Lithuania procures LEOPARD 2 A8 main battle tanks from KNDS

Sur le même sujet

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  3 décembre 2021 | International, Aérospatial

  Department of Defense orders $316 million more in anti-jam GPS devices

  The contract is part of the military's efforts to get M-Code ready GPS receivers into the hands of troops.

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  4 août 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - August 03, 2020

  U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND GATR Technologies, Huntsville, Alabama, a subsidiary of Cubic Corp., was awarded a $172,000,000 maximum ceiling, single-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quality, firm-fixed-price contract (H92401-20-D-0003) with five one-year ordering periods for the procurement of 1.2 meter and 2.4 meter Ground Antenna Transmit and Receive (GATR) inflatable satellite communications terminals and ancillary equipment in support of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). Fiscal 2020 procurements funds in the amount of $5,000 are being obligated at the time of award. The contract will be funded with operations and maintenance funds, as well as procurement funds, from multiple fiscal years over the life of the contract. The majority of the work will be performed in Huntsville and is expected to be completed by August 2025. The contract is a Phase III Small Business Innovation Research award authorized under Title 10, U.S. Code 2304(b)(2) or Title 41, U.S. Code 253(b)(2). USSOCOM, Tampa, Florida, is the contracting activity. ARMY Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing Inc.,* Grand Rapids, Michigan, was awarded a $160,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for domestic aseptic fill and finish manufacturing capacity for critical vaccines and therapeutics in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 2, 2021. Fiscal 2020 Health and Human Services funds in the amount of $160,000,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W911QY-20-C-0086). Aspen Construction Co.,* Hackensack, Minnesota, was awarded an $8,354,252 contract for Phase II redevelopment site construction in Martin, Kentucky. Bids were solicited via the internet with four received. Work will be performed in Martin, Kentucky, with an estimated completion date of March 3, 2023. Fiscal 2020 civil construction funds in the amount of $8,354,252 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntington, West Virginia is the contracting activity (W91237-20-C-0007). NAVY Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Melbourne, Florida, is awarded a $34,712,366 cost-plus-fixed-fee order (N00019-20-F-0088) against previously-issued basic ordering agreement N00019-20-G-0005. This order provides non-recurring engineering for requirements development and systems engineering technical reviews and certification planning; initial requirements change requests; procurement strategy source selection package; performance based navigation certification plan; initial system safety; cyber; program protection and exportability analysis; integrated master schedule; and other associated technical deliverables in support of the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye cockpit redesign. Work will be performed in Melbourne, Florida (99.76%); and Patuxent River, Maryland (0.24%), and is expected to be completed by January 2022. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $5,785,394 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Koman Construction LLC,* Anchorage, Alaska, is awarded a $10,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with firm-fixed priced task orders that will be issued for the construction and repairs at the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland. The total cumulative contract value is not to exceed $10,000,000 over the duration of the contract. Work will be performed in Annapolis, Maryland, and the contract completion date is July 2021. No funds will be obligated at the time of award; funds will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Washington, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N40080-20-D-0019). AIR FORCE Raytheon Co., Tewksbury, Massachusetts, has been awarded a $33,735,474, predominantly cost-plus-incentive-firm modification (P00068) to contract FA8730-15-C-0002 for National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System (NASAMS) integration and alternate Air Defense Operations Center (ADOC) installation. The contract modification is for the procurement, installation, integration and testing of NASAMS into the ADOC and alternate ADOC. Work will be performed in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, and is expected to be completed October 2021. This modification involves Foreign Military Sales (FMS) to Qatar. FMS funds in the in the full amount are obligated at the time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $346,498,681. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity. ROCCOR LLC, Longmont, Colorado, has been awarded a $15,998,168 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P00003) to contract FA9453-20-C-0003 for structurally combined aperture and reticulated locking expandable truss. This modification provides for the exercise of the option where ROCCOR will develop, build and test a flight quality demonstration unit for the Air Force Research Laboratory. The system will consist of a scaled and/or truncated system that provides guidance for the structural feasibility of a full scale meter operational system. Work will be performed in Longmont, Colorado, and is expected to be completed Aug. 3, 2022. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $4,945,000 are being obligated at the time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $16,998,086. Air Force Research Laboratory, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, is the contracting activity. Aptima Inc., Woburn, Massachusetts, has been awarded a $9,900,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for research and development. The purpose of this research and development contract is operational experimentation, technology refinement and operational alignment related to improving and personalizing individual, team and larger group instructional training methods and better blending of live, virtual and constructive environments in and across operational contexts. Work will primarily be performed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and is expected to be completed Nov. 3, 2025. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and one offer was received. Fiscal 2020, research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,508,274 will be obligated at the time of award. Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8650-20-D-6243). *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2298575/source/GovDelivery/

