The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
Hill Bills. The heads of the House and Senate appropriations committees and their defense subpanels could meet as soon as this week to hash out a final agreement on the fiscal year 2010 defense appropriations bill. Many differences between the bills have been resolved, save some lingering sticking points, aides say. House Appropriations Defense subcommittee Chairman John Murtha (D-Pa.) tells reporters Oct. 8 that some lawmakers want to add non-defense legislation to the bill, proposed additions that have “bogged down” the pace of the defense measure’s passage. For the Pentagon authorization bill, the House has passed the final conference committee agreement and the Senate is expected to grant the final congressional approval as soon as this week.
Tanker Tussle. Alabama lawmakers continue to raise concerns about a Northrop Grumman-European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. team’s previous bid for the KC-X aerial refueling tanker being shared with rival Boeing following Boeing’s successful GAO protest of the Northrop Grumman team’s previous contract award. “Boeing knows all of Northrop Grumman’s bidding strategies,” Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) says Oct. 8. “Northrop Grumman has repeatedly asked the Department of Defense to level the playing field by providing them, Northrop Grumman, with Boeing’s pricing information from the previous competition.” Shelby adds he “could not disagree more” with the argument that Northrop Grumman’s pricing and bidding strategies are not relevant issues in the current competition and that the data is outdated. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) unsuccessfully tried to address this issue via an amendment to the FY ’10 defense authorization bill and, like Shelby, vented about it on the Senate floor.
VH-71 Redux. Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) is causing a stir with his Oct. 7 news release charging the Pentagon’s nascent presidential helicopter effort–which would replace Lockheed Martin’s canceled program for building VH-71 choppers in his district–could cost three times as much as VH-71, leave a seven-year gap between when the Navy wants the new chopper and when it is ready, and/or yield a very similar aircraft. Hinchey points to requirements for the new chopper described in a Pentagon-crafted Internal Capabilities Document along with a related report by the Congressional Research Service. He backs a plan in the House-passed FY ’10 defense appropriations bill to missionize some early-stage VH-71s, a proposal that spurred a veto threat from the White House.
So Urgent. After eight years of war, the Pentagon doesn’t have a coherent system for addressing urgent operational needs from the battlefield, former defense comptroller Dov Zakheim tells lawmakers Oct. 8. “We need to have institutional changes in acquisition, in programming and in budgetary systems to account for this growing sophistication of flexibility on the part of the threat,” he tells HASC’s Defense Acquisition Reform Panel. “In addition, the department doesn’t often employ operations research and systems analysis when it determines the best response for an urgent need that sometimes is cast in terms of a mission rather than a specific system or a specific item. We need to figure out what’s the best choice.”
Under the Radar. Senior U.S. and Russian officials are expected to meet this week in Moscow to discuss potential Russian participation in a new early warning radar effort that would be a key component in the Obama administration’s revised missile defense architecture. Alexander Vershbow, assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, last week tells defense reporters at a Defense Writers Group breakfast in Washington that Ukrainian officials have expressed an interest in contributing to the radar scheme. Ukrainian participation had been part of a 2007 Russian proposal for altering the Bush administration’s missile defense architecture, but Washington rejected that overture. Pentagon and State Department officials last week promoted the Obama plan, saying that multiple European sites for both interceptor missiles and tracking radars would be needed in the new “plug-and-play” system.
…Allies in Afghanistan. Vershbow also says the very public U.S. debate over troop levels in Afghanistan is making European allies reluctant to immediately commit to sending more of their own soldiers and materiel to the war zone. “In the meantime, they have their own domestic issues,” he says. “And in each individual country, those countries that have suffered high casualties will have to deal with some who are arguing the cost of this war isn’t worth it.” Despite their continued interest in maintaining an Afghan presence, “the capacity of allies to increase substantially is limited,” Vershbow adds.
Herculean Effort. Lockheed Martin last week began final assembly of the first HC/MC-130J, which will also be the 200th C-130J to be produced. Air Force and company officials commemorated the milestones during a short ceremony on the production line in Marrietta, Ga., by signing the keel or floor of the historic C-130J that will be delivered in 2010. Lockheed Martin is under contract to the Air Force to build the HC/MC-130J Special Mission Hercules to replace aging fleets of Combat Search and Rescue HC-130s and Air Force Special Operations MC-130s. In April 2008, a Department of Defense Acquisition Decision Memorandum (ADM) was signed to start the HC/MC-130J program with a six-aircraft buy. Since that time, six more aircraft have been placed on contract and the latest ADM, signed on Aug. 26, authorized up to 22 HC/MC-130J aircraft. The new aircraft, based on a KC-130J tanker baseline, will have a host of factory-installed provisions to support special mission operations. These include the Enhanced Service Life Wing, the Enhanced Cargo Handling System, a Universal Aerial Refueling Receptacle Slipway Installation (boom refueling receptacle), an Electro-Optic/Infrared Sensor, a Combat Systems Operator Station on the flight deck, dual military SATCOMs, Enhanced Vision System provisions, and higher capacity 60/90 kilovolt amp (KVA) generators. In-line production of this configuration reduces cost and schedule, allowing the aircraft to meet the required 2012 Initial Operational Capability. The C-130J is flown by 10 nations, with 177 aircraft delivered through the second quarter of this year.
