The U.S. military is at a crossroads for determining long-term strategy, according to the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA), and cannot decide whether to focus more on conventional threats or newer irregular ones. “It appears increasingly clear that the United States will confront a very diverse and demanding array of strategic challenges over the coming decades,” CSBA says in its report, “Defense Planning for the Long Haul.” Those challenges, the report says, include the following:
NASHUA, N.H. — The electronic demolition derby that has disrupted military operations around Baghdad may be exported to Afghanistan, planners fear. The introduction of new devices regularly interferes with those already in operation, and the volume of communications has clogged the airwaves. Meanwhile, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and advanced communications devices are being poured into the larger, geographically isolated and less populated regions of Afghanistan to compensate for relatively small numbers of ground forces.
By 2018, variants of the U.S. Navy’s Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) will be carried by a half-dozen manned and unmanned aircraft, and perhaps more. As part of the electronic warfare formula, the yet to be selected EP-X signals and communications intelligence aircraft will be replacing the long-serving EP-3E.
Starting next week, NASA will use its Mars Odyssey orbiter to listen for signals from the Phoenix lander, which studied a site in Mars’ arctic latitudes for signs of water in 2008. Phoenix touched down on May 25, 2008, and its last transmission was received in early November of that year. Since then, Phoenix’s landing site has gone through autumn, winter and part of spring.
The U.S. Navy received its first helicopter-mounted Airborne Laser Mine Detection System (ALMDS) more than six weeks ahead of schedule, according to manufacturer Northrop Grumman. ALMDS mounts on the port side of an MH-60 helicopter, and uses pulsed laser light and streak tube receivers housed in an external equipment pod to image the entire near-surface volume area of the sea in three dimensions. ALMDS can be used in day or night operations.
SEVILLE, Spain — With bidders waiting for the Pentagon to release the request for proposal (RFP) for the KC-X tanker, EADS chief executive Louis Gallois insists “we only need a balanced RFP to win again.” The Northrop Grumman/EADS team has threatened not to submit a bid unless the Pentagon alters the terms put forward in the draft RFP. Company officials expect the full document to be issued at the end of the month or in early February, although they acknowledge the schedule is fluid.
Money, missions and the manufacturing base remain major concerns for lawmakers as they decide the future of the U.S. Air Force Next Generation Bomber (NGB), a recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report says.
SPOTLIGHT: Shining a light or laser at an aircraft is now a specific criminal offense in the U.K. under a new law introduced by the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority. Article 222 of the Air Navigation Order 2009, which went into effect Jan. 1, states: “A person must not in the U.K. direct or shine any light at any aircraft in flight so as to dazzle or distract the pilot of the aircraft.” The CAA hopes that Article 222, along with new technology deployed by police air support units to catch offenders, will increase conviction rates.
SEVILLE, Spain — The list of EADS hurdles for 2010 reads much like the one for 2009, except that a weaker dollar hedge rate means the company is starting the year already €1 billion ($1.45 billion) behind. The company’s hedging against the dollar for the year is 10 cents below last year’s level, equating to the lower revenue level. EADS ended 2009 with sales of €41.7 billion, lower than 2008 largely owing to the lower dollar/euro imbalance, company CEO Louis Gallois says.
The U.S. Coast Guard last week released a special notice calling for the termination of all U.S. Loran-C terrestrial radio navigation signals beginning Feb. 8, 2010. “At that time, the U.S. Loran-C signal will be unusable and permanently discontinued,” the Coast Guard notice said. The U.S. will temporarily continue its participation in Russian-American and Canadian Loran-C chains in accordance with international agreements.
PARIS — The European Commission has awarded SES Astra a contract to host a second payload for Europe’s Egnos Global Positioning System augmentation service. Astra’s European rival, Eutelsat, also is believed to have bid for the award.
The U.S. Navy will continue to focus on the reliability of its Remote Minehunting System (RMS) after a December announcement that the program triggered a Nunn-McCurdy cost growth notification.
Lockheed Martin is ramping up production of the third Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) at Marinette’s shipyard in Wisconsin, benefitting from what the company said are lessons learned from LCS 1 and a $100 million investment in the shipyard by its new Italian owner, Fincantieri.
Turbomeca do Brasil has inked a contract with the Brazilian Army Aviation corps to supply and support 68 Arriel 2C2 CG engines for Brazil’s Eurocopter AS 365K Panther fleet. The 2C2 CG, which provides 15 percent more power than the Arriel 1M1 that equips current Panthers, is part of a major upgrade of the country’s 34 Panthers awarded to Eurocopter subsidiary Helibras. The first engine is to be delivered at the end of 2010. The 2C2 CG also powers U.S. Coast Guard Dolphin HH65-C helicopters.
POSSIBLE DELAY: NASA is reconsidering the planned Feb. 7 launch date of the space shuttle Endeavour to the International Space Station because of a payload problem. While launch crews continue to work toward the original date, ISS engineers are evaluating the failure of some ammonia cooling system high-pressure jumper hose assemblies associated with the Tranquility module, the final pressurized node in the station assembly sequence. Preflight press briefings for the mission have been delayed two weeks — to Jan. 29 — because of the problem.
Engineers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center are developing an in-orbit test bed to validate techniques for refueling satellites that weren’t designed to be refueled, using procedures growing out of the experience gained servicing the Hubble Space Telescope. Preston Burch, the Hubble program manager, said Jan. 11 that the experiment would use the Canadian-built Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, known as Dextre, to simulate cutting into a spacecraft’s insulation, tapping into its fuel plumbing, and refilling its tanks to extend its service life.
NEW DELHI — India’s cancellation of the contract for six A330 inflight refuelers on Dec. 30 is worrying international companies, which complain that transparency is decidedly lacking in Indian defense procurement.
Lockheed Martin hopes to deliver the final software version for the DDG-51 Machinery Control System (MCS) by Jan. 15, two weeks ahead of schedule. Pat Allen, a senior manager of business development for Lockheed Martin, said the company has been working in a compressed time frame to deliver the hardware and software on schedule. “We’re confident we’ll make that milestone,” he said.
Lockheed Martin’s missile defense business is looking ahead to a few key milestones early in 2010, including first flight of the PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement Interceptor, first flight of the intermediate range LV-2 target and the first shootdown test of the Airborne Laser, which includes a fire control system supplied by the corporation.
