Thursday, March 3, 2011

DTN News: Aerospace/Defense Headlines - News Dated March 3, 2011

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DTN News: Aerospace/Defense Headlines - News Dated March 3, 2011
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources including latest updates Defense News, Aerospace/Defense Headlines - News & Yahoo
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 3, 2011: Comprehensive daily news related to Aerospace/Defense for the world of TODAY.
*Comprehensive daily news related on Aerospace/Defense for the world of TODAY

Thursday March 3, 2011

Wednesday March 2, 2011


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DTN News: Pakistani Intelligence And The CIA: Mutual Distrust And Suspicion

Asian Defense News: DTN News: Pakistani Intelligence And The CIA: Mutual Distrust And Suspicion
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 3, 2011:

On March 1, U.S. diplomatic sources reportedly told Dawn News that a proposed exchange with the Pakistani government of U.S. citizenRaymond Davis for Pakistani citizen Aafia Siddiqui was not going to happen. Davis is a contract security officer working for the CIA who was arrested by Pakistani police on Jan. 27 following an incident in which he shot two men who reportedly pointed a pistol at him in an apparent robbery attempt. Siddiqui was arrested by the Afghan National Police in Afghanistan in 2008 on suspicion of being linked to al Qaeda.

During Siddiqui’s interrogation at a police station, she reportedly grabbed a weapon from one of her interrogators and opened fire on the American team sent to debrief her. Siddiqui was wounded in the exchange of fire and taken to Bagram air base for treatment. After her recovery, she was transported to the United States and charged in U.S. District Court in New York with armed assault and the attempted murder of U.S. government employees. Siddiqui was convicted in February 2010 and sentenced in September 2010 to 86 years in prison.

Given the differences in circumstances between these two cases, it is not difficult to see why the U.S. government would not agree to such an exchange. Siddique had been arrested by the local authorities and was being questioned, while Davis was accosted on the street by armed men and thought he was being robbed. His case has served to exacerbate a growing rift between the CIA and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence directorate (ISI).

Pakistan has proved to be a very dangerous country for both ISI and CIA officers. Because of this environment, it is necessary for intelligence officers to have security — especially when they are conducting meetings with terrorist sources — and for security officers to protect American officials. Due to the heavy security demands in high-threat countries like Pakistan, the U.S. government has been forced to rely on contract security officers like Davis. It is important to recognize, however, that the Davis case is not really the cause of the current tensions between the Americans and Pakistanis. There are far deeper issues causing the rift.

Operating in Pakistan

Pakistan has been a very dangerous place for American diplomats and intelligence officers for many years now. Since September 2001 there have been 13 attacks against U.S. diplomatic missions and motorcades as well as hotels and restaurants frequented by Americans who were in Pakistan on official business. Militants responsible for the attack on the Islamabad Marriott in September 2008 referred to the hotel as a “nest of spies.” At least 10 Americans in Pakistan on official business have been killed as a result of these attacks, and many more have been wounded.

Militants in Pakistan have also specifically targeted the CIA. This was clearly illustrated by a December 2009 attack against the CIA base in Khost, Afghanistan, in which the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), led by Hakeemullah Mehsud, used a Jordanian suicide operative to devastating effect. The CIA thought the operative had been turned and was working for Jordanian intelligence to collect intelligence on al Qaeda leaders hiding in Pakistan. The attack killed four CIA officers and three CIA security contractors. Additionally, in March 2008, four FBI special agents were injured in a bomb attack as they ate at an Italian restaurant in Islamabad.

Pakistani intelligence and security agencies have been targeted with far more vigor than the Americans. This is due not only to the fact that they are seen as cooperating with the United States but also because there are more of them and their facilities are relatively soft targets compared to U.S. diplomatic facilities in Pakistan. Militants have conducted dozens of major attacks directed against Pakistani security and intelligence targets such as the headquarters of the Pakistani army in Rawalpindi, the ISI provincial headquarters in Lahore and the Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) and police academies in Lahore.

In addition to these high-profile attacks against facilities, scores of military officers, frontier corps officers, ISI officers, senior policemen and FIA agents have been assassinated. Other government figures have also been targeted for assassination. As this analysis was being written, the Pakistani minorities minister was assassinated near his Islamabad home.

