• Russia’s top military officer says US missile defense in Europe should be curbed in new arms control treaty.

• Russia is developing the T-50 stealth fighter to rival F-22, but can aircraft maker Sukhoi meet the 2015 deadeline?

• India says it will integrate the Agni-III long-range missile system into the armed forces following 4th successful test launch.

• Rep. Norman Dicks, a Democrat from Washington with ties to Boeing, is expected to suceed Rep. John Murta [D-PA] as chairman of the US House defense appropriations panel.

• Textron mulls acquisitions in the defense sensor, ISR system, and military vehicle markets.

• Is Microsoft refusing to sell XBoxes to the US Army for training purposes?

• Tory leader says UK must develop military capabilities to act unilaterally if required.

• California state CIO Takai expected to be President Obama’s nominee for DoD CIO post.

• SSI secures $48 million contract to provide USAF with space launch services.

• Versar gets $13 million subcontract from URS to supply chemical weapons destruction technology developed with Japan’s Kobe Steel.

SSI launch facilities
(click to view full)

Spaceport Systems International (SSI), a Lompoc, CA-based division of ITT Corp., received a $48 million contract to provide launch services for the Launch Test Squadron within the USAF Space and Missile Systems Center/Space Development and Test Wing.

Under the contract, SSI will provide launch site services for USAF space launch missions.

SSI provides payload processing and launch services to the US military and other US government customers…

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• Russia’s revised official military doctrine to include preemptive nuclear strikes.

• France expects to decide in the coming weeks whether to sell 3 additional Mistral class amphibious assault ships to Russia.

• Russia’s PAK-FA stealth fighter: more than 1 development aircraft flying?

• US defense appropriations subcommittee chair John Murtha [D-PA] dies.

• BAE Systems agrees to pay $450 million in fines to settle misconduct cases in the UK & USA.

• France says “non” to financing deadline for A400M military airlift program.

• USA to make surplus MRAP mine-resistant vehicles available to allies as quickly as possible.

• US SOCOM putting portable ultrasound machines on the front lines.

• The Pentagon is studying ways to sustain the rocket motor industrial base after planned cancellation of Constellation program.

• Iran has launched UAV production lines and plans to deploy a missile air defense system comparable to the Russian S-300 system, according to the Iranian defense minister.

• Lockheed Martin and Kaman Corp. demonstrate an unmanned resupply helicopter for use in Afghanistan. The helicopter is competing against Boeing’s A160T Hummingbird.

• Bell Helicopter Textron secures $50.4 million contract from the USMC for long lead materials for new and remanufactured AH1Z and new UH-1Y helicopters.

• BAE gets $32 million order to RESET 417 M113 armored personnel carriers.

• Irvine Sensors snags subcontract to supply clip-on thermal imagers under $37.8 million US Navy special ops night vision contract.

BAE’s Hawk:
over the top
(click to view full)

The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has spent the last 6 years chasing BAE systems over allegations that bribes were paid to secure foreign deals in a number of countries. Bribes are the least of the allegations involved in some international defense deals, and contract wins without inducements would be far more surprising in countries like Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, and South Africa. Nevertheless, the UK does have laws to prevent British firms from paying them.

An SFO investigation into the giant Saudi Al-Yamamah aircraft deal was killed in December 2006 on national security grounds, after the Saudis threatened to cut off anti-terrorism cooperation and intelligence sharing. The government’s decision was upheld by the British House of Lords, but the SFO continued to pursue other reports concerning Chile, the Czech Republic, Romania, South Africa, Tanzania, and Qatar. The US Department of Justice, meanwhile, never let go of the Saudi deal.

