The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
Army Wheels. SASC Airland subcommittee Chairman Joseph Lieberman (I/D) asks Army officials “whether the higher cost” of the Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) and Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) programs are “justified by increased capabilities they will buy, as opposed to sustaining current programs for the Bradley fighting vehicle and the Humvee.” Lieberman notes during a March 27 hearing on Army modernization that the unit costs of the JLTV and GCV are projected to be double or triple that of the current Bradleys and Humvees. Lt. Gen. Robert Lennox, deputy chief of staff of the Army G-8, tells the panel the Bradley is “underpowered,” cannot carry a fully infantry squad, and doesn’t have “growth potential for the future.” Lennox adds the Humvee cannot leave forward-operating bases because it doesn’t provide need blast protection. While he downplays possible Humvee upgrades, Lennox says “improving the Bradley is an option for the Army in the future, and it’s being looked at.”
Iron Support. An array of lawmakers is welcoming news the Pentagon plans to request more money from Congress for Israel’s Iron Dome system that deflects short-range rockets and mortars. “The Department of Defense has been in conversations with the Government of Israel about U.S. support for the acquisition of additional Iron Dome systems and intends to request an appropriate level of funding from Congress to support such acquisitions based on Israeli requirements and production capacity,” Pentagon press secretary George Little says March 27 in a statement. He says Iron Dome “played a critical role” protecting Israel during rocket attacks in early March, intercepting more than 80 percent of the rockets and mortars it engaged. HASC Chairman Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.) says in a statement he supports increasing Iron Dome funding “to increase funding to counter a deadly threat.” SASC Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) tells reporters he’s “open to” supporting more U.S. funding for Iron Dome, above the previously provided $205 million.
Presidential Air. The Navy’s Analysis of Alternatives on a new V-XX presidential helicopter “is nearly complete,” says Richard Gilpin, deputy assistant Navy secretary in the Air Programs Office. “Getting clarity on requirements is probably critical to what we need to do and probably one of the shortcomings we faced..(for the) VH-71 program,” he says about the previous presidential chopper effort that was canceled. “So we are taking some time to make sure that we get the requirements well understood (for the replacement aircraft), well coordinated between what to require for the Marines that operate those helicopters as well as our customer, the White House.” The Navy in the meantime is improving the current fleet of helicopters with updated communications suites and vulnerability improvements. The service’s acquisition strategy takes “advantage of leveraging that new technology,” Gilpin says, a setup that is intended to help yield “a solution that’s quicker to service and at an affordable price.”
Sequester Shuffle. HASC Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) predicts Congress will find a way to avoid so-called sequestration budget cuts that could start next year because lawmakers failed to reach a deficit-slashing accord last year. During a March 29 speech at the Rand Corp., he suggests letting tax cuts initiated by former President George W. Bush expire, to offset the sequestration cuts that could deprive the Pentagon of $500 billion over the next decade. HASC Chairman Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.) and SASC Ranking Member John McCain (R-Ariz.) want to cut the federal workforce to counter sequester cuts. McCain and other GOP senators including Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) appeal during a March 29 speech for Democrats to fight sequestration with them, but rule out the tax increases Democrats say are necessary.
AEI Change. The American Enterprise Institute announces on March 28 the creation of the Marilyn Ware Center for Security Studies, a merger of two of the think tank’s existing programs: the Center for Defense Studies and the Program on Advanced Strategic Studies. AEI resident scholars Thomas Donnelly and Gary Schmitt will co-direct the new center, which is named after former U.S. ambassador to Finland and AEI trustee Marilyn Ware. “Thanks to Ambassador Ware’s steadfast support, AEI will expand its ranks of defense and strategic experts and cultivate our nation’s next generation of leaders,” AEI says March 28 in a press release. Defense policy expert Mackenzie Eaglen recently joined AEI as a resident fellow. “The center’s goal is to become the country’s thought leader in the area of grand strategy and strategic analysis,” it says.