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  20 septembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial

  Opportunity knocks: A look at the used helicopter market

  by Howard Slutsken If you're thinking of buying or selling a used helicopter, this might actually be a good time to do so. Maybe we're finally getting past our focus on the doldrums in the oil and gas sector, or it could be that the replacement cycle is catching up with older helicopters, with operators making the decision to upgrade their fleets. The helicopter market has always been very cyclical, and the perceived strength of the marketplace will often depend on the specific needs of a region — and the opinion of who you talk to. “The trend we're seeing in Canada is for hydroelectric powerline work, whether patrol or working on the towers, they're going with Cat A twin-engine aircraft,” said Steve Dettwiler, president of Maple Leaf Helicopters Canada, a brokerage service based in British Columbia. “Some operators are using the MD 902 Explorer, others the [Airbus] EC135. There are lots of [Airbus AS350] AStars available, but for Cat A [performance requirements], you'd have to go with an [Airbus] AS355NP TwinStar. “We're seeing the Bell LongRangers being sold off and replaced by the AS350 B2 and B3 series,” Dettwiler continued. “When it comes to the B3e [H125], most Canadian operators are interested in the ones that have dual hydraulics. For forest service work, there's the inclination to go to twin-engine on the Bell mediums.” Airbus machines are certainly in demand, and it might be a better financial and operational decision to search the used market rather than buy new, according to Jason Kmiecik, president of HeliValue$, producers of The Official Helicopter Blue Book. “The lights twins — EC135s, 145s — there's a big market for those,” he said. “In the U.S., Metro Aviation and Air Methods have pretty much grabbed everything [in terms of those types] that was for sale or is about to come online for sale. In today's market, you could buy two used aircraft, fully retrofit them with brand new interiors and avionics in both aircraft, and you're at about the price of one brand new aircraft. “There are plenty of transactions happening on those aircraft all over the place,” Kmiecik continued. “Some of them have actually started going up in value — the AStars and some of the newer 407s — because there's just starting to not be that many out there for sale.” Finding a deal But, as with any marketplace, there are bargains to be found. “There are some really good deals out there,” said Dettwiler. “As an example, we've got a Bell 212 for sale for $1.5 million, which is a good price for a 212. [The market] does go in cycles. Right now there are a lot of aircraft available for sale, which drives the prices down. You can get into a nice little JetRanger probably for $350,000 to $400,000.” There's also a bit of an underground marketplace where transactions happen quietly, with a handshake, explains Kmiecik. “You'll see the sales happen,” he said. “They were never listed online. They sell to the operator next door or somebody's buddy. The smaller, cheaper aircraft are garage transactions.” And speaking of those smaller machines, Kmiecik believes that the operators who still love Schweizer helicopters are going to be happy with the company's new owners, Schweizer RSG. “Their plans are to go full production again,” he said. “So I think there's going to be a comeback of Schweizer.” While Kevin Mawhinney, helicopter technical advisor at Jet Support Services, Inc. (JSSI), doesn't think much has changed in “the day-to-day, ins-and-outs of the industry,” he does see a trend developing in the “larger-medium” sector. “I think you're going to see more people move into this segment with machines that fill that niche,” he said. “For example, the [Leonardo] AW139 has really filled a need, and we're seeing a lot of interest in it.” He points to the multi-role capability of the AW139 as being a driver for new operators. “I think it fills a niche that no other machine was filling before.” Super Pumas airborne again And what about all of those Airbus H225 Super Pumas that have been languishing on helipads around the world? They're now in demand, according to Kmiecik — but for utility work, not offshore. “What we're seeing now is supply is actually shrinking,” he said. “Aircraft that were once for sale are now pulled off the market and are back to work with the original lessees or new