BAE systems was reportedly been given about a month by the UK SFO to plead guilty concerning its activities in 3 countries, or face formal charges. Several months later, a settlement was reached that included the SFO – and the US DoJ, who got the lion’s share…

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FS Mistral
(click to view full)

France mulls approval of 3 more Mistral LHDs for Russia, amidst political pressure from Russia over Georgia, and concern by French allies. (Feb 8/10)

In August 2009, Russian media reported that their country was planning to take a radical step, and buy a French Mistral class amphibious assault ship (LHD) by the end of 2009. The outlet quoted the Chief of the Russian General Staff, Gen. Nikolai Makarov, who said that: “We are negotiating the purchase of one ship at present, and later planning to acquire 3-4 ships [of the same class] to be jointly built in Russia.” A Russian order would represent a sea change on several fronts – and also the extension of some trends.

France currently operates 2 Mistral class LHDs, and recently ordered a 3rd using economic stimulus funds. Unlike some other LHD designs, the Mistral class cannot operate fixed wing aircraft. Even so, it’s an important tool of power projection. Mistral class ships can carry and deploy up to 16 helicopters, including attack helicopters like France’s Tiger or Russia’s Ka-50/52. Its main punch revolves around its 4 landing barges or 2 medium hovercraft, however, which deliver armored vehicles, tanks, and soldiers to shore. The vessel is equipped with a 69-bed hospital, and could be used as an amphibious command ship.

• Mistral’s Meaning: A Method to their Madness?
• The Mistral Class BPC/LHDs
• Updates and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings [updated]
  
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THAAD on HEMTT
(click to view full)

FY 2011 budget, 275 HET trailers ordered, Recap of 60 HEMTT wreckers. (Feb 5/10)

With its bridge buy of FMTV medium trucks in place and the re-compete proceeding, and initial awards for the potential JLTV Hummer replacement designs underway, the next order of business on the US Army’s agenda was a new Family of Heavy Tactical Vehicles multi-year contract: FHTV-III. That multi-billion dollar FHTV-III contract has been awarded – not as a re-compete like FMTV, but as a single-source solicitation.

Oshkosh has provided the core of this capability for over 20 yeas now. Its Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks (HEMTT) and their 13-ton payloads are the mainstay of the FHTV fleet, serving in variants that include M977/985 Cargo, M978 Fueler, M982/983 Tractors, and M984 Wrecker/Tow; they also serve as heavy transporters for Patriot and THAAD air defense systems. M1074/75 Palletized Load Systems (PLS) and PLS trailers (PLST) are best known for their automated container/pallet loading arms, and for their Universal Power Interface Kit (UPIK) that can add modules for firefighting, construction, cranes, et. al. The M1000/1070 Heavy Equipment Transporters (HET) are flatbeds that can transport a 70-ton Abrams tank – or anything less – in order to save wear and tear on expensive armored vehicles and on the roads. A specialized FHTV truck called the M1977 CBT can even lay bridges.

• FHTV: Upgrades, LTAS, and RECAP
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
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UH-1Y and AH-1Z
by Neville Dawson
(click to view larger)

FY 2011 budget request, $50.4 million for long lead materials. (Feb 5/10)

The US Marines’ helicopter force is aging at all levels, from banana-shaped CH-46 Sea Knight transports that are far older than their pilots, to the 1980s-era UH-1N Hueys and AH-1W Cobra attack helicopters that make up the Corps’ helicopter assault force. While the tilt-rotor V-22 Osprey program has staggered along for almost 2 decades under accidents, technical delays, and cost issues, replacement of the USMC’s backbone helicopter assets has languished. Given the high-demand scenarios inherent in the current war, other efforts are clearly required.

Enter the H-1 program, the USMC’s plan to remanufacture older helicopters into new and improved UH-1Y utility and AH-1Z attack helicopters. The new versions would discard the signature 2-bladed rotors for modern 4-bladed improvements, redo the aircraft’s electronics, and add improved engines and weapons to offer a new level of performance. It seemed simple, but hasn’t quite worked out that way. The H-1 program has encountered its share of delays and issues, but the program survived its review, and continues on into the low-rate initial production stage and Initial Operational Capability.

DID’s FOCUS articles offer in-depth, updated looks at significant military programs of record. This article covers the H-1 helicopter programs’ rationales and changes, the upgrades involved in each model, program developments and annual budgets, the full timeline of contracts and key program developments, and related research sources.

