ITEP Engines. The Army has now accepted the first two General Electric Aerospace-built T901 helicopter engines, developed under the Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP), the company said on October 13. GE Aerospace provided the update after the Army previously announced it had accepted the first T901 engine on September 28. “We are thrilled to announce the acceptance of the revolutionary T901 by the U.S. Army,” Amy Gowder, GE Aerospace’s president and CEO for defense and systems, said in a statement. “The performance, power, and reliability of the T901 – combined with GE’s decades of experience powering Army rotorcraft – will ensure our warfighters have a significant advantage on the battlefield.” The T901 engine will eventually power the Army’s AH-64 Apache and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters as well as the future Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) platform. The Army has confirmed it will deliver the T901 engines to the FARA competitors Bell and Sikorsky in October, which follows several delays due to manufacturing challenges, which sets the program on a path to start flying prototypes by mid-2024.
CPS on DDG-1002.
The Pentagon’s December 2022 Selected Acquisition Report, released this month, confirmed the Navy plans to install the Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) hypersonic weapon on the last Zumwalt-class destroyer during the current combat systems availability contract. While the Navy is installing and fielding the CPS on DDGs 1000 and 1001 during availabilities at HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., DDG-1002 is getting the work done before ship delivery. The Navy is replacing the two unused Advanced Gun System mounts with the CPS on the front mount area. The report noted the “aft mount will remain open for future capabilities.” DDG-1002 is set to be delivered by Dec. 2026 with and obligation work limiting date of Nov. 2027.
Army CFTs. Gen. James Rainey, head of the Army Futures Command, has cited space-based deep sensing and human-machine integration as potential areas of interest for new Cross-Functional Teams (CFT), which bring together officials from different Army organizations to focus on specific modernization initiatives. Rainey is currently conducting a review of the Army’s CFTs as the service looks to the next steps in its modernization initiative, which has already resulted in standing up the new Contested Logistics CFT. “There are some, like the Long-Range [Precision] Fires and Air and Missile Defense [CFTs], that aren’t going away anytime soon,” Rainey told reporters during an Oct. 9 briefing at the Association of the United States Army’s annual conference in Washington, D.C. For the enduring CFTs, Rainey said the Army will begin thinking over the next two years on what new initiatives can be added to their portfolios.
Counter-Swarm Demo. A Defense Department evaluation planned for the June 2024 timeframe of systems designed to counter small unmanned aircraft systems will include swarms of between 20 and 50 drones, Army Col. Mike Parent, head of acquisition efforts for the Joint Counter-sUAS Office (JCO), said last week at the Association for the U.S. Army conference. The JCO in August began requesting information for the counter-swarm drone demonstration and Parent said that following industry submitted white papers and oral presentations, his office has down-selected to “competent vendors” for additional presentations. In the next few weeks, there will be another down-select inviting vendors to participate in the demonstration. He said he does not know yet if the technologies to be tested will be electronic warfare, high-powered microwave, or kinetic but it will “cover the whole gamut” and the testing will go beyond anything the JCO has done before in terms of detecting, tracking, identifying and defeating swarms of Group 1 and 2 UAS.
…Northrop Grumman Gun Truck. Parent also said that the Northrop Grumman Agnostic Gun Truck, which is equipped with an XM914 30mm chain gun and is supported by a multi-sensor system is “going through the contracting process” with U.S. Security Assistance to Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funding and “you can probably expect to see it on the ground very shortly, coming up here in the next quarter or so.” The multi-sensor system is the Mobile-Acquisition, Cueing and Effector (M-ACE) to support the 30mm gun against Group 1 and 2 drones, which are those that weigh up to 55 pounds. “It’s a fantastic system,” he said. The JCO has found “great promise” with 30mm guns against these small drones, “even reaching out a lit bit further” in what they can shoot down, and as part of a layered counter-UAS approach “you do get great defeat capability,” Parent said. M-ACE includes 3-D radar, radio frequency sensors, electro-optical and infrared cameras, GPS, and secure radio to transmit data over command-and-control networks.
