The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
Accepted. InSurv has recommended the Navy take delivery of Lockheed Martin’s LCS-1. “We will determine what corrections are required prior to delivery,” a Navy spokesman said. That dfelivery is anticipated in November.
Goodbye To Ted? Before Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) was indicted July 29–on seven felony counts for allegedly failing to report gifts on financial disclosure forms–he was expected to sail through Alaska’s Republican primary tomorrow. Stevens, the former ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Defense subcommittee (he had to relinquish the post after he was indicted), may still win–but the race may not be as smooth as he’d like. Of Stevens’ six GOP challengers, real estate developer Dave Cuddy is seen as his biggest threat. However, an Aug. 9-12 poll by Alaskan Ivan Moore showed Stevens with a 3-to-1 lead over Cuddy. If Stevens prevails at the polls this week, he still has a tough fight in November from Democrat Mark Begich, the mayor of Anchorage who lead Stevens by 13 points in a July 30 Rasmussen Reports phone survey.
Land Support. The Marine Corps’ first-ever Program Executive Officer Land Systems, Col. William Taylor, is on terminal leave leading up to his pending retirement. Support for the PEO stood up last year to manage Acquisition Category 1 [ACAT 1] ground programs has not waned, Marine Corps Systems Command head Brig. Gen. Michael Brogan assures Defense Daily. “The Marine Corps needed a PEO to manage ACAT 1 programs, and so there is no change in the support,” he says. The next head of the PEO will be a civilian member of the Senior Executive Service (SES). “We don’t hire those [SES members] very often in the Marine Corps–we’ve only got 20 some–[so] it’s clear that they intend for that to be an enduring organization,” Brogan adds.
Galactic Flight. Lockheed Martin last week announced the completion of flight testing for the C-5 Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program. The testing included verification of performance and reliability enhancements to the propulsion system, utilities and subsystems, flight controls, airframe and avionics systems. The three test aircraft will now be delivered to the Air Force for Operational Test and Evaluation, scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2009. The C-5M Super Galaxy is the result of a two- phase modernization effort: the Avionics Modernization Program (AMP), which provides a new glass cockpit and digitization; and RERP, which adds new GE CF6-80C2 commercial engines and 70 other enhancements or replacements of major components and subsystems.
Ramping Up. Four F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft have been fully assembled as of last week, prime contractor Lockheed Martin has announced. The fourth plane, a short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) F-35B, will undergo extensive ground testing before its first flight early next year. The first F-35B made its inaugural flight on June 11 and has completed nine missions. The first F-35A, a conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant, has flown 45 times. Three F-35 variants derived from a common design will replace at least 13 types of fighter aircraft for 11 nations. Two interchangeable engines are under development: the Pratt & Whitney F135 and the GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team F136. Lockheed Martin is developing the F-35 with partners Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems.
Oh Rio. Lockheed Martin has submitted its Advanced F-16 for Brazil’s F-X2 fighter competition. “The F-16BR fighter has been developed to satisfy the originating requirements, inventory and delivery dates, offset and industrial cooperation–all while providing the Brazilian Air Force with the most advanced and capable F-16 available,” a company spokesman tells Defense Daily last week.
BAM BAM. The GAO’s ruling to deny Lockheed Martin’s protest for the Navy awarding Northrop Grumman the BAMS contract “underscores that the Navy conducted a fair and open competition to choose a provider for the service’s newest UAS for intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance missions,” a Northrop Grumman spokesman says “We are very pleased that the GAO has upheld the Navy’s source selection decision for the BAMS UAS program,” says Ronald Sugar, Northrop Grumman chairman and chief executive officer. “This reaffirms that Northrop Grumman’s offering was selected as the best-value determination in a fair and open competition. We look forward to getting back to work on this critical program for our Navy customer.”
New Business Venture. NSWC Dahlgren signed a CRADA with Fredericksburg, Va.-based SimVentions Inc. earlier this month, the Navy says. The agreement will enable collaboration and sharing data rights to design, develop, test, and deliver new open architecture (OA) components and capability to the fleet. “[The CRADA] will contribute to the overall defense acquisition process while providing Navy customers – acquisition and flee–better capability than is currently available in a more cost and time efficient manner,” says NSWC Dahlgren Division Commander Capt. Sheila Patterson. This cooperation includes shared access to the Integrated Warfare Systems Lab (IWSL), the Open Architecture Test Facility (OATF), the Human Performance Lab (HPL), and the Integrated Command Environment (ICE) facilities, the Navy adds.
Come Together. Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) and Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center (MARMC), Hampton Roads, Va., have combined, resulting in the largest consolidation of Intermediate and Depot (I&D) level work in the naval ship repair community, the Navy reports. This is the third consolidation of Navy I&D-level repair work in a region, following Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility and Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility. This pooling of area naval ship repair resources has already helped achieve more ship maintenance under the same operating budget.
Light Up. The Navy will move one step closer in its efforts to recapitalize existing Aegis-equipped guided-missile cruisers and destroyers Aug. 25 with a combat systems light-off aboard USS Bunker Hill (CG 52) at BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair, the Navy says. Aegis Light-Off (ALO) will mark a key milestone for Bunker Hill, the first ship to receive a complete set of upgrades as part of the Navy’s comprehensive Cruiser Modernization program. Bunker Hill’s combat system initialization will mark the first in a planned series of ship activation milestones supporting the systematic shipboard light-off of the Navy’s most modern Aegis Class Cruiser. Industrial work on Bunker Hill’s combined combat system and Hull, Mechanical, and Electrical (HM&E) modernization began in February 2008 and is scheduled to complete in early 2009, the Navy adds.
