Defence`s Feeds

Americas

• Bell Helicopter will receive a contract modification valued at $21.7 million. The modification relates to a contract that provides the US Navy with airframes in support of its MQ-8 Fire Scout program, including the delivery of Bell 407 variant commercial airframes, as well as associated Bell 407 unique components, and preservation and storage associated with the system. Developed by Northrop Grumman, the newer MQ-8C Fire Scout variant is the latest unmanned autonomous helicopter being developed for the Navy for reconnaissance, aerial fire support and other naval missions. It is larger than its predecessors, using the Bell 407 airframe rather than the Sikorsky 330 and 330 airframes used on previous variants. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the order close to $31.5 million. Work will be performed in Ozark, Alabama, and is expected to be completed in December 2020.

• The US Army Contracting Command is procuring several M88A2 Heavy Equipment Recovery Combat Utility Lift and Evacuation System vehicles. Produced by BAE Systems Land & Armaments the HERCULES addresses a long-standing US Army need to upgrade its recovery vehicles to safely tow and recover battle-damaged, mired or inoperative 70-ton M1 Abrams tanks. Its hull is modified to specification by Anniston Army Depot and includes upgrades to the basic M88 chassis as means to meet the increased demands of towing, winching, and lifting the M1, M1A1, and M1A2 tanks and lighter vehicles like the LAVs, M1133 Strykers, M2/M3 Bradleys. The contract is valued at $120.4 million. Work will be performed in York, Pennsylvania and scheduled for completion by January 2021.

• Rolls Royce is being awarded a $25.9 million contract that sees for the provision of turbofan engines to be used on the Navy’s Triton platform. The MQ-4C Triton or BAMS UAV program is run by NAVAIR’s PMA-263 program management office, it has been devised to work in conjunction with the P-8 Poseidon. Tritons work with the P-8 Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft on missions that include maritime surveillance, collection of enemy order of battle information, battle damage assessment, port surveillance, communication relay; plus, support for maritime interdiction, surface warfare, battlespace management, and targeting for maritime and strike missions. Work will be performed in Indianapolis, Indiana, and is expected to be completed by December 2021.

• UAV manufacturer Insitu has been awarded a firm-fixed-price delivery order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement. The $11 million contract provides for the procurement of spare and sustainment parts to maintain the RQ-21A Blackjack unmanned aircraft system in support of the Marine Corps. The RQ-21A is the internal competitor to Insitu’s flagship product, the ScanEagle. The RQ-21A Integrator is the company’s next-generation UAV platform. It boosts endurance to over 24 hours and raises maximum payload to about 50 pounds. Its wingspan rises to 15.8 feet and body length rises to 7 feet. Its sensor package will be a bit more versatile, too, with TV zoom and mid-wave infrared cameras, plus an infrared marker and a laser rangefinder, all in a single package instead of the original ScanEagle’s swap-in options. Launch and recovery methods are the same on both platforms. Work will be performed in Bingen, Washington, and is expected to be completed in January 2019.

Middle East & Africa

• The Kingdom of Morocco will receive an upgrade to its tank fleet as part of US foreign military sales. This $9.4 million deal contracts Northrop Grumman for the provision of eye safe laser range finders for Morocco’s M1A2S tank. Morocco has purchased 220 Abrams tank refurbished for the Kingdom through the US Army’s Excess Defense Articles (EDA) program. An eye safe laser rangefinder improves the tank’s day/night target engagement over a longer range. And is compatible with all current battlefield information systems. Work will be performed in Apopka, Florida, with an estimated completion date of May 1, 2020. The upgrade enhances the combat capabilities of Morocco, a country that is currently facing a variety of security challenges, including the presence of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and several groups affiliated with ISIS.

Europe

• Jane’s reports that the UK Royal Navy has taken delivery of an autonomous minesweeping demonstrator system. This marks a significant milestone for the United Kingdom’s Mine Countermeasures and Hydrographic Capability (MHC) program. The minesweeper, designated ARCIMS USV is produced by Atlas Elektronik UK. The company developed the platform under a $17 million, three-year contract with the Ministry of Defense’s Defense Equipment and Support organization. The ARCIMS unmanned surface vessel has a length of 36 feet and has a top speed of 40+ knots. It is designed to fulfill a multitude of naval roles, including minesweeping, mine hunting, mine disposal, force protection and diver support. The USV, named RNMB Hussar, is configured with a power generation module and towed magnetic, acoustic, and electrical influences, including up to three coil auxiliary boats.

Asia-Pacific

• The Russian deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov has confirmed that work on the heavy unmanned aerial vehicle ‘Altius’ will be completed by the end of this year. The ‘Altius’ is Russia’s prestige drone project that tries to fill an important gap in its UAV capabilities. Russia is considered to be seriously behind UAV technology. This problem stems from a weakened defense sector that is still recuperating from devastating budget cutbacks in the 1990s, and a poor track record in miniaturizing machines, producing lightweight components and reliable electronics. The drone was jointly developed by the Kazan enterprise and the St. Petersburg company, which received a $35 million contract, after they won a competition of the Russian Defense Ministry. The ‘Altius’ is a high-winged aircraft with slab-sided rear fuselage and a V-shaped tail and is made of composite materials. Its two V12 diesel engines provide a takeoff power of about 500hp. Its operational range is supposed to be about 6,200 miles with a flight duration of up to 48 hours. The long-endurance UAV is designed to perform a variety of tasks, such as conducting strike missions.

Today’s Video

• Taiwan’s Army looking for new short-range air defense system

UNAMA and Human Rights Watch have each released blistering reports on the killing and wounding of civilians in the Afghan conflict. UNAMA presents the results of its investigation into the Afghan Air Force’s bombing of an open-air graduation ceremony at a madrassa in Dasht-e Archi in Kunduz province in April. It concludes that, even if the air force had a military target, no care was taken to spare the many civilians present, including the dozens of children who were killed or injured. It is the voices of the civilian victims and survivors of insurgent attacks in urban areas, which are at the heart of the Human Rights Watch publication. Both reports, says AAN’s Kate Clark, make important reading.

UNAMA ‘Special Report Airstrikes in Dasht-e-Archi district, Kunduz Province, 2 April 2018.’

In Laghmani village, Dasht-e Archi district of Kunduz province at about 12.30 on 2 April 2018, Afghan Air Force helicopters fired multiple rockets and heavy machine guns during an open-air ‘dastar bandi’  (turban-tying, ie a graduation) ceremony next to a madrassa where hundreds of men and boys had gathered.

The government said the attack had targeted senior Taleban leaders, including members of the Quetta Shura, foreign commanders and members of Taleban ‘special forces’, the Red Unit, whom it said had gathered to plan a military campaign to attack Kunduz city. It had had the area under surveillance, it said, for a week.

UNAMA said it could not verify the civilian status of each person killed or injured, but found that the crowd gathered for the ceremony “was primarily civilian.” Among them was a large number of children, “many under the age of ten.” UNAMA notes that people had come to attend a ceremony that was “religious in nature” and which had been “widely advertised.” The attack was launched when lunch was about to be served. The crowd, it said, “included members of the community, including children,” who had come to observe the ceremony or eat the meal.

UNAMA’s methodology requires three independent sources to confirm civilian status. It said it had verified 107 civilian casualties (36 killed and 71 injured). They included 81 children (30 killed and 51 injured). The civilian status of a further 15 casualties (2 killed and 13 injured, including six children) was partially verified, ie by two independent sources. (In total, it received more than 200 allegations of civilian casualties.) UNAMA acknowledges that the figures presented in its report may “not be exhaustive” be because of “these stringent verification standards and the challenges of obtaining information.”

UNAMA said it is not in a position to judge whether Taleban were present or not (some locals reported to it that there had been unarmed Taleban in the crowd and a number of armed Taleban taking care of security). However, it said that even if the government had a legitimate military target, “[t]he high numbers of child casualties resulting from this attack, which took place in a civilian area during a religious ceremony, combined with the use of imprecise weapons in this context, raise questions as to the respect by the government of the rules of precaution and proportionality.” It was “reasonably foreseeable” UNAMA said, that “an attack against this area, using imprecise weapons, during a religious ceremony would have caused a large number of civilian casualties, with lethal indiscriminate effects.”

Reading UNAMA’s account, it is hard to see how, at the very least, the Afghan Air Force pilots could have failed to see the many children present, sitting separately at the rear of the ceremony. It seems they must have seen them, but gone ahead with the attack anyway. Indeed, according to the victims and witnesses interviewed by UNAMA, the helicopters struck the children first.

Local residents told UNAMA they believed the government authorities “viewed civilian populations in areas under Taliban control, such as Dasht-e-Archi, with suspicion. They expressed concern that this may be resulting in their differential treatment.”

