Boeing Delta IV Heavy

The EELV program was designed to reduce the cost of government space launches through greater contractor competition, and modifiable rocket families whose system requirements emphasized simplicity, commonality, standardization, new applications of existing technology, streamlined manufacturing capabilities, and more efficient launch-site processing. Result: the Delta IV (Boeing) and Atlas V (Lockheed Martin) heavy rockets.

Paradoxically, that very program may have forced the October 2006 merger of Boeing & Lockheed Martin’s rocket divisions. Crosslink Magazine’s Winter 2004 article “EELV: The Next Stage of Space Launch” offers an excellent briefing that covers EELV’s program innovations and results, while a detailed National Taxpayer’s Union letter to Congress takes a much less positive view. This DID Spotlight article looks at the Delta IV and Atlas V rockets, as well as the contracts placed since the merger that formed the United Launch Alliance:

• The EELV Systems
  • Delta IV
  • Atlas V
  • Military Satellite Payloads
• Competition Again? The New “Open” Launch Framework [NEW]
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
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• The GAO published its latest report on the Pentagon’s space acquisitions.They recognize some areas of progress but they also think there is still “an array of challenges” to confront.

• The Pentagon is still working on spelling out its cyber doctrine.

• SAIC announced results for its fiscal year 2012 which ended on Jan 31, 2012. Total revenue decreased by 3% to $10.6B, dragged by a 10% drop in defense solutions to $4.2B (39.6% of total revenue). Behind these results is the $500M settlement with the City of New York over the CityTime contract; otherwise revenue on the defense side would have lost a single percentage point from the previous fiscal year. The total defense backlog stood at $7.1B at the end of January, 30% of which is funded.
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MOIRE concept

In physics, a moire pattern is an interference pattern created, for example, when two grids are overlaid at an angle, or when they have slightly different mesh sizes. It’s an appropriate name for DARPA’s Membrane Optic Imager Real-Time Exploitation (MOIRE) project, which aims to use diffractive optic membranes to conduct tactical video surveillance from space. That’s very useful when looking at territory where an intruding UAV is likely to be shot down, or when conducting operations to find, say, mobile SCUD missiles within a large potential area.

Making that happen involves a 20-meter diameter optic membrane surveying an area of more than 10×10 km at least once a second, with ground resolution better than 2.5 meters, and the ability to detect moving vehicles. Field of regard would be larger, of course, at 10 million square kilometers that could be covered from geosynchronous orbit. Finally, satellite cost also has to come in at under $500 million per copy. How hard could all that be? Hard enough for DARPA, apparently…

• DARPA’s MOIRE Program
• Contracts & Key Events
• Additional Readings
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TacSat-1 Concept
(click to view larger)

At a time when defense budgets are being cut, the era of the multi-billion dollar military satellite program might be over. Witness the fate of the massive $12 billion TSAT program, which was shut down in 2009. As a much cheaper alternative, governments are exploring the possibility of using microsatellites to perform many of the functions currently performed by expensive large satellite systems: GPS navigation, communication, surveillance, and earth imagery.

At a 10th of the cost of their larger cousins, microsatellites are much easier sell to budget conscious procurement officers. They are much cheaper and faster to build and launch. For key military missions, however, their reliability and longevity are an issue. They might be cheaper, but if the military has to use 10 times as many to do the job of traditional satellites, would that be a cost savings?

This DID Spotlight article will focus on the US military’s microsatellite development and launch programs, as well as the Army’s development of nanosatellites for battlefield communication, and take a brief look at the problem of space debris.

• Microsatellites: Definitions and Technologies
• Pentagon’s TacSat Program
• TacSat-2 and Beyond [updated]
• One MiDSTEP for DARPA
• Army’s Nanosatellites: Smaller Is Better
• Tracking Space Debris
• Future: Faster, Better, Smaller, Cheaper
• Key Contacts
• Additional Readings
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• U.S. Army Acquisition chief Malcolm O’Neill resigns.

• Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ May 24/11 swan song speech at the neo-conservative AEI think-tank continues to echo. See the official transcript of his remarks, and the video.

• Vice Admiral John Blake tells Congress that a projected shortfall in the number of attack submarines may force the Navy to examine extending the lives of some subs. Shipbuilding expert counters it may be hard to extend service of fast-attack subs because of limitations on the lives of pressure hulls.

