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Nimrod MR2 at work
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In the face of the Soviet threat to the West’s vital sea lanes and thus its reinforcements in the event of war, long-range maritime patrol aircraft were a high priority for the western alliance. 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-favourable “low and slow” 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 / SIGNIT versions: the EP-3, and the Nimrod MR1.

The USA dithered over the successor to its P-3 Orion fleet, before finally choosing the 737-based P-8A in June 2004. Meanwhile, a British program was begun in 1996 to rebuild their existing Nimrod Mk2 fleet to the MRA4 standard with new wings, engines, internal systems, 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, and threatened complete cancellation at times. As of July 2006, however, the British are also moving forward.

This article will serve as DID’s focus for the UK’s Nimrod fleet upgrade programs, which may have spinoff effects into India’s ongoing maritime patrol aircraft competition. The most recent update is unrest in Britain’s Parliamentary Defence Committee, and a coroner’s report that the Nimrod which crashed in Afghanistan in 2006 had “never been airworthy.” He recommends grounding the fleet, but the UK MoD refuses…

• 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
• Addendum: Correction Credit
  
  Continue Reading… »

Eagan, McAllister Associates, Inc. in Lexington Park, MD received a $22.1 million indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity performance-based contract with hybrid pricing arrangements. The firm will work with the The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center in Charleston, SC to provide production engineering, integration product improvement, test and evaluation, and maintenance support as well as the capacity to modernize or introduce transformational technologies into systems and technical support services of various C5ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cryptology, Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance) programs. The results will be fielded on platforms such as: Marine Corps Up-Armored HMMWV, Joint Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Rapid Responded Vehicle, Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, other Department of Defense vehicle platforms, Navy C5ISR tactical vehicles, and Marine Corps C5ISR tactical vehicles, in addition to other tactical vehicles.

This contract includes four 1-year options and 3 award terms. If exercised, they would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $222 million. Work will be performed in Charleston, S.C., and is expected to be complete by May 2009 (May 2016 with all options and award terms exercised). The Request for Proposal was posted on the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center E-Commerce website, with 2 offers received (N65236-08-D-2837).

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In May of 1998, technical and consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. of McLean, VA received a $199.6 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to establish and operate the US military’s Information Assurance Technology Analysis Center. This contract had a 3-year base period, plus a 3-year option period and a 4-year option period, for a total performance period of 10 years with completion by April 30, 2008. The Defense Supply Center Columbus solicited 9 bids, and received 2 (SPO700-98-D-4002). A number of awards have been made under this contract, but a set of awards announced on May 16/08 appear to be the final set of contracts under this arrangement…

Continue Reading… »

FRES-U finalists: There
can be only one…
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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 removed a number of FRES requirements including weight. The UK MoD has taken some criticism for its selection of wheeled APCs as its FRES-U infantry fighting vehicle finalists, and even more criticism for making the Boxer MRAV one of those finalists after spending all that time and sterling on FRES development. The MoD is defending its choices, however, and has now declared a winner…

• FRES: The Program (Continue reading…) [updated]
• FRES: Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
• 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
  
  Continue Reading… »

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Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. of Herndon, VA received a modified contract for $28 million, in exchange for “survivability and vulnerability technical research and development analysis for U.S. Coast Guard ship, aviation, and Command and Control, Communications, Computer, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems.” At this time $7.7 million has been committed. Offutt AFB, NB issued the contract (SP0700-03-D-1380, Delivery Order: 0250).

C4ISR security has been an issue in the Coast Guard’s Deepwater recapitalization program, with claims that the systems used in the Island Class patrol cutter upgrades were inherently insecure, and that similar issues are present in the Legend Class National Security Cutters.

AEHF concept
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Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellites will support twice as many tactical networks, while providing 10-12 times the capacity and 6 times higher data rate transfer than that of the current Milstar II satellites. They will form the secure backbone of the Pentagon’s intermediate term Military Satellite Communications (MILSATCOM) architecture, until the larger capacity Transformational Communications Satellite System or its equivalent enters service. Its companion Family of Advanced Beyond-line-of-sight Terminals (FAB-T) program, meanwhile, will give the US military modern capabilities and more flexibility on the receiving end.

Like a number of current US satellite development programs, the AEHF program has been cited for cost overruns and schedule slips, in part as a result of failures by the US National Security Agency to furnish key cryptography requirements and specifications in the most timely manner.

In this focus article, DID offers an updated timeline covering over $5 billion worth of AEHF-related contracts, as well as contracts for its FAB-T transmit/receive terminals. Reading it clearly shows many of the issues the program has faced and their financial impacts, as well as some of the new system’s capabilities. The latest news involves another FAB-T change…

• The AEHF Program (i.e. “Continue reading…”)
• FAB-T Terminals and Ground Control
• FAB-T: Contracts [updated]
• The AEHF Satellites
• The AEHF Satellites: Contracts & Key Events
• Additional Readings
  
  Continue Reading… »

Galileo concept
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Large space projects with long lead times can be politically perilous. The USA’s Transformation Satellite Network (TSAT) aims to create a system that can deliver fiber cable class bandwidth to or from any point on the globe, using lasers as the space transmission backbone. Funding and technical progress issues have pushed the project back from its originally intended date of 2008-2009 to likely operation in 2014 or so – and doubts are emerging re: the entire $20+ billion project.

