Cpt. Jones & the Mayor
in Karmah, Iraq
(click for interview)

Twentynine Palms, CA has hosted one of the Marine Corps’ most unique assets: battlefield foreign language specialist role players. Iraqis who play D&D? No, Iraqis who can help the Corps simulate life and cultural norms in Iraq. In recent days, the Marines have handed out over $400 million in contracts to keep that capability running – and extend it to Camp Lejeune. Characteristically, Alaskan firms have won both awards, just as they have taken a significant share of Special Operations Command’s foreign language PsyOps support contracts.

These role player awards seems like large but inconsequential outlays, a sort of upside-down Disneyworld for Marines. In fact, they are more critical to current military effectiveness on the front lines than just about any piece of equipment DID covers. An example of how critical this work is can be found in journalist Michael Totten’s reports from the front lines. “Builders of Nations” noted the contrast between prior military training, and the civil administration work that characterizes current deployments to Fallujah. Totten writes:

Continue Reading… »

NETFIRES concept
(click to view full)

The basic concept of NETFIRES (a Future Combat Systems program) is to develop a family of artillery-like precision attack missiles based upon a vertical launcher design. Yet the idea goes far beyond that simple description. The NETFIRES CLU box launcher is intended to be be fully autonomous, meaning it can be dropped off anywhere and operate on its own without a support vehicle. The launch unit includes power generation and control systems as well as a total of 15 missiles, each with a warhead similar in size and capability to a 155mm artillery shell.

The system is also known as Non Line-Of-Sight, Launch System, or NLOS-LS, and remains one of Future Combat systems’ most promising programs, slated for early fielding to the Army and even for integration with US naval forces.

This will be DID’s focus article for the NETFIRES program, and it will be updated as new events and contracts enter the picture. The latest news involves successful logistics and field tests for the platform, as it gears up to be part of FCS Spinout Phase 1.

• The NETFIRES Concept
• NETFIRES Missiles
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Appendix A: Lockheed’s Successful Design Improvement Workshops
• Appendix B: Additional Readings & Sources
  
  Continue Reading… »

The US Department of Defense’s prescription drug spending alone is estimated to reach $15 billion by 2015. GAO examined DOD’s prescription drug spending trends from fiscal years 2000 – 2006 and DOD’s key efforts to limit its prescription drug spending at retail pharmacies, military treatment facilities (MTF), and the TRICARE Mail Order Pharmacy (TMOP). That spending more than tripled to $6.2 billion in 2006 from $1.6 billion in fiscal year 2000, and retail pharmacy spending drove most of this increase with a $3.4 billion. Part of the issue is that more people arer using more costly retail pharmacies instead of MTFs or mail order, and so the US DoD has used a variety of techniques to try and slow that cost growth.

Report #GAO-08-327, “DOD Pharmacy Program: Continued Efforts Needed to Reduce Growth in Spending at Retail Pharmacies,” goes into more detail regarding these issues, and the solutions being tried, from pharmacy rebates, to outreach efforts like the Member Choice Center, to initiatives aimed at changing copayment policies to provide the right incentives. See also “TRICARE Trials & Tribulations,” which places prescription drug costs within a much larger issue of US military medical costs more generally.

RN CVF Concept
(click to view full)

In 1998, Britain’s Strategic Defence review (SDR) announced plans to replace the current set of 3 Invincible Class 22,000t escort carriers with 2 larger, more capable Future Aircraft Carrier (CVF) ships that could operate a more powerful force. These new carriers would be a joint-service platform, operating aircraft and UAVs from all three services (Navy, RAF, Army) in a variety of roles that could include ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance), force projection and logistics support, close air support, anti-submarine/ anti-surface naval warfare, and land attack.

Once the new ships of the Queen Elizabeth Class are complete, Britain will possess a full-size carrier force for the first time in several decades. CVF carriers will initially be equipped with the F-35B STOVL Lightning II, along with AEW aircraft and helicopters; but the ships will be upgradeable to handle conventional fixed-wing naval aircraft and/or unmanned UCAVs during their expected 40-50 year life span.

