The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
McCain’s Missiles. SASC Ranking Member John McCain (R-Ariz.) tells reporters he’s “not disappointed” with the missile-defense funding in the Senate-passed defense authorization bill. He voiced initial concerns in April about the Obama administration’s $1.2 billion missile-defense cut, now reflected in the Senate legislation, and on the presidential campaign trail called for strong missile defenses. Yet McCain says he agrees with the administration’s cuts to missile-defense programs including the Airborne Laser. He says he knows Defense Secretary Robert Gates is committed to a “robust missile-defense system.” Still, for future missile-defense funding, McCain says, “We may need to add to it in certain areas,” adding: “I am very concerned about the overall future years in missile defense. We’ll be addressing that. I remain a strong advocate not only on missile defense but also on being a good neighbor to the Czech Republic and the Poles.”
Jet Juggling. Air National Guard Director Lt. Gen. Harry Wyatt tells reporters if the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is delayed he’s “keeping all options open” regarding buying alternate aircraft to replace retired fourth-generation fighters. “I can think of scenarios–maybe budget constraints, maybe delays in the F-35, maybe an assumption that we’re going to reach a certain level of technology development that doesn’t happen–…that could play out in the future that might drive the United States Air Force to reconsider fourth-generation (aircraft),” he tells the Defense Writers Group on July 29. “(But) I don’t think we’re there yet, and we may not get there.”
…F-22 Front. If the Air Guard faces a fighter gap because of F-35 delays, he says, the F-22 also is an option. “Maybe the smart thing to do is to keep your options open, and see how the economy plays out, and see how the (Quadrennial Defense Review) QDR plays out, see what the country expects the United States Air Force to (do).” Wyatt says he has not advocated for extending the F-22 line beyond the Pentagon’s 187 limit, and a pro-F-22 letter he sent Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) did not address production numbers. The general says he is “platform agnostic” while seeking to recapitalize his fleet, as long as needed capabilities are provided. He wants the Air Guard to have the same platforms as active-duty units.
Hill Happenings. Senate appropriators are not expected to mark up their Pentagon appropriations bill until after they return to Congress in September from their August recess, which is slated to start at the end of this week for the Senate. The Senate Appropriations Defense subcommittee is the only one of the “big four” defense panels that has not crafted its Pentagon budget plan. The House passed its defense authorization measure in June and appropriations legislation in July. The Senate approved its Pentagon authorization bill in July. A House-Senate conference committee working on the final authorization legislation convened in late July, and is expected to pick up its work in September, before the new fiscal year starts Oct. 1. Only one of the three chamber-passed bills, the House authorization legislation, includes funds for buying more than 187 F-22 fighter jets.
Kendall Tapped As Deputy Acquisition Chief. Frank Kendall has been nominated as the Pentagon deputy acquisition chief, the White House says. Kendall has been in the acquisition arena for years, including a stint at Raytheon. He also has worked in OSD and is a former member of the Army Science Board.
F-35C Acceleration? The Navy’s top officer last week received data from Lockheed Martin on how much more quickly the company would be able to produce the carrier variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter if additional funding were made available for the effort. “We briefed the [Chief of Naval Operations] [last week] on how much excess capacity could be applied to the Navy buy,” Dan Crowley, Lockheed Martin’s executive vice president and manager of the program, says at a July 28 press briefing in Fort Worth, Texas. CNO Adm. Gary Roughead earlier in the week reiterated the Navy’s concerns about timely replacement of its aging F/A-18 Super Hornet fleet. Crowley says the Navy will bring the new data on potential F-35C acceleration to the Pentagon’s Quadrennial Defense Review of major weapon systems for consideration.
…Re-analysis. Lockheed Martin officials also presented new cost and scheduling data for the program to the Pentagon’s Program Analysis and Evaluation office, the Joint Evaluation Team (JET) and the Cost Improvement and Analysis Group last week, according to Crowley. In a recent report, the JET found that the F-35 faces a two-year production delay. Crowley explained that estimate was based on weaknesses discovered in four areas: engineering personnel retention; schedule and cost: software development; and flight test frequency. However, he says, the JET had based its analysis “on legacy results” and assumptions about older production paradigms. For example, he says, Lockheed Martin would be able to absorb many of the eventually unneeded engineers into other parts of its enterprise. Crowley also says the program’s software development has proceeded “better than planned.” As for the JSF’s schedule and flight testing, Crowley cites projections offered by program manager Brig. Gen. David Heinz, who has said that the latest plan is to fly 12 sorties a month once the testing effort is at full capacity.