Because of this dangerous security environment, it is not at all surprising that American government officials living and working in Pakistan are provided with enhanced security to keep them safe. And enhanced security measures require a lot of security officers, especially when you have a large number of American officials traveling away from secure facilities to attend meetings and other functions. This demand for security officers is even greater when enhanced security is required in several countries at the same time and for a prolonged period of time.

This is what is happening today in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The demand for protective officers has far surpassed the personnel available to the organizations that provide security for American officials such as the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service and the CIA’s Office of Security. In order to provide adequate security for American officials in high-threat posts, these agencies have had to rely on contractors provided by large companies like Blackwater/Xe, Dyncorp and Triple Canopy and on individual contract security officers hired on personal-services contracts. This reliance on security contractors has been building over the past several years and is now a fact of life at many U.S. embassies.

Using contract security officers allows these agencies not only to quickly ramp up their capabilities without actually increasing their authorized headcount but also to quickly cut personnel when they hit the next lull in the security-funding cycle. It is far easier to terminate contractors than it is to fire full-time government employees.

CIA Operations in Pakistan

There is another factor at play: demographics. Most CIA case officers (like most foreign-service officers) are Caucasian products of very good universities. They tend to look like Bob Baer and Valerie Plame. They stick out when they walk down the street in places like Peshawar or Lahore. They do not blend into the crowd, are easily identified by hostile surveillance and are therefore vulnerable to attack. Because of this, they need trained professional security officers to watch out for them and keep them safe.

This is doubly true if the case officer is meeting with a source who has terrorist connections. As seen in the Khost attack discussed above, and reinforced by scores of incidents over the years, such sources can be treacherous and meeting such people can be highly dangerous. As a result, it is pretty much standard procedure for any intelligence officer meeting a terrorism source to have heavy security for the meeting. Even FBI and British MI5 officers meeting terrorism sources domestically employ heavy security for such meetings because of the potential danger to the agents.

Since the 9/11 attacks, the primary intelligence collection requirement for every CIA station and base in the world has been to hunt down Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda leadership. This requirement has been emphasized even more for the CIA officers stationed in Pakistan, the country where bin Laden and company are believed to be hiding. This emphasis was redoubled with the change of U.S. administrations and President Barack Obama’s renewed focus on Pakistan and eliminating the al Qaeda leadership. The Obama administration’s approach of dramatically increasing strikes with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) required an increase in targeting intelligence, which comes mostly from human sources and not signals intelligence or imagery. Identifying and tracking an al Qaeda suspect amid the hostile population and unforgiving terrain of the Pakistani badlands also requires human sources to direct intelligence assets toward a target.

This increased human intelligence-gathering effort inside Pakistan has created friction between the CIA and the ISI. First, it is highly likely that much of the intelligence used to target militants with UAV strikes in the badlands comes from the ISI — especially intelligence pertaining to militant groups like the TTP that have attacked the ISI and the Pakistani government itself (though, as would be expected, the CIA is doing its best to develop independent sources as well). The ISI has a great deal to gain by strikes against groups it sees as posing a threat to Pakistan, and the fact that the U.S. government is conducting such strikes provides the ISI a degree of plausible deniability and political cover.

However, it is well known that the ISI has long had ties to militant groups. The ISI’s fostering of surrogate militants to serve its strategic interests in Kashmir and Afghanistan played a critical role in the rise of transnational jihadism (and this was even aided with U.S. funding in some cases). Indeed, as we’ve previously discussed, the ISI would like to retain control of its militant proxies in Afghanistan to ensure that Pakistan does not end up with a hostile regime in Afghanistan following the U.S. withdrawal from the country. This is quite a rational desire when one considers Pakistan’s geopolitical situation.

Because of this, the ISI has been playing a kind of a double game with the CIA. It has been forthcoming with intelligence pertaining to militants it views as threats to the Pakistani regime while refusing to share information pertaining to groups it hopes to use as levers in Afghanistan (or against India). Of course, the ability of the ISI to control these groups and not get burned by them again is very much a subject of debate, but at least some ISI leaders appear to believe they can keep at least some of their surrogate militants under control.

There are many in Washington who believe the ISI knows the location of high-value al Qaeda targets and senior members of organizations like the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network, which are responsible for many of the attacks against U.S. troops in Afghanistan. This belief that the ISI is holding back intelligence compels the CIA to run unilateral intelligence operations (meaning operations it does not tell the ISI about). Many of these unilateral operations likely involve the recruitment of Pakistani government officials, including members of the ISI. Naturally, the ISI is not happy with these intelligence operations, and the result is the mistrust and tension we see between the ISI and the CIA.

