. There are no other locations of performance. Using service is Army. There were originally two proposals solicited with two responses. The date of performance completion is Feb. 22, 2016. The Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (SPRRA1-11-D-0020).
ARMY
The Boeing Co., Ridley Park, Penn., was awarded on Feb. 17 a $20,530,787 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the procurement of 65 modification A-kits, 30 modifications B-kits and 35 engine cover sets. Work will be performed in Ridley Park, Penn., with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2012. One bid was solicited with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-04-G-0023).
Associates Roofing and Construction, Inc., Murrells Inlet, S.C., was awarded on Feb. 16 a $14,500,000 firm-fixed-price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. The single-task-order award will provide for roofing and construction within North Carolina and the South Atlantic Division. Work location will be determined with each task order, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 15, 2014. The bid was solicited through the Internet, with 13 bids received. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah, Ga., is the contracting activity (W912HN-10-D-0015).
*Small business