The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
Undecided. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) told reporters last week that the vacancy on the House Appropriations Committee caused by Rep. Roger Wicker’s (R- Miss.) shift to the Senate would be discussed during a Republican party retreat this week. One of the handful of lawmakers interested in the spot, Rep. David Reichert (R-Wash.), said a decision is expected by late this month. Reichert said winning the spot on the HAC would be good for his state and good for the party, because it would strengthen his political position in a district evenly split by political parties. Adding him to the committee would also provide a Republican voice for Washington on government spending; Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Norm Dicks, both Democrats, serve as appropriators, he said.
Clerks. Before the end of the calendar year, David Morrison, staff director for the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, resigned to take a job with a top D.C. lobbying firm. According to a congressional aide, the subcommittee has found a replacement, but the full committee has not yet made that name public.
Better Late. Lt. Gen. Gary North, commander of Central Command Air Forces, said last week that B-1 bombers in theater should be equipped with new targeting pods by this May or June. One year earlier, North predicted the pods would be delivered in response to the urgent needs statement, before the start of this year. “We look forward to having those,” he said during a breakfast speech sponsored by DeticaDFI.
Duty Bound. Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) last week said he does not agree with Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England’s decision to ask for four F-22s in the fiscal year 2009 supplemental, saying that only keeps the line alive for one more year at best. Because the Joint Strike Fighter will not be available before 2012, the Air Force needs to bridge the gap left by aging F-15 fighter jets. “It’s my duty to make the case for keeping the line open,” said Gingrey. Gingrey and 69 other House lawmakers recently wrote a letter asking for the department to expand the F-22 purchase in the FY ’09 base budget.
Bottom Line. The Army is working hard to rebalance its needs, but it’s not easy, Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey says. “I’ll tell you we’re having a hard time on the manning side,” he says at an Association of the U.S. Army Institute for Land Warfare breakfast Jan. 16. Even with priorities on sustainment, preparation, reset and transformation, it all comes down to people and resources. “The surge sucked all the flexibility out of the system,” he says. Flexibility won’t be added back into the service until soldiers are home for at least 18 months. And, as for reset, it’s all about the money, he says. Funds will “make the difference between a hollow force and a versatile, flexible force for the future.”
Here To Stay. You can’t walk around the battlefield today without seeing contractors, says Army Chief of Staff George Casey. Service decisions made in the 1990s to draw down logistics soldiers put the reliance on contractors. “We’ve got to go back and ask ourselves, did the assumptions pan out back in the 90s,” Casey says. The move to contractors was tied to the assumption that said over time it will cost more to keep paying logistical soldiers through retirement than to hire contractors. “Contractors are a fixture of a modern battlefield and I don’t think it will change anytime in the near term,” Casey says.
New Career. L-3 Communications announces it has appointed retired Army Lt. Gen. John “Mark” Curran to the newly created position of vice president, Huntsville Operations. Curran will coordinate all of L-3’s activities in the Huntsville region, and serve as the principal representative and corporate interface of L-3 with federal, state and local customers in the greater Huntsville region. “With an array of key programs based in Huntsville, the region is very important to L-3 and I am delighted that Mark will be representing us there,” Michael Strianese, president and chief executive officer of L-3 says in the announcement. Curran served as deputy commanding general, Futures Director, Army Capabilities Integration Center, Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), a position he held from 2003 until his retirement in October 2007. Prior to this assignment, Curran served as the commanding general, Army Aviation Center at Fort Rucker, Ala.
Now The Shadow Knows. BAE Systems delivers five target detection systems to the Army for use on Shadow unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The AURORA Generation IV remote sensing system will provide U.S. forces with precise detection and identification of potential threats, increasing mission capability and survivability. AURORA is an ultra- lightweight, compact, wide-area surveillance system. It combines daytime hyperspectral imaging technology, featuring high-resolution electro-optic sensors, with an airborne processing system to automatically detect and identify targets. “AURORA is the first system that puts hyperspectral technology in operational use for U.S. forces,” John Antoniades, director of remote sensing technologies for BAE, says. “This is important because the combination of hyperspectral and electro-optic technology offers an objective tool to detect and identify targets, relieving the stress on operators who are constantly watching video imagery.”
