• DID contributor DJ Elliott (ISF Order of Battle) offers his Iraqi Aviation Update December 2010.

• But if you’d rather sell equipment to Iraq’s police and Interior Ministry forces, this may be the event for you. Not quite sure how the likely presence of Belgian and Chinese firms fits into the “Victor, spoils” narrative, though.

• Batman inspires BAE Systems’ Raider unmanned military ground vehicle.

• He’s needed on the front lines. Extreme child abuse has become a Taliban tactic in Afghanistan, used to gather intelligence about allied helicopter operations.

• API Technologies, a Ronkonkoma, NY-based supplier of military UAVs, robots, and electronics, completes a 1-for-4 reverse stock split in an effort to get Nasdaq listing.

• While the US is shutting down its Joint Forces Command, South Korea is setting one up as part of a major military command structure overhaul.

• DARPA launches program [PDF] to develop unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) to track quiet submarines.

• India launches first indigenous aerostat communications and surveillance system with night vision cameras. They already employ a number of Israeli radar aerostats, and have used them very successfully.

• Meanwhile, a Malaysian defense analyst looks at Pakistan’s options in countering Indian air power, and ponders an ‘asymmetric’ approach using unmanned UCAVs. While feasibility is a question mark given Pakistan’s status on the precipice of financial default and worse, this analysis mirrors ideas being debated elsewhere.

• 3,500 soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, from Fort Knox are headed to Afghanistan for 1-year deployment.

• As shipbuilder Fincantieri’s civilian business sags, reports surface of pressure to merge with Finmeccanica.

• Australia’s DSTO has a money saving solution for C-130J Super Hercules operators.

• Attacks Down Under: Monthly cyber attacks against Australian military networks have more than tripled since last year.

• Double the Fun: Singapore-based ST Marine wins contract to convert Royal Australian Navy tanker HMAS Success to a double hulled vessel as part of a A$170 million 2010-2011 budget for ship repair and maintenance work in the Sydney area.

• Early ship blocks built for India’s locally built Vikrant Class/ Project 71 aircraft carrier.

• Australia’s EC665 Tiger ARH scout/attack helicopters won’t be ready for Afghan deployment for another 2 years…

• USAF finishes retiring 252 of its F-16, F-15 and A-10 fighters.

• Boeing will submit its A160T Hummingbird for the US Marines’ unmanned cargo drone RFP.

• Where’s the Crew?: Zyvek Technologies tests the Piranha, a 54-foot unmanned surface vessel (USV) prototype made of carbon-fiber composites, in Puget Sound, WA.

• ITT snags contract worth up to $1.4 billion to provide support services for US Army facilities in Kuwait.

• Is President Obama really proposing to sell China C-130 tactical transport aircraft? China already flies its own Yun-8 knockoff of Russia’s AN-12, and is developing the Yun-9 as a C-130J competitor.

• Research and Markets: US armed forces using more biofuels to fuel jets, naval ships, and other modes of transportation. Still in experimental mode, however.

• ManTech closes $60 million purchase of QinetiQ North America’s security and intelligence solutions business, which recently won a prime contract worth up to $365 million to support the Missile Defense Agency.

• M&A Fever: August was a busy month for mergers and acquisitions in the US defense industry, particular in the areas expected to be spared from the Pentagon cuts, such as sensors, RF technology, and UAVs.

• UK-based Chemring Group completes the purchase of Belgian ammunition manufacturer Mecar and its US subsidiary Mecar USA from US-based Allied Defense Group for $59.6 million in cash.

• CENTCOM is proposing to spend $1.2 billion over five years to build up Yemen’s military forces to fight Al Qaeda; the Pentagon has already announced plans to spend $155 million this year on helicopters, Hummers, and night-vision equipment for Yemen.

• Argentina’s Minister of Defence commits to raising spending from 0.9% of GDP to 1.5% of GD, with a 50% increase to modernize equipment. Can Argentina’s government actually pay for it, or finance it? Time will tell. Meanwhile, 2 new Mi-17 helicopters are a very small step for Argentina, but a big step for Russia.

• Around the world, UUV development is moving along as the robotic evolution gains steam. But is the US Navy really buying in?

