Defense Industry Daily

Americas

• The USAF has invited Textron Aviation to enter both the AT-6 turboprop and Scorpion twin-jet to face off against Embraer’s A-29 Super Tucano in the service’s demonstration of close air support capability. August’s demonstration, now known as the Light Attack Experiment, will include a broad set of counter-land missions typical of an extended military campaign and builds on previous close air support experiments organized by the US Navy and Special Operations Command. The AT-6 Wolverine is adapted from the Beechcraft T-6 Texan II with a higher-thrust engine, data links and weapons stations, while the clean-sheet Scorpion was initially designed in 2012 to offer the Air National Guard a low-cost tactical combat jet for roles such as air sovereignty patrols and mission in low-threat war zones.

• Orbital ATK has been contracted by the US Army to produce and deliver large-caliber training ammunition. The $53 million agreement will cover both 120mm and 105mm rounds. The 120mm training ammunition, used by Abrams tanks, includes the M865 kinetic energy and the M1002 multi-purpose tank training rounds, while 105mm M724A2 rounds will be produced for crew training on the Stryker Mobile Gun System vehicles. So far, the ammunition manufacturer has sold almost 5 million rounds of large caliber munitions to the Army, Marin Corp, and US international allies and partners.

• The Pentagon’s inspector general has opened an investigation as to whether the USAF has imposed unnecessary additional secrecy on its B-21 bomber program. Last year, the Air Force rebuffed requests, including from Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, to reveal basic information such as the value of the development contract awarded to lead contractor Northrop Grumman or the amount of the fee set aside to encourage meeting program goals, citing their potential value to adversaries. Now, the DoD’s watchdog office will review and submit a report to Congress within the next six months aiming to ascertain whether there is the right mix of balanced program classification and transparency.

Middle East & North Africa

• BAE Systems has rolled out the lead example of its Eurofighter Typhoons destined for delivery to Oman later this year. Muscat’s Typhoon order, signed in December 2012, is for nine single-seat aircraft and three two-seat examples to support training activities. A ceremony to mark the occasion was hosted at the firm’s final assembly in Lancashire, UK, with the Typhoon joined by Oman’s first new-generation Hawk advanced jet trainer, of which eight Mk 166 examples are on order by the Gulf sultanate.

• Isreal’s Elbit Systems has unveiled the newest variant of its SPEAR MK2 mortar system designed for lightweight combat vehicles. The 120mm mortar system has seen improvements made to its coverage area as well as a new high recoil deduction capability. The system can be rapidly deployed and features both autonomous and manual activation and uses an integrated command and control system enabling full mission autonomy and providing battlefield management and situational awareness capabilities, fire missions’ prioritization and monitoring of personnel assignments.

Europe

• The CEO of French aviation firm Dassault, Eric Trappier, has told French media that the firm expects to sell an additional 18 Rafale fighters next year. In an interview with French regional newspaper Sud-Ouest on Sunday, Trappier hinted that the purchaser may by Malaysia, in a deal that could potentially be worth $2 billion. India has also been earmarked as a potential repeat customer after a high profile deal for 36 Rafales was concluded last year. “India’s needs are enormous,” said Trappier. “Hence, for its navy, 57 aircraft are considered,” he added. Malaysia, however, may be the more likely candidate for a deal to be finalized in the near term as it looks to replace its ageing combat aircraft.

Asia Pacific

• Russia is keen to swap rubber products for fighter jets with Indonesia, according to Oke Nurwan, the Foreign Ministry’s foreign trade director general. While a decision on the offer has yet to be made, Moscow is willing to deliver Sukhoi jet fighters in exchange for Indonesian crumb rubber in a deal valued at $600 million. While response from local rubber producers has been positive, specific legislation still needs to be created by a yet-to-be decided ministry in order to facilitate the necessary groundwork for such an agreement to move forward.

• A recent North Korean ballistic missile test has been detected by the newly-deployed THAAD system in South Korea, marking the first time the controversial air defense system has been put in use. The announcement was made by South Korea’s defense minister, Han Min-koo, who added that that Pyongyang is also at a more mature stage of development than previously thought, adding that the ICBM used in the test was of an “enhanced caliber compared to Musudan missiles that have continually failed” in previous rounds of testing.

Today’s Video

• Elbit’s Spear mortar system:

Americas

• Embraer has announced that it will enter its A-29 Super Tucano into the US Air Force’s upcoming OA-X experiment. The Brazilian manufacturer will team with Sierra Nevada Corporation for the July demonstration, which aims to test low-cost options for acquiring light attack aircraft for the service. Manufactured in Florida and in use by a dozen air forces worldwide, the A-29 is a durable, versatile and powerful turboprop aircraft capable of carrying out a wide range of fighter and ISR missions. The USAF-certified A-29 is combat-proven, having seen combat in Afghanistan and in theaters around the globe.

• A Canadian senate committee on defense has urged the Canadian government to drop the planned acquisition of F-A/18 fighters from Boeing, describing it as as a “political decision” that fails to serve either the air force or taxpayers. The government announced its plans to purchase 18 Super Hornets as an interim measure following its pulling out of a deal to buy 65 F-35s as a replacement for its ageing CF-188s. Citing a letter from 13 former senior Royal Canadian Air Force officers which argues that the acquisition of such a small fleet – sharing only limited commonality with its current fighters – will be needlessly costly, the senators stated that the government’s “decision not to proceed with the procurement process for a new fighter fleet and purchasing an unnecessary and costly interim capability will leave the taxpayers with a significant burden and [RCAF] with a duplicate support system that will cost billions of dollars in equipment, training, and technical know-how.” The committee recommended that the defence ministry “immediately” begins a contest to select the CF-188’s replacement, with a decision to made by 30 June 2018.

• Damages to the the oxygen system of a VC-25A, also known as Air Force One, has been blamed on three mechanics from Boeing. A USAF accident report stated that the company reimbursed the government $4 million for the mishap, after mechanics used parts and a cleaning solution that did not meet the cleanliness standards for the oxygen system. An attempt to sanitise the contaminated parts with the unapproved cleaning solution also didn’t follow procedures, the report added. As a result, the cost to sterilize and re-check the oxygen system added $4 million to the repair bill for the VC-25A, but Boeing has re-imbursed the government for the costs.

Middle East & North Africa

• Saudi Arabia has produced its own strategic UAV under its own drone program. Built by the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, the Saqr-1 features a KA-band satellite communications system, has a range of more than 2,500 km, and an endurance of more than 24 hours. News of the new drone program comes after March’s announcement that Riyadh would partner with China to construct a UAV factory in the Gulf kingdom as part of a $65 billion economic pact. The factory is most likely to produce China’s CH-4 UAV, as well as providing after-sales services for China’s clients in the Middle East in addition to satisfying Saudi orders.

Europe

• Fincantieri’s shipyard at Muggiano has delivered the forth U212A Todaro-class attack submarine to the Italian Navy. Named the Romeo Romel, the vessel is the twin sub of the Pietro Venuti which was delivered in July last year. The project was conducted in cooperation with the German Submarine Consortium and features Kongsberg’s MSI-90U advanced combat management system.

Asia Pacific

• In what is being described as a “rare comment on defense”, the Taiwanese government has publicly announced that it is to continue purchasing US defense systems despite its own efforts to build up its indigenous defense capabilities. Citing that its purchase “have boosted the local economy of and employment in states such as Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Utah, Ohio and Pennsylvania,” the government statement added that companies like Raytheon Co, Lockheed Martin Co, Boeing Co, Sikorsky and BAE Systems PLC have benefited from Taiwan’s purchases of missile defense systems, attack helicopters, fighter jets, and other amphibious assault vehicles. The 40-page English-language response released by Taiwan’s cabinet late Thursday stated that US-Taiwan ties were a “top priority” and that the island was “open to any possible proposals that will strengthen US-Taiwan trade relations on a fair and mutually-beneficial basis.” While normally both Washington and Taipei keep a low profile on defense procurement matters, such a public announcement may move to antagonise China, which sees Taiwan as rightfully part of its bigger neighbor.

• The Indian government is planning a $2 billion acquisition of the home-made Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launcher system in an effort to become more self-sufficient. An order for six regiments is expected within the next 18 months and it is believed to involve a number of state-owned and private industry partners. It’s also suggested that New Delhi may be looking to export the Pinaka. However, the Pinaka is not without its problems, namely with the rockets of the two regiments that have been in use for more than a decade. According to Bhupinder Yadav, an analyst and former Indian Army Major General, the “production of Pinaka rockets is on hold after some quality-related issues mainly relating to OFB-produced propellant such as short ranges, residues after firings and accidents relating to burst in launchers, etc.”

• The US State Department has cleared the sale of CBRN equipment to India. Valued at an estimated $75 million, the foreign military sale includes includes 38,034 M50 general purpose masks; Joint Service Lightweight Integrated Suit Technology — 38,034 each of suits, pairs of trousers, pairs of gloves, pairs of boots and NBC bags – plus 854 aprons; 854 alternative aprons; 9,509 Quick Doff Hoods; and 114,102 M61 filters. The equipment is used to protect service members from chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats.

Today’s Video

• The Kaplan MT:

Americas

• Raytheon has been awarded a $52.7 million contract for the supply of its Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long Range Radar (3DELRR) to the US Air Force. As part of the deal, the contractor will provide engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) work for three 3DELRR production representative units, with work to be completed by November 30, 2020. The system utilizes a C-Band Gallium Nitride radar which provides operators with long-range detection capabilities and has the advantage of not congesting airwaves in the electromagnetic spectrum excessively, reducing interference with other systems.

Middle East & North Africa

• Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Ukraine have signed an agreement that will see all three parties collaborate on the development and manufacture of a maritime patrol variant of the AN-132D. Contracts were signed towards the end of the IDEF 2017 expo in Istanbul, where officials from Ukroboronprom, Havelsan, and Taqnia agreed to move forward with the project which comes comes two years after Saudi Arabia agreed to procure two AN-132D aircraft for use in airborne electronic warfare roles and four for search and rescue operations. Developed as a Western variant of the AN-32, the aircraft uses engines from Pratt & Whitney Canada, avionics form Honeywell, life-support systems from Germany’s Liebherr, propellers from Messier Bugatti Dowty (Safran Landing Systems), and auxiliary power units fromHamilton Sundstrand.

• A prototype tank co-developed by Turkish and Indonesian industry has been unveiled at IDEF. Made by Turkey’s FNSS and Indonesia’s PT Pindad, the six-wheel KAPLAN MT was created as part of a government-to-government cooperation program. Fitted with a CMI Cockerill 3105 turret which integrates the Cockerill 105 millimeter high-pressure gun with an advanced autoloader, the companies said that the medium-weight tank features precision direct fire capability and a configuration power pack, heavy duty suspension system, double pin tracks and advanced electronic control systems that contribute to its superior maneuvering capability. The tank will begin serial production once it is qualified by the Indonesian army, and it is expected that the firms will look to market it for export.

• The US State Department has cleared the sale of 100 PAC-3 and 60 GEM-T missiles to the UAE. Valued at an estimated $1 billion, Lockheed Martin will act as lead contractor for the PAC-3 missiles while Raytheon will provide the GEM-Ts. Also included are canisters, tools and test equipment, support equipment, publications and technical documentation, spare and repair parts, U.S. Government and contractor technical, engineering and logistics support services, and other related elements of logistics and program support.

Europe

• Boeing has been contracted by the US Army Command for the remanufacture of 38 AH-64 Apache aircraft for the UK. Valued at $488 million, the foreign military sale will also include the provision of Longbow crew trainers and associated spares. Work will be carried out at the firm’s plant in Mesa, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2024.

Asia Pacific

• The Indian Air Force has successfully test-fired a Darby radar-guided air-to-air missile from one of its LCA Tejas fighters. Conducted on May 12, New Delhi’s announcement stated that “the missile launch was performed in Lock ON after Launch mode for a BVR target in the look down mode and the target was destroyed,” and that aircraft avionics, fire-control radar, launchers and Missile Weapon Delivery System all performed as required. The test is one of several steps needed to clear beyond visual range (BVR) capabilities for the LCA.

• India has also tested the first of its newly acquired Spyder air-defense system. Three rounds of firing were conducted during the May 11 test, where both Surface-to-air Python and Derby (Spyder) missile system were fired against a Banshee unmanned aerial target made by Meggit PLC. New Delhi made moves to acquire a number of Spyder systems in a deal with Rafael and Israeli Aircraft Industries (IAI) after their indigenous system, the Akash, fell out of favor with military officials.

• The Japanese government has completed its study into the possible procurement of the land-based Aegis Ashore system, concluding that developing a new missile defense layer with the system is more cost-effective than purchasing the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. At present, Tokyo operates a two-tier missile defense system with the first being SM-3 interceptors onboard Aegis-equipped destroyers, while the surviving missiles will then face a Patriot battery firing Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) surface-to-air guided missiles. Discussions on the procurement are expected to last into the summer and will likely take several years to implement. It is expected that two fixed Aegis Ashore sites equipped with the SM-3 Block 2A missile would be sufficient to cover the country, at a cost of $705 million.

