Each year, NATO publishes updated figures on its members’ defense expenditures, based on the NATO definition of the term. Data is also provide with respect to key outside entities; estimates are presented for Russia as well. The alliance has been tracking defense spending since 1963, and the figures are available in PDF, HTML, and Excel formats, depending on the year.

As the 2007 publication [PDF] notes:

“The figures given in Table 1 represent payments actually made or to be made during the course of the fiscal year. They are based on the NATO definition of defence expenditures. In view of the differences between this and national definitions, the figures shown may diverge considerably from those which are quoted by national authorities or given in national budgets. For countries providing military assistance, this is included in the expenditures figures. For countries receiving assistance, figures do not include the value of items received. Expenditures for research and development are included in equipment expenditures and pensions paid to retirees in personnel expenditures.”

Raytheon: C4ISR Future?
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As video communications is integrated into robots, soldiers, and UAVs, and network-centric warfare becomes the organizing principle of American warfighting, front-line demands for bandwidth are rising sharply. The Transformation Communications Satellite (TSAT) System is part of a larger effort by the US military to address this need.

The final price tag on the entire TSAT program has been quoted at anywhere from $14-25 billion through 2016, which includes the satellites, the ground operations system, the satellite operations center and the cost of operations and maintenance. By mid-2007, the U.S. Air Force was scheduled to make a key decision: build the TSAT system on its current schedule and launch in 2013-2016, or postpone TSAT, take stopgap measures and add Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellites 4 & 5 to the three slated for launch from 2009-2012.

Lockheed Martin and Boeing have won a total of $514 million each in risk reduction contracts for the TSAT SS satellite system, in hopes of making that Plan B unnecessary. The bids are in, and both teams await a decision. TSAT’s $2 billion TMOS ground-based network operations contract is already underway.

The TSAT constellation of satellites, receivers, and infrastructure has seen a recent resurgence of news coverage, and its central role in next-generation US military infrastructure makes it worthy of in-depth treatment. Yet its survival is not assured by any means. Outside events and incremental competitors could spell its end just as they spelled the end of Motorola’s infamous Iridium service. This updated DID Special Report looks at the TSAT program, its challenges, and the potential future(s) of U.S. military communications – with new additions highlighted in green for your convenience. The latest item is a $336 million TMOS contract….

• Key Background – Why TSAT Is Thought to be Necessary (i.e. continue reading…)
• Key Background – The Big Picture: TSAT and the Transformational Communications Architecture
• Briefing – What Is TSAT?
• Briefing – TMOS: TSAT’s Ground Component
• Briefing – The AEHF Alternative, and Lessons Learned for TSAT
• Analysis – TSAT Program: Issues & Decisions
• Analysis – TSAT’s Competitors – and Its Fate
• News – TSAT: Timeline and Ongoing Developments [updated]
• Appendix A – Additional Readings & Sources
  
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B-52H, B-1B & B-2A
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GOOD NEWS: 2006 saw a convergence of opinion within the USAF that a new long-range strike platform was needed. This is understandable given the B-52H Stratofortress fleet’s age (40-50 years), the B-1B Lancer’s internal power and electronics issues, both of these platforms’ low survivability against advanced air defense systems, and the B-2A Spirit stealth bomber’s very small numbers [21, of which 7-12 are generally operational]. The unmanned J-UCAS program, however, was seen as having inadequate range and payload [Boeing X-45C: 1,400 mile radius with 8 GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs]. The USAF decided that it wasn’t a solution and pulled out, stalling American UCAV development until the Navy chose to go ahead with the carrier-based UCAS-D.

In September 2006, Inside Defense reported that the US Air Force was responding to ongoing Congressional pressure with a proposed $5 billion initial investment over the next few years. Their goal was to develop a next-generation long-range strike platform by 2018, with a fly-off before final platform selection. Now the potential contractors are beginning to align – but will the fly-off still take place?..

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M224 firing
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Flowforming is an advanced cold forming process, used to manufacture dimensionally precise, seamless metal components in rounded shapes. The technology offers a number of advantages, including very high precision, the ability to use very thin walls or even variable thickness walls, refined grain structure and uniformly oriented texture that helps create higher yield and tensile strengths, and working with pre-hardened metals in ways that eliminate further grinding, machining, et. al. See flowforming animations.

On the materials side, Inconel 718 is a precipitation hardenable nickel-based steel alloy designed to display exceptionally high yield, tensile and creep-rupture properties at temperatures up to 1300°F. This alloy also has excellent weldability.

If you’re building mortar tubes that have to be light enough to carry, while containing and channeling the controlled explosions that send mortar bombs on their way, the attributes of flowforming and Inconel 718 make them an attractive combination. The US Marines certainly think so…

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Cougar 6×6, IEDed
- the crew lived.
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The photo at the top of this article never fails to grab our readers’ attention. As it should. Taken on the front lines in Iraq, it depicts a v-hulled Force Protection Cougar (MRAP Class II) vehicle, shortly after a deeply buried land mine believed to contain over 200 pounds of explosives blew up under the vehicle. That’s a shocking big boom, and even MRAP vehicles do not guarantee protection against a blast that size. Indeed, US MRAP tests at Aberdeen Proving Ground are considered vicious because they use 30-50 pound charges – a test set that has failed at least 3 MRAP contenders. Amazingly, the Cougar in this picture did what it was designed to do, minimizing the impact of the blast by deflecting it to the smooth v-hull’s sides, rather than catching the full impact on a Hummer’s flat bottom and multiple “blast trap” niches. The engine was thrown over 100 feet from the vehicle – but the crew lived. The challenge then became removing the vehicle wreck, instead of finding enough crew remains to provide a burial.