Foreign Testing. Until Friday, the Theater Missile Defence Ad Hoc Working Group (TMD AHWG) is conducting a joint NATO-Russia TMD Computer Assisted Exercise (CAX). The event began Jan. 16 and is conducted under the aegis of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC). Germany is the host nation. This is the fourth in a series of joint NATO-Russia TMD exercises. The TMD CPX program has validated the jointly developed experimental concept and associated experimental concept of operations. This CAX concentrates on the planning processes required to enable an effective and efficient employment of such forces. More than 60 representatives from 11 NATO nations and the Russian Federation are participating in the CAX.
Full Complement. The Australian air force now has its fourth C-17A Globemaster III aircraft, received in a ceremony at the Boeing plant in California Jan. 19. Just two years after Australia decided to purchase four Globemasters for the heavy air lift role, the accelerated acquisition program has delivered the giant aircraft on time and on budget. “The Globemaster provides a quantum leap in air lift capability. Air Force is already demonstrating the great value that Globemasters bring to Defence’s domestic and international operations,” Greg Combet, the Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Procurement, said Jan. 18. Last November, a Globemaster transported 26 tons of humanitarian relief supplies at short notice to Port Moresby as part of Operation PNG Assist, following the destruction caused by Cyclone Guba. The Globemaster can carry four times the payload of the existing C-130 Hercules and fly that load faster and further. Before heading to Australia for delivery in March, the aircraft will be fitted with defensive countermeasure equipment.
Strong Words. The Navy must exercise appetite suppression and must scrupulously separate needs from wants, CNO Adm. Gary Roughead tells attendees at the Surface Navy Association symposium. “We do not have the budget to operate in any other way,” he says. Roughead expects Navy leaders to take a disciplined approach to shipbuilding and that the service must seek out simple and dramatic cost reduction solutions such as reducing the number of hulls the Navy will field. Roughead adds that because it is a very early stage, he will not commit to any LCS strategy.
…Stop The Creep. Roughead adds that when the Navy states its requirements, its decisions must be final. “I am passionate about ending requirements creep and I will be relentless in my demand for them to be clearly articulated and defined accurately,” he says. “We must be able to take our cost estimates to the bank. Thousands of changes to our requirements is needlessly consuming our budget.”
…Partners. Roughead recently returned from a cross-country tour of public and private shipyards. “I saw industry making needed and significant improvements. We in the Navy must approach our processes with the same enthusiasm. I am not satisfied with the explanation that the nature of our bureaucracy limits our flexibility.” Leaders must lead change and be accountable for its success, he adds. Roughead adds the Navy cannot accept products that are ineffective or over ambitious and/or late. “And I will not purchase a product whose technical overreach greatly exceeds any need and we cannot accept delay. I will work to ensure that both industry and the Navy are holding true to promises and we will work together to build the ships we need,” Roughead says.
SeaRAM. Raytheon tells Defense Daily that both Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics are interested in the SeaRAM ship self-defense system for both the USS Freedom (LCS-1) and USS Independence (LCS-2). Raytheon will be conducting more tests on SeaRAM in the February/March time frame at Port Hueneme, Calif. The company expects to deliver its first SeaRAM to General Dynamics for installation on the Independence on March 31, says Dave Ray, SeaRAM program manager. “When LCS goes through OPEVAL, we’ll do some SeaRAM OPEVAL.” The company is also looking at Navy frigates as a potential platform for SeaRAM, he adds. “SeaRAM allows frigates to do blue water operations,” Ray notes. Acquisition issues for LCS helped Raytheon’s case for putting SeaRAM on frigates, Ray adds.
…International Interest. Raytheon has a release for international sales of SeaRAM, Ray says. The Saudis are interested. There is also a market for a stand-alone SeaRAM. Australia and Spain have also expressed interest he says. The first international sale of SeaRAM could come as early as this summer, Ray adds. Raytheon is looking at building at least two SeaRAM systems in ’08, Ray says.
