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UNITED KINGDOM AND NATO
09 Apr 19. The MOD has launched a £2m competition for proposals to tackle the future threats of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). The competition, run by the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA), the MOD’s innovation hub, will seek robust and cost-effective next-generation solutions to the risks posed by hostile UAS.
The MOD is looking to develop new defensive capabilities which draw upon autonomous decision-making mechanisms and networked sensing systems capable of detecting, tracking, identifying and defeating hostile UAS over complex and varied environments.
Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said, “As the security threats from hostile drones are evolving at pace, it’s critical that our armed forces benefit from the very latest technology to stay ahead. This competition will draw on the brightest and best of our defence industry to find innovative solutions that will ensure we are protected in the years to come.”
The competition is the latest stage in Defence Science and Technology Lab’s (Dstl) ongoing research programme into Countering UAS which has been running for ten years.
This programme has included the extensive research, testing and evaluation of the counter-UAS technology currently employed by the MOD, including the landmark series of ‘Bristow’ trials with industry in 2013, 2015 and 2018.
Dstl’s Principal Engineer, David Lugton said, “Hostile UAS is a challenging threat in many different ways and requires cutting edge technology and well-thought-out system approaches to counter it effectively. Through this competition we are looking to inspire and develop a range of solutions to mitigate the threat posed by UAS now and in the future.”
Among the technologies we’re looking for, we’d be interested in those which can detect and track multiple threats simultaneously, with minimal human oversight, and against a broad spectrum of UAS types.
We’re also interested in Counter-Unmanned Air Systems which can overcome the challenges posed by line of sight blockages, collateral, and ones which can link systems together to improve understanding of the local “drone air picture”.
Today’s call is focused on tackling the challenges of current and future UAS capabilities, in particular:
- Next-generation Counter-UAS technology – new technological solutions to provide robust and cost effective sensing and defeat options.
- Flexible Counter-UAS technology – programmes capable of bringing counter-UAS technologies together and linking with other surveillance systems and cooperative drone awareness systems.
- Countering Future UAS Systems – developing capability to detect and mitigate threats from UAS acting autonomously, in swarms and in highly congested airspace.
Phase 1, which will deliver proof of concept of the proposals, will be worth approximately £800k and is scheduled to take place from July 2019 to March 2020. The total funding for the competition is expected to be at least £2m, split over multiple phases.
James Gray, Managing Director for Raytheon UK Cyber and Intelligence said, “We welcome this initiative from the Ministry of Defence. December’s drone shutdowns at Gatwick and Heathrow have made it absolutely clear that the dangerous use of unmanned systems is a challenge for the UK both at home and abroad, and this is a timely call for action. Raytheon is already developing integrated counter drone technologies including drone-detecting radars, cyber effectors, high-energy lasers and high power microwaves that disrupt and disable the threat. We are fully committed to working with the UK to further secure its place as a global leader in defence and security.”
BATTLESPACE Comment: This is a smart move by the UK MoD and will keep the UK in the forefront of C-UAV technology. This development will also gloss over the embarrassment caused by the cack handed manner by which Chris Grayling and Sussex Police handled the Gatwick incident. Companies expected to bid for this will include, the AUDS Team of Blighter, Chess Dynamics and ECS, collectively or as separate entities, Raytheon UK, Thales, Leonardo from the UK; Leonardo DRS, Liteye, Northrop Grumman, Echodyne, SAIC from the US; Robin Radar from the Netherlands; Droneshield from Australia; Rheinmetall and Diehl from Germany; Elbit, Rada and Rafael from Israel. A research firm estimates the global drone market will be worth $17bn by 2025. While the benefits of drones are numerous, so are the risks. In the wrong hands, drones could easily become weapons or illegal surveillance systems. As drones become more prevalent in our global airspace, it’s critical that we develop solutions to safeguard against threats.
EUROPE
10 Apr 19. Three shipbuilders to apply in Bulgarian $567m patrol vessel tender. The Bulgarian navy expects three companies to submit offers to supply two patrol vessels under an ongoing tender: Italy’s Fincantieri, Germany’s Lürssen, and Bulgarian shipbuilder MTG Dolphin.
Navy chief Rear Admiral Mitko Petev told the state-run broadcaster Bulgarian National Radio that the three companies have signaled they aim to file bids by the April 16 deadline. Under the plan, the contract is to be signed by the end of this year, according to the commander.
The procurement is estimated to be worth some 984m leva (US$567m). The first vessel is to be delivered by the end of 2023, and the second one by the end of 2024.
In late 2017, Bulgaria’s government canceled its draft decision to order two patrol vessels after the only bidder, MTG Dolphin, withdrew from the negotiations on the deal. Following legislative changes that imposed a value-added tax on military procurements, the 820m leva the government had allocated to acquire the vessels was to be reduced by a tax of about 164m leva, decreasing the project’s economic feasibility for the shipbuilder.
Bulgaria is pursuing plans to boost its Navy’s operational capacities and acquire new vessels in response to the rising concern over Russian military activities in the Black Sea region, initiated by Moscow’s annexation of the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula in 2014. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has also stimulated naval modernization programs in a number of other countries in the region, including Poland and Romania. (Source: Defense News)
10 Apr 19. Germany sees €8.86bn cost to operate Tornado jets to 2030. The German Defence Ministry estimates it will cost nearly 9bn euros (7.7bn pounds) to keep its ageing fleet of 93 Tornado fighter jets flying until 2030, according to a classified document provided to German lawmakers this week. The steep cost forecast includes 5.64 bn euros to maintain the warplanes, which first entered service in 1983, 1.62bn euros to design replacements for obsolete parts, and 1.58bn euros to procure them, according to the document, which was viewed by Reuters.
Germany in January decided to pick either the Eurofighter or Boeing Co’s F/A-18E/F fighter jet to replace its Tornado fleet in coming years, dropping Lockheed Martin’s F-35 stealth fighter from a tender worth billions of euros.
But neither the F/A-18 nor the Eurofighter, built by Airbus, Britain’s BAE Systems and Italy’s Leonardo SpA, are currently certified to carry U.S. nuclear weapons, as required under Germany’s obligations to NATO.
That means Germany will be dependent on its Tornado fleet until it gets new certified planes – a process that could take years.
The estimate came in response to a query by lawmakers from the opposition Free Democrats, who have criticised the ministry for dropping the F-35 – the only aircraft already certified.
The ministry did not specify the cost of operating the Tornado fleet until 2035, the current target, despite a specific request to do so from the lawmakers, and said it could adjust the retirement schedule.
Parliamentary sources said the estimate was even higher than expected at around €100m per plane, and it would be cheaper to purchase new aircraft. However Germany’s sluggish defence procurement process, and the complicated process of certifying new aircraft to carry nuclear weapons, meant any new warplanes were unlikely to enter service until 2025 or even later.