Despite UNAMA’s use of careful, sober language, the gravity of what it is saying is clear. The Afghan Air Force did not protect, or even mitigate the harm it did to civilians. It failed to discriminate between civilians and combatants. Finally, the suspicion from the population is that the government considers anyone who lives in a Taleban-controlled area as an enemy. UNAMA reminds the government that civilians remain civilians wherever they live and must be spared.

Human Rights Watch report ‘“No Safe Place”: Insurgent Attacks on Civilians in Afghanistan.’

Human Rights Watch’s report on the experiences of civilians killed and wounded by Taleban and the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP) is excoriating. Here, it is the stories of survivors and relatives of victims told in their own words that are so compelling. HRW has heard from people in Kabul, Jalalabad and Herat who were “walking down the street, working in a shop, preparing food at home, or worshipping in a mosque” when they experienced “sudden and terrifying violence.” They were victims of attacks which intentionally targeted civilians – in mosques, schools and hospitals – or failed to discriminate between civilians and combatants or to mitigate the harm done while attacking a military target, causing disproportionate harm.

Civilian casualties often end up as statistics: the numbers are important, but so are the individuals. To take just one example from the many victims featured in HRW’s report, M Ahmadi, a property dealer, was in his shop on 24 July 2017 when the Taleban carried out a suicide bombing against a staff shuttle bus from the Ministry of Mines. The Taleban claimed they had hit an NDS bus. Even if that had been true, the attack in a busy area of Kabul was bound to kill and injure civilians like M Ahmadi. 38 civilians were killed in the attack and he was among the dozens injured.

I was in my shop…. I heard a very loud sound and I did not know what happened…. I was not hearing well, and somebody pushed me and said, “Get out!” The staff shuttle bus for the Ministry of Mines that had been bombed had crashed into my shop. I walked out with bare feet and the broken glass cut into my feet. My shop was on fire. There were fires on both sides of the street.

Out on the street a car stopped in front of him and the driver told him to get in: He took me to Mawla Hospital and he called my family to let them know. Then my sons brought me to Emergency Hospital. I do not remember how long I was there. My head, my belly, and my arm were injured—there are still shell fragments in my arm…. During the night I scream in my sleep. The doctors told me I need to see a psychiatrist. But I cannot because of the money.

 My family asks me not to go to work, but what can I do? This shop is mine, and I had to borrow a lot of money to repair it. I am the only breadwinner in the family. Due to our financial problems, my children can’t go to school now. Why doesn’t the government give some money to help the injured people in this area? Aren’t we from this land, from this country?

M Ahmadi’s account is typical in many ways, describing how the consequences of an attack are not just immediate and physical, but also psychological, financial and long-lasting, with the devastation rippling through many lives. Some of the victims telling their stories have been left with permanent disabilities or are the orphans or widows of those killed.

Human Rights Watch says that, although no statistics are available, its research suggests “a large proportion of those killed and injured have been the very poor.” That poor people may be more at risk from attacks could be anticipated. The very rich use armoured cars and live behind concrete walls. Even the somewhat well off may be able to afford the choice of not working in or near places of high risk, although they may still be caught up in attacks as passers-by. Who, but the poorest with no economic alternative would spend large amounts of their working days near a high-risk location like the old Ministry of Interior? It was attacked by the Taleban with an ambulance rigged with explosives on 27 January 2017. More than 100 people were killed and 200 injured, including, said HRW, street children, peddlers and kiosk vendors. HRW makes the point that such victims and their families are also the least able to cope with the severe financial hardship of losing a breadwinner, or permanent disability or of losing what little in the way of the tools of their trade they might have had.

The government has a laudable policy of providing assistance to victims of the conflict regardless of who the perpetrator was. The sums are small, but many victims told HRW help had not been forthcoming. Others described the process for obtaining the assistance as “prohibitively onerous, or was tainted by corruption, with some receiving assistance and others not.” There is rarely the necessary assistance for complex medical needs and scarcely any provision for psycho-social support.Nongovernmental services, HRW said, were overwhelmed. “Whatever animosity they felt toward those who had carried out the attack,” HRW said, victims also described “feeling abandoned by the government and the international community.” Every person interviewed for the report, it said, described “living with fear that other loved ones would die or be injured in the next catastrophic attack.”

Conclusion

 In 2017, one third of the civilians killed and injured by insurgents were victims of suicide attacks. Such attacks in urban areas, which inevitably or intentionally cause mass civilian casualties, have been have part of the Taleban’s ‘portfolio of operations’ since the mid-2000s. Last year saw a dramatic increase in the number and magnitude of such attacks, as ISKP has increasingly and intentionally targeted civilian city dwellers, particularly Shia Muslims.

This trend has come “in tandem,” HRW said, with “increased military operations by Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and United States forces in provinces where the Taliban have made significant territorial gains.” That increase has included air attacks – the subject of Human Rights Watch’s next report. While still only causing six per cent of overall civilian casualties, the total number of civilians killed and injured in air strikes is rising, with 2017 the worst year since UNAMA systematically started compiling statistics in 2009. (1)

In October 2017, we wrote that every single previous Afghan government or armed group with access to airpower since 1978 had deliberately targeted civilians. What makes the Dasht-e Archi bombing so disturbing is the possibility that the current Afghan Air Force may have crossed that line. When and if any Afghan party to the conflict ceases to see all Afghan civilians as ‘their people’, whether that is city-dwellers for the Taleban or those living in rural Taleban-controlled areas for government forces, the door is opened to indiscriminate violence.

 

 

 

(1) Conclusions on the impact of air strikes are complex. The increased United States and Afghan government air cover may be one reason why civilians casualties from insurgent ground offensives fell last year, pushing an overall slight fall in numbers: the risk of air strikes made it riskier for the Taleban to gather in large numbers to launch offensives. (For numbers, see UNAMA’s 2017 Protection of Civilians report, with AAN analysis here.

Increased air operations also resulted in a record number of civilians killed and injured in air strikes in 2017. However, the increase in sorties flown and weapons dropped in 2017 was far higher than the increase in civilian casualties, indicating that the quality of safeguards was not falling. As UNAMA put it, “the reduced harm ratio suggests improvements in targeting and civilian protection procedures.” Even so, it also said:

…as civilian casualties from aerial operations reached record high levels in 2017, UNAMA once again recommends that both the Afghan Air Force and international military forces review targeting criteria and pre-engagement precautionary measures, including considering the high likelihood of civilian presence in populated areas and starting from a position of considering all persons to be civilians unless determined otherwise.  

 

 

 

HOT BLADE 2018, the 12th helicopter exercise organised under the umbrella of the European Defence Agency’s (EDA) Helicopter Exercise Programme (HEP), kicked off yesterday 7th May at Beja airbase in Portugal. It will run until 24 May and involve a total of 29 air assets and crews from six countries: Portugal, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Slovenia and the Netherlands. Representatives from Austria, the Czech Republic and Italy will also take part as observers. A Distinguished Visitors Day (DVD) will take place on 22 May.

HOT BLADE 2018 will allow crews from 21 helicopters and 8 fixed wing assets (including 6 Portuguese F-16 fighters), ground troops, EW simulator/emulators operators and Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs) to practice operations in a hot, high and dusty environment replicating the challenging conditions that participants’ forces are expected to encounter when deploying to a theatre of operation. 

The exercise’s main focus is on enhancing interoperability at the tactical level between helicopter units by using the Composite Air Operations (COMAO) concept in a combined, joint, realistic and challenging environment.

It is the 4th time that the exercise is hosted by the Portuguese Air Force, under EDA’s Helicopter Exercise Programme (HEP), following three earlier successful editions that took place between 2012 and 2014. This year, the Hot Blade 2018 exercise will be carried out in the area surrounding Beja Air Force Base, located in the Southern part of Portugal.

The use of EDA HEP Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), the application of best practices gathered during the 11 previous helicopter exercises led by the EDA and the availability on location of a Mentor Team will support the standardisation of planning processes and helicopter tactical procedures amongst participating crews.

This year’s training is focussed on missions in a dusty, hot and mountainous environment. To ensure the maximum levels of flight safety, scheduled activities will follow a progressive approach. Tactical training (e.g. formation flights, NVG, tactical formation) will be performed during the first days, while national training requirements enabling the performance of demanding day and night Composite Air Operation (COMAO) missions will be addressed during the last days of the exercise.
 

More information:

• EDA Helicopter Initiatives Project Page
• Factsheet Exercice HOT BLADE 2018

Americas

• Boeing’s KC-46 Tanker program hit another bump. Due to continuous cost overruns and schedule delays, the company has racked up more than $3 billion worth of pretax charges. Just last week Boeing disclosed another $81 million-pretax penalty on the program in its financial report for the first quarter of 2018. According to the terms of Boeing’s fixed-price development contract with the US Air Force, the company is responsible for any costs over the $4.9 billion award. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson has been publicly dismissive of the company’s progress, telling lawmakers that the company has perhaps been too focused on its lucrative commercial business to give the tanker program the attention it deserves. In total, Boeing has 34 KC-46s in some stage of production, and the first four aircraft planned for delivery have already flown and are in storage. Despite company officials reassuring that all ‘required assets available’ obligations can be met, it is yet unclear if Boeing will be able to deliver all of the 18 certified KC-46s and nine refueling pods this year.

