WHAT'S CANADA BUYING? November 2010

[The Bread Guy]

News only -
please post comments elsewhere.

Thanks for your help in making this "news only" system work.​

Wanted:  22,000 pairs of "flyer gloves":

.... REQUIREMENT: The Department of National Defence has a requirement for flyers' gloves (leather palm/polymide jersey back) to be manufactured in accordance with the Department of National DEFENCE specifications Annex B, DSSPM 2-3-87-0972 dated March 23, 2009, Annex C DSSPM 2-3-80-155, dated December 08, 2009 and Annex D dated March 23, 2009 and sealed pattern DCGEM 359-90.

FIRM QUANTITY: 14,700 pairs to be delivered to Montreal, Quebec and 7,300 pairs to be delivered to Edmonton, Alberta.

OPTION QUANTITY: For a minimum of 11,000 pairs up to a maximum of 22,000 pairs distributed amongst the destinations as required by DND, and exercisable within a period of twenty four (24) months from contract award date.

DELIVERY REQUESTED: To be completed by June 30, 2011 or sooner ....

Who can do an environmental assessment on the testing being done using DRDC Atlantic's Acoustic Calibration Barge?

.... Defence R&D Canada - Atlantic (DRDC Atlantic) requires a contractor to complete an assessment of the environmental impacts of commonly used acoustic sources levels.

(....)

Bid evaluation will be based on Technical and Management point rated evaluation criteria. The responsive bid with the highest total overall points, within the funding limitation of $ 50,000.00, applicable taxes extra, will be recommended for award of a contract.

Work to start: upon award of Contract
Completion date: to be completed on or before 15 March, 2011 ....

Who can do research to help improve our HR's "personnel generation, personnel and family support, and organizational and operational dynamics"?

.... Defence Research and Development Canada, Director General Military Personnel Research and Analysis (DRDC DGMPRA) has a mandate to provide expert, timely and objective scientific advice in support of evidence-based Human Resource and Personnel policy development for the Canadian Forces (CF) and Department of National Defence (DND). DGMPRA research and analysis projects are mainly concerned with the core issues of personnel generation, personnel and family support, and organizational and operational dynamics ....

A bit more in the attached excerpts from the bid documents.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Remember this?  A bit of a change to the project description bid document:

This solicitation is raised for the procurement of one hundred and thirteen
(113) Command Wire Detectors (CWD).

Explosive hazards are major threats to CF personnel in current operational
theatres. These explosive threats include landmines, Unexploded
Ordnance (UXO), and Improvised Explosive Devices (IED). In this
environment, Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Operators and Combat
Engineer teams are frequently called upon to conduct short notice searches
for explosive hazards. The CF require capability to detect the presence of
electrical wires buried underground which are part of the system to initiate
an Explosive Device (ED) at will from a command position. These wires
are often referred to as "command wire" and normally serve to activate
command detonated ordnance or IED.

An effective yet simple, robust and compact handheld CWD will reduce
the risk of casualties from explosive hazards on operations. The CWD
would also be used to detect any shallowly buried low voltage signal
cables of interest. The CWD is intended to detect or locate relatively short
lengths of non-energized small gauge wires attached to an explosive
device unlike a "pipe or cable" locator as used in the Petroleum or Power
Utility industries to "track" underground pipelines and utility cables and/or
to detect ruptures or breaks. The CWD will be employed in a variety of
climatic conditions and harsh physical environments. It will be subject to
repeated periods of sustained and rugged use followed by extended
inactivity, storage or transport. The CWD is to be useable and
maintainable for a minimum of ten (10) years after delivery and
acceptance.

This requirement includes the provision of integrated logistics support,
project management, system engineering, training, and the optional
procurement of additional CWD units, spares, special tools and test
equipment, and other work arisings, as necessary.

Also, no need to rush - new deadline for submission is now 14 Dec 10.

More in attached amendments.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Here's who's supplying your boil-in-a-bags for the next while.....

These menus from the a U.S. supplier....

.... Hash Brown Potatoes and Bacon                    33,334    pouches
Scalloped Potatoes and Ham                        66,668    pouches
Pork with Wine Cream Sauce                        33,334 pouches
Chipotle Chicken Carbonara                        66,668 pouches
Indian Chicken Breast                            66,668    pouches
Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya                    66,668 pouches
Strawberry Apple Sauce                            133,336 pouches
Mango Peach Applesauce                        200,004 pouches

Tortillas                                    233,338 pouches
Corn Bread                                33,334 pouches

(....)

