F/A-18F Super Hornet
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The US Navy flies the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet, and has just taken delivery of its first operational EA-18G Growler electronic warfare & strike aircraft. These buys are actually managed out of a common multi-year procurement (MYP) contract, which also manages many of the EA-18G’s support costs since it’s derived from the Super Hornet and many of the required maintenance items are common to both planes. The contract covers 42 aircraft per year, split between Super Hornets and EA-18Gs, with a variation quantity clause permitting up to 6 additional aircraft per year under the same terms. FY 2008 marks year 4 of the 5-year MYP-II contract.

DID already has an EA-18G FOCUS Article; we will be using this entry to cover the Super Hornet MYP program’s budgets, and this article has been updated to include all announced contracts since MYP-II began…

• Hornet MYP: Aircraft Types & Budgets [updated]
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings [updated]
  
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USN Heli Plan
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The US Army’s UH-60 Black Hawks have always had a naval counterpart. SH-60B/F Seahawk/ LAMPS helicopters were outfitted with maritime radar, sonobuoys, and other specialized equipment that let them perform a wide variety of roles, from supply and transport, to anti-submarine warfare, search and rescue, medical evacuation, and even surface attack with their Penguin missiles. They can be found aboard US destroyers, cruisers, and frigates. Like their land-based counterparts, however, the Seahawks are getting older. The Reagan defense build-up is receding into history, and its products are wearing out. The US Navy realized that a new set of naval helicopters was required, and technology advances offered the prospect of integrating greater capabilities into each machine without having to spend much on R&D.

European firms designed and built the EH101 medium helicopter, and then the smaller NH90, in order to perform these roles. These helicopters are both larger than the H-60 family, offering airframes made with corrosion-proof composites at a size that confers new capabilities. Both have enjoyed export success. The US Navy, on the other hand, believed that enhancing its proven Seahawk design would be the most cost-effective option for fleet recapitalization. Hence the MH-60R Multi-Mission Helicopter (aka. “Romeo”) and MH-60S (aka. “Sierra”). MH-60Rs and MH-60Ss will eventually replace all SH-60B/F & HH-60H Seahawks, HH-1N Hueys, UH-3H Sea Kings, and CH-46D Sea Knight helicopters currently in the US Navy’s inventory.

Before this program began, MH- was the traditional designation for special forces aircraft, but the Navy has now adopted it to stand for “multi-mission.” Confusing nomenclature aside, the new MH-60R/S helicopters will be the backbone of the US Navy’s future helicopter force. Both programs are underway, and will be covered in this DID FOCUS Article. The latest additions include a contract to modify the common cockpit, and suspension of the OpEval for part of the MH-60S’ AMCM anti-mine systems…

• Romeo, Armed: The MH-60R Multi-Mission Helicopter
• Blue Collar Sierra: The MH-60S
• The MH-60R/S Program
• MH-60R/S Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings and Sources
  
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Demron Bodysuit
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Ever since World War 1, operations in chemical environments have been a standard scenario for many of the world’s armies. With the invention of nerve gas, the risks multiplied further. Its ability to kill on contract required complete exposure protection, and the dawn of the nuclear era added the ability to operate in irradiated areas as a key criterion for NBC protective equipment like the USA’s MOPP and JSLIST gear. Even so, protection against ionizing radiation is limited.

Meanwhile, more peaceful uses of atomic energy were also creating a need for civilian clothing. Aside from those annoying lead bibs we all wear at the dentist, health professionals who use radiation treatments or work around X-rays can end up in a heavy shrouded lead vest with matching gloves and goggles. One South Florida physician hated them. In response, he eventually developed a fabric he calls Demron, a lightweight polymer composite of woven and non-woven materials comprising polyurethane, polyvinylchloride and a mixture of high-atomic-number salt particles that either absorb or disperse radiation. It’s cool to the touch, lightweight, and provides much more freedom of movement.

Tests at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons have all been positive, and Dr. DeMeo’s firm Radiation Shield Technologies (RST) of Coral Gables, FL recently announced its first contract. NATO is funding a $250,000 contract for 250 Demron suits that will be deployed by the Ministry for Emergency Situations of the Republic of Belarus, where Chernobyl was located. That’s an incredibly small contract by DID’s standards, but the technology is interesting and shows promise for use in combination with suits like the JSLIST, or in first-responder body suits, tactical vests, suppression blankets, tents, and other military and home security applications.

