“Lend me your ears”
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Northrop Grumman wins US Army Europe contract. (March 11/10)

The US military has come to rely more and more on contractors to provide linguist services to function effectively in non-English speaking regions. The need for these services is particularly acute in the Middle East and Central Asia where US troops are actively engaged.

An indication of what could go wrong with an unskilled linguist is illustrated in a short documentary video produced by journalist John McHugh of The Guardian newspaper. In the video, a US Army sergeant and an Afghan tribal elder engage in a conversation about Taliban rocket attacks.

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Nimrod MR2 at work
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MRA4 declared fit for training, as MR2 fleet retires early, leaving a gap. (March 10/10)

British naval theorist Sir Julian Corbett saw the navy’s proper role as “directly or indirectly either to secure the command of the sea or to prevent the enemy from securing it.” Airpower plays a prominent role in both of those missions. In 1996, Britain began a program to rebuild their existing Nimrod MR2 maritime patrol planes to the MRA4 standard with new wings, new engines, and new internal technologies and mission systems. Unfortunately, that program has faced a series of budget cuts, stalls, and conditions that have reduced the program from 21 aircraft, to 12, to 9. At times, it has been threatened with complete cancellation.

Like Lockheed’s P-3 Orion, Britain’s Nimrod aircraft are also based on a previous airliner design. Unlike the USA, Britain chose a jet-age Comet airframe. They ended up with an aircraft that boasted an unrefueled endurance of over 10 hours and longer range than the P-3, but less-favorable “low and slow” flight characteristics. The British claim, however, that “propeller-engined aircraft make a discrete resonance that can be detected by submerged submarines, whereas the jet noise of the Nimrod is virtually undetectable.”

Both aircraft types would go on to see long and successful service, and both would also be produced in ELINT (Electronic Intelligence) / SIGNIT (Signals Intelligence) versions: the EP-3, and the Nimrod MR1. Both would also face difficult replacement programs, with the USA canceling the P-7 and eventually settling on the 737-based P-8A. Now, Britain must also execute its replacement program…

• Hunters of Subs & Signals: Britain’s Nimrods
• MRA4 Program: The Next Nimrods
• Contracts and Events [updated]
• Project HELIX: Upgrading the Nimrod R1 ELINT Fleet
• Additional Readings & Sources [updated]
• Addendum: Correction Credit
  
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F-35A: incoming…
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New ADM restructures program; GAO report; USAF 30-year plan; F135 engine cost growth reports; fire risks?; Coming Nunn-McCurdy breach, delays sparking controversy; Flight testing is way behind; Sypris subcontract; Training for Turks; Paralysis in the Netherlands; Israel delaying purchase; Denamrk picks Super Hornet? (March 11/10)

The $300+ billion F-35 Joint Strike fighter may well be the largest single global defense program in history. This major multinational program is intended to produce an “affordably stealthy” multi-role fighter that will have 3 variants: the F-35A conventional version for the US Air Force et. al.; the F-35B Short Take-Off, Vertical Landing for the US Marines, British Royal Navy, et. al.; and the F-35C conventional carrier-launched version for the US Navy. The aircraft is named after Lockheed’s famous WW2 P-38 Lightning, and the Mach 2, stacked-engine English Electric (now BAE) Lightning jet. Lightning II system development partners included The USA & Britain (Tier 1), Italy and the Netherlands (Tier 2), and Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Turkey (Tier 3), with Singapore and Israel as “Security Cooperation Partners.” Now the challenge is agreeing on production phase membership and arrangements, to be followed by initial purchase commitments in 2009-2010.

This updated article has expanded to feature more detail regarding the F-35 program, including contracts, sub-contracts, and notable events and reports.

• The F-35 Family of Aircraft
• F-35 Program: Production Timelines & Structure
• F-35 Program: Controversies and Competitions
• F-35 Program: Events & Developments, CY 2009-2010 [updated]
• F-35 Program: System Development & Production Contracts, FY 2009-2010
• F-35 Program: Ancillary and Sub-contracts, FY 2009 – 2010 [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources [updated]
  
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Adm. Gorshkov: Before.
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New Gorshkov, MiG-29K contracts; first MiG-29Ks inducted. (March 11/10)

This free-to-view DID Spotlight article offers an in-depth look at India’s troubled attempt to convert and field a full-size aircraft carrier, before time and wear force it to retire its existing naval aviation and ships.

Right now, there are 2 major concerns in India. One is slipping timelines. The other concern involves Vikramaditya’s 3-fold cost increase, including worries that Russia will raise it rates yet again once India is deeper into the commitment trap. The carrier purchase has now become the subject of high level diplomacy, involving a shipyard that can’t even execute on commercial contracts. An agreement in principle reportedly exists, but negotiations that began in 2007 have yet to lead to a revised contract. Recent Russian demands continued to raise the price, even as deliveries of India’s new MiG-29K naval fighters got underway. March 12/10 should see the signing of a new contract, which India hopes the Russians will honor.

