Timely Defenders: Keeping Patriots in Shape

Jul 16, 2019 04:54 UTC

Latest updates[?]: The US State Department approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to Germany for Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3) Missiles Segment Enhanced. The deal is estimated at $401 million. Germany had requested to buy 50 PAC-3 Missiles Segment Enhanced (MSE). The prime contractor will be Lockheed Martin. The FMS will also include PAC-3 MSE launcher conversion kits, missile round trainers (MRTs), empty round trainers (ERTs), launcher stations (LS) heater controllers, PAC-3 ground support equipment, and concurrent spare parts. The PAC-3 MSE, which is based on PAC-3 and an increased range, is the primary interceptor for the multi-national medium extended air defense system (MEADS).

Patriot System

Patriot system

The USA’s MIM-104 Phased Array Tracking Radar Intercept On Target (PATRIOT) anti-air missile system offers an advanced backbone for medium-range air defense, and short-range ballistic missile defense, to America and its allies. This article covers domestic and foreign purchase requests and contracts for Patriot systems. It also compiles information about the engineering service contracts that upgrade these systems, ensure that they continue to work, and integrate them with wider command and defense systems.

The Patriot missile franchise’s future appears assured. At present, 12 nations have chosen it as a key component of their air and missile defense systems: the USA, Germany, Greece, Japan, Israel, Kuwait, The Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan and the UAE. Poland, Qatar, and Turkey have all indicated varying levels of interest, and some existing customers are looking to upgrade their systems.

Continue Reading… »

AMRAAM: Deploying & Developing America’s Medium-Range Air-Air Missile

Jul 15, 2019 04:54 UTC

Latest updates[?]: Qatar awarded Raytheon two direct commercial sales contracts worth $2.2 billion for additional integrated air and missile defense capability. The awards are part of a larger agreement being pursued by Qatar with the US government. The deals include the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, final certification of the AMRAAM Extended Range missile, and an unspecified number of additional Patriot fire units. The NASAMS is a medium to long-range air defense system that can enhance the air defender’s ability to quickly identify, engage and destroy current and evolving enemy aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicle and emerging cruise missile threats. The AMRAAM Extend Range missile is a beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile able to operate in all weather day and night operations. Qatar is the first country to procure AMRAAM-ER. Qatar also becomes the 11th country to procure NASAMS, a medium-range air-defense solution manufactured by Raytheon and Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace AS. NASAMS uses the Raytheon Sentinel radar, and fires multiple interceptors, including AMRAAM-ER.

AIM-120C from F-22A
(click for test missile zoom)

Raytheon’s AIM-120 Advanced, Medium-Range Air to Air Missile (AMRAAM) has become the world market leader for medium range air-to-air missiles, and is also beginning to make inroads within land-based defense systems. It was designed with the lessons of Vietnam in mind, and of local air combat exercises like ACEVAL and Red Flag. This DID FOCUS article covers successive generations of AMRAAM missiles, international contracts and key events from 2006 onward, and even some of its emerging competitors.

One of the key lessons learned from Vietnam was that a fighter would be likely to encounter multiple enemies, and would need to launch and guide several missiles at once in order to ensure its survival. This had not been possible with the AIM-7 Sparrow, a “semi-active radar homing” missile that required a constant radar lock on one target. To make matters worse, enemy fighters were capable of launching missiles of their own. Pilots who weren’t free to maneuver after launch would often be forced to “break lock,” or be killed – sometimes even by a short-range missile fired during the last phases of their enemy’s approach. Since fighters that could carry radar-guided missiles like the AIM-7 tended to be larger and more expensive, and the Soviets were known to have far more fighters overall, this was not a good trade.