people.” With the shift in deployment of Super Pumas from offshore work to utility missions, Kmiecik said that there's a bottleneck getting the parts that operators need to change the primary mission of their helicopters. “The 225 is becoming the utility machine, the go-to machine now,” he said. “The problem is the supply of utility parts with Airbus — cargo hooks and stuff like that. They can't get them in stock fast enough to ship out to the people who need them. There's aircraft waiting on the ground right now for parts so they can get out on a contract.” Kmiecik said that some operators have recognized the value in the 225 and have focused their acquisition strategy on the type. “It's a lot of aircraft with a lot of lifting for the price.” Dettwiler also knows of companies that targeted an opportunity by buying up inventory of specific types. “We sold 14 SA 315B Lamas in the past few years to a company in Scandinavia, who's basically stockpiling all the Lama inventory from around the world and supporting the existing Lama operators. But it's going to come to an end. Airbus would prefer to sell the H125/AS350 B3e,” he said. Operating costs Brandon Battles, vice-president, Conklin & de Decker, has been researching and analyzing helicopter operating costs for over 30 years. With his years of experience, Battles has seen the cyclical changes that the industry has faced. “I think we've all seen it through our careers - oil and gas is bad right now, but another operation that uses helicopters might be very strong,” he said. “The firefighting folks are probably having some pretty good years, from a business point of view. “I'm noticing now that it's not just the acquisition cost that's important anymore, it's also those operational costs that they'll be encountering over the long ownership of that aircraft,” he added. Kmiecik echoes that thought. “Pretty much everybody's complaint is to try to get operational costs cheaper for these aircraft, especially for the S-92,” he said. “It's a very expensive aircraft to operate, and with what they're making each month on their contracts, it's getting very tight to be able to make a profit at all on them.” While some of the focus on operational costs may be driven by corporate acquisitions and industry consolidation, Battles believes that operators at all levels have become more attuned to the business side of the equation, in some ways resulting from the economic downturn of 2008. He said that operators may have planned to acquire a helicopter and keep it for perhaps 10 years. After that, they may look to sell it to avoid major inspections or the required replacement of life-limited items or other significant maintenance. “They had a plan but when the economy changes and they can't sell the aircraft for as much as they planned, now they must continue to operate it and wrestle with some of the higher costs that are associated with an older aircraft,” said Battles. “Maybe because of that experience, people are considering the maintenance and operating costs more than they used to.” What's next? Kmiecik's analysis of the super-medium market suggests that machines like the Airbus H175, Leonardo AW189 and the upcoming Bell 525 are going to face challenges in making an impact on the market. “In general, the super-mediums haven't lived up to expectations that everybody thought was going to happen,” he explained. “And that's because the S-92 has dropped in value, so where it's actually cheaper to rent a S-92 than it is to buy a brand new super medium. “Capital is drying up in the space,” Kmiecik continued. “There's not many people that are willing to go out and buy a $15- to $35-million helicopter anymore for offshore when we've got so much supply still in the market right now that is sitting idle for sale.” And Kmiecik is pretty blunt in his assessment of what needs to happen in the oil sector to ensure that helicopter operators can continue to provide service. “I think over the next six months to a year, you're probably going to see some change in the attitude of the oil companies,” he said. “There has to be a change because they're forcing everybody into bankruptcy. I think that people are now telling them ‘no' on certain requirements that they're setting on tenders, like age requirements for aircraft. I think that they're going to have no choice but to start helping out the people who are keeping them in business.” https://www.skiesmag.com/features/opportunity-knocks-a-look-at-the-used-aircraft-market