Army Orders $54M in CBRN Kits from FLIR
FLIR Systems [FLIR] has received a $54.2 million delivery order from the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense for 50 U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Dismounted Reconnaissance Sets, Kits, and Outfits (CBRN DR-SKO) systems. The award was made under an existing contract and deliveries will be completing in the second quarter of 2018. The CBRN DR-SKO system is a set of mission specific kits that characterize and provide full spectrum CBRN dismounted reconnaissance capability utilized by all the U.S. armed forces and National Guard Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Teams. FLIR is the prime contractor on the program, which has been in development since 2008. The first delivery order was made in Dec. 2014 an so far FLIR has delivered over 100 systems.
Coast Guard Awards Heavy Polar Icebreaker Design Study Contracts
The Coast Guard in February awarded a combined $20 million to five companies for one-year design studies and analyses of a new heavy polar icebreaker with the goal of finding ways to reduce program costs and schedule timelines. Bollinger Shipyards, Fincantieri Marine Group, which is the U.S.-based shipbuilding division of Italy’s Fincantieri, the NASSCO shipbuilding division of General Dynamics [GD], Huntington Ingalls Industries [HII], and VT Halter Marine, which is the U.S.-based shipbuilding division of Singapore’s ST Engineering, each received design study contracts of $4 million. The Coast Guard continues to plan for award of a contract for design and construction of the lead hull of the new icebreaker in FY ’19 with production to begin in FY ’2. Delivery of the first heavy polar icebreaker is slated for FY ’23. “These contracts will provide invaluable data and insight as we seek to meet schedule and affordability objectives,” says Rear Adm. Michael Haycock, program executive officer and director of Acquisition Programs for the Coast Guard. A draft request for proposal (RFP) for detail design and construction is scheduled to be released by the end of FY ’17 with the final RFP issued in FY ’18.
Lockheed Martin Receives $19M to Support PAWSS
The Coast Guard has awarded Lockheed Martin [LMT] a potential five-year, $19.4 million contract for sustainment support services for the Ports and Waterways Safety System (PAWSS). The award is limited to support related to the company’s proprietary core MTM-series software product, which is the core command and control software within the PAWSS system. It consolidates, processes and displays data from various remote sensors, allowing the Coast Guard to perform federally-mandated maritime vessel traffic management activities in nine U.S. ports.
NIH Contracts for Radiation Medical Countermeasures and Biodosimetry Devices
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently awarded several contracts under an effort to develop radiation and nuclear medical countermeasures or biodosimetry devices. Chromologic received a $6.1 million contract, Chrysalis BioTherapeutics $5.5 million, and the Univ. of Florida Board of Trustees $5 million. The NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases awarded the contracts to advance the development of candidate medical countermeasures or biodosimetry biomarkers/devices to assess and reduce mortality and or major morbidities associated with exposure to radiation from a radiological or nuclear incident.
DHS S&T SVIP Awards $1M to Five Start-Ups for R&D
The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate Silicon Valley Innovation Program has awarded nearly $1 million to five-start-up companies for Phase 2 research and development contracts through the Securing the Internet of Things solicitation. Factom, Inc., of Austin, Texas, received $199,980 to authenticate devices to prevent spoofing and ensure data integrity by leveraging the blockchain; Ionic Security, Inc., of Atlanta, received $199,800 to apply a distributed data protection model to solve the authentication, detection and confidentiality challenges that impact distributed IoT devices; Machine-to-Machine Intelligence Corp., Moffett Field, Calif., $200,000 to create a deployable open source version of the SPECK cryptographic protocol to address IoT security by making a lightweight crypto package that can be run on IoT devices; Pulzze Systems, Santa Clara, Calif., $200,000 to secure infrastructures by improving visibility and providing dynamic detection as components connect or disconnect from a networked system; and Whitescope LLC, Half Moon Bay, Calif., $200,000 to build a secure wireless communications gateway made specifically for IoT devices and compliant with the IEEE 802.11 standard. In Phase 2 all the companies will produce and demonstrate a pilot-ready prototype.