Austal Team
Trimaran LCS Design
(click to enlarge)

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 $35+ 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 4 times since 2005, and canceled contracts with both competing teams during this period, 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, budgets and contracts:

• LCS: Concept & Needs
  • LCS: Designs & Teams
  • LCS Solution = Standard Equipment + Mission Modules [updated]
• LCS: Controversies & Cautions
• The LCS Program
  • LCS Ship Roster
  • LCS: Export Potential?
• LCS: Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• LCS Ancillaries: Mission Module & Weapon Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources
• Appendix A: LCS’ Yo-Yoing Budgets and Program Structure [updated]
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Saab concept

The European nEUROn project joins Britain’s Taranis UCAV, Russia’s MiG SKAT, Boeing’s X-45 Phantom Ray, and the US Navy’s X-47 UCAS-D program as unmanned aircraft projects with fighter-substitution potential.

Multinational projects are often fraught affairs, and Europe’s stealth Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) had its own close calls. In November 2005, a Forecast International report on the future UAV market saw political trouble coming for the proposed 6-nation nEUROn project, unless the partner nations could get their act together and agree. In the end, the project got rolling with committed funding of EUR 535 million and counting, and the French DGA (Délégation Générale pour l’Armement) procurement agency acting as the program executive. This FOCUS article covers the Neuron program’s 3-fold goals, envisioned platform, program structure and schedule, and ongoing contracts and developments:

• Neuron: The Aircraft
• Neuron: The Program [updated]
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings and Sources
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NPOESS

The National Polar-orbiting Observing Satellite System (NPOESS) was a joint program of the Department of Defense, Department of Commerce and NASA to replace less sophisticated weather satellites that are expected to fail over the next several years. It would help develop 3-7 day weather forecasts for civilian and military purposes, including weather like hurricanes, tornadoes, etc. Unfortunately, the program ended up billions over budget, and 6 or more years late. Some gaps in coverage are possible during that time, if enough older satellites fail.

In November 2005 testimony given at a House of Congress Science Committee hearing, the Administrator of NOAA and the Undersecretary of the Air Force promised new cost and schedule estimates and policy options, as well as fuller and more rapid information. NPOESS was openly described as “a program in crisis.” Just under 5 years later, that crisis came to an end with a program split into civilian (JPSS) and military (DWSS) systems, and a 5-year NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) satellite that will test key instruments and serve as a capability bridge:

• The NPOESS Program: Basic Briefing
• Hereafter: NPP, JPSS and DWSS [updated]
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Appendix A: Stormy Weather – NPOESS’ Rocky Ride
• Appendix B: Nov 2005 DID Op/Ed: How About “Good Enough, and Working”?
• Appendix C: Additional Readings
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Future Lynx naval

In 2006, Finmeccanica subsidiary AgustaWestland received a GBP 1 billion (about $1.9 billion at 02/07 rates) contract from the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) for 70 Future Lynx helicopters. The Lynx is an extremely fast helicopter that entered service in the 1970s and has seen several versions and upgrades over the decades. Lynx helicopters have been used in a number of British Army (AH7 & AH9) and Fleet Air Arm (Mk 8) roles: reconnaissance, attack, casualty evacuation & troop transport, ferrying supplies, anti-submarine operations, and even command post functions.

The Future Lynx program reflects that. The original goal was 40 Battlefield Reconnaissance Helicopters (BRH) for the British Army, and 30 Surface Combatant Maritime Rotorcraft (SCMR) for the Royal Navy, with an option for another 10 helicopters that could be split in any way desired. At present, contracts have been issued for 34 AW159 BRHs, and 28 AW159 SCMR naval helicopters. This is DID’s FOCUS Article for the AW159 Lynx Wildcat Program, describing its improvements, schedules, and related contracts…

• The Future Lynx Helicopters
• Future Lynx: The Program
• Future Lynx: Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
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• Job cuts: 540 layoffs coming at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, as part of corporate plans to reduce their workforce ahead of budget squeezes. Meanwhile the BBC has new details about BAE’s cuts in the UK.