Saudi Tankers. Saudi Arabia has ordered three more A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) in plans to double its fleet, EADS North America announces. Delivery of the first aircraft is scheduled for 2011. The MRTTs will incorporate EADS’ next-generation fly-by-wire Advanced Refueling Boom System on the fuselage centerline, plus two all-digital Cobham 905E hose-and-drogue refueling pods under the wings. Aerial refueling operations are controlled from a state-of-the-art Remote Aerial Refueling Operator station in the cockpit behind the pilots, incorporating an enhanced vision system with laser infrared lighting and high-definition digital stereoscopic viewing. The A330 MRTT is based on the Airbus A330 jetliner, more than a thousand of which have been sold worldwide. More than 600 aircraft have been delivered to date. In addition to Saudi Arabia, the air forces of Australia, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates have chosen the A330 MRTT. EADS North America is partnered with Northrop Grumman on the KC-45 tanker program, one of the offerings in the U.S. Air Force tanker competition. The KC-45 tanker is based on the same airplane.
On Site Protection. Symantec is now placing analysts inside companies to provide rapid detection and response to cyber threats. “These are highly trained cyber threat analysts. A lot of them are in secure environments and they come from military backgrounds,” Ted Gallo, senior manager, product management for Symantec intelligent services, tells Defense Daily in a recent interview. The effort is called the Cyber Threat Analysis Program (CTAP). Under CTAP, analysts are able to filter information on the fly, fusing the data the customer has in response from the attack and look at the global data and make a determination as to what is noise and what is in fact something that needs to be followed up, Gallo adds. “They can come up quickly with a counter measure plan to remediate against that [threat].” Symantec has been running its CTAP effort for a year without a formalized program, Gallo adds. “We’ve been approached by customers to do this. As we get more and more of these requests, it was obvious to us that this was something we need to do.”
…A Growth Business. Ted Donat, director, product management, Symantec global consulting services, tells Defense Daily that companies are “banging down our door…the ones who need it badly.” Analysts working on CTAP have multiple years of experience in information analysis, information assurance work, working in a variety of environments, Donat adds. “Everything from cleared security environments to Fortune 500 customers, doing this for their own companies or own agencies in the past. [We] also use people who have been working in security response organizations doing malware analysis.” Those are people Symantec is placing on site with customers. “[They] can provide an additional level of support [customers] didn’t have before,” Donat says.
This Is Only A Test. USS Bunker Hill (CG-52), the first of 22 Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers to undergo an extensive capability upgrade as part of the Cruiser Modernization Program, completed Combat System Ship Qualification Trials (CSSQT) July 29, the Navy reports. CSSQT consists of a combination of in-port and at sea tests, and evaluations of the ship’s air defense, undersea warfare and surface warfare capabilities, and included Standard missile and Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile firings. Bunker Hill‘s combat system was modernized with Aegis Advanced Capability Build (ACB) 08, which is a critical first step in evolving the Aegis Weapons System into an Open Architecture system. The Navy will continue the evolution of the Open Architecture principle with ACB 12/14 to enable future combat system growth over the life of the class, as well as mission expansion, such as ballistic missile defense.
…Getting Open. Over the next several years, NAVSEA will manage the structured modernization of 22 Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers and 62 Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers to ensure they reach their projected 30-year service life. The ships will be fitted with new software, combat systems, Hull, Mechanical and Electric (HM&E) and machinery upgrades to improve all areas of ship functionality. Destroyer modernization will begin in 2010. It will mark the first time a ship program has begun a major modernization program while the remaining ships of the class are still being constructed.
Fly Little Birdie. The Navy has certified the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet to fly higher, between 29,000 and 41,000 feet, NAVAIR says. Those altitudes are usually reserved by the FAA for commercial airliners. This certification for the Super Hornet culminates a three-year process involving numerous agencies; military, federal and private industry, NAVAIR adds. The signed document certifies that all Super Hornets produced from Lot 22 and beyond (approximately 340 aircraft) are Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum qualified. The authorization to file and fly RVSM was delayed until July 9 to ensure training and Naval Air Training and Operating Procedures Standardization (NATOPS) manuals were appropriately updated.
…More Miles To The Gallon. The Commander, Naval Air Forces (CNAF) estimates that this certification to fly at these altitudes could save the Navy approximately $250,000 per year per squadron in fuel costs. RVSM qualification efforts for the entire F/A-18 community continue.