…C-sUAS-as-a-Service Update. “I’m a huge fan of counter-UAS-as-a-service,” JCO Director Army Maj. Gen. Sean Gainey said at the conference. A year ago, following a demonstration event, the JCO recommended C-sUAS-as-a-Service (CaaS) offerings from Anduril Industries, Black Sage Technologies, CACI International, Rafael Systems Global Sustainment, and Science Applications International Corp. to the military services and combatant commands (COCOMs). Since then, some of the COCOMS have “moved out forward with counter-UAS-as-a-service,” the Army is also using it at sites “as their proof-of-principle assessment” for potential fixed-site uses, and the Air Force is also using it for some of their sites in the Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility, Gainey said.
…Contractor Responsibilities. Currently, there must be a uniformed service member to “pull the trigger” on the CaaS equipment, even for non-kinetic defeat of drones, Gainey said. The JCO is trying to get to where contractors can “complete the cycle” of the counter-UAS equipment, he said.
Cheaper Satellite Buses. Florida-based Terran Orbital said that it has opened two new advanced Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA) lines in Irvine, Calif. where the company in September opened a new 60,000 square foot plant to bring the total size of its manufacturing complex to 98,000 square feet. Terran Orbital has been building satellite buses for Lockheed Martin as part of the U.S. Space Force Space Development Agency’s (SDA) Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. The latter includes Terran Orbital buses for 10 SDA Tranche 0, Transport Layer satellites that went into orbit on Sept. 2. “In addition to its two new state-of-the-art PCBA Surface Mount Technology (SMT) lines, the company also added capabilities for post-SMT processes, fully automated inspection, 3-dimensional X-ray testing, Automated Optical Inspection, and flying probe technologies that give it the complete ability to produce, inspect, and test a broad spectrum of PCBAs in its facility,” Terran Orbital said on Oct. 13.
…Responsive Space. PCBA quality control “will decrease supply chain issues and increase parts availability and yield, allowing Terran Orbital to produce module and bus products more timely and cost-efficiently,” Terran Orbital said. “By owning our own facility, we can produce higher quality boards faster, furthering our goal of Responsive Space.” Last month, the company announced a “new lineup of seven standard satellite bus platforms” and a Responsive Space initiative to provide satellite buses to buyers rapidly. “I’m a big believer that if you control your supply chain, you control your destiny,” Terran Orbital CEO Marc Bell said. “Our two new PCBA lines bring us one step closer to our goal of being 100 percent vertically integrated.”
AWACS Retirement. As the U.S. Air Force replaces at least 15 of its E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) with the Boeing E-7A Wedgetail for airborne moving target indication, the service has moved the 12th AWACS to the “boneyard” at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz. Congress approved 13 AWACS retirements from the original 31 aircraft fleet last year and may approve another two in fiscal 2024. The 13th AWACS approved for retirement last year is to be a static display at Tinker AFB, Okla., Air Force Materiel Command said. AFMC said that Aircraft 83-0009, the last in the 2023 approved retirements destined for the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, flew from Tinker AFB. to Davis-Monthan on Sept. 21. The first AWACS arrived at Tinker in 1977, AFMC said. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin has said maintaining readiness while moving on from legacy platforms to a more modernized intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance approach is one of the “more vexing” problems facing the Air Force and he has pledged to work with lawmakers on a “responsible transition” process.
SSN-795 Delivered. General Dynamics Electric Boat delivered the future USS Hyman G. Rickover (SSN-795) Virginia-class attack submarine, the company announced on Oct. 11. SSN-795 will be the 22nd Virginia-class boat. This is the second submarine named after Adm. Hyman Rickover, who directed the start of naval nuclear propulsion and is known as the father of the nuclear Navy. SSN-795 will also be the fourth of 10 boats in Block IV of the Virginia-class submarines.
