The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
Carter Review. Aerospace Industries Association Vice President Cord Sterling reports no surprises coming out of the March 26 SASC confirmation hearing for Ashton Carter, President Obama’s pick for Pentagon acquisition czar. Sterling tells Defense Daily Carter was “measured” in his take on fixed-price contracts being appropriate for production phases but not necessarily developmental stages of programs. “We hope that, assuming confirmation…he is able to dig into the programs and look at…the challenges and the problems that (outgoing acquisition executive) Secretary Young identified in his memo about the overly optimistic cost estimates, the requirements creep, the budget instability…and perhaps bring some stability to the whole system,” Sterling says. “Where I get nervous is some of the discussion that’s out there about, well, we need to cut here and we need to make those changes. Well, that’s further budget instability into the system which is going to cause greater cost problems on individual systems.”
Congress’ Engine. HAC-D Chairman John Murtha (D-Pa.) tells Pentagon aviation brass that Congress expects the Air Force to eventually build a second engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Though the Pentagon has not sought monies in recent years for the General Electric-Rolls-Royce F136 propulsion system, an alternative to the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine, lawmakers have added developmental funds for it to the defense budget. “Both the House and the Senate feel very strongly about the alternative engine,” Murtha says at a March 25 hearing. “I can remember years ago when Pratt & Whitney was having big problems with one of their engines. We put GE engines in and that saved the day. We had an alternative to it. That’s why this subcommittee feels so strongly; our experience is there are times when you need not only competition, but you need something out there.”
Joint Jets. Quizzed on whether different services’ aircraft programs could be combined to save money, Joint Forces Command head Marine Gen. James Mattis tells the SASC on March 24 that “we see the services’ varied capabilities as a strength right now.” He adds: “We are confronting an era of increased unpredictability and I am not confident that any one service has got the market on the right way to go. So if we were to do what the British air force did in the interwar period and say only the royal air force will determine what kind of airplane will be flown by the royal navy and the royal air force, they’d have biplanes taking off aircraft carriers to go out to the Bismarck. There’s an advantage for having this competition, this diversity, so long as it’s disciplined and it’s not self-serving.”
…JROC Seats. Mattis tells SASC Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) at the hearing that combatant commanders can easily walk into a Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) meeting at any time, and he has “taken advantage of that authority on several occasions.” Levin and SASC Ranking Member John McCain (R-Ariz.) are preparing for a Thursday markup over their extensive acquisition-reform bill, which when filed called for the JROC to seek and consider input from combatant commanders when identifying joint military requirements. Asked if he should have a seat on the JROC, Mattis says: “I don’t think that gives me any more authority than I have now. I’m pretty straight-forward when I see something I need to get involved with.”
Hypersonic Surfer. The United States is on track for an October test flight of a hypersonic vehicle off the Southern California coast, industry executives say. The 25- foot long, 4,000 pound X-51 WaveRider will travel at Mach 6, or more than 4,200 miles per hour. The WaveRider is powered by a booster and a “scramjet,” short for supersonic combustion ramjet. Boeing is managing the project at its Huntington Beach plant with its partners, the Air Force Research Laboratory, DARPA and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne. Rocketdyne President Jim Maser says that scramjet integration is on track for what is expected to be a five-minute flight. “The idea is to prove to the skeptics that the technology is not that far out there,” Maser tells Defense Daily. Four WaveRider’s are in various stages of construction. The first will be flight tested when it is dropped from a B-52 aircraft. Its booster will propel the vehicle to Mach 4.7, and the scramjet will carry the cruiser section to at least Mach 6. A vehicle like the X-51 could be developed into a hypersonic missile, a space cargo transporter or a rapidly-deployable reconnaissance aircraft. Someday, a high-speed airliner derived from the technology might even transport travelers from New York to London in two hours, Boeing officials say.
New Home For THAAD DACS? Potential expansion of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor production is prompting its component providers to seek out alternative locations for factories. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne produces the Divert and Attitude Control System (DACS) for THAAD. Rocketdyne President Jim Maser says last week that several locations outside of southern California, where its currents DACS factory is located, are being considered for an expanded production facility. Missile Defense Agency officials said last year that combatant commanders are requesting much higher number of both THAAD and Standard Missile 3 interceptors, and those requests are being examined by Pentagon officials for incorporation in the upcoming budget. The DACS is a high-precision, quick-reaction propulsion system that positions THAAD to intercept ballistic missiles inside or outside the earth’s atmosphere. Rocketdyne is under contract to produce the DACS for Lockheed Martin, the THAAD prime contractor. “If they were to put a significant order in, we’re studying the possibility of moving to a facility for high-rate production,” Maser tells Defense Daily.
