The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
White House Ax. President Barack Obama continues to make his case for cutting $400 billion in national-security spending by 2023, as part of his new plan to save $4 trillion in federal spending over 12 years. “Over the last two years, the Secretary of Defense Bob Gates has taken on wasteful spending that doesn’t protect our troops, doesn’t protect our nation–old weapons systems, for example, that the Pentagon doesn’t want, but Congress sometimes keeps on stuffing into the budget,” Obama says April 19 at a town hall event in Annandale, Va. “Well-connected special interests get these programs stuck in the budget even though the Pentagon says we don’t need these particular weapons systems. So we’ve begun to cut those out. And Secretary Gates has found a lot of waste like that and has been able to save us $400 billion so far. I believe we can do that again.”
…Loren’s Look. Defense consultant Loren Thompson, chief operating officer at the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va., downplays the impact of Obama’s proposed cuts. A “factor that has gotten short shrift in initial coverage of the president’s proposals is the sheer scale of planned defense spending during the period in question,” Thompson says April 19. While the government hasn’t yet released spending plans for the last two years of the period covered by Obama’s cuts, it projects defense spending of over $6 trillion up to 2021, and one estimate pegs the total through 2023 at $7.5 trillion. If Obama is expressing his security savings in then-year dollars, Thompson says, the $400 billion could only amount to 5.3 percent of Pentagon spending. “Saving one out of every 20 dollars spent from a defense budget that has seen buying power balloon by 75 percent over the past 10 years doesn’t sound like a herculean task,” he says.
Carter’s Space. Pentagon acquisition chief Ashton Carter says April 20 that the Pentagon is considering putting military payloads on commercial satellites to save money with space programs. That “obviates for us the need to have our own spacecraft to do that,” Carter says about such hosted payloads during a speech at the Heritage Foundation in Washington. “That’s an opportunity and obviously an efficiency opportunity that we want to look at.” He adds: “You’ll see us doing a lot with the management of space programs coming up, because there’s way too much cost structure built into our space programs.” That includes “looking very aggressively at the cost structure” of the Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite, Space-Based Infrared System, and Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV). “EELV’s performing very well but costing way too much,” Carter says.
…Carter’s Audits. Some contractors say the Defense Contract Audit Agency is hurting their business because it is slow to conduct audits, and Carter says Pentagon officials “understand.” The problem can be addressed by partly increasing the number of auditors, he says, but adds: “The key to improving audit performance is to not serially process every single audit, and treat the big and the small and the urgent and the non-urgent all as if they’re the same thing….When you serially process everything as though it’s equally important, you can’t keep up, which means something’s falling off the table without your really having any control over how important it is. So we have work to do to improve that.”
Disclosure Debacle. A draft executive order from the White House requiring “disclosure of political spending by government contractors” is drawing criticism from industry. “This proposal should never see the light of day,” says Stan Soloway, president and chief executive officer of the Professional Services Council trade group. “It is based on dubious legality and a complete lack of awareness of the realities of the federal procurement process.” The draft document, dated April 13 and published by The Huffington Post, calls for all companies bidding on government contracts to submit lists of all political contributions over the previous two years by the firms, their political action committees, and senior executives. Soloway argues that “by force-feeding irrelevant information to government contracting officers, who would otherwise never consider such factors in a source selection, the rule would actually do precisely what it is intended to stop–inject politics into the source selection process.”
Better Service. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) says that individuals who get in touch with its TSA Contact Center to report suspicious activity will now receive a tracking number as confirmation of their phone call or e-mail. This tracking number enables the agency and individual to follow up on their security concerns and provides documentation for anyone reporting transportation-related security problems, deficiencies or vulnerabilities in all modes of transportation. The new documentation mechanism fulfills a requirement of the 9/11 Act.
Cyber Sharing. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the financial services sector do a good job of sharing information on cyber security issues and there is “highly productive and expanding relationships” with the department at the most senior levels, Jane Carlin, chairperson for the Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council (FSSCC), tells a House panel. But DHS needs to do a better job with timely and complete information sharing, she tells the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity. She says more work needs to be done to allow the financial services sector obtain “actionable intelligence.” This is information about the nature of the attack and where it may be coming from without disclosing sources, Carlin says. The FSSCC represents over 50 associations and financial institutions for help with critical infrastructure protection.
