The New Chinooks: Boeing’s Modern H-47 Heavy-Lift Helicopters

Sep 28, 2023 04:58 UTC

Latest updates[?]: Columbia Helicopters won a $54 million deal for maintenance and overhaul of the CH-47 Chinook rotor head. The Chinook CH-47 is a multi-mission helicopter manufactured by American aerospace and defense firm Boeing for the US Army and international defense forces. It’s used for the transportation of troops, artillery, supplies, and equipment to the battlefield. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of September 26, 2028.

CH-47Fs take off

DII FOCUS articles offer in-depth, updated looks at significant military programs of record; this FOCUS Article covers the CH-47F/MH-47G Chinook helicopter programs, in the USA and abroad. These helicopters’ distinctive “flying banana” twin-rotor design stems from the brilliant work of aviation pioneer Frank Piasecki. It gives Chinooks the ability to adjust their positioning very precisely, while carrying a large airframe whose load capacity has made it the world’s most popular heavy-lift helicopter. The USA expects to be operating Chinooks in their heavy-lift role past 2030.

The CH-47F looks similar to earlier models, but offers a wide range of improvements in almost every aspect of design and performance. While the related HH-47’s $10-15 billion CSAR-X program win was terminated, delivery orders continue for CH-47Fs and for MH-47G Special Forces configuration helicopters. International orders or formal requests have also come in from Australia, Britain, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the UAE, with India and other countries expected to follow.

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Adding Arleigh Burkes: H.I.I. Steps Forward for DDG-51 Restart

Sep 28, 2023 04:56 UTC

Latest updates[?]: Raytheon won a $76.4 million deal for the production of the MK 99 Fire Control Systems (FCS), associated hardware, and engineering support. This procurement provides MK 99 FCS units in support of DDG-51 class ships and the Missile Defense Agency, as well as FCS hardware for the government of Australia under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. Work will be performed in Andover, Massachusetts; Marlborough, Massachusetts; Chesapeake, Virginia; and Burlington, Massachusetts, and is expected to be completed by December 2025. Fiscal 2022 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $44,602,762; fiscal 2022 defense-wide procurement funds in the amount of $28,146,836; and FMS (Australia) funds in the amount of $3,329,467, will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

DDG-110 Construction

In April 2009 Bath and Ingalls agreed to the Navy’s surface combatant plans, thus heralding a significant restructuring within the American naval shipbuilding community. Under the agreements, the USA would end production at 3 Graf Spee sized DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class “destroyers,” but shift all production from the Congressionally-mandated joint arrangements to General Dynamics Bath Iron Works in Maine, which had already made program-related investments in advanced shipbuilding technologies.

Northrop Grumman (now Huntington Ingalls Industries) would retain its DDG-1000 deckhouse work, but their main exchange was additional orders for DDG-51 Arleigh Burke Class destroyers. Their Ingalls yard in Pascagoula, Mississippi would continue building the DDG-51 destroyers, beginning with 2 ordered in FY 2010-2011.

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The MQ-4C Triton: Poseidon’s Unmanned Herald

Sep 27, 2023 04:58 UTC

Latest updates[?]: Argon ST Inc. won a $24 million delivery order for the procurement of 11 communication equipment interface units in support of the MQ-4C Triton used in the Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) Weapon Systems Support (WSS) Integrated Weapon Support Team’s program. All work will be performed in Fairfax, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by May 2026. Working capital (Navy) funds in the amount of $18,071,527 will be obligated at the time of award, and funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

BAMS Operation Concept

The world’s P-3 Orion fleets have served for a long time, and many are reaching the end of their lifespans. In the USA, and possibly beyond, the new P-8 Poseidon Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft will take up the P-3’s role. While the P-8’s base 737-based airframe offers strong service & maintenance arguments in its favor, the airframe is expensive enough that the P-3s cannot be replaced on a 1:1 basis.

In order to extend the P-8 fleet’s reach, and provide additional capabilities, the Poseidon was expected to work with at least one companion UAV platform. This DID FOCUS Article explains the winning BAMS (Broad Area Maritime Surveillance) concept, the program’s key requirements, and its international angle. We’ll also cover ongoing contracts and key events related to the program, which chose Northrop Grumman’s navalized MQ-4C Triton Global Hawk variant.

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V-22 Osprey: The Multi-Year Buys

Sep 27, 2023 04:56 UTC

Latest updates[?]: Raytheon won a $19.7 million deal for the procurement of one auxiliary power unit in support of the V-22 Osprey aircraft. This contract includes no options. All work will be performed in East Hartford, Connecticut, and ordering period is expected to be completed by December 2024.

In March 2008, the Bell Boeing Joint Project Office in Amarillo, TX received a $10.4 billion modification that converted the previous N00019-07-C-0001 advance acquisition contract to a fixed-price-incentive-fee, multi-year contract. The new contract rose to $10.92 billion, and was used to buy 143 MV-22 (for USMC) and 31 CV-22 (Air Force Special Operations) Osprey aircraft, plus associated manufacturing tooling to move the aircraft into full production. A follow-on MYP-II contract covered another 99 Ospreys (92 MV-22, 7 CV-22) for $6.524 billion. Totals: $17.444 billion for 235 MV-22s and 38 CV-22s, an average of $63.9 million each.