It’s Not The MET, But Good Enough. Lockheed Martin’s F-22A Raptor is part of a new exhibit at The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force showcasing America’s air dominance fighter, the company says. Raptor 03 will remain on display at the museum.
Common Launcher. Lockheed Martin last week briefed reporters on a new effort to develop a common launcher for both the Mk 41 and Mk 57 launchers, says Tim Fouts, business development manager, domestic launchers. ExLS addresses the question of what else VLS can be used for, he says. “How can we reduce the cost to integrate new missiles and munitions,” Fouts notes. “ExLS eliminates new canister development.” In ’07, Lockheed Martin developed a full-sized prototype for the NULKA decoy and is working on a design for the RAM block II and NLOS-LS for LCS. “ExLS is scalable. [The] open architecture is able to integrate into all surface combatants,” Fouts says. “The Navy was interested in retrofitting what they already had.” He believes ExLS will transfer to customer funding in 2008. The company is also working on a couple of different concepts for ExLS, Fouts adds. For example, Lockheed Martin is on a path right now to develop ExLS as a stand alone system.
Electricity In The Air. Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren is preparing for a Jan. 31 test firing of the electromagnetic (EM) rail gun (EMRG) being developed for use on future all-electric drive ships, such as the DDG-1000, Chester Petry, Dahlgren system engineering team, tells Defense Daily. “The Navy has no position on which platform the gun will be built for,” he adds. “But it would need electric drive.” If successful, the January test shot would be a world record for highest energy EMRG shot, Petry notes. NSWC Dahlgren took delivery of a new 32 mega-jewel muzzle energy lab EM launcher. Dahlgren completed a series of commissioning shots to verify the EM gun’s capability. The gun is being developed to provide a 200-plus nautical mile range capability to match the Marine Corps’ V-22 Osprey footprint, Petry adds.
…Roll Out. NSWC Dahlgren will also roll out the first 30mm Mk 46 gun module for LCS in June. First shipboard integration will occur in the second quarter 2009, says Robert Barry, deputy project manager LCS SUW MP. The gun will have a full weapons magazine built in and will have a network interface. “It’s the first time in the Navy a gun fire control system will be operated remotely,” he says. The gun is built by General Dynamics and is the same system that is used on LPD-17 and will be used on EFV, Barry adds. Dahlgren is also building the NLOS-LS mission package for ASW. The module will have four launchers that will hold 15 missiles in each launcher, Barry notes. Because NLOS is an Army program and is currently in the SDD phase, he couldn’t provide a rollout date for that mission package.
Deepwater Highlights. The Coast Guard is nearing completion of development test and evaluation of its Medium Range Surveillance Aircraft, the HC-144A, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen tells attendees at last week’s Surface Navy Association symposium. The HC-144A has now been designated Ocean Sentry, according to a Deepwater ICGS spokeswoman. The Deepwater program is also close to wrapping up machinery trials and moving into builder trials for the first National Security Cutter (NSC), the USCG Bertholf (WMSL 750), Allen adds during his key note address. For the first time, the Coast Guard will rely on the Navy’s INSERV inspectors to conduct acceptance trials. That should occur in the March time frame, he adds. The Coast Guard should take delivery of the Bertholf in April, Allen says.
…Thin Ice. With more ship activity taking place in the Arctic region, there is more demand for Coast Guard operations in that area, Allen says. “We need a national discussion about the Arctic,” he says. “I have water I have to cover that I didn’t before.” That means Coast Guard vessels will have to operate further from their bases, he adds. “We are looking at our ability to patrol up there.” This summer the Coast Guard will deploy units to the Arctic region to see how the service operates there, Allen says. The Coast Guard will also have to look at its ice breaker fleet. “We have three,” Allen says. “We are thin in the ranks. We need to frame a discussion and a way forward.”
Off We Go. Northrop Grumman Newport News will begin catapult system tests of the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) Friday, the company reports. Former President Bush will be on hand to view the testing.