CVN-72 Carrier RCOH: Shall not Perish

Somewhere, over
the rainbow…

Nuclear reactors save a lot of diesel fuel on huge ships like aircraft carriers, but there’s a catch. Mid-way through the ship’s 50-year life, the nuclear reactor needs to be refueled. The resulting “Refueling and Complex OverHaul” (RCOH) is a long, complex, potentially hazardous, and very expensive process, which also includes widespread upgrades throughout the ship. Anyone who has ever done home renovations knows that the opportunity to make upgrades can be nearly irresistible in these situations. In truth, this stage in the carrier’s life is an excellent time for that kind of work.

The USS Abraham Lincoln [CVN 72] was built by Northrop Grumman’s Newport News sector. Commissioned on Nov 11/1989 and homeported in Everett, WA, CVN 72 is expected to remain in service until 2039. As it approaches its mid-life stage, however, its mid-life upgrade and reactor refueling likewise approaches. Its counterpart USS Carl Vinson [CVN 70] completed its RCOH at the end of 2009, and USS Theodore Roosevelt’s [CVN 71] is underway. CVN 72 will become the 6th American carrier to undergo this procedure.

Pilum High: The Javelin Anti-Armor Missile

Javelin, firing

The FGM-148 Javelin missile system aimed to solve 2 key problems experienced by American forces. One was a series of disastrous experiences in Vietnam, trying to use 66mm M72 LAW rockets against old Soviet tanks. A number of replacement options like the Mk 153 SMAW and the AT4/M136 spun out of that effort in the 1980s, but it wasn’t until electronics had miniaturized for several more cycles that it became possible to solve the next big problem: the need for soldiers to remain exposed to enemy fire while guiding anti-tank missiles to their targets.

Javelin solves both of those problems at once, offering a heavy fire-and-forget missile that will reliably destroy any enemy armored vehicle, and many fortifications as well. While armored threats are less pressing these days, the need to destroy fortified outposts and rooms in buildings remains. Indeed, one of the lessons from both sides of the 2006 war in Lebanon has been the infantry’s use of guided missiles as a form of precision artillery fire. Javelin isn’t an ideal candidate for that latter role, due to its high cost-per-unit; nevertheless, it has often been used this way. Its performance in Iraq has revealed a clear niche on both low and high intensity battlefields, and led to rising popularity with American and international clients.

Aces High: USA Developing New 3DELRR Long-Range Ground Radar

AN/TPS-75

The US Air Force’s AN/TPS-75 radar has been in service since 1968. Threats have evolved, and they want to replace it as its main long-range, ground-based radar for detecting, identifying and tracking aircraft and missiles, then reporting them through the Ground Theater Air Control System. The US Marines are considering a similar move, to replace their own AN/TPS-59s. Hence the USA’s Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar (3DELRR, pron. “Three Dealer”).

3DELRR is intended to provide long-range surveillance, control of aircraft, and theater ballistic missile detection. It will correct AN/TPS-75 shortfalls by being easier to maintain, thanks to AESA technology, and by detecting and reporting highly maneuverable and/or stealthy targets. Its improved resolution may even allow it to classify and determine the type of non-cooperative aircraft that cannot or do not identify themselves – a trait that allows faster engagement of hostile planes, and reduces the odds of friendly fire incidents. As long as the program itself can avoid friendly fire from the USA’s budget wars.

Rapid Fire March 29, 2013: GAO Scoops DoD on State of Major Programs

• The US GAO’s most recent batch of defense reports is focused on acquisition, starting with their latest assessment of Selected Weapon Programs (the infamous SAR report itself has not been publicly released by the Pentagon yet), while a 2nd report finds some IT programs (known as MAIS) have high management turnover, and a 3rd report notes that the number of contracts competed by DoD has been decreasing, with just 37% of USAF contracts competed in FY12.

• According to the GAO the Pentagon’s portfolio has shrunk to an XXXXL size of $1.6 trillion across 86 programs, a decrease of 10 programs and $109B. R&D costs grew by 0.4% from the previous year, while procurement decreased by 3.8%, mostly because of program cancellations and restructurings. They lament the lack of a proper acquisition baseline for $130B+ of spending on BMDS, because of the way the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) was exempted from the usual constraints set by DFARS legislation. More granular SAR highlights will be featured in our program coverage in the days to come, and the reports are in our Google Drive.

Russia’s Yak-130 Trainer & Light Attack Jets

Yak-130

Russia’s air force (VVS) aged badly in the wake of the Cold War, and the lack of replacements soon made itself felt in all areas. One of those areas involved advanced jet trainers, which form the last rung on the ladder before assignment to fighters. Russia’s Czech-made L-29 and L-39 trainers were left with questionable access to spare parts, and a competition that began in the 1990s finally saw Yakolev’s Yak-130 collaboration with Italy’s Finmeccanica beat the MiG-AT in 2002. Unfortunately, Russian budget realities allowed orders for just a dozen early production Yak-130s, even as the VVF’s L-39 fleet dwindled drastically.

