• Lockheed Martin and Raytheon plan to compete with incumbent BAE for the US Army’s Design, Development, Demonstration & Integration (D3I) space and missile defense program. The D3I RFP should be released soon, meanwhile the Concepts and Operations for Space and Missile Defense Integration Capabilities (COSMIC) contracts awarded in 2006 to BAE and Quantum Research International have been extended until September 2012. D3I may eventually amount to more than $5B spread among several vendors. Part of the delay is explained by the merger of D3I and Army SMD Technology, Experimentation, Research, Operations, Implementation, and Development (ASTEROID). D3I will be open to other services and agencies beside the Army.

• The sources sought page for the Ground Mobility Vehicle (GMV) 1.1 requirement has been amended with Q&As several times in October, including today. CCR validation required to read the updates. Today’s GMVs are Humvees that are more rugged than usual for use by special forces. A known contender is the GD OTS/Flyer Defense’s Flyer. The final RFP has been delayed a bit and is expected within a few months, with production planned to start in FY14 with an eventual FRP of about 200 vehicles a year, according to a presentation [PDF] made earlier this year by Michael Ellis, Deputy Program Manager, Family of Special Operations Vehicles (FoSOV).

• Another competition that’s busy at the pre-RFP stage is the pre-solicitation for the M153 Common Remotely Operated Weapons Station (CROWS). LTC Thomas Ryan, Product Manager Crew Served Weapons, says more than 50 companies attended the pre-solicitation conference earlier this month.

• With the commissioning of PCU California (SSN 781), the 8th VA-class submarine, the class now amounts to 15% of the US attack submarine force. US Navy | story behind the ship’s logo | Bubblehead blog.

• US Air Force Maj. Gen. Ronnie D. Hawkins Jr. has been promoted to the rank of lieutenant general and now heads the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). Hawkins comes back to DISA where he was a vice director until last July. He was for less than 4 months the Deputy Director Command, Control, Communications and Computer Systems (C4), Joint Staff at the Pentagon.

• The US Army’s move to enterprise email continues and reaches Fort Rucker, AL this week. Note that people affected by the migration will have a new email address, though their current address should continue to work for a while.

• Martin Wright, chief executive of the Northwest Aerospace Alliance (NWAA) in England tells its members they should refocus on civilian projects.

• Australian minehunter HMAS Gascoyne found a wreck of what the Royal Australian Navy thinks is a WWII Japanese submarine. More underwater imagery here.

• Video below of Boston Dynamics’ PETMAN anthropomorphic robot showing a rather good sense of balance (see also Boston Globe coverage):
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• DoD and the US intelligence community pledge to bolster the space industrial base, update space technology export controls, and pursue strategies for fighting in a degraded space environment, according to the new National Security Space Strategy.

• What is the global medium military airlifter market like for key competitors like Lockheed’s C-130J, Embraer’s KC-390, HAL/Irkut’s MRTA, and the Airbus A400M? Forecast International has some thoughts.

• Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said the country is preparing to launch 4 domestically-built satellites, although the launches of the Rasad-1 and Tolou imaging satellites and Mesbah-2 and Mehr Navid-e-Elm-O-Sanat communications satellites have been postponed before.

• Israel is considering expanding its military presence along the border with Egypt in response to the unrest and its possible negative aftermath.

• It’s also re-engining its Hermes 450 UAVs with an upgraded 70hp R902 (W) Wankel engine.

• NATO’s “Proud Manta 11” exercise in the Mediterranean features Teledyne’s UUV/AUV “Slocum Gliders,” which use buoyancy changes instead of propellers to move around slowly underwater, collecting hydrographic data for weeks at a time. Of course, future AUV/UUVs can and will do more.

• At its C-130J-30 induction ceremony, the IAF says it will phase out its MiG-21 Type 77 fighters by 2012. The aging MiG-21s have a high accident rate, and different takes on that phenomenon can be found from Prodyut Das’s aerodynamics analysis and Wing Commander K S Suresh VrC’s 2009 take.

