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Northrop Grumman’s E-2C Hawkeye serves as the US Navy and French Navy’s carrier-capable “mini-AWACS” aircraft. Its primary role is advance warning of incoming aerial threats; ship-based radars are far larger and more powerful, but cannot scan below the angle of the horizon. Secondary roles include strike command and control, land and maritime surveillance, search and rescue, communications relay, and even civil air traffic control during emergencies. E-2C Hawkeyes began replacing previous Hawkeye versions in 1973; they also fly from land bases in the militaries of Egypt, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, and Taiwan; and are flown by the US Naval Reserve in a drug interdiction role. Over 200 Hawkeyes have been produced.

The $17.5 billion E-2D Advanced Hawkeye program aims to build 75 new aircraft with significant radar, engine, and electronics upgrades in order to deal with a world of stealthier cruise missiles, saturation attacks, and a growing need for ground surveillance as well as aerial scans. It looks a lot like the last generation E-2C Hawkeye 2000 upgrade on the outside – but inside, and even outside to some extent, it’s a whole new aircraft.

DID’s FOCUS articles offer in-depth, updated looks at significant military programs of record. This DID FOCUS Article covers the E-2D program, from the new platform and its capabilities to the budgets, contracts, and companies making it all fly. The latest news involves a $15.6 million Northrop Grumman order to provide Phase I aircraft data management for the E-2D aircraft…

• From E-2A Hawkeye to the E-2D
• E-2D Advanced Hawkeye: Program
• E-2D Advanced Hawkeye: Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
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Defense was an issue in the last Australian election. The center-left Labor Party attacked the center-right Liberal Party by citing mismanaged projects, and accusing the Howard government of making poor choices on key defense platforms like the F/A-18F Super Hornet and F-35A Joint Strike fighters. That sniping continued even after Labor won the election, and has been evident in more than a few Defence Ministry releases.

The new government made some program changes, such as canceling the SH-2G Seasprite contract. Yet it has been more notable for the programs it has not changed: problematic upgrades of Australia’s Oliver Hazard Perry frigates were continued, the late purchase of F/A-18F Super Hornets was ratified rather than canceled, and observers waited for the real shoe to drop: the government’s promised 2009 Defence White Paper, which would lay out Australia’s long-term strategic assessments, and procurement plans.

On May 2/09, Australia’s government released “Defending Australia in the Asia Pacific Century: Force 2030.” DID has reviewed that document, and the reaction to date… including a new ASPI roundup of reactions from around Asia.

• Fast Incoming
• The Highlight Reel
• Additional Readings & Assessments [updated]
  
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Nimrod MR1 & E-3D AWACS
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“Nimrod Was Actually a Fine Hunter: Upgrading Britain’s Fleet” describes a parallel set of efforts. One multi-billion pound program seeks to upgrade 12 of Britain’s unique Nimrod Mk2 maritime patrol aircraft to Nimrod MRA4 status.

The other effort, named Project HELIX, sought to keep its related Nimrod R1 electronic and signals intelligence/ relay aircraft fleet flying until 2025. A 9 month assessment phase involving L-3, Lockheed, and Northrop-Grumman was down-selected to L-3 and Lockheed Martin in 2005. In April 2007, L-3’s team won the Phase 3 risk reduction contract, and became the preferred bidder for the main HELIX contract in 2009.

An October 2008 DSCA request cast doubt on that effort, by conveying Britain’s official $1+ billion request to field 3 RC-135V/W Rivet Joint ELINT/SIGINT aircraft, but Britain’s budgetary woes may yet have the last say…

• The RC-135 Rivet Joint
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Other Options?
  
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Euro Hawk UAV
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Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the RQ-4 Global Hawk high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) UAV has gone from a developmental platform to the next generation of American aerial reconnaissance. Flying at 60,000 feet, the RQ-4’s use their advanced synthetic aperture radar and other sensors to provide high-resolution images, unaffected by clouds or similar impediments. A larger RQ-4B model has been developed, and forms the backbone of current deliveries.

The Euro Hawk project aims to produce an RQ-4B with additional capabilities in signals intelligence collection (SIGINT), to complement its native ground surveillance capabilities. Euro Hawk is a transatlantic collaboration, and its SIGINT system will provide the ability to detect and collect information from electronic intelligence (ELINT) radar emitters and communications emitters, and will be connected to ground stations that can receive and analyze the data. An MoU was signed in May 2006, followed by a firm system development contract on Jan 31/07.

System development is proceeding, and the first UAV has just rolled off the production line…

• The Euro Hawk Program & Platform [updated]
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
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Argon ST in Fairfax, VA received $29.8 million in new contract awards for upgrades to U.S. maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) systems. The contracts call for Argon to provide multipurpose, modular, upgradable platforms for use in the U.S. littoral battlespace. Argon ST did not disclose the U.S. military customers for the contracts.

One of the platforms being provided to the U.S. military is Argon ST’s Lighthouse transportable signal intelligence sensor system that enables improvements in signal collection density and a reduction in overall system size, according to the company. Argon ST designs, develops, and produces SIGINT sensors that seek, exploit, identify, and locate sources of RF energy, underwater sound, light, heat, and other complex phenomena.

The Canadian Communication Security Establishment (CSE) plays the same role in Canada that the ultra-secretive NSA does in the USA, and cooperates closely with its American counterpart. Unlike counterparts like the Canadian CSIS, or American CIA, both agencies stay firmly out of the public spotlight. They specialize in the tripartite domains of electronic eavesdropping, robust encoding, and cyber-security. The ECHELON interception system, which also features cooperation from the UK and Australia, is the allied agencies’ best-known cooperative venture.