UH-60M Black Hawk
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By early July 2006, Bahrain was one of 2 foreign countries requesting the latest model UH-60M helicopter: Bahrain (9 UH-60Ms etc., up to $252 million) and the UAE/Dubai (26 UH-60Ms etc., up to $808 million). There can be a long slip between the June 28/06 notification [PDF format] and the contract, however, as illustrated by the fact that it was June 19/07 before Sikorsky announced a deal to make Bahrain the UH-60M Black Hawk’s first international customer.

Bahrain will buy 9 UH-60M helicopters; according to Sikorsky’s June 2007 announcement, they will cost up to $204 million with included add-ons, spares, and support. The helicopters will be used in a variety of roles, including combat search and rescue.

April 29/08: Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT receives a $30.4 million firm-fixed price contract for conversion of 9 UH-60M Blackhawk helicopters into “unique aircraft configuration for the Bahrain Defense Force,” and to provide training, technical publications, integrated logistics support, field service representative, warranty, and ferry flight technical shipping support. Work will be performed in Stratford, CT and is expected to be complete by Dec 31/12. One bid was solicited on Oct 20/05 by the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command in Redstone Arsenal, AL (W58RGZ-08-C-0003)

Dec 14/07: Bahrain’s 9 helicopters are ordered under a multinational $1.48 billion firm-fixed-price contract, taking advantage of the USA’s buying power by becoming part of the Multi-Year VII initial year contract award. The entire $1.48 billion order covers 106 Army and Navy helicopters for the USA, Bahrain and Thailand, as well as tooling, program systems management and production of technical publications. Work will be performed in Stratford, CT, and is expected to be completed by Dec 31/12. There was 1 bid solicited on Oct 20/05, and 1 bid was received (W58RGZ-08-C-0003).

Do you feel lucky…?
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DID has covered the T-45 Training System before, which includes T-45 Goshawk aircraft, advanced flight simulators, computer-assisted instructional programs, a computerized training integration system, and a contractor logistics support package. The integration of all five elements is designed to produce a superior pilot in less time and at lower cost than previous training systems.

The US Navy uses the Hawk-based T-45TS system to train its pilots for the transition from T-6A Texan II/ JPATS aircraft to modern jet fighters – and carrier landings. This is not a risk-free assignment, by any means. Nevertheless, it is a critical link in the naval aviation chain.

DID recaps its coverage of the complete T45TS system, notes the relevant budgetary figures, and covers its contracts from FY 2006 onward. This May 1, it’s appropriate that our coverage focuses on a union-related contract award…

• History & Background
• T45TS Contracts
  
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CF-18: which way?
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The Hornet is the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet’s predecessor, and the first models were introduced in the late 1970s as a spinoff of the USAF’s lightweight fighter competition. While the General Dynamics F-16 won, Northrop’s YF-17 eventually evolved into the McDonnell-Douglas (now Boeing) F/A-18 Hornet.

The F/A-18 Hornet is currently flown by the US Marine Corps as their front-line fighter, by the US Navy as a second-tier fighter behind its F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets, and by 7 international customers: Australia, Canada, Finland, Kuwait, Malaysia, Spain, and Switzerland. The USA’s aircraft were expected to have a service life of 20 years, but that was based on 100 carrier landings per year. The US Navy and Marines have been rather busy during the Hornets’ service life, and so the planes are wearing out faster.

This is forcing the USA to take a number of steps and issue a series of contracts in order to keep their Hornets airworthy, replacing center barrel sections, re-opening production lines, and more. Some of these efforts will also be offered to allied air forces, who have their own programs and services to call upon. The latest additions involve a contract for spare rudders…

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The US GAO’s 2008 Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs is proving to have a longer tail than usual. Booz Allen Hamilton is a strategic/ I.T/ program assistance consultancy with strong representation in the government and defense sectors. This May Day, we refer readers to the recent Washington Post article “One-Stop Defense Shopping,” wherein Booz Allen Hamilton VPs Dov S. Zakheim and Ronald T. Kadish discuss the state of competition in the American defense industry, and some of its consequences:

“The GAO report lays bare a festering problem in our nation’s military procurement system: Competition barely exists in the defense industry and is growing weaker by the day.

