RV Kilo Moana

Contract for 2nd ship of class. (Feb 3/12)

The USA’s University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System conducts research throughout the world’s oceans, and their fleet has shifted to 4 basic research vessel types: Global, Ocean/Intermediate, Regional and Coastal/Local. From 2014 onward, new Ocean Class ships will replace aging Intermediate Class ships in current use, and serve alongside the new SWATH-hulled RV Kilo Moana [T-AGOR 26]. Growing trends towards larger, interdisciplinary science teams, using more sophisticated research equipment, means a need for larger and more sophisticated ships. They new Ocean Class will provide parties of up to 25 scientists with an advanced blue-water platform that can stay at sea for up to 40 days, and cover up to 10,000 nautical miles.

Can they be built affordably? The US Navy is managing the competition, construction, and chartering process, and the 1st build contract was issued in October 2011:

• The Ocean Class
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
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• Latest on JSF: Reuters and Bloomberg report that Leon Panetta is about to announce that the F-35-B is off probation; Canadian industrial participation; 1st night flight; 3rd F-35B delivered; F-35C tail hook redesign.

• Israel’s IDF now believes that unrest in Syria has allowed Hezbollah to seize SA-8/ 9K33 vehicle-mounted surface-air missiles. They’re worried that Syria’s large chemical arsenal could also be vulnerable.

• K-Street Washington lobbyists see promise in the 2012 retirees, but how’s this for a blunt assessment? “Republicans are bonds. Dems are the options you play with the last 20 percent of your money…”

• The US Coast Guard is getting more and more interested in underwater inspection & surveillance. Their Research & Development Center is currently evaluating an advanced Underwater Imaging System (UIS) from CodaOctopus.

• Meanwhile, WSG has finished the initial demonstrations of their Argus One platform to the U.S. Department of Defense at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Nevada Test Site. Yes, this is our unmanned blimp, and yes, we are happy to see you.

• Could the same gas hydrates that caused the BP Deepwater Horizon’s blowup become a stable, low-energy input energy storage medium for hydrogen?

• Algorithms matter. Researchers have developed one that offers up to 10x improvement on the fast Fourier transform, widely used for tasks like image compression.

• Did the US Army’s policy of refusing to arm MEDEVAC helicopters, in a war against illegal combatants, cause the death of a US service member? Rep. Tom Akin [R-MO-2] is upset. The US Army responds.

• Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy’s principal deputy Dr. James N. Miller will replace her when she leaves next month according to Yahoo News.

• Memo from the Pentagon: “Multiple U.S. Army Public Health Command studies of basic trainees have demonstrated that shoe selection based on arch type does not reduce injuries.” They do have a lot of soldiers running, so they ought to know a thing or 2. What follows are tips and cautions re: using new “minimalist” running shoes like the New Balance Minimus.

• It’s hard to call people who pay farmers 1/1,000th of their crop’s value Marxists, but FARC tries to wear the mask. Turns out they’re under pressure on the cocaine front, so they’re switching to… cattle rustling.

• President Obama’s campaign donors at Lightsquared still have a big problem with GPS interference, according to the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Executive Committee, and the American FAA. The company didn’t mince words in its reaction: “the process used [...] was rigged by manufacturers of GPS receivers and government end users to produce bogus results”. Yeah, those evil FAA types, who want to be able to use GPS for civil aviation.

• France successfully launches [in French] its 4 Elisa project SIGINT/ESM micro-satellites, as a Soyuz rocket lifts of from French Guiana to place them in their 700 km orbit.

• Israel signs defense cooperation accords with Bulgaria. They’ve had military relations for some time, and Israel is an important defense supplier, but their record isn’t perfect.

• French naval personnel recently got an up-close evaluation of the MV-22 Osprey, aboard USS Bataan [LHD 5]. Even if they don’t buy it, it’s a step toward possible joint operations involving French ships.

• EADS’ executive succession is predictably political; CEO Gallois is asking for patience. Meanwhile, they’re still looking to the USA for possible defense growth.