Cable Is Cheaper. Two members of NUWC Newport’s Sensor and Sonar Systems Department technical team were honored this month for an innovative solution that will yield an estimated $2.3 million savings on every ship in the Navy equipped with the AN/SQQ-89 sonar system, the Navy says. Jon Merrill and Robert Roush were asked to tackle a problem that required surface ships be drydocked to replace sonar cables for the hull array sonar. The two worked with other government activities and a team of contractors to build, test and deliver a set of new cables for installation on the USS John Paul Jones (DDG-53). The new cable design is applicable to both Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and Ticonderoga-class Aegis cruisers. The system reduces cable replacement time from more than 33 hours per cable to one hour, the Navy adds.
Looking Up. NSWC Carderock engineers, along with a NASA test and evaluation team, last week conducted initial Post-Landing Orion Recovery Test (PORT) operations of a full-scale model of NASA’s Orion space capsule. The PORT objective is to determine what the environment will be like for the astronaut and recovery crews at landing, and incorporate those lessons into the spacecraft design.
The Hits Keep Coming. A Raytheon SM-2 Block IV missile intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile target at the Naval Air Systems Command’s Weapons Division at Point Mugu, Calif. The SM-2 Block IV engagement demonstrated a near-term, sea-based capability for destroying short-range ballistic missiles in their terminal, or final, phase of flight, the company reports. During the same test, a SM-2 Block IIIA missile intercepted and destroyed a low-altitude, anti-ship cruise missile target. The first-of-its-kind test simultaneously demonstrated an air warfare capability against a low-altitude, anti-ship cruise missile and a ship system engagement capability. This was the third test of the modified SM-2 Block IV missile against short range ballistic missiles and the latest in a series of tests using the SM-2 Block IIIA. Raytheon is also working with the Missile Defense Agency to develop a far-term, sea-based terminal capability.
Certified Solutions. DISA’s Joint Interoperability Test Command has tested and certified Juniper Networks firewall solutions as being interoperable with Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6), the company says. The solutions are now listed on the Unified Capabilities Approved Products List as IPv6 Capable. The IPv6-interoperability certifications of Juniper’s firewalls help address what many have cited to be a deterrent to IPv6 adoptions: the lack of security at the firewall or gateway level, the company adds. The rapid convergence of IP-centric voice, data, video, web traffic and file-sharing applications (driven by concurrent explosions in demands for network access, new forms of social media, and systematic cyber attacks and viruses) is increasingly exhausting IPv4 addresses. By most estimates, IPv4 addresses will be exhausted in two to four years, Juniper says.
That Sinking Feeling. At last week’s HASC Seapower Subcommittee hearing, Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) asked the witnesses to comment on the current state of the attack submarine fleet. Courtney, who represents the district where sub builder General Dynamics Electric Boat is located, tells the panelists he has heard there has been discussion of reducing the fleet size to 40. Lexington Institute’s Loren Thompson notes the Navy is headed to no more than 41 by 2028. That’s due in part to the quick retirement of the Los Angeles-class subs. He adds that anyone advocating reducing the planned build rate of two Virginia-class ships a year beginning in 2011 is “putting our intelligence gathering and undersea warfare capabilities at risk.”
…Subdued. Author and strategic analyst Thomas Barnett notes he doesn’t see a need for more submarines. “I am generally comfortable with the glide path we are currently on. I don’t have a problem going to 48,” he tells the subcommittee members. “In my mind, the utility of submarines has decreased dramatically over the last six decades. There hasn’t been a major submarine battle since the Second World War.” Barnett adds that if lawmakers are worried about the build-up of cheap diesel submarines by foreign countries, “My answer is not to come up with a high technological answer for that.” The nation should instead build cheap diesel subs, he adds. “I don’t see much utility in building submarines for surveillance.”
Flight Milestone. The Army’s fleet of UH-72A Lakota Light Utility Helicopters by EADS pass the 10,000 flight-hour milestone, demonstrating mission performance and reliability. Fifty-eight UH-72As are now with the Army and Army National Guard for missions including homeland security, medical evacuation, logistics and VIP flights. “Day after day, the UH-72A program is fulfilling a key role in the modernization of the U.S. Army’s helicopter assets,” EADS North America Chairman and CEO Ralph Crosby says in a statement. “All Lakotas have been delivered on time or ahead of schedule, and we remain committed to providing America’s warfighters with the very best equipment to accomplish their important missions.”
Thumbs Up. Army medics from the Pennsylvania National Guard give two thumbs up to the new General Dynamics Stryker Medical Evacuation Vehicle. “It’s better to take care of my guys,” Staff Sgt. Dale Mahafkey tells Defense Daily as the vehicle was exhibited last week on Capitol Hill. Sgt. Jesse Oswald says the Stryker MEV offers great protection. Both agree there’s more space for more equipment than some other Army ambulances, and the Stryker MEV speed will help them keep wounded alive on the way to medical facilities.
Coming Soon A New SecNav. President Obama Friday announced his intent to nominate former Mississippi Gov. Ray Mabus, as Secretary of the Navy. Mabus will take over for Navy Secretary Donald Winter, who left office March 13. A Democrat, Mabus served as Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, and Chairman and CEO of Foamex, a large manufacturing company.