The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
Reed’s Navy. Sens. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) are the new chairman and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Seapower subcommittee, spots vacated by the death of Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and retirement of Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.). Reed and Wicker left the leadership spots on the Emerging Threats and Capabilities subcommittee, which, as of last week, are now held by Florida Sens. Bill Nelson (D) and George LeMieux (R). Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) has taken over the chairman position on the Strategic Forces subpanel, which Nelson (D-Fla.) previously chaired, and Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) assumed the Personnel subcommittee chair Nelson (D-Neb.) held before the committee reshuffling.
Approps Inertia. Three leading House Republicans–Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Jerry Lewis (Calif.), Appropriations Defense Subcommittee Ranking Member Bill Young (Fla.), and Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Buck McKeon (Calif.)–are annoyed House-Senate conference committee talks on the FY ’10 defense appropriations bill are stalled. They ask Democratic leaders in an Oct. 21 letter to appoint conferees so Congress can pass the bill before a continuing resolution, temporarily funding the government for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, expires Oct. 31. They note buzz that the defense bill could be used as vehicle to carry legislation related to District of Columbia voting rights, or could be delayed and then joined with another continuing resolution “later this year.” “This critical defense funding bill must not be held up any longer or bogged down with irrelevant items,” the GOP trio writes. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), meanwhile, says the House this week will consider a standalone continuing resolution that extends government spending past Oct. 31.
Pentagon’s CAPE. Christine Fox appears poised to become the Pentagon’s first-ever director of cost assessment and program evaluation (CAPE) after a brief and non-controversial SASC confirmation hearing Oct. 22. “I believe that getting accurate cost estimates (for weapon systems) in front of decision makers as early as possible could help very much with the problems of spiraling costs,” she tells the committee. “I also believe changing requirements after programs have been started is a large factor.” The new position was created in the Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009, which SASC leaders helped write and President Obama signed May 22. President Obama announced Sept. 30 he would nominate Fox.
…Fox Files. Fox most recently served as president of the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA), the Navy’s federally funded research and development center. She oversaw CNA’s analysis of operations including those in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. She has been a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Advisory Board of the Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington. The Senate panel on Oct. 22 also considered the nominations of Frank Kendall to be deputy under secretary of defense for acquisition and technology, Gladys Commons to be assistant secretary of the Navy for financial management and comptroller, and Terry Yonkers to be assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations and environment.
RPM Update. Customs and Border Protection is just about to complete its deployment of Radiation Portal Monitors (RPMs) at land ports of entry, which will provide for 100 percent screening of all trucks entering the United States from Canada and Mexico for potentially illicit radioactive materials. So far, the agency has deployed 1,400 RPMs, allowing for all trucks entering land ports of entry from Mexico to be screened and 99 percent of trucks coming in from Canada, Todd Owen, executive director, Cargo and Conveyance Security, Office of Field Operations at CBP, tells a House Homeland Security panel. He says that in a few weeks 100 percent of the containers coming in from Canada will be subject to RPM scans. Currently 98 percent of containers coming in through U.S. seaports are currently scanned by RPMs, Owen adds.
…Increasing NII Use. Owen also says that CBP has increased the number of screening using Non-Intrusive Imaging (NII) technology on trucks and rail containers entering the country at land ports of entry. In FY ’08, 25 percent of these containers were imaged at land ports and in FY ’09 it was 30 percent, he says. The types of NII equipment Owen is referring to use either Gamma Rays or X-Rays to image the contents of containers and trucks. CBP has been increasing its purchases of NII systems both to replace aging equipment and deploy more assets to the country’s ports of entry.
Environmental Hawks. NASA and Northrop Grumman last week announced the initial flight of a Global Hawk unmanned aircraft system to be used for environmental science research. NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center and Northrop Grumman are returning NASA’s two Global Hawk aircraft to flight under a Space Act Agreement signed last year. The two aircraft were among the seven Global Hawk vehicles built and flown in the original Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration program sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The aircraft that flew last week last took to the skies in May 2003. The approximately four-hour flight at NASA Dryden included checkout of aircraft systems, including engine, flight controls and communication. The flight also included demonstration of key features of a new ground control segment that introduces Northrop Grumman’s common mission management system architecture. This architecture could serve as the baseline for efforts to support the Pentagon common ground station initiative and future unmanned systems, according to Northrop Grumman. The first Earth science mission will be the joint NASA-NOAA Global Hawk Pacific. This campaign will consist of six long-duration missions over the Pacific and Arctic regions scheduled to begin in early 2010. The primary science objective of the mission will be to perform calibration of instruments and validation of data from the AURA satellite, one of NASA’s 15 science satellites currently observing the Earth.
