Dragon Spear

The Pentagon announced yesterday afternoon that Warner Robins, GA-based L-3 Communications TCS had been awarded a $61 million "immediate award contract to provide modifications to MC-130W aircraft to install a Precision Strike package."

Under the terms of the contract, eight kits and eight installations are being procured, according to the Defense Department statement. "At this time, $15,837,316 has been obligated for a total of $61,018,760 because $45,181,444 was previously obligated," DOD adds.

It's not the first contract awarded recently to support MC-130Ws, however. On June 2, the service awarded Sparks, NV-based Sierra Nevada Corp. a $20.8 million contract to "provide for interim contractor support for the modification to MC-130W aircraft to install a precision strike package in support of Project Dragon Spear, an urgent deployment acquisition to support U.S. Special Operations Command combat mission needs." Sierra Nevada was awarded a $12 million follow-on contract last week.

As Inside the Air Force reported in April, Air Force Special Operations Command and the Marine Corps have been looking to collaborate on two separate but similar modification efforts geared toward revamping the C-130 platforms within their respective fleets. Specifically:

The Air Force and Marine Corps programs, known as the MC-130W Dragon Spear and the KC-130J Harvest Hawk respectively, are centered around a "roll on, roll off" sensor, communications and weapons suite.

That package, once fully developed, will allow the Marine Corps' fleet of KC-130Js and AFSOC's MC-130Ws to provide fire support and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities to special operations and Marine Corps ground forces, while simultaneously conducting refueling missions.

But due to the similarities between the two programs, Congress mandated an Air Force review to explore potential opportunities for collaboration. The report requirement was included in the fiscal year 2010 Defense Authorization Act.

The Feb. 22 report approved by Air Force Secretary Michael Donley noted the "base requirements and capabilities" for both programs were too specifically tailored to allow for wholesale swaps of technologies or equipment between the two platforms. However, the report noted that "while the Dragon Spear and Harvest Hawk programs are highly independent" a level of cooperation could be reached, according to the report.

"A collaborative approach to the (U.S. Special Operations Command) and USMC programs benefits the DOD by meeting SOF-unique requirements and providing the (Marine Corps) with potential alternatives to accelerate the Harvest Hawk capability delivery," Donley writes.

In March, ITAF reported that the Pentagon had opted to boost funding for a new multimission precision strike package for AFSOC's fleet of combat refuelers, which are set to arrive at the command by April:

Defense Department Comptroller Robert Hale requested the roughly $157 million uptick for the Precision Strike Package program last month, categorizing it as a joint urgent operational need, according to a Feb. 2 reprogramming notice. "Approval of this request is critical to generate armed overwatch capability," the notice states.

The money will finance procurement of eight PSP kits for AFSOC's venerable MC-130W Combat Spear. The PSP kits will include sensor and communications systems, as well as precision munitions and a "medium-caliber" gun, it adds.

Reprogramming funds will also go toward "installation kits, spares, data packages and support equipment" associated with the PSP kits, the notice states.

AFSOC plans to have 12 Combat Spears equipped with the new PSP package by the end of fiscal year 2011, AFSOC strike requirements division chief Lt. Col. Dave Vardaman told Inside the Air Force in a March 23 e-mail.