It is important to remember that in the intelligence world there is no such thing as a friendly intelligence service. While services will cooperate on issues of mutual interest, they will always serve their own national interests first, even when that places them at odds with an intelligence service they are coordinating with.

Such competing national interests are at the heart of the current tension between the CIA and the ISI. At present, the CIA is fixated on finding and destroying the last vestiges of al Qaeda and crippling militant groups in Pakistan that are attacking U.S. forces in Afghanistan. The Americans can always leave Afghanistan; if anarchy and chaos take hold there, it is not likely have a huge impact on the United States. However, the ISI knows that after the United States withdraws from Afghanistan it will be stuck with the problem of Afghanistan. It is on the ISI’s doorstep, and it does not have the luxury of being able to withdraw from the region and the conflict. The ISI believes that it will be left to deal with the mess created by the United States. It is in Pakistan’s national interest to try to control the shape of Afghanistan after the U.S. withdrawal, and that means using militant proxies like Pakistan did after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989.

This struggle between the CIA and ISI is a conundrum rooted in the conflict between the vital interests of two nations and it will not be solved easily. While the struggle has been brought to the public’s attention by the Davis case, this case is really just a minor symptom of a far deeper conflict.

Read more: Pakistani Intelligence and the CIA: Mutual Distrust and Suspicion | STRATFOR

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DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated March 3, 2011

Asian Defense News: DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated March 3, 2011
(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - March 3, 2011: U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) Contracts issued March 3, 2011 are undermentioned;

CONTRACTS

MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY

The Missile Defense Agency is announcing the award of a sole-source cost-plus-award-fee contract to Raytheon Missile Systems Co., Tucson, Ariz. The total award value is $75,000,000. Under this contract, Raytheon Missile Systems will serve as the all up round design agent providing the engineering development, testing, support and necessary material to complete the design and delivery of the SM-3 Block IB missile for flight test mission (FTM) 16 and support FTM-15. This undefinitized contract action will award contract lines items for in service engineering support and travel. The work will be performed in Tucson, Ariz. The performance period is from February 2011 through May 2011. Fiscal 2011 Research, Development, Test and Evaluation funds will be used to incrementally fund this effort in the amount of $20,000,000. The Missile Defense Agency is the contracting activity (HQ0276-11-C-002).

NAVY

BAE Systems Land and Armaments, Inc., Louisville, Ky., is being awarded a $33,920,480 undefinitized firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for MK38 Mod 2 machine gun systems. The MK 38 Mod 2 machine gun system ordnance alteration (ORDALT) kit consists of two-axis stabilization with remote control capability and an on-mount day/night electro-optical suite along with an eye-safe laser range finder. This procurement is to acquire a quantity of up to 150 ORDALT kits spanning fiscal 2010 through 2013, with deliveries starting in February 2012. Additionally, there will be line items established for the procurement of installation and checkout spares; on-board repair parts; ORDALT kits; engineering and field services; training; and provisioning item orders. Work will be performed in Hafia, Israel (67 percent), and Louisville, Ky. (33 percent), and is expected to be completed by March 2012. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head, Md., is the contracting activity (N00174-11-C-0015).

Centurum Information Technology, Inc., Marlton, N.J., is being awarded a $15,593,018 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee, performance-based contract to provide tactical cryptologic systems support for the Navy and the United Kingdom Navy shipboard and shore cryptologic systems worldwide in the areas of test and evaluation. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to an estimated $82,000,000. Work will be performed in Charleston, S.C., and is expected to be completed by March 2012. If all options are exercised, work could continue until March 2016. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Commerce Business Daily’s Federal Business Opportunities website, and the SPAWAR e-Commerce Central website, with two offers received. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Atlantic, Charleston, S.C., is the contracting activity (N65236-11-D-6857).

The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded an $8,763,991 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price delivery order contract (N00383-06-D-001J) for integrated logistics support; in-service engineering; information systems; technical data; support equipment engineering; automated maintenance environment; training/software integration support; provisioning; and A-D sustaining engineering services in support of the F/A-18 A-D, F/A-18 E/F, and EA-18 G aircraft. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo. (70 percent); El Segundo, Calif. (15 percent); Oklahoma City, Okla. (6 percent); Bethpage, N.Y. (5 percent); and San Diego, Calif. (4 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2011. 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.

