By Geoff Fein
In the coming weeks, both ATK [ATK] and Raytheon [RTN] will conduct test shots of their offerings for the Navy’s extended range munition (ERM) program, hoping to demonstrate to the Navy the ability to fire a 5-inch round for Naval Surface Fire Support.
Additionally, because of the inability to date of either company to reproduce results on a consistent basis, the Pentagon has questioned whether the program should continue forward.
ATK is scheduled to conduct two unguided boosted flight tests of its Ballistic Trajectory Extended Range Munition (BTERM) and two guided flight tests on Jan. 22, at White Sands Missile Range, N.M.
The company was expected to conduct a BTERM test in December, but ATK delayed those shots until January (Defense Daily, Nov. 5).
Since receiving a developmental contract from the Navy in May 2004, ATK’s BTERM has been plagued with rocket motor issues.
In 2004, ATK beat out Lockheed Martin [LMT] for the Navy’s $29.9 million ERM alternative demonstration contract (Defense Daily, Nov. 7, 2005). The Navy was looking for an alternative to Raytheon’s Extended Range Guided Munition (ERGM).
The Navy said cost and schedule issues led them to look for an alternative solution and the eventual awarding of the development contract to ATK (Defense Daily, May 24, 2005).
Until FY ’07, ATK had been receiving plus-ups to continue development of BTERM. The company received no funding in last year’s defense bill.
Oddly enough, ATK supplies the rocket motor for ERGM.
Currently, the Navy has a contract with Raytheon for ERGM. Raytheon has not fired a tactical ERGM round since 2005. In October, Raytheon signed a contract with the Navy for the ERGM completion program, which will run through the period of at-sea tests in 2010.
Raytheon will test ERGM on Feb. 5 and 7 at White Sands. Dan Lambert, ERGM business development manager, told Defense Daily Wednesday, the company will shoot four guided rounds. Additionally, Raytheon will test some rocket motor rounds and rounds to conduct systems checks.
“Gathering information is the primary objective,” Lambert said.
Raytheon has added a new GPS and inertial measurement unit (IMU) to ERGM. “We made some modifications to known reliability problems,” Lambert said.
ERGM has 25-30 new pieces, including software, that will be flying for the first time, he added.
“We’re confident we’ll see good test results from these few rounds,” Lambert said.
The February engineering validation tests are all in preparation for Reliability Growth Test Rounds (RGTR) in September. Lambert said Raytheon will fire 20 rounds and the company must show a 60 percent performance threshold.
“The Navy expects 12 [shots] to land and explode on target,” he said.
One issue is that regardless of how many ERGM rounds Raytheon brings to the September tests, at least 12 must work, Lambert added.
Whether the program continues forward, however, is up in the air.
In September, the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer, John Young, issued a memo laying out a path forward for ERM.
In August 2006, ERM became an ACAT I program via the FY ’06 Major Defense Acquisition Program list, the memo notes.
The Sept. 28, 2007 memo approved the ERM Acquisition Strategy and told the Navy: “It may proceed with modifying the contract while only executing the essential tasks required to initiate the procurement of material for fabrication of test rounds and to complete component engineering testing by Jan. 31, 2008, thus limiting the Department’s liability.”
Young authorized the Navy to obligate $20 million for those efforts, according to the memo.
Young also directed the Navy to submit a Technology Maturation Plan to the Director, Defense, Research and Engineering for his approval by the end of this month.
“It is critical that the program demonstrate satisfactory progress toward achievement of reliability and technology readiness requirements,” Young said in the memo.
He also directed the Navy to: “Provide a comprehensive FY ’09-13 budget while fully funding all elements of a coherent program–ERM development, ERM low-rate initial production, gun magazine modifications, fire control modifications, platform integration, etc.”
The Navy must also work wit the Chairman, Cost Analysis Improvement Group (CAIG) to reconcile Navy and CAIG cost estimates and fully fund the program in Program Review 2009 before the budget locks.”
The Navy was to also have submitted an Acquisition Program Baseline to Young by the end of October ’07.
The Navy must also provide the results of the flight tests to the Under Secretary of Defense, Acquisition, Technology and Logistics by late February, according to the memo.
“Within 150 days of this ADM (Acquisition Decision Memorandum), the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition & Technology) will review the [program’s] technical and funding status and develop a recommendation for me on whether this program should proceed,” Young wrote.
The Navy plans to fire the 5-inch ERM from BAE SYSTEMS‘ Mk 45 Mod 4 naval gun system. The service plans to install the Mk 45 Mod 4 on 32 DDGs, beginning with DDG- 81 (Defense Daily, May 24).
The original ERM contract was awarded in 1996 to Texas Instruments [TXN] to develop and test a 5-inch precision munition. In 1997, Raytheon acquired Texas Instruments and, in 1999, moved the program to Arizona, resulting in workforce disruption and delays, GAO said. In 2001, initial operational capability for ERM was pushed out to 2011 (Defense Daily, Dec. 6, 2006).
The Navy’s schedule for ERGM originally planned to take the munition into Initial Operational Capability (IOC) in 2001. IOC was moved to 2004 due to schedule delays and budget reductions that occurred because of technical issues Raytheon was experiencing with ERGM’s guidance system survivability during gun firing, according to the report. IOC is now planned for 2011 (Defense Daily, April 28, 2006).
The Navy had originally pegged the cost to develop ERM at $86 million. However, according to GAO, the Navy projects that cost to increase to $475 million (Defense Daily, Dec. 6, 2006).