FRES-U finalists:
There can be… none?
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FRES-SV weapon agreement; Shake, rattle & roll testing; BAE shifts course in bid to win FRES-SV contract. (March 12/10)

Many of Britain’s army vehicles are old and worn, and the necessities of hard service on the battlefield are only accelerating that wear. The multi-billion pound “Future Rapid Effects System” (FRES) aims to recapitalize the core of Britain’s armored vehicle fleet over the next decade or more, filling many of the same medium armor roles as the Stryker Family of armored wheeled vehicles and/or the Future Combat Systems’ Manned Ground Vehicle family. Current estimates indicate a potential requirement for over 3,700 FRES vehicles, including utility and reconnaissance variants. Even so, one should be cautioned that actual numbers bought usually fall short of intended figures for early-stage defense programs.

The FRES program was spawned by the UK’s withdrawal from the German-Dutch-UK Boxer MRAV modular wheeled APC program, in order to develop a more deployable vehicle that fit Britain’s exact requirements. Those initial requirements were challenging, however, and experience in Iraq and Afghanistan led to decisions that changed a number of requirements. In the end, GD MOWAG’s Piranha V won the utility vehicle competition. FRES-U is not the end of the competition, however, or the contracts. In fact, FRES-U had the winning bidder’s preferred status revoked; that entire phase will now take a back seat to the FRS-SV scout version…

• FRES: The Program
• FRES: Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings [updated]
• Appendix 1 – The British Army’s Armored Vehicle Fleet, late 2006
• Appendix 2 – A New Procurement Approach: System House Challenges
• Appendix 3 – FRES: Key Challenges for the Contractors
• Appendix 4 – FRES Experiments: Electronic Architecture Contracts
• Appendix 5 – FRES Experiments: Vehicle-Related Contracts
  
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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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BCTM B-Kit in Hummer
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The GAO tells Congress BCTM Increment 1 technologies are “immature” and “unreliable.” (March 10/10)

Concerns about cost overruns, vehicle design, and contract structure prompted the Pentagon to cancel the US Army’s Future Combat System (FCS) program in June 2009.

Instead of a single FCS contract, the Pentagon directed the Army to set up a number of separate programs to undertake parts of the FCS program. One of those programs is the Brigade Combat Team Modernization (BCTM) Increment 1. The BCTM Increment 1 capabilities – which include ground robots, UAVs, ground sensors, and vehicle (B-Kit) network integration kits – are planned to be fielded to 7 Infantry Brigade Combat Teams beginning in 2011.

A Boeing/SAIC team recently received a $138 million contract from the Army for low-rate initial production of the brigade sets for the BCTM Increment 1 capabilities…

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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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• CSC survey: US aerospace and defense execs see growth opportunities in cybersecurity, renewable energy, and physical and information infrastructure.

• Self-organizing, supra-military networks on the battlefield: Saving British Soldier X, and an account of what it took in deployed resources.

• Chilean earthquake hits Talcahuano NB hard, reportedly totaled 2 U209 submarines in ASMAR shipyard; full shipyard recovery could take up to 5 years [video, with subtitles].

• Forecast International: Report predicts $28.4 billion will be spent on electronic warfare systems over the next 10 years.

• Taiwan defense ministry issues report that warns China has better fighter jets. Well, yes. More of them, too.

• China is also sporting digital camouflage on its uniforms, and vehicles. They’re early adopters for vehicles, but not the first.

• South Africa’s new Gripen fighters, MEKO frigates, and U209/1400 submarines: just for show?

• USAF test of X-51 hypersonic cruise missile delayed, DangerRoom reports.

• Weather pushes A400M testing to Toulouse, France, as 2nd test plane is handed over.

• DARPA is looking for industry proposals for development of non-volatile logic technologies that can be used in remote sensors, small UAVs, and high-performance computers.

• Air Force Research Lab is asking for white papers on integrating C2 capabilities across cyber, air and space domains.

