FirstSpear TV

Archive for October, 2019

Multimillion-Euro Contract: International Customers Orders Air Defence Systems from Rheinmetall

Thursday, October 31st, 2019

Rheinmetall has won an order from an international customer for state-of-the-art air defence systems. The contract, which is now official, is worth a total of around €210 million. Delivery is to be complete by 2022.

Among other items, the order encompasses Skymaster command and control systems, X-TAR 3D radars, Oerlikon Revolver Gun MK3-automatic cannon as well as an ammunition package that includes airburst-capable AHEAD rounds. Spare parts, technical documentation and service support round out the order.

As the world’s leading supplier of comprehensive ground-based air defence solutions, Rheinmetall combines all relevant sensors, effectors, platforms and C4I assets in overarching, scalable networks. This results in highly effective, modularly configurable ground-based air defence systems that assure maximum operational flexibility throughout the military mission spectrum.

www.rheinmetall.com

Point Blank Vest Saves New York City Police Officer

Thursday, October 31st, 2019

POMPANO BEACH, Fla., Oct. 31, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — New York City Police Officer Christopher Wintermute responded to a call reference a man acting suspiciously and armed shortly after midnight on October 23rd, 2019. Officer Wintermute was shot in the chest and was saved by his body armor produced by Point Blank Enterprises. Officer Wintermute was treated and released. The body armor credited with the Save is the Alpha Elite series AXIIIA manufactured by Point Blank and issued to Officer Wintermute on November 16, 2017.

New York City Police Department is the largest police department in the world and Point Blank Enterprises has been the contract vendor for concealable and tactical body armor to the New York Police Department since June 9, 2011 and has supplied over 50,000 vests. The Point Blank Alpha Elite series is the most popular model of body armor worn by law enforcement in the country today, including Los Angeles, Miami-Dade, Orlando, San Antonio Police Department’s just to name a few in addition to several Federal law enforcement agencies.

Point Blank Enterprises CEO Daniel Gaston stated, “We are honored to provide personal protection equipment to the Officers of New York City Police Department and over half the other law enforcement agencies in America today. Over 200 law enforcement officers have been shot this year and we have had a record number of Saves, providing a daily reminder why our commitment to protect our first responders is so important.”

www.pointblankenterprises.com

GAO Sustains Leupold & Stevens GAO Protest On USSOCOM’s S-VPS Program

Thursday, October 31st, 2019

Bottom Line Up Front: The Government Accounting Officer has sustained Leupold & Stevens’ protest against the U.S. Department of the Navy Surface Warfare Center Crane Division’s recent contract modification for Miniature Aiming Systems-Day Squad-Variable Power Scopes (Second Focal Plane).

Leupold has “won” but they didn’t get anything tangible from the protest. Unlike many other protests, they won’t be awarded anything. It’s more a moral victory.

On the other hand, Crane won’t be able to pay SIG SAUER for changes to the optics they’ve directed.

Other than withdrawing the contract modification, Crane has not announced a course of action to correct the situation. Possible outcomes are to purchase the optics with a different reticle, a new solicitation, no procurement at all, a new solicitation being issued. Alternatively, SIG may decide you eat the cost of the government directed changes.

Background

In August, optics manufacturer Leupold & Stevens submitted a GAO protest of the U.S. Department of the Navy Surface Warfare Center Crane Division’s recent contract modification published on 18 July 2019, to the internal reticle under Solicitation No. N00164-18-R-JQ30 (“the Solicitation”) and Contract No. N00164-18-D-JQ30 (“the Contract”) for Miniature Aiming Systems-Day Squad-Variable Power Scopes (Second Focal Plane) to Sig Sauer, Inc. For this solicitation, Crane was working on behalf of United States Special Operations Command as their office of primary responsibility for lethality. SOF weapons and accessories as well as Visual Augmentation Systems are procured by Crane.

Leupold asserted that Crane improperly modified its contract with Sig Sauer and that the changes made to the contract were so substantial that the contract should be terminated and a new competition conducted for the modified requirements. The additional funding of the contract modification is so much when added to SIG’s winning bid that Leupold feels someone else would have been awarded the contract instead of SIG.

