Latest update (Feb 2/12)

Galileo concept

The USA’s Global Positioning System service remains free, but the European Union is spending billions to create an alternative under their own control. In addition to civilian GPS (the Open Service), services to be offered include a Safety of Life Service (SoL) for civil aviation and search and rescue, a paid Commercial Service with accuracy greater than 1 meter, plus a Public Regulated Service (PRS) for use by security authorities and governments. PRS/SoL aims to offer Open Service quality, with added robustness against jamming and the reliable detection of problems within 10 seconds.

Organizational issues and shortfalls in expected progress pushed the “Galileo” project back from its originally intended operational date of 2007 to 2014/15. After a public-private partnership model failed, the EU gained initial-stage approval for its plan to finance the program with tax dollars instead of the expected private investments. Political issues were overcome in 2007 by raiding other EU accounts for the billions required, but by 2011, it became clear that requests for billions more in public funds were on the way. Meanwhile, doubts persist in several quarters about Galileo’s touted economic model. Security concerns regarding China’s involvement, and its Beidou-2/Compass project overlap, have been equally persistent. On a European political level, however, Galileo is now irreversible.

This article offers background, players, developments, contracts, and in-depth research links for Galileo, as well as linked EU programs like GIOVE and EGNOS:

• The Galileo Program
  • Galileo: The System [updated]
  • Galileo Elements [updated]
  • Galileo Structure & Costs [updated]
  • Galileo Timeline [NEW]
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings [updated]
  • PNT alternatives
  • News & Views
  • The Security Dimension
    Continue Reading… »

• According to Bloomberg the FY13 President Budget submission date has been postponed from Feb. 6 to Feb. 13. Meanwhile House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) is suggesting to chip at sequestration one year at a time if rolling back the whole 10 years proves too much of a hurdle.

• Sen. Claire McCaskill [D-MO] is pushing for FAA commercial certification of a civilian “BC-17” heavy transport aircraft. DoD Buzz doesn’t seem to understand that there’s a significant global market for outside cargo delivery, and that the C-17’s short takeoff & landing capabilities could be useful to industries like mining, that operate in austere locations with smaller airstrips.

• US Army installations get together to share progress toward “NetZero” energy & waste goals.

• The Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI) looks at [PDF] the tax revenue implications of defense acquisition choices and finds that “the tax revenues are significant; they can yield to the Exchequer [DID: i.e. Treasury] over a third of the value of the contract.”

• France just bought [in French] 29 small Cobra Mk2 robots from Eca Robotics in Toulon, for use in finding and detonating land mines.

• US SOCOM’s 75th Ranger Regiment deploys to Afghanistan with GD’s AN/PRC-154 JTRS HMS Rifleman Radio, and Android-based Itronix GD300 wearable computers.

• Even a dying satellite has lessons to teach. GPS-IIA satellite SVN-30 is doing just that for the USAF.

• The US National Weather Services’ Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) is now operational at the NWS Omaha Weather Forecast Office, the 1st of 135 forecast sites to upgrade. It’s a Raytheon system.

Canada joins WGS; So do Denmark, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and New Zealand; Successful launch of WGS F4, 1st block II sat. (Jan 19/12)

The US military needs a bigger data firehose. In an era of streaming data from proliferating UAVs and other persistent surveillance platforms, and the need for control of those systems anywhere in the world, bandwidth is almost as important as fuel. Commercial satellite communications (SATCOM) can fill some of the gaps, but it’s expensive, and may not be available when needed. The Wideband Gapfiller SATCOM (now Wideband Global SATCOM) program began as a way to ease these problems in the near term, using a derivative of an existing commercial satellite, alongside secure satellite efforts like AEHF. That role expanded after the T-SAT program’s cancellation, as AEHF and WGS became the twin pillars of US military communications. Satellite numbers increased, and some American allies are becoming part of these programs.

