67% of the fleet
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Program changes create a Nunn-McCurdy breach, trigger forced review. (Feb 3/10)

The prime missions of the new DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class destroyer are to provide naval gunfire support and next-generation air defense in near-shore areas where other large ships hesitate to tread, possibly even as the anchor for an action group of stealthy Littoral Combat Ships and submarines. The estimated 14,500t (cruiser sized) Zumwalt Class will be fully multi-role, however, with undersea warfare, anti-ship, and long-range surface attack roles.

That makes the DDG-1000 suitable or another role – as a “hidden ace card,” using its overall stealth to create uncertainty for enemy forces. At over $3 billion per ship for construction alone, however, the program faced significant obstacles if it wanted to avoid fulfilling former Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter’s fears for the fleet.

True, or False?
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DID’s FOCUS Article for the DDG-1000 program covers the new ships’ capabilities and technologies, key controversies, associated contracts and costs, and related background resources. From the outset, DID has noted that the Zumwalt Class might face the same fate as the ultra-sophisticated, ultra-expensive SSN-21 Seawolf Class submarines. That appears to have come true, with news of the program’s truncation to just 3 ships. Meanwhile, production continues.

• Zumwalt Class: Program and Participants
• DDG-1000 Key Technologies and Features
• DDG-1000 Issues and Controversies
• Zumwalt Class: Contracts and Key Events
  • FY 2010 [updated]
  • FY 2009
  • FY 2008
  • FY 2007
  • FY 2006
  • FY 2005
  • FY 1998 through 2004
• Additional Readings & Sources
  
  Continue Reading… »

• Littoral Combat Ship: program updates.

• A British green paper calls for enhanced military cooperation between the UK and France. Industry says: what about R&D?

• India orders BEL’s Akash medium range surface-to-air missile systems.

• India issues turboprop trainer RFP, after instructors reportedly refused to fly HPT-32s.

• Up to 8 UAVs reported operating in Waziristan, Pakistan strike.

• Indian P-8i sea control aircraft may add air-air surveillance.

• Frost & Sullivan: Traditional defense contractors will lose market share to “disruptive companies” that offer “good enough” products at cheaper prices.

• China is threatening to sanction US companies that are involved in the US $6.45 billion weapons sale to Taiwan. Real, or a bluff?

• US Defense Secretary Gates warns Congress that if it makes substantial cuts to the administration’s budget request, the US military will have to “sacrifice” force structure and capabilities.

• USA’s coming rotorcraft crunch?

• US DISA awards Unisys a $187 million contract to provide mainframe computer capacity for USAF logistics.

• Who’s right on the US carrier fighter gap? Defense Secretary Gates or the Navy?

• Raytheon receives a $170 million foreign military sales order to produce AGM-65D and AGM-65G2 infrared-guided Maverick air-to-surface missiles for the UAE.

• Maritime laser clears 2 US design reviews.

• Thales wins 5-year training support sub-contract for Australia’s E-737 Wedgetail AWACS {DII}, 5-year avionics support sub-contract for France’s Rafale fighters.

• The US Navy stands up its new Fleet Cyber Command to oversee the service’s cyberspace operations. Google attacks termed a “wake up call” by DNI.

• Draper Lab gets $131.1 million contract to upgrade the guidance systems on the Trident II D5 missile.

General Dynamics Team
Trimaran LCS Design
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New RFP, FY 2011 budget request, Problems with ship survivability, LCS-2 commissioning, GAO costs report. (Feb 2/10)

Exploit simplicity, numbers, the pace of technology development in electronics and robotics, and fast reconfiguration. That was the US Navy’s idea for the low-end backbone of its future surface combatant fleet. Inspired by successful experiments like Denmark’s Standard Flex ships, the US Navy’s $30+ billion “Littoral Combat Ship” program was intended to create a new generation of affordable surface combatants that could operate in dangerous shallow and near-shore environments, while remaining affordable and capable throughout their lifetimes.

It hasn’t worked that way. In practice, what the Navy wanted, the capabilities needed to perform primary naval missions, and what could be delivered for the sums available, have proven nearly irreconcilable. The LCS program has changed its fundamental acquisition plan several times since 2005, and canceled contracts with both competing teams, without escaping any of its fundamental issues. This public-access FOCUS article offer a wealth of research material, alongside looks at the LCS program’s designs, industry teams procurement plans, military controversies, and contracts.