ITT Corp., Thousand Oaks, Calif., is being awarded an $8,548,575 cost-plus-fixed-fee basic ordering agreement for engineering service support for Counter Radio Controlled Improvised Explosive Device Electronic Warfare (CREW) Vehicle Receiver Jammer (CVRJ) systems, fielded in theater. The CREW CVRJ systems are electronic jammers that are mounted in vehicles and at fixed-site compounds that prevent the detonation of radio-controlled improvised explosive devices. Work will be performed in Thousand Oaks, Calif. (87 percent), Yuma, Ariz. (8 percent), and Crane, Ind. (5 percent), and is expected to be completed by September 2014. Contract funds in the amount of $400,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, Crane Ind., is the contracting activity (N00164-10-G-WQ22).

ARMY

Honeywell International, Inc., Tempe, Ariz., was awarded on March 1 a $25,260,496 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for support service and supplies to support all Corpus Christi Army Depot overhaul and repair activities for the entire T-55 family of engines and components. Work will be performed in Corpus Christi, Texas, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 31, 2015. One bid was solicited with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-11-C-0039).

GM GDLS Defense Group, LLC, Sterling Heights, Mich., was awarded on March 1 an $18,730,230 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract. The award will provide for support for 19 Stryker flat-bottom vehicles and 15 Stryker double-V hull vehicles. Work will be performed in Sterling Heights, Mich., with an estimated completion date of Feb. 29, 2012. One bid was solicited with one bid received. The U.S. Army TACOM LCMC, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-07-D-M112).

The Boeing Co., Ridley Park, Pa., was awarded on March 1 a $13,582,919 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for infrared suppressor systems modification B-kits in support of the CH-47F program. Work will be performed in Ridley Park, Penn., with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2013. 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).

Lockheed Martin Corp., Orlando, Fla., was awarded on March 1 a $9,262,000 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for reset support to include inspection, refurbishment, and removal of sand, dust and foreign material intrusion to the Apache modernized designation sight and pilot night vision sensor. Work will be performed in Orlando, Fla., with an estimated completion date of Feb. 28, 2012. One bid was solicited with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-10-C-0023).

Lockheed Martin Corp., Grand Prairie, Texas, was awarded on March 1 a $7,000,000 incremental-funding, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract. The award will provide for the elimination of obsolete material in the PATRIOT Advanced Capability-3 and missile segment enhancement solid rocket motor in support of the United States and Taiwan. Work will be performed in Grand Prairie, Texas, with an estimated completion date of June 30, 2014. One bid was solicited with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, AMCOM Contracting Center, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-07-G-0001).

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

Tactical & Survival Specialities, Inc.*, Harrisonburg, Va., is being awarded a maximum $5,700,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for support of special operational equipment tailored logistics support program. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. The original proposal was Web-solicited with 14 responses. This contract is exercising the first option year period. The date of performance completion is March 9, 2012. The Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (SPM8EJ-09-D-0001).

W.S. Darley & Co.*, Itasca, Ill., is being awarded a maximum $5,700,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for support of special operational equipment tailored logistics support program. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. The original proposal was Web-solicited with 14 responses. This contract is exercising the first option year period. The date of performance completion is March 9, 2012. The Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (SPM8EJ-09-D-0002).

Atlantic Diving Supply*, Virginia Beach, Va., is being awarded a maximum $5,700,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for support of special operational equipment tailored logistics support program. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. The original proposal was Web-solicited with 14 responses. This contract is exercising the first option year period. The date of performance completion is March 9, 2012. The Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (SPM8EJ-09-D-0003).

Source One Distributors, Inc.*, Wellington, Fla., is being awarded a maximum $5,700,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for support of special operational equipment tailored logistics support program. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. The original proposal was Web-solicited with 14 responses. This contract is exercising the first option year period. The date of performance completion is March 9, 2012. The Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (SPM8EJ-09-D-0004).

*Small business



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DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Sikorsky To Make Helicopters In India For Local, Overseas Markets

Asian Defense News: DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Sikorsky To Make Helicopters In India For Local, Overseas Markets
**US company looking at manufacturing choppers by 2015-16; will design and make both civilian and military helicopters
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 3, 2011:

US-based Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. plans to design and manufacture civilian and military helicopters in India for the local and Asia-Pacific market in four years, the first time a foreign aircraft company will use the country’s aerospace know-how to make choppers for the overseas market.