The V-22 tilt-rotor program has been beset by controversy throughout its 20-year development period. Despite these issues, and the emergence of competitive but more conventional compound helicopter technologies like Piasecki’s X-49 Speedhawk and Sikorsky’s X2, the V-22 program continues to move forward. This DID Spotlight article looks at the V-22’s multi-year purchase contract from 2008-12 and 2013-2017, plus associated contracts for key V-22 systems, program developments, and research sources.

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Trident II D5 Missile: Keeping Up with Changing Times

Sep 26, 2023 04:58 UTC

Latest updates[?]: BAE Systems won a $23.5 million deal for logistics engineering and integration support services for Trident II Strategic Weapon System and the Submarine Submersible Guided Missile Attack Weapon System. This contract award also benefits a foreign military sale to the United Kingdom. Work will be performed in Kings Bay, Georgia; Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania; Rockville, Maryland; Bremerton, Washington; and various other locations. Work is expected to be completed Sept. 30, 2024. Fiscal 2023 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,244,147; and United Kingdom funding in the amount of $3,051,000 will be obligated upon award.

Trident II D5 Test Launch

Nuclear tipped missiles were first deployed on board US submarines at the height of the Cold War in the 1960s, to deter a Soviet first strike. The deterrence theorists argued that, unlike their land-based cousins, submarine-based nuclear weapons couldn’t be taken out by a surprise first strike, because the submarines were nearly impossible to locate and target. Which meant that Soviet leaders could not hope to destroy all of America’s nuclear weapons before they could be launched against Soviet territory. SLBM/FBM (Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile/ Fleet Ballistic Missile) offered shorter ranges and less accuracy than their land-based ICBM (Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile) counterparts, but the advent of Trident C4 missiles began extending those ranges, and offering other improvements. The C4s were succeeded by larger Trident II D5 missiles, which added precision accuracy and more payload.

The year that the Trident II D5 ballistic missile was first deployed, 1990, saw the beginning of the end of the missile’s primary mission. Even as the Soviet Union began to implode, the D5’s performance improvements were making the Trident submarine force the new backbone of the USA’s nuclear deterrent – and of Britain’s as well. To ensure that this capability was maintained at peak readiness and safety, the US Navy undertook a program in 2002 to replace aging components of the Trident II D5 missile called the D5 Life Extension (LE) Program. This article covers D5 LE, as well as support and production contracts associated with the American and British Trident missile fleets.

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F-35 Lightning: The Joint Strike Fighter Program

Sep 25, 2023 04:58 UTC

Latest updates[?]: Lockheed Martin won an $98 million deal to provide for the development of production engineering change proposals, retrofit engineering release reports, investigations and subcontractor support for investigations and qualifications in support of increasing the life of F-35 aircraft parts for the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, and non-Department of Defense participants. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas; El Segundo, California; and Samlesbury, United Kingdom, and is expected to be completed in February 2026. No funds will be obligated at the time of award; funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued.

F-35B: off probation

The $382 billion F-35 Joint Strike fighter program may well be the largest single global defense program in history. This major multinational program is intended to produce an “affordably stealthy” multi-role fighter that will have 3 variants: the F-35A conventional version for the US Air Force et. al.; the F-35B Short Take-Off, Vertical Landing for the US Marines, British Royal Navy, et. al.; and the F-35C conventional carrier-launched version for the US Navy. The aircraft is named after Lockheed’s famous WW2 P-38 Lightning, and the Mach 2, stacked-engine English Electric (now BAE) Lightning jet. Lightning II system development partners included The USA & Britain (Tier 1), Italy and the Netherlands (Tier 2), and Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Turkey (Tier 3), with Singapore and Israel as “Security Cooperation Partners,” and Japan as the 1st export customer.

The big question for Lockheed Martin is whether, and when, many of these partner countries will begin placing purchase orders. This updated article has expanded to feature more detail regarding the F-35 program, including contracts, sub-contracts, and notable events and reports during 2012-2013.

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CH-53K: The U.S. Marines’ HLR Helicopter Program

Sep 22, 2023 04:56 UTC

Latest updates[?]: Sikorsky Aircraft won a $23.5 million deal under previously awarded basic ordering agreement N00383-20-G-X901 for the procurement of six AI gearbox assemblies and six input module gearboxes in support of the CH-53K aircraft. All work will be performed in Stratford, Connecticut. This contract contains no options and work is expected to be completed by March 2029. Annual working capital funds (Navy) in the amount of $17,617,595 will be obligated at the time of award, and funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

CH-53K concept

The U.S. Marines have a problem. They rely on their CH-53E Super Stallion medium-heavy lift helicopters to move troops, vehicles, and supplies off of their ships. But the helicopters are wearing out. Fast. The pace demanded by the Global War on Terror is relentless, and usage rates are 3 times normal. Attrition is taking its toll. Over the past few years, CH-53s have been recalled from “boneyard” storage at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, AZ, in order to maintain fleet numbers in the face of recent losses and forced retirements. Now, there are no flyable spares left.

