Rapid Fire Morning 2011-06-15: Pulsed Power

• The Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee accuse China of hampering a congressional probe into how counterfeit electronics ended up in the U.S. military supply chain.

• Russia and France sign a protocol of intent, but not a final contract, on the purchase of Mistral Class helicopter carriers.

• Raytheon acquires key business assets of pulsed power engineering systems firm Ktech. Terms of the acquisition agreement were not disclosed.

Panetta Senate Hearings vs. Gates NATO Speech

Leon Panetta told the Senate Armed Services Committee that his main objective as the new Defense Secretary will be to ensure that the United States continues to have the best trained, best equipped and strongest military in the world. Despite the Department of Defense’ efforts to cut $400 billion as part of deficit reduction measures Panetta also stressed to the Committee the United States does not need to choose between strong fiscal discipline and a strong national defense. Instead the challenge lies in designing budgets that eliminate wasteful spending while protecting those core elements deemed vital to national security.

Iraqi Security Forces Order of Battle, March 2011

(c) DJ Elliott

DJ Elliott is a retired USN Intelligence Specialist (22 years active duty) who has been analyzing and writing on Iraqi Security Forces developments since 2006. His Iraqi Security Forces Order of Battle is an open-source compilation that attempts to map and detail Iraqi units and equipment, as their military branches and internal security forces grow and mature. While “good enough for government use” is not usually uttered as a compliment, US Army TRADOC has maintained permission to use the ISF OOB for their unclassified handouts since 2008.

This compilation is reproduced here with full permission. It offers a set of updates highlighting recent changes in the ISF’s composition and development, followed by the full updated ISF OOBs in PDF format.

Hypersonic Rocket-Plane Program Inches Along, Stalls

FALCON HTVs

The path toward a hypersonic space plane has been a slow one, filled with twists and turns one would expect given the technological leap involved. Speeds of Mach 8+ place tremendous heat and resistance stresses on a craft. Building a vehicle that is both light enough to achieve the speeds desired at reasonable cost, and robust enough to survive those speeds, is no easy task.

Despite the considerable engineering challenges ahead, the potential of a truly hypersonic aircraft for reconnaissance, global strike/ transport, and low-cost access to near-space and space is a compelling goal on both engineering and military grounds. The question, as always, will be balancing the need for funding to prove out new designs and concepts, with risk management that ensures limited exposure if it becomes clear that the challenge is still too great. In October 2008, the US Congress decided that FALCON/Blackswift had reached those limits. That decision led to the program’s cancellation, though some activities will continue.

Inflection Point: How Much Is That (F-35) Fighter in the Window?

F-35A #AF-2

The Battle over the F-35 fighter‘s costs is quickly becoming a strategic issue for Lockheed Martin. The firm is worried that the rising Pentagon cost estimates per fighter will spook both domestic and foreign buyers, right in the crucial period between FY 2010-2015, when it is supposed to move to full-rate production. If that happens, it could create a vicious spiral of slower cost drop-offs, followed by more cutbacks, followed by rising costs and delays. On the other hand, if concerns are allayed, and then the pessimistic estimates turn out to be right, a number of countries and governments will find the future of their air forces hung out to dry, via unaffordable contracts. The problem is, Lockheed Martin and the US government disagree sharply over what the F-35′s cost is. That is why so much is riding on who is eventually right, and on who is perceived to be right.

Bill Sweetman is arguably aviation’s most respected journalist. “JSF – Talking Real Money” helps explain why, as it dissects the 2 colliding viewpoints of the fighter’s future costs. Here’s the core of the debate…

Rapid Fire 2010-04-12: Sustainable Shipbuilding?

• CNA says US Navy’s shrinkage at a tipping point [full report, PDF]. USN Commander Henry J. Hendrix argues that the US Navy needs “More [Rickey] Henderson, Less [Barry] Bonds” in its fleet structure, refines the Influence Squadron concept. See also New Wars’ “Dissecting the Influence Squadron” – Part 1 | Part 2.

• Lexington Institute: “Northrop Backed Into Shipbuilding, And It Can Back Out”

• Frost & Sullivan: The US defense budget has remained stable, despite cuts in RDT&E programs for immature technologies not directly related to existing ground forces operations.

US Army’s HR Support: $1.3B to 12 Firms for Studies & Analysis

US Army HR training
(click to expand)

With over a half million US soldiers in uniform, the US Army has the formidable task of providing human resources (HR) services to all of them. To help with this massive HR requirement, the Army uses contractors.

The primary office that handles HR outsourcing is the Army’s HRsolutions Program Office launched in 2004. HRsolutions manages 4 competitively awarded HR contracts in the areas of studies and analysis, recruitment and retention, personnel services and support, and management and administrative support.

HRsolutions recently awarded 12 multiple-award indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contracts for the HR studies and analysis program, worth up to $1.3 billion in total, for the period 2010-2015. The office expects to award HR contracts in the other areas in the next few months.

Rapid Fire: 2010-02-18

• US DoD to require vendors to meet tougher cybersecurity standards.

• Cyberattack simulation highlights infrastructure, leadership gaps. What keeps cybersecurity specialists up at night?

• Pentagon cites over 100 cyber breaches at US defense contractors and agencies.

• Pwnage: US Army calls in its best VBS2 gamers for a conference.

• Lockheed Martin may battle Babcock to acquire British defense firm VT Group.

• UK begins using new “Python” for mine clearance in Afghanistan, showcases CDE research projects.

• F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s development schedule to be delayed a year.

• US Army is developing a signal-processing interface to combine outputs from different radar systems.

• Navistar’s $750+ million contract to provide 1,050 more MaxxPro Dash vehicles is expected to restore 400 jobs to the company’s West Point, MS facility, following multiple layoffs in 2009 that had cut staffing to 120.

Up to $103.2M to 3 Contractors for US Navy Personnel Research Support

The Fleet and Industrial Supply Center Norfolk awarded 3 cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contracts, worth up to $103.2 million, to provide decision support services for the Navy Personnel Research Studies and Technology Division of the Bureau of Naval Personnel (BUPERS) in Millington, TN.

The BUPERS organization serves to provide administrative leadership, policy planning, and general oversight of the Naval Personnel Command. BUPERS’ Navy Personnel Research Studies and Technology Division conducts research and develops technologies to recruit, retain and manage Navy and Marine Corps personnel.

Each of the 3 contracts contains a 1-year base period with two 1-year option periods. The 3 contractors and their contracts are:

Special Report: The USA’s Transformational Communications Satellite System (TSAT)

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.

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

• Key Background – Why TSAT Is Thought to be Necessary
  
• 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