RC-12N Guardrail

They are derived from Hawker-Beechcraft’s popular King Air B200 twin-prop planes, and look like a dog that just finished chasing a family of porcupines. Their specialty is intercepting enemy communications, and snooping on electronic emissions. At one time, these light “RC-12 Guardrail” aircraft were one of the 3 electronic eavesdropping and surveillance planes slated for replacement by the joint Army-Navy Aerial Common Sensor (ACS) jet, after many years of service in remote trouble spots and large-scale wars around the globe. Now, they’re getting a new lease on life.

The $8 billion ACS program’s suspension, “back to square one” delay, and joint status uncertainties, have turned the Guardrails into a critical asset that need to continue serving. That requires performance improvements and modernization of their electronics to match a quickly-evolving field. To that end, long-standing Guardrail fleet prime contractor Northrop Grumman Corporation has been asked to create the latest entry in the Guardrail family:

• Th RC-12X [NEW]
• Contracts & Key Events [NEW]
• Additional Readings [NEW]
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• Pentagon chief Robert Gates warns about China’s J-20 Black Eagle stealth fighter jet, DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile during his first visit to Beijing.

• US DoD belt-tightening plan could benefit Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, and L-3, says FBR analyst Patrick McCarthy.

• Kit Up! and DefenseTech discuss the Taliban’s performance in defeating and overrunning OP Topside and COP Kahler near Wanat, Afghanistan, with reference to the final report. Intelligent use of gear by the Taliban made a difference – and so, apparently, did problems with the Americans’ M4 carbines.

• US Army recognizes its Top 10 inventions for 2010. CERDEC goes into more detail about the REPPS backpack solar power system, Duke v3 CREW jammer; and the Wolfhound system for finding the radio used by that enemy you can hear talking, or think might be nearby scouting you, but can’t see.

• Israel Defense Force considers anti-mortar system along Gaza border.

• Pentagon’s proposal to increase health care fees for working-age military retirees draws fire.

• The Jerusalem Post gets a first-ever look into Israel’s “Sky Crows” electronic warfare unit, even as the CSM reports that the sophisticated “Stuxnet” software worm may be of Israeli origin. Its target? Iran’s Bushehr nuclear reactor.

• The US Small Business Administration suspends Virginia’s GTSI from government work on grounds of fraud, following a Washington Post investigation into contracting practices involving Alaska Native Corporations as fronts. GTSI vows to fight the suspension, even as it rejects a takeover offer from (ANC) Eyak Technology.

• New Pentagon rules widen the distinctions between contractors and government workers, but teamwork is still possible.

• Inter-Korean military talks end with no progress primarily because of ongoing tension over North Korea’s sinking of the ROKS Cheonan (PCC-772), a Pohang-class patrol combat corvette.

• NATO fuel trucks attacked and destroyed in Pakistan.

• Tactical radios: Harris receives $9.6 million contract to supply its RF-301M-HH handhelds to coalition forces in Afghanistan.

• Merlin the Magician: UK Royal Navy tests Merlin helicopters with Sting Ray Mod 1 anti-submarine torpedoes.

• L-1 gets $5.5 million order to expand licenses for the US DoD to use the company’s biometric ID system.

• Weapons Bazaar: Pentagon comptroller says spending on weapon systems, such as fighter aircraft, ground vehicles, ship construction, satellite systems, and UAVs, will grow by 2% to 3% per year through 2016.

• Research and Markets: UK defense exports held steady in 2009 compared to 2008 at slightly over US$1 billion.

• Multiband Radios: Montreal-based Tactical Communication Systems, a unit of UK-based Ultra Electronics Holdings, gets $650 million US DoD contract to supply high capacity line of sight multiband radios.

• Lead Yard: General Dynamics Electric Boat snags a US Navy contract worth up to $881 million to provide lead-yard services for SSN-774 Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarines, similar to a contract GDEB won in 2005.
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• Pentagon acquisition chief Carter issues guidance for “acquisition professionals” to reduce overhead costs associated with the $400 billion per year spent on contracts.

• Can We Talk?: In response to the Carter memo, the Aerospace Industries Association called on the US to implement a set of policy initiatives, including easing export controls, to enable the industry to improve productivity and efficiency.

• Across the Pond: Not to be outdone, the new UK government is looking to reduce its spending on defense, even though the nation’s defense spending has been steadily shrinking as a percentage of GDP since the 1980s.

• High casualties put Danish military under pressure to buy blast-resistant vehicles, but military says they can’t do it within their budget.

• US Defense Acquisition Board waffles regarding next steps for the RQ-4 Global Hawk program, after problems surface.

• Bigger Bang: General Dynamics snags $14 million in US Army contracts to supply 30mm M789 High Explosive Dual Purpose (HEDP) ammunition for the AH-64 Apache helicopter and develop 25mm scalable fuze technology for the Army Bradley Fighting Vehicle and Marine Corps LAV-2.

• Crypto-philosopher: Cracking Plato’s code. Meanwhile, modern cryptologists are working on Quantum Decoys and Quantum interference.

• By Any Other Name: Vought Defense Systems, a Dunedin, FL-based maker of Minuteman and Borderguard surveillance UAVs, is changing its name to ALAS (Air Land and Sea) Defense Systems.

• NATO’s Review Magazine features: “Maritime Security: Sink or Swim.”

• Russia’s moves its newest S-400 Triumf/ SA-21 Growler air and missile defense SAM into serial production.

• British worries that US SecDef Gates’ comments on the future force (see also video in right sidebar) may imperil both nations’ plans to replace their Trident nuclear missile SSBN submarines. He does describe some real problems, however.

• Nice shot: British sharp shooter kills 2 Taliban machine gunners from 1.5 miles away using a British-built L115A3 long range rifle.

• Afghan First: Effort to award US military construction contracts to Afghan firms is slowing down construction, say US officials. On the other hand, too many contracts to foreign firms creates local resentment.

• Would a Rafale fighter jet sale to the UAE require a buyback of, or buyer for, its 62 advanced Mirage 2000v9 fighters?

• First South Korean Batch 2 F-15K flies with F100-PW-229 engines.

• US, European countries launch anti-al-Qaeda military exercise with countries in the Sahara desert region.

• When pigs fly? Hungry pigs in Dresden, Germany, almost went flying when they dug up a World War II vintage panzerfaust anti-tank weapon.

• Sectra gets SEK 23 million order to supply high-speed crypto to Swedish Defense Material Administration.

SSEE: Big and Bulky

Argon ST in Fairfax, VA received a $36.9 million contract for low-rate initial production of the US Navy’s Ship’s Signal Exploitation Equipment (SSEE) Increment F system.

The base contract also includes priced options to allow the government to procure full-rate production units over a 4-year period beginning in 2011

The SSEE is a signals exploitation system that provides ship commanders with threat ID information. It allows the operators to monitor and analyze signals of interest within the Ship’s Signals Exploitation Space (SSES) aboard a variety of ship classes…

(click to download)

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.

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• The Highlight Reel
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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.