• Jane’s reports that the first US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet has entered its Service-Life Modification (SLM) process ahead of the planes’ Block 3 enhancement program. Super Hornets are flown by the US Navy, replacing the service’s retired F-14 Tomcat fighters. The F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets have been enlarged in all dimensions and fitted with 2 extra weapons pylons. The new design created pylon vibration problems early on, which explains the new “dogtooth” design on the wings’ leading edge. The Navy currently has a program-of-record of 573 Super Hornets, 300 of which will undergo a comprehensive refurbishment ahead of the fitting of additional improvements under the Block 3 upgrade. Block 3 is the Navy’s answer to keeping the jets in service to 2030 and beyond. The upgrades introduce a better performing AN/APG-79 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, a ‘shoulder-mounted’ conformal fuel tanks (CFTs), new General Electric F-414-400 enhanced engines as well as a new cockpit based on large touch-screen technology and a more advanced computers is designed to bring the Super Hornets closer to sensor fusion parity with the F-35, without relying on a helmet-mounted-display. All in all, F/A-18 Super Hornets outfitted with Block 3 upgrades will boost better performance, an increased operational radius, a smaller radar cross-section and better electronics. Work on the up to 14 years old fighter jets is being performed at the company’s St. Louis production facility in Missouri.

Middle East & Africa

• Turkish-US relations continue to face strenuous conditions as the Turkish Prime Minister (PM) Mevlut Cavusoglu warned that the country would retaliate if a bill being pushed by House Republicans becomes law. The bill in question is the US National Defense Authorizations Act valued at $717 billion. It includes a provision to temporarily halt weapons sales to Turkey, until a report on the relationship between the US and Turkey is completed by the Pentagon. The implied target of the bill would be the 116 F-35 Lightning II fighters that Washington has promised to sell Ankara, of which 100 are almost ready to be delivered. During an interview PM Cavusoglu criticized the measure, saying it was wrong to impose such a restriction on a military ally, alluding to the fact that Turkey has graciously allowed the US to use its Incirlik air base to launch its air strikes against ISIS. The bill, which still is many steps away from becoming law, is in many ways a response to Turkey’s recent purchase of S-400 air defense systems from Russia. The move to buy S-400s, which are incompatible with the NATO systems, has unnerved NATO member countries, which are already wary of Moscow’s military presence in the Middle East, prompting NATO officials to warn Turkey of unspecified consequences. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told PM Cavusoglu last month that the US was “seriously concerned” about Turkey’s buying of the S-400s. Last year, both countries temporarily curtailed embassy processing of visas after Turkey arrested an employee of the Turkish consulate in Istanbul as tensions flared.

Europe

• Europe’s largest defense contractor, BAE Systems, is currently collaborating with a small British firm on developing a solar-powered UAV. The joint project between BAE Systems and Prismatic seeks to further the develop the company’s product field of solar electric-powered vehicles. The PHASA-35 is a high-altitude, long-endurance UAV that is able to operate on the margins of space for months at a time. It could potentially provide surveillance, beyond line-of-sight communications and other services to military and civil users far cheaper than the cost of satellites, hence they are also referred to as high-altitude pseudo-satellites, or HAPS. PHASA-35 is expected to fly at up to 70,000 feet and carry a payload of about 15 kilograms. The two companies said the machine has the “potential” to fly for 12 months without returning to the ground. Another company in the business of developing high-altitude, long-endurance UAV’s is Airbus Defense and Space. Its solar-powered Zephyr currently holds the endurance record, having flown for 14 days non-stop.

• Excalibur Army, a subsidiary of the defense conglomerate Czechoslovak Group has unveiled its new Medium Armored Tactical Multi-Mission Vehicle (MATMMV). The Tatra T815 Patriot is based on the 4×4 Tatra Force chassis, which features adjustable ground clearance, a central backbone tube, independent swinging air suspended half axles designed to improve cross-country mobility and ride comfort. The vehicle is powered by a Cummins ISB 6-cylinder diesel engine, developing 210 kW coupled to an Allison 3200SP automatic transmission with six forward and one reverse gears coupled to a Tatra two-speed transfer case. This provides a maximum road speed and range of up to 130 km/h and 500 km respectively. The vehicle will be able to carry up to four soldiers in addition to the commander and driver. The T815 comes with a roof-mounted weapon station. Depending on the types of operations performed the weapon station that can be fitted with a 7.62 mm, a 12.7 mm machine gun or a 40mm automatic grenade launcher. The Tatra T815 Patriot is a welcome addition to the family of MATMMV’s that currently includes Steyr’s MMV and Navistar Defence’s Husky.

Asia-Pacific

• China reportedly is increasingly strengthening its grip in the disputed South China Sea. Reports indicate that China has deployed long-range missiles to its artificial islands as means to enhance Beijing’s physical control over the region and potentially further complicating the movement of America military assets through the area. Collin Koh, research fellow at the Maritime Security Program at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said he expects to see future rotational deployment of high-powered assets, like fighter jets ad bombers to the air bases there. Arming the islands is part of China’s long-term strategy of creeping control in the strategic waters. The recent missile deployment can be an indication for China ramping up its activities on the disputed Spratly Islands. The Chinese-built HQ-9 is based on the Russian S-300 air defense system. It is used for long-range air defense of strategic targets, and the deployment of this system in the Spratly Islands potentially gives China the ability to target aircraft over the whole island group. By stationing missiles onto its outposts in the South China Sea, China de-facto builds a defensive barrier around its mainland. Its aggressive actions are not just a problem for countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines but is also a direct challenge to the US and its influence on the Pacific region by extending China’s anti-access, are denial “bubble”. The newly appointed commander of U.S. Pacific Command Adm. Philip Davidson acknowledged in a press conference that advances in Chinese military means Pacific Command needs to invest in increased resiliency in its forward-deployed force posture.

Today’s Video

• The Blue Angels takeoff at Myrtle Beach 360

American AIM-9 Sidewinder Short-Range Air-to-Air Missile

Americas

• The Department of Defense (DoD) is upgrading its IT-infrastructure and will introduce various cloud-services across its branches. On May 4th the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific announced that it is contracting Insight Public Sector Inc., Chantilly, Virginia for the provision of Microsoft brand-name software licenses, software assurance, and cloud offerings to the Department of the Navy. The United States military has long relied on its superior ability to obtain, process, access and share data within the US Joint Forces and with allies as an “offset” to the capabilities of other states. Moving to the ‘cloud’ is the next step towards maintaining this superiority. In December 2017 the Defense Department senior leaders have directed DoD to adopt cloud computing to support the warfighter, a direction that will become a pillar of the department’s strength and security. “Accelerating DoD’s adoption of cloud computing technologies is critical to maintaining our military’s technological advantage,” Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan said in a memo. The Cloud boosts several military benefits. An increased access to large amounts of connected data allows for better organized warfighting, it has the benefit of fiscal savings by using virtual equipment and hiring contractors to do the computing at a cheaper, at-scale rate, and in virtual space information can be moved around the network which better insulates it from attacks. A perk that may come in handy, considering that China stole about 50GB of data about the F-35 program back in 2016. The contract is a firm-fixed-price blanket purchase with an estimated value of $653 million and an ordering period of three years that runs from May 2018 to May 2021.

• Sikorsky has announced that its fleet of VH-92A helicopters, that are replacing the President’s Marine One, are on schedule and slightly below previous cost estimates by 2.4%, or about $123 million. Cost reductions came from a small number of design changes, stable requirements and efficiencies from cost saving initiatives. The Marine Corps currently operates 11 VH-3D Sea Kings, and 8 smaller VH-60N Black Hawk helicopters. The VH-3Ds were originally placed in service in 1974 and 1975, and the VH-60s entered service in the 1980s. They’re safe and reliable due to low and careful use, but they no longer had the growth capability to incorporate the equipment in a post 9/11 environment. The US Navy plans to acquire a fleet of 23 VH-92A helicopters to replace the Marine Corps’ existing fleet of VH-3D and VH-60N helicopters at a total cost of $5.1 billion, and with an initial delivery scheduled by FY 2020 through FY 2023. The new “Marine One” helicopters are expected to be in service for up to 4 decades.