• Michael Gilmore, Director of Operational Test & Evaluation within the US DOD, listed key issues in reliability growth [PDF]. He writes: “most programs fail to get on their planned growth curves” because they take a reactive approach to reliability management. Among programs that took a “Design for Reliability” (DfR) proactive approach: Raytheon’s SDB-II, GDLS’ Stryker NBCRV, and BAE+GDLS’ GCV.

• USA moving to activate UAV drone bases in Djibouti, Ethiopia, the Seychelles, and “the Arabian Peninsula.” They’re also trying to learn from past mistakes.

• Boeing and AAR Aircraft Component Services – Amsterdam announce a letter of intent to cooperate on support for Dutch CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift and AH-64D Apache attack helicopters, as part of a larger MRO initiative.

• USAF receives its 1st HC-130J Combat King II combat search and rescue aircraft.

• Raytheon will integrate their Griffin mini-missile with former subsidiary HawkerBeechcraft’s AT-6B counterinsurgency plane. Raytheon may be offering the aircraft to Australia, for the Air 5428 [FAC] Pilot Training System program.

• Russia to sell China 140-150 Saturn AL-31F turbofan engines, which can be used in China’s SU-27 derivative and J-10 fighters. The Russians are reportedly trying to include clauses that force all engines to be deployed in aircraft, not sent for copying. Good luck with that.

• While the US Air Force and Navy test biofuels, some lawmakers are becoming more skeptical and question whether defense “green energy” projects are worth the money, remain viable under budget pressure, or really contribute to energy security.

• The US GAO, while reviewing DOD’s enterprise architectures, came to a count of 2,324 systems. As in, “a lot.”

• Barely functional? The US Senate came to an agreement last night that should avoid a government shutdown. The House will look at the Senate’s measure on Thursday. Now Congress can shift its focus beyond the next 6 weeks. Politico has the HASC Republican Staff memo on what worst-case DoD funding scenarios would look like. It is unlikely that the Super Committee won’t reach a deal, but given the behavioral pattern shown in Congress this year between the debt ceiling and the continuing resolution, expect drama until the 11th hour.

• Meanwhile Senator John McCain (R-AZ, Ranking Member of the Armed Services Committee) is not happy about how appropriations work (or don’t).

CGC Sanibel

In September 2005 the U.S. Coast Guard and the Lockheed Martin/ Northrop Grumman joint venture Integrated Coast Guard Systems (ICGS) completed the preliminary design review for a program to buy 58 Fast Response Cutters (FRC). “The FRC is being designed to provide the Coast Guard with a state-of-the-art patrol craft that is capable of conducting simultaneous missions,” said ICGS Deepwater’s FRC program manager Mike Duthu.

That success was surrounded, and eventually overwhelmed, by delays and failures on multiple fronts. More than 2 years after the Coast Guard asked ICGS to accelerate the Fast Response Cutter (FRC) program timeline by more than 10 years, in order to hasten replacement of their deteriorating Island Class patrol vessels, the Coast Guard was still waiting for replacements of any type to arrive. Hull cracking in the first 8 refurbished Island Class ships had made that stopgap unfit for service. Even as delays and technical problems tossed the FRC program about.

When the Island Class refurbishment program was terminated in June 2005, 41 Island Class vessels still plied US and international waters. Their time is running out, but their initial replacement program fared little better. In February 2006, the Coast Guard’s Deepwater system-of-systems Program ‘temporarily’ suspended design work on the FRC-A program due to technical risk. FRC-A was eventually canceled in favor of an off-the-shelf buy, and on March 14/07, ICGS lost responsibility for the Deepwater Fast Response Cutter-B off-the-shelf acquisition as well. What happened next? DID discusses the programs, their outcomes and controversies, the fate of the Island Class and FRC programs, and the work underway to replace them:

• Behind the Programs: The Modernization Imperative
• FRC Plan B: The Sentinel Class
• Program Updates & Contracts 2[updated]
• Appendix A: Down on the Islands – The Suspended Modernization
• Appendix B: FRC-A’s Not-So Fast Response: The Catch With Composite Cutters
  • March 2007: What Next?
• Appendix C: Additional Readings – Background
• Appendix D: Additional Readings – News, Official Reports & Statements
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FRES-U finalists:
There can be… none?