Shipbuilders satisfied. The Navy’s two main shipbuilders, General Dynamics and Huntington Ingalls Industries, say the current five-year construction plan that begins in fiscal 2013 is adequate for sustaining the industrial base but cautioned that it is critical the service stick with the plan to maintain stability. “We can adjust to lower volumes of ship construction,” Phebe Novakovic, the vice president of marine systems for General Dynamics, tells the House Armed Service Committee’s sea power panel last week. She later adds: “The single largest thing that we have to have is stability.” Matthew Mulherin, an HII vice president and head of its Newport News Shipbuilding yard in Virginia, echoes Novakovic and says his firm was still adjusting its “footprint” a year after Northrop Grumman spun off three yards, prompting HII’s formation. He says HII is sticking with plans to cease military shipbuilding at its Avondale yard in Louisiana. The move will lower the total number of large corporate yards for building Navy ships to five.
Stretching out BMD upgrades. The Navy’s 30-year shipbuilding plan released last week stretches out upgrades to its Aegis ships for ballistic missile defense. The plan originally called for the modernization to reach 41 ships by fiscal 2016, but now that number has been lowered to 35 and it will not be complete until fiscal 2017, the plan says. The USS Port Royal (CG-73) is among the ships removed from the plans because it is one of the seven Ticonderoga-class (CG-47) cruisers the Navy plans to retire early in a decreased budget environment, a Navy spokeswoman says. Sean Stackley, the Navy’s assistant secretary for research, development and acquisition, says the reduction in BMD modernization was also intended to save money.
DDGs and AMDR Flexibility. The Navy is asking Congress to sign off on a multi-year contract for nine Arleigh Burke-class (DDG-51) destroyers. The contract would include six flight IIA versions of the ships the Navy has been building for years, plus three of what would be new flight III variants that will feature a more powerful radar. The flight III version will require some redesign on the ship was well as improved cooling systems to accommodate the larger Air Missile Defense Radar (AMDR). The first flight III ship is expected to go under construction in 2016, but the Navy has some flexibility in case AMDR is not ready. Rear Adm. David Lewis, the Navy’s program executive officer for ships, says he anticipates that AMDR will be on time for the first flight III, but in the event an unforeseen problem arises the service will simply continue construction on the ship but as a flight IIA. “It will not impact the delivery schedule of the ship,” Lewis tells a conference hosted last week by the American Society of Naval Engineers. He says a determination on whether AMDR will be ready would have to be made in 2014. The Navy awarded Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman AMDR development contracts in 2010.
Pistole Backs Fed Screeners. Transportation Security Administrator John Pistole is refuting a House report that claims the agency would save $1 billion over five years if the nation’s top 35 airports switched to a private screening force instead of relying on federal screeners for aviation security. In a March 28 letter to the New York Times, Pistole says that private screeners continue to cost between 3 and 9 percent more than TSA’s security officers while offering “a comparable level of security.” The House report was done at the behest of Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Transportation Committee, who was able this year to get Congress to pass a law requiring TSA to once again consider applications from airports who want to opt-out of using federal screeners. Last year, Pistole froze the Screening Partnership Program at 16 airports. TSA is now reviewing 29 applications, with two more pending, to privatize screening, Pistole says in the letter.
TSA to Test Credential Checkers. This month, the Transportation Security Administration plans to begin testing systems at airport checkpoints that authenticate travelers’ credentials before going through the security screening lanes, agency officials say. The Credential Authentication Technology/Boarding Pass Scanner System (CAT/BPSS) tests will evaluate technical solutions from three companies, BAE Systems, Safran’s MorphoTrust, and NCR Corp., that are meant to replace the manual checks currently performed by TSA Travel Document Checkers (TDC). As a traveler approaches a checkpoint, the TDC will scan that person’s ID with the new system to automatically authenticate the credential while the traveler inserts his airline boarding pass into the system, which makes sure it hasn’t been falsified.
