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Russia Improving its Mi-28 Attack Helicopter Fleet

Defense Industry Daily - Thu, 01/24/2019 - 04:50

Mi-28N with MMR
(click to view full)

In August 2012, Russian Lt. Gen. Viktor Bondarev pledged that the state would buy 60 Mi-28UB attack and training helicopters by 2020. That would be good news for the VVS, as well as the Rosvertol plant at Rostov on Don.

Russia is slowly modernizing its military, and its attack helicopter force is one of the areas being given priority. New Ka-52 Alligator and Mi-28N Night Hunter machines are beginning to replace the VVS’ 240 or so old Mi-24 gunships, but training has been an issue for the nascent Mi-28 fleet.

The Mi-28 Attack Helicopter

Aerobatics video

Flight International’s World Air Forces 2013 places the VVS’ Mi-28N inventory at 51 machines, with another 19 on order. The new Mi-28UB model, introduced in 2013, includes an enlarged cockpit for the instructor, and a larger canopy for the pilot. It can be flown from either the pilot’s cockpit or the second seat, and it retains full attack helicopter functionality.

Implementation of Bondarev’s promise would give Russia 130 Mi-28s by 2020, alongside 140+ Ka-52s. That would more than replace the current Mi-24 Hind fleet, and Russia has also ordered 60+ modernized Mi-35M Hinds to help fill in the gaps.

The Mi-28N is most often compared to the American AH-64, as it shares the same basic heavily-armed attack helicopter layout. The specifications above illustrate some of the basic differences between the 2 machines, but the bigger differences relate to concept of employment, and are reflected in harder to see areas like onboard electronics.

Russia is the largest Mi-28 operator, with 70 machines delivered or on order. Flight International’s World Air Forces 2013 also lists 16 Mi-28s ordered by Kenya, with 5 delivered, and Iraq is reportedly in the process of buying about 30 Mi-28NEs. If a deal is done, the Iraqi helicopters’ configuration may serve as a proxy for assessing the state of the platform’s development.

Rosvertol stated in a June 6/10 investors announcement that Algeria had expressed interest in up to 42 machines, and that became a contract in December 2013. Iraq has also purchased 15, and a Rostvertol report cited serious prospects in Egypt, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

India trialed the Mi-28N against the AH-64D, and chose the American helicopter in 2011. Indian media reported that the AH-64D displayed better maneuverability, more multi-role capability, and better capacity to accept upgrades.

Contracts & Key Events

Mi-28UB, 1st flight
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The Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant developed the Mi-28N Night Hunter, and they’ve been produced at the Rosvertol aviation plant since 2005.

 

January 24/19: Assembly in Kazakhstan Moscow and Astana agreed to launch the assembly of Mil Mi-8AMT and Mi-171 „Hip-H“ helicopters in Kazakhstan. The deal will see 45 kit versions of the helicopters delivered to Kazakhstan until 2025 for local assembly. The Kazakhstan Engineering NC of the Ministry of Defense and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan as well as Russian Helicopters JSC of Rostec State Corporation signed the contract. The technology of assembling heavy helicopters is being introduced in Kazakhstan for the first time ever. The production is organized without any public funding. The Mil Mi-8 is a medium twin-turbine helicopter used as a transport helicopter, an airborne command post, armed gunship, and reconnaissance platform.

October 24/17: Russian Helicopters confirmed on October 19 that its first batch of Mi-28UB helicopters will be ready for delivery to the Russian Ministry of Defense from next month. The firm added that the first units of the combat training helicopter have already completed factory tests. Chief Executive Officer of Russian Helicopters, Andrey Boginsky said the “emergence of training and combat version offers almost unlimited possibilities in terms of improving the pilots training system for Mi-28N. I’d like to note that the opportunity of learning not on the simulator but on a real combat helicopter is a considerable advantage of our military pilots compared to their colleagues from other countries.”

August 9/17: Russia is to test its Mi-28UB attack helicopter in Syria, according to Russian Helicopters CEO, Andrei Boginsky. The helicopter, which has a combined combat and training configuration of the Mi-28N Night Hunter and features dual controls for both crew members, will be used primarily to train new pilots but can also take part in combat operations. Russian Helicopters expects to deliver eight new Mi-28UB units to the Russian Aerospace Forces by the end of the year, with the first to be delivered to the 344th center of combat training and retraining center in Torzhok.

July 25/178: Russia has announced plans to start serial production of the upgraded Mi-28NM helicopter in 2018. A modernized variant of the Mi-28N Night Hunter attack helicopter, work on the new system began in 2009 and features a radically new locator providing an all-round visibility, a new dual control system and other equipment, as well as a high-precision weapon. The variant will be deployed to all front line units.

August 1/16: The latest version of the Mi-28NM has been spotted at the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant, with pictures capturing the attack helicopter on its first hover. In development since 2008, a prototype first flew in 2015 with further tests to continue before delivery to the Russian Defense Ministry later this year. The improved version comes equipped with surveillance radar, an advanced suite of optical-electronic sensors mounted in the new nose turret, and a dual control system which allows the navigator-operator to operate the machine if required.

April 26/16: Russia has placed an order for 24 Mi-28UB attack and two 26 transport helicopters. Contracts were signed between Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Berisov and Director General of Russian Helicopters Alexander Mikheyev. The Mi-28 are to be the first procured to come with dual controls and improved flight crew ergonomics. Improvements to the helicopter come as the Russian military aims to improve combat training speeds for crews alongside increasing the helicopter’s operability, safety and combat capabilities.

June 12/14: Rostvertol report. Rosvertol’s 2013 annual report contains a number of interesting details regarding its orders. Deliveries to Russia are confirmed at 14 Mi-28Ns and 1 Mi-28UB. Evidence is conflicting, but the report also cites a 2013 prototype launch for the of Mi-28UB OP-1, and the helicopter and its and its mast mounted radar enclosure are photographed.

Iraq [foreign customer K-8] has its October 2012 order confirmed at 15 machines, and Algeria [foreign customer 012] is confirmed to have ordered 42 Mi-28NE attack helicopters on Dec 26/13. That Mi-28NE order makes them the type’s 2nd export customer after Iraq (15), but they are the largest. Other serious prospects include Egypt [customer 818], Turkmenistan [customer 795], and Uzbekistan [customer 860].

The report adds that Mi-28s have been having problems with increased vibration in the main gearbox. They decided to continue operations with an upgraded set of main gears in the 1st stage. Sources: Rostvertol PLC, “Annual Report ‘Rosvertol’, ZA2013 Year | LiveJournal bmpd [in Russian, incl. photos].

Dec 25/13: Russian Helicopters JSC announces that:

“The Mi-28N Night Hunter combat helicopter, made by Russian Helicopters a subsidiary of Oboronprom and part of State Corporation Rostec, has officially entered into service with the Russian Defence Ministry under an order signed by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.”

This is a formality. The Russians have of course been flying them for several years now, and the Mi-28N has served as the mount for Russia’s Golden Eagles (Berkuty) helicopter aerobatics team since 2012. Sources: Russian Helicopters, “Mi-28N Night Hunter helicopter enters into service with the Russian Defence Ministry”.

Aug 10/13: Mi-28UB. Russian Lt. Gen. Viktor Bondarev says that they intend to buy 60 Mi-28UB helicopters by 2020, with a dual training and attack role. The intent is “4-6 [Mi-28UB] helicopters for each unit that has Mi-28N in service,” allowing in-unit training while retaining combat power. Source: RIA Novosti, “Russian Air Force to Get 60 Mi-28UB Helicopters by 2020”.

Aug 9/13: 1st flight. The Mi-28UB training and attack helicopter conducts its official maiden demonstration flight at the Rostvertol subsidiary in Rostov-on-Don. That plant manufactures Mi-28NE and Mi-35M attack helicopters, as well as Mi-26T super-heavy transport helicopters. The Mi-28UB model is distinguished from the Mi-28N by its dual pilot controls, in order to allow for training.

The Mi-28UB’s next destination will be the Zhukovsky airfield near Moscow, for its public unveiling during MAKS 2013. Source: Russian Helicopters JSC Aug 9/13 release.

Dec 26/12: Mi-28NM. A Russian air force (VVS) official says that draft tactical and technical specifications for a modernized Mi-28NM have passed preliminary approval by VVS General Command. A commission on modernization of the Mi-28N had been set up in 2009.

The question is what might be in that modernization. The VK-2500-02 engine could be switched for the VK-2500-03 used in the Ka-52K, which has slightly higher maximum power. There have been some external questions regarding the operational readiness of the type’s Arbalets mast-mounted radar, which is seen very rarely on photos of deployed helicopters, so improvements in that area are another possibility. Another obvious improvement area would involve communications technologies, and there’s always room for improving an attack helicopter’s weapons array. It will be interesting to see what choices they make. Source: RIA.RU [in Russian].

Nov 15/12: Deliveries. Interfax-AVN reports that Russia’s Western Military District received 20 Mi-28N helicopters this year, and expects about 20 more in 2013. Deliveries are clearly picking up. Source: Russian Helicopters JSC.

June 2012: Radar. Take-off magazine reports that the helicopter’s Arbalets radar may have appeared in pictures for over 7 years, but it’s still a work in progress:

“The mast-mounted radar being developed for the Mi-28N by the Ryazan State Instrument-Making Plant cleared a number of test hurdles this spring. In March, the radar’s interdepartmental performance tests were completed… April 2013 saw the completion of the radar-equipped Mi-28N’s preliminary trials in the Moscow Region and the release of the acceptance report recommending the radar’s employment as part of production-standard helicopters of the type. The last hurdle remaining is the joint special flight tests of the helicopter equipped with the radar. Depending on the outcome of the tests, a decision will be made to launch the radar’s production…. Concurrently, the radar’s export version, designated as N025E, is being developed to equip the Mi-28NE export model…”

Feb 15/11: Grounded. The VVS reportedly grounds its Mi-28 fleet after a crash near Starvopol kills the pilot. Source: Washington Post [dead link].

Additional Readings Background: Helicopter

Competitors

Categories: Defense`s Feeds

Raytheon tapped for DBR System Support | Delta IV rocket launched following heavy delay | Cheetal helicopter facing rotor blade problems

Defense Industry Daily - Tue, 01/22/2019 - 05:00
Americas

The Naval Sea Systems Command contracted Raytheon’s Integrated Defense System business with $38.1 million for engineering services for the Dual Band Radar (DBR) System. Raytheon’s DBR is capable of simultaneously operating over two frequency ranges (S-band and X-band), coordinated by a single resource manager. It does not require a dedicated operator or manned display consoles. Its separate band radar arrays provide extensive search, track and multiple missile illumination capacity. DBR also provides target illumination and uplink/downlink capabilities for SM-2 and Evolved SeaSparrow missiles. Per the terms of the contract, Raytheon conducts technical engineering services for DBR system upgrades, product support services, test equipment procurement, installation integration support, combat system integration testing, program management support, along with other studies and analysis. Work will be performed in Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Virginia. The company will utilize 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy), and fiscal 2019 research, development, test, and evaluation funds for the task.

The Navy awarded a $250 million contract to Global PCCI for the Emergency Ship Salvage Material (ESSM) System. The ESSM system is used to provide the fleet with salvage and pollution abatement equipment to augment their organic equipment or specialized equipment not normally carried in their allowance. Examples of specialized ESSM equipment are hydraulic submersible pumping systems, welders, electric power generators, fly away deep ocean salvage systems, lift bags and portable command vans. Pollution equipment includes open ocean boom and skimming systems, specialized inland and arctic response systems, floating storage and pollution offload systems. Global PCCI is a joint venture between Global and PCCI, established in 1987, which was awarded the Emergency Ship Salvage Material Maintenance contract in 1989. With Global as the managing partner, ESSM has been successfully retained through multiple bids. Under the new contract, Global PCCI manages the facilities with emergency response equipment stockpiles, pre-positioned to support and augment the Navy fleet capabilities in the areas of salvage, diving, pollution response and underwater ship husbandry. Work for this deal will be performed worldwide and is scheduled to be finished by January 2024.

A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy Rocket into orbit carrying a spy satellite launched Saturday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Southern California after bad weather and technical problems delayed the sendoff for more than a month. Delta IV is an expendable launch system designed to launch payloads into orbit for the US Air Force Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program. The program, which started in the 90s, is intended to assure access to space for payloads from the Department of Defense. The mission launched aboard a Delta IV Heavy, comprised of three common booster cores powered by an Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-68A liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen engine producing a combined total of more than 2.1 million pounds of thrust. The second stage was powered by an AR RL10B-2 liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen engine. United Launch Alliance (ULA) is a provider of spacecraft launch services and was formed in 2006 as joint venture between Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Boeing Defense, Space & Security. Saturday’s launch was the 232nd successful launch since the company’s formation.

Middle East & Africa

The Cote d’Ivoire signed a firm order for a single Airbus C295 medium transport aircraft. The C-295 is a tactical airlifter conducting multi-role operations worldwide under all weather conditions. The C295 was also a major bidder for the US Army US Air Force Joint Cargo Aircraft, which in the end was awarded to the L-3 Communications/Alenia team in 2007. Airbus’ aircraft was considered a higher risk by the Army due to its use of a new operational mode to meet altitude and range requirements. The aircraft carries 71 troops, 50 paratroops and 5 pallets. The Cote d’Ivoire is now the 28th nation to operate the C295. Airbus Defense and Space has sold 91 aircraft to 17 countries in Africa. 35 C295s are contracted by Egypt, Algeria, Ghana and Mali.

Europe

Meggitt won a $751.2 million deal to provide advanced engine components for Pratt and Whitney. Meggitt is a British engineering business established in the 1940s. It specializes in aerospace equipment. Pratt and Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer that supplies engines for US fighter jets. The 10-year contract with the engine maker is to supply advanced components for the F119 and F135 engines which power the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II aircraft. The F119 and F135 are afterburning turbofan engines with the F135 being a derivative of the F119.

Italy gears up to launch its program for a new multirole submarine rescue vessel this year, Jane’s reports. The Special and Diving Operations – Submarine Rescue Ship (SDO-SuRS) is supposed to replace the aging salvage ship, Anteo. The Anteo A5309 was commissioned to the Italian Navy in 1980 and is fitted with a SDC system for submarine rescue up to 250 m deep,a SRC Submarine Rescue Chamber for submarine rescue up to 120 m deep, and a SRV-300 deep-submergence rescue vehicle for submarine rescue up to 300 m deep. The new vessel will have a modular design in order to carry out its three main tasks of submarine rescue in addition to supporting special forces and diving operations carried out by the Italian Navy’s Comando Subacquei ed Incursori (COMSUBIN) special forces and divers command. The ship will also be capable of embarking US Navy and NATO submarine rescue systems.

Asia-Pacific

The Indian Air Force warns of quality issues related to the license production of upgraded rotor blades for the Cheetal fleet by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). HAL failed to manufacture the rotor blades critical for the light helicopters. HAL started making the blades after Airbus Helicopter stopped making them in 2012. However, 12 blades that HAL had manufactured showed high level of vibration and thus were rendered unsuitable. The Cheetal is the re-engined version of the Cheetah helicopter aimed to enhance high altitude operational capabilities and maintainability. The five seater Cheetah helicopter is versatile, multi role, multi purpose, highly maneuverable and rugged in construction. It holds the world record in high altitude flying among all categories of Helicopters. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is now down to its last few rotor blades that were ordered before 2012, questioning their ability to support the helicopters in service.

Today’s Video

Watch: US Army Getting Major upgrades are on the way for the Army’s missiles, tanks and artillery

Categories: Defense`s Feeds

The US Navy’s Dual Band Radars

Defense Industry Daily - Tue, 01/22/2019 - 04:58

DBR on CVN-21
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The US Navy’s newest light cruiser and aircraft carrier designs offer a wide array of new technologies. One is the Dual-Band Radar (DBR) system, which can be scaled up or down for installation in the new DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class “destroyers”, and the CVN-21 Gerald R. Ford Class aircraft carriers.

The DBR concept involves a significant change from current naval design approaches, and that change is not without risk. The USA’s GAO audit office remains concerned that key tests may not happen before the radar is installed on new ships, and any more development or testing snags could put much larger programs at risk. In April 2009, a successful full-power “lightoff” of both DBR radars was encouraging, but 2010 saw a major program shift. Sharp drops in the planned number of DDG-1000 destroyer created a per-ship cost crisis. Part of the response involved a shift to a single X-band SPY-3 radar for the Zumwalt Class, leaving DBR as a dual-band SPY-3/ SPY-4 solution only on America’s new carriers.

DBR: Concept and Comparisons

CG-47 antennas
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At present, the radars used for scanning large areas and for focused targeting are completely separate pieces of equipment, that are only integrated by the ship’s combat system. The DBR will break from that approach by combining 2 different radar antennas, with the same back-end radar electronics and software driving both. The ship’s combat system will receive a single stream of data, and the radar itself will be able to mix and match its antennas as the situation requires. At the design tier, this approach allows fewer radar antennas, all flush-mounted with the superstructure for maximum stealth. At the tactical tier, integration at the radar level offers faster response time, faster adaptation to new situations, and better utilization of the ship’s power, electronics, and bandwidth. At the life-cycle maintenance tier, it allows one-step upgrades to the radar suite as a whole.

The tactical difference is easier to understand by comparing the present American state of the art with the DBR approach. The US Navy’s DDG-51 Arleigh Burke Class AEGIS destroyers and CG-47 Ticonderoga Class cruisers currently form the high end of its naval air defense capabilities. They use 2-4 different radars in their work, which are combined into a common picture by the ships’ AEGIS combat system.

The rotating AN/SPS-49 radar on the cruisers’ mast offers 2D (range and heading only) very long-range scans in the L-band. It serves as the primary air search radar aboard a wide array of ship types, from aircraft carriers to frigates, and is also used by CG-47 Ticonderoga Class cruisers.

AEGIS operations
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AEGIS ships have a more effective radar at their disposal, however: the AN/SPY-1B/D/E passive phased array S-band radar can be seen as the hexagonal plates mounted on the ship’s superstructure. SPY-1 has a slightly shorter horizon than the SPS-49, and can be susceptible to land and wave clutter, but is used to search and track over large areas. It can search for and track over 200 targets, providing mid-course guidance that can bring air defense missiles closer to their targets. Some versions can even provide ballistic missile defense tracking, after appropriate modifications to their back-end electronics and radar software.

The 3rd component is the AN/SPG-62 X-band radar “illuminators,” which designate targets for final intercept by air defense missiles; DDG-51 destroyers have 3, and CG-47 cruisers have 4. During saturation attacks, the AEGIS combat system must time-share the illuminators, engaging them only for final intercept and then switching to another target.

In an era of supersonic anti-ship missiles that use final-stage maneuvering to confuse defenses, and can be programmed to arrive simultaneously, this approach is not ideal.

The US Navy’s Dual-Band Radar relies on products from 2 different manufacturers, but they’re integrated in a different way. They also use a different base technology. The use of active-array, digital beamforming radar technology will help DBR-equipped ships survive saturation attacks. Their most salient feature is the ability to allocate groups of emitters within their thousands of individual modules to perform specific tasks, in order to track and guide against tens of incoming missiles simultaneously. Active array radars also feature better reliability than mechanically-scanned radars, and recent experiments suggest that they could have uses as very high-power electronic jammers, and/or high-bandwidth secure communications relays.

Many modern European air defense ships, from the British Type 45 destroyers, to the Franco-Italian Horizon destroyers and FREMM frigates, to Dutch/German F124 frigates, use active array search and targeting radars.

DBR operations
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Raytheon’s X-band, active-array SPY-3 Multi-Function Radar (MFR) offers superior medium to high altitude search performance over other radar bands, and its pencil beams give it an excellent ability to focus in on targets. SPY-3 will be the primary DBR radar used for missile engagements, and the only radar equipping the new Zumwalt Class destroyers. That will require additional programming, in order to give the radar volume search capabilities as well. Many anti-ballistic missile radars are X-band, and the SPY-3 could also be adapted for that role with the same kinds of software/hardware investments that some of the fleet’s S-band, passive phased array SPY-1s have received.

On surface combatants, the AN/SPY-3 would also replace the X-band AN/SPQ-9 surface detection and tracking radar that is used to guide naval gunfire, and even track the periscopes of surfacing submarines. On carriers, it will take over functions formerly handled by AN/SPN-41 and AN/SPN-46 PALS air traffic radars, and would work in conjunction with the new GPS-derived Joint Precision Approach Landing System (JPALS).

Lockheed Martin’s SPY-4 Volume Search Radar (VSR) will be the 2nd radar band on America’s new carriers. It’s an S-band active array antenna, rather than the SPY-1’s S-band passive phased array. The Navy was originally going to use the L-band/D-band for the DBR’s second radar, but Lockheed Martin had been doing research on an active array S-band Advanced Radar (SBAR) that could potentially replace SPY-1 radars on existing AEGIS ships. A demonstrator began operating in Moorestown, NJ in 2003. That same year, its performance convinced the Navy to switch to S-band, and to make Lockheed Martin the DBR subcontractor for the volume search radar (VSR) antenna. It also convinced Lockheed Martin to continue work on the project as a complete, integrated radar, now known as “S4R”.

S-band offers superior performance in high-moisture clutter conditions like rain or fog, and is excellent for scanning and tracking within a very large volume. While Lockheed Martin makes the VSR antenna, the dual-band approach means that Raytheon is responsible for the radars’ common back-end electronics and software.

The VSR/S4R’s nearest competitor would be Thales’ SMART-L, an active array L-band/D-band radar that equips a number of European air defense ships, and South Korea’s Dokdo Class LHDs. Unlike the DBR, however, the ships carrying SMART-L variants use the conventional approach of completely separate radar systems, integrated by the ship’s combat system.

Another American competitor may also be emerging, via the AMDR radar competition for future DDG-51 Flight III Arleigh Burke Class ships – and possibly for fleet refits.

DBR: Contracts and Key Developments FY 2013

GAO report looks at past, present, and future difficulties.

CVN 78 delays
(click to view full)

Sept 30/13: Raytheon Co., Integrated Defense Systems, Tewksbury, MA, was awarded a not-to-exceed $7.2 million contract modification for hardware changes to the Dual Band Radar (DBR) and Common Array Power System, required to modify it for the Ford Class carriers’ power system interface. $3.6 million in FY 2011 shipbuilding & conversion funds are committed immediately.

Work will be performed in Andover, MA, (75%), and Sudbury, MA, (25%) and is expected to be complete by March 2015. Contract funds will not expire at the end of this fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-05-C-5346).

Sept 5/13: GAO Report. The new Ford Class carrier CVN 78 has seen costs rise to $12.8 billion, and the GAO looks at what’s driving the increased costs and risk. Issues with key sub-systems play a significant role, and the Dual-Band Radar is one of the main systems responsible. That isn’t really fair to the CVN-21 program, because the DDG 1000 Zumwalt Class “destroyer” program was supposed to handle DBR’s development and testing. The whole thing was dumped on CVN 78 part-way through, when the Navy cut the S-band SPY-4 radar from their battlecruiser.

GAO adds that “Technical deficiencies have slowed development, and key functions, including air traffic control capabilities [and the full voltage/power requirement], remain undemonstrated.” The Navy planned to resume land-based SPY-4 testing in FY 2012 using a final production unit, but contracting delays created the following plan:

  • FY 2012: SPY-4 volume search radar testing supposed to resume.
  • FY 2013: SPY-4 volume search radar testing resumes with prototype.
  • Sept 2013: DBR integrated testing plan to be handed in.
  • FY 2014: SPY-3 radar production version to finish land-based testing.
  • FY 2014: SPY-4 volume search radar prototype to finish land-based testing.
  • FY 2016: Shipboard testing of full DBR to begin, after the carrier is delivered.
  • Feb 2017: DBR integrated testing expected to begin.

The Navy is still trying to define integrated testing’s exact scope, activities, and resources. Under the integrated testing approach, the DBR will be required to conduct near-simultaneous air traffic control and self-defense operations, using both the SPY-3 and SPY-4 radars while other antennas and arrays are emitting and receiving transmissions, and multiple loads are placed upon the ship’s power and cooling systems. Discovered incompatibilities, or required hardware changes, would be very expensive at that point.

Since 2008, DBR-related costs for the first-of-class Gerald R. Ford [CVN 78] have risen by 139.7%, from $201.9 – $484 million. In addition, late delivery and testing means that changes have to be made to a partially-complete ship, driving up costs in other areas. Late DBR deliveries have already forced Huntington Ingalls to cut open previously closed areas of the ship, in order to allow loading of equipment, and CVN 78 doesn’t have much margin to incorporate additional weight growth high up unless it redesigns other areas below. The US Navy contends that all future changes will take place within the components’ allotted space and weight, but the GAO doesn’t think they can possibly know that yet. Sources: GAO Report #GAO-13-396

June 3/13: Testing. Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems in Tewksbury, MA receives a not-to-exceed $23.8 million contract modification to support Phase II CVN 78 Dual Band Radar Test and Evaluation at the Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems Software Development Laboratory, and at the Wallops Island Engineering Test Center Land Based Test Site.

Work will be performed in Sudbury, MA and is expected to be completed by November 2014. $7.4 million is committed immediately using FY 2011 and 2012 budget lines, and $2.1 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/13. US Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, DC manages the contract (N00024-05-C-5346).

April 10/13: FY 2014 Budget. The President releases a proposed budget at last, the latest in modern memory. The Senate and House were already working on budgets in his absence, but the Pentagon’s submission is actually important to proceedings going forward. See ongoing DID coverage. The DBR isn’t its own program. It’s a part of the DDG 1000 program, and its R&D falls under PE 0604501N: Advanced Above Water Sensors, alongside AMDR, improvements to the legacy SPY-1 radars, etc.

This year’s R&D is just $18.9 million. It covers cost savings initiatives for adding Volume Search to the X-band SPY-3, future upgrades/technology insertion efforts, resolution of remaining hardware and software issues discovered during testing, and aircraft carrier interfaces to the DBR Battle Force Tactical Trainer (BFTT)/Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC)/Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP).

Jan 17/13: DOT&E Testing Report. The Pentagon releases the FY 2012 Annual Report from its Office of the Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E). DBR remains one of CVN 78 Gerald R. Ford’s “pacing items” for on-time delivery, and January 2013 was scheduled for air traffic control tests at Wallops Island, VA.

The Navy is reactivating the Engineering Development Model of the DBR’s SPY-4 Volume Search Radar at Wallops’ Combat System Center, and installing a production SPY-3 Multi-Functional Radar component, in order to support combat system integration and test for their new aircraft carrier class. The Pentagon’s Operation of Testing & Evaluation wants them to maintain a full DBR/ combat system setup, given the lessons of previous SSDS testing.

The Navy is reportedly considering plans for testing DBR at Wallops Island beyond 2015, but it isn’t clear if a Multi-Functional Radar and funding will be available. If it isn’t, the Navy will have problems testing upgrades and fixes, and ensuring lifecycle support after USS Gerald R. Ford’s expected delivery in 2015.

FY 2019

 

CVN-21 Concept
(click for alternate view) January 22/19: Engineering Services The Naval Sea Systems Command contracted Raytheon’s Integrated Defense System business with $38.1 million for engineering services for the Dual Band Radar (DBR) System. Raytheon’s DBR is capable of simultaneously operating over two frequency ranges (S-band and X-band), coordinated by a single resource manager. It does not require a dedicated operator or manned display consoles. Its separate band radar arrays provide extensive search, track and multiple missile illumination capacity. DBR also provides target illumination and uplink/downlink capabilities for SM-2 and Evolved SeaSparrow missiles. Per the terms of the contract, Raytheon conducts technical engineering services for DBR system upgrades, product support services, test equipment procurement, installation integration support, combat system integration testing, program management support, along with other studies and analysis. Work will be performed in Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Virginia. The company will utilize 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy), and fiscal 2019 research, development, test, and evaluation funds for the task. FY 2011 – 2012

June 26/12: Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems in Tewksbury, MA receives a maximum $38.6 million contract for non-recurring engineering, detail design, software development, and production planning efforts required to ensure that DBR is compatible with the Ford Class carriers’ emergency diesel generator, main turbine generator, and electrical distribution system specifications. The contract commits $19.3 million, with the rest available if needed.

Work will be performed in Sudbury, MA (53%); Tewksbury, MA (29%); Andover, MA (10%); Dallas, TX (6%); and Portsmouth, RI (2%), and is expected to be complete by April 2013. US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC manages the contract (N00024-05-C-5346).

A July 31/12 Raytheon release cites 2 U.S. Navy contracts, with a total value of $53.6 million. Raytheon will enhance the system’s software to optimize power efficiency, and ready the radar suite for the next phase of testing and evaluation.

March 30/12: GAO Report. The US GAO tables its “Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs” for 2012. The CVN 78 section covering the new Gerald R. Ford Class aircraft carriers has this to say about DBR:

“The dual-band radar also will not complete testing until after it is aboard the ship, which presents a risk if the system does not work as intended. The radar is required for ship installation starting in March 2013, but the program does not expect to complete testing the multifunction radar component until early 2013 or begin testing the volume-search radar component until May 2013. Some radar subsystems will not be tested until aboard the CVN 78. In addition, less dual-band radar testing has been done than anticipated because the Navy eliminated the volume-search component of the radar from the DDG 1000 Destroyer program [DID: vid. June 2/10], which the CVN 78 had planned to leverage. CVN 78 will now be the first ship to operate with this radar, but as of August 2011, the Navy had not yet planned for carrier-specific testing.

…In commenting on a draft of this assessment, the program noted that dual-band radar testing, while impacted by DDG 1000 decisions on volume-search radar, is fully funded and will complete land-based tests and begin shipboard testing prior to delivery.”

FY 2010

 

SDTS [EDD-964]
(click to view full)

Aug 11/10: Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems in Tewksbury, MA receives a $36.1 million contract modification (N00024-05-C-5346) for mission systems equipment (MSE) that will be used on the US Navy’s Self Defense Test Ship [EDD-964], in support of the Anti-Air Warfare Self Defense Enterprise Test and Evaluation Master Plan. The equipment will support the DDG 1000 and CVN 78 classes of ships, in addition to follow-on operation test and evaluation efforts for the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (RIM-162 ESSM) and Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP).

Work will be performed in Andover, MA (58.7%); Portsmouth, RI (32%); Sudbury, MA (5.4%); Tewksbury, MA (2.7%); and San Diego, CA (1.2%). Work is expected to be completed by March 2013. US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC manages this contract.

Aug 10/10: Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems in Tewksbury, MA receives $59.4 million modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-05-C-5346) for CVN 78 dual-band radar (DBR) common array power system (CAPS) and common array cooling system (CACS) work. Raytheon will provide a factory assembly, then integrate and test one CAPS ship set, one CACS ship set, CVN 78 DBR unique components, and whole-life engineering products for the Gerald R. Ford’s radar. Unlike the DDG-1000, the Gerald Ford Class will retain the radar’s dual-band features.

“These efforts are required in order to meet the CVN 78 ship construction in-yard-need-dates at the receiving shipyard, to ensure that critical production schedules are maintained for the CVN 78 program.”

Work will be performed in Andover, MA (72.6%); Sudbury, MA (22%); Portsmouth, RI (2.3%); Tewksbury, MA (2.1%); and Falls Church, VA (1%), and is expected to be completed by November 2013. US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC.

Aug 10/10: An opinion from the Information Dissemination article Happy Thoughts and DDG-1000:

“I love Chris, and I don’t think anyone in the Navy deserved their star more than Jim Syring… but this Navy Times article is just a bit too much happy half-the-story for me. Here is how half the story gets told… The real reason the Navy is dropping the VSR on DDG-1000 is because the Navy intends to put… AMDR on the DDG-1000… because the timeline works out. The thing is the Navy can’t actually say this because there is no official AMDR program yet and the DDG-1000 isn’t supposed to be a ballistic missile defense ship – remember? This story in Navy Times is what it is because when it comes to US Navy shipbuilding, the Navy under CNO Roughead is never completely honest with the American people about what the Navy is doing. Sorry if the truth hurts.”

June 2/10: No DBR for Zumwalt. The US Defense Department announces that the S-band SPY-4 Volume Search Radar will be deleted from the DDG-1000’s DBR. Performance has met expectations, but cost increases reportedly forced the Navy into a cost/benefit decision. The Navy would not release numbers, but reports indicate possible savings of $100-200 million for each of the planned 3 ships.

The move will save weight and space by removing aperture, power, and cooling systems, and may create an opportunity for Raytheon’s SPY-3 to be upgraded for ballistic missile defense – or replaced by the winner of the BMD-capable AMDR dual-band radar competition. The X-band SPY-3 has reportedly exceeded technical expectations, and will receive upgrades to give it better volume search capability.

The full DBR will be retained on the USS Gerald R. Ford [CVN 78] aircraft carrier, as the SPY-4 replaces 2 air search radars and will be the primary air traffic control radar. No decision has been made for CVN 79 onward, however, and AMDR’s potential scalability may make it attractive there as well. Gannett’s Navy Times.

No DBR for Zumwalt

May 3/10: Testing. Raytheon announces that the DBR’s smaller-scale Engineering Development Model has simultaneously tracked a target using both X- and S-band radars, using a common radar suite controller. This first-ever event also demonstrated the system’s ability to perform automatic handover from S-band to X-band in precision-tracking mode, a key feature of the radar and its single track manager.

The test was performed at the Navy’s Engineering Test Center in Wallops Island, VA.

Dual tracking demo

March 31/10: Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems in Tewksbury, MA received a $9.8 million modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-05-C-5346) for CVN 78 dual-band radar common array power system and common array cooling system long-lead time materials and associated efforts. These materials, and associated engineering and management efforts, must be bought now, to ensure that critical production schedules are maintained for the CVN 78 program.

Work will be performed in Andover, MA (87.8%); Sudbury, MA (10.4%); Tewksbury, MA (0.9%); and Portsmouth, RI (0.9%), and is expected to be complete by September 2010. The Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC manages these contracts.

March 30/10: GAO report. The US GAO audit office delivers its 8th annual “Defense Acquisitions: Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs report. With respect to DBR on the DDG-1000 and CVN-78 ship classes:

“The [DDG-1000’s AN/SPY-4] volume search radar has progressed in maturity and began testing with the multifunction radar in January 2009. However, program officials report that the tests were conducted without the volume search radar’s radome and at a lower voltage than required. The lead ship’s volume search radar will be installed in April 2013 – after the Navy has taken custody of the ship [DID: which means far less recourse from the prime contractor if things go wrong].

“…Testing of carrier specific dual band radar functionality [for CVN 78] is scheduled to conclude in fiscal year 2012. Dual band radar equipment will be delivered incrementally from fiscal years 2012 through 2014… Given the recent decision to truncate the DDG 1000 program, CVN 21 program officials stated that the dual band radar production line may be idle for up to 4 years before production begins for CVN 79 [and so adding] costs associated with restarting the production line.”

Nov 16/09: CDR. Raytheon and the U.S. Navy recently completed a critical design review (CDR) for the Dual Band Radar, with respect to the USS Gerald R. Ford [CVN 78]. DBR is currently in production for the Zumwalt Class destroyers, and the CDR verified that it also meets the critical operational requirements of the Ford class aircraft carriers.