The Wornick Company
4701 Creek Road
Cincinnati, Ohio
45242-2808
USA
(....)

....and these from a Canadian supplier:

Beans and Wieners in Tomato Sauce                    66,668    pouches
Sausage and Hash Browns                        66,668    pouches
Breakfast Sausage Links                        33,334 pouches
Baked Beans                                66,668 pouches
Pizza Pasta                                33,334    pouches
Beef Ravioli                                66,668 pouches
Spaghetti and Meatballs                            66,668 pouches
Chicken and Vegetable Stew                        78,828 pouches
Chicken Breast with Spicy Sauce                    66,668 pouches
Salisbury Steak                                33,334 pouches
Veal Cutlet with Lemon Sauce                        66,668 pouches
Sliced Apples with Syrup                        100,002 pouches
Fruit Cocktail with Syrup                              66,668 pouches       
Sliced Peaches with Syrup                        133,336 pouches
Sliced Pears with Syrup                            133,336 pouches
Chocolate Square                            133,336 pouches
Spice Cake                                100,002 pouches

(....)

BAXTERS CANADA INC.
4800 Blvd Pinard
St-Hyacinthe QC
J2S 8E1
Canada

(....)

Pork with Wine Cream Sauce?  Chipotle Chicken Carbonara?  Indian Chicken Breast?  No more Vienna Sausage or canned bacon?  I age myself....

 

[The Bread Guy]

This from MERX:

.... Image intensifiers (I2) operating in visible and near infrared spectrum provide excellent low light level situational awareness (SA), viewing of near infrared pointer/illuminator, and most importantly target identification while thermal imagers (TI) operating in the infrared spectrum makes SA possible in complete darkness as well as under smoke and obscurants. In low clutter environments, target detection is also more robust using TI during day and night operational conditions. Due to the unique advantages on these technologies, soldiers are often carrying both I2 and TI devices during operations.

With all the recent advancement on detector, optics and electronic technologies, it is becoming possible to integrate I2 and TI detectors into a compact, multi-band imaging unit with image fusion functionality. Not only will a compact, light weight, single device provide the advantages of I2 and TI, proper image fusion might improve SA by combining all the advantages (SA in day, night, smoke, obscurant conditions, viewing near infrared pointer/illuminator, target detection and identification) of I2 and TI in a single image.

As a result, DRDC is exploring the possibility of developing a compact, weapon-mounted, ruggedized I2-TI sight with image fusion capability ....

More in attached if link doesn't work.

 

[Altair]

Haven't run into the pizza pasta yet.

Anyone know if it's good?

 

[The Bread Guy]

What video games are popular within the Montreal military establishment, you may ask? 

Check out the attached list, extracted from the bid document.

 

[The Bread Guy]

The Canadian Press on the video game bid:

.... The unusual order appears in a federal government tender, with the competition closing Dec. 2.

The document says delivery is required "as soon as possible" to the Longue-Pointe Garrison in Montreal's east end, a supply depot for the armed forces in Eastern Canada.

A spokeswoman for the Canadian Forces in Ottawa was not immediately able to indicate why Wednesday's order was placed or how much the military has budgeted for them.

"It's a strange one," said Capt. Sandra Bourne ....

 

[63 Delta]

The Canadian Press on the video game bid:

Probably for our soldiers overseas... Every FOB and PB usually has a gaming system. And KAF has all those game trailers, plus Canada House. I know I was killing zombies after my turret shifts in one PB. Gotta Love World at War!

 

[The Bread Guy]

Plain language translation:  DRDC has software that can scan and analyze the content of documents to determine relationships between people, places and things mentioned in the documents, and wants help getting this to market - more from MERX:

.... Defence R&D Canada – Toronto (DRDC Toronto) has completed the development of the Graphical Overview of Semantic and Social Interactions of People (hereafter referred to as, GOSSIP) The GOSSIP technology is comprised of an interactive visualization interface that allows the user to determine quickly who the important entities are (persons, places, or anything with a title) in a collection of documents and their connections. A "connection" in GOSSIP occurs when entities are discussed together in a document. It also comprises an algorithm that derives semantic information from the corpus. The semantic content allows the user to filter documents, connections and generate profiles of entities by considering their similarity to semantic characteristics of the document corpus. To the extent that document collections are stamped by date or time, GOSSIP can examine the contents of a document collection in discrete time slices allowing the user to track connections and changes in their nature over time. Finally, GOSSIP contains a reporting facility that allows the user to by-pass the visualization aspect of the tool and generates data from a document corpus that can be examined by other software packages (e.g., Excel, SPSS, etc).