Of Germany’s 93 Tornado jets, 85 are operated by the Luftwaffe, or air force, but not all are equipped to carry nuclear weapons. The remaining planes are used for training. The current Tornado fleet has a combat readiness rate of under 40 percent, according to sources familiar with new ministry data. Germany in past years had published such data, but this year made the readiness of its weapons a classified matter for security reasons. (Source: Reuters)
09 Apr 19. Pohjanmaa-Class Combat System Acquisition to Continue with Saab. On 8th April 2019, Defence Minister Jussi Niinistö decided the Finnish Defence Forces’ Logistics Command will remain prepared for concluding the contract on the combat system for Pohjanmaa-class vessels with only one tenderer, Saab AB, Sweden, which performed best in the comparison of the quotations. The decision means that from now on there will be only one tenderer and that Atlas Elektronik and Lockheed Martin Canada no longer participate in the competitive tendering process. The government to be appointed after the parliamentary elections will make the actual procurement decision. The initial intention was to make the procurement decision on the combat system in connection with a shipbuilding contract in 2018, but since the tendering process concerning the shipbuilding contract has taken longer than expected, it has not been possible to proceed as planned. Following the resignation of the Government, the procurement decision concerning the combat system can be made at the earliest after the new government has been appointed.
Because of the additional delay, the Ministry of Defence considered that the decision to continue the tendering process with the tenderer that performed best in the tendering process is a fair and equitable way to continue the procurement process, because the tenderers have submitted their final quotations and their comparison has been completed. The aim is to reduce risks caused by extended tender periods and cost impacts for the tenderers and the defence administration. The caretaker government was capable of making the decision on the basis of the above-mentioned grounds. The Office of the Chancellor of Justice was consulted about the competences of the caretaker government. Since a procurement decision has not been made, the comparison results, the contract under negotiations or details of the system to be procured will not be made public.
Competitive tendering started in 2017
The combat system to be delivered for Pohjanmaa-class vessels will consist of weapons, sensors, and command and control systems and their integration into vessels. The preliminary invitation to tender was sent in summer 2017 to three supplier candidates – Atlas Elektronik GmbH in Germany, Lockheed Martin Canada Inc in Canada and Saab AB in Sweden. The competitive tendering, which was carried out as a consultation process, reached its final phase in 2018. All three companies were sent a request for a quotation in October 2018, after which the received quotations were evaluated and contract negotiations were conducted.
Alongside the combat system contract, the Pohjanmaa-class vessels will be equipped with torpedoes, surface-to-surface missiles, a surface-to-air missile system and naval guns that will be removed from the Hamina-class vessels. (Source: defense-aerospace.com/Finnish Ministry of Defence)
08 Apr 19. Air2030: Flight and Ground Tests Begin for A New Fighter Jet (NKF) in Payerne. At a press conference in Bern, Ministry of Defence specialists reported on the flight and ground tests for a new fighter jet. The press conference marks the start of the trials, which begin this week in Payerne. The trials of the five candidate airplanes will take place until the end of June 2019.
At the press conference on 8 April 2019, various specialists from the Ministry of Defence provided information on the in-flight and ground tests that are about to take place in Payerne. The delegate of the head of the DDPS for the renewal of the means of protection of the airspace, Christian Catrina, briefly presented the NKF (New Combat Aircraft) project, followed by the NKF project manager at armasuisse, Darko Savic.
Then the heads of the NKF sub-project tests, Bernhard Berset from armasuisse and Cédric Aufranc, from the Air Force staff, described the evaluation process and the scope of the tests. Finally, Colonel Peter Merz, the Air Force’s NKF deputy project head, explained the Air Force’s mission and its need for a new fighter jet.
Test program
The tests include eight missions with specific tasks. Each mission is carried out with one or two fighter planes. The purpose of the missions is to check the capabilities of the aircraft as well as the data received. A flight will take place at night, but will end in any case before midnight. An introductory flight will take place before the flight and ground tests to allow foreign pilots to familiarize themselves with Swiss airspace. No test flight will take place on holidays or weekends.
The candidates will be tested in alphabetical order, according to the name of the builders:
— Airbus, Germany, Eurofighter: Weeks 15 and 16
— Boeing, USA, F / A-18 Super Hornet: Weeks 17 and 18
— Dassault, France, Rafale: Weeks 20 and 21
— Lockheed Martin, USA, F-35A: Weeks 23 and 24
— Saab, Sweden, Gripen E: Weeks 25 and 26
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Night flights are scheduled as follows (the reserve day is indicated in parentheses):
— Monday, 15/04/2019 (16/04/2019)
— Monday, 29/04/2019 (30/04/2019)
— Monday, 20/05/2019 (21/05/2019)
— Thursday, 06/06/2019 (06/11/2019)
— Wednesday, 26/06/2019 (27/06/2019)
Press events in Payerne
The representatives of the media will have the opportunity to discover the different combat planes in Payerne on predefined dates. Accreditation is essential to participate. A separate registration is required for each event. The electronic registration form and further information on the press events are available on the DDPS website in the online file www.vbs.ch/air2030. (Unofficial translation by Defense-Aerospace.com) (Source: defense-aerospace.com/Swiss Dept. of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports)
08 Apr 19. Polish Ministry of National Defence Signs 90m EUR Offset Agreement for AW101 Helicopters. Leonardo, the owner of PZL-Świdnik, the Group’s main industrial pillar in Poland, announced that its UK subsidiary Leonardo MW Ltd has signed an Offset Agreement, valued at approx. 90m EUR, with the Polish Ministry of National Defence – PZL.Swidnik.pl. FNC IM; SIFI.MI
- The Offset Agreement, signed by Leonardo MW Ltd, provides for establishing critical in-country maintenance capabilities and precedes a contract for the supply of AW101 military helicopters;
- The Offset Programme fully meets the stringent requirements of the Polish MoD, confirming Leonardo’s commitment to a solid and long-term cooperation with the Polish Armed Forces and Polish industry.
Leonardo, the owner of PZL-Świdnik (pzl.swidnik.pl), the Group’s main industrial pillar in Poland, announced that its UK subsidiary Leonardo MW Ltd has signed an Offset Agreement, valued at approx. 400 mln PLN (90 mln EUR), with the Polish Ministry of National Defence. The signing of the Offset Agreement precedes a contract for the supply of AW101 military helicopters.
The Offset Agreement provides the Polish Ministry of National Defence with the commitment for establishing in the Military Aviation Works No.1 in Łódź, part of the Polish Armaments Group (PGZ), critical maintenance capabilities for the AW101 helicopters and its dedicated mission equipment. Also the Gdańsk Technical University will be among the entities benefitting from the Offset Agreement.
The scope of the offset programme fully meets the stringent requirements of the Polish Ministry of National Defence, confirming Leonardo’s commitment to a solid and long-term cooperation with the Polish Armed Forces and Polish industry for the delivery of relevant capabilities required for the maintenance of modern military equipment, as well as development and sustainment of the necessary skills and experience in the country. (Source: Google/https://www.newswiretoday.com)
USA
10 Apr 19. Next Milestone for Future B-21 Bomber? First Flight. The Air Force’s stealthy new bomber is getting ready to take its first flight.
“Our next major milestone is first flight,” Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch, the Air Force’s military deputy to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Acquisition at the Pentagon, said of the B-21 Long Range Strategic Bomber program. During a Senate Armed Services subcommittee on airland hearing Tuesday, Bunch told lawmakers the program has met all developmental checkpoints and is on schedule. While he didn’t reveal when the flight will take place, officials have said the first B-21 is expected to reach initial operating capability in the mid-2020s.
