UAV CG. The 5th Fleet’s Task Force 59 launched an Aerovel Flexrotor small vertical take-off and landing unmanned aerial system (UAS) from the Coast Guard cutter USCGC Emlen Tunnel (WPC-1145) for the first time on Dec. 7. This is the first time a Coast Guard vessel launched a UAS as part of Task Force 59 (TF 59) operations in the Middle East region. This occurred during TF 59’s Digital Horizon three-week event integrating new unmanned and artificial intelligence platforms. The Navy said the Flexrotor can support intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions using daylight or infrared cameras for real-time video feeds. The
Emlen Tunnel is one of the newest Sentinel-class cutters forward-deployed to the 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain.
Palantir For Aegis. Palantir Technologies, Inc. and Lockheed Martin on Nov. 30 announced a collaboration to modernize combat systems on the Navy’s surface fleet using the former’s Apollo platform. The platform enables Automatic Deployment for software development and delivery. This covers application requirements and enables the team to work on software asynchronously. Palantir said Apollo also enables DevOps, security teams and operations to scale and deliver innovation quickly while the development teams also get real-time feedback and performance reporting. The collaboration aims to allow Lockheed Martin to experiment with a better upgrade process for future versions of the Aegis Combat System and a future integrated combat system.
Davidson To CSBA. Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) think tank on Dec. 2 announced former Adm. Phil Davidson was elected to its board of directors. Davidson retired from the Navy in 2021 following a 39-year military career culminating as the commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. “We know that his support will meaningfully improve CSBA’s ability to engage policymakers with highly relevant scholarship and support them as they confront critical challenges to U.S. national security,” Barbara Humpton, Chair of CSBA’s Board of Directors, said in a statement.
SSN-803. Shipbuilder General Dynamics Electric Boat and Navy officials conducted a keel authentication ceremony for the future Virginia-class submarine USS Arizona (SSN-803) on Dec. 7 at the company’s Quonset Point Facility in Rhode Island. SSN-803 is set to be the 30th Virginia-class vessel and will be the first to include the Virginia Payload Module, with four large-diameter vertical payload tubes in a new hull section. The Arizona will also be the first U.S. naval vessel with the name since the battleship USS Arizona (BB-39) was sunk during the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
Bechtel Mod. Naval Sea Systems Command awarded Bechtel’s Plant Machinery Inc. a $576 million modification on Dec. 8 for unspecified naval nuclear components. Work will be split between Monroeville, Pa. (75 percent); and Schenectady, NY (25 percent). $456 million in fiscal year 2023 Navy shipbuilding funds were obligated at the time of award and will not expire at the end of this fiscal year.
Trident Support. The Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a $328.5 million contract on Dec. 8 for U.S. and U.K. strategic weapon system Trident fleet support, Trident II shipboard integration Increment 8, and navigation subsystem development efforts. The U.S. and U.K. nuclear weapon-armed ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) use the Trident II submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs). This is a cost-plus-incentive-fee and cost-plus-fixed-fee contract. Work for this contract will largely occur in Mitchel Field, N.Y. (64 percent); Huntington Beach, Calif. (24 percent); and Clearwater, Fla. (nine percent). Work is expected to be finished by September 2026. The contract was awarded as a sole-source pursuant to U.S. Code regulations.
No Go. House-Senate conferees on H.R. 7776, the fiscal 2023 defense authorization bill, have nixed a House proposal to form a Space National Guard. The bill authorizes 8,600 active duty members of the U.S. Space Force and 108,400 members of the Air National Guard. By next June, the Department of the Air Force is to submit a report to Congress on Space Force end strength requirements. Space Force had been evaluating whether to create a Space National Guard or form a combined active duty and Reserve component that has members of the Air National Guard. The Army and Air National Guard have had 17 units dedicated to space missions in Guam and seven states—Florida, Colorado, New York, California, Ohio, Alaska, and Hawaii. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) had introduced S. 4179, the Space National Guard Act, this year—legislation backed by the Air & Space Forces Association, which has said that “maintaining Air National Guard units with space responsibilities instead of forming a Space National Guard integrated with the Space Force as a whole, will only create inefficiencies and bureaucratic friction.”
Space Congestion. U.S. Army Gen. James Dickinson, the head of U.S. Space Command, says his top concern is the increased congestion in low Earth orbit in the last two and a half to three years and the possibility of collisions of U.S. satellites with debris. “When U.S. Space Command re-established itself back in 2019, we on a daily basis tracked about 25,000 pieces of debris or objects in space,” Dickinson says. “Today that number is about 48,000, and what that represents in terms of congestion in the space domain: most of that debris is in the low Earth orbit, and in the low Earth orbit that’s where we do most of our space operations – not only from a military perspective but from a commercial and civil perspective. So when you look at the International Space Station, it flies in the low Earth orbit. The new Chinese space station flies in the low Earth orbit as well as the Hubble telescope, for example, plus many commercial types of satellites that provide communications and other services to our economies, whether it’s the U.S. economy or economy writ large around the world. So when you look at just that amount of debris, you can imagine the congestion that brings with that and, quite frankly, the risk at which those satellites are operating in that orbit.”