• Russia gets another A-50U AWACS aircraft. It’s based on the same IL-76 airframe as India’s new A-50EI AWACS, but uses Russian radars and systems instead of Israeli technology. It will go well with their planned modernization of 60 MiG-31 Foxhound interceptor and C2 planes to MiG-31BM status.

• The Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff released the Joint Operational Access Concept (JOAC) [PDF] to describe how to gain operational access against modern Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) means.

• US Congressman Maurice Hinchey [D-NY-22] who sits on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense will retire at the end of this Congress.

• Lockheed Martin is shedding 90 electronics systems jobs in Maryland while CSC will lay off 114 people in Ohio.

• Adm. John C. Harvey, Jr. Commander, Fleet Forces Command in the US Navy wants his officers to know their ships and how they evolve: recommended video from last week’s SNA National Symposium.

• Construction of a solar farm has started at the Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) on the huge China Lake site in California.

• Lack of sleep makes you hungry. Something that serving military members had long suspected, now has scientific backing.

• Researchers at the San Antonio Military Medical Center think they have an E-75 vaccine targeting HER2/neu, that can reduce recurrence of breast & prostrate cancers. Big breakthrough? “Let’s test a vaccine for early-stage cancer on non-terminal patients!”

• US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said yesterday that the US Army stationed in Europe will replaces 2 brigade combat teams with rotational units.

• The Pentagon is going to discuss with other government agencies on how to deal with international dealings that appear commercial in nature but may bring defense considerations into play. This follows a letter sent by Congressman Randy Forbes (R-VA) expressing concern that joint ventures such as GE/AVIC might lead to sensitive tech ending up in Chinese military equipment.

• The latest Approach [PDF] is focused on Near-Midair Collisions (NMAC), whose number has been slowly creeping up to about 50 a year, according to the Naval Safety Center’s data. After a near encounter by just 10 feet between his FA-18E Super Hornet and a Predator UAV, CDR Richard Rivera offers some advice on deconfliction that includes not relying solely on instrumentation and keeping your eyes peeled.

• US Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), member of the Armed Services and Appropriations committees, addressed the Surface Navy Association Annual Symposium by expressing her concern on the Navy’s shipbuilding plans and the number of available ships.

• The US House Armed Services Committee is back in business next week with a hearing scheduled on Jan. 17 on the challenges of dealing with DOD for small and medium businesses.

• The US Navy accepted delivery of USNS Howard O. Lorenzen (T-AGM 25), the 3rd such Missile Range Instrumentation ship operated by Military Sealift Command (MSC) to collect dual-band radar data in order to check compliance with ballistic missile treaties.

• The French MinDef published a comparison of French and British defense spending [PDF, in French].

• Discussions on Scottish independence, puns on having a “neverendum” aside, raise significant defense questions. Video wrap-up below from British Forces News:
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• President Obama will attend today’s Pentagon briefing on strategic adjustments that will lead to a 10+% reduction in the number of ground troops (presumably from peak levels): NYT | Reuters | C-Span stream (to start live at 10:50am ET).

• The UK’s defence secretary Philip Hammond will meet his American counterpart Leon Panetta later today. Hammond’s take: “today the debt crisis should be considered the greatest strategic threat to the future security of our nations. The fact is, in this era of austerity… not even the United States can afford the astronomical resource commitment required to deal with every threat from every source.”

• Boeing confirmed it’s going to close its Wichita plant in Kansas by the end of 2013. Some of the 2,000+ jobs will be moved to sites in the states of California, Oklahoma and Washington; others will be cut. Congressman Mike Pompeo is fuming while Tom Cole and Rick Larsen are obviously more upbeat.

• Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) chief Marion Blakey: “At this point we see all of the oxygen in the room being absorbed by the presidential debates. We want to be part of that oxygen, if you will.” (WSJ)

• The British MoD is using balls of rubber strengthened with Kevlar to deliver fuel by helicopter or transport aircraft. Known as the Mk 5 Air Portable Fuel Containers and manufactured by GKN Aerospace, they weight 2 tonnes (4,400 pounds) when full. See a short video at the bottom of this entry. Now, wouldn’t this make sense slung under a K-Max?