This picture provides a certain level of perspective, as one contemplates the recent NY Times article “Hopes for Vehicle Questioned After Iraq Blast”. While Australia’s DoD has a standing “On the Record” section of the site that takes issue with media reports they believe to be misleading or flat out wrong, the US Department of Defense hasn’t quite caught up yet. It did issue a direct response in this case, however, and the contents are interesting…

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The U.S. Army Sustainment Command in Rock Island, IL recently issued a delivery order for the full amount of a $52.2 million firm-fixed-price contract with ATK’s Lake City Small Caliber Ammunition Co., LLC in Independence, MO. Work will be performed in Independence, MO and is expected to be complete by Sept 30/09. One bid was solicited on Oct 31/06, and 1 bid was received (DAAA09-99-D-0016).

The contract is slated to finance the ongoing modernization and enhancement of ammunition production at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, a legacy of World War II that remains the USA’s main manufacturing plant for small caliber (.50 caliber and lower) ammunition. In July 2005, “Pass The Ammunition: Army Taking Action on Small-Cal Shortages” explained the issues American forces have faced with ammunition shortages, and the steps that have been taken over the past few years to address this issue.

CC-177, Inuvik
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When Canada announced a program to replace its aging CC-130 Hercules fleet in November 2005, there was a great deal of speculation about where the C-17 might fit in. The fast answer was that it didn’t, but speculation revived following the Liberal government’s defeat and the formation of a new Conservative Party government. The new government justified that speculation, creating a separate Strategic Airlift competition – and the shape of its specifications suggested that Canada was about to reprise Australia’s recent move and buy at least 4 of Boeing’s C-17 Globemaster III aircraft. Australia, Britain, and the USA already operate the C-17; NATO is scheduled to buy 3-4 as a shared strategic airlift solution, but the procurement is in limbo.

Canada has traditionally resisted buying strategic airlift, choosing instead to participate in NATO’s SALIS consortium that leases ultra-heavy AN-124 aircraft for such roles. Other leased alternatives to the C-17s were available to Canada, including one based on Canadian soil – but in the end, the C-17 was the sole realistic competitor for this C$ 3.4 billion (USD$ 3 billion) program, and is entering service in Canada as the CC-177.

Canada has now taken delivery of its 1st and 2nd CC-177s, and begun flying missions to Jamaica, the Arctic, and Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Boeing has announced industrial offsets in Quebec and Atlantic Canada. DID has updated our article, and added new pictures…

• Canada’s Strategic Airlift RFP & Contracting Process (i.e. Continue reading…) [updated]
• Canada’s CC-177s: Key Contracts & Events [updated]
• Appendix A: Alternative Proposals
• Appendix B: Additional Readings
  
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N.B: No pilot
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The F-4 Phantom II fighter still flies with a number of air forces, including Egypt, Germany, Greece, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, and possibly Iran. These large 2-seat multi-role fighters were a triumph of thrust over aerodynamics, and formed the mainstay of the USAF and US Navy fleets for many years. QF-4s are former F-4s that currently sit in storage at the AMARC “Boneyard” near Tucson, AZ. They are refurbished for flight at AMARC, then flown to BAE in Mojave, CA and fitted with remote-control equipment in a process that takes about 160 days. Once fitted for the UAV role, they are used as aerial targets and decoys for testing against air-air missiles, radars, surface-air missiles, et. al. As of April 2007, BAE Systems has converted 217 F-4s to the QF-4 configuration.

It’s financially prudent, and fitting in a way for an old warrior to go out in a fireball of glory – but sad, too, somehow. Recent announcements may indicate more interesting possibilities ahead, however, even as another QF-4 order comes in….

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Tear-down first…
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Walsh Construction Co. in Chicago IL won a $61.7 million firm-fixed-price contract for military housing at Whiteman Air Force Base, MO. Notable tenants at Whiteman include the USA’s 509th Bomb Wing and its 21 B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, as well as the Air Force Reserve’s 442nd Fighter Wing that flies the A-10 Thunderbolt II and the Missouri Army National Guard’s 1-135th Aviation Battalion, which flies the AH-64 Apache helicopter.

Work and is expected to be completed by Feb 9/11. Web bids were solicited on Aug 17/07, and 2 bids were received by the Army Corps of Engineers in Kansas City, MO (W912DQ-08-C-0015).

Phalanx, firing
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The radar-guided, rapid-firing Mk. 15 Phalanx Close-In Weapons System (CIWS, pron. “see-whiz”) can fire between 3,000-4,500 20mm cannon rounds per minute, either autonomously or under manual command, as a last-ditch defense against incoming missiles and other targets. Phalanx uses closed-loop spotting with advanced radar and computer technology to locate, identify and direct a stream of armor piercing projectiles toward the target (see video: MPEG | AVI, with hat tips to the good folks at Digg.com).

As of Feb 28/07, More than 895 Phalanx systems had been built and deployed in the navies of 22 nations. The latest development is C-RAM/Centurion, a land-based system designed to defend against incoming artillery and mortars.

This is DID’s FOCUS Article with respect to the Phalanx CIWS. Recent developments include a minor services & support contract…

• The Phalanx Platform: Competition, Upgrades & Developments [updated]
• Land-Based Phalanx: C-RAM
• Phalanx Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
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