• Russia may begin purchasing Antonov’s An-70 military transport aircraft between 2012 and 2013.

• Cobham announce that its HeliSAS  Autopilot and Stability Augmentation System has been granted Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) status by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on the Eurocopter AS350 model series and EC130 helicopters.

• Boeing opens Exploration Launch Systems Engineering and Integration office near Kennedy Space Center to support the operational readiness of NASA’s next launch system.

• Israel may see David’s Sling as a wider air defense replacement for its MIM-23 Hawk missiles, not just a high-end rocket killer.

• As China’s first aircraft carrier moves closer to commencing sea trials doubts are raised about the ship’s ‘military impact’.

• As operations over Libya drain European stockpiles of smart bombs, Defense Update’s “The High Cost of Precision Attack” looks at progress, pricing, and options.

• The world military helicopter market reached $12.6 billion in 2010, and demand is predicted to remain strong over the next decade, says ASDReports.com.

• Pentagon acquisition chief Ashton Carter is encouraged by Wall Street’s view of the defense industry. Wall Street once liked the housing sector, too…

• Emerging markets to invest billions of dollars in missile programs over the next 10 years, according to ASDReports.com.

• Lockheed Martin and TAI unveil the 1st of 30 new Turkish F-16 Block 50s, a couple months ahead of schedule. TAI has built and modified a number of F-16s under license, and operates a finishing and check-out line in Turkey.

• Force Protection adds Lockheed Martin (C4ISR) & Elbit (RWS) to its Cougar bid for Canada’s TAPV MRAP program.

• First SBIRS GEO missile detection satellite reaches geosynchronous orbit – passing the impaired but rising AEHF-1 secure broadband communications satellite.

• Raytheon gets $20.7 million USAF contract to provide 1,900 KIV-77 Mode 4/5 cryptographic units that provide secure IFF communications to reduce friendly fire.

• The outgoing Chief of the U.S. Navy says it is ‘not moving fast enough’ in developing Unmanned Underwater Vehicles. But he sees lasers as the biggest game changer.

• Elbit wins Israeli contract with its “Flying Elephant” resupply UAV – a parafoil, GPS guidance, and a 1 tonne wheeled cargo pallet. It was picked in part for its simplicity and speed of deployment… unusual criteria in places like the USA, which is looking at a much more expensive approach.

• The global armored vehicle and counter IED vehicle market is predicted to reach $25.1 billion this year, but decline to $24.1 billion by 2021, according to ASDReports.com

• Russian prosecutors are pursuing criminal charges against space officials over 4.3 billion ruble loss of 3 Glonass navigation satellites as the result of a failed launch attempt aboard a Proton-M rocket in December 2010.

• Pressure is building for land assaults on Somali pirate havens. Step 1 in the inevitable renaissance of the traditional “punitive expedition” concept?

• General Atomics delivers the 1st set of EMALS electro-magnetic catapult production components, to equip the new Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier class.

• Alenia Aeronautica delivers a stealth-maintaining weapons bay for the prototype nEUROn Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle to France’s Dassault Aviation.

• USAF demonstrates new C2 forward concept design to improve mobility of the JFACC [PDF] command post using existing technology.

• Lockheed Martin chief Bob Stevens tells media that his company is cutting $500 million in cost, most of that coming from a 26% reduction in senior executive personnel through early retirement.

• Royal Navy leases retrofitted ice breaker MV Polarbjorn from Norway’s GC Rieber Shipping to replace damaged ice breaker HMS Endurance in Antarctica.

• Israel Aerospace Industries’ Bedek division is taking its K-767 multi-mission tanker transport (MMTT) to the global market. They’ll be converted from used Boeing 767-200s to keep the price low. IAI Bedek has already provided 1 to Colombia, and Israel is actively considering one as a combination VVIP plane/ tanker, alongside its KC-135s.

• Raytheon gets $84.7 million US Navy contact for continued production of the ALR-67v3 digital radar warning receivers for American F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, and Swiss F/A-18C/D Hornets. See the linked articles for full details; the Pentagon announced the contract in April 2011.

• US Supreme Court throws out lower court ruling that would have required Boeing and General Dynamics to repay $3 billion to the federal government for the cancelled A-12 Avenger fighter program.