The problem is that the agency’s workforce is rising rapidly, and its buildings can’t hold them all. Since one can’t just rent random office space for an agency of this type, that means new buildings. One emergency contract is already underway. A second, much larger contract, is readying itself for a public-private partnership deal as the government seeks interested firms. DID has the details…

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Raytheon: C4ISR Future?
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As video communications is integrated into robots, soldiers, and UAVs, and network-centric warfare becomes the organizing principle of American warfighting, front-line demands for bandwidth are rising faster than the US military can add it. The Transformation Communications Satellite (TSAT) System is part of a larger effort by the US military to address that need, and close the gap.

DID’s FOCUS articles offer in-depth, updated looks at significant military programs of record – and TSAT is certainly significant. The final price tag on the entire program has been quoted at anywhere from $14-25 billion through 2016, including the satellites, the ground operations system, the satellite operations center and the cost of operations and maintenance. Lockheed Martin and Boeing each won over $600 million in risk reduction contracts to develop key TSAT SS satellite system technologies, and TSAT’s $2 billion TMOS ground-based network operations contract was already underway.

The TSAT constellation’s central role in next-generation US military infrastructure makes it worthy of in-depth treatment – but its survival was never assured. There was always a risk that outside events and incremental competitors could spell its end, just as they spelled the end of Motorola’s infamous Iridium project. This FOCUS article examines that possibility, even as it offers an overview of the US military’s vision for its communications infrastructure, how TSAT fits, the program’s challenges, and complete coverage of contracts and significant events. New additions are highlighted in green for your convenience.

The latest developments revolve around the end of the program. Despite a positive recent report from the GAO, key components of TMOS/TSAT are being canceled outright as part of the program’s planned termination…

• Key Background – Why TSAT Is Thought to be Necessary (i.e. continue reading…)
• Key Background – The Big Picture: TSAT and the Transformational Communications Architecture
• Briefing – What Is TSAT?
• Briefing – TMOS: TSAT’s Ground Component
• Briefing – TSAT: Issues & Decisions
• Briefing – The AEHF Alternative, and Lessons Learned for TSAT
• Briefing – TSAT: Program
• Analysis – TSAT’s Competitors – and Its Fate
• News – TSAT: Timeline and Ongoing Developments [updated]
• Appendix A – Additional Readings & Sources
  
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Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH), in San Diego, CA won a $16.9 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a cost-plus-fixed-fee pricing arrangement to provide engineering, security engineering and technical support services for Navy cryptographic systems and solutions, and key management architectures and information systems. This 5-year contract includes 4 nine-month award terms which, if earned, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $28 million.

BAH will perform the work at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific (SSC Pacific) facilities (85%) and at the BAH facility in San Diego (15%) and expects to complete the work in May 2014. This contract was competitively procured via FedBizOpps.gov (solicitation number N66001-08-R-0105) and posted to the SPAWAR e-Commerce Central web site, with 3 offers received by SSC Pacific (N66001-09-D-0061).

PLGR & DAGR
(DAGR is on the right)
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Out in the field, one of the most important questions is also one of the simplest: where am I?

Map-reading and orienteering remain critical soldiering skills, but the explosive growth of the GPS receiver market offers modern-day soldiers – and their opponents – new options. GPS has a military channel as well, of course, offering greater precision. These military-grade GPS receivers are becoming common among American units and their allies, often operating alongside civilian units from firms like Garmin that can include in-country roadmaps for front-line zones. Then again, you probably wouldn’t want to offer nearby airstrike coordinates based on a civilian unit if there was any choice in the matter.

Defense Advanced GPS Receivers (DAGRs) will serve as a smaller, lighter, replacement for the Precision Lightweight GPS Receiver (PLGR). Their electronics can be integrated into tanks, UAV drones, et. al., or serve as standalone handheld systems for both advanced and basic military GPS users. Authorized Department of Defense (DoD) and foreign military sales (FMS) customers receive a hand-held Precise Positioning System (PPS) with a dual-frequency (L1/L2) receiver that weighs less than a pound, and incorporates the nest generation, tamper-resistant GPS “SAASM” (Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module) anti-jamming and security module.

DID’s FOCUS articles offer in-depth, updated looks at significant military programs of record. This is DID’s FOCUS Article for the DAGR GPS program, which is international in scope and has just hit the 300,000 unit milestone, and added another significant order…

• The Defense Advanced GPS Receiver
• DAGR: Contracts & Key Events [updates]
• Additional Readings & Sources
  
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Thales I-Master
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As UAVs begin to take on a wider array of battlefield roles, the ability to carry radars for situational awareness, detection, and targeting will become more and more important. Radars are also important to UAVs’ current functions as long-endurance ground surveillance platforms, however, offering an option that can supplement visual and thermal optics in order to penetrate foliage, and scan over a wider field of view. Many medium and large size tactical UAVs carry them now, from the General Atomics AN/APY-8 Lynx that can equips the MQ-1/9 Predator family, to the 65 pound Thales I-Master that equips Britain’s Hermes Mk450B Watchkeeper UAVs, to the tiny 2-pound NanoSAR radar that Boeing has tested on its small ScanEagle UAV.

France DGA recently announced a tri-national SIMCLAIRS program (Studies for Integrated Multifunction Compact Lightweight Airborne Radars & Systems) research program aimed at keeping European industry competitive in this area….

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