LCS diorama
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The Navy announces that it is moving forward with development of the Littoral Combat Ship’s Surface Warfare (SUW) Mission Package, which it describes as “designed to combat small, fast boat terrorist threats to the fleet.” The Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren division is the technical direction agent for the SUW mission package, with NSWC Port Hueneme division providing integrated logistics and testing support. US NAVSEA’s release lists the components as:

”...electro-optical/infrared sensors mounted on a vertical take off unmanned air vehicle [the MQ-8B Fire Scout] to provide over-the-horizon detection; 30mm guns to kill close-in targets; four [4] non-line-of-sight launching system [NLOS-LS/ “NetFires”]... container launch units, with each system containing 15 offensive missiles; and the MH-60R armed helicopter for surveillance and attack missions. The SUW mission package has software that interfaces with the LCS command and control system to maintain and share situational awareness and tactical control in a coordinated SUW environment…. The first two [2] SUW mission packages assembled for developmental and operational testing use the Mark 46 30mm gun made by General Dynamics Amphibious Systems.”

The $400-500 million question is, will this be enough?...

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ANA M113s & trainers
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BAE Systems Land and Armaments Inc. in York, PA received the full delivery order amount of $10.6 million as part of a firm-fixed-price contract for M113 Family of Vehicles Add-on Armor and Foreign Military Sales Payback. M113 tracked armored personnel carriers and command post variants have been used in Iraq by US forces, converted into an award-winning EM113A2 variant for riot control, deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq by NATO countries, and given to the Afghan Army.

Work will be performed in York, PA and is expected to be complete by May 1, 2008. This was a sole source contract initiated on May 8, 2007 by the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command in Warren, MI (W56HZV-05-G-0005).

FL Keys Map
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It’s all about da water, don’t you know
Kinja needs da water, da H2O
It’s all about da water, it ain’t no lie
Widout de water we shrivel up and die
   – Keys poet Jimmy Buffett

“$240M for 50-Year Water Infrastructure Contracts at 2 US Bases” noted the move toward long-term service contracts for water infrastructure in and around US military facilities. That trend continues. The Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority (FKAA) in Key West, FL received an estimated $45.2 million utilities privatization contract for the operation and maintenance of the water distribution systems of Naval activities in the Key West, Florida area. FKAA is a quasi-state organization categorized as “other than small business,” and a provider of water utilities in the unincorporated areas of Key West. The water distribution system will be conveyed to FKAA through a quit claim deed (10 U.S.C. 2688 authorizes privatized Government utility systems if certain criteria are met). The contractual instrument is a fixed-price contract with a term of 50 years, and prospective price redetermination during that period.

Work includes initial system modifications required to bring the systems up to industry standards, operation, maintenance and repair of the systems, as well as renewal and replacement of the system’s components over the term of the contract. Funding for this contract will be provided through annual O&M budgets of the activities. This contract was competitively procured via the NAVFAC e-solicitation website, with 3 proposals received by the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southeast in Jacksonville, FL (N69450-07-C-0103).

In 2005, Republic of Korea (ROK, aka. South Korea) Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung said that he aimed to increase the defense budget from 2.8% of the total gross domestic product to 3.2% by 2008, a 12.5% increase in relative terms even before economic growth is factored in. In 2006, the government announced plans to cut troop levels from 680,000 to 500,000 by 2020, and funnel more money to modern weaponry. This related move is partly driven by weapons costs that rise much faster than inflation as each new generation is fielded, and partly by the realities of South Korea’s birth rate and future population pyramid.

With 2008 approaching, the ROK intends to keep a string of 8-10% increases going, after raising its defense budget from 22.8 trillion won in 2006 to 24.49 trillion (+9.7%) in 2007, and now to 26.7 trillion won (about $28.9 billion, +9%) in 2008. Ordinary operating expenditures rise by 6.2% in 2008 to 18.9 trillion won, with improvements in soldiers’ living conditions and salaries up 2.6% to 3 trillion won. True to the espoused strategy, procurement will rise 16.5% to 7.8 trillion won, covering both domestic production and imported weapons. The ministry will also set aside 120 billion won for R&D projects, from domestic UAVs to Korea’s new XK2 tank, their recently-unveiled XK-21 amphibious infantry fighting vehicle, and tank landing ships. KOIS report. See also:

• RAND’s Corp (2006) – A Brief Analysis of the Republic of Korea’s Defense Reform Plan” [PDF format]

• Defense News (Sept 24/07) – Different Agendas Drive Western Pacific Budgets

• Global Analysis – Budget 2008: Welfare and Defence Dominate South Korea’s Budget

• Nautilus Institute (June 26/06) – Policy Forum Online 06-49A: “The Self-Reliant National Defense of South Korea and the Future of the U.S.-ROK Alliance”

Death from above
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The Viper Strike began life as the BAT – a canceled munition option for ground-fired ATACMS missiles. After USAF Predator UAVs armed with Hellfire missiles began to show promise in the Global War on Terror, however, US Army planners began to examine their options for placing a similar capability in the hands of Army ground commanders. In July 2002, these examinations led to the award of a 90-day contract to demonstrate the possibility of BAT deployment on a modified U.S. Army RQ-5 Hunter UAV.