Taking the Reins. On Dec. 9, U.S. Air Force Gen. Anthony Cotton, the former head of Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) at Barksdale AFB, La., became the new leader of U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) at a ceremony at Offutt AFB, Neb. During the ceremony, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall presented Cotton with the Distinguished Service Medal for his modernization and readiness efforts at AFGSC. Cotton assumed command from retiring Navy Adm. Charles Richard, who had headed STRATCOM since November 2019. During Cotton’s STRATCOM confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee in September, he suggested that, despite “Herculean efforts,” the nuclear portfolio has faced more severe supply chain constraints during COVID-19 than other DoD procurement and research and development areas. Nuclear supply shortages have affected common missile compartment tubes for Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines, storage cylinders for new domestic uranium enrichment cascade, and the refurbishment of W80 air-launched cruise missile warheads.
New Army Sensor. Leonardo DRS said on Dec. 5 it has received a $39.5 million deal to develop and produce the 3GEN Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) Dewar Cooler Bench (DCB) long-range sensor for the Army. The company noted its solution will replace the current Horizontal Technology Integration (HTI), 2nd Generation Sensors system and will be used on platforms such as the Abrams tank and the future Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle. Leonardo DRS said the 3GEN FLIR DCB “converts infrared radiation into video images and is the key enabler for the next generation of FLIR sights, providing improved situational awareness with significant improvements in range and resolution under a full spectrum of degraded weather and battlefield conditions.” “For the last 20 years, we have successfully provided our customer with the HTI, the previous generation of this sensor, and this award positions DRS for multiple decades of sustained production while setting the stage to extend its position as the U.S. Army’s premier supplier of ground combat vehicle sensors and sights,” Jerry Hathaway, senior vice president and general manager of Leonardo DRS’ electro-optical and infrared systems business, said in a statement.
Taiwan FMS. The State Department on Dec. 6 approved two potential foreign military sales with Taiwan for aircraft standard and non-standard spare parts totaling $428 million. The new FMS cases would expand the “Cooperative Logistics Supply Support Arrangement for stock replenishment supply,” according to the State Department, with the deal for standard parts worth $330 million and non-standard spare parts for $98 million. “The proposed sale will contribute to the sustainment of the recipient’s aerial fleet, enhancing its ability to meet current and future threats while providing defensive and transport capabilities critical to regional security. The proposed sale will contribute to the recipient’s goal of maintaining its military capability while further enhancing interoperability with the United States and other allies,” the Defense Security Cooperation Agency wrote in a statement. The spare parts would support Taiwan’s “F-16, C-130, Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF) [fleet], and all other aircraft and systems or subsystems of U.S. origin,” the State Department noted.
Australia UAS. Australia has selected Elbit Systems to provide its Skylark I-LEX Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) equipped with Electro Optical and Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) systems for the Australian Army, the company said in a Dec. 7 statement. Elbit Systems of Australia said the Skylark I-LEX will help the Australian Army “achieve wider use cases outside of traditional Army UAS employment including integration into more classes of airspace.” “Designed for in-theater operation by maneuvering forces, the fully autonomous electric propelled Skylark I-LEX features mission-oriented, intuitive man-machine interface (MMI) and a 40 km Line Of Sight (LOS) communication range, which make it effective for a variety of missions including reconnaissance and force protection missions,” the company wrote in a statement.
New China Committee. Republican House leadership has tapped Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) to serve as the chair of the new Select Committee on China, which is set to be established in the next Congress. Gallagher is currently a member of both the House Armed Services Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Gallagher in a statement called China “the great threat to the United States,” and cited Beijing’s efforts to “steal hundreds of billions of dollars worth of American intellectual property, and threaten Taiwan.” “The Select Committee on China will push back in bipartisan fashion before it’s too late. Even in [a] divided government, we have an opportunity to build a united front against CCP aggression,” Gallagher said in a statement.
Boeing International. Boeing last week announced a new chief to lead its international strategy and operations and a new head for its work in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. Brendan Nelson, a former Australian diplomat and minister of defense, in early 2023 will succeed Sir Michael Arthur as president of Boeing International. Nelson has been president of Boeing Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific since February 2020. He will report to Boeing President and CEO Dave Calhoun. Arthur has led Boeing’s international operations the past four years. Maria Fernandez will succeed Nelson at Boeing Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific. Fernandez previously ran a government consulting business and before that held senior positions in Australia’s departments of Home Affairs, Defense, Immigration and Border Protection, and Education.
3D Printing Collab. Lockheed Martin and Sintavia, an additive manufacturer of advanced mechanical systems for aerospace, defense and space contractors, are collaborating to expand research of metal additive manufacturing (AM) opportunities as an alternative to castings and forgings. The companies said that AM, also called 3D printing, may provide improve efficiencies in existing castings and forging supply chains, provide parts with greater detail and design opportunities. Sintavia is currently a supplier of 3D printed parts to Lockheed Martin and the new joint effort will focus on AM technology in areas such as laser powder bed fusion, electron beam-directed energy deposition and friction stir AM.
Private Equity Buy. Greenbriar Equity Group earlier this month acquired Applied Aerospace Structures Corp., a provider of large-scale composite and metal-bonded structures and assemblies for commercial and military aircraft, spacecraft, and land and sea defense programs. The company’s products include fuel tanks, winglets, radomes, satellite busses, payload modules, and space launch vehicle structures. Houlihan Lokey service as Applied Aerospace’s financial advisor.