Raytheon says that DBR’s modular, open architecture design meant that only minor modifications need to be made to accommodate specific differences between the 2 ship types, which makes a case for their ability to adapt the radar to a variety of naval surface combatants, if required. The firm is also competing in the USA’s AMDR program, where that kind of flexibility will be important. Raytheon release.

CDR for CVN

FY 2009

 

DBR testbed, Wallops
(click to view full)

June 2009: Raytheon begins testing the first SPY-3 array at Andover, MA. Source.

April 23/09: +2 SPY-4 VSR. Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems in Tewksbury, MA received a $217 million cost plus fixed fee modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-05-C-5346) for 2 Volume Search Radars (VSR). Lockheed Martin makes the antennas for these radars, but Raytheon is the lead contractor, and also makes the radars’ common back-end electronics and software.

These S-band naval radars will be mounted on one of the new DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class destroyers, and on the inaugural CVN-21 carrier USS Gerald R. Ford [CVN 78]. Work will be performed in Moorestown, NJ (95%) and Sudbury, MA (5%), and is to be complete by March 2013. The Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, D.C. manages this contract.

April 7/09: Lightoff. Raytheon announces a successful full-power “lightoff” of both DBR radars. Both radiated at high power during testing at the Navy’s Engineering Test Center in Wallops Island, VA. Following this successful lightoff test, the radar suite will begin an extended period of operational performance testing.

March 30/09: GAO Report. The US government’s GAO audit office issues GAO-09-326SP: “Defense Acquisitions: Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs.” Lockheed Martin’s S-band volume search radar, and the Total Ship Computing Environment, are rated as immature technologies. The report adds:

“Land-based tests of the volume search radar prototype originally planned for before ship construction will not be completed until June 2009 – over 2 years later than planned… The Navy will not demonstrate a fully capable radar at its required power output until testing of the first production unit in 2011… installation [of the volume search radar) will occur in April 2013 – after the Navy has taken custody of the ship.”

January 2009: The SPY-3 and SPY-4 radars are installed together since January at the Wallops Island Engineering Center, on the Virginia coast. The radars soon begin tracking aircraft targets of opportunity, and aircraft test runs begin in summer 2009 and will continue into the fall. Source.

Dec 5/08: Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems in Tewksbury, MA received a $9 million modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-05-C-5346) for one time engineering efforts. The purpose of this effort is to initiate the non-recurring engineering work required to make the selected Mission System Equipment (Dual Band Radar SPY-3 Array and REX; MK57 Vertical Launch System Electronics Module Controller Unit; Canister Electronic Units, and Total Ship Computing Environment) compatible with the Navy’s remote controlled Self Defense Test Ship (SDTS). The SDTS test will include the first missile firing with this advanced Mission System, against a difficult target set.

Raytheon will update selected Zumwalt Class Destroyer Mission Systems Equipment (MSE) for initial integration efforts at Wallops Island, VA, and follow-on installation on board the SDTS, in support of the Zumwalt TEMP (test and evaluation master plan). Work will be performed in Portsmouth RI (55%), Tewksbury, MA (25%), and Andover, MA (20%) and is expected to be complete by August 2009. All contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

Dec 2/08: Production Readiness Review. Raytheon announces a successful production readiness review of the mission systems equipment (MSE) for the DDG-1000 program. This comprehensive review was the culmination of more than 90 separate design and production reviews, and afterward the Zumwalt program completed a total ship system production readiness review – the final formal review before ship construction begins.

The Zumwalt Class MSE includes the following major subsystems: the Total Ship Computing Environment; Dual Band Radar; the external communications suite; MK 57 Vertical Launching System; AN/SQQ-90 Integrated Undersea Warfare Combat System; the Electro-Optical/Infrared suite; the Identification Friend or Foe integrated sensor suite; and the Zumwalt ship control hardware, including an integrated bridge, navigation, EO surveillance, and engineering control system components.

FY 2006 – 2008

 

DDG-1000: key features
(click to view full)

July 23/08: DDG-1000: Just 3. Widespread reports indicate that the Navy is canceling the DDG-1000 program, capping construction at the 2 ships already ordered. A 3rd ship will eventually be ordered, but that ship is very likely to be the end of a program that once expected to field 32 ships.

Spring 2008: Testing. Raytheon’s SPY-3 X-Band completes at-sea testing off the California coast aboard the test ship Paul F. Foster, a former Spruance class destroyer. Source

Oct 1/07: Testing. Raytheon announces a milestone in advancing the final development of the company’s Dual Band Radar (DBR) for the Zumwalt Class destroyers. Raytheon IDS led the government-industry team in the successful installation of the Lockheed Martin Volume Search Radar (VSR) array at the Surface Warfare Engineering Facility at the Naval Base Ventura County, Port Hueneme, CA. After extensive testing, Raytheon will now integrate the VSR with the SPY-3 X-band Multi-Function Radar to form the DBR.

Another 5 months of extensive testing is set to begin, representing a critical step in testing the maturity of the technology prior to advancing to full system production. Raytheon’s X-band, SPY-3 has successfully completed extensive land-based and at-sea tests over the last 2 years. Raytheon release.

Sept 21/07: +2 DDG-1000 MSE. Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems in Tewksbury, Mass. received a $994.3 million cost-type modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-05-C-5346), covering key mission system equipment (MSE) production and engineering support services for the first 2 ships of the Zumwalt Class. The MSE includes the total ship computing environment infrastructure; acoustic sensor suite element – including the bow array sensor suite; dual band radar; electro-optic/infrared sensor; ship control system; identification of friend or foe; common array power and cooling systems; electronic module enclosures; and Mark 57 vertical launcher system. Raytheon is the mission systems integrator for the Zumwalt Class ships.

Work will be performed in Moorestown, NJ (21%); Portsmouth, RI (20%); Andover, MA (18%); Tewksbury, MA (17%); Marlborough, MA; St. Petersburg, FL; Ft. Wayne, IN (17%); and Sudbury, MA (7%), and is expected to be complete by December 2012. The MSE is being procured for the program executive office for ships [PMS-500].

Feb 12/07: Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems in Tewksbury, MA received a not-to-exceed $305.7 million cost-type modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-05-C-5346) for DDG 1000 Mission System Equipment (MSE) and engineering support services. Work will be performed in Tewksbury, MA (47%); Portsmouth, RI (28%); and Moorestown, NJ (25%), and is expected to be complete by September 2007.

This is part of the DDG 1000 Ship Systems Detailed Design and Integration effort, and the hardware involved includes: Total Ship’s Computing Environment Infrastructure; Acoustic Sensor Suite Element – including the Bow Array Sensor Suite; Dual Band Radar; Electro-Optic/ Infrared Sensor; Ship Control System; Identification of Friend or Foe; Common Array Power and Cooling Systems; Electronic Module Enclosures; and the Mark 57 PVLS Vertical Launcher System.

Oct 24/06: Testing. Raytheon reports successful on-schedule integration of Lockheed Martin’s engineering development model S-Band array with receiver, exciter, and signal/data processing equipment for the Volume Search Radar (VSR) portion of the DDG-1000 destroyer’s Dual Band Radar (DBR). Raytheon had already developed and tested the X-band component of the DBR, known as the AN/SPY-3. Now the challenge is to integrate them together.

May 25/06: Testing. Raytheon announces that the U.S. Navy’s first shipboard active phased array multifunction radar, Raytheon’s AN/SPY-3, has successfully participated in a series of at-sea tests, including the first time the radar has acquired and tracked a live controlled aircraft while at sea. Raytheon release.

FY 2000 – 2005

 

Sept 14/05: DDX CDR. The DD (X) Program’s Flag-Level Critical Design Review (CDR) is completed for the overall system design, marking the end of Phase III and a process advertised as being “on schedule and within 1% of stated budget.” See the release for more details, which include important information about the program.

Note that this effort included an unusually thorough approach of CDRs for each of 10 Engineering Development Models, representing a judgment that they have achieved enough have achieved both technical maturity and cost insight. The 10 EDMs were:

  • Wave-Piercing Tumblehome Hull
  • Infrared Mockups
  • Composite Deckhouse and Apertures
  • Dual Band Radar (DBR)
  • Integrated Power System
  • Total Ship Computing Environment (TSCE)
  • Integrated Undersea Warfare System (IUSW)
  • Peripheral Vertical Launching System (PVLS)
  • Advanced Gun System (AGS)
  • Autonomic Fire Suppression System (AFSS)

July 18/05: DDX. The National Team announces that they have successfully completed the Initial Critical Design Review for the DD (X) overall system design, allowing the program to pass on toward the Flag level review in September 2005 and enter detail design.

This was a DD (X) Phase III program event that addressed the total system’s design maturity, and overall progress made to date on DD (X) engineering-development models of hardware and software components that have already been built, tested and reviewed by the National Team and the Navy. Examples include the integrated deckhouse and apertures, total ship computing environment, dual-band radar system, integrated under-sea warfare system, MK 57 advanced vertical launching system, automated gun system and wave-piercing tumblehome hull.

Jan 14/05: Testing. DD (X) AN/SPY-3 Multi-Function Radar Passes Milestone B Criteria Tests. Raytheon announces that the Engineering Development Model (EDM) for the AN/SPY-3 X-Band Multi Function Radar has successfully completed its Milestone B test event at the Navy’s Wallops Island, VA test range. The test served to assess the radar’s environmental, detection, and tracking performance.

2003: VSR = S-Band. The US Navy changes the proposed VSR volume-search antenna from L-band to S-band, and makes Lockheed Martin the sub-contractor for the antenna.

2003: Lockheed Martin’s SBAR demonstrator begins operation in Moorestown, NJ.

2000: SBAR. Lockheed Martin begin pursuing the S-Band Advanced Radar (SBAR project), as an internal development effort.

Nov 1/99: Initial DBR development. Microwave Journal reports that Raytheon has received a 5-year, $140 million, section 845, cost-plus-award-fee contract from the US Navy for engineering and manufacturing development of the next-generation Multifunction Radar (MFR), which will equip future aircraft carriers and destroyers.

Additional Readings & Sources

DID appreciates the assistance of Raytheon IDS, and of Lockheed Martin’s Allan Croly, Director for Naval Radar, in the preparation of this article. Any mistakes are solely DID’s responsibility.

Background: The DBR Radar

Background: The Ships

Background: Other Radars

  • DID Spotlight – AMDR Competition: The USA’s Next Dual-Band Radar. The dual-band AMDR was originally slated for the CG (X) cruiser, but will now equip a potential “Future Surface Combatant Ship” by 2015, and could have retrofit opportunities in existing DDG-51 destroyers. Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman are all competing.

  • Wikipedia – SMART-L. Made by Thales Nederland. These radars have been successfully tested for ballistic missile tracking.

Official Reports

News & Views

Categories: Defense`s Feeds

JSF’s F135 Engine Meeting Milestones

Defense Industry Daily - Tue, 01/22/2019 - 04:54

F135 Engine Test
(click to view full)

Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney have successfully performed the first start of an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft test engine, using an integrated power package (IPP) that the functions traditionally performed by the auxiliary power system, emergency power system, and environmental control into a single system. The system was used to start a Pratt & Whitney F135 short-takeoff/vertical-landing (STOVL) engine at the company’s advanced test facility in West Palm Beach, FL. The IPP is a subsystem of the F-35 Power and Thermal Management System (PTMS).

The JSF program has targeted the successful IPP engine start as a major milestone since the beginning of the System Development and Demonstration phase of the program in 2001. The achievement paves the way for additional development testing in preparation for the F-35’s first flight in 2006, and comes about a month after the Pratt & Whitney F135 System Development and Demonstration (SDD) program successfully completed the post test Critical Design Review (CDR) by the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Joint Program Office (JPO). The JPO review found that the F135 propulsion system has met all review objectives and is on track to deliver the first flight test engine later this year.

F-35 JSF

Unlike current-generation fighters, the F-35 will rely on “more-electric” systems to operate the aircraft that are tightly integrated to save weight, add reliability and improve packaging efficiency. Performing engine starts with the integrated systems demonstrates the maturity of their designs and reduces risk for first flight.

At the heart of the IPP is a small gas-turbine engine “turbomachine” that provides power to the engine-mounted starter/generator, bringing the engine to its threshold starting speed. The engine then increases to idle speed and the electrical system, which includes the engine-mounted starter/generator (ES/G), transitions from operating as a motor to operating as a generator. The IPP is also available for in-flight emergency power.

In 2001, Pratt & Whitney was awarded a 10-year $4.8 billion contract for System Development and Demonstration to develop the F135 propulsion system through flight clearance, flight test, and qualification for Low Rate Initial Production.

To date, the Pratt & Whitney led F135 propulsion team has delivered three Conventional Take-Off and Landing (CTOL)/Carrier Variant (CV) configuration and four Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) configuration F135 engines to test for a total of seven engines delivered on or ahead of schedule. In December, the team will deliver the first flight test engine in preparation for Initial Flight Release in January 2006 and first flight in August 2006. Production deliveries of the F135 are scheduled to begin in early 2009.

F135 STOVL
(click to view full)

The F135 is an evolution of the highly successful F119 engine for the F/A-22 Raptor. Together the F135 and F119 engines will have logged more than one million flight hours in support of the F-35’s introduction to operational service in 2012.

The F135 will be competing with the GE/ Rolls-Royce F136 engine, designed to be completely interchangeable with the F135 in any JSF plane.

The F135 propulsion system team consists of Pratt & Whitney, the prime contractor with responsibility for the main engine and system integration; Rolls-Royce, supplying lift components for the STOVL F-35B; Honeywell International, supplying the integrated power package; and Hamilton Sundstrand, provider of the F135’s control system, engine start system, external accessories and gearbox.

Updates

January 22/19: Meggitt to provide engine components Meggitt won a $751.2 million deal to provide advanced engine components for Pratt and Whitney. Meggitt is a British engineering business established in the 1940s. It specializes in aerospace equipment. Pratt and Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer that supplies engines for US fighter jets. The 10-year contract with the engine maker is to supply advanced components for the F119 and F135 engines which power the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II aircraft. The F119 and F135 are afterburning turbofan engines with the F135 being a derivative of the F119.

September 20/17: Pratt & Whitney has successfully finished tests of an adaptive three-stream fan paired with a F135 core engine. The fan includes an adaptive bypass airflow that aims to improve fuel efficient and cooling capacity, and is part of a $1 billion program to develop a full-scale, 45,000lb-thrust-class prototype engine under the Adaptive Engine Transition Program (AETP) that could be used to re-engine the F-35 and power a future combat aircraft. At present, most military turbofan engines have only two airstreams, but including an additional, adaptive airstream will give the engine the option to increase its thrust on demand or lower its fuel consumption.

January 17/17: Ethical conflicts at Pratt & Whitney have resulted in the ousting of the head of the company’s F135 engine program alongside nine other employees. The dismissals come after the completion of an internal audit which uncovered an ethics issue linked to a visit by South Korean military officials several years ago. During the trip, the Korean delegation paid a visit to the company’s West Palm Beach facility in Florida, and Pratt & Whitney paid for a rental van to fetch them there. While certainly not the most outrageous form of graft in the industry’s history, causing no violation of US export control or anti-bribery laws, the engine company deemed the move as a breach of their strict ethics laws, amounting to “inappropriate entertainment.”

May 3/16: Following 15 years of work, Pratt & Whitney announced that they are coming to the end of the development of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter‘s F135 propulsion system. The F135 team is also about 85% of the way through correcting an engine fault inherent in 180 early-model units which caused one aircraft to catch fire on the runway at Eglin AFB, Florida in June 2014. Derived from the F119-100 turbofan that powers the F-22 Raptor, the F135 was selected for both Lockheed X-35 and Boeing X-32 JSF prototypes.

Additional Readings & Sources:

Categories: Defense`s Feeds

Bell-Boeing tapped for V-22 support | Thales to contribute to Rafale F4 Standard | Singapore may replace F-16 with F-35

Defense Industry Daily - Mon, 01/21/2019 - 05:00
Americas

The Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a $77.8 million contract modification for production of the Navy’s AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 Surface Ship Undersea Warfare System (UWS). The undersea warfare combat system can search, detect, classify, localize, and track undersea contacts, as well as engage and evade submarine, mine-like objects and torpedo threats. It presents an integrated picture of the tactical situation receiving, combining and processing active as well as passive sensor data. The system is integrated with AEGIS combat system. In July 2018, Lockheed received a $25.4 million contract modification for the system. The current contract is for development, integration and production of future advanced capability build and technical insertion baselines of the AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 USW systems. Work will mainly be conducted in Pennsylvania and Florida, and is expected to be completed by May 2021.

The US Army Contracting Command contracted Talbert Manufacturing Inc. $360.2 million to deliver a batch of M872A4 semitrailers. The M872A4 Semi-trailer is a dual purpose, break bulk/container transporter, 34-ton capacity, with a flatbed. Its’ mission is line and local haul of break bulk cargo, inter-modal cargo containers, as well as shelters. The company is 80 years old and produces a wide variety of trailers for moving goods by truck, including for hauling building materials, pipes, hazardous materials and nuclear materials for commercial, military, government, aerospace and energy end users. Its custom trailers include 13 axle trailers, gooseneck trailers, east/west coast spread axle trailers, lowboy trailers, dual capacity trailers and hydraulic tail trailers. They are sold at dealerships US-wide. Work locations under this contract will be determined with each order and is scheduled to be completed by January 16, 2024.

The Navy tapped Bell Helicopter Textron with a $439.6 million contract modification for production and delivery of 25 Lot 16 AH-IZ aircraft and 25 stores control units. The AH-1Z is a twin-engine attack helicopter based on the Bell AH-1W SuperCobra. It features a four-blade rotor system, uprated transmission, and a new target-sighting system. It has upgraded avionics, weapons, and electro-optical sensors designed to find targets at long ranges and attack them with precision weapons. The Marine Corps H-1 upgrades program is building new helicopters as well as rebuilding AH-1W SuperCobra attack helicopters and UH-1N Twin Huey utility helicopters, with state-of-the-art designs. The goal of the program is to upgrade AH-1Ws to AH-1Zs, and UH-1Ns to UH-1Ys. Work will be performed in Texas and is expected to be finished by January 2022.

The Defense Logistics Agency awarded the Bell Boeing Joint Program Office $143.9 million for V-22 support. The contract includes performance-based logistics and engineering support for the V-22 platform. The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is multi-mission, tiltrotor aircraft that has vertical takeoff and landings well as short takeoff and landing capabilities. In July 2018, Bell Boeing received a $4 billion contract that included the manufacture and delivery of 39 CMV-22B aircraft for the Navy, 14 MV-22B aircraft for the Marine Corps, and one CV-22B for the Air Force. Under this performance-based logistics contract, Bell Boeing focuses on improving aircraft maintainability and mission readiness for the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps V-22 fleets. The team’s responsibilities are site activation, maintenance planning, training and trainer support, support equipment, and dedicated field personnel for all V-22 squadrons around the globe. Performance completion date is November 30, 2019.

Middle East & Africa

The MBDA Missile Systems’ medium-range missile was successfully deployed in Mali by the French Army for the first time. MBDA is a european developer and manufacturer of missiles. Its medium-range missile, called Missile Doyenne Portée is a man-portable anti-tank guided missile intended as a replacement for the MILAN. The Picardy Battle Group used the missile for the first time in a combat environment in December. A six-person crew delivered the system by armored car, then installed it at the top of a ridge in southeastern Mali’s three-border region and successfully fired it. MBDA successfully tested the Naval version of the Missile in Djibouti in November.

Europe

The French Defense Procurement Agency awarded Thales to contribute to the development of the Rafale F4 standard, enabling the Rafale combat aircraft to maintain its superiority against new threats. Rafale’s role includes reconnaissance, air defense and precision strikes during a single mission. The aircraft is central to France’s airborne nuclear deterrence, a crucial component of France’s National Security policy. Under the Rafale F4 standard development program, Thales engineers and technicians are to enhance the aircraft’s onboard sensors and improve connectivity to offer a broader range of capabilities and new operational functions. The enhancements will allow aircrews to better assess tactical situations as well as handle larger volumes of information in real time.

Asia-Pacific

China may be developing the first two-seat version of its J-20 stealth combat aircraft, according to a January 2019 report. It is set to fulfill roles as a tactical bomber, electronic warfare, or a carrier strike aircraft. If the report is accurate, the Chinese Air Force could become the first air arm in the world to deploy a radar-evading fighter-bomber whose main mission is long-range ground-attack. Other stealth fighter types, including the U.S. military’s F-22 and F-35, the Russian air force’s Su-57 and the PLAAF’s J-20 and J-31 either primarily are air-to-air fighters or combine air-combat capability with the ability to strike ground targets.

Singapore wants to acquire Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) as a replacement for the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s (RSAF) F-16C/D multirole combat aircraft. This is the outcome of a a technical evaluation by the RSAF and the Defense Science and Technology Agency which lasted more than five years. The RSAF is believed to operate about 20 F-16C and 40 F-16D Block 52/52+ aircraft, which were acquired in the 1990s and believed to be optimized with Israeli-built electronic countermeasures (ECM) systems. The Ministry of Defense is now going to discuss further details for the replacement with relevant parties in the US before confirming the decision to purchase the F-35 JSFs.

Today’s Video

Watch: Here’s How an F-22 Raptor Flew under the Iranian Fighter Jet and Told Him to go Home

Categories: Defense`s Feeds

Leidos wins contract for Saturn Arch support | Turkey establishes new production site for Altay | Bulgaria to enter into F-16 talks with the US

Defense Industry Daily - Thu, 01/17/2019 - 05:00
Americas

The US Army awarded American defense company Leidos with a $9.7 million contract modification to support Saturn Arch Aerial Intelligence System. The Saturn Arch program started nine years ago in 2010 under the direction of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in order to implement intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities to a special aircraft fitted with new sensor technology to identify and assist in removing Improvised-Explosive Devices (IEDs) from the battlefield in Afghanistan. The support provided by Saturn Arch personnel has grown over the years. No the mission is to make the battlefield as safe as possible, providing a clear picture of the battlespace. Back in August the Army awarded Leidos with a contract modification for sustained operations and support services at a cost of $60 million. The current modification includes supporting the Saturn Arch Aerial Intelligence System for day and night image collection and exploitation of IED “hot spot” areas. Work will be performed in Bridgewater, Virginia and is scheduled to be finished by September 16, 2019.

The Naval Sea Systems Command contracted Lockheed Martin with an undisclosed amount to build a littoral combat ship (LCS) in fiscal year 2019. The company will manage design, planning and testing operations as part of the fixed-price-incentive modification that exercises an option of a previously awarded contract. LCS are designed to operate near shore. In 2004 the US Department of Defense along with the US Navy selected two separate defense contracting teams led by Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics to each carry out system design and options for the construction of two first- generation LC-ships. The Lockheed Martin Freedom-class design is a high-speed, semi-planing monohull. Under the current contract modification Lockheed Martin will perform and oversee all necessary design, planning, construction and test and trials activities in support of delivery of this ship to the Navy. Work is scheduled to be completed by February, 2026.

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. won a $68.9 million contract to conduct the Mission Data (MD) programming and reprogramming mission for the F-35 Digital Channelized Receiver/Technique Generator and Tuner Insertion Program (DTIP), and other non-DTIP configurations. Under this deal, Lockheed will design, develop, document, integrate and test upgrades to the US Reprogramming Laboratory in order to execute the mission. Efforts benefit the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps operational aircraft as well as all training aircraft wishing the continental US with MD products. The Reprogramming Laboratory was established at Eglin Air Force Base to to compile information in order for the F-35 to be able to operate in combat. This information is known as the Mission Data Files. Work is expected to be completed in May 2021.

Middle East & Africa

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the establishment of a BMC production and technology base in the northwestern province of Sakarya. The $180 million facility is set to become the country’s biggest defense investment in recent years. Once all phases are completed, it is supposed to employ 10.000 people. BMC is one of Turkey’s commercial and defense vehicle producers. Qatar owns a significant stake in the company. The new site will produce Altay main battle tanks (MBTs), military and commercial vehicles, and engines of various platforms. Altay is Turkey’s third generation main battle tank, developed under the Altay National Tank project in 2005. Turkey intends to build 250 Altay MBTs and ultimately produce 1,000 new tanks in four separate lots of 250 units. The Altay tank uses an advanced computerized Volkan-III modular fire-control system and is equipped with a 120mm L/55 smoothbore gun.

Europe

Bulgaria’s parliament approved a government plan to enter into talks with the US on a potential deal for eight F-16 fighter jets in order to replace its Russian MiG-29s. 130 lawmakers voted in favor of the plan. The update will bring the country’s Air Force in line with NATO standards. 84 voted were against entering into discussions with the US and preferred the other two options on the table: Sweden’s Saab Gripen jets and Italy’s second-hand Eurofighters. Lockheed Martin’s F-16V Block 70 is the newest F-16 production configuration and includes the Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar. The question of which warplanes to buy has been vexing successive governments in Bulgaria for more than a decade.

The British Royal Air Force (RAF) holds its annual Cobra Warrior exercise in September at Coningsby Air Base in Lincolnshire and it features a premiere: Israeli Air Force aircrew and fighter jets are to take part in a joint exercise with the Royal Air Force in Britain for the first time. The exercise is the culmination of the advanced Qualified Weapons Instructor course, and usually also includes crew and aircraft from other allied air forces who fly together with the British teams in complex combat scenarios. Last year, German and Italian aircraft joined the RAF. Recent British-Israeli defense cooperation has included the training of British personnel on the use of Israeli weapons systems acquired by Britain: the Watchkeeper WK450 drone, the Exactor ground-based missile, and the Litening targeting pod carried by RAF Typhoon and Tornado aircraft.

Asia-Pacific

The Royal Thai Army (RTA) is seeking cabinet approval to acquire more VT-4 main battle tanks (MBTs) made by the China North Industries Corporation (Norinco). If the government approves the proposal, the RTA will own 52 VT-4s. The VT-4 main battle tank, previously known as the MBT-3000, is armed with a 125 millimeter smoothbore cannon to engage armored personnel carriers, main battle tanks, infantry forces, military installations, light vehicles and low-flying helicopters. A remotely operated 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun and a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun comprise the secondary armament. At the end of 2017, Thailand became the first VT-4 export partner, with a 28 tank delivery.

Today’s Video

Watch: This is the Stealth Bomber Patrolling Near China to Prevent a Fight

Categories: Defense`s Feeds

Bulgaria Reviewing Options for MiG Modernization

Defense Industry Daily - Thu, 01/17/2019 - 04:52

SPRP MiG-29
(click to view full)

Like Poland, Bulgaria bought its MiG-29s back when it was a strategic buffer on the side of the Soviets. Which makes hardware upgrades a bit awkward today. Sending the old fighters off to Russia for refurbishment is awkward at a time when NATO is attempting to roust the impression of additional asset rotations through Eastern Europe, including Bulgaria, where a dozen U.S. F-15s were lately exercising in Graf Ignatievo.

Poland, back in 2011, used their own state-owned Wojskowe Zaklady Lotnicze facility in Bydgoszcz to start processing 16 of its own MiG 29s, successfully swapping out avionics, mission computers, a NATO-compatible databus and hardened GPS. This wasn’t gold plating. They opted out of helmet-mounted displays, state-of-the-art counter measures and fitment for western weapons. The thinking was that if they could get one of their squadrons in the air until 2030, that would do.

So it makes perfect sense that Bulgaria would think about contracting with Poland’s WZL to refit.

Bulgaria, aside from the awkwardness and the very real threat of sending their hens to be repaired by the fox, understands the inherent problems in dealing with Russian service providers. It has also been a problematic client, with financing issues shorting many of its ambitious acquisition programs. While it is likely happenstance, the public nature of Bulgaria’s considering options (the minister of defense talked about it on national TV) could be a negotiating ploy to get a better deal with the Russians’ RSK MiG, whose maintenance contract runs out in September, or it could even be that Bulgaria is killing time until it can afford to have one or the other actually start work.

Bulgaria has also been looking to replace its MiG-21s, and has shortlisted three offers out of fifteen received, according to Air Recognition. Pakistan also wants to offer its own JF-17, manufactured with China.

Updates

 

January 17/19: Talks about F-16 replacing MiGs Bulgaria’s parliament approved a government plan to enter into talks with the US on a potential deal for eight F-16 fighter jets in order to replace its Russian MiG-29s. 130 lawmakers voted in favor of the plan. The update will bring the country’s Air Force in line with NATO standards. 84 voted were against entering into discussions with the US and preferred the other two options on the table: Sweden’s Saab Gripen jets and Italy’s second-hand Eurofighters. Lockheed Martin’s F-16V Block 70 is the newest F-16 production configuration and includes the Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar. The question of which warplanes to buy has been vexing successive governments in Bulgaria for more than a decade.

May 22/18: Bulgaria The Bulgarian government is set to make a final decision for the acquisition for new or used fighter jets to replace its ageing Soviet-designed MiG-29s as well as the purchase of 150 combat vehicles. The eastern European country has been under pressure to modernize and replace its old Soviet-era systems ever since it joined NATO in 2004. Under the proposed plan, Bulgaria would acquire at least 8 jets worth $1.08 billion. Bulgaria has received offers by Saab for its Gripen warplanes as well as offers for used F-16s from Portugal and secondhand Eurofighter Typhoons from Italy.

March 14/17: Bulgaria’s Defense Ministry has received three bids from Italy, Sweden and Portugal for the country’s MiG-29 replacement competition. Sweden is offering Sofia its Gripen package; Italy second-hand Eurofighters; while Portugal wants to sell its F-16s second-hand alongside a logistics package and weaponry from the US. $820 million has been earmarked by the government for the acquisition of eight new aircraft in order to improve compliance with NATO standards while reducing reliance on Russian-made aircraft. Formal negotiations with the preferred bidder could start as early as next month.

November 14/16: Bulgaria has signed a deal with Russia to purchase ten engines for its aging fleet of MiG-29 jet fighters. The $23.75 million deal includes the supply of four new and six repaired engines. Last year Bulgaria signed an agreement with NATO ally Poland to repair six MiG-29 fighter jets, part of a push by Sofia to reduce its reliance on Russia. In an effort to move toward greater compliance with NATO standards, the Balkan country is also planning to buy eight new or second-hand fighter jets in 2017.

October 17/16: Bulgaria’s Ministry of Defense has altered the criteria of their fighter acquisition program, lessening the importance of an aircraft’s lifespan to just 5% of the evaluation. The previous weightage of 25% was seen to favor Saab’s Gripen but this advantage has now shifted to second-hand F-16s. Bulgaria had wanted to buy used F-16s from Portugal but the plan was abandoned following the collapse of the government of Boykko Borissov in 2013.

April 18/16: April 18/16: The US Navy has awarded BAE Systems a $22 million contract external link to produce Archerfish mine neutralizers. Flown on board the MH-60S, Archerfish is a remotely-controlled underwater vehicle equipped with an explosive warhead to destroy sea mines. Deliveries of the systems are expected to begin in September 2017. The contract also includes further options which, if exercised by the DoD, could bring the total value to over $55.3 million.

January 27/16: Bulgaria will acquire new fighters to replace its older Soviet-era MiG-25s by 2019. The procurement will see Sofia purchase retired F-16s, the Gripen or the Eurofighter Typhoon as it moves away from its reliance on older Russian technology. The country’s 2004 joining with NATO saw them vow to have their MiGs retired and purchase eight new fighters by 2016. The last three of their MiG-25s were retired last December and an announcement on their replacement is expected by March of this year.

Categories: Defense`s Feeds

EDA GOVSATCOM Demo project enters execution phase

EDA News - Tue, 01/15/2019 - 14:20

EDA’s Governmental Satellite Communications (GOVSATCOM) Pooling and Sharing demonstration project (GSC Demo) entered its execution phase this Tuesday 15 January with the first meeting of the Project Arrangement Management Group taking place in Madrid.

This means that the project is now ready to provide GOVSATCOM services to meet the GOVSATCOM demands of Member States and European CSDP actors through pooled capabilities (bandwidth/power and/or services) provided by contributing Member States. This governmental pooled capability is set up to provide satellite communication (SATCOM) resources that cannot be obtained on the commercial market with sufficient level of guaranteed access and security.  The GSC Demo corresponds  responds to an existing need and is fully in line with the revised 2018 Capability Development Plan and its related EU Defence Capability Priorities. It has also to be seen in the light of the ongoing efforts within the European Union to establish an EU GOVSATCOM within the EU’s next space programme. Furthermore, the GSC Demo project also complements EDA’s EU Satcom Market project, already in place since 2012, which provides commercially available SATCOM and CIS services in an efficient and effective manner. 

Today’s milestone was achieved after intensive work done since June 2017 to establish a Project Arrangement. Under the leadership of Spain, all 15 contributing EDA Member States of the project (Spain, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Greece, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and the United Kingdom) accepted the Project Arrangement as baseline for mutual support and collaboration. Norway, which has signed an Administrative Arrangement with the Agency, is also contributing to the project.

EDA Chief Executive Jorge Domecq, who attended today’s meeting in Madrid, stated: “The role of satellite communication in a European strategic autonomy perspective cannot be overstated. I am pleased to say that EDA has played its part in facilitating SATCOM solutions for the EU for some time and in an incremental fashion that has proved quite successful. This GSC Demo project together with the Agency’s EU SatCom Market project underlines the importance of SATCOM and confirms the priority that has been granted to this capability during the most recent revision of the Capability Development Plan".

Major General Salvador Alvarez Pascual, the Deputy Director of Programs in the Spanish Ministry of Defence, said:  "Now it is time to start this project which is the result of significant work of experts from different nations. Spain will face the chairmanship of the Project Arrangement Management Group with confidence to have a good cooperation. The project will fulfill our common objectives and targets and provides the ideal opportunity to test its governance“.
 

Background

Reliable, stable and secure communications are crucial in any CSDP mission and operation. Yet, terrestrial network infrastructures are not available everywhere, for instance in areas hit by natural disasters, at sea, in the air or in hostile zones. SATCOM can be the solution: rapidly deployable, flexible and distance insensitive, SATCOM can offer communication links where terrestrial networks are damaged, overloaded or non-existent.

However, access to SATCOM cannot be taken for granted at any time, especially not when governmental users require them at short notice and without pre-arranged agreements. In situations of high demand, competition with other users of commercial SATCOM capacities creates a risk of non-availability and high costs. Against this backdrop, EU leaders decided in 2013 that there was a need for a new solution combining the advantages of commercial and military satellite systems in order to address both civil and military needs through European cooperation. The European Defence Agency, in collaboration with the European Commission and the European Space Agency, since then is preparing the next generation of GOVSATCOM. 

GOVSATCOM is seen as a capability that is placed in between the commercial satellite communication market and the highly protected military satellite communication capability.