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“We’re still in our acquisition thresholds and baselines, and [the B-21] is executing the way we want. … We got past critical design review,” Bunch said of the bomber, developed from a clean-sheet design.
In December, the program cleared the developmental milestone. Officials confirmed the Northrop Grumman-made B-21, named the Raider in honor of the World War II Doolittle Raiders, completed its critical design review. It passed its preliminary design review in 2017.
The B-21 will have both nuclear and non-nuclear roles. As a conventional bomber, it will be able to go after multiple targets, but it can carry out only one nuclear drop at a time.
The program is relying on open mission systems and open architecture practices, meaning that different technologies plug into the common management system and communicate with one another, Bunch said Tuesday. The Air Force is also “bringing the warfighter in early,” to have pilot input on what is and isn’t working, he said.
These moves contribute to the program “making great progress,” Bunch said.
Lawmakers had a closed-door program briefing in February and intend to have at least one or two more a year, said Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas.
Cotton and Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said the sessions help Congress better understand the program’s life cycle and to help keep costs in check.
The Air Force awarded Northrop the contract, initially worth $21.4bn, in 2015. Total costs are expected to exceed $55bn over the life of the program to procure at least 100 of the Raiders. Last month, the service picked Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, to be the first operational B-21 base. It will also host the bomber’s first formal training unit. Ellsworth, which currently houses B-1B Lancer bombers, was chosen as the “preferred location” for the B-21 mission. Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, a B-2 Spirit base, and Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, another B-1B base, “will receive B-21 Raiders as they become available,” the service said in a news release. Last year, the service announced it had selected Edwards Air Force Base, California, and Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, to be the lead facilities for test and evaluation and maintenance and sustainment, respectively, for the program. (Source: Military.com)
10 Apr 19. Navy Secretary ‘Pretty Confident’ Frigate Cost Will Stay At Estimate. Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer told a House panel on Wednesday he is “pretty confident” the new future frigate, FFG(X), will stay at its current estimated cost. The frigate competition has five platforms, “which makes this probably one of the most competitive platform acquisition programs that we’ll have so we’re quite excited about that. We look at the learning curves on those hulls that are already out there and they’re already impressive,” Spencer told the House Armed Services committee. The Navy expects the initial vessel to cost up to a maximum of $950m, but that follow-on ships will cost around $800m each (Defense Daily, Jan. 17). Despite thinking the Navy will stay on target, Spencer admitted, “the reason I pause for a second is I read the latest GAO report on the Columbia and one of the things the Navy is criticized for is not estimating the costs in an appropriate matter, that we underestimate.” The GAO report, released earlier this week, said the Navy’s estimate that Columbia-class submarine procurement will cost $115bn is over optimistic, especially with labor hour assumptions.
“I’m hoping and I’m pretty confident that the number that we’re projecting here is the first ship number and it’s going to be a conservative number, but we are definitely driving for the $800m number,” Spencer said.
The service released a draft request for proposals for the detail design and construction (DD&C) contract last month. The DD&C will cover the first 10 of a total 20 frigates. In response to Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), Spencer also said the Navy is removing nothing between the first and follow-on ships. The cost savings come from a “learning curve. You build something once you, know how to build it. You build it twice you know how to build it better. Three, four, five, you come down to industrial learning curve. That’s what you’re witnessing for the $800m. No capability or capacity reduction.”
The Secretary added that he believes the Navy is on track to award the DD&C by the end of FY 2020 as part of an aggressive timeline.
“And I want to make sure that you understand that when we say aggressive, it’s aggressive on a historical basis. These are all proven form designs.”
The Navy’s FY 2020 budget request laid out its expected schedule: the first frigate will be awarded in July 2020, start construction in July 2022, and be delivered by July 2026. The Navy will also award two frigates per year from 2021 – 2024, with construction on each ship planned to start about two years after award. The budget request includes about $1.28bn for frigate spending in FY ’20, and over the Future Years Defense Program (FYDP) plans to spend a total of $8.7bn. When adding the 11 planned vessels outside the FYDP, the Navy plans to spend $20.5bn total for 20 frigates. (Source: Defense Daily)
09 Apr 19. Lockheed Helicopter Funding Shift Reduced by Skeptical Lawmaker. The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee turned down a Navy request for $158m to correct flaws with Lockheed Martin Corp.’s new King Stallion helicopter, agreeing to shift only half that amount from other programs.
Representative Adam Smith, a Democrat from Washington state, wrote the Defense Department that he’d approve the remaining $79m only after the Marines and the Pentagon’s test office provide a report about what progress is being made to solve the heavy lift helicopter’s most serious technical problem — the ingestion of exhaust gas back into one of the helicopter’s three engines.
Under congressional procedures, any of the four defense committees can block or modify a “reprogramming” request.
The Navy said earlier this year that “this critical additional $158M funding will enable the test program to support” Marine Corps “preparations and operational deployment in 2023-2024.” The reprogramming request sent to Congress said that without the extra money “the program will incur significant delays.”
Greg Kuntz, a spokesman for the Naval Air Systems Command, said the $31bn helicopter program, designated CH-53K, will miss a December target for the Navy declaring that it has an initial combat capability.
A new date “has not been finalized and is pending the final decision” on the funding shift, he said. That date will be at least 19 months after December, according to the Navy.
Bill Falk, the King Stallion program manager for Lockheed’s Sikorsky aircraft unit, said in an email that “we are pleased Congress recently approved reprogramming funds” as “this demonstrates the confidence the legislative branch and Marines have in the CH-53K program and recognizes the crucial role this all-new heavy lift helicopter will play.”He offered no comment on the decision to cut the request by half. (Source: Defense News Early Bird/Bloomberg)
09 Apr 19. SecNavy, CNO Confident Ford Ready By October, Amphibs May Be Bought Faster. Top Navy officials told the Senate Armed Services Committee today they expect the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) aircraft carrier to finally be ready by October and that incremental funding authority for amphibious ships could allow the Navy to reach 37 amphibious ships FY 2024. Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer confirmed the Ford is now expected to finish its post shakedown availability (PSA) in October, reiterating what Navy acquisition chief James Geurts told the House Armed Services Seapower subcommittee last month. The PSA was originally scheduled to be finished by July. Spencer admitted beyond the ship having to verify new technologies like the Electromagnetic
Aircraft launch System (EMALS), Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) and Advanced Weapons. Elevators (AWE), several systems have pushed the PSA from July. There are other items pushing the availability out such as main thrust bearings, propulsion, and just the whole general PSA schedule.” Spencer said he was “fairly confident” the ship would be ready to leave port by October.
“This is new technologies, I don’t want to use that as an excuse but I will tell you we are confident working with the contractor that this is the goal, that we will get the Ford out the door in October.”
The Ford has been plagued with various delays, with this PSA delay largely driven by problems with the propulsion bearing system and the elevators. The carrier has four bearings that transfer thrust from its four propeller shafts and the issue caused the Navy to include repair costs in a reprogramming request last summer. The carrier also is designed to hold 11 AWEs, but the second elevator was only accepted in
March. Earlier this year, Jennifer Boykin, president of shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries’ [HII] Newport News Shipbuilding said the company expects to turn over four upper stage elevators while another four to five lower stage elevators would be in the certification process by the time the Navy finishes the PSA and reaches its sail away date. Notably, in January, Spencer said he promised President Donald the AWEs would be finished by the summer when the carrier completes its PSA and leaves port “or you can fire me.” Separately, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson told the committee that incremental funding authority Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) is pushing for could get the Navy to reach 37 amphibious ships by FY 2024. The Navy’s FY 2020 budget request delayed funding for the America-class amphibious assault ship LHA-9 and the second San Antonio-class Flight III Landing Platform Dock, LPD-31 to buy a third Virginia-class attack submarine. Last month, Wicker asked Navy officials during a Senate Armed Services Seapower subcommittee hearing if it would be helpful if Congress allowed incremental funding for the LPD and LHA, rather than merely let them be delayed as planned. Geurts agreed this would let the Navy accelerate how it spends the $350m appropriated for the programs in FY ’19. On Tuesday, Wicker asked the question again and Spencer agreed it would be helpful. Richardson also said there is still the enduring need to reach 38 amphibious vessels, the Navy’s top line goal.
“Our current shipbuilding plan gets us to 36 by FY ’24, five years. With this incremental funding authority that we’ve been discussing, we might be able to accelerate and get even closer to 37. And so we’re paying a great deal of attention to meeting that requirement,” the CNO said.
Last month, Geurts told reporters he is specifically hoping to pull LHA-9 up in the budget plans in FY ’21. Without procuring LHA-9 faster, the shipbuilders would have a seven-year break in shipbuilding and Geurts said he was concerned with losing part of the LHA workforce. (Source: Defense Daily)
09 Apr 19. Milestone and contract award boost USAF Eagle upgrade effort. The US Air Force (USAF) effort to upgrade its Boeing F-15 Eagle combat aircraft took a step forward on 8 April, with a significant developmental milestone and a further contract award for two of the proposed enhancements. Boeing announced that the Eagle Passive/Active Warning and Survivability System (EPAWSS) upgrade had made its maiden flight on an F-15 testbed, while on the same day the Department of Defense (DoD) contracted the company for low-rate initial production (LRIP) lot 3 of the Advanced Display Core Processor II (ADCP II) for the aircraft. The EPAWSS flight took place aboard an aircraft flown by the USAF’s 40th Flight Test Squadron located at Eglin Air Force (AFB) in Florida, and was described by Boeing as being “successful”. Developed by BAE Systems as a sub-contractor to Boeing, the EPAWSS is designed to sample the radio-frequency (RF) spectrum, identify threats, prioritise, and allocate jamming resources against the threats, and will replace the 1980s-vintage Tactical Electronic Warfare Suite (TEWS) currently fitted to the USAF’s more than 400 F-15C and F-15E-variant Eagles.
At the same time as the EPAWSS maiden flight, the DoD awarded Boeing USD91.3m for LRIP 3 of the ADCP II boxes. The ADCP II (also known as Suite 9) is billed by Boeing as the world’s fastest flight mission computer, capable of processing up to 87bn instructions per second. “This is an important enhancement for the F-15, as it unleashes the ‘horsepower’ of the electronic warfare suite currently being developed,” the company has previously told Jane’s. Both the EPAWSS and the ADCP II are part of a wider USD12bn modernisation programme taking place across the range of Eagle types being flown in the USAF inventory. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
08 Apr 19. DARPA Announces Fourth Swarm Sprint. DARPA is soliciting creative proposals for the fourth swarm sprint in its OFFensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics (OFFSET)program. OFFSET envisions swarms of 250 collaborative autonomous systems providing critical capabilities to ground units in urban areas where challenges such as tall buildings, tight spaces, and limited sight lines constrain essential communications, sensing, maneuverability, and autonomous operations.
The swarm sprints aim to encourage rapid innovation and continuous incorporation of breakthrough technologies. Each of the five core sprints emphasizes one of the key OFFSET thrust areas – swarm tactics, swarm autonomy, human-swarm teaming, virtual environment, and physical testbed – to ultimately enable cross-cutting breakthroughs in swarm systems capabilities. The fourth swarm sprint consists of two topics areas: developing synthetic technologies in the OFFSET virtual environments and identifying applications of artificial intelligence (AI) to discover and learn novel swarm tactics.
For the first topic area, proposers will seek to develop and implement synthetic capabilities in simulation, representing potential future technologies, such as distributed “see-through-wall” sensors, passive swarm communications, or enhanced sensor/computing arrays, to enable and demonstrate novel swarm tactics. Proposed technologies could be near-term advances that are being prototyped in laboratories or far-term ideas that are primarily conceptual but physically grounded.
The second topic area represents an ad hoc sprint for leveraging artificial Intelligence for accelerating swarm tactics design, for which sprinters will discover, learn, and harden novel swarm tactics by applying artificial intelligence frameworks via enhancements of the OFFSET virtual environments.
“With OFFSET, we are expanding the tactics available to warfighters, leveraging advances in autonomous systems to address complex challenges in urban environments,” says Timothy Chung, program manager in DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office (TTO). “Exploring and developing swarm technologies in virtual environments today can yield insights and impact for real-world breakthrough capabilities tomorrow.”
DARPA also has awarded separate contracts for the third swarm sprint to Carnegie Mellon University and Soar Technology Inc., each of which will focus on development of advanced swarm tactics.
The third swarm sprint aims to augment the growing collection of swarm tactics in the OFFSET ecosystem, employing heterogeneous swarms of air and ground robots, and also to explore innovative technologies to enhance human-swarm teaming or how humans interact with autonomous swarms.
Proposers may submit to one or both of the topic areas for the fourth swarm sprint. Full OFFSET program details are available on the Federal Business Opportunities website: https://go.usa.gov/xRhPC, with directions to submit to this solicitation available under Amendment 5. Proposals are due by 1 p.m. EDT May 1, 2019. Please email questions to . (Source: UAS VISION)
08 Apr 19. GAO: Columbia Construction Costs Unrealistic. A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released Monday said the Navy’s estimate that Columbia-class submarine procurement will cost $115bn is overly optimistic about labor hour assumptions. The Navy plans to start replacing the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) with 12 Columbias in 2027. In creating the new vessel, the Navy is developing several new technologies related to propulsion, missile tubes, and survivability. The nuclear submarines are built by General Dynamics Electric Boat [GD] (GDEB) and Huntington Ingalls Industries [HII] with GD serving as prime and HII as a subcontractor. Each company will build different parts of the vessel, but GDEB will complete the final outfitting and deliver the submarines to the Navy. The report, “Columbia Class Submarine Overly Optimistic Cost Estimate Will Likely Lead to Budget Increases,” said the $115bn estimate “is not reliable partly because it is based on overly optimistic assumptions about the labor hours needed to construct the submarines.”
