Amendments Galore. House members have submitted more than 500 amendments for potential consideration when the full House takes up the fiscal year 2019 defense authorization bill. One amendment, by Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), would block the transfer of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters to Turkey unless the U.S. president certifies that Turkey is not engaging in certain actions. Another amendment, by Reps. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) and Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), would cut $950 million provided for two additional Navy Littoral Combat Ships and move the money to the Coast Guard’s polar icebreaker program. The House Rules Committee is scheduled to meet May 21 and 22 to determine what amendments it will clear for House floor debate.
… SASC Markup. The Senate Armed Services Committee plans to begin marking up its version of the FY 2019 defense authorization bill May 21. All sessions, except the personnel subcommittee markup, will occur behind closed doors. The committee expects to finish its work by May 25.
Hypersonic Tests. Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski, head of Air Force Materiel Command, said she expects the Air Force to participate with DARPA in at least two hypersonic flight tests “within the next couple years.” To turn hypersonic technology into usable weapons, the Air Force is conducting research in several areas, including materials and “end-game” seekers that could survive high-speed flight, Pawlikowski told the Defense Writers Group May 15.
… B-52 Re-Engining. Pawlikowski also told the group she is confident that the B-52 bomber, which the Air Force plans to equip with new engines, can remain in service until 2050. Although the plane is more than 55 years old, it has relatively few flight hours and has fared well in a nearly completed structural integrity review. “It’s got good bones,” she said. “It’s structurally solid. And we think that with the re-engining, we can really drive down the fuel cost.”
… Predictive Maintenance. Pawlikowski told the reporters that the Air Force is applying predictive maintenance to B-1 bombers and C-5 transports in hopes of replacing parts before they break, thereby reducing down time. The general wants to expand the effort to more aircraft. “We’re very excited about this because we see huge potential to improve aircraft availability and drive down the cost,” she said. “We’re looking at increasing the investment in that to bring it further.”
No New JSTARS, Please. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson urged the Senate Appropriations Committee’s defense panel May 17 to reject a House Armed Services Committee proposal to require the Air Force to replace its aging E-8C JSTARS ground-surveillance plane with another aircraft. Wilson said the service cannot afford the $7 billion price tag of a JSTARS replacement, which would be vulnerable anyway to being shot down in a conflict with China or Russia. The Air Force would prefer to focus on developing an Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) that fuses threat information from various airborne and other sensors.
New HAC HS Chair. Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.) has been named the new chairman for the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, taking over for Rep. John Carter (R-Texas), who is now chairing the subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs. The changes on the committee followed the May 12 retirement of former Republican congressman Charlie Dent (Pa.), who chaired the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs panel.
…Thoughts on Border Security. As a congressman, Yoder says he has visited the southern border and believes a mix of capabilities must be brought to bear to secure the border. “We must keep drugs and criminals out of our country to ensure that every family in every corner of America feels safe when they lay their head down to sleep at night,” he said. “That means physical structures at the border. It also means better technology, improved defense systems, in air and in the water, and more manpower to execute the mission. No ideas should be discarded.” Yoder is also in favor of improving merit-based immigration.
Counter UAS Support. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said she welcomes new legislation offered by a bipartisan group of senators that would give authorities to DHS and the Justice Department to counter unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) around certain facilities and assets in the U.S., its territories and navigable waters. She said the bill responds to DHS request for helping in countering the “growing threat posed by UAS,” adding that her department “needs clear legal authority to identify, track and mitigate drones that could pose a danger to the public and to DHS operations.” A forthcoming proposal from DHS and the recent bill will give the two departments authority to “conduct limited counter UAS operations for a narrow set of important and prioritized missions, all the while importantly protecting privacy and civil liberties.”
Robot Helicopters. The American Helicopter Society presented its Howard Hughes Award to the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and Aurora Flight Sciences for their joint work on the Autonomous Aerial Cargo Utility System, or AACUS. AACUS allows any rotary-wing aircraft to fly autonomously while being directed to deliver supplies by a single Marine with a tablet computer. AACUS is a package of sensors and software that can be integrated into rotary-wing aircraft to provide safe, reliable and rapid delivery of cargo to Marines in the field using autonomous capabilities, including flight, route planning, obstacle avoidance, landing selection—even on unprepared fields—and takeoffs. Designed for simple use, AACUS employs an intuitive handheld tablet that allows a Marine in the field to call up needed supplies very quickly and easily.
Ground Robots. The Army chose the Polaris MRZR – already in operation with the Marine Corps – to be one of the robotic systems used by infantry brigade combat teams for the next year of trials as part of the Squad Multipurpose Equipment Transport (SMET) program. The MRZR X is a modular, robotics-capable, multi-mission platform that provides commonality with the MRZRs already in service in the U.S. and more than 30 allied nations.
V-280 Cruising. Bell Helicopter’s V-280 Valor advanced tiltrotor prototype achieved cruise flight for the first time last week. In cruise flight the prop-rotors are positioned at zero degrees for forward flight. While the Valor’s airspeed is kept to 190 knots Bell test pilots plan on gradually expanding the flight envelope to achieve speeds of 280 knots, much faster than traditional rotorcraft.
… S-97 Flies Again. The V-280’s direct competitor in the Army’s Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstration, the S-97 Raider, has resumed flight after one of the two operational prototypes experienced a hard landing last year, a Sikorsky official told Defense Daily. While the company has not made a public announcement that flight test of the aircraft has resumed, the engineer, who wished to remain anonymous to talk to the press, said the second of two test aircraft has been flying “for a while.” The attack-style Raider is being scaled up into the SB-1 Defiant in partnership with Boeing to satisfy Army requirements for the JMR-TD program.
Pacific Fleet. Adm. John Aquilino officially relieved Adm. Scott Swift as head of U.S. Pacific Fleet during a ceremony this week. Aquilino was first nominated in February and previously served as commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and head of Fifth Fleet/Combined Maritime Forces Bahrain. Upon assuming command, Aquilino highlighted the importance of great power competition as the latest core challenge to American security, with the stakes highest in the Indo-Pacific region.
Laser Guided Bomb Trainers. The Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a $23 million contract for follow-on production of training rounds for the Paveway II Laser Guided Bomb (LGB). The award exercises the first option of an Enhanced Laser Guided Training Rounds (ELGTRs) contract negotiated in 2017 and extends trainer production into late 2020. The units are compatible with the F-16, F/A-18, AV-8B, and other aircraft. The company noted it has delivered over 167,000 laser guided training rounds since the early 1990s. Paveway II is made in the same Lockheed Martin facility in Archbald, Pa., that also designs and builds the Paveway II Plus Laser Guided Bomb kits.
SSN-794. Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding last week authenticated the keel of the Virginia-class attack submarine the future USS Montana (SSN-794). Keel laying is the first milestone in a vessel’s construction process. Construction of SSN-794 began in May 2015 and the submarine is now about 46 percent complete. The company expects to deliver the vessel in late 2020.