Aussie-Japanese UUVs? The Australian Defense ministry said it signed a bilateral research agreement with Japan focused on undersea autonomy. The agreement is between Australia’s Defense Science and Technology Group and Japan’s Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency. The Australian ministry noted this is the first such project under a bilateral research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) arrangement signed between the two countries in June 2023. This “illustrates the increasingly strong defense science and technology relationship shared by Australia and Japan. By partnering we deliver science and technology outcomes that we cannot achieve alone,” Chief Defense Scientist, Professor Tanya Monro AC, said in a statement. “This project will build a foundation for future joint research on robotic and collaborative autonomy, aiming to deliver advanced capabilities to support asymmetric advantage,” she added.
Bilateral Navies.
Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Lisa Franchetti met with several ally and partner counterparts while in Paris, France during the Paris Naval Conference last week. This included meeting with Chief of Italian Navy Adm. Enrico Credendino and Chief of the French Navy Adm. Nicolas Vaujour. The CNO also met with Vice-Admiral Rajesh Pendharkar, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command of the Indian Navy.
Sub Weapon Work. The Navy awarded General Dynamics’ Mission Systems a $335 million contract on Jan. 22 for the Strategic Weapon System Fire Control Subsystem development, production, sustainment, modernization, repair, installation, and training for U.S. and U.K. submarine forces. This specifically covers U.S. and U.K. attack submarines (SSBNs) as well as for U.S. guided missile submarines (SSGNs). The work will largely occur in Pittsfield, Mass. (83 percent) and is expected to be finished by September 2027, but it includes options worth $277 million. This is a sole source contract under U.S. Code rules.
Hospital Ship Maintenance. Military Sealift Command awarded Vigor Marine LLC in Portland, Ore., a $21.2 million contract on Jan. 22 for a 93-day mid-term shipyard availability of the USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) hospital ship. The award covers both the base period and options which, if exercised, would increase the value to $21.7 million. The work is expected to start in Portland on March 15 and be finished by June 15. The notice said while the contract was competitively procured, only one offer was received.
UAS Analysis. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division in Lakehurst, N.J., awarded Lambda Science Inc. an $8 million contract for “high-fidelity analysis performance predictions” for sensors developed for manned and unmanned aircraft, with a focus on the Triton and Stingray Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). The contract also covers radar design, performance studies and technical support for all phases of Naval Air Systems Command programs like sensor development, validation and verification, development and operational test and pre-planned product improvements in support of Small Business Innovation Research Phase III efforts. The work will be split between Rosemont, Pa. (75 percent); and Farmingdale, N.Y. (25 percent), and is expected to be finished by January 2029.
MH-139 First Flight. Boeing said that the initial MH-139 Grey Wolf low-rate initial production (LRIP) aircraft had its first flight late last month after final assembly at the Leonardo Helicopters plant in Philadelphia. In March last year after U.S. Air Force acquisition chief Andrew Hunter approved MH-139 LRIP, the Air Force awarded Boeing a $285 million contract for the first 13 MH-139s, which are to provide security and support for U.S. ICBM fields. Boeing said that it “will continue required Federal Aviation Administration certification testing [of the MH-139] and begin delivering production aircraft” to the Air Force this year. The MH-139 is based on Leonardo’s commercial AW139 helicopter.
Space Fence. The storm that hit the Marshall Islands’ Kwajalein Atoll on Jan. 20 hit the northernmost island, Roi-Namur, particularly hard. U.S. Space Force’s Space Delta 2, based at Peterson Space Force Base, Colo. said that “all personnel are accounted for and all Space Fence operations are functioning normally” and that “thankfully, none of Delta 2’s assets were directly impacted by the storm.” The Space Force’s Space Fence radar is on Kwajalein Island, 50 miles south of Roi-Namur, Lockheed Martin said that the $1.6 billion S-band Space Fence radar is to track low Earth orbit objects down to the size of a marble, but also some objects in geosynchronous orbit. Space Fence achieved initial operational capability on March 27, 2020. Lockheed Martin has said that the radar is to boost significantly the 20,000 objects tracked by the Space Surveillance Network (SSN) before the radar’s introduction.
