The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
Murtha In Trouble? Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), the all-powerful chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, has a tighter battle for reelection to a 18th term than initially thought, according to a Oct. 21 poll of 400 voters conducted for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Murtha looks to have inadvertently helped his GOP opponent, William Russell, by saying some of his constituents are racist. The poll by Susquehanna Research found Murtha leading by only 5 percentage points, the newspaper reports. Murtha garnered 46 percent support and Russell had 41 percent backing in the poll where 8 percent of respondents were undecided. The poll had a 4.9-point margin of error.
Frank Talk On DoD Cuts. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) wants to slash defense spending by 25 percent, reports The Standard-Times in New Bedford, Mass. “We don’t need all these fancy new weapons,” Frank, a close ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), reportedly told the newspaper’s editorial board last Thursday. “I think there needs to be additional review.” The military cuts mean getting out of Iraq sooner, he reportedly said. “The people of Iraq want us out, and we want to stay over their objection,” Frank is quoted as saying. The Maliki government in Iraq “can’t sell [the withdrawal deal with the U.S.] because it sounds like we’re going to stay too long,” he reportedly said.
MRAP Tango. The so-called MRAP vehicle “Lite” program is going to happen, now that a Joint Urgent Operational Needs Statement (JUONS) from theater for a lighter and more maneuverable MRAP has received all the necessary approvals, including the joint staff’s, sources said. The MRAP Task Force led by Pentagon acquisition czar John Young is expected to meet today to hash out whether the Army or Marine Corps will steer the effort, after the initial MRAP program was managed by the Marine Corps. Stay tuned for a draft RFP or full-blown RFP for these armored vehicles slated for Afghanistan. Key questions linger about them, including just what they’ll be called and whether already appropriated MRAP funds can be used for them.
New Beltway Skipper. Brian Dailey, who has led Lockheed Martin’s Washington office since 1999, will be retiring at the end of the year. His replacement is Greg Dahlberg, who has been a vice president of legislative affairs for in the Washington office since 2003. In an internal company memorandum, Lockheed Martin CEO Robert Stevens praised Dailey for helping to “save” the C-130J and F-22 aircraft. Stevens noted that Dailey, 57, “planned to retire early for many years in order to return to his passion–the arts.”
Early Retirement. The Air Force has tentative plans to retire more than 300 fighter jets ahead of schedule to save $3.4 billion, according to the service’s newest six- year spending plan. The document states that 137 F-15s, 177 F-16s and nine A-10s would be put to pasture next year. The F-15s were originally scheduled to retire in 2016, the F- 16s in 2015 and the A-10s in 2020. The document states that a “smaller but modernized fighter force, when coupled with a robust bomber fleet, can effectively bridge the gap until the F-35 can be produced in required numbers and the F-22 can be modified to a common configuration.” The Air Force plan could still change before a new presidential administration submits its 2010 Pentagon budget proposal to Congress.
Fuze News. Boeing last week announced that it has successfully tested a fuze well and fuze for high-speed penetrator warheads. The design was tested this summer in a bomb that penetrated reinforced concrete at supersonic speeds. The design is the result of data collected from a 2006 test at Holloman AFB, N.M., when Boeing propelled a 1,800- pound penetrator warhead at more than 2,300 feet per second through high-strength reinforced concrete. The data led to the fuze well design and fuze hardening concept used in the July test, also at Holloman, when a Small Diameter Bomb fuze in an 1,800-pound warhead survived a supersonic impact into high-strength reinforced concrete and soil. The new design is being considered for a number of advanced weapons, according to an Oct. 23 company statement.
Satellite Dish. The JROC met this week to review the Transformational Satellite (TSAT) program, according to the Defense Department. “We intend to make the award as soon as possible,” Pentagon spokesman Chris Isleib said via e-mail on Friday. “We are in discussions with the Joint Staff, and are awaiting requirements changes to key performance parameters from the Joint Staff/requirements community.” Boeing and a Lockheed Martin-led industry team are in competition to build the new architecture, and a downselect had been scheduled for December. Isleib said the award date is “undetermined at this point,” but he reiterated that TSAT is a “capability that the Defense Department needs.” Approximately $1.8 billion has already been spent on the risk reduction phase of the program.