Enter the Heavy Lift Replacement (HLR) program, now known as the CH-53K. It aims to offer notable performance improvements over the CH-53E, in a similar airframe. The question is whether its service entry delay to 2018-2019 will come too late to offset a serious decline in Marine aviation.

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E-2D Hawkeye: The Navy’s New AWACS

Sep 21, 2023 04:58 UTC

Latest updates[?]: Lockheed Martin won a $46.4 million deal for the digital expanded ultra-high frequency multiple input multiple output optimized radar. This contract provides for the development of advanced radar technology solutions applicable to both next generation platforms and current generation platforms (such as the E-2D). To support a rapid pace of development, the contractor will leverage, build-upon, and/or integrate available technologies from other programs including the Office of Naval Research (ONR). This effort centers on maturing high value radar technologies to a state enabling transfer to one or more programs of record for integration onto naval airborne platforms. Work will be performed in Liverpool, New York, and is expected to be completed in September 2027. The total cumulative value, including a 48-month base period and three 28-month option periods that, when exercised, will run concurrently with the base period, is $46,415,206. Fiscal 2023 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $8,439,900 are obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman’s E-2C Hawkeye is a carrier-capable “mini-AWACS” aircraft, designed to give long-range warning of incoming aerial threats. Secondary roles include strike command and control, land and maritime surveillance, search and rescue, communications relay, and even civil air traffic control during emergencies. E-2C Hawkeyes began replacing previous Hawkeye versions in 1973. They fly from USN and French carriers, from land bases in the militaries of Egypt, Japan, Mexico, and Taiwan; and in a drug interdiction role for the US Naval Reserve. Over 200 Hawkeyes have been produced.

The $17.5 billion E-2D Advanced Hawkeye program aims to build 75 new aircraft with significant radar, engine, and electronics upgrades in order to deal with a world of stealthier cruise missiles, saturation attacks, and a growing need for ground surveillance as well as aerial scans. It looks a lot like the last generation E-2C Hawkeye 2000 upgrade on the outside – but inside, and even outside to some extent, it’s a whole new aircraft.

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Serious Dollars for AEGIS Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD)

Sep 20, 2023 04:56 UTC

Latest updates[?]: Lockheed Martin won a $63.8 million deal for establishment of the AEGIS Canadian Surface Combatant land-based test site in New Jersey. This contract involves Foreign Military Sales to the Royal Canadian Navy. Work will be performed in Moorestown, New Jersey; Clearwater, Florida; Orlando, Florida; and Owego, New York, and is expected to be completed by November 2026. Foreign Military Sales (Canada) funds in the amount of $63,820,154 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

AEGIS-BMD: CG-70
launches SM-3

The AEGIS Ballistic Missile Defense System seamlessly integrates the SPY-1 radar, the MK 41 Vertical Launching System for missiles, the SM-3 Standard missile, and the ship’s command and control system, in order to give ships the ability to defend against enemy ballistic missiles. Like its less-capable AEGIS counterpart, AEGIS BMD can also work with other radars on land and sea via Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC). That lets it receive cues from other platforms and provide information to them, in order to create a more detailed battle picture than any one radar could produce alone.

AEGIS has become a widely-deployed top-tier air defense system, with customers in the USA, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Norway, and Spain. In a dawning age of rogue states and proliferation of mass-destruction weapons, the US Navy is being pushed toward a “shield of the nation” role as the USA’s most flexible and most numerous option for missile defense. AEGIS BMD modifications are the keystone of that effort – in the USA, and beyond.

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Virginia Block III: The Revised Bow

Sep 19, 2023 04:58 UTC

Latest updates[?]: General Dynamics Electric Boat won a $517.3 million delivery order to provide unique parts and specialized material, including initial spares, for Virginia-class submarines. Work will be performed in Groton, Connecticut; and Pawcatuck, Connecticut, and is expected to be completed by September 2028. Fiscal 2023 working capital funds (Navy) in the amount of $496,328,335 (96%); and fiscal 2023 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $20,920,490 (4%), will be obligated at time of award, of which $496,328,335 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

Virginia Block I-II
(click for SuperSize)

“GDEB Receives $148M as Virginia Class Lead Yard” described changes to the Virginia Class submarine’s design that are expected to reach 20% of the $200 million savings goal by the time orders for the versatile sea attack/ land attack/ special forces submarines rise to 2 per year, in 2012.

The bow changes cover the FY 2009-2013 ships, referred to as Block III. SSN 774 Virginia – SSN 777 North Carolina are Block I, and SSNs 778-783 will be Block II. Block III begins with the 11th ship of class, SSN 784. Long lead time component orders began May 22/08, and the submarine is expected to be ready for delivery around 2015. A fuller explanation of Block III’s extensive bow changes, and an accompanying graphic, may be found below – along with contract updates that include additional improvements and sonar development.

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