While the SIG Optics TANGO6T is at the heart of this action, it’s important to point out that the protest has nothing to do with performance. That hasn’t even been actually assessed yet as neither SIG nor Nightforce have delivered any production samples to the government. This is because USSOCOM decided to integrate a new reticle into S-VPS, the Tremor8.

When the program was created, a different reticle had initially been considered, but due to the adoption of 6.5 Creedmoor, SOCOM decided they wanted a bullet drop compensator reticle. Todd Hodnett had envisioned a new Tremor reticle and this was adopted, but in concept only. The reticle was sketched out on a napkin and included settings for 5.56 M855A1 as well as the new 6.5 CM round. Even when the optics had been selected and contracts awarded, the Tremor8 still did not exist. Just recently, months later, the reticle has finally been certified. Now that it has been certified, Nightforce and SIG can integrate the reticle into their scopes and deliver samples to the government for acceptance testing.

In fact, Nightforce has already provided first production samples and they’ve passed Destructive Testing at Crane. They’ve completed the New Equipment Training and Operational Testing earlier this month and should have the Fielding & Deployment Release by early November.

SIG’s winning submission to S-VPS (SFP) incorporated a proprietary wire reticle. While this was selected, SOCOM later decided they wanted an etched, illuminated Tremor8 reticle. Naturally, this increased cost and the government paying for the additional cost of the integration of the Tremor8 into the SIG TANGO6T is what Leupold protested.

REBS Carbon Multi Ladder

Thursday, October 31st, 2019

The REBS Carbon Multi Ladder (CML) is a rigid, modular and multi-functional ladder system with a dual rail design. The system uses modular 90cm sections that can be locked together to create a ladder, stretcher or bridge.

It is manufactured from carbon fibre for a combination of excellent rigidity and a light weight.

Available from helixtactical.com/Products/Ladders/Rigid-Ladders/REBS-Carbon-Multi-Ladder

Hawaii-based Sailors Test Changes During Physical Fitness Assessment Study

Thursday, October 31st, 2019

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (NNS) — Ladies and gentlemen, it’s that time of the year again: physical fitness assessment season. As we’re surrounded by the unwavering dedication of command fitness leaders and the Sailors within each command, one can’t help but get in to the fitness spirit. On May 29, the former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson visited Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and announced the addition of the 2-kilometer row cardio option and forearm plank that will replace the curl-up. On Oct. 7, Sailors gathered in the fitness center on base to commence the testing of the new workout metrics.

The study consisted of three different days of exercise. Day one focused on introducing Sailors to the 2-kilometer row, practicing the correct rowing technique. On day two, the Sailors performed pushups, the forearm plank and the 12-minute bike assessment. Day three focused on pushups, the forearm plank and the second trial of the 2-kilometer row. A big focus during this study was how Sailors perform the new plank as opposed to the curl-ups.

“The plank allows you to build that core strength,” said Lt. Cmdr. Melissa Laird, the work sponsor of the study from the 21st Century Sailor office. “It’s really a better test and better modality to assess that core strength than the curl-up is. It works on giving you good posture and it also has less chance of aggravating low back injuries which you can see with the curl-up.”

Laird also said that adopting a new form of cardio within the PFA allows Sailors an alternative to the standard 1.5-mile run. The rower uses approximately 70 percent of the body’s musculature so it provides a good cardiovascular workout that is low impact.

Sailors representing multiple commands volunteered to be the test subjects for this study. A seamless transition into adopting these two modalities for the PFA in the year 2020 is the end goal according to Laird.

Mr. Jay Heaney, a research physiologist from the Naval Health Research Center and the principle investigator for the study, explained the process of gathering the information from the Sailors’ performance and how it will be applied to the new PFA.

“We try to get as many people as we can within the age groups by gender,” said Heaney. “Then we look for what the norms are; what the high, medium and low scores are. From that, we will develop what the scoring metrics are for the different categories of the PFA.”

Heaney said that the Navy is trying to put a bigger emphasis on physical fitness as ship-based Sailors are required to climb ladder ways and do a lot of heavy lifting throughout their workday.

“I volunteered because I wanted to see what the new PFA would look like,” said Cryptologic Technician (Interpretive) 3rd Class Amanda Zwiebel. “Not only to prepare myself but to prepare my peers and my command.”