• The H-1 Helicopters
• The H-1 Program [updated]
• Contracts and Key Events, 1999-Present [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources
  
  Continue Reading… »

Iridium’s constellation
(click to view larger)

Most of us remember Iridium as the Motorola-backed, multi-billion dollar commercial satellite phone flop. The expensive, bulky phones, the $2 per minute airtime charge, and the inability to use the phone inside buildings doomed the project, which came online when the cell phone market was taking off.

Despite all these problems, the US military found the phones useful in remote areas with no cell phone coverage and few buildings, such as Iraq and Afghanistan. So DoD backed an effort for the constellation to be acquired by investors at a fraction of the original investment, and DoD became the revived satellite company’s largest customer.

In 2007, Iridium Satellite undertook an effort to develop a second-generation satellite constellation called Iridium NEXT. Expected to be ready in 2014, Iridium NEXT will offer higher data speeds, flexible bandwidth allocation, and IP-based routing. Iridium recently awarded a contract to Hughes Network Systems, a supplier of Iridium handsets and terminals, to develop the access network controller for the Iridium NEXT ground control network…

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USMC M1A1 settles a
firefight in Fallujah
(click to view full)

BAE gets $32 million order to RESET 417 M113 APCs. (Jan 26/10)

The RESET process takes used vehicles apart, inspects the parts, then replaces any defective parts and refurbishes the equipment to like-new condition. Sometimes upgrades are also performed. RESET and related processes like remanufacture/upgrades are being performed on M1 Abrams tanks, Bradley IFV/CFVs, HMMWV jeeps, and even helicopters. It usually takes place when the vehicles return from the front lines in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other locations, where sand damage and increased wear have taken their toll.

In truth, many of these vehicles were produced in the 1980s, and are reaching an age where “deep maintenance” is a wise and necessary measure. A July 2006 Washington Times article noted the effect age and wear have had on the USA’s vehicle fleet, and DID has also covered this subject under the wider rubric of the Army’s maintenance overhang. DID believes these efforts are sufficiently important that the consolidated visibility of a FOCUS Article is in order.

Note that this is not a complete list of RESET contracts; DID will seek to backfill its roster as opportunities arise, and newly-added materials will be presented in green as a reader convenience. Recent additions include a contract to reset FMTV medium trucks…

• RESET Programs and Procedures
• RESET Contracts, Delivery Orders & Developments, FY 2006-Present [updated]
• Vehicle Fleets and Maintenance Overhangs
• Additional Readings
  
  Continue Reading… »

Night raid
(click to view larger)

Irvine Sensors snags subcontract to supply clip-on thermal imagers under $37.8 million US Navy special ops night vision contract. (Feb 8/10)

It was Christmas Eve 2007 and US Army Rangers were searching for suspected Al-Qaeda members in Mosul, Iraq. They were using their night vision goggles so they would have the element of surprise on their side. The story, detailed in a USA Today article, dramatically demonstrates the advantage night vision capabilities provide to US troops on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Rangers found 2 Al-Qaeda suspects who were holding an 11-year-old Iraqi boy hostage. Using their night vision capabilities, they were able to shoot the suspects without harming the boy. After that encounter, a firefight erupted between the Army rangers and Al-Qaeda insurgents, with 10 insurgents killed, including the head of an assassination cell, and no Army ranger losses. As former General Barry McCaffrey, commander of the US Army’s 24th Infantry Division in the 1991 Desert Storm conflict, commented: “Our night vision capability provided the single greatest mismatch of the war.” It still does.

This DID Focus Article will examine how this technology works, how its military application has developed over years, how the technology is used by troops in the field, as well as major DoD contracts for procuring night vision devices. The latest contract was awarded to Optics 1 to provide Clip on Thermal Imager systems for PVS-15A night goggles…

• Night Vision Technology
• Generations
• Riding the Omnibus
• Thermal Weapon Sight II
• Multi-Functioning Aiming Laser System
• Helicopter Systems
• Panoramic Night Vision
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
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