First F-35 Night Refuel. Lockheed Martin completes the first night refueling mission of its F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program March 22 at Edwards AFB, Calif., according to a company statement. Piloted by Air Force Lt. Col. Peter Vitt, AF-4, an F-35A conventional takeoff and landing variant rendezvoused with a KC-135 tanker and successfully received fuel through the F-35’s boom receptacle. The “sortie” lasted three hours, according to the statement.
Air Force/Honeywell Spares. The Air Force awards Honeywell a $73.2 million firm fixed-price contract for sole source overhaul/repair and spares in support of the following aircraft: A-10, B-1, B-52, C-130, C-135, C-5, E-3, F-15, F-16 and KC-135, according to a Defense Department statement. The locations of performance are Tempe, Ariz., Tucson, Ariz., Torrance, Calif., and Phoenix, Ariz. Work is scheduled to be completed by April 30, 2014.
Raytheon’s Paveway. Raytheon’s Paveway program completes production of its 1,000th 250-pound laser-guided precision munition, according to a company statement. Paveway is a kit that transforms “dumb” bombs into precision-guided weapons. The munition, designated the GBU-58, is integrated on the AT-6, Super Etendard and the Mirage 3 aircraft, according to a statement.
Northrop Grumman ATC. North Atlantic Treaty Organization Consultation, Command and Control (NATO C3) awards Northrop Grumman a contract to provide a second air traffic control receiver site for Kandahar Air Base, Afghanistan, according to a March 28 company statement. The receiver site will house 16 Very High Frequency/Ultra High Frequency (VHF/UHF) radios, which have already been supplied and installed and are fully operational, according to a statement.
Lockheed Early Warning. The Air Force awards Lockheed Martin a $78.2 million cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost-plus-incentive-fee, firm-fixed-price and cost-reimbursement contract for the Shared Early Warning System Program, which provides near real-time missile event information to partner nations, according to a Defense Department statement. The location of the performance is Colorado Springs, Colo., and work is scheduled to be completed by September 2016, according to a statement.
USAF/ManTech Contract. The Air Force awards ManTech SRS, Technologies, Inc., a $15.3 million contract March 23 to provide systems engineering, product assurance, program safety, systems security, risk management and launch integration management to support the Launch and Range Systems Directorates, according to the Defense Department. The location of the performance is El Segundo, Calif., and work is to be completed by March 23, 2013.
More Trucks. Oshkosh Defense says it will produce more than 2,500 more Family of Medium Tactical Vehicle trucks and trailers under an order valued at more than $294 million for the Army. The service has now ordered more than 29,000 trucks and trailers from Oshkosh. “Over the first three years of this five-year contract, we have delivered superior-quality trucks and trailers for soldiers for their combat operations, relief efforts and unit-resupply missions at home and abroad,” says Mike Ivy, vice president and general manager of Army Programs for Oshkosh Defense. The order will be complete in February 2014.
More Radio With Less. The Cobham Internet Protocol Mesh Radio is unveiled in a smaller, more power-efficient model. Cobham originally developed the bidirectional radio variant in 2009 to complement its range of broadcast COFDM products. Steve Schaefer, vice president of Cobham Tactical Communications and Surveillance, says: “The IP Mesh radio nodes link together, so that video, audio and GPS information can be transmitted back to a central point or HQ over a much greater range. Wireless networks need no longer be static, as the mesh readjusts itself as nodes move, with no loss of bandwidth or performance.”
Anniversary. In Vienna, diplomats celebrate the anniversary of the Open Skies Treaty signed at the 1992 Helsinki Summit. The United States remains firmly committed to the Open Skies Treaty, and started the process for transition to digital electro-optical sensors on U.S. aircraft. It was President Eisenhower who introduced the idea 57 years ago at the Geneva Summit in 1955. It was not accepted then, but the seed was planted. The biggest challenge going forward, diplomats agree, is the availability of resources.