F-35 Sims. Lockheed Martin has deliverd the first F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Full Mission Simulator (FMS) system to Eglin AFB’s 33rd Fighter Wing last week. Preparation and assembly is underway at the base’s F-35 Integrated Training Center (ITC) for training to commence this fall. The FMS includes a 360-degree visual display system and a reconfigurable cockpit that simulates all three aircraft variants. “JSF training technology brings a revolutionary new capability to the joint services,” says Col. Arthur Tomassetti, 33rd Fighter Wing Vice Commander. “The smooth surface, high-resolution dome is a dramatic improvement over legacy fighter simulators.” Small group training events with pilot and maintenance instructors are currently being held at the ITC using maintenance, desktop and mission trainers.
Snipers For Korea. South Korea recently received Lockheed Martin Sniper pods for their F-15K aircraft. Delivered to Daegu Air Base, South Korea, these pods are to be immediately deployed into full flight operations with the South Korean Air Force F-15K fleet. “Sniper pods provide the [South Korean Air Force] with updated targeting and nontraditional intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (NTISR) capabilities for the F-15K fleet,” says Marc Nazon, program manager for Fixed Wing Fire Control at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “We look forward to continued support and training to ensure that [South Korean] pilots and maintainers have a full command of the Sniper pod’s capabilities.” Sniper pods are flying on U.S. Air Force and multinational F-16, F-15, B-1, F-18, Harrier, A-10 and B-52 aircraft.
U.K. Fighter Trainer Upgrades. U.K. Royal Air Force (RAF) fast jet pilot training is now more representative of flying front line aircraft than ever before thanks to engineers at BAE Systems. A software upgrade, referred to as Operational Capability 2 (OC2), is a significant enhancement to the existing software on the RAF’s Hawk TMk2. Designed and developed by BAE engineers, work to install the new software upgrades on the Hawk TMk2 has commenced at RAF Valley, Anglesey. The software provides the Hawk with simulated radar and sensor capability including: a radar warning receiver, defensive aids, and an enhanced weapons suite including medium range air-to-air missiles. With the new upgrade the aircraft can also simulate the threat posed by a sophisticated surface-to-air missile site, according to BAE.
Globemasters For Australia. Australia has signed an agreement with the U.S. government to acquire a fifth Boeing C-17 Globemaster III airlifter. The Foreign Military Sale allows the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) to expand its C-17 fleet as it faces an increased demand for humanitarian and disaster relief missions. Due to the RAAF’s immediate need for an additional airlifter, the U.S. Air Force has approved Australia’s request to take delivery of its fifth C-17 in August. The airlifter will be assigned to RAAF Base Amberley’s 36 Squadron, near Brisbane. Boeing provides support to the RAAF’s C-17s through the C-17 Globemaster III Sustainment Partnership, a Performance-Based Logistics program that includes an extensive support network. Boeing has delivered 230 C-17s worldwide to date, including 20 to international customers. The U.S. Air Force — including active National Guard and Reserve units — has taken delivery of 210.
AFCENT Base Security. Air Force Central Command (AFCENT) has awarded Northrop Grumman a five-year contract to perform base security operations and support services at overseas U.S. air bases, the company said last week. The firm-fixed-price contract is valued at $99 million. Under the terms of the contract, Northrop Grumman will perform various training, management and administrative tasks. Northrop Grumman is the incumbent on the AFCENT contract and has been providing support since 2005.
Raytheon IDS Achieves CMMI 5. Raytheon’s Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) business has achieved a Capability Maturity Model Integration for Development (CMMIr-DEV) Maturity Level 5. “This is a signature accomplishment achieved by our Engineering, Integrated Supply Chain, Quality and Integrated Business teams,” says Mike Del Checcolo, vice president, IDS Engineering. “Bottom line, this translates to excellence in execution of our processes, which boosts customer confidence in our ability to predictably deliver high quality and on-time systems.” A team of appraisers spent nearly three weeks at Raytheon IDS reviewing documents and interviewing engineers, project leaders and program managers. In 2008, IDS achieved Level 5 for its software and hardware engineering processes and systems. A CMMI-DEV Level 5 rating is a business discriminator for IDS,” added Del Checcolo. “The Level 5 rating means we have mature processes and the discipline to use them consistently across our programs.”
Future Tech CRADA. ATK Advanced Weapons and the Army Research Laboratory say they’ve signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to pursue future technologies to support the warfighter today and into the future. Specific to this CRADA, ATK and ARL can use the base agreement to quickly begin new collaborative projects by creating an amendment to set the terms and conditions of the work to be completed rather than requiring a new CRADA be drawn up for each new project. “ATK and ARL have a long history of sharing our resources to quickly bring technologies to the soldier that will provide them with weapons that have greater precision and reliability as well as products that will provide greater survivability on the battlefield,” says Bruce DeWitt, vice president and general manager for ATK’s Advanced Weapons Division. “Under this newly signed CRADA, we will be able to more easily pursue collaborative IR&D efforts that could span from System Simulation Modeling to developing Extended Range Munitions.”