WGS is a set of 13-kilowatt spacecraft based upon Boeing’s model 702 commercial satellite. These satellites will support the USA’s warfighting bandwidth requirements, supporting tactical C4ISR (command, control, communications, and computers; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance); battle management; and combat support needs. Upon its 2007 launch into geosynchronous orbit, WGS Flight 1 became the U.S. Department of Defense’s highest capacity communication satellite. WGS F4, scheduled for launch in January 2012, will offer further improvements.

This is DID’s FOCUS Article covering the WGS program’s specifications, budgets, travails, international partnerships, and contracts, with links to additional research materials…

• WGS: Capabilities & Role
• The WGS Program & Schedule [updated]
• WGS Program: Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  Continue Reading… »

• President Obama’s campaign donors at Lightsquared still have a big problem with GPS interference, according to the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Executive Committee, and the American FAA. The company didn’t mince words in its reaction: “the process used [...] was rigged by manufacturers of GPS receivers and government end users to produce bogus results”. Yeah, those evil FAA types, who want to be able to use GPS for civil aviation.

• France successfully launches [in French] its 4 Elisa project SIGINT/ESM micro-satellites, as a Soyuz rocket lifts of from French Guiana to place them in their 700 km orbit.

• Israel signs defense cooperation accords with Bulgaria. They’ve had military relations for some time, and Israel is an important defense supplier, but their record isn’t perfect.

• French naval personnel recently got an up-close evaluation of the MV-22 Osprey, aboard USS Bataan [LHD 5]. Even if they don’t buy it, it’s a step toward possible joint operations involving French ships.

• EADS’ executive succession is predictably political; CEO Gallois is asking for patience. Meanwhile, they’re still looking to the USA for possible defense growth.

• Russia gets another A-50U AWACS aircraft. It’s based on the same IL-76 airframe as India’s new A-50EI AWACS, but uses Russian radars and systems instead of Israeli technology. It will go well with their planned modernization of 60 MiG-31 Foxhound interceptor and C2 planes to MiG-31BM status.

• The Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff released the Joint Operational Access Concept (JOAC) [PDF] to describe how to gain operational access against modern Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) means.

• US Congressman Maurice Hinchey [D-NY-22] who sits on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense will retire at the end of this Congress.

• Lockheed Martin is shedding 90 electronics systems jobs in Maryland while CSC will lay off 114 people in Ohio.

• Adm. John C. Harvey, Jr. Commander, Fleet Forces Command in the US Navy wants his officers to know their ships and how they evolve: recommended video from last week’s SNA National Symposium.

• Construction of a solar farm has started at the Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) on the huge China Lake site in California.

• Lack of sleep makes you hungry. Something that serving military members had long suspected, now has scientific backing.

• Researchers at the San Antonio Military Medical Center think they have an E-75 vaccine targeting HER2/neu, that can reduce recurrence of breast & prostrate cancers. Big breakthrough? “Let’s test a vaccine for early-stage cancer on non-terminal patients!”

GPS IIIA concept

Contract to start satellites 3 & 4. (Jan 11/12)

Disruption or decay of the critical capabilities provided by the USA’s Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites would cripple both the US military, and many aspects of the global economy. GPS has become part of civilian life in ways that go go far beyond those handy driving maps, including timing services for stock trades, and a key role in credit card processing. At the same time, military class (M-code) GPS guidance can now be found in everything from cruise missiles and various precision-guided bombs, to battlefield rockets and even artillery shells. Combat search and rescue radios rely on this line of communication, and so does a broadening array of individual soldier equipment.

GPS-III satellites are a key part of this PTN (Positioning, Timing & Navigation) system’s future plan, offering several improvements over the existing GPS II family. So, too, are its companion OCX ground control system. This DII FOCUS article looks at the existing constellation, GPS-III improvements, the program’s structure, its progress through contracts and key milestones, and additional research links…

• GPS: The Existing Array
• The GPS III Program
  • GPS-III Satellites
  • OCX & MUE: New Ground Control & Receivers
  • GPS-III Budgets
• GPS-III: Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Research
  Continue Reading… »

Boeing Delta IV Heavy

$1.5+ billion contract set. (Jan 10/12)

The EELV program was designed to reduce the cost of government space launches through greater contractor competition, and modifiable rocket families whose system requirements emphasized simplicity, commonality, standardization, new applications of existing technology, streamlined manufacturing capabilities, and more efficient launch-site processing. Result: the Delta IV (Boeing) and Atlas V (Lockheed Martin) heavy rockets.