• Shareholders of L-1 Identity Solutions, a Stamford, CT-based military and civilian biometric technology firm, have approved the company’s merger with French aerospace and defense firm Safran, in a transaction valued at $1.6 billion, including outstanding debt. As part of the deal, L-1 is selling its intelligence services businesses to UK’s BAE Systems.

• Virginia, which led US states in total FY2009 DoD expenditures with $56.9 billion, prepares for Pentagon belt tightening.

• Camgian Microsystems in Starkville, MS, gets 3-year, $9.2 million small business innovation research contract from the AFRL to develop ultra-low power application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) for radar and infrared cameras.

• Try, Try Again: After a 1-year testing hiatus because of repeated failure, Russia’s Navy successfully test-fires its Bulava (SS-NX-30) 3-stage submarine-launched ballistic missile capable of carrying 10 nuclear warheads up to 5,000 miles.

• Demolition Derby: Sweden’s Skanska receives a $164 million contract to demolish 2 existing piers and build a new Pier 5 at the US Navy’s Norfolk Naval Shipyard, VA.

• Canaveral Boost: Florida’s Port Canaveral looks to benefit from military cargo shipping business as US brings equipment, such as Stryker armored vehicles, home from Iraq.

• General Dynamics secures $39 million order to provide logistics support to the US Army 1st Theater Sustainment Command in Afghanistan.

• Spaced Out: Harris gets $25 million contract to upgrade the ground-based space control system for the USAF’s Space Superiority System Wing at Los Angeles AFB.

• iRobot snags $14 million US Army order to supply iRobot Aware 2 robot intelligence software and spare parts for the iRobot PackBot tactical mobile robot as part of the $286 million xBot contract.

• Can We Share? The Times of London is reporting that the UK and France are discussing an agreement to share aircraft carriers because of severe defense budget constraints in both countries, although the Wall Street Journals says the two sides are only talking about coordinating carrier retrofits so that one carrier is always available from the European theater.

• Chinese Surprise: Was a recent Chinese space maneuver using 2 satellites, the SJ-12 and SJ-06F, in preparation for a space exploration program or a space warfare program? Wired.com examines the question.

• Cool, Clear Water: Aqua-Chem gets DLA contract worth up to $386 million to supply water purification systems that provide fresh drinking water for US soldiers in remote locations.

• Up to $219 million to Northrop Grumman to provide personnel to operate the C-RAM anti-mortar defense systems at forward operating bases in Afghanistan.

• CSC snags subcontract worth up to $50 million to provide analysis support for threat detection of attacks on DoD’s networks.

• Show Me the Money: Boeing is offering to buy Argon ST, a Fairfax, VA-based supplier of military C4ISR systems, for $34.50 per share, or $775 million, in an all-cash deal.

• In other news, Boeing averted a strike in St. Louis when workers voted to approve a new package, against their union’s recommendation. It also hailed the public release of a WTO ruling on Airbus subsidies, which will be a lobbying point in the $30+ billion KC-X competition. The WTO also has a case involving Boeing, but it hasn’t ruled on that one yet.

• FBI arrests 10 Russian intelligence agents.

• In the Black: CACI, an Arlington, VA-based defense consulting firm, projects its net income for FY 2011 will jump 10% to 15% based on expected growth in C4ISR work and unveils plans for a $50 million stock buyback.

• Spaced Out: Military use of space gets short shrift in new US space policy [pdf] released by the Obama administration.

• Experimental TacSat-3 and its ARTEMIS hyperspectral surveillance sensors no longer an experiment. USAF taking first steps toward “operationally responsive space.”

• Blowin’ in the Wind: The US DoD may try to delay construction of some wind-farm projects in the United States due to concern that the turbines could disrupt military radar systems.

• Northern Exposure: South Korean military is pushing for a 6.9% increase in the country’s defense budget in response to rising tensions with the North.

The US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) awarded indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contracts to 3 small business qualifiers to provide advisory and assistance services to MDA’s Quality, Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate. Each contract has an ordering ceiling of $209.6 million.

The contractors will assist the directorate in assessing the engineering, technology, production and programmatic practices/ processes used to develop and operate the Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system. MDA is developing a layered BDM system that is designed to destroy enemy missiles by engaging them in all phases of flight (see graphic).