Today’s Video

• An Indian Tejas fighter tests a Darby air-to-air missile:

Americas

• The US Navy has awarded Rolls Royce a $78.7 million contract to provide logistical and engineering support for originally manufactured engines on the KC-130J tanker aircraft. Under the contract, aircraft in use by the US Marine Corp as well as the government of Kuwait will be affected. The work will primarily be completed in Indianapolis, with smaller contracts spread through other states, as well as Japan and Kuwait. The project is expected to be completed by May 2022.

• Elbit Systems has received a contract from the Brazilian marine corps to provide the service with an advanced C4ISR electronic warfare and communications system. Valued at $40 million, the C4ISR has Battle Management Systems application, C41 systems for artillery units, and advance EW capabilities. It can be mounted on vehicles such as tanks and armored personnel vehicles, and is integrated with command centers. The procurement of the system comes as the Brazilian marine corp transition to the doctrine of Network Centric Warfare—a high-technology concept that integrates command-and-control, logistics, targeting and navigational information, and communications into one system. Work on the contract will be performed over the next two years.

Middle East & North Africa

• Turkey’s Undersecretary for Defence Industries (SSM) has signed a deal with the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) for the supply and deliver of 52 Super Mushshak trainers to the Turkish armed forces. The deal was one of three bilateral defense agreements signed between Turkay and Pakistan with the second being a letter-of-intent (LoI) for the sale of four MILGEM corvettes for the Pakistan Navy and the third a LoI for fresh collaboration between PAC and Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI). The contracts were inked on the second day of this year’s IDEF 2017 exhibition in Istanbul.

Europe

• Sweden’s Saab is looking to finalize a number of near-term sales of the C and D variants of its JAS-39 Gripen fighter. Upcoming competitions in Botswana, Slovakia, and Bulgaria, have all been targeted as potential clients for the C/D models, which if agreements are reached, will boost sales and ensure the continuation of the Gripen’s production line into the future. Of the three countries, Bulgaria is the closest to moving forward with a deal, after its government announced Saab as the preferred option for its MiG-29 replacement program. Slovakia have been in negotiations with Saab since 2015, while in Botswana, a Gripen package is facing off against an offering from Korea Aerospace Industries’ (KAI) FA-50—the fighter version of its T-50 trainer.

• Leonardo and the UK government have reached an agreement to develop the next generation of decoy counter-measures for fighter aircraft. The firm will partner with the British Royal Air Force’s Rapid Capability Office—an office created to bring new technologies to UK warfighters—and will use Leonardo’s BriteCloud EAD technology for the development of new expendable active decoys. BriteCloud is a second-generation, radar jamming decoy that uses enhanced on-board jamming techniques. It can be deployed from a standard chaff and flare dispenser, and draws an incoming missile away from the targeted aircraft.

• In a world first, Airbus has successfully completed the first test of its automatic air-to-air refueling (AAR) contact system. During the flight, the company’s A330 MRTT demonstrator was successfully steered into the receptacle of a Portuguese air force F-16 using image processing software that the company has been developing for more than a year. As many as six contacts were made over a 75 minute period, at 25,000 feet and 270 knots. The AAR system requires no additional equipment on the receiver and could be introduced on current production A330MRTTs as soon as 2019.

Asia Pacific

• Amid rising tensions and sabre-rattling in the region, China has announced that it has successfully tested a new missile, launching it into the waters of the Bohoi Gulf, near the Korean peninsula. While the Ministry of National Defense did not mention the new missile by name, analysts believe that it could be the DF-26—an intermediate missile capable of sinking warships, including US aircraft carriers. The test comes a month after Beijing said that is would respond to the deployment of the US THAAD system in South Korea by continuing to test new types of weapons under conditions simulating actual combat. China’s opposition to THAAD comes from the allegation that its radars are capable of peering deep into China, allowing the US and its allies to better detect rocket launches and aircraft movements.

• Israel Weapon Industries and Indian private sector firm Punj Lloyd have began a venture to jointly produce a variety of small arms from the Israeli firearm manufacturer’s product line, of which some are for use by Indian armed forces. Known as Punj Lloyd Raksha Systems (PLR), the new venture is the first private manufacturer of small arms in India that produces equipment for both use by the Indian defense forces and for export, and is expected to take a sizeable portion of India’s $5 billion small firearms market. IWI-designed weapons to be manufactured at the plant include the Tavor carbine, X95 assault rifle, the Galil sniper rifle, and Negev light machine gun. The foundation of the venture also comes as New Delhi faces an immediate requirement for 66,000 assault rifles, with a total requirement is 250,000, and it’s expected that in the next two months, an assault rifle tender worth an estimated $1 billion will be released by the Indian Army.

Today’s Video

• The US receives its G/ATOR:

https://youtu.be/rKkIGZs5va8 

Voyager & friends
(click to view full)

Back in 2005, Great Britain was considering a public-private partnership to buy, equip, and operate the RAF’s future aerial tanker fleet. The RAF would fly the 14 Airbus A330-MRTT aircraft on operational missions, and receive absolute preferential access to the planes. A private contractor would handle maintenance, receive payment from the RAF on a per-use basis – and operate them as passenger charter or transport aircraft when the RAF didn’t need them.

The deal became politically controversial, and negotiations on the 27-year, multi-billion pound deal charted new territory for both the government, and for private industry. Which may help to explain why a contract to move ahead on a “Private Financing Initiative” basis had yet to be issued, and procurement had yet to begin, over 7 years after the program began. In March 2008, however, Britain issued the world’s largest-ever Defence Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract. This FOCUS Article describes the current British fleet, the aircraft they chose to replace them, how the new fleet will compare, the innovative deal structure they’ve chosen, and ongoing FSTA developments.

A330-200 MRTT: The RAF’s Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft

Voyager K3 & C-130J
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The A330-200 MRTT is a derivative of the Airbus A330, and was designed from the outset to be able to function as an aerial tanker and a transport aircraft at the same time. Obviously, hauling full loads over long distances would reduce its ability to offload fuel to other aircraft, but many deployments could still be accomplished. Deploying a fighter squadron along with its ground crew and other personnel, for instance, becomes a real possibility with this aircraft. Britain’s A330s will be equipped with Rolls Royce’s Trent 700 engine.

The UK’s A330 “Voyagers” will have up to 3 hose-and-drogue refueling points (2 wing, 1 center), using Cobham plc subsidiary Sargent Fletcher’s FRL900 systems. All 14 will sport 2 wing-mounted 905E aerial refueling pods each, which extend to 28m / 90 feet when fully trailed and can transfer up to 1,200 kg/minute. The Voyager K2s will be limited to that configuration, but half (7) will be 3-point Voyager K3s which also host 805E center-line Fuselage Refueling Unit that can transfer up to 1,800 kg per minute. The RAF will buy just 5 805E FRUs, however, leaving 9-10 aircraft to use just the wing pods.

Voyager 02 will temporarily offer a 3rd type, which is essentially an unconverted civil A330, until it’s fed back into the conversion program around 2015.

Unlike other A330 MRTT customers, Britain’s planes will lack the EADS ARBS refueling boom along the rear centerline. It’s used to refuel planes with dorsal indents, like F-16 and F-15 fighters, C-17 transports, etc., and will be present on A330 MRTTs operated by Australia (KC-30B), Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. The UK’s current tankers are all hose-and-drogue only, and except for its C-17 and RC-135 Rivet Joint planes, Britain has generally bought aircraft to suit. While continuing with this approach will limit flexibility with some allies, removal of the boom greatly simplifies civilian conversion and employment.

So, too, does the more problematic omission of full defensive systems to protect against radar-guided threats. Without such systems, however, Britain is unlikely to be able to deploy its new tankers over zones that are rated as dangerous.

FSTA vs. VC10
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The A330 MRTT has a maximum fuel capacity of 111,800 kg, or over 246,000 pounds. In the tanker role, the A330-200 provides twice as much fuel to receiver aircraft as the VC-10. The aircraft also has the capacity to carry 43,000 kg of cargo, including up to 32 463L cargo pallets, or up to 272 passengers, while carrying a full fuel load. AirTanker offers a scenario in which the A330 can fly 270 troops and 8,000 kg of their equipment some 4,700 miles, while also operating as an aerial tanker. Fuel capacity is slightly less than the TriStar’s 139,700 kg, but it carries slightly more passengers (272 vs. 266) and has slightly greater cargo capacity (43t vs. 31t). What it will not have, is the ability to take on more fuel in the air itself, in order to extend its own missions.

Based on the figures in this article, the FSTA program’s 14 A330-200 MRTT aircraft would provide only 50% of the aircraft compared to its present fleet, while offering 71% of the fuel capacity. Carriage on much more efficient aircraft will increase the percentage of fuel available for dispensing, though this may not close the refueling gap completely. On the other hand, the smaller FSTA fleet will boast 116% of the legacy fleet’s total troop carrying capacity, and 185% of its total cargo capacity.

UK FSTA: Program Details & Industrial Team

Making FSTA
(click for video)

The program will offer 14 A330-200 aircraft configured to UK specifications, under a 27-year, GBP 13 billion deal. As noted above, they will not be able to refuel in mid-air themselves, and will use only hose-and-drogue refueling that excludes some client aircraft.

As of July 2014, all 9 “core fleet” aircraft were delivered and in service: 4 x Voyager K2s, and 5 x Voyager K3s. Another 5 A330 Voyagers will serve in a surge fleet, and can operate as civilian aircraft unless called upon by the RAF for extraordinary duties. If called up, they may be fitted with Voyager K2 equipment. The balance of the 14-aircraft fleet is expected to become available to the RAF by 2016.

Schedule
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The first A330-200 FSTA aircraft in-service flight took place in April 2012 (back in 2005, it was expected in 2010), and began air-to-air refueling duties in 2013.

When the A330 arrangements were first announced, the RAF operated a very identifiable set of 28 VC10 and L-1011 tanker aircraft, which were entirely retired before the FSTA program even stood up its core fleet of 9 A330s. All of the RAF’s aerial tankers were operated out of RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, and that will continue. AirTanker will be based at a new, purpose-built facility at the same location used by the existing fleet: RAF Brize Norton. AirTanker will then provide an integrated all-inclusive service to the RAF that includes full maintenance, flight and fleet management, ground services and state-of-the-art training for RAF FSTA personnel.

Corporate structure
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AirTanker Ltd. holds the contract with the UK MoD, and formally owns the aircraft. It is a UK company, and its current shareholders are EADS (40%), Rolls-Royce (20%), Cobham (13.33%), Thales UK (13.33%) and VT Group (13.33%). While EADS and Thales are non-UK firms, the use of Thales’ UK subsidiary ensured that majority ownership would be held by British companies. The related AirTanker Services will operate the aircraft, and has a slightly different shareholding, at EADS (28%), Rolls Royce (22%), Thales UK (22%), VT Group (22%), and Cobham plc’s Flight Refueling Ltd. (5%).

Once fully operational, the FSTA service will employ around 500 personnel, with a 60:40 split between military and civilian.

Despite BAE’s divestment of its Airbus share, Airbus manufacturing still goes on in Britain. AirTanker Ltd. claims that around 7,500 jobs (3,000 direct, 4,500 indirect) will be directly or indirectly dependent on the FSTA project. The first 2 A330 aircraft will be converted at Airbus Military facilities in Madrid, but after that approximately 50% of the basic aircraft and 100% of the conversion work will be carried out in the UK. Principal work locations will include:

• RAF Brize Norton (construction of facilities and service delivery)
  
• Airbus Military at Getafe, Spain (conversion of planes 5-14)
  
• Airbus UK at Broughton and Filton (wing manufacture)
  
• Cobham at Wimborne (refuelling equipment) and Bournemouth (conversion of planes 1-4)
  
• Rolls-Royce at Derby (Trent 700 engine assembly) and Bristol (project management)
  
• Thales UK at Crawley (mission simulators, crew training, defensive aids), Raynes Park (avionics) and Wells (mission planning systems).

UK FSTA: Contracts & Key Events 2015 – 2016

Queen’s Birthday
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May 12/17: In a world first, Airbus has successfully completed the first test of its automatic air-to-air refueling (AAR) contact system. During the flight, the company’s A330 MRTT demonstrator was successfully steered into the receptacle of a Portuguese air force F-16 using image processing software that the company has been developing for more than a year. As many as six contacts were made over a 75 minute period, at 25,000 feet and 270 knots. The AAR system requires no additional equipment on the receiver and could be introduced on current production A330MRTTs as soon as 2019.

May 20/16: The UK has sent a RAF Voyager tanker to NAS Patuxent River to participate in air-to-air aerial refueling trials of the F-35B. Since arriving on April 18, the British tanker has participated in five flights out of a scheduled 20, which are due to be completed in mid-June. It remains unclear whether the Voyager’s deployment to the US was caused by refueling issues that arose from the B variant being unable to take fuel from the wing pods of KC-10 and KC-135 tankers.