It was a different story just two decades ago. In the 1980s, 20 or more prime contractors competed for most defense contracts. Today, the Pentagon relies primarily on six main contractors to build our nation’s aircraft, missiles, ships and other weapons systems. It is a system that largely forgoes competition on price, delivery and performance and replaces it with a kind of “design bureau” competition, similar to what the Soviet Union used—hardly a recipe for success….”

America is certainly not the only country facing these pressures: Britain is even farther down this road, and Europe is aggressively moving to restructure its own industry into a very few global competitors. Ultimately, the policy implications described here will be played out on a near-global basis, with the possible exception of China.

MH-60R & ALFS,
Bermuda
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The AN/AQS-22 Airborne Low-Frequency Sonar (ALFS) will equip the US Nay’s new MH-60R multi-mission helicopters, and will serve as their primary anti-submarine sensor system. The new FLASH sonar operates at lower frequency and higher power waveforms than existing dipping sonars, which will increase the opportunities for long-range detections; indeed, the AQS-22 dipping sonar claims 4x area coverage compared to current systems and includes both active or passive sonar modes. Submarine tracking, localization, classification are all covered. A winching system with up to 2,500 feet of cable raises and lowers the sonar, and the complete system also includes active or passive sonobuoys, enhanced shallow water capability via processing improvements, underwater communication and environmental data collection capabilities, and other advanced characteristics.

ALFS is a cooperative venture between Raytheon Corp. and Thales Underwater Systems, which supplies a modified version of its FLASH wide-band sonar. Thales’ Folding Light Acoustic System for Helicopters (FLASH) helicopter-borne dipping sonar is widely popular, and has been chosen by the the US (MH-60R), France (NH90 NFH), Norway (NH90 NFH), Sweden (NH90 NFH), UAE (Naval Cougar), and UK (EH101 MERLIN); it is also currently proposed for the German Navy’s NH90.

Contracts involving ALFS include…

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Outta here.
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Up-armored Hummers are still the most common vehicles in front-line service with American forces. To date, however, soldiers have reported problems getting doors open or getting out of the vehicle after land mine blasts, or during accidents that involve water. Lives have been lost, and the problem has spawned ingenious solutions like 10th Mountain Division’s door-ripping “Rat Claw” that saved Lt. Col. Michael Infanti in Iraq.

BAE’s VEE Window is a simple technology that allows crews inside a HMMWV to remove the ballistic windshields in less than 5 seconds and escape during an emergency, such as a rollover or accident. A crew member who can move freely simply pulls out the locking pins, turns the 2 latches, and pushes the window out. Since the window is otherwise normal, the VEE Window meets current windows’ ballistic properties, and was approved for the M1114 HMMWV following a series of Army performance and safety tests at Aberdeen Test Center in the summer of 2007. An order was placed in August 2007, and now a second order has been added to equip American Hummers…

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Iraqi Police,
Baghdad
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Global Fleet Sales, Inc. is a member of the RM Asia Group of Companies, and has a long history of working in “difficult market situations” to produce modified and baseline Ford vehicles for companies and organizations involved in Humanitarian, Aid, Relief and Development Projects, and Police services around the world. The firm has been tapped for a number of US government contracts beginning in 2005, and DID has covered one of those contracts for Afghan Police vehicles. GFS maintains all of the vehicles used by the Afghan National Army, with maintenance facilities in Mazar-e-Sharif, Herat, Kandahar, Kabul and Gardez; its parent firm RM Asia has a full country office in Afghanistan.

GFS has now opened a production and engineering center at Thailand’s Laem Chabang duty free deep sea port, near the Ford plant at Rayong. The new production facility provides the full range of vehicle modifications ranging from special application fire trucks to ambulances, military Vehicles, severe off-road (SOR is an excellent acronym…) vehicles, refrigerated boxes, and limited accessory fitting. They complement the firm’s on-site warehouses for parts et. al.

A couple of recent awards fall under a 3 year firm-fixed-price contract with the US military to provide modified vehicles for customers like the Afghan and Iraqi police, and for other foreign military sales customers who might choose to order under the set contract terms and advantageous prices the US military has negotiated. GFS’ Contracts include…

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