Page 92 – Defense Daily

Annual F-15EX Operations and Support Costs Lower Than F-35’s, AFLCMC Says

Annual operations and support (O&S) unit costs for the Boeing [BA] F-15EX are lower than those for the Lockheed Martin [LMT] F-35, according to the U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC).

“The $10.8 million cost per F-15EX tail that was identified in the December 2023 F-15EX SAR is a 30-year program average calculated in Calendar Year 2020 dollars,” AFLCMC said in an email response on comparative unit O&S costs. “The F-35A 2022 NDAA Fiscal Year 2027 affordability target of $6.8 million per tail, per year, is calculated in Calendar Year 2012 dollars. The F-15EX’s annual operating and support costs per tail continue to be less than the F-35.”

A December, 2023 F-15EX modernized selected acquisition report (MSAR) released last July contained the $10.8 million, projected O&S annual cost estimate–$4.4 million for maintenance, $3.5 million for unit-level manpower, $1.7 million for unit operations, $900,000 for sustaining support, and $400,000 for continuing system improvements.

“Aircraft operations and support cost comparisons are complex and require consistent operational and economic assumptions,” Boeing said in an email on the F-15EX MSAR cost estimate. “Notably, the F-35 MSAR baseline is in 2012 dollars, while the F-15EX is in 2020 dollars.”

Kurt Schroeder, Boeing’s F-15EX program manager, said in the Boeing email that “various other factors also influence total life-cycle operations, maintenance, and sustainment costs.”

“For example, the F-15EX has a structural fatigue life exceeding 20,000 flight hours, validated by a full-scale durability test which began in 2011, and is based on a current fleet spectrum of maneuvers and usage,” he said. “Additionally, the enhanced wing of current production F-15s will not require initial Programmed Depot Maintenance for 20 years, reducing both flow time and cost.”

“The F-15EX shares significant system commonality with the F-15E, greatly reducing unit and depot activation costs compared to new programs,” he said.

Decisions on fighter force structure lie ahead for the Air Force, which has a plan to buy 1,763 F-35As and 98 F-15EXs. Hundreds of Collaborative Combat Aircraft also are in the mix and may lead to a decrease in the F-35A and F-15EX buys.

“The F-15EX line could keep industrial base pressure on Lockheed Martin, as far as the F-35A goes, but the F-15EX is not going to be cheaper in terms of unit cost sustainment than the F-35A,” one defense analyst said.

Top Priority For American Iron Dome Is Increased Domain Awareness, Air Defense Chief Says

The highest priority to carry out a new presidential directive aimed at creating a comprehensive missile defense shield to protect the homeland is more domain awareness, particularly at ranges beyond current capabilities, the nation’s top officer charged with defending the U.S. said on Thursday.

Next is the need to build on existing missile intercept capabilities, including the Ground Based Interceptor (GBI) and future Next Generation Interceptor (NGI), to defeat ICBMs, Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), told the Senate Armed Services Committee. Boeing [BA] is the integrator for the GBI and Lockheed Martin [LMT] is developing NGI.

The domain awareness sensor layer extends from the seabed to space and includes things like “space-based airborne moving target indicator, over-the-horizon radar, the E-7 Wedgetail [airborne early warning and control aircraft], and Integrated Undersea Surveillance System remain critical,” Guillot said in his prepared remarks. Some aspects of the sensor layer exist and are “right on the edge,” while others are three to five years out, but “inside of a year we could have a significant capability that could network those into a single sensing grid,” he said in response to question from Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chairman of the committee.

The extended sensor ranges are needed to counter advances in adversaries’ military capabilities, Guillot said.

President Trump last month issued an executive order for the multi-billion-dollar Iron Dome for America missile defense program that to a large degree would build on existing, and planned, sensors and interceptors (Defense Daily, Jan. 28). Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) asked about the importance of expanding space-based sensors to track hypersonic and ballistic missile threats, pointing out the presidential directive calls for accelerating the deployment of the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS).

Guillot replied that the capabilities the HBTSS will provide are “imperative to having successful shield over the North American continent,” highlighting spacecraft are “the first capability that we think will reliable and accurately track a hypersonic missile,” which are more difficult to detect and track than ICBMs. A year ago, the Missile Defense Agency launched into orbit two prototype HBTSS, one built by L3Harris Technologies [LHX] and the other by Northrop Grumman [NOC] (Defense Daily, Feb. 14, 2024).

The U.S. needs this capability “immediately,” Guillot said.

