ATFLIR imagery
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Dec 26/07: Raytheon Co. in El Segundo, CA receives a $77.5 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-06-C-0310), exercising an option for 27 Full Rate Production Lot 6 AN/AAQ-228 Advanced Targeting Forward Looking InfraRed pods for the F/A-18 A-D Hornet and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft. Work will be performed in El Segundo, CA (60%) and McKinney, TX (40%), and work is expected to be completed in November 2010. The Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River, MD issued the contract.

ATFLIR replaces 3 pods on the F/A-18: the TFLIR targeting FLIR, the navigation FLIR and the laser designator tracker. ATFLIR’s magnification is 30x-60x versus previous FLIR capabilities at 4x; it will also provide GPS coordinates to precision weapons such as JSOW and JDAM, and can stream video feed via the ROVER link to JTAC forward air controllers or to command centers.

ATFLIR on F/A-18F
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ATFLIR has receives fine reviews from pilots in theater, but to date it has only been integrated into F/A-18 family aircraft (US Navy, US Marines, ordered by Australia & Switzerland). Its competitors have been integrated with several other aircraft types, and even some F/A-18 fleets fly with NGC/RAFAEL’s LITENING (Australia, Spain, Finland) or Lockheed Martin’s Sniper ATP (Canada). F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet fleets use only ATFLIR, however; even LITENING customer Australia will be buying ATFLIR pods for its 24 F/A-18F Block II Super Hornets.

Is it?
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Readers may recall “2006 Carbine Competition: What Happened, Revealed” back in February 2007. It discussed an Army solicitation for competitive procurement of 5.56mm carbines, which was withdrawn once the primary manufacturer Colt dropped its prices. The DoD’s Inspector General got involved, and the Army dissented, defending its practices as a sound negotiating approach that saved the taxpayer a lot of money on the contract. As it turns out, there’s a sequel. A major sequel, that’s only getting bigger with time.

It seemed like a routine request. Order more M4 carbines for US forces in the pending FY 2007 supplemental, FY 2008 budget, and FY 2008 supplemental funding bills. It has turned into anything but a routine exercise, however – with serving soldiers, journalists, and Senators casting a very critical eye on the effort and the rifle, and demanding open competition.

With requests amounting to $375 million for weapons and $150 million in accessories, they say, the Army’s proposal amounts to an effort to replace the M16 as the USA’s primary battle rifle – using specifications that are around 15 years old, without a competition, and without considering whether better 5.56 mm alternatives might be available off the shelf. Meanwhile, the M4/M16 family is both praised and criticized for its current performance in the field. DID explains the effort, the issues, and the options.

The latest developments? The M4 and 3 competitors, including one M4 variant that can be converted from existing rifles, come out of a sandstorm reliability test – and the M4 finishes dead last, with more than 3.5x more jams than the 3rd place finisher. But the US Army publicly says that it doesn’t care, and orders more….

• The M4 Carbine
• Nobody Loves Me but My Mother – and She Could Be Jivin’ Too…
• The Cry for Competition: How Much Is That HK In the Window?
• Testing, Testing – Fairly?
• UPDATES: The Tests, Reactions, and Subsequent Developments [NEW]
• Any Last Words?
• Appendix A: M4 Carbine Contracts Announced to Date
• Appendix B: Additional Readings & Sources – News & Developments
• Appendix C: Additional Readings & Sources – Weapons
  
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French Mirage F1s
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Morocco’s combat air force currently flies 2 squadrons of old F-5s, and 2 squadrons of only slightly newer Mirage F1s; T-37 light jets serve as key transitional trainers. Their neighbor and rival Algeria flies MiG-23s of similar vintage, but adds far more modern and capable MiG-29s. The Force Aerienne Algerienne also flies SU-24 Fencer and SU-25 Frogfoot strike aircraft, and is set to receive 36 multi-role MiG-29SMTs and 30 multi-role SU-30MKs as part of a multi-billion dollar weapons deal with Russia. Morocco is looking for replacement aircraft that will prevent a complete overmatch, and provide it with a measure of security.