• Vincent Manzo, a research analyst at the National Defense University asks [PDF]: where do space and cyberspace fit in questions of deterrence and escalation in cross-domain operations?

• DARPA scientists have found that using an antibiotic and a protein together is more effective to fight radiation than when used separately. Well, at least for mice, but the potential for human application seems promising.

• Gunther Krauter, the general secretary of Austria’s (left wing) Social Democrats (SPO), said the country should sell its Eurofighter jets. Though they belong to the same political party that’s currently leading the government, such as sale is not on the agenda of defence Minister Norbert Darabos, so he was not thrilled by Krauter’s unexpected suggestion: Austrian Independent | Austrian Times. Austria does plan to sell many of its tanks; another contentious issue is Darabos’ support for ending conscription (Germany did so last year, France too in the late 90’s/early 00’s). The right wing People’s Party (OVP), the junior member in an obviously uneasy coalition, had its spokesman call the SPO (in German) the Unsicherheitspartei (the “non-security party”). Surely there must be a 19-letter word for “ouch” in German.
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Johnny 5

It’s 2020. A US soldier sits down with a village sheikh, with an unusual robot in tow. The sheikh greets him courteously, respectfully, in flowing Arabic. At the appropriate time, the robot offers the same speech in English. The soldier nods, speaks, and gives a command, whereupon the robot offers dependable translation that’s even customized to the local dialect. Offshore, an intelligence analyst sorts through a combination of intercepted emails, recorded cell phone conversations, and document archives, looking for patterns and connections. She’s not fluent in Arabic, but the same technology used by the soldier is providing usable translations for her searches – asking her questions as needed, and helped by embedded clarifications and tags.

Thanks to a 2003 DARPA program, The world got to know Siri, the show-stealing component of Apple’s iPhone 4S. DARPA’s 2011 BOLT program aims to take the next step, from a silicon intermediary between man and machine to an intermediary between people. Even as it also provides a powerful back-end translation system for traditional intelligence tasks. It’s one of a family of ongoing translation research efforts, all aiming to solve a persistent and expensive problem for the US military.

• The Guardian in the UK has gathered and crunched more numbers on operations in Libya (see also past linkage to Libyan ops debriefing).

• The Pentagon is about to brief Lockheed Martin on how much F-35s should cost. Memos have also been flying back and forth between DoD and the Air Force on whether training should proceed before more test hours could be completed. Meanwhile the Canadian Defence & Foreign Affairs Institute would like to hear “more forthright and more detailed rationales” to support the F-35 choice.

• FY13 Pentagon budget to reflect a shift to Asia/Pacific? November/December is when the DOD and the OMB jointly work on the next fiscal year’s budget, aiming for the President’s budget February deadline. In the meantime, it would be nice for Congress to actually pass a budget for the current fiscal year since we’re already 1 month into it.

• Earlier this year Shay D. Assad, Director, Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy & Strategic Sourcing (DPAP – that’s within the US DoD’s acquisition office) released mandatory Source Selection Procedures [PDF] that apply to all negotiated, competitive DoD acquisitions under FAR Part 15, effective for RFPs issued since July 1, 2011. There is no template yet for the Source Selection Decision Document (SSDD) though. The Defense Acquisition University notes that the Army Source Selection Manual [PDF] from 2007 is as good as it gets, but some of the language it uses – such as the risk rating scheme – needs to be adapted to the new procedure.

• Speaking of the DoD’s acquisition online presence, it now has a whole section dedicated to Earned Value Management, or, in a mouthful, an “integrated management system that coordinates the work scope, schedule, and cost goals of a program or contract, and objectively measures progress toward these goals.”

• The Stimson Center released a report [PDF] last week providing a bird’s eye view of defense procurement FY01-FY10, and concluded that, despite very visible cancellations and cost overruns, the US military by and large successfully modernized its capabilities through the past decade.