Continue Reading… »

F-35 Lightning: The Joint Strike Fighter Program

Jul 10, 2019 04:58 UTC

Latest updates[?]: Lockheed Martin won a $41.3 million contract modification for the design, procurement and integration of flight test instrumentation and data processing solutions for F-35 Lightning II development test aircraft to support the Tech Refresh-3 and the Follow on Modernization Block 4 mission systems configuration. The Naval Air Systems Command awarded the contract. The deal, with expected completion date of February 2021, will cater to the US Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and non-US Department of Defense partners. The F-35 Lightning is a supersonic, multi-role fighter jet that represents a quantum leap in air-dominance capability, offering enhanced lethality and survivability in hostile, anti-access airspace environments. The jet is being utilized by the defense forces of the United States and 11 other nations, chiefly owing to its advanced stealth, integrated avionics, sensor fusion, superior logistics support and powerful integrated sensors capabilities.

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.

Continue Reading… »

LAS in, LAS out: Counter-Insurgency Planes for the USA and its Allies

Jul 05, 2019 04:52 UTC

Latest updates[?]: The Philippines will take delivery of the A-29 Super Tucano in February next year. According to local news, the Air Force (PAF) is set to acquire more air assets and equipment in the coming months. On Tuesday, Philippine Air Force commander, Lt. Gen. Rozzano Briguez spoke on this matter during the PAF's 72nd founding anniversary. The commander said, the Super Tucanos "will be a game-changing platform, which will perform surface strike support to ground troops“. They are expected to support the remaining North American Rockwell OV-10 „Bronco“ attack aircraft being used by the PAF in strike missions. The A-29 is an Embraer light attack aircraft, which carries a wide variety of weapons, including precision-guided munitions. It was designed to be a low-cost system operated in low-threat environments.

Winner

The USA needs a plane that can provide effective precision close air support and JTAC training, and costs about $1,000 per flight hour to operate – instead of the $15,000+ they’re paying now to use advanced jet fighters at 10% of their capabilities. Countries on the front lines of the war’s battles needed a plane that small or new air forces can field within a reasonable time, and use effectively. If these 2 needs are filled by the same aircraft, everything becomes easier for US allies and commanders. One would think that this would have been obvious around October 2001, but it took until 2008 for this understanding to even gain momentum within the Pentagon. A series of intra-service, political, and legal fights have ensured that these capabilities won’t arrive before 2015 at the earliest, and won’t arrive for the USAF at all.

The USA has now issued 2 contracts related to this need. The first was killed by a lawsuit that the USAF didn’t think they could defend successfully. Since February 2013 they have a contract that they hope will stick. The 3 big questions are simple. Will the past be prologue for the new award? Will there be an Afghan government to begin taking delivery of their 20 planes much beyond 2014? And will another allied government soon need to use this umbrella contract for its own war?

Continue Reading… »

LCS: The USA’s Littoral Combat Ships

Jul 03, 2019 04:52 UTC

Latest updates[?]: The USS Montgomery or LCS-8 arrived in the Philippines last Saturday as part of her deployment to the Pacific. The Navy has resumed overseas deployments of the Littoral Combat Ships after an 18-month long hiatus. Repeated technical problems on both classes, the Freedom and the Independence Class, led the Navy to stand down all LCS crews in August 2016 – the first-ever stand down for a full class of vessels at once. All LCS personnel with a role in engineering were retrained, and the first four ships procured - two from each class, worth a combined $1.6 billion - were permanently restricted to testing duty. The stand down was soon lifted, but it has been more than a year and a half since an LCS deployed. The visit to Davao was the first indicator of the resumption of the LCS deployments. The USS Montgomery is a Independence Class Ship.

Austal Team
Trimaran LCS Design
(click to enlarge)

Exploit simplicity, numbers, the pace of technology development in electronics and robotics, and fast reconfiguration. That was the US Navy’s idea for the low-end backbone of its future surface combatant fleet. Inspired by successful experiments like Denmark’s Standard Flex ships, the US Navy’s $35+ billion “Littoral Combat Ship” program was intended to create a new generation of affordable surface combatants that could operate in dangerous shallow and near-shore environments, while remaining affordable and capable throughout their lifetimes.

It hasn’t worked that way. In practice, the Navy hasn’t been able to reconcile what they wanted with the capabilities needed to perform primary naval missions, or with what could be delivered for the sums available. The LCS program has changed its fundamental acquisition plan 4 times since 2005, and canceled contracts with both competing teams during this period, without escaping any of its fundamental issues. Now, the program looks set to end early. This public-access FOCUS article offer a wealth of research material, alongside looks at the LCS program’s designs, industry teams procurement plans, military controversies, budgets and contracts.