A330 Tanks Up F-16s. The EADS A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport performs its first in-flight refueling of an F-16 from the Royal Australian Air Force A330 MRTT utilizing its integrated Aerial Refueling Boom System. The contacts and subsequent fuel transfers were made with two F-16 receiver aircraft and validated the advanced ARBS handling qualities, precision, and stability on the A330 MRTT, as well as the capabilities of its 3-D vision system. The flight lasted four hours and 30 minutes, with more than 3,300 pounds of fuel transferred during 13 contacts, according to an EADS statement. The RAAF’s A330 MRTT is similar in configuration to Northrop Grumman’s KC-45 Tanker offered for the U.S. Air Force to recapitalize its aging aerial refueling fleet. Both aircraft are equipped with the EADS ARBS, plus a pair of all-digital Cobham 905E refueling pods under the wings. This mix of boom and pod refueling technologies ensures the A330 MRTT and KC-45 can transfer fuel to all types of receiver aircraft during a single mission without reconfiguration. The KC-45 also offers a centerline hose-and-drogue fuselage refueling unit.
Proper Execution. HSC-3’s digital flight deck personnel now properly execute each and every visual signal and adhere to all flight deck procedures giving its students an excellent introduction on how proper operations should look, Lt. Geoffrey Anderson, HSC-3 training officer, tells Defense Daily. “Our old simulation was riddled with errors and omissions, requiring exhaustive discussions on the instructor’s part and a vivid imagination on the part of students in order to convey reality, and even these attempts always came up short.” All students are receiving a more solid foundation from which to build their skill-set, and when they get to see the real thing, they will recognize much more of the activities going on around them, which will allow them to focus more on the overall mission concepts, Anderson adds.
…Time Well Spent. Each simulation event lasts about 2.5 hours and this period covers everything from an introductory tower walkthrough, tower setup/systems tests, flight deck checks, aircraft start-up and finally aircraft launch, Anderson says. “This simulation comes at the end of three days of classroom instruction focusing on all aspects for air-capable ship operation. We try to limit simulator sessions to two students, but sometimes add a third if overall class size dictates,” he adds. “We feel this enables students to really ‘get their hands dirty.'”
…A Positive Experience. Working with Lockheed Martin was a positive experience, and the success of the finished product highlights the great work done, Anderson notes. “An enormous amount of back and forth interaction was required to arrive where we are today.” Several months of weekly teleconferences proved their worth because while the Lockheed Martin team was excellent, the quality of their product could only be as good as the data provided them, he adds. “Exhaustive effort was put forth by the HCO/LSE Schoolhouse’s ABH1 Ortiz and his personnel to ensure realism every step of the way,” Anderson explains. Personnel donned actual flight deck clothing and personal protective equipment for photographs, which were used by Lockheed Martin to model all digital personnel. Multiple videos were shot on the flight line at HSC-3 using actual flight deck equipment on actual aircraft to demonstrate proper flight deck procedures,” he adds. Lockheed Martin was also able to provide HSC-3 with accurate emergency/mishap scenarios based on actual mishap footage. “These are being used with much success where students see firsthand the consequences of their errors in a zero-threat environment, driving home the importance of checklist discipline and attention to detail. Few students repeat their mistakes after seeing a helicopter crash on the flight deck,” Anderson says.
Hoping For Savings. Trying to make its surface fleet more fuel-efficient won’t be easy, Tom Martin, NAVSEA machinery integration technical machinery integration technical warrant holder/director, tells Defense Daily. “We are getting technologies out there as fast as we can, stern flaps and underwater hull coatings,” for example. But getting those technologies into ships that the Navy hopes to keep in-service for decades to come will help chip away at fuel use, Martin adds. “Will that get us all the way? Absolutely not, but you can do other things too to change the culture. We have been very successful in that ‘changing the culture’ idea,” he says.