The Yak-130′s multi-mission capabilities in training, air policing, and counterinsurgency make it an attractive option for some customers beyond Russia. Initial export successes helped keep Yak-130 production going, via confirmed orders from Algeria (16), and unclear relationships with Kazakhstan, Libya, and Vietnam. In December 2011, however, Russia finally placed a significant order that got production started in earnest. Russia continues to promote the aircraft abroad, and now that the plane’s future is secure, interest and orders are picking up.

RAM (Rolling Airframe Missile) Systems: Contracts & Events

Mk-44 firing RAM

The Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) MK-31 guided missile weapon system is co-developed and co-produced under a NATO cooperative program between the United States and German governments to provide a small, all-weather, low-cost self-defense system against aircraft and cruise missiles. The RIM-116 was later called RAM (Rolling Airframe Missile), because it spins during flight. To save costs, Designation Systems notes that the RAM was designed to use several existing components, including the rocket motor of the MIM-72 Chaparral, the warhead of the AIM-9 Sidewinder, and the Infrared seeker of the FIM-92 Stinger. Cueing is provided by the ship’s radar, or by its ESM signal tracing suite.

RAM is currently installed, or planned for installation, on 78 U.S. Navy and 30 German Navy ships, including American LSD, LHD, LPD and CVN ship types. This number will grow as vessels of the LPD-17 San Antonio Class and Littoral Combat Ships enter the US Navy, and the LCS will sport an upgraded SeaRAM system that will include its own integrated radar and IR sensors. Abroad, the South Korean Navy has adopted RAM for its KDX-II and KDX-III destroyers, and its LPX Dokdo Class amphibious assault ships; other navies using or buying RAM include Egypt, Greece, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, and the UAE/Dubai.

Malaysia’s SU-30MKMs – Will a New Competition Bring More?

Malaysian SU-30MKM
(click to view larger)

In August 2003, Malaysia signed a $900 million contract with Irkut Corp. for 18 SU-30MKMs. Malaysia flies the F/A-18D Hornet, and was offered Boeing’s F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet, but chose the SU-30MKM instead. The SU-30MKM is an advanced variant, whose performance involves considerable improvements over SU-30MK/MKK fighters. Their fighter fleet will now consist of R/F-5E/F Tiger IIs (to be phased out), F/A-18D Hornets, MiG-29 Fulcrums (until 2015), and SU-30MKMs. The results from their internal training and air combat exercises would be interesting, to say the least.

On May 24/07, a rollout and demonstration ceremony was held for the first 2 Su-30MKM fighters for the Royal Malaysan Airforce (RMAF) at Russia’s Irkutsk Aviation plant. Irkut was to deliver all aircraft by the end of 2008, but the 18th plane didn’t arrive until the summer of 2011. Even that may not be the last SU-30MKM delivery, depending on how Malaysia’s competition to replace its MiG-29Ns shakes out.

Rapid Fire, March 28, 2013: NAVAIR FACE Standards

• US NAVAIR’s Air Combat Electronics office (PMA209) recently held an industry day on the Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE). Here is the slidedeck [PDF] explaining that FACE is a standard of standards set to re-architect the acquisition of aircraft software systems.

• Ellen Lord, the recently-appointed CEO of Textron Systems, told Defense News that she’s not sure she has seen changes per se from Better Buying Power acquisition reform, save for more compliance-driven caution and rigor.

• Defense Update questions the motives and methodology of researchers quoted by Haaretz, who said that Iron Dome’s real interception rate was much lower than was self-reported by the Israel Defense Forces.

Russia’s SU-35 Super-Flanker: Mystery Fighter No More

SU-35 flight test, 2009

The Russian SU-35 was something of a mystery for many years. Pictures from Russian firms showed different fighter jets carrying that label, even as the aircraft remained a prospective design and research project, rather an active program of record.

Revelations after 2007 began to provide answers. This article explains the sources of the widespread confusion regarding the SU-35′s layout and key characteristics, reviews what is now known about the platform, and tracks its development. Those developments are likely to have broad consequences. The aircraft now has a home customer in the Russian Air Force, and the SU-35 is being positioned to replace most SU-30MK variants as Russia’s fighter export of choice within the coming decade. Will its succession bid succeed?

US Navy Leaning on CANES to Integrate Shipboard Networks

Networking the Navy

The US Navy’s Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (CANES) program is designed to streamline and update shipboard networks to improve interoperability across the fleet. It will replace 5 shipboard legacy network programs to provide the common computing environment on board for command, control, intelligence and logistics. The primary goal of the CANES program is to build a secure shipboard network required for naval and joint operations, which is much easier when you consolidate and reduce the number of shipboard networks. That consolidation can also lower costs and maintenance requirements and reduce training needs, if good choices are made. The intent is to build it as an Infrastructure and Platform as a Service (IaaS / PaaS) and field it on a rolling 4-year hardware baseline and a 2-year software baseline.

In 2010, the US Navy awarded 2 contracts, with a potential value of $1.7 billion, for the design and development of the CANES common computing environment. Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin are competing, and a single prime contractor was expected to be picked in 2011. It took until early 2012, but Northrop Grumman won.