The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
Vote of Confidence. During a House Armed Services subcommittee hearing on Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) noted the unique credentials of John Young, the acting under secretary of defense for acquisitions, technology and logistics, who was an engineer, a Hill staffer and was most recently the director of Defense Research and Engineering. “Too bad I’m not a senator and can’t confirm you,” Abercrombie told Young, whose nomination for the job has not moved out of the Senate Armed Services Committee after an early October nomination hearing.
Fired Up. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), a presidential candidate and the ranking member of HASC, last week urged Army Secretary Pete Geren to kill the service’s plans to buy 322 Light Utility Helicopters and buy UH-60 Black Hawks instead. The UH-72A Lakota LUH made by European Aeronautics Defence and Space Co.is stationed in California, but was unable to carry hundreds of gallons of water to douse recent forest fires there, Hunter wrote in a recent letter to Geren. Hunter cited an operational test report that said the Lakota’s cockpit becomes too hot and lacks enough ventilation.
Understudies. Conference meetings on the FY ’08 Defense Authorization Bill were ongoing last week, but when the Republican ranking members of the House and Senate armed services committees were out on the presidential campaign trail, others moved in. On the Senate side, Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) stood in for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), while Rep. Jim Saxton (R-N.J.) squared off with Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), in the absence of Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.). The conference is expected to wrap up this week.
Party Pooper. The Aerospace Industries Association may have a lean crowd at its Year-End Review and Forecast Luncheon. But the association is hoping to overturn an initial characterization of the function as a “social event,” which would mean active duty military officers would have to take time off in the middle of the day, change into civvies and pay for the delicious lunch served at the event. In case the Pentagon makes it difficult for folks to go, the association is looking for seat-fillers from the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Aviation Administration, and NASA.
Providing Support. One area currently being explored by industry is how the Littoral Combat Ship(LCS) with its small crew, will be maintained. Lockheed Martin, for example, is exploring the potential for a sustainment effort that would team the company with a number of smaller niche partners who could handle specific maintenance requirements. The company is looking to establish this effort first in San Diego, LCS’ eventual homeport. But the Navy eventually plans to build 55 LCS and position them and their mission packages across the globe. That has led Navy Secretary Donald Winter to question whether a world-wide contractor maintenance effort could work. “Contractor logistics support is something that can be done when you have the ubiquitous solutions…the JSF model…where you are going to have that type of aircraft and it is going to be a dominate feature all over the world,” he tells Defense Daily. “Are we going to have a separate LCS logistics system separate and distinct with contractors maintaining those vessels? You tell me where.”
…A Big Question. There is a difference for ships in particular, Winter adds. “You don’t bring the ship back at night and hand it over to the contractor and tell him to go fix it. You break it, you fix it. That has been the mentality for years. Some of that may shift here with LCS,” he notes. “LCS is a little bit different. The crew size is so small we may have to do more shore-side maintenance. How much of that can be (done by) contractors and separated from the rest of the fleet, I really question. And it doesn’t solve the problem. I still have to have sailors operating these ships and they don’t come home every evening. Aircraft come home every evening. Ships do not. And they have to be maintained out there, in some cases for months at time, and they are going to be operated by crews we have to train.”
Going…Going… The Navy plans to donate the battleship Wisconsin (BB-64) to the city of Norfolk, Va., upon successful completion of necessary environmental documents. Additionally, the Navy advised the Historic Ships Memorial at Pacific Square (HSMPS) of Vallejo, Calif., that it is the only remaining viable candidate for donation of the Iowa (BB-61). The FY ’06 National Defense Authorization Act authorized the Secretary of the Navy to strike the Wisconsin and Iowa from the Naval Vessel Register and offer the ships for donation. Wisconsin is currently being maintained by the Navy at a Norfolk city pier adjacent to the Nauticus National Maritime Center, the Navy says.
…Almost Gone. Once HSMPS, a non-profit organization, completes its capital fund-raising campaign and submits evidence of available firm financing, completes environmental requirements, and completes site leasing negotiations, the Navy will further consider the organization’s application. Thus, the Navy is deferring to the future a decision regarding donation of Iowa to HSMPS, the Navy adds.