Across the Atlantic, the European Union is cooperating with China and other outside investors to replace the USA’s free Global Positioning System service with an alternative under their own control. Organizational issues and shortfalls in expected progress have pushed the “Galileo” project back from its originally intended operational date of 2008 to 2014 or so – and doubts have manifested in Europe re: the entire project, even as security issues around Chinese involvement and their forthcoming COMPASS satellite system persist.

The EU has decided to press on, however, and has gained initial-stage approval for its plan to finance the program with tax dollars instead of the expected private investments. Mindful of the pitfalls in this approach, however, they have decided to raid other EU accounts for over EUR 3 billion (about $5.35 billion) in funds, rather than asking for more money from member states. This has not gone over well in all quarters. Britain’s multi-party Parliamentary Transport committee, for example, released a stinging report that recommended scrapping Galileo unless key deliverables are met. The EU’s structure allowed it to brush those objections aside, however, and the organization is well on the way to approving the new arrangements and beginning to issue contracts. Meanwhile, key technical protocols are released for discussion, a second satellite is planned for launch in April 2008, and an influential American think-tank raises security and policy concerns that could have broad impacts on transatlantic defense industry relationships.

• What Is Galileo?
• “Eppur, Si Bloccare”: Trials & Tribulations
• Contracts and Key Events
• Appendix A: The EU Proposal – Going Forward ( ? )
• Appendix B: Additional Readings
• Appendix C: Additional Readings – The Security Dimension
  
  Continue Reading… »

The growth of identity theft and related fraud has turned a spotlight on security practices in all companies and organizations that deal with sensitive public data. Private sector practices in this regard are often severely lacking, but even organizations like the military have had difficulties. In May 2006, for instance, a serious American incident was covered in “ID Theft the Potential Reward for 26.5 million US Veterans.”

Now the UK Ministry of Defence has confirmed that a laptop stolen from a Royal Navy officer in Birmingham on the night of 9/10 January contained personal information relating to some 600,000 people who have either expressed an interest in, or have joined, the Royal Navy, Royal Marines and the Royal Air Force. In some cases, nothing more than a name would be present. In other cases, the data may include passport details, National Insurance numbers, drivers’ license details, family details, doctors’ addresses and National Health Service numbers.

The UK MoD did not immediately notify the public of the risk, on the grounds that the West Midlands Police felt it might impair the investigation, and the MoD’s apparent belief that it might be better not to make the potential value of the theft clear. That latter rationale can be defensible. Bluntly put, many thieves are not terribly bright; as an illustrative example, it’s quite possible for someone looking to score a quick payoff for a drug fix to miss a detail of this kind. Media reports made those rationales moot, however, and so an official admission has been made, along with contact information for a help line (0800 0853600). In the meantime, action had already been taken with APACS [Britain’s Association for Payment Clearing Services] to inform the relevant banks and place a watch on potential accounts, and the UK MoD says that letters to the 3,500 people whose bank details were included on the database are in process. Meanwhile, the story will continue to play itself out in the media, and on the ground where investigations continue. UK MoD: “MOD confirms loss of recruitment data.”

Message received…

Rockwell Collins, Inc. of Cedar Rapids, Iowa received a cost plus award fee, firm-fixed price, cost plus fixed fee and time and material contract modification for $27.5 million. The award will “rebaseline” system development and demonstration completion, low rate initial production (LRIP), and production and deployment of the USA’s KG-3X cryptographic modernization program.

KG-3X units are used in the Minimum Essential Emergency Communications Network (MEECN) and the Fixed Submarine Broadcast System (FSBS) for strategic transmission of Emergency Action Messages (EAMs). The program entails box replacements, card set replacements, and reprogramming of 921 units Of these, 445 units will require organic service reprogramming, while industry will be contracted to handle 476 units. Funds will be allocated as needs arise by Air Force Materiel Command’s Electronic Systems Center, 653rd Electronic Systems Wing at Hanscom Air Force Base, MA (FA8722-04-C-0004, P00026).

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces recently ruled that a service member who received notice that she was required to undergo a random urinalysis test, and who e-mailed several other people to discuss her strategies for beating the tests to avoid discovery of her drug use, was not sufficiently informed of the DoD policy that employees have no right of privacy when using government computer systems. It set aside the findings, and her sentence.

In response, the US Department of Defense has replaced its decade-old banner warning with a new one. The banner notifies users that their systems may be monitored for “penetration testing, (communications security), monitoring, network defense, quality control, and employee misconduct, law enforcement and counterintelligence investigations,” adding that all security systems in place are there to provide security for the benefit of the government, not to provide personal privacy to employees. A related notice will appear on government BlackBerry devices and other personal digital assistants and personal electronic devices.

Members of the defense community sending emails to colleagues in the Pentagon, or otherwise working with DoD employees, need to keep these things in mind. USAF release.