More Cats For SOCOM. AeroVironment says it received an $11.5 million firm-fixed-price contract delivery order for new digital Puma(tm) All Environment (AE) unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), initial spares packages and training services on April 11. The items were procured under the existing Operations Command USSOCOM All Environment Capable Variant (AECV) indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract. Deliveries are scheduled to be completed over the next several months. “Puma is already making a difference in the field. Our customers cite the quality of its imagery and its overall usefulness, which they say make Puma instrumental in saving lives,” says Tom Herring, AeroVironment senior vice president and general manager of its UAS business segment. “We see more opportunities ahead for Puma to help our customers where and when they need it.” USSOCOM selected the Puma UAS in 2008 for its AECV program. Each Puma system consists of three air vehicles and two ground control systems.
Take It Apart. General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems says it has been awarded a $37 million contract from the U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island, Ill., for demilitarization of munitions. The total potential value of the contract is $163 million over five years if all options are exercised. Under the contract, General Dynamics will demilitarize eight munitions families including High Explosive (HE) bombs, Improved Conventional Munitions (ICM), fuzes, Explosive D bombs and ammunition ranging for 25mm to 106mm calibers. The ammunition-demilitarization process involves the separation of the munitions’ elements, such as explosives, metal parts and plastics. About 95 percent of the processed materials are reclaimed for recycling while the remaining elements are destroyed through a safe thermal treatment process.
More Software Development. The Army awards Northrop Grumman a $77.9 million contract to continue providing software development and lifecycle support for the Air and Missile Defense Workstation (AMDWS). AMDWS provides a composite air defense picture to warfighters and air and missile defense planning and situational awareness capabilities throughout the Army. Under the five-year AMDWS Block 4 contract, Northrop Grumman will continue technology development to evolve AMDWS capabilities and provide engineering, implementation, test, site and training support. AMDWS retrieves, fuses and distributes battlespace awareness information from numerous sources, including joint headquarters, the Army Battle Command System network, national intelligence assets, and tactical and strategic sensors. Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor for the development, fielding and maintenance of the AMDWS system. The company was awarded the first AMDWS contract in June 1996.
Value Added. V-22 Osprey maker Boeing is looking at what other missions the versatile aircraft could fly for the Air Force and Marine Corps. The use of Ospreys for combat search and rescue missions in Libya “opened a lot of eyes” in terms of what the aircraft could do, Boeing’s military aircraft chief Chris Chadwick says. The Marine Corps are in the midst of evaluating tactics, techniques and procedures for the MV-22 to perform tactical combat resupply for ground forces. Company officials are also pitching the Osprey as a possible replacement for the Navy’s C-2A Greyhound, which is used to ferry passengers and supplies to aircraft carriers. However, the trick is to make sure that whatever additional roles the V-22 may pick up those missions take advantage of all of the aircraft’s attributes, he adds.
U-2 Option. Weapons manufacturer Boeing says its next-generation high-altitude, long endurance unmanned aircraft could be a viable option as a replacement for the Air Force’s venerable U-2 spy plane. The company’s Phantom Eye unmanned aerial vehicle sports a 250-ft wingspan and has a 10-day loiter time, running of off dual liquid-hydrogen powered engines, according to program officials. Designed to compete with the Northrop Grumman’s RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV, Boeing designers say the Phantom Eye’s loiter time and fully- autonomous capability would cut down on the refueling requirements and ground station controls currently needed for the Global Hawk. The Phantom Eye will also be able to support the 3,000-pound sensor payload on board the current fleet of U-2 aircraft. Air Force officials have already stated that the RQ-4 would replace the Cold War-era U-2 in the near future.
Fighting Season. American and allied forces in Afghanistan face the likelihood of “individual spectacular attack” by Taliban forces, rather than organized offensives against U.S. positions, over the next few months, says Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. James Cartwright. U.S. war planners estimate the annual spring fighting season in Afghanistan not to kick off in earnest until June, according to the four-star general. In anticipation of the upcoming fighting season, American and NATO forces have been focusing on cutting off the Taliban’s “rat lines,” or supply routes, based in the southeastern sector of the country, funneling weapons and munitions to Taliban units in the north.
Turning Point. The next nine months in the already decade-long war in Afghanistan will be critical to U.S. and allied forces, with senior military officials looking to “turn a corner” in combat operations by the end of this year, says Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Gates predicts Taliban forces will push particularly hard during this upcoming fighting season to recover lost ground. “If we can prevent them this year from retaking the areas that we have taken away from them, and we can continue to expand the security bubble, I think it’s possible that by the end of this year we will have turned a corner,” Gates says.