“While the Navy analyzed cost risks, it did not include margin in its estimate for likely cost overruns,” the report continued. The GAO noted the Navy told the office it will continue to update its lead vessel cost estimate, but an independent assessment of the estimate might not be finished in time to inform the Navy’s FY 2021 budget request to Congress to buy the lead submarine. Therefore, without the reviews, the GAO said the cost estimate and thus the whole budget may be unrealistic.
“A reliable cost estimate is especially important for a program of this size and complexity to help ensure that its budget is sufficient to execute the program as planned,” the report said.
The Navy expects it will need 12 million touch labor hours to direct build the lead submarine. However, GAO pointed out this is 17 percent fewer labor hours than what was needed for the lead Virginia-class attack submarine, when adjusted for weight differences. The report said Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) got to 12 million labor hours by
calculating a weight-adjusted estimate of the Virginia-class labor hours. Since the Columbia is heavier, it estimated it would take about 14.5 million touch labor hours. Then NAVSEA “made numerous adjustments in the cost estimate” that reduced expected labor hours based on assumptions that differences in the design and construction process would lead to a more efficient construction. This lowered the number to 12 million touch hours. NAVSEA then used that Columbia estimate to calculate labor hours on follow-on submarines, which it estimated will take 8.9 million touch labor hours. However, GAO argued the touch labor hour estimate is “overly optimistic-with assumptions on construction efficiencies that are either unsubstantiated or unprecedented compared to Virginia class and other shipbuilding historical data.”
The Navy is using the National Sea-Based Deterrence Fund to build the submarines, which allows the service to buy material and start construction early on multiple submarines before getting congressional authorization and funding for submarine construction. The Navy plans to
start lead submarine construction in October 2020. The Navy is trying to mitigate its aggressive schedule for lead vessel construction by aiming to mature a significant amount of submarine design before construction starts and beginning advance construction of modules before October 2020.
The report said the Navy expects to achieve savings like buying certain components early and in bulk under this fund, but did not include those savings in its cost estimate. Therefore, GAO determined “the Navy may have overestimated its savings as higher than those historically achieved by other such programs.”
The shipbuilder is also trying to improve design performance and maintain a higher pace of work but “this may prove challenging as it must complete an increasingly higher volume and complexity of design products.”
Without an updated cost estimate and cost risk analysis that includes a “realistic estimate of savings,” GAO said the FY 2021 budget request may not reflect the actual funding needed to build the first Columbia. The report recommended three actions for Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer to take. Spencer should direct Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) to incorporate current cost and program data and an updated risk analysis in its planned update of lead Columbia-class submarine cost estimate.
GAO also recommended the secretary direct NAVSEA to develop a “realistic and well documented estimate of savings from use of the authorities associated with the Fund” and incorporate savings related to the lead submarine into the Columbia lead submarine cost estimate. It also recommended Spencer direct the Columbia-class program office to update its lead Columbia vessel cost estimates and cost risk analysis before requesting funds from Congress for its construction. The GAO undertook this report because the FY 2018 National Defense Authorization Act directed it to review the Columbia program. The office said it examined the progress and challenges in meeting design goals and preparing for lead vessel construction, reliability of the Navy’s cost estimate, and how the Navy is implementing a special fund and associated
authorities to build the submarines. GAO said it reviewed service and shipbuilder progress reports, program schedules, and onstruction plans. It also reviewed the Navy’s cost estimate in comparison to best practices. (Source: Defense Daily)
08 Apr 19. 6th Gen Navy. The Navy’s director of air warfare told a House panel Thursday the analysis of alternatives (AoA) for a sixth or next-generation air dominance (NGAD) fighter will be finished later this year. This includes any aircraft beyond the Block III Super Hornet. The AoA “will be complete this spring. The final report will come out this summer and that will inform future choices reflected future budget cycles in terms of what do we need to do to get after the lethality that we need at a cost that we can afford,” Rear Adm. Scott Conn, Director of Air Warfare, told the House Armed Services tactical air and land forces subcommittee. The larger NGAD study started as the AoA in January 2016. (Source: Defense Daily)
08 Apr 19. Lawmakers Continue to Press Air Force on F-15EX Buy. Lawmakers in both chambers continued to press Air Force leadership this week on the service’s decision to include eight F-15EX aircraft in its fiscal year 2020 proposed budget. Multiple members of the Senate Armed Services Committee from both parties demanded answers from Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson and Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein during an April 4 hearing, concerned about its effects on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program and its effectiveness on a future battlefield. The F-15EX is built by Boeing [BA] while Lockheed Martin [LMT] manufactures the F-35.
Service officials continue to toe the company line that the decision was made in an effort to boost its fighter capacity within the budget numbers it was given, and in order to replace its aging F-15C/D fleet. Goldfein told SASC members that the F15-EX has an expected lifespan of 20,000 hours, which Capital Alpha Partners Analyst Byron Callan noted in a Thursday email is twice the lifespan of other fighters, suggesting these airframes will be in service for decades. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) asked whether its longevity could sway the Air Force from buying more F-35s down the line, but Goldfein responded: “If we ever get to a point where we’re trading F-35s for F-15s, that’s a bad choice.”
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) asked about the speed at which the service could stand up simulators and other training equipment for the new F-15EXs, as the expectation is to have them fielded within four years. Goldfein said he is “not concerned at all about the transition,” and in fact, that is one reason the service opted for that particular airframe. He said earlier in the hearing that choosing the F-15EX allows the Air Force to employ the same maintainers and use the same hangars and other equipment as it is using now for the older models, further driving down cost and speed to fielding. Callan noted in his email that F-15Cs were made for air superiority, and the EX model is assumed to be made for the same mission. “Unless there is a new longer-range very fast air-to-air missile in the works, we don’t know how effective F-15EXs will be in the 2020s and beyond,” Callan said.
Callan noted that there is an opportunity cost when the Air Force spends funds on the F-15EX when it could otherwise spend them on future air dominance. The Air Force proposes to procure 80 F-15EX aircraft over the five-year future years defense program (FYDP), while cutting 24 F-35As and reducing its planned budget for Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) by $4bn, according to FY ’20 documents. Expect the initial indications of true congressional approval or disapproval to emerge during the House and Senate Armed Services Committee markups, said Roman Schweizer of the Cowen Washington Research Group in a March 28 email to investors.
“To us, it would appear that the Air Force is constraining or reducing fifth- and sixth-gen fighter production and development in favor of continuing fourth-gen production,” Schweizer said. He noted that Pentagon officials have suggested the decision was made at least in part to maintain a strong fighter jet industrial base, while replacing the F-15C with a similar airframe.
“Based on recent Boeing foreign and U.S. orders for F-15 (Qatar), F/A-18E/F (Navy) and T-X (Air Force), we assume stable and/or healthy production at Boeing’s St. Louis facility even without the new F-15EX purchases,” Schweizer said. “We find it surprising that looking forward to future fighter programs, the Pentagon would reduce NGAD spending that could help U.S. aerospace primes employ their engineering staff on developing new high-end advanced aircraft.”
Schweizer added that budget documents indicate F-15 purchases would ramp up to 18 per year for about $1.8bn per year, with the total 80 aircraft costing $7.8bn. Over the revised five-year plan, the Air Force would be buying 56 more fighters than it could under an F-35-only buy. Some lawmakers expressed concern this week over the potential impact to Lockheed Martin’s manufacturing line. Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), who serves as ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee, asked Air Force leadership at an April 2 HASC hearing whether reducing the number of planned F-35 buys in this budget would affect future manufacturing capability.
“If we buy 48 aircraft this year and not 60, doesn’t it make it more difficult to buy 70 the next year? And isn’t it absolutely that we lock ourselves into an inability to have flexibility to increase the number of the F-35s by what we do this year?” he said.
Wilson said the Air Force has included 12 additional F-35s in its FY ’20 unfunded priorities list, bringing the number up to 60 if Congress funds the full request. She added that Lockheed Martin has confirmed it can produce 60 aircraft this year if necessary. But Goldfein acknowledged that a smaller production number could stymie future aircraft production, noting, “the larger the jump, the more difficult it would be for industry” to produce a greater number of fighter jets. (Source: Defense Daily)
05 Apr 19. Marines Say CH-53K Deficiencies Are All ‘Fixable.’ The Marines’ top aviator said the new CH-53K heavy lift helicopter has had some struggles during its past year of testing but would emerge from it a capable and reliable asset for the Marines. Lt. Gen. Steven Rudder told the House Armed Services tactical air and land forces subcommittee on Thursday that last year the service moved the Lockheed Martin-built CH-53K King Stallion from Sikorsky’s West Palm Beach test facility to Naval Air Station Patuxent River for a strenuous test plan.
“We put it through its paces. We brought it out to Colorado and did high-altitude testing; we banged it around in the dirt out there, and we found some things. And we found some things because good Marine test pilots and the naval enterprise found things that needed to be fixed. So the delays that you see right now are to make sure we get it right,” he said.
USNI News previously reported that the discovery of an “exhaust gas re-ingestion” issue in the engine, along with other deficiencies, slowed the testing – which was already behind schedule due to having too few aircraft and not all test flights counting towards program requirements.
To compensate for the ongoing bill of the developmental testing, and to allow for concurrency management between testing and production, the Marines asked to buy just six aircraft in their Fiscal Year 2020 budget request rather than the planned nine.
As the Marines seek to move into procurement while still working out those deficiencies and finishing up the test program, Rudder said, “we’re endeavoring right now to enter into a contract that addresses all the deficiencies as well as any new deficiencies as part of the delivery of that aircraft.”
Daniel Nega, the deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for air programs, said at the hearing that the Department of the Navy is in talks with Lockheed Martin now about the next contract, but he said any future deficiencies would be on Lockheed Martin to address.
“The flight envelope’s been tested to the corners; Gen. Rudder talked about how we’ve sort of wrung it out,” he said.
“There’s a relatively low risk that anything major will be found. However, if nuisance issues come along, we are not going to give those nuisance issues to the Marines, and the Navy and Marine Corps team is not going to accept the full risk of that. So the risk concurrency between the development and the production, that overlap is going to be taken care of.”
Despite all the challenges that arose during testing – all of which are “fixable,” Rudder stressed – the general asked the subcommittee to focus on the big picture.
“This aircraft did some unbelievable things this past year: it lifted 36,000 pounds, it still can go 100 miles with 27,000 pounds – three times what the 53E can do,” he said.
“I think we’re on the right track. You’ll see where we put in this year’s budget – we put what we need to fix (the deficiencies), as well as manage our procurement a bit to make sure we don’t get ahead of ourselves – but if you let us continue on with the money we’ve asked for this year and the money that we asked for for next year, we’re going to fix this and we’re going to deploy it in 2024.” (Source: Defense News Early Bird/USNI)
05 Apr 19. FVL: Army, Marines, SOCOM Release Ambitious Specs For Future Aircraft. To ensure its Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft can survive a war with Russia or China, the Army wants radically superior speed and range compared to current helicopters. But a joint Request For Information released yesterday shows that the tech-savvy Special Operations Command and the hard-charging Marine Corps want even more.
The Marines in particular want not only extreme range and speed — because they have to fly from ship to shore and then inland — but additional features like in-flight refueling capability and built-in weapons. The Marines also want a gunship (attack) variant of the aircraft as well as the baseline transport (assault).
On the other hand, while the Army has the least ambitious performance specs (which are still pretty ambitious), it’s the only service so far to set a price target: no more than $43m per aircraft. The Marine and SOCOM versions will certainly cost more.
These differences are especially significant because the people who want the most out of the aircraft are also the least committed to buying it if it underperforms. While the Army’s pretty much committed to buying FLRAA to replace its thousands of UH-60 Black Hawks, SOCOM and the Marines may take some convincing to join the buy. Yes, the Army’s by far the biggest customer, but industry definitely doesn’t want to lose out on the other two.
Now, none of this is final. The Request For Information is just that, a document asking industry for information — specifically, whether it’s actually feasible to build something with this performance on budget and on schedule. Industry can always say “uh, no” and there’s a good chance the military will listen. The Army, for example, recently reined in protection requirements for its Next Generation Combat Vehicle to replace the M2 Bradley, because industry looked at the draft requirements and said the machine would just be too heavy and bulky to fit two of them in a C-17 transport plane.
All these programs are part of a much bigger push to overhaul the Army for future war against great powers. New armored vehicles are No. 2 of the Army’s Big Sixmodernization priorities, with new aircraft (aka Future Vertical Lift) at No. 3; ultra-long-range artillery is Priority No. 1. The Army’s seeking quantum improvements across the board to its current technology, most of it initially fielded 40 years ago during the Reagan buildup. For aircraft, that means conventional helicopter designs won’t cut it, driving the leading contenders to offer hybrids of helicopter and propeller driven plane: Bell’s V-280 Valor tiltrotor (above) and the Sikorsky-Boeing team’s SB>1 Defiant compound helicopter (below).
By the Numbers
So what, specifically, do the different services want? Some key numbers:
Speed: The Army’s minimum acceptable cruise speed, the threshold requirement, is 250 knots (288 mph); its preference, the objective requirement, is 280 (322 mph, incidentally the intended cruise speed of Bell’s V-280). The Marines’ threshold is 275 knots (316 mph), almost as high as the Army’s objective; their objective is 295 (339). And that actually understates the difference, because the Army only asks for this performance at maximum continuous power — the highest the engine can sustain over a long flight — while the Marines want it at 90 percent of maximum continuous power.
The Marines have even higher speed requirements for brief sprints, something the Army doesn’t address. Special Operations doesn’t set specific speed requirements, which means they’re okay with the Army’s.
Range: The Army threshold for unrefueled combat radius — how far the aircraft can fly out and do a mission before it has to come back to base for gas — is 200 nautical miles (230 regular miles); its objective is 300 nm (345 miles). The Marines’ threshold is above the Army objective: They want at least 365 nm (420 miles). They’d prefer 450 (518 miles). Again, SOCOM is okay with the Army requirements here.
