Oshkosh M-ATV
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$84.7 million for M-ATV explosively formed penetrator kits. (Feb 5/10)

“The Government plans to acquire an MRAP All-Terrain Vehicle (M-ATV). The M-ATV is a lighter, off-road, and more maneuverable vehicle that incorporates current MRAP level [bullet and mine blast] protection. The M-ATV will require effectiveness in an off-road mission profile. The vehicle will include EFP and RPG protection (integral or removable kit). The M-ATV will maximize both protection levels and off-road mobility & maneuverability attributes, and must balance the effects of size and weight while attempting to achieve the stated requirements.”
  —US government FedBizOpps, November 2008

Oshkosh Defense’s M-ATV candidate secured a long-denied MRAP win, and the firm continues to remain ahead of production targets. The initial plan expected to spend up to $3.3 billion to order 5,244 M-ATVs for the US Army (2,598), Marine Corps (1,565), Special Operations Command (643), US Air Force (280) and the Navy (65), plus 93 test vehicles; but FY 2010 budgets and purchases have pushed this total higher.

• MRAP ATV: Requirements and Contenders
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
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Tejas LCA
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India committing another $1 billion to development; engine partnership contenders expanding and evolving. (Feb 3/10)

India’s fighter strength has been declining in recent years, as the MiG-21s that form the largest component of its fleet are lost in crashes, or retired due to age and wear. Some MiG-21s are being modernized to MiG-21 ‘Bison’ configuration, while other current fighter types are undergoing modernization programs in order to maintain the fighter force until replacements can arrive. On which note, an ongoing tender has Russian, French, American, Swedish and European manufacturers dueling for the MMRCA, a multi-billion dollar, 126+ plane light-medium fighter sale.

This still leaves India without a low-end solution to the twin problems besetting its overall fleet: numbers, and age. The MiG-21bis program adds years of life to those airframes, but that extended lifespan is still quite finite; by 2020, it is very unlikely that any MiG-21s will remain. MMRCA may replace some of India’s mid-range fighters, but that still leaves replacement of the MiG-21 fleet. Hence the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) project’s importance to the Indian Air Force’s future prospects. Choices made in the LCA’s design will also affect the lightweight fighter’s export potential, which feeds back into the overall program’s lifetime costs and viability. As time presses, however, India’s rigid domestic-only policies are gradually being relaxed, in order to field an operational and competitive aircraft.

• LCA Tejas: India’s Lightweight Fighter
• LCA Tejas: Program Future and Prospects
• Updates and Events [updated]
• Appendix A: DID Analysis & Op/Ed (2006)
• Appendix B: The Kaveri Engine: Keystone, or Killer?
• Appendix C: Additional Readings & Sources
  
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Saar 5 Eilat Class
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The 1,227t/ 1,350 ton Sa’ar 5 Eilat Class corvettes were built by Northrop Grumman in the 1990s for about $260 million each. It’s a decent performer in a number of roles, from air defense to anti-submarine work, to coastal patrol and special forces support – but a master of none. The Israelis are looking for a next-generation vessel with better high-end capabilities, and the USA is their logical supplier. Given Israel’s size and cost requirements, however, the only American option was their Littoral Combat Ship.

Israel pursued that option for several years, conducting studies and trying to get a better sense of feasibility and costs. Their approach would have been very different from the American LCS ships, removing the swappable “mission modules” and replacing them with a fixed and fully capable set of air defense, anti-ship, and anti-submarine weapons. In the end, however, the project was deemed to be unaffordable. Instead, Israel is negotiating with Germany – whose surface shipbuilder is now partly owned by a United Arab Emirates consortium…

• LCS-I: Details and Rationale [updated]
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources
  
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The US military’s JTRS program began in the late 1990s as an attempt to unify its underlying communications infrastructure. The idea was to create a family of radios for troops, vehicles, ships, et. al. that all shared a similar underlying architecture, could use Internet Protocol for data, and was a “software-defined” platform that relied on software rather than hardware to handle communication protocols. This would eliminate the Iraqi war phenomenon of multiple radios in each vehicle, in order to let the troops inside talk to various services et. al. It would also make the equipment far more “future proof,” by allowing in-place upgrades to extend compatibility with American and foreign systems, add new communications waveforms, et. al.