JSF International. Northrop Grumman has awarded a second source supplier contract to Turkish Aerospace Industries, Inc. (TAI), Ankara, Turkey to produce composite air inlet ducts for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter. The ducts are a key element of the aircraft’s center fuselage, which Northrop Grumman produces for F-35 prime contractor Lockheed Martin. The five-year, $28.4 million contract will help Northrop Grumman transition from its current rate of completing approximately one center fuselage per month to an eventual rate of one center fuselage per day, according to a company statement released last week. The move is in line with the U.S. commitment to expand international participation in the F-35 program. The first deliveries of ducts from the TAI contract are scheduled for June 2010. Northrop Grumman will use the ducts to support production of center fuselages during the fourth through eighth phases of low-rate initial production. TAI currently serves as a second source supplier of F-35 center fuselages to Northrop Grumman. As part of ramping up to eventually produce 400 complete center fuselages, the company opened a new composites manufacturing facility at its headquarters in Ankara in November 2008. That facility, which is currently producing composite subassemblies for the F-35, will also be used to fabricate the composite inlet ducts planned under the new contract. Northrop Grumman is responsible for the design and production of center fuselages for all three variants of F-35 aircraft.
Tanker Upgrades. The Air Force has awarded Rockwell Collins a contract to perform the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase of the KC-135 Block 45 cockpit upgrade program. Under the contract, the company will modernize the KC-135 refueling tankers’ flight deck with the latest generation autopilot, flight director, radar altimeter and electronic engine instrument display. Two prototype aircraft will be modified during the EMD phase to establish the production baseline for 415 additional KC-135 aircraft expected to receive the Block 45 upgrade. Rockwell Collins has modified and delivered more than 300 GATM equipped KC-135 aircraft to date, according to a company statement. The Block 45 upgrade provides increased safety with a state-of-the-art autopilot system. The autopilot flight director system and upgrades to the flight management software provide the user with vertical navigation capabilities, increasing the already robust KC-135 navigational capabilities. The contract also calls for replacing the aging analog engine instruments with a large format color electronic engine instrument display. The KC-135 Stratotanker provides the core aerial refueling capability for the Air Force.
All Dry. The Navy reports that General Dynamics’ LCS-2 suffered flooding in the jet drive room on Oct. 1. There were no injuries and the space has been cleared of water. General Dynamics is investigating the cause of the flooding, and impact to the Independence‘s schedule. Independence is expected to be delivered to the Navy by the end of the year. The company anticipates the ship getting under way again shortly.
Non-Venomous. One of the more unusual technologies on display at last week’s AUSA was Raytheon’s Multi-Dimensional Mobility Robot (MDMR), more commonly referred to as the Snake. Originally a DARPA experiment that was eventually awarded to Sarcos in 2007, Raytheon acquired Sarcos, renaming the robotics company Raytheon Sarcos. MDMR, armed with sensors, is capable of reaching areas no other robot on the market can currently access, Raytheon says. For example, MDMR can work its way through pipes less than 5-inches in diameter; climb stairs, and even poles. MDMR can be operated from a tether or wirelessly, the company adds. Raytheon sees potential uses for MDMR in homeland security, and with fire and police departments. “We are looking at the total market,” Maureen Heard, a Raytheon spokeswoman, tells Defense Daily. Earlier this month, Raytheon received an ITARS release for MDMR, she adds.
What’s All The Flap About? The Navy completed installation of the first energy-saving stern flap on an amphibious assault ship, part of an overall effort to make naval ships more fuel efficient, NAVSEA says. Previous installations on other Navy ships generated annual fuel savings of $365,000 to $450,000 per ship, NAVSEA adds. The USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) is the first amphib to get the energy saving stern flap. Installation began earlier this summer during a major maintenance overhaul for the Kearsarge at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, and is expected to yield fuel savings of more than $540,000 (based on $100 per barrel oil cost) annually, NAVSEA says. Kearsarge is scheduled to get underway in November to begin evaluation of the installation. The dock landing ship USS Whidbey Island (LSD-41) is also expected to return to sea this year after its own stern flap installation, NAVSEA reports. Once installed fleet-wide on both LHDs and LSDs, the initiative is expected to yield an annual cost avoidance of approximately $6.3 million, based on fuel oil costing $100 per barrel.