• The US Navy has awarded General Dynamics Mission Systems, Fairfax, Virginia a contract for services in support of the Navy’s Surface Electronic Warfare Program (SEWIP) at a cost of $9.7 million. The program is an evolutionary acquisition and incremental development program to upgrade the existing AN/SLQ-32(V) electronic warfare system to Block 1B3. This system provides enhanced shipboard electronic warfare for early detection, analysis, threat warning, and protection from anti-ship missiles. The US Navy’s AN/SLQ-32 system uses radar warning receivers, and in some cases active jamming, as the part of ships’ self-defense system. The ’Slick 32s’ provides warning of incoming attacks and is integrated with the ships’ defenses to trigger Rapid Blooming Offboard Chaff (RBOC) and other decoys, which can fire either semi-automatically or on manual direction from a ship’s ECM operators. The “Slick 32” variants are based on modular building blocks, and each variant is suited to a different type of ship. Work will be performed at various locations, including Pittsfield, Massachusetts; Thousand Oaks, California and Fairfax, Virginia and is scheduled for completion by May 2020.

Middle East & Africa

• The US Government has contracted ContiTech USA Inc. in support of its strategic partners Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The contract has a value of $23.9 million and provides for the procurement of complete rolls of shoe track assemblies for the M1A2 Abrams. The M1 Abrams comes in different variants designed for different combat scenarios. Both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait currently have a the M1A2 variant in service. The tanks are designed by the US Army, in response to their experiences in Iraq. Its upgrades add a set of advanced sensors and machine gun operated from inside the vehicle, a loader’s armored gun shield, explosive-reactive armor tiles, a remote thermal sight, and an improved power distribution box, as well as other key modifications that enhance its warfighting capabilities. Work will be performed in Fairlawn, Ohio, with an estimated completion date of April 2020.

Europe

• The Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced that Germany is set to buy six planes of the Type C-130. The deal provides for the acquisition of three C-130J-30 and three KC-130J aircraft for an estimated cost of $1.4 billion. The aircraft will be equipped with Rolls Royce AE-2100D turboprop engines, a Link-16 MIDS Terminal, an AN/ALE 47 Electronic Countermeasure Dispenser, an AN/AAR-47A(V)2 Missile Warning System and several other packages allowing for Friend or Foe identification and secure communications, among others. The delivery of the aircrafts will increase the airlift, air refueling, and air drop capabilities of the German Air Force. Providing these capabilities to the German Air Force will greatly increase interoperability between the U.S. Air Force and the German Air Force as well as other NATO allies. The German Air Force will use these aircraft to conduct airlift, air refueling, and air drop missions as part of a French-German allied squadron based in Evreux, France. The approval comes as the aircraft’s larger European competitor, Airbus Defense & Space’s A400M transport aircraft, has struggled with production issues and has ramped down its delivery rate. The deal is part of the US government foreign policy and national security strategy that helps to improve the security of a NATO ally and therefore strengthening the alliance and the region as a whole. The prime contractor will be Lockheed Martin, Ft Worth, TX.

Asia-Pacific

• The Indonesian Defense Minister Ryamirzard Ryacudu recently confirmed that Indonesia and South Korea will continue to cooperate on the manufacture of their next-generation fighter jets. The KF-X and IF-X respectively are 4.5 generation aircraft. South Korea has been thinking seriously about designing its own fighter jet since 2008. KF-X has progressed in fits and starts, and became a multinational program when Indonesia joined in June 2010. The development project was once delayed in 2009 but again gained traction after Indonesia and South Korea signed a cost share agreement in 2016. The total cost of the KF-X/IF-X program amounts to an estimated $6.5 billion. South Korea bores 80 percent, or $5.2 billion of the total cost, with Indonesia paying $1.3 billion to cover the remaining 20 percent. It is currently planned that the fighter het will be ready for manufacture by 2020 and fully operational by 2025. If all necessary program milestones can be met within this timeframe remains to be seen.

Today’s Video

• Embraer’s KC-390 is covered up after its crash

“Slick 32”
(click to view full)

The US Navy’s AN/SLQ-32 ECM (Electronic Countermeasures) system uses radar warning receivers, and in some cases active jamming, as the part of ships’ self-defense system. The “Slick 32s” provides warning of incoming attacks, and is integrated with the ships’ defenses to trigger Rapid Blooming Offboard Chaff (RBOC) and other decoys, which can fire either semi-automatically or on manual direction from a ship’s ECM operators.

The “Slick 32” variants are based on modular building blocks, and each variant is suited to a different type of ship. Most of these systems were designed in the 1970s, however, and are based on 1960s-era technology. Unfortunately, the SLQ-32 was notable for its failure when the USS Stark was hit by Iraqi Exocet missiles in 1987. The systems have been modernized somewhat, but in an era that features more and more supersonic ship-killing missiles, with better radars and advanced electronics, SLQ-32’s fundamental electronic hardware architecture is inadequate. Hence the Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP).

SEWIP Blocks

“Slick 32” screen on
USS Iowa, 1984
(click to view full)

Overall, SEWIP is a $5.297 billion program, with spending ramping up sharply as of FY 2014.

Though SLQ-32 is a Raytheon system, SEWIP began in 2003 with General Dynamics as the lead integrator. Blocks 1A, 1B2, and 1B3 all use the improved control and display (ICAD) console, which is a GD-AIS upgrade based on the commonly used Lockheed Martin AN/ULQ-70 computing and display console.

SEWIP Block 1A adds the improved displays and a modern interface noted above, along with some hardware switchouts that add modern commercial-off-the-shelf hardware to drive the new display, and handle some signal processing (Electronic Surveillance Enhancements, or ESE).

SWEIP Block 1B1 made more changes to replace obsolete SLQ-32 electronics, some of which aren’t even manufactured any more, and improved the system’s ability to locate the source of incoming radar signals. SEWIP Block 1B1 provides a AN/SSX-1 stand-alone specific emitter identification (SEI) subsystem to ships with the active AN/SLQ-32(V) variant. For small ships, the Small Ship Electronic Support Measures System (SSESM) provides Specific Emitter Identification (SEI) capability in a stand-alone configuration.

SEWIP Block 1B2. For those ships which already have 1B1, this adds federated Specific Emitter Identification, and fully integrates SEI with Block 1A’s ICAD/Q-70 console.

SEWIP Block 1B3 adds additional display upgrades, and a High Gain High Sensitivity (HGHS) subsystem, to help ships deal with modern missiles that announce their presence less boldly and offer less warning time. It received its Milestone C/Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) go ahead in summer 2012, and is expected to hit Full Rate Production (FRP) in spring 2014.

SEWIP-2 concept
(click to view full)

Those low-cost, low-risk inserts deal with some of the SLQ-32 system’s issues, but not all. Over the longer term, the system’s fundamental receiver/emitter electronics need to be updated to modern technologies. Its software needs improvements that let ships take better advantage of the new hardware’s capabilities, make it easier to share SEWIP information with their own ship’s combat system, and allow sharing with other ships.

SEWIP Block 2 is described as an upgrade, but it’s more like a major home renovation. It replaces the old SLQ-32 receivers and antennas with modern digital technologies, adding new capability, flexibility, and signal processing muscle. Block 2 also modifies the software, creating a single, unified interface to the combat system in place of multiple interfaces to individual components of the combat system. This makes future upgrades simpler, and may also have the effect of improving performance. Lockheed Martin’s ICEWS materials touted under 200ms end-to-end latency, a low false alarm rate, and good high-pulse throughput for cluttered environments.

The Block 2 contract was awarded to a Lockheed Martin/ ITT partnership at the very end of FY 2009. June 2010 was the next key milestone, and a July 2010 contract continues development. The system passed its Critical Design Review in early 2011, and the partnership was scheduled to deliver 2 prototypes in 2012. This ACAT II program achieved Milestone C approval in January 2013, with approval to begin Low Rate Initial Production, and the contract was restructured to begin LRIP in March 2013. Contracts for production and installation are now underway.

SEWIP Block 3 and beyond could look very different. Block 3 looks to add improvements to SEWIP’s Electronic Attack (EA, or jamming) capability. The goal is a common EA capability to all surface combatants (CVN, CG, DDG, LHA) outfitted with the active V3/v4 variants of the AN/SLQ-32, mainly the (V)3 and (V)4, as well as “select new-construction platforms.” It builds on ESM improvements in Blocks 1 and 2, but isn’t expected to hit its Milestone C Low-Rate Initial Production approval until early 2017. Initial Operational Test & Evaluation isn’t scheduled until summer 2018.

A US Navy program called “Integrated Topside” aims to take all of the little bolt-ons and antennas used for communications, basic radar functions, and electronic warfare, and make them all part of 1 unified architecture. That could help improve ships’ anti-radar profiles, increase their communications bandwidth, and resolve electromagnetic interference and compatibility issues between different devices. New-generation AESA radars have already demonstrated communications and electronic jamming potential, and current research is focused on that technology as the way forward.

SEWIP Block 3T will provide “an initial interim capability of a focused application of the Naval Research Laboratory Transportable EW Module (TEWM) to meet an urgent operational needs statement.”