Who’s Who. Australia’s launched the latest issue of Top Brass–The Who’s Who of Australia and New Zealand Defence and Defence Industry. This second edition is expected to make it easier to navigate defense organizations, the Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Procurement Greg Combet, says. “Top Brass contains organizational charts and agency descriptions for all Defence groups and includes biographies of senior Australian and New Zealand Defence leaders and key senior Defence Industry leaders. The ’08-’09 edition extends its scope by incorporating organizational profiles on Defence industry giving them the opportunity to highlight their business to the Defence organization.” This is also the first year New Zealand’s defense department and defence industry have been included. Find out more at http://www.topbrassonline.com.
I Can Hear You. BAE Systems demonstrates networked communications technology that bridges dissimilar radio systems to give pilots and soldiers greater access to intelligence data, imagery, and video. The Assured Exchange of Communications and Enterprise Services System (AXCESS) is designed to enable pilots and soldiers to communicate with Internet protocol-based radios that span multiple bandwidths and frequencies. The company recently demonstrated the system during the Air Force’s Electronic Systems Group’s (ELSG) Capstone II test event in Patuxent River, Md. “Today’s soldier does not have the wireless access to timely information that the everyday cell phone or BlackBerry user does,” Tom Gregg, who leads development of the AXCESS system for BAE, says. “Our system provides reliable, secure, and timely access to the intelligence information our service members need in the field.”
New Jobs. EADS North America says it strengthens its program management and business development team for Army and Air Force programs with three key appointments. Randy Hutcherson has been appointed vice president program manager for EADS North America Tankers, the business unit tasked with primary subcontractor responsibility in support of the Northrop Grumman KC-45A tanker for the Air Force KC-135 replacement. Hutcherson previously was vice president for Rotorcraft Programs, leading the company’s successful bid for the Army’s UH-72A Lakota LUH. David Haines, formerly at MD Helicopters, replaces Hutcherson. Recently retired Army Brig. Gen. Stephen Mundt joins EADS North America as a vice president for Business Development and Strategic Planning. Previously, he was the director of the Army Aviation Task Force.
On The Road. All this week the Army’s PEO Soldier will be displaying cutting edge systems at the Land Warfare Conference in Brisbane, Australia. The latest gear in the Land Warrior and Air Warrior programs will be on display as well as survivability and battlefield technology innovations. PEO Soldier is the organization in charge of developing, acquiring, fielding and sustaining the best weapon systems and equipment available. “We carefully consider soldier’s missions and the environments in which they serve as we continue to develop new and better gear,” Brig. Gen. Mark Brown, PEO Soldier, says in a statement. “PEO Soldier is committed to providing soldiers with top-of-the-line equipment as quickly as possible to save lives, increase combat effectiveness, and enhance soldiers’ quality of life.”
Ahead of Schedule. NATO’s Consultation, Command and Control Agency says a high tech system to check cars and trucks for explosives is now operational at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan, 12 weeks ahead of schedule. The project is part of a series of technologies being deployed to counter the threat posed by IEDs in Afghanistan. Kabul International Airport and ISAF Headquarters have already been equipped with personnel screening to detect suicide bombers while a truck and cargo screening system will become operational at Kabul International Airport the first week of November. The car bomb detection allows security personnel to safely scan incoming vehicles for explosives at a distance. Passing cars must stop briefly under a portal where a series of scanning devices go to work. Information from the scanners is compiled and analyzed and send a “go-no-go” statement to the guards. The whole process is computer automated, so contact with the vehicle is avoided until the screening is complete.