…SMDC. Roi-Namur is part of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site for the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC). Four upgraded radars on Roi-Namur are part of SSN for LEO and deep-space tracking, including the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA)-Lincoln C-band Observables Radar (ALCOR), built in 1970; ARPA Long-Range Tracking and Instrumentation Radar (ALTAIR), built in 1970; the Target Resolution and Discrimination Experiment (TRADEX) system, fielded in 1962; and the Millimeter-Wave (MMW) radar, fielded in 1983. SMDC has been assessing the extent of damage, if any, to the radars from the storm.
Sweden/NATO. Turkey has approved Sweden’s accession to NATO, leaving Hungary as the last country remaining that needs to approve Stockholm’s bid before it can officially join the alliance. “As a highly capable defense partner, we look forward to the prompt ascension of Sweden as the 32nd member of NATO as it will not only greatly strengthen the alliance but it sends a clear message to Russia that we stand united against their unprovoked and illegal war of aggression in Ukraine,” Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters on Thursday. Singh added the Pentagon hopes to see “quick action” from Hungary on a vote to approve Sweden’s accession to NATO.
RTX Award. The Army has awarded RTX a $154 million contract to deliver Commander’s Independent Viewer (CIV) systems as upgrades for the service’s Bradley fighting vehicles, the company said on Jan. 24. RTX described the CIV capability as an “electro-optical/infrared sight system utilizing second-generation forward-looking infrared (FLIR) cameras and sensors that provide the Army’s Bradley Fighting Vehicle with 360-degree battlefield oversight and targeting capabilities.” “The CIV is a package of multiple systems all working together to increase the survivability and battlefield performance of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle,” Bryan Rosselli, RTX’s president of advanced products and solutions, said in a statement. “These capabilities — early threat detection, 360-degree battlefield view, and all-weather performance — increase a vehicle commander’s ability to locate, identify and defeat stationary and moving targets in any condition – day or night.” Deliveries to the Army are expected to begin in June 2026, according to RTX.
Project Convergence. The Army has detailed its upcoming Project Convergence capstone demonstration, PC-C4, which it described as a “joint and multinational, two-phase, ‘in-the-dirt’ experiment.” The event will run from February 23 to March 20 and will be primarily conducted from Camp Pendleton in California and the Army’s National Training Center at Fort Irwin in California. “PC-C4 is a culmination of numerous preceding exercises, experimentations, and events; it provides a critical venue to identify and refine recommendations necessary to transform the Army and ensure future war-winning readiness,” Army Futures Command (AFC) said in a statement. Gen. James Rainey, the head of AFC, said last February the Army’s Project Convergence effort to test new technologies and sensor-to-shooter capabilities would embrace a “persistent experimentation” plan that included shifting the next capstone event from late fall 2023 to early spring 2024. AFC noted the participants at PC-C4 will include the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Space Force as well as the U.K., Australia, Canada, New Zealand, France and Japan.
Ruppersberger Retiring. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), a member of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee (HAC-D), said on Jan. 26 he won’t seek reelection. “This was an incredibly difficult decision for me because, now more than ever, Congress needs thoughtful, end-game representatives like me – members who care more about constituents and our country and less about cable news hits. But it is time to pass the torch to a younger generation of leaders and I am looking forward to spending more time with my family,” Ruppersberger said in a statement. Ruppersberger has represented Maryland’s 2nd District since 2003, which is likely to remain a safely blue seat. Along with his seat on the powerful HAC-D panel, Ruppersberger served on the House Intelligence Committee for 12 years and was ranking member from 2011 to 2015. Ruppersberger is also co-chair of the bipartisan House Army Caucus. “There is still so much work left to do in the coming months, from passing responsible budget bills and addressing crime and immigration, to maintaining our national security at a time of extreme global upheaval,” Ruppersberger said. “I remain committed to finding bipartisan solutions, just as I have over the last two decades. And, of course, I will continue to provide the same first-rate service my constituents have come to expect and deserve.”