Contracts and Key Events FY 2015 – 2018

LM awarded $153.9M; NG awarded $91.7M

May 7/18: More upgrades incoming The US Navy has awarded General Dynamics Mission Systems, Fairfax, Virginia a contract for services in support of the Navy’s Surface Electronic Warfare Program (SEWIP) at a cost of $9.7 million. The program is an evolutionary acquisition and incremental development program to upgrade the existing AN/SLQ-32(V) electronic warfare system to Block 1B3. This system provides enhanced shipboard electronic warfare for early detection, analysis, threat warning, and protection from anti-ship missiles. The US Navy’s AN/SLQ-32 system uses radar warning receivers, and in some cases active jamming, as the part of ships’ self-defense system. The ’Slick 32s’ provides warning of incoming attacks and is integrated with the ships’ defenses to trigger Rapid Blooming Offboard Chaff (RBOC) and other decoys, which can fire either semi-automatically or on manual direction from a ship’s ECM operators. The “Slick 32” variants are based on modular building blocks, and each variant is suited to a different type of ship. Work will be performed at various locations, including Pittsfield, Massachusetts; Thousand Oaks, California and Fairfax, Virginia and is scheduled for completion by May 2020.

December 13/17: Report-Wasting of Funds A report released Monday by the Department of Defense (DoD) Inspector General into the US Navy’s Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program has found that the service did not effectively develop and manage electronic warfare capabilities for upgrades to the AN/SLQ-32 Electronic Warfare Suite. The mismanagement resulted in the waste of almost $2 million and lengthened the acquisition process by about two years with inadequate results. Managed by the Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems under Naval Sea Systems Command, the Inspector General found that Navy officials waived a step of the development process—details of which were redacted from the report—in order to stay on schedule instead of correcting problems before entering initial operational test and evaluation. This skipping resulted in additional costs of $1.8 million to conduct a second phase of initial operational test and evaluation on Block 2, delaying the acquisition schedule by almost two years. Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems said it will continue to work with the commander for operational test and evaluation force to close the remaining deficiencies, according to the declassified report.

March 20/17: Lockheed Martin has won a $98 million US Navy contract to produce and deliver the service’s Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program systems. The modification covers work for the program’s Block 2 subsystems, which aim to expand upon the receiver and antenna groups necessary to support threat detection and improved system integration. Work will be completed by July 2019.

October 7/15: Northrop Grumman has been handed a $91.7 million contract modification for the SEWIP Block 3’s engineering and manufacturing development phase. The Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP)’s Block 3 increment is intended to provide a scalable electronic warfare and electronic attack capability, building on out-of-production AN/SLQ-32(V) electronic warfare systems. Block 2 is already in low rate initial production, following a $147.5 million contract to Lockheed Martin in September 2014.

July 13/15: Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $153.9 million contract modification to supply components for the out-of-production AN/SLQ-32(V) ship electronic warfare system as part of the Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) Block 2 acquisition program. This follows a $147.5 million contract in September 2014 for SEWIP Block 2 low rate initial production and fielding, also awarded to Lockheed Martin. SEWIP Block 2 replaces the old SLQ-32 receivers and antennas with modern digital technologies and modifies the software, creating a single, unified interface to the combat system in place of multiple interfaces to individual components of the combat system.

FY 2013 – 2014

SEWIP 2 restructured to fixed-price components; LRIP orders for Block 1B3 and Block 2; EW simulator shortage could affect Block 2 testing.

Sept 11/14: Block 2. Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training in Liverpool, NY receives a maximum $147.5 million firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed fee, and cost-type-letter contract for SEWIP Block 2 low rate initial production and fielding of 14 upgrade sets.

This would be the LRIP-2 order, with $76.75 million committed immediately from FY 2013 Navy shipbuilding and FY 2014 Navy RDT&E budgets. Options could increase LRIP-2 to $158.8 million. LRIP-1 involved 10 upgrade sets, and in July 2014, the Navy installed SEWIP Block 2 system on USS Bainbridge [DDG-96] for operational testing.

Work will be performed in Syracuse, NY (69%); Lansdale, PA (19%); and Chelmsford, MA (12%), and is expected to be complete by September 2017. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1) – only one responsible source and no other suppliers or services will satisfy agency requirements. US Navy NAVSEA at Washington Navy Yard, Washington, DC manages the contract (N00024 14-C-5340). See also Lockheed Martin, “Lockheed Martin Receives Additional Electronic Warfare Contract To Protect The Navy’s Fleet”.

Block 2: LRIP-2 order

Aug 18/14: Block 1B3. General Dynamics AIS in Fairfax, VA receives a not-to-exceed $19.5 million firm-fixed-price contract for 15 SEWIP Block 1B3 sets; FY 2014 orders are still Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) units, instead of hitting Full Rate Production as expected. $8.1 million is committed immediately, using US Navy FY 2011, 2013, and 2014 budget lines.

Work will be performed in Pittsfield, MA (50%): Fairfax, VA (18%); Thousand Oaks, CA (17%); and San Diego, CA (15%), and is expected to be complete by September 2016. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1) and FAR 6.302-1 by US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC (N00024-14-C-5341).

Block 1B3, FY 2014

Jan 14/14: Block 2. Lockheed Martin has been doing land based testing of SEWIP Block 2 since the January 2014 Milestone C decision, and they have now completed shore-based tests of full system operation in multiple scenarios.

Work on the SEWIP program is performed at the company’s Syracuse, N.Y. facility, which houses a new electronic warfare system test facility. Low-rate production is underway, and the program’s next steps involve ship installation, via upgrades of existing AN/SLQ-32(V)2 systems. Sources: Lockheed Martin, “Lockheed Martin Completes Critical Milestone To Upgrade The Navy’s Electronic Warfare Defenses”.

May 31/13: Block 1B3. General Dynamics, Advanced Information Systems in Fairfax, VA receives a $15 million contract modification to previously awarded contract for 9 high-gain, high-sensitivity antenna systems in support of SEWIP Block 1B3 low-rate initial production requirements. The new antennas give SEWIP the ability to detect and identify additional enemies.

Work will be performed in Fairfax, VA, and is expected to be complete by March 2015. All funds are committed immediately, using FY 2012 and 2013 funds. The Naval Sea Systems Command is the contracting activity (N00024-09-C-5396).

Block 1B3 into production

May 29/13: Block 2, LRIP-1. Lockheed Martin in Liverpool, NY receives a $39.1 million firm-fixed-price option for SEWIP Block 2 System low-rate initial production units. Lockheed Martin had originally announced it as a $57 million contract (vid. March 26/13), but if this is the same production year, the LRIP Lot 1 total appears to be $70 million instead.

Work will be performed in Syracuse, NY (68%), and in Lansdale, PA (32%), and is expected to be complete by September 2014. All funding is committed immediately by US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC (N00024-09-C-5300).

April 29/13: Block 1B3. General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems announces a $15 million contract modification to continue SEWIP Block 1B3 development and production.

Since 2003, GD-AIS has partnered with the Navy on the continued evolution of SEWIP through Blocks 1A, 1B1, 1B2 and now 1B3 as the systems integrator. For the 1B3 system, Lockheed Martin MST is supporting GD-AIS as a major subcontractor. Sources: GD-AIS, “General Dynamics Awarded $15 Million to Continue Work on U.S. Navy’s Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program”.

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.

This budget is an important inflection point for SEWIP, as critical production approvals are now in place. The procurement budget request jumps from $92.3 million in FY 2013 to $203.4 million, and is set to increase further in the coming years, reaching $372.1 million in FY 2018. The overall procurement program is $5.297 billion.

March 26/13: Block 2, LRIP-1. Lockheed Martin Corp. in Liverpool, NY receives a $30.6 million contract modification, exercising firm-fixed-price options for low-rate initial production SEWIP Block 2 units.

Work will be performed in Syracuse, NY (68%), and Lansdale, PA (32%), and is expected to be complete by September 2014. All funding is committed immediately, and will be managed by US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC (N00024-09-C-5300). See also Lockheed Martin, who values it at $57 million, but subsequent orders (q.v. May 29/13) appear to sum to $70 million instead.

March 22/13: Lockheed Martin Corp. in Liverpool, NY received a $27.4 million modification and restructuring of the SEWIP Block 2 contract. The restructuring converts fixed-price with incentive-options for Block 2’s System long-lead time pre-production material to firm-fixed-price options. All funds are committed immediately.

Work will be performed in Syracuse, NY, and is expected to be complete by March 2014. US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC manages the contract (N00024-09-C-5300).

Block 2 contract restructured, 1st LRIP order

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). SEWIP Block 2 is included only in passing:

“At present, there exists only one each of the Kappa, Uniform, and Gamma EW simulators. These simulators are flown on Lear Jets against shipboard EW systems. SEWIP Block 2 is the latest EW system under development. Two of these simulators are needed (one for each Lear Jet) so that threat-realistic stream raid profiles can be used to adequately test the SEWIP Block 2 in FY14. An estimated development/procurement cost is $5 Million.”

