Ultra APV demonstrator

DOTE testing reveals vehicle & requirements flaws; Budget commitment to JLTVs; JLTV EMD RFP. (Jan 30/12)

In an age of non-linear warfare, where front lines are nebulous at best and non-existent at worst, one of the biggest casualties is… the concept of unprotected rear echelon vehicles, designed with the idea that they’d never see serious combat. That imperative is being driven home on 2 fronts. One front is operational. The other front is buying trends.

These trends, and their design imperatives, found their way into the USA’s Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program, which aims to replace many of the US military’s 120,000 or so Humvees. The US military’s goal is a 7-10 ton vehicle that’s lighter than its MRAPs and easier to transport aboard ship, while offering substantially better protection ad durability than existing up-armored Humvees. They’d also like a vehicle that can address front-line issues like power generation, in order to recharge all of the batteries troops require for electronic gadgets like night sights, GPS devices, etc.

DID’s FOCUS articles offer in-depth, updated looks at significant military programs of record. JLTV certainly qualifies, though its future remains cloudy. That’s partly due to expected spending cutbacks, and partly due to the possible presence of “good enough” substitutes…

• JLTV: Program & Risks
  • The JLTV Family of Vehicles
  • JLTV: Goals and Constraints
  • JLTV: To Be, or Not to Be?
• JLTV: Participants and Platforms [updated]
• JLTV: Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
• Appendix A: Phase 1 Technology Development’s Losing Teams
  Continue Reading… »

YRH-70 test, 2005

AAS budget realities; Article updates. (Jan 30/12)

The US Army’s ARH (Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter) program aimed to replace around 375 Bell Textron OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters, after the $14.6 billion RAH-66 Comanche program, was canceled in 2004. Instead, the Army would buy a larger number of less expensive platforms, with reduced capabilities. Bell Helicopter Textron initially won the ARH competition with a militarized version of its highly successful 407 single-engine commercial helicopter, but despite significant private investment after Army funding stopped in March 2007, spiraling costs killed the ARH-70 in October 2008.

What hasn’t changed is the battlefield need for on-call, front-line aerial surveillance and fire support. With its existing OH-58D stock wither wearing down, or shot down, the Army needs to do something. But what? This will serve as DID’s FOCUS Article for the ARH program, and its potential successor the Armed Aerial Scout. It includes updated background, coverage of contracts and key events, and additional research materials:

• The ARH Program: What Happened? [updated]
• ARH: Now What? [updated]
• The ARH Program: Contracts & Events [updated]
• Appendix A: Weary Warriors – The Army’s OH-58D Kiowa Warrior Fleet [updated]
• Appendix B: Initial Winner – Bell’s ARH-70
• Appendix C: Additional Readings & Sources
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Military grade robots may have swarmed into war theaters as a US “Army of the Grand Robotic”, but the ingenuity and charity of hobbyists still has a place on America’s front lines. In the 2000s front-line troops started using remote-controlled toys then US military made a big push to investigate and destroy suspected land mines using military-grade robots instead.

Americans are a tinkering lot by nature. The remote-controlled toy trucks that some troops were already using to nudge suspicious packages, are a classic example. They work even better with a weatherproof wireless camera on board, for looking under vehicles. Which is what software engineer Ernest Fessenden of Rochester, MN put together for his deployed brother, Chris, with the help of a local store called Everything Hobby….

Sniper on F-16

$600M+ LITENING support contract could include ATP-SE upgrades. (Dec 19/11)

At the end of September 2010, the USAF dropped something of a bombshell. Under their $2.3 billion Advanced Targeting Pod – Sensor Enhancement (ATP-SE) contract, the service that had begun standardizing on one future surveillance and targeting pod type decided to change course, and split its buys.

This decision is a huge breakthrough for Northrop Grumman, whose LITENING pod had lost the USAF’s initial 2001 Advanced Targeting Pod competition. As a result of that competition, the USAF’s buys had shifted from LITENING to Sniper pods, and Lockheed Martin’s Sniper became the pod of choice for integration onto new USAF platforms. Since then, both of these pods have chalked up procurement wins around the world, and both manufacturers kept improving their products. That continued competition would eventually change the landscape once again…

• ATP-SE: Evolution in Action
• ATP-SE: The Competitors [updated]
• Contracts & Key Events: ATP-SE
• Contracts & Key Events: ATP-SE Lead-Ins [updated]
• Additional Readings
  Continue Reading… »

Rustom-H mockup

3 variants; Rustom-1 flights. (Nov 11/11)

India has not been left out of the global UAV push. The country operates Israeli Searcher tactical UAVs, and Heron Medium Altitude, Long Endurance (MALE) UAVs, placing an additional Heron order in 2005. It has also undertaken development programs for a smaller UAV, the “Nishant”. With its “Rustom” program, however, India hopes to offer a UAV in the Heron/ Predator/ Watchkeeper class of MALE UAVs.

It had also hoped to begin to change a culture and tradition of wholly state-owned development of military hardware, which has not always performed well, or served India’s needs. A recent award has selected a winner, and moved the project forward. It may also serve as a reminder that bureaucracies are very difficult to change.

• The Rustom family of UAVs [NEW]
• Procurement & the Private Sector: India’s Struggles
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  Continue Reading… »

• The US DoD acquisition office hosted the 1st Product Support Manager (PSM) Conference last week. Among the material presented there, we recommend this overview [PDF] of Open Systems Architectures (OSA) and data rights. “Data rights are rights granted to the government for technical data and computer software” which can help DoD maintain competition over the life of a program, among other benefits.

• Also of interest from the PSM event: sustainment metrics [PDF]; this primer [PDF] on the role of PSMs, a position created under Section 805 of the FY10 defense authorization bill. Per DTM 10-015 [PDF], all ACAT I/II major programs must have a PSM supporting them.

