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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MvD’s JSS concept

Rolls Royce signs engine/generator contract. (Feb 5/10)

In January 2010, Damen Schelde announced a contract from the Dutch Defence Materiel Organisation to build a 28,000t “Joint Logistic Support Ship” (JSS). The vessel is scheduled to launch in 2014 and replace the existing 16,900t HNLMS Zuiderkruis.

The Dutch want a very versatile ship that can resupply other warships, transport significant loads of army equipment and vehicles, act as a floating headquarters, take on hospital duties, and embark up to 6 helicopters. That level of versatility will come with costs. Canada’s ill-fated JSS program had similar or larger ambitions, but the 3-ship, C$ 2.9 billion program was ultimately suspended when contractors informed the government that they could not supply what Canada wanted at the prices demanded. Can the Netherlands be more successful?

• The Dutch JSS Ships
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
  
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67% of the fleet
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Program changes create a Nunn-McCurdy breach, trigger forced review. (Feb 3/10)

The prime missions of the new DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class destroyer are to provide naval gunfire support and next-generation air defense in near-shore areas where other large ships hesitate to tread, possibly even as the anchor for an action group of stealthy Littoral Combat Ships and submarines. The estimated 14,500t (cruiser sized) Zumwalt Class will be fully multi-role, however, with undersea warfare, anti-ship, and long-range surface attack roles.

That makes the DDG-1000 suitable or another role – as a “hidden ace card,” using its overall stealth to create uncertainty for enemy forces. At over $3 billion per ship for construction alone, however, the program faced significant obstacles if it wanted to avoid fulfilling former Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter’s fears for the fleet.

True, or False?
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DID’s FOCUS Article for the DDG-1000 program covers the new ships’ capabilities and technologies, key controversies, associated contracts and costs, and related background resources. From the outset, DID has noted that the Zumwalt Class might face the same fate as the ultra-sophisticated, ultra-expensive SSN-21 Seawolf Class submarines. That appears to have come true, with news of the program’s truncation to just 3 ships. Meanwhile, production continues.

• Zumwalt Class: Program and Participants
• DDG-1000 Key Technologies and Features
• DDG-1000 Issues and Controversies
• Zumwalt Class: Contracts and Key Events
  • FY 2010 [updated]
  • FY 2009
  • FY 2008
  • FY 2007
  • FY 2006
  • FY 2005
  • FY 1998 through 2004
• Additional Readings & Sources
  
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Austal MRV/JHSV concept
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Is program expansion from 8 to 28 ships in the cards? (Feb 3/10)

The US Army and Navy have leased Incat TSV/HSV wave-piercing catamaran ship designs, while the Marines’ charged ahead with very successful use of Austal’s Westpac Express high-speed catamaran. These Australian-designed ships all give commanders the ability to roll on a company with full gear and equipment (or roll on a full infantry battalion if used only as a troop transport), haul it intra-theater distances at 38 knots, then move their shallow draft safely into austere ports to roll them off.

Unsurprisingly, their use has attracted favorable comment and notice from all services. So favorable that the experiments have led to a $1.6 billion program called the Joint High Speed Vessel, which could involve up to 10 ships. These designs may even have uses beyond simple ferrying and transport. DID’s FOCUS articles offer in-depth, updated looks at significant military programs of record, and this article covers JHSV from its inception onward.

• The US Military’s HSV/TSV Experience
• The JHSV Program
• Contracts & Key Events
• Additional Readings & Sources
  
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General Dynamics Team
Trimaran LCS Design
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New RFP, FY 2011 budget request, Problems with ship survivability, LCS-2 commissioning, GAO costs report. (Feb 2/10)

Exploit simplicity, numbers, the pace of technology development in electronics and robotics, and fast reconfiguration. That was the US Navy’s idea for the low-end backbone of its future surface combatant fleet. Inspired by successful experiments like Denmark’s Standard Flex ships, the US Navy’s $30+ billion “Littoral Combat Ship” program was intended to create a new generation of affordable surface combatants that could operate in dangerous shallow and near-shore environments, while remaining affordable and capable throughout their lifetimes.

It hasn’t worked that way. In practice, what the Navy wanted, the capabilities needed to perform primary naval missions, and what could be delivered for the sums available, have proven nearly irreconcilable. The LCS program has changed its fundamental acquisition plan several times since 2005, and canceled contracts with both competing teams, without escaping any of its fundamental issues. This public-access FOCUS article offer a wealth of research material, alongside looks at the LCS program’s designs, industry teams procurement plans, military controversies, and contracts.

• LCS: Concept & Needs
• LCS: The Competing Teams
• LCS Solution = Standard Equipment + Mission Modules
• LCS: Controversies & Cautions
• LCS: Budgets and Program Structure [updated]
• LCS: Export Potential
• LCS: Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• LCS Ancillaries: Mission Module & Weapon Contracts & Key Events
• Additional Readings & Sources [updated]
  
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F-35A: incoming…
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FY 2011 budget proposals, withheld performance fees, a change in program leadership, Australian reaction. (Feb 2/10)

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. New material is highlighted by putting it in green type.