…Cultural Change. What the Navy needs to do is expand that culture change, Martin adds. “We have several ideas we are working there, for example [we have a] pilot program in San Diego that looks at port energy savings, monitoring the electrical energy the ship is using in port. They are tracking it against trends of ships of similar types,” he says. “We are looking at taking the pilot program and incorporating that into the iENCON program, and passing that around to the rest of the fleet.” There is also discussion of expanding and developing a similar energy dashboard on the bridge of ships, or other places where sailors can see it, Martin says. “It’s not a punitive tool. It is just to help change the behavior. We think it can be a simple way [to achieve savings].”
…Hybrid Drive. The Navy is looking for significant fuel savings once the USS Makin Island (LHD-8) takes to the seas on her initial deployment. The big deck is powered by a hybrid-electric propulsion system. The Royal Navy is also seeing positive results from the use of hybrid electric technology, Martin says. “What we found talking to the Royal Navy, they find that they also are getting better results than predicted because the sailors know they have that on board and will use it more often,” he adds. “So we think as we can provide these and make the knowledge available that [sailors] will also see similar results. That’s why hybrid electric drive as a backfit to DDG-51s is important. Here is an opportunity to get some fuel savings.”
New Fleet, New Commander. Vice Adm. Bernard McCullough has been picked for reappointment to the grade of vice admiral and assignment as commander of the Navy’s new Fleet Cyber Command/commander, 10th Fleet, Fort Meade, Md. McCullough is currently serving as deputy chief of naval operations for integration of capabilities and resources, N8. Last week the President nominated Rear Adm. Terry Blake, the Navy’s budget director, appointment to the grade of vice admiral and assignment as McCullough’s replacement.
Record Year For Savings. Navy ships realized a record 1.36 million barrels of oil in fuel avoidance during FY ’09, NAVSEA says. The banner year savings represent an increase of 10.35 percent more than the previous high of 1.23 million barrels of fuel avoidance during FY ’06. These savings also increase fleet readiness by providing enough fuel to support 27 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers (at an average of 2,500 underway hours) per year, NAVSEA adds. The efforts are part of the Navy’s Incentivized Energy Conservation (i-ENCON) initiative. For FY ’08, $136 million in fuel cost avoidance was realized when fuel reached an average of $130 a barrel. i-ENCON rewards leading fuel conservers among underway surface ships with special recognition and cash incentives up to $67,000. In FY ’08, 148 ships received incentive cash awards, NAVSEA notes.
More Trucks. Oshkosh Corp. receives a $35 million contract modification for 102 next-generation Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks (HEMTT A4). The trucks will be delivered by March 2010. As part of the Army’s Family of Heavy Tactical Vehicles (FHTV) contract, two variants of the HEMTT A4s will be delivered to the National Guard. The 13-ton payload and off-road capabilities of the Oshkoshr HEMTT M985A4 cargo truck and M1120A4 load handling system enhance the capabilities of National Guard units for disaster relief at home or in-theater operations. The vehicle also features a more powerful drivetrain, improved suspension and a fully air-conditioned and armor-ready cab.
New Terminals. Rockwell Collins will provide Canada with Extended Data Rate (XDR) International Partners Variant (IPV) Single Channel Anti-jam Manportable (SCAMP) terminals. The terminals will be used with the U.S. Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellites. The five-year contract is valued at $52.3 million. The Foreign Military Sale contract will be executed through the U.S. Army’s Communications-Electronics Command Group. Rockwell Collins’ SCAMP terminals provide worldwide secure, jam-resistant, covert, voice and data communications. They offer communication for a wide variety of applications and users.
Plug It In. Lockheed Martin and Cogent3D Inc. announce the launch of TacForgeTM GeoSketchTM, a military imagery, video and OpenFlight plug-in for Google Sketchup Pro that quickly creates photo-realistic 3-D models. GeoSketch was announced at the GEOINT 2009 Conference in San Antonio, Texas. GeoSketch makes Google Sketchup Pro an affordable and highly capable tool for creating quick and accurate geospecific 3-D models. With GeoSketch, Google Sketchup Pro can now support military and commercial UAV video, oblique imagery and photo sources both with and without camera model information. GeoSketch’s unique process leverages Google Sketchup Pro’s push-pull interface and camera model information to create automatically textured 3D models quickly.