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ThalesRaytheonSystems signed a €92.5 million ($101.5 million) contract with NATO for a significant upgrade to the Alliance’s current missile defence command and control capability. By bringing new capabilities to NATO’s Air Command and Control Syste

The latest issue of Defence IQ 's Global Armoured Vehicles Market Report covers the most significant procurement programmes and requirements worldwide. View this section on Africa by clicking on the image below. The report includes data on where executives in the defence in

This year’s Countering Violent Extremism summit in June will see senior members of government and military and intelligence professionals assemble in London. Specific topics under consideration will be the use of open source intelligence to pursue non-state actors and the subsequ

Americas

• The Pentagon will petition Congress to allow it to buy up to 450 F-35s in a three-year international block buy. The bulk purchase from 2018 would drive down the per-unit cost of each aircraft, as well as provide industry contractors with a greater customer commitment to the program.

• A set of serious technical flaws have been identified in the Missile Defense Agency’s Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, with this the latest technical problem in a program which has cost over $41 billion.

• Northrop Grumman has completed a Critical Design Review for new weapons management software for the B-2 Spirit bomber, as part of the Air Force’s Flexible Strike Phase I program.

• Radio manufacturer Harris Corp. completed its merger with Exelis Inc. on Friday, following a company statement in February that announced the deal worth $4.75 billion. The deal has resulted in Harris’ shareholders owning 85% of the new merged company, with Exelis shareholders the remaining 15%.

Europe

• Analysis of the blackbox of the Airbus A400M which crashed on 9th May has revealed that engine software is the likely cause of the accident. The announcement that the cause was down to incorrectly installed software, rather than structural problems with the aircraft, follows a call by Airbus for A400M customers to check engine software following the crash. The Spanish Air Force took over investigation of the incident from a Spanish civilian team, with many air forces grounding their fleets in the wake of the crash.

• The Russian Navy is planning to construct and field a new carrier by the late 2020’s, according to Russian media reports. The Russians currently operate one active carrier – the Admiral Kuznetsov.

Middle East

• The United Arab Emirates has requested a purchase of 1,600 guided bombs, in a potential deal worth approximately $130 million. 1,000 of these will be GBU-31 variants, with the remaining 600 GBU-12s. The UAE is conducting airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria, recently sending F-16s to Jordan to carry out operations.

• It has emerged that Iraq lost 2,300 Humvees when Mosul fell to the Islamic State last year, prompting the US government to send 1,000 of the vehicles to the beleaguered country, following a request in December.

Asia

• In an announcement that will shock few, the Indian defense minister announced over the weekend that the country will only purchase the 36 Rafales contracted for in a government to government deal in April, with no plans to purchase the 126 jets the Indian government has been in negotiations with manufacturer Dassault for over the last three years.

• Meanwhile, the Indian Air Force will likely have to wait a further five years before the Tejas MkII will be available for combat operations. The aircraft’s engine – the General Electric F414 – will provide the MkII with more thrust than the MkI’s F404 but will require significant alterations to the aircraft’s structure in order to accommodate its size. The much-delayed program is 32 years in development, with the MkII also set to be equipped with new radar and other components. Additionally, the MkI is also likely to fail to achieve its Final Operating Clearance scheduled for later this year, following a highly critical report released earlier this month which found the aircraft will not meet IAF standards.

• The Indian Navy is planning to test fire a Barak-8 SAM in coming weeks, according to Indian media. The jointly-developed Israeli/Indian missile was successfully tested last November, with this coming test scheduled to take place aboard the INS Kolkata, which will eventually be equipped with 32 of the missiles.

• German firm Atlas Elektronic is supplying the Indian Navy with ASW Active Towed Array Sonar systems, which will equip the Kamorta-class. The Indian Navy has stated that these will assist their vessels when operating in warm waters.

Today’s Video

• F-35Bs refuel from a KC-130…

May 31, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – A court in Khartoum resumed its sessions in the trial of two pastors from South Sudan charged with espionage and trying to foment sedition and incite hatred among tribes and religious sects.

A Bishop stands in front of the altar during Easter Sunday service at Episcopal Church of the Sudan Diocese of Khartoum All Saints Cathedral in Khartoum April 24, 2011 (Reuters)

Reverend Yat Michael and Reverend Peter Yen – of the South Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (PEC) – have been detained by Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) in Khartoum at two separate occasions.

Michael, a visiting pastor from South Sudan, was taken into custody in December after giving a service at the Khartoum North church of the PEC.

Reverend Peter Yen was also visiting Khartoum when he was arrested last January after responding to a summons to report to an office of the NISS.

The investigator in the case Mohamed Khair Ibrahim told the court on Sunday that the second defendant managed an organization working to distort the image of Sudan through reports sent to circles hostile to the country so that the information would be used in human rights reports.

He said that lectures and training packages belonging to the NISS were found in the personal computer of the first defendant.

"It is the same curriculum that is taught in all stages at the NISS, including a package on psychological aspects to deal with investigators which is one of the advanced courses in the bureau,” Ibrahim said.

He said the defendant was unable to provide any explanation for the possession of such data.

"But through investigation [we found] that there is an intelligence work [done] by the first defendant which prompted him to keep the curriculum despite its secrecy".

Ibrahim displayed a picture of President Omer Hassan al-Bashir with the word "WANTED" underneath and pointed out that it demonstrates that the first defendant tried to portray a bad image of the president.

He also presented a drawing found in the first defendant's PC showing a map of Sudan divided into five, ethnic states and said that the goal was to show South Kordofan and Darfur as part of South Sudan.

He added that the information seized reveal maps and statistics which have been compiled to tarnish the image of Sudan.

Among them was a report claiming that children in Darfur are not allowed to enter school until they have memorized the Koran which was cited as a reason for under-enrolment in schools and illiteracy in Darfur.

He stressed that such information is false and that memorizing Koran is not an enrolment perquisite to enter the schools.

(ST)

May 31, 2015 (WASHINGTON) – The rapid and surprising shift in Sudan's regional alliance from the Iranian axis to the Gulf one led by Saudi Arabia came at a surprise to observers, given Khartoum's insistence over the years that its relationship with Tehran is a normal one that is not directed against any country.

FILE - Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir shaking hands with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz (Riyadh newspaper)

Sudan has been unable to persuade the Gulf states with this argument, particularly Saudi Arabia, which has seen its relations with Khartoum severely strained during the reign of late King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz who avoided meeting president Omer Hassan al-Bashir since 2012 until his death earlier this year, despite Bashir's repeated visits to the Kingdom.

In August 2013, Saudi Arabia made the unprecedented move of closing its airspace to the plane carrying Bashir on his way to Iran where he was scheduled to attend the inauguration ceremony of then president-elect Hassan Rouhani thus forcing him and his delegation to return home.

Riyadh at the time blamed Khartoum for failing to obtain the necessary permits to pass through Saudi airspace, a claim which was refuted by Sudanese officials.

Sudan has been regularly allowing Iranian warships to dock in Port Sudan, adjacent to Saudi Arabia, sparking concern by the United States and its allies in the Gulf region.

The mostly Sunni Muslim Arab Gulf states are wary of Iranian influence in the Middle East, fearing the Shiite-led country is seeking regional dominance that will stir sectarian tensions in countries like Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.

Observers believe that economic pressures faced by Sudan caused by multiple military conflicts, US sanctions and most importantly the loss of oil due South Sudan's secession in 2011 prompted the government to reconsider its regional alliances.

Late last year, Sudanese authorities ordered the closure of the Iranian Cultural Centre in the capital Khartoum and other states and asked the Iranian cultural attaché to leave the country in a move seen as a gesture of goodwill towards the Arab Gulf states.

This shift was culminated by Sudan's announcement following Bashir's visit to Riyadh in March that it has joined the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen in the framework of a coalition comprised of ten Arab and Islamic states.

There have also been some unconfirmed reports recently that Sudan could provide troops for the next phase of the military operation in Yemen.

The Iranian government has formally opposed the military operation in Yemen, but did not comment on the Sudanese role or their strategic shift away from Tehran.

But the pro-hardliner Mashregh newspaper in Iran fiercely attacked Bashir and described him as an ingrate.

Bashir “found a better meal and traded Iran's generous help for a seat at Al Saud's table,” an article on the newspaper said according to Al-Monitor website.

The article stated that given Sudan's closing of Iran's offices, maybe Sudan's support for Saudi's bombing of Yemen was not unexpected, but “at the same time, everyone who is aware of our country's support and help of [Bashir] during the most difficult times of his rule, did not expect this level of political immorality and obscenity.”

Saudi Arabian journalist and researcher in Middle Eastern Affairs Abdul Aziz al-Khamis argued that Saudi diplomacy achieved a major diplomatic victory by succeeding in pulling Sudan out of "Iran's bosom".

In an telephone interview with Sudan Tribune from London, al-Khamis said that despite the strategic importance attached by Saudi Arabia to Sudan, relations between them have all but been severed over the years.

