• US Army Corp of Engineers unveils $5 billion Civil Works plan for FY 2011.

• Nearly 1,000 workers at 3 defense contractors in the Washington, DC area – General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman – are being laid off this year, the Washington Examiner reports.

• A number of projects are working to free science from the bottlenecks of copyright-bound paper articles, even for research produced on the public dime. Open source science is impractical for much defense R&D, except as a potential input. On the other hand, new Open Science approaches have shown great promise for areas like disease cures – which do have a military dimension.

• India continues working on creating a nuclear triad with the deployment of its 1st Arihant class nuclear submarine expected in 2012. It also has inspection teams doing assurance checks in advance of an expected buy of M777 ultra-light howitzers.

• UK announces plans for a new nuclear-powered submarine to replace its existing Vanguard class submarine. Advance design contracts for the missile section started a while ago, and the main build decision is expected in 2016.

• Italy accepts 2 of its 4 ordered KC-767A aerial tankers into service, after a long set of technical delays and certifications.

• Israel is setting up a taskforce to develop defense capabilities against cyber attacks on critical infrastructure. Rumor has it that they set up a task force to handle the other end a while back. You’d have to ask the Iranians.

Papanikolis at HDW

On Monday Sept 21/09, ThyssenKrupp Marine informed the Greek Minister of Defence that it was canceling “The Archimedes Project” contract for 4 U-214 diesel-electric submarines with Air-Independent Propulsion technology, because the government’s payments had remained underwater for too long. Accumulated payment arrears were over EUR 520 million (then $767 million), and so ThyssenKrupp and its subsidiary Hellenic Shipyards sought international arbitration, in order to recover some of the payments due under its contract.

That development was the just the latest chapter in a long and continuing saga. If the issue remained unresolved, or arbitration resulted in termination payments but no delivery, Greece might have found itself without a submarine force. Now, a resolution is close – but prosecutions may be equally near:

• Greece’s Submarine Programs: Types and Travails
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Appendix A: Contracts Under Water – Greece’s 2009 Default
• Appendix B: Additional Readings & Background
  Continue Reading… »

• Osama Bin Laden is killed by US Navy SEALs... in a Pakistani mansion about 40 miles outside Islamabad. No SEALs killed, but 1 American helicopter was damaged and then destroyed by the SEALs. A Pakistani helicopter may have also gone down. Unfortunately, Ayman-al Zawahiri, the brains of the operation, is still alive.

• General Dynamics Electric Boat receives $1.2 billion to begin construction of the 14th Virginia-class submarine, SSN-787, part of Block III with a revised bow design.

• Russia lays out its vision of European missile defense.

• Angola & Kenya may become the next customers for IAI’s Heron-1 UAV or UAV services, joining export customers like Brazil, India & Turkey, and rent-a-UAV customers like Australia, Canada & Germany.

• Saab sees potential Gripen jet fighter orders in Brazil, Romania, Croatia, Denmark, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. All are possible. Likely is another matter.

• Pentagon looks to place military payloads on commercial satellites in order to reduce costs. On the other hand, they’re not moving to take advantage of Iridium NEXT’s slots, which would seem to be a natural opportunity. But Iridium is just 1 of 7 firms in the new “Hosted Payload Alliance” lobby group.

• Wyle gets $14 million contract to provide IT services to support DARPA’s relocation in Arlington, VA.

• Atlas Air to begin providing passenger service for US military personnel in May, completing its existing military cargo service.

• “Why GE, Coca-Cola, and IBM Are Getting Into the Water Business.” Underlying these efforts: it’s becoming so important, that it will rival oil as a source of conflict in the 21st century.

• General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, and Boeing all beat Wall Street first quarter results estimates.

• Raytheon sees strong Q1 growth in its ace and Airborne Systems (SAS) business thanks to its acquisition of Applied Signal Technology. Meanwhile ManTech had a mix of organic and external growth through the quarter.

• Oshkosh’s Q2 finds the company in the middle of M-ATV to FMTV transition.

• GAO finds flaws in DoD’s contingency contracting, which amounted to $367 billion in FY 2010.

• Russia successfully test fires second RSM-54 Sineva SLBM (SS-N-23 Skiff) from a Delta-IV class submarine, according to the defense ministry.

• The Royal Australian Air Force completes testing of Boeing’s Vigilare command and control system.