Monopsony Blues. The Pentagon’s perch as basically the sole buyer of weapons systems from U.S. defense contractors has had troublesome consequences for the industry, Lockheed Martin Chief Jim Taiclet said last week. The government has “taken advantage” of this monopsony, leaving competitors feeling they are in a “must win” position for certain programs, so they low-ball bids which increases their risks and costs, leading to cost overruns and schedule delays, he said during the company’s fourth quarter earnings call.
…No Must Wins. Taiclet said that Lockheed Martin no longer has “must win programs,” and will only bid on work “If we have a good business opportunity with a balanced price-risk profile.” Taiclet said he is fine if a competitor bids and wins the program instead. Kathy Warden, Northrop Grumman’s top executive, on her company’s earnings call last week agreed with Taiclet about bid discipline. The company announced a $1.2 billion after-tax charge on the initial production lots for the B-21 bomber, which is fixed-price for the low-rate production options. “And we have passed on some high-profile programs as a result of the risk balance that the customer put forward in the RFP not meeting our standards,” she said. In other cases, such as one of the Space Development Agency’s recent competitions to provide satellites under fixed-price contracts, Northrop Grumman bid a “fair and reasonable” price “and the customer decided not to further negotiate with us, Warden said. “These are things that are going to happen and we’re going to remain disciplined,” she said.
…The Short and Long Term. Taiclet described Lockheed Martin’s disciplined risk-based approach contract bids as the “near-term approach” to doing business. The “long-term approach” is a shift toward delivering capabilities for new systems, legacy systems, and “especially digital technologies,” which is why his company has been partnering with the commercial sector around fifth-generation technologies that include artificial intelligence to better link sensors to shooters and decisionmakers, and speed data transfer across all battlefield domains. The long-term approach is what the commercial sector uses, which is value pricing or “value-based subscriptions,” and a shift to this business model for the Defense Department will entice commercial companies that are already investing more in research and development than traditional defense contractors to offer their capabilities to the government, he said.
…Digital First. Digital services around command, control, communications, and situational awareness will likely be the first area where DoD employs a value pricing model,” Taiclet said. Sensors arrayed across the entire battlespace generate data and services that feature AI can be offered to collect and fuse that data to give decisionmakers options, he said. But unlike traditional defense contractors, commercial companies are not going to play if they are forced to follow federal acquisition regulations that requirement to disclose all their cost information, he said. “It’s just not how the industry works.”
Industrial Base Awards. The Defense Department last week awarded a combined $49 million to Micross Components and the Osceola County, Fla., government as part of re-shoring semiconductor manufacturing capabilities. The awards were made under DoD’s Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment program and are for advanced packaging capabilities and capacity for semiconductors. DoD’s Re-Shore Ecosystem for Secure Heterogeneous Advanced Packaged Electronics effort, called RESHAPE, “is aimed at pure play, low-volume, high-mix, and secure manufacturing capabilities that all DIB-supporting companies can design into for their next generation applications,” DoD said.
Emissions Rule Concerns. House Science Committee Republicans last week criticized the Biden administration’s process for a potential rule that, if finalized, would require federal contractors to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and set reduction targets. A committee staff memo says the White House Council on Environmental Quality worked with two environmental groups, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi), that have “significant ties to Democratic donors.” It says the White House worked with the CDP to “inappropriately influence the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council to write federal acquisition regulations to unfairly benefit favored environmental activist groups” and that the council “did not adequately vet CDP or SBTi.” Republicans also repeated concerns that if the final rule requires use of standards set by the SBTi, which is based internationally, this “could give foreign adversaries the ability to both influence the selection of contractors and collect potentially sensitive data on both actual and potential contractors via SBTi and its staff.”
GEOINT Ops Center. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) last Thursday opened a new around-the-clock operations center to provide geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) to U.S. military forces and national policymakers. The National GEOINT Operations Center, called NGOC, builds on lessons from the first NGA operations center, which opened in 1996, and provides visual products and GEOINT to its customers. The agency said the “NGOC will drive NGA’s indicators and warning and global situational awareness mission from the watch floor.” The center’s motto is “We own the night!”