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Boeing Team Gets USAF Contract for UAV Miniature Weapon Development
16-Nov-2009 10:59 EST |
Related Stories: Boeing, Contracts - Awards, Equipment - Other, Other Corporation, T&C - SAIC, UAVs
A team led by Boeing received a US Air Force Research Laboratory contract for the first phase of a program to demonstrate miniature weapon technology for use on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
As the prime contractor during the initial 9-month program, Boeing will use its experience on the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and Small Diameter Bomb programs to develop the system integration, seeker, avionics, guidance and control, and mission planning systems.
The team includes:
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Israeli Plans to Buy F-35s Hitting Obstacles, Moving Forward
05-Nov-2009 09:48 EST |
Related Stories: Alliances, Americas - USA, Contracts - Intent, ECM, Fighters & Attack, Helicopters & Rotary, Issues - Political, Lobbying, Lockheed Martin, Middle East - Israel, New Systems Tech, Rumours, Support Functions - Other, Transport & Utility, United Technologies
F-16B & X-35
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In an exclusive June 2006 interview, Israeli Air Force (IAF) chief procurement officer Brigadier-General Ze’ev Snir told Israel’s Globes publication that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter was a key part of their IAF recapitalization plans, and that Israel intends to buy over 100 of the fighters to replace their F-16s over time. A 100-plane deal would have cost at least $5 billion under Israel’s original estimates, and would involve the F-35A conventional take-off Air Force version. Snir added that:
“The IAF would be happy to equip itself with 24 F-22s but the problem at this time is the US refusal to sell the plane, and its $200 million price tag.”
Unfortunately, Israel’s September 2008 request for its first 75 F-35s would end up costing them an estimated $15 billion – or about $200 million per plane. All in return for a fighter with poorer air-to-air performance than the F-22, and less stealth. The necessary contract must deal with that sticker shock, and with issues like the incorporation of Israeli technologies, before it can be signed. The latest news is that Israel may forego its own weapons and technologies, in order to curtail a $130 million price tag – and may decide to delay its F-35 purchase by 2 years…
- F-35 for Israel: Key Issues
- Contracts and Key Events [updated]
- Additional Readings
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Carrier UCAVs: The Return of UCAS
04-Nov-2009 09:04 EST |
Related Stories: Americas - USA, Contracts - Awards, GE, Lockheed Martin, New Systems Tech, Northrop-Grumman, Other Corporation, R&D - Contracted, Transformation, UAVs
UCAS-D concept
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In January 2006, DID noted the uncertain future of the J-UCAS program, which aimed to create Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAV) for the USAF and Navy that could approach the capabilities of an F-117 stealth fighter. Boeing’s X-45C was set to face off against Northrop Grumman’s X-47B Pegasus, the program had demonstrated successful tests that included dropping bombs, and aerial refueling tests were envisioned.
J-UCAS was eventually canceled, but the technologies have survived, and the US Navy remains interested. In May 2007, “CSBA on Future US Naval Aviation: Unmanned, Too?” highlighted a non-partisan report that discussed at the lengthening reach of ship-killers. Meanwhile, the US Navy’s carrier fleet sees its strike range shrinking to 1950s distances, and prepares for a future with 11 operational carriers – but just 10 carrier air wings. Could UCAV/UCAS vehicles with longer ranges, and indefinite flight time limits via aerial refueling, solve these problems?
Some people in the Navy seem to think that they might. Hence UCAS-D, whose aerial refueling and carrier landing programs are picking up steam. Recent additions include remarks by CNO Adm. Gary Roughead, and full carrier landing gear delivery…
- The UCAS-D Program [updated]
- The X-47B
- Contracts and Key Events [updated]
- Additional Readings
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F-22 Raptor: Procurement & Events (updated)
29-Oct-2009 18:10 EDT |
Related Stories: Americas - USA, Asia - Japan, Australia & S. Pacific, Boeing, Budgets, Contracts - Awards, Contracts - Modifications, Delivery & Task Orders, Engines - Aircraft, FOCUS Articles, Fighters & Attack, Issues - International, Issues - Political, Lobbying, Lockheed Martin, Official Reports, Support & Maintenance, Support Functions - Other, Transformation, United Technologies
Into that good night
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The 5th-generation F-22A Raptor fighter program has been the subject of fierce controversy, with advocates and detractors aplenty. On the one hand, the aircraft offers full stealth, revolutionary radar and sensor capabilities, dual air-air and air-ground SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) capabilities, the ability to cruise above Mach 1 without afterburners, thrust-vectoring super-maneuverability… and a ridiculously lopsided kill record in exercises against the best American fighters. On the other hand, critics charge that it’s too expensive, too limited, and cripples the USAF’s overall force structure. Meanwhile, close American allies like Australia, Japan and Israel, and other allies like Korea, are pressing the USA to abandon its “no export” policy. Most already fly F-15s, but they’re interested in an export version of the F-22 in order to help them deal with advanced – and advancing – Russian-designed aircraft, air-to-air missiles, and surface-to-air missile systems.