Paradoxically, that very program may have forced the October 2006 merger of Boeing & Lockheed Martin’s rocket divisions. Crosslink Magazine’s Winter 2004 article “EELV: The Next Stage of Space Launch” offers an excellent briefing that covers EELV’s program innovations and results, while a detailed National Taxpayer’s Union letter to Congress takes a much less positive view. This DID Spotlight article looks at the Delta IV and Atlas V rockets, as well as the contracts placed since the merger that formed the United Launch Alliance:

• Delta IV
• Atlas V
• Military Satellite Payloads
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  Continue Reading… »

AEHF concept

US nuclear weapon communications to be modified. (Dec 30/11)

The USA’s new Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellites will support twice as many tactical networks as the current Milstar II satellites, while providing 10-12 times the bandwidth capacity and 6 times the data rate transfer speed. With the cancellation of the higher-capacity TSAT program, AEHF will form the secure, hardened backbone of the Pentagon’s future Military Satellite Communications (MILSATCOM) architecture, with a mission set that includes nuclear command and control. Its companion Family of Advanced Beyond-line-of-sight Terminals (FAB-T) program will give the US military more modern, higher-bandwidth receiving capabilities, and add more flexibility on the front lines. The program has international components, and partners currently include Britain, Canada, and the Netherlands.

This article offers a look at the AEHF system’s rationale and capabilities, while offering insight into some of the program’s problems, and an updated timeline covering over $5 billion worth of contracts since the program’s inception…

• The AEHF Program
• The AEHF Satellites
• The AEHF Satellites: Contracts & Key Events, full history
• FAB-T Terminals and Ground Control
• FAB-T & Ground Control: Contracts and Key Events, full history [updated]
• Additional Readings
  Continue Reading… »

• The US Senate voted 86-13 for the FY12 defense bill which President Obama is now expected to sign. Congress is also on the verge of finding another midnight hour funding compromise to avoid a government shutdown, pending votes later today. Meanwhile Republicans and Democrats are putting stakes in the ground for or against rolling back the forthcoming sequester.

• Some senators worry about how more work at military depots may be moved to the private sector; others want the Pentagon to stop getting in a situation where it ends up paying millions of dollars in extra fees to shipping companies because of containers that are returned late.

• According to La Tribune [in French], the French defense sector looks about to go through a round of product portfolio shuffling, consolidation and privatization. Companies involved: Thales, DCNS, Nexter, but also potentially Safran, Renault Trucks Defense and Panhard.

• France is about to launch the Elisa project [in French]. It’s a constellation of 4 smaller satellites flying at 700km altitude, that aims to refine the collection of intelligence about opposing radars (SIGINT/ ESM) from space. The DGA is preparing for an operational effort called CERES, which aims to be up and running by 2020.

• SBIRS GEO-2 is done testing, and SBIRS GEO-1 has completed on-orbit checkout. They’re the USA’s new missile launch warning satellites.

• More reports that Taiwan is moving toward its own submarine program. The Taipei Times adds one expert’s recommendation that the money and time might be spent on fast-attack missile boats like the Chinese Type 022. Which makes industrial sense, but not military sense, since the Chinese PLAAF will control the air.

• US Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer dismisses his suit against BAE OASYS, which was allegedly triggered by corporate retaliation when he objected to selling thermal weapon scopes to Pakistan. The firm didn’t end up selling the scopes.

• The US GAO found that of the 40 former high-ranking Coast Guard officials who left the service from 2005 through 2009, 22 have been compensated by Coast Guard contractors.

• The Joint IED Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) is going to test small fail robots to dispose of anti-personnel mines.

• Australia decommissions its H-3 Sea King helicopters. They’ll be replaced by the RAN’s 6 ordered MRH-90s (NH90 TTH).