Those tests went well, and Viper Strikes are currently carried by RQ-5B Hunter UAVs in Iraq – see this video of a Viper Strike in testing [MPG, 13.2 MB]. The weapon’s small size (3 feet long, 44 pounds) and special advantages in urban fights, mountainous terrain, etc. make it likely to spread to other platforms. Which is exactly what’s happening, as Special Operations Command shows interest and the US Army slowly moves forward into production…

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Small business qualifier Halbert Construction Co., Inc. in El Cajon, Calif. won $5.6 million for firm-fixed price task order #0004 under a previously awarded $100 million indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity multiple award construction contract (N62473-07-D-2014) that was set aside for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses. The delivery order covers design and construction of a Headquarters Battalion Armory at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms.

Work will be performed in Twentynine Palms, Calif., and is expected to be complete by March 2009. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest in San Diego, Calif. received 3 proposals for this task order.

T56 turboprop engine
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The Rolls-Royce Corp. of Indianapolis, Ind. received a contract modification for $789 million to provide replenishment spare parts for the T56 engines. This contract includes 286 items, which encompass Defense Logistics Agency managed items. Tinker Air Force Base, Okla. issued the contract (F34601-01-D-0155-P00037).

T56 Series III military turboprops power C-130A-H Hercules transports, P-3 Orion martitime patrol aircraft, and the E-2C+ Hawkeye AWACS/ C-2 Greyhound naval cargo airframe.

Shot across the bow
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The rocket-boosted, ramjet-powered GQM-163A was developed to simulate supersonic cruise missiles like the SS-N-22 Sunburn, Kh-31 (aka. AS-17 Krypton, which also has an anti-air AWACS-killer version), the Indo-Russian PJ-10 Brahmos, et. al., which are proliferating throughout the world. Their speed and evasive maneuvers compress the amount of time a defense system has to deal with them once they’re detected, and a training target that can simulate their performance is critical to both proper preparedness and pursuant performance. This DID article covers developments in the Supersonic Sea Skimming Target (SSST) program, including the latest news which is an order from the USA for limited production.

Despite this growing need, the SSST program moved very slowly in the 1990s, with false starts that included a Boeing-Strela Kh-31 Krypton variant before the decision was made to develop a new SSST. Orbital Sciences won the contract in June 2000, but the BQM-163 suffered a number of program delays before its final developmental test flight eventually took place in in April 2005...

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MICAM Recon
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FLIR Systems in North Billerica, Mass., USA received a $47.6 million firm-fixed-price contract for 5 to 705 Hand Held Imagers – Long Range (HHI-LR) and associated line items for the United States Special Operations Command’s (US SOCOM) Special Operations Visual Augmentation Systems. The HHI-LR thermal/infared imager system is for long range viewing and detection of targets. See FLIR systems’ land reconnaissance product lineup.

Work will be performed in North Billerica, Mass., and is expected to be complete by September 2012. Contract funds in the amount of $324,755 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The contract was competitively procured and advertised via the Internet, with 7 companies solicited and 1 proposal received by the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane in Crane, Ind., USA (N00164-07-D-8519)

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The Spring 2007 issue of Crosslink Magazine focuses on the state of the US Aerospace industry’s technical workforce – but many of its articles’ topics and conclusions could easily apply to the defense industry as a whole:

“As aerospace systems grow in complexity and interdependence, there is an increasing need for engineering professionals who can successfully plan, develop, manage, and evolve these systems. Yet, the national security space community is facing a growing shortage of senior systems engineers, as the number of systems positions increase and older workers leave the workforce. Organizations commonly lure skilled systems engineers away from each other or try to fill these roles with junior personnel who lack the requisite skills and/or experience, but these efforts fail to address the underlying problem. The question is, how can the national security space community expedite the development of the next generation of senior systems engineers? The type of thinking required by systems professionals is sometimes referred to as “systems thinking…”

A recent study sheds light on what it takes to grow senior systems engineers – and suggests some ways to accelerate that process in today’s engineering population. Key takeaways include…

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