• A paper by the Center for Strategic Leadership, U.S. Army War College on strategic minerals advises [PDF] to “restock, upgrade and adjust the objectives of the National Defense Stockpile [NDS], including new strategic and critical minerals such as REE [rare earth elements].” Related: this Reconfiguration of the National Defense Stockpile Report to Congress [DoD, 2009].

• In the 1st video below Rear Admiral Nevin Carr, Chief of US Naval Research, discusses directed energy and hypersonics. He notes that railguns can now shoot hundreds of times and are evolving towards more reasonable energy requirements. 33 megajoules (MJ) apparently amounts to the energy of a lot of Volkswagens compacted into a football flying at 100mph. The Navy’s railgun demo from December 2010 (2nd video below) shot a much lighter projectile… but at Mach 7. Anyway, you get the idea, 33MJ is researcher talk for “that’s gotta hurt.”
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Aug 16/11: U.S. Army Contracting Command, Natick, MA issues a multiple-award 5-year umbrella framework worth up to $497 million, implemented as a firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract between 26 (23) contractors. Winners will compete to provide US Navy Medicine Research and Development services with personnel, materials, equipment, facilities, science, and technology “that will sustain an acceptable level of medical research.” They included…

• US Army Corp of Engineers unveils $5 billion Civil Works plan for FY 2011.

• Nearly 1,000 workers at 3 defense contractors in the Washington, DC area – General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman – are being laid off this year, the Washington Examiner reports.

• A number of projects are working to free science from the bottlenecks of copyright-bound paper articles, even for research produced on the public dime. Open source science is impractical for much defense R&D, except as a potential input. On the other hand, new Open Science approaches have shown great promise for areas like disease cures – which do have a military dimension.

• India continues working on creating a nuclear triad with the deployment of its 1st Arihant class nuclear submarine expected in 2012. It also has inspection teams doing assurance checks in advance of an expected buy of M777 ultra-light howitzers.

• UK announces plans for a new nuclear-powered submarine to replace its existing Vanguard class submarine. Advance design contracts for the missile section started a while ago, and the main build decision is expected in 2016.

• Italy accepts 2 of its 4 ordered KC-767A aerial tankers into service, after a long set of technical delays and certifications.

• Israel is setting up a taskforce to develop defense capabilities against cyber attacks on critical infrastructure. Rumor has it that they set up a task force to handle the other end a while back. You’d have to ask the Iranians.

• UK Public Accounts Committee report cites GBP 3.5 billion in cost overruns for RAF Typhoon fighter program; MoD says program is “under control and back on track.”

• Republican US senators send letter to President Obama, opposing reported proposal giving Russia “red-button” sway over European missile defense shield, and sharing sensitive information about the program.

• Boeing Military Aircraft president Christopher M. Chadwick discusses India’s potential orders for 4 more P-8i sea control jets, and 10 C-17 heavy aerial transports.

• DARPA wants to explore the science of storytelling. Otherwise known as “Neurobiology of Narratives.”

• David Axe offers front-line descriptions of recent combat in Afghanistan.

• Recent NASA R&D funding involves new “magic skin” outer layers for composite airframe structures – incl. conductive film and energy-absorbing foams.

• L-3’s Platform Integration division gets approval to begin low-rate initial production of the ISR mission avionics suite for the US Navy’s EP-3E Spiral 3-configured electronic eavesdropping aircraft.

• Russian Navy floats out 3rd Steregushchy-class corvette (Boyky) from the St. Peterburg Severnaya Verf shipyard.

• UK completes Route Trident extension linking Lashkar Gah and Gereshk in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province.

• General Atomics opens a UK division to support its British customer, who has received 6 MQ-9 Reapers and awaits the arrival of the other 4.

• GD NASSCO launches USNS William McLean (T-AKE 12) dry cargo/ammunition supply ship at its San Diego shipyard.

• US falls short on efforts to develop and acquire medical countermeasures for CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiation, and Nuclear) agents, says GAO [PDF]. As the Japanese are learning, those countermeasures can have civilian applications, too.