• a preliminary report [PDF] on defense procurement procedures by the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee of the Australian Senate notes some improvements but oozes frustration about the bureaucratic mess it has to wade through: ”[i]t only takes a cursory glance at a Defence procurement chart to see the convoluted and incomprehensible web of documents, committees and milestones.”

• After the cremated remains of at least 274 fallen US service-members, and 1,762 other unidentified body parts, were unceremoniously thrown into a county landfill as waste, Tom Ricks says that “either the Air Force Secretary, its Chief of Staff, or both” need to resign; “It’s not a colonel’s problem”. He makes a strong case. Meanwhile Congresswoman Renee Ellmers [R-NC] wants to legislate.

• The US House of Representatives approved the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) after the White House lifted its veto threat. The bill should now sail through the Senate and be made into law within the next few days. Which means focus will shift to FY13 and beyond. HASC Chairman Howard McKeon (R-CA) is introducing a bill as he had said he would to avoid sequester in 2013. The Senate is also on it, as per the video at the bottom of this entry. Also, representatives Mark Critz (D-PA-12) and Mo Brooks (R-AL-05) created last week a congressional caucus for Army Aviation (AAC).

• L-3 Communications bought for $210M in cash Kollmorgen Electro-Optical (KEO), a $160M/year unit of Danaher Corporation that employs about 550 people in Massachusetts and Italy. KEO will complement’s L-3s existing Sensor Systems division.

• Boeing and KAI deliver the 2nd E-737 AEW&C “Peace Eye” plane to South Korea’s air force.

• Boeing’s CONECT upgrade for the B-52H bomber is done flight testing. Now it’s up to the USAF to decide if they want to move forward.

• Alenia & EADS Cassidian sign an MoU to explore MALE UAV and UCAV co-operation, as the Obama administration waffles on selling armed UAVs. Talarion is mentioned explicitly, but anything they come up with will have to face the BAE/Dassault team (Mantis/Telemos), as well as potential offerings from Thales. Looks like Europe will have multiple UAV nodes, after all.

• Lockheed Martin announces that they have delivered the next-generation GPS-III’s Non Flight Satellite Testbed (GNST) to Denver, CO, where they’ve opened their new GPS-III manufacturing line.

• The US Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) has delayed the release of Next Generation Enterprise Network (NGEN) RFP by several weeks – it was originally due for next week.

• Here’s a short primer on the various types of issuances from the Pentagon: Memorandums (DTMs), Instructions (DoDIs), Manuals (DoDMs), and Administrative Instructions (AIs). DTMs are effective for just 180 days. DoDOs establish or implement policy, and provide general procedures. Manuals implement or supplement policy stated in the two previous types of document. Finally AIs provide administrative guidance.

• Sweden has expanded its military exports to 60+ countries at a $2B+/year pace.

• Italy shared its stats on its participation in Libyan operations, adding to the metrics collected on this conflict.

• The Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) offers an Indian perspective on China’s tentative presence in the Seychelles. (IDSA is funded by the Indian Ministry of Defence but functions autonomously.)

• In Australia, Kim Carr’s demotion from cabinet-level Minister of Innovation and Industry to (non-cabinet) Minister for Defence Materiel and Minister for Manufacturing as part of a larger reshuffle is getting some push-back both from within the left in power and from the right-wing opposition. Outgoing Jason Clare is promoted to Minister for Home Affairs.
  Continue Reading… »

DSCS Satellite

Lockheed Martin Corp. in Sunnyvale, CA recently received a $92.2 million cost-plus-award-fee contract to continue service under the 5-year,sole source MILSATCOM Orbital Operations and Logistics Support contract. Work will be performed in Sunnyvale, CA, and the contract will run to Nov 30/12. The SMC/PKL at Peterson Air Force Base, CO (FA8808-10-C-0002, PO 0029).

That contract support operations and sustainment for older Milstar and Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) satellites. New secure AEHF broadband satellites are just beginning to come on station to supplement the older Milstar birds, and the 1st block of broadband WGS satellites is operational as the successors to DSCS, but maintaining older systems is also important to the US military. See December 2009 coverage for more details.