The concept

Power system contracts to GA, BAE; 1,000th shot; CNR discusses the field; Significant article updates. (Dec 9/11)

Back in March 2006, BAE Systems received a contract for “design and production of the 32 MJ Laboratory Launcher for the U.S. Navy.” Some hint of what they are talking about can be gleaned from the name. The project is an electro-magnetic rail gun that accelerates a projectile to incredibly high speeds without using explosives.

The attraction of such systems is no mystery – they promise to fire their ammunition 10 or more times farther than conventional naval gun shells, while sharply reducing both the required size of each shell, and the amount of dangerous explosive material carried on board ship. Progress is being made, but there are still major technical challenges to overcome before a working rail gun becomes a serious naval option. This DID FOCUS article looks at the key technical challenges, the programs, and the history of key contracts and events…

• Rail Guns: Concept & Technology Developments [updated]
• Rail Guns: The US EMRG Program [updated]
• Rail Guns: Key Contracts & Events [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources [updated]
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• Cost-effective procurement: How to break over 500 jihadis out of Kandahar prison, for $20,000. As told by the the operation’s planners to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s “Voice of Jihad.”

• DCNS’ Gowind Class offshore patrol vessel L’Adroit is headed for Toulon NB, to begin its 3-year promotional tour as a French Navy ship.

• Israel’s F-35i fleet will be based at Nevatim AB as of 2015, when they’re scheduled to arrive in Israel.

• Vietnamese pilots have begun flight training in Canada for their new DHC-6 Twin Otters.

• Rheinmetall begins deliveries of their AEV-3 Kodiak Armored Engineering Vehicles to Sweden & the Netherlands.

• VTUAV heli-drones have landed on ships, but can they do it in high waves and low-visibility, using the same harpoon and winch-down system used in naval helicopters? Thales (UAV interfaces, positioning) and DCNS (ship integration and motion prediction, harpoon system) are working on it, using a Boeing H-6U Little Bird.

• Rheinmetall has used a 10kW laser in a Skyshield 3 turret, coupled with its Skyguard system, to engage mortar rounds, and kill a UAV. They, too, are pushing toward the 100 kW goal, but add that even current systems have proven to be useful. Could lasers show up in a future MANTIS upgrade?

• The US Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) approved (26-0) for a 2nd time the FY12 defense authorization bill, to reflect cuts originating in the Budget Control Act. Summary of the proposed additional cuts. Meanwhile the current continuing resolution expires in 2 days so Congress is set to vote this week on extending temporary funding until mid-December, and the Supercommittee has 7 days left. It’s time to get serious instead of goldwatching, missing the point, or considering resorting to blatant accounting tricks.

• The SASC also reviewed security issues in Iraq with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Martin Dempsey. Video embedded below after the cut; quick highlights.

• The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) says it wants to hold contractors accountable. The GAO however is not convinced by all the claims of savings made by government agencies following recent cost-control OMB directives.

• RAND’s Arroyo Center studied 60 years of US Army outlays and where its budget might go in the near future, while Harvey M. Sapolsky, in answer to the Decker-Wagner Army Acquisition Review [PDF], curiously argues that Army acquisition is both not broken and not fixed.

• USMC helicopter programs may be threatened by F-35 costs, at least in terms of delivery rates.

• Speaking of the US Marines, some are going to be based in Darwin in Northern Territory, Australia.

• Can the approaches that take the twinkle out of stars for astronomers put the zap into lasers for the military? Boeing and SAIC think so, as the USA’s HEL-JTO issues a Phase II contract for a High Power Adaptive Optic system.

• The T-AKE ship Medgar Evers, named after the slain Mississippi civil right leader, is christened by his widow.

• Could the processes behind Apple’s big operational advantage help your company?

• The US Army finds commercial smartphones less brittle than expected, and pretty useful too.

• Britain is weighting its options to dispose of old nuclear subs. See 2nd video below:
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• The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) awards Teledyne Brown Engineering an indefinite delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract worth up to $595 million for the development, deployment and sustainment of an Objective Simulation Framework (OSF).

• AeroVironment unveils its lightweight man-portable Shrike VTOL UAV. Shrike is the result of a contract from DARPA to develop a persistent perch and stare (SP2S) UAV.

• BAE Systems announces a successful testing of its Mk 38 MOD 2 Tactical Laser System (TLS) at Eglin Air Force base, Eglin FLA. The test system fired against air and surface maritime targets.

• The UK Ministry of Defence is preparing to announce its latest round of redundancies in line with the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) [PDF]. It is rumored that Royal Air Force (RAF) personnel supporting Libyan operations may be among the 1,000 troops to go.