• LCS: Concept & Needs
• LCS: The Competing Teams
• LCS Solution = Standard Equipment + Mission Modules
• LCS: Controversies & Cautions
• LCS: Budgets and Program Structure [updated]
• LCS: Export Potential
• LCS: Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• LCS Ancillaries: Mission Module & Weapon Contracts & Key Events
• Additional Readings & Sources [updated]
  
  Continue Reading… »

F-35A: incoming…
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FY 2011 budget proposals, withheld performance fees, a change in program leadership, Australian reaction. (Feb 2/10)

The $300+ billion F-35 Joint Strike fighter may well be the largest single global defense program in history. This major multinational program is intended to produce an “affordably stealthy” multi-role fighter that will have 3 variants: the F-35A conventional version for the US Air Force et. al.; the F-35B Short Take-Off, Vertical Landing for the US Marines, British Royal Navy, et. al.; and the F-35C conventional carrier-launched version for the US Navy. The aircraft is named after Lockheed’s famous WW2 P-38 Lightning, and the Mach 2, stacked-engine English Electric (now BAE) Lightning jet. Lightning II system development partners included The USA & Britain (Tier 1), Italy and the Netherlands (Tier 2), and Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Turkey (Tier 3), with Singapore and Israel as “Security Cooperation Partners.” Now the challenge is agreeing on production phase membership and arrangements, to be followed by initial purchase commitments in 2009-2010.

This updated article has expanded to feature more detail regarding the F-35 program, including contracts, sub-contracts, and notable events and reports. New material is highlighted by putting it in green type.

• The F-35 Family of Aircraft
• F-35 Program: Production Timelines & Structure
• F-35 Program: Controversies and Competitions
• F-35 Program: Events & Developments, CY 2009-2010 [updated]
• F-35 Program: System Development & Production Contracts, FY 2009-2010 [updated]
• F-35 Program: Ancillary and Sub-contracts, FY 2009 – 2010
• Additional Readings & Sources
  
  Continue Reading… »

RAAF C-130J-30, flares
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$146 million for another year of USAF fleet engine support. (Feb 1/10)

The C-130 Hercules remains one of the longest-running aerospace manufacturing programs of all time. Since 1956, over 40 models and variants have served as the tactical airlift backbone for over 50 nations. The C-130J looks similar, but the number of changes almost make it a new aircraft. Those changes also created issues; the program has been the focus of a great deal of controversy in America – and even of a full program restructuring in 2006. Some early concerns from critics were put to rest when the C-130J demonstrated in-theater performance on the front lines that represented a major improvement over its C-130E/H predecessors. A valid follow-on question might be: does it break the bottleneck limitations that have hobbled a number of multi-billion dollar US Army vehicle development programs?

C-130J customers now include Australia, Britain, Canada, Denmark, India, Iraq, Italy, Norway, Oman, Qatar, and the United States. American C-130J purchases are taking place under both annual budgets and supplemental wartime funding, in order to replace tactical transport and special forces fleets that are flying old aircraft and in dire need of major repairs. This DID FOCUS Article describes the C-130J, examines the bottleneck issue, covers global developments for the C-130J program, and looks at present and emerging competitors.

• The (Private) Labors of Hercules: the C-130J
• The C-130J and the 20-ton Bottleneck
• Turbulent Flight: The C-130J Program
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources, incl. emerging competitors & Special Operations requirements
  
  Continue Reading… »

FH-77Bs, Kargil War
via Bharat Rakshak
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The competition is still stalled, but a $647 million DSCA request for the M777 may be an end run around India’s DPP. (Jan 26/10)

India’s $2 billion purchase of about 400 new 155mm self-propelled howitzers is intended to supplement India’s dwindling artillery stocks, while out-ranging and out-shooting Pakistan’s self-propelled M109 155mm guns. It seems simple enough, and BAE Systems Bofors had been competing against systems from Israel’s Soltam and Denel of South Africa.

Unfortunately, the competition has mostly served as a cautionary tale, a years-long affair filled with legal drama, accusations of corruption, and more than one re-start. Meanwhile, India’s stock of operational 155mm howitzers has dwindled to around 200. In 2007, a new RFP was issued, and the competition was expanded. Only to crash again in 2009. Is there an end in sight? Or a potential winner?

• Competition Background
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
  Continue Reading… »

Canada’s $3 billion frigate modernization program is just the latest example of a growing problem for American defense firms.