The US Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) in Patuxent River, MD is looking for contractors to provide maintenance, logistics, and life cycle service support for its Special Communications Requirement Division’s (SCRD) communication-electronic (C-E) equipment, systems and subsystems.

The SCRD designs, develops, tests and supports joint special operations’ communications and electronics equipment. The division develops quick reaction and testing of communications packages for hand-held and manpack radios, high speed and rigid inflatable boats, mobile and fixed-base operations, special communications vans and other vehicles, and air-land transportable command posts.

NAWCAD recently issued a sources sought notice to get industry feedback for a follow-on to a contract (N00421-06-C-0085) that was awarded to BAE Systems Technology Solutions & Services in Rockville, MD in 2006.

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Oshkosh M-ATV
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M-ATV will add CROWS weapon systems. (March 10/10)

“The Government plans to acquire an MRAP All-Terrain Vehicle (M-ATV). The M-ATV is a lighter, off-road, and more maneuverable vehicle that incorporates current MRAP level [bullet and mine blast] protection. The M-ATV will require effectiveness in an off-road mission profile. The vehicle will include EFP and RPG protection (integral or removable kit). The M-ATV will maximize both protection levels and off-road mobility & maneuverability attributes, and must balance the effects of size and weight while attempting to achieve the stated requirements.”
  —US government FedBizOpps, November 2008

Oshkosh Defense’s M-ATV candidate secured a long-denied MRAP win, and the firm continues to remain ahead of production targets. The initial plan expected to spend up to $3.3 billion to order 5,244 M-ATVs for the US Army (2,598), Marine Corps (1,565), Special Operations Command (643), US Air Force (280) and the Navy (65), plus 93 test vehicles; but FY 2010 budgets and purchases have pushed this total higher.

• MRAP ATV: Requirements and Contenders
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings [updated]
  
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M1A2 SEP
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22 more tanks, program details. (March 8/10)

America’s M1 Abrams tanks come in a number of versions. In addition to the M1A1 that is now standard, the US Army is beginning to field its M1 TUSK for urban warfare. It also operates the M1A2 System Enhancement Program (SEP), currently the most advanced standard variant.

This Spotlight article covers the M1A2 Abrams SEP upgrade program, and will be updated and backfilled as new contracts are issued and key events take place.

• M1A2 SEP: Additional Background
• M1A2 SEP: Related Contracts, 1996 – Present [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources
  
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P-3P Orion
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Covering the Atlantic side of Europe out of the Azores, and sitting near the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea, Portugal has a lot of maritime territory to patrol. The FAP has received a number of upgraded P-3 Orion aircraft over the years, from the US P-3Bs that became P-3Ps via upgrades etc., to a recent set of P-3Cs from The Netherlands. Maintaining their long range maritime patrol capabilities, and keeping the fleet at acceptable strength as aircraft are retired, is critical to Portugal’s ability to watch those important sea lanes.

Soon the Dutch P-3Cs will constitute Portugal’s entire P-3C fleet, as the P-3Ps are being retired. These 5 Orions will be supplemented by shorter-range CASA C-295 VIMARs – but they will also require their own capability upgrades.

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Egyptian Air Force F-16D
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$213 million for long lead time items. (March 2/10)

The Egyptian government wants to buy 24 F-16C/D Block 50/52 aircraft, associated parts, weapons, and equipment to modernize its air force. The October 2009 request, made through the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) to Congress, could be worth as much as $3.2 billion to Lockheed Martin and the other contractors involved.

The Egyptian Air Force is the 4th largest F-16 operator in the world, mustering about 195 aircraft of 220 ordered. Their overall fighter fleet is a mix of high-end F-16s and Mirage 2000s, low-end Chinese F-7s (MiG-21 copy) bought from the Chinese, a few F-4 Phantom II jets, and upgraded but very aged Soviet MiG-21s and French Mirage 5s. The formal request comes a few months after the Obama administration conveyed to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak its support for Egypt’s long-standing request to buy the Block 50/52 aircraft…

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