• South Africa’s Defense Minister unveils the committee tasked with undertaking the country’s first defense review in thirteen years. The committee is in broad agreement that the 1998 review [PDF] no longer reflects the strategic environment of the African continent.

• Filippino media reacts favorably to comments made by right-wing think tank The Heritage Foundation that the acquisition of the cutter Gregorio del Pilar demonstrates Manila’s commitment to safeguarding territorial integrity, and should result in the transfer of further excess defense articles from the United States.

• The President of South Korea’s Agency for Defense Development tells local media that the production of materiel like the K21 infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) demonstrates that Seoul has come ‘a long way’ over the past decade in the development of cutting-edge weapons to counter North Korea.

• Bulgaria’s Defense Ministry is reportedly preparing to issue a tender for new handguns and sniper rifles.

• Zacks Investment Research’s Aerospace & Defense Stock Overview – Aug. 2011 maintains a ‘neutral’ stance on the US defense sector, while suggesting that international markets may help contractors to counter reduced Government spending.

• Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Buck Mckeon (R-CA) is among senior Republican lawmakers to have written a letter to the White House and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta requesting disclosure of interim results of a comprehensive review of military spending.

• The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) confirms the launch of the Lockheed Martin developed Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2). DARPA indicates that the HTV-2 reached a speed of Mach 20 and provided nine minutes of data before crashing into the Pacific Ocean.

• DARPA awards a $10 million contract to General Atomics for post delivery services for the High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System (HELLADS) Phase 4, Demonstration Laser Weapons System (DLWS).

• The implications of US debt ceiling policies and China’s launch of its J-20 stealth fighter and first aircraft carrier have prompted academics to predict the future shape of the United States’ presence within the Asia Pacific region.

• Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and fellow members of the Defense Energy Security Caucus (DESC) send a letter to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta urging him to spare research into renewable energy solutions from budget cuts.

• Israel’s Defense Ministry is keen to purchase military equipment due to be retired from service after the US withdrawal from Iraq. Israel’s Defense Forces (IDF) in particular are looking to replace their aging fleet of Humvee combat vehicles.

• Russia is expected to showcase a prototype Sukhoi T-50 fifth generation fighter at next week’s MAKS 2011 air show.

• Ukraine’s Prime Minister says the country may privatize some of its defense industries. However those deemed as ‘strategic defense companies’ are like to remain under state control.

• The US Army awards Cherokee Nation Red Wing a $20.5 million contract to provide helicopter rotor blades, drive mechanisms and components. Meanwhile Sikorsky wins a $23 million contract to provide the US Army with airframe structural components.

• President Barack Obama announces his intent to promote Ashton B. Carter from Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics to Deputy Secretary of Defense.

• The House of Commons Defence Select Committee publishes its report on the UK’s Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) [PDF]. The Committee rejects Prime Minister David Cameron’s view that the Armed Forces have a full spectrum of defense capabilities. Concerns are also raised that expenditure savings have overridden state security.

• Japan’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) publishes Defense of Japan 2011.  In the foreword [PDF] the Minister of Defense highlights China’s rapid military modernization and its increasing presence around Japanese waters.

• South Korean prosecutors have indicted three retired senior Air Force officers for allegedly passing classified military information to Lockheed Martin.

• Finmeccanica subsidiary DRS Technologies announces that its has been awarded a $514.3 million indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract to supply the US Army with its Small Tactical Optical Rifle Mounted Micro Laser Range Finder (STORM-mLRF).

• An Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot was killed when his MiG-21 fighter crashed in Rajasthan. This takes the number of accidents involving MiG-21s to 25 over the past three years and reinforces concerns that India is struggling to keep its aging Soviet fleet airworthy.

• Talk about your bad run for Army Aviation. An old Thai UH-1H crashed on July 16th, so they sent a UH-60 Blackhawk to recover remains etc. It crashed in challenging weather on July 19th. So they sent a UH-1N/212 twin-Huey. Which… crashed on the 24th. Toll: 17 dead and Thailand’s 54 UH-1N’s are now grounded.

• The release of the Final Report of the 2010 Army Acquisition Review [PDF] reveals that since 1995 the US Army has spent $32 billion on testing and evaluation of weapons programs that were eventually canceled. Among the largest programs was Boeing’s Future Combat Systems.

• Russian police have launched a criminal investigation into the financial affairs of the management of the Severnaya Verf shipyard, St Petersburg. The investigation adds to concerns about the shipyard, after it announced that the launch of the first Admiral Gorshkov class frigate would be delayed until 2012.

• Australia’s Minister for Defence, Stephen Smith lays out progress and perils to date re: Australian acquisition reform, projects of concern, the 2030 defence capability plan, and more.

• EADS’ Cassidian signs a cooperation agreement with Ilex, a specialist Identity and Access Management (IAM) publisher. Cooperation is expected to to result in greater synergy between Cassidian’s Public Key Infrastructure system and Ilex’s access control platform.