The program was visionary – and very ambitious. Ongoing requirements creep was thrown into the mix, and the result was major delays and cost overruns that eventually led to the complete restructuring of the program. The part of the program that aimed to create radios for aircraft and ships – the Airborne, Maritime/ Fixed Station Joint Tactical Radio System (AMF JTRS) – saw pre-system development and demonstration contracts issued to Team Boeing (Boeing, BBN Technologies, Harris, L-3 Communications, Milcom Systems Corporation, Northrop Grumman, Rockwell Collins) and to Team Lockheed (Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon) back in 2004, with an extension in 2006 that brought the totals to about $75 million each.

Team Lockheed won the $766.2 million AMF JTRS development contract in March 2008 and completed the critical design review for the system in December 2009. The team recently received a $29 million contract modification to integrate 5 additional waveforms into the AMF JTRS platform…

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Old as the hills…
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DID’s FOCUS articles cover major weapons acquisition programs – and no program is more important to the USAF than its current bid to replace its aerial tanker fleet. In January 2007, the big question was whether there would be a competition for the USA’s KC-X proposal, which will cover 175 production aircraft and 4 test platforms. The cost for this first phase alone is likely to reach $35+ billion spread over about 20 years, but America’s 40-50 year old aerial tanker fleet demands new planes. Otherwise, unpredictable age or fatigue issues, like the ones its F-15A-D fleet experienced in 2008, could ground its aerial tankers – and with them, a substantial slice of the USA’s total airpower. KC-Y and KC-Z contracts may follow in subsequent decades, in order to replace all 530 KC-135s/ Boeing 707s (195 active; ANG 251; Reserve 84) that were delivered until 1965, as well as the USAF’s 59 larger KC-10 tankers delivered from 1979-1987.

In the end, it was Team Boeing’s KC-767 Advanced (767-200 derivative) vs. the Team Northrop Grumman KC-30B (Airbus A330-200 derivative), both within the Pentagon and in the halls of Congress. Most observers correctly pointed out that all this lobbying was important, since the financial stakes guaranteed a huge political fight no matter which side won. A fight that ended up sinking, and restarting, the entire program.

Recent additions revolve around the KC-X v2.0 draft RFP’s release, as the canceled competition is on again, with a decision expected by mid-2010. As expected, complaints regarding the structure and process have already begun. The latest additions include a pair of milestones for the Airbus entry – which may prove moot, as Northrop Grumman indicates that it may not bid under the current terms. An update from the Pentagon makes February 2010 the likely decision date for Northrop, while an aerospace analyst looks at KC-X in context of Boeing and Airbus’ overall situations and strategies…

• KC-X: The Story So Far
• KC-X RFP v2.0: The New Structure
• The Contenders and The Cargo Factor: KC-30B, KC-767… KC-777?
• KC-X: Teams & Locations
• KC-X RFP: Key Developments [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
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AT-6B Concept
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In counter-insurgency fights, slower aircraft are often better than front-line jet fighters. In April 2007, Flight International reported that the USAF’s Aeronautical Systems Center (ASC) had issued a solicitation on behalf of the Iraqi Air Force [IqAF] to buy at least 8 counter-insurgency (COIN) aircraft, with a dual role as intermediate to advanced single-engine turboprop trainers. The solicitation required a single-engine turboprop powered that is in “wide use,” powered by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 family engine, with an advanced suite of sensors and weapons including electro-optical sensors and guided weapons capability. Indeed, the solicitation went one step further, and narrowed the field to 4 candidates that can be difficult for a novice to tell apart.

The program’s planned timeline hit delays, and the training aircraft were technically split from the counter-insurgency buy. Formal requests have now been issued for up to 56 aircraft, however, as Iraq seeks a combination of trainer and armed COIN aircraft using different variants of the same plane. Manufacturing is underway, and Iraq has now received its first 4 aircraft, in an important ceremony whose components reach far beyond just 4 planes…

• The COIN Contenders
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
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Warrior in “Wrap-2” armor
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Britain’s MCV-80/FV510 Warrior Infantry Fighting Vehicle was produced between 1984 and 1995. Built of all-welded aluminum construction and armed with the 30 mm Rarden cannon, it was designed to be a fast, armored battlefield taxi for up to 7 infantry soldiers, capable of offering strong supporting fire and destroying enemy armored personnel carriers at ranges of up to 1,500m. These IFVs were pressurized to protect against Soviet chemical and biological weapons, and included a full range of night vision equipment. They served capably during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, were used to maintain the peace in Bosnia/Kosovo, and have found themselves in very high demand on the post 9/11 front lines.