“We are looking at manufacturing an indigenous helicopter by 2015-16. We already have the helicopters that are suitable for the Indian climate,” said Arvind Jeet Singh Walia, managing director (India and South Asia) at Sikorsky Aircraft. “We intend developing further technologies to cater to defence requirements for high-altitude and high-performance machines.”

A unit of United Technologies, the U.S. helicopter maker said it was in talks with a string of Indian companies to build Black Hawks.

"We will bring the Black Hawk here with the option to improve the horse power ...," Sikorsky Vice President Steve Estill said, adding that the additional power was being introduced to operate the helicopter between 14,000 and 15,000 feet.

He did not give details of the investment involved in the proposed manufacturing plan.

Sikorsky, a unit of American military contractor United Technologies Corp. and one of the world’s largest helicopter makers, has an existing tie-up with Tata Advanced Systems Ltd, a Tata group company, to make helicopter cabins for the global market.

A boom in India’s civil aviation market, among the fastest growing in the world, and a military upgradation plan that may be worth $100 billion (Rs.4.5 trillion) in the next 10 years, is persuading global aircraft makers to form joint ventures with local companies to take advantage of the business opportunity. India has an offset clause for high-value defence purchases that requires overseas companies to base part of the manufacturing in the country.

At the same time, global aerospace firms, facing a shortage of skilled workers back home, are seeking to take advantage of local talent groomed by India’s nascent aerospace industry, which is led by state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), the only company that has the capability of manufacturing helicopters in the country.

Roughly a quarter of the 637,000 aerospace workers in the US could be eligible for retirement this year, raising fears that the country may face a skills shortage in factories that make commercial and military aircraft, Aerospace Industries Association president and chief executive Marion Blakey was cited as saying by trade publication Airport Business on 12 January.

HAL’s home-grown aerospace products include the Tejas light combat aircraft, the Dhruv advanced light helicopter and the intermediate jet trainer. Three new helicopters, including the light combat helicopter and the light utility helicopter, are being built for the Armed Forces.

HAL has orders for 1,500 helicopters, including 100 Dhruvs, 300 light utility helicopters and 400 Indian multi-role helicopters.

Besides this, HAL has orders for 159 Dhruvs from the army and the air force.

“Manufacturing indigenous helicopters is eventually possible for Sikorsky,” said Dhiraj Mathur, India leader for aerospace and defence at audit and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers International Ltd. “Essentially, it will be shifting some of its manufacturing facilities to India in a phased manner. It will be highly beneficial if Sikorsky can make India a hub for the Asia-Pacific region.”

However, the 26% limit on stakes in military projects held by overseas companies is discouraging investment, he said.

Walia said his company would be keen to increase its holding in local firms as and when the government relaxes the limit.

He estimates India’s market potential for the company at $21.4 billion in 2011-31. Out of this, $14.4 billion will be military-related and the rest for civil use.

Tata Advanced Systems has set up a unit in Hyderabad to make cabins for the Sikorsky S-92, following a June 2009 agreement.

“As of now, this partnership is restricted to component manufacturing,” Walia said. “We will explore future possibilities based on certain milestones set by the joint venture company.”

The Tata group’s public relations company said the association with Sikorsky was restricted to component manufacturing and nothing had been finalized for the future.

Sikorsky, apart from Italy’s AgustaWestland NV, is in the race to sell 123 helicopters for general use by different departments of the Indian military as well as other agencies. The deal is valued at $4 billion.

“We have already sold five Sikorsky VVIP helicopters in India. We just signed an agreement to sell one more to the government of Maharashtra and are in dialogue with police department of the state,” Walia said.

The company also plans to set up a maintenance, overhaul and repair facility for helicopters in India. “India has a huge talent base and skills that can be exploited to achieve our objectives,” he said.

Tata Advanced Systems, which focuses on aerospace, defence, homeland security and disaster management, signed an agreement in mid-February with Lockheed Martin Corp. to form a joint venture, Tata Lockheed Martin Aerostructures, to build components for the C-130 aircraft produced by the US company.

Tata Industries Ltd, another group company, formed a joint venture with Boeing Co. in 2008 to manufacture defence-related aerospace components in India for export to Boeing and its clients worldwide.

The deals have boosted the Tata group’s chances of becoming the preferred local partner of US firms bidding to sell medium multi-role combat aircraft to India in the world’s largest fighter jet deal.



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