RTX’s Collins Aerospace celebrated the opening of a $14 million expansion of its additive manufacturing center in West Des Moines, IA. The 9,000-square-foot addition provides space for the site to house several new state-of-the-art 3D metal printers. The first printer installed has eight times the build volume of the facility’s existing printers, significantly increasing the center’s additive manufacturing capabilities.
“From supporting the backlog in commercial aircraft to enabling future platforms, and reducing carbon emissions to providing supply chain relief, additive manufacturing is poised to play an integral role in the future of the aerospace and defense industry,” said Renee Begley, West Des Moines site lead for Collins Aerospace. “Additive manufacturing has the potential to help us reduce weight, complexity, lead time and cost in the parts we supply, and this expansion represents an investment in our business to help deliver those benefits to our customers.”
Collins’ West Des Moines facility focuses on the design and production of engine components for commercial and military aircraft. The new printers will allow the site to explore additive production of these components, building on the multiple land-based turbine components it already has in production. Additionally, the facility is one of only eight in the U.S. to receive the National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program (NADCAP) certification for Additive Manufacturing.
Additive manufacturing is a critical focus area for Collins and the business maintains a global network of additive production centers in Iowa, Minnesota, North Carolina and Singapore, along with an additive research center in Connecticut.
Contract Opportunities to Watch: Leidos
Leidos was recently awarded a prime contract to provide intelligence, technical, financial, and management services to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). The single award, cost-plus-award-fee contract has a one-year base period of performance and six one-year options. The awarded value is $375 million.
“We are pleased to continue our seventeen-year legacy supporting ODNI,” said Roy Stevens, Leidos Intelligence Group president. “Our exceptional experience and subject matter expertise will enable timely delivery and streamlined coordination while adapting to a dynamic environment. We look forward to continuing this work and ensuring ODNI receives the best support to carry out its mission.”
Through this contract Leidos will provide analytic, intelligence management, and systems analysis support covering a wide range of regional and functional topics. These intelligence services will operate in an environment where priorities continuously and quickly evolve. Technical services include systems integration, cybersecurity, science and technology, counterintelligence, IT project management, security and risk management. Additional management services include supporting facilities, assets, logistics and information.
Key Employer in the Cleared Industry: CISA
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Cleared Opportunities: KBR at CENTCOM
KBR has been awarded a contract to provide mission-critical labor at three locations in the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of operations. The cost-plus contract, through the Air Force Contract Augmentation Program (AFCAP V), is worth up to $69M and has a base period of two years with an eight-month option.
Under the terms of the contract, KBR will provide support personnel at Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait; Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia; and Al Dhafra Air Base, UAE, over the next two and a half years. KBR personnel will accompany and guide local and other country nationals at U.S. military facilities throughout these three bases. This contract in the CENTCOM area of operations expands KBR’s portfolio in the region, where the company already performs base operations support in Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.
“Our KBR team has decades of experience within CENTCOM,” said Byron Bright, KBR Government Solutions U.S. President. “Our KBR staff will augment the uniformed military personnel in the region, which can reduce deployment cycles and allow our customer to place military personnel on other critical missions. This is yet another example of KBR operating as The Team Behind the Mission℠ and we’re proud to continue our U.S. military support.”
KBR processes hundreds of people per year, but its deployment processing center has scaled as needed for surge support. Over the past two decades, KBR has successfully processed more than 88,000 people for 150 contracts/task orders at 70 global locations. KBR is proud to continue providing operations support to the United States and allied nations around the world as it has done for more than 25 years.
