CASR

Defence
Budget & 
Procurement
Practices 

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Notice  of
Proposed
Procurement
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CASW Close Area Suppression Weapon System  –  NPP  –  Nov 2008/Aug 2009 CASW  ( Close Area Suppression Weapon System )  Automatic Grenade Launcher  —  MERX  Notice of  Proposed  Procurement The Close Area Suppression Weapon System project  is on again. The first attempt at an NPP was cancelled on 07 Nov 2008. The NPP has been reissued but with no details. Update: this NPP has been revised multiple times. The NPP was cancelled in Nov 2008, below, only to be reissued (with details returned ) on 02 Feb 2009 with a new 17 March closing date. On 29 May 2009, CASW was revised yet again (closing on 27 Aug. 2009) only to be revised once more on 16 July 2009 (closing 08 Oct 2009). Somehow through all this, CASW retained the same, increasingly unrealistic delivery date. So with a final delivery date of 2012, a weapons procurement project predating the CF deployment to Kandahar will deliver nothing until after the CF Afghan combat mission is concluded. On 14 Oct 2010, a  CASW contract award was announced.  Rheinmetall Canada would receive $95M to provide 304 C16 Automatic Grenade Launcher Systems under CASW. That original  CASW  NPP  required  304  Close Area Suppression Weapons  which were defined as 40 mm automatic grenade launchers "complete with Weapon Assembly  Group,  Ground  Mount Assembly  Group, Fire Control  System (FCS),  Thermal  Weapon Sight," etc.  To this was added ammunition,  project manage- ment, system engineering, and support in the form of spares, training, and DND's usual Optimized Weapon Support  System  (or  OWSS )  services  arrangement. As noted by David Pugliese, CASW delivery has been slipping for some time. In 2004, the delivery date was to be August 2006. Later,  it was summer 2008 with "last delivery (anticipated to be in 2012)". Now, first delivery is not until the end of March 2012. And CASW is controversial within the Army because, for reasons of  manning/training and supply-line logistics economies, another  well-tried support weapon must be given up. The major contention springs  from the CF's insistance that CASW will displace their old 60mm  M19 mortar.  Techno-philes claim that computerized  targeting,  air-burst munitions, and rapid firing will make the 40mm grenades even more effective than  larger 60mm mortar rounds.  Traditionalists  bemoan  the loss of the simple-to-use, near-indestructable mortar (heavy though it may be) with a complex and likely delicate 'system of  systems' in CASW. Only time and experience will tell which side is right. However, with that 2012 delivery date, that experience may not be in Afghanistan. So, why this procurement approach? A separate AGL competition will be launched  later for vehicle mounted weapons.  CASW will  be chosen  by then and any AGL competition a foregone conclusion. Keep in mind, the  remote weapon systems  that AGLs would  be mounted on are already in service. The AGL aspect of  CASW could  have been tested  in action in Afghanistan  (with 40mm grenade effectiveness being compared with mortars in combat ).  Instead, DND will fumble through a decade to buy the most complex version possible of the simple AGL. The full text of  this NPP (as published on the MERX website) is reproduced below. ________________________________________ Close Area Suppression Weapon System  [ CASW ] –  MERX  NPP  [ Notice of  Proposed  Procurement ] ________________________________________ Reference Number                PW-$$RA-040-17797 Solicitation Number              W8476-09BP01/A Organization Name               Public Works and Government Services Canada                                                  Travaux publics et Services gouvernementaux Canada Source ID                               FD.DP.QC.10077.C2 Associated Components     Yes Dates Published     — Revised        2008-11-07 Closing         2008-11-07  02:00 PM  Eastern Daylight Saving Time  EDT Details Category     Armament GSINS          N1010:  GUNS,  OVER  30 MM  UP TO  75 MM Region of Delivery            — Region of Opportunity     — Agreement Type                — Tender Type                       Notice of  Proposed Procurement (NPP) Estimated Value                  — Solicitation Method           — Notice Description Close Area Suppression Weapon System Solicitation W8476-09BP01/A - PW-$$RA-040-17797 has been cancelled. Trade Agreement:  WTO-AGP/AIT Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement:  No Tendering Procedures:  — Technical Documents:  YES (MERX) Electronic Scott, Sean 11 Laurier St. / 11, rue Laurier 8C2, Place du Portage, Phase III Gatineau Québec K1A 0S5 (819) 994-9220 ( )