• 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
• Additional Readings & Sources
  
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Iron Dome radar
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Fresh off of a small contract to provide its EL/M-2112 ground tracking radars to coalition forces operating in Afghanistan, IAI ELTA recently announced a $50 million export contract for the radar component of Israel’s “Iron Dome” rocket/artillery defense system. That system competes with laser-based alternatives like SkyGuard, and shorter-range options like the Phalanx Centurion, as a protective option against shells and rockets with ranges of 4-70 km. constant artillery barrages of such projectiles, aimed at Israeli towns and cities, was one of the main triggers of the 2006 Lebanon War.

The unnamed customer ordered several of the radars only, “for integration into a national self-protection system,” after a series of successful Iron Dome tests. Those January 2010 tests demonstrated radar tracking, the ability to ignore projectiles that would not hit protected areas, and successful interceptions using RAFAEL’s low-cost “Tamir” missile. At the time, Flight International reported interest from “2 Asian countries” in the system; based on security needs and customer status, the top 3 assumptions would be South Korea, India, and Singapore.

IAI spokespeople confirmed that the radars are an export contract, and note other reports of interest from coalition forces in Afghanistan. IAI’s official release is vaguer, but does say that: “Additional foreign customers have shown growing interest in the “Iron Dome” System and its subsystems, indicating large contracts in the future.” Meanwhile, Israel’s program for the whole Iron Dome system is on-track for operational deployment by summer 2010.

• Taiwan prepares to order a $6.45 billion weapons package, sparks predictable diplomatic huffing.

• The Pentagon plans to replace the official in charge of the F-35 JSF program and withhold $614 million in performance fees from Lockheed Martin for failing to meet key goals. At the same time Pratt & Whitney delivered the 1st F135 production engine for the F-35 aircraft.

• Sikorsky is investing $1 billion to develop an unmanned Black Hawk helicopter, which it hopes to have ready by 2015.

• USS George H.W. Bush [CVN 77] redelivered; its strike group will soon have the first female CSG commander in US Navy history.

• Shares of major US defense companies gained in trading following the unveiling of the Obama administration’s FY 2011 defense budget that would increase defense spending by 3.4%.

• The US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) had another setback in its effort to build a ballistic missile defense, when its Sea-Based X-band radar failed to track a target missile during a test at the Kwajalein Atoll in the South Pacific. MDA is also looking for a supplier for its target missiles.

• Prime contractor CSC gets $261 million in orders to provide IT and logistics services under the US Army’s Logistics Modernization Program.

• USAF orders more of Lockheed’s Sniper ATP surveillance & targeting pods.

• Rolls Royce scores a $146 million order to provide another year of C-130J fleet engine support.

• Singapore unveils its new G550 AWACS aircraft.

• Raytheon/Boeing’s JAGM missile contender finishes captive test flights.

• Raytheon BBN announces a successful ad-hoc networking experiment under DARPA’s WNaN effort.

PNP Satellite Concept
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The era of the huge military satellite programs that cost tens of billions of dollars appears to be over. At least as far as the US Congress is concerned. Last year, lawmakers shut down the $20 billion plus Transformational Communications Satellite (TSAT) System program after huge costs overruns and skepticism about the system’s unproven technology.

At the same time, the US Air Force is moving ahead with development of small satellites that can be developed quickly in response to tactical needs and launched within days. These small satellites would be constructed using preexisting modules to meet the communications and ISR needs of commanders in the field. They are called plug-and-play (PNP) satellites and are being developed by the US Air Force Research Lab (AFRL).

AFRL recently awarded a contract worth up to $200 million for work on the PNP satellite architecture…

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NPOESS (click to view full)

Latest update covers events from 2007 to January 2010.

The National Polar-orbiting Observing Satellite System (NPOESS) is a joint program of the Department of Defense, Department of Commerce and the NASA that will help develop 3-7 day weather forecasts for civilian and military purposes, replacing less sophisticated satellites that are expected to fail over the next several years. Those forecasts include weather like hurricanes, tornadoes, etc. Unfortunately, it now appears that NPOESS could be as much as $3 billion over budget, and that it is not expected to be launched until 2012 – 3 years later than the previous program plan, and at least 6 years later than earlier projections. Some gaps in coverage are possible during that time, if enough older satellites fail.

In November 2005 testimony given at a House of Congress Science Committee hearing, the Administrator of NOAA and the Undersecretary of the Air Force promised new cost and schedule estimates and policy options, as well as fuller and more rapid information. Nor are these the only changes underway in NPOESS, which was openly described as “a program in crisis.” Now, there are even rumors that the Pentagon may pull out of the program.

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