November 4/15: The Pentagon is urgently trying to gain the necessary clearances required for combat aircraft to refuel from Airbus A330 MRTTs, used by coalition partners operating above Syria and Iraq. The Navy is also looking to gain clearances to use hose-and-drogue refueling systems installed on Royal Air Force Voyager tankers to certify the F-35B for this type of refuelling method. A Royal Australian Air Force KC-30A (a modified A330 MRTT) has already been used to conduct trials with a F-35A in September, with tests planned on a variety of other platforms.

2013 – 2014

TriStars retire; Full Voyager core fleet in service; 1st lease to a civil operator; Mechanical incident; Are the projected costs reported by NAO just fiddled figures?

July 14/14: Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology Philip Dunne greets a Voyager aircraft that has arrived for its Farnborough display, and confirms that the entire core fleet of 9 planes is fully in service after being delivered on time and on budget. He’s encouraging about that, saying:

“These events provide evidence that DE&S is becoming a higher-performing delivery organisation, better able to deliver vital equipment and support to the armed forces on time.”

It certainly beats failure, though FSTA’s structure suggests that AirTanker LLC also deserves a fair bit of credit. Sources: UK MoD, “RAF Voyager aircraft arrive on schedule”

June 24/14: Civil lease. One of AirTanker’s 5 “surge” fleet Voyagers has been leased by Thomas Cook Airlines under a 3-year agreement, as the airline becomes AirTankers 1st civil customer. The single A330-200 will be configured for an all-economy 323-seat configuration, and will operate in airline livery with seconded Thomas Cook Captains, First Officers, and cabin crew flying alongside AirTanker’s own civilian pilots. Beginning in May 2015, it will fly scheduled routes from Glasgow, Manchester and Stansted to Las Vegas, Cancun and Orlando.

The plane will be operated by AirTanker under its civil Air Operator’s Certificate, with base maintenance provided, but Thomas Cook will provide line maintenance. Sources: AirTanker, “AirTanker and Thomas Cook Airlines agree landmark civil leasing deal”.

1st civil lease

May 29/14: Core complete. RAF Brize Norton accepts the 9th Voyager, ZZ338. This completes the RAF’s core fleet, which will consist of 4 K2s with wing pods, and 5 x K3s with an added centerline hose.

The other 5 will be “surge capability” planes that can be leased to the civil market unless and until the RAF needs them. AirTanker, “ZZ338 arrival completes the RAF Voyager core fleet”.

Core fleet delivered

April 7/14: France. An AirTanker release highlights the efforts of Armee de l’Air pilot Capitaine Francois Gilbert, who is on secondment to RAF No.10 Squadron at Brize Norton:

“The French Air Force is expected to place its first order for the MRTT later this year. With the first of 12 tankers built by Airbus Defence and Space to be delivered by 2018, they will replace France’s 14-strong [refueling and transport] fleet of C135 FR jets, three A310 and two A340.

“I’m here to build an understanding of the MRTT, its capability and training required to fly it so that when I go back, the knowledge and understanding that I have gained here, can be applied to the French AAR programme”, he says.”

It also provides a solid foundation if France should need to buy FSTA flight hours before 2018, though that’s looking less likely. Sources: AirTanker, “Entente [Most] Cordiale”.

March 24/14: TriStar retires. A pair of 216 Squadron TriStars fly from RAF Brize Norton on an air-to-air refuelling mission over the North Sea, then one conducts flypasts at airfields associated with its history. It marks the end of the L-1011 TriStar’s service with the RAF. The 4 remaining TriStars will fly to Bruntingthorpe Airfield, Leics for disposal.

Over the last 8 years, 216 Sqn flew to Afghanistan 1,642 times, carrying around 250,000 troops into and out of theater. Its 139,700 kg fuel load will also missed, but it’s worth remembering that this fuel is for the parent aircraft as well. The Voyager’s flight efficiency means that its 110,000 kg fuel load can’t be used as a direct comparison. Sources: RAF, “TriStar Retires After 30 Years Service with the RAF”.

TriStar fleet retired

Feb 13/14: NAO Report. Britain’s National Audit Office releases their 2013 Major Projects Report. They’ve changed the cost basis slightly, as fuel isn’t normally part of program reporting. Even with that discrepancy normalized, the program has still seen its overall whole-life cost to 2035 drop by GBP 386 million from initial approval, to GBP 11.393 billion. Poking deeper into the report, the largest sources of savings involve changes toward a risk-based method for costing equipment obsolescence and projected refinancing savings (GBP 398 million total). On the flip side, this year saw GBP 45 million added because of revised inflation estimates. Time will tell whether those changes are valid.

The program remains on schedule. Infrastructure at Brize Norton is complete, and the training service is operating. This was interesting:

“MoD placed on contract the enhanced FSTA Aircraft Platform Protection system (EDAS). Embodiment is under way, as planned in the programme and is also reflected in wider defence capability planning.”

Feb 9/14: Incident. An AirTanker Voyager aircraft suddenly plummets about 5,000 feet while in flight from RAF Brize Norton to Camp Bastion, Afghanistan. The pilot regained control, the aircraft was diverted to a landing at Incirlik AB in Turkey, and passengers were treated for minor injuries.

The military fleet remains grounded while an investigation takes place, and AirTanker may have to reimburse the Ministry for lost flying hours. The civil Voyager 02 will keep flying, which will keep the Falklands air bridge open, but it isn’t cleared to fly to Afghanistan. AirTanker, “Incident 9/2/14: Flight between RAF Brize Norton and Camp Bastion” | Daily Mail, “RAF grounds all Voyager planes after one aircraft plummets several thousand feet during flight to Afghanistan” | Dailt Mirror, “Voyager planes grounded after aircraft carrying 190 people plummeted thousands of feet during flight” | Reuters, “Britain grounds Voyager military fleet after in-flight incident”.

Jan 29/14: #7 arrives. Voyager 07 (ZZ337) arrives at Brize Norton. Like 04 – 06, it’s a Voyager K3 tanker with wing and belly-mounted refueling systems, giving AirTanker 4 of the K3 tankers and another 2 K2s with just wing pods. Voyager 02 is a civil charter aircraft. Sources: AirTanker, “Voyager 07 flies into RAF Brize Norton”.

Dec 21/13: Operations. RAF Voyager aircraft have begun flights into Afghanistan, airlifting soldiers from Camp Bastion in Helmland, Afghanistan back to Britain. The accompanying pictures show the planes loading at night, which is one way to handle poor defensive systems.

101 Sqn Wing Commander Ronnie Trasler says that 6 Voyager aircraft are already in service with the RAF, and the core fleet of 9 aircraft is on track to be in service by May 2014. Sources: RAF, “Voyager Flies to Afghanistan”.

2013

VC10s retire; RTS for Eurofighters; Program on schedule; Britain creating an operational refueling gap?

Voyager & friends
(click to view full)

Sept 30/13: Typhoon update. Progress with the Eurofighter Typhoon (q.v. Dec 6/11) and Tornado GR4 strike fighter (q.v. April 5/12) fleets has been slow, so AirTanker is eager to offer a progress update. The UK MoD gave Voyager clearance to begin air-to-air refuelling (AAR) operations with Typhoon in late May 2013, with a formal Release to Service (RTS) on Aug 15/13. “Voyager and Typhoon have now completed more than 350 contacts, offloading 840 tonnes of fuel to the end of this month [Sept].” Tornado GR4 refueling has also been problematic, with clearance received only “at the beginning of summer,” and 1,460t of fuel offloaded since then.

Transport is seeing more action, with the entire military fleet clocking a total of 5,400 hours, carrying more than 110,000 passengers and 6,300 tonnes plus of freight. The civil Voyager 02 is now up to 1,200 hours, almost 30,000 passengers, and more than 1,600 tonnes of freight.

Summer 2013 also saw AirTanker receive its Extended Twin (Engine) Operations (ETOPs) clearance from the Civil Aviation Authority, which lets the civilian airline take on long-range routes and fly up to 180 minutes from the nearest suitable airport. This is a precursor for its expected October 2013 role in support of the Falklands air bridge. Sources: AirTanker, “Voyager and Typhoon complete more than 350 contacts”.

Sept 20/13: Final Flight. The VC10 performs its last operational flight for the RAF. The 2-ship VC10 K3 sortie (tails ZA147 and ZA150) included the full range of counterparts: Typhoon and Tornado GR4 fighters, Hercules transports, even extending the mission by refueling one VC10 from the other. To mark the tanker’s long service, a VC10 flew over various RAF stations, including RAF Lossiemouth, RAF Coningsby, RAF Marham and RAF Leuchars, as well as sites in Warton, Birmingham and Prestwick.

The formal retirement ceremony is Sept 25/13, but in our books, the last flight is the end. Sources: UK MoD release.

VC10s retired

May 29/13: #5 arrives. Voyager 05 (ZZ333), which is also a K3 3-point tanker, arrives at RAFB Brize Norton.

April 26/13: #4 arrives. Voyager 04 arrives in Brize Norton, where it becomes the 1st The first of 7 Voyager K3 tankers configured to include a centerline fuselage tank and hose, in addition to wing pods. The new A330 will join existing Voyager K2s (01 and 03) on the Military Aircraft Register, and operate as ZZ332.

Since the start of operational service in April last year, Voyager 01 (ZZ330) and 03 (ZZ331) have totaled more than 1,700 hours, carrying more than 25,000 passengers and over 2,000 tonnes of freight. The civil Voyager 02 (G-VYGG) has flown more than 230 hours, carrying more than 5,000 passengers and more than 300 tonnes of freight. It forms the core of AirTanker’s airline operation, which began operations with an inaugural flight to Akrotiri in January 2013. Sources: AirTanker, “AirTanker takes receipt of first ‘three-point’ tanker”.

March 14/13: Say what? UK minister for defence equipment, support and technology Philip Dunne confirms to Flight International that new A400Ms won’t have in-flight refueling pods added to let them perform as aerial tankers, because:

“The Ministry of Defence has recently refreshed its study into requirements for air-to-air refuelling capability. This concluded that Voyager will meet all requirements; therefore, there is no need for an air-to-air refuelling capability by the A400M Atlas.”

The RAF’s new A330 Voyager MRTTs lack key defensive systems, in order to avoid conflicts with their secondary use as civil charter planes. Those kinds of warning and decoy systems are necessary for refueling aircraft in even mildly hazardous environments. As tactical military transports with good range and no other uses, the A400Ms would have been well qualified to fill that gap. Flight International.

Jan 24/13: The Little Prince. A Voyager aircraft brings Prince Harry back to England, along with the rest of his Apache attack helicopter unit. Having said that, note the flight points:

“The Prince, who is known as Captain Wales in the Army, touched down at RAF Brize Norton late yesterday afternoon [23/1/13] on an inbound flight from RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus.”

Akrotiri is considered a “safe” airfield – unlike Kandahar in Afghanistan, which would have been Capt. Wales departure point. There are also certifications required to fly those kinds of distances. AirTanker.

2012

1st service flight; Britain facing capability crunch; Conversion work switches to Airbus in Spain.

Tornado contact
(click for video)

Dec 19/12: #3 arrives. Voyager 03 flies into RAFB Brize Norton, to join the Voyager fleet on the Military Aircraft Register. Source: AirTanker, “Voyager 03 flies into RAF Brize Norton”.

In contrast, Voyager 02 will be flown on the Civilian Aircraft Register and operated by AirTanker, using its own pilots and supported by AirTanker cabin crew.

Dec 13/12: AOC. AirTanker successfully demonstrates its full service capability to the Civil Aviation Authority in a proving flight to Reykjavik, in order to secure its Air Operating Certificate (AOC). Source: AirTanker, “Voyager 03 flies into RAF Brize Norton”.

June 25/12: Deadline pressures. Flight International explains the deadline pressures facing the transport and tanker fleet:

“By the end of this year, the last of the UK’s Lockheed Martin C-130K Hercules will be retired from use, while the replacement Airbus Military A400M won’t start appearing on the ramp at RAF Brize Norton until during 2014… But it is in the tanker sector that the biggest headache is emerging. The RAF’s last nine Vickers VC10s… [will be] retired in March 2013, with its Lockheed TriStars (including four tankers) to follow by the end of the same year… Only one [A330 Voyager] is currently in service, initially in an air transport capacity only, and I’m hearing that fuel venting problems encountered during earlier refuelling trials have yet to go away… The RAF needs tankers to sustain quick reaction alert duties… as well as supporting deployed examples defending the Falkland Islands and allied strike aircraft flying over Afghanistan. With the noise of the VC10’s “Conway [engine] quartet” to fall silent in only nine months, the pressure is really on for the Voyager to deliver.”

DID is going out on a limb, and predicting that either or both of the VC10 and L-1011 TriStar fleets will remain in service past their current retirement dates. Even private aerial tanker services like Omega wouldn’t be able to fully cover those needs, though a mix of TriStars for distant missions and contractors for Quick Reaction Alerts might work for a limited time.