Army Expert. Raytheon announces the appointment of retired Army Maj. Gen. Galen Jackman as vice president-Army Programs, U.S. Business Development. Jackman will serve as the company’s internal U.S. Army subject matter expert, helping Raytheon provide integrated mission solutions to address customer needs. Previously, Jackman was the Army’s chief of legislative liaison at the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill. Before that, he was the commander of the Military District of Washington, and Joint Force HQ of the National Capital Region. Jackman’s previous leadership roles included acquisition and contract management at the U.S. Army Missile Command; in the special operations community; and global military operations in the Pacific, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East.
21. Euronaval’s 21st iteration kicks off this week at the Paris-Le-Bourget exhibition center, running from Oct. 27-31 under the joint auspices of the French Ministry of Defense, and the Secretariat General to the Sea. Euronaval is a top international trade fair for naval defense that has been expanding its scope to the maritime sector and industrial activities associated with state actions at sea. About 350 exhibiting companies from nearly 30 countries are expected to show their products and services to more than 30,000 professional visitors and 400 reporters. This year, organizers say they are offering a groundbreaking free business meeting service aimed at facilitating contact between vendors, buyers, supply chain and technical people, visitors and exhibitors.
…Aqua Marine 4G. Israel’s Elisra hopes for meeting requests on its new Aqua Marine 4th generation, Integrated Naval ESM/ECM Suite it says is combat proven. The fully customizable modular systems deliver cutting-edge situation awareness, electronic attack, ship self-defense and electronic intelligence, Elisra says. “Aqua Marine systems are suitable for all platform sizes–from the smallest patrol boats to the largest combatants,” the company adds.
Border Cat. Despite recent cloud cover and ground haze obscuration in the search area, the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) Lynx Synthetic Aperture Radar’s (SAR) weather penetration and wide-area scan capabilities have repeatedly identified suspected areas of illegal crossing activity along the U.S. southwest border, the company says. “The Lynx radar’s wide field-of-view and ability to pinpoint activity allows operators to cue Electro-Optical/Infrared payloads or ground units to investigate anomalies,” Linden Blue, president of GA-ASI’s Reconnaissance Systems Group, adds. The system is now performing day-to-day border search operations onboard a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Predator B unmanned aircraft system, also manufactured by GA-ASI.
Stung. The Navy last week issued an aviation inspection bulletin due to cracks discovered in the aluminum outer wing outboard aileron hinge on 15 F/A-18A through D Hornets. The inspection will cover all 636 aircraft in both the Navy and Marine Hornet fleets. The inspections will begin within the next 15 flight hours, the service notes. The Navy expects to have the inspections completed within a couple of weeks. The cracks were not identified during any of the service life assessment work being done to see if the Hornets can be flown an additional 8,000 to 10,000 hours. Additionally, the Navy adds it is too soon to tell if the crack issue will impact the Navy and Marine strike fighter gap.
Tending Gap. There is no program now to build another submarine tender, Vice Adm. Jay Donnelly, the commander of the Navy’s submarine force, tells attendees at last week’s Naval Submarine League symposium. “We don’t plan on building the tenders now, and it’s not in the three-year shipbuilding plan. We’ll try to do it with two,” he says. Donnelly notes the Navy is modernizing the remaining two tenders currently in service: The USS Frank Cable (AS-40) and the USS Emory S. Land (AS-39). The Frank Cable will be deployed to Guam and the Land will go to Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, Donnelly adds. “There is a lot of life left in those tenders. The tender I commanded the [USS] McKee (AS-41)–which is the newest of the three recent tenders–I am still hopeful we will still [recommission] her. We put her away very young and she is in pretty good shape.”
The Blue Crew. Just after dawn Friday morning, LCS-1, the USS Freedom, departed from her home of the past few years and was heading for her first “port-of-call” visit, says Lockheed Martin. Freedom will make her first-ever stop in Duluth, Minn., before heading back down to Milwaukee, Wis., for commissioning on Nov. 8. The Blue crew, the first of the two teams that will share manning of LCS, will lead her through the Great Lakes.