Initially, they looked to France. France’s Rafale is part of a set of European 4+ generation fighters that were developed and fielded during the 1990s-early 21st century, with the aim of surpassing both existing offerings among America’s “teen series” fighters, and Russia’s Mig-29 Fulcrum and SU-27/30 Flanker family. “Dogfight at the Casbah: Rafale vs. F-16” discussed the French sales slip-ups that cost Dassault its first export order for the 4+ generation fighter. That outcome is now official. Just to make things worse, the final multi-billion dollar deal involves new-build F-16s, at a price comparable to the rumored figures for the Rafale. Not to mention an accompanying request to replace their T-37 trainer fleet…

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AIM-9X test
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“F-18 Hornets: Keeping ‘Em Flying” details the efforts underway in a number of countries to extend the useful lifespans of their F/A-18 A-D Hornet fleets, from major structural replacements to capability upgrades.

Switzerland’s Dec 18/07 request to the USA [PDF] to extend the useful life of 33 Swiss Air Force (SAF) F/A-18C/D aircraft via its F/A-18C/D Upgrade 25 Program falls into this same category. The SAF have also recently returned from a successful trip to the USA, which allowed them to use American weapon ranges to test the integration of their new AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles with their existing Hornet fleet

This phase of the “Upgrade 25” Program will be worth up to $535 million, and is expected to include:

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Lighterage from USS Seay
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Lighterage is about loading or unloading ships using lighters (barges) that can form a sort of ad-hoc ramp or shuttle from ships at anchor; they are often used when a port’s dockside is too shallow for the ship, or dockside berths are unavailable. These modules greatly expand landing options for well-equipped militaries, and may be versatile enough to be used in sea-based transfers as well; yet lighterage is one of those quiet enablers that rarely receives the attention it merits.

Marinette Marine Corp. in Marinette, WI has won a firm-fixed-price contract (N00025-03-C-0002) for the manufacture of the new Improved Navy Lighterage System, including both powered and non-powered modules. The total contract could rise to $404.8 million if all options are exercised. The systems will be delivered at Naval Amphibious Construction Battalion One in Coronado, CA; Naval Amphibious Construction Battalion Two in Little Creek, Norfolk, VA; the Expeditionary Warfare Training Group Pacific; and Blount Island Command in Jacksonville, FL.

DID has the contract series, and an INLS photo, below…

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Finnish F/A-18D
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Dec 17/07: Northrop Grumman Corp. in Rolling Meadows, IL received a $23.4 million firm-fixed-price contract to provide 10 AN/AAQ-28 LITENING AT Block II Pods and the associated hardware and services required to operate and maintain the system. All services are being performed in support of the F/A-18 aircraft program for the Government of Finland under the Foreign Military Sales Program. LITENING pods have been integrated with other F/A-18 fleets, so that process is fairly straightforward.

Work will be performed in Rolling Meadows, IL and is expected to be completed in Dec. 2012. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00019-08-C-0007). See also Jan 31/08 NGC release.

The BULL concept
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“More MRAPs: Navistar’s MaxxPro,” covered the growing threat of EFP (Explosively-Formed Penetrator) land mines in Iraq, which fire into the side of a vehicle like a tank round. PVI & RAFAEL’s MRAP Cat-II Golan vehicle is already prepared to counter them – if fitted with explosive reactive armor that’s designed in from the outset as an invisible upgrade over conventional armoring. Other MRAP manufacturers have also been scrambling to find solutions via bolt on kits, or even different armoring schemes entirely.

With or without the kits, those MRAP vehicles will certainly help soldiers and specialists on patrol – but what about the logistics & support forces delivering fuel and other key supplies, who must move most of it by road? Why not give them a similar level of protection? In March 2007, the US Army’s Ballistic Protection Experiment underwent testing, as the final step in a $2.1 million September 2006 contract funded in part by the US Army Rapid Equipping Force.