Continue Reading… »

US Carrier Pilots’ T-45 Training System

Jul 02, 2019 04:54 UTC

Latest updates[?]: Carelton Life Support Systems won an $8 million contract modification for the Phase II Upgrade and qualification testing of the CGU-25 oxygen concentrator on the T-45 aircraft. The McDonnell Douglas T-45 Goshawk is the Navy’s aircraft-carrier capable trainer. The T-45 is tandem-seat pilot trainer that replaces the TA-4J Skyhawk and T-2C Buckeye. It was modified from the British BAE Systems Hawk land-based training jet aircraft. In 2017, the USN grounded the T-45 fleet for a three-day "safety pause" after more than 100 instructor pilots refused to fly the aircraft. The pilots cited concerns about incidents of hypoxia that they believed to have resulted from faulty onboard oxygen-generation systems. Under the modification, Carelton will perform work in Davenport, Iowa, and work is expected to be finished in July 2021.

Do you feel lucky…?

The T-45 Training System includes T-45 Goshawk aircraft, advanced flight simulators, computer-assisted instructional programs, a computerized training integration system, and a contractor logistics support package. The integration of all 5 elements is designed to produce a superior pilot in less time and at lower cost than previous training systems.

The US Navy uses the Hawk-based T-45TS system to train its pilots for the transition from T-6A Texan II/ JPATS aircraft to modern jet fighters – and carrier landings. This is not a risk-free assignment, by any means. Nevertheless, it is a critical link in the naval aviation chain. This DID FOCUS article covers the T-45TS, and associated contracts to buy and maintain these systems, from 2006 to the end of FY 2014.

Continue Reading… »

V-22 Osprey: The Multi-Year Buys, 2008-2017

Jun 25, 2019 04:52 UTC

Latest updates[?]: FlexDecks Inc. won a $17.2 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for up to 40 V-22 and 40 MV-22B maintenance wing platform stands in support of the Marine Corps, Air Force, Navy as well as the government of Japan. The first Japanese V-22 Osprey multi-mission tilt-rotor aircraft Block C type rolled out on August 24, 2017 at the Bell facility in Amarillo, Texas. In January 2015, Japan's parliament had approved a defense budget with funding for five V-22s. In September 2018, the Japanese Ministry of Defense decided to ya href=https://www.janes.com/article/83299/tokyo-to-delay-deployment-of-osprey-tiltrotors-amid-local-opposition>delay the deployment of the first five MV-22B aircraft it had received due to local opposition.

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.

Continue Reading… »

Adir Who? Israel’s F-35i Stealth Fighters

Jun 19, 2019 04:54 UTC

Latest updates[?]: The Jerusalem Post reports that the Israeli Air Force (IAF) is holding a large-scale drill simulating a multi-front war. The drill started on Sunday and also premiers the F-35i Adir stealth fighter jet. The F-35i Adir is the result of the Israeli procurement of F-35 Lightning II. The first nine Israeli aircraft became operational in 2017. The Adir will be the only F-35 variant to enter service heavily tailored to a foreign country’s specifications. Israel’s multi-front drill also includes all aircraft from combat squadrons, helicopters and transport planes as well as troops from the Aerial Defense Division and the IAF control units. The drill is aimed at improving the readiness and efficiency of the IAF to cope with a multi-front wartime scenario including numerous attacks over a short period of time as well as assistance to ground forces, who are full partners in the drill.

In an exclusive June 2006 interview, Israeli Air Force (IAF) chief procurement officer Brigadier-General Ze’ev Snir told Israeli media that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter was a key part of their IAF recapitalization plans, and that Israel intended to buy over 100 of the fighters to replace their fleet of over 300 F-16s.

Since then, however, the expected cost of that purchase has more than doubled. Israel’s F-35 contract had to deal with that sticker shock, with issues like the incorporation of Israeli technologies and industrial work, and with major schedule slips in the core F-35 program. Israel was even contemplating delaying its purchase, which would have removed an important early adopter for the Lightning II. In the end, however, Israel decided to forego other fighter options, and became the first foreign buyer of operational F-35s. So, how is the “F-35i Adir” shaping up?

