General Dynamics to help maintain LCS | Elbit System’s TF/TA system is operational | Australia and Lockheed Martin signed F-35 Sustainment Agreement

Americas

The Navy tapped General Dynamics Mission Systems with a $34.7 million contract modification to help maintain an Austal-built Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). Under the two year order General Dynamics will support maintenance of command, control, communications, computers, combat and intelligence systems of the Austal Independence variant LCS. The company will provide resource management, program planning, installation, modernization, training, cost and schedule control and software development services for the LCS. Austal’s Independence variant Ship is a high-speed, agile, multi-mission combatant that delivers superior seakeeping and performance. It is an open ocean capable vessel, but is designed to defeat growing littoral threats and provide access and dominance in the coastal water battlespace. General Dynamics was the prime contractor for LCS 2 (USS Independence) and LCS 4 (USS Coronado). However, Austal has been the Prime contractor for all Independence variant from LCS 6 onward. For the LCS program, Austal teamed up with General Dynamics Mission Systems. As the ship systems integrator, General Dynamics is responsible for the design, integration and testing of the ship’s electronic systems including the combat system, networks, and seaframe control. Work under the modification will take place in Massachusetts as well as various shipyards and is scheduled to be completed by February 2021.

The Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a $14.1 million contract modification for the development of the F-35 Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (AGCAS). The AGCAS is an on-board system that prevents controlled flight into terrain. The system utilizes various sensors that monitor how the aircraft is performing and whether the pilot is still in control of the aircraft. If a pilot loses consciousness, AGCAS kicks in. It uses GPS, terrain data and spatial awareness to recognize when the jet is heading toward the ground or a mountain, and if it gets to the specifically calibrated point at which it is likely too late for a pilot to react to that fact, the system intervenes and pulls the jet up on its own before returning control to the pilot. Work will take place in Fort Worth, Texas and is scheduled to be finished by March next year.

Middle East & Africa

The US Air Force awarded Collins Aerospace a $47.6 million contract modification that provides Foreign Military Sales (FMS) partner nations Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain an ordering vehicle for the DB-110 Tactical Reconnaissance Pod program. Collins Aerospace designs, produces, and supports communication and aviation systems worldwide. The company offers a certified pod for F-16 and other fast-jet applications. With an integrated DB-110 sensor, this pod offers advantages over competing systems by relying on dual-environmental conditioning systems, to provide robust ground cooling and operations over a wide range of altitudes. The modification includes the following procurement of DB-110 reconnaissance pods, program infrastructure, airborne data link terminals, surface terminal equipment, mobile ground stations, fixed ground stations, transportable ground stations, and data and travel in support of orders. Work will take place in Westford, Massachusetts and has an expected completion date of November 14, 2023.

Israeli company Elbit Systems’ new Terrain Following/Terrain Avoidance (TF/TA) system is operational following extensive flight testing and verification by Special Operations pilots aboard C-130 aircraft. The system is part of the C-130 avionics upgrade program. It enables military transport aircraft to safely conduct low altitude flights in Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC), significantly extending their operational envelop. The C-130 is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft that is capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings. The C-130 Hercules is the longest continuously produced military aircraft at over 60 years, with the updated C-130J Super Hercules currently being produced. The TF/TA system combines high-resolution ground mapping data from an onboard Terrain-Following Radar that is complemented by a Digital Terrain Elevation Database, offering high maneuverability.

Europe

The Czech Ministry of Defense contracted Saab to expand the Czech’s instrumented Saab GAMER laser based training capability. The order is valued at $11.7 million. Deliveries will start at the end of the year. Saab will modernize the existing system and deliver new crucial functions within soldier-equipped training systems under the contract. The company will also be responsible for vehicle-based systems with ballistic and real-time of flight simulation, as well as solutions related to urban terrain training. With the new upgraded Tactical Training System, the Czech Army and the military police, will receive a large number of additional capabilities in training exercises. The Czech Army acquired the first Instrumented Saab GAMER system in 2011 for the Pandur IFV and performed upgrades during 2016 for laser code interoperability (U –LEIS). The British, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch and US Armed Forces are already using Saab’s laser simulators.

Asia-Pacific

The Australian Department of Defense and Lockheed Martin signed an agreement for Australian F-35 Sovereign Sustainment Contracts. This will facilitate Australian industry’s expanded involvement in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program and ensures the long-term sustainment of the country’s F-35A Lighting-II Joint Strike Fighter fleet. The agreement includes details about intellectual property, technical data and software arrangements with Lockheed Martin entities for direct sovereign sustainment contracts. A settled framework will help address the complexities associated with intellectual property, technical data and software under the global F-35 Program. According to the CEO of Lockheed Martin Australia, the new agreement provides a big opportunity for industrial and economic growth.

Northrop Grumman Australia and the Italian company Leonardo are partnering up to build and maintain troop carrier aircraft for New Zealand. They signed a Memorandum of Understanding to provide Leonardo’s C-27J aircraft to the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF). The two companies will jointly bid the Air Force’s incoming Future Air Mobility Capability (FAMC) Program. Through the partnership, Leonardo aims to bring a whole-of-life sustainment approach to the C-27J. Both companies will prepare a roadmap for future modernization and upgrades using reach-back and sovereign capabilities. The RNZAF can utilize the C-27J to perform a wide range of airlift missions in adverse environmental conditions, including humanitarian aid, disaster relief, transport, and search and rescue.

Today’s Video

Watch: Boeing Just Teased A Big Reveal For Australia’s Avalon Air Show, What Could It Be?

The C-27J Spartan Joint Cargo Aircraft

When the WALRUS super-heavy cargo airship was canceled, combat commanders complained that front-line airfields were often too short for the C-130 Hercules that make up the USAF’s tactical transport fleet. Delays in buying a small cargo aircraft to fill that role were making that problem worse. Starved of useful help due to USAF-sponsored delays, and the lack of appropriate aircraft in the USAF, the Army carried on with its aging C-23 Sherpas, and repurposed aircraft like the unprotected C-12 Hurons, in order to ferry troops, supplies, and/or very small vehicles within its theaters of operations.

The Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA) could have been worth up to $6 billion before all was said and done, and the finalists were a familiar duo. After EADS-CASA’s CN-235 and a shortened version of Lockheed Martin’s C-130J were disqualified for failing to meet requirements, JCA became yet another international competition between EADS-CASA’s C-295M & Alenia’s C-27J. The C-27J team eventually won the delayed decision in June 2007, and prevailed in the subsequent contract protests from their rivals. What remained unclear was exactly what they had won. The joint-service decision and contract announcement didn’t end the inter-service and Congressional politicking, and the contractor side was equally fractious. This FOCUS article covers the JCA competition, and subsequent developments – including the Pentagon’s 2012 push to end the program, and sell its planes.