• Defense spending would total $513 billion under the compromise FY 2011 continuing resolution (CR) unveiled [PDF] by the House Appropriations Committee, a reduction of $18.1 billion from what the Obama administration wanted but $5 billion more than last year. Still, the use of the CR to fund the federal government for the rest of FY 2011 will leave many defense programs in limbo.

• Show me the money: Russian Helicopters plans to raise $500 million in an initial public offering on the London and Russian exchanges.

• Boeing could lose out on Joint Tactical Radio System’s Ground Mobile Radios (JTRS GMR), as the US Army balks at potential $300,000 costs. US Army networks division chief Col. Jim Carpenter says they’ll publish requirements instead, and ask companies to conduct their own R&D to meet the service’s needs. That could be good news for firms like Harris, Thales, and General Dynamics.

• Faced with delays of 3 years and more to its Scorpene program, and questions about industrial structure for the follow-on Project 75i, India turns to HDW to upgrade its existing U209-1500 “Shishumar” boats for longer service life.

• Embraer and Elbit deepen their relationship by creating a joint venture to market unmanned air systems in Brazil. Elbit’s Hermes 450 UAV is already in limited use there with the FAB.

• Blame it on Rio: The Russian defense industry sees great potential for arms exports to Brazil and other Latin American countries.

• Major US Coast Guard acquisition programs are at cost, schedule, or program acquisition risk due to flawed acquisition management and unrealistic budget planning, warns GAO.

• Teal Group worldwide mission model identifies 2,315 space payloads over the 2011-2030 time frame, an increase of 4% over last year’s count – 20% of those are for military missions.

• Lockheed Martin gets $176 million contract extension to provide depot maintenance products and support at USAF Air Logistics Centers in Ogden, UT; Oklahoma City, OK; and Warner Robins, GA.

• Raytheon delivered 366 of its popular RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles in 2010, which are used by customers around the world for medium range naval air defense. That’s more than double 2009’s total, while using an international manufacturing base.

• Lockheed Martin completes delivery of the 2nd production C-5M Super Galaxy ultra-heavy air transport at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Marietta, GA.

• Fuel cells usually don’t do well with standard military fuels like JP-8, because of the chemicals inside. Lockheed Martin is working to create a fuel cell that can handle JP-8.

• Note to soldiers: the metal detectors they give you for land mines aren’t foolproof. USMC Cpl. Matt Garst found that out the hard way – then walked away from the blast.

• Manufacturing Institute releases their “Roadmap for Education Reform for Manufacturing” – download full report here [PDF].

• Sen. Shaheen [D-NH] unveils Inspiration School Grant Program initiative to close the US robotics gap with Asian nations.

• US Army 2nd Battalion, 321st Field Artillery Regiment provides lessons learned from Afghanistan [PDF].

• US-supplied W76-1 arming device would make Britain’s Trident SLBMs more accurate, Sandia National Lab test shows.

• BAE Systems to repair and maintain 6 Ticonderga-class (CG-47) guided missile cruisers under a US Navy MSMO dry dock contract.

• In addition, BAE snags US Navy contract, worth up to $165 million, to supply 40 Mk 38 Mod 2 25mm close defense gun mounts in 2011 and 2012.

• DARPA awards $2.7 million contract to Lockheed Martin to develop resilient command and control (RC2) for the US military.

• American Small Business League sues [PDF] the Department of Defense for refusing to release subcontracting reports on contracts awarded to Raytheon to ensure compliance with small business contracting rules.

• Fresh from its success in Gaza while mounted on a Merkava main battle tank, RAFAEL’s ASPRO-A/ Trophy active protection system against incoming shells, rockets and missiles (see video) has now finished tests in the USA, mounted on a Stryker/ LAV-III wheeled APC. The need for Trophy was one of the lessons learned from the 2006 Syrian-Iranian-Israeli war in Lebanon.

• In blast-resistant MRAP vehicles, ammunition is from MARS. Which solved a perplexing problem.

• “We can’t afford to stay fat, dumb and happy.” US Air Force Global Strike Command’s A9 directorate is working to apply critical self-assessment, and lessons learned.

• HMS Albion, HMS Sutherland and RFA Cardigan Bay, together with elements of 40 Commando Royal Marines, set sail as lead element of the UK’s Cougar 11 deployment to the Mediterranean and Middle East. RFA Cardigan Bay is a sister ship to Largs Bay, which was just sold off to Australia.

• Lesson learned from Libya: don’t expect to fly Swedish JAS-39C/D Gripens on JP-5 naval aviation fuel. JP-5 is less likely to catch fire on board a carrier, but not so good for planes that need Jet A1 (similar to the USAF’s JP-8).