The project originates from an EDA Steering Board decision of November 2013 which tasked EDA to pursue its work on GOVSATCOM coordination with Member States, the European Commission and the European Space Agency in order to propose a comprehensive programme for Member States who wish to participate. After a sound preparatory work, the aforementioned EDA Member States decided in June 2017 to establish the GSC Demo project and intensify their collaboration in GOVSATCOM.

Categories: Defense`s Feeds, European Union

Raytheon tapped for SPY-1 radar work | Turkey goes ahead with S-400 purchase | France launches F4 upgrade for Rafale

Defense Industry Daily - Tue, 01/15/2019 - 05:00
Americas

The Naval Surface Warfare Center tapped Raytheon with $9.3 million for engineering services in support of the Aegis SPY-1 radar and MK 99 fire control system. The SPY-1 radar and the MK 99 are key components of the Aegis Weapon System, the heart of the Aegis Combat System. The MK 99 Fire Control System controls the loading and arming of the selected weapon, launches the weapon, and provides terminal guidance for Antiair Warfare Systems. The AN/SPY-1 radar system is used by Aegis Ashore missile defense sites. The SPY-1 can maintain continuous radar surveillance while automatically tracking more than 100 targets at one time. Raytheon has delivered its first SPY-1 transmitter in 1981. Today, it has equipped 108 ships with 140 systems. The current order provides technical, logistical and engineering services from the original equipment manufacturer. Work is scheduled to be completed by January 2021.

The US Navy awarded Microsoft a potential five-year $1.8 billion contract to support Microsoft-made products for the Department of Defense (DoD), US Coast Guard and intelligence community. Under this deal the company will provide engineering services to help software developers and other product teams use knowledge database, tools, and source code. The contract is issued under the DoD Enterprise Software Initiative (ESI). This project was established to enable a software management process within the Department of Defense. The contract mechanism manages Information Technology agreements, assets, and policies in order to lower the total cost of ownership across the DoD, Coast Guard and intelligence community. ESI combines the DoD’s buying power with commercial software publishers, hardware vendors and service providers. Under the contract, Microsoft will perform work at various locations worldwide through Jan. 10, 2024.

Middle East & Africa

Turkey developed stand-alone software to control imported missile systems without threatening its sovereign rights, Jane’s reports. Turkey will go ahead with purchasing a Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile battery under a $2.5 billion contract, which also includes an option for a second one. The US is trying to prevent Turkey’s government from buying the S-400 defense missile system and is threatening to impose sanctions on the Turkish authorities in case they do not cancel the arms deal with Russia. They are warning, that Turkey risks expulsion from the US-led F-35 program if the country goes through with the S-400 delivery. The US is concerned, the S-400 would harm the flight safety of the fifth generation F-35 aircraft. The S-400 is an anti-aircraft weapon system, which integrates a multifunction radar, autonomous detection and targeting systems, anti-aircraft missile systems, launchers, and command as well as control center. It is able to fire three types of missiles to create a layered defense. Turkey will start to deploy S-400s in October this year.

Europe

France contracted Dassault Aviation with a $2.3 billion for 28 upgraded Rafale aircraft. The aircraft will include some of the F-4 standard’s function. The F4 standard is part of the ongoing process to improve the Rafale in line with technological progress and operating experience feedback. The update includes upgraded radar sensors and front sector optronics as well as improved capabilities in the helmet-mounted display. With the F4 standard the aircraft will be able to receive more data and strengthen the data rate. It will also feature new weapons like the MBDA’s Mica NG air-to-air missile and 1,000 kg AASM air-to-ground modular weapon. Th 28 ordered Rafale aircraft will be delivered to the French Air Force from the year 2023. After that, 30 additional Rafales will be ordered and are scheduled to be delivered between 2027 and 2030.

The Hellenic Armed Forces, the combined military forces of Greece move forward with two Hellenic Navy acquisition programs for heavyweight torpedoes and maritime helicopters. The programs were approved in December and are now being forwarded to the Ministry of Defense for implementation, Jane’s reports. The Hellenic Navy wants to procure 36 533 millimeter heavyweight torpedoes for the Papanikolis-class Type 214 submarines and sole Type 209 AIP-equipped submarine, HS Okeanos. The new torpedoes are to replace AEG SUT and SST-4 torpedoes. The type 214 submarine features diesel propulsion with an air-independent propulsion system. The 209 Type is a diesel-electric attack submarine armed with eight bow 533 mm torpedo tubes and 14 torpedoes.

Asia-Pacific

Two Indian Army Soldiers developed an armed Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for the Indian Army. The armed quadcopter prototype was a long-pending requirement of the armed forces. The quadcopter was displayed at the Army Technology Seminar in New Delhi on Friday and has been previously deployed during live operations along the Line of Control between India and Pakistan and counter-terrorist operations in Jammu and Kashmir. No defense service in India possess armed drones, making this a historic innovation in the history of the Indian Army.

Today’s Video

Watch: Sorry Su-57! UK’s new f-35b and New Eurofighter typhoon-jets ready for combat-missions

Categories: Defense`s Feeds

The Odyssey: Greece’s U-214 Submarine Order

Defense Industry Daily - Tue, 01/15/2019 - 04:52

Papanikolis at HDW
(click to view full)

On Monday Sept 21/09, ThyssenKrupp Marine informed the Greek Minister of Defence that it was canceling “The Archimedes Project” contract for 4 U-214 diesel-electric submarines with Air-Independent Propulsion technology, because the government’s payments had remained underwater for too long. That development was the just the latest chapter in a long and continuing saga. If the issue remains unresolved, or arbitration results in termination payments but no delivery, Greece could find itself without a submarine force.

Accumulated payment arrears were over EUR 520 million (then $767 million), and so ThyssenKrupp and its subsidiary Hellenic Shipyards sought international arbitration, in order to recover some of the payments due under its contract. A resolution was arrived at, but failed execution by Hellenic Shipyards has left Greece’s future submarine fleet in limbo, even as investigations and trials are sending former Greek officials to court and to jail for corruption associated with the purchase.

Greece’s Submarine Programs: Types and Travails

S118 Okeanos painting
(click to view full)

Greece fielded 8 boats before the U214 program: 4 Glavkos class U-209/1100 boats commissioned between 1971-1979 (S110-S113), and 4 Poseidon class U-209/1200 boats (S114, S117, S118, S119) commissioned from 1979-1980.

In 1989, the Neptune I program began to upgrade the 4 Glavkos class boats. They received flank array sonar and significant electronics upgrades, including the ability to fire UGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles.

In 2002, Hellenic shipyards received the Neptune II contract for the “mid life” modernization and repair of 3 Poseidon class boats, which included cutting the hull and installing an 6.5m long Air-Independent Propulsion section, as well as hydrogen storage tanks for the AIP. Flank array sonar, electronics upgrades, an electro-optic mast with satellite communication capability, and Harpoon missile firing capability reportedly round out the upgrade’s major features. In the end, however, only HS Okeanos [S118] will be upgraded.

No ship lasts forever, and that’s especially true of submarines. The Greek government signed a contract in February 2000 for 3 of HDW’s new Type 214 submarines + 1 option. It was the first order for the new class that would inject new boats into the fleet, and that would eventually grew to 6 submarines after a long and bitter history.

Greece’s Submarine Odyssey

Greek TV report

Papanikolis (S120), the first-of-class U-214, was laid down in Kiel, Germany in February 2001 and launched in April 2004. In January 2005, HDW’s ThyssenKrupp Marine (TKMS) parent company bought Hellenic Shipyards near Athens, Greece, and invested heavily in modernizing it. Submarine work had already been underway since 2002, and Hellenic Shipyards built the next 3 Greek U-214 submarines: S121 Pipinos, S122 Matrozos, and S123 Katsonis.

Once the Papanikolis’ sea trials began in 2006, however, the Hellenic Navy found a host of issues with the new submarine. Poor performance from the AIP system that supplements its diesel engines for long underwater operations, problems with the ISUS combat system, poor surface seakeeping in high seas, and hydraulic system issues were among the major flaws reported. The Navy refused acceptance, leaving HDW to fix the boat.

HDW set to work on Papanikolis, but the submarine has been docked in Kiel since 2006 waiting for Greek acceptance. HDW says acceptance is now justified, as the defects have been fixed, but the Greek government refuses to accept the boat. It has raised other issues, such as the ad-hoc nature of several required modifications to avoid disassembling the boat, the number of sea trials that have consumed some of the onboard equipment’s operational life – and one rather more traditional reservation, which is not expressed but plays a role. Sailors are famously superstitious, and Papanikolis’ tribulations have given it a reputation as an unlucky boat.

In 2010, a provisional agreement was reached. Greece would accept the U214s, and would shift Project Neptune II from 3 upgraded Poseidon Class boats to 1 upgrade plus 2 new U214 submarines, giving Greece a total of 6 U214s on order.

HDW doesn’t seem to be part of that deal, and as of January 2014, S121 Pipinos, S122 Matrozos, and S123 Katsonis are all reportedly still in sea trials, instead of acting as operational boats. Actually, they’re slowly being refurbished after lying partly-finished at Hellenic Shipyards, which was shuttered for years.

Contracts & Key Events 2012 – 2019

 

U-214 cutaway
(click to view full) January 15/19: Acquisition programs The Hellenic Armed Forces, the combined military forces of Greece move forward with two Hellenic Navy acquisition programs for heavyweight torpedoes and maritime helicopters. The programs were approved in December and are now being forwarded to the Ministry of Defense for implementation, Jane’s reports. The Hellenic Navy wants to procure 36 533 millimeter heavyweight torpedoes for the Papanikolis-class Type 214 submarines and sole Type 209 AIP-equipped submarine, HS Okeanos. The new torpedoes are to replace AEG SUT and SST-4 torpedoes. The type 214 submarine features diesel propulsion with an air-independent propulsion system. The 209 Type is a diesel-electric attack submarine armed with eight bow 533 mm torpedo tubes and 14 torpedoes.

Oct 7/14: S121 Pipinos, the first U214 submarine assembled at Hellenic Shipyards, is launched and christened. There’s still a lot left before the boat enters service, but it’s a lot better than just sitting in the shipyard and rusting. Regarding its namesake:

“The Greek submarine was named after Andreas Pipinos (1780-1836), a famous seamen from the island of Hydra. During the Greek War of Independence, Pipinos fought by the side of Constantine Kanaris. He took part in the destruction of the Turkish fleet of Kara Ali in 1822 and in the 1824 battle of Gerontas, in which he was seriously injured while burning the Turkish flagship.”

Sources: Greek Reporter, “Launch of First Submarine Built in Greece”.

June 12/14: Sue what? Britain’s Telegraph newspaper reports that this farce has just gone to 11, following a EUR 1.3 billion lawsuit by new Hellenic Shipyards owner Abu Dhabi Mar late in 2013:

“It can now be disclosed that the Greek Government has launched a seven-billion euro compensation claim against ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems and Abu Dhabi Mar – the defence firm and shipyard now responsible for the order.

A 200-page document sent to the ICC International Court of Arbitration states that Greece’s international position was compromised by the failure to supply the submarines and its position in Nato was undermined…. Following years of delay, the Greek Government has recently insisted that the submarines are finally due to start full sea trials imminently, although no date has been set.”

AFP reports offered a different timeline, involving completion of S121 Pipinos by the end of the year, and S122 Matrozos and S123 Katsonis by the end of 2016. The April 9/14 Deutsche Welle report paints a picture of neglect, and it remains to be seen whether providing EUR 75 million and some naval engineers to Hellenic Shipyards is going to result in safe and seaworthy boats. Sources: Agence France Presse, “Greek Navy To Fast-Track Long-Delayed Submarine Order” | The Telegraph, “Greece sues for 7 billion euros over German submarines that have never sailed”.

April 9/14: Rust in Peace. Deutsche Welle does a story about poverty and phantom jobs in Greece. This part was revealing:

“Two years before, I sit in this chair. I feel so strange being here”…. That’s because she is one of a thousand workers at Hellenic Shipyards who haven’t received a paycheck in that time. They’re only employed on paper…. Back at the shipyard, Nikos and Alexandra drive past two partially built submarines that are languishing in drydock.

“They are about 80 percent ready to go,” says Alexandra. “Now, in the two years we haven’t been working, they’re ruining and rusting. Can’t you see?”

The submarines cost Greek taxpayers billions and were caught in the crossfire of a massive bribery scandal. They were designed with German know-how – ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems used to run the shipyard.”

If they’re 80% complete and rusting, one wonders if they can ever serve without being largely rebuilt. Sources: Deutsche Welle, “Greek families struggle to survive economic crisis”.

Jan 20/14: Investigation. Germany’s Der Spiegel adds more details to the recent arrests, with an interesting shot of perspective to chase it down. Here’s their take on HSY chairman Sotiris Emmanouil:

“One of the provisions of the deal was that HDW would take over HSY. SPIEGEL has learned that Greek investigators believe the German submarine consortium, which included Essen-based Ferrostaal and HDW shipyards, gave that money to E. in the form of a bribe payment to ensure he wouldn’t stand in the way of the plan. E. is thought to have received the money via shell companies in the Marshall Islands and Hong Kong as well as through his lawyer. He denies the accusations, saying that the payments were legitimate commission fees.”

Legitimate fees. To himself, personally. Suuuure. This part was also interesting:

“For the first time, Greek justice is reaching really high up,” Aristides Hatzis, a legal professor at the University of Athens, told the New York Times recently. “One reason is that the public desire for catharsis is strong. Another is that the political system is weak and has too much to lose by trying to intervene. It risks being exposed.”

Sources: Der Spiegel, “More Arrests: Greece Makes Progress on Arms Deal Corruption”.

Jan 13/14: Investigation. The U-214 affair has led to 2 more arrests. Yiannis Beltsios is a 63 year-old former associate of the jailed former minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos, who is serving a 20-year sentence over defense-related bribes. The 2nd person was 61 year-old Sotiris Emmanouil, the former chairman of Hellenic Shipyards. What’s going on? The indictment reportedly says that:

“…[Beltsios] with two foreign nationals (a German and an Armenian citizen) and three Greek nationals (Alexandros Avatangelos and Michail Matantos, both of whom have already been charged, and another person), he handed over German bribes totalling [EUR] 63,192,691 and [SFR] 2,960,225… to Tsochatzopoulos and to Sotiris Emmanouil…. Emmanouil was also arrested on Monday morning, after anticorruption investigators, who have heard explosive testimony about the submarine deals from a number of people in recent weeks, issued warrants for the two, who they suspected would attempt to escape justice.”

Reports peg Emmanouil’s bribe at EUR 23 million, while Belisios allegedly picked up EUR 3 million for middleman services. Sources: Enet English, “Getting to the depths of the bribes for submarines scandal” and “Two more arrests in bribes for subs scandal”.

Jan 8/14: Batteries. Greece needs to keep its 3 remaining Glavkos boats and 3 operational Poseidon boats, while it waits for its new submarines to be delivered and become operational. Accordingly, the Greek Ministry of Defence approved the EUR 16.9 million buy of 6 acid-lead submarine battery sets from Sunlight SA.

Jane’s reports that HS Okeanos [S-118] is currently undergoing the Neptune II upgrade at at Hellenic Shipyards in Skaramangas, which includes full refurbishment and hence doesn’t require an additional battery purchase. Note that even the newer U209-1200 Poseidon Class boats are 34-35 years old, while the U209-1100 Glavkos Class boats are 35-42 years old. New batteries or not, the clock is ticking. Sources: IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly, “Greece buys new batteries for Type 209 submarines”.

Dec 19/13: Politics. The leftist Syriza party loses a 120 – 167 vote in Parliament to launch a formal inquiry into the “stalled” deal to finish 3 U-214 submarines at Hellenic Shipyards. The investigation would have focused on Socialist PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos, who was defense minister in 2010 when the revised submarine agreement was negotiated. SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras says that shipyard employees have been unpaid since work stopped in 2012, and says to Venizelos: “Either you were the victim of a major scam… or you were part of it”. As Xinhua notes:

“The contract was an extension of a deal signed by former Defense Minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos who is currently serving jail term for laundering of money allegedly deriving from kickbacks for lucrative defense contracts…. On its part, the [shipbuilding] consortium said financial problems has pushed for the dismissal of most of the approximately 1,000 employees [at Hellenic Shipyards], who have launched industrial actions for months, demanding backpay.

Athens eventually reached a deal with creditors on Tuesday regarding the restructuring of EAS [Hellenic Defence Systems] next year, gaining the “green light” for the disbursement of the one-billion-euro installment. On Wednesday current Defense Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos pledged a similar comprehensive solution to the Skaramangas’ [Hellenic Shipyards] problem soon.”

Since PASOK is currently part of a governing national unity coalition, the government wasn’t going to agree to any investigations. Sources: ANSA Med, “Greece: SYRIZA loses submarine deal probe bid” | China’s Xinhua, “Greek parliament rejects controversial shipyards, submarine agreement inquiry”.

Aug 27/13: Investigation. A tax audit at Rheinmetall-Defence-Electronics has opened a can of worms, and pointers to alleged bribery concerning the Greek submarine sale now have prosecutors searching the offices of Rheinmetall-Defence-Electronics (EUR 9.1 million alleged) and Atlas Elektronik (EUR 8.5 billion). Sources: Defense News, “Germany Probes Alleged Bribery in German-Greek Submarine Deals”.

2009 – 2011

 

U214, in Greek

June 9/11: Glavkos decommissioned. S-110 Glavkos, the first U209 boat ever built, is retired after 40 years of service. Sources: Bosphorous Naval News, “Greek Submarine Glavkos To Be Decommissioned”.

Decommissioned

May 17/11: Germany’s HDW has reportedly pulled out of the deal to build 2 new U214 submarines and overhaul one U209/1200 Poseidon Class boat at Hellenic Shipyards in Greece, due to “major disagreements” on broader project cooperation between ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems and new shipyard owners Abu Dhabi Mar.

Greek defense minister Evangelos Venizelos said that the pullout will not affect the delivery of the 4 U214 submarines that have been completed at Hellenic Shipyards, which still leaves a rather large question mark hanging over the proposed 2 new boats. The deal for 2 new U-214s was a substitution for the original Neptune II plan to overhaul 3 Poseidon Class boats, and add AIP propulsion sections (vid. Sept 15/10 entry). Greek MoD | Expatica.

HDW out

May 3/11: Investigation. Make that EUR 120 million, and now the figure comes from legal depositions. Ekathimerini:

“At least 120 million euros was paid in bribes by the German firm that struck a deal with the Greek government for the sale of four navy submarines, according to German court documents seen by Kathimerini… Two former executives of Ferrostaal, the Germany firm that was part of the consortium which won the contract, gave depositions in Munich concerning the kickbacks paid to secure the deal, which was worth just over 1.2 billion euros.”

March 28/11: Investigation. Greece’s financial crimes squad (SDOE) delivers its report. Make that EUR 100 million in bribes:

“Politicians, civil servants, military officials and middlemen are thought to have been paid off as part of the deal. Sources said that probes into the bank accounts of some Greek shipyard unionists also revealed money that was unaccounted for. Last week, a prosecutor called 37 people to answer questions about bribery allegations…”

Many of the Greek U214 fleet’s custom features were reportedly inserted as a way of padding the bill, and allowing more under-the-table payments to be hidden. The revelations also spark a political controversy, as the current socialist PASOK government was in charge when the deal went down. Ekathimerini.

Feb 27/11: Investigation. An investigation by Greece’s financial crimes squad (SDOE) has concluded that 3 former ministers, and several other public officials, should face prosecution for corruption. The allegations are that U-214 consortium partner Ferrostaal paid EUR 10 – 12 million in bribes to secure the EUR 1.26 billion deal.

The SDOE is due to deliver its findings to the Athens Prosecutor’s Office at the beginning of March 2011. Greek judicial authorities will then make a request to German authorities for details of the financial transactions involved, while asking for the bank accounts of all alleged conspirators to be frozen. Ekathimerini

Sept 15/10: Revised agreement? It took a bit longer, but the first stage of an agreement is now in place. Greece will accept the U214 submarine Papanikolis. A contract to sell of Hellenic Shipyards to Abu Dhabi MAR is signed with government approval, but must be ratified by the Greek Parliament.

The 3rd part isn’t final yet. Instead of refurbishing 2 of the U209 boats under Project Neptune II, the Greek government wants to spend EUR 175 million more to convert that into a purchase of 2 more U214 submarines, a move that would keep Hellenic Shipyards open and working for a while longer. Agence France Presse via Defense News | AFP via Expatica | BYM Marine & Martime News | Capital.GR | Reuters.

Revised agreement negotiated

March 11/10: Negotiations. Media reports quote Greek Defense Minister Evangelos Venizelos, who says that:

“We have reached a solution, which should be signed [March 18] and which protects the interests of the Greek navy as it means it will finally receive modern, functional submarines.”

Reports say that Greece will acknowledge receipt of the Papanikolis, then sell it to a third party. In return, TKMS will drop a compensation claim for breach of contract. Agence France Presse.

March 1/10: Industrial. Greece approves the sale of Hellenic Shipyards from ThyssenKrupp Marine systems to Abu Dhabi MAR. The new joint venture will be led by ADM with 75.1% of the share capital of Skaramanga shipyard (HSY), with ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems retaining 24.9%. The move gives ADM something its October 2009 acquisition of large chunks of TKMS did not include: submarine construction capability.

ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems picked Abu Dhabi MAR in January 2010 as the preferred bidder for a majority stake; no details were disclosed, but TKMS had reportedly said in the past that the shipyards, which depend on Greek navy orders, would be sold at the price of one euro. TKMS reportedly received 5 bids for HSY, but found only Abu Dhabi MAR’s to be acceptable. Khaleej Times | Reuters.

Oct 21/09: Negotiations. Kathimerini reports that Greek Defense Minister Evangelos Venizelos held talks with ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems CEO Hans Christoph Atzpodien, in a bid to resolve the submarine issue. The basic framework of the deal appears to involve TKMS retaining the Papanikolis for resale, and the other 3 U214 submarines being accepted by Greece pending certain defined criteria. It adds:

“Sources said that ThyssenKrupp appears determined to quit its involvement in [Hellenic Shipyards SA] as early as next month, despite government concerns about the job losses that this might cause. There were, however, discussions between the two sides about how some private involvement in the shipyards could continue… An unidentified third country is reported to be interested in buying the [Papanikolis] and the two sides have agreed that selling it would be the best way out… The two men reportedly agreed that if the technical problems are ironed out, Greece will accept delivery of the remaining three submarines.”

Sept 21/09: Canceled. ThyssenKrupp notifies the Greek Minister of Defense that it’s formally canceling the Project Archimedes U-214 contract, and says it intends to seek international arbitration for contractual damages.

Unsurprisingly, this announcement is becoming an election issue in Greece. Capital.gr | Aviation Week | Bloomberg | defpro | Jane’s.

U-214 cancellation sought

July 2/09: Turkey Subs. ThyssenKrupp Marine receives a EUR 2.5 billion contract with Greece’s rival Turkey for 6 U-214 submarines, supplemented with Air-Independent Propulsion technology. They will be built at the military-owned Golcuk Shipyard near Izmit, using pre-built sections and equipment supplied by HDW, as well as Turkish electronics and items. Delivery is expected in 2015. Read DID’s “Turkey Subs” for more.

May 28/09: Negotiations. The Hellenic Navy’s Chief of staff, vice-admiral George Karamalikis, announces the future direction of Greece’s naval procurement. among these items, DefenceNET Greece reports that:

“The HN has decided to accept the 3 T 214 submarines that are being constructed in Greece but the first submarine of the PAPANIKOLIS class, that was build in Germany, is not going to be received by the Navy. Instead, a new submarine will be ordered, in order to fulfill the demand for 4 T 214 submarines.”

Feb 26/09: Neptune II. Greek U-209/1200 submarine HS Okeanos (S118) is re-launched at Hellenic Shipyards in Skaramangas, following a mid-life refit that added Air-Independent Propulsion. It is the first submarine to be re-launched under the Neptune II program. Sources: IHS Jane’s, “Greek submarine force could go under as TKMS cancels two contracts”.

Appendix A: Contracts Under Water – Greece’s Default (2009)

U-214 SSK
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Greece is trying to cancel its 4-boat contract, but that could be expensive, in several ways. The other 3 submarines are reportedly complete now, or very close to it. Pipinos was launched in April 2007, Matrozos followed in 2008, and Katsonis was launched at the end of 2008. Not one of them has been accepted for service. Sources currently report payments to TKMS of almost EUR 2 billion, but also accumulated payment arrears of EUR 524 million ($770 million): EUR 300 million claimed by Hellenic Shipyards SA, and EUR 224 million owed to HDW.

Greece is facing very large budget deficits, expected to grow to 6% of total GDP in 2009. By dragging the problem out, the government can delay payments and possibly create enough pressure to renegotiate the price.

In January 2009, Greek Defence Minister Evangelos Meimarakis lent credence to this view when he said that he would try to renegotiate the submarine contract. In May 2009, there were rumors of a deal that would have Greece accept the other 3 submarines once Pipinos passes acceptance trials, while HDW would be left with Papanikolis and could resell it elsewhere.

TKMS’ filing and notification indicate that these options have all failed. “The Greek state has long ceased to honour its contractual obligations,” said TKMS’ release announcing its cancellation of the contract for default. Commerzbank AG analyst Dirk Nettling is even more succinct: the Greek government “can’t pay, won’t pay, or has other priorities.” As a result, a TKMS spokeswoman told Jane’s that “…continuation of the contract is no longer economically justifiable.”

The cancellation is also set to affect the Neptune II project to upgrade and refurbish Greece’s existing U-209 boats by adding Air Independent Propulsion systems. While S118 has been accepted and re-launched, Jane’s reports that this contract has also been canceled.

This leaves the Hellenic Navy with something of a problem. Submarines have a limited safe lifespan, in part because of the regular squeezing and release of water pressure on their hulls. The youngest Type 209s are already pushing 30 years, which is a long time. Very few submarines can safely last beyond 40 years in service, a milestone that even refurbished Neptune II project boats would reach in 2020.

Given a required lead time of several years from orders to fielding, and the issues that a sustained contract cancellation would raise with potential builders, Greece may find itself with a limited window of just a few years to work out a new submarine strategy and place an order. The alternative would be a submarine force that could face significant operational limitations – and perhaps even no submarine force at all.

A problem its rival Turkey would not have, since Turkey is set to begin inducting 6 of its own U-214 submarines, beginning in 2015.

Additional Readings & Background

Re: “Archimedes Project.” As most of our readers know, the ancient Greek scientist Archimedes is best known for Archimedes’ Principle: a body immersed in a fluid is subject to an upward force (buoyancy) equal in magnitude to the weight of fluid it displaces. He also invented the lever, the compound pulley and Archimedes’ screw, and was reportedly involved in inventing weapons used during the war between Rome and his city of Syracuse. Archimedes was killed in that war, despite orders from the Roman general that he should not be harmed.

News & Views

Categories: Defense`s Feeds

Raytheon advances AMRAAM | Rafael offers $231m for Aeronautics | South Korea receives first F-35A fighters in March

Defense Industry Daily - Sun, 01/13/2019 - 11:00
Americas

The Navy awarded AAI Corp. Hunt Valley with a $10.9 million contract modification to services for the Unmanned Influence Sweep System (UISS) unmanned surface vehicle platform. The UISS is a mine countermeasure system designed to influence sweeping of magnetic and acoustic mines. The system enables the littoral combat ship to perform its mine warfare sweep mission. The UISS program is expected to meet the Navy’s need for a rapid, wide-area coverage mine clearance capability to neutralize magnetic/acoustic influence mines. AAI Corporation is an operating unit of Textron Systems. In 2014, Textron Systems received a $33.8 million contract to provide its Common Unmanned Surface Vessel (CUSV) for the US Navy’s Unmanned Influence Sweep System (UISS) program. Work for the new deal will be performed in Hunt Valley, Maryland, and Slidell, Louisiana and is scheduled to be completed by September 2019.

The Air Force tapped Raytheon Missile Systems with a $21 million modification for advanced medium range air-to-air missile (AMRAAM) system improvement program software architecture and design risk reduction efforts to counter threats. AMRAAM is an active radar-guided intercept missile with inherent electronic protection capabilities for air-to-air applications against massed penetration aircraft. The Air Force and Navy AMRAAM is one of the US’ most sophisticated radar-guided, air-to-air missiles, and one of the world’s most advanced all-weather, all-environment, medium-range, air-to-air missiles for engaging enemy aircraft and missiles from beyond visual ranges. Work for the deal will be performed in Tucson, Arizona.

Lockheed Martin won a deal worth $131.6 million for sustainment engineering services for the C-5 military transport aircraft. The C-5 is the Air Force’s largest plain and features a nose cargo door and a kneeling nose gear, which allow for drive-on capability. The aircraft can haul twice as much cargo as any other airlifter. It has been in service for the US Air Force since 1969 and supported military operations in all major conflicts. The Air Force currently owns 52 Super Galaxy aircraft, which are only assigned to four units worldwide. Contracting activity is the Air Force Life Cycle Management. Work is scheduled to be finished by January 25, 2019.

Middle East & Africa

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and businessman Avihai Stolero offered Aeronautics to open negotiations for the acquisition of all the company’s shares by means of a reverse triangular merger via a company jointly owned by Rafael and Stolero. The offer is valued at $231 million, making it twice as high as their 117 million offer rejected by Aeronautics in August. Earlier this month, Aeronautics announced it has signed a five-year partnership deal with Rafael to collaborate on the development, production, marketing, and distribution of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system. Aeronautics has over 45 defense, military, and homeland security customers worldwide.

Europe

The Missile Defense Agency contracted Lockheed Martin with a $23 million sole-source, fixed-price incentive and cost-plus modification to provide Poland Aegis Ashore Engineering Agent (AAEA) engineering and security support. The modification includes AAEA test and site updates, risk mitigation support, and continued completion effort for the Aegis Ashore Poland site. Aegis Ashore is the land-based component of the Aegis ballistic missile defense system developed originally for deployment at sea aboard specially equipped U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers. Work is expected to be completed by December 2020.

Asia-Pacific

South Korea will receive the first F-35A stealth fighters in March. The jets have been tested at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. The first two jets are scheduled to be combat-deployed in April or May and 10 other jets are supposed to be ready for deployment by the end of this year. South Korea approved a deal in September 2014 to acquire 40 F-35As for about $6.8 billion. The F-35A has radar-evading capabilities and can perform ground-attack and air-superiority missions with several precision weapons.

The Indian Navy successfully tested locally developed Sahayak air-droppable containers off the coast of Goa in the Arabian Sea. The Sahayak Containers are support containers designed to enhance operational logistics capability by facilitating the supply of spares and stores to ships that are deployed more than 2,000 km from the coast. The Naval Science and Technological Laboratory and the Aeronautical Development Establishment developed these cylindrical containers. A test payload of 50 kg, dropped in the container, descended to the sea with the help of a parachute.

Today’s Video

Watch: America’s F-15E Strike Eagle vs. FA-18EF Super Hornet (Who Wins)

Categories: Defense`s Feeds

It’s All in the Package: the Littoral Combat Ship’s Mission Modules

Defense Industry Daily - Sun, 01/13/2019 - 10:58

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What makes the USA’s Littoral Combat Ship designs truly different? They’re built with minimal fixed equipment and large empty spaces for modular gear, instead of a set array of weapons and mission electronics. Otherwise, they’re almost the size of Britain’s Type 23 frigates, and might well be classified as frigates, were it not for their shallow water design and equipment choices.

LCS is a great concept that has been marred by poor execution, and design decisions that have robbed it of flexibility in the one area where the ship is weakest. The US Navy is buying quite a few of them anyway, and so the capabilities of the ship’s mission packages will determine what kind of contribution they can make.

LCS = Standard Equipment + Mission Packages… The Concept: Packages & Boxes

LCS designs
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For whatever reason, high speed has also been identified as an important ship characteristic. As such, both the GD/Austal trimaran and Lockheed’s racing-derived monohull offer potential top speeds of 40-50 knots over short distances. That speed is very unusual in a vessel their size, but it isn’t the LCS’ most distinctive feature.

The terms have changed over time, but the US Navy has downgraded the term “mission modules” to mean individual components plus their support equipment. They’re generally containerized in fully outfitted ISO 20′ containers that include power and other connections built in per LCS specs. Integrated arrays of weapons, sensors, robotic vehicles, and manned platforms that can be switched in and out depending on the ship’s mission are now called “mission packages.” They include all task-related mission modules, onboard aircraft, and their corresponding crew detachments.

The original concept was to have these packages switch in and out of ships in under 72 hours. Wargaming simulations showed that even then, a clever enemy could yank the US Navy’s chain by switching the threat, and keeping the LCS ships in transit to ports for refits rather than on the front lines. In reality, recent GAO reports acknowledge that the required tools, need for specialized personnel, and other factors will make switch-outs a 3-week affair.

Mission packages still offer long-term fleet flexibility, therefore, but switch-outs aren’t realistic as a tactical option.

Each mission package will be fielded in at least 4 increments, stretching from 2014 – 2019. The base ships are:

Standard Equipment

MH-60R Seahawk
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Fixed equipment is minimal, but still present.

No matter which mission modules are loaded, American Littoral Combat Ships will carry a BAE Systems Mk.110 57mm naval gun with a firing rate of up to 220 rounds/minute, using Mk.295 ammunition whose fuzing makes it effective against aerial, naval, or ground threats.

Raytheon’s RIM-116 RAM Rolling Airframe Missile. RAM is designed to handle anti-ship missiles, aircraft, UAVs, helicopters, and even small boats, but its range of just 9 km/ 5 nm will only protect its own ship. Unlike larger missiles such as the RIM-162 ESSM, RAM systems cannot perform fleet defense.

Like all modern naval vessels, LCS ships will have onboard helicopters, in a mix of medium-sized MH-60 helicopters and/or MQ-8B/C Fire Scout helicopter UAVs. Other robotic vehicles will include a variety of Unmanned Underwater Vessels (UUV) and Unmanned Surface Vessels (USV), which form the backbone of the mission packages.

Planned Packages

The ships’ first and most important mission package isn’t officially listed. It consists of a small but very cross-trained crew. LCSs were intended to operate with a core crew of 40 sailors, plus a mission module detachment of 15 and an aviation detachment of 25. Each ship has a pair of 40-person crews (Blue and Gold), which will shift to 3 crews over time that can deploy in 4-month rotations.

There are concerns that this is a design weakness, leaving the LCS crew at the edge of its capabilities to just run the ship, with insufficient on-board maintenance capabilities, and too little left over for contingencies such as boarding and search, damage control, illnesses, etc. USS Freedom’s addition of 20 more bunks before her 1st Asian deployment, and the Navy’s decision to add or retrofit that extra capacity to every LCS, validated the point.

Beyond the human element, the LCS program will initially draw upon packages for Mine Warfare (MIW: 24 planned), Anti-submarine Warfare (ASW: 16 planned) and Surface Warfare (SUW: 24 planned). The LCS Mission Modules Program Office (PMS 420) packages a variety of technologies to these ends, many of which are produced by other program offices and delivered as elements of a particular mission module. Costs per module have gone down over time, but that hasn’t been from any genius in planning and fielding. Rather, it results from a high program failure rate of individual components, and their replacement in the program by less expensive items.

