• EADS CEO says the company is looking to buy a medium-sized defense company in the US; last US acquisition was PlantCML.

• The use of metrology assisted machining, manufacturing, and assembly is growing in the aerospace sector.

• Strategy Analytics: Annual market for SATCOM-related electronics to grow from $796 million in 2009 to nearly $2.58 billion in 2020.

• Der Spiegel Online attempts to cover the growing use of UAVs, includes interview with Brookings’ Peter Singer (vid. “In the Loop? Armed Robots and the Future of War”)

• US Navy i-ENCON program saves 354,000 barrels of fuel during Q1 2010; 4.9% better than Q4 2009.

• WIRED Danger Room looks at ongoing issues with removable storage in US military, and the flip-side of its cyber-security efforts for operations.

• Boeing completes design of US Navy free electron laser weapon system to take out high-speed cruise missiles.

• Honeywell gets US Army order to maintain Cold War era Washington-Moscow hotline.

• CACI secures $219 million contract to provide C4ISR and IT to SPAWAR Systems Center Atlantic.

F-35A: incoming…
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GAO reports; Denmark picks Super Hornet?; New program head nominated; Landing gear contract; P5 waveform contracts; new flight decks wanted; videos!. (March 19/10)

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 [updated]
• F-35 Program: Ancillary and Sub-contracts, FY 2009 – 2010 [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources\
• Video Viewing [NEW]
  
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JHMCS for USAF, USN, Belgium. (March 19/10)

In the 1970s, fighter aircraft began to appear with Head-Up Displays (HUD) that projected key information, targeting crosshairs etc. onto a seemingly clear piece of glass. HUDs allowed pilots to keep their eyes in the sky, instead of looking down at their instruments. Ever since, we’ve been wondering when we’d see them in our automobiles. In the 1990s, another innovation appeared: helmet-mounted displays (HMDs) put the HUD inside the pilot’s helmet, providing this information even when the pilot wasn’t looking straight ahead. The Israelis were already pioneering a system called DASH (Display And Sight Helmet) when a set of former East German MiG-29s equipped with Soviet HMDs slaughtered USAF F-16s in NATO exercises. Suddenly, helmet-mounted displays became must-haves for modern fighters – and a key partnership positioned Elbit to take DASH to the next level.

This DID Spotlight article offered insights into the rocky past, overall state, and future of a program that has experienced its share of snags and controversy – but went on to become the #1 helmet-mounted sight in the world today. It also details the JHMCS’ game-changing effects on air combat, its production sets and known customers, and all contracts since full-rate production began.

• JHMCS: A Combat Multiplier [updated] (i.e. Continue reading…)
• JHMCS: The Program to Date
• JHMCS: Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Appendix A: JHMCS History & Challenges
• Appendix B: Additional Readings & Sources
  
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The US Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) multiple award indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts to Parsons Infrastructure and Technology Group in Pasadena, CA (N62470-10-D-2019) and HDR Engineering in Colorado Springs, CO (N62470-10-D-2020) for planning and engineering services at US Navy and US Marine Corps facilities and other government facilities worldwide.

The maximum dollar value, including the base period and 4 option years, of the 2 contracts combined is $60 million.

The two companies will provide project planning documents, cost estimates, planning studies, visioning and scenario workshops/planning, geo-spatial information and services, and other planning and engineering services for construction projects…

Continue Reading… »

C-17 over Hawaii
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Q3 payment raises FY 2010 total over $800 million. (March 18/10)

While the C-17 may have limited production time in its future, the C-17 Globemaster Sustainment Partnership is likely to continue for many years. The rising cost of maintenance has made it a greater concern to the world’s militaries, and new contract vehicles are reflecting that. Under the C-17 Globemaster III Sustainment Partnership, Boeing has total system support responsibility for the big transport aircraft, including materiel management and depot maintenance, for fleets around the world. The goal is total aircraft sustainment support under a single contract, in order to achieve improvements in mission readiness, while reducing operating and support costs. The initial contract had an estimated total value of $4.9 billion, which is likely to grow as Boeing’s customer base grows in Australia (4), Britain (6), Canada (4), Qatar (2), and NATO (3).

This is DID’s in-depth, updated FOCUS Article covering this major international program, offering key statistics for the aircraft, explaining the GSP’s components, and detailing its contracts.

• The C-17 Globemaster III
• The C-17 Globemaster III Sustainment Partnership
• The C-17 PE/PI Program
• Contracts and Key Events, FY 2004-Present [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources
  
  Continue Reading… »

• Defense executive panel offers advice to contractors on future industry challenges.

• Nordic Alliance proposal continues to make political progress.

• ASDReports.com: Global market for armored vehicles will reach $10.3 billion, fueled by continued IED threat.

• US Army: “Review drops two-war force size paradigm,” changing the assumptions used to set required military forces.

• “American Civil Liberties Union” sues the government, asking for in-depth information about the use of UAV strikes in foreign wars.