FY 2011 – 2012

Block 1B1 and 1B2 production; Block 2 full SDD contract and CDR; Budget documents provide some updates; Vendors thinking about Block 3.

Aug 1/12: Block 3. Lockheed Martin and Raytheon demonstrate their proposed SEWIP 3 solution during the multinational Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) maritime exercise near Hawaii. It went to sea aboard Lockheed Martin’s mobile Integrated Common Electronic Warfare System (ICEWS) test bed. Lockheed Martin.

Feb 13/12: The USA’s FY 2013 budget documents include documents that don’t break SEWIP spending out specifically, but do discuss some past SEWIP activities and future plans, as part of a larger suite of research:

“[2011] Continued the Enhanced Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) Transmitter FNC effort by starting system architecture design and Low Voltage Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) High Power Amplifier (HPA) Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) purchases. This effort develops affordable and reliable solid state transmitter technologies to engage anti-ship cruise and ballistic missile RF seekers.

[2013] Complete Enhanced SEWIP Transmitter – Conduct a final test of the enhanced Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) transmit array in the anechoic chamber…. Complete Enhanced Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) Transmitter – Demonstrate full enhanced SEWIP array performance in a relevant field environment.”

Jan 31/12: Block 3. Lockheed Martin (SEWIP Block 2) and Raytheon (original SLQ-32) announce that they’re teaming to compete for SEWIP Block 3, whose details aren’t clear yet. Lockheed Martin | Model of their proposed solution [JPG graphic, 2.3 MB].

July 18/11: Block 1. General Dynamics Advance Information Systems (GD-AIS), Inc.in Fairfax, VA receives cost-plus-fixed fee job orders estimated at $9.9 million to continue systems engineering and system software/firmware support for SEWIP Blocks 1A, 1B1, 1B2, and 1B3.

Work will be performed in Fairfax, VA, and is expected to be complete by January 2015. The basic ordering agreement was not competitively procured because the US Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division in Crane, IN determined there was only one responsible source, and no other suppliers will satisfy the agency requirements (N00164-11-G-PM04).

March 16/11: FY 2011 Block 1. General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems in Fairfax, VA receives a $7 million contract modification, exercising firm-fixed-price options for FY 2011 SEWIP Block 1B1 and 1B2 full-rate production and spares.

Work will be performed in Fairfax, VA, and is expected to be complete by July 2012. US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington Navy Yard, DC manages the contract (N00024-09-C-5396).

March 15/11: Block 2. Lockheed Martin announces a successful critical design review (CDR) for SEWIP Block 2. Lockheed Martin’s SEWIP program director, Joe Ottaviano, notes that the CDR’s success serves as the contractual go-ahead to produce 2 system prototypes by 2012.

Block 2 CDR

FY 2010 – 2011

Block 1B3 development; Block 2 development contract & PDR.

Aug 11/10: Testing. Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems in Tewksbury, MaA 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, 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, which use the new Dual Band Radar. Raytheon will also conduct follow-on operation test and evaluation efforts for the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (RIM-162 ESSM) and Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP).

July 28/10: Block 2. Lockheed Martin announces that the U.S. Navy has approved their SEWIP Block 2 upgrade design, in a Preliminary Design Review. This is a significant milestone under the initial design contract (vid. Sept 30/09 entry).

Block 2 PDR

July 8/10: Lockheed Martin Corp. in Liverpool, NY received a $51.1 million modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-09-C-5300), exercising the cost-plus-incentive-fee option for SEWIP Block 2 system development and demonstration.

Work will be performed in Syracuse, NY (74.5%); Lansdale, PA (13.7%); and Morgan Hill, CA (11.8%). Work is expected to be complete by January 2013. US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington Navy Yard, DC manages the contract (N00024-09-C-5300).

Block 2 SDD

March 25/10: Block 1. General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, Inc. in Fairfax, VA received a $12.4 million modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-09-C-5396), exercising a cost-plus-fixed-fee option for FY 2010 SEWIP Block 1B engineering services. It also exercises firm-fixed-price options for FY 2010 SEWIP Block 1B1 production units and spares, and for Block 1B2 production units, modification kits, and spares.

Work will be performed in Fairfax, VA (65%), and Annapolis Junction, MD (35%), and is expected to be complete by December 2012. The Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC manages this contract.

Sept 30/09: Block 2. Lockheed Martin Corp. in Liverpool, NY receives a $9.9 million cost plus incentive fee contract for the Preliminary Design of the Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) Block 2.

Lockheed Martin’s Nov 2/09 release says that their team will provide a modular solution based on the Integrated Common Electronics Warfare System that was demonstrated at sea in summer 2008, using commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) electronics. The company confirmed that it remains partnered with ITT, and their team will produce a preliminary design by June 2010. If development is successful, there will be no re-compete, and production options could total $166.9 million.

Work will be performed in Liverpool, N.Y. (76%); Lansdale, PA (13%), and Morgan Hill, CA (11%). This contract was competitively procured under full and open competition, and 3 offers were received (Lockheed/ITT, GD/BAE, and Northrop Grumman) by the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington Navy Yard, D.C. (N00024-09-C-5300). See also Lockheed Martin.

Team Lockheed wins SEWIP Block 2 development

March 31/09: Block 1. General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, Inc. in Fairfax, VA received a $40 million not-to-exceed contract for Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) Block 1B research and development, and production requirements. This contract includes the continued design and development of SEWIP Block 1B3, with a specialized HGHS (High Gain High Sensitivity) subsystem, to enhance the SLQ-32’s detection capabilities against emerging threats, and full rate production of SEWIP Block 1B2 units.

GD-AIS has been the SEWIP program’s lead integrator since 2003. Work will be performed in Fairfax, VA (60%) and Syracuse, NY (40%), and is expected to be complete by July 2011. This contract was not competitively procured by the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC (N00024-09-C-5396).

Dec 3/08: Block 2 competition. Defense Daily offers a roundup of the SEWIP Block 2 program competition between GD/BAE, Lockheed/ITT, and Northrop Grumman, who’s thinking about adapting the system it’s developing for the Navy’s DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class destroyers. Read: “Industry Readying For Navy’s Release of SEWIP Block 2 RFP.”

Dec 1/08: Block 1. Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems and Sensors wins a contract from General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, Inc., to develop and produce SEWIP Block 1B3’s High Gain, High Sensitivity (HGHS) sub-system. The contract includes the topside antenna systems, the below decks signal processor, and the processing algorithms that accompany the processor. It is valued at up to $36 million including options, and was awarded after a competitive bidding process. GD-AIS.

Dec 1/08: Block 2 competition. Lockheed Martin and ITT announce that they’ve teamed up to compete for the SEWIP Block 2 contract. Lockheed Martin.

October 23/08: Block 2 competition. General Dynamics and BAE Systems announce that they’ve teamed up to compete for the SEWIP Block 2 contract. Their solution is called “Sea Lightning.” BAE Systems.

Additional Readings

• DID – InTop: Sorting out Ships’ Topside Mess. Northrop Grumman has explicitly said that these efforts will lay the hardware and controller foundations for SEWIP 3.

• US Navy – Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP).

• General Dynamics AIS – Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP).

• Lockheed Martin – Electronic Warfare. Naval EW page, includes SEWIP.

• Lockheed Martin – Integrated Common Electronic Warfare System (ICEWS) Brochure [PDF]. ICEWS forms the basis for SEWIP Block 2.

• Raytheon – AN/SLQ-32 (V).

• Global Security – AN/SLQ-32 Electronic Warfare (EW) system.

• Harold Lee Wise – Inside the Danger Zone: The U.S. Military in the Persian Gulf, 1987-1988. Includes what is very probably the best public account of the attack on the USS Stark.

Leasing unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) is becoming a more popular option as commercial entities seek the capability and military users seek to obviate cumbersome acquisition processes. JetLease Vice-President Katy Glynn told Jane’s she sees a growing appetite for leased unmanned platforms.