Be Nice To That Screener. To help educate the public on the importance of aviation security, as well as airport screeners, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) plans to award a one-year, $1.3 million contract to The Ad Council, Inc., to solicit the non-profit organization’s help in this regard. The effort will “raise the level of public education and awareness of the importance of security and TSA’s critical role in ensuring our transportation system is secure,” the agency says in a recent FedBizOpps posting. “TSA wants to embrace the Ad Council advertising efforts to shape the public attitude toward TSA screening personnel, simulating positive social change while also enhancing the security of the transportation systems of the United States.”
A little Help. The Army’s acquisition office is getting some help from SAIC. A contract valued at $31 million if all options are exercised. SAIC will provide a broad range of technical services and analytical support. The work will be done primarily in the National Capital Region. “We are proud to continue the support we have provided to the Army’s acquisition executive for the past 15 years,” Beverly Seay, SAIC senior vice president and business unit general manager, says. “Our institutional knowledge combined with our unique acquisition and logistics capabilities will help us assist the Army in getting warfighters what they need when they need it.”
New Place. Oshkosh Defense, a division of Oshkosh Corp. celebrates the opening of its newest manufacturing facility in Killeen, Texas. The site manufactures aftermarket components for the Oshkosh Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT), which is the backbone for the Army’s logistics fleet. The Killeen site was chosen for its proximity to Fort Hood, the largest Army installation in the country. The 230,000 square-foot facility currently employs 37 and provides the company with additional future production capacity. “Oshkosh’s long-standing partnership with the U.S. Army will only be strengthened by opening a manufacturing facility near Fort Hood,” says John Stoddart, Oshkosh Corporation executive vice president and president, Defense.
New Skirts. The U.K.-based Hobson Industries Inc., took less than 14 days to respond to an Urgent Requirement to protect light vehicles in theater, producing a new design for a Skirt Protection Kit and delivering the first modules. “We were contacted by the SUV IPT at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to provide a solution to provide a vehicle skirt system to protect vehicles from attack,” Peter Hobson, managing Director of Hobson Industries says. “The solution had to allow the vehicle to carry out normal duties with a sealed area below the chassis. We had a development team working round the clock and produced the first prototype in three days. This was tested on our own Land Rover and the results proved 100 percent effective. The MoD approval followed immediately. Another Urgent Requirement quickly followed this from BAE Systems for its Saxon vehicle. We modified the existing Land Rover based design, and again, working round the clock, produced a similar solution for BAE Systems in record time.”
Full-Scale Mockup. Lockheed Martin says its full-scale cockpit and cabin mockup of the VH-71 presidential helicopter is now online. It’s part of the systems integration laboratory in the Navy’s Presidential Helicopter Support Facility at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. Called a Master Systems Bench (MSB), it is a replica of one already up and running at Lockheed Martin’s Owego, N.Y. facility, and gives engineers the ability to test VH-71 avionics and mission systems prior to installation aboard the aircraft, as well as giving Navy and Marine Corps personnel the ability to test usability and provide immediate feedback.
Catch The Spirit. New Zealand sends 172 from its 2/1st Infantry Battalion to Europe next month to participate in an army training exercise with forces from Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States. Defence Minister Phil Goff says Exercise Cooperative Spirit will take place in Hohenfels, Germany in September. “The exercise will both enhance our skill levels and allow the New Zealand Defence Force to share its experience and knowledge gained from peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan, Timor-Leste, Solomon Islands and Bougainville,” Goff says. The exercise will include a series of activities that involve peacekeeping and security/combat operations. “This includes provision of humanitarian assistance, escort of convoys, field patrols, driver and medical training, counter IED training, base security provision and conventional combat and support operations.
Wait A Bit. The Army will now wait until October to release contract three awards for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle Family of Vehicles. The joint Army/Marine Corps/USSOCOM program aims to have a robust, low risk, and fully funded Technology Development phase. “The Joint Services remain committed to providing the necessary resources to fully engage the industrial base and comply with the Defense Acquisition Executive’s desire to award three technology development contracts, while simultaneously seeking international government participation,” Col John Myers, project manager for Joint Combat Support Systems, says in a memo.
Next First. Col. Emmet Schaill, first commander of the 5th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Div., the Army Evaluation Task Force (AETF), that examines Future Combat Systems equipment expected to head to current forces is moving to another first–command of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Div. Both commands are at Ft. Bliss, Texas. The move is just another in a line of firsts: in 2002 at Ft. Lewis, Wash., Schaill commanded the first battalion evaluating the then-new Stryker vehicles. A SAMS and Army War College graduate, Schaill was part of Operation Desert Storm and deputy commander of the 1st Stryker BCT, 25th Infantry in Iraq.
…New AETF Leader. Col. Randall Lane Aug. 22 took over AETF command at Ft. Bliss. Lane, a West Point and SAMS graduate with three master’s degrees, who took part in Operation Desert Storm and in Iraq again in 2003, where he was responsible for Green Zone security and three surrounding neighborhoods. In 2006 Lane was Chief of War Plans at the Multi-National Corps-Iraq, before attending the Army War College.
New Job. Army Col. Patrick “Lee” Fetterman, the first Training and Doctrine Command Capability Manager for the Future Combat Systems (TCM FCS) moves on to a new assignment as the Deputy for Doctrine, Organization, Training and Leader Development (DOTL) in the Future Force Integration Directorate, at Ft. Bliss, Texas. The Change of Charter ceremony Aug. 22 sees Col. David Bushey stepping up as the new TCM FCS. Fetterman is a West Point Graduate who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Iraq his unit earned a Presidential Unit Citation for clearing the Baghdad Airport, the Presidential Bunker and the Special Republican Guards compound in the face of stiff resistance from the last of Saddam Hussein’s elite forces. Bushey, arriving from the Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., earned his commission in 1986 through the ROTC program at Clarkson University. A Field Artillery officer, he has served in Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan.