Latest updates[?]: The Naval Air Warfare Center is awarding a contract to Airborne Tactical Advantage Co. (ATAC). The modification is valued at $54,5 million and provides for support activities to the Navy’s Contracted Air Services (CAS) program. The CAS Program provides contractor owned and operated Type III high subsonic and Type IV supersonic aircraft to Navy Fleet customers for a wide variety of airborne threat simulation capabilities. The Type III high subsonic and Type IV supersonic aircraft are designed to simulate incoming threats for testing and training defensive capabilities. ATAC jets are certified to carry a wide range of stores. TACTS/ACMI (P4/5) pods or LATR GPS tracking pods, provide air combat tracking. For electronic warfare training, AST-6 and AST-9 threat simulators can be combined with multiple AN/ALQ-167 and AN/ALG-188 pods. Key competitors include Top Aces, Draken International, L-3 Flight International Phoenix Air and Tactical Air Support, Inc. Work will be performed in various locations inside and outside the continental US, including Newport News, Virginia and Point Mugu, California. It is expected to be completed on May 2019.
Kfir C2 w. ALQ-167
Over the last 13 years ATAC has performed a wide range of flight training operations for the US Navy, US Air Force and Air National Guard, including participation in US Navy fleet training, acting as adversary fighters for the “TOPGUN” program, Red Flag exercises and F-22 Raptor training; participating in JTAC/ FAC-A/ CAS ground controller training; and even serving American research & development programs like the Ship Self Defense System and ALE-50 towed decoy. Under their agreement with US Navy, their services have also been used to train militaries in the UK, Canada, Japan, the Philippines, et. al., and the company is placing a renewed focus on exports.
Unlike many other contractors, who operate Learjets and similar business aircraft, ATAC operates fighters and attack jets…
On the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month, in 1918, the guns ceased. This day is honored all over the world, albeit in different ways. It is honored here, and we will not be publishing today. Instead, we have a quick backgrounder, a very personal essay from my colleague, and The Last Post played by… Mark Knopfler.
Differing Remembrances
During Remembrance Day, the British Commonwealth countries remember those who came before, and those who came after, and all who have given in their nation’s service. John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields” is a common accompaniment at ceremonies, where the wearing of poppies is customary (on the left lapel, or as close to the heart as possible). The poppies are sold as a means of support by organizations like the Royal British Legion, Royal Canadian Legion, et. al.
A number of European countries know November 11th as Armistice Day.
Fallujah II, 2004
Americans celebrate it as Veteran’s Day, which differs from other countries around the world in that it honors military service generally, instead of focusing only on those who gave their lives. That purpose happens earlier in the year for Americans, on Memorial Day.
After a decade and more of non-stop conflict, these days have taken on a far more personal meaning to a new global generation of current and former military personnel.
Armistice: A Personal Remembrance
Verdun, 1916
My colleague Olivier Travers sent this to me as an email in November 2011. This is the public version.
Some personal history. My great-grandfathers fought WWI. My two grandfathers fought WWII in the Somme for one (like his father before him), North Africa and Monte Cassino for the other. They came back and got kids, but were broken inside. The house in Lorraine where my mother and her siblings grew up is 30 miles south east of Verdun. Drive a little north and you find what used to be whole villages where all that is left is rolling hills, moon landscapes but hey at least grass is growing again. The heavy metal pollution will take 10,000 years to decay. The government left entrance and exit signs on the roads, so these places don’t go entirely forgotten.
Almost a century later, people in the region still dig out unexploded ordnance.
Verdun, 2004
I’m the 5th generation in a row to have worn a uniform in the family. Thankfully, my father and I are the two lucky chaps who weren’t shot at, unlike our forefathers in 1870, 1914, 1939 (leaving aside my grandfather’s 2 years in Indochina since that one was a war of choice). My mother was born in Metz two years after we got it back from the Germans. On my father’s side, they probably fought the French too before Savoie was annexed in 1860, since they liked to invade us a couple times a century.
Anyway, the two sides of my family have been living for centuries in the buffer zone between France and its competitors to the East. Pretty much an ongoing stream of the worst human butchery. It’s in the history of the soil, cities and people more than, fortunately, most other places on earth.
The lyrics of the French national anthem are telling. In a different context from how the Canadian-born know this phrase:
“Je me souviens.”
The Last Post
Traditionally played on this day. Dire Straits front man Mark Knopfler, who also has a song called “Remembrance Day,” did this as part of The UK government-sponsored Last Post Project, which will continue until Nov 18/14.
We hope our readers have a meaningful day this Tuesday at the commemorative event of their choice.
Monday, May 28th is Memorial Day in the USA. As we mentioned on Friday, DID honors those who have given all of their tomorrows in American military service, and will not be publishing. Readers are reminded that in America, the Memorial Day moment of silence takes place at 3:00 pm.
A survey commissioned by The National WWII Museum in Washington had only 20% say they were very familiar with the day’s purpose, which is to honor those who have fallen in America’s wars. It’s the same purpose as Remembrance Day/ Armistice Day (Nov. 11th) in the British Commonwealth and elsewhere – but in America, November 11th is Veteran’s Day, honoring all who have served in the US military.
On the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month, in 1918, the guns ceased. This day is honored all over the world, albeit in different ways. It is honored here, and we will not be publishing today.
During Remembrance Day, the British Commonwealth countries remember those who came before, and those who came after, and all who have given in their nation’s service. John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields” is a common accompaniment at ceremonies, where the wearing of poppies is customary (on the left lapel, or as close to the heart as possible). The poppies are sold as a means of support by organizations like the Royal British Legion, Royal Canadian Legion, et. al.
A number of European countries know November 11th as Armistice Day.
Americans celebrate it as Veteran’s Day, which differs from other countries around the world in that it honors military service generally, instead of focusing on those who gave their lives (Memorial Day in the USA). We hope our readers have a meaningful day this Monday at the commemorative event of their choice.
Monday, May 28th is Memorial Day in the USA. DID honors those who have given all of their tomorrows in American military service; we will not be publishing. Readers are reminded that in America, the Memorial Day moment of silence takes place at 3:00 pm.
It seems that lots of reminders are needed. A survey commissioned by The National WWII Museum in Washington had only 20% say they were very familiar with the day’s purpose, which is to honor those who have fallen in America’s wars. It’s the same purpose as Remembrance Day/ Armistice Day (Nov. 11th) in the British Commonwealth and elsewhere – but in America, November 11th is Veteran’s Day, honoring all who have served in the US military.
For additional resources, USAA has a full video that includes Hugh Ambrose (Band of Brothers, The Pacific, etc.), and the American National WWII Museum’s MyMemorialDay.org offers some ideas for honoring this day. One more idea might to be teach our fellow Americans. Email a good treatment of the day to people you know outside the national security field, and encourage them to forward it on.
The YouTube video above is offered as one possible option. Thanks to “Two Five Papa” for the recommendation.
On the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month, in 1918, the guns ceased. During Remembrance Day, the British Commonwealth countries remember those who came before, and those who came after, and all who have given in their nation’s service. John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields” is a common accompaniment at ceremonies, where the wearing of poppies is customary (on the left lapel, or as close to the heart as possible), and organizations like the Royal British Legion, Royal Canadian Legion, et. al. are supported.
Americans celebrate it as Veteran’s Day, and we hope our American readers have a meaningful day this Monday at the commemorative event of their choice.
The Pentagon is considering updating Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to incorporate a “proposal adequacy checklist” for proposals in response to solicitations that require submission of certified cost or pricing data. Comments should be sent to DoD in writing before January 31, 2012, to be considered in the formation of the final rule.
Switzerland’s largest socialist party (SPS) passes a resolution saying that they’ll try to stop the deal for 22 Swedish JAS-39 Gripen fighters. We aren’t surprised, either.
On the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month, in 1918, the guns ceased. During Remembrance Day, the British Commonwealth countries remember those who came before, and those who came after, and all who have given in their nation’s service. John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields” is a common accompaniment at ceremonies, where the wearing of poppies is customary (on the left lapel, or as close to the heart as possible), and organizations like the Royal British Legion, Royal Canadian Legion, et. al. are supported.
Per DID tradition and policy, we remind our readers that we do not publish on this day. We hope you have a meaningful day at the commemorative event of your choice.
US Special Operations Command’s helicopters are some of its most important assets. The service will need new helicopters in the near future, but meanwhile, they’re busy modernizing the helicopters they have. Sensor and targeting system improvements offer a lot of operational bang for the buck, as August 2011 contracts to improve the MH-60 and MH-47 fleets show. Now FLIR Systems, Inc. in North Billerica, MA has received a sole-source $24.6 million indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract under FAR 6.302-1, for new production or retrofit of AN/ZSQ-3 (V1 Assault) and AN/ZSQ-3 (V2 Attack), Electro-Optic Sensor Systems with laser rangefinder/designator units. Order 0001 is for $497,092, with the rest to be awarded as requested by US SOCOM’s Technology Applications Contracting Office until Sept 22/16 (H92241-11-D-0007).
The turrets will equip the 160th SOAR’s A/H-6M “Little Birds” at Fort Campbell, KY. These MD 530 derivatives serve in versatile roles with the Night Stalkers, quickly moving special forces troops into confined areas, or acting as light helicopter gunships. They were especially useful during Operation Gothic Serpent in Mogadishu, 18 years ago today, when they flew the only close air support available to the trapped Rangers and Delta force soldiers, sometimes even landing in narrow streets. The battle is known as the “Day of the Rangers” in Somalia, but it’s best known to most Americans by the movie/book name: “Blackhawk Down“.
The US Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) report [PDF] on policy options for unmanned aerial systems (UAS) estimates that DoD plans to acquire 730 UAS based on designs currently in operation, while also improving the unmanned aircraft already in service will cost $36.9 billion through 2020. The CBO also analyzed options that would cost from $3.7 billion less than the DoD’s plans through 2020 to $2.9 billion more.
An independent review of 40 major programs concludes that the Pentagon’s Operational Test & Evaluation teams are not the cause of delays in all the weapons programs. Instead the report revealed that delays in 37 programs were caused by problems discovered during testing.
Lockheed Martin will provide its Prepar3D visual simulation software to power the National Flight Academy’s (NFA) immersive aviation experience as part of the academy’s hands-on approach to teaching the principles of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
Flight Global reports that Israel’s Aeronautics Defense Systems’ Orbiter Mini UAV and BlueBird’s SpyLite Multi Configuration Tactical UAS are two final contenders in the Finnish military’s unmanned air system contest.
Intelligent Software Solutions (ISS) wins a contract from the the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) for software that will use predictive reasoning and pattern-analysis to improve situational awareness for British warfighters and help determine the level of risk for various missions.
UAS Vision says the first meeting of the Netherlands’ new unmanned aerial sector (UAS) network attracted 70 individuals representing 40 different companies and organizations. One of the principal aims of the network is to advance the development and deployment of unmanned aircraft systems in the Netherlands.
India’s Home Ministry to evaluate unmanned aerial system (UAS) technologies for law enforcement purposes.
Cubic Global Tracking Solutions announces that it has received certification from Iridium Communications Inc. for its Global Sentinel System. The product tracks and monitors high-risk assets utilizing a variety of transmission links.
Wired’s Danger Room reports on the evidence that Russia may have revived the Soviet-era Falcon-Echelon laser project. Potential targets include U.S. satellites.
Remembrance Day
USAA has a full video