For the use of all space-based domain awareness systems, Guillot also said the Defense Department needs “uninterrupted and complete access to the entire spectrum.”

If Canada gets involved with the American Iron Dome project, Guillot said he would want them first to be part of the expansion of domain awareness, ground-based or space-based. Beyond that, if Canada acquires missile defeat systems, efforts would be made to “mesh” them with U.S. “defeat mechanisms” similar to the way both countries use fighter aircraft as part of NORAD.

The Air Force is the executive agent for identifying potential air domain awareness solutions for protecting the U.S. from air and cruise missile defense. Guillot said his two commands are working closely with the Air Force on this.

“It is vital that the domain awareness network provide the ability to detect, discriminate, and deliver crucial real-time information and a single common operating picture to leaders at all appropriate levels,” Guillot said in his written statement.

Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the ranking member on the committee, highlighted in his opening statement that the many of the initiatives called for in the Iron Dome executive order have been underway for years. He also said that the space-based missile interceptors mentioned in the order have “been debated and tested at enormous financial cost, without promise.”

Trump gave the Defense Department 60 days to develop a reference architecture for the design of the Iron Dome of America, a capabilities-based requirements document, and an implementation plan.

U.S. Space Force Looking for Ground Support for MEO Missile Warning/Tracking

U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command (SSC) may award a contract for management and integration of the ground portion of the Resilient Medium Earth Orbit Missile Warning and Tracking System (RMMWT).

The latter is to include the fielding of “Epoch” satellite batches every two to three years.

Last year, SSC awarded Boeing‘s [BA] Millenium Space Systems a $386 million contract for the second batch of six Epoch 1 MEO satellites (Defense Daily, Oct. 24, 2024).

“Epoch 2 is not yet awarded but plans to purchase up to four planes from up to two SV [space vehicle] vendors of unspecified number of satellites per plane,” SSC said in a Monday business notice. “Award of Epoch 2 is planned for 3QFY25, with a Plane 1 launch in 1QFY29 and subsequent launches each quarter thereafter until all planes procured in Epoch 2 are launched.”

“Development of the ground system to include a primary MEO Satellite Operations Center (MSOC) and three Ground Entry Points (GEPs), two sites with three antennas and the third with one antenna, is underway to support the Epoch 1 system,” SSC said. “The government is researching sources for support to Epoch 2 and a possible transition of Epoch 1 responsibilities at a future date.”

SSC is seeking companies able to update and maintain the MSOC at the Boulder Ground Innovation Facility to support Epoch 2; coalesce missile warning and track ground software; maintain network connectivity to the MSOC and a continuous Authority to Operation (ATO) through collaboration with the other contractors; maintain and enhance GEP; and integrate other contractor systems.

Millennium is to deliver the first six Epoch 1s for launch by the end of fiscal 2026 and the second six for launch in the second quarter of fiscal 2028.

“These two planes posture the USSF to deliver initial warfighting capability through Epoch 2 in the early FY29 timeframe,” SSC has said. “Future Epochs will be fielded in two to three-year increments and increase capability of the sensor network with each delivery.”

Last May, SSC canceled RTX‘s [RTX] Epoch 1 contract and cited RTX’s “significant cost growth from the original agreement baseline, projecting slips to the launch schedule, and…unresolved design challenges” (Defense Daily, Sept. 13, 2024).

In addition to Millenium, L3Harris Technologies [LHX] is under an Epoch payload contract and delivered the payload design last May.

SSC’s Epoch effort comes as DoD shifts focus from low numbers of geosynchronous orbit missile warning and missile tracking satellites to more numerous, smaller ones in low Earth orbit and MEO. The Space Force Space Development Agency’s Tracking Layer is to dovetail with SSC’s Epoch. Similar to SSC’s “Epoch,” SDA has two-year “Tranche” development cycles.

SDA is examining ways to integrate the Tracking Layer into the new U.S. Iron Dome effort (Defense Daily, Feb. 12).

York Space Offering U.S. Government National Security Customers Turnkey Commercial Services

Satellite manufacturer and space systems integrator York Space Systems on Thursday announced a new on-demand commercial services offering for U.S. government customers seeking scalable national security-related space missions at guaranteed costs.

The new offering builds on the Denver-based company’s flight-proven heritage and hot, high-volume production line for customers seeking mission-ready space solutions as a service, it said.