As MRAP CAT-II
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After sponsoring several proof-of-principle shots at Aberdeen to ensure the armor would work, the contract asked Ideal Innovations Inc. and Ceradyne Vehicle Armor Systems to build 2 trucks in 5 months, with the ability to defeat threats that included EFP land mines, while demonstrating desired driving durability & mobility. The partnership finished on time and on budget. More important, their vehicles passed the tests, and gave birth to a new integrated truck up-armoring system dubbed BULL. It’s an MRAP-II program contender for troop roles, and an offer has also been made to equip American logistics vehicles in theater.

Our last update addressed rumors that their vehicle has failed MRAP-II testing at Aberdeen. Normally, that’s a rumor that can’t be answered – but we thought we had one. That seems to have been the correct answer, because they have just received an order…

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CP-140 Aurora
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The CP-140 Aurora is a ‘Canadianized’ variant of the P-3 Orion aircraft used in the maritime surveillance role by the USA and many other countries. Like their fellow P-3s around the world, however, the Auroras have flown very long hours under very tough conditions. How to keep them flying at an affordable cost?

http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/newsroom/view_news_e.asp?id=1803
Canada’s CDN $1.67 billion Aurora Incremental Modernization Project began in 1998, and is an amalgamation of 23 individual projects grouped “into 4 chronologically consecutive block upgrades. Key upgrades underway under the AIMP to date have included navigation and flight instruments (CMC Electronics) under Block II, and new electro-optical and infared sensors (L-3 Communications) under Block III. A program to give these aircraft battlefield surveillance capability has also begun.

Hopefully, Canada’s Aurora Incremental Modernization Program will enjoy smoother implementation than Royal Australian Air Force’s recent “Project Air 5276” AP-3C modernization effort. AIMP, plus the Aurora fleet’s new long-term, performance-based maintenance program, is designed to keep Canada’s fleet flying until 2020…

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JS Kongo into Pearl
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In December 2003, Japan decided to upgrade their 4 existing Kongo Class AEGIS Destroyers and their SPY-1D radars to full AEGIS Ballistic Missile Defense capability. Installations are scheduled for 2007 through 2010, and each installation will be followed by a flight test to demonstrate proper operation. They will fire the naval SM-3 Standard missile, which is under co-development as part of cooperation with the USA on missile defense. These ships will form the outer layer of Japan’s anti ballistic missile shield, with the land-based Patriot PAC-3 forming the point defense component.

It would appear that the first-of-class ship JS Kongo [DDG-173] is also the first Japanese ship to have the BMD upgrade installed. Cue the flight test, as JS Kongo becomes the first Japanese ship to destroy a ballistic missile. On Dec 17/07 at 12:05 pm Hawaii time, a medium-range ballistic missile target was fired from the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, Hawaii. JS Kongo responded by tracking it and launching an SM-3 Block 1A missile at 12:08 pm. At 12:11pm, it destroyed the missile about 100 miles above the ocean, achieving a first for Japan and the 12th successful intercept overall for the SM-3 ABM program. The American cruiser and ABM test veteran Lake Erie [CG 70] monitored the test, tracking the incoming missile with its own AEGIS BMD and exchanging information with a land-based THAAD ABM unit on Kauai.

The test reportedly cost about $50 million, and comes just days after a Japanese navy lieutenant commander was arrested for leaking classified information about Japan’s ballistic missile defense system. US MDA release [PDF] | US MDA video footage [Windows Media] | Lockheed Martin release | Raytheon release | Boeing | Honolulu Advertiser | Associated Press via MSNBC | Voice of America | China’s Xinhua | Times of India

Click to view full set

JS Kongo fires SM-3
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Aviation Week’s “Obering Wants To Shift MDA to Realistic Testing” is an interesting article in light of today’s headline re: the ballistic missile intercept by a Japanese destroyer. US Missile Defense Agency chief Lt. Gen. Henry (Trey) Obering is quoted as saying that it’s time to incorporate more realism into the MDA’s testing process, now that basic intercepts have racked up a string of successes:

“What we have to do now is to turn our attention to make sure we can fully wring out the system in a variety of operational and realistic scenarios. And that is what we will be doing over the next couple of years.”

There are both technical and political dimensions to that course of action…

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