EUROPE
AIR
06 Sep 12. Portsmouth Business School and Cranfield University have been awarded a contract to provide training to UK Royal Air Force (RAF) personnel, in an effort to enhance international security and defence leadership qualities. Under the terms of the £5.3m contract, the universities will provide initial officer and senior officer development training to approximately 3,700 RAF personnel a year over the next five to seven years. The contract also includes a senior officer programme, which will involve utilising a number of senior officials who were not considered for elite roles, to private enterprise thinking to update the middle management of the air force. Training will be provided jointly with the RAF’s in-house training programme, by a team of Portsmouth Business School’s leadership experts and Humanities politics and military history researchers along with military strategy and air power experts from Cranfield School of Defence and Security. (Source: airforcetechnology.com)
USA
LAND
04 Sep 12. Accenture Federal Services, Arlington, Va., has won a two-year contract to help the U.S. Department of Defense improve its inventory management. Under the contract with the U.S. Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Accenture will find ways to improve forecasting techniques throughout the military, thus reducing inventory. The $971,438 contract looks primarily at stockpiles of spare parts and could reduce “potentially millions” in excess inventory, said Jeff Miller, vice president in the Defense Portfolio at Accenture Federal Services. “The better you can forecast it, the less inventory you will need on hand to support the same requirements.” The question of excess inventory management has plagued defense for decades. (Source: Defense News)
30 Aug 12. Alliant Techsystems Operations, Plymouth, Minn., is being awarded a $14,355,867 cost-plus- fixed-fee contract for the Precision Extended Range Munition (PERM) Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) effort. The U.S. Marine Corps requires the PERM to increase the existing capability of the 120mm Expeditionary Fire Support System (EFSS). The PERM will be an additional munition to the current family of 120mm mortar munitions, and is intended to provide significantly increased range and accuracy to the family of munitions and thus increase the tactical capability of the 120mm EFSS. The basic contract will require the delivery of 42 PERM demonstration rounds, two projectile interface devices, two extractor tools and test support. Work will be performed in Saint Petersburg, Fla. (50.4 percent), and Plymouth (49.6 percent), and work is expected to be completed in August 2014. Initial funding in the amount of $9,961,471.27 is applied to the contract award. Contract funds in the amount of $4,285,547 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured through full and open competition via Navy Electronic Commerce Office, with four offers received. The Marine Corps System Command, Quantico, Va., is the procuring contracting activity (M67854-12-C-6014).
05 Sep 12. BAE Systems Specialty Group, Jessup, Pa., was issued a modification exercising the second option year on contract (SPM1C1-08-D-1080/P00037). The award is a firm fixed price contract with a maximum $26,940,150 for modular lightweight load carrying equipment. Other locations of performance are Ky.; Tenn.; Ariz.; Wis.; and Puerto Rico. Using military service is Army. There were seven responses to the DLA Internet Bid Board System solicitation. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2012 Defense Working Capital Funds. The date of performance completion is Oct. 31, 2013. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa.
04 Sep 12. Flir Systems Inc. dba FSI, Wilsonville, Ore., was awarded contract (SPRPA1-12-C-W078). The award is a firm fixed price, sole source contract with a maximum $26,294,488 for turrets,