The difference is driven by different missions. The Marines are usually flying from their ships, which have to stay increasingly far at sea to avoid anti-ship missiles launched from shore. So in the FLRAA Request For Information, the Army outlines missions for air assault (i.e. landing troops), air assault on mountains specifically (harder because of the high altitude), hauling a howitzer (slung underneath the aircraft on cables), and medical evacuation, with unrefueled ranges required from 88 to 190 nautical miles (101 to 219 miles). The Marines, by contrast, want both the baseline troop-carrier and the upgunned attack variant to go out 365 nautical miles (420 miles).
To further extend the range, the Marines also want their version to have a full kit for in-flight refueling from tanker aircraft. The Army is willing to accept an aircraft with room to add refueling gear. SOCOM is in the middle: They want a refueling system available as a “b-kit” installation for selected aircraft, but not as a standard feature.
Deployment: SOCOM has just one other unique requirement, but it’s a big one. They need their variant to fit in an Air Force C-17 cargo jet for transport. That puts a limit on the aircraft’s maximum size and also requires an easy way to fold up rotors, wings, and other protruding pieces.
The Marines, of course, want the aircraft to fit on a Navy amphibious warfare ship — admittedly a lot roomier than a C-17, but hardly spacious — and to keep functioning despite high humidity and saltwater corrosion. They also want a built-in gun on the transport version, and a lot more weapons on their assault variant.
one concession in payload. While the Army (and SOCOM) want room for 12 people beside the pilots, all of them heavily laden combat infantry, the Marines are okay with 10: two additional aircrew (e.g. a crew chief manning the gun), and eight riflemen.
With 365 pounds allotted for each infantryman and their kit, reducing the number of passengers even slightly makes a major difference, for example by making room for more fuel. But it won’t be enough, by itself, to make up for all the performance improvements the Marine Corps wants.
Timeline: The Army wants to award a contract by the fall of 2021, with the first flight in 2024 and the first unit fully equipped and ready to go in 2030, although it also asks industry for proposals to “accelerate the program as much as possible.” The SOCOM and Marine Corps schedule will run “approximately two years later,” the RFI says.
If the aircraft proves out, the document notes, it could serve for 50 years — into the2080s. (Source: Defense News Early Bird/Breaking Defense)
04 Apr 19. US Army issues RFI for Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft. The US Army has issued a request for information (RFI) for a Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) to enter service in 2030.
The RFI, released on 4 April, covers the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk and Boeing AH-64 Apache-replacement that was previously known as Capability (Cap) Set 3 (Assault)/Future Vertical Lift (FVL)-Medium.
As noted in the solicitation, the FLRAA performance parameters broadly mirror those of Cap Set 3 (Assault)/FVL-Medium, for which the Joint MultiRole – Technology Demonstrator (JMR-TD) programme has seen Bell develop the V-280 Valor tiltrotor and Boeing-Sikorsky the SB>1 Defiant co-axial compound helicopter.
While the FLRAA effort will be led by the US Army, the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and the US Marine Corps (USMC) will look to follow with their own procurements approximately two years after the army. FLRAA mission sets will include utility, transport, troop insertion and exfiltration, close air support, medical evacuation, and V-22 tiltrotor escort.
Specifications laid out by the army include a hover-out-of-ground-effect (HOGE) at 6,000 ft and 95°F (the army’s 6K/95 benchmark) at combat radius and with a mission payload; an unrefuelled combat radius of 170-229n miles, with 30-minute loiter; a maximum continuous cruise speed of 230-270kt with full payload; an internal payload of 3,500-4,000lb; an external payload of 6,000-8,000lb; capacity for 10-12 passengers; to self-deploy 2,100 n miles without refuelling and with a rolling take-off; interoperability for joint operations; the ability to operate for up to 30 days without external support, in-flight refuelling receiver and donor; an operational readiness-rate in excess of 90%; commonality with other FVL-family aircraft; and survivability. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
REST OF THE WORLD
11 Apr 19. RAAF to replace VIP transport aircraft. Defence has announced that the Royal Australian Air Force will phase out its fleet of Bombardier CL604 Challengers, which are primarily used as VIP transport aircraft. The RAAF currently has a fleet of three Challenger aircraft that were introduced in 2002, however they have an average age of 16.6 years and are due to be replaced.
“Following a review, Defence will lease three new Dassault Falcon 7X aircraft to replace the three existing Bombardier CL604 Challengers,” the Department of Defence said in a release. “The Falcon will have reduced operating costs, larger passenger load, modern communication capability and increased range and endurance. The Challengers are being replaced at a natural point in their ageing and maintenance cycle.”
A report from FlightGlobal claims that “the three Falcon 7Xs will enter service by the third quarter 2019, and operate under the existing budget for the special purpose fleet”.
The Falcon 7X can accommodate 12 to 16 passengers, compared with the nine maximum that the CL604 Challenger can carry. The Challenger, however, has a faster average speed than the Falcon, with the trade off of about half the range as its replacement.
The CL604 Challenger is part of the Special Purpose Aircraft fleet, which complements a collection of larger Boeing Business Jets that provide transport for the Australian government. These are operated by No.34 Squadron from Defence Establishment Fairbairn in the ACT. (Source: Defence Connect)
09 Apr 19. Australian SMEs expand Air Force air combat capability support. Defence Minister Christopher Pyne and Defence Industry Minister Linda Reynolds have announced that a series of Australian SMEs will increase their role in support of the Royal Australian Air Force’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighters and F/A-18F Super Hornets. Australia’s defence SME sector is going from strength to strength following a series of announcements made by Minister Pyne and Minister Reynolds. Hunter-based Nupress Tools will help keep the Royal Australian Air Force’s growing fifth-generation fleet of Joint Strike Fighter in the air after winning a contract to manufacture parts for the engine that powers the global F-35 fleet.
Nupress Tools and F-35 Program prime contractor Pratt & Whitney have signed a seven-year, multimillion-dollar contract to produce precision machined small parts for the F135 engine.
“Under this contract, Nupress expect to produce 50 per cent of the global supply of five engine components for Pratt & Whitney. This is a fantastic achievement and I congratulate Nupress’ management and staff for their dedication to the global F-35 Program and Australia’s national security,” Minister Pyne said.
Minister Reynolds said this additional work would create more jobs for Australians in the Hunter, building on the company’s current 50-strong workforce of structural and mechanical engineers, drafting, machinist, finance and administrative professionals.
“The small machined parts Nupress will manufacture for the F135 engine include components such as brackets, clamps, tubes and adaptors,” Minister Reynolds added.
Minister Reynolds explained, “This is another example of our outstanding performance in the global Joint Strike Fighter Program, with Australian industry already having shared in more than $1.3bn in global production contracts to date.”
Building on this achievement, ministers Pyne and Reynolds announced the approval of AIR 6000 Phase 3 to acquire a range of new weapons and countermeasures for both the F-35A Joint Strike Fighters and F/A-18F Super Hornets.
Minister Pyne added, “Aircraft self-protection countermeasures and weapons are essential elements of Australia’s air combat capability. This latest investment will ensure weapons and decoys are available as Australia’s air combat fleet transitions to the F-35A and Super Hornet.”
Minister Reynolds said the Commonwealth government’s continued investment in the Joint Strike Fighter program provided greater opportunities for Australian companies to maximise their success in the defence industry.