York is providing the Space Development Agency with dozens of spacecraft for the low-Earth orbit Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture that is utilizing a combination of communications and missile tracking satellites to strengthen U.S. missile defense capabilities. In December 2023, York’s BANE spacecraft was successfully placed into orbit carrying commercial payloads from separate providers to demonstrate the company’s ability to quickly deploy space mission solutions as an end-to-end provider.

In addition to the satellite design and manufacture, York also provided launch services, software, and ground solutions to meet customer needs as part of the BANE mission.

“We’re now delivering fully operational, commercially hardened solutions to the table, ones that are flight proven, rigorously tested, and available today,” Dirk Wallinger, York’s CEO, said in a statement. “By offering these capabilities through a commercial services model, we provide our government customers with rapid, low-risk access to proven technologies, drastically reducing acquisition timelines and overall costs while enhancing mission agility on a firm fixed-price model.”

York said it is deploying solutions for remote proximity operations, space domain awareness, military communication, and Earth observation, noting these capabilities and counterspace services can be provided to “customers at a small fraction of traditional costs.”

Will Fixed Price Contracts Spell the End of the Space Force CRWL?

The company on the U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command (SSC) Contractor Responsibility Watch List (CRWL) may be off the list soon, as the service looks to fixed price contracts to eliminate the CRWL, a top official said on Tuesday.

“Moving to more rapid, fixed price kinds of contracts, if we do that successfully, we’ll never put anyone on the CRWL, and that’s a win,” Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, the acting assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration (SAF/SQ), told reporters on Tuesday. “That [a contractor on the CRWL] is a fail on the government and contractor side.”

“Right now, the CRWL is owned by SSC,” he said. “We were given the ability to have a CRWL at SQ. We’re trying to develop the processes to do that.”

In November, Lt. Gen. Philip Garant, the head of SSC, said that one contractor was on the SSC list but declined to name the company, and SSC has not identified the contractor since then in response to questions (Defense Daily, Nov. 26, 2024).

The fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act laid out a Space Force CRWL to hold companies to cost, schedule and performance. The National Reconnaissance Office has had such a list for years.

Under SAF/SQ are the heads of seven reporting organizations–the Space Rapid Capabilities Office, the Space Development Agency, and five space program executive officers–those for military communications/positioning, navigation and timing; space sensing programs; space domain awareness and combat power; battle management, command, control, and communications; and assured access to space.

Purdy said on Tuesday that the company is on the list for an unclassified program and may be off the CRWL soon.

“The PEO reports that they have done very well,” he said of the contractor. “They’ve moved people. They’ve moved money. They’ve built systems and processes to help out definitively. I would hope that they’re gonna be off that fairly soon. We’ll see…Process wise, I’m not sure if they’re gonna close that one out, or if we’ll adopt it in terms of our [SQ’s] CRWL.”

The latter is a “limited distribution” list, although Garant and Purdy have said that they are unsure why. Purdy said that the CRWL is a detailed process and that a contractor only gets on the list for “sustained bad performance” and a failed attempt at rectifying that.

Purdy is in the SAF/SQ role, as the Trump White House has not named a replacement for Frank Calvelli, the Biden administration’s assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration.

In February last year, Calvelli said that his office is working to turn around three programs–the RTX [RTX] GPS Next-Generation Operational Control System (GPS OCX), the L3Harris Technologies’ [LHX] Advanced Tracking and Launch Analysis System (ATLAS), and the Military GPS User Equipment (MGUE) (Defense Daily, Feb. 26).

L3Harris, RTX, and BAE Systems have received funding under MGUE Increment 1 and have been developing cards for MGUE Increment 2.

Calvelli noted progress on ATLAS last year, and Space Force has said that this September will mark initial operational capability for the system (Defense Daily, Nov. 26, 2024). This week, Purdy also noted progress toward fielding of GPS OCX, ATLAS, and MGUE.

SDA Looks To Industry Studies For Trump’s Iron Dome For America

The Space Development Agency (SDA) on Feb. 11 issued a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) seeking summaries of upcoming 60-day studies on architectures and capabilities for the Iron Dome For America initiative started at the White House.

SDA said it is specifically interested in industry’s perspective on implementing the White House executive order 14186, which calls for a missile defense shield capable of protecting all of the U.S. critical infrastructure and citizens from foreign aerial attacks.

A rendering of the first generation of the Tracking Layer of Trance 0 in the National Defense Space Architecture. Photo: Space Development Agency

The agency said under this BAA it is interested in building on and integrating the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) low-earth orbit architecture that currently provides low-latency data transport for tactical users, beyond-line-of-sight targeting and advanced missile warning/tracking/defense.

