The Afloat Support and Naval Logistics 2012 will be held from March 20 to March 20, 2012, at the Chelsea Football Club, London, UK. The conference will focus on issues of afloat support, essential in maintaining the wide spectre of current naval operations around the globe. From supporting troops engaged in expeditionary missions, the protection of crucial shipping lanes to engaging in humanitarian missions afloat support has never been more important and this trend will only continue to grow into the future.

Key themes of the conference will include:

• How emerging nations’ recapitalisation programmes are seeking to develop their auxiliary fleets.
• Investigating future afloat support technologies and systems and whether the commercial sector can take on an increased role in the afloat support arena.
• An update on the Royal Navy’s MARS Programme and its future development.
• Assessing how navies are increasing the life span of logistic support vessels through retro-fitting.
• Sharing timely and priceless operational feedback from NATO and EU missions around the Horn of Africa and Libya.

Among the conference speakers are:

• Jonathan Kaskin, SES, Director, Strategic Mobility/Combat Logistics Division, US Navy
• Commodore William Walworth, Commodore of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary
• Rear Admiral (Junior Grade) Derek J. Christian, Director of Naval Logistics, South Africa Navy
• Captain Richard Soucie, Commander, Military Sealift Command Europe and Africa, US Navy
• Colonel Pete Yeager, Director of Support, Naval Striking and Support Forces, NATO
• Commander Visti Salomonsen, Head of Logistics, Current Operations (Naval), Royal Danish Navy
• Commander Heber Ackland MVO, Commandant, Defence Maritime Logistics School, Royal Navy

For the full list of speaker line-up and their sessions is please visit www.afloatsupportconf.com. General/Flag officer attend for free. Plus, DefenseAcquisition.com readers save 15% off the conference standard price to attend, please contact Yun Shi on defence@iqpc.co.uk or
call +44 (0)20 7368 9737 quoting Afloat_DA.

Raytheon Integrated Defense, Andover, Massachusetts, will be the prime contractor in a coming new deal to provide services for the PATRIOT Systems Engineering Services Program (ESP) and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $120 million to Saudi Arabia. The proposed sale will facilitate the continuation of existing services that Saudi Arabia has had under the Shared Engineering Services Program (SESP) for the past twenty years. Also included in this contract: modification kits, engineering changes, spare and repair parts, support and test equipment, publications and technical documentation, personnel training and training equipment, U.S. Government and contractor engineering, technical and logistics support services, and other related elements of logistical and program support.

The Navy signed two deals to buy 450,000 gallons of biofuels:

• Dynamic Fuels, Geismar, La., (subsidiary of Tyson Foods) was awarded a fixed-price with economic price adjustment contract with a maximum $12,037,500 for aviation fuel.
• Solazyme, currently the leading company in algae-based biofuel development.

More information:
Federal Agencies Share Private Sector Investments in Biofuel

The Israel defense and security expo ISDEF 2011 attracts the key figures in defense and homeland security from all over the world. The ISDEF 2011 is taking place right now at the Israel Trade Fair & Convention Center in Tel Aviv from October 31st to November 2nd. Visitors from China, India, Slovakia, Peru, Greece and other countries are shopping for Israeli military technology.

The Taiwan Government has requested a retrofit of 145 F-16A/B aircraft that includes sale of: 176 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars; 176 Embedded Global Positioning System Inertial Navigation Systems; 176 ALQ-213 Electronic Warfare Management systems; upgrade 82 ALQ-184 Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) pods to incorporate Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM) technology or purchase new ECM pods (AN/ALQ-211(V)9 Airborne Integrated Defensive Electronic Warfare Suites (AIDEWS) with DRFM, or AN/ALQ-131 pods with DRFM); 86 tactical data link terminals; upgrade 28 electro-optical infrared targeting Sharpshooter pods; 26 AN/AAQ-33 SNIPER Targeting Systems or AN/AAQ-28 LITENING Targeting Systems; 128 Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing Systems; 128 Night Vision Goggles; 140 AIM-9X SIDEWINDER Missiles; 56 AIM-9X Captive Air Training Missiles; 5 AIM-9X Telemetry kits; 16 GBU-31V1 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) kits; 80 GBU-38 JDAM kits; Dual Mode/ Global Positioning System Laser-Guided Bombs (16 GBU-10 Enhanced PAVEWAY II or GBU-56 Laser JDAM, 80 GBU-12 Enhanced PAVEWAY II or GBU-54 Laser JDAM, 16 GBU-24 Enhanced PAVEWAY III); 64 CBU-105 Sensor Fused Weapons with Wind-Corrected Munition Dispensers (WDMD); 153 LAU-129 Launchers with missile interface; upgrade of 158 APX-113 Advanced Identification Friend or Foe Combined Interrogator Transponders; and HAVE GLASS II applications.

Also included are: ammunition, alternate mission equipment, engineering and design study on replacing existing F100-PW-220 engines with F100-PW-229 engines, update of Modular Mission Computers, cockpit multifunction displays, communication equipment, Joint Mission Planning Systems, maintenance, construction, repair and return, aircraft tanker support, aircraft ferry services, aircraft and ground support equipment, spare and repair parts, publications and technical documentation, personnel training and training equipment, U.S. Government and contractor engineering, technical, and logistics support, test equipment, site surveys, and other related elements of logistics
support. The estimated cost is $5.3 billion.