…Redstripe Update. The Navy says it has inspected 83 percent of its F/A-18A-D Hornet fleet for cracks discovered in some horizontal stabilator actuator support fittings, known as bootstraps. Seven cases have surfaced, five with missing fasteners and still only two aircraft with cracked bootstraps, Lt. Clayton Doss, a Navy spokesman, says. Of the five Hornets with missing fasteners, two have been restored to full flight status. Of the two aircraft discovered to have cracked bootstraps, one has been repaired. Doss adds that, to date, none of the deployed Hornets have been affected.
Lasing Away. Applied Energetics, Inc. receives a $992,000, contract for the design, development and delivery of an Ultra-Short Pulse (USP) laser system to the Navy, the company says. They will produce a demonstration system specifically designed to explore USP laser effects and determine requirements for deployment of USP lasers on Navy and Marine Corps aircraft. The system is expected to be delivered to NSWC Crane in 12 months. The USP laser system will be developed and tested at Applied Energetics’ facility in Tucson, Ariz., under a subcontract for SAIC’s engineering services contract with NSWC Crane, and then delivered to the Navy, Applied Energetics adds.
New Director. Raytheon’s Board of Directors has elected Stephen Hadley as a director of the company, effective immediately. Hadley, 62, was National Security Adviser from 2005 to 2009 in the Bush administration. “Steve’s deep understanding of national security matters and his broad experience with foreign policy and international issues will provide a valuable perspective to our Board,” says Raytheon Chairman and CEO William Swanson. Hadley received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University and his Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School.
Remanufacture Work. Oshkosh Defense, a division of Oshkosh Corp., receives a $21 million delivery order from the Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command Life Cycle Management Command to supply more than 100 remanufactured vehicles and trailers. Production is to be completed by April 2010. The order includes the remanufacturing of almost 50 M1070 Heavy Equipment Transporters, 50 Palletized Load Systems and more than 20 PLS Trailers. The PLS configurations produced under the delivery order include the M1074 and M1075.
ADF Farewell. The Australian Defence Force (ADF) heads home with the July 31 conclusion of Operation CATALYST in Iraq. Defence Minister Senator John Faulkner says from 2003 approximately 20,000 ADF personnel served in Iraq as part of Operation CATALYST with professionalism and dedication. Operation CATALYST was the ADF’s contribution to the stabilization and rehabilitation of Iraq. There is still a small ADF presence in Iraq comprising a detachment providing security to the Australian Embassy in Baghdad (Operation KRUGER) and two members directly supporting the United Nations mission in Iraq (Operation RIVERBANK).
New NAMSA Leader. On Aug. 1, retired Greek Maj. Gen. Antonios Chatzidakis took up the post of general manager at the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA) based in Capellen, Luxembourg, to succeed Karl-Heinz Munzner from Germany. NAMSA is NATO’s major logistics agency and an active player in NATO’s transformation. It provides logistics support to Alliance operations as well as for a variety of weapon systems owned by NATO and its member nations. NAMSA operates on a no profit, no loss principle. The value of services provided in 2008 amounted to approximately $1.4 billion. Chatzidakis has a strong NATO background, serving in several Allied positions in peacetime and on operations from the tactical to the strategic level. His previous assignment was at NATO HQ in Brussels, where he directed the Logistics Armaments and Resources Division of the International Military Staff. He holds a degree in civil engineering, and a postgraduate degree in diplomacy and strategy.
New Certification. Smiths Detection announces its Danbury, Conn., facility has been awarded the prestigious ISO 9001:2008 certification for achieving rigorous quality and management standards. The facility becomes Smiths Detection’s 10th location to gain either ISO or OHSAS 18001 certification this year. With a strong focus on exceeding customer expectations and continual improvement efforts, the Danbury facility gained certification by fulfilling a demanding range of quality system requirements over the past six months. Tim Picciotti, vice president-Americas, Global Military and Emergency Responders for Smiths Detection, says: “We are delighted to be awarded the ISO 9001:2008 certification because it validates our entire team’s commitment to deliver the highest quality products with superior customer satisfaction. We have always placed a high value on the quality of our equipment and services, and this independent certification is proof of that commitment.” Danbury is one of four Smiths Detection facilities with a full compliment of manufacturing, service, research and development, sales and marketing of specialized chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive sensors and protection solutions for militaries and emergency responders around the world.