• NATO Ministerial: Gates pledges greater sharing of classified technology with allies; NATO chief calls for more resources to train Afghan army and police, while France agrees to send 80 more trainers.

• European defense ministers call for speedy conclusion to talks on troubled Airbus A400M military airlift program.

• The US Navy UCAS program receives $2 billion QDR push.

• US Army pays $253.3 million to service US Stryker vehicles around the world.

• Australia ready to OK final version of $547 million integrated HF communications system for armed forces.

• US Navy orders $122.5 million in spares and extra engine maintenance for V-22 Osprey.

• Obama administration beefs up missile defense budget. BMD report focuses on regional missile threats.

• Romania to allow US ballistic missile defense inceptor missiles to be deployed, following US cancellation of larger BMD deployments in Poland and the Czech Republic.

• Boeing gets $99.3 million order to supply 13 more AH-64D Block II helicopters to the US Army.

• Which defense firms will benefit from FY 2011 defense budget?

• Northrop Grumman feels Pentagon heat over KC-X aerial refueling tanker RFP.

• Taiwan’s order for Eurocopter EC225s could strain China-European Union relations – but hasn’t, so far.

• Asia-Pacific nations revamp their fighter inventories.

• DARPA has enlightened view on funding for ArcLight, a long-range strike weapon that could be launched using the MK 41 system onboard ships and subs.

• US military sends bomb-sniffing dogs to Iraq.

Trident II D5 Test Launch
(click to view full)

Draper Lab gets $131.1 million contract to upgrade the guidance systems on the Trident II D5 missile. (Feb 2/10)

The year that the Trident II D5 ballistic missile was first deployed, 1990, saw the beginning of the end of the missile’s primary mission – to deter a first nuclear strike by the Soviet Union.

Nuclear tipped missiles were first deployed on board US submarines in the 1960s at the height of the Cold War to deter a Soviet first strike. The deterrence theorists argued that, unlike their land-based cousins, submarine-based nuclear weapons couldn’t be taken out by a surprise first strike by the Soviet Union because the submarines were nearly impossible to locate and target. Thus, Soviet leaders could not hope to destroy the weapons before they could be launched against Soviet territory.

But by the time the latest version of the submarine-launched ballistic missile was deployed, the existence of the Soviet Union itself was in doubt. The previous year, the Soviet’s Eastern European client states began to fall, symbolized by the destruction of the Berlin Wall. The Soviet Union itself began to crumble with various Soviet republics rebelling against the central government in 1990. Then, in 1991, a failed coup attempt against Soviet reformer Mikhail Gorbachev brought to power Boris Yeltsin, who promptly dissolved the Soviet Union…

• D5 Life Extension Program
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
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• In the Quadrennial Defense Review 2010 the Pentagon seeks to rebalance the US military and to institutionalize DoD reforms.

• President Obama FY 2011 budget contains a record $708 billion in defense spending, including a 3.4% increase in the Pentagon’s base budget and $159 billion to fund US military missions in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Reuters reports. At the same time, the Pentagon may be targeting at least 7 programs for cancellation.

• US defense firms felt the economic pressure this quarter, as Rockwell Collins’ profits fell 20% and Lockheed Martin’s earnings were flat, notes the Wall Street Journal. Bucking the trend, Raytheon’s profit rose 20% for the quarter.

• Morgan Keegan analyst Brian Ruttenbur predicts a wave of cyber security firm acquisitions by big defense companies in the next 12 – 24 months, because more federal money is going into that area.

• Research and Markets: The market for military tactical radio systems is predicted to grow substantially in the coming years. Also, technical issues with JTRS are driving the need for more legacy radios.

• Boeing unveils plans to provide up to $2 billion in subcontracting work to Canadian companies for in-service support for 15 CH-47F Chinook helicopters purchased by the Canadian government.

• General Dynamics Electric Boat says it will lay off 434 workers at its Groton, CT, shipyard due to lost submarine maintenance, overhaul and repair work.

• USAF is undertaking a Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf allies to speed up arms sales and upgrade defenses for oil terminals and other key infrastructure, in a bid to thwart future military attacks by Iran.

• DARPA’s Cyber Genome Program is developing “digital fingerprint” technology to track down cyber terrorists.

• The Pentagon is looking to cut its greenhouse gas emissions for non-combat activities, such as buildings and fleet vehicles, by 34% by 2020.

Basic Nuclear Propulsion
(click to expand)

Added billions of dollars worth of contracts and events for Babcock & Wilcox. (Jan 31/10)

This DII Spotlight article covers American nuclear propulsion industrial base contracts since the beginning of FY 2006. The USA has had an all-nuclear submarine fleet for over 50 years, a policy that dates back to the visionary Admiral Hyman Rickover. On the surface, America’s aircraft carriers became an all-nuclear fleet with the retirement of the USS Kitty Hawk [CV 63], and FY 2008-09 spending legislation pushed the US Navy to use nuclear power in its future CG (X) cruisers and new amphibious ship classes. At present, however, carriers are the only nuclear-powered American surface ships on the drawing board.