The MDA has come under criticism for the slow pace of BMD development, cost overruns, questionable auditing practices, and repeated test failures. The 3 contracts are part of an effort by MDA to streamline is contracting processes. The winners of the contracts are:

SBSS Constellation
(click to view larger)

In January 2001, a commission headed by then US Defense Secretary-designate Donald Rumsfeld warned about a possible “space Pearl Harbor” in which a potential enemy would launch a surprise attack against US-based military space assets, disabling them. These assets include communications satellites and the GPS system, which is crucial for precision attack missiles and a host of military systems.

“The US is more dependent on space than any other nation. Yet the threat to the US and its allies in and from space does not command the attention it merits,” the commission warned.

One of the systems that grew out of the commission’s report was the Space Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) project, which is developing a constellation of satellites to provide the US military with space situational awareness using visible sensors. Recent developments for the project include a $30 million contract for Boeing to provide maintenance and operations services for the SBSS logistics infrastructure.

Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) in McLean, VA received a prime contract from the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Missile and Space Intelligence Center (MSIC) to provide signature measurement, prediction, and analysis support.

US weapons developers require [pdf] signature measurement of foreign missiles and space weapons to support detection, early warning, discrimination, tracking, engagement, and assessment.

The single award, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract has a 3-year base period of performance, two 1-year options, and a total value of more than $19 million if all options are exercised.

Based at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, AL, MSIC manages and produces scientific and technical intelligence on foreign missile and space systems.

Wyle Information Systems in McLean, VA received a $13.9 million indefinite delivery/ indefinite quantity contract modification to provide technical services and space operations support to the Space Innovation and Development Center located at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado.

The contract is directed toward examining, assessing, and developing the means to integrate national system and US DoD space systems support to enhance combat and research and development capabilities within the US Air Force. This includes integrating existing and advanced-technology weapons, platforms and special test facilities as well as the technical expertise such as knowledge of emerging space-based technologies and systems.

Space Innovation and Development Center at Schriever Air Force Base manages the contract (FA2550-01-D-0003, P00026). The center’s mission is to advance warfare through rapid innovation, integration, training testing, and experimentation…

Raytheon: C4ISR Future?
(click to expand)

As video communications is integrated into robots, soldiers, and UAVs, and network-centric warfare becomes the organizing principle of American warfighting, front-line demands for bandwidth are rising faster than the US military can add it. The Transformation Communications Satellite (TSAT) System is part of a larger effort by the US military to address that need, and close the gap.

DID’s FOCUS articles offer in-depth, updated looks at significant military programs of record – and TSAT is certainly significant. The final price tag on the entire program has been quoted at anywhere from $14-25 billion through 2016, including the satellites, the ground operations system, the satellite operations center and the cost of operations and maintenance. Lockheed Martin and Boeing each won over $600 million in risk reduction contracts to develop key TSAT SS satellite system technologies, and TSAT’s $2 billion TMOS ground-based network operations contract was already underway.

The TSAT constellation’s central role in next-generation US military infrastructure makes it worthy of in-depth treatment – but its survival was never assured. There was always a risk that outside events and incremental competitors could spell its end, just as they spelled the end of Motorola’s infamous Iridium project. This FOCUS article examines that possibility, even as it offers an overview of the US military’s vision for its communications infrastructure, how TSAT fits, the program’s challenges, and complete coverage of contracts and significant events.

The latest developments revolve around the end of the program. Despite a positive recent report from the GAO, TMOS/TSAT are being canceled outright as part of the program’s planned termination:

• Key Background – Why TSAT Is Thought to be Necessary
• Key Background – The Big Picture: TSAT and the Transformational Communications Architecture
• Briefing – What Is TSAT?
• Briefing – TMOS: TSAT’s Ground Component
• Briefing – TSAT: Issues & Decisions
• Briefing – The AEHF Alternative, and Lessons Learned for TSAT
• Briefing – TSAT: Program
• Analysis – TSAT’s Competitors – and Its Fate
• News – TSAT: Timeline and Ongoing Developments [updated]
• Appendix A – Additional Readings & Sources
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