Japan/Aircraft Upgrades. The Pentagon on July 3 announced plans to replace older F-15 and F-16 fighter jets based in Japan with newer F-35 and F-15EX aircraft. “The modernization plan, which will be implemented over the next several years, reflects over $10 billion of capability investments to enhance the U.S.-Japan Alliance, bolster regional deterrence, and strengthen peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region,” the department said in a statement. At Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, the Air Force plans to deploy 36 F-15EX aircraft to replace 48 F-15C/Ds and “will continue to maintain a rotational presence of 4th and 5th generation tactical aircraft…throughout this transition,” the Pentagon noted. The Air Force also plans to upgrade its fleet based at Misawa Air Base from 36 F-16s to 48 F-35As, “leading to greater tactical aircraft capacity and capability.” The Marine Corps is also planning to “modify” the number of F-35B aircraft stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni “to support the service’s force design modernization implementation,” according to the Pentagon. “The department’s plan to station the Joint Force’s most advanced tactical aircraft in Japan demonstrates the ironclad U.S. commitment to the defense of Japan and both countries’ shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
NATO Summit. Ahead of next week’s NATO Summit in Washington D.C., which marks the alliance’s 75th anniversary, the Pentagon detailed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s priorities for the meeting. “The secretary will join President Biden in celebrating this milestone while advancing key policy priorities. These include ensuring the implementation of new NATO plans for credible deterrence and defense, enhancing long-term support for Ukraine and fostering its future NATO membership,” Air Force Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon’s press secretary, told reporters on July 2. “During the summit, Secretary Austin will be engaged in discussions to ramp up Transatlantic defense industrial production, ensure adequate defense investments from allies and the deepening of practical cooperation between NATO and its Indo-Pacific partners, to include Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea.”
ATACMS. The Army on July 2 awarded Lockheed Martin a $226.9 million contract for ATACMS missiles and launching assembly. The deal covers FY ‘24 foreign military sales funds for cases with Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco and Poland, according to the Pentagon. ATACMS are fired out of HIMARS launchers, also built by Lockheed Martin, and can reach ranges out to 300 kilometers. Work on the new award is expected to be completed by the end of 2028.
Rheinmetall Trucks. Rheinmetall on July 1 signed a new $3.78 billion framework contract with the German government for the delivery of up to 6,500 military trucks, its largest ever deal for logistics vehicles. “The framework contract is an essential contribution to a fast fulfillment of demand by the logistic forces of the Bundeswehr,” Michael Wittlinger, chairman of the management of Rheinmetall Military Vehicles GmbH, said in a statement. “The standardized vehicle family and the uniformity with vehicles of other beneficiary nations establish the HX-vehicles as the main logistic vehicles within NATO and set a standard for interoperability and logistic efficiency within the Alliance. Once again, this order reflects our leading role in the global market for logistic vehicles.” Rheinmetall said the company has received an initial $336.93 million “call-off” order under the new contract for delivery of 610 vehicles, with 250 trucks to be delivered in 2024.
Trolley! Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has demonstrated take-off of its Valkyrie stealthy unmanned combat aircraft system from a trolley launch system using the aircraft’s jet engine, showcasing the ability to launch the drone from conventional runways or roads. The Valkyrie typically has used rocket assisted takeoff to take-off from austere locations before flying away under the power of its jet engine. Using the Kratos Trolley Launch System (KTLS), which sits on wheels with the Valkyrie attached above, the aircraft accelerates down the runway under its own power before separating and flying away followed by the KTLS deploying drogue chutes and brakes to stop. The self-funded take-off and flight demonstration occurred at the North Dakota Grand Sky range.
New SDA RFI. The Space Development Agency (SDA) last week issued a request for information (RFI) related to the Tranche 3 Tracking Layer of its Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. The agency aims to have more than 100 Tracking Layer spacecraft in low Earth orbit to detect and track infrared signatures of conventional and advanced missile threats. The controlled unclassified RFI is available by request. SDA in January awarded L3Harris Technologies, Lockheed Martin, and Sierra Space contracts for the Tranche 2 tracking layer satellites (Defense Daily, Jan. 16).
Dealing with Russia. The Justice Department last week said that Douglas Robertson of Olathe, Kan., pled guilty to being part of a three-year conspiracy to dodge U.S. export laws by filing false forms related to the sale of “sophisticated and controlled avionics equipment to customers in Russia” even after that country’s illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Robertson was arrested in March 2023. The end customers included Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB, which is responsible for counter-intelligence, internal security, and counter-terrorism. Robertson was the vice president of KanRus Trading Company. Robertson’s co-conspirator include Cyril Buyanovsky, former president KanRus who pled guilty in December 2023, and Oleg Chistyakov, who was arrested in Riga, Latvia, where he is awaiting extradition proceedings.
T-AO 205. Military Sealift Command awarded Vigor Marine LLC a $32.7 million contract to conduct a 100-day shipyard mid-term availability and dry docking of the USNS John Lewis (T-AO 205) fleet replenishment oiler. This contract covers a base period and three unexercised options for more work and time that, if exercised, would raise the total value to $33.4 million. The work is expected to last from September to December 2024. The DoD announcement said only one offer was received. T-AO 205 was built by General Dynamics NASSCO.
SLV Is No LSM. Speaking during a Brookings Institution event on July 2, commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Eric Smith, underscored while the leased and modified commercial Stern Landing Vessel is a good experimentation platform for the future Landing Ship Medium (LSM), “it doesn’t do what a Landing Ship Medium does. It doesn’t have the beach gradient, it doesn’t have the carrying capacity. So we can experiment with it.” Smith said they can experiment via the Neller Center for Wargaming and Analysis, “and it can fine tune and spit out results,” but experimentation options are no match for the final results the service needs. “We know the beach gradients throughout the Indo-Pacific. We know the time, distance factors. We know the speed of a Landing Ship Medium. So really, we just need to produce the landing ship medium. That’s what we need,” he continued.
