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SDV Team 1
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Oct 28/08: Service-Disabled veteran owned small business qualifier Assessment and Training Solutions Consulting Corp. of Virginia Beach, VA received a $26.8 million firm fixed price contract for a base year to provide medical instruction and medical support services in support of U.S. Army Special Forces Command’s Joint Special Operations Medical Training Center and U.S. Army Special Operations Command’s Acquisitions and Contracting Office. The contract has 4 one-year options. Work will be performed at Fort Bragg, NC, and is expected to be complete by July 31/13. This contract was awarded through a small business set-aside (H92239-09-C-0001).

The trainees will have a lot to live up to. The Navy photo above depicts SEAL SDV Team 1, which became the focus of action during Operation Redwing on June 28/05. Lt. Murphy would later earn a posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions. A combination of freak circumstances, great personal determination, and the steadfast honor of local Afghan villagers made hospital corpsman Luttrell (highlighted) the only surviving team member. From left to right: Sonar Technician – Surface 2nd Class (SEAL) Matthew G. Axelson, 29, of Cupertino, CA; Information Systems Technician Senior Chief (SEAL) Daniel R. Healy, 36, of Exeter, NH; Quartermaster 2nd Class (SEAL) James Suh, 28, of Deerfield Beach, FL; Hospital Corpsman Second Class (SEAL) Marcus Luttrell; Machinist Mate 2nd Class (SEAL) Eric S. Patton, 22, of Boulder City, NV; and LT (SEAL) Michael P. Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, NY.

South African JAS-39D
c. Gripen International
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As a neutral country with a long history of providing for its own defense against all comers, Sweden also has a long tradition of building excellent high-performance fighters with a distinctive look. From the long-serving Saab-35 Draken (“Dragon,” 1955-2005) to the Mach 2, canard-winged Saab-37 Viggen (“Thunderbolt,” 1971-2005), Swedish fighters have stressed short-field launch from dispersed/improvised air fields, world-class performance, and leading-edge design. This record of consistent project success is nothing short of amazing for a country whose population over this period has ranged from 7-9 million people.

The JAS-39 Gripen (“Griffon”) is a canard-winged successor to the Viggen, built as one of the world’s first 4+ generation fighters. Gripen remains the only lightweight 4+ generation fighter type in service, its performance and operational economics are both world-class, and it has become one of the most recognized fighter aircraft on the planet. Unfortunately for its builders, that recognition has come from its appearance in Saab-Volvo TV commercials, rather than from hoped-for levels of military export success. With its 4+ generation competitors clustered in the $60-120+ million range vs. the Gripen’s claimed $40 million/ $50-60 million for Gripen NG, is there a light at the end of the tunnel for Sweden’s lightweight fighter?

This is DID’s FOCUS Article for background, news, and contract awards related to the JAS-39 Gripen. We will continue adding to and filling in this article as new information and opportunities arise, with new material highlighted in green type. The most recent news includes an op-ed from Jane’s wondering if 2009 will be “the year of the Gripen” via export breakthroughs…

• JAS-39: The Gripen Program [improved]
• JAS-39NG: A Way Forward? [improved]
• JAS-39 Gripen: Sales Opportunities
• JAS-39 Gripen: Major Events [updated]
• JAS-39 Gripen: Contracts & Awards
• Additional Readings & Sources
  
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General Dynamics Team
Trimaran LCS Design
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The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is the U.S. Navy’s newest surface combatant class. Optimized for shallow seas and operations within 100 miles of shore, but deployable across the ocean, LCS ships are a centerpiece of the USA’s new focus on littoral warfare. They will help to counter growing “asymmetric” threats like coastal mines, quiet diesel submarines, global piracy, and terrorists on small fast attack boats. They will also perform intelligence gathering and scouting using helicopters and UAVs, offer some ground combat support capabilities, and share tactical information with other Navy aircraft, ships, submarines, and joint units. Swappable “mission modules,” UAV robot aircraft, and robotic UUV and USV vehicles will give these small ships the specialized capabilities they require for each of these roles – and the quick-replace adaptability they need to keep up.

At present, 2 teams are competing for the final LCS design. The General Dynamics team is offering a futuristic but practical high-speed trimaran based on Austal designs and experience. The Lockheed Martin team offers a high-speed semi-planing monohull based on Fincantieri designs that have set trans-Atlantic speed records. Team Lockheed’s efforts have run into serious trouble, including cancellation of the contract for their second ship. The General Dynamics/Austal team hit the same rocks soon afterward, in part because of the US Navy’s unusual proposal for future business arrangements.