Development Status

The GOSSIP prototype has been built and tested, and the research project leading to its development has been completed. A patent application has been filed for this technology.

Applications

There are a substantial number of users for such a tool the defense and security sectors, such as for those who conduct intelligence analyses, target audience analysis, sentiment analysis, opinion mining, and the analysis of large collections of brief reports. Within the intelligence analysis context, GOSSIP represents a new capability that analysts did not have previously. Several opportunities would also exist in the civilian market, such as any occupation that requires an analysis of large document collections. For example, market researchers could use GOSSIP to track the entities and concepts associated with their products in the media over time. In legal or investigative contexts, GOSSIP could be used to help study the sequences of connections among entities discussed in large collections of documents and how they change over time.  Reporters and members of the media could use GOSSIP to examine the connections among entities discussed across documents spanning long periods of time.

DRDC Toronto is now seeking an industrial partner to commercialize GOSSIP, by negotiating a license to the technology.

(....)

 

[The Bread Guy]

Probably for our soldiers overseas... Every FOB and PB usually has a gaming system. And KAF has all those game trailers, plus Canada House. I know I was killing zombies after my turret shifts in one PB. Gotta Love World at War!

Good call on the video games - this from the Canadian Press:

Canadian soldiers stuck in lonely outposts in Afghanistan are the lucky recipients of a big stash of video games ordered just months before the military pulls out.

Defence officials confirm that 500 copies of games such as "Gears of War," "Call of Duty," "Mortal Kombat," and "Assassins Creed" are destined for Canada's forward operating bases in the war-ravaged country.

An estimated 500 to 600 soldiers are stationed at Ma'sum Ghar and Sperwan Ghar, Canada's main bases outside Kandahar, which works out to a video game for almost every gamer-in-uniform.

"It helps in keeping good morale ... to bring some relief to people working long hours," Cmdr. Hubert Genest said in an interview.

The large order, which includes some unwarlike games — such as "Guitar Hero 3," "The Beatles Rock Band," and "Tiger Woods 2011" — was issued by public tender last week. The competition closes early next month.

Genest was not able to provide a dollar value, but at an estimated $50 a title, the order could be worth as much as $25,000 ....

 

[The Bread Guy]

Remember the anti-ship rot research on submarine hulls a while back?

(....)

"Design and Performance Evaluation of Multi-Zone Shipboard Impressed Current Cathodic Protection Syst(em)" (Preventing ship rot?)

(....)

Moving the work forward - more from MERX:

.... DEFENCE R&D Canada - Atlantic (DRDC Atlantic) has designed and fabricated a physical scale modeling (PSM) test facility to design and evaluate the submarine impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) system. In previous contractual activities, a 1/50 scale submarine hull ICCP model was designed, fabricated, and instrumented. The PSM test facility was also enhanced by using a big water tank to reduce the edge effect of the measurements. The experiments have been carried out to evaluate shipboard ICCP systems.

This current requirement will focus on the following R&D activities: 1). Further enhancement of the submarine hull ICCP model; 2). Performance evaluation of the two-zone or multi-zone submarine hull ICCP systems in both littoral water and deep water; and 3). Evaluation of the modulations of cathodic protection current by propeller/shaft rotation. All physical scale model experiments are required to be performed on site in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The period of work will be from contract award to 15 March 2011 ....

 

[The Bread Guy]

Anyone want to clean up some old radar sites in Nunavut?

Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) on behalf of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) has a requirement for the remediation of PIN-D (Ross Point) & PIN-E (Cape Peel) Intermediate DEW Line Stations.  The general objective of the work will be to mitigate and/or control the release of contaminants to the environment and to protect the public by ensuring the sites are safer ones ....

How about building and grounds management at the northern tip of Ellesmere Island at CFS Alert?