He blamed Islamic forces allied with Bashir for "dissociating Sudan from its Arab perimeter".

"Cooperation with Iran cost [Sudan] its Arab attachment and they are now trying to return back to it. There has recently been a breakthrough in easing relations [with Saudi Arabia] especially that Sudan is going through tough economic times because of the secession of the south and the serious ramifications of the Darfur conflict including the indictment of Bashir by the International Criminal Court" al-Khamis said.

Al-Khamis, who was until recently the editor in chief of the London-based al-Arab newspaper, disclosed that Sudanese businessmen dealing with Arab Gulf states pressured their government to mend relations with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia in particular in order to relieve Sudan's economic woes and restore the flow of investments.

"Sudanese businessmen [working] in the Gulf have a special characteristic which is the strong relationships they build in the surroundings in which they work in so they are keen that their ties with Bashir would not to be at the expense of their relationship with UAE or Saudi Arabia".

He said that Khartoum "tried the alliance with Qatar in the past period, which did not lead to an economic recovery and allowed more Iranian penetration in Sudan".

"The return of Sudan to its Arab surrounding is now occurring after they paid a hefty price from its territory and reputation and after the [Sudanese] government transformed Sudan from a country of tolerance and coexistence to a country notorious for its policies" al-Khamis added.

He assrted that the improvement in relations between the two countries will make Sudan a supporting force to Saudi Arabia and vice versa in the framework of mutual interests.

Asked about the possibility that Saudi Arabia could mediate between Sudan and the United States, al-Khamis said that this is possible and that Riyadh may stand with Khartoum in some issues "if it is convinced that Sudan is on the right side of these issues."

"But Saudi Arabia cannot stand with Sudan in the repression of its people in Darfur for example. Saudi Arabia in the past tried to help on Darfur but failed due to the intervention of several axis" in reference to Qatar which until recently had strained relations with Riyadh.

"From a strategic standpoint, Saudi Arabia can help Sudan especially in light of the harmony that exists now between Saudi Arabia and Qatar which goes in favor of Sudan".

Al-Khamis downplayed the divergence in views between Sudan and Saudi Arabia on Syria after Bashir's recent announcement that President Bashar al-Assad must be part of any political settlement.

"Bashir wants concessions from the West, which could prompt him to take positions different from that of Saudi Arabia .... but in reality he has no leverage with Syria."

Al-Khamis also expressed doubts on Sudan's announcement that King Salman would attend Bashir's swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday given the recent developments in Saudi Arabia "unless there is a very important reason for the King to visit".

The Sudanese Foreign Ministry declined on Saturday to confirm the presence of the Saudi monarch contrary to what the inauguration committee said on Thursday.

(ST)

L'avion propulsé à l'énergie solaire a dû interrompre sa progression en raison d'un front nuageux sur sa route. La traversée du Pacifique était l'étape la plus ambitieuse, avec 8 500 km à parcourir.

The following by Raymond Ibrahim is reposted here with permission of Middle East Forum:

Islamic Jizya: Fact and Fiction
by Raymond Ibrahim
FrontPage Magazine
May 28, 2015http://www.meforum.org/5275/jizya-fact-fiction


The Islamic State demands that Christian "infidels" pay jizya, a per capita tax on non-Muslims sanctified by Islamic law, or forfeit their lives.Muslim demands for non-Muslim "infidels" to pay jizya on pain of death are growing, even as the West fluctuates between having no clue what jizya is and thinking that jizya is an example of "tolerance" in Islam.
In the video where the Islamic State slaughters some 30 Christian Ethiopians in Libya last April, the spokesman repeatedly pointed out that payment of jizya (which the impoverished Ethiopian migrant workers could not render, nor the 21 Copts before them) is the only way for Christians around the world to safeguard their lives:But whoever refuses [to pay jizya] will see nothing from us but the edge of a spear. The men will be killed and the children will be enslaved, and their wealth will be taken as booty. This is the judgment of Allah and His Messenger.When the Islamic State invaded ancient Christian regions around the Ninevah Plain last June, it againdeclared: "We offer them [Assyrian Christians] three choices: Islam; the dhimma contract—involving payment of jizya; if they refuse this they will have nothing but the sword."

Palestinian preacher 'Issam Amira recently urged his followers to wage jihad against non-Muslims "when they refuse to convert to Islam or refuse to pay jizya."The Islamic State—which most Western politicians ludicrously insist "has nothing to do with Islam"—is not alone in calling for jizya from Christian "infidels." In 2002, Saudi Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdul Rahman, discussing the Muslim prophet's prediction that Islam will eventually conquer Rome, said, "We will control the land of the Vatican; we will control Rome and introduce Islam in it. Yes, the Christians . . . will yet pay us the jizya, in humiliation, or they will convert to Islam."
And in a video recently posted, Sheikh 'Issam Amira appears giving a sermon in Al Aqsa Mosque where he laments that too many Muslims think jihad is only for defense against aggressors, when in fact Muslims are also obligated to wage offensive jihad against non-Muslims:When you face your pagan enemy, call them—either to Islam, jizya, or seek Allah's help and fight them. Even if they do not fight [or initiate hostilities], fight them!... Fight them! When? When they fight you? No, when they refuse to convert to Islam or refuse to pay jizya.... Whether they like it or not, we will subjugate them to Allah's authority.In short, if the Islamic State is enforcing jizya on "infidels," demands for its return are on the increase all around the Muslim world. Put differently, if Abu Shadi, an Egyptian Salafi leader, once declared that Egypt's Christians "must either convert to Islam, pay jizya, or prepare for war," Dr. Amani Tawfiq, a female professor at Egypt's Mansoura University, once said that "If Egypt wants to slowly but surely get out of its economic situation and address poverty in the country, the jizya has to be imposed on the Copts."The Doctrine and History of JizyaSo what exactly is jizya? The word jizya appears in Koran 9:29, in an injunction that should be familiar by now:Fight those among the People of the Book [Christians and Jews] who do not believe in Allah nor the Last Day, nor forbid what Allah and his Messenger have forbidden, nor embrace the religion of truth, until they pay the jizya with willing submission and feel themselves subdued(emphasis added).In the hadith, the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad, regularly calls on Muslims to demand jizya of non-Muslims:If they refuse to accept Islam, demand from them the jizya. If they agree to pay, accept it from them and hold off your hands. If they refuse to pay jizya, seek Allah's help and fight them.The second "righteous caliph," Omar al-Khattab, reportedly said that any conquered "infidel" who refuses to convert to Islam "must pay the jizya out of humiliation and lowliness. If they refuse this, it is the sword without leniency."
This theme of non-Muslim degradation appears regularly in the commentaries of Islam's authorities. According to the Medieval Islamic Civilization Encyclopedia,[Muslim] jurists came to view certain repressive and humiliating aspects of dhimma as de rigueur. Dhimmis [subjugated non-Muslim Christians and Jews] were required to pay the jizya publicly, in broad daylight, with hands turned palm upward, and to receive a smart smack on the forehead or the nape of the neck from the collection officer.Some of Islam's jurists mandated a number of other humiliating rituals at the time of jizya payment, including that the presiding Muslim official slap, choke, and in some cases pull the beard of the paying dhimmi, who might even be required to approach the official on all fours, in bestial fashion.
Conquered non-Muslims were required to purchase their lives, which were otherwise forfeit to their Muslim conquerors.The root meaning of the Arabic word "jizya" is simply to "repay" or "recompense," basically to "compensate" for something. According to the Hans Wehr Dictionary, the standard Arabic-English dictionary, jizya is something that "takes the place" of something else, or "serves instead."
Simply put, conquered non-Muslims were to purchase their lives, which were otherwise forfeit to their Muslim conquerors, with money. Instead of taking their lives, they took their money. As one medieval jurist succinctly put it, "their lives and their possessions are only protected by reason of payment of jizya."
Past and increasingly present, Muslims profited immensely by exacting jizya from conquered peoples.
For instance, Amr bin al-As, the companion of Muhammad who conquered Christian Egypt in the early 640s, tortured and killed any Christian Copt who tried to conceal his wealth. When a Copt inquired of him, "How much jizya are we to pay?" the Islamic hero replied,If you give me all that you own—from the ground to the ceiling—I will not tell you how much you owe. Instead, you [the Christian Copts] are our treasure chest, so that, if we are in need, you will be in need, and if things are easy for us, they will be easy for you.Yet even that was not enough. Caliph Uthman later chided Amr bin al-As because another governor of Egypt had managed to increase the caliphate's treasury double what Amr had. In the words of Uthman, the "milk camels [Egypt's Christians, that is] . . . yielded more milk." Years later, yet another caliph, Suleiman ibn Abdul Malik, wrote to the governor of Egypt advising him "to milk the camel until it gives no more milk, and until it milks blood."
Caliph Suleiman ibn Abdul Malik described his Christian subjects as a beast to be milked "until it gives no more milk."Little wonder Egypt went from being almost entirely Christian in the seventh century to today having a mere 10%—and steadily dwindling, thanks to ongoing persecution—Christian minority.
Related to the idea of institutionalized jizya is the notion that non-Muslims are fair game to plunder whenever possible. The jizya entry in theEncyclopaedia of Islam states that "with or without doctrinal justification, arbitrary demands [for money] appeared at times." Even that medieval traveler, Marco Polo, whose chronicles appear impartial, made aninteresting observation concerning the Muslims in Tauris (modern day Iraq) in the thirteenth century:According to their doctrine [Islam], whatever is stolen or plundered from others of a different faith, is properly taken, and the theft is no crime; whilst those who suffer death or injury by the hands of Christians [during the course of a plunder-driven raid], are considered as martyrs.... These principles are common to all Saracens [Muslims].All this is echoed in recent times by the words of Sheikh Abu Ishaq al-Huwaini, spoken a few years ago, concerning what the Muslim world should do to overcome its economic problems:If only we can conduct a jihadist invasion at least once a year or if possible twice or three times, then many people on earth would become Muslims. And if anyone prevents our dawa [invitation to conversion] or stands in our way, then we must kill or take them as hostage and confiscate their wealth, women and children. Such battles will fill the pockets of the Mujahid [holy warrior] who can return home with 3 or 4 slaves, 3 or 4 women and 3 or 4 children. This can be a profitable business if you multiply each head by 300 or 400 dirham. This can be like financial shelter whereby a jihadist, in time of financial need, can always sell one of these heads.So it was for well over a millennium: Muslim rulers and mobs extorted money from "infidels" under their sway as a legitimate way to profit.
Much of this financial fleecing came to an end thanks to direct European intervention. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, one Muslim region after another abolished the jizya and gave non-Muslims unprecedented rights—originally to appease Western powers, later in emulation of Western governance. The Ottoman Empire's Hatt-i Humayun decree of 1856 abolished the jizya in many Ottoman-ruled territories. Elsewhere in the Muslim world, the jizya was gradually abolished wherever Western powers were present.