• Waiting for Gorshkov – A History
• Gorshkov-Vikramaditya: Aerial Complement
• INS Vikramaditya: Updates & Contracts [updated]
• Appendix A: Additional Readings – Equipment Profiles
• Appendix B: Additional Readings – Related Developments
  
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Night raid
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Lockheed Martin gets $36.8 million contract to install Arrowhead target acquisition/pilot night vision system kits on AH-64 Apache helicopter. (March 11/10)

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 free DID Spotlight 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.

• 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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MEADS: air view
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MEADS gets NSA approval to use Italian crypto/IFF, and German T/R modules pass testing, but US Army reportedly doesn’t want it any more. (March 10/10)

The Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS program aims to replace Patriot missiles in the United States, the older Hawk system in Germany, and Italy’s even older Nike Hercules missiles. MEADS will be designed to kill enemy aircraft, cruise missiles and UAVs within its reach, while providing next-generation point defense capabilities against ballistic missiles. MBDA’s SAMP/T project would be its main competitor, but MEADS aims to offer improved mobility and wider compatibility with other air defense systems, in order to create a linchpin for its customers’ next-generation air defense arrays.

The German government finally gave their clearance in April 2005, and in June 2005 MEADS International (MI) formally signed a contract worth approximately $3.4 billion to design and develop the tri-national MEADS system. This DID FOCUS Article covers that program…

• MEADS: The System
• MEADS: Mobility and Employment
• MEADS: The Program [updated]
• Contracts & Key Events, 2004 – Present [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
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Old as the hills…
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Boeing pares down its v2.0 KC-767 offering, as Round 1’s winner walks away. (March 8/10)

DID’s FOCUS articles cover major weapons acquisition programs – and no program is more important to the USAF than its current bid to replace its aerial tanker fleet. In January 2007, the big question was whether there would be a competition for the USA’s KC-X proposal, which will cover 175 production aircraft and 4 test platforms. The cost for this first phase alone is likely to reach $35+ billion spread over about 20 years, but America’s 40-50 year old aerial tanker fleet demands new planes. Otherwise, unpredictable age or fatigue issues, like the ones its F-15A-D fleet experienced in 2008, could ground its aerial tankers – and with them, a substantial slice of the USA’s total airpower. KC-Y and KC-Z contracts may follow in subsequent decades, in order to replace all 530 KC-135s/ Boeing 707s (195 active; ANG 251; Reserve 84) that were delivered until 1965, as well as the USAF’s 59 larger KC-10 tankers delivered from 1979-1987.

In the end, it was Team Boeing’s KC-767 Advanced (767-200 derivative) vs. the Team Northrop Grumman KC-30B (Airbus A330-200 derivative), both within the Pentagon and in the halls of Congress. Most observers correctly pointed out that all this lobbying was important, since the financial stakes guaranteed a huge political fight no matter which side won. A fight that ended up sinking, and restarting, the entire program. Recent additions revolve around the KC-X v2.0 draft RFP. The canceled competition is on again, with a decision expected by mid-2010. Except that it won’t be a competition…

• KC-X: The Story So Far
• KC-X RFP v2.0: The New Structure
• The Contenders and The Cargo Factor: KC-30B, KC-767… KC-777?
• KC-X: Teams & Locations
• KC-X RFP: Key Developments [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
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Up to $32 million to Lockheed Martin for submarine satellite communication prototype. (March 5/10)

An impressive 18 companies won indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple award contracts to develop integration and management technology for radio frequency (RF) radar and communications functions on future naval platforms. The contracts are being awarded by the Office of Naval Research for its Integrated Topside (InTop) Program, which will develop a scalable family of electronic warfare, radar and communication equipment to support multiple classes of ships and other Navy platforms. Each contract has an ordering ceiling of between $50 million and $800 million.

InTop plans to reduce the number of topside equipment on Navy ships through a modular/ open RF architecture…

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• White House releases its Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative, which includes plans to deploy intrusion detection and prevention systems throughout the US federal government.

• Up to $187.4 million to L-3 for US Navy systems engineering and technical support services.

• ITT snags $45 million order to support US military prepositioned equipment at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait under US Army’s FIRST contract [PDF].

• New Zealand army awards $100 million contract to Lockheed Martin to provide warehousing and repair services.

• Canadian Forces release latest suicide rates, program information. For comparison, the Canadian male rate was 17.9 per 100,000 in 2005, and would be higher if restricted to forces-eligible age ranges.

• Northrop Grumman seeking small businesses to join its GMD missile defense bid. Industry Day on March 11/10, in Huntsville, AL.

• Navantia delivering patrol vessels to Venezuela.

• USAF updating GPS-II ground control software.

• “Bet you’re surprised” category: 3 US Navy facilities nominated for wildlife conservation awards.

• Research and Markets: Study finds that technology companies have role to play in beefing up early warning systems for regional conflicts.

Networking the Navy
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The US Navy’s Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (CANES) program is designed to streamline and update shipboard networks to improve interoperability across the fleet.

The primary goal of the CANES program is to build a secure shipboard network required for naval and joint operations, and consolidate and reduce the number of shipboard networks through the use of cross domain technologies and common computing environment infrastructure.

The US Navy recently awarded 2 contracts, with a potential value of $1.7 billion, for the design and development of the CANES common computing environment. A single prime contractor is expected to be selected in 2011…

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