The solicitations calls for respondents to provide studies on at least one of eight efforts: high fidelity modeling, simulation and analysis of the PWSA architecture and capabilities to defend against current and emerging peer and near-peer threats; opportunities to accelerate the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) missile defense capabilities into the PWSA Tracking Layer; ways to accelerate technically mature and novel phenomenologies into the PWSA custody and tracking layers; optimization of PWSA as a backbone for a global kill web using diverse sensors and the transport layer to support kill chains of multiple systems; secure supply chain analysis; extensible and interoperable space and ground architectures for PWSA, commercial and other missile defense systems; on-orbit sensor data processing, multi-sensor track fusion and low-latency dissemination from space directly to end-users; and software solutions enabling autonomous satellite operations.

(SDA Logo, courtesy Space Development Agency)

The notice said the contracted 60-day technical efforts will have deliverables like capability definition and driving use cases, system-of-system architecture and key requirements, concept of operations, key mission partner capabilities and system interfaces, PWSA contributions and opportunities for expansion/acceleration, and implementation approaches with timelines and challenges.

SDA said offerors should provide initial executive summaries by Feb. 28, then assume an authority to proceed (ATP) on March 15, a study period of performance of 60 calendar days, and plan interim deliverables within 30 days of the study work starting.

The initial draft study reports should be delivered within 60 days of the ATP and final study report no later than the full 90 calendar day period of performance.

Army And RTX Tests LTAMDS and PAC-2 Again With GEM-T Variant

The Army and RTX’s Raytheon [RTX] said its Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS) recently completed another successful live-fire test with the Patriot missile defense system with another interceptor missile variant.

During a Feb. 7 test at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., LTAMDS successfully detected, tracked and classified a surrogate cruise missile threat while integrated with the

Northrop Grumman Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS) that links sensors to various shooters.

The Army said IBCS then determined an engagement solution, which led to a Patriot Advanced Capability-2 Guidance Enhanced Missile – TBM (PAC-2 GEM-T) interceptor destroying the target.

“This most recent test represents a significant milestone for both Raytheon and the Army, demonstrating the combat-proven PAC-2 GEM-T interceptor with the transformational LTAMDS radar,” said Tom Laliberty, president of Raytheon’s Land and Air Defense Systems business unit.

“LTAMDS will further enhance Patriot’s unmatched air defense capabilities, helping the Army and customers around the globe defend against increasingly complex threats,” he added.

The company boasted LTAMDS is working on an “aggressive schedule” with multiple radars used for simultaneous testing and integration at various government and company test locations.

RTX said it expects the LTAMDS program to achieve Milestone C in the second quarter of FY 2025, marking the transition from development to production.

It also reiterated there is “strong” international interest in the system, with more than 12 counties having requested information and received briefings.

This test follows a December test event with LTAMDS integrated with PAC-3 interceptors to defeat short range ballistic missile and low-altitude cruise missile surrogates (Defense Daily, Dec. 11, 2024)

Before that, in November they announced an LTAMDS test with the PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement and Cost Reduction Interceptor missiles against a tactical ballistic missile target (Defense Daily, Nov. 7, 2024).

CBP Surveying Market For Mobile Surveillance Systems

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is conducting market research on mobile surveillance systems that could be used for domain awareness on the U.S. land borders.

The agency released a Request for Information for the Modular Mobile Surveillance System (M2S2), which would consist of a 4×4 light duty truck equipped with a modular platform in the bed that includes a telescoping mast affixed with radar, camera to detect, identify, and track equipment, vehicles, people, and animals that could be part of illegal border activity. The system would be used for around-the-clock operations.

The units would have a range of one to seven miles and provide capabilities that work in rugged, remote, rural, urban, riverine, and coastal environments. The agency also wants the M2S2 units to be able to support remote operations and have autonomous capabilities.

CBP has previously acquired M2S2 units, at least for operational test and evaluation, including units from Teledyne’s [TDY] FLIR business unit and Elbit Systems’ [ESLT] U.S. operations (Defense Daily, May 26, 2020).

A statement of work accompanying the RFI says that current requirement will be similar to one posted in 2020 but with an “emphasis on current technological capabilities including, but not limited to, software version and patch configuration management, scan and remediation, extended warranty (base and four option years), remote operations, and autonomous applications.”