British Muslim cleric Anjem Choudary describes his government welfare payments as jizya taken "from the kafir (infidel)."Today, however, as Muslims reclaim their Islamic heritage—often to the approval and encouragement of a West, now under the spell of "multiculturalism"—jizya, whether institutionalized as under the Islamic State, or as a rationale to plunder infidels, is back.
Even in the West, in 2013, a UK Muslim preacher who was receiving more than 25,000 pounds annually in welfare benefits referred to British taxpayers as "slaves," and explained: 
"We take the jizya, which is our haq [Arabic for "right"], anyway. The normal situation by the way is to take money from the kafir[infidel], isn't it? So this is the normal situation. They give us the money—you work, give us the money, Allahu Akhbar ["Allah is Great"]. We take the money."Academic Lies about JizyaYet if Muslims—from Islamic State jihadis to Egyptian university professors—know the truth about jizya, the West is today oblivious, thanks to its leading authorities on Islam: Western academics and other "experts" and talking heads.
Consider the following excerpt from John Esposito, director of the Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University and a widely acknowledged go-to source for anything Islamic:In many ways, local populations [Christians, Jews, and others] found Muslim rule more flexible and tolerant than that of Byzantium and Persia. Religious communities were free to practice their faith to worship and be governed by their religious leaders and laws in such areas as marriage, divorce, and inheritance. In exchange, they were required to pay tribute, a poll tax (jizya) that entitled them to Muslim protection from outside aggression and exempted them from military service. Thus, they were called the "protected ones" (dhimmi). In effect, this often meant lower taxes, greater local autonomy ... (emphasis added)Despite the almost gushing tone related to Muslim rule, the idea that jizya was extracted in order to buy "Muslim protection from outside aggression" is an outright lie. Equally false is Esposito's assertion that jizya was paid to "exempt them [non-Muslims] from military service"—as if conquering Muslims would even want or allow their conquered "infidel" subjects to fight alongside them in the name of jihad (holy war against infidels) without first converting to Islam.

John Esposito argues that paying jizya was a blessing for non-Muslims that "entitled them to Muslim protection from outside aggression."Yet these two myths—that jizya was for "Muslim protection from outside aggression" and exemption from military service—are now widely accepted. In "Nothing 'Islamic' About ISIS, Part Two: What the 'Jizya' Really Means," one Hesham A. Hassaballa recycles these fabrications on BeliefNet by quotingSohaib Sultan, Princeton University's Muslim chaplain, who concludes: "Thus, jizyah is no more and no less than an exemption tax in lieu of military service and in compensation for the 'covenant of protection' (dhimmah) accorded to such citizens by the Islamic state."
In reality and as demonstrated above via the words of a variety of authoritative Muslims, past and present, jizya was, and is indeed, protection money—though protection, not from outsiders, as Esposito and others claim, but from surrounding Muslims themselves. Whether it is the first caliphate from over a millennium ago or whether it is the newest caliphate, the Islamic State, Muslim overlords continue to deem the lives of their "infidel" subjects forfeit unless they purchase it, ransom it with money. Put differently, the subjugated infidel is a beast to be milked "until it gives no more milk and until it milks blood," to quote the memorable words of an early caliph.
There is nothing humane, reasonable, or admirable about demands for jizya from conquered non-Muslim minorities, as the academics claim. Jizya is simply extortion money. Its purpose has always been to provide non-Muslims with protection from Muslims: pay up, or else convert to Islam, or else die.
And it is commanded in both the Koran and Hadith, the twin pillars of Islam. In short, jizya is yet another ugly fact of Islam—add to offensive jihad, imperialism, misogyny, slavery, etc.—one that, distort as they may, the academics cannot whitewash away, even as the world stands idly by watching its resumption in the twenty-first century.
Note: Most quotations not hyperlinked are sourced from Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War on Christians. Full references can be found there.

Raymond Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and a Judith Friedman Rosen Writing Fellow at the Middle East Forum. He is the author of 
Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War on Christians (2013) and The Al Qaeda Reader (2007).

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Technorati Tag: Jizya and Islam and Infidel.

Outre le président Pierre Nkurunziza, le président rwandais Paul Kagame a été l'un des grands absents du sommet de Dar es Salaam sur la crise au Burundi. Le Rwanda, pays pourtant incontournable dans la région, a été représenté par sa ministre en charge de l'Afrique de l'Est, Valentine Rugwabiza. Aucune explication n'a été donnée à cette absence et les spéculations vont bon train.

Le président de la transition Michel Kafando est en visite de travail en France sur invitation de son homologue François Hollande. Au cours de cette visite d'une semaine, Michel Kafando aura plusieurs séances de travaux avec le président français, le président de l'Assemblée nationale et la secrétaire générale de la Francophonie, entre autre. Au cœur des échanges, la coopération bilatérale et le point sur le processus de transition qui doit aboutir au retour à l'ordre constitutionnel.

Des représentants du gouvernement malien ont rejoint ce week-end à Alger les représentants des mouvements armés rebelles du nord pour de nouvelles discussions autour de l'accord de paix. Cette réunion devait être une réunion d'étape, pour tenter d'amener la Coordination des mouvements de l'Azawad à signer l'accord de paix, et pour réfléchir aux moyens de le mettre en oeuvre. Mais les affrontements armés des dernières semaines, dans le nord du Mali, ont changé l'ordre du jour.

Le roi des Tékés, le président du Sénat et bien d'autres personnalités sont attendues ce lundi 1er juin au Palais du peuple de Brazzaville où ils doivent échanger avec le président Denis Sassou Nguesso dans le cadre de la reprise des consultations avec les forces vives sur la vie de la Nation et de l'Etat. Ces consultations, boudées par l'opposition, sont en partie axées sur l'avenir de la Constitution dont la modification devrait permettre au président de briguer un troisième mandat.

Après le sommet de Dar es Salaam qui s'est tenu dimanche 31 mai en Tanzanie, les réactions des Burundais dans les rues des quartiers contestataires de Bujumbura sont amères. La question cruciale du troisième mandat du président Pierre Nkurunziza n'a pas été tranchée, ni même abordée par les chefs d'Etat de l'Afrique de l'Est. Les habitants se disent déçus et prêts à poursuivre les manifestations.

GMD launch, 2001
(click to view full)

The USA’s Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) program uses land-based missiles to intercept incoming ballistic missiles in the middle of their flight, outside the atmosphere. The missiles are currently based at 2 sites in the USA: 4 at Vandenberg AFB in California, and 20 (eventually 26) at Fort Greely in Alaska.

The well-known Patriot missiles provide what’s known as terminal-phase defense options, while longer-reach options like the land-based THAAD perform terminal or descent-phase interceptions. Even so, their sensors and flight ranges are best suited to defense against shorter range missiles launched from in-theater.

In contrast, GMD is designed to defend against intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). It depends on tracking that begins in the boost phase, in order to allow true mid-course interception attempts in space, before descent or terminal phase options like THAAD and then Patriot would be tried. In order to accomplish that task, GMD missiles must use data feeds from an assortment of long-range sensors, including satellites like SBIRS and DSP, some SPSS/BMEWS huge early-warning radars, and even the naval SBX radar.