A 2014 report from the US CRS placed the cost of common installed equipment required by all packages at $14.9 million.

ASW Package: Sub-Hunter

ASW, 2013
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The Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) module has experienced a lot of turbulence, and after early testing went poorly, the Navy is re-thinking this entire module.

In: A new General Dynamics USV, and acoustic sensors such as Lockheed’s SQR-20 multifunction towed array. The towed array will be accompanied by a ship-towed variable-depth sonar, and a towed torpedo countermeasure device. While the components themselves are mature, integration and testing will take a while. Fielding of the entire revised module is now slated for 2016.

Out: The Advanced Deployable System (ADS) had been at the heart of the ASW anti-submarine module. It was intended to be a fast-deploying underwater sensor net developed by Lockheed Martin under the Maritime Surveillance Systems program office (PMS 485). The Navy soon concluded that it needed a moving capability, rather than a barrier approach, and that was that for ADS.

The next ASW mainstay was expected to be Lockheed’s WLD-1 sub-surface USV towing the AN/AQS-20A, but it was relegated to mine warfare only in late 2009.

So far, the ability to carry a pair of MH-60R anti-submarine helicopters is the only thing that distinguishes an ASW-equipped LCS from a small corvette, and even there, LCS performance is likely to suffer by comparison. The towed sonars have depth limitations that may prevent their use in shallow water, and the LCS waterjets are so noisy that unlike an ASW corvette, a bow sonar isn’t really an option. In deeper water, GAO is concerned that the ship’s lack of defensive capabilities don’t make it survivable enough to act as an ASW escort beyond any initial attacks. Meanwhile, the lack of torpedo tubes or vertical launch cells remains a weakness, removing the ability to take fast shots at discovered submarines unless a helicopter is in the air already.

A 2014 report from the US CRS estimated the cost of the ASW Package at $20.9 million, with the caveat that it’s still in initial development.

MCM/MIW Package: Mine Detection & Clearance

MCM 2013
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The LCS’ Mine Counter-Measures package addresses a significant and growing threat around the world’s maritime chokepoints, even as proven assets with service life still remaining are being removed from the US Navy. To that end, the MIW is trying to integrate a number of systems developed by the Mine Warfare program office (PMS 495).

Initial equipment includes the AN/WLD-1 Remote Minehunting (RMS) UUV System towing an AQS-20A sonar, and a specialized MH-60S helicopter with the somewhat iffy Airborne Laser Mine Detection System (AES-1 ALMDS), and an Airborne Mine Neutralization System (AMNS) UUV. Even that won’t be available until late 2014.

The helicopter-based AMCM systems will eventually be supplemented by robotic partners in the air, on the surface, and underwater. In the air, UAVs will carry the COBRA system.

On the surface, RMS will be joined by the Unmanned Influence Sweep System (UISS) consists of an Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV), towing the Sweep Power Subsystem for combined acoustic and magnetic minesweeping.

Underwater, the Surface Mine Countermeasure Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (SMCM) UUV includes 2 of Bluefin Robotics’ large Bluefin-21 UUVs and an advanced sonar payload developed by GD-AIS.

A number of current and previous MIW systems have failed outright or performed poorly in tests. Despite more than 6 years of development, the US Navy is still fielding older minesweeping systems and ad-hoc UUV/USV options like Seafox and Remus 600/ Kingfish to confront a serious mine threat around the Strait of Hormuz. Worse, weight and space limitations mean that MCM mission commanders will have either UISS and the unmanned surface vehicle that tows it, or the SMCM Knifefish – but not both systems.

A 2014 report from the US CRS estimated the cost of the MCM Package at $97.7 million.

See DID’s in-depth “LCS & MH-60S Mine Counter-Measures Continue Development” feature for more program details and updates, including current issues with each of the system’s components.

SUW: Surface Attack, So Under-Whelming

LMCO proposal
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The Surface Warfare (SUW) attack module makes use of 4 weapon stations. In addition to the 57mm naval gun, firepower would include the same Mk.46 30mm cannon system used in the Marines’ canceled Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle. That level of armament would make the LCS a $550 million coast guard cutter in littoral regions filled with missile-armed fast attack craft, as well as motorboats with torpedoes.

Unfortunately, plans for the rest of this module have fallen apart.

In: The Navy was leaning toward a smaller, very short-range laser/GPS-guided missile called the AGM-176 Griffin B, but ended up choosing the radar-guided, fire and forget AGM-114L Hellfire Longbow missile instead. Range is about 3.5 miles, which is less than 1/6th of the Raytheon NLOS-LS PAM’s planned 25 mile range. This severe range cut, coupled with the warhead’s size, sharply limits LCS ranged engagement options. Hellfires are suitable for engaging maneuvering targets like enemy speedboats, but can’t function as naval fire support for ground forces, or engage Fast Attack Craft or larger vessels.

There are plans to use an improved missile, but reports indicate that the Navy may have to push any replacement missile back to 2020.

NLOS-LS PAM
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Out: Initial plans wanted to add a version of the US Army’s Non Line-of-Sight – Launch System (NLOS-LS), aka. NETFIRES. Each of 3 on-board weapon stations were sized to carry a Netfire “missile in a box” modules with 15 cells, for 45 missiles total. These precision attack missiles (PAM) roughly duplicated the effects of a 155mm shell, and had a range of up to 40 km/ 24 miles. Cost and development issues led to an Army pullout from the joint program in 2010, followed by Navy cancellation.

Note that even this system would have been badly outclassed by common anti-ship missiles mounted on enemy boats and ships, which offer ranges of 100 – 300 miles, and warheads packing 200 or more pounds of explosives. Successful 2014 test-firings of Kongsberg’s stealthy NSM anti-ship missile from the LCS-2 class are a step n this direction, but may be aimed at a derivative frigate design rather than LCS. What’s certain is that until the US Navy fields a capable SuW set, LCS’ surface attack module will remain a gaping weakness by comparison to any other naval combat vessel.

A 2014 report from the US CRS estimated the cost of the SUW Package at $32.6 million.

Think Inside the Box: Other Options

TransHospital
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The LCS’s mission bays can also be adapted for other purposes. Indeed, one of the key benefits of the entire concept is that new mission modules can give ships new capabilities, in response to emerging needs over its lifetime, without creating massive refitting costs. Some ideas that have been floated include:

Housing: The Danish Absalon Class multi-mission frigates have already shown that reconfigurable bays can be adapted to carry troops and vehicles, in a manner reminiscent of the 1930s-era APDs adapted from World War 1 destroyers. Special Forces modules, Coast Guard/VBSS boarding team modules, and troop transport for Marines are obvious options, given the ships’ low draught, high speeds, flexible mission spaces, advanced communication systems, and ability to launch ancillary craft.

Medical: With military medical facilities already shifting toward ISO containers for deployment, they’re an obvious fit for LCS. EADS’ TransHospital is one of the most mature designs on the market, but not the only one.

NFS? The Marines were reportedly interested in a Naval Fire Support module, employing a variant of the Army/Marine Corps’ 227mm Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS). That system might fix some of the LCS’ lackluster firepower at sea as well, especially given emerging MLRS guidance options. Their lack of recoil also poses fewer engineering problems than artillery-at-sea programs like Germany’s MONARC 155mm howitzer, or Britain’s naval Braveheart.

At present, there are no firm plans for an MLRS mission module, and developments elsewhere are beginning offer 5″/ 127mm naval guns ultra long-range (LRLAP 5″, Vulcano) GPS-guided shells with a 55+ mile reach. LCS can’t use those weapons, which means the task has to be taken up by $2+ billion ships capable of ballistic missile defense.

Surveying: Ocean environment data can be extremely relevant to missions like submarine hunting. The prototype PLUS (Persistent Littoral Undersea Surveillance) system creates an undersea network with 6 Kongsberg Marine Remus 600 UUVs, and 5 slow but silent University of Washington Sea Glider UUVs that dive to pick up and relay Remus data. PEO LCS is managing development, but LCS hasn’t been picked as the platform yet.

Carter Copter Mu-1+
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ISR/Strike. Under DARPA’s TERN (Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node) program, the USA is trying to come up with a UAV that can take off and land from the LCS 2 Independence Class, LSD/LPD amphibious ships, JHSV ships, or even DDG-51 destroyers. It would carry a 600 pound ISR/strike payload on missions up to 900 nmi from the ship, and carry a maximum ISR/strike payload of 1,000 pounds. DARPA will accept a threshold 500 pound/ 4kW ISR payload, with an operating radius of 600 nmi, which can operate only from the LCS 2 Independence Class.

If DARPA succeeds, TERN could become an important carrier for some mission module payloads (COBRA), partially replace the surface scan volume coverage once provided by now-retired S-3 Viking sea control jets, and provide the LCS Surface Warfare module package with its 1st truly useful capability: a persistent ISR/strike option that doesn’t exist yet in the US Navy.

The larger question, if and when TERN is handed off to the Navy or USMC, is why the LCS? The Navy’s ultimate goal of deploying TERN aboard DDG-51 Arleigh Burke Class destroyers would offer a big step forward for US Navy capabilities as a whole, while diluting the LCS’ uniqueness beyond LCS-2’s huge deck size and storage volume. Would the Navy even want to pay to switch out or supplement its beloved MH-60R ASW helicopters aboard a destroyer? Deployment as a partner asset for the US Marine Corps aboard LPD/LSD amphibious ships might be a more natural fit all around. In a tight budget environment, however, even that might have to compete with more capable fixed-wing UAVs that could deploy from a flat-top LHA/LHD amphibious air support ship.

Contracts & Key Events

Griffin launch
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Unless otherwise noted, all contracts are issued by the USA’s Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC.

Some items are covered separately. Mine countermeasures technologies covered in full at “LCS & MH-60S Mine Counter-Measures Continue Development“, but notes and link entries may also appear here for some events, in order to provide an integrated timeline perspective or reference specific ships. The same is true for Raytheon’s RAM air defense and surface attack missile, and its Griffin missile.

Note that the structure of weapon contracts like the RAM, Mk-46 gun, Mk-110 gun, etc. may not announce all systems, or connect all systems to a specific ship. Inclusions here should be considered illustrative, rather than comprehensive.

FY 2016-2019

Independent Review of Remote Minehunting System

January 14/19: AAI provides UISS support The Navy awarded AAI Corp. Hunt Valley with a $10.9 million contract modification to services for the Unmanned Influence Sweep System (UISS) unmanned surface vehicle platform. The UISS is a mine countermeasure system designed to influence sweeping of magnetic and acoustic mines. The system enables the littoral combat ship to perform its mine warfare sweep mission. The UISS program is expected to meet the Navy’s need for a rapid, wide-area coverage mine clearance capability to neutralize magnetic/acoustic influence mines. AAI Corporation is an operating unit of Textron Systems. In 2014, Textron Systems received a $33.8 million contract to provide its Common Unmanned Surface Vessel (CUSV) for the US Navy’s Unmanned Influence Sweep System (UISS) program. Work for the new deal will be performed in Hunt Valley, Maryland, and Slidell, Louisiana and is scheduled to be completed by September 2019.

April 04/18: Mission Module Production Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. has received a contract for the production of gun mission modules for the US Navy’s Littoral Combat Ships equipped with the Surface Warfare Mission Package. The contract is valued at $7.4 million. The Navy’s $35 billion “Littoral Combat Ship” program intends to create a new generation of affordable surface combatants that can operate in dangerous shallow and near-shore environments, while remaining affordable and capable throughout their lifetimes. The LCS can be equipped with different mission modules. The Surface Warfare (SUW) attack module makes use of 4 weapon stations. In addition to the 57mm naval gun, firepower would include the same Mk.46 30mm cannon system used in the Marines’ canceled Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle. That level of armament makes the LCS a $550 million coast guard cutter in littoral regions filled with missile-armed fast attack craft, as well as motorboats with torpedoes. Work will be performed at facilities in Huntsville, Alabama and Bethpage, New York. It is expected to be completed by December 2019.

October 15/15: The Navy has announced that there will be an independent review into the Remote Minehunting System, a module designed to operate with the Littoral Combat Ship fleet. The review is due by the end of November, with concerns over the program’s technical capabilities leading to a delay in operational testing in September. The RMS completed developmental testing in December 2013, with Senators McCain and Reed expressing particular criticism of the RMS. Manufacturer Lockheed Martin has pushed back at this criticism, stating that the RMS has achieved its operational availability and reliability requirements.

FY 2015

More modules ordered. Crossed fingers for hoping new tests show they meet Navy’s minimum requirements.

Feb 3/15: Still more modules ordered.Northrop Grumman announced it got a $21.6 million contract to provide two more mission modules: one for mine countermeasures the other for surface warfare. With three of each delivered, another mine countermeasures module in production, and two coming along for surface warfare, the total will now amount to eleven.

FY 2014

MQ-8Bs deploying in mixed UAV/H-60 squadrons; RMS testing.

LCS + NSM

Sept 23/14: SuW? The US Navy confirms a successful live fire test of Kongsberg’s stealthy Naval Strike Missile from USS Coronado [LCS 4], via a launcher mounted on the flight deck. The Navy is noncommittal about issuing a requirement that would lead to NSM integration with LCS, beyond deployment as part of any SSC derivatives. Sources: US Navy, “Navy Successfully Tests Norwegian Missile from LCS 4” | Kongsberg, “Successful test firing of KONGSBERG’S Naval Strike Missile from US Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship” | USNI, “Norwegian Missile Test On Littoral Combat Ship Successful.”

Small ship, long sight

Sept 22/14: TERN Phase II. DARPA/ONR follow up with contract modifications to Phase II for the long-range TERN ISR/Strike naval V/STOUAV (q.v. Aug 26/13). Phase II narrows the field to 2 contenders and will conclude with sub-scale flight demonstrations by Sept 30/15. Carter Aviation’s slowed-rotor compound helicopter appears to be out, along with MAPC’s design. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, VA manages the contracts (HR0011-13-C-0099, PO 0002), and the winners were:

AeroVironment Inc. in Monrovia, CA receives a $19 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification, for a cumulative total of $21.4 million so far. $5.75 million in FY 2014 DARPA RDT&E funds is committed immediately. Work will be performed in Monrovia, CA (80%); Tucson, AZ (5%); Fort Worth, TX (10%); and Sparks, NV (5%).

Northrop Grumman in El Segundo, CA, receives a $19.3 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification, for a cumulative total of $22.1 million so far. Work will be performed in El Segundo, CA (48%), San Diego, CA (30%), Cincinnati, Ohio (5%); Benbrook, TX (15%); and Mojave, CA (2%).

In FY 2016, a single contractor will be picked to build the Phase III full scale demonstrator. Note that in May 2014 DARPA signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Office of Naval Research (ONR) that turned TERN into a joint program with the US Navy. ONR staffed Gil Graff as their deputy program manager, under DARPA PM Daniel Patt. Patt hopes that this early partnership with a service could become a template for DARPA. Sources: DARPA, “Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node (TERN)” | DARPA, “DARPA’s New TERN Program Aims for Eyes in the Sky from the Sea ” | FBO | AeroVironment, “DARPA Awards AeroVironment Phase II Tern Contract to Develop New Class of Maritime Unmanned Aircraft” | Northrop Grumman, “Northrop Grumman Advances Unmanned Systems Capabilities for Maritime Missions”.

TERN UAV Phase II

July 30/14: GAO weighs in. The US GAO releases another LCS-related report, which looks at overall ship weight and addresses ship mission packages. The LCS-2 Independence Class in particular lacks weight flexibility, maxing out at just 3,188.0 tons for its Naval Architectural Limit (NAL). The LCS-1 Freedom Class has a better weight margin and 3,550 ton NAL, but far less internal space. Meanwhile, a proposed move to shift both classes to a common SeaRAM air defense system up top would add extra weight to the LCS-1 class, and may create sea-keeping issues. In terms of the mission packages, it means that the 105 ton limit is likely to be a hard ceiling, which could make full exploitation and modernization more difficult and more costly. It’s already hitting the MIW/MCM package:

“Navy weight estimates for increment 4 of the MCM mission package, however, do not reflect all the systems being acquired for that package. Space and weight constraints have required the Navy to modify how it intends to outfit increment 4 of the MCM mission package. Although the Navy plans to acquire all the systems planned for that increment, space and weight limitations will not allow LCS seaframes to carry all of these systems at one time. According to LCS program officials, MCM mission commanders will have either (1) the Unmanned Influence Sweep System and the unmanned surface vehicle that tows it, or (2) the minehunting Surface Mine Countermeasures Unmanned Undersea Vehicle—called Knifefish – available – but not both systems. As a result, LCS seaframes outfitted with the increment 4 MCM package may have decreased minesweeping or mine detection capability.”

Mission system related recommendations from the front-lines include replacing the LCS-1 variant’s “unreliable and poorly performing” WBR-2000 electronic warfare system from Argon ST, storing sonobuoys on board even if the ASW package isn’t loaded so that the ship has some ability to react, and developing an ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) mission package to augment existing capabilities. Of course, sonobuoys on board add weight, and an ISR module that might otherwise take advantage of the LCS-2 Independence Class’ spacious mission package area may not be usable alongside other modules if the result is too much weight. Sources: GAO-14-749, “Littoral Combat Ship: Additional Testing and Improved Weight Management Needed Prior to Further Investments.”

July 17/14: SuW. Navy Recognition interviews a US Navy representative re: the Surface to Surface Mission Module aboard LCS, which will sit above the helicopter hangar on the Freedom Class, and behind the 57mm gun on the Independence Class. Key excerpts:

“Longbow Hellfire is the selected missile to help meet the LCS Surface Warfare Mission Package’s (SUW MP) engagement requirement per the LCS Capabilities Description Document (Flight 0+). Currently, no new requirement exists to warrant acquisition of a new engagement capability…. An LCS variant can only receive one SUW mission package. This will have one Surface-to-surface Missile Module (SSMM), which will utilize one launcher structure that holds 24 Longbow Hellfire missiles…. There currently is no requirement for at-sea reloads.Therefore, the current SSMM design does not support at-sea reloads… It utilizes an existing Army M299 launcher mounted within a gas containment system.”

Looks like Raytheon’s SeaGriffin has lost its shot, despite tripling its previously-comparable range and adding comparable fire-and-forget capability in its latest iteration. Sources: Navy Recognition, “Q & A with the US Navy on Lockheed Martin Hellfire missiles for Littoral Combat Ships”.

May 30/14: Support. Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. in Bethpage, NY receives a $20.9 million contract modification to provide integration services for LCS mission packages, as part of ongoing development and changes.

All funds are committed immediately, using a combination of Fy 2014 and 2015 budgets. Work will be performed in Bethpage, NY (44%); Oxnard, CA (16%); Washington, DC (14%); Panama City, FL (10%); Dahlgren, VA (8%); San Diego, CA (4%); Hollywood, MD (2%); Andover, MA (1%); and Middletown, RI (1%), and is expected to be complete by January 2015. US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC manages the contract (N00024-06-C-6311).

Hellfire concept
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April 9/14: SUW – Hellfire. The US Navy confirms that they have picked the AGM-114L Hellfire Longbow radar-guided missile as the SUW Package’s initial missile. Its fire and forget guidance, salvo capability, and ability to use the ship’s radar tipped the balance.

Lockheed Martin’s Hellfire wouldn’t have any more range than Raytheon’s Griffin (~3.5 nmi), but the radar seeker allows the ship’s radar to perform targeting, while allowing salvos of multiple fire-and-forget missiles against incoming swarms. In contrast, the Griffin’s laser designation must target one boat at a time, from a position that’s almost certain to have a more restricted field of view.

Lockheed Martin says that the missile has had 3 successful test firings in vertical launch mode, and there are plans to test-fire the missile from LCS in 2014, using a new vertical launcher. Navy AGM-114L missiles would be drawn from existing US Army stocks, which will have shelf life expiry issues anyway. That’s one reason the Army intends to begin buying JAGM laser/radar guided Hellfire derivatives around FY 2017. Sources: DoD Buzz, “Navy Adds Hellfire Missiles to LCS” | USNI News, “Navy Axes Griffin Missile In Favor of Longbow Hellfire for LCS”.

Hellfire in for SUW, Griffin out

March 31/14: GAO Report. The US GAO tables its “Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs“. Which is actually a review for 2013, plus time to compile and publish. With respect to the mission modules, The Navy isn’t happy with the GAO’s comparison of the program against the FY 2008 baseline, as it doesn’t reflect the total acquisition. GAO responds that:

“In comparing the 2007 estimate with the acquisition program baseline, we used the Navy’s 2007 data, which included full procurement costs but only five years of development cost. The Navy has acquired eight packages [4 MCM, 4 SUW, will add 2 MCMs in FY 2014] without proving capability through operational testing…”

Which GAO sees as a bad idea. GAO program totals are reflected in this article’s charts, and their comments regarding the readiness level and timing of the “LCS Packages Program” have been discussed in detail by DOT&E and by other GAO reports.

Feb 25/14: CRS Report. The US Congressional Research Service revises their Background and Issues for Congress report. While the report includes useful information about the program’s history, and details some of the current problems with both seaframes, the report’s pricing for mission packages is very useful. According to an Aug 26/13 Navy document

  • Common equipment for all sets = $14.9 million
  • MCM Package = $97.7 (TL $112.6) million
  • SUW Package = $32.6 (TL $47.4) million
  • ASW Package is $20.9 (TL $35.8) million, though it hasn’t been fielded yet.

On the other hand, given that the MCM package has been cut down sharply and continues to report problems, key mission packages like ASW haven’t been fielded yet, and that some aspects like waterjet propulsion are ill-suited to the ASW mission, it’s hard to see the basis for saying:

“When assessed in terms of ability to perform the LCS program’s three primary missions [Mines, Small boats, and Submarines in shallow waters], the LCS fares well in terms of weaponry and other ship features in comparisons with frigate and corvette designs operated by other navies.”

Sources: US CRS, “Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Program: Background and Issues for Congress”.

Feb 24/14: LCS cut. The Pentagon’s FY 2015 pre-budget briefing on the LCS seems to say that the number of ships will drop to 32, which would have implications for the number of mission modules:

“Regarding the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship, I am concerned that the Navy is relying too heavily on the LCS to achieve its long-term goals for ship numbers. Therefore, no new contract negotiations beyond 32 ships will go forward. With this decision, the LCS line will continue beyond our five-year budget plan with no interruptions.

The LCS was designed to perform certain missions – such as mine sweeping and anti-submarine warfare – in a relatively permissive environment. But we need to closely examine whether the LCS has the protection and firepower to survive against a more advanced military adversary and emerging new technologies, especially in the Asia Pacific. If we were to build out the LCS program to 52 ships, as previously planned, it would represent one-sixth of our future 300-ship Navy. Given continued fiscal constraints, we must direct shipbuilding resources toward platforms that can operate in every region and along the full spectrum of conflict.”

They haven’t actually terminated the program at 32, and they can negotiate for up to 8 ships beyond the current block buy that ends in FY 2015. Even so, the Mission Module program is likely due for an adjustment. Sources: US DoD, “Remarks By Secretary Of Defense Chuck Hagel FY 2015 Budget Preview Pentagon Press Briefing Room Monday, February 24, 2014” | Bloomberg, “Hagel Expands on Reservations’ About Littoral Combat Ship”.

Just 32 LCS

Jan 14/14: SUW – Hellfire? At the Surface Navy Association 2014 Symposium, PMS 420 (LCS Mission Modules) head Rear Adm. John Ailes says that the Navy is very strongly considering the AGM-114L Hellfire Longbow radar-guided missile as the ship’s initial SUW surface-strike missile. Sources: IHS Jane’s “Surface Navy 2014: USN weighing Longbow Hellfire against Griffin missile for LCS” | USNI News, “SNA 2014: Navy Won’t Rule Out Army Longbow Hellfire for LCS”.

Dec 9/13: MIW – WLD-1. The RMS (remote minehunting system: WLD-1 USV + AQS-20A sonar) completes developmental testing, to see if it can finally meet reliability, suitability and effectiveness requirements. The tests ran from Oct 22/13 – Dec 9/13, and the US Navy says that the system achieved its test objectives.

RMS operational assessment is scheduled for January 2014, off the coast of Palm Beach, FL. The complete LCS mine countermeasures mission package will undergo developmental testing in summer 2014, but initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) is scheduled for 2015. Sources: USN, “LCS Remote Minehunting System Completes Developmental Testing”.

Nov 15/13: MQ-8B. USS Fort Worth [LCS 3] spends Nov 5-13/13 conducting testing with the MQ-8B Fire Scout UAV in the Point Mugu Test Range, CA. USS Fort Worth is scheduled to deploy in 2014 with “The Mad Hatters” of HSM-35, Detachment 1. The Navy’s first “composite” Air Detachment will include both a manned SH-60R helicopter and smaller MQ-8B Fire Scout helicopter UAVs. Sources: USN, “USS Fort Worth Launches First UAV, Demonstrates LCS Capability”.

Nov 7/13: SUW. The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Surface Warfare Mission package, which is to say its 57mm and 30mm guns, successfully complete Phase 2 of developmental testing aboard USS Fort Worth [LCS 3] at Point Mugu, CA. You’d hope a ship worth half-a billion dollars would be able to defend itself from a motorboat while at sea. Now, what about the rest of its missions? Sources: USN, “LCS Surface Warfare Package Completes Live-Fire Test” | Defense Tech, “LCS Defends Against Swarm Boats in Live Fire Tests”.

FY 2013

GAO report highlights the shaky state of the mission modules; Mine module becoming an urgent need; DARPA’s TERN UAV.

MH-60S w. AQS-20 – out
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Sept 3/13: MCM. With over $50 billion in cuts coming, the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s ALT POM reportedly proposed to end LCS buys with the current contract, at just 24 ships. The Navy is pushing to buy at least 32.

On the other hand, OSD is reportedly insisting that the Navy place a top priority on fielding the mine countermeasures (MCM) module, in light of challenges around the Strait of Hormuz and elsewhere. One would think this would have been obvious years ago. Sources: Defenseworld, “U.S. To Limit Littoral Combat Ship Purchase”.

Aug 26/13: TERN. Initial DARPA awards for Phase 1 development of TERN UAVs (q.v. March 26/13), which would offer vertical or near-vertical takeoff, coupled with the weapon/ISR payload and endurance class of a Predator fixed-wing UAV. Proposals were due by May 10/13, and awards included:

  • AeroVironment in Monrovia, CA: $2.3 million. UAV innovator for over 20 years. Sierra Nevada Corporation will subcontract to AeroVironment for ship integration.

  • Carter Aviation in Wichita Falls, TX: $2.23 million. Their key design is a slowed-rotor compound helicopter that has solved several key technical issues faced by 1950s-era SR/C concepts, and can break the Mu-1 barrier.

  • Maritime Applied Physics Corp. (MAPC) in Baltimore, MD: $2.2 million. Their work in robotics has been focused on surface vehicles and control systems, so it will be interesting to see what they come up with.

  • Northrop Grumman Systems in San Diego, CA: $2.86 million. Manufacturer of the Bell 407-derived MQ-8C Fire Scout VTUAV.

While TERN is very promising in several areas, and the LCS-2 Independence Class are its focus ships, it can’t become part of a Mission Package until and unless the Navy or USMC adopts DARPA’s result as a program of record. Sources: FBO.gov | Aerovironment release, Nov 4/13 | Carter Aviation release, Sept 26/13 [PDF] | sUAS News, “AeroVironment joins DARPA program to develop long-range UAVs for launch from small ships”.

DARPA’s TERN

Aug 15/13: Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. in Bethpage, NY receives a $25.3 million contract modification to provide 3 (unspecified) mission modules, support containers, and engineering and production planning services for LCS mission packages. All funds are committed immediately.

Work will be performed in Huntsville, AL (48%); Portsmouth, VA (30%); Bethpage, NY (18%); Manchester, NH (2%); and Hollywood, MD (2%), and is expected to be complete by September 2015 (N00024-06-C-6311).

July 25/13: PLUS. Ocean environment data can be extremely relevant to missions like submarine hunting. The prototype PLUS (Persistent Littoral Undersea Surveillance) system creates an undersea network with 5 slow but silent University of Washington Sea Glider UUVs, and 6 faster and larger Kongsberg Marine Remus 600 UUVs. The Remuses act as deep sea sensors. The Sea Gliders dive underwater to collect data, then return to the surface to transmit that data to a collection and processing station; Iridium connections can call the data in to any location on the globe.

US Naval Sea Systems Command explain the system, and announce initial training and trials in Sea Glider’s UUV. Testing will continue until early 2015, when the Navy plans to deploy the system for overseas operations as a user operational evaluation. Depending on how things go, PLUS may become a go on to wider fielding.

It’s being fielded by PEO LCS, but the LCS hasn’t been picked as its platform yet. PLUS is designed to easily deploy from any ship with a winch and crane and sufficient storage capacity. They’re probably looking at at least 3 containers worth of space, which makes things a bit tight on an LCS, though the Independence Class’ large mission module space may make it a decent candidate. PLUS could also deploy on higher capacity ships like JHSVs or amphibious assault vessels. US NAVSEA.

Delays
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July 22/13: GAO Report. The US GAO releases GAO-13-530, “Significant Investments in the Littoral Combat Ship Continue Amid Substantial Unknowns about Capabilities, Use, and Cost”. The entire report is a long chronicle of the Littoral Combat Ship program’s history of falling short and unresolved issues, including a number of issues with the mission modules. GAO’s recommendation: slow buys to the very minimum until technical and testing issues are sorted out. Some unclassified issues were already noted in the 2013 Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs (q.v. March 28/13), but new information includes…

ASW: The new towed-array sonar, towed variable depth sonar, and towed torpedo countermeasures are mature technologies, but they’ll take a while to integrate into LCS, hence 2016. Outside observers beyond GAO have noted that waterjet propulsion systems are pretty noisy (q.v. May 5/13), and GAO agrees that towing sonars off of a much quieter research vessel during early testing may not be a useful guide to the challenges they’ll face aboard LCS. In addition:

“DOD Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation officials have raised concerns about the new ASW configuration’s deepwater escort capabilities, stating that LCS is not designed to be survivable enough to stay and defend the escorted ship if potential adversaries attack. Further, OPNAV officials told us that with this new configuration the LCS will still be able to conduct littoral ASW, but that the water depths in which the LCS could operate may be limited because of the depths required to support deploying the towed arrays.”

MCM: Specific components are dealt with in a dedicated article. Unfortunately:

“…the concept of employment for the MCM mission package currently does not include embarked explosive ordinance disposal teams that are used on the existing mine countermeasures fleet… they are investigating how to integrate this capability…. to not only [eliminate] mines, but… exploit found mines for intelligence value, and OPNAV has identified their absence as a capability gap.”

SUW: Griffin missiles have been deployed on Cyclone Class patrol boats, but they may never be deployed aboard LCS:

“The Navy assessed over 50 potential missile replacements for LCS, and in January 2011 selected the Griffin IIB missile as an interim solution based, in part, on it costing half of [NLOS-LS per missile]. The program now intends to purchase one unit with a total of eight Griffin IIB missiles, to be fielded in 2015, which leave other SUW module equipped ships with a limited ability to counter surface threats. However, Navy officials told us that they may reconsider this plan because of funding cuts related to sequestration. According to OPNAV, funding for Griffin development and testing has been suspended for the remainder of fiscal year 2013. OPNAV and the LCS program office, with LCS Council oversight, plan to investigate using a more cost-effective, government-owned, surface-to-surface missile system that would provide increased capability, including increased range. According to Navy program officials, the deployment of the Increment IV [Griffin successor] missile could also be delayed by over a year [i.e. to 2020] because funding reductions have delayed early engineering work and proposal development for the missile contract.”

General: In dangerous environments, LCS’ specialty function will only be available close to a deployed group. This has long been known, and was accepted in the original LCS vision, but it’s still a notable drawback compared to similarly-expensive ships:

“…since LCS has only a self-defense anti-air warfare capability, it will require protection from a cruiser or destroyer in more advanced anti-air warfare environments, which reduces the LCS’s ability to operate independently and occupies the time of more capable surface combatants that might be better employed elsewhere.”

June 28/13: Support. Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. in Bethpage, NY receives a $19.4 million contract modification provide ongoing mission LCS module engineering and production planning services. $5.9 million in FY 2013 RDT&E funding is committed immediately.

Work will be performed in Bethpage, NY (44%); Oxnard, CA (16%); Washington, D.C. (14%); Panama City, FL (10%); Dahlgren, VA (8%); San Diego, CA (4%); Hollywood, MD (2%); Andover, MA (1%); and Middletown, RI (1%); and is expected to be complete by June 2014. US Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington D.C. manages the contract (N00024-06-C-6311).

June 27/13: Kingfish MCM substitute. The US Navy announces that it has deployed MK18 MOD 2 Kingfish mine-detecting UUVs to the “5th Fleet Area of Responsibility” (read: Persian Gulf). The contractor-operated Kingfish isn’t part of AMCM, it’s an independent program based on the commercial REMUS 600, and it’s replacing the in-theater MK18 MOD 1 Swordfish that’s based on Kongsberg Marine’s smaller REMUS 100. The Kingfish’s Small Synthetic Aperture Sonar Module (SSAM) configuration provides wider sonar swath scan, higher resolution imagery, and buried target detection.

While it’s currently contractor-operated, the US Navy does intend to begin operating them in 2015. It probably could be loaded onto a Littoral Combat ship as an interim measure, ahead of the planned 2017 in-service date for Bluefin Robotics’ Knifefish SMCM UUV. US Navy.

May 2/13: New waterjets for LCS-1 class. LCS 5 Milwaukee will be the first Freedom Class ship to try out a set of 4 new waterjets. The technology was developed by Rolls-Royce Naval Marine in Walpole, MA, in collaboration with the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and the Naval Surface Warfare Center’s Carderock Division. The joint project under ONR’s Future Naval Capabilities program began in 2007, and the April delivery to Marinette Marine marked its successful completion. The waterjets will be made in the United States, with primary manufacturing at Rolls-Royce facilities in Walpole, MA and Pascagoula, MS.

The new 22MW Axial-Flow Waterjet Mk-1 can reportedly move nearly 500,00 gallons of seawater per minute, providing more thrust per unit than the current commercial waterjets. Researchers believe the smaller, more efficient waterjets will help the LCS avoid excessive maintenance costs and ship component damage associated with cavitation. On the other hand, Information Dissemination points out an issue:

“Here is the problem. Waterjets are incredibly loud, as in they can be so loud that a ship with waterjets is probably going to significantly reduce the effectiveness of a bow sonar…. there is no bow mounted sonar [on LCS] and waterjets is why there never will be…. ONR is going to deliver super waterjets, which may increase the speed of LCS a knot or two, who knows. Here is the problem though – waterjets are still loud like a rock concert, and one of the primary missions of the LCS is to hunt littoral submarines.

When will this program start being about mission and stop being about features?”

Sources: USN, “New Waterjets Could Propel LCS to Greater Speeds” | Rolls Royce, Feb 21/12 release. | Information Dissemination, “More Speed!”