Key Points The USAF's light attack experiment phase two started on 7 May The service is evaluating lowering cost-per-kill via logistics, sustainment, and analysis The US Air Force (USAF) on 7 May started phase two of its light attack experiment at Holloman Air Force Base (AFB), New Mexico. USAF

Key Points A US lawmaker proposes an independent commission to investigate recent aviation mishaps The US Air Force and Navy have had crashes and hypoxia-related issues A key United States lawmaker introduced an amendment that would create an independent national commission on military aviation

The US Navy (USN) will re-establish the 2nd Fleet to better handle adversaries in the Atlantic, Admiral John Richardson, the chief of naval operations, said. “Our National Defence Strategy makes clear that we’re back in an era of great power competition as the security environment

The US Army’s Robotic Wingman Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD) programme will advance from an armed, unmanned Humvee truck to a tracked M113 armoured personnel carrier. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) “is co-ordinating the whole

The role of political parties in Afghanistan’s highly centralised presidential system, with only limited parliamentary checks and balances, is an important yardstick by which to measure how the country has fared in its attempts to democratise in the post-Taleban era. This new AAN thematic report, in cooperation with the German Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS), looks at the complex issue of political party development over the period of 2001 to 2016, following up on a first paper published in 2006 and the parties’ impact on the nominally democratic system. AAN co-director Thomas Ruttig, who has been researching Afghan political party history for over 35 years, concludes that the parties have remained peripheral to the political system and that this is one key reason why the system is not progressing toward a more democratic political practice. In this introductory dispatch, which also serves as a short overview over developments not covered in the paper, he adds that this has not changed in the run-up to the upcoming parliamentary elections where parties, once again, will not play a major role.

The paper draws on and provides an update of the author’s 2006 paper on the same subject, published by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS). It is based on research conducted during extensive fieldwork in Afghanistan between 2006 and 2016. It draws on a large number of interviews with political party leaders, activists and analysts, the many Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN) publications on the Afghan political party scene since 2009 and other available literature. (You can find the list of AAN publications as an annex to the paper and as a separate dossier, here: add link).

The years since 2001 constitute the longest period in Afghanistan’s history during which political parties have been able to operate openly. For the first time parties are fully legal. Despite many shortcomings, they have become a reality within the polity of present-day Afghanistan. In reference to the democratic periods of 1947-52 and 1963-73, the post-2001 periofd could be dubbed Afghanistan’s “third democratic period.” But much of the democratic potential, particularly embodied in the political parties as a reflection of the country’s political diversity, has remained unused or even blocked. This is another similarity with both the 1947-52 and 1963-73 periods.

Notably, the three ideologically different historical political currents (Islamists, leftists and ethno-nationalists) have proven relatively stable since 2006, although to differing degrees. This cannot be said (yet) for the two new currents, the new democratic parties that openly emerged immediately after 2001 and the neo-Islamist groups that later became more prominent – and not for most existing political parties. The void in the centre of the political spectrum – ie the lack of a moderate, pro-government or pro-reform party – remains glaringly unoccupied.

A high degree of fragmentation and a personality-oriented character complicates the landscape for Afghanistan’s political parties.

Afghanistan’s laws regarding political parties and their participation in elections are highly ambivalent. As a result, while Afghanistan’s political parties are a political and legal reality today (as well as historically, with the first parties having emerged in the late 1940s) and while this system is constitutionally designed as a multi-party democracy, the parties cannot openly compete for power.

This is particularly the case in the parliamentary elections, where candidates are free to identify themselves as members of a certain party (although many do not), parties as such are unable to play an official role. Most significantly, in the current electoral system, which is individual-based, parties cannot field lists of their candidates, there are no parliamentary seats reserved for political parties, as in other countries, and parties are not allowed to establish factions in parliament. The latter provisions, even more paradoxically, have never been laid down in any legislation, yet they are still adhered to.

This situation also limits the necessity for inter-party competition and for the individual parties to tie members, sympathisers and potential voters closer to them. The level of political maturity, organisational stability and the internal democratic nature of Afghanistan’s political parties, remains low.

Legally, the parties are inherent to the political system, but in practice they remain outside it, or at least relegated to the sidelines. Their strength has never been measured by full and unhindered participation in elections. This has prevented any ‘natural selection’ based on voter mobilisation or the number of votes received, that usually curbs the number of political parties – which is seen as excessive by many in Afghanistan. This is what the author calls a “paradoxical system.”

More paradoxically, while parties as such have no place in the system as a result of an election, some of their leaders hold a very prominent place, as individuals, in the parallel political system built during the Karzai years. (This might by less so the case under the current government.) This has relegated the parties – ie their members and sympathisers – to a position where they mainly serve as voter mobilisation machines during times of election, while, in between elections, they drift back into insignificance and hold no influence on their leaders’ politics. Additionally, this has led to the emergence of a two-class party system, with some parties (or rather their leaders) within this parallel system and all other parties outside of it.

Optimistically put, Afghanistan’s political party system is still a system in the making.

Thomas Ruttig, AAN co-director and senior analyst, at KAS Kabul on 6 May 2018, presenting his new AAN paper about political parties development in Afghanistan (2001-16). Photo: AAN

Some post-2016 developments

The upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled now for 20 October 2018 (AAN analysis here), are already casting a shadow. Political parties’ positioning, alliance building and re-aligning has already started (see for example AAN’s analysis here, here and here).

Electoral reform, however, including the envisioned strengthening of the role of political parties, has not happened (AAN analysis here). A last ditch effort by a broad coalition of parties, including some usually close to President Ashraf Ghani (see AAN’s analysis here) has apparently been warded off. This was not too difficult, as the proposal came late and was contradictory, as it would have required a lengthy legislative procedure which, in turn, would have jeopardised the 20 October election date – that parties simultaneously insisted must be respected at all costs.

After the 2016 peace deal with the government, Hezb-e Islami and its leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar returned to the country. Various wings and factions reunited, although one of them – that of former minister Abdul Hadi Arghandiwal – challenged that Hekmatyar could claim the party’s official registration (AAN analysis here) that was done under his name, leading to Arghandiwal’s expulsion by Hekmatyar (media reporting here).

After internal power struggles in the government, Jamiat-e Islami and Jombesh-e Melli Islami set up an opposition coalition, dubbed the ‘Ankara coalition’ by the public – while many of their leading figures still occupied government positions (AAN analysis here). Jombesh itself has been challenged by the launch of a New Jombesh (AAN analysis here). In Jamiat, a struggle is underway about who should be the permanent replacement for its assassinated leader Ustad Borhanuddin Rabbani (AAN analysis here).

Supporters of former President Hamed Karzai, who continues to harbour ambitions of a political comeback, formed a new political grouping but then distanced themselves somewhat from him again, following a series of controversial political statements (AAN analysis here). Afghan Mellat, one of the country’s oldest parties, split (media report here). Its long-term leader, former minister Anwar-ul-Haq Ahadi, joined hands with the former mujahedin party of Harakat-e Enqilab-e Eslami-e Afghanistan (Islamic Revolution Movement of Afghanistan) (AAN analysis here), in a New National Front (media report here). This alliance has come out as the most vocal group demanding an end to the NUG and a political system re-launch by a Loya Jirga.

On the left side of the spectrum, some politicians re-launched the Hezb-e Watan (Fatherland Party) (AAN analysis here). A party under the same name wasthe successorof the Soviet-backed Hezb-e Dimukratik-e Khalq-e Afghanistan (People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan, PDPA), which ruled the country following a coup in 1978 and during the Soviet occupation (1979-89) and was revamped by President Najibullah in 1990 when he tried to shed its communist past (an AAN dossier here).

The on-going rift within the National Unity Government, embodied by the opposing positions of the president and Chief Executive Abdullah, over the implementation of the roll-out of an electronic ID card (AAN analysis here) that would double as a voter card has pushed Abdullah’s party, Jamiat, deeper into opposition.

Finally, President Ghani offered the Taleban a chance to participate in the upcoming elections as a political party (AAN analysis here) – which was promptly declined by the insurgents.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ), unlike in 2009 and 2013/14, has refrained from unleashing another ‘re-registration’ exercise again, although there were hints it might do so in 2015 (media report here). But pressure on the parties has been kept up, particularly on the political party law’s stipulation that each party must have a clearly visible, separate office in at least 24 provinces (and not only a rented backroom). This keeps a Sword of Damocles hanging over them, as almost none of them – not even the more affluent ones – has the financial or organisational capacity to adhere to this stipulation.

Afghanistan’s political parties will once again remain peripheral to the upcoming parliamentary elections. Although their number, ie those registered with the MoJ, has risen again to 74 (from 57 in mid-2016), there will be no seats reserved for parties in the lower house of parliament, the Wolesi Jirga, no political party lists of candidates and no party-based parliamentary groups or factions.

 

Publication date: 06 May 2018

The full report can be downloaded here.

This report is simultaneously published in German at the KAS’s Kabul office website, here.

There also will be an AAN dossier on Afghanistan’s political parties up here soon.

 

Opening of the presentation by Matthias Riesenhuber, head of the KAS country office in Kabul, and project manager Khalid Gharanai. Photo: KAS Kabul.

 

 

The European Defence Agency’s (EDA) ministerial Steering Board met this Saturday morning in Sofia under the chairmanship of HR/VP Federica Mogherini in her capacity as Head of the Agency. Defence ministers among other things welcomed the Agency’s progress on taking forward the new European defence initiatives and encouraged EDA to further develop initiatives in areas such as military mobility and the Main Battle Tank capability.