.... The Department of National Defence has a requirement for on site services to include but not be limited to: complete facilities support, engineering and maintenance support, power plant operation, food services, transport and vehicle maintenance support, janitorial services, accommodations management, laundry, roads and grounds operations, airfield operations support ....

 

[The Bread Guy]

Wanted:

- Someone to teach high altitude, high opening parachute operations (more in attached Statement of Requirements)

- This Minnesota-based company to build live-fire "kill houses" for Brit training in Suffield

- Someone to build a new office building on Oxford Street in London

- Someone to provide English as a Second Language (ESL) online courseware for "up to 450 concurrent users for autonomous Canadian Forces Francophone members".

 

[The Bread Guy]

New accessible housing in Shilo ....

DEFENCE CONSTRUCTION CANADA (DCC) – #SL11702– Barrier Free Access Residential Housing Unit, Shilo, Manitoba.

The work includes, but is not necessarily limited to, the supply of labour, material, supervision and equipment necessary to construct a new single family Barrier Free Access (BFA) Residential Housing Unit (RHU) ....

.... and making houses accessible in Petawawa:

DEFENCE CONSTRUCTION CANADA (DCC) – HAKPA67 – Barrier Free Renovation, 3 Houses – Petawawa, Ontario

The work includes, but is not necessarily limited to, the supply of labour, material, supervision and equipment necessary to renovate three (3) existing residential units to become fully handicap accessible in Petawawa, Ontario ....

Meanwhile, a one-year contract extension for a "staging base" for Brit adventure training near Suffield while the UK's Ministry of Defence reviews its priorities:

.... Canada intends to award a contract to the present supplier of the Adventurous Training Military Staging Area. The Lazy H Trail Company Ltd has been providing the military staging area and related services under contract with Department of National DEFENCE on behalf of British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS) prior to 2001.

The staging support infrastructure consists of exclusive accommodation for 160 people/3000 per year, telecommunications, fully equipped kitchen, manned warehouse, workshop, equipment storage, 10 offices, lecture room, conference room, recreation areas, gymnasium, parking for 28 vehicles, 12 trailers, 3 commercial buses, year round vehicle wash bay; and services consisting of laundry, catering, janitorial, and horse back packing for 620 people. The current contract will expire on March 31, 2011.

The near and long term future of an Adventurous Training Military Staging Area is uncertain due to recent developments by the United Kingdom's Strategic Defence and Security Review, Ministry of DEFENCE (MOD). Alternatives are being considered as part of an investment appraisal and the future need for a staging area will be considered in 2011 but is unknown at this time.

MOD has committed to the ongoing delivery of Adventurous Training and Challenge Pursuit Activities for an additional year until March 31, 2012; the staging area and related services must be available for April 1, 2011 for the 2011/2012 training period.

Research indicates that significant modification, capital investment and planning to current business operations would be required by interested suppliers to satisfy this requirement. 

The financial and operational cost to mobilize and relocate BATUS AT operations is high and not feasible for a one year period.

A business case has determined that continuing with the current supplier for a period of one year will ensure uninterrupted delivery of the AT program while an in-depth analysis of the Adventurous Training Military Staging Area requirement is
conducted by MOD and their resultant decision ....

 

[The Bread Guy]

What video games are popular within the Montreal military establishment, you may ask? 

Check out the attached list, extracted from the bid document.

Potential vendors have more time - until 16 Dec 10 (see attached amendment).

 

[The Bread Guy]

<a href="http://is.gd/i1gl8">"Histological Evaluation - Stem Cells", a.k.a. Stem cell wound research</a>....

MERX-speak (excerpt from Statement of Work available at Scribd.com <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/44431718/Histological-Evaluation-of-a-Murine-Wound-Model-for-Mesenchymal-Stem-Cell-Tissue-Regeneration-Studies"> here</a>):

.... Histological Evaluation of a Murine Wound Model for  Mesenchymal Stem Cell Tissue Regeneration Studies .... The study purpose is to  develop a model to follow the healing process after the application of stem  cells which should accelerate the regeneration of tissue repair. The model will  provide a visual window with which to observe and measure various tissue  regeneration features ....

My plain English version:<em> "How do  wounds, specifically rodent wounds, heal using stem cells to rebuild tissue?  We need someone to take and watch tissue samples for the experiment."</em>