March 28/13: GAO Report. The US GAO tables its “Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs“. Which is actually a review for 2012, plus time to compile and publish. The Navy owns 3 MCM (mine, 1st delivery Sept. 2007) and 4 SUW (“surface warfare”, 1st delivery July 2008) mission modules, and has completely re-started the ASW anti-submarine module. Several of the sub-systems in these modules are still experiencing performance problems, many components are still in development, and the Navy has yet to fully integrate these technologies and test them on board an LCS in a realistic environment. In October 2012, DOD delegated future decision authority to the Navy and requested an acquisition program baseline within 60 days – which was not delivered on schedule.

MCM: The Navy plans to accept 1 more in 2013, but it doesn’t meet requirements. The MH-60S helicopter can’t tow the AQS-20A sonar as planned, the WLD-1 USV has performance issues, the ALMDS laser system gets too many false positives from surface reflections, and the RAMICS gun and OASIS decoy are out. Nonetheless, the Navy describes recent MCM tests as “very successful” – a characterization that isn’t backed up by subsequent reports. The Navy plans to conduct developmental testing in FY 2014 and establish initial operational capability with 7 MCM modules in September 2014. Full operational capability isn’t expected until 2018, by which time the Navy is expected to have 21 LCS ships in service, and 28 ordered.

SUW: Does not meet requirements. At the moment it’s just the 57mm gun up front, a pair 30mm guns, a helicopter, and an 11m RHIB small boat for boarding teams. This is about what a coast guard cutter carries, and it still won’t reach initial operational capability before September 2014. Even the Griffin missile with its miniscule 3 nmi range isn’t expected before 2015, and a competition for a missile with a more serious tactical range isn’t expected before 2019.

ASW: Canceled and has been restarted. The Navy plans for initial delivery in 2016, and full operational capability in 2018. The design is stripped down, involving a ship-based variable-depth sonar, towed array, and towed torpedo decoy for defense.

March 26/13: TERN. DARPA issues its Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node RFP. DARPA wants a UAV that can take off and land from the LCS 2 Independence Class, LSD/LPD amphibious ships, JHSV ships, or even DDG-51 destroyers. It would carry a 600 pound ISR/strike payload on missions up to 900 nmi from the ship, and carry a maximum ISR/strike payload of 1,000 pounds. They’ll accept a threshold 500 pound/ 4kW ISR payload, with an operating radius of 600 nmi, which can operate only from the LCS 2 Independence Class.

Either set of specifications are challenging for a conventional helicopter, including Northrop Grumman’s MQ-8C Fire Scout full-size helicopter UAV. Small fixed wing designs like Boeing’s ScanEagle can be launched and recovered to the threshold distances from a conventional warship, but they aren’t big enough to carry much payload. That’s why this is a DARPA project, rather than an off-the-shelf buy. While TERN could fill some useful niches for the ASW, MCM, and SuW modules, it can’t become part of a Mission Package until the Navy or USMC adopts DARPA’s result as a program of record.

Phase I will include concept definition activities (technical feasibility, low-cost demonstration system design, technical plan), with $9 million invested over 4 contenders (it actually totaled $9.6 million, vid. Sept 3-6/13). If TERN is seen as having enough potential, a single design will be picked, with up to $42 million for Phase II/III development, and a planned flight demonstration in summer 2016. Phase II will be a technology maturation phase that will include system preliminary design and risk reduction demonstrations, and Phase III will demonstrate the prototype. DARPA, TERN page | FBO.gov solicitation #DARPA-BAA-13-28.

March 18/13: IOC delays. Jane’s quotes director of navy staff Vice-Admiral Richard Hunt, who says that the Continuing Resolutions have “delayed us probably a year for IOC [initial operational capability] for a couple of those different modules…” The Mine Counter-Measures package is most affected, which makes sense because it has many components that are still in advanced development. The Anti-Submarine Warfare package is least affected, which again is not surprising as there isn’t much there to suffer from funding delays. Sources: IHS Jane’s, “US fiscal challenges delaying LCS mission modules, official says”.

March 15/13: Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. in Bethpage, NY receives a $28.6 million contract modification to provide engineering and production planning services for LCS mission packages. To date, those efforts haven’t gone very well, with many technologies failed out and no truly ready sets over 7 years after development began.

Work will be performed in Portsmouth, VA (32%); Huntsville, AL (25%); Bethpage, NY (21%); Manchester, NH (11%); Silver Creek, NY (10%); Hollywood, MD (1%), and is expected to be completed by September 2014. All monies are committed immediately, using FY 2012 Navy Operations & Maintenance funding (N00024-06-C-6311).

Jan 17/13: DOT&E Testing Report. The Pentagon releases the FY 2012 Annual Report from its Office of the Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E). The LCS mission modules still have a lot of issues. There isn’t anything left to test any more in the ASW anti-submarine module, for instance, so DOT&E didn’t report on it while the Navy considers a re-start.

Mine Warfare: Begin with the MH-60S helicopter, which isn’t powerful enough to safely tow the AQS-20A sonar or OASIS decoy under all of the required conditions. Both are being removed from AMCM, and OASIS is removed from the MIW module. This would seem to be the epitome of a forseeable/ easily testable problem, but it’s being “discovered” 7 years after development began. Why?

The AQS-20A will now depend on the WLD-1 RMMV snorkeling USV, which is trying to correct its reliability and performance issues by 2015. RMMV v4.1 is showing some improvements in limited testing, but the ships themselves need to make changes to launch and recover it while underway. The AQS-20A sonar has its own problems with contact depth calculations in all modes, and with false contacts in 2 of 3 search modes. The Navy hopes to find AQS-20 engineering fixes. Meanwhile, in order to reduce those errors, the Navy will have to slow its scan methods and reduce the area covered.

The AES-1 ALMDS laser mine-detection system doesn’t meet Navy requirements for False Classification Density or reliability, and the DOT&E expects to issue a formal test report in Q2 FY2013. The Navy hopes to find engineering fixes. Meanwhile, in order to reduce those errors, the Navy will have to slow its scan methods and reduce the area covered. Some reports suggest that ALMDS will be cut entirely, but the raft of other MCM system casualties may force the Navy to keep it.

Surface Warfare: Still useless against anything but a lightly-armed motorboat, but that’s beyond GAO’s purview. What they do say is that the Navy hasn’t not finalized any tactical idea of how the ships will be used with the SUW mission module. Even within this limited set, the MK46 “30 mm guns and associated combat system exhibit reliability problems,” and the Freedom Class has performance deficiencies with its COMBATSS-21 combat system and TRS-3D radar that affect tracking and engagement of contacts.

Dec 28/12: RMS. Lockheed Martin in Riviera Beach, FL receives a $12.2 million cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order to perform Remote Minehunting System/WLD-1 USV maintenance, testing and integration with the with Littoral Combat Ship. The WLD-1 is currently working on improving its reliability and performance, after falling short in these areas.

Work will be performed in Palm Beach, FL (87%), and Syracuse, NY (13%), and is expected to be complete by May 2013. $5.3 million is committed immediately, and $295,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/13. US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC manages the contract (N00024-10-G-6306).

Dec 20/12: AMNS. Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems in Portsmouth, RI receives a $7.9 million contract modification, covering AMNS’ Critical Design Review.

Work will be performed in Portsmouth, RI, and is expected to be complete by July 2013. All contract funds are committed immediately, and $4.7 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/13. US NAVSEA in Washington DC in is the contracting activity (N00024-10-C-6307).

FY 2011 – 2012

NLOS-LS missile cancelled; Griffin very short range strike missile for SUW instead?; SMCM Bluefin-21 UUV for mines; UISS from USV for mines; RAMICS in trouble.

Knifefish
(click to view full)

Feb 15/12: Support. Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. in Bethpage, NY receives an $18.7 million contract modification to provide LCS Mission Module engineering and production planning services. “Mission package capabilities are currently focused on primary mission areas of mine warfare emphasizing mine countermeasures, littoral anti-submarine warfare, and littoral surface warfare operations, including prosecution of small boats.”

Work will be performed in Bethpage, NY (45%); Washington, DC (20%); Panama City, FL (20%); Ventura County, CA (10%); and Dahlgren, VA (5%), and is expected to be completed by December 2012. US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC manages the contract.

Feb 10/12: Armed USVs. US Navy expeditionary warfare division branch chief Capt. Evin Thompson says that they are looking to arm their MUSCL (Modular Unmanned Surface Craft Littoral) USV unmanned boats with RAFAEL’s Spike anti-tank missile. Navy officials initially tested the weapon’s performance during the Trident Warrior exercise, aboard a USV originally designed as part of the LCS anti-submarine warfare package.

RAFAEL’s Spike packs roughly equivalent range and punch to the LCS’ Griffin missiles, with some variants having longer reach. MUSCL does look a bit light for it, but could certainly carry DRS/NAWCAD’s Spike missile. At this point, despite the involvement of the LCS PEO, there are no plans to deploy a USV/missile combination on LCS. AOL Defense.

Dec 19/11: MIW – WLD-1. Lockheed Martin announces the end of the 1st of 3 planned development and testing cycles, involving 500 hours of reliability testing on the U.S. Navy’s WLD-1 RMMV. These efforts are aimed at improving the Remote Minehunting System’s reliability and operational availability, which have been a serious problem for the sonar-towing snorkeling USV. A recent $52.7 million contract will continue the program to improve its reliability until 2013. Read “LCS & MH-60S Mine Counter-Measures Continue Development” for more.

Nov 7/11: Griffin replacement? Inside the Navy reports [subscription] that the Griffin missile will be part of LCS’ initial surface warfare module, but a competition will begin in 2012, and:

“The program executive office for the Littoral Combat Ship has already identified capabilities that could replace the Griffin missile…”

IAI’s Jumper (vid. May 16/11 entry) comes to mind, and there appear to be others.

Sept 30/11: SMCM UUV. General Dynamics AIS in McLeansville, NC wins a $48.6 million contract with cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee, and firm-fixed-price line items for the engineering, manufacturing and development of the Surface Mine Countermeasure Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (SMCM UUV, aka. “Knifefish”).

This will be a new part of the Littoral Combat Ship’s Mine Counter-Measures package, and includes 2 of Bluefin Robotics’ large Bluefin-21 UUVs, launch and recovery equipment, a support container, spare parts and support equipment, and an advanced sonar payload developed by GD-AIS. Read “LCS & MH-60S Mine Counter-Measures Continue Development” for more.

Aug 25/11: A not-to-exceed $161 million contract modification to previously awarded contract for MK15 Mod 31 SeaRAM missile systems to equip the Independence Class ships LCS 6 Jackson and LCS 8 Montgomery, and Japan’s “DDH 2405 helicopter destroyer”; as well as Phalanx CIWS Block 1B class “A” overhauls, and land-based Phalanx Weapon System class “A” overhauls. See the linked article for further details.

Aug 1/11: RAM. A $7.4 million contract modification for 3 refurbished and upgraded RAM MK 49 Mod 3 Guided Missile Launch Systems with associated hardware, for use on LHA 7 (unnamed, America Class escort carrier, 2 systems) and LCS 5 Milwaukee (Freedom Class Littoral Combat Ship, 1 system).

Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ, and is expected to be complete by March 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year (N00024-11-C-5448). Note that the structure of RAM contracts may not announce all systems, or connect all systems to a specific ship.

July 21/11: MIW – UISS. The US Navy announces the successful completion of shore-based and at-sea integrated system tests on the prototype Unmanned Influence Sweep System (UISS) USV and payload in Panama City, FL. UISS is designed for the LCS as part of the mine countermeasures mission package, supplementing the helicopter-based AMCM system. The system consists of an unmanned surface craft that carries and tows the combined acoustic and magnetic minesweeping payload.

The Phase 1 Sweep Operational Checkout was very basic, testing that UISS can be deployed and retrieved from Textron’s s Common Unmanned Surface Vessel (CUSV), and that it tows the acoustic and magnetic Sweep Power Subsystem properly. The first phase of testing was completed on July 1/11; Phase II is currently ongoing, and the summer test program will include a full signature test and full mission profile that demonstrate minesweeping capability. US Navy | Textron Systems.

May 16/11: SUW. An Israeli answer for LCS missiles? Israel Aerospace Industries’ MLM Division announces that they’ll present a new maritime application for their Jumper missiles-in-a-box system at IMDEX Asia 2011, the Singapore International Maritime Defense Exhibition and Conference. Like Raytheon’s cancelled NLOS-LS, the Jumper missiles are launched from an 8-round Vertical Launcher Hive (VLH) mounted on a ship’s deck, a truck, or on the ground. The missiles then use GPS/INS and optional Laser guidance to hit targets at ranges of up to 50 km/ 30 miles, using fragmentation or penetration warheads.

Jumper had been showcased beginning in 2009, but as a land weapon. Its naval capability and good range is likely to draw interest from several quarters, but to play on the LCS, IAI would have to offer a lower-cost solution than Raytheon’s NLOS-LS PAM. IAI release | UPI | IAI’s Jumper page.

May 12/11: SUW – Griffin. Inside the Navy reports:

“The Navy may not have settled on the Griffin missile to replace the canceled Non-Line-Of-Sight missile on the Littoral Combat Ship, despite the service’s announcement in January that it planned to use the missile for both a short-term and long-term solution to the capability gap, officials told Inside the Navy last week…”

May 2/11: Alion Science and Technology announces a 3-year, $4.6 million contract from the US Naval Air Warfare Center Training System Division, to develop a PC-based training system for LCS-2 Independence Class Readiness Control Officers.

Alion will be developing the system based on its LCS-1 Freedom Class LCS RCO solution, but a number of changes are necessary because it’s a different ship design. It is intended that the LCS-2 RCO will ultimately integrate with the LCS Shore Based Training Facility in San Diego, CA.

April 13/11: Mk-110. BAE Systems announces a contract from Austal to supply various communications systems and its 57mm Mk 110 gun system, for use in the Independence Class as orders come in.

General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems has had BAE Systems as a major partner for LCS communications systems since 2004. The Mk110 gun is used in both LCS classes, along with its accompanying Mk 295 pre-fragmented, 6-mode programmable, and proximity-fused (3P) ammunition that makes it useful against aerial or surface targets. A corresponding January 2011 contract covered gun systems for Lockheed Martin’s Freedom Class.

Feb 14/11: Sub-contractors. Northrop Grumman will assemble LCS mission packages at Naval Base Ventura County, Port Hueneme, CA. The mission module supplier team will comprise:

  • Earl Industries in Portsmouth, VA (ISO TEU 20′ containers; Electrical systems)
  • Excelco in Silver Creek, NY (WLD-1 RMMV capture spine)
  • Granite State in Manchester, NH (RMMV cradles)
  • Smith Brothers in Shelby Township, MI (Maintenance stand assemblies mission module hardware)
  • Teledyne Brown, Huntsville, AL (gun mission modules).

The end items from each of those companies will be shipped to Port Hueneme, where a Northrop Grumman-Navy team will complete the assembly of each package.

Jan 24/11: MIW – RAMICS. Gannett’s Navy Times reports that the RAMICS supercavitating 30mm cannon for killing shallow mines may be next on the chopping block, after performing poorly in testing. It would be replaced by the AMNS system, which would do double duty against both shallow and deep water mines using Archerfish towed kill vehicles, packing 4 shaped charges each.

The tradeoff would be one of greater performance certainty, cost certainty, timely delivery, and commonalty with AMNS; vs. the ability to engage more shallow water mines in far less time by using a RAMICS system that worked.

Jan 11/11: SUW – Griffin. Media report that the U.S. Navy is moving towards selecting Raytheon’s Griffin missile as the replacement for the cancelled NLOS-LS, instead of taking over that program’s development now that the Army has pulled out. USN surface warfare division director Rear Adm. Frank Pandolfe told a Surface Navy Association convention audience in Arlington, VA that a 6-month review had settled on this Raytheon product, as something that can hit targets at “acceptable” ranges and cost.

That recommendation must be endorsed by the Navy before anything comes of this; if they do, the service would field the existing very short range Griffin by 2015, and try to develop a longer range version later. See “Raytheon’s Griffin Mini-Missiles” for in-depth coverage.

Jan 7/11: Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. in Bethpage, NY receives a an $18.3 million contract modification to provide engineering and production planning services for LCS mission modules.

Work will be performed in Bethpage, NY (47%); Washington, DC (26%); Panama City, FL (20%); Ventura, CA (6%); and Dahlgren, VA (1%), and is expected to be complete by September 2011. $1,51 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/11 (N00024-06-C-6311).

Jan 6/11: NLOS-LS canceled. As part of a plan detailing $150 billion in service cuts and cost savings over the next 5 years, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announces the proposed cancellation of NLOS-LS, among many other programs. The Army had pulled out by the point, and the Navy considered picking up the program, but apparently decided against it. Full Gates speech and Gates/Mullen Q&A transcript | Pentagon release.

NLOS-LS canceled

FY 2009 – 2010

GAO mission modules report not positive; NLOS-LS missiles have test problems; WLD-1 snorkeling USV out of ASW; Variable-Depth Sonar for ASW.

MK46 naval

Sept 28/10: Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. in Bethpage, NY receives a $28.8 million contract modification to provide engineering and production planning services for LCS mission modules. Work will be performed in Huntsville, AL (56%), and Bethpage, NY (44%), and is expected to be complete by September 2012 (N00024-06-C-6311).

Aug 31/10: GAO Report. US GAO report #GAO-10-523 on the LCS program sees problems. “Defense Acquisitions: Navy’s Ability to Overcome Challenges Facing the Littoral Combat Ship Will Determine Eventual Capabilities.” Key excerpts:

“Navy analysis of anti-submarine warfare systems has shown the planned systems do not contribute significantly to the anti-submarine warfare mission… Mission package delays have also disrupted program test schedules – a situation exacerbated by early deployments of initial ships… Further, the Navy has determined that an additional capability will be incorporated into future anti-submarine warfare mission packages. The existing anti-submarine warfare mission package procurement is temporarily suspended, and performance will be assessed during at-sea testing in 2010… To date, most LCS mission systems have not demonstrated the ability to provide required capabilities.”

With respect to USS Freedom’s [LCS 1] Surface Warfare module tests:

“The surface warfare mission package onboard LCS 1 has yet to be fully integrated with the seaframe and lacks key capabilities necessary to defeat surface threats. For example, the 30-millimeter guns have undergone testing with the LCS 1 seaframe, but have yet to be fully integrated with the ship’s combat suite. Also, while the guns provide a close range self-defense capability, Navy officials report LCS 1 is currently unable to automatically transfer tracking data from the ship’s radar to the 30-millimeter guns.”

Current plans involve just 8 partially-capable mission modules delivered by the end of FY 2012, instead of the 2007 plan of 11 partial and 5 fully-capable mission modules. As of August 2010, 5 partially-capable packages have been delivered: 2 Mine Warfare (MIW), 2 Surface Warfare (SuW), and one anti-submarine (ASW). The planned changes by end FY 2012 break down as follows:

MIW: From 3 partial and 1 full capability by FY 2012 to 3 partial.
SuW: From 6 partial and 3 full capability by FY 2012 to 4 partial.
ASW: From 2 planned and 1 full capability by FY 2012 to 1 partial.

One of the rationales behind the LCS mission module approach was precisely this decoupling of onboard payload development with ship fielding and development, so delays in one don’t create delays in the other. At the same time, the Navy now plans to purchase 17 ships and 13 mission packages between FY 2011 – 2015, which would leave the Navy with whose payloads and effectiveness are unproven.

Aug 5/10: SUW – Mk.46. The first MK-46 30mm gun module is installed aboard USS Independence [LCS 2]. US Navy PEO-LMW.

July 2/10: ASW – towed sonar. DRS Sonar Systems, LLC in Gaithersburg, MD received a $9.7 million firm-fixed-price contract to develop a high search rate variable depth sonar (VDS) for installation on the littoral combat ship. This contract includes options which would bring its cumulative value to $12.7 million.

The VDS will include a rugged specialized handling system with an articulating arm and capture mechanism, that can handle a towed body the size and weight of a small car. The towed active subsystem consists of a hydro-dynamically stable tow body, a tow cable, handling and stowage equipment, and acoustic transmit assemblies. The sonar must be able to survive high sea states, work in deep water while being towed at flank speed, and possess enough power to detect submerged submarines.

Work will be performed in Gaithersburg, MD (10%); Panama City, FL (20%); and Stockport, UK (70%), and is expected to be complete by September 2011. This contract was competitively procured, with 3 offers received by the US Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division in Newport, RI (N66604-10-C-0675).

June 2/10: Mk.46. General Dynamics Land Systems, Inc. in Woodbridge, VA receives a $22.3 million firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed fee contract for the MK46 MOD 2 gun weapon systems (GWS) and associated hardware, spares and services.

There are several Mk46s in the US Navy, but this one is a 30mm enclosed turret packing a Mk44 Bushmaster chain gun and advanced sights. It equips the US Marines’ Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (Mk46, MOD 0), LPD-17 San Antonio Class amphibious ships, and the Littoral Combat Ship surface warfare package. This contract covers both naval platforms, where the turret is operated from a console inside the ship.

Work will be performed in Woodbridge, VA (69%); Tallahassee, FL (12%); Lima, OH (12%); Westminster, MD (4%); Scranton, PA (2%); and Sterling Heights, MI (1%). Work is expected to be complete by May 2013. $812,412 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/10. This contract was not competitively procured by US Naval Sea Systems Command, in Washington, DC (N00024-10-C-5438).

April 2/10: Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation in Bethpage, NY received a $17.1 million modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-06-C-6311) to provide engineering and production planning services for LCS mission packages and “improve mission capability in identified mission areas.”

Work will be performed in Bethpage, NY (47%); Washington, DC (26%); Panama City, FL (12%); Hollywood, MD (12%); San Diego, CA (2%); and Dahlgren, VA (1%), and is expected to be complete by March 2011. Contract funds in the amount of $1.7 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

April 1/10: ASW – WLD-1 out. The Pentagon releases its April 2010 Selected Acquisitions Report, covering major program changes up to December 2009. One of the changes is to the Remote Minehunting System (WLD-1) in the Mine Warfare suite:

“The PAUC (Program Acquisition Unit Cost) increased 79.5% and the APUC(Average Procurement Unit Cost, no R&D) increased 54.6% to the current and original [baselines] as a result of a reduction in production quantities, the use of an incorrect average unit cost as a basis of estimate in the 2006 program baseline calculation, and an increase in development costs needed to address reliability issues. The Navy re-evaluated the capabilities of the Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Mission Package for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) and decided to eliminate the Remote Multi-Mission Vehicle (RMMV) from the ASW Mission Package. This decision reduced the total number of RMMV production units from the program baseline quantity of 108 to the current quantity of 54. The increase in development costs was needed to address reliability problems, which arose during an operational assessment in 2008.”

This level of overage is a critical breach, a.k.a. Nunn-McCurdy breach for the legislation that forces the Pentagon to certify the program’s fitness to continue, and provides for potential Congressional involvement.

WLD-1 RMMV out of ASW

March 30/10: GAO update. The US GAO issues report #GAO-10-388SP, its 2010 Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs. Regarding the LCS’ mission packages, the mine countermeasures package is either yet to be tested in a realistic environment (Surface USV, OASIS towed emitter, RAMICS cannon), or cannot meet system requirements (Airborne Laser Mine Detection System, WLD-1 Remote Minehunting System USV). With respect to other modules:

“The Navy has accepted delivery of partially capable Mine Countermeasures (MCM), Surface Warfare (SUW), and Antisubmarine Warfare (ASW) mission packages. Overall, operation of the MCM, SUW, and ASW packages requires a total of 22 critical technologies, including 11 sensors, 6 vehicles, and 5 weapons.

…The Navy accepted delivery of one partially capable SUW(SUrface Warfare) mission package in July 2008. This package included two engineering development models for the 30 mm gun, but did not include the Non-Line-of- Sight Launch System (NLOS-LS) launcher or missiles. Integration of the gun with LCS 1 was completed in January 2009… The program expects delivery of the second SUW mission package in March 2010. It will include the 30 mm gun module and the NLOS-LS launcher, but no missiles.

The Navy accepted delivery of one partially capable ASW mission package in September 2008, but plans to reconfigure the content of future packages… recent warfighting analyses showed that the baseline ASW package did not provide sufficient capability to meet the range of threats… The first package underwent end-to-end testing in April 2009 and will undergo developmental testing in fiscal year 2010. During the 2009 end-to-end test, the Navy found that the USV and its associated sensors will require reliability and interface improvements to support sustained undersea warfare.”

See also DefenseTech re: NLOS-LS issue.

Feb 26/10: SUW glitch. The NLOS-LS PAM missile Limited User Test (LUT) run from Jan 26/10 – Feb 5/10 at White Sands Missile Range, NM has 2 direct hits, 2 misses with causes known and corrected, and 2 misses still under investigation. That reportedly makes 23 PAM missiles fired with 14 direct hits so far, though not all firings were designed to hit a target. A Pentagon Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) meeting in March 2010 is expected to discuss this issue, and determine a way forward.

If the missiles cannot be made to work as advertised, the Littoral Combat Ship’s existing problems with poor armament would become far more severe. Since it lacks a built-in Vertical Launch System, such as the Mk.41 VLS with ExLS adapters for NETFIRES missiles, substituting other missiles for the NETFIRES launcher package would require ship redesign and modifications. Aviaiton Week Ares | Defense News | Defense Tech.

Jan 25/10: ASW – VDS. FBO solicitation #N6660410R0675 for a variable-depth towed sonar to equip the LCS:

“The Naval Undersea Warfare Center Newport has a requirement to develop and field a high search rate tactical Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) capability in the form of a Variable Depth Sonar (VDS) for installation on the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). A major component of the VDS System is the Towed Active Subsystem (TAS) consisting of a hydro-dynamically stable tow body, tow cable, handling and stowage equipment and acoustic transmit assemblies. The TAS shall be an existing product that is modified to meet the LCS integration and installation constraints identified in the performance specifications. The objective of this procurement is to fabricate, install, test and support the TAS and its integration with the VDS system.”

Feb 9/09: Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. in Bethpage, NY received a $16.6 million modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-06-C-6311). They will continue to provide integration services for the ships’ mission module packages.

Work will be performed in Bethpage, NY (47%), Washington, DC (26%), Panama City, FL (12%), Hollywood, MD (12%), San Diego, CA (2%), and Dahlgren, VA (1%) and is expected to be complete by September 2009. Contract funds in the amount of $3.3 million will expire on Sept 30/09.

FY 2007 – 2008

Mine Warfare has size/personnel issues; ASW module rolled out; SUW module gets go-ahead; Common Launch & Recovery system; GD’s Open Data Model; RMMV WLD-1 contract; ASW USV contract.

NETFIRES Concept

Sept 19/08: ASW rollout. The Navy rolls out its new Anti-Submarine Warfare mission module package in a ceremony at Naval Base Point Loma Naval Mine & ASW Command Complex in San Diego, CA. The module would eventually be junked, and completely rethought. US Navy release.

Aug 13/08: Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., in Bethpage, NY receives a $16.1 million modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-06-C-6311). This continues funding for mission module integration services, using a spiral development approach of rapid, incremental improvements.

Work will be performed in Bethpage, NY (32%); Washington, DC (26%); Panama City, FL (15%); Hollywood, MD (15%); San Diego, CA (5%); Dahlgren, VA (5%); and Newport, RI (2%), and is expected to be complete by September 2009.

Aug 10/08: Northrop Grumman Corporation announces that the NGC/US Navy team has completed the successful installation of the Mission Package computing environment into LCS-1 Freedom in June 2008. Northrop Grumman employees installed and tested the computing environment itself, which comprises 4 racks of processing hardware and the classified and operational software that runs the package. A system check indicated that the computing environment was operating properly, and that communication with the ship’s infrastructure was complete.

Each mission package needs only 15 personnel, plus 23 aviation detachment personnel for the helicopters.

July 21/08: Launch & Recovery. General Dynamics Robotic Systems announces a contract from the USA’s Office of Naval Research (ONR) to develop the LCS’ Common Launch and Recovery System (CLRS) for unmanned boats and other watercraft. The firm is already designing and building the 11m USV that is slated for use as part of the ships’ anti-submarine mission module.

Oct 22/07: Testing. Defense News reports that Lockheed Martin is testing the LCS-1 Independence’s ability to load containerized mission modules and other equipment into the mission bay area. On Oct 10/07, their Moorestown, NJ facility ran a successful test of their COMBATSS-21 combat system’s ability to load the mine warfare mission package software. NAVSEA is continuing work on software for the other 2 initial mission packages: anti-submarine, and anti-surface warfare.

The article also covers Israel’s ongoing interest in the Lockheed Martin LCS design. See “An LCS For Israel?” for more details regarding that spin-off program.

Oct 12/07: MIW – issues. The US GAO audit office has some news re: the mine warfare module, the LCS’ first mission module. It seems some changes will be required:

“…For example, operation of mine countermeasures systems is currently expected to exceed the personnel allowances of the [Littoral Combat] ship, which could affect the ship’s ability to execute this mission. In addition, the Littoral Combat Ship will have only limited capability to conduct corrective maintenance aboard. However, because the Navy recently reduced the numbers of certain mission systems from two to one per ship, operational availability for these systems may decrease below current projections. Moreover, the mine countermeasures mission package currently exceeds its weight limitation, which may require the Navy to accept a reduction in speed and endurance capabilities planned for the Littoral Combat Ship. It is important that the Navy assess these uncertainties and determine whether it can produce the needed mine countermeasures capabilities from the assets it is likely to have and the concepts of operation it can likely execute.”

Sept 26/07: Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. in Bethpage, N.Y. receives a $15.4 million cost-plus-award-fee modification under previously awarded contract (N00024-06-C-6311) to exercise an option to provide integration services for mission packages that will deploy from and integrate with the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). This modification supports the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Mission Module Program Office (PMS 420), Program Executive Office, Littoral and Mine Warfare.

Work will be performed in Washington, DC (43%); Bethpage, NY (32%); Panama City, FL (19%); Hollywood, MD (2%); San Diego, CA (2%); and Dahlgren, VA (2%), and is expected to be complete by September 2008. Contract funds in the amount of $113,338, will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

Sept 25/07: SUW Go-ahead. The Navy announces that it is moving forward with development of the LCS Surface Warfare (SUW) Mission Package, which it describes as “designed to combat small, fast boat terrorist threats to the fleet.” The announcement lists the components as:

“…electro-optical/infrared sensors mounted on a vertical take off unmanned air vehicle to provide over-the-horizon detection; 30mm guns to kill close-in targets; four [4] non-line-of-sight launching system (NLOS-LS/ “NetFires”/ “missile in a box”) container launch units, with each system containing 15 offensive missiles; and the MH-60R armed helicopter for surveillance and attack missions. The SUW mission package has software that interfaces with the LCS command and control system to maintain and share situational awareness and tactical control in a coordinated SUW environment… The first two SUW mission packages assembled for developmental and operational testing use the Mark 46 30mm gun made by General Dynamics Amphibious Systems.”

The Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren division is the technical direction agent for the SUW mission package, with NSWC Port Hueneme division providing integrated logistics and testing support. NAVSEA release.

SUW OKed

April 2/07: MK-110. BAE Systems in Minneapolis, MN announces its second contract from General Dynamics to supply a 57-mm Mk 110 naval gun system as the main gun fitted to the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship [LCS 4]. The contract is worth $7.2 million, and includes options such as spare parts and training. The gun is scheduled to be delivered in 2008.

The gun’s Mk 295 ammunition allows the system to perform against aerial, surface or ground threats, with a firing rate of up to 220 rounds/minute. The Mk 110 is designed to have minimal deck penetration, and can be operated directly or by remote control. BAE Systems has now received 3 contracts from the LCS program contenders, for a total of 4 gun systems. Note that the structure of MK.110 contracts may not announce all systems, or connect all systems to a specific ship.

Jan 5/07: GD’s Open Data Model. General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems has delivered the Littoral Combat Ship Open Data Model to the U.S. Navy for inclusion in the Software Hardware Asset Reuse Enterprise (SHARE) repository, with unrestricted rights for re-use by any other Navy program.

The Open Data Model is a critical open architecture component of the General Dynamics LCS computing environment. By using the Open Data Model, any company’s products can be integrated into the General Dynamics LCS quickly and efficiently, creating ease of integration and upgrade, as well as a continuous competitive environment that improves capabilities, lowers costs, and avoids platform lock-ins.

With this delivery, the SHARE repository now provides a vehicle for any company interested in bringing their technology to the General Dynamics LCS to gain access to the Open Data Model. In addition, the Open Data Model is now available as the basis of a published open architecture solution for any other Navy programs looking to reap the benefits afforded by open architecture, advancing the Navy’s growing focus on open architecture ship systems. EE Times report.

Oct 20/06: MIW – WLD-1. Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems and Sensors (MS2) Electronics Park in Syracuse, NY received a $13.2 million cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price modification under previously awarded contract (N00024-05-C-6327) for in the development, demonstration and integration of the Remote Mine-hunting Vehicle (RMV) with the anti-submarine warfare systems mission module, and for production of 4 installation and checkout kits with supporting equipment for 4 RMV units. This module will is part of the Littoral Combat Ship ASW mission package, and the RMVs will be incorporated into the DDG 91-96 and LCS Class ships.

The RMV is also known as the WLD-1, a UUV that works with the AQS-20A towed array sonar to scan ahead for mines; with slight adjustments, the system can perform active anti-submarine scans as well. Work will be performed in Syracuse, NY (80%) and Riviera Beach, FL (20%), and is expected to be complete by January 2008. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington in Washington, DC issued the contract.

Oct 19/06: ASW – USVs. a $12.7 million contract for 4 Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs), for the Littoral Combat Ship’s Anti-Submarine Warfare Mission Module. General Dynamics Robotic Systems will develop them. This contract follows a similar May 1/05 contract for up to 4 USVs; see below for further details, or just flip to DID’s dedicated coverage – and some of GDRS’ competitors in the USV field.

Oct 13/06: Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation in Bethpage, NY receives a $15.5 million cost-plus-award-fee modification under previously awarded contract (N00024-06-C-6311) to exercise an option to provide integration services for mission packages that will deploy from and integrate with the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). The US Navy’s plan is to use spiral development to improve mission capability on an ongoing basis, which is much easier since LCS mission packages can be developed and acquired separately from the ship itself. Work will be performed in Washington, DC (43%); Bethpage, NY (32%); Panama City, FL (19%); Hollywood, MD (2%); San Diego, CA (2%); and Dahlgren, VA (2%), and is expected to be complete by January 2008. See also DID’s Jan 5/06 entry.

FY 2006 and Earlier

Mission Modules integrator picked; Israel investigates integration issues; NLOS-LS missile integration contract; RMMV WLD-1 contract; ASW USV contract; Sea Talon towed array/active source.