• Will Japan’s growing economic dependence on China create problems for the island nation’s plans for an expanded military role in East Asia?

• Talking Turkey: The US tells Turkey that it will not participate in the Anatolian Eagle air exercises in October, amid reports that the US had conditioned its participation on Israeli participation.

• Footlong Sub: Iranian navy takes delivery of 4 Ghadir class midget submarines, the 1st Iranian-built class of submarine, which is thought to be based on the North Korean Sang-O class coastal submarine.

• Bulking Up: Iran says it is beefing up its indigenous Mersad air defense system, which uses Shahin missiles, by adding new radar, while Russia and Ukraine deny reports of selling S-300 air defense missiles to Iran.

• First 11 Iraqi M1 Abrams tanks arrive at Umm Qasr.

• Kyrgyz Base: US is building a $10 million training base in Osh in southern Kyrgyzstan; the US already operates the Manas Air Base in the country, which serves as a transit center for supplies and troops going to Afghanistan.

• Bump in the Road: Despite a tripling of its defense segment sales, Oshkosh saw its stock price plummet on investor fears that the market for military trucks will dry up in the next few years.

• The global market for unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs) is expected to reach $12 billion over the next decade, including $1.2 billion for UUV power systems, according to AlumiFuel Power, a supplier of hydrogen-sourced power systems.

• CSC gets a $28 million task order, under the Flight School XXI contract, to supply simulator-based flight and related aviation training support to the US Army Aviation Center of Excellence at Fort Rucker, AL.

• Op-ed: Pentagon officials argue for phased adaptive ballistic missile defense to counter threat from rogue states.

• Controversy over F-35 design changes that may make it more vulnerable.

• EADS to continue funding development of Talarion MALE UAV despite reluctance of European partners to place orders. This study may also have had something to do with EADS’ decision.

• Eurosatory 2010 is on in Paris, France. BAE presents its new CV90 Armadillo family of tracked IFVs and RG41 wheeled APC, GD presents its Eagle V patrol vehicle, Renault its VAB Mk.II wheeled APC.

• Meanwhile, France is presenting its Munitions Precision Metrique (MPM) program [in French], which aims to offer a family of tank shells, 155mm artillery, 120mm mortars, GMLRS rockets, and 68mm SNEB rockets that use semi-active laser guidance + INS to get 1m CEP precision, instead of GPS/INS guidance’s 10m (decametrique).

• It’s called job security. US Navy loses 3 REMUS-100 UUVs, calls in the old standby dolphins and sea lions to find them.

• Australia’s new submarine support facility in Henderson, Western Australia, is open for work. They can use that help.

• Too many zeros: The Associated Press added 3 zeros to an $8.4 million Sikorsky Aircraft order for normal maintenance work on the VH-3D Sea King presidential helicopter fleet. Speaking of needing help… $8.4 billion should be intuitively wrong for that.

• Not business as usual: SAIC snags contract worth up to $75 million to provide technical support for the US DoD Business Transformation Agency’s Enterprise Planning & Investment Directorate.

• Japanese spacecraft lands in Australia with asteroid samples. Bruce Willis and crew not on it…

• Do the H2O: Global Defense Technology & Systems wins $45 million contract for mobile systems to package purified water for front-line Marines.

• Salt Lake seed money: Utah launches initiative to lift defense, aerospace industries.

• USA sends aircraft carrier USS George Washington [CVN-73] to participate in South Korean naval exercises in the Yellow Sea.

• Scaling the SUMMIT: Lockheed Martin gets ONR contract to develop software system – known as the Supervision of Unmanned vehicles Mission Management by Interactive Teams (SUMMIT) – to manage groups of unmanned naval vehicles used in mine detection.

• Show me the money: Accenture gets up to a $181.9 million contract to help put the US Navy’s books in order.

• Incumbent contractor George Patterson Y&R beats out 7 other firms to win A$40 million advertising account for the Australian Defence Force.

• It keeps going…: Ultralife gets $29 million in DoD battery orders.

• And going…: Paradigm Solutions to provide uninterruptible power supply systems and electrical upgrades for DISA’s Defense Enterprise Computing Center in St. Louis, MO.