• Does SpaceX have lessons to teach NASA? After it spends under $400 million to do what would have taken NASA around $4 billion, Congressional testimony says “yes!”, and SpaceX underscores its cost positions. Next step? Falcon 9 Heavy, which aims to challenge the current Boeing/Lockheed EELV heavy lift platforms on cost and payload.

• FLIR Systems, a supplier of thermal imaging and threat detection systems, agrees to pay $39 million to two former executives to settle litigation related to its 2004 acquisition of Indigo Systems.

• L-3’s Systems Field Support division gets contract worth up to $300 million to provide C-12 aircraft logistics support and maintenance to the US Navy and USAF.

• SAIC snags contract worth up to $85 million to provide fighter operational test and evaluation services at the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center.

• US Army honors the MQ-5B Hunter UAV as “the little program that could,” with a history going back to 1989. Hunters still serve on the front lines, and some are now armed with GBU-44 Viper Strike mini-weapons.

• Smiths Detection receives $30 million order to provide battlefield chemical agent detectors for the US DoD’s Joint Chemical Agent Detector program.

• China’s submarine buildup is creating pressure on Asian countries to improve their anti-submarine capabilities – and add subs of their own. Given the volume of Chinese shipping that must pass through narrow chokepoints in and around Indonesia, it’s not a good strategic trade for China.

• Crews for India’s ordered Scorpene diesel-electric submarines are due to begin training in France, soon. The goal is now delivery by 2015, with all 6 delivered by the end of 2018.

• Loose or broken bolts caused South Korea to suspend operations for its 3 type U214 subs through much of 2010, and into 2011. The problem was fixed, and contracts to build its next set of 6 more U214s continue.

• House Armed Services Committee approves $690 billion defense authorization bill for FY 2012: among other things, the bill would 1) allow GE and Rolls Royce to continue development of the F136 engine for the F-35 fighter at their own expense, 2) continue funding production of the General Dynamics-produced M1 Abrams tank despite Army’s plan to suspend production for 3 years to save money, and 3) require DLA to develop a plan for a competitive supply chain for rare earth metals used in advanced weaponry. #3 will get easier, as new sites are coming on-stream.

• Pakistan launches an inquiry, tries to figure out how US Special Forces got within 40 km of Islamabad to kill Bin Laden, without being detected. This may offer a clue.

• Meanwhile: “Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has warned that continuing to work with the United States could imperil his government, unless Washington takes drastic steps to restore trust and win the hearts of Pakistanis.” President Obama could say much the same thing, in reverse.
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• Surviving tail wreckage of the H-60 Black Hawks used in the Bin Laden raid reveals unique “stealth” features. Bill Sweetman discusses the limits of helicopter stealth, and here’s a link to both tail wreckage photos and some derived conceptual illustrations.

• The volume of mergers and acquisitions in the aerospace and defense market increased 70% in the 1st quarter of 2011, compared with 2010, according to the latest report by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

• Electronic warfare requirements are expected to fuel demand for space-based communications systems, predicts Strategy Analytics.

• South Korea continues to work on systems for its 3,000t KSS-III diesel-electric fast attack submarine project. It’s also extending its base’s technical capabilities, from combat systems to vertical launchers.

• Qatar’s first C-130J-30 of 4, ordered in October 2008, finishes production.

• Another test of the French GPS/laser guided AASM bomb, against a fast-moving target. Production of this AASM version is set to begin in 2012.

• Are hybrid vehicles in the US military’s future?

• Fueled by military ammunition sales, ATK posts highest annual earnings per share in company history ($9.32), as well as net income of $313 million and sales of $4.8 billion for FY 2011.

• Russia launches the Meridian 4 military communications satellite aboard a Soyuz 2.1a rocket from the Plesetsk space center in northern Russia; Meridian is replacing the aging Molniya satellite system.

• SAIC gets task order worth up to $90 million to provide technical and operations support to the Defense Enterprise Computing Center in Montgomery, AL under the $12.3 billion DISA ENCORE-II contract vehicle.

• Up to $29 million to Carahsoft and CollabNet to provide software and consulting services for DISA’s forge.mil collaborative software development site.

• Osama Bin Shot, Osama Bin Buried. Bin Laden was buried at sea from the deck of the USS Carl Vinson [CVN 70], which completed a major RCOH retrofit in December 2009.