• US Navy Vice Adm. Mark Harnitchek, Director of the Defense Logistics Agency since November 2011, published his revised 2012 guidance [PDF] that conveniently highlights where the changes are. Among them, improved support for reset and force drawdown processes in Afghanistan starts with optimized use of the Northern Distribution Network (NDN), a necessity pointed out on DID just two days ago. Airlift through the NDN (dubbed Northern Distribution Nightmare by Foreign Policy – see also this WaPo map which was drawn before options like use of the Ulyanovsk Russian airport were discussed) is way more expensive than using Pakistan’s GLOC (Ground Lines of Communication) and Karachi port. As in, as much as 3 to 5 times more expensive to ship out about 50,000 vehicles.

• As a side note, when USMC Lieutenant General Frank A. Panter, Jr. discussed options at a recent HASC hearing, he never said Indian but rather NDN, contrarily to bad transcripts floated in the Indian press. How would India even make sense if you glance at a map? It beats us too.

• The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission published a report [PDF] on indigenous weapons development in China’s military modernization. They conclude that many analysts have let themselves being misled and blindsided by trends from past decades that no longer apply. “U.S. analysts and policymakers should expect to see continued advancements in the ability of the PRC to produce modern weapons platforms, and an attendant increase in the operational capabilities of the People’s Liberation Army.”
  Continue Reading… »

NH90: TTH & NFH

The NH90 emerged from a requirement that created a NATO helicopter development and procurement agency in 1992 and, at almost the same time, established NHIndustries (62.5% EADS Eurocopter, 32.5% AgustaWestland, and 5% Stork Fokker) to build the hardware. The NATO Frigate Helicopter was originally developed to fit between light naval helicopters like AW’s Lynx or Eurocopter’s Panther, and medium-heavy naval helicopters like the European EH101. A quick look at the NFH design showed definite possibilities as a troop transport helicopter, however, and soon the NH90 project had branched into 2 versions, with more to follow.

The nearest equivalent would be Sikorsky’s popular H-60 Seahawk/ Black Hawk family, but the NH90 includes a set of innovative features that give it some distinguishing selling points. Its combination of corrosion-proofing, lower maintenance, greater troop or load capacity, and the flexibility offered by that rear ramp have made the NH90 a popular global competitor. As many business people discover the hard way, however, success can be almost as dangerous as failure. NH Industries has had great difficulty ramping up production fast enough to meet promised deliveries, which has left several buyers upset. Certification and acceptance have also been slow, with very few NH90s in service over a decade after the first contracts were signed. Orders currently stand at 524 machines, on behalf of 14 nations…

• The NH90 Platform(s)
• The NH90 Production Program [updated]
• Contracts & Key Events, 1995-present [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources
  Continue Reading… »

IRST: B-2, ICU

F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet Block IIs fighters are beginning to enter service with the US Navy and Australia, carrying significantly improved AN/APG-79 AESA radars and other electronic upgrades. Recent years have seen another spreading improvement within global fighter fleets, however: Infra-Red Search & Track (IRST) systems that provide long range thermal imaging against air and ground targets. Most of these deployments have been on Russian (MiG-29 family, SU-30 family) and European (Eurofighter, Rafale, Gripen NG) fighters, or special American exports (UAE’s F-16E/F Block 60 Desert Falcons, Korea & Singapore’s F-15K/SG Strike Eagles).

That absence puts American fighters behind an important curve. This IRST approach can defeat radar stealth in some instances, by focusing on engine exhaust, or on the friction of the aircraft as it powers through the atmosphere. As F-14 pilots will recall, long range electro-optics also offer positive identification, conferring the ability to use a plane’s aerial missiles at their full ranges. Best of all, IRST offers a passive way to locate and target enemy aircraft, without triggering the target’s radar warning receivers. When coupled with medium-range IR missiles like some Russian AA-10 variants, France’s MICA-IR, or even future versions of AMRAAM NCADE, an IRST system offers a fighter both an extra set of medium-range eyes, and a stealthy air-to-air combat weapon. Programs are underway to give some American “teen series” fighters this capability, albeit in a somewhat unusual way:

• Tanks for the View: The IRST + Fuel Solution [updated]
  • IRST Future: A SpectIR for all Teens? [NEW]
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings [NEW]
  Continue Reading… »

Aborted landing

In January 2005, the U.S. Navy selected the US101 as the new “Marine One” baseline helicopter, for use by the President of the United States. The US101 is an American variant of AgustaWestland’s successful AW101 multi-mission medium helicopter; it beat out Sikorsky’s S-92 Superhawk, which is already in use as a government VIP transport in countries like South Korea.

That $1.7 billion victory was first endangered, and then destroyed, by ongoing changes from the White House staff. In 2008, the program’s ballooning costs and requirements got a temporary reprieve when US Navy agreed to proceed with the VH-71, despite a cost per aircraft equal or greater than the President’s Air Force One 747s. By June 2009, however, the VH-71 program had shot itself down.

Another round of competition is on the way, and the Pentagon wants to buy 2 different helicopters in the VXX follow-on program. First, however, the Navy and the Office of the Secretary of Defense must agree on the new program’s foundations…

• The New Marine One Helicopter Programs: A History [updated]
• Marine One: Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• VH-3/ VH-60 Refurbishment: Contracts & Key Events
• Additional Readings
• Appendix A: VXX 1.0 – The US101
  Continue Reading… »

Breakthrough…

The US Navy flies the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet fighters, and has begun operating the EA-18G Growler electronic warfare & strike aircraft. Many of these buys have been managed out of common multi-year procurement (MYP) contracts, which aim to reduce overall costs by offering longer-term production commitments, so contractors can negotiate better deals with their suppliers.