Board Business. DynCorp International names retired Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker to its board of directors. Schoomaker, the 35th Army Chief of Staff, spent 31 years in a variety of command and staff assignments with both conventional and special operations forces. Schoomaker also serves on the advisory boards of Camber Corp. and EWA- GSI. He also serves on the board of directors of CAE USA, the U.S. subsidiary of CAE Canada.
Change of Command. Marine Gen. James Mattis now leads U.S. Joint Forces Command and NATO Allied Command Transformation. In a ceremony Nov. 9 aboard the USS George Washington (CVN-73) in Norfolk, Va., Mattis picked up the reins from retiring Air Force Gen. Lance Smith. Shipboard ceremonies were attended by NATO Deputy Secretary General Amb. Claudio Bisogniero, Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England, and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In his remarks, Mattis said, “We have all inherited our freedoms here today thanks to the blood, sweat and tears of our predecessors. And here today, Ambassador, Secretary, Chairman, I pledge to give all I’ve got to build the strongest coalitions, the most agile forces and the most ethical defenders of our nations. Because we, too, have an obligation to pass on these freedoms to our children, and our children’s children.”
Miles of Wiring. New Zealand Defence Minister Phil Goff meets L-3 Spar Aerospace officials in Canada examining progress on rebuilding the air force C-130 Hercules fleet. Goff led a trade mission to Canada and the United States recently. “The decision to invest $191million in the life extension and technical upgrade of the C-130 fleet is a critical one,” Phil Goff says. “More than 50 miles of wiring is being replaced in each C-130, and a major structural upgrade of the wings and fuselage will guarantee the integrity of the aircraft beyond 2017,” Goff says. A new self-protection system will also be installed.
Think Tank First. The Brookings Institution will open a center for public policy research and current affairs programming in Doha, Qatar, the first Brookings facility in the Muslim world. The center–a project of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings–will undertake research on the socio-economic and geopolitical issues facing the Muslim world, and encourage more understanding between U.S. and Muslim policy-makers. “Through the Brookings Doha Center, we will continue to expand the Brookings tradition of independent, in-depth research and quality public policy programs to Doha,” Strobe Talbott, president of Brookings, says in a statement. “At the same time, it further establishes Brookings as a truly global think tank.” Last year, Brookings opened a location in Beijing.
International Apache. Almost every international customer wants at least a briefing for the AH-64D Apache Block III helicopter modernization program, says Col. Derek Paquette, Army Apache project manager at a recent briefing. One new customer, Taiwan, is likely to start with the Block III Apache helicopter, perhaps buying as many as 30 helicopters, he says. These basic Block III configuration helicopters would be produced almost immediately after the U.S. Army’s Block III Apaches, sometime around 2012. International customers account for about one-third of all Apaches and they are contributing to the war fight today.
Big Shot. Congress directs the Army and DoD to fully fund future budget and program plans for the Non-Line of Sight Cannon (NLOS-C) being developed by BAE SYSTEMS, and a compatible large caliber ammunition resupply capability. The directions in the FY ’08 Defense Appropriations Bill call for the system to be fielded in FY ’10. NLOS-C is to be developed independently of the broader Future Combat Systems development timelines. Additionally, Congress, in the conference report, says the Army “will deliver eight combat operational preproduction NLOS-C systems by the end of calendar year 2008.” These systems are in addition to the systems necessary for developmental and operational testing.
…Set Some Standards. Congress also says the Secretary of Defense has to develop no later than 90 days after the FY ’08 Defense Appropriations Bill is enacted, “uniform minimum personnel standards” for all of the personnel performing private security functions under contracts, subcontracts or task orders. Those standards must include, at a minimum, determinations about contractors using personnel with criminal histories. They must also determine the eligibility of all private contract personnel to have and carry firearms. Additionally, standards must determine what medical and mental fitness assessments contract security personnel must take. The defense secretary will also develop a mechanism for contract accountability. If standards are not complied with, consequences should follow that could include such things as fines, denying contractual obligations and/or contract recission. The secretary is also directed to “establish a clear set of rules of engagement” for all contracted security personnel operating in Iraq and Afghanistan. The defense committees are to receive the standards.