(click to view full)

Aug 25/06: SUW – NETFIRES. Netfires LLC of Grand Prairie, TX received a cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for $54.8 million as part of an estimated $1.15 billion contract to procure the NLOS-LS Naval Littoral Combat Ship Integration, System Development and Demonstration. Work will be conducted in Tucson, AZ and Baltimore, MD, and will be complete by Aug. 31, 2010. The U.S. Army Aviation & Missile Command issued the contract (W31P4Q-04-C-0059). See also Raytheon’s Aug 29/06 release.

Aug 22/06: Engines. Rolls Royce announces that its MT30 gas turbines will power LCS 3, the second Lockheed Martin-designed Littoral Combat Ship. The order also includes 4 of its Kamewa waterjet systems. These systems were also installed in Team Lockheed’s LCS 1 Freedom, so the only surprise would have been a change.

July 31/06: MIW – WLD-1. Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems and Sensors Electronics Park in Syracuse, NY receives $23.4 million as part of the remote minehunting system (RMS) program (N00024-05-C-6237) to service 3 WLD-1 remote minehunting vehicle (RMV) UUVs. As noted above, the WLD-1 is s snorkeling USV that works with the AQS-20A towed array sonar to scan ahead for mines.

The RMVs will be incorporated into the DDG 91 through DDG 96 Arleigh Burke Class destroyers, as well as the LCS.

April 10/06: Israel. Lockheed Martin announces a $5.2 million NAVSEA study studied Team Lockheed’s LCS hull, mechanical, and engineering systems’ ability to accommodate the systems and weapons the Israelis want, while avoiding the need for major redesign of the USA’s basic configuration.

The final answer was that it could, with some obvious modifications to accommodate better radars and vertical launch systems for missiles. See “A Littoral Combat Frigate For Israel?” for more.

April 4/06: SeaRAM for Independence. Raytheon announces that it will install the SeaRAM anti-ship missile defense weapon systemon General Dynamics’ trimaran design for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). SeaRAM combines upgraded Phalanx Block 1B close in weapon system radar & infrared sensors and the Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) Block 1A Helicopter, Aircraft, and Surface (HAS) guided missiles. Raytheon will work with General Dynamics to integrate SeaRAM with the LCS combat management system.

Note that the structure of RAM contracts may not announce all systems, or connect all systems to a specific ship. Sources: Raytheon.

April 2006: ASW – Sea Talon. The Navy’s Sea Talon Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) system successfully completes a series of testing milestones offshore from Lockheed Martin’s Riviera Beach, Fla., facility.

Sea Talon is part of the LCS the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) mission module. Using 2 Remote Minehunting Vehicle (RMV) semi-submersibles developed under the AN/WLD-1 Program, Sea Talon creates an unmanned, distributed, underwater sensor network that uses unmanned vehicles for sensor deployment and sensor data communications. For Sea Talon, the RMVs are being fitted with the Remote Towed Active Source (RTAS) and the Remote Towed Array (RTA). Once fitted with these sensors, Sea Talon rapidly detects, tracks, classifies and localizes quiet diesel submarines in littoral waters, while conducting above-water persistent situational awareness and transmitting real-time data to U.S. Navy ships.

Sea Talon involves no new major technology development, but leverages already developed technologies from the AN/WLD-1 Remote Minehunting System, the AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 surface sonar program, towed array sonar development, and common software baselines. The April tests demonstrated that the RTA and RTAS could be towed at multiple depths, and that the RMV’s stability was not affected during the towing of the active source and passive source receiver at various speeds and depths. July 15/06 PEO-LLMW release.

Jan 5/06: Mission modules integrator: NGC. Northrop-Grumman Systems Corp. in Bethpage, NY is awarded a 10-year, cost-plus award-fee/ award-term contract serve as mission package integrator for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Mission Modules program. The contract has a potential dollar figure of $159 million, and the FY 2006 portion of the contract award is $4.5 million.

NGC is the integrator

July 6/05: COMBATSS-21, Flight 0. Lockheed Martin announces that they’ve completed their COMBATSS-21 combat management system’s software. COMBATSS-21 supports the FORCEnet initiative within the USA’s Seapower 21 doctrine, and uses an open architecture system that reuses proven components from Lockheed Martin, the US Navy, domestic industry and international industry. By leveraging off-the-shelf components, Lockheed Martin claims to have achieved greater than 95% software reuse, completing the Flight 0 COMBATSS-21 software well ahead of ship installation and below budget.

Lockheed Martin says they will continually evaluate new components for COMBATSS-21, which they’ll use for the Navy’s LCS, DD (X) Destroyer program, the Coast Guard’s Deepwater program, and other US and international ships.

May 1/05: ASW USVs. GD gets an order for up to 4 ASW USVs. An $8.5 million contract covers the first 2 vehicles, with options for raising that contract to 4 USVs and $11.3 million. The USVs will be used as part of the LCS Anti-Submarine Warfare module, employing towed arrays, dipping sonar sensors and acoustic sources as payloads.

General Dynamics Robotic Systems is a subsidiary of General Dynamics Land Systems. The company plans to adapt its land robotics command and control system for the new USVs; indeed, Scott Myers President Scott Myers cited this expertise as a key reason the Navy chose them.

June 29/04: Combat System – GD. General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems announces the open-architecture core mission systems team for the General Dynamics design of the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). Core mission systems infrastructure is a flexible information technology backbone for operating the ship as a whole that allows “plug and play” integration of custom-designed software modules for specific functions. GD AIS’ focus is on making it easy to integrate new modules by using non-proprietary standards and commercial middleware software as the key interface:

  • BAE Systems in Rockville, MD is responsible for the ship’s internal and external communications systems, as well as topside antenna modeling and mission module interface coordination.

  • CAE USA Inc. Marine Systems in Leesburg, VA, is responsible for the ship automation and control system. Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems in Baltimore, MD is responsible for the Integrated Combat Management System (ICMS).

  • General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products in Charlotte, NC is responsible for “all of the weapons and effectors.”

  • General Dynamics Canada in Ottawa, Canada is responsible for the above- and below-water sensors.

Additional Readings & Sources LCS & Packages: Basic Background

ASW Package

Mine Package

“Surface Warfare” Package

Other

Official Reports

News and Views

  • Harold Lee Wise – Inside the Danger Zone: the US Military in the Persian Glf, 1987-1988. An excellent book that outlines the kind of situation LCS was supposedly built for. Unfortunately, gaps in the required mine warfare capabilities, low damage tolerance, and station/support capacities leave doubts concerning the LCS’ ability to handle the same situation as well as the less expensive cobbled-together solutions used at the time; esp. the very successful converted barge Hercules.

  • Naval Technology – Littoral Combat Ship Runs Aground.” Offers a look at the program workings and assumptions that have led the program to its current state. Written in July 2008.

  • Information Dissemination (Sept 9/10) – Red Flags Everywhere.

  • Information Dissemination (Sept 3/10) – What the GAO LCS Report Reveals. In his opinion, systemic and serious culutral problems in the Navy.

  • Lexington Institute (Sept 7/10) – Littoral Combat Ship: It’s The Mission Packages, Stupid. The point would be stronger if any worked.

  • Defense News (Jan 17/10) – Failing the Littoral Challenge: LCS Capabilities, Cost Miss the Boat. By Charles W. Robinson. “To counter these limitations, we urge testing of a littoral mission unit (LMU) by activating a military transport, the Cape Mendocino, which, with minor modifications, could transport four or more Street Fighters to areas of threat. This vessel would also serve as their mother ship.”

  • US Naval Institute’s Proceedings Magazine (September 2009) – No Need for High Speed. Contends that over-emphasis on speed has gravely damaged the LCS’ ability to carry out several necessary missions.

  • Armed Forces Journal (July 2007) – Think Small. “A force of the new Littoral Combat Ships (LCS), when they enter service in the next decade, will not significantly increase the Navy’s capabilities in conducting littoral warfare. This bad situation can be changed by building or acquiring a force composed of multipurpose corvettes and missile combat craft.”

  • Information Dissemination (July 10/07) – The US Navy’s PF-109 “Patrol Frigate” Program. Which led to the FFG-7 Oliver Hazard Perry Class frigates, as the low end of US surface combatant force structure during the 1970s and 1980s. Says the LCS program isn’t imitating the FFG-7’s successes. Then again, the FFG-7s were scrapped early, because they were too hard to upgrade – a development that spawned the LCS mission module concept.

  • Lexington Institute (Nov 28/06) – Modularity, the Littoral Combat Ship and the Future of The United States Navy [PDF]. Washington think-tank offers an in-depth look at the LCS as the Navy’s most transformational program, and the key program challenges that must be overcome in order for the LCS program to be successful.

  • The Fourth Rail (April 27/05) – Of Pirates and Terrorists

  • US Naval Institute, Proceedings magazine (February 2003) – All Ahead Flank for LCS. But note esp. Vice-Adm. Mustin & Katz’ warnings about the possibility of a failed “high-low” force mix. By 2013, that warning had come true.

  • Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey (June – Sept 1992) – The Value of Warship Attributes in Missile Combat.

Categories: Defense`s Feeds

EDA Chief Executive holds talks in Lithuania

EDA News - Fri, 01/11/2019 - 17:09

Jorge Domecq, the EDA Chief Executive, today accomplished a two-day visit to Vilnius where he had talks with the Lithuanian Minister of National Defence, Raimundas Karoblis, as well as with Vice-Minister Giedrimas Jeglinskas. He also met with representatives of Lithuanian industry associations. Mr Domecq furthermore attended the ‘Snow Meeting 2019’, an annual event organized by the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss common security challenges. 

The main topics discussed during the bilateral meetings at the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence included the current state of play and way ahead in the implementation of the various EU defence initiatives (PESCO, CARD, European Defence Fund), the revised EU Capability Development Priorities adopted last June, Lithuania’s current and potential future contributions to EDA projects and programmes (it currently participates in 10 of them), the implications of the Agency’s recent Long-Term Review as well as the EU-NATO relations. 

Mr Domecq welcomed that the launch of PESCO, CARD and EDF has raised EU defence cooperation to a new level which, he stressed, "requires Member States’ strong and continued engagement throughout the implementation to ensure that the governments’ commitments are taken forward in the national priority setting and implementation of new capability projects". In this respect, he commended Lithuania for taking the lead of the PESCO project on ‘Cyber Rapid Response Teams and Mutual Assistance in Cyber Security’ which is progressing well. He also confirmed EDA’s readiness to provide the support requested by Lithuania in view of the project implementation.  

Snow Meeting 2019 

The EDA Chief Executive also attended the ‘Snow Meeting 2019’ (an annual event organized by the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs gathering a close group of foreign and security policy leaders, politicians, opinion-makers and experts from Euro-Atlantic community to discuss common security challenges and develop policy ideas that could lead to practical solutions) where he participated as a panelist in the discussion on European leadership. 

 
Categories: Defense`s Feeds, European Union

Cyber Situation Awareness Package (CySAP) project launched by three Member States

EDA News - Fri, 01/11/2019 - 14:21

The Project Arrangement (PA) for the Cyber Defence Situation Awareness Package Rapid Research Prototype (CySAP-RRP) was recently signed by the three contributing Member States:  Spain (lead country), Germany and Italy. The project was conceived as the first step of a spiral development in order to set up a full Cyber Situation Awareness (CySA) operational capability. The CySAP-RRP will be built upon previous work done by EDA to develop a Target Architecture and System Requirements for an enhanced Cyber Defence Situation Awareness Capability. The core objectives of the project include essential research challenges to assist military decision-makers in cyberspace and to set the basis of a Command and Control (C2) system for cyber operations.  Under this PA, results will be delivered using a spiral approach over the next 18 months.

EDA’s Project Team Cyber Defence (PT CD) identified the need for capabilities to enable military commanders at all operational levels to understand and manage the risk of cyber-attack. An important prerequisite is to provide situation awareness (SA) for the commander and his staff, based on a general and specific threat landscape from which the risk of cyber-attack can be observed, understood and evaluated. The objective is for military commanders to have a clear understanding of the cyber threat landscape including system vulnerabilities and attack vectors and to equip them with the tools required to make informed decisions in order to manage cyber risks during the planning and conduct phases of an operation.

A dedicated CySAP Ad Hoc Working Group (AHWG) comprising the contributing Member States, EDA and additional subject matter experts and stakeholders started work on a Common Staff Target (CST), Common Staff Requirements (CSR) and a Business Case which describes which operational elements are needed to achieve a cyber situation awareness for the EU Armed Forces. CySAP follows a modular approach which means that the adopted SA capability architecture will influence additional cyber defence solutions to achieve interoperability. Other spirals, subject to future commitments and out of the scope of the first step, are planned to further develop CySAP towards a final CySA capability. CySA is a key aspect in all cyber defence efforts and initiatives currently pursued within the EU and other international organizations.

As part ofthis endeavour, EDA hosted two capability awareness days with the support of industry and academia in order to allow the military to benefit from existing products and trends related toCyber Situation Awareness. Since its inception in 2016, EDA’s Cyber Research and Technology AHWG has supported CySAP. This working group promotes collaborative cyber defence research within a cyber Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) looking into research activities to address capability gaps. Following the Cyber Ranges Federation project launched by 11 EU Member States in 2017 CySAP is the second EDA collaborative Cyber Defence project and the first collaborative R&T project in the domain.
 

Background

Cyberspace is the fifth domain of operations, alongside the domains of land, sea, air, and space: the successful implementation of EU missions and operations is increasingly dependent on uninterrupted access to a secure cyberspace, and thus requires robust and resilient cyber operational capabilities. 

The updated EU Capability Development Plan (CDP) endorsed by the EDA Steering Board in June 2018 reconfirmed cyber defence as a priority for capability development in the EU. The CDP recognises the need for defensive cyber operations in any operational context, based on sophisticated current and predictive cyberspace situational awareness. This includes the ability to combine large amounts of data and intelligence from numerous sources in support of rapid decision making and increased automation of the data gathering, analysis and decision-support process. In November 2018, the European Council adopted an updated version of the EU cyber defence policy framework (CDPF). 

Supporting the development of Member States’ cyber defence capabilities is a priority area where the now established CySAP project serves as a core to guide future research and operational capabilities.

 
Categories: Defense`s Feeds, European Union

Boeing tapped for HAAWC Integration | Russia rearms with Iskander-M | LOM Praha buys four L-39NG jets

Defense Industry Daily - Fri, 01/11/2019 - 05:00

Americas

The Naval Air Systems Command awarded Integral Aerospace a $14.3 million contract modification for external fuel tank testing and exercises option year one for the production and delivery of 114 external fuel tanks in support of the F/A-18E/F and EA-18G aircraft. Integral Aerospace is a manufacturer of flight critical subsystems and components based in Santa Ana, California. The Boeing F/A-18E/F are twin-engine, carrier-capable, multi-role fighter aircraft variants primarily used by the US Navy. The aircraft, also called „Super Hornet“ entered service for the United States in 1999. The Boeing EA-18G Growler is specialized version of the two-seat F/A-18F Super Hornet. It provides tactical jamming and electronic protection to US military forces and allies. The Growler has the ability to protect itself against adversarial aircraft using its AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles. Work is scheduled to be finished by May 2020.

The US Naval Sea Systems awarded Boeing a $9.3 million contract modification for the integration of the High Altitude Anti-Submarine Warfare Weapon Capability (HAAWC) on the Poseidon P-8A submarine-hunting aircraft. The High Altitude Anti-Submarine Warfare Weapon Capability (HAAWC) provides an all-weather, anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon system capable of high altitude launch of the MK-54 torpedo from the P-8A Poseidon. HAAWC consists of a modular, Air Launch Accessory (ALA) kit that attaches to the MK-54 Torpedo. the ALA transforms the MK-54 into a precision-guided glide weapon wich operates in either GPS-aided or GPS-denied environments. Back in June the the US Navy announced, it intended to award Boeing a contract for full rate production of the HAAWC Air Launch Accessory for use in launching the MK 54 Torpedo from the P-8A Poseidon aircraft from high altitude. Work will be performed in Missouri and is expected to be finished by May 2020.

Middle East & Africa

Algeria commissioned two new submarines from Russia. The Kilo class submarines Ouarsenis (031) and Hoggar (032) were commissioned during a visit by Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Ahmed Gaïd Salah to the Mers el-Kébir naval base. They are part of a 2013/2014 order for two new Project 636 Varshavyanka (Kilo class) vessels from Russia. The project 636 Kilo class vessels are a more advanced version of the naval diesel-electric attack submarine 877 Paltus. The attack submarine are intended for anti-shipping and anti-submarine operations in shallow waters. The Project 636 boats have improved sonar systems, 533 mm torpedo tubes. They carry up to 18 homing or wire-guided torpedoes, or 24 AM-1 mines.

Europe

Ukrainian automobile manufacturer AutoKrAZ donated a 8?8 KrAZ-7634?? cab-chassis truck to the Ukrainian army. The truck, equipped with a powerful engine rated at 460hp and automatic transmission with maximum torque rated at 2500 N/m, is used for conversion to a vehicle equipped with heavy special equipment. Instead of two rectangular tanks with capacity of 350 liters, two 165-liters round fuel tanks are provided. The truck’s ergonomic mounted cab has been lowered to a height of 2800 millimeters to allow its roof to be fitted with special equipment.

Russia’s Missile Troops and Artillery will be completely rearmed with Iskander-M tactical ballistic missile systems this year. The 9K720 Iskander-M is a short-range system deployed by Russian, which includes a cluster munitions warhead, a fuel-air explosive enhanced-blast warhead, a high explosive-fragmentation warhead, an earth penetrator for bunker busting and an electromagnetic pulse device for anti-radar missions. In 2011 the Kolomna-based Machine-Building Design Bureau (KBM) and the Russian Ministry of Defense signed a long-term contract under which KBM was to deliver two Iskander-M brigades to the military per year. The implementation of the contract began in the year 2013.

The Czech company LOM Praha agreed to buy four L-39NG next generation jet training aircraft from Aero Vodochody in 2020. The order ist valued at $49.2 million. LOM Praha military aircraft maintenance, repair, overhaul, and training provider will be the launch customer for the L-39NG and has an option to buy two additional aircraft. The company’s machines are used for pilot training services. The L-39NG is a single-engine two-seated aircraft, that achieves a speed of 750 kilometers per hour. The first pre-serial machine took off for the first time last December. Serial production is scheduled to begin in 2020.

Asia-Pacific

The Indian Army is in the process of spending an estimated $503 million on a new service rifle for its frontline infantry troops. The Indian Ministry of Defense is about to enter a three-month negotiation period with US-based SIG Sauer to procure SIG 716 battle rifles. SIG 716 uses a short stroke piston-driven operating system and has a 16 inch hammer-forged free floating barrel.

Today’s Video

Watch: Finally! Japan launch its first aircraft-carrier and 105 F-35 super-fighter jets

Categories: Defense`s Feeds

Longshot: A Swooping HAAWC for Torpedoes

Defense Industry Daily - Fri, 01/11/2019 - 04:56

Mk54 HAAWC
(click to view full)

American maritime patrol aircraft currently carry torpedoes as part of their armament, which serve as key weapons against enemy submarines. As any high-diver of cliff-jumper knows first hand, however, water can feel surprisingly solid after a long fall. Torpedoes still have to be released from low altitude, typically 100 feet or less above the waves. Two recent developments, however, are making this approach less practical for the US military. One is tests of sub-launched anti-air missile systems, using modified short-range air-air missiles that do not require radar guidance. The other is its selection of the 737-based P-8A Poseidon as its next maritime patrol and surface surveillance aircraft. The P-8A can perform low swoops if necessary, but its airframe is really optimized for cruising at altitude.

As these trends developed, someone in the US military asked the logical next question:

P-3: Bermuda 1985
(click to view full)

“what if we could attach a JDAM-ER style glide kit with GPS guidance to a lightweight torpedo, launch from high altitude, then let the kit maneuver it into attack position and release it near sea level instead? Not only would this fit the P-8A’s strengths, it would also let us reduce airframe fatigue on the old P-3C fleet.”

Enter Lockheed’s Longshot, aka. the High Altitude ASW Weapons Concept (HAAWC).

The LongShot system is a low-cost, self-contained wing adaptor kit that can provide these capabilities to a range of existing air-to-surface munitions, including sea mines, gravity bombs, laser-guided bombs and cluster bomb dispensers. The system is self-contained and includes a flight control computer, a GPS-based navigation system, and power sources; range is up to 50 nautical miles. This makes the LongShot kit a potential competitor to Boeing’s JDAM-ER offerings.

GBU-87 WCMD-ER Test
(click to view full)

It’s a competitor with a major difference, however. LongShot does not require a MIL-STD-1760 interface, or even an electrical interface with the aircraft. This means LongShot offers instant GPS capability and compatibility to a wide range of aircraft that would not otherwise be capable of launching GPS-guided weapons, without requiring a costly and time-consuming process of re-wiring the aircraft, and/or setting up a weapons interface with its onboard systems. Targeting information can be input via a laptop computer, or through an in-aircraft knee pad device that plugs into the aircraft intercom. The knee pad device establishes two-way communication with LongShot via the aircraft’s UHF radio.

This procedure is an inconvenience to a fighter pilot when compared to fully-integrated weapons, but it works excellently well on aircraft like the P-3C, P-8A, and other bombers or specialty aircraft that have multiple crew and more work space.

Lockheed Martin had already been developing this extended range kit for the WCMD GPS-guided cluster bomb, and leveraged the “Longshot” kit it picked up in the Leigh Aerosystems acquisition as a starting point. The HAAWC wing kit is attached to the torpedo by two metal bands. A device forces open the bands, enabling the wing kit to jettison normally from the torpedo. In actual operation, the wing kit jettisons when the torpedo reaches its normal launch altitude close to the surface of the water. At that point, the torpedo simply performs normally.

Contracts and Key Events

P-8A: oncoming
(click to view full) January 11/19: Boeing tapped for HAAWC integration on P-8A The US Naval Sea Systems awarded Boeing a $9.3 million contract modification for the integration of the High Altitude Anti-Submarine Warfare Weapon Capability (HAAWC) on the Poseidon P-8A submarine-hunting aircraft. The High Altitude Anti-Submarine Warfare Weapon Capability (HAAWC) provides an all-weather, anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon system capable of high altitude launch of the MK-54 torpedo from the P-8A Poseidon. HAAWC consists of a modular, Air Launch Accessory (ALA) kit that attaches to the MK-54 Torpedo. the ALA transforms the MK-54 into a precision-guided glide weapon wich operates in either GPS-aided or GPS-denied environments. Back in June the the US Navy announced, it intended to award Boeing a contract for full rate production of the HAAWC Air Launch Accessory for use in launching the MK 54 Torpedo from the P-8A Poseidon aircraft from high altitude. Work will be performed in Missouri and is expected to be finished by May 2020.

March 30/17: A decision will be made shortly by the US Navy to go ahead with low-rate production of the Lockheed Martin High Altitude Anti-submarine warfare Weapon Capability (HAAWC) package. The package integrates an air-launched accessory (ALA) kit with a GPS guidance system and folding wings onto a standard Mk54 torpedo, and will be made available to P-8A Poseidon foreign customers, which currently include Australia, India and the UK. A guided flight test is scheduled for late Fiscal 2017, and could see as many as 140 high-altitude torpedoes total ordered over the first two lots.

April 27/11: US NAVSEA announces its plans to issue a competitive Request for Proposal (RFP), covering Air Launch Accessory requirements for the the HAAWC precision-guided, high-altitude torpedo kit’s successful integration with both the P-8A Poseidon, and the MK 54 Torpedo.

A Request for Information (RFI) and related attachments was originally slated for May 31/11, but it has been moved back to Sept 30/11. It is the Government’s intent to review Industry comments/questions regarding the RFI prior to the release of any RFP. FBO.gov

May 29/07: Lockheed Martin reports success in a single point concept demonstration conducted at the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) in the Bahamas. A MK-54 HAWC torpedo was launched from the internal weapons bay of a P-3 Orion aircraft flying above 8,000 feet, navigated via GPS into position, then self-jettisoned as the fully functional MK-54 exercise torpedo successfully splashed down. Lockheed Martin release.

Sept 26/06: Lockheed Martin announces successful wind tunnel and wing separation tests of its High Altitude Anti-Submarine Warfare Weapons Concept (HAAWC) system, using the Lockheed Martin LongShot Wing Adapter Kit on the MK-54 torpedo. In the wind tunnel test at the San Diego Air and Space Technology Center’s Low-Speed Wind Tunnel, HAAWC demonstrated expected performance that would enable the torpedo to be launched at cruising speeds, at the maximum desired range from the target.

Lockheed Martin is working under a 7-month, $3 million contract for the U.S. Navy to demonstrate delivery of the MK-54 lightweight torpedo from a P-3C aircraft operating at high altitudes (approximately 20,000 feet).

June 13/06: Lockheed Martin announces a 12-month, $3 million US Navy contract for its High Altitude Anti-Submarine Warfare Weapons Concept (HAAWC). The program will demonstrate delivery of the MK-54 lightweight torpedo from a P-3C aircraft operating at high altitudes (approximately 20,000) feet. The demonstration will include a high-altitude launch, where the HAAWC-equipped torpedo will glide to its normal launch altitude close to the surface, and then jettison the LongShot wings prior to water entry.

March 11/03: Lockheed Martin announces its acquisition of certain assets of Leigh Aerosystems in Carlsbad, CA. Terms of the sale were not disclosed. Privately held Leigh Aerosystems designs, tests and produces the LongShot Wing Kit that can be attached to existing “dumb” bombs to increase accuracy and range.

Lockheed’s release says that the kit will be adapted into Lockheed Martin’s $102 million Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser, Extended Range (WCMD-ER) program to be used on CBU-87, -89, and -97 dispenser weapons. WCMD-ER is expected to go into production in 2005. The Air Force has requested 7,500 of these systems.

Additional Readings & Sources

Categories: Defense`s Feeds

Czech L-159s: Cheap to Good Home

Defense Industry Daily - Fri, 01/11/2019 - 04:52

Runway Buzz: L-159As
(click to view full)

Czechoslovakia originally ordered 72 of Aero Vodochody’s sub-sonic L-159A single-seat light attack jets. Their preceding L-39/59 Albatros trainer and light attack aircraft family became the world’s most popular jet trainers during the Cold War, and the L-159A Advanced Light Combat Aircraft was positioned as a modern derivative, offering full combat capability and compatibility with western weapons. The resulting aircraft filled a useful niche for the Czechs, but its overall success always depended on exports.

Unfortunately, the Soviet Union’s demise lost the Albatros family its global market niche, and killed the military aid subsidies that had helped promote it. Worse, the L-159’s program cost grew from CZK 20-30 billion to over 51 billion Koruna. That left the Czech government in a bind. In response, they kept 24-35 jets for operational use, and have been trying to sell off 36-47 of the L-159As (one aircraft has been lost) since 2002. They also moved to privatize state-owned Aero Vodochody, which took place in November 2006.

A few 2-seat L-159T conversions have been performed with CzAF funding, as a demonstration of their potential to become dual-role trainer/attack aircraft. That has helped Aero tout the planes to Afghanistan, Bolivia, Colombia, Georgia, Indonesia, Iraq, and Nigeria. Their breakthrough, such as it is, came elsewhere.

Aero’s Market Conundrum

L-159A on top
new L-159T below
(click to view full)

The L-159s are capable aircraft. They can be fitted with targeting pods and Paveway laser-guided bombs, Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, and the usual assortment of guns, rockets, and conventional bombs. They can even operate from austere bases, and are easy to maintain. Countries looking for relatively low cost planes, that offer basic air patrol and advanced counterinsurgency capabilities, will find the L-159A a great fit. When touting the plane for Colombia, the firm noted that:

“An L-159 pilot can prepare and operate this user-friendly aircraft himself with no ground support. The L-159 can take off from any prepared or unprepared airstrip, during the day or night, in any weather regardless of wet or dry, hot or cold, windy or calm. A glass cockpit, equipped as the latest generation of fighters, is protected by advanced armor, Head-Up and Multi-Function Displays or Hands-On-Throttle-and-Stick concept. This gives the pilot complete confidence to successfully complete any FAC [DID: Forward Air Control targeting and attack] mission required of him.”

Aero’s difficulties stem from a variety of factors.

Supersonic snobbery. One problem is that subsonic light attack jets are often undervalued in favor of prestige buys – vid. Sri Lanka’s desire to purchase a small handful of MiG-29s, instead of acquiring far more L-159s in order to defend against terrorists in light propeller aircraft. They ended up receiving Chinese J-7s (MiG-21 copies), which have endurance issues on combat air patrols, and are even less suitable for counter-insurgency roles.

Accepted alternatives. A 2nd problem is that established entries like Brazil’s EMB-314 Super Tucano and BAE’s Hawk 109/209 already crowd the field, and have better long-term prospects in the regions likely to buy a single-seat, subsonic combat jet. The Super Tucano has always doubled as an advanced trainer, and BAE’s Hawk 209 has an array of new and used 2-seat trainer counterparts ready for sale. Aero’s L-159T variant wasn’t market-ready until 2007, and has a thin service record. Meanwhile, the L-39 and L-59 are out of production, making L-159s less attractive to countries who might have bought L-159A ALCAs along with new trainers. In recent years, Indonesia and neighboring Poland both fit the profile of countries looking for trainers with light attack capabilities, but the L-159 wasn’t a factor in either competition.

AERO L-159A
(click to view full)

Cold-blooded customers. The L-159’s 3rd problem involves Aero Vodochody’s former customer base. The Czech Republic’s happy return to the family of free nations is its own barrier to sales. Many of the Soviet Union’s former clients, who bought Albatros jets, are deservedly well-known for brutality. This meshes poorly with democratic oversight from a recently-freed people, who will protest exports that are seen as unethical. In the Soviet era, for instance, Syria’s Bashar Assad would have been shipped Czech light attack planes without a second thought, for use against any internal enemies he cared to target. In 2012, there was never any possibility of Assad receiving L-159As, even though Syria flies L-39s, and the L-159As’ near-immediate delivery would have dovetailed with Assad’s top military priority. Syria bought Russian Yak-130s instead.

The American angle. The L-159’s American military technologies, which include its avionics, Honeywell F124 engine, and most of its weapons, require US government approval for export under US ITAR laws. While the Czechs would never sell to regimes like Syria, ITAR’s price was made clear in 2009, when the USA reportedly blocked a Czech attempt to sell a handful of L-159s to Bolivia. Instead, the contract went to a regime that doesn’t ask questions: China sold Bolivia its K-8 trainer/ light attack jets instead.

To add insult to injury, Aero’s lack of a US manufacturing base left it shut out of the US-run Light Air Support contract, which bought 20 planes for the Afghan Air Force. The AAF flies L-39s, and L-159s would have been a good fit, but they’ll be receiving turboprops assembled in the USA instead.

All of this has made for slow sales.

Contracts and Key Events 2014 – 2019

 

Load ’em up!
(click to view full) January 11/19: LOM Praha buys L-39NG The Czech company LOM Praha agreed to buy four L-39NG next generation jet training aircraft from Aero Vodochody in 2020. The order ist valued at $49.2 million. LOM Praha military aircraft maintenance, repair, overhaul, and training provider will be the launch customer for the L-39NG and has an option to buy two additional aircraft. The company’s machines are used for pilot training services. The L-39NG is a single-engine two-seated aircraft, that achieves a speed of 750 kilometers per hour. The first pre-serial machine took off for the first time last December. Serial production is scheduled to begin in 2020.

April 25/18: Exports and upgrades with IAI Chasing fresh exports after its sale of four L-159 aircraft to the government of Senegal earlier this month, the Czech Republic’s Aero Vodochody will team with Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) to improve and market the light attack and trainer aircraft. According to the technical and marketing cooperation agreement announced Tuesday, the team will integrate new avionics and other solutions on the L-159 platform as well as jointly market the aircraft. They will also integrate IAI’s virtual training solutions as part of the L-39NG training system. Financial details were not disclosed.

April 5/17: After a 13-year production hiatus, the Czech Republic’s Aero Vodochody is reported to be in early negotiations to produce and deliver the L-159 light attack fighter to Argentina. One twin-seat L-159 was delivered to Iraq in 2016, and the firm is now looking to sell more units to both Baghdad and Buenos Ares. Argentina has been looking to purchase a cost-effective replacement for retired Dassault Mirage fighters and currently operates 22 Douglas A-4 Skyhawks and 32 FMA IA-58 Pucaras in combat roles, with 22 FMA IA-63 Pampas on order as an interim solution. Recent elections and financial constraints, however, have stalled attempts to purchase second-hand Kfir Block 60 warplanes.

February 12/16: Iraq. The first group of Iraq’s L-159 fighter pilots have completed training in the Czech Republic. The training follows the sale of 15 of the combat aircraft by the Czech government to Baghdad last March as part of attempts by Prague to sell surplus stock and to showcase their export potential. Two were delivered in 2015 with three more expected to be delivered in the first half of this year. The $29.89 million sale came after an initial pitch to sell 28 of the aircraft fell through. The L-159s will be used by Iraq to increase attack capabilities in future missions against the Islamic State.

July 15/14: Draken contract. A pair of contracts on July 4 (Cz MoD to Aero) and July 14 (Aero to Draken) will deliver 14 L-159Es to Draken International in the USA, with offsetting options that could add 7-14 more. Cost is CZK 200 – 250 million (up to $12.5 million), pending a detailed assessment of the aircraft. The options are offsetting, because the Czech government openly states that they’re still negotiating with Iraq to sell 12-15 planes (q.v. June 20/14). If Iraq buys, Draken may be capped at 21 planes. Draken International will assemble and support the L-159s themselves, with exclusive permission to market Aero’s aircraft and associated services like training in North and South America. Draken are also approved by Aero for MRO services at their facility in Lakeland, FL, and will “cooperate in tactical flight support services in Europe.” Not bad for under $13 million, and this excerpt from IHS Jane’s was very interesting:

“Speaking to IHS Jane’s, company officials stated that previous efforts to sell the Czech aircraft to customers in South America had been stymied by opposition from the US Department of State. With a US company now marketing the aircraft and involved in their production, the companies hope that previous US opposition to exports of the aircraft will be turned into support – boosting the prospect of a successful export order. The L-159 has previously been marketed to Colombia and Uruguay, among others.”

As DID has pointed out (q.v. March 17/09), American hostility to the Bolivian government is what killed that sale, and Colombia followed a regional trend in choosing Brazil’s Super Tucano instead. What’s so interesting is the apparent belief that ITAR protectionism is that much of a problem.

Draken hopes to leverage the L-159s alongside its MiG-21s, A-4s, and MB-339 jets in potential contract wins for US AFSOCOM JTAC training, USMC close air support training, and USN aggressor training. Sources: Aero Vodochody, “Aero Vodochody and Draken International signed an agreement on strategic partnership” | Draken International, “Draken International Signs Historic Agreement With Aero Vodochody & Czech Republic Ministry of Defense” | Ceske Noviny, “Aero signs contract on sale of Czech aircraft to U.S. firm” | IHS Jane’s, “Farnborough 2014: Draken buys L-159s, to market aircraft in the Americas” | Radio Praha, “Czech military signs long-awaited deal to offload surplus combat aircraft”.

