• USCG acquisition chief warns about declining readiness of cutter fleet [PDF], expects price tag for Deepwater program to reach $27.4 billion.

• UK’s SSN Trafalgar-class fast attack submarine HMS Triumph sets sail for sea trials after 6-year, GBP 300 million refit program that included installation of new sonar and C2 systems and an upgrade of the Tomahawk missile system.

• UK MOD inks GBP 400 million deal to buy capacity on EADS Astrium’s Skynet 5D satellite, which is expected to be launched in 2013; the satellite capacity will be used for military communication, including Bowman radios.

• Der Spiegel: The debate over Germany’s security & defense policies.

• Germany’s KMW delivers 1st Fennek JFST armored reconnaissance vehicles to Bundeswehr for deployment to Afghanistan in April. KMW release [in German]

• Greece reportedly agrees to settle its submarine contract dispute with ThyssenKrupp.

• US Army working to improve its M24 sniper rifles, including a .300 Win Mag upgun.

• South Korea’s KUH Surion utility helicopter makes its first flight.

• US military’s next-generation JPALS flight approach and landing system completes preliminary design review.

• ATK reorganizes into 4 business units; Karen Davis to head armament systems group. ATK release | Associated Press

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Up to $32 million to Lockheed Martin for submarine satellite communication prototype. (March 5/10)

An impressive 18 companies won indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple award contracts to develop integration and management technology for radio frequency (RF) radar and communications functions on future naval platforms. The contracts are being awarded by the Office of Naval Research for its Integrated Topside (InTop) Program, which will develop a scalable family of electronic warfare, radar and communication equipment to support multiple classes of ships and other Navy platforms. Each contract has an ordering ceiling of between $50 million and $800 million.

InTop plans to reduce the number of topside equipment on Navy ships through a modular/ open RF architecture…

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Towed arrays create a longer baseline than other types of underwater sensors, which enhances detection capabilities. According to the 2002 edition of the US Navy’s Vision…Presence…Power: A Guide to U.S. Navy Programs, the TB-29A is a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) version of the legacy TB-29 towed array:

”[The TB-29A] arrays will be used for back-fit on Los Angeles (SSN-688 and SSN-688I) and Seawolf (SSN-21) submarines and forward-fit on the Virginia (SSN-774) class. TB-29A will also be used for the SURTASS [Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System] Twin-line towed array system. It will provide greater capability than the current TB-23 Thin Line towed arrays and achieve enhanced supportability through commonality. TB-29A uses COTS telemetry to significantly reduce unit cost while maintaining superior array performance. These arrays were recently tested with SURTASS ships and will support the IUSS [Integrated Undersea Surveillance System] community….Coupled with the submarine A-RCI system, TB-29A arrays are expected to provide the same 400-500 percent increase in detection capability against quiet submerged platforms in blue-water and shallow-water areas, as the current TB-29 has demonstrated recently.”

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More advance models to speed integration. (Feb 25/10)

The US military’s JTRS program began in the late 1990s as an attempt to unify its underlying communications infrastructure. 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.

• AMF JTRS: Platforms and Prognosis
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
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• “Taking Back the Infantry Half-Kilometer” – US infantry poorly equipped for rifle engagements in Afghanistan?

• EADS expects final deal on A400M military transport plane; Euro 3.5 billion funding deal in works.

• US Navy, House Armed Services Committee members, clash over FY 2011 shipbuilding budget.

• ThyssenKrupp’s Swedish subsidiary Kockums to build Sweden’s next-generation submarine.

• Israel’s Plasan secures $170 million subcontract from Oshkosh to supply 1,460 M-ATV protection kits; see Oshkosh’s recent win for 1,460 M-ATVs.

• US Army’s NETFIRES non line-of-sight launch system (NLOS-LS) fails recent tests at White Sands.

• US Marines go green.

• DARPA working on foliage-penetrating radar signal processing workstation to detect infantry moving in dense foliage.

ASDS
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Private sector to the rescue? (Feb 23/10)

In a program that began with great promise but soon spiraled out of control, Northrop Grumman has been building ASDS “Advanced SEAL delivery System” mini-subs as successors to the previous SDV (SEAL/Swimmer Delivery Vehicle) carried on US modified Benjamin Franklin Class [SSBN-640] special warfare submarines.

In the end, however, technical, reliability, and 400% cost overrun issues proved insuperable. The ASDS program was canceled for all intents and purposes on April 6/06, but the existing boat was retained and improvements attempted. That was cut short with the destruction of ASDS-1, and a less ambitious replacement program is beginning to take shape… even as the private sector steps in to help.

• What’s Next? The SWCS/JMMS
• To Davy Jones’ Locker & Back: Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Appendix A: DID Op/Ed, December 2005
• Appendix B: The ASDS Program & Mission
• Appendix C: ASDS Taking on Water
• Appendix D: Additional Readings and Sources
  
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S-80 cutaway, labeled
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Successful sonar testing, WHLS deliveries begin. (Feb 18/10)

The CIM-2000 Scorpene class diesel-electric attack submarine marked an important step for Spain’s Navantia, as it entered the global submarine market with an advanced design. Some of these boats were even upgraded to AIM-2000 orders, with MESMA Air-Independent Propulsion (AIP) systems alongside their diesel-electric drives.

Navantia is also building its own S-80 design for the Spanish Armada. Spain’s new submarines will be larger boats with AIP systems as standard gear, as well as other important modifications. This article will cover the S-80 submarines’ capabilities and associated key events and contracts – including sub-contracts to American, British, and Italian firms.

• S-80 Submarines: Program & Schedule
• S-80 Submarines: Contracts & Events [updated]
• S-80 Stats
• Additional Readings & Sources
  
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SSBN Vanguard Class
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GDEB gets $26.3 million order for CMC prototype materials. (Feb 16/10)

SSBNs are nuclear missile submarines. The Common Missile Compartment (CMC) sub-program would define the missile tubes and accompanying systems that would be used to launch new ballistic missiles, successors to the current Trident II/ D5 missile fleet used by the USA and Britain. Options include an increased diameter from 2.21m launch tubes to 3.04m, and the missile compartment will reportedly carry just 12 tubes each, as opposed to the current Ohio SSBNs’ 24, or the Vanguard SSBNs’ 16.

At present, both France and Russia are already working on successor sub-launched ballistic missile systems and submarines. The USA’s Ohio/ Henry M. Jackson Class and Britain’s Vanguard Class SSBNs will begin experiencing age-related risks by the late 2010s, and military programs of this type can easily take 15-20 years from concept to fielding. The CMC will help to define one of the next-generation SSBN’s most important constraints…

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Submarines with improving stealth and attack capability – particularly modern diesel attack submarines – are proliferating worldwide. Locating these relatively inexpensive but extremely quiet boats presents a challenge to the US Navy, then Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Mullen warned Congress in 2007 testimony [pdf].

To counter this threat, the Navy is investigating a distributed and netted approach to anti-submarine warfare (ASW). Among the ASW programs the Navy is considering is the Reliable Acoustic Path Vertical Line Array (RAPVLA). The RAPVLA is a deep water, bottom-mounted, high-grain sensor system that can automatically detect, classify, localize, track and report contacts of interest, such as stealth submarines.

Lockheed Martin recently received a $7 million order for applied research in support of the RAPVLA program…

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Buoy oh buoy…
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Australia’s DoD trying a new organization to improve readiness. (Feb 12/10)

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…

• The Farncomb, and the Fallout
• Updates and Developments [NEW]
• Additional Readings
  
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