According to Heaney, at the end of the day, it is important that our service members have complete physical readiness. The addition of two new workouts to the PFA helps the U.S. Navy move in the right direction.

 

By Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Aja Bleu Jackson, NPASE West det. Hawaii Public Affairs

AeroVironment Receives $5.25 Million Puma 3 AE Contract for US Border Patrol

Thursday, October 31st, 2019

• Award builds on the U.S. Border Patrol’s ongoing use of Puma AE small unmanned aircraft systems for border and homeland security

• U.S. Border Patrol agents rapidly deploy Puma AE anywhere, anytime, in any environment for continuous or on-demand spot surveillance

SIMI VALLEY, Calif., Oct. 22, 2019 – AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV), a global leader in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), received a $5,254,912 firm fixed-price contract award for PumaTM 3 AE systems and support equipment on August 8, 2019 for the U.S. Border Patrol, part of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).  Delivery is anticipated by January, 2020.

AeroVironment’s Puma 3 AE small unmanned aircraft system is designed for the real-world environment Border Patrol agents operate in.  Easy to transport, deploy and operate, the Puma system can be launched from anywhere, at any time, and requires no additional infrastructure, such as runways or launch devices.  The AeroVironment Puma flies for hours in the most extreme environments while producing high-resolution, continuous or on-demand spot surveillance of critical land and sea border areas at any time of the day or night.  Highly automated and with GPS navigation, the Puma dramatically extends the reach of Border Patrol agents at a fraction of the cost of manned or larger unmanned aircraft.

“Operating on the nation’s front line, U.S. Border Patrol agents deploy the AeroVironment Puma system day or night from a safe distance to scan a border area for activity and then use that information to respond more quickly, more stealthily and with less risk,” said Rick Pedigo, AeroVironment vice president of business development.  “Puma takes on the tougher missions in treacherous and dangerous terrain and keeps border agents out of harm’s way.  Border Patrol agents pack the system on their vehicles, allowing them to gain an eyes-in-the-sky advantage at a moment’s notice.”

The Puma 3 AE systems will also support humanitarian missions, assisting in the location of individuals in need of aid along difficult-to-reach border areas and responding to natural disasters.

The AeroVironment Puma AE is a fully man-portable unmanned aircraft system designed for land and maritime operations. Capable of landing in water or on land, the all-environment Puma, with its Mantis i45 sensor suite, empowers the operator with extended flight time and a level of imaging capability never before available in the small UAS class.

AeroVironment’s unmanned aircraft systems are uniquely professional grade and proven with more than 1 million operating hours, including in extreme environments and combat operations.  As the largest supplier of reconnaissance UAS to the US Department of Defense, AeroVironment offers a family of small and portable UAS that have been protecting soldiers, marines, airmen and special operators in the harshest environments for more than two decades.

Germany-Based US Army Field New Positioning System

Wednesday, October 30th, 2019

ROSE BARRACKS, VILSECK, Germany — Members of Project Manager Positioning Navigation and Timing (PM PNT) landed in Germany in early September with a mission: outfitting Soldiers’ Stryker vehicles with the latest in Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) equipment. That equipment is the Mounted Assured PNT (Positioning, Navigation and Timing) System (MAPS) Generation 1, (MAPS GEN I), a powerful suite of new hardware and software that will ensure Soldiers have assured position and timing to navigate in a GPS degraded and denied environment. As adversaries across the spectrum field new capabilities to disrupt and degrade GPS, Soldiers will need more fortifications and assurances in those systems.

Franklin Armory’s Reformation RS7 Wins NASGW-POMA Caliber Award For Best Shotgun

Wednesday, October 30th, 2019

When I walked up to the Franklin Armory booth at last week’s National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers annual meeting, I noticed that they had won a NASGW-POMA Caliber Award for Best Shotgun.

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” rel=”noopener”>One of three finalists in this category, apparently there was some discussion on which category to compete the Reformation RS-7 which was designed to fit specifically within the very narrow firearms laws of California and other non-second amendment friendly states. It’s not a rifle, nor a shotgun, but rather a firearm.

Congratulations!