Many of Britain’s army vehicles are old and worn, and the necessities of hard service on the battlefield are only accelerating that wear. The multi-billion pound “Future Rapid Effects System” (FRES) aims to recapitalize the core of Britain’s armored vehicle fleet over the next decade or more, filling many of the same medium armor roles as the Stryker Family of armored wheeled vehicles and/or the Future Combat Systems’ Manned Ground Vehicle family. Current estimates indicate a potential requirement for over 3,700 FRES vehicles, including utility and reconnaissance variants. Even so, one should be cautioned that actual numbers bought usually fall short of intended figures for early-stage defense programs.

The FRES program was spawned by the UK’s withdrawal from the German-Dutch-UK Boxer MRAV modular wheeled APC program, in order to develop a more deployable vehicle that fit Britain’s exact requirements. Those initial requirements were challenging, however, and experience in Iraq and Afghanistan led to decisions that changed a number of requirements. In the end, GD MOWAG’s Piranha V won the utility vehicle competition. FRES-U is not the end of the competition, however, or the contracts. In fact, FRES-U had the winning bidder’s preferred status revoked; that entire phase will now take a back seat to the FRS-SV scout version:

• FRES: The Program
• FRES: Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
• Appendix 1 – The British Army’s Armored Vehicle Fleet, late 2006
• Appendix 2 – A New Procurement Approach: System House Challenges
• Appendix 3 – FRES: Key Challenges for the Contractors
• Appendix 4 – FRES Experiments: Electronic Architecture Contracts
• Appendix 5 – FRES Experiments: Vehicle-Related Contracts
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Arrow test concept

In a dawning age of rogue states, ballistic missile defenses are steadily become a widely accepted necessity. Iran is widely believed to be developing nuclear capabilities, and Israeli concerns were heightened after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged that Israel be “wiped off the map” (the fact that America was also placed in that category went largely uncovered).

Because missile defenses are so important, states like India and Israel have taken steps to ensure that they have the ability to build many of the key pieces. The Arrow project is a collaboration between Boeing and IAI to produce the missile interceptors that accompany the required radars, satellites, command and control systems.

• The Arrow System
• Contracts & Key Events, 2004-Present
• Additional Readings
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Class 1 MAV

The USA’s Future Combat Systems Class I UAV is intended for reconnaissance, security and target acquisition operations in nearly all terrain, including urban environments. Each system of 2 vertical take-off and landing air vehicles, a dismounted control device, and associated ground support equipment. It will be carried by selected platforms and dismounted soldiers, and will use autonomous flight, navigation, and recovery.

The larger Class II and Class III UAV development programs were canceled in favor of existing options: the RQ-7 Shadow, and MQ-1C SkyWarrior. The planned Class IV MQ-8B Fire Scout was canceled by the Army in 2009, though it will see naval use. Despite excellent field reports for mini-UAV competitors like the RQ-11 Raven, however, Honeywell’s hovering RQ-16 “T-Hawk” avoided the axe, found a niche, and made the list for the US Army’s early increment 1 Brigade Combat Team Modernization fielding. It has even seen limited exports:

• The Class I MAV
• The MAV Program
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings [updated]
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NETFIRES concept
(click to view larger)

The basic concept of NETFIRES is to develop a family of artillery-like precision attack missiles based upon a vertical launcher design. Yet the idea goes far beyond that simple description. The NETFIRES CLU box launcher is intended to be be fully autonomous, meaning it can be dropped off anywhere and operate on its own without a support vehicle. The launch unit includes power generation and control systems as well as a total of 15 missiles, each with a warhead similar in size and capability to a 155mm artillery shell.

The system is also known as XM501 Non Line-Of-Sight, Launch System, or NLOS-LS. At one time, it was one of Future Combat systems’ most promising programs, slated for early fielding to the Army and even for integration with US naval forces. It has been canceled in both areas, and its absence threatens to leave a serious hole in both the Army’s and Navy’s modernization plans.

• The NETFIRES Concept
• NETFIRES Missiles
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Appendix A: Lockheed’s Successful Design Improvement Workshops
• Appendix B: Additional Readings & Sources
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