GMD Program, Present & Past

According to the Director, Missile Defense Agency (MDA), GMD is expected to remain in service until at least 2032. At present, there are 30 GBI missiles in place: 26 at Fort Geely, AK, and 4 at Vandenberg AFB, CA. Within that set, there are 2 kill vehicle versions. The first kill vehicle, fielded since 2004, is known as the Capability Enhancement I (CE-I). The current production model is CE-II.

In 2009, the Secretary of Defense reduced the number of planned GBIs from 44 to 30, plus 22 more GBIs for testing and spares. In 2013, the Obama administration backtracked on its previous decision, restoring the planned number of deployed GBIs to 44.

(click to see others)

In many ways, the GMD program is a poster child for temporary gain and long term pain. When the threat involves nuclear weapons, that’s a defensible choice, but there is a flip side.

The GMD system arose out of President G.W. Bush’s 2002 directive to deploy an initial set of missile defense capabilities by 2004. Meeting the date resulted in a very concurrent program, which did field 5 CE-I interceptors and a fire control system. That gave the President an important new option, and added uncertainty to hostile states for several years into the Global War on Terror.

The flip side is that the option had costs. A 2008 MDA briefing acknowledged that their approach led to very risky decisions regarding schedule, product quality, and program cost. One example that seems unnecessary involved a design that wasn’t set up for manufacturing ease, creating a long and continuous river of design changes once it came time to build it. Other consequences of this approach have included schedule delays, unexpected cost increases, variations between delivered CE-I EKVs, performance issues, the need for a refurbishment program, and sometimes-questionable infrastructure that eventually forced the USA to shut down Fort Greely, AK’s Missile Field 1.

The FY 2014 budget aims to begin rebuilding Fort Greely’s MF1, including full hardening against EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse, created by nuclear airbursts among other things).

GMD: The System

The GMD “system” includes far more than just the GBI missiles and the EKV kill vehicles they carry.

• The COBRA DANE Upgrade Radar at Eareckson Air Station (Shemya Island), AK.

• Upgraded BMEWS Early Warning Radars at Beale AFB, CA; RAF Fylingdales, United Kingdom; and Thule AB, Greenland

• Ground-based Interceptor (GBI) missiles at Fort Greely, AK, plus 4 silos at Vandenberg AFB, California.

• GMD ground system including GMD Fire Control (GFC) nodes at Schriever AFB, CO, and Fort Greely, AK; Command Launch Equipment at Vandenberg AFB, CA, and Fort Greely, AK; and In-Flight Interceptor Communication System Data Terminals at Vandenberg AFB, CA, Fort Greely, AK, and Shemya Island, AK.

• GMD secure data and voice communication system including long-haul communications using the Defense Satellite Communication System, commercial satellite communications, and fiber-optic cable (both terrestrial and submarine).

• External interfaces that connect to Aegis BMD; North American Aerospace Defense – U.S. Northern Command Command Center and Command and Control, Battle Management, and Communications at Peterson AFB, CO; Space Based Infrared System/Defense Support Program at Buckley AFB, CO to relay data from early warning satellites; and the AN/TPY-2 radar at Shariki AB, Japan.

• The Sea-Based X-band radar can be operationally deployed as needed.

Contracts and Recent Events FY 2014-2015

EKV
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June 1/15: A set of serious technical flaws have been identified in the Missile Defense Agency’s Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, with this the latest technical problem in a program which has cost over $41 billion.

June 22/14: FTG-06b Kill! After a gap lasting more than 5 years, the GMD system has killed an incoming target during a live test. The GBI interceptor was launched from Vandenberg AFB, CA to intercept an intermediate-range ballistic missile target launched from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

The IRBM target was launched from the Reagan Test Site, then detected and tracked by the US Navy destroyer USS Hopper [DDG 70, with AEGIS BMD 4.0.2] and the Sea-Based X-Band radar, which provided data to GMD fire control using the MDA’s C2BMC back-end system. The intercept was achieved by an EKV CE-II model. Sources: US MDA, “Target Missile Intercepted Over the Pacific Ocean During Missile Defense Exercise” | Raytheon, “Raytheon kill vehicle destroys complex, long-range ballistic missile target in space”.

June 15/14. The LA Times writes a feature about the GMD system, whose $40 billion price tag and 8/16 success record (including just 3/8 successes since becoming operational in 2004) don’t inspire favorable treatment. That record suggests that the USA would need to volley about 4 missiles at each incoming missile, in order to have a high probability of success. Moreover:

“About a third of the kill vehicles now in use — the exact number is classified — are the same model that failed in the 2010 tests, according to people familiar with the system who spoke on condition of anonymity. That model has yet to intercept a target…. interceptors used in test flights burn up when they reenter the atmosphere or are lost in the ocean…. some of the system’s problems can be traced to the kill vehicles’ [inertial measurement unit]…. Scientists suspect that intense vibration during the interceptors’ ascent is the cause of some of the test failures…. It could take years of additional engineering work to solve this and other technical problems in the kill vehicles, scientists said.

Lehner, the Missile Defense Agency spokesman, said vibrations were successfully dampened in a January 2013 flight test [that]… did not involve an attempt to intercept a target…. Engineers who have worked with the system acknowledge that because each kill vehicle is unique, even a successful test might not predict the performance of interceptors launched in combat.”

Sources: LA Times, “$40 billion missile defense system proves unreliable”.

March 4-11/14: FY15 Budget. The US military slowly files its budget documents, detailing planned spending from FY 2014 – 2019. The MDA has decided on a full redesign of the missile’s kill vehicle, which will involve an initial $99.5 million in FY 2015; overall interceptor improvements are budgeted to cost around $700 million from FY 2015 – 2019. MDA adds the usual boilerplate, though executing on these promises does make a difference to long term costs:

“The redesigned EKV will be built with a modular, open architecture and designed with common interfaces and standards, making upgrades easier and broadening our vendor and supplier base. The redesigned EKV will increase performance to address the evolving threat; improve reliability, availability, maintainability, testability and producibility; and increase in-flight communications to improve usage of off-board sensors information and situational awareness to combatant commanders for enabling new tactics such as shoot-assess-shoot.”

See above for an updated chart of GMD budgets, which is still entirely made up of RDT&E funds. The logic when they were deployed was “get the prototypes up, and at least create uncertainty in enemies.” That was actually a logical step; every trader knows that you have to hedge sometimes, in order to manage risk. Every hedge also has a cost. In this case, the end-product isn’t as good, and the USA will pay more over time.

March 4/14: Updates. At an MDA Q&A session, they say that an EKV redesign is needed because of test failures. The Failure Review Board is still ongoing, so they’re not commenting on that, except to say that it’s “not a quality issue.” With respect to the ELV’s path forward, they’re not sure they’re going to compete it, or what the acquisition approach is going to be. A test of the newer CEII EKV is reportedly coming in the summer. That would be a step back from the March 2014 date reported by DOT&E (q.v. Jan 17/13).

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). For GMD:

“The MDA continues to make progress on the return-to-intercept for the CE-II EKV [final-stage kill vehicle], but will need to successfully conclude its investigation of the CE-I EKV failure before returning the CE-I EKV to intercept flight testing…. The MDA has started, but not completed, the FY11 recommendation to repeat the FTG-06a [CE-II] mission to verify (1) failure root causes, (2) Failure Review Board results, and (3) permanent fixes for the deficiencies found during the flight test. They have identified root cause issues, implemented solutions, and successfully completed the first (CTV-01) of a planned two-flight test series designed to demonstrate the fixes. The MDA has scheduled the second flight test in the series, FTG-06b…”

They’re also trying to figure out what went wrong in the July 2013 “FTG-07″ GMD test that included an older CE-I EKV, but used a more challenging scenario than previous tests. The preliminary Failure Review Board report was delivered in August 2013. The finish by saying that:

“The flight test failures that have occurred during the past three years raise questions regarding the robustness of the EKV’s design…. Consider whether to re-design the EKV using a rigorous systems engineering process”

FY 2012 – 2013

Program slammed for slippery accounting; Boeing/NGC win big support contract; Flight tests resume. GMD CE-II delays
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July 5/13: Testing. A GBI missile launched from Vandenberg AFB, CA fails to intercept a long-range ballistic missile target launched from the U.S. Army’s Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. US MDA | Pentagon.