The prime contractor will be the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company in Fort Worth, Texas. This proposed sale may involve the following additional contractors:

BAE Advance Systems Greenland, New York
Boeing Integrated Defense Systems St Louis, Missouri
Goodrich ISR Systems Danbury, Connecticut
ITT Defense Electronics and Services McLean, Virginia
ITT Integrated Structures North Amityville, New York
ITT Night Vision Roanoke, Virginia
L3 Communications Arlington, Texas
Lockheed Martin Missile and Fire Control Dallas, Texas
Lockheed Martin Simulation, Training, and Support Fort Worth, Texas
Marvin Engineering Company Inglewood, California
Northrop-Grumman Electro-Optical Systems Garland, Texas
Northrop-Grumman Electronic Systems Baltimore, Maryland
Pratt & Whitney East Hartford, Connecticut
Raytheon Company Goleta, California
Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems El Segundo, California
Raytheon Missile System Tucson, Arizona
Symetrics Industries Melbourne, Florida
Terma Denmark

The Government of Germany has requested the continuation of base services for its Tornado aircraft operations, including associated equipment, ammunition, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $300 million. at Holloman Air Force Base (AFB), New Mexico. Munitions will include 720 MK 82, 135 MK 84, and 5 Target Drone BQM 167. Holloman AFB is the only location where the German Air Force trains aircrews in Tornado aircraft operations and tactics.

The Government of Saudi Arabia has requested a possible sale of 404 CBU-105D/B Sensor Fuzed Weapons, 28 CBU-105 Integration test assets, containers, spare and repair parts, support and test equipment, personnel training and training equipment, publications and technical documentation, U.S. Government and contractor engineering, technical, and logistics support services, and other related elements of logistics support. The estimated cost is $355 million.

Saudi Arabia intends to use Sensor Fused Weapons to modernize its armed forces and enhance its capability to defeat a wide range of defensive threats, to include: strongpoints, bunkers, and dug-in facilities; armored and semi-armored vehicles; personnel; and certain maritime threats. Additionally, the precision nature and extremely low dud rate of these munitions will reduce fratricide incidents and increase effectiveness. The Royal Saudi Air Force will be able to develop and enhance its standardization and operational capability and its interoperability with the USAF, Gulf Cooperation Council member states, and other coalition air forces.

The prime contractor will be Textron Systems Corporation of Wilmington, MA.

The Government of Saudi Arabia has requested a possible sale of 25 LAV-25 series Light Armored Vehicles, 8 LAV Assault Guns, 8 LAV Anti-Tank Vehicles, 6 LAV Mortars, 2 LAV Recovery Vehicles, 24 LAV Command and Control Vehicles, 3 LAV Personnel Carriers, 3 LAV Ammo Carriers, 1 LAV Engineer Vehicle, 2 LAV Ambulances, AN/VRC 90E and AN/VRC-92E Export Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio Systems (SINCGARS), battery chargers, spare and repair parts, publications and technical documentation, personnel training and training equipment, U.S. Government and contractor engineering and technical support services, and other related elements of logistical and program support. The estimated cost is $350 million.

The potential sale will improve the Saudi Arabian National Guard’s ability to effectively conduct security and counter-terrorism operations.

The prime contractors will be ITT Aerospace/Communications in Fort Wayne, Indiana; Harris Corporation in Rochester, New York; General Dynamics Land Systems in London, Ontario, Canada; and Raytheon Corporation in Tucson, Arizona.

The Government of Saudi Arabia has requested to purchase from US a variety of light armored vehicles and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $263 million. A potential sale includes 23 LAV-25mm Light Armored Vehicles (LAV), 14 LAV Personnel Carriers, 4 LAV Ambulances, 3 LAV Recovery Vehicles, 9 LAV Command and Control Vehicles, 20 LAV Anti-Tank (TOW) Vehicles, 155 AN/PVS-7B Night Vision Goggles, M257 Smoke Grenade Launchers, Improved Thermal Sight Systems (ITSS) and Modified Improved TOW Acquisition Systems (MITAS), Defense Advanced Global Positioning System Receivers, AN/USQ-159 Camouflage Net Sets, M2A2 Aiming Circles, compasses, plotting boards, reeling machines, sight bore optical sets, telescopes, switchboards, driver vision enhancers, spare and repair parts, support and test equipment, personnel training and training equipment, publications and technical documentation, U.S. Government and contractor engineering, technical and logistics support services, and other related elements of logistics support.

The potential sale of Light Armored Vehicles will provide a highly mobile, light combat vehicle capability enabling Saudi Arabia to rapidly identify, engage, and defeat perimeter security threats and readily employ counter- and anti-terrorism measures. The vehicles will enhance the stability and security operations for boundaries and territorial areas encompassing the Arabian Peninsula. Saudi Arabia will have no difficulty absorbing these LAVs into its armed forces.

The prime contractors are General Dynamics Land Systems in Sterling Heights, Michigan and the Raytheon Corporation in Tucson, Arizona.

The Department of Defense (DoD) today announced plans to award $37.8 million to academic institutions to support the purchase of research instrumentation. The 165 awards to 83 academic institutions are being made under the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP). The awards are expected to range from $50,000 to $990,000 and average approximately $230,000.

The Defense University Research Instrumentation Program supports the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment that augments current university capabilities or develops new university capabilities to perform cutting-edge defense research. The program meets a critical need by enabling university researchers to purchase scientific equipment costing $50,000 or more to conduct DoD-relevant research. Researchers generally have difficulty purchasing instruments costing that much under research contracts and grants.

These planned awards are the result of a merit competition for funding conducted by the Army Research Office, Office of Naval Research, and Air Force Office of Scientific Research. Each organization requested proposals from university investigators conducting science and engineering research of importance to DoD. This includes research underpinning advances in surface chemistry and physics, computing and networks, electronics and electro-optics, neuroscience, fluid dynamics and propulsion, robotics and autonomous systems, and ocean, environmental and biological science and engineering. In response to the requests, the research organizations collectively received more than ­­­800 proposals requesting $243 million in support for research equipment.

All awards are subject to the successful completion of negotiations between DoD research offices and the academic institutions.

The list of winning proposals can be downloaded here.