Major players in the defense industry have been pushing to change US ITAR export controls for years. Unfortunately, the USA’s use of export controls for protectionist and political purposes begins to have the predictable effect of making American defense components toxic to potential international customers. Even as cumbersome rules and a slow American bureaucracy add friction to important international deals and partnerships.

• Problems & Proposed Reforms
• The January 2008 Presidential Directives
• Recent Updates and Additional Developments (2009-) [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
  Continue Reading… »

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Hydra-70 is a family of unguided rockets offering a variety of warhead configurations, from smoke and illumination rounds, to flechettes (hundreds of anti-personnel darts), submunition carriers, and unitary warheads up to 317 pounds. These versatile and relatively inexpensive rockets can be fired from a variety of aircraft, from attack helicopters to jet fighters to light helicopters like the OH-6 Little Bird, the new Bell 407 ARH, et. al. Hydra-70s have seen use in Afghanistan and Iraq, and they are arguably the world’s most widely used helicopter-launched weapon system. Magellan’s 70mm CRV-7 rockets and Thales’ 68mm SNEB system are its main Western competitors, while countries using Russian equipment have a variety of choices that begin with the 57mm S-5 family, extending through the 80mm S-8 family, and continuing up to the 266mm S-25.

While 70mm Hydra rockets are low cost weapons, and easy to carry in numbers, they are not a very accurate weapons system by modern standards. This makes them problematic choices for urban warfare if limitations exist on the use of force, and sharply limits their value to platforms like UAVs. The US Army intended to scale back production of the rocket system in 2003, but Congress, led by Senator Leahy’s [D-VT] efforts, reversed the decision with a $900 million contract.

Production continues under that contract, even as technology developments promise to make Hydra rockets a multi-headed battlefield threat once again. The latest development involves a new warhead option…

• Leahy’s Leverage
• Hydra Rockets: Contracts [updated]
• Hydra Precision: APKWS etc.
• Additional Readings
  
  Continue Reading… »

Hydras & Hellfires
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The versatile Hydra 70mm rocket family is primed for a new lease on life, thanks to widespread efforts underway to convert these ubiquitous rockets into cheap laser-guided precision weapons.

The benefits would be considerable, which explains why strong competition has emerged from all points of the compass. America’s “Advanced Precision-Kill Weapon System (APKWS)” is one of those efforts, and after numerous delays and false starts since its inception in 1996, an “APKWS-II” program finally entered System Design and Development (SDD) in 2006.

The program is now closing in on a Milestone C decision, and Operational Assessment, following a series of recent firings. NAVAIR is also preparing initial sole-source buys…

Continue Reading… »

C-5 Galaxy
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DID’s FOCUS articles offer in-depth, updated looks at significant military programs of record. This FOCUS Article explains what the C-5 AMP/RERP program involves, why it’s so critical to the future of American airpower, and why it’s such a challenging project. It also covers developments on the political and contracting fronts.

When it was introduced, back in 1970, the C-5 Galaxy was the largest plane in the world. Even so, the fleet is not without its issues. The C-5 has the highest operating cost of any Air Force weapon system, and those costs stem from extremely high maintenance demands as well as poor fuel economy. Availability rates routinely hover near 50%. To add insult to injury, the Russians not only built a bigger plane (the AN-124), they sold it off at the end of the Cold War to semi-private operators, turning it into a commercial success whose customer list now includes… NATO.

Sunrise? Sunset?
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Meanwhile, the USA still needs long-range, heavy load airlift. The AN-124’s commercial success may get its production line restarted, but the C-5 has no such hope. C-17s cost more than $200 million per plane – about the cost of a 747-8 freighter, but still a lot of money. The US Air Force believed it could save money by upgrading the older C-5s to renew their avionics (AMP) and engines (RERP). Their hope was that this would eliminate the problems that keep so many C-5s in the hangar, cut down on future maintenance costs, and grow airlift capacity without adding new planes. Unfortunately, the program is program experienced major cost growth, and a battle between C-5M and C-17 supporters in Congress is underway.

The C-5M program wound up being cut in size, and cut in two. The C-5A and C-5B/C fleets are now slated for different treatment, which will deliver fewer of the hoped-for benefits in exchange for lower costs and lower risk. The latest development involves a minor contract…

• The C-5’s AMP/RERP Changes
• The AMP/RERP Program and the C-5 Gamble
• Contracts & Key Events, 1999 – Present [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources
  
  Continue Reading… »