June 22/12: Conversion switched. Cobham plc and AirTanker Ltd. (in which Cobham is a 13.33% shareholder), issue a joint statement that yanks A330 conversion work from Cobham’s UK facility back to Airbus Military in Spain. Cobham tries to minimize the decision, saying that there are “no technical issues with the conversion process,” adding to co-locating the conversion with the design office in Spain is only about “greatly improving efficiency and shortening the supply chain.” The net effect is to kill 320 British jobs at Bournemouth: 237 Cobham employees, and 83 contractors.

A step like this isn’t taken unless there were serious problems, and significant customer pressure. The core problems are hinted at by AirTanker’s release, which mentions a need “to ensure the timely delivery” of the planes, as part of a focus on delivery “on time and on cost.” The Cobham and AirTanker, they say, “have mutually recognized that this is the best way of meeting their own commitments and have taken the responsible decision…” This is all a kind way of saying that Cobham may not have had technical problems, but they aren’t performing to schedule or cost targets, and the problem is bad enough that the project is in danger of missing its commitments. Two industry sources contacted by The Sun newspaper cited Cobham delays as a problem, and one offered a stark assessment: “Basically, Cobham can’t do the job. They haven’t invested.”

The customer pressure revolves around the schedule. With the VC10 tankers slated to leave service in March 2013, delays to the Voyager fleet would be both an operational problem for the RAF, and a financial problem for AirTanker Ltd. due to penalty clauses. Cobham plc | AirTanker Ltd. | Dorset Echo | Flight International | Reuters | The Sun.

Airbus Military takes refueling conversions from Cobham

May 31/12: Monarch Aircraft Engineering (MAEL) has completed the first C check for the UK’s Airbus A330 multi-role tanker transport “Voyager” fleet, on behalf of AirTanker Services. AirTanker’s in-house capability isn’t available yet.

The C-Check is a full-aircraft inspection, usually done every 15-21 months or after a specific amount of actual Flight Hours. In the Voyager’s case, it’s a matter of time and not flight hours. Flight International.

April 5/12: Hosed? Reuters reports that the A330 Voyager’s hose and drogue system has experienced leakage problems when refueling RAF Tornado fighters:

“A source close to AirTanker said the problem was in pipes which connect the Voyager to Royal Air Force (RAF) Tornado warplanes which leaked when fuel was pumped through them during mid-air testing. The source said the refuelling trial was continuing.”

Failure to meet requirements could result in contract penalties. In response, AirTanker issued a statement via YouTube, while showing a refueling contact with a Tornado GR4:

“The Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (ACAS) signed the Voyager Release to Service and Certificate of Usage yesterday (05 Apr 12) and the aircraft will commence flying operations On the Military Aircraft Register with the RAF next week. Voyager is already a certified tanker and Air to Air Refuelling trials to clear RAF receiver aircraft to receive fuel from Voyager continue. As would be expected with a new aircraft, there have been some technical problems, but these are being addressed. AirTanker fully expects to deliver the core fleet of nine aircraft by 2014 in line with the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) Contract.”

April 4/12: 1st service flight. The aircraft took off from RAF Brize Norton for a training sortie around the United Kingdom, in its 1st service flight for the RAF.

The type was granted a Release To Service for Air Transport, and was placed on Military Aircraft Register the next day. AirTanker LLC | Airbus Military.

1st service flight, Release To Service

Feb 22/12: France. Defense Aerospace reports on a 2012 news conference involving French DGA head Lauren Collet-Billon. He leaves the door open to FSTA participation, but makes it clear France will have its own tankers:

“Although it may buy tanker capacity from the Royal Air Force “if the flight hour price is affordable,” France intends to buy its own fleet of A330 tankers which are required to support the French air force’s sovereign nuclear strike mission. These will be ordered in 2013.”

Feb 2/12: Certification. AirTanker receives Type Certification Exposition version 5 for Air Transport & Aeromed 3. Sources: UK NAO, Major Projects Report.

2011

1st FSTA arrives.

A330: Voyager 01
(click to view full)

Dec 6/11: Delay. The British Forces Broadcasting Service reports that:

“The first A330 Voyager had been due to be handed over in October, but isn’t now expected at its new home of Brize Norton until the New Year. The private company that will operate the aircraft says it is down to the availability of Typhoon fast jets for air-to-air refuelling tests.”

The RAF Typhoon fleet’s base availability rate been a subject of some controversy lately. This problem could also stem from the need to have Typhoons on Libyan operations and home patrol missions, which would leave few planes available for other tasks like testing.

Nov 18/11: France. AIN reports that Libyan lessons learned have made new Airbus A330 MRTT aerial tankers a bigger priority for France, alongside their aging C-135FRs.

An interim contract for 5-7 A330 MRTTs planes is now expected in 2013, which means AirTanker LLC is less likely to see any French leasing contracts.

Sept 4/11: Airbus Military delivers the 1st Airbus A330-200 aircraft to Bournemouth, UK, where Cobham Aviation Services will handle conversion into the RAF’s Voyager tanker configuration. It’s actually the 3rd FSTA plane built so far, but the first 2 were built and converted entirely by Airbus Military in Spain.

The conversion program will include 2 wing-mounted 905E aerial refueling pods for each plane, and half (7) of the “Voyagers” will also be fitted for 805E center-line fuselage refueling units. Airbus Military | Cobham Plc [PDF].

Aug 8/11: The 1st Voyager aircraft arrives at RAF Brize Norton. It’s involved in a flight testing program to certify it as a refueler for Tornado strike fighters. The visit was actually more of a stopover from Airbus Military’s home in Getafe, Spain, before departing for MOD Boscombe Down the next day. AirTanker LLC.

April 18/11: 1st FSTA arrives. The 1st FSTA aircraft arrives in the UK, touching down at Boscombe Down in Wiltshire. The aircraft also picks up a formal military name: Voyager.

Boscombe Down will host 2 of the Voyager aircraft for an intensive program of testing and trials in the refuelling role, set to continue into 2012 with Tornado, Sentry, Typhoon and Hercules aircraft. Those first 2 development aircraft had their military conversion process and initial flight testing done at Airbus Military’s facility near Madrid, Spain, but the next 12 Voyagers will be converted by Cobham at their facility in Bournemouth, UK. UK MoD | Airbus Military | AirTanker.

March 31/11: RAF Brize Norton’s 2-bay hangar and support building officially opens. It will become the FSTA program’s maintenance facility, flight operations centre and office headquarters. AirTanker.

2010

 

FSTA production
(click to view full)

Dec 20/10: Due to extreme bad weather at RAF Brize Norton, 2 of RAF 99 Squadron’s C-17s end up spending the night on aeromedical standby inside AirTanker’s hangar, which has been built but not fully fitted out yet. AirTanker.

Dec 13/10: Testing. Britain’s 1st A330 MRTT performs the type’s 1st fuselage-mounted hose-and-drogue aerial refueling dry contacts, using an F/A-18 Hornet fighter. Airbus Military. The 1st wet refueling took place on Jan 21/11, transferring over 6 tonnes of fuel at an altitude of around 15,000 feet, and at speeds from 250 – 325kt. AirTanker.

Cobham’s belly-mounted 805E FRU (Fuselage Refueling Unit) is part of the proposed USAF KC-45’s 4-point refueling system, which shares the 2 removable digital underwing hose-and-drogue refueling pods with FSTA aircraft, but also adds a fly-by-wire ARBS boom for UARRSI dorsal receptacles. Both the belly-mounted FRU and underwing hose-and-drogue refueling pods share the same modular architecture, and all 4 systems are controlled from the Remote Aerial Refueling Operator (RARO) console in the cockpit.

Nov 2/10: France. The “UK-France Summit 2010 Declaration on Defence and Security Co-operation” has this to say:

“15. Air to air refuelling and passenger air transport. We are currently investigating the potential to use spare capacity that may be available in the UK’s Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) programme to meet the needs of France for air to air refuelling and military air transport, provided it is financially acceptable to both nations.”

France currently flies 14 C-135FRs for aerial refueling, and will probably need to keep these Boeing 707 relatives in service for refueling in combat zones and nuclear strike missions. Their planned replacement buy of A330 MRTT refueling and transport planes has been pushed back due to budget concerns, however, creating a need for a stopgap than can lower the C-135FR fleet’s flight hours, and fill some of the gaps. The FSTA tankers will be downgraded versions of France’s own future buy, making it an attractive option that could even result in a reduced future purchase of A330s for the Armée de L’Air.

On the British side, more hours bought by military users beyond Britain makes key modifications like defensive systems easier to justify, and easier to handle operationally because the need for civilian conversions and removal/ modification is reduced.

Oct 26/10: Maiden flight of Britain’s 2nd AirTanker A330 MRTT, which was converted from a basic A330-200 by Airbus Military in Getafe, Spain. Airbus Military.

Sept 16/10: FSTA PFI Rubbished. Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee releases its study of the tanker PFI arrangement, and it is not positive. Excerpts from “Delivering Multi-Role Tanker Aircraft Capability” :

“PFI works best where activities and demand are predictable. This is clearly not the case for FSTA. For instance, it is simply astonishing that the Department did not decide until 2006 that FSTA should be able to fly into high threat environments such as Afghanistan. Yet the Department is inhibited from changing the specification because of the implications to the cost of the PFI. Just two years after the deal was signed, the forthcoming Strategic Defence and Security Review is likely to change the demand for the services AirTanker has been contracted to deliver. As the Committee’s previous work shows, dealing with changes on PFI deals is expensive and the Review may question whether this PFI deal is sensible or affordable. The fact that no other country has chosen to procure air-to-air refuelling and passenger transport using PFI type arrangements is further indication that PFI is not a suitable procurement route for such important military capabilities.

There are significant shortcomings in the Department’s procurement of FSTA and we do not believe the procurement was value for money. The shortcomings include…”

See also: British Forces News (incl. video) | BBC | Daily Mail | The Guardian | The Independent | Public Finance magazine | Sky News (incl. video) | The Telegraph | Think Defence.

Sept 16/10: Maiden flight. The first FSTA A330 completes its maiden flight from the Airbus Military facility at Getafe, Spain. Airbus Military | Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Aug 27/10: Rollout. The first A330-200 FSTA plane rolls out of Airbus Military’s hangar in Getafe, Spain, at the end of its indoor conversion and testing. First flight is expected in September 2010. AirTanker Services.

July 7/10: France. French defense minister Hervé Morin tells the parliamentary defense committee that France will postpone program contracts worth EUR 5.4 billion, in an effort to slash EUR 3.5 billion from the military budget over the next 3 years. France’s plan to replace its aged C-135FR aerial tankers with 14 A330-200 MRTT aircraft by 2015 is one of the delayed programs, even though it’s critical to many of the goals in the government’s 2009 defense white paper.

The parliamentary committee reportedly asked Morin if sharing the British FSTA service might help as a stopgap. If so, it would be a partial one at best. Not only is FSTA unable to operate in even low-threat areas, a commercial service cannot be used to refuel nuclear-armed strike aircraft. That was not an issue for Britain, whose nuclear weapons are limited to submarine-launched Trident missiles. Defense News.

March 20/10: NAO report. Britain’s NAO auditors publish their report “Ministry of Defence: Delivering multi-role tanker aircraft capability.” The key takeaway: “The National Audit Office has been unable to conclude that the Ministry of Defence has achieved value for money from the procurement phase of its £10.5 billion private finance deal for the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA).” Excerpts:

“During the negotiation of the deal… testing showed that the PFI solution was between 15 per cent better and 5 per cent worse than the [public sector] Comparator depending on which aircraft, discount factor and delivery confidence level was selected, and offered better value for money in seven of the eight scenarios presented… the Department never gained visibility of detailed sub-contractor costs and margins for the aircraft and their modification… until 2004, the project team had insufficient staff with PFI experience and frequent changes of team leader… there has been no compensating reduction in the support costs for the TriStar and VC10 fleets, which stood at approximately [GBP] 105 million in 2008-09.

…Since contract signature, the project has achieved its delivery milestones and is on budget… The Department is undertaking a large scale re-development at RAF Brize Norton with the intention that new facilities are operational by 2012, shortly after FSTA’s entry into service [in 2011]. However, there is little timescale contingency in these plans.

…The Department managed the later stages of the procurement of FSTA well, including making effective use of advisers and skilled Departmental staff in the latter stages of the negotiation, and transferring the risk to AirTanker for the introduction of the service. The Department did well to close the deal in difficult market conditions… [but, in earlier phases] The Department chose a PFI strategy for FSTA with no realistic assessment of alternatives… The Department was forced to narrow the field to one bidder while a number of significant issues remained… The Department never gained visibility of sub-contractor costs and margins… Neither did the Department undertake any “should-cost” modelling… Between the start of the formal assessment phase and contract signature, the Department spent [GBP] 48 million managing the project, including [GBP] 27 million on advisers, [GBP] 10 million on supporting the bidders and [GBP] 11 million on internal costs.”