Intercept failure

April 26/13: GAO Report. The GAO looks at the Missile Defense Agency’s full array of programs in report #GAO-13-342, “Missile Defense: Opportunity To Refocus On Strengthening Acquisition Management.” Through fiscal year 2012, about $36.5 billion has been spent on GMD, with another $4.5 billion planned between FY 2013-2017. GMD is expected to remain in service until at least 2032. Given those figures and timelines, MDA’s biggest concern is the slippery accounting that makes ovdersight impossible:

“GMD is moving activities and costs from a currently reported baseline to one that will be reported in the future, thereby obscuring cost growth. The GMD program’s current baseline represents activities and associated costs needed to achieve an initial defense of the United States…. Despite significant technical problems, production disruptions and the addition of previously unplanned and costly work in its current efforts, the GMD total cost estimate as reported in the resource baseline has decreased from 2010 to 2012. We reported last year that GMD had a flight test failure in 2010 which revealed design problems, halted production, and increased costs to demonstrate the CE-II from $236 million to [$1.174 billion, and delayed CE-II by 5.5 years]. This cost increase includes retrofit costs to already-delivered CE-II interceptors. Instead of increasing, the total costs reported in the BAR resource baseline have decreased because the program moved activities from out of its reported baseline. By moving these activities, MDA used the funds that were freed up for failure resolution efforts instead.53 In addition, because the baseline for its next set of capabilities will be defined after these activities have already been added to it, the additional cost for these activities will not be identifiable. The full extent of actual cost growth may never be determined or visible for decision makers for either baseline because of this adjustment.”

Meanwhile, the report also clarifies the status of GMD’s companion SBX floating radar, which was moved to “limited test support” status in order to save money. It was recently sent to sea again, in the wake of North Korean threats. They acknowledge that “there is a difference in how the BMDS operates without SBX, the details of which are classified.” As the September 2009 NRC report (q.v.) explains, poorer ability to pick out warheads from debris and decoys is one near-certain consequence, due to differences imposed on UHF radars by the laws of physics.

March 15/13: Following North Korea’s 3rd nuclear test attempt, the new US Secretary of Defense announces that the USA will add 14 more ground-based interceptors at Fort Greely, AK and Vandenberg AFB, CA, boosting the total number from 30 back to the 44 planned by the previous administration. At the same time, they’re conducting Environmental Impact Studies for a potential additional GBI site in the United States, which fits with the NRC’s September 2012 report (q.v.) recommendations. They’re looking at 1 West Coast and 2 East Coast sites, but no decision has been made yet. It’s an open secret that Fort Drum, NY, is one of the locations being surveyed.

They’re paying for all this by “restructuring” the SM-3 Block 2B “Next Generation Aegis Missile” program, whose 2020 deployment date was never realistic. In English, they’ve eliminated it.

Japan will continue to collaborate with the USA on the SM-3 Block 2A program, and will get a 2nd AN/TPY-2 radar on its territory. Pentagon AFPS | Full Speech Transcript | Later Q&A transcript answers a reporter re: GMD changes | Boeing.

Backtrack: GMD will grow to 44

Jan 26/13: Testing resumes. The GMD system begins flight testing again after almost 2 years, though it isn’t an interception test. Flight testing had been halted in early 2011, after a guidance error resulted in a failed December 2010 intercept test. The existing set of missiles have remained operational during that time.

The diagnosed fault is related to what Raytheon’s exoatmospheric kill vehicle (EKV) experiences in space, so the flight measured the redesigned EKV’s performance in navigating to its designated position in space, and performing set maneuvers. The flight test was successful, but it will take another couple of intercept tests to be sure. US MDA | Boeing | Raytheon.

Flight tests resume after 2 years

Clear AFS, AK:
EWR upper right
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September 2012: NRC recommends improved GMD. The US National Research Council publishes “Making Sense of Ballistic Missile Defense: An Assessment of Concepts and Systems for U.S. Boost-Phase Missile Defense in Comparison to Other Alternatives.” The report staff have deeply impressive backgrounds related to missile defense, and their main conclusion is that very fundamental reasons of geography and physics make boost-phase defense systems a waste of time. A secondary conclusion is that geography and physics mean that the European EPAA program won’t be able to help protect the USA. To handle that, they propose an important upgrade to the USA’s midcourse defense sensors, by substituting sets of stacked AN/TPY-2 radars (GBX) for the proposed PTSS satellite constellation, in combination with improved GBI interceptors. First, the core problem:

“…the midcourse discrimination problem must be addressed far more seriously if reasonable confidence is to be achieved… While the current GMD may be effective against the near-term threat… the committee disagrees with the statement… that this capability can be maintained “for the foreseeable future.”1… little help in discrimination of decoys or other countermeasures…. The synergy between X-band radar observations and concurrent optical sensor observations on board a properly designed interceptor (which could be a modified ground-based interceptor) closing on the target complex has not been exploited.”

The affordable sensor fix involves 2 elements. On the ground, 5 FBX (stacked and integrated, rotatable TPY-2 derivative) adjunct X-band radars would be added, with uplink and downlink modes. Four would be co-located with current SPSS ballistic missile early warning sites at Clear AFS, AK; Cape Cod, MA; Thule, Greenland; and Fylingdales, United Kingdom. The 5th would be placed at Grand Forks, ND, which currently houses the 10th Space Warning Squadron. See also NY Times | “Ballistic Missile Defense: Why the Current GMD System’s Radars Can’t Discriminate” for an in-depth technical explanation of why even the huge UEWR radars aren’t suitable for discriminating between warheads, and the decoys used by more advanced missiles.

The 2nd sensor fix involves the GMD-E kill vehicle (EKV), most especially a 30cm aperture, 256 x 256 long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) sensor that can see threat objects at room temperature at a range of 2,000 km. NRC believes it would provide as much as 200 seconds (3.5 minutes) of observation in most first-shot engagements. The EKV’s DACS maneuvering rockets would be sized for a divert capability of 600 m/sec, which, with the almost-1-degree sensor field of view, can handle handover uncertainties of ±30 km or more. A dual-band X/S communication transponder would offer a 2-way encrypted link with either X- or S-band radars, and their associated command centers. Battery capacity would be 1,100 sec.

The interceptor would also change to a GMD-E/ GBI Block II configuration: a smaller, 2-stage interceptor based on the (terminated) boost-phase KEI program’s 1st stage rocket motor, plus a similar but less demanding 2nd stage. Those motors had been deemed ready for flight when KEI was terminated. Together, they’d offer a boosted burn time of 70 sec., and burnout velocity of 6 km/sec. A 3rd interceptor site would be established on the east coast, possibly at Fort Drum, NY, in order to improve coverage of certain inbound trajectories.

NRC’s BMD Report proposes GMD-E, plus new radars

Dec 30/11: Team Boeing wins. The 7-year, $3.48 billion Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) Development and Sustainment Contract (DSC) is awarded to Team Boeing, based in Huntsville, AL. This is about more than just the missiles. It also includes radars, other sensors, command-and-control facilities, communications terminals, and a 20,000-mile fiber optic communications network.

The Pentagon describes the scope of work as including future development; fielding; test; systems engineering, integration and configuration management; equipment manufacturing and refurbishment; training; and operations and sustainment support for the GMD Weapon System and associated support facilities. Northrop Grumman is Boeing’s only announced team member.

Work will be performed at multiple locations, including: Huntsville, AL; Fort Greely, AK; Vandenberg AFB, CA; Schriever AFB, Peterson AFB, Cheyenne Mountain Air Station, and Colorado Springs, CO; Tucson, AZ; other government designated sites; and other contractor designated prime, subcontractor, and supplier operating locations. Contract work will run from December 2011 through December 2018, with initial funding coming from FY 2012 RDT&E funds. The US Missile Defense Agency in Redstone Arsenal, AL manages the contract (HQ0147-12-C-0004).

Boeing wins sustainment contract

April 20/12: GAO report. The US GAO releases report #GAO-12-486, “Opportunity Exists to Strengthen Acquisitions by Reducing Concurrency.” Its implications for missile defense belie the bland title. After noting the GMD program’s deliberate sacrifices for fast fielding, and the long echo of its consequences, they get to current issues:

“The discovery of the design problem while production is under way has increased MDA costs, led to a production break, may require retrofit of fielded equipment, delayed delivery of capability to the war-fighter, and altered the flight test plan. For example, the flight testing cost to confirm the CE-II capability has increased from $236 million to about $1 billion [not including costs already expended during development of the interceptor and target].

In addition, the program will have to undertake another retrofit program, for the 10 CE-II interceptors that have already been manufactured…. MDA has restructured the planned multiyear flight test program in order to test the new design prior to an intercept attempt…. expects the cost to retrofit the CE-II interceptors to be around $18 million each or about $180 million for all 10. Intended to be ready for operational use in fiscal year 2009, it will now be at least fiscal year 2013 before the warfighter will have the information needed to determine whether to declare the variant operational.

High levels of concurrency will continue for the GMD program even if the next two flight tests are successful. GMD will continue its developmental flight testing until at least 2022, well after production of the interceptors are scheduled to be completed. MDA is accepting the risk that these developmental flight tests may discover issues that require costly design changes and retrofit programs to resolve.”

Nov 25/11: Support competition. Revised proposals are in to maintain the USA’s GMD system (vid. Jan 28/11). Boeing (existing contract holder) and Northrop Grumman (GBI missile) are one bid team, but they have not detailed their full team of sub-contractors. This proved to be the winning team.