Draken International: 14 + 7-14 options

June 20/14: Iraq. The Iraqi government has lost Kirkuk to the Kurds, and lost most of the northern and eastern Sunni areas to hard-line Islamist forces that are backed (for now) by local Sunni tribes. At this point, Iraq needs any flying attack platform that can be delivered quickly, and weapon compatibility with its existing armed Mi-17s would be a plus. Unsurprisingly, Czech Republic’s Defense Minister Martin Stropnicky says that they are in talks to sell 7 of their 17 Russian-built Mi-24 attack helicopters to the Iraqi Defense Ministry.

The Czechs, keen to push an advantage, are also discussing a sale of L-159 light attack jets. Aero Vodochody had lost that contract to Korea’s KAI (q.v. Dec 12/13), but the FA-50s won’t even begin arriving until 2015 – 2016. The Czechs have about 8 jets in storage that they could deliver fairly quickly, and that may be enough for Iraq’s immediate needs. If Iraq wants more, restarting the L-159 production line won’t solve their problem in time. If the Czechs divert L-159 planes directly from their own air force, on the other hand, they could offer almost immediate delivery as part of a helicopter/jet package deal. The Czechs would then be able to choose whether to refurbish the 8 stored L-159s for their own use, and/or backfill CzAF stocks with the new L-169 that’s in development. We’ll have to see what gets negotiated, if anything. Sources: Defense News, “Iraq Eyes Czech Mi 24 helos To Combat ISIL Militants”.

Jan 2/14: Approved. The Czech government approves the sale of 28 L-159s to US training firm Draken International (q.v. Nov 29/13), and releases details. The sale breaks down as 24 intact aircraft, plus 4 broken down for use as spares. Draken will have to pay Aero Vodochody for any work involved in restoration to operational condition, and the price will fall somewhere between $21.72 – $25.8 million, depending on the condition of the 24 planes.

The Czech government touts this as a good deal, and cites a 2012 public tender for 8 planes whose highest offer was just 1/3 as much per plane. Technically, legalities mean that the buy is being conducted through Aero, which isn’t receiving a commission for its role but can expect support contracts. Another 8 L-159s are left in Czech storage as immediate delivery options, and Aero Vodochody has suggested that the Draken deal could boost the L-159’s export potential in Latin America. The firm wants to stay in the military jet business:

“Aero [also] announced in December that it wants to develop the L-169, a new fighter/trainer jet to follow on from the L-159. One of the major advantages of the new model should be extra fuel capacity which will increase the plane’s range by around 600 kilometers compared with the current versions. Other updates and modifications could easily be added on, according to the manufacturer, with 2015 earmarked as a possible launch date for the new plane.”

Sources: Czech Ministerstvo obrany, “Vlada schvalila prodej letounu L-159, prodlouzeni pronajmu gripenu prerusila” | Radio Prague, “Czech government approves deal to offload excess fighter jets”.

Draken International deal approved, L-169?

2012 – 2013

Stalled deal in Iraq; Offer to Poland withdrawn; Renewed interest from Colombia; Possible sale to an American training firm.

Czech L-159As
(click to view full)

Dec 12/13: Iraq. Iraq signs a $1.1 billion deal to buy 24 FA-50 light fighters from Korea Aerospace Industries, and KAI expects a 25-year, $1 billion support deal to follow shortly. These “T-50IQs” will reportedly serve double duty as the IqAF’s advanced jet trainers, once pilots graduate from Iraq’s T-6B turboprops.

The deal is a big save for KAI, after Aero’s L-159T was apparently picked. Increased instability in the region may have helped revive their interest, as it will take more than the IqAF’s 36 ordered F-16IQs to provide even reasonable airspace control. A supersonic “F-16 lite” provides Iraq with better air defense, though it may come at the cost of some counterinsurgency strike performance relative to the L-159. Sources: Korea Times, “Korea exports 24 attack jets to Iraq” | Reuters, “S.Korea’s KAI sells fighter jets worth $1.1 billion to Iraq” | Yonhap, “S. Korea to export 24 FA-50 light attackers to Iraq”.

Iraq loss

Nov 29/13: Draken International. The Czech government and Aero Vodochody confirm that they’re pursuing 3-party negotiations to sell up to 28 surplus L-159As to the US military training firm Draken International Inc. The base price would be around CZK 434.4 million (about $21.5 million) toal, which is very low, but would relieve the government of storage costs. Interest is described as serious, and if a contract can be finalized, the Ministry plans to submit relevant export documents to the Czech government early in 2014.

The Lakeland, FL firm owns the largest fleet of privately owned tactical aircraft in the world, and already operates 5 L-39s alongside 23 ex-Polish MiG-21bis/UM supersonic fighters, 11 ex-RNZAF A-4K Skyhawks (modernized to F-16 MLU equivalent interior), and 9 ex-RNZAF MB-339CB trainers. The MiG-21s offer unique capabilities, but 28 L-159s could make the L-139s, MB-339CBs, and even the A-4Ks expendable. That would allow the firm to sell its spares inventories and/or airframes, while consolidating support costs onto a newer and more economical platform. An L-159 buy could also serve as the catalyst for a firm expansion, as all of Draken’s inventory is new. The firm only began flying fighters in April 2013. Sources: Aero Vodochody, “L-159 sale under negotiations” | Czech MoD, “Tiskova konference ministra obrany”.

Nov 14/13: Colombia, again. Colombia bought 25 “Drakos”/ Super Tucano tuboprops in 2005 as training and counterinsurgency aircraft, but they don’t seem to have that type on the shortlist to replace their aged Cessna A-37 Dragonfly light strike jets and Rockwell OV-10 Bronco armed Forward Air Control platforms. Instead, initial candidates are reportedly all jets: the L-159, BAE Systems’ Hawk (which also comes in light attack versions), and the Alenia/Embraer AMX. Brazil’s AMX fleet are receiving upgrades, but the type is out of production, and was only sold to Brazil and Italy. One wonders whether the Italians are looking to sell their fleet. Sources: IHS Jane’s 360, “Colombia looks to procure new fighter type”.

June 10/13: Poland. Aero Vodochody publicly drops out of the Polish competition. The reasons are simple: Poland was changing specifications, and demanded a bank guarantee of over CZK 180 million (about $9.4 million) without clearly saying what would cause forfeiture, and wasn’t responding to their questions. Aero adds that:

“Terms of the tender documents were not sufficiently specified, the tender specification was ambiguous and contained contradictory information, even errors, which the authority admitted [but did not fix]…. The tender documentation was by the Polish party continuously changed, the latest changes came shortly before bids submission [on June 7/13] and some of them were not delivered in writing by the closing date for tender bidding.”

If true, “unprofessional” would be a fair term for Poland’s handling of their competition. The tender later stalled, and won’t see an award until some time in 2014.

May 15/13: L-159. After a top-level meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas announces that a series of Czech government ministries had teamed up to make a comprehensive offer of Aero’s L-159 to Poland, for its trainer and light attack tender. The L-159 would be new to the competition, which is currently on its 2nd go-round. Necas added that:

“This [potential sale] enjoys the full support of the Czech government; we are prepared to provide even the planes the military of the Czech Republic owns for training…”

That could be very useful, given the state of Poland’s TS-11 trainers, and the Czech Republic is certainly a convenient location. Prague Post. Read “Poland Seeks Advanced Jet Trainers/ Light Fighters” for full coverage.

Feb 22/13: Iraq. Czech media are saying that the Iraqi L-159 deal has failed, implying that Aero Vodochody doesn’t want to invest in an entire production line for 24 planes. That’s an odd explanation, since the company presumably understood the contract it signed.

Aero CEO Ladislav Simek has confirmed that the contract hasn’t taken effect yet, though some preparatory steps have been taken within the supply chain. Meanwhile, they’re negotiating “some commercial and technical details,” and a new contract might be expected, including the accompanying weapon deals.

Talk of a new contract is a significant setback. Former Czech defense minister Alexandr Vondra makes a point about needing “patience, patience and patience again… [with Arabs, who] have a different notion of time than we in Europe.” Even so, Iraq needs to grow its air force, and delaying too long will create problems. Prague Monitor | Read “Iraq’s New Trainers: The Czech Is On The Way” for full coverage.

Nov 23/12: Crash. A CzAF L-159 crashes while returning to Caslav air base in Kolin, central Bohemia. from a training session when it crashed in a field west of Kolín shortly before six pm on Thursday, bursting into flames on impact.

The plane had just 800 hours of flight time on the air frame, with no problems registered, and had received regular maintenance just 30 hours beforehand. The 34-year old pilot, who was killed in the accident, had over 1,000 flight hours to his credit, with at least half in the L-159. It’s just the 2nd crash in the fleet’s history, but the fleet is temporarily grounded as a precautionary measure. Sources: Radio Prague, “Plane crash sees fleet of L-159 fighter jets grounded”.

Crash

Oct 12/12: Iraq. Iraq signs a $1 billion deal with the Czech Republic to deliver 28 L-159 trainers and light attack aircraft, and train Iraq’s pilots. Local Iraqi TV says that they’ll also set up a T-72 tank upgrade facility within Iraq, which may have been the decisive edge that helped them clinch the L-159 deal.

Aero Vodochody has confirmed that all of Iraq’s planes will be 2-seaters. The initial 4 will be converted from stored L-159As to L-159T trainers, retaining their previous attack and air policing capabilities. Those 4 are scheduled to arrive within 7 months. Another 24 new 2-seat L-159BQ jets will be delivered later, built to Iraq’s full specifications. They’re expected to begin arriving within 26 months, which is to say by December 2014.

Iraq is beginning to have obvious trouble with its airspace, as flights from Iran to Syria are taking place without any ability to stop them. It’s a convenient excuse for buying the jets, anyway. Iraq’s government, and its Shi’ite majority, both remember the Sunni Muslim terrorists who infiltrated Iraq from Syria, and caused so much trouble during the civil war. A government of those people next door is seen as an even worse outcome than Assad, though other factions within Iraq will see this situation differently. Meanwhile, Iraq needs advanced jet trainers, and also needs aircraft that can back up its handful of F-16s in basic air policing and ground attack roles after 2014. Aero Vodochody pre-announcement | Ceske Noviny in Czech and English | Agence France Presse | AP | Lebanon’s Daily Star | Russia’s RIA Novosti.

Iraq: 28 L-159s

Jan 24/12: Iraq. In the wake of a visit by Iraqi defense minister Sadoon Al-Dulaim, the Czech Ministry of Defence says that:

“The Iraqi Defence Minister did assure me that the Republic of Iraq is still interested in this type of aircraft,” [Czech defense minister Alexsandr] Vondra said, adding that besides the L-159s he offered support with training of ground and flying personnel, capabilities of VOP Sternberk [DID: link to company website added], education of Iraqi students at the University of Defence in Brno and experience in the field of protection against mass destruction weapons, and demining capabilities as well.”

In other words, no decision has been made. In the L-159’s favor, Iraq is a former L-39 customer, who needs ready jet trainers and light combat aircraft in a hurry. It has no serious combat aircraft of its own yet, and the failure of the US government to secure an agreement that would have kept the USAF on station leaves the defense of its airspace in question. In the medium term, it also needs a jet trainer to act as a last-stage lead-in for its future F-16 pilots.

June 2011: Iraq. Jane’s Defence Weekly reports that the Iraqis may have made an oil-for-aircraft deal to buy Korean T-50 family jet trainers, some of which could also serve as effective light fighters. If so, this indicates serious budget issues, and makes the reported deal for Aero Vodochody L159T jet trainers questionable. Will the L-159’s potential Iraq deal become yet another canceled Czech?

2009 – 2011

Deal with Bolivia blocked. EADS swap.

AERO L-159A ALCAs
(click to view full)

May 23/11: Iraq. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says that a deal for Czech L-159s is close after a meeting with his Czech counterpart Petr Necas. This is the first trip to Iraq by a Czech prime minister since Saddam Hussein’s government fell in 2003, and the delegation also includes Czech Defence Minister Vondra. L-159 negotiations were described as “intensive” but not final in Czech newspapers.

The Czech delegation is busy with a range of initiatives, and one noteworthy non-defense deal involves Czech-made Zetor tractors, once known in Iraq under the Antar trademark, and license-built in Iskandariya, Iraq. A deal appears set to re-open that assembly line, and the size of Iraq’s agriculture sector makes it an attractive opportunity on its own merits – even if Zetor/Antar isn’t done as a defense deal industrial offset. Ceska Pozike | Ceske Noviny || Russia’s RIA Novosti.

April 19/11: Iraq. After a meeting with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari in Prague, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg confirms that:

“The Czech Republic will offer Iraq L-159 combat aircraft, and we are also ready to take part in the upgrading of Iraqi [Mi-17] helicopters, [which the Czechs also fly].”

Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas will visit Iraq on May 23-24/11 to promote closer economic cooperation with Baghdad and sign an agreement on mutual protection of investments. Ceske Noviny | Russia’s RIA Novosti.

Oct 25/10: Iraq. Prague Monitor and Iraq Business report that the Czech Republic might sell up to 25 used Aero L-159d to Iraq. Iraq has been holding a competition for 24 jet trainers between Korea’s T-50, the UK’s Hawk, and Italy’s M-346.

If the L-159 has become a focus, rather than just a competitor, it’s likely that the price of new aircraft proved prohibitive, and that Iraq is now looking at value over newness. Time will tell.

April 20/09: EADS Swap. A deal is finalized with EADS. The Czech government will buy 3 C-295M light transports, and exchange 5 L-159s for a 4th C-295M. Flight and ground maintenance training are included in the package, and the deal has been approved by the resigning Czech government. The ministry has reportedly set aside CZK 3.5 billion ($73 million equivalent) for the whole project, with delivery expected between 2009 – 2011. Read “Czechs Replacing Their Airlift Fleet.”

Ceske Noviny adds that the Defense Ministry is negotiating with the USA for 4 C-130 Hercules medium tactical transports, with the aim of buying 2 in flyable condition and 2 as a source of spares. This implies that the aircraft would be used C-130H models, rather than the new C-130J.

EADS swap: 5 L-159s

March 17/09: The pro-government La Prensa newspaper reports that the USA has refused export permission for the L159’s to Bolivia. The cited source is a Ministry of Defense spokesman.

Under American law, military exports also require US government permission for any resale. That includes the American equipment installed in these jets. Evo Morales is a close ally of Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez, hence hostile to the United States. Read “Czechs Bounce, So Bolivia Goes Chinese” for more.

No Bolivia deal

Jan 13/09: Bolivia’s air force declares that it will purchase 5 single-seat L-159 light attack fighters and a twin-seat L-159T under the Air Surveillance and Control modernization program. Bolivian President Evo Morales has signed decree 29852, an order that includes the 6 planes, a flight simulator, pilot and maintenance training, spare parts, and other standard support.

Despite Morales’ ties to volatile Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez, American consent was reportedly forthcoming for re-export of the L-159’s advanced electronics. The deal was reportedly worth $57.9 million, and will be paid in 4 installments: $11 million in 2009, and 3 more $15.6 million payments from 2010-2012. After that report, however, matters became less clear very quickly.

Bolivia: 6 L-159s

2006 – 2008

First flight and deliveries.

Czech AN-26
(click to view full)

March 28/08: Bolivia. The Czech daily Lidove Noviny reports that the 6-month negotiations with Bolivia have failed, because the country does not have enough money for the 6-10 planes planes involved. Ceske Noviny report [English].

Nov 23/07: AERO Vodochody a.s. officially delivers all 4 L-159 advanced training aircraft, version T1, to the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic. Aero Vodochody.

4 L-159Ts delivered

July 2007: EADS swap? The The Prague Monitor reported that the jets’ eventual fate may be a swap for transport aircraft. Discussions were reportedly underway with EADS-CASA around an exchange for the C-295M light transport aircraft that serves with a number of air forces around the world. The Czech Republic’s Soviet-era AN-26 “Curl” aircraft are wearing out quickly, and will need to be replaced by 2015.

March 8/07: L-159T. First flight of the new L-159T1. Aero Vodochody.

L-159T 1st flight

Jan 29/07: L-159T. AERO Vodochody a.s. finishes assembly of the 1st of 4 L-159T1 two-seat training aircraft for the Czech Air Force (CzAF). First flight is planned for March. Aero Vodochody.

June 26/06: L-159T. AERO Vodochody a.s. signs a contract with the Czech Republic to rebuild 4 L-159As into L-159T trainer aircraft, plus related spare parts delivery, ground support equipment and documentation, and schooling of the ground and flight personnel.

Czechs: 4 L-159As to T model

Additional Readings & Sources

Thanks to subscriber Inigo Guevara, author of Harpia Publishing’s Latin American Fighters, and Iraq Order of Battle author DJ Elliott, for their assistance.

Categories: Defense`s Feeds

Clark Nexsen tapped for Navy Architect-Engineering Services | Neuron conducts flight test | Indonesia orders 17 medium-lift helos

Defense Industry Daily - Thu, 01/10/2019 - 05:00
Americas

The Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support contracted McRae Industries Inc. with $9.9 million for flame-resistant combat boots. McRae Industries’ Footwear division provides quality combat boots to the US Army. During the Vietnam War McRae received a contract award from the US government to manufacture military combat boots for the US Army using the “direct molded sole” (DMS) design. The award is a firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Work will be performed in North Carolina and is scheduled to be completed by January 8, 2020.

Clark Nexsen won a potential five-year, $60 million contract from the US Navy to provide multi-discipline, architect-engineering services in the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Mid-Atlantic area of responsibility (AOR). The Work includes designing, building, planning, repairing, altering or demolishing various Navy or government facilities. Facilities include, but are not limited, personnel housing facilities, training facilities, and industrial maintenance facilities. Projects involve architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical, civil, landscape design, fire protection, commissioning and interior design. Clark Nexsen received a $528.9 initial task order to create preliminary designs and assess planning requirements for a corrosion control and paint facility. The company is scheduled to complete the task in March. Work for the contract is scheduled to be completed by January 2024.

Middle East & Africa

The Pakistan Army’s artillery corps inducted a locally developed rocket as part of its multiple rocket launchers. The A-100 is a 300 mm, 10-tube multiple rocket launcher, developed by Beijing-based China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. The A-100 rocket is 7.3 meters long, weighs 840 kg, carries a 235 kg warhead, and is stabilized by spin, thrust, and stabilizing fins. It has a range of over 100 kilometers. The Pakistan Army is surrounded by two hostile neighbors on the Eastern and Western side. The rockets will mainly be stationed towards India, which lies on the Eastern side.

Europe

The French defense procurement agency along with Dassault Aviation conducts a low visibility test campaign of the Neuron UCAV demonstrator at the agency’s flight testing facility at Istres airbase. The Neuron unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAF) demonstrator is being developed with international cooperation, led by Dassault Aviation. The current campaign is the UCAV’s fourth low observability campaign and aims to study the employment of aircraft like Neuron against airborne sensors, ground radars, and shipborne systems.

Former head of the Royal Navy, Admiral Lord West questions the UK government’s commitment to buying F-35B Lightning stealth jets. In September 2018 F-35B aircraft have landed on deck of the HMS Queen Elizabeth for the first time. Lord West finds it necessary to purchase enough of the necessary variant for both Queen Elizabeth class-carriers and to have an operational unit for training and repair. Having fewer than 90 F-35B jets. The United Kingdom is currently holding 16 F-35B jets at RAF Marham in Norfolk and in the United States. In November 2018 the British Defense Secretary announced, the UK would order 17 more aircraft.

Asia-Pacific

Indonesia ordered 17 additional medium-lift helicopters for the armed forces from the country’s primary defense contractor PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI), Jane’s reports. The contract includes eight Airbus Helicopters H225Ms for the Indonesian Airforce (TNI-AU) and nine Bell 412EPIs for the Indonesian Army (TNI-AD). The H225M is a long-range tactical transport military helicopter. The twin-engined aircraft can carry up to 29 seated troops. The Bell 412EPI is a Bell Helicopter and an upgrade to the basic Bell 412EP helicopter, providing an electronically controlled PT6T-9 engine and Bell BasiX-ProTM integrated glass cockpit display system.

Chengdu Aircraft Research and Design Institute completed its turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) engine development phase. The Chengdu Aircraft Research and Design Institute is a Chinese design institute, which offers aircraft design and multidisciplinary research services for the aerospace industry. The TBCC engine is intended for use in hypersonic vehicles. It combines a turbine and a scramjet engine and offers an ideal single-engine solution to achieving the shift from low speed to hypersonic speed. The engine will allow an aircraft to fly five to six times faster than the speed of sound.

Two more Russian Mil Mi-17V-5 “Hip-H” medium transport helicopters were delivered to the Royal Thai Army (RTA), Jane’s reports. The Mi-17V-5, produced by Kazan Helicopters is designed to transport cargo inside the cabin and in external sling. It can be deployed in troop and arms transport, fire support, convoy escort, patrol, and search-and-rescue (SAR) missions. The RTA already operates five Mi-17V-5 platforms and ordered the current two Mil Mi-17V-5s back in September 2017 with the contract signed in December of the same year. The platforms were delivered in December 2018.

Today’s Video

Watch: HMS Queen Elizabeth concludes fast jet trials with F-35s

Categories: Defense`s Feeds

nEUROn & Taranis: Euro FCAS Projects In Flight

Defense Industry Daily - Thu, 01/10/2019 - 04:58

Saab concept
(click to view full)

The European nEUROn project joins Britain’s Taranis UCAV, Russia’s MiG SKAT, Boeing’s X-45 Phantom Ray, and the US Navy’s X-47 UCAS-D program as unmanned aircraft projects with fighter-substitution potential.

Multinational projects are often fraught affairs, and Europe’s stealth Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) had its own close calls. In November 2005, a Forecast International report on the future UAV market saw political trouble coming for the proposed 6-nation nEUROn project, unless the partner nations could get their act together and agree. In the end, the project got rolling with committed funding of EUR 535 million and counting, and the French DGA (Délégation Générale pour l’Armement) procurement agency acting as the program executive. This FOCUS article covers the Neuron program’s 3-fold goals, envisioned platform, program structure and schedule, and ongoing contracts and developments. In the wake a Franco-British joint UCAV development memo, Britain’s Taranis project has been added to this article in a separate coverage stream.

Neuron: The Aircraft

Dassault concept
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As a UCAV, Neuron will be significantly larger and more advanced than other well-known UAV systems like the MQ-1/RQ-1 Predator UAV, with payloads and capabilities that begin to approach manned fighter aircraft. Illustrations, initial builds, and statements by the consortium partners indicate that the Neuron is envisioned as a stealth attack and reconnaissance UCAV in the same class as Northrop-Grumman’s X-47B N-UCAS, and Boeing’s privately-developed X-45 Phantom Ray.

As one can see, the Saab concept, and Dassault’s mock-ups and graphics bear a strong resemblance to Boeing’s X-45C, and indeed to designs like Russia’s MiG-SKAT. This is partly the result of similar design pressures, which emphasize maximum stealth due to the UCAVs’ low situational awareness, and lack of self-defense capabilities. Data from Saab and Alenia indicates that the Neuron demonstrator measures 9-10m long by 12-13m wide, and weighs in at 5 tons, with a maximum speed of Mach 0.8, and 100 minutes of loiter time at 100 km distance. This is roughly the size of a F-16 fighter (15m x 10m, 4.25 tons empty), but smaller than an F-117 Nighthawk (19m x 13m, 7 tons empty), and with less range and loiter than most UCAVs envisage.

nEUROn’s Turbomeca/ Rolls Royce Adour Mk 951 is the latest variant of the non-reheated turbofan engine that has already been selected by the UK, South Africa and Bahrain to power the latest BAE Hawk trainer and light attack aircraft. The Mk 951 offers increased (6,500 vs. 5,845 pounds) thrust and performance, a high-performance Electronic Engine Control Unit (EECU), and extended life with reduced life cycle costs. The Adour engine family is installed in Hawk, Jaguar, and Mitsubishi T-1/F2 aircraft operated by 22 military forces around the world, and has accumulated over 7 million flying hours world-wide.

Dassault concept
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The aircraft will have unmanned autonomous air-to-ground attack capabilities with precision-guided munitions, relying on an advanced stealth airframe design that reduces radar and infrared cross-sections to penetrate undetected. Dassault has said that other payloads, such as reconnaissance devices, will be validated at a later stage.

The UCAV system is also envisioned as working with manned fighters, but the details remain to be seen. The ability to control a nEUROn swarm flight in automatic mode from an advanced fighter like the Dassault Rafale or JAS-39 Gripen remains under consideration, but is far from certain. Readers who play real-time strategy computer games are already familiar with the ability to group drone units and to control the group, but adapting that to real life is somewhat more complex.

Neuron: The Program Program Goals

nEUROn program
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During the 2003 Paris Air Show, French Minister of Defense Michele Alliot-Marie announced a major agreement signed between EADS, Dassault Aviation, and Thales. The agreement covered a joint-venture to “realize a new unmanned military technology that covers all future activity in combat and strategic reconnaissance aeronautics.” EADS currently leads a HALE (High Altitude, Long Endurance) UAV project, and a manned/unmanned maritime surveillance project is also in progress based on work done by Thales, Dassault, and Elbit Systems.

The Neuron UCAV program, meanwhile, is led by the French DGA defense procurement agency. DGA acts as the program executive on behalf of the participating countries, and has entrusted development of the first Neuron UCAV demonstrator to Dassault Aviation and its European partners. These include SAAB (Sweden) in particular, HAI (Greece), Alenia (Italy), EADS-CASA (Spain), and RUAG Aerospace (Switzerland).

As the excellent AFCEA Signal Magazine article “Neuron Gains Altitude” noted in September 2005, the program has three stated goals:

1. The first is to maintain and develop the skills of the participating European aerospace companies’ design offices, which will not see any other new fighter programs before 2030 now that the Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon, and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter projects are all complete or well underway.

2. The second goal is to investigate and validate the technologies that will be needed by 2015 to design next-generation combat aircraft.

3. The final aim is to validate an innovative cooperation process by establishing a European industry team responsible for developing next-generation combat aircraft.

Logiduc UCAV design
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Indeed, Dassault’s June 12/05 press kit went out of its way to note that this is not a military program:

“Son objectif n’est pas d’effectuer des missions militaires, mais de demontrer la maturite et l’efficacite de solutions techniques… Le projet nEUROn n’a pas pour objectif de developper de nouvelles armes… Il devra valider certaines technologies en faisant appel a un systeme d’avionique modulaire fiable… ainsi que sur des logiciels de haut niveau. Il est clair qu’a travers des missions de demonstration, l’objectif est de demontrer la validite de technologies de commandement et de controle d’un vehicule sans pilote d’une taille equivalente a celui d’un avion de combat, avec tous les modes de secours necessaires assurant la securite requise.”

Trans: “Our objective is not to execute military missions, but to demonstrate the maturity and effectiveness of key technologies… The nEUROn project is not about developing new weapons… Rather, it will validate certain technologies and demonstrate reliable modular avionics and control systems… similar to modern high level technologies. The goal is to demonstrate the ability to operate a pilotless vehicle with capabilities that approach a manned fighter, with all of the pieces in place to assure safe operations.”

Of course, if the resulting UCAV passes all tests, rapid adaptation of a military variant, or follow-on tests around carrier-based operations, might follow if orders were forthcoming. By May 2013, it had become apparent that France, at least, was waking up to the necessity of this next step.

Industrial Partners

Saab concept
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Chief nEUROn project manager Thierry Prunier comes from Dassault Aviation, and the deputy project managers are Mats Ohlson of Saab and Ermanno Bertolina of Alenia. There is just one link between the executive agency (DGA) and the prime contractor (Dassault), and it will be up to the executive agency to coordinate with the government agencies of the participating countries. It will be up to the prime contractor, meanwhile, to coordinate the work with the other companies.

Work breakdowns among those companies are as follows. Each industrial partner retains design rights for its specific contribution:

Program Budgets & Schedules

Mock-Up: Paris 2005
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According to prime contractor Dassault Aviation, the French government will provide half of the program’s EUR 400 million ($480 million) budget, while the remaining funds will be supplied by the other participating member nations.

More precise reports place France’s share of the development funding at about EUR 185 million. Sweden’s share would be SEK 750 million (EUR 80 million at then-current conversion), of which SEK 600 million (EUR 64 million) would be financed by Saab AB. The Swedish FMV procurement agency will offset Saab’s costs, however, with an equal contribution to future development of the Saab JAS-39 Gripen manned lightweight fighter. The cost of Spain’s participation to the program is estimated at EUR 35.5 million, spread over the 2007-2012 period.

The program’s Feasibility Phase contract kicked off a 4 1/2 year system definition and design phase with related low-observability (stealth) studies.

The 15-month, EUR 405 million Feasibility Phase explored technology roadmaps in stealth, flight control of a rudderless airframe, open modular avionics, and development of internal weapon bays. Wind tunnel testing, radar measurements, technology testing in labs, and off-the-shelf equipment selection helped define the UCAV’s external shape, expected stealth materials, avionics architecture, and engine (the Turbomeca/Rolls Royce Adour Mk951).

The Definition Phase (EUR 130 million) worked to validate the design, “freeze” the shapes of the demonstrator aircraft, and detail its component systems and their interfaces.

nEUROn is currently in the Development and Assembly Phase. The 1st prototype was officially rolled out in January 2012, with a first flight that has slipped from the first half of 2011 to the end of 2012. The 2-year flight test program has now begun in Istres, France, with down-time for full-scale radar signature testing in a French anechoic chamber, followed by 2nd and 3rd-phase flight tests in Sweden and Italy beginning around 2014. The test program is scheduled to involve about 100 sorties, including the launch of a laser-guided bomb. Weapons release was originally scheduled for 2012, but will probably take place in 2014 or later.

Thunder or Echo? Britain’s Taranis UCAV

Taranis

Britain is also working on a stealthy UCAV design powered by an Adour jet engine, and it’s named after the Celtic god of thunder. Taranis began in 2006, with an unveiling in July 2010, taxi trials in April 2013 at Warton, UK, and flight testing that began in August 2013 at Woomera, Australia. The plane has also received radar cross-section measurements. Those remain classified, but the design is very similar to other stealth UCAVs – Boeing’s X-45 in particular.

The project has budgeted GBP 185 million (EUR as of 2006), split between government and an industry team of BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, GE Aviation’s Systems division (formerly Smiths Aerospace), and QinetiQ. Overall, the UK MoD says that 250 firms have been involved.

A 2010 agreement with France appears to have have laid the ground work for Britain to merge its Taranis project and technologies into a wider co-operative Future Combat Air System (FCAS) program, hence its inclusion in the same article. It has its own Contracts section as well, below nEUROn’s.

nEUROn: Contracts & Key Events 2019

 

Formation flight
(click to view full) January 10/19: Low Visibility Test The French defense procurement agency along with Dassault Aviation conducts a low visibility test campaign of the Neuron UCAV demonstrator at the agency’s flight testing facility at Istres airbase. The Neuron unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAF) demonstrator is being developed with international cooperation, led by Dassault Aviation. The current campaign is the UCAV’s fourth low observability campaign and aims to study the employment of aircraft like Neuron against airborne sensors, ground radars, and shipborne systems. 2015

December 15/15: BAE Systems has announced that they have completed the third and final series of flight tests of the Taranis Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV). Its development comes as the UK aims to keep indigenous UAV/UCAV construction capabilities. The test, according to BAE group managing director of programs and support, Nigel Whitehead, “met all test objectives”. The development of the Taranis is part of an Anglo-French contract agreement which aims at developing a joint UCAV, combined with the development of the French Dassault nEUROn, for a joint European UCAV.

2014

 

July 7/14: Next? Aviation Week covers the French-British FCAS program, whose initial phase will overlap nEUROn’s final testing phase. The question is how to structure the path forward after a weapon drop in Sweden wraps up the European UCAV’s testing. Britain and France may not be in sync, but they way still be able to cooperate, as they prep for a 2-year, EUR 200 million study phase:

Ultimately, the proposal for a four-year demonstration phase – which is expected to top [EUR] 1 billion – could rely on multiple vehicles to serve as technology testbeds. In addition to a demonstrator combining some aspects of Taranis and Neuron, these could include less-costly simulators and manned platforms, such as using a Dassault Falcon [business jet] to test [sensors]…. “The biggest driver is the budget,” the industry official said. “We may even reuse Taranis or nEUROn.”

Sources: Aviation Week, “Neuron Tests Moving To Sweden In 2016”.

June 12/14: French Minister of Defense Jean-Yves Le Drian visits Dassault Aviation’s Istres site, where he watched a nEUROn test flight.

He also reportedly reaffirmed a commitment to moving the Franco-British FCAS program forward, with the intent to sign a EUR 200+ million deal at Farnborough 2014. Sources: French MdlD, “Deplacement de Jean-Yves Le Drian, ministre de la Defense, a la Direction generale de l’armement Essais en vol a Istres le jeudi 12 juin 2014” | Dassault Aviation, “The French Minister of Defense visited the Dassault Aviation Istres site” | Defense News, “France, UK To Sign Memo Kicking Off Combat Drone Study”.

Formation flight

March 20/14: Testing. Dassault Aviation organizes a formation flight of the nEUROn UCAV with a Rafale fighter and a Falcon 7X business jet, as a next step in ongoing flight tests.

Dassault says that a combat drone flying in formation with manned aircraft is a global first, which is true in narrow terms. American planes under full mechanical control have flown as aerial refueling receivers in unmanned formation tests, with a pilot on hand in case things went sideways. Technically, all Dassault did was remove that safety element, and use a UAV with different capabilities. They also kept the UAV in the lead position at all times, which allows the 2 manned planes to take responsibility for maintaining the formation if necessary. Basic formation flying is simple for humans. It can be tricky for UAVs, who must sense other aircraft and then react correctly in the face of airflow changes caused by aircraft ahead of them. Dassault Aviation, “The Patrol: nEUROn, Rafale, Falcon 7X” (with video) | Dassault Aviation, “The eye of Katsu Tokunaga (with video)”.

2011 – 2013

 

nEUROn: flight test
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May 31/13: French boost. French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian writes an article for Les Echos. Frustration with France’s high-end UAV options leads him to commit to the nEUROn program, saying that “we will allocate the necessary means.”

He also states his commitment to buy 2 MQ-9 Reaper UAVs from the USA, for delivery before the end of 2013. After so much procrastination, with only 2 Harfang drones operational, and with pressing commitments in Mali and elsewhere, he says that France must take the immediately available choice. Defense Aerospace suggests that the French Air Force finally got their way, after stalling other options. The Americans’ reluctance to allow even key NATO allies like Italy to arm their drones suggests that French MQ-9s will also be unarmed. Ultimately, Le Drian argues for a European partnership that will share expertise and develop a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAV like the Reaper. In an era of limited budgets, an operational nEUROn-type UCAV represents another alternative. Les Echos | Defense-Aerospace.

May 14/13: Certification. Germany has decided to end the RQ-4 Euro Hawk project. Not only would it cost hundreds of millions to attempt EASA certification, but reports indicate that German authorities aren’t confident that they would receive certification at the end of the process. Rather than pay another EUR 600 – 700 million for additional UAVs and equipment, and an equivalent amount to attempt EASA certification, Germany will attempt to find another path.