• Nuclear Naval Propulsion Around the World
• American Contracts (FY 2006 – Present)
  
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Tomahawk Launch
From USS Farragut
(click to view full)

Raytheon Co. in Tucson, AZ received a $202.7 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract for procurement of 196 FY 2010 Tomahawk Block IV all-up-round (AUR) missiles.

The Tomahawk AUR missile includes the missile that flies the mission, the booster that starts its flight, and the container (canister for ships and capsule for submarines) that protects it during transportation, storage and stowage, and acts as a launch tube.

The Tomahawk Block IV missile is capable of launch from surface ships equipped with the vertical launch system (VLS) and submarines equipped with the capsule launch system (CLS) and the torpedo tube launch system (TTL)...

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Buoy oh buoy…
(click to view full)

The failure of a generator aboard HMAS Farncomb is just the latest problem faced by its fleet of 6 Collins Class diesel-electric submarines – which are now reduced to just 1 operational vessel. That readiness issue presents an immediate financial headache for Australia’s government, and adds a longer-term challenge to the centerpiece of Australia’s future naval force.

With just 6 submarines in its fleet, Australia’s current deployment set-up leaves little room for error. Even a normal setup of 2 in maintenance, 2 for training but available if needed, and 2 on operations makes for a thin line, given Australia’s long coastline and sea lanes. Instead, Australia currently has 3 submarines in “deep maintenance” and completely unavailable (HMAS Deschaineux, Sheean, and Rankin), 1 submarine back in port and facing indeterminate maintenance (HMAS Farncomb), 1 “limited availability” submarine fit for training (HMAS Collins), and 1 operational boat (HMAS Waller) that was in port for major battery repairs as recently as May 2009. When crewing problems are added to the mechanical issues, Australia’s 2009 White Paper plan to build 12 diesel-electric fast attack submarines as the centerpiece of the 2030 Australian Navy is attracting questions…

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SSN 777 construction
(click to view full)

On May 14/09, a welding inspector at Northrop Grumman’s Newport News, VA shipyard did the right thing, and complained that a fellow inspector was signing off on ship welds without actually inspecting them. The inspector’s admission of wrongdoing created an extremely serious situation. He had supervised over 10,000 welds, on 8 Virginia class nuclear fast attack submarines (SSN 777-783, and SSN 785) and on the new nuclear aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush [CVN 77]. About 10% of the submarine welds were SUBSAFE joints involving critical parts or hull integrity.

The final report has now been released, but a similar issue has now arisen at co-producer General Dynamic Electric Boat…

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AGM-129A loaded on a B-52
at Minot Air Force Base, ND
(click to view full)

In 2007, a B-52 carried 6 unsecured nuclear-tipped AGM-129 ACM cruise missiles from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. The nuclear warheads were supposed to have been removed before the aircraft took off, but they remained on the aircraft unsecured at both Minot and Barksdale for 36 hours.

As a result of the incident, 4 USAF commanders were relieved of their commands; it also contributed to the resignation of top USAF officials. A Blue Ribbon Panel chaired by former Defense Secretary James Schlesinger recommended that the USAF and the US Department of Defense (DoD) overhaul its handling of nuclear weapons security. In response, the USAF set up an Air Force Global Strike Command to oversee all bomber- and missile-based nuclear weapons.

The incident also prompted the US Navy to beef up its nuclear weapons security, which is overseen by the Strategic Systems Program...

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USS Virginia [SSN 774]
(click to view full)

Goodrich in Charlotte, NC received a $49 million contract from Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding to provide composite components for the next 8 Virginia-class nuclear fast attack submarines, referred to as Block III.

Goodrich’s Engineered Polymer Products team in Jacksonville, FL is building components to support the construction of 1 sub per year in 2009 and 2010, rising to 2 subs per year from 2011 through 2013. The components include the bow dome, and sonar and weapons equipment.

The bow of the Virginia Class Block III underwent significant revision involving 25 changes from previous submarine designs…

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The US military’s JTRS program began in the late 1990s as an attempt to unify its underlying communications infrastructure. The idea was to create a family of radios for troops, vehicles, ships, et. al. that all shared a similar underlying architecture, could use Internet Protocol for data, and was a “software-defined” platform that relied on software rather than hardware to handle communication protocols. This would eliminate the Iraqi war phenomenon of multiple radios in each vehicle, in order to let the troops inside talk to various services et. al. It would also make the equipment far more “future proof,” by allowing in-place upgrades to extend compatibility with American and foreign systems, add new communications waveforms, et. al.

The program was visionary – and very ambitious. Ongoing requirements creep was thrown into the mix, and the result was major delays and cost overruns that eventually led to the complete restructuring of the program. The part of the program that aimed to create radios for aircraft and ships – the Airborne, Maritime/ Fixed Station Joint Tactical Radio System (AMF JTRS) – saw pre-system development and demonstration contracts issued to Team Boeing (Boeing, BBN Technologies, Harris, L-3 Communications, Milcom Systems Corporation, Northrop Grumman, Rockwell Collins) and to Team Lockheed (Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon) back in 2004, with an extension in 2006 that brought the totals to about $75 million each.

Team Lockheed won the $766.2 million AMF JTRS development contract in March 2008 and completed the critical design review for the system in December 2009. The team recently received a $29 million contract modification to integrate 5 additional waveforms into the AMF JTRS platform…

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