Lockheed Martin (prime contractor and systems integrator) was teamed with Raytheon (GMD Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle, systems engineering, development, modeling and simulation, operations and sustainment, manufacturing, testing and training), and its supporting team included:

• Alaska Aerospace Corporation (local maintenance)
  
• ARES Corporation
  
• ATK Aerospace Systems (Ground-Based Interceptor missile)
  
• Bechtel National Inc. (engineering support for operations, maintenance and upgrades of launch site, schedule integration for the operational asset management system)
  
• Bluespring Software
  
• CohesionForce Inc.
  
• Dynetics Inc. (information assurance, cyber support training, modeling, systems engineering)
  
• Harris Corporation (In-Flight Interceptor Communications System Data Terminal)
  
• Imprimis Inc.
  
• IroquoiSystems Inc.
  
• Mission Solutions Engineering
  
• NANA Development Corporation’s ASTS-Akima Logistics Services Joint Venture
  
• Northrop Grumman Information Systems (GMD Fire Control and Communications)
  
• Orbital Sciences Corporation (GMD Orbital Boost Vehicle)
  
• Oregon Iron Works Inc.
  
• Quadrus Corporation
  
• QuantiTech Inc.
  
• TDX Power Inc.

See: Boeing and Northrop Grumman | Lockheed Martin | The Hill.

Nov 16/11: Support. The Missile Defense Agency awards a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification, exercising a $36.7 million option with Boeing Co. in Huntsville, AL to continue GMD sustainment and operations support from Dec 1/11 through Feb 29/12. That brings the total contract value to $729.6 million, as the US MDA continues to delay awarding a new contract.

Work will be performed in Fort Greely, AK; Vandenberg AFB, CA; Colorado Springs, CO; and Huntsville, AL. FY 2012 research, development, test and evaluation funds will be used. The US Missile Defense Agency in Redstone Arsenal, AL manages the contract (HQ0147-09-C-0007, PO 0049).

FY 2011

Test failure creates program delays.

Aug 26/11: Delays. Aviation Week reports from the annual Space and Missile Defense Conference in Huntsville, AL, and discusses the GMD system’s delays. More design reviews are needed to iron out problems with the EKV kill vehicle, which has failed the 2 tests since December 2008 that pitted it against a target using countermeasures:

“Missile Defense Agency (MDA) Director Army Lt. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly… acknowledged the grounding of the Boeing-led program as the “600-lb. gorilla in the room.” A failure review board has finished its analysis of the latest flight-test flop in December 2010, although he declined to identify the root cause. He says a team is giving the Raytheon EKV Capability Enhancement 2 (CE-2) a second design review, and there is time to conduct a third, if needed, before returning to flight in about a year. At that point, the MDA will conduct its third attempt at a challenging 90-deg. hit-to-kill intercept, geometry simulating a North Korean launch scenario. EKV production will remain suspended pending the outcome of that flight.”

July 15/11: Support. The US MDA exercises a $36.7 million, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification for 3 months of GMD operations and maintenance support, from September through November 2011, in Fort Greely, AK, and Colorado Springs, CO. That brings the Boeing support contract’s total awarded value so far to $697 million (HQ0147-09-C-0007).

Note that this is an extension of existing support arrangements, not the award for the new support contract competition.

June 7/11: Support competition. US MDA:

“The pending Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) development and sustainment contract undergoing proposal evaluation is now planned for award late this fall. Boeing and Lockheed Martin have each submitted proposals to compete for the contract award. The award amount will be proposed by the companies in their respective proposals. The Source Selection Authority has determined that it is in the best interest of the government… [to extend] the anticipated award date into November of this year.”

April 15/11: 2011 Budget. H.R.1473, the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011, becomes Public Law 112-010 after passing the House and Senate. This ends reliance on continuing resolution funding.

April 9/11: Notice sent. Northrop Grumman has sent 100 of its Huntsville, AL employees notices they could be furloughed in 60 days, after the current GMD development contract ends on May 31/11. Another 19 employees are also affected: 17 in Colorado Springs, 1 in Florida and 1 in Washington state.

Furloughed employees remain Northrop Grumman employees, with benefits, on a “company-initiated unpaid leave of absence.” If the firm wins the new GMD Development and Sustainment Contract at the end of May 2011, the firm expects to recall all of these employees to work. Huntsville Times.

April 4/11: Continuing resolutions are having an effect on the GMD program, as the 2010 baseline effectively removes planned funding ramp-ups. So, too, is the January intercept failure, which may be traceable to Raytheon’s Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV).

Boeing’s VP of strategic missile defense efforts, Greg Hyslop, says that orders for some components are on hold. Obbital Sciences interceptor rockets are still being built, but they are then stored, in order to avoid retrofits if the EKV turns out to need modifications. Hyslop is putting his priority on getting the GBI missiles flying again, which means the major hit could happen in construction – especially work on missile field 2 at Fort Greely, AK. Aviation Week.

March 24/11: GAO Report. The US GAO issues report #GAO-11-372: “Missile Defense: Actions Needed to Improve Transparency and Accountability.” Key excerpts:

“MDA finalized a new process in which detailed baselines were set for several missile defense systems… [but] GAO found its unit and life-cycle cost baselines had unexplained inconsistencies and documentation for six baselines had insufficient evidence to be a high-quality cost estimate… DOD has not yet determined the [GMD] system’s full capabilities and limitations. In January and December 2010, GMD experienced two flight test failures. In addition, GMD is just beginning to take actions necessary to sustain the capability through 2032… GAO makes 10 recommendations for MDA to strengthen its resource, schedule and test baselines, facilitate baseline reviews, and further improve transparency and accountability. GAO is also making a recommendation to improve MDA’s ability to carry out its test plan. In response, DOD fully concurred with 7 recommendations. It partially concurred with 3…”

March 1/11: Support. Boeing in Huntsville, AL receives a $109 million sole-source cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification to continue operation and sustainment services for the GMD program ($72 million), and for sensors $37.9 million) in Fort Greely, AK, and Colorado Springs, CO.

The interim award runs from March through August 2011. The Sensors portion of the work is from March through December 2011. FY 2011 research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) funds will be used to incrementally fund $10.5 million, and contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/11. The US Missile Defense Agency manages the contract (HQ0147-09-C-0007, P00031)

Jan 28/11: Support competition. The Boeing/ Northrop Grumman team, and the Lockheed Martin/ Raytheon team, submit their GMD development & sustainment bids. A win is expected to be worth around $600 million per year, but the announcement isn’t expected until May 31/11. Boeing | Lockheed Martin.

Dec 15/10: Missed. A GBI interceptor missile launched from Vandenberg AFB, CA misses a target missile fired from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The participating SBX radar and the interceptor’s own sensors worked, and the EKV kill vehicle was deployed, but it missed. The cause of the failure will be investigated before another test is scheduled. US MDA | Washington Post.

Missed – testing halted

Dec 2/10: Support competition. The US MDA releases its RFP for the GMD maintenance contract. The submission date is Jan 28/11. Lockheed Martin.

Oct 26/10: Support competition. Lockheed Martin announces its final GMD support contract team, as it prepares for its own bid.

Oct 12/10: Support competition. Boeing and Northrop Grumman announce their final GMD support contract team, as an outgrowth of the bid partnership they announced in June 2010.

The support contract’s dates have slipped somewhat. At present, the final RFP is expected before the end of 2010, with the contract award itself in early 2011. At this point, Lockheed Martin looks like they will be leading the sole competing bid team. According to Boeing’s release, the team includes Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and the following firms:

• Alaska Metrology Calibration Services Inc. in Anchorage, AK
  
• All Points Logistics Inc. in Titusville, FL
  
• Davidson Technologies Inc. in Huntsville, AL
  
• Delta Industrial Services Inc. in Delta Junction, AK
  
• DESE Research Inc. in Huntsville, AL
  
• Dynetics Inc. in Huntsville, AL
  
• Harris Corp. in Melbourne, FL
  
• Issac Corp. in Colorado Springs, CO
  
• Jeskell Inc. in Seattle, WA
  
• nLogic in Huntsville, AL
  
• Orbital Sciences Corp. in Chandler, AZ
  
• Oregon Iron Works in Clackamas, OR
  
• Penta Research Inc. in Huntsville, AL
  
• Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, AZ
  
• Trident Group Inc. in Madison, AL
  
• Victory Solutions Inc. in Huntsville, AL

FY 2010

Layoffs; Early intercept study; Support competition ramps up.

Aug 16/10: Testing. Raytheon announces that it successfully demonstrated a 2-stage flyout of the GMD’s exoatmospheric kill vehicle (EKV). The EKV is designed to engage high-speed ballistic missile warheads in the midcourse phase of flight and destroy them using only the force of impact. EKV consists of an infrared sensor used to detect and discriminate the incoming warhead from other objects, as well as its own propulsion, communications link, discrimination algorithms, guidance and control system, and computers to support target selection and intercept.