This is bad news for the nEUROn project, which will face the same certification problems. Read “RQ-4 Euro Hawk UAV: Death by Certification” for full coverage.

May 9/13: Italy. Foolish American intransigence may be about to create a Reaper competitor. Is this an opportunity to give the nEUROn a long-term role? Aviation Week interviews Italy’s national armaments director Gen. Claudio Debertolis, who reveals that Italy asked to arm its MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper UAVs 2 years ago. The USA has refused to cooperate, halting Italian efforts, while allowing the British to arm their Reaper UAVs.

Italy is responsible for wide swathes of territory in Afghanistan, and was the point country for NATO’s campaign against Libya in 2011. Arming their UAVs is a high priority, and Debertolis confirms that Italy is in talks with potential European partners to move forward with a covert “Super MALE” weaponized UAV program. If they don’t develop a new UAV from scratch, the existing nEUROn program could fill this niche. So, too could UAE-owned Piaggio’s P.1HH Hammerhead, derived from a high-end light business transport. A 3rd option would be to just buy Heron UAVs from Israel, which that country has reportedly armed. France’s Harfang is a Heron derivative, and Germany is already operating them as rent-a-drones, so an armed Heron and a conversion kit could offer a quick solution for all concerned.

The question for any of these options, and even for converting existing MQ-1/9 UAVs with American permission, revolves around funding. America may have delayed Italy for so long that it doesn’t have the budget to do anything, even convert its existing UAVs. Aviation Week.

Dec 1/12: Flight. The nEUROn successfully completes its maiden test flight from Dassault Aviation’s facility in Istres, France. The flight had slipped from mid-2011 to mid-2012, to the current date.

Testing will continue in France until 2014, to be followed by further tests in Vidsel, Sweden, before heading to the Perdadesfogu range in Italy for weapon and stealth testing. Dassault Aviation | French DGA [in French] | Usine Nouvelle [in French]

1st flight

Jan 20/12: Rollout! The nEUROn European UCAV technology demonstrator is officially presented to the representatives of the 6 participating countries by Dassault Aviation. Dassault:

“The first engine tests will be performed very soon, aiming at a first flight mid-2012. Afterwards, a complete sequence of test flights will take place during two years in France, Sweden and Italy. These tests will address flight qualities, stealthiness, air-to-ground weapon firing from an internal bay, integration into a C4i environment as well as the [safe] insertion of uninhabited platform in [controlled] airspace.”

At present, software integration is in its final stage, using the “global integration tests” rig in Istres, France. The first ground tests for hydraulics, electrical, fuel, etc. have taken place, with comprehensive engine tests to follow, as noted above. See also French DGA [in French].

nEUROn rollout

July 8/11: Germany. Aviation Week reports on Germany’s high-end UAV plans, beyond its planned 6 RQ-4 Euro-Hawk surveillance and SIGINT drones. The publication states that Germany is looking to buy 4 UAVs for wide-area surveillance, probably more RQ-4 variants, in order to complement NATO’s 6 RQ-4B Block 40 AGS drones. They’re also looking at fielding 16 systems of MALE drones over the next decade, to replace the current Heron UAV lease.

Farther into the future, Germany is reportedly considering UCAVs. The nEUROn program is the most likely beneficiary if Germany goes ahead, with possible competition from American offerings like Boeing’s X-45 Phantom Ray, Northrop Grumman’s X-47B UCAS-D, and/or General Atomics’ jet-powered Predator C Avenger.

July 7/11: At the 2011 Paris Air Show, Dassault Aviation presented enterprise applications using the future Samsung Sur40 tactile table for Microsoft Surface. These include military mission planning, and it will be interesting to see if this technology is used for operational components of the nEUROn system. Dassault Aviation [in French] | Reuters.

July 1/11: Dassault releases photos of nEUROn in final assembly, with all sub-assemblies delivered and the program on schedule. AIN quotes Dassault SVP of UAV/UCAV Programs, Thierry Prunier, as saying that although only one UCAV is being completed for flight test, up to 4 examples of each subassembly have been built.

The non-flying subassemblies are currently being used for “real hardware-in-the-loop” tests at 4 pre-integration rigs: Saint-Cloud, France (flight control) system; 2 in Getafe, Spain (ground control, datalink management); and Linköping, Sweden (avionics). Meanwhile, the Adour Mk951 turbofan engine has been matched to the nozzle, and run for 50 hours under control of the Flight Control System.

Prunier also confirmed to AIN that each industrial partner retains design rights for its specific contribution. That will matter if Britain, Germany, and other nations wish to join. AIN

May 19/11: Sub-contractors. Alenia Aeronautica announces delivery of the nEUROn’s Weapon Bay Doors & Mechanism to the Dassault plant in Istres, France, following successful acceptance checks.

This stealth-maintaining system was designed, built and integrated entirely by Alenia Aeronautica, and includes both the weapon housing doors and their activation and control system. The assembly uses manufacturing techniques that were new to the company, and Alenia Aeronautica has even patented the design for the “seal” around their perimeter.

Jan 25/11: Sub-contractors. Saab AB officially delivers nEUROn front and central fuselage sections to Dassault Aviation, at its Linkoping facility. They will now be transported to Dassault’s site in Istres, France, which is preparing for final assembly.

The rear fuselage section arrived at Istres in mid-January from HAI in Greece, and future deliveries will provide most of the major components needed for assembly. Dassault itself is delivering stealth related parts to Istres from January – March 2011. RUAG’s ordnance release pantograph will arrive from Switzerland by the end of February 2011. March 2011 will see deliveries of the 2 half-wings from EADS-CASA in Spain, and the 2 weapon bay doors from Italy’s Alenia. Saab’s next big delivery is in April 2011, when they will ship the 3 landing gear doors from Linkoping, Sweden.

Final layout, piping, electrical wiring and equipment fitting, and assembly are expected to be finished by last quarter of 2011. The next step after that is ground tests, followed by the first engine run-up by end 2011, and hopefully a maiden flight in mid-2012. Saab/ Dassault release.

2008 – 2010

 

nEUROn: takeoff concept
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Jan 20/09: Progress report. Dassault Aviation discusses progress to date on the nEUROn program. At present, 85% of the total budget has been awarded to Industry by France’s DGA. All major nEUROn systems underwent design reviews in 2008, and interface design is almost complete, paving the way for more detailed work on the systems and airframe.

That airframe shape is now final. Switzerland’s Ruag carried out 2 specific wind tunnel tests in 2008. The first helped identify the conditions which could affect aerodynamics when the vehicle is near the ground (ground effect), while the second analyzed the consequences of a bird strike on the leading edge of the wing. Results of these tests were very positive, enabling engineers to freeze the final shape of the vehicle.

Industrial work is also proceeding on critical subassemblies. Dassault Aviation’s experimental development center at Argenteuil has produced an inlet demonstrator, while its Biarritz plant is making a complete leading edge section, about 2 m/ 6 feet long. Saab is beginning to make aluminum ribs. Greece’s HAI has assembled a complete engine exhaust nozzle, which is to be mated to a Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Adour jet engine for mechanical and integration tests this month. Dassault release.

Nov 19/08: Sub-contractors. Saab Group announces that production of the unmanned Neuron craft has just begun at Tjust Mekaniska in Sweden, a small company with approximately 50 employees and a turnover of about SEK 50 million. They have been commissioned by Saab to manufacture 8 aluminum ribs making up the frame for the Neuron hull. Peter Svensson from Saab Aerostructures:

“The plan is to have most of the component manufactured parts ready in time for the European 2009 summer holiday, in time for the hull assembly to begin.”

Tjust Mekaniska uses a large German CNC machine that works directly from a 3D drawing program, and mills the outline of the Neuron rib at a speed of 24,000 rpm, using water to cool the operation. The excess aluminium flakes are pressed together and sold for recycling.

Oct 10/08: AVE-C scale demonstrator. As part of tests of new control surfaces, a Dassault AVE-C drone flight tests yaw control using thrust vectoring.

June 30/08: AVE-C scale demonstrator. Dassault’s AVE-C drone (Aeronefs de Validation Experimentale) completes its first fully autonomous demonstration flight near Toul, France. The jet powered UAV performed a completely automated flight sequence: roll from parking spot, runway alignment, takeoff, in-flight maneuvers, landing, braking and rolling back to the parking apron. The flight was watched by representatives of France’s Delegation Generale pour l’Armement (DGA) procurement agency.

The demonstration flight of this scale model demonstrator is one of the development milestones for nEUROn’s key technologies. Defense Update.

Scaled AVE-C flight

2006 – 2007

 

nEUROn swarm
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June 19/07: Bambino di nEUROn? Alenia Aeronautica, Dassault, and Saab sign an MoU to develop a Medium Altitude, Long Endurance (MALE) UAV system. nEUROn program technologies, tools, and partnership models will all be re-used in this program. Full DID coverage. As of 2012, it hasn’t advanced very far.

June 12/07: Project definition order. France’s DGA(Delegation Generale pour l’Armement) defense procurement agency officially notifies the Neuron Strategic Board of a EUR 130 million contract (about $175 million) for the nEUROn project definition phase. The definition phase will last 19 months, and aims to validate the design, “freeze” the shapes of the demonstrator aircraft, and detail its component systems and their interfaces. Ministere de la Defense release.

Definition phase

April 10/07: Sub-contractors. A Saab release says that a Neuron model has been installed on a 1:16 scale in the wind tunnel belonging to the Forces Research Institute (FOI:s) in Stockholm, and adds that testing is now underway to verify the outer shape and design. The testing involves high speed trials and testing at levels up to the speed of sound, in order to verify that the aircraft can be controlled and steered inside the entire flight envelope. The model in the picture looks substantially similar to artists’ conceptions done to date. Saab release

April 10/07: Progress report. At the same time as the high speed testing at FOI, low speed testing is being carried out in France. Indeed, a Dassault release says that “With the positive results gained all along these different tests, nEUROn shapes are validated and almost frozen.” It notes the following milestones:

  • Preliminary test in June 2005.
  • 2 low speed tests at Emmen in Switzerland in 2006 in partnership with RUAG Aerospace.
  • 3 air intake tests in 2006 and 2007 at S2 ONERA Modane in France.
  • 1 low speed test in March 2007 at F1 ONERA Fauga in France.

Oct 11/06: Sub-contractors. Safran group subsidiary Turbomeca announces that Dassault Aviation has ordered two Adour Mk 951 engines and associated support, from the RRTMjoint venture between Turbomeca and Rolls Royce. The first Adour Mk 951 will be delivered mid 2008 for ground testing, while the second (spare engine) is scheduled to be delivered at the end of 2010 for the flight test program. The release describes the deliveries as a “rental contract.”

The Adour Mk 951 is the latest variant of the non-reheated turbofan engine that has already been selected by the UK, South Africa and Bahrain to power the latest BAE Hawk trainer and light attack aircraft. The Mk 951 offers increased (6,500 vs. 5,845 pounds) thrust and performance, a high-performance Electronic Engine Control Unit (EECU), and extended life with reduced life cycle costs. The Adour engine family is installed in Hawk, Jaguar, and Mitsubishi T-1/F2 aircraft operated by 22 military forces around the world, and has accumulated over 7 million flying hours to date world-wide.

Sept 12/06: Program Review. The first intermediate synthesis review of the nEUROn program took place on Sept 6-7/06 at Dassault Aviation facilities in Saint-Cloud, France. The results of the initial 6 months of feasibility studies were presented to the program’s executive (France’s DGA), and to representatives from other participating governments (Segredifesa, FMV, DGAM, GDA and Armasuisse).

The session’s focus was on the external shape of the vehicle and systems, which stem from the necessary tradeoffs to fulfill the performance, low observability/ stealth, and independent flyability requirements of the specifications. See Dassault release.

Program review

May 23/06: Study delivered. Dassault Aviation and its partners Alenia, SAAB, EADS CASA, HAI and RUAG delivered yesterday the first nEUROn study to the DGA ahead of schedule. This first step is the preliminary technical definition of the project.

Study

Feb 10/06: Initial development contract. nEUROn program launched with committed funding of EUR 405 million.

Project launch

Taranis / FCAS: Contracts & Key Events 2013 – 2014

Taranis begins testing in Australia; Next-step Anglo-French FCAS program signed, could include Taranis.

FCAS

December 23/16: A 12-month study has been ordered under a bilateral agreement between the French and British government, marking the next interim stage of the joint Future Combat Air System (FCAS) program. It is hoped that the study will then lead to a full-scale demonstrator development program by the end of 2017, which has $1.87 billion earmarked for the production of two full-scale unmanned combat air vehicles. Companies to take part in the preparatory work include BAE Systems, Dassault, Rolls-Royce, Safran, Leonardo and Thales.

Nov 5/14: FCAS. The French DGA and UK MoD have signed the contracts for FCAS. The feasibility phase is GBP 120 / EUR 150 million, but the respective countries are also investing GBP 40 million (UK) and EUR 50 million (France) individually, bringing the overall total to GBP 200 million / EUR 250 million. This work will run until the end of 2016, and is intended to be followed by a demonstrator UCAV program. But which UCAV? This is where it gets interesting:

“The programme will develop and compare 2 national designs and concepts. Those designs will then lead to a joint one which could be used for any potential future UCAS programme.”

Looks like nEURON and Taranis will each have a bit farther to go. Industrial participants will remain Dassault Aviation and BAE Systems (system integrators), Thales and Selex ES (embedded electronics and sensors), and Rolls-Royce Snecma Ltd. (propulsion JV). Sources: French DGA, “La DGA et DE&S lancent les etudes industrielles du futur drone aérien de combat franco-britannique” | UK MoD, “[GBP] 120 million Anglo-French defence contract” | BAE, “Preparing for Future Combat Aerospace” | Rolls Royce, “Rolls-Royce Snecma Ltd. signs contract with UK Ministry of Defence to launch feasibility phase for Future Combat Aircraft” | Selex ES, “Finmeccanica – Selex ES and Thales start work on UK-French Future Combat Air System sensor requirements” | Thales, “Thales and Finmeccanica – Selex ES start work on UK-French Future Combat Air System sensor requirements”.

FCAS contracts

Aug 6/14: Taranis engineering. Aviation Week talks to BAE’s chief aerodynamicist Chris Lee, and he talks about some of the challenges involved in Taranis. Lee’s challenge was to take a design whose stealth optimization compromises controllability and engine airflow, which means speed and maneuverability were compromised for stealth, payload and range. Flow over the basic shape can cause “rapid non-linear changes in pitch and yaw,” and an engine intake designed for radar cross section above all leads to swirling and separated airflow at the engine fan face. Just to make things even more fun, the large rectangular exhaust meant to reduce infrared signature creates airflow issues with the wing control surfaces, which are already somewhat limited due to the craft’s basic design.

These kinds of problems are fairly standard across flying wing UCAV designs, and the industry is still in early days in terms of exploring new solutions. Overall, BAE seems to have done relatively well, with lower than expected drag and a number of design solutions that were innovative enough to be classified. The goal for FCAS will be to take those technologies, address issues that arose in testing, and field a UCAV that can meet stealth requirements with a wider flight envelope for speed and maneuverability. Sources: Aviation Week, “Stealth Helps BAE Hone New Aerodynamic Skills”.

July 29/14: Report. The UK government responds to the Commons Defence committee’s RPAS report (see Additional Readings), and clarifies where Taranis and FCAS fit:

“The Taranis Technology Demonstration Programme (TDP) aims to develop key technologies and systems to inform a future operational Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) acquisition programme. Two phases of Taranis flight trials were carried out in 2013-14, a third phase is planned for 2015 in order to gain further understanding of the radar cross section of the air vehicle during operation. It is unlikely that Taranis itself will be developed directly into an operational UCAV capability. It is primarily a technology demonstrator.

The Future Combat Air System (FCAS) programme will subsequently be responsible for the development of a UCAV capability. A two year national FCAS programme has been launched which aims to inform the forthcoming SDSR on the most appropriate force mix of platforms and systems in order to meet the future combat air requirement from 2030. A UCAV along the lines of Taranis is one potential element of this force mix, along with an additional buy of Lightning II, a [Eurofighter] Typhoon life extension or an alternative new-build manned aircraft. This will allow a decision to be made at the next SDSR about whether to commit to a UCAV development programme.”

Sources: UK House of Commons Select Committee on Defense, “Remote Control: Remotely Piloted Air Systems – current and future UK use – Defence Committee: Government Response”.

July 11/14: FCAS. France and Britain sign the Future Combat Air System Demonstration Program (FCAS DP) cooperative agreement at Farnborough 2014. They stick to the originally-discussed GBP 120 million budget (q.v. Jan 31/14), which works out to around EUR 150 million. That comes in at the low end of advance EUR 150 – 200 million reports for the 2-year agreement, which will involve Dassault Aviation, BAE Systems, Thales, Selex, Snecma and Rolls-Royce.

FCAS is no longer a combat demonstrator, however; instead, it has devolved to a study program that will look at technology, integration, and workshare issues. Dassault and BAE will focus on overall integration and design, and Rolls Royce and Safran will collaborate on engine-related technologies. Selex ES and Thales will cooperate to develop the multifunction sensor suite and communication sub-system, including the “PERFECTA” project to develop a digital backbone for the sensor set. British procurement chief Philip Dunne has told reporters the two nations are “working in parallel on protocols concerning data-sharing.” The multinational nEUROn program is scheduled to wrap up around the same time this phase will end, and Taranis will have completed its own testing. One interviewee even threw out the possibility that both nEUROn and Taranis could end up participating in FCAS flight tests.

The question of where FCAS goes from 2016-2020 may become another stumbling block, especially since Britain could have a new government by then, and France is scheduled to have its own elections in early 2017. Still, the only way to move forward is one step at a time, and the technology’s industrial importance could draw nEUROn countries to join the new effort. Sources: GOV.UK, “UK and France strengthen defence co-operation” | Dassault Aviation, “BAE Systems and Dassault Aviation welcome £120m / €150 million FCAS study by UK and French Governments” | Selex ES, “Thales and Finmeccanica – Selex ES team up to address UK-French Unmanned Combat Air Systems sensor requirements” | Snecma, “Snecma (Safran) et Rolls-Royce se felicitent des progres en matiere d’etudes conjointes sur les moteurs d’avions de combat” | Aviation Week, “Neuron Tests Moving To Sweden In 2016” | Defense-Aerospace, “UK, France to Launch 2-Year FCAS Demo Phase” | Defense News, “France, UK To Sign Memo Kicking Off Combat Drone Study”.

FCAS programme arrangement

July 7/14: FCAS. Aviation Week covers the French-British FCAS program, whose initial phase will overlap nEUROn’s final testing phase. The question is how to structure the path forward after a weapon drop in Sweden wraps up the European UCAV’s testing. Britain and France may not be in sync, but they way still be able to cooperate, as they prep for a 2-year, EUR 200 million study phase:

Ultimately, the proposal for a four-year demonstration phase – which is expected to top [EUR] 1 billion – could rely on multiple vehicles to serve as technology testbeds. In addition to a demonstrator combining some aspects of Taranis and Neuron, these could include less-costly simulators and manned platforms, such as using a Dassault Falcon [business jet] to test [sensors]…. “The biggest driver is the budget,” the industry official said. “We may even reuse Taranis or nEUROn.”

Sources: Aviation Week, “Neuron Tests Moving To Sweden In 2016”.

Feb 5/14: The UK MoD and BAE Systems finally discusses Taranis, though details remain very sketchy, and the firm contends that even some exterior design aspects are classified. Of course, telling people that just encourages professionals to download the released pictures and videos, look for photoshopping, and make careful notes about which angles aren’t being shown. We wouldn’t put it past the British to smile and launch a snipe hunt, and this kind of meta is why intelligence is such a crazy-making profession.

What Britain will say is that the total Taranis budget is confirmed to have grown to GBP 185 million, split between the government and industry. They also confirm that taxi tests began in April 2013 at Warton, UK, and that the 1st flight took place on Aug 10/13 for 15 minutes. As noted earlier by local sources (q.v. April 14/13), the flights took place at Australia’s semi-remote Woomera test range, which is owned by BAE. Sources: UK MoD, “First flight trials of Taranis aircraft” | BAE Systems, “Taranis FAQs” and “First flights of UK-built Taranis unmanned aircraft surpass all expectations”.

Jan 31/14: Anglo-French UCAS. Britain and France building on the 2010 Lancaster House treaty with various commitments, including “a statement of intent for a future combat air system, which would launch a 2-year, [GBP] 120 million joint feasibility phase that will see British and French industries working together.” The consensus is that this R&D will involve a stealthy, jet-powered Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle like the British Taranis and European nEUROn programs (q.v. Feb 17/12). Partners include BAE, Dassault, Rolls Royce, Snecma, Safran, Selex, and Thales.

Rolls-Royce and Snecma will continue to explore “propulsion system concepts and technologies” as part of the FCAS Preparation Phase contract. Their release may tout “next generation of UK and French combat aircraft engines,” but the truth is that a UCAV engine is going to focus on very different areas than fighter engines, stressing fuel efficiency and lower heat signature over thrust performance.

The key catch here is commitment beyond the initial 2-year period. Despite efforts of this nature, and continued development of an Anglo-French Combined Joint Expeditionary Force, French sources are expressing quiet reservations. These include the difficulty of securing program cooperation with British political counterparts who are already in campaign mode for 2015, and concerns about British austerity measures and their potential effects on joint programs and endeavors. Sources: UK MoD, “UK and France agree closer defence co-operation” BAE Systems, “We welcome the announcement on further UK/ French unmanned air systems (UAS) Technology development” | Dassault, “Dassault Aviation salutes a major step forward for the Future Combat Air System” | Rolls Royce, “Rolls-Royce and Snecma welcome continuation of joint combat engine studies” | Defense Update, “UK, France to Invest £120 million in a Joint UCAV Study” | IHS Jane’s, “France and the UK sign defence co-operation agreements” | The Independent, “Britain to set up controversial drone development partnership with France” | Le Monde, “La defense au coeur du sommet franco-britannique”.

Oct 24/13: Testing. Taranis is flying, albeit without the fanfare accorded to nEUROn’s initial flight. Testing would be taking place at Australia’s Woomera Range, over 300 km north of Adelaide:

“The BAE Systems Taranis unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) demonstrator has made its maiden flight and is currently conducting initial flight trials, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed to IHS Jane’s on 25 October. “Flight trials are currently ongoing,” an MoD spokesperson told IHS Jane’s.”

Sources: UK Parliament | IHS Jane’s, “Taranis makes maiden flight”.

Aug 10/13: 1st flight. Taranis’ first flight, as pinpointed by subsequent revelations from Britain’s MoD.

1st flight

April 14/13: Testing. Australia’s News Corp. reports that Taranis will conduct its 2013 flight testing at Australia’s Woomera range, but incorrectly characterize the drone as “supersonic.”

Taranis is around the same size as BAE’s sub-sonic Hawk trainers, and is reportedly powered by the same 6,480 pound thrust Adour 951 engine that equips Hawk trainers in Britain and South Africa. An engine with that rating isn’t going to take an armed and loaded full-size UCAV supersonic, nor would there be much advantage in doing so. Like other UCAV projects around the world, Taranis is almost certainly a sub-sonic stealth vehicle. News Corp.

2007 – 2012

Taranis R&D program launched; Lancaster House agreement with France has a UCAV component; Studies agreed.

Taranis IG
(click to view full)

July 25/12: Following a meeting in London, defense ministers from the UK and France agree on a joint EUR 13 million (about $15.7 million) UCAV research study by BAE (Taranis) and Dassault (nEUROn lead). A coming contract will link Rolls-Royce, whose Adour engine powers both Taranis and nEUROn, with France’s Safran in a joint study for future UCAV engine options.

They also confirm that France will buy 1 WK450B Watchkeeper system for operational assessments and trials in 2012 and 2013. What did not happen, is any kind of collaboration announcement on an Anglo-French medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) UAV like BAE & Dassault’s Telemos. Defense News | BAE Systems | Thales Group.

Joint UCAV study

July 9/12: Good news, Bad news. BAE announces that Taranis has gone beyond the stealthy targets set for the program, according to recently completed radar cross section tests at BAE Systems’ Warton site. Engine testing at Rolls Royce was also encouraging, demonstrating Taranis’ reduced infra-red signature. The bad news? The ministry wants more tests now, which will delay flight trials to 2013.

June 29/12: NAVSOP. BAE Systems Advanced Technology Centre discusses research it’s doing into Navigation via Signals of Opportunity (NAVSOP), which could become critical to UCAVs. GPS can be blocked or spoofed, and inertial navigation is imprecise unless it can be re-calibrated once in a while. NAVSOP exploits existing transmissions such as Wi-Fi, TV, radio, mobile phone, Low-Earth-Orbit satellites, and other civilian signals to calculate its position. The wide range it exploits would make it very hard to jam, and would allow it to work even in environments where a GPS signal would fail.

NAVSOP has a number of potential military uses, but it’s ideal for a UCAV that must navigate correctly in the most hostile environments. This may be why BAE’s NAVSOP infographic has a Taranis UCAV at its center.

Feb 17/12: Anglo-French UCAS. Britain & France follow up on their Nov 2/10 cooperation statement with an underwhelming announcement: they’ll commission a study about a next-generation UAV, and France will evaluate Britain’s smaller Watchkeeper MK450B:

“7. Following an analysis of lessons identified, we have decided to prioritise our joint work in the key areas of: command and control; information systems; intelligence, surveillance, targeting and reconnaissance; and precision munitions…

16. Unmanned air systems are crucial to success in the battlefield, as the Libya and Afghanistan campaigns have shown. We have agreed today to take forward our planned cooperation on UAS within a long term strategic partnership framework aimed at building a sovereign capability shared by our two countries… We affirm our common will to undertake in 2013 a joint Future Combat Air System Demonstration Programme that will set up a co-operation of strategic importance for the future of the European Combat Air Sector. This work will provide a framework to mature the relevant technologies and operational concepts for a UCAS operating in a high threat environment. We will begin as soon as 2012 the specification of this demonstrator with a jointly funded contract under the industrial leadership of our national fighter aircraft industries (Dassault-Aviation in France and BAE Systems in the UK).”

Defense-Aerospace later reports that a EUR 10 million study will fund initial specifications, to define the nEUROn demonstrator’s follow-on platform. BAE and Dassault are already collaborating on France’s future medium/ hunter-killer UAV, and “Telemos” is based on BAE’s Mantis. The UCAS would feature the same players, but is likely to place Dassault in more of a lead role. BAE is building Taranis, but the Dassault-led nEUROn project has ambitious goals, and there are substantial advantages to a UCAS platform definition that makes it easy for other European countries to join. UK Prime Minister | Defense Aerospace.

Nov 2/10: UK-France. The “UK-France Summit 2010 Declaration on Defence and Security Co-operation” includes a proviso regarding UCAVs:

“17. In the longer term, we will jointly assess requirements and options for the next generation of Unmanned Combat Air Systems from 2030 onwards. Building on work already started under the direction of the UK-France High Level Working Group, we will develop over the next two years a joint technological and industrial roadmap. This could lead to a decision in 2012 to launch a joint Technology and Operational Demonstration programme from 2013 to 2018.”

It remains to be seen how this will play out. BAE Systems is reportedly in talks with Dassault, but the subject of those talks isn’t yet clear. BAE’s Mantis is arguably a UCAV, in the same class as the MQ-9 Reaper. The joint TOD program in question could refer to the Mantis, but item 16. refers to a MALE (Predator Class) UAV. While the UK is set with its Watchkeeper/Hermes 450B systems, France needs to replace its Harfang systems, and appears to be looking for ordnance capabilities that Watchkeeper doesn’t have. Mantis could fill that role, while item 17. would address the niche filled by the Dassault-led nEUROn and BAE’s Taranis stealth UCAV demonstrator, which was unveiled in July 2010.

If item 17. is about stealth UCAVs, leaving nEUROn to pursue joint development around Taranis isn’t an option for France. A parallel carrier-capable UCAV development program might be a joint option, similar to the USA’s X-47B N-UCAS or General Atomics’ Sea Avenger, but that would strain budgets in both countries. The path of least resistance for a 2013-2018 TOD program is incorporation of the UK into nEUROn, with BAE Systems bringing key Taranis technologies and lessons learned into the development program. Time will tell. See also: Flight International | Reuters | Usine Nouvelle [in French]

UK-France Lancaster House accord

Taranis unveiled
(click to view full)

July 12/10: Taranis. The UK Ministry of Defence and BAE Systems unveil their Taranis stealth UCAV technology demonstrator prototype at Warton, UK. Flight trials are now due in 2011, rather than 2010.

Taranis is a separate UK-only program, but subsequent events may make this milestone meaningful to nEUROn as well. UK MoD| BAE Systems | Flight International.

Taranis unveiled

Nov 22/07: The UK MoD has announced the cutting of the first metal for its new stealth robot bomber, Taranis. Sources: The Register, “First metal cut on BAE’s ‘Taranis’ robot stealth bomber”.

July 25/07: Sub-contractors. Dunlop Aerospace Braking Systems announces that it has been selected to provide wheels, brakes and brake control systems for the Taranis UCAV. Dunlop Aerospace will supply its equipment to BAE Systems in 2008 and the aircraft is scheduled to commence flight trials in 2010. The agreement was reached during the 2007 Le Bourget Paris Air Show. Sources: Dunlop, “Dunlop Aerospace supports the future of military aviation with BAE Systems UAV agreement”.

Dec 7/06: Taranis program launched. The UK MoD awards BAE Systems a 4-year, GBP 124 million program to develop the Taranis stealth UCAV, named after the Celtic god of Thunder. Ground testing is scheduled for in early 2009 at BAE Systems’ Woomera, Australia facility, and they hope for 1st flight trials in 2010. The Taranis TDV will reportedly have 2 payload bays and a combination of optical and radar sensors, but testing is only expected to simulate the steps of weapon release rather than testing actual weapons.

Taranis is said to be jointly funded by government and industry, though nobody’s commenting on proportions, and falls under Britain’s Strategic Unmanned Air Vehicle (Experimental) Programme [SUAV(E)]. BAE will lead with UCAV design, stealth expertise, etc. Rolls Royce is providing the engine (almost certainly Adour), Smiths Aerospace is providing the complete electrical power system and fuel gauging; and QinetiQ is tapped for the communication sub-system, flight safety sub-system, associated antennas, and the UAV’s high level decision-making software.

Britain clearly realizes that they need to stay in the forefront of both UAV and stealth technologies, and Taranis gives them a chance to maintain their human expertise and apply what they’ve learned. The Taranis Technology Demonstration Vehicle (TDV) will try to use off the shelf technologies when possible, building on past programs like HERTI, Mantis, Raven, Corax, etc. On the government side, it builds on past programs like Replica and Nightjar. Sources: UK MoD, “RAF takes next step towards pilotless combat aircraft [VIDEO]” | BAE, “BAE Systems To Lead [GBP] 124 Million UAV Technology Demonstrator Programme” | QinetiQ, “QinetiQ to play strategic role in MODs £124 million ‘Taranis’ UAV technology demonstrator programme | GE, “Smiths Aerospace teams with BAE Systems to develop £124 Million UAV Technology Demonstrator Programme” | Defense Update, “U.K. Launch Project Taranis, UCAV Technology Demonstrator” | Gizmag, “England’s Taranis to be one of the largest UAVs ever”.

Taranis contract

Additional Readings & Sources Background: nEUROn

Background: Britain’s Taranis et. al.

Background: Other UCAVs

Categories: Defense`s Feeds

Thais Go Russian, Buy Mi-17 Helicopters – Now to Pay with Rubber

Defense Industry Daily - Thu, 01/10/2019 - 04:54

Mi-17, India
(click to view full)

Thailand has been an American defense industry customer for many decades, but recent purchases have begun to diversify its sources. A 2005 deal for Russian SU-30s fell through, but instead of buying more F-16s, the Thais chose Sweden’s JAS-39 Gripen and Saab’s Erieye AWACS turboprops. Chinese tanks are being supplemented with Ukrainian BTR-3 Armored personnel carriers, and Thai soldiers may be found carrying Russian SA-18 Igla man-portable anti-aircraft missiles. Now this trend has extended to the helicopter fleet.

With many of its aged Bell 212 and UH-1H Hueys grounded due to maintenance issues, the Thai government was looking to beef up its helicopter fleet with new equipment, even as it planned a $30 million upgrade and refurbishment program for some of its 150 or so Hueys officially in inventory.

Rather than buying Bell 412s like the Air Force, or the UH-60 Blackhawks that equip many other American allies, the Thai Army has picked a different platform: Russia’s Mi-17s – and will take the money from the Huey upgrade program in order to double the Mi-17 helicopter order to 6…

RTAF UH-1H
(click to view larger)

The Bangkok Post reports that Russia had offered to sell Mi-17s to Thailand at 168 million baht each in 2006, but the price has gone up. The first 3 helicopters will now cost 950 million baht, with another 50 million baht for pilot training and ground equipment (1 billion baht currently = $29.1 million). The other 3 helicopters will reportedly be paid for by funds diverted from the Huey upgrade program.

The Post adds that the deal has been arranged by the same brokerage firm that arranged the 4 billion baht (about $120 million) deal for 96 BTR-3E1 armored vehicles from the Ukraine. A deal that has been criticized as lacking transparency. Flight International quotes the Thai army’s rationale:

“We are buying three Mi-17 helicopters for the price of one Black Hawk. The Mi-17 can also carry more than 30 troops, while the Black Hawk could carry only 13 soldiers. These were the key factors behind the decision.”

The UH-60 Black Hawk’s engineering allows it to carry about the same cargo load weight as the Mi-17, despite a smaller size that makes it more air-portable but cuts into troop capacity. Generally accepted operational figures are 10-11 troops in the UH-60s, vs. 20-24 in the Mi-17s. See: Bangkok Post | Flight International.

Update

January 10/19: Thailand orders more Two more Russian Mil Mi-17V-5 “Hip-H” medium transport helicopters were delivered to the Royal Thai Army (RTA), Jane’s reports. The Mi-17V-5, produced by Kazan Helicopters is designed to transport cargo inside the cabin and in external sling. It can be deployed in troop and arms transport, fire support, convoy escort, patrol, and search-and-rescue (SAR) missions. The RTA already operates five Mi-17V-5 platforms and ordered the current two Mil Mi-17V-5s back in September 2017 with the contract signed in December of the same year. The platforms were delivered in December 2018.

September 16/15: Russia’s Rostec conglomerate is looking to sell military hardware to Thailand in exchange for commodities such as rubber and rice. The company’s subsidiaries are currently fulfilling a contract to supply Thailand with Mi-17 transport helicopters, as well as Superjet 100 aircraft. Russia and Thailand are boosting bilateral trade ties, with the Russian Trade Minister stating in July that the country would be prepared to sell over $160 million-worth of weaponry in exchange for 80,000 tons of rubber. A Thai military delegation was also recently in Russia to attend an arms fair.

Categories: Defense`s Feeds

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