This DID FOCUS Article covers both sides of the F-22 controversies in the USA and abroad, and it will also be updated over time to cover and backfill contracts and events related to the F-22A Raptor program. This article has been restored to full public access, as F-22 program winds down to its end.
Recent updates include significant votes in the House and Senate, which will effectively end American F-22 production. But contracts continue, including a $474.2 million contract for 4 Lot X F-22A aircraft…
JDAM: A GPS-INS Add-on Adds Accuracy to Airstrikes
28-Oct-2009 15:45 EDT |
Related Stories: Americas - USA, Asia - Central, Boeing, Bombs - Smart, Contracts - Awards, Contracts - Modifications, Design Innovations, Europe - Other, FOCUS Articles, Issues - International, Lockheed Martin, Middle East - Israel, New Systems Tech, Official Reports, Other Corporation, Project Successes, R&D - Contracted, Support & Maintenance, Transformation, Warfare - Lessons
B-2 drops JDAM
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DID’s FOCUS articles offer in-depth, updated looks at significant military programs of record. The DID FOCUS Article looks at the transformational history of the JDAM GPS-guided bomb program, the ongoing efforts to bring its capabilities up to the level of weapons like Israel’s Spice and Raytheon’s Enhanced Paveway, and the contracts issued under the JDAM program and its derivatives.
Precision bombing has been a significant military goal since the invention of the Norden bomb sight in the 1920s, but its application remained elusive. Over 30 years later, in Vietnam, the destruction of a single target could require 300 bombs, which meant sending an appropriate number of fighters or bombers into harm’s way to deliver them. Even the 1991 Desert Storm war with Iraq featured unguided munitions for the most part; the US Air Force did use some laser and TV-guided weapons like Paveway bombs and Maverick missiles, but they were very expensive and only effective in good weather. If precision bombing was finally to become a reality throughout the Air Force, a new approach would be needed.
The Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) became that alternative, an engine of military transformation that was also a model of procurement transformation. The latest news involves FY 2009-2010 budget updates, plus a $72 million contract for 2,925 JDAM kits…
MOPping Up: The USA’s 30,000 Pound Bomb
04-Oct-2009 17:18 EDT |
Related Stories: Americas - USA, Boeing, Bombs - Smart, Contracts - Awards, Delivery & Task Orders, Design Innovations, New Systems Tech, R&D - Contracted
“Grand Slam”
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During the Second World War, attacking heavily protected targets like U-boat pens and protected “V-weapon” facilities was a key challenge. Enter a brilliant British engineer named Barnes Wallis, fresh off the dam-busting “Upkeep” bouncing bomb. His next trick was a 12,000 pound weapon called the “Tallboy,” a streamlined, spin-stabilized bomb with an estimated terminal velocity of over Mach 3.5 when dropped from 20,000 feet. That mass, at that speed, carrying 5,200 pounds of Torpex D1 explosive, made a crater 80 feet deep x 100 feet across when it hit. By 1945, Wallis’ next “Earthquake bomb” was in production – the 22,000 pound “Grand Slam.” They made short work of U-boat pens.
These bombs went out of fashion with the advent of nuclear weapons, but if you wait long enough, fashion comes around again. It may even be accelerated, as concerns rise about Iran’s nuclear program…
$98M to Jacobs Technology for Technical Support at Eglin AFB
16-Aug-2009 14:07 EDT |
Related Stories: Americas - USA, Contracts - Modifications, Other Corporation, Support Functions - Other, Testing & Evaluation
Jacobs Technology in Tullahoma, TN received a $98.1 million indefinite delivery/ indefinite quantity contract modification to provide Technical, Engineering and Acquisition Support (TEAS) at Eglin Air Force Base, FL and various tenant organizations. The Air Armaments Center (AAC) at Eglin manages the contract (FA9200-07-C-0006 P00031).