DID places recent developments in context by explaining a bit more about the US Navy’s new surface combatant; detailing the teams, key time line events, and contract awards under the program to date; and providing additional resources and links to complete our in-depth coverage. New material appears in green type. The latest updates involve a christening, a commissioning and post-shakedown contract, and mission module acceptance… and the US Navy declining its planned FY 2008 LCS purchase.

• LCS = Standard Equipment + Mission Modules
• LCS: Budgets and Program Structure [updated]
• LCS: Designs & Teams
• LCS Controversies
• LCS: Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• LCS Ancillaries: Mission Module & Weapon Contracts & Key Events
• Additional Readings & Sources [updated]
  
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SEALs onto DDG-79
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Even with the advent of robotic USVs that have been used successfully near Iraq, humans who can board a ship and search it are still necessary. Special Forces like SEALs had been performing these duties, but wartime demands made it obvious that this was not an ideal use of such highly-trained troops outside of special scenarios like hostage rescue.

These days, other groups like the US Marines are being trained for Non-compliant boarding visit, board, search and seizure (NCB VBSS) roles. The US Navy’s 2005 move to create expeditionary troops is seen as another way to find trained forces for this role, and is also highly relevant to the Navy’s efforts to rebuild its brown-water capabilities.

E-6B TACAMO
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The USA’s E-6 Mercury (aka. TACAMO, as in TAke Charge And Move Out) “survivable airborne communication system” airplanes support their Navy’s SSBN ballistic missile submarine force and overall strategic forces. With the advent of the new “Tactical Trident” converted Ohio Class special operations subs, their unique capabilities become even more useful. The E-6B version also has a secondary role as a “Looking Glass” Airborne National Command Post, and in recent years they have seen use as communications relay stations over the front lines of combat.

Delivery of the first production E-6 aircraft took place in August 1989, with delivery of the 16th and final airplane coming in May 1992. This is DID’s FOCUS Article concerning the E-6 system, which includes details concerning the capabilities and associated contracts. They’re mostly maintenance and training-related contracts, these days…

• E-6 Mercury: Messenger from On High
• E-6 Mercury: Contracts and Key Events [updated]
  
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Leo C2s, Afghanistan
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It would seem that the Canadian Forces are taking some of the lessons re-learned during Operation Medusa in Afghanistan to heart. Canada’s DND:

“The heavily protected direct fire capability of a main battle tank is an invaluable tool in the arsenal of any military. The intensity of recent conflicts in Central Asia and the Middle East has shown western militaries that tanks provide protection that cannot be matched by more lightly armoured wheeled vehicles…. [Canada’s existing Leopard C2/1A5] tanks have also provided the Canadian Forces (CF) with the capability to travel to locations that would otherwise be inaccessible to wheeled light armoured vehicles, including Taliban defensive positions.”

In October 2003, Canada was set to buy the Styker/LAV-III 105mm Mobile Gun System to replace its Leopard C2 tanks. In the end, however, the lessons of war have taken Canada down a very different path – one that now has them renewing the very tank fleet they were once intent on scrapping with one of the world’s best tanks, and backing away from the wheeled vehicles that were once the cornerstone of the Canadian Army’s transformation plan.

This updated article includes a full chronology for Canada’s new Leopard 2 tanks, and adds information concerning DND’s exact plans and breakdowns for their new tank fleet. along with recent reports from the front lines…

• Why New Tanks Now?
• Choices, Choices: Leopard 2s For Canada
• Next Steps and Updates [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
  Continue Reading… »

T-50 Golden Eagle
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Korea’s defense industry is advancing on all fronts these days. On the armored vehicle front, vehicles like the XK2 tank and K9/K10 self propelled howitzer are beginning to win orders, and its XM-21 amphibious infantry fighting vehicle may not be too far behind. All fill key market niches, promising performance at a comparatively inexpensive price. Its shipbuilding industry, one of the world’s busiest, is beginning to turn out AEGIS destroyers and LHDs. Now its aerospace industry is in flight with the already-exported KT-1 trainer/ light attack aircraft, and a clever entry into an incipient market.