June 17/10: Support competition. Alaska Aerospace Corporation in Anchorage, AK joins Lockheed Martin’s team, bidding for the new GMD Development and Sustainment Contract. The MDA is currently expected to issue a final RFP in summer 2010, and award the contract in 2011. It will cover support activities at Fort Greely, AK; Vandenberg AFB, CA; Huntsville, AL; Schriever AFB, CO, and at Eareckson Air Station, AK.

Alaska Aerospace will provide operations and maintenance support at Fort Greely, AK, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA. The firm has strong experience with arctic support operations. It developed, owns and operates the Kodiak Launch Complex on Kodiak Island, AK, which provides government and commercial satellite launch services and target missile launch services for missile defense testing. The State of Alaska established the corporation in 1991 to stimulate a high-technology aerospace industry in the state. Lockheed Martin | Alaska Aerospace.

June 14/10: Support competition. Boeing and Northrop Grumman will pursue the GMD maintenance contract together. As part of the strategic partnership, Boeing VP and GMD program director Norm Tew will serve as the joint team’s program manager. Northrop Grumman GMD program director Steve Owens will be the team’s deputy program manager.

Boeing is the current prime contractor incumbent for GMD support, while Northrop Grumman is responsible for designing and deploying the command-and-control systems that form the backbone of the GMD Fire Control/Communications (GFCC) ground systems. Boeing | Northrop Grumman.

June 6/10: Testing. A 2-stage configuration of the GBI’s Orbital Boost Vehicle (OBV) is successfully flight-tested in the Booster Verification Test-1 (BVT-1) mission from Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB), CA. The new rocket offers a shorter boost phase than the original 3-stage OBV design, but is designed to demonstrate similar performance.

This was very much a flight test, therefore, rather than an interception test. Mission objectives included pre-launch built-in test, launch and fly out of the 2-stage GBI missile, flight telemetry, verification of fairing and stage separation systems, and accurate delivery of its payload to a point in space. US MDA | Orbital Sciences | Boeing.

May 4/10: Training. Boeing announces the delivery of a 2nd GMD System Trainer (GST) at Fort Greely, Alaska. Paul Smith, Boeing director of GMD Ground Systems:

“Having two GMD system trainers at Fort Greely opens up new avenues for the warfighter. As we continually upgrade the GMD system, they now can train with either the current or upgraded software versions, use single or dual fire-control nodes, and engage in more realistic training conditions…”

Feb 1/10: 2011 Budget. The Pentagon releases its FY 2011 budget request. It includes $1.346 billion for the GMD system, and would see the eventual deployment of 26 GBIs at Fort Greely, AK and 4 GBIs at Vandenberg AFB, CA. It also provides for improvement and expansion of the GBI fleet, including an additional 5 GBIs with (Fleet Avionics Upgrade/ Obsolescence Program (FAU/OP)) upgrades, to support a new test program and a Stockpile Reliability Program. Missile Field 2 is scheduled to be complete in a 14-silo configuration by FY 2012.

The FY 2011 request is a consistent with recent budgets: $1.03 billion in FY 2009, and $1.47 billion in FY 2010.

Jan 31/10: Testing. The USA MDA announces that the GMD system’s supporting Sea-Based X-band radar (SBX) experienced a problem, after being used successful to support a number of interception tests:

“A target missile was successfully launched at approximately 3:40 p.m. PST from the U.S. Army’s Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Approximately six minutes later, a Ground-Based Interceptor was successfully launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Both the target missile and Ground-Based Interceptor performed nominally after launch. However, the Sea-Based X-band radar did not perform as expected.”

The left-wing Center for Defense Information claims that this test cost about $120 million, and says that it leaves the program with a record of 8 successful flight intercepts in 15 attempts since 1999:

“There have been six flight intercept tests where the interceptor did not hit its target, although the reasons have varied. For example, in one test the cryogenic cooling system on the exo-atmospheric kill vehicle (EKV) did not work properly, in two tests the EKV failed to separate from the interceptor booster, in two tests the interceptor failed to release from its launch silo, and in the Jan. 31, 2010 test the SBX did not perform properly. One of the attempts, on May 25, 2007, was considered a “no test” because the target did not fly out as expected and so the interceptor was never launched. The main purpose of the otherwise successful Dec. 5, 2008 test was not achieved when the target decoys failed to deploy, but the interceptor hit its target… Counting from late 2002 there have been eight flight intercept attempts and three successful intercepts, including the test on Dec. 5, 2008 where the decoys failed to deploy. The five tests where results were disappointing, include four tests where the interceptor missed its target, and also includes the test where the target did not fly out properly…”

Companion SBX problems, GMD Test history

Dec 11/09: Support competition. As expected, Boeing also responds to the Missile Defense Agency’s GMD RFP.

Boeing has been the prime contractor for the GMD system since 2001, overseeing an industry team including Orbital Sciences, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Bechtel and Teledyne Brown. Their team has been operating under a bridge contact since January 2009, and the contract award for the core completion work is expected in January 2010.

Dec 3/09: Support competition. Northrop Grumman reaffirms its interest in competing for the combined GMD contract, whose draft RFP is expected in early 2010.

Dec 1/09: Support competition. Lockheed Martin announces that it intends to compete for the GMD system’s development and maintenance contract, whose solicitation was released Nov 25/09. The scope of work has expanded from GMD operations and logistics support, and will now include:

“…future development; fielding; test; systems engineering, integration and configuration management; equipment manufacturing and refurbishment; training; and operations and sustainment support.”

Nov 17/09: Early intercept? Northrop Grumman announces a 3-month $4.7 million task order from the US Missile Defense Agency, under an indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity Joint National Integration Center Research and Development Contract. Under the Sept 29/09 task order, the firm will help the MDA integrate and demonstrate an early-intercept capability using existing SM-3 and GBI missiles.

They’ll begin by assessing existing sensor and battle management systems’ ability to support missile interception in the difficult boost phase, including technology developed for programs like the now-cancelled Kinetic Energy Interceptor and battle management projects. The firm will plan demonstration experiments, leading toward the design and development of an experimental, plug-and-play architecture for battle management, command and control.

The Early Intercept effort aims to address renewed focus by the U.S. Department of Defense on dealing with large raids and countermeasures. Early Intercept will demonstrate an integrated architecture of early warning sensors, including space, airborne, land and sea; regional fire control and battle manager systems; and secure communications. This integrated architecture will enable current systems to engage threats earlier in the battle space to improve protection against large raids and facilitate “shoot-look-shoot” opportunities.

Nov 1/09: Infrastructure. The Fairbanks Daily Miner reports that extensive problems with GMD Missile Field 1 at Fort Greely, Alaska will force the shut-down fo 6 silos, and may be partly responsible for the decision to build all 14 silos in Missile Field 2 (q.v. Oct 28/09). Problems reportedly include silos without adequate “hardening” against attack, as well as:

“…leaks in the hot water system, pipes subject to freezing and valve connections that leak [antifreeze], according to one presentation by the agency. There were also problems with joint soldering on copper pipe and expansion and contraction. There was “extensive mold contamination in utilidor” and personnel had to “suit up for hazardous environment” because of the threat. The “demineralized hot water system” was faulty, leading to frozen water lines and dust was getting into small openings on electrical switchgear that could have had “catastrophic impacts.”

The US Missile Defense Agency cites the urgency of the initial Field 1 construction, in order to have some shield in place by Sept 30/04, as its defense. It adds that the lessons learned were incorporated into Missile Fields 2 & 3, and so are not expected to recur.

GMD Field 1 problems

Oct 30/09: Industrial. Northrop Grumman contributes $35,000 to Partners for Progress in Delta, Inc., to further the educational nonprofit group’s goal of helping to build and sustain Alaska’s skilled workforce in electronics and computer systems technology. According to the corporate release:

“Funds will be used to develop or enhance the workforce needed for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) facilities.”

Oct 29/09: Layoffs. Boeing announces layoffs for 98 workers at various sites, including Alabama, Alaska, California and Colorado, due to a reduction in FY2010 missile defense program funding. These employees will receive a 60-day advance notification of layoff on Friday, Oct. 30.

“With the Congressional budget cycle nearing completion, Boeing is adjusting employment to match expected funding for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense program and to match the scope of the program in the next fiscal year. Boeing is committed to preserving as many jobs as possible for these valued, highly skilled employees, and the company has taken aggressive steps to lessen the impact of the funding reductions. These steps include redeploying personnel to other programs, evaluating contract labor requirements, and offering career services and related assistance.”

Layoffs

Oct 28/09: 2010 Budget. President Obama signs the FY 2010 defense budget. That budget funds the full $$982.9 million request for Mid Course Defense, adding 7 ordered GBI missiles to bring the total cumulative stock to 35, and authorizes an increase of $20 million for sustainment of the Ground-Based Interceptor vendor base. It also includes a provision that would require a detailed assessment of the GMD system, and a detailed plan for how DOD will achieve and sustain its planned GMD capability of 30 missiles in 34 operational silos. White House | House-
Senate Conference Report summary [PDF] & tables [PDF] | Pentagon AFPS article.