EDA plays a central role in many of the initiatives implementing the security and defence aspects of the EU Global Strategy presented by HR/VP Federica Mogherini in 2016. Federica Mogherini highlighted the Agency’s aim to support coherence between the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD), the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) and the European Defence Fund (EDF) – using the Capability Development Plan (CDP) as baseline for developing the European capability landscape.

The currently ongoing revision of the CDP will be finalised by June 2018 and Defence Ministers highlighted the importance of ensuring coherence of output and timelines between EU and NATO defence planning processes. At the same time, an Overarching Strategic Research Agenda (OSRA) is being developed with a view to guiding future investments in collaborative European defence research. Ministers of Defence welcomed the progress achieved so far in the trial run of the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence implemented by EDA in its capacity as CARD Secretariat. The first CARD report will be presented in November 2018. EDA also supports Member States as part of the PESCO Secretariat. On 2 May, the PESCO Secretariat (EDA together with EEAS/EUMS) issued the second call for project proposals to PESCO participating Member States to be submitted by 31 July 2018.

 

Military Mobility

Regarding Military Mobility, and in line with the scope and timelines mentioned in the European Union Action Plan, the Agency is currently preparing two ambitious programmes on the harmonisation of military requirements related to customs and on cross border movement permission.

Both programmes aim at facilitating military mobility activities. The Agency together with the participating Member States will look at harmonising the military requirements related to customs. The programme on cross border movement permission builds on the successful Diplomatic Clearances arrangement which foresees annually issued clearance numbers for air transport aircraft. The arrangement has proven its value by reducing administrative burden and time. The new programme will build on this good practice by looking at surface movement to enhance military mobility for road, rail and inland waterways, also including air assets such as helicopters and air-to-air refuelling aircraft. The Agency’s work in this area is coordinated with the PESCO project on military mobility and conducted in close cooperation with the EEAS, EUMS, the Commission and other stakeholders. It is also coherent with respective NATO initiatives.

  Main Battle Tank

Defence Ministers invited the Agency to pursue the development of the Pooling and Sharing initiative on Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) based on identified MBT surplus capacities in a number of Member States (Providers) and a demand for the acquisition of such assets in others (Receivers). The Agency together with national experts and industry investigated to what extent Providers could pool & share their surplus assets with interested Receivers and upgrade the MBTs to the latest configuration available. In addition, some Member States have voiced interest in upgrading their national fleets and keep them under full national control (Upgraders). The project will provide economies of scale throughout the entire life cycle while enhancing interoperability among Member States.  

  Cooperative Financial Mechanism & other topics

The Steering Board was informed about the progress achieved in the negotiation of the Programme Arrangement of the Cooperative Financial Mechanism. It is intended that the CFM will be structured around two pillars, one intergovernmental, and one involving the European Investment Bank as the sole lender for defence-related projects and programmes in line with its lending policy. Following calls from the European Council to support investments in defence research and development activities, the European Investment Bank and the European Defence Agency concluded a cooperation agreement on 28 February 2018.

Ministers welcomed closer interaction between EDA and NATO. They were also presented with lessons learnt on the successful implementation of the Pilot Project and the first work programme of the Preparatory Action on Defence Research by the Agency under delegation of the European Commission. Finally, the Steering Board welcomed the progress made with regard to the implementation of the dual-use strategy on RPAS regulation, based on close coordination with the European Commission, the SESAR Joint Undertaking and EASA.

 

 

American TOW 2 Anti-Tank Guided Missile

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

Dutch Bulldog Beach Recovery Vehicle

Americas

• Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. has been awarded a firm-fixed-price delivery order in support of the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft. The order provides for the procurement of four aerial refueling retrofit kits and related support equipment in support of the aircraft. The contract is valued at $11,4 million. Northrop Grumman’s E-2C Hawkeye is a carrier-capable “mini-AWACS” aircraft, designed to give long-range warning of incoming aerial threats. Secondary roles include strike command and control, land and maritime surveillance, search and rescue, communications relay, and even civil air traffic control during emergencies.Work will be performed at various locations within the continental US, including St. Augustine Florida; Ronkonkoma, New York and Melbourne, Florida and is scheduled for completion by April 2019.

• The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded a cost-reimbursement modification to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The contract provides for exercising the second option to the 36-month contract for Phase 3 of DARPA’s Living Foundries: 1000 Molecules program. Current and emerging Department of Defense (DoD) capabilities rely on upon access to a number of critical, high-value molecules that are often prohibitively expensive. The Living Foundries program aims to enable adaptable, scalable, and on-demand production of such molecules by programming the fundamental metabolic processes of biological systems to generate a vast number of complex molecules that are not otherwise accessible, essentially transforming synthetic biomanufacturing into a predictable engineering practice supportive of a broad range of national security objectives. The program has three challenge areas: rapid, improved prototyping of known molecules; prototyping of known, but currently inaccessible, molecules; and prototyping of novel molecules.The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $32 million. Work will be mainly performed in Cambridge, Massachusetts and is scheduled for completion by April 2020.

• Lockheed Martin Corp. Missiles and Fire Control, Dallas, Texas has been awarded to separate contract modifications related to the THAAD interceptor program. The first contract modification provides for the production of additional THAAD Lot 10 interceptors and associated product support and is valued at $145.3 million. The second modification sees for the production of additional Missile Round Pallets-Transportable and is valued at $17.9 million. The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system is a long-range, land-based theater defense weapon that acts as the upper tier of a basic 2-tiered defense against ballistic missiles. It’s designed to intercept missiles during late mid-course or final stage flight, flying at high altitudes within and even outside the atmosphere.Combined those modifications bring the total cumulative face value of the contract to $2.4 billion. Work will be performed at various locations including Dallas, Texas; Sunnyvale, California and Anniston, Alabama and is scheduled for completion by August and December 2021 respectively. The Missile Defense Agency is the contracting activity.

Middle East & Africa

• Turkey’s program for the design, development and production of the country’s first indigenous fighter jet is gaining pace. Late last month Turkey’s largest defense contractor Aselsan and Turkish Aerospace Industries signed a memorandum of understanding to share work on the TF-X program. Both companies will work to develop critical systems for the TF-X, including a national radar, electro-optical systems, mission-control systems and integration of these systems into the future aircraft. Earlier this year the Turkish government earmarked an initial investment of $1.2 billion. The next critical stage will be Ankara’s decision on the procurement of an engine for the fighter plane. Up to this date Turkey wanted to build the TF-X with know-how from BAE Systems. In January 2017, Britain and Turkey signed a deal worth more than $137 million to develop the Turkish fighter jet. However, in a surprise move the Russian defense conglomerate Rostec has voiced its interest in supplying those engines. This development may well cause further concern for other NATO members who view the increasing defense cooperation between Turkey and Russia in a critical manner. Turkey’s ambitious TF-X program currently awaits a critical presidential endorsement.

Europe

• The magazine Der Spiegel reports that the German Luftwaffe is currently facing problems keeping the ground readiness of its Eurofighter Typhoon fleet. According to the magazine the majority of the Luftwaffe’s 128 fighter planes is currently not cleared for conducting missions. Engineers are concerned about faulty wing-pods that could seriously impede the functionality of the plane’s self-protection system. Without this system the planes are not ready for conducting missions as part of its NATO obligations. The technicians managed to fix some issues with the pods but are unable to fix an issue with leaking cooling-fluid. The component issue, centers on a so-called “grease nipple” that is part of the system that cools the wingtip pods that house elements of the self-protection system, which was designed by BAE Systems. Supplies of the component have been restricted while the primary supplier, a U.S.-based company, is recertified after a change in its ownership. “We hope to get this problem under control in several weeks or months,” the Defense Ministry spokesman Colonel Holger Neumann told a regular German government news conference. He declined to give any details about how many of Germany’s Eurofighters were affected by the spare parts logjam.

Asia-Pacific

• The Japanese government is currently debating the size of its P-1 maritime patrol aircraft fleet. The P-1 is developed by Kawasaki Heavy Industries as an indigenous replacement for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Lockheed Martin P-3C Orion’s. Japan’s Navy has so far taken delivery of 15 P-1s. Tokyo has yet to define its long-term spending plans, currently there are no follow up contracts in place, however it is possible that the government will acquire up to 58 additional planes, to fully replace its aged P-3C inventory. Japan sent two P-1s to Germany in late April for a debut appearance at the ILA Berlin air show, with one participating in the flying display and the other parked in the static area. “We have brought the aircraft here to promote Japan’s very high level of technology to the world,” the P-1 program managed Capt Ryota Ishida said during a press conference.

Today’s Video

• Taiwan unveils quadcopter drone armed with an assault rifle and grenade launcher

US naval shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls reported results from the first quarter of its 2018 financial year on 3 May, with figures showing swift growth of both revenues and operating income. Sales reached USD1.87 billion in the three months ending 31 March, a rise of 8.7% year on year, while income