The impending fighter shortfall in the U.S. Air Force may prompt the Pentagon to turn to the Navy to fulfill some air sovereignty missions – flying patrols in U.S. airspace – in the future, according to Defense Department officials.
ENGINE REPAIR: The U.S. Army has awarded Texas-based Chromalloy two contracts valued at up to $1.9 million for engine component repairs on the AGT1500 engine that powers the M1 Abrams tank. The agreements cover component maintenance and repairs for the Army National Guard fleet of M1 Abrams tanks deployed worldwide. Starting in 2009, Chromalloy will support repairs on 150 engines per year. The original contracts awarded by the Army National Guard were three-year, performance-based agreements.
DALLAS – Good processes, good relationships with your prime contractor and good luck all seem the necessary ingredients for small businesses looking to make big plays in U.S. military maintenance, repair and overhaul, according to a panel on the issue at Aviation Week’s MRO Military conference here on April 22.
The now-delayed 2018 version of the Next Generation Bomber was derailed by more than the budget. In fact, Lt. Gen. Robert Elder, commander of the 8th Air Force with responsibility for nuclear deterrence and global strike, says it is not dead, just the victim of a postponement. “What we were looking for in the 2018 bomber was something that would take the B-2 capabilities to a new level, like the F-22 improved on the F-117,” Elder says. “It was stealthier and easier to maintain and from an operational standpoint that’s what you’re looking for.”
YOUNG INVESTIGATORS: The Office of Naval Research (ONR) recently awarded 15 aspiring researchers a three-year grant valued at up to $510,000 as part of the Navy’s 2009 Young Investigator Program (YIP). Award recipients were selected from 193 proposals. YIP has been in place at ONR since 1985, and recognizes research achievements, potential for continued outstanding research efforts and strong support and commitment from participating universities and research institutions.
DALLAS – The assistant deputy undersecretary of defense for material readiness at the Pentagon told an MRO Military audience April 22 that the Defense Department may soon be rebranding performance-based logistics (PBL). Randy Fowler told Aviation Week’s conference here that the DOD-led Product Support Assessment Team has listed the recommendation already, and while a formal decision has not been made, the time appears to be approaching when the Pentagon announces a new campaign toward weapons systems and platform sustainment.
The Pentagon’s new policy chief is touting the administration’s Afghanistan-Pakistan (AfPak) policy as recent attacks in Pakistan are forcing a re-evaluation of U.S. strategy in the troubled region. The Pentagon’s recent AfPak strategy review should be considered “the beginning of a process as opposed to the end,” Michele Flournoy told a group at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) April 21.
VENICE, Italy – Underwriters say they do not think the space insurance sector is growing more litigious, despite the growing number of claims that are going to arbitration. “It’s true we’re seeing lots of arbitrations,” Peter Nesgos, a partner at Milbank, told the Pagnanelli space insurance conference here early this month. “We are taking a new look at the agreements and the wording in claims paid and seeing that much more precision is required.”
GATEWAY RFP DELAYED: A request for proposals for the U.S. Air Force’s Interim Airborne Gateway (IG) program to install a communications “bridge” on an unmanned aircraft has been delayed while the Defense Department reviews the acquisition strategy and funding. Installed on a 300-kt. cruise, 24-hour endurance UAV capable of flying at 45,000-60,000 feet – likely a Global Hawk – the IG payload would translate between dissimilar tactical datalinks and bridge between voice radios while acting as a forward server for data and imagery.
Claims that unknown attackers used Chinese Internet hosts as a conduit to break into the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter project to scoop up terabytes of design and electronic systems data are being denied by the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin – kind of.
UNMANNED CARGO HELO: An unmanned cargo helicopter could be deployed to Afghanistan by February 2010 or sooner as the result of a request for proposals issued by the U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory. The cargo unmanned aircraft system is required to lift 750-1,000 pounds at a 12,000-feet density altitude, reach 15,000 feet with a full cargo load and maintain 70 kt. airspeed to complete a 150 nautical mile round trip. Likely candidates are the Boeing A160T Hummingbird and Lockheed Martin/Kaman Unmanned K-Max.
PARTIAL SUCCESS: France’s newest nuclear ballistic missile carrying submarine, the Terrible, successfully completed an initial test firing of a dummy missile on April 18, although the mockup’s float system malfunctioned after launch. Defense ministry officials said the dummy, which is sized to represent the country’s new M51 missile, will be retrieved shortly to determine the cause of the malfunction and analyze test results. The Terrible, the fourth of the Triomphant class submarines, was launched in January and christened on March 21.
VIBRATION SENSOR: The Raytheon Company is set to begin work on a laser radar vibration sensor, or ladar vibrometer, that measures ground-surface vibrations by using electronic instructions for calculation and processing. The project is to be carried out under a $19 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for the development and demonstration of technology that can detect and locate buried land mines and tunnels.
As the German military looks for a new air surveillance radar system, Rheinmetall and BAE Systems have joined forces to offer a joint bid. Rheinmetall would function as the prime contractor offering the BAE Systems Commander-SL radar system already in use with the Royal Air Force.
The Obama administration is making a mistake when it combines into one problem the dual risks of the massive U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals and nuclear weapons in the hands of rogue states or terrorists, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate says. “The administration risks muddying the issue and making it more difficult to address the true danger, which most people agree [is] the threat of nuclear Iran and North Korea and the threat of nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists,” Sen. John Kyl (R-Ariz.) said April 21.
SOLDIER ENSEMBLE: The U.S. Army has awarded one of three $12 million contracts to General Dynamics (GD) to design a new information-systems ensemble for soldiers to use during combat operations. The Ground Soldier Ensemble will feature built-in equipment that allows Army team leaders to access information about each other and their surroundings during a mission. The ensemble will have enough computing power to enable small groups to manipulate information critical for mission planning.
The Luftwaffe says the first few Eurofighter Typhoons of the Tranche 2 configuration have now been delivered to the Laage air base and assigned to the 73rd fighter wing “Steinhoff.” The aircraft, in the Block 8 standard, is a major upgrade from the Tranche 1 aircraft that the German unit has had in service so far. The computer architecture is greatly enhanced and the Tranche 2 aircraft also phases in air-to-ground capabilities. The Luftwaffe is to get 68 Tranche 2 aircraft, on top of the 44 Tranche 1s that Germany has acquired.
RAPIDEYE: RapidEye of Germany has named MakaLani of Hawaii as a U.S. distributor for its wide-area, high-revisit-frequency commercial geospatial imaging data. The five satellite RapidEye constellation, funded under a public private partnership, was launched on Aug. 29, 2008. It is aimed at agriculture, natural resources, insurance, security and other applications.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz’s tenure is starting to look like “a controlled flight into terrain” because other service senior leaders feel that Schwartz betrayed them by siding with Defense Secretary Robert Gates in terminating key air power programs without rigorous analysis, Lexington Institute defense expert Loren Thompson says.