Literal Meaning. Speaking at the 211th annual celebration of the USS Constitution, CNO Adm. Gary Roughead tells attendees the Littoral Combat Ship is important to the Navy for several reasons. “It allows us to move quickly. It allows us to reconfigure the types of missions that we need. But as we look to the future and the challenges that all nations will face with regard to resources, 65 percent of those known oil reserves are in the littorals. 35 percent of the known gas reserves are in the littorals and the archipelagoes,” he says. “Our ability to operate there, to move quickly there, to be present there, is going to be key.”
…Shrinking Fleets. Roughead says his counterparts in Europe have seen a reduction in their navies, too. “The great Royal Navy, for which I have the highest respect…the greatest respect…is now a navy that has 22 combatant ships in it,” he adds. “We must continue to focus on maintaining our capability, and on maintaining and growing our capacity, to be able to be present.”
Shipping News. The folks who brought you Stiletto, an 80-foot composite boat with the unique hull configuration, were granted a European Patent for their M-hull technology last month. San Diego-based M Ship Co. also entered into a CRADA with SPAWAR. Under terms of the agreement, M Ship Co. and SPAWAR will share information as it relates to the development of M Ship Co.’s proprietary M-Hull technology for unmanned surface vehicle applications.
The Next Phase. Aurora Flight Sciences was awarded a Phase II contract from ONR in the area of multi-vehicle cooperation for air and sea vehicles conducting littoral operations., the company says. The contract focuses on the next generation of unmanned systems, which will be capable of communicating with one another, performing missions cooperatively, and sharing information. The ratio of vehicles to operators is expected to go up (perhaps significantly), and the number of different types of vehicles participating in a given mission will grow, Aurora Flight Sciences says. The main objective of this project will be to successfully deploy multi-vehicle coordination algorithms onto teams of actual vehicles, using Aurora’s On-board Planning Module (OPM). The OPM is a combined hardware/software element that enables coordination among teams of heterogeneous vehicles.
Things That Go Boom! NAVAIR’s Precision Strike Weapons Program Office intends to competitively procure the Direct Attack Moving Target Capability (DAMTC). The Navy intends to offer a single firm fixed price contract around the April ’09 time frame. The final RFP is anticipated to be posted on or about Oct. 27 and may be obtained at the following website: http://www.navair.navy.mil under “Business Opportunities” under N00019-08-R-0075. Proposals shall be submitted by 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on Jan. 7, 2009. NAVAIR is offering a pre-proposal conference to potential offerors the week of Nov. 17. Should potential offerors desire a pre-proposal conference, requests shall be submitted in writing to the point of contact: [email protected] no later than Nov. 10. The scope of the pre-proposal conference shall encompass an overview of the DAMTC program and the Government’s acquisition strategy.
It’s All In The Network. Last week, Data Link Solutions and NAVAIR completed the first flight test of a networking tactical radio system. The test demonstrated the system’s ability to interoperate with other communications, situational awareness, and navigation systems. The MIDS-JTRS was tested aboard a F/A-18F Super Hornet at NAWC Patuxent River, Md.
What A Team. BAE Systems and General Dynamics have teamed up to compete for the Navy’s upcoming SEWIP Block II upgrade effort, BAE says. The next-generation electronic warfare system, called Sea LightningTM, is designed to defeat increasingly sophisticated maritime threats by intercepting and classifying threat radars, particularly those on anti-ship cruise missiles. GD brings its expertise in open architecture, naval systems, and subsystems integration with BAE’s expertise in electronic warfare, BAE says. The SEWIP Block 2 is an upgrade to the Navy’s AN/SLQ-32 (V) electronic support measures system. The AN/SLQ-32(V) provides early warning of enemy threats and dispenses chaff decoys to defeat attacks by guided weapons. Block 2 will upgrade the system’s receiver, antenna and combat system interface. The Navy is expected to issue a request for proposal for SEWIP later this year and award a contract in 2009, BAE adds.