The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
EFV, Take Two. The seven reconfigured Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) prototypes General Dynamics is slated to build–under the new contract it snagged in late July from the Marine Corps–will debut in 2010, a Marine Corps Land Systems spokesman says. Under the $766.8 million System Design and Development-2 contract, GD also will modify existing, faulty prototypes for the delayed and technologically challenging amphibious vehicle effort. “As each prototype fabrication is completed, it …will begin a test-fix- test program that will continue all the way up through delivery of our first lot of Low Rate initial Production vehicles in 2013-2014,” spokesman David Branham says.
…Here Comes the New Boss. The EFV effort received a new program manager on Aug. 7, when Col. Keith Moore assumed the reins of command from Col. John Bryant, who is retiring. Moore is the sixth EFV program manager since the developmental effort became a program of record in 1995. Bryant plans to teach at the Defense Acquisition University.
From ‘Star Wars’ To The Marine Corps. If there’s any technology “silver bullet” for aiding troops’ security-cooperation efforts, it’s an on-the-spot translation device, the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory’s James Lasswell tells defense contractors at the Office of Naval Research S&T Partnership Conference. “We would love to have language translation devices that allow us to go voice-to-voice, instantaneous translation,” he says. “I don’t mean a phrasealator, I don’t mean something the only works part of the time. That would be the one thing that keeps coming up again and again and again–the language translation–because we’re going eyeball-to-eyeball with the local inhabitants in this kind of a role.”
Point For Trident Mod. A new report says the Conventional Trident Modification program–an effort Congress has frowned upon to convert Trident II missiles on Navy nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarines from nuclear-armed to conventionally armed, to provide conventional prompt-global-strike capability–remains “the only option” in the near term. “It has the potential to meet important aspects of the immediate need, is inexpensive, and has low technical risk, although its military effectiveness must be evaluated by flight-tests of targeting accuracy and munitions lethality,” states the congressionally mandated report released last week by a special committee of the National Academies’ National Research Council. “The committee is confident that issues such as ambiguity, overflight, impact on nuclear deterrence, and accommodation with arms control are manageable and do not constitute a reason to forgo the capability.”
Huey News. The Marine Corps’ UH-1Y utility helicopter achieved initial operation capability earlier this month and will be deployed in January aboard the USS Boxer (LHD-4)–the first Marine Expeditionary Unit deployment with a new type/model/series of UH-1s since 1972. The UH-1Ys helicopters will replace the UH-1Ns that Marines now use in combat. The UH-1Y, the Navy says, “provides significant increases in range, payload, speed, ballistic tolerance and crash survivability, maintainability and deployability.” The Marine Corps plans to buy 123 of the helicopters by the end of fiscal year 2016.
Three of a Kind. Raytheon has received a $34.4 million contract to continue the Army’s “Pure Fleet” initiative for the Patriot missile defense system, the company said last week. The Army Aviation and Missile Command contract is a continuation of a $310 million contract awarded to Raytheon in December 2007 for the upgrade of all Army Patriot equipment to Configuration 3 status. The add-on contract calls for Raytheon to provide hardware upgrades to Patriot radars, engagement control stations and launchers as well as enhanced logistics capability through support to a common configuration, according to the company. Work will be performed at Raytheon’s Integrated Air Defense Center, Andover, Mass.
LCS. Sources tell Defense Daily that Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway has been putting his support behind the Navy’s LCS. One reason might be the surface warfare package’s NLOS. The missile system could potentially provide the Marine Corps with needed surface fire support. Navy Secretary Donald Winter tells Defense Daily Conway’s perspective on LCS is one which Navy officials share. “When you take a look at this ship, it has a tremendous amount of flexibility…being able to put different helicopters on board, different aircraft, different surface ship small boat type units…it has some incredible flexibility,” he says. “And all of a sudden when you start taking a look at this from some of the Marine Corps interests, and the like, there is a lot of potential here.”
…Intriguing. “How that relates to all of the weaponry on board is something, quite frankly, that’s still in its infancy,” Winter says. “And it would be premature to make any specific speculation except to say that the inherent flexibility has clearly intrigued some of the senior personnel within the Marine Corps.”
Foreign Affairs. Lockheed Martin expects to provide the Israeli government with a cost estimate for that country’s LCS soon, Fred Moosally, president of MS2, tells reporters last week.”[We’re] hoping some time next year we can be under contract for an Israeli ship.” Lockheed Martin is also talking to Saudi Arabia. “They are looking to replace 12 ships in their eastern fleet,” Moosally adds.
…The Italian Connection. Lockheed Martin is a minority partner in Fincantieri’s bid to buy Marinette Marine Group, which owns the Wisconsin shipyard where LCS-1 was built. “I think it’s a marvelous acquisition for the Marinette folks,” Moosally says. “They promised to bring $100 million worth of investment in the shipyard. They are going to bring their expertise, their money…resources, to recapitalize the shipyard, upgrade the capacity, upgrade the machine and tooling up there. I think it is going to have a tremendous benefit to the Navy, the LCS program, and other programs they are going to bid on. They bid on the FRC-B for the Coast Guard.”
…Improvements. Moosally noted that Navy Secretary Donald Winter has often commented on the processes and automation he has seen at the foreign shipyards he has visited. “I think the good thing here is that the Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri is going to bring that here….to the Marinette Marine Group,” Moosally adds.
Digging It. Not only is the Navy looking to save money by using alternative energies to provide power to shore installations, but the Navy has also found a smart way to save on digging to find sources of geothermal energy, says Howard Snow, DASN Installations & Facilities. “I’ve got these Seabees and they have water well drilling equipment. They can’t drill down 9,000 feet but they can drill down 1,500 to 2,000 feet and they can tell me if it is a hot spot or not,” he tells Defense Daily. “We give them practice on drilling water wells.” So instead of turning to private drilling companies, the Navy is able to explore for geothermal sources through training, Snow adds. “We just started that process to save us money.”
…Going Nuclear. Snow is also looking at how shore-based facilities can take advantage of the nuclear power available on aircraft carriers. “Is there a way we could take that expertise and utilize it on shore? We are looking at those options,” he adds. “For example, at North Island, there are three carriers tied up. Between them, there are six nuclear power plants there. Is there some way I could take that energy and pump it on to the base on the days those guys are tied up there?”
…Joint Efforts. Snow recently talked with the Air Force about collaborating on several ideas. “We are looking at the nuclear piece. Could you take a smaller nuclear plant and put it on a military base? The Air Force is really looking at that hard. Of course, they are asking the Navy about that because we have little nuclear plants,” he says.
Looking Forward. The Army is looking at keeping Abrams main battle tanks at a high readiness rate, so the TACOM Life Cycle Management Command awards General Dynamics’ Land Systems unit a $20.9 million contract for Abrams Tank Systems Technical Support. The award funds engineering studies on Abrams tanks to identify improvements and replace obsolete parts to maintain the tanks at high operational readiness rates. The work will be completed by Dec. 31.
New Job. The Cohen Group, an international strategic advisory firm led by former Secretary of Defense William Cohen, announces retired Lt. Gen. Joseph Yakovac is now part of the firm as a Senior Counselor. “General Yakovac brings deep experience and knowledge to our team,” Cohen says. “During his military service, he became one of the acknowledged acquisition experts and leading voices on transformation within the military services. His insights and guidance will be most useful for our clients.” Prior to joining The Cohen Group, Yakovac served in several senior Army positions, most recently as Military Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology and Director of the Army Acquisition Corps. In those roles, General Yakovac led the effort to improve the Army’s combat capability and provide critical systems and support services. He retired from the Army in January 2007.