March 29/10: Progress report. AirTanker Services offers a program update 2 years in, saying that all major milestones have been met since the Contract was signed on March 27/08. Construction at RAF Brize Norton continues to plan; the exterior work on the modern 2-bay hangar and support building was completed at the end of 2009, the interior fit out is well underway, the first milestone on the training center was completed 7 weeks ahead of schedule, and the Main Operating Base is scheduled to finish early in 2011. AirTanker is preparing for the first test flight in military configuration later in 2010. AirTanker Services release [PDF].

2009

Program on track.

FSTA-1 to Getafe
(click to view full)

July 10/09: The FSTA program’s first Airbus A330-200 flies from Airbus’ Toulouse, France, factory to the Airbus Military facility at Getafe, Spain, on schedule, today. Conversion of this first FSTA aircraft with military avionics and refuelling capability will now commence, in a new, purpose-built, permanent hangar. AirTanker Services release [PDF].

June 4/09: The first A330-200 aircraft built for the FSTA partnership completes its 3-hour maiden test flight on schedule. As the aircraft was put through a series of maneuvers covering its entire flight envelope, engineers conducted various compliance tests on the engines and onboard systems. UK MoD | AirTanker Services release [PDF].

April 1/09: Progress report. The UK MoD issues a release, covering the state of the FSTA program. In mid-November 2008, ATrS completed and handed over improved facilities at RAF Brize Norton that included bulk diesel and waste fuel tanks, air side motor transport parking, wash pan drainage facilities; and a petrol, oil and lubricants store.

Work has started on a 2-bay hangar and associated workshops, as well as what will be a 4-floor office. the office will host the RAF’s 2 FSTA squadrons, the MOD’s Integrated Project Team, and AirTanker corporate personnel. On which topic, ATrS has hired over 30 new recruits.

Feb 25/09: The first FSTA wingset is completed at Airbus UK’s Broughton factory, and is loaded onto an Airbus Beluga aircraft for the journey to Bremen, Germany, for final equipping. Toulouse, France, will be the site for final assembly. Source.

2008

PFI. LAIRCM selected.

FSTA A330-200
(click to view full)

July 16/08: LAIRCM picked. Northrop Grumman announces that their AN/AAQ-24V Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures Systems (LAIRCM) system has been selected to defend the UK’s aerial tanker fleet. Under the terms of the $93 million contract, Northrop Grumman’s Defensive Systems Division will provide LAIRCM system hardware and support to Thales U.K., a member of the AirTanker consortium.

LAIRCM’s system used laser pulses that hit incoming missiles to confuse their infrared guidance systems, and it has become a very popular system for protecting VIP flights and large aircraft like the C-17, E-3 AWACS, C-130, et. al. NGC’s partnership with EADS to build the A330 variant KC-30B for the American tanker competition didn’t hurt their chances, either.

March 27/08: PFI Contract. Rolls Royce announces that “As a shareholder and sub-contractor to AirTanker, the value to Rolls-Royce over the lifetime of the 27-year programme is estimated at over GBP 700 million.” The firm adds that “In line with its shareholding Rolls-Royce will contribute approximately 20 per cent of the equity investment required for the programme, the majority of which is not payable until the operational phase of the programme.”

Rolls-Royce will source components from its global supply chain, then assemble and test the engines at their Derby facility. It will then provide Mission Ready Management Solutions support for the engines once they’re in service. Program management and real-time, proactive diagnostic support will be provided from Rolls Royce’s Defence Aerospace headquarters in Bristol, with additional personnel based at RAF Brize Norton.

According to Rolls Royce, the Trent 700 engine has 53% of firm and option orders for global A330 fleets, including 70% of orders over the last 5 years. Competitive virtues cited include higher thrust, and a full-length cowl that reduces infra-red signature. While the RAF’s program is large in absolute terms, within the overall context of Rolls Royce’s business, one should consider that Trent 700 manufacturing and service in 3 months of 2008 (about $5 billion/ GBP 2.5 billion) is about 3 times the value of the RAF’s 27-year program. Rolls Royce release.

March 27/08: PFI Contract. AirTanker and its Shareholders (Cobham, EADS, Rolls-Royce, Thales UK and VT Group) sign a GBP 13 billion (about $26.04 billion), 27-year contract with the UK Ministry of Defence for 14 new aerial tanker aircraft based on the Airbus A330-200 MRTT, and powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines. The aircraft will enter service beginning in 2011, with aerial refueling services beginning in 2014 and full service beginning in 2016. They will replace Britain’s surviving fleet of 19 VC-10 and 9 L-1011 TriStar aircraft.

The FSTA contract also includes the provision of all necessary infrastructure, including a state of the art 2-bay hangar, training, maintenance, flight operations, fleet management and ground services to enable worldwide Air-to-Air Refuelling and Air Transport missions. An infrastructure program will begin in May 2008 at at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, and the program as a whole is expected to sustain up to 3,000 long-term direct jobs, plus another 4,500 indirect jobs. You may even end up flying in one:

“A number of the aircraft will be operated on the civil register flying commercial Air Transport tasks when not subject to operational requirements, thereby enabling greater productivity for the fleet. Within the PFI agreement, the MoD will only pay for the service once it is available and then only for the capacity that it uses, subject to agreed minimum usage levels.”

The final stage in the process of preparing for contract closure was a financing competition conducted over the last 6 months by the AirTanker consortium, which raised approximately GBP 2.5 billion ($5 billion). UK MoD release | AirTanker Ltd. release [MS Word] | EADS release.

2006 – 2007

Contractual progress.

Tanker fuel systems
(click to view full)

Nov 8/07: In its earnings guidance release, EADS says that:

“In response to the UK PFI Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) requirement, the AirTanker consortium (EADS is 40 percent shareholder and platform provider) has made significant progress in the finalising of contractual arrangements with the UK MoD and in the selection of lenders and financing structure. In the other tanker variant that the Division is currently introducing into the market includes the air-refuelling boom system which is now nearing completion of its development phase and continues flight testing.”

June 6/07: Financing. AirTanker Ltd. announces [PDF format] that it has begun work on the Financing Competition to raise almost GBP 2 billion (about $4 billion) in initial capital, in conjunction with Deutsche Bank. It will be used to start up the business as a fully operational concern, buy the aircraft, and build the new facilities at RAF Brize Norton.

June 6/07: PFI approved. Defence Equipment and Support Minister Lord Drayson announces government approval a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) for the FSTA program. UK MoD release.

July 16/06: AirTanker announces [PDF] that the US State Department has granted umbrella approval, in the form of a brokering licence, which will allow AirTanker to provide the FSTA service to the RAF with aircraft containing US-supplied military equipment.

2000 – 2005

Program start. Final bids. A330 picked.

RAF TriStar KC1
(click to view full)

July 11/05: AirTanker announces [MS Word format] that Phill Blundell has been appointed as the firm’s Chief Executive. He had joined AirTanker from BAE Systems at the start of May 2005 and has been assuming greater responsibilities leading up to his formal appointment. His last role at BAE Systems was Group Managing Director C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance), with a focus on non-platform and complex systems integration.

Feb 28/05: Following revisions to AirTanker’s proposals, and its re-assessment to the same evaluation criteria used for the January 2004 assessment, the UK government names the AirTanker consortium as its preferred bidder for the FSTA program, which is expected to be worth GBP 13 billion (about $25 billion in March 2005) over its 27-year lifetime. AirTanker release [PDF] | DID coverage.

January 2004: A330 picked. AirTanker is selected by the UK Ministry of Defence as the bidder most likely to provide a value for money solution, and contractual negotiations on key commercial terms begin.

August 2003: Final bids. Final bids are received from the TTSC (BAE, Boeing, Serco, Spectrum Capital) and AirTanker (EADS, Rolls Royce, Cobham, Thales UK) consortia. The delay from the initial bids is due to the MoD’s 2002 Equipment Planning process.

July 3/01: The MoD receives 2 initial bids: one from a BAE/Boeing consortium, another led by EADS.

Dec 21/2000: An Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) is issued to industry

Dec 19/2000: FSTA begins. The FSTA Program is given initial gate approval by Ministers and enters a formal Assessment phase.

Appendix A: PFI – The Art of the Deal

Tony Blair
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Under Prime Minister Blair, Britain’s Labor government made far greater use of Public-Private Partnerships/ Private Financing Initiatives, which kept key projects wholly or partly “off the books,” and could make some use of private sector efficiency incentives. When the need to replace their aerial tanker fleet arose, therefore, budgetary provisions were made in 1997 for a PFI. In a June 2/07 Economist article (“What I’ve Learned”), Tony Blair says:

“Public services need to go through the same revolution – professionally, culturally, and in organization – as the private sector has gone through. The old monolithic provision has to be broken down. The user has to be given real power of preference. The system needs proper incentives and rewards…”

The first step in the UK’s tanker PFI process was to select a preferred bidder, but here the government ran into a trap of its own making. Negotiations proved problematic. AirTanker (A330 MRTT) and TTSC (KC-767: BAE, Boeing, Serco, and Spectrum Capital) submitted proposals in July 2001, but the bids were not to the MoD’s liking. By September 2002, they decided to offer to pay the losing bidder up to GBP 10 million, in order to keep the competitors interested in a long and increasingly expensive bid process. After several iterations, the 2 consortia submitted revised bids in August 2003.

The TTSC consortium’s bid was 19% more expensive than AirTanker’s, and 6% above the notional public sector baseline. It also had stringent time limits, requiring a buy by 2005. In January 2004, TTSC was “de-selected” from the competition, and negotiations began with the remaining competitor, AirTanker. Those negotiations also proved difficult, and in May 2004, the FSTA project team recommended cancellation of the entire program.

By this time, however, the focus had moved from competition to financing, and the trap had closed. Working publicly on a public sector fallback plan would create uncertainty in the market, which could raise the cost and difficulty of the required finance deal, making failure a self-fulfilling prophecy. On the political end, the PFI concept itself was based on a practice that has been successful in Britain, but FSTA had surface similarities with the USA’s controversial and canceled KC-767 lease deal, which came to be associated with a corruption scandal. A mirrored failure in the UK, for whatever reasons, would have drawn those comparisons even tighter, and damaged PFIs as a whole. Committed by ideology and also by the threat of loss of face if the deal were scrapped, the government and the Ministry chose to plow ahead. they even sought to avoid planning for fallback options, doing so only in 2007 – and then in an incomplete fashion.

The AirTanker consortium was finally selected as the Preferred Bidder (vice default bidder) in February 2005, along with its proposed A330-200 Multi-Role Tanker-Transport aircraft. Yet even this step did not result in a contract.

The next step was ratification of a Private Financing Initiative as the way forward, as this is a significant departure from the usual buy and own approach for military aircraft. Nevertheless, reform of the defense sector in Britain has been wide-ranging. Huge progress has been made in the spread of “future contracting for availability,” as a common model for changing contractor incentives and supporting key weapons platforms like the RAF’s Tornados throughout their service life. The first decade of the new millennium had also seen significant organizational shifts within the Ministry of Defense.

It also saw shifts within government. Tony Blair’s retirement, and the ascension of the more left-wing Gordon Brown to the prime minister’s post, left a question mark of sorts over the future of service provision reform; the PFI concept is not popular in many parts of the ruling Labour Party. As such, the eventual confirmation by Lord Drayson that a PFI approach would be pursued for a huge program like FSTA had implications that reached beyond the UK’s military.

What it could not do, was make up for lost time. With that approval out of the way, step 3 of FSTA required agreement on a final deal with AirTanker.

Off-duty…
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In order to make the deal work from AirTanker’s point of view, however, financing terms were almost as important as its terms with the government. AirTanker Ltd. worked with Deutsche Bank as its primary advisor, and held a competition among lenders to finance the initial capital outlay. That competition raised GBP 2.5 billion (about $5 billion) to start up the business as a fully operational concern, buy the aircraft, and build the new facilities from which AirTanker will provide the FSTA service. The firm’s June 6/07 release added that:

“The goal will be to ensure that the final terms agreed with the chosen lenders transfer the risk away from the taxpayer, while guaranteeing full value for money for the MOD.”

This had been the goal since 1997. But a contract was not forthcoming until March 2008. It had taken so long, that the entire plan was 5.5 years behind at the beginning of the program contract.

Under the deal, the A300-200 aircraft will be owned and supported by AirTanker, while the service will be staffed by a mixture of armed services and civilian personnel. As noted above, under the PFI (Private Financing Initiative) concept the RAF would fly the 14 Airbus A330 FSTA aircraft on operational missions and receive absolute preferential access to the planes, while the contractor handled maintenance and operated them as passenger or transport aircraft when the RAF didn’t need them.

The UK MoD would pay for the provision MRTT aircraft on the basis of an agreement that combined per-use payments, plus incentives and penalties. These would be issued on the basis of aircraft availability, and AirTanker’s ability to meet key measurements of performance under the PFI agreement.

Revenues will be generated over time, via the performance-based, pay-per-use contract negotiated with the UK MoD. The NAO laid out expected costs in a 2010 report:

“Across the term of the contract, the Department will pay on average [GBP] 390 million per annum for the baseline FSTA service, which includes the cost of related services and infrastructure. Of this amount, AirTanker expects the cost of operating the service to be [GBP] 80 million, leaving [GBP] 310 million to cover financing, profit and the capital cost of the project… In addition, the Department expects to spend a further [GBP] 60 million per annum on personnel, fuel and other related costs, resulting in a total estimated spend over the life of the project of [GBP] 12.3 billion.”