CVF, De Gaulle, and
Invincible Class
(click to add Nimitz)

The scale of the CVF effort relative to Britain’s past experiences means that the program structure is rather complex. It has passed through several stages already, and is being run and conducted within an industrial alliance framework. There is also a parallel international framework, involving cooperation with France on its PA2 carrier as a larger derivative of the CVF design.

This DID FOCUS article covers that structure and framework, ongoing developments, and the ships themselves as they round toward final design, construction, and fielding. Recent updates include an elevator buy, and some tax issues that are creating concern about the project’s structure…

• The CVF Queen Elizabeth Class (“continue reading…”)
• Program Team: The Aircraft Carrier Alliance
• CVF Program Management
• The CVF Program: Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• CVF-Related Contracts and Events
• Additional Readings & Sources: The Program
• Additional Readings & Sources: The Ships
  
  Continue Reading… »

EPLS
(click to view full)

Good car owners take their vehicle in for maintenance after a certain number of months, or a certain number of miles, whichever comes first. Depending on the vehicle’s age and mileage, the dealer’s mechanic will have a list of standard systems to check and/or replace. It’s the same for the military, with the added pressure that vehicle breakdowns in a combat zone are not acceptable. So the inspections and rebuilds take place regularly, and it’s considered better to replace a working part with a new one than risk problems later. Unless, of course, land vehicles included the same sort of proactive diagnostics (“prognostics”) that are making their way into aircraft and helicopters. Maintenance could then take place only when necessary, keeping a higher percentage of vehicles in service, saving some money, and creating faster turnaround time for real problems.

That’s the aim of the US Marine Corps’ Embedded Platform Logistics System….

Continue Reading… »

NSC 1 Bertholf
(click to view full)

The US Coast Guard’s massive $25 billion Deepwater meta-program (really Deepwater-II given post-9/11 changes) has endured more than its share of ups and downs. Nevertheless, Congressional support remains strong, and efforts are being made to restructure the program and get it back on track. “Voted Off the Island: The USCG’s Deepwater FRC Program” offered an in-depth look into the difficulties faced by the USCG’s Island Class cutter modification program, and by the Deepwater Fast Response Cutter that was supposed to replace it. “US Coast Guard’s Deepwater Effort Hits More Rough Sailing” covers recent program developments more generally.

The Legend Class National Security Cutters are the largest ships in the Deepwater program, and represent the program’s flagship in more ways than one. The 418 foot, 4,300 ton ships will be frigate-sized vessels with a 21 foot draughts¹, and are rather larger than the 379 foot, 3,250 ton Hamilton Class High Endurance Cutters (HECs) they will replace. Controversies regarding durability and potential hull fatigue, as well as significant cost overruns, have shadowed the new cutter’s construction. Nevertheless, the program appears to be moving forward.

This DID FOCUS Article covers recent developments concerning the Legend Class cutters. The latest developments include ongoing trials for the first-of-class ship, delayed delivery, a tempest over TEMPEST, and a GAO report that looks at the state of the program…

• Quick Background: The Deepwater Program
• The Legend Class National Security Cutters
• The Pitfalls of Being a Legend: NSC Issues & Action [updated]
• Legend Class Program: Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings [updated]
  
  Continue Reading… »

Building the F-35
(click to view full)

At present, F-35 Lightning II/ Joint Strike Fighter production is led by Lockheed Martin, with BAE and Northrop-Grumman playing major supporting roles, and many subcontractors below them. F-35 main production and final assembly is currently slated to take place in Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth, TX plant, though Italy and Britain may end up getting Final Assembly and Check-Out (FACO) plants of their own.