The MYP-II contract ran from 2005-2009, and was not renewed because the Pentagon intended to focus on the F-35 fighter program. When it became clear that the F-35 program was going to be late, and had serious program and budgetary issues, pressure built to abandon year-by-year contracting, and negotiate another multi-year deal for the current Super Hornet family. That deal is now final. This entry covers the Super Hornet family’s 2010-2015 purchases, and has been updated to include all announced contracts and events connected with MYP-III, including engines and other separate “government-furnished equipment”:

• Hornet MYP: Aircraft Types [updated]
• The MYP-III Buy [updated]
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• GFE: Ancillary Contracts & Developments [updated]
• Future Hornets? [updated]
• Additional Readings
  Continue Reading… »

CH-148 Cyclone

Canada’s Maritime Helicopter Replacement Program has been a textbook military procurement program over its long history. Unfortunately, it has been a textbook example of what not to do. While Canada’s Sea King helicopter fleet aged and deteriorated to potentially dangerous levels, political pettiness and lack of concern turned a straightforward off-the-shelf buy into a 25+ year long odyssey of cancellations, lawsuits, rebids, and more. Eventually, the Canadian military settled on Sikorsky’s H-92 Superhawk as the basis of its new CH-148 Cyclone Maritime Helicopter, which will serve from the decks of Canada’s naval ships and bases.

The civilian S-92 has gone on to some commercial success. To date, however, Canada has been the H-92’s only military customer – with all of the associated systems integration and naval conversion burdens. There are also deeper questions being raised concerning both the machines’ fitness, and DND’s conduct of the program as a whole. This article covers the rationale for, history of, and developments within Canada’s Maritime Helicopter Program:

• CH-148 MHP: Systems & Program
  • The MH-92/ CH-148 Naval Helicopter [updated]
  • The CH-148 Program & Timeline [updated]
  • CH-148 Industrial Partnerships
• CH-148 MHP: Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  Continue Reading… »

UCAS-D/ N-UCAS concept

In early 2006 the future of DARPA’s J-UCAS program seemed uncertain. It 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 when the services failed to take it up, but the technologies have survived, and the US Navy remained interested. A May 2007 non-partisan report discussed 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 fewer carrier air wings than operational carriers. 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/ N-UCAS, which received a major push in the FY 2010 defense review. Even as emerging privately-developed options are expanding the Navy’s future choices:

• Naval Air, Unmanned: Programs & Potential
• UCAS-D: Program & Team [updated]
• UCAS-D: Northrop Grumman’s X-47B
• Naval UCAVs: Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional UCAV Readings
  Continue Reading… »

AH-60L
(click to view larger)

The UH-60M Black Hawk is currently the most advanced UH-60/S-70 model, whose variants are in service with the US Army and over 20 other countries around the world. To date, UH-60M customers include the USA, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, plus a request from Egypt. Unlike global competitors such as Russia’s Mi-8/17 series, however, the UH-60’s operational armament is generally limited to door guns. That may be about to change, thanks to a UAE initiative.

Colombia currently flies the armed S-70 “Arpia III”, and Sikorsky has worked on armed “AH-60” versions as an offering in some foreign competitions, but efforts to sell the concept in Australia and elsewhere were less successful. Nevertheless, Sikorsky executives see considerable potential for multi-role helicopters and conversion kits, in an era of global insurgencies, tight budgets, and limited helicopter numbers. Now, the UAE has become their launch customer. What is Sikorsky’s Battlehawk, and what are their plans?

• Battlehawk, and Sikorsky’s Level 1-3 Kits [updated]
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources
  Continue Reading… »

CF-18: which way?
(click to see clearly)

The F/A-18 Hornet is the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet’s predecessor, with the first models introduced in the late 1970s as a spinoff of the USAF’s YF-17 lightweight fighter competitor. Hornets are currently flown by the US Marine Corps as their front-line fighter, by the US Navy as a second-tier fighter behind its larger F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets, and by 7 international customers: Australia, Canada, Finland, Kuwait, Malaysia, Spain, and Switzerland. The USA’s aircraft were expected to have a service life of 20 years, but that was based on 100 carrier landings per year. The US Navy and Marines have been rather busy during the Hornets’ service life, and so the planes are wearing out faster.

This is forcing the USA to take a number of steps and issue a series of contracts in order to keep their Hornets airworthy, replacing center barrel sections, re-opening production lines, and more. Some of these efforts will also be offered to allied air forces, who have their own refurbishment and upgrade programs:

• Contracts & Key Events, 2006 – Present [updated]
• Additional Readings
  Continue Reading… »

SSN Barracuda cutaway

Hull joins on 2nd sub using improved manufacturing techniques. (Dec 19/11)

In December 2006, France’s Defence Ministry awarded a contract for nuclear-propelled fast attack submarines to state-owned warship builder DCN and nuclear energy group Areva-TA. The contract’s total value could be as high as EUR 8.6 billion, and it is set up as an initial EUR 1.0-1.4 billion contract (reports vary), followed by 6 options (tranches conditionnelles) to cover development expenses, the production of more submarines, and through-life support during their first years of operational service.

All ships wear out over time, and the repeated squeezing and relaxing experienced by submarine hulls make their replacement times less negotiable. The USA began introducing their new-generation NSSN Virginia Class fast attack boats in 2004, and Britain’s problem-plagued SSN Astute Class followed in 2010. Now, it’s France’s turn to renew its SSN fleet, as DCNS works to supply 6 Barracuda Class submarines between 2016-2027…

• Replacing the Rubis: The Barracuda Class SSN
• The Barracuda SSN Program
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources
  Continue Reading… »