At the time of original contract award in December 2006, the contract had a potential value of $495 million over a 5-year period. This modification is the exercise of the 3rd 1-year option on the contract.
Under the TEAS program, Jacobs provides support for a number of test and evaluation (T&E) programs at Eglin…
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F-22 Raptors to Japan?
08-Jun-2009 15:33 EDT |
Related Stories: Alliances, Americas - USA, Asia - China, Asia - Japan, BAE, Boeing, Engines - Aircraft, Fighters & Attack, Force Structure, Issues - International, Issues - Political, Legal, Lobbying, Lockheed Martin, New Systems Tech, Other Corporation
F-22: Climbing Mt. Fuji?
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Back in February 2006, InsideDefense.com’s Inside The Air Force (ITAF) reported that momentum was building within the Air Force to sell the ultra-advanced F-22A Raptor abroad to trusted U.S. allies, as a way of plussing up numbers and production. The USAF originally initially intended to purchase 700-800 F-22 fighters, but that was cut to 442, then 381, and recently cut again to just over 180. These cuts have had obvious effects on the cost per aircraft, and on the ratio of aircraft to total R&D + production money spent. With F-22 production set to terminate around 2010, and increasing concern over the capability gap between other US fighters and global competitors like the SU-30 family, MiG-35, et. al., some USAF planners are becoming concerned. Extending the F-22 production line through exports is also a way of extending the USA’s decision options.
One of the most likely export prospects is Japan. The Raptor has been discussed at a 2007 summit meeting, and in a number of other venues. Meanwhile, BAE Systems is looking to pounce with its Eurofighter if the US remains intransigent, and Boeing has offered an interesting F-15SE option of its own. A recent Reuters report indicates that Japan is beginning to pick up F-22EX supporters, however, including a prominent US Senator…
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Ride on the Ray: Boeing’s X-45 UCAVs
18-May-2009 16:07 EDT |
Related Stories: Americas - USA, Boeing, Budgets, Contracts - Awards, Contracts - Modifications, Design Innovations, Lobbying, New Systems Tech, R&D - Contracted, Testing & Evaluation, Transformation, UAVs
X-45C, F/A18F, F-15E
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In 1998, Boeing began a revolutionary development program: create an unmanned aircraft that was about the size of the USAF’s F-117 stealth fighter, with similar performance, better stealth, and better range. DARPA’s J-UCAS program launched Boeing’s X-45A and Northrop Grumman’s X-47B Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles (UCAVs), which went on to perform tests that included multiple UCAV flights, bomb drops, and other aviation firsts.
J-UCAS was effectively killed in 2006, though it went on to spawn the Navy’s UCAS-D competition. NGC’s X-47B Pegasus won that competition, but in April 2009, Secretary of Defense Gates announced the death of the USAF’s Next-Generation Bomber program. That creates a big opening for UCAVs, which aren’t limited by pilot endurance issues. Not so coincidentally, Boeing is using company funds to put its X-45C back on track, as the “Phantom Ray”...
Joint Common Missile Program Fired - But Not Forgotten
13-May-2009 13:46 EDT |
Related Stories: Americas - USA, Helicopters & Rotary, Lobbying, Lockheed Martin, New Systems Tech, R&D - Contracted
Hellfire II: what’s next?
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The Joint Common Missile (JCM) was seen as the next-generation, multi-purpose, air-to-ground precision missile that will replace AGM-114 Hellfire family, AGM-65 Maverick family, and airborne *GM-71 TOW missiles with a single weapon usable by the airplanes, helicopters and UAVs of the U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps. It was also being considered for use on some ground vehicles.
A 2005 program cancellation derailed that effort, but JCM has risen from the procurement grave – as the JAGM (Joint Air-Ground Missile) program, with contracts to 2 vendor teams. A recent contract involves wind tunnel testing on a key platform, even as the number of potential carriers continues to grow…
- The JCM/JAGM Program [updated]
- JAGM’s Competing Teams
- Contracts and Key Events [updated]
- Appendix A: The Road Less Taken – JCM’s Program History
- Appendix B: Additional Readings & Sources
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