Enter the T-50/A-50 Golden Eagle, which offers a supersonic high-end trainer and light fighter aircraft at an attractive price, just as many of the world’s training fleets are reaching ages of 30 years or more, and high-end fighters are pricing themselves out of reach for many countries. An upgraded F/A-50 might be especially attractive as a bargain lightweight fighter, and the ROKAF’s own F-5E/F Tiger II and F-4 Phantom fighters are more than due for replacement. At the moment, however, 2 key issues stand in the way…

• T/F/A-50: The Program, The Planes
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
  Continue Reading… »

F-5E Aggressors
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In the 1980s movie Top Gun, the revolutionary “MiG-28s” operated by the enemy air force were actually F-5E Tiger IIs, derived from a family of fighters whose design concept dates back to the mid 1950s. The F-5 family of aircraft were produced in large numbers, as they were an extremely popular export item; many are still operated by countries around the world. They are also routinely flown by American “aggressor” squadrons in training exercises, because they simulate the small, low-cross-section, and hence hard to spot enemies that gave American pilots trouble in Vietnam.

Aug 25/08: Sikorsky Support Services, Inc. in Stratford, CT received a $10.5 million modification to a firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-01-C-0109) that began in 2001, in return for another year of organizational, selected intermediate, and limited depot-level maintenance for 44 F-5 aircraft operated by the USA’s adversary squadrons based at Naval Air Station (NAS) Key West, FL (40%); NAS Fallon, NV (30%); and Marine Corps Air Station, Yuma, AZ (30%).

Maintenance may be marginally easier this year, thanks to a smart NAVAIR program involving the F-5’s internal batteries. Work is expected to be completed in December 2008, and contract funds in the amount of $3 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year on Sept 30/08. The Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD manages this contract.

ANA soldiers
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Operations in Afghanistan have created operational and political friction among NATO allies due to some members who will not commit their forces to combat situations, forces not delivered as promised, and shortages of critical assets like helicopters. It has also featured some innovations, such as ISAF’s Provincial Reconstruction Teams. PRTs combine military force with direct aid delivery, acting as a key aid supplement to civil groups, and reaching areas where wealthy non-governmental organizations will not operate due to risk aversion or political issues.

Spain operates a PRT at Qal-i-Naw in Afghanistan’s northwestern Baghdis province, about 100 km NNE east of Herat and near the border with Turkmenistan. Baghdis falls under ISAF’s West Regional command, and is not a major conflict zone like the souteastern provinces along Pakistan’s border. Even so, it will require a long-term security presence in order to remain stable, and to slowly expand the central government’s authority. Recent Spanish expenditures are helping to prepare that next step, by raising, accommodating, and training an Afghan National Army force that can secure this area over the longer term.

In September 2007, Spain earmarked EUR 4.5 million to equip and train a company of 100 ANA soldiers, then added another EUR 2.5 million to build them appropriate barracks and facilities. A Spanish “operational team of instruction and link” team of 52 is working to train the Afghans, and costs EUR 200,000 initial investment plus about EUR 200,000 per month in ongoing funds. Now Infodefensa reports that Spain will spend EUR 22 million (currently $35 million) over the next 2 years to train, equip, and house an Afghan Army battalion of 600 men, which is to be based in Baghdis and operational by Spring 2009.

This article prepared with the assistance of DID subscriber Pedro Lucio.

Hawk LIFT
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Back in October 2006, DID covered an $840 million contract for BAE’s Hawk LIFT trainers to provide advanced jet training for both Royal Air Force and Royal Navy pilots, as part of the consolidated UK Military Flying Training System. In November 2006, the Ascent team of VT Group plc and Lockheed Martin announced their status as Preferred Bidder for a GBP 6 billion (about $11.7 billion) contract to provide military flying training to the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and Army Air Corps for the next 25 years. The Sterling (Thales and Boeing), and Vector teams (KBR and EG&G/Lear Siegler, see source) were left waiting for negotiations to fail in order to have another chance at the contract.

The intent at the time was to sign a formal deal in 2007, whereby Ascent will partner with the UK Ministry of Defence and begin supporting Advanced Jet Training operations. Other training capabilities would then be added incrementally until the agreement became a full service operation that covered airfields, simulators, aircraft, fuel, and instructors while providing all aspects of pilot and rear crew specializations.

That deal has finally come through…

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