Oct 28/09: Infrastructure. The Department of Defense plans to finish silo construction at Missile Field 2, building all 14 silos instead of just 7; on the other hand, it will de-commission 6 hastily-built silos in Missile Field 1.

The first interceptor missiles were installed at Fort Greely in 2004, and the new plan will leave 34 silos instead of the originally-planned 40. Fairbanks Daily-Miner via Sen. Mark Begich [D-AK].

FY 2008 – 2009

GMD won’t be in Europe; Cancellation threats prompt industrial tallies. GMD control center,
Fort Greely, AK
(click to view full)

Sept 17/09: Out of Europe. The Obama administration announces revised plans for its European missile defense architecture. Instead of positioning Boeing’s GMD and Ground-Based Interceptors at silos in Poland and/or the Czech Republic, which could intercept even the longest-range ballistic missiles, they choose an architecture based around Raytheon’s SM-3, at sea and on land. Gen. Cartwright does say that the US military remains interested in upgrading existing GMD missiles to 2-stage Ground-Based Interceptor missiles with longer range and more speed. Read “Land-Based SM-3s for Israel – and Others” for more.

No GBIs in Europe

Aug 20/09: Edged out of Europe? As the Obama administration has become more supportive of a European missile shield that would emplace advanced radars and up to 10 GMD interceptors in silos, alternatives are growing. Shortly after announcements that Lockheed Martin has invested in, and is proposing, an extended-range THAAD system; and that Raytheon announced support for a land-based version of its successful naval SM-3 missiles, Boeing has floated a more “Russia friendly” GMD proposal. Their proposal would deploy Europe’s defensive shield as semi-mobile 2-stage interceptors that could be flown to NATO bases within 24 hours on C-17 cargo planes, erected quickly on a 60-foot trailer stands, and taken home when judged safe to do so. Boeing VP and General Manager for Missile Defense, Greg Hyslop, told Reuters that:

“If a fixed site is going to be just too hard to get implemented politically or otherwise, we didn’t want people to think that the only way you needed to use a GBI was in a fixed silo.”

Hyslop was quoted as saying that Boeing has just started briefing the US Missile Defense Agency on the proposal, but believes the project would lower infrastructure costs and could be completed by 2015. EurActiv | Jerusalem Post | Reuters | EurActiv re: Obama administration’s increased support for the Euro-shield

Aug 18/09: Infrastructure. Boeing announces that the GMD team has finished building a 2nd GMD interceptor test silo at Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA. Because the silos need to be refurbished after the hot-burning interceptor is fired, having 2 test silos will allow one to support testing while the other is being refurbished. The new silo can also be configured for tactical operations in an emergency.

As of this date, Boeing says that the GMD program has deployed more than 20 operational interceptor missiles.

June 27/09: Infrastructure & numbers. The 2010 budget will direct the Obama administration to finish the first 7 silos in Fort Greely’s Missile Field 2, and authorize shutting down the 6 silos in Missile Field 1. This would leave 27 silos: 7 in Field 2 + 20 in Field 3. The entire facility had initially been planned for 40 silos, but there are some infrastructure problems in Field 1 (vid. Nov 1/09 entry).

The article adds that according to MDA spokesperson Ralph Scott, 16 missiles are currently in silos at Fort Greely, 7 have been returned for maintenance or upgrades, 1 has been pulled as a backup for future tests, and some have been removed for “unscheduled maintenance” [the article believes this is 2]. DMZ Hawai’i.

June 2/09: US Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates tours the GMD complex at Fort Greely, AK, following North Korea’s test of a nuclear weapon, abrogation of the 1953 Korean ceasefire, and preparations to fire a long-range missile. The Pentagon release adds:

“Sixteen interceptors are in the ground here, with plans to add two more. Combined with those at Vandenberg Air Force Base, the United States will have 30 such interceptor systems. More could be added if needed, Gates said.”

April 6/09: 2010 Budget. US Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates announces the Pentagon’s budget recommendations to the President for 2010. With respect to GMD, the plan would remove the planned increase in Alaskan GMD missiles. Existing missiles will be kept, however, and R&D will continue to improve the existing handful of missiles “to defend against long-range rogue missile threats – a threat North Korea’s missile launch this past weekend reminds us is real.”

See “Gates Lays Out Key FY 2010 Budget Recommendations” for full coverage.

March 23/09: Sub-contractors. Raytheon announces a $27 million contract from Boeing to support GMD’s 6-month bridge effort. Work will include continued evolution, maturation, test, and verification of the Raytheon-built X-Band Radar aboard the Boeing-developed Sea-Based X-Band (SBX) Radar vessel, plus work on the Upgraded Early Warning Radars at Beale Air Force Base, CA, and at Fylingdales, England; and the Cobra Dane Upgrade Radar at Shemya, AK.

Feb 2/09: Support. The existing GMD complexes and missiles need to be maintained, unless the new administration decides to pay to dismantle them. To that end, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems’ Global Services and Support Division in St. Louis, MO received $249.9 million for a cost plus fixed-fee contract for “operations and sustainment support” for the fielded portions of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) System during calendar year 2009, with an option for CY 2010. The contract has been incrementally funded for $133.4 million at award.

The US Missile Defense Agency in Huntsville, AL manages the contract (HQ0147-09-C-0007), but the contract’s funding actually comes from 2 different sources. Fiscal year 2009 program Research, Development, Test and Evaluation funds (RDT&E) will be used for the primary operations and sustainment support activities. FY 2009 Army Operation and Maintenance (O&M) funds will be used to train Army soldier-operators, and unlike the program’s RDT&E funds, those Army funds will expire at the end of the Pentagon’s fiscal year on Sept 30/09.

Work will be performed at Boeing’s facility in Huntsville, AL; Missile Defense Agency facilities at Schriever Air Force Base, CO; and the deployment sites at Vandenberg AFB, CA, and Fort Greely, AK. This sole source contract is awarded pursuant to 10 USC 2304c1, as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1, stating that Boeing is the only qualified source to perform this effort without unacceptable delay and unaffordable duplication of costs.

At the same time, this maintenance effort is about to undergo a major structural shift.

This award is an interim measure, used to continue essential support while the US MDA acquires and verifies necessary technical data and develops its strategy for competitive acquisition of future GMD support. The MDA published a formal announcement of its intent on Jan 29/09, with the aim of kick-starting discussions with industry regarding how a competitive acquisition strategy for follow-on GMD support might work, and what the requirements would be. The MDA’s stated intent to make a competitive award in that area no later than calendar year 2011. See also Boeing release.

Missile loading, 2003
(click to view details)

Dec 30/08: R&D. Boeing Integrated Defense Systems in Huntsville, AL receives a $397.9 million not-to-exceed award under a cost plus award fee, cost plus fixed fee contract for anti-missile defenses. This is a sole source contract under the authority of 10 U.S. Code 2304c1, and the Missile Defense Agency in Huntsville, AL manages the contract (HQ0147-09-C-0008).

This order will finance GMD Block 3 development and fielding activities for 6 months from January to June 2009, until a long-term, Core Completion contract for development can be awarded – if that contract is awarded. FY 2009 research, development, test and evaluation funds (RDT&E) funds will be used.

Dec 11/08: Industrial. A Boeing release claims that the GMD program brought $193 million in economic benefits to Arizona in 2007.

Dec 5/08: Testing. A GMD test successfully destroys a ballistic missile target. Boeing release.

Nov 13/08: Industrial. A Boeing release claims that the GMD program brought $246 million in economic benefits to Alaska in 2007.

May 15/08: Industrial. A Boeing release claims that the GMD program brought more than $700 million in economic benefits to Alabama in 2007.

Additional Readings

• US Missile Defense Agency – Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD)

• Boeing – Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) System

• Wikipedia – Ground-based Midcourse Defense. Includes a listing of flight and interception tests.

• DID – SM-3 BMD, in from the Sea: EPAA & Aegis Ashore. Raytheon’s SM-3 Standard missiles were picked to defend Europe, instead of the original plan for a GMD system.

• DID – AN/TPY-2: America’s Portable Missile Defense Radar. An upgraded version could become part of the GMD architecture.

Official Reports

• US National Research Council (September 2012) – Making Sense of Ballistic Missile Defense: An Assessment of Concepts and Systems for U.S. Boost-Phase Missile Defense in Comparison to Other Alternatives It goes far beyond that, with well-researched recommendations across the entire BMD array.

• US GAO (April 20/12, #GAO-12-486) Opportunity Exists to Strengthen Acquisitions by Reducing Concurrency.

• US GAO (March 24/11, #GAO-11-372) – Missile Defense: Actions Needed to Improve Transparency and Accountability.

News & Views

• LA Times (June 15/14) – $40 billion missile defense system proves unreliable.

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