TriStar & USN F/A-18Cs
over Afghanistan
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As always, the devil will be in the details – and in a PFI, any agreement that offers too much of an advantage to either side will ultimately prove to be in the best interests of neither party.

Blind spots can be equally costly, of course. Surprisingly, the original FSTA requirements did not envisage the aircraft flying into dangerous environments – even danger on the minimal scale of Afghanistan. When the need for possible additional aircraft protection measures arose, requirements were not changed; negotiations were proving difficult enough as it was. The UK MoD is now considering the technical requirements, costs that Britain’s NAO auditors estimate as “hundreds of millions of pounds,” and an in-service schedule that could be several years after the tanker service is “operational.” The existing British tanker fleet would have to cover the gap for areas most likely to see sustained aerial operations, or allies would have to cooperate, until that could be achieved.

In retrospect, Britain’s Parliament has been sharply critical of the deal, citing it as a god example of when not to use PFI. These arrangements only work, they say, when demand is predictable and changes are rare. That unpredictable demand was actually seen as an initial plus for the PFI, by making use of otherwise “wasted” time. The problem is that civilian and military carriage requirements aren’t harmonized yet, and many of the protective systems the military would want to install have too many classified technologies on board for use on civilian aircraft in civilian airports. Meanwhile, the RAF can no longer depend on operating tankers only “behind the front lines,” as long-range missiles and irregular warfare mean that the front lines themselves are disappearing.

That kind of collision, say the critics, is exactly why military systems are poor candidates for PFI arrangements. Given the rapidly changing nature of military operations, they say, the Labour government’s prioritization of political face over “plan B” options has been especially damaging and expensive. With so many contracts signed, and so little extra money on hand to cover the expenses of both cancellation and replacement, FSTA is the only option Britain has left. Somehow, the RAF will have to make it work – and extend the life of the existing TriStar and/or VC10 fleets to cover immediate front line needs.

Appendix B: Britain Former Refueling Fleet

Over the course of the FSTA acquisition process, the RAF has worked to phase out its legacy fleet of refueling aircraft.

By the time the FSTA contract was signed, both of the RAF’s legacy aircraft types had been out of production for over 20 years. A few commercial fleets still operated the L-1011 TriStar, but the RAF’s fleet had begun to show its age, and was nearing the end of its operational lifespan. By then, the RAF was the only global operator of the VC10s. Hence the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft program, which received its formal go-ahead in 2000. It was a hard slog (q.v. Appendix A), but the fleet is now in active service.

Tri-version TriStars

TriStar & Tornados
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The RAF’s 9 Lockheed L-1011 TriStars previously served with British Airways and Pan-Am. They have a unique 3-engine profile that includes an air intake on top, in front of the tail stabilizer. The TriStars and are the larger of the 2 major tanker classes, with more fuel capacity and range. They were operated by No 216 Squadron until March 2014, and broke down into 3 different models.

K1 and KC1 aircraft could perform air-air refueling. A total fuel load of 139,700 kg could be carried, which can be used by the aircraft itself, or given away to receivers. Although the aircraft had 2 hosedrum refueling units, only 1 could be used at a time, restricting aircraft to single-point refueling. On a typical AAR flight from the UK to Cyprus, or Gander (Canada), the RAF 4 TriStar KC1 aircraft could each refuel up to 4 fast-jet aircraft, while carrying up to 31 tonnes/ 34.1 tons of passengers and/or freight.

The addition of a large, fuselage freight-door and a roller-conveyor system allowed outsized palletized cargo to be carried on the KC1s, but the RAF’s 2 TriStar K1 aircraft weren’t fitted for this. TriStar K1s carry up to 187 passengers instead, in addition to their refueling equipment.

The KC2/KC2A TriStars were ex-Pan Am transport aircraft that remained largely unchanged from their airline days. They carried up to 266 passengers, and were used for transport duties only.

VC10s: Distinctive, but Discontinued

VC10 & Tornado F3s
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The RAF’s 19 Vickers VC-10s were famous for having 4 engines – 2 mounted on each side of their rear fuselage. This has the happy side-effect of minimizing turbulence for pilots taking up refueling stations behind their wings. Unlike the TriStars, VC10s were equipped with a probe-and-drogue refueling system capable of refueling 2 aircraft simultaneously from the 2 underwing pods; they could also use a single fuselage-mounted Hose Drum Unit (HDU). They also differed from the TriStars in that they could be refueled themselves, thanks to the installation of a fixed refueling probe in their nose. Only 11 were serving by 2002, in 3 tanker versions:

The VC10-C1Ks were converted to the aerial refueling role in 1993 with the fitting of a Mk32 refueling pod under the outboard section of each wing. They carry their internal fuel, and can also accommodate 124 troops plus 9 crew, or aero-medical evacuation of up to 68 stretchers. A large, cabin-freight door on the forward left side of the aircraft allows combi passenger/freight or full-freight configuration. In its full-freight role, the cabin could hold up to 20,400 kg/ 22.4 tons of palletized freight, ground equipment or vehicles, on its permanently strengthened floor. They were operated by 10 Squadron.

The RAF’s 4 VC10-K3s were equipped with fuselage fuel tanks mounted in the passenger compartment, and could carry up to 78,000 kg of fuel. They had very limited passenger-carrying capacity, which was used almost exclusively to carry ground crew and other operational support personnel. The K3s and K4 are operated by 101 Squadron.

The RAF’s 4 VC10-K4s carried 69,800 kg of fuel using their original 8 fuel tanks, and add another 1,750 gallon tank in the fin. The aircraft had been purchased in 1981 from British Airways, and were converted by BAe in 1990. These VC10s went through almost a complete rebuild, emerging without the airframe fatigue flight restrictions placed on many of the other VC10s in the fleet.

Additional Readings & Sources Background: A330 Voyager Tanker/ Transports

• AirTanker Ltd.

• RAF Brize Norton – Voyager K2/K3

• Airbus Military – A330 MRTT

• Air Force Technology – A330-200 Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) – Multi-Role Tanker Transporter (MRTT), Europe. It is also known as the KC-30 in Australia and the USA.

Background: FSTA Program

• DID FOCUS – Britain’ Future Contracting for Availability Approach.

• UK Parliament, Public Accounts Committee (Sept 8/10) – Delivering Multi-Role Tanker Aircraft Capability

• UK NAO (March 20/10) – Ministry of Defence: Delivering multi-role tanker aircraft capability

• UK MoD (Nov 23/09) – Future Brize takes off. The FSTA base at Brize Norton will become the RAF’s future single airport of embarkation (APOE), and home to 15% of the RAF’s uniformed personnel. The article details work underway.

• UK MoD Fact Sheet – Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft. 2008 snapshot.

• UK MoD – FSTA Questions & Answers. Covers many aspects of the deal itself; does not delve into the military/platform aspects. 2008 snapshot.

News & Views

• AirTanker (April 30/14) – V[oyager]-Force. Discusses aerial refueling progress since the RAF V-Force’s landmark “Operation Black Buck” bombing raid from Ascension Island to the Falklands, and offers some useful technical details.

Background: Britain’s Other Tankers

• RAF – TriStar.

• RAF – VC10. Retired September 2013.

• DID (June 20/07) – Britain’s VC10 Tankers Moving Toward New Support Model. Includes a full description and retails re: the UK’s current aerial refueling fleet.

• Vector Site – The Vickers (BAC) VC10.

• Air Scene UK – Ten’s Tens Are Forty! The VC10 began deliveries in 1962; a total of only 54 were produced, 15 for the RAF. Subsequent purchases from other operators, including a far-sighted purchase of 14 aircraft from British Airways in 1981, have kept the RAF’s numbers up.

Americas

• Northrop Grumman has received a $332 million modification to an existing contract for work at the Joint National Center Research and Development for the Missile Defense Agency and the Department of Defense. Under the terms of the agreement, work to be carried out includes the integration of Ballistic Missile Defense System (BDMS) and testing programs for the program, as well as the provision of logistical services, wargame and readiness exercises, and the development of doctrine, as well as information technology support for the Chief Information Officer for the BDMS. The additional DoD funding will increase the funding maximum from $3.85 billion to $4.18 billion, and may extend task orders until May 2018.

• The USMC has received its first low rate initial production (LRIP) AN/TPS-80 Ground/Air Task-Oriented Radar (G/ATOR) system. Developed and produced by Northrop Grumman, five additional systems will be delivered under the terms of the October 2014 contract. G/ATOR will replace five legacy systems operated by the Marines, providing significant improvements in performance when compared with the legacy radar families in each of its modes. The systems take advantage of Northrop’s expertise in C4ISR, and includes software loads that optimize the multi-mission capabilities of the radar to perform each mission.

Middle East & North Africa

• The Trump administration has said that it will move ahead with a plan to further arm Kurdish militias fighting the Islamic State in Syria. The move has once again angered Turkey, who see Kurdish groups like the People’s Protection Units (YPG)—who make up part of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces—as an extension of the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), an outlawed terrorist organization in Turkey. However, policymakers in both the Obama and Trump cabinets see the Kurdish forces in Syria as the only reliable partners on the ground capable of defeating IS. It is now likely that YPG elements could receive mortars, heavy machine guns and armored tactical vehicles as part of the administration’s help with an offensive to reclaim the the city of Raqqa, the jihadist’s de facto capital.

• Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) and BAE Systems have announced that they will ink the TFX design and development agreement that was signed by both companies in January at this year’s International Defence Industry Fair (IDEF) 2017. Valued at almost $130 million, the deal will see BAE assisting TAI with the design and development of the TFX next-generation multi-role fighter. It has also been reported that Pakistan may be interested in participating in the project, with Turkish industry and Pakistan’s Ministry of Defence Production speaking on what future collaboration would look like. However, the Pakistan Air Force has yet to comment on whether it would be interested in participating in producing and procuring such an aircraft.

Europe

• The Swedish government has indicated that it would be interested in procuring a jet trainer designed by Boeing and Saab, if the offering is selected by Washington as the winner of the US Air Force’s T-X trainer competition. However, Stockholm would not be interested in procuring any of the other T-X trainer offerings if they were to win, instead opting for a cheaper turboprop training aircraft. Sweden currently has an inventory of 50 Saab 105 trainers, which were introduced in the late 1960s, and plans are underway to retire the ageing fleet by 2026.

• Germany is moving forward with a plan to take 104 used Leopard 2 battle tanks out of storage and have manufacturer Krauss-Maffei Wegmann conduct upgrades from the A4 configuration to the newest A7V standard. The $832.7 million project will see improvements made in the areas of information technology, armaments and armor. Under the agreement, KMW will also provide 32 tank chassis frames that can later be turned into additional vehicles of the Leopard 2 series, such as variants capable of launching bridges across rivers and other chokepoints. Work on the tanks is expected to commence in 2019 and last through to 2023. Berlin’s moves to upgrade its tank fleet comes on the expectation that future conflicts will rely heavily on ground warfare with armored vehicles.

• Following on from their selection of the F-16 as their next fighter, the Romanian government has contracted Lockheed Martin to deliver comprehensive simulator systems based on the fighter jet. The SciosTrain simulator system will combine full combat tactics and mission training scenarios, while providing for networking to allow Romanian Air Force pilots to train together virtually. Delivery of the simulators is expected to be completed by 2019.

Asia Pacific

• Almost a year on from the infamous misfiring and sinking of a Taiwanese fishing boat by the Republic of China Navy, Taiwanese military officials have said that they are still looking for the whereabouts of the Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missile that caused the deadly incident. Officials reports on the incident, which killed the fishing vessel’s captain, claimed that the missile’s warhead did not explode on impact and that it instead sunk in the water. However, an anonymous source told the press that the missile could have detonated and therefore exploded into pieces. The search continues.

Today’s Video

• Airbus conducts automatic air-to-air refueling contact:

hhttps://youtu.be/xPmdD3qeUsA

Monitors went black
Sell everything!

C2BMC puts the “system” in the Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) System. At least that’s how the US Missile Defense Agency describes the Command and Control, Battle Management, and Communications (C2BMC) element. Basically, C2BMC synchronizes individual missile defense systems, sensors, and operators, which is essential to the layered missile defense approach the agency is working to develop. Since no one system is foolproof, layered system is designed to destroy enemy ballistic missiles by tracking and engaging them in all phases of flight, from boost, mid-course, and terminal phases of ballistic missiles. Tying all that together is a real challenge, since these systems weren’t all designed from the outset to operate together.

Some elements of the USA’s current missile warning and defense architecture include DSP and SBIRS satellites, Aegis BMD ships, Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD), Patriot anti-air missile defense, and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) batteries, along with flexible dual-use elements like the Patriot PAC-3, other sensors that might be plugged into the network, and other elements that will be developed in future…

What C2BMC Does

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The C2BMC system receives, processes, and displays tracking and status data from these elements so that commanders at various locations have the same integrated operating picture and can make coordinated decisions about deploying weapons. This allows the central command structure to use the most effective weapons to engage threat ballistic missiles in all flight phases.