NSC 10 Delivered. The Coast Guard last Friday took delivery of its 10th 418-foot national security cutter (NSC), the Calhoun (WMSL 759). The ship was delivered by prime contractor HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division at its shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. HII is under contract for one more of the Legend-class cutters, the Friedman, which is slated for delivery in 2024. The high-endurance NSCs are the Coast Guard’s largest and most technologically sophisticated cutters, operating on the high seas and conducting a range of missions, including drug interdiction and freedom of navigation operations in support of U.S. national security interests.
ThayerMahan Sensing. The Office of Naval Research (ONR) on Oct. 12 awarded ThayerMahan Inc a $19 million contract to develop various autonomous maritime sensor technologies. The announcement called this “autonomous mobile maritime systems for tactical surveillance, undersea warfare, and subsea and seabed warfare.” More specifically, it covers the company developing specialized long endurance autonomous platforms, sensors, autonomous behaviors, signal processors, artificial intelligence, machine learning techniques and improved endurance. Work will occur at the company’s Groton, Conn. location and is expected to finish by Oct. 2027.
…Courtney Support. Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn) welcomed the contract to a company within his district. “This federal contract will help strengthen the Navy’s and Marine Corps’ eyes and ears undersea through advanced and innovative autonomous maritime systems, which will be a critical capability in the 21st Century,” he said in an Oct. 12 statement. He said his office has long advocated for ThayerMahan to receive contracts like this because “there’s no question that ThayerMahan is a leader in this work.” ThayerMahan CEO Mike Connor said they appreciate the confidence from ONR and are “thankful for the critical role played by Congressman Joe Courtney and his staff.”
No Cyber Fallout. There have been no serious cyber-attacks against Israel associated with Hamas’ recent brutal attacks against Israel, just low-level denial of service and website defacements, Brandon Wales, executive director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, said last week. CISA has been “working in partnership” with the Israeli National Cyber Directorate and sharing information to help protect their systems but current level of cyber activity is “fairly common for less sophisticated actors,” Wales said at an event hosted by The Washington Post. CISA also has not seen any step up in cyber activity from Iran related to the Hamas attacks, he said.
Dividend Boost. Lockheed Martin earlier this month said it will increase its quarterly dividend by 5 percent to $3.15 per share from the current $3 per share payable on Dec. 29. A year ago, the company boosted its quarterly dividend by 20 cents, or 7 percent. Lockheed Martin has increased its dividend 21 straight years. The company’s board also authorized the repurchase of up to an additional $6 billion of common stock, bringing the current stock buyback program to $13 billion.
New Finance Chief. Dan Sallet has been named senior vice president for finance of BAE Systems, Inc., the U.S.-based subsidiary of Britain’s BAE Systems. Sallet has been with BAE for 35 years, most recently as vice president of finance for the Electronic Systems sector. He succeeds Guy Montminy, who will retire in 2024. Salet reports to Tom Arsenault, president and CEO of BAE Systems, Inc.
K2-Parsons Nab DHS Award. After waiting more than two years, an industry team led by K2 Construction Consultants and Parsons Corp. has received a five-year $252.5 million contract from the Department of Homeland Security Counter Weapons of Mass Destruction Office to deploy radiation portal monitors (RPMs) at land ports of entry on the southern and northern borders of the U.S. The RPMs are supplied by another vendor. The K2-Parsons team won the contract in the summer of 2021 but protests dragged out award of the contract until recently. Culmen International is also on the industry team.
LPD-32 Named. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro announced the future Flight II San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock will be named USS Philadelphia (LPD-32). Del Toro made the announcement at Independence Hall on Oct. 12 during the Philadelphia Navy and Marine Corps Week. This follows the tradition of naming LPDs after U.S. cities. LPD-32 will be the seventh Navy vessel named after Philadelphia since the first Continental Navy gunboat was launched in 1776. The Navy awarded shipbuilder HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding a $1.3 billion modification for the detail design and construction of LPD-32 in 2021.