• Bids have been submitted for two packages of work worth $33 billion in support of Canada’s National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS). However, officials have yet to decide whether to allow the new owners of Davie Yards to compete.

• Pictures of L-3 Communications’ Spydr modifications of a Hawker Beechcraft King Air 350ER show the replacement of the nose section with a new structure capable of carrying the company’s Wescam MX-15 camera.

• A declassified report obtained by the National Security Archive reveals that China’s electromagnetic pulse weapons (EMP) programs are more advanced than once thought. The report also indicates that China has developed tactics utilizing EMP weapons in the event of US deployments in any future conflict with Taiwan.

• The appointment of a maritime expert as Turkey’s new Defense Minister may see the profile of the indigenous shipbuilding sector on the rise.

• Pakistan’s Navy inducts its first squadron of indigenous Uqab-II UAVs at PNS Mehran, in Karachi. That’s just a day after a Pakistani Navy drone hit a bird and crashed near an oil refinery in a suburb of Karachi.

• The House of Representatives passes a $649 billion defense spending bill for FY2012, trimming $9 billion from President Obama’s budget request.

• Department of Defense officials tell a Pew Research Center conference that the military is prepared to use biofuels.  However, usage is dependent upon a number of factors including price and sufficient demand to create a biofuel industry.

• Following recent criticisms by the UK’s National Audit Office (NAO), Defence Secretary Liam Fox defends the decision to refit one Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier with a catapult and arrestor gear. Fox said the move would provide the Royal Navy with 50 years of ‘the best utility we could have in terms of power projection’.

• The US Army awards Daimler Trucks North America a contract potentially worth almost $45 million for an undisclosed number and type of vehicles.

• Japan opens a military base in Djibouti that will be used to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia. The move was followed by the government’s extension of the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force’s anti-piracy mission.

• ITT gives Defense Tech a heads up on the product it is submitting for the US Army’s Common Infrared Countermeasure (CIRCM) Program.

• As a British Government Minister declares that offensive cyber warfare is an integral part of the UK’s armory, the Ministry of Defence outline their new Materiel Strategy.

• Cassidian win contract to provide the Canadian Navy new technologies to detect and counter laser-based threats against its vessels.

• The US Navy announces that CVN 79, the 2nd Ford Class aircraft carrier, will be named the USS John F. Kennedy. It will continue the namesake legacy of the non-nuclear powered CV 67, retired in 2007.

• The U.S. Navy successfully tested the DDG 1000’s Integrated Power System (IPS) at full power at the Land Based Test Site located in Philadelphia, May 11.

• The U.S. Navy also approves ATK’s Hostile Fire Indication (HFI) capability upgrade for the AAR-47 Missile Warning System.

• Singapore’s ST Engineering announce the formation of a joint venture (JV) company with Nanyang Technological University and DSO National Laboratories. The JV will design, develop and produce advanced earth observation satellites.

• India’s Mahindra and Mahindra report a 6.4% year-on-year rise in fourth quarter net profit.

• As operations over Libya drain European stockpiles of smart bombs, Defense Update’s “The High Cost of Precision Attack” looks at progress, pricing, and options.

• The world military helicopter market reached $12.6 billion in 2010, and demand is predicted to remain strong over the next decade, says ASDReports.com.

• Pentagon acquisition chief Ashton Carter is encouraged by Wall Street’s view of the defense industry. Wall Street once liked the housing sector, too…

• Emerging markets to invest billions of dollars in missile programs over the next 10 years, according to ASDReports.com.

• Lockheed Martin and TAI unveil the 1st of 30 new Turkish F-16 Block 50s, a couple months ahead of schedule. TAI has built and modified a number of F-16s under license, and operates a finishing and check-out line in Turkey.

• Force Protection adds Lockheed Martin (C4ISR) & Elbit (RWS) to its Cougar bid for Canada’s TAPV MRAP program.

• First SBIRS GEO missile detection satellite reaches geosynchronous orbit – passing the impaired but rising AEHF-1 secure broadband communications satellite.

• Raytheon gets $20.7 million USAF contract to provide 1,900 KIV-77 Mode 4/5 cryptographic units that provide secure IFF communications to reduce friendly fire.

• The outgoing Chief of the U.S. Navy says it is ‘not moving fast enough’ in developing Unmanned Underwater Vehicles. But he sees lasers as the biggest game changer.

• Elbit wins Israeli contract with its “Flying Elephant” resupply UAV – a parafoil, GPS guidance, and a 1 tonne wheeled cargo pallet. It was picked in part for its simplicity and speed of deployment… unusual criteria in places like the USA, which is looking at a much more expensive approach.