The BMDS C2BMC includes 3 parts: C2, battle management, and communications. Its capabilities [PDF] include:

• Planning capability to locate sensors and weapons systems to counter identified threats;
  
• Situational awareness;
  
• Battle management to pair sensors and shooters for BMD asset utilization and engagement;
  
• Sensor netting to detect, identify, track, and discriminate threats; and
  
• Communications networks to manage and distribute data.

More than 70 C2BMC workstations are fielded at US Strategic, Northern, European, Pacific, and Central Commands (USSTRATCOM, USNORTHCOM, USEUCOM, USPACOM, and USCENTCOM); numerous Army Air and Missile Defense Commands; Air and Space Operations Centers; and other supporting warfighter organizations.

Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for C2BMC, with Northrop Grumman serving as the principal subcontractor.

Contracts and Key Events

May 11/17: Northrop Grumman has received a $332 million modification to an existing contract for work at the Joint National Center Research and Development for the Missile Defense Agency and the Department of Defense. Under the terms of the agreement, work to be carried out includes the integration of Ballistic Missile Defense System (BDMS) and testing programs for the program, as well as the provision of logistical services, wargame and readiness exercises, and the development of doctrine, as well as information technology support for the Chief Information Officer for the BDMS. The additional DoD funding will increase the funding maximum from $3.85 billion to $4.18 billion, and may extend task orders until May 2018.

March 14/14: GAO report. The GAO releases GAO-14-248R, regarding the USA’s EPAA plans for defending Europe from ballistic missiles. The report mentions C2BMC, and the news isn’t so good.

C2BMC S6.4 was fielded in 2011 as part of EPAA Phase 1. The issue is S8.2, which is needed to improve the integration of incoming missile tracks for Phase 2, and provides a Lock-On After Launch firing capability for AEGIS BMD systems. It was supposed to be ready in 2015, but current plans now say it won’t be ready until 2017 – and software projects like this are always at risk for further delays. That delay creates follow-on delays for planned improvements to AN/TPY-2 radars.

C2BMC S8.4 has also been changed from its original deployment in 2018 with Phase 3. It’s supposed to provide the ability for AEGIS BMD systems to intercept incoming missiles without using their own radars, thanks to faster integrated tracks, more precise tracking, and resilience in more “complex” conditions. Instead, a 2013 decision by MDA pushed S8.4 to 2020 or later. Phase 3 will now use S8.2x, with unspecified upgrades. That delay creates follow-on delays for planned improvements to AN/TPY-2 radars and THAAD missiles, and AEGIS BMD.

March 4/14: MDA Budget. The MDA finally releases its FY15 budget request, with information spanning from FY 2014 – 2019. C2BMD is slated to receive $2.281 billion over this period based on current plans, and is very consistent at $405 – 466 million per year. The MDA adds:

“In addition to continuing the enhancement of global BMD survivable communications and support for operations and sustainment of C2BMC at fielded sites, in FY 2015 we will integrate Overhead Persistent Infrared data into C2BMC to support cueing of BMD sensors worldwide. We will also improve sensor data integration and battle management in C2BMC to support Aegis BMD cueing and launch-on and engage-on remote capability.”

Sources: US MDA, PB 2015 Appropriation Summary | US MDA, Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 Budget Estimates.

Jan 28/14: DOT&E Testing Report. The Pentagon releases the FY 2013 Annual Report from its Office of the Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E). C2BMC is included, and their report focuses on testing of C2BMC S6.4 Maintenance Release 1 and 2 (MR1 and MR2). MR1-2 are focused on “debris mitigation,” helping defensive systems separate the warheads from the chaff.

C2BMC can control and direct 1 AN/TPY-2 radar, and some lab tests have involved more than 1 simulated radar, but that hasn’t been fully tested yet. DOT&E wants the Missile Defense Agency to perform tests with multiple TPY-2s within in a single Area of Regard or theater. They want that single focus in order to test tracking coordination.

In addition, C2BMC experienced “some minor latency issues during stressing test cases with large numbers of threats,” especially if more friendly forces are in theater to add complications. The GTI-04e Part 1 test also found “interoperability and command and control deficiencies… that affected track processing, situational awareness, and battle management.”

Sept 10/13: FTO-1. A successful joint test of AEGIS BMD and land-based THAAD missiles from the Pacific Kwajalein Atoll/Reagan Test Site destroys 2 medium range target missiles.

The test involved full inter-operation. A land-based TPY-2 radar was positioned forward as the warning radar. It acquired the targets, and passed that onto the joint C2BMC system. C2BMC cued DDG 74 USS Decatur, outfitted with AEGIS BMD 3.6.1 and the SM-3 Block IA missile. Decatur acquired the track, then launched the SM-3 and killed its target. C2BMC also passed the track to a land-based THAAD battery’s own TPY-2 radar, which provided the intercept guidance for a successful pair of THAAD missile shots. The 2nd THAAD missile was actually aimed at the SM-3’s MRBM, in case it had failed to achieve intercept, but that turned out not to be necessary this time.

C2BMC has been used in a number of other tests, but this complex test was included as an excellent illustration of the system’s intended capabilities. Sources: US MDA, Sept 10/13 release | Lockheed Martin, Sept 11/13 release | Raytheon, Sept 10/13 release.

March 20/12: Northrop Grumman announces a $96 million follow-on contract as part of Lockheed Martin’s Missile Defense National Team, which is responsible for the C2BMC program. Under the 38-month contract, Northrop Grumman will support integrated product teams, provide engineering expertise, and provide test and exercise support for C2BMC systems.

Dec 23/11: Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Solutions in Gaithersburg, MD receives a sole-source 5-year, $980 million incentive-based, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract to work with the US Missile Defense Agency to develop C2BMC. Lockheed Martin ISGS will develop, model, fabricate, integrate, test, verify, evaluate, validate, document, deliver, field, train, operate, sustain, and support updates and new capabilities.

Work will be performed in Arlington, VA from Jan 1/12 through Dec 31/16, with initial orders funded from FY 2012 research, development, test and evaluation funds. The US Missile Defense Agency in Huntsville, AL manages the contract (HQ0147-12-D-0003). Lockheed Martin.

Aug 18/10: Northrop Grumman announces that it received from MDA a $90 million, 30-month task order to develop techniques for sensor management and data processing and fusion for future sensors that will be used by the C2BMC system. The company said the techniques will provide more accurate tracking information for intercepting a missile earlier in flight using current and future interceptor systems. These new capabilities will be built on an open systems infrastructure so that any sensor and weapon system can be incorporated into the BMD system, the company said.

April 15/10: Lockheed Martin announces a $424 million 2-year contract modification to beef up the C2BMC system’s security, situational awareness capabilities, and integrate sensors and weapons systems. Work will be conducted in Arlington, VA; Huntsville, AL; and Colorado Springs, CO.

Jan 8/08: Lockheed Martin announces that it received $458 million contract modification in 2007 for development, integration, and installation of the C2BMC capability.

December 2007: Lockheed Martin said C2BMC Spiral 6.2 was promoted to operational status. With this spiral, capabilities provided include Link 16 track, parallel staging of networks for support to development/ integration and operations, new communication capabilities for Aegis UHF/EHF and situational awareness and planner capability enhancements.

Additional Readings C2BMC

• Missile Defense Agency – Command and Control, Battle Management, and Communications. See also PDF handout.

• Lockheed Martin – Command, Control, Battle Management & Communications

• Northrop Grumman – Command, Control, Battle Management and Communications [PDF]

• GlobalSecurity.org – Battle Management, Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence

Some Related Systems

• DID – Serious Dollars for AEGIS Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD). The software and hardware will continue to improve.

• DID – SM-3 BMD, in from the Sea: EPAA & Aegis Ashore. European theater defense.

• DID – Missile Defense: Next Steps for the USA’s GMD.

• DID – THAAD: Reach Out and Touch Ballistic Missiles. System includes TPY-2 radar, which can also deploy independently.

• DID – AN/TPY-2: America’s Portable Missile Defense Radar.

Americas

• Boeing has received a $89.2 million US Navy contract to conduct maintenance on various F/18 series fighter and EA-F18G electronic warfare aircraft. Included in the agreement are a wide variety of inspection and engineering projects, including High Flight Hour programs designed to keep aging airframes flying. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, Florida, and is expected to be completed in December 2017.

• The USS Ronald Reagan, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, has commenced sea trials after leaving Command Fleet Activities Yokosaka base over the weekend. The ninth to be built in its class, the massive nuclear-powered ship can maintain and launch more than 85 aircraft, displaces nearly 97,000 tons of water, and is one of the only forward deployed aircraft carriers in the Navy at this time. While at sea, crew will undergo a number of qualification and certification exercises, including engineering and medical drills as well as air, flight deck and hangar bay operations to evaluate the performance of Sailors and their departments.

• Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has revealed that it has successfully completed a number of demonstration flights for an unnamed customer of a new jet-powered, high-subsonic UAV. While the designation of the UAV has yet to be announced, Kratos said the UAV was developed by the company’s “secret, special programs group,” and that the vehicle has had several successful demonstration flights with the government agency, adding that it is the most capable aircraft ever developed by the firm. The UAV’s publicly disclosable altitude performance ranges between 10ft and 45,000ft and possesses a payload capacity of 136kg (300lb), which is lighter than the 226kg carried by the XQ-222 Valkyrie proposed for the US Air Force’s Low-Cost, Attritable Strike Unmanned Air System Demonstration (LCASD).

Middle East & North Africa

• Turkey will use the 13th International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF) to unveil two new indigenously developed missiles designed for its F-16s. The GÖKDOGAN—a short-range infrared-guided dogfight missile— and the BOZDOGAN— a missile that has an active radar seeker for long-range engagement—were developed by the Scientific and Technological Research Council’s (TÜBITAK) Defense Industry Research and Development Institute (SAGE). Making the announcement, Science, Industry and Technology Minister Faruk Özlü added that projects developed by TUBITAK, and later transferred to companies in the manufacturing defense industry, have made important contributions to Turkey’s defense industry’s localization.

• Israel has contract Elbit Systems to provide military land vehicles with its satellite-on-the-move (SOTM) systems. The two-year agreement will see Elbit provide dozens of its ELSAT 2100 SOTM family of systems, which allow high-data rate broadband capabilities on a wide variety of platforms operated by the IDF. Features of the system include advanced tracking capabilities which can allow for communications anywhere and at any time. The value of the contract was not disclosed.

Europe

• USAF F-35As, sent to Europe to participate in a series of training exercises, have completed their deployment. While based at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, UK, eight aircraft from the 34th Fighter Squadron flew 76 sorties and tallied more than 154 flying hours alongside F-15s from the 48th Fighter Wing. The fighters also experienced forward deployment to Estonia and Bulgaria in order to maximize training opportunities, build partnerships with allied air forces and familiarize Airmen with Europe’s broad and diverse operating conditions. It has also been reported that the F-35A will take part in the Paris Air Show after it was earlier said to have not been invited.

• A report by the German Defense Ministry has raised concerns over the military readiness of the A400M due to contractual wrangling with manufacturer Airbus, as well as ongoing technical issues with the aircraft. First ordered in 2003, the A400M aimed to give European nations an independent transport capability but costs have since spiraled and Airbus has warned of “risks ahead” for the continent’s largest defense project. The report warns that Airbus may request delays ranging between 12 and 18 months in order to fix the issues, which could lead to a German capability gap when Berlin retires its fleet of C-160 Transall aircraft in 2021. In response to this gap, Germany and France have decided on a plan to jointly procure and operate a number of C-130J aircraft from Lockheed Martin in order to augment their A400M fleets.

Asia Pacific

• The Royal Malaysian Air Force has refuted earlier reports that it has received an offer by Japan to transfer refurbished second-hand P-3C maritime patrol aircraft to Malaysia. Speaking to media, RMAF chief Gen. Affendi Buang said that the service “have not received any formal offer or decision so far.” It was reported last week that Japan was looking to donate retired P-3Cs to Malaysia, letting that Southeast Asian country keep closer watch over the South China Sea to rein in China’s maritime expansion. However, due to its pacifist constitution, Japan is unable to transfer defense equipment to other nations at no cost.

Today’s Video

• A tour of the USS Ronald Reagan:

Americas

• Boeing has pulled its Harpoon anti-ship missile out of a US Navy contract aimed at procuring an over-the-horizon (OTH) cruise missile for its Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) and frigates. Proposed upgrades to the current Harpoon Block II would have initially extended its range to 150 miles, along with providing a new, more powerful warhead. However, the company stated that changing service requirements “would have to take a lot of capability out of this existing system and really deliver a less-capable weapons system.” Boeing added that they would continue to deliver upgrades for the missile. This leaves the Raytheon/Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile (NSM) and Lockheed Martin Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) as the likely candidates in the OTH effort.