• Conundrums can arise when safety procedures meet environmental concerns in the life of a military base. For instance, US DoD policy requires periodic aircraft hangar fire suppression foam system nozzle discharge checks to make sure these systems will perform when needed. But these necessary checks generate nontrivial amounts of wastewater, a liability and another burden to deal with. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Engineering Service Center think they have an answer with their “NoFoam” design [PDF].

• Meanwhile the US Army is trying to scale its renewable energy efforts through its recently-created Energy Initiatives Task Force (EITF).

• If you’re a US military member preparing to enter the federal or private sector workforce, this US Navy primer will help.

• The WSJ reports that the CIA has made concessions about how it uses UAVs for strikes in Pakistan.

• The USAF’s unique BACN jets and UAVs receive official designations.

• Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Andrew J. Shapiro gave a speech last Friday summarizing the nature of American military support for Israel, which receives $3B per year in funding for training and equipment under Foreign Military Financing (FMF), or 60% of a total $5.5B spread among 70 countries.

• Transfield Services (Australia) Pty Ltd wins A$ 90 million Comprehensive Maintenance Services (CMS) contract for all Defence establishments in South Australia, from 2011-2014, with options to 2017.

• The US Air National Guard has approved the new LITENING G4 surveillance and targeting pod for fielding on its F-16s.

• Bloomberg has a wrap-up on the F-35, one of the few programs that have been identified by name in recent budget cut talks.

• 6th Swiftship patrol boat delivered to Iraq.

• The anti-climatic video below shows US National Guard soldiers loading tanks to be shipped out of Contingency Operating Base Adder, Iraq:
  Continue Reading… »

Griffin-B launch

As UAVs proliferate, and the demands of counterinsurgency fights force militaries to look at arming new kinds of aircraft, a number of manufacturers and governments are looking to develop precision-guided “mini-missiles” and glide weapons. Raytheon’s 33+ pound, 42 inch long Griffin is a member of that class, and comes in 2 versions.

The Griffin-A version is currently in use as part of American roll-on armed kits for its C-130 Hercules transports. It’s dropped out of “gunslinger” tubes, providing precision firepower from the rear ramp. The Griffin B is a forward-firing weapon that can be launched from land, naval, or aerial platforms. Either way, the missile packs a 13 pound blast-fragmentation warhead, and uses a combination of GPS/INS and a semi-active laser seeker for guidance. Griffin-B is currently a candidate to equip the Littoral Combat Ship’s surface warfare module…

• Griffin And Its Uses
• Contracts & Key Events
• Additional Readings
  Continue Reading… »

AN-70

Antonov UAC JV; Other developments since 2009. (Oct 5/11)

Antonov’s AN-70 has had a long and difficult development history from its first studies and concepts in 1979, including the dissolution of its sponsoring state in 1991, the crash of the initial prototype aircraft in a 1995 collision with its chase plane, and the selection of the EADS A400M development project as the basis of Europe’s Future Large Aircraft (FLA). Antonov’s project has been kept alive on a shoestring budget by the participating companies, who believe that they have a winner on their hands if they can just bring it into production. The A400M’s struggles and cost escalation, and the C-130J’s 20-ton limitations, have validated that assessment – but assessments don’t meet payroll, or pay for equipment.

The FLA loss was indeed a bitter blow to a Ukrainian program that had already seen many setbacks. For many years, it even looked like the defeat might turn out to be fatal, consigning the AN-70 to “what if” status on par with Canada’s fabled CF-105 Avro Arrow fighter. Recent developments, 30 years after the project first began, look set to change that status…

• Team Antonov’s AN-70 [updated]
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
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Dutch HNLMS Tromp

As missile defense imperatives get stronger, and western defense budgets get weaker, one might expect both competition and cooperation to increase within this sector. That should be especially true around naval platforms, where multinational deployments are the normal operating mode. There are early signs that this is coming true.

In September 2011, Raytheon announced successful testing for a prototype dual-band datalink, allowing ships that use either Lockheed Martin’s SPY-1/ AEGIS system, or Thales Nederland’s SMART-L and/or APAR radars, to employ the full range of long-range Standard Missiles for air defense. That matters, because the SM-* family also includes a number of options with missile defense capabilities…

(click to view larger)

Turkey’s Cirit; TALON tests done. (Sept 13/11)

Sen. Leahy’s [D-VT] worked in the mid-2000s to keep the Hydra 70mm rocket family alive through special appropriations, just in time for the Hydras’ potential on the battlefield to rise again. The key was the addition of low-cost precision guidance, which would expand the number of precision weapons carried by helicopters, aircraft, and even UAVs.

Over the last few years, the US Army’s 2nd attempt at an APKWS 70mm guided rocket had a near-death experience, before righting the program with Navy funding. Meanwhile, private development efforts from Lockheed Martin, Thales TDA, and a raft of international partnerships involving major defense firms and partners in Korea, the UAE, Canada/Norway, and Israel are introducing new competitors into the precision-guided rocket space. This DID FOCUS article covers the most prominent competitors within the guided rocket trend. Their products will sit between full anti-armor missiles like Hellfire, TOW, and Brimstone, and an emerging class of ultra-small precision attack weapons like Northrop Grumman’s Viper Strike, Raytheon’s Griffin, etc…

• APKWS II: To be, or not to be…
• Lockheed Martin: Is this a DAGR I see before me…?
• LOGIR: ”...the heavenly-harnessed team/ Begins his golden progress in the east…”
• Raytheon and the UAE: “Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie…” [updated]
• Other Entries: “Come unto these yellow sands….” [updated]
• Additional Readings
  Continue Reading… »