• CSC snags 5-year, $27 million contract to provide IT to US DoD’s Dependents Schools-Europe, which runs 81 schools for the children of US military.

• Cubic in San Diego, CA will supply small arms training systems to Saudi Arabia under a $30 million contract.

• Boeing’s A160T Hummingbird Warrior helicopter UAV completes resupply trials with US Marines. Main competition is Kaman’s K-MAX.

• USAF continues its shift from cost-plus contracts toward fixed-cost, for the F-35 program. Meanwhile, the first production model F-35B hovers in a test.

• Navy Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Release 1.1 (Single Supply Solution) goes live at Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP). Sounds simple. Isn’t, in practice.

• General Dynamics gets $30.6 million contract to supply 118 Type-3 advanced mission computers for the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter aircraft.

• Czech firm Aero Vodochody says it will supply 40 cockpits for the US Blawk Hawk troop transport and utility helicopter.

On March 17/10 DLA’s Defense Supply Center Philadelphia awarded 2 contracts to Cardinal Health, a Dublin, OH-based pharmaceutical and medical products supplier, worth up to $807.1 million for drug distribution to US military medical facilities worldwide.

Under a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity prime vendor contract (SPM2DX-10-D-0001), Cardinal Health will distribute drugs to medical facilities onboard US Navy ships. The contract has a 20-month base period with two 20-month option periods and a maximum value of $150 million, according to a DefenseLink announcement.

Under a requirements-type prime vendor contract (SPM2DX-10-D-0027), the company will distribute pharmaceuticals to US military medical facilities in Europe and the Pacific. That contract has a 20-month base period worth $206.4 million and two 20-month option periods, with a maximum value of $657.1 million, according to a FedBizOpps notice.

DLA also selected a small business qualifier as a secondary drug supplier to Europe and the Pacific.

Continue Reading… »

US “Chair” Force?
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UAVs have played a crucial role in gathering intelligence in the US military’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. There are thousands of UAVs gathering and distributing valuable data on the enemy, but each system uses its own proprietary subsystem to control the air vehicle as well as receive and process the data. Yet commanders need access to information gathered by all types of UAVs that are flying missions in their area of operation.

Recognizing this shortcoming, the Pentagon began an effort in 2008 to break down the proprietary barriers between UAV systems and create a single GCS that will fly all types of drones.

This free-to-view DID Spotlight article examines the problem of proprietary UAV systems and efforts to break down barriers to sharing vital UAV-generated information.

• Ground Control to Major Tom: The Role of GCS
• Come Together: The Pentagon’s UCS-WG
• Are You Going STANAG?: NATO’s Standard
• One is the Loneliest Number: AAI’s OneSystem
• Red ROVER, Red ROVER: The ROVER Datalink
• Masters of the Universe: Raytheon’s UCS
• Too Close to the Sun: ICARUS and Autonomy
• Contracts and Key Events
• Additional Readings
  
  Continue Reading… »

Skynet 5 satellite model
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When militaries around the world have wanted to expand their satellite communication (SATCOM) capacity, they traditionally have had 2 choices – either pay a satellite manufacturer billions of dollars to build a satellite constellation and then own and operate the constellation themselves or lease capacity on commercial satellites, with all the attendant concerns about availability and security.

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) came up with an innovative approach to expanding its SATCOM capacity called Skynet 5.

Through a GBP 3.6 billion UK MoD private finance initiative (PFI), EADS Astrium manufactures the Skynet 5 satellites and Paradigm owns, manages, and operates the Skynet constellation. The satellites are built to UK military specifications and the UK is committed to purchasing satellite capacity from Paradigm, an EADS Astrium subsidiary…

Continue Reading… »

B-2 drops JDAM
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$46.3 million to Kaman for 12,994 JPF fuzes for JDAMs. (March 15/10)

DID’s FOCUS articles offer in-depth, updated looks at significant military programs of record. This DID FOCUS Article looks at the transformational history of the JDAM GPS-guided bomb program, the ongoing efforts to bring its capabilities up to and beyond the level of weapons like Israel’s Spice and Raytheon’s Enhanced Paveway, and the contracts issued under the JDAM program and its derivatives.

Precision bombing has been a significant military goal since the invention of the Norden bomb sight in the 1920s, but its application remained elusive. Over 30 years later, in Vietnam, the destruction of a single target could require 300 bombs, which meant sending an appropriate number of fighters or bombers into harm’s way to deliver them. Even the 1991 Desert Storm war with Iraq featured unguided munitions for the most part; the US Air Force did use some laser and TV-guided weapons like Paveway bombs and Maverick missiles, but they were very expensive and only effective in good weather. If precision bombing was finally to become a reality throughout the Air Force, a new approach would be needed. The Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) became that alternative, an engine of military transformation that was also a model of procurement transformation.

• JDAM: A History of Transformation
• JDAM: Program & Variants [updated]
• JDAM: Contracts and Key Events, 1996 – Present [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources
  
  Continue Reading… »