In order to cut F-35 production cycle time, and hence production costs, the team currently produces major sections of the aircraft at different feeder plants, and “mates” the assemblies at Fort Worth. This is normal in the auto industry, but it’s a departure from the usual fighter-building process which has raw materials and individual parts or small sub-assemblies feed into production lines, then rolls finished fighters out the other end. The precise tolerances required for a stealthy fighter, however, are much more exacting than even high-end autos. To cope, Manufacturing Business Technology reports that the team has turned to an integrated array of back-end IT systems in order to manage this new process, from CATIA CAD, to Visiprise MES, TeamCenter PLM, SAP ERP, and even a locally-designed Production & Inventory Optimization System (PIOS) for manufacturing resources planning and supply chain management.

This ‘digital thread’ has been very successful for the team, with part fits showing incredible precision, and successful coordination of plants around the end schedule for key events like the Dec 18/07 F-35B rollout. The system’s ultimate goal is to cut a plane’s production cycle time from the usual 27-30 months to about a year, and lead time from order creation to printed, matched manufacturing orders from 15-20 days to 6-8 days. Read MBT’s “Fly high on a thread” to learn more.

US Congressional Government Accountability Office auditors, in “GAO-08-294: Best Practices: Increased Focus on Requirements and Oversight Needed to Improve DOD’s Acquisition Environment and Weapon System Quality”:

“A Senate report related to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 asked GAO to compare quality management practices used by the Department of Defense (DOD) and its contractors to those used by leading commercial companies and make suggestions for improvement. To do this, GAO (1) determined the impact of quality problems on selected weapon systems and prime contractor practices that contributed to the problems; (2) identified commercial practices that can be used to improve DOD weapon systems; (3) identified problems that DOD must overcome; and (4) identified recent DOD initiatives that could improve quality. GAO examined 11 DOD weapon systems with known quality problems and met with quality officials from DOD, defense prime contractors, and five leading commercial companies that produce complex products and/or are recognized for quality products.”

Their conclusion, in brief?

Continue Reading… »

AAAV/ EFV, swim mode
(click to view full)

The US Marine Corps’ AAVP7 Amtracs have been their primary ship to shore amphibious armored personnel carrier for a long time; the AAV7A1 was initially fielded in 1972, and underwent a major service life extension program and product improvement program from 1983-1993. The Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle is the USMC’s plan to replace the aging AMTRACS that continue to see extensive service in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The personnel version of the new EFVs will have a high-tech weapons station: a stabilized ATK 30mm MK 44 Bushmaster cannon with advanced sights replace the AAV’s .50 caliber machine gun, and the new vehicle will carry a crew of 3 plus a reinforced rifle squad of 17 combat-loaded Marines. A command variant will carry an array of communications and computer systems and staff personnel. The EFV is one of the U.S. Marine Corps’ the top land acquisition priorities, with a number of new capabilities surpassing the AA7 Amtracs it would replace – along with a much heftier price tag. Indeed, before recent program reductions, the US GAO reported that EFV had accounted for 25.5% of the Corps’ total acquisition budget during FY 2006-2011.

This DID article addresses some of the EFV’s capabilities, and tracks ongoing contracts related to the program as works toward successful system design & development. The most recent updates involve new pictures, a pair of contracts to help address the EFV’s technical issues, and some sharp scrutiny and comments from both sides of the political aisle in the Congressional Seapower and Expeditionary Forces subcommittee…

• EFV: Capabilities & Characteristics (aka. “Continue reading…”)
• EFV: The Program
• EFV: Controversies & Arguments
• EFV: SDD Phase Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources
  
  Continue Reading… »

(click to visit)

Booz Allen Hamilton in Norfolk, VA received a $25.6 million cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price contract to provide expertise in change management, organizational barrier identification and removal, and key enterprise performance metrics to the US Navy. This contract includes a base year and 4 one-year options, which if exercised, bring the total estimated value of the contract to $120.1 million.

Work will be performed in various locations around the continental United States (CONUS), and the base year will be complete by January 2009. Contract funds will expire at the end of the fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured though Government-wide Points of Entry, Navy Electronic Commerce On-line, and Federal Business Opportunities websites, with 3 offers received by the Fleet and Industrial Supply Center Norfolk (N00189-08-D-0022).