RSN project concept

The Applied Physics Laboratories at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA received a $120.4 million cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity task order contract for up to 657,115 staff hours. Multiple appropriation types will be utilized throughout contract performance, and no funds are obligated by award of this contract, only on individual task orders. A contract option could bring the cumulative value of this contract to $257.4 million for up to 1,314,230 staff hours. Work will be performed in Seattle, WA, and is expected to be complete by April 2015. This contract was not competitively procured by the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington Navy Yard, Washington, DC (N00024-10-D-6618).

The lab does a lot of civilian and military work, and even civilian programs like the Regional Scale Nodes Project ocean observatory would expand ocean access in ways that apply to both civilian and military systems. APL-UW will provide research, development, and engineering to US NAVSEA in 7 core competency areas that NAVSEA has deemed essential to support a variety of specific military programs. While this sort of work is less visible than buying a $700 million Littoral Combat Ship/ frigate, the combined effects of these efforts could be very significant in maintaining the US Navy’s future edge:

• Experimental oceanography
• Acoustic propagation
• Underwater instrumentation and equipment
• Marine corrosion
• Acoustic and related systems
• Simulations and signal processing; and
• Mission related research and development

MH-60S w. AQS-20

Advances made in American mine detection technologies during the mid 2000s included the AQS-20A mine detecting sonar array and airborne laser systems mounted to MH-60S helicopters. All of this is in the service of the USA’s new naval emphasis on littoral warfare and accompanying doctrinal changes. So, what’s the AN/AQS-20? And how is it also related to a new US ship class, not to mention a new undersea robot?

• The AN/AQS-20, AMCM, and Future Fleet Capabilities
• AQS-20 Contracts & Key Events [different article]
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(click to download)

Defense was an issue in the last Australian election. The center-left Labor Party attacked the center-right Liberal Party by citing mismanaged projects, and accusing the Howard government of making poor choices on key defense platforms like the F/A-18F Super Hornet and F-35A Joint Strike fighters. That sniping continued even after Labor won the election, and has been evident in more than a few Defence Ministry releases.

The new government made some program changes, such as canceling the SH-2G Seasprite contract. Yet it has been more notable for the programs it has not changed: problematic upgrades of Australia’s Oliver Hazard Perry frigates were continued, the late purchase of F/A-18F Super Hornets was ratified rather than canceled, and observers waited for the real shoe to drop: the government’s promised 2009 Defence White Paper, which would lay out Australia’s long-term strategic assessments, and procurement plans.

On May 2/09, Australia’s government released “Defending Australia in the Asia Pacific Century: Force 2030.” DID has reviewed that document, and the reaction to date including a new ASPI roundup of reactions from around Asia.

• Fast Incoming
• The Highlight Reel
• Additional Readings & Assessments
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K-Dog: disco is worse

The global proliferation of advanced, ultra-quiet diesel electric submarines has prompted a number of responses around the globe, from initial-stage efforts to mimic a shark’s senses in the USA, to the most obvious route of using more powerful active sonars. In Western countries, concerns have been expressed that these sonars may disorient or scare marine mammals, leading to decompression sickness or disruption of their biological sonar navigation systems. This has led to (unsuccessful) lawsuits aimed at curtailing submarine exercises by Western navies.

In December 2007, USN Rear Adm. Lawrence S. Rice, director of Naval Operations Environmental Readiness, discussed some of the measures that are being taken to investigate the issue, and also mitigate any possible effects. In January 2008, a court battle erupted over undersea training off the coast of San Diego, CA, throwing the issue back into the limelight and potentially crippling Navy training before a dangerous deployment to the Persian Gulf. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals’ follow-on ruling was predictable, but in November 2008, the US Supreme Court issued its ruling.

In light of that favorable ruling, a settlement has now been reached on the Navy’s terms. The Navy has just been given permission to conduct exercises near Hawaii, and this, too, is likely to end up in court, along with its planned training near Florida. Meanwhile, the US Navy continues to fund marine mammal research – which may begin to include UUVs and/or USVs…

• Sonar and Marine Mammals
• Updates and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
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