• NATO has put up a “NATO and Libya” page with links to global coverage of that ongoing operation. Which could be ongoing for a long time.

• DoD says a federal government shutdown would be “extremely disruptive,” but it is making “prudent” plans just in case.

• Wonder what their longer term plans are for the extremely disruptive shipbuilding issue looming in the 2020s? If any plans exist…
  Continue Reading… »

• Russia to move Navy headquarters from Moscow to St. Petersburg by 2012, the Defense Ministry said.

• Where is DoD’s billions of dollars in FY 2012 cybersecurity spending going? Nextgov takes a look.

• Providence Equity Partners agrees to acquire SRA International, a Fairfax, VA-based defense consulting firm, for $1.88 billion in cash.

• Global aerospace and defense sector reaches $646 billion in revenue and $58 billion in operating profit in 2010, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

• Thailand dispatches its carrier, HTMS Chakri Naruebet, to evacuate tourist flood victims stranded on southern islands. The carrier has been criticized as a “tourist attraction,” due to its low operational use, and the operating cost issues associated with that may also bear on Thailand’s bid to buy small SSK U206A submarines.

• Voice of Russia: “A rapprochement between Moscow and Brussels on Euro-ABM issues is indeed a complicated matter, but it is not hopeless, the Russian envoy to NATO believes…”

• New all-platform, all-target AGM-114R Hellfire II missile completes proof-of-principle tests, heading into system qualification. It will replace 4 of the 6 current missile variants (AGM-114K/ K-A/ M/ P)

• Environmental assessments are holding up efforts by American Ordinance to shift munitions production from the Milan Army Ammunition Plant in Tennessee to the Army’s Iowa Ammunition Plant, the GAO finds. Under a 2008 US Army contract, American Ordinance is renovating the Iowa plant at its expense and will be allowed to sell munitions commercially from the plant.

• The Netherlands defense sector is expected to decline from $12.2 billion 2009 to $10.9 billion in 2015, iCD Research predicts.

• Lockheed Martin snags $5.4 million US Navy contract to provide MK39 Expendable Mobile Anti-submarine Warfare Training Targets (EMATTs) for air and surface crew anti-submarine warfare training.

• Pentagon acquisition chief Ashton Carter tells Commission on Wartime Contracting that DoD needs “fast lane” to speed procurement and deployment of weapons in wartime, warns against over-reliance on contractor debarment to combat fraud.

• The US Federal Communications Commission, fresh from its stellar job selling off the B-2 bomber’s radar frequency and forcing a $1+ billion switch, has issued an L-band broadband satellite license that’s likely to interfere with GPS signals. The question “Where on earth does the FCC get its ideas?” may presuppose the wrong answer.

• A small number of defense programs are driving cost increases in DoD’s budget, GAO finds.
  Continue Reading… »

• Why no F-22As over Libya?

• If you have complaints about low-flying RAF aircraft, there’s one country that seems to be missing from the official complaints page.

• Want a Type 42 air defense destroyer? Or just an SAS combat smock? Britain’s Disposal Services Authority may be the place for you.

• Germany upgrades Afghan contingent with more protected vehicles, other supplies – to include Marder 1A5 IFVs.

• Russian naval strike aircraft will be reassigned to Russian Air Force by the end of 2011. Naval strike aircraft include Tu-22M3 Backfire long-range bombers, MiG-31 Foxhound interceptors, Su-27 Flanker fighter jets, and Su-24 Fencer attack aircraft.

• ATK snags $49 million US Navy contract to produce 5.56mm and 7.62mm ammunition for use in the MK16 and MK17 Special Operations Combat Assault Rifle (SCAR).

• Sikorsky’s X2 compound helicopter wins the 2010 (100th) Collier Trophy for aviation achievement.

• USAF Air Combat Command’s new HC-130J combat search and rescue plane completes developmental testing, will begin deliveries in August 2011 alongside AFSOC’s MC-130J Combat Shadow IIs. Both are part of the C-130J Super Hercules family.

• BAE Systems gets GBP 22.5 million contract to provide training support to the Royal Navy’s submarine and mine warfare command team.

• Philippine commission finds a “staggering amount” of fraud in military procurement (and pretends to be surprised). Department of National Defense finalizes measures to prevent further fraud. Color us skeptical.

• The UAE is increasing pensions for military personnel by 70%, and giving bonuses to ministry of defense and armed forces staff, in a move seen as an effort to shore up loyalty.