Monitoring in Malaysia, and the 1,000 Ship Navy

Techno-Sciences Inc. in Beltsville, MD received an $11 million cost-plus-fixed-fee, fixed-price contract for technical support to the Malaysian Integrated Maritime Surveillance System (IMSS) to include upgrades to a command center and coastal surveillance stations in Malaysia. Work will be performed in Beltsville, Maryland (50%), and at sites throughout Malaysia (50%), and is expected to be completed September 2009.

This contract was awarded as a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program, Phase 3 follow-on contract, under the authority of 10 U.S.C. 2301-c-5. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center in San Diego, CA issued the contract (N66001-07-C-0146).

Readers who have been paying attention may have noted another surveillance contract aimed at monitoring a strategic waterway: Yemen's coastal radar set that will watch the Horn of Africa and gateway to the Suez Canal. Malaysia stands astride the Straits of Malacca, arguably the world's business and most critical shipping lane with some piracy and terrorism issues all its own.

The US Navy is preparing to unveil a new Maritime Strategy in October 2007, and these kinds of quiet "Maritime Domain Awareness" contracts fit neatly with concepts like CNO (and soon CJCS) Mike Mullen's concept of the "1,000 ship navy" [article | quotes], where vessels and related naval assets from different countries that work together to keep order on the high seas.

Source : Defense Industry Daily