Individual programs have improved some vehicles’ optics, radios, and add-on armor, but keeping the fleet in service until 2035 will require more. Hence the GBP 1 billion (currently about $1.65 billion) Warrior Capability Sustainment Programme (WCSP).

In mid-November 2009, BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin UK submitted their bids…

• WSCP Program, Technologies, and Bid Teams
• Contracts & Key Events
• Additional Readings
  
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Preveze Class
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Back in March 2006, Defense-Aerospace relayed a Turkish SSM procurement agency RFI for 4 more diesel-electric submarines. That RFI became an RFP for 6 diesel-electric submarines with air-independent propulsion systems.

DID covers the competition, and adds some quick background re: the Turkish Navy’s existing fleet, where its rival Greece stands, and potential submarine competitors. Turkey has a signed multi-billion Euro contract for HDW’s U214 subs… and Hurriyet says they got a better deal than previously reported.

• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings [updated]
• Appendix A: Current Incumbents, and Future Possibilities
• Appendix B: The U209 Family
  
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IAF: Jaguar, Mirage 2000
SU-30K, MiG-27, MiG-21BiS
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“It’s the biggest fighter aircraft deal since the early 1990s,” said Boeing’s Mark Kronenberg, who runs the company’s Asia/Pacific business. India’s planned multi-billion dollar jet fighter buy is a contest between Dassault, Saab, MiG, American competitors and EADS’ Eurofighter.

What began as a lightweight fighter competition to replace India’s shrinking MiG-21 interceptor fleet appears to have bifurcated into 2 categories now, and 2 expense tiers. What’s going on? In a word, lots. The participants changed, India’s view of its own needs is changing, and the nature of the order may be changing as well – but with the release of the official $10 billion RFP, the competition can begin at last. DID offers an in-depth look at the MRCA/MMRCA competition’s changes, the RFP, and the competitors; and also offers an updated timeline regarding competitive moves since this article was published in March 2006.

The RFP responses were submitted in April 2008, and the IAF is beginning the competitive fly-off. France’s Rafale has climbed back into the race, but the breakdown of negotiations to upgrade the IAF’s Mirage 2000s may damage its chances, even as it increases the MMRCA order…

• India’s MRCA (Multi-Role Combat Aircraft): Changes (i.e. “Continue reading…”)
• MMRCA: The RFP, Please…
• The Competitors: Analysis
• MMRCA: Updates and Developments [updated]
• Appendix A – MMRCA: The Naval Angle
• Appendix B – Dassault’s Move: Au Revoir, Mirage
• Additional Readings
  
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Austrian Alouette-III
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How safe are the Indian Army’s aging fleets of Chetaks (Aerospatiale SA316 Alouette III) and Cheetahs (SE316B Alouette II)? These old designs have consistently proven themselves in high altitude operations, and remain useful as long as their airframes remain safe. The problem is that at their age, the safety margin is pretty slim.

In 2003, India issued an RFP for 197 light helicopters estimating a deal worth between $500-$600 million to buy 60 helicopters outright, with the remaining 137 being built under license by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Eurocopter’s AS550 C3 Fennec and Bell Textron’s 407 competed in the second and final round of summer trials, and as 2007 ticked toward a close, it looked like we had a winner. As often happens in India, however, the process ended up completely derailed. There’s a new RFP out – but inside lobbying from HAL has backed India off of its initial goal of 312 foreign helicopters.

Bell Helicopter’s withdrawal from the v2.0 RFP made this a smaller competition. Now there are reports that dithering by India’s procurement bureaucracy will make it a late one, even as HAL’s alternatives continue to roll off the lines…

• The Contenders
• Milestones & Developments [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources
  
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