“Thales Australia will supply weapon components and Chemring Australia will supply countermeasures for the project. The Joint Strike Fighter program has so far delivered over 2,400 jobs, with this number expected to increase to over 5,000 jobs by 2023,” Minister Reynolds explained. (Source: Defence Connect)
06 Apr 19. Taiwan’s Plan to Buy 66 F-16 Viper Fighter Jets from US Still on Track, Defence Ministry Says. Taiwan said on Saturday that its plan to buy 66 F-16V fighter jets from the United States remains on course despite reports that Washington has put the sale on hold pending its trade negotiations with Beijing. A statement issued by the island’s defence ministry said a letter of request had been sent to the US and that things were proceeding as normal. The notice came after Time magazine reported on Friday that the Trump administration had put the sale on ice while negotiators from the US and China ironed out the final details of their hard-fought trade agreement. If the deal does go ahead, it would be the first time since 1992 that the US had sold F-16s to Taiwan and would provide a significant boost to the self-ruled island’s defences. Although the US has a statutory obligation to defend Taiwan, recent administrations have stopped short of allowing it to buy new fighter jets. According to military experts, the new variant of the F-16, the Viper – which can carry a wide range of short- and medium-range air-to-air missiles – is more able to counter the threat of an air strike from mainland China’s fourth generation aircraft like the Su-35 and J-10.
Alexander Huang Chieh-cheng, a former deputy minister of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, said that with ties between Washington and Taipei stronger than ever – and Sino-US relations under pressure – there had never been a better time to try and seal the deal. “This is a strategic opportunity for Taiwan, and Taipei should grab it,” he said. (Source: defense-aerospace.com/ South China Morning Post)
08 Apr 19. Major reforms announced for Australian Defence Industry Security Program. Industry will find it easier to do business with Defence after the announcement of major reforms to the Defence Industry Security Program (DISP). The reforms, announced by Minister for Defence Industry Linda Reynolds, will “maximise the benefits to Australian businesses from the unprecedented investment in defence industry by the Australian government while providing better security outcomes for Australia”.
DISP members are now able to access security information more easily, as well as guidance and services to help enable them to become “Defence ready”, establishing the security practices needed for tendering opportunities involving classified information and assets.
“This is an exciting opportunity for Australian businesses. DISP membership is an essential stepping-stone for Australian businesses to become competitive when bidding for work with Defence and our international partners,” Minister Reynolds said.
“DISP membership also provides the tools they’ll need to protect Australia’s sensitive and classified information as well as their own intellectual property.”
Jason Brown, national security director, Thales Australia and New Zealand, said, “These much-anticipated reforms will promote greater partnerships between Defence and industry by allowing entities to join the program without a Defence contract.”
The new DISP will be available from 9 April 2019, with Australian companies encouraged to register their interest in joining the program. (Source: Defence Connect)
08 Apr 19. Funding boost to Australian defence industry and innovation sector. Defence Industry Minister Linda Reynolds has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to invest in Australia’s defence industry and research institutions to support the development of enhanced capabilities for the ADF. Minister Reynolds said nine Australian businesses had been awarded Defence Innovation Hub contracts with a combined value of over $15.1m to develop their innovative technologies.
“The latest tranche of investments includes two contracts awarded to Australian universities and seven contracts with Australian businesses,” Minister Reynolds said.
The Defence Innovation Hub is an initiative of the 2016 Defence Industry Policy Statement and will invest around $640m over the decade to 2025-26 in maturing and further developing technologies that have moved from the early science stages into the engineering and development stages of the innovation process.
The Defence Innovation Hub seeks proposals aligned with the following six capability streams:
- Intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, space and cyber;
- Key enablers;
- Land combat, amphibious warfare and special operations;
- Air and sea lift;
- Maritime and anti-submarine warfare; and
- Strike and air combat.
A $5.4m contract has been awarded to Western Sydney University to explore the application of advanced neuromorphic sensing technology to deliver detailed imaging capabilities to satellites. This technology has the potential to enhance satellite and space situational awareness capabilities.
The University of Adelaide has been awarded a $3m contract to develop an active exhaust silencer for diesel engines. This technology has the potential to enhance the capability and operations of the Australian Defence Force by reducing vehicle noise.
A $3m contract has also been awarded to DefendTex, a Victoria-based business, to explore the application of sustained supercavitation technology to enhance Defence’s subsurface defensive capabilities through countering minefields and inbound torpedoes.
The Defence Innovation Hub accepts proposals at all stages of innovation, from early concept exploration and testing through to advanced prototypes and evaluation.
Industry and research organisations are encouraged to submit their innovation proposals at any time through the Defence Innovation Portal at: www.business.gov.au/cdic. (Source: Defence Connect)
08 Apr 19. $2.6m of industrial capability grants announced. Australian Defence Industry Minister Linda Reynolds has announced the first seven recipients of the Australian government’s largest individual defence industry grants. Minister Reynolds said the recipients would benefit from a $2.6m investment from the $17m Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority Grants program.
“This dedicated program will assist Australian small-to-medium enterprises to invest in projects that build industrial capabilities aligned with the Sovereign Industrial Capability Priorities announced in the 2018 Defence Industrial Capability Plan,” Minister Reynolds added.
The Defence Industrial Capability Plan sets out a comprehensive plan for Australia’s defence industry. The government is investing in the defence industry and ensuring that it is positioned to support delivery of the Integrated Investment Program over the next decade.
The plan acknowledges that as Australia builds its defence capability, the nation must also grow its defence industrial capability. By 2028, Australia will require a larger, more capable and prepared Australian defence industry that has the resident skills, expertise, technology, intellectual property and infrastructure to:
- Enable the conduct of ADF operations today; and
- Support the acquisition, operation and sustainment of future defence capability; and
- Provide the national support base for Defence to meet current needs and to surge if Australia’s strategic circumstances require it.
Minister Reynolds added, “The Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority Grants are designed to encourage participation by Australia’s small-to-medium enterprises in the largest modernisation of the Australian Defence Force since the Second World War.
“Of the seven recipients, three are from Victoria, two from New South Wales, one from the Australian Capital Territory and one from Queensland.”
The Defence Industrial Capability Plan is a key part of the government’s commitment to achieve an Australian defence industry that has the capability, posture and resilience to help meet Australia’s defence needs over the decade to 2028.
“For example, Mellori Solutions is enhancing their ability to repair and maintain electronic warfare simulators in Australia with the Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority Grant funding to be used to build an electronic warfare support laboratory,” Minister Reynolds said.
The plan brings together all of the levers available to defence industry, from advice to financial support, to realise the government’s vision. It allocates up to $17 m in annual funding from 2018-19 to support Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority Grants. The grants will be delivered by the Centre for Defence Industry Capability.
“Defendtex is also doing important work to develop Australia’s first military quality crystal growing capability and will use grant funding to install a manufacturing line for the piezo electric crystal,” Minister Reynolds explained.
The government is investing more than $200bn in defence capability over the next decade with the intention of growing defence industry and the economy, and helping create new jobs. Applications for this grant program can be made at any time. The next round closes on 8 May 2019. (Source: Defence Connect)
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