Welcome To The Family. The new Reconfigurable Transportable Consolidated Automated Support System (RTCASS), a state-of-the-art piece of automatic test equipment that runs more than 750 weapon system boxes and circuit cards, is arriving at Marine Corps air stations around the world, NAVAIR says. RTCASS is the newest member of the CASS family of automatic test equipment and was specifically designed to support deploying Marine Corps aviation units, NAVAIR adds. It is man-transportable and the weapon system Test Program software can now be stored and sent via a single DVD, and all test programs can now be stored on the systems main computer, NAVAIR says. The first production RTCASS stations became operational in June, and RTCASS is now operational at Marine Air Logistics Squadron (MALS) 14 at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C.; MALS-13 at MCAS Yuma, Ariz.; and MALS-26/29 at MCAS New River, N.C. The next sites to stand up will be MALS-31 at MCAS Beaufort, N.C., and MALS-12 at Iwakuni, Japan, NAVAIR says.
Air Time. NAVAIR will host the Small Business Aviation Technology Conference, Oct. 28-29, at the Southern Maryland Higher Education Center, California, Md. The focus of this year’s conference is “How to do Business with NAVAIR.” Government presenters will explain both the fundamentals and intricacies of government contracting. The Patuxent Partnership and the China Lake Alliance are conference Co-Sponsors, NAVAIR says. The conference agenda includes a wide range of presentations and break out sessions over the course of less than two days. The conference will also include a presentation on NAVAIR’s Long Range Acquisition Forecast. Interested attendees can view the agenda and register at http://www.paxpartnership.org.
That’s IT. General Dynamics Information Technology will provide enterprise IT support to the U.S. Coast Guard under a five-year, $140 million task order awarded through the Enterprise Acquisition Gateway for Leading-Edge Solutions (EAGLE) contract, General Dynamics says. The company will provide a range of enterprise IT support services to select Coast Guard organizations administered through the U.S. Coast Guard Telecommunication and Information Systems Command (TISCOM). The enterprise engineering, operations and maintenance support services span both the unclassified and classified elements of the computing environment for land-based and mobile telecommunications, electronics and information systems.
The RACE Is On. DISA has released the next version of its Rapid Access Computing Environment (RACE). Initially launched in October 2008, RACE initially allowed for the rapid delivery of Test & Development environments, DISA says. This release allows DoD users the ability to self-service provision operating environments within the highly secured Defense Enterprise Computing Center’s (DECC) production environment. With its rapidly accessible and scalable computing infrastructure, RACE uses virtualization and the nearly unlimited capability of cloud computing to offer DoD customers platform/infrastructure as a service in test and production environments, the first of its kind for DoD, DISA adds.
…Evolving RACE. In FY ’10, DISA will deploy RACE on DoD’s classified network (SIPRNet), as well as completely integrate an accelerated accreditation processes. RACE will also complete integration with DISA’s standardized configuration management system (BladeLogic). For more details, visit http://www.disa.mil/race/.
Full Capability. The Army Contracting Command (ACC) celebrates full operational capability. In ceremonies at Ft. Belvoir, Va., Gen. Anne Dunwoody, commander, Army Materiel Command, says: “Papers and newscasts talk about contracting all the time. But the real story is often overlooked. Our Army cannot function without contractor support. Contractors deliver the materiel we use to execute our mission–materiel that makes our forces the best equipped Army in the world. Created after the need for a dedicated Army contracting command was identified in the 2007 Commission on Army Acquisition and Program Management In Expeditionary Operations, also known as the Gansler Commission Report, ACC, brought contracting capabilities from existing Army organizations into a new structure focusing on professional, ethical, efficient and responsive contracting operations. ACC is moving forward on all 22 actions recommended in the report.
New Board Member. Boeing’s Board of Directors elects retired Adm. Edmund Giambastiani to the board effective immediately. He will serve on the audit and finance committees. Giambastiani served in the Navy for 41 years, concluding as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Successful Turret Test. Lockheed Martin Sept. 23 completes a successful test of a new infrared sensor turret aboard its Desert Hawk III Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). This marks the first time a small UAS has flown with a 360-degree infrared sensor. The hand-launched Desert Hawk III has provided the British army with critical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The small UAS (54-inch wingspan) is specifically designed to operate at high altitudes, in high winds and extreme temperatures. “To assist the warfighter, we have miniaturized the infrared payload, so it fits into a turret weighing less than two pounds,” John Nikolai, director of electronic products & logistics at Lockheed Martin’s Tactical Systems business, says. “The E/O camera has been upgraded as well, for improved target identification. With the introduction of these sensor capabilities, users will experience vastly improved nighttime situational awareness.”
Prototypes Delivered. Rockwell Collins announces the delivery of 10 prototype systems for the Army Ground Soldier System (GSS) Increment 1 program at the Association of the United States Army Annual Meeting & Exposition in Washington. “We believe the Rockwell Collins team has created a system that will exceed nearly every aspect of the requirements set forth by the Ground Soldier program,” says Bruce King, vice president and general manager of Surface Solutions for Rockwell Collins. “We’re encouraged by the feedback we’ve already received from Soldiers, and expect that our GSS Increment 1 system will be further enhanced with the input obtained from the warfighter during the prototype evaluation phase.” Rockwell Collins teamed with Elbit Systems of America, created a full soldier system prototype that improves upon combat-proven displays and navigation systems originally developed for the Land Warrior program, and incorporates superior video processing, mass storage, computing and information assurance capabilities.