Continue Reading… »

India Refurbishing its AN-32 Transport Fleet

Jun 19, 2019 04:50 UTC

Latest updates[?]: Jane’s reports that the Indian Air Force wants to limit the use of its aging fleet of Antonov An-32 ‘Cline’ transport aircraft. Just recently an AN-32 aircraft of the Indian Air Force with 13 people on board crashed 33 minutes after taking off from Jorhat in Assam for Arunachal’s Menchuka, killing all 13 service personnel. Senior Indian Air Force officers said, the Force plans to curtail operations of the service’s 105 Soviet-era An-32s in the country’s Himalayan regions and over the Bay of Bengal due to safety concerns. Four fatal accidents involving the twin-engine turboprop transporter, resulting in the deaths of 54 service personnel and civilians, have taken place since the early years of the AN-32’s services for the Indian Air Force.

AN-32 over Taj Mahal

The Antonov AN-32 “Cline” builds on the general design of the widely-used AN-26 light transport plane, but high placement of the engine nacelles above the wing allow bigger propellers, driven by 5,100 hp AI-20 turboprops that almost double the output of the AN-26’s engines. As a result, the AN-32’s 14,750 pound/ 6900 kg load capacity is almost 50% better than its AN-26 cousin’s, and it can take off with much better load fractions in hot and/or high-altitude conditions, whose thin air could be a problem for other aircraft. AN-32s serve with a number of countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America, and the type was purchased in 2008 by Afghanistan.

India was the plane’s launch customer in the 1980s, and its fleet of up to 105 aircraft are used by the IAF’s Parachute Training School, by its military for humanitarian personnel and supply airdrops, and as an important link in the transport chain to the disputed Siachen glacier area in northern Jammu and Kashmir. That length of service has taken a toll, hence India’s decision to modernize over 100 planes to An-32RE status…

Continue Reading… »

JDAM: A GPS-INS Add-on Adds Accuracy to Airstrikes

Jun 17, 2019 04:56 UTC

Latest updates[?]: The US Air Force Life Cycle Management Center in Utah awarded Boeing a five-year-extension to an earlier contract for JDAM guided bomb tailkits, spares, repairs and technical services. This deal increases the contract ceiling by over $6.5 billion. The Joint Direct Attack Munition guidance kit features a GPS-aided inertial navigational system that essentially converts “dumb” gravity bombs into accurate, guided “smart bombs“, improving their accuracy. Once released, the JDAM autonomously navigates to the designated coordinates. In April, Boeing won a $250 million, 10-year contract for Joint Direct Attack Munition guidance kit services. The extension includes Foreign Military Sales funds. Work will take place in St. Louis, Missouri, and will be completed by February 28, 2025.

B-2 drops JDAM

Precision bombing has been a significant military goal since the invention of the Norden bomb sight in the 1920s, but its application remained elusive. Over 30 years later, in Vietnam, the destruction of a single target could require 300 bombs, which meant sending an appropriate number of fighters or bombers into harm’s way to deliver them. Even the 1991 Desert Storm war with Iraq featured unguided munitions for the most part. The USAF some laser and TV-guided weapons like Paveway bombs and Maverick missiles, but they were very expensive, and only effective in good weather. If precision bombing was finally to become a reality throughout the Air Force, a new approach would be needed. The Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) became that alternative, an engine of military transformation that was also a model of procurement transformation.

DID’s FOCUS articles offer in-depth, updated looks at significant military programs of record. This DID FOCUS Article looks at the transformational history of the JDAM GPS-guided bomb program, the ongoing efforts to bring its capabilities up to and beyond the level of dual-mode guidance kits like Israel’s Spice and Raytheon’s Enhanced Paveway, and the contracts issued under the JDAM program since its inception.[updated]

Continue Reading… »

1 2 3 … 48 Next »

Archives

White Papers & Events

Stay Up-to-Date on Defense Programs Developments with Free Newsletter