If funding is available, CBP expects to release a Request for Proposals by the end of fiscal year 2025, and potentially in the third quarter of FY ’25.

Record Venture Capital In Europe Defense And Security, Report Says

Overall venture capital (VC) invested in European defense, security and resilience reached a record $5.2 billion in 2024, highlighting the importance of the sector amid an overall decline in VC investments in Europe, according to a new report.

Defense startups involved in developing technologies around “awareness, understanding, and decision making” garnered $1 billion of the investments, also a record, and are leading the VC-backed growth, the data analytics firm Dealroom.io and the NATO Innovation Fund, a private fund founded by NATO and backed by two dozen of its members, say in their first report to assess startups and venture capital in Europe.

The $5.2 billion is 24 percent higher than the $4.2 billion in venture investments in the defense, security, and resilience sector in 2023, and still well above the previous record of $4.3 billion in 2021. Compared with the U.S., for the year-period ending in June 2024, $52.9 billion was invested by private capital in national security-focused and dual-use startups in the U.S., according to the Silicon Valley Defense Group.

Germany attracted the most investment in 2024 and the United Kingdom the most since 2019, with France second overall the past five years and third in 2024. The top hub in 2024 was Munich and five of the top 10 are in the U.K., including Cambridge and London. Paris and Berlin are also in the top 10.

The defense, security and resilience sector is fairly broad and in addition to traditional defense capabilities includes energy security and climate change, critical infrastructure protection, supply chain resilience, and health crisis preparedness.

The largest funding rounds in 2024 in the awareness, understanding, and decision-making area went to Germany’s Helsing, $467 million, Finland’ ICEYE, $93 million, and Portugal’s Tekever, $74 million. Germany’s The Exploration Company, which works in the area of freedom of operations and mobility, received $156 million.

Of nine technology areas listed, artificial intelligence and computing received the most investment in 2024, $1.8 billion, followed by biotechnology and human enhancement, $1.2 billion, energy and propulsion, $1.1 billion, space, $963 million, quantum, $641 million, and autonomy, $407 million. Hypersonic received the least on the list, $6 million.

House GOP Unveils Budget Blueprint For Reconciliation With $100 Billion For Defense

House Republicans on Wednesday unveiled their own budget resolution that sets a blueprint for passing Trump administration policy priorities in a one-bill reconciliation process, which includes $100 billion in defense funds.

The House proposal follows lengthy debate among the GOP caucus on whether to pursue a one or two-bill approach and as the lower chamber aims to mark up the resolution on Thursday, a day after the Senate Budget Committee considers its own proposal with $150 billion for defense.

House Speaker Mike Johnson gives his remarks in honor of WWII Ghost Army veterans, formerly assigned to the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops and the 3133rd Signal Service Company, during a special ceremony at Emancipation Hall, U.S. Capitol Visitors Center in Washington, D.C., March 21, 2024. (U.S. Army photo by Henry Villarama)

“This budget resolution is a key step to start the process in delivering President Trump’s America First agenda. With nearly every House Republican directly engaged in this deliberative process, this resolution reflects our collective commitment to enacting the President’s full agenda—not just a part of it. There will be ongoing debates and discussions in the coming weeks, and we remain focused on working through the process to deliver on our promises made to the American people. There’s still much work to be done, but we are starting on the right path,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said in a social media post.

The reconciliation process would allow the Senate, when the bill gets there, to pass billions of dollars in budget-related Trump administration priorities without requiring the 60-vote threshold needed to break the filibuster, while the House will require a near-unified GOP caucus to support the measure facing likely unanimous Democratic opposition.

House Republicans’ budget resolution, like the Senate GOP’s proposal, doesn’t provide a breakdown of how the additional funds should be spent over the four years covered by the pending reconciliation bill, while it does also call for the Homeland Security Committee to propose up to $90 billion in spending

In total, the budget resolution sets a path for the pending bill to include $300 billion in new spending related to defense and border security priorities.

The House’s proposal calls for pursuing an all-encompassing one budget reconciliation bill, that would also include a $4 trillion debt limit increase and an extension of the 2017 tax cuts instituted by the first Trump administration.

The Senate last week pressed ahead on its own budget resolution, while the House’s efforts were stalled, and rolled out a two-step proposal that would start with a defense-border security-energy bill, including $150 billion for defense over four years, before taking on a second measure focused on tax and spending cuts (Defense Daily, Feb. 7).

The Senate Budget Committee is meeting Wednesday and Thursday to mark up its proposal.