• However, Boeing has reached an important milestone in bringing its KC-46 tanker program closer to serial production, announcing that it now has a total of six units ready for its testing program. The newest, of the planes, which is the second to be produced under a low-rate production order, conducted its first test flight on April 26, and future testing will be largely focus on ensuring that the tanker can stand up to electromagnetic fields—radars and powerful radio towers are capable of scrambling aircraft electronic systems if they are not carefully shielded. Boeing intends to eventually produce as many as 179 KC-46 tankers for the USAF.

• Raytheon has claimed that its Patriot air defense systems have downed more than 100 ballistic missiles in worldwide combat operations since January 1, 2015. Of those 100 or so intercepts, more than 90 involved the low cost Raytheon-made Guidance Enhanced Missile (GEM) family of interceptors. First introduced as an improvement to earlier PAC-2 missiles, early GEMs added a new, faster proximity fused warhead, alongside upgraded seekers to improve performance, and has been subsequently improved into four variants over the last two two decades. The missile operates by flying at extremely high speeds to close in on the threat and then detonating a blast-fragmentation warhead at precisely the right moment.

Middle East & North Africa

• Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is looking to use its facilities to provide engine sustainment and support for Pratt & Whitney F135 engines used on Israeli F-35i Adir fighter jets. Yosi Melamed, general manager of IAI’s Bedek group subsidiary, believes its engine division is the right place to maintain and overhaul F135 engines, and while Israeli F-35s would be the first receive maintenance, the company suggests that this could be expanded to include overhaul work for other aircraft that utilize the US-made engine, but only once an agreement has been reached with Pratt & Whitney. IAI already manufactures wings for the F-35 as a subcontractor to Lockheed.

Europe

• Russian media has reported that the Sukhoi T-50/PAK-FA stealth fighter will be armed with the upgraded Kh-35UE anti-ship missile. An upgrade of the Kh-35, the integration of the tactical cruise missile will give the fighter an added anti-surface mission capability, and add to the aircraft’s weapons load which includes the Kh-38 air-to-surface missile and Kh-58UShK anti-radiation missile. Nikolai Vasilyev, chief designer of the Kh-35UE at the Korolev-based Tactical Missiles Corporation, said that the missile has already demonstrated itself effectively on the carrier-based variants of the MiG-29K and MiG-29KUBR fighter planes, and on the Ka-52 attack helicopter.

Asia Pacific

• India has conducted two successful tests of the BrahMos Block III land attack cruise missile in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Conducted on May 2 and 3, an MoD statement confirmed that both missiles were were in full operational land-to-land configuration and fired from Mobile Autonomous Launchers (MAL). This is the fifth consecutive time that the Block-III version of the munition has been successfully launched against a land-based target in “top-attack” mode. Developed in conjunction with Russia and based on the P-800 Oniks cruise missile, both governments are planning on the development of a BrahMos variant capable of operating in the 600 km-plus range.

• Rheinmetall Defense Australia has picked NOIA as its supplier of ammunition and armament services as part of its bid to win an armored vehicle competition launched by the Australian government. The firm is offering its Boxer CVR armed with a LANCE turret and Northrop Grumman’s C4ISR architecture as a solution to Canberra’s Land 400 Phase 2 program, and faces competition from BAE Systems, who have teamed with Patia to offer the AMV35 Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle (CRV)—a solution that combines Patria’s Armoured ModularVehicle (AMV) and BAE Systems Hägglunds’ E35 turret system. Rheinmetall is also starting a military vehicle center of excellence, creating a program for the design, building and support for its military vehicles in Australia and the Asian region.

• China’s Hongdu Aviation Industry Group (HAIG) has unveiled a B variant prototype of its L-15A Lead-In Fighter Trainer (LIFT) aircraft. The new model is said to be a more combat capable and better armed version of its predecessor and is being touted as potential competition for Korean Aerospace Industries’ (KAI) FA-50. Additions to the L-15B include two afterburning turbofans with Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC), an extended nose section housing a passive electronically scanned array (PESA) radar with a reported 75 km range, and an electronic systems structure, which is most likely to be a radar warning receiver (RWR), located atop the vertical stabiliser. The jet also has nine weapon hardpoints and attachments for a 3.5-tonne payload, with reports stating that the aircraft’s wingtip mounts are strong enough to carry heavy short-range air-to-air missiles.

Today’s Video

• Indian Army test firing of BrahMos Block III:

ROKS Dokdo
(click to view full)

Australia isn’t the only Pacific Rim country looking to modernize its Navy these days. China’s rapid shipbuilding program and work on its aircraft carrier project gets a lot of attention – but just to the east, South Korea is fielding its own AEGIS-equipped “air warfare destroyer,” while picking up new capabilities via a new class of amphibious assault LHD ship. Sound familiar? Hobart and Canberra Class, meet the KDX-III King Sejong Class AEGIS destroyer (launched May 2007) and the new “LPH” Dokdo Class LHD (commissioned July 2007).

The 199-meter, 18,860-ton Dokdo Class officially has the less aggressive designation of LPH (landing platform, helicopter), but its well deck and amphibious assault capabilities place it within the LHD category…

The Dokdo Class/ LPX

Dokdo launches AAV7s
(click to view full)

The Dokdo Class can carry up to 720 troops, plus a mix of helicopters, tanks/armored vehicles, and wheeled vehicles. Transport to shore is accomplished via landing ships or LCAC hovercraft. The Dokdo Class is only 2/3 the size of Australia’s new Canberra Class, and just over 1/3 the size of the USA’s Wasp Class; but Dokdo is the largest ship in the South Korean Navy.

For defense, they will rely on a combat system from the Samsung Thales Corp. joint venture. It will rely on Thales’ SMART-L long range 3 dimension search radar, with a detection and tracking range of 400 km/ 240 miles. For defensive responses, it can coordinate a SeaRAM guided missile system, 2 Thales “Goalkeeper” 30mm CIWS systems, and various decoying systems. Even so, support from Korea’s frigate-sized KDX-II destroyers and new KDX-III King Sejong Class AEGIS destroyers will be essential.

ROKN Goalkeeper
(click to view full)

There has been media speculation that the Dokdo Class is in fact a light aircraft carrier, citing the ability to install a ski jump and operate V/STOL Harriers or STOVL F-35B Lightnings from its deck. America’s 42,000 ton Wasp Class LHDs are used in this manner, and it would be possible from Australia’s Canberra Class LHDs as well.

The smaller size of the Dokdo Class, however, means that using the ship in this way doesn’t make much sense. It would get one very few fighters, while sacrificing most of the ship’s total carrying capacity. Fighter aircraft require a lot of space below-decks, and so does their fuel and weapons storage. South Korea’s prime focus remains North Korea, and aerial cover for amphibious operations a la Inchon can easily be supported from land bases. Meanwhile, international operations featuring Korean LHDs would need Korean helicopters far more than they’d need Korean fighters.

Circumstances can change; but Korea’s Ministry of Defence has stated that they have no plans to operate fighter aircraft from these ships, and military logic makes this a believable assertion. This is not to say that offensive fixed wing aircraft will never operate from Dokdo. It’s just that they’re far more likely to be UAVs akin to the MQ-9 Reaper, rather than supersonic fighters.

LPX: Future Plans for the Class

The Dokdo Class ship ROKS Marado was scheduled to enter service by 2010, but its budget was canceled. That budget was restored in 2012, and recent regional tensions are making high-end ships like LHDs and Aegis destroyers more attractive to Korea. Marado commemorates a small southern island that is commonly thought of as both the ending and beginning point of Korea, depending on one’s perspective.

Up to 4 ships of class were originally planned, but doctrine has shifted toward 2-3 “rapid response fleets,” each built around 1 Dokdo Class ship and a number of destroyers. If there’s a 3rd ship of class, previous plans involved naming it after Baengnyeong Island, which is located in the Yellow Sea near the disputed Northern Limit Line (NLL) with North Korea.

Contracts and Key Events

ROKS Dokdo, docked
(click to view full)

 

May 4/17: South Korea has announced that it has started construction of its second Dokdo-class Landing Platform Helicopter (LPH) amphibious assault ship. The milestone was marked by a keel-laying ceremony at the shipyard of Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co. in Busan, and it is expected that the vessel will be launched in April of next year. It will be delivered to the South Korean Navy in 2020, following sea trials. Seoul’s undertaking in constructing such vessels has been noted as its most major naval transport project in over a decade.

April 13/09: Samsung Thales Corp’s senior vice president, Byun Seung-wan, is quoted by Defense News as saying that Dokdo’s combat system is drawing regional interest:

“Southeast Asian countries have shown interest in one developed for the… Dokdo…. About two years ago, STC completed the five-year Landing Platform Experimental (LPX) combat system, in cooperation with the ADD, based on expertise gathered from its development of combat systems for the South Korean Navy’s KDX-I/II destroyers, frigates and patrol ships…. STC was the prime contractor for the integration and development of the command support and the command and fire-control system.”

The article also traces STC’s growth as a global developer of naval and land combat and battlefield management systems.

July 3/07: The ROKS Dokdo is handed over to the Navy in a ceremony. KOIS report.

Note that the name Dokdo is politically significant, referring to a set of islands whose territorial claim is disputed with Japan. The Korean perspective on Dokdo/Takeshima may be found here. Unsurprisingly, Japan filed a diplomatic protest over the name back in 2005. Asian countries tend to have civilization confidence, however, and the Korean reply was rude.

Additional Readings & Sources

• ROK Navy – Landing Platform, Helicopter (LPH). It certainly sounds more low-key than “LHD amphibious assault ship.” Even if that’s what it is.

• Navy Recognition – Dokdo class LPH – ROK Navy: also known as LPX, Landing Platform Helicopter, Amphibious Assault Ship

• GlobalSecurity.org – LP-X Dokdo (Landing Platform Experimental) Amphibious Ship

• Wikipedia – Dokdo-class amphibious assault ship

• KBS “News in Zoom” – Asia’s Largest Landing Ship-LPX, “Dokdo”

News & Views

• Defense News (April 13/09) – Automating Naval Warfare: Samsung Thales Making Name in Combat Systems [dead link].

• Information Dissemination (April 24/08) – Observing the ROKS Dokdo (LPH 6111)

• ‘Manoeuvre’ in Maritime Asia (April 22/08) – ADD Naval Weapons Arm to Develop UAV’s? [dead link]. They seem to be interested in UAVs that can take off and land in 200m. Which happens to be the size of the Dokdo Class’ flight deck.

DDG-110 Construction
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In April 2009 Bath and Ingalls agreed to the Navy’s surface combatant plans, thus heralding a significant restructuring within the American naval shipbuilding community. Under the agreements, the USA would end production at 3 Graf Spee sized DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class “destroyers,” but shift all production from the Congressionally-mandated joint arrangements to General Dynamics Bath Iron Works in Maine, which had already made program-related investments in advanced shipbuilding technologies.

Northrop Grumman (now Huntington Ingalls Industries) would retain its DDG-1000 deckhouse work, but their main exchange was additional orders for DDG-51 Arleigh Burke Class destroyers. Their Ingalls yard in Pascagoula, Mississippi would continue building the DDG-51 destroyers, beginning with 2 ordered in FY 2010-2011.

The US Navy’s Revised DDG-51 Plan

DDG-1000
(click to view full)

With the DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class ended at 3 ships, the DDG-51 Arleigh Burke Class ships will become more important to the future navy. The Navy’s FY 2011 budget also terminated the planned CG (X) cruiser program as unaffordable. Instead, the US Navy would field an updated DDG-51 Flight III version, starting in FY 2016.

That date has been pushed back, owing to technical issues with the Flight III ships. Under the current plan, the DDG-51 Flight IIA Restart version would remain in production from FY 2010-2017, buying 13 ships in total (DDG 113 – 125) under a multi-year buy program. Huntington Ingalls Industries ships ordered to date are both named after Congressional Medal of Honor recipients, and include:

• DDG 113 John Finn
  
• DDG 114 Ralph Johnson

Both Bath Iron Works and HII will continue to build ships of class, but lead yard status for the “DDG-51 restart” ships shifted to Northrop Grumman (now HII) during the restructuring. GD Bath Iron Works is currently contracted to build DDG 115 Rafael Peralta and & DDG 116 Thomas Hudner, as the DDG-51 follow-yard.

Beyond the Flight IIAs, US Navy plans once called for buying an undetermined number of DDG-51 Flight IIIs from FY 2016 through at least FY 2022, and perhaps until FY 2031. The follow-on DDG-51 Flight IIIs are expected to carry a smaller version of the new Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR-S) dual-band active array that was slated for the canceled CG (X), along with the upgraded power and cooling systems required to support it. Other enhancements will be fleshed out as detailed design work on the Flight III commences, reportedly in FY 2012-2013. Unfortunately, there have been early reports that integration of the AMDR radar could prove to be a problem. The new radar will need to have a power draw that the ship can handle, cooling needs that the ship’s design can meet, and a size that can fit within the ship’s available space, all without changing the destroyer’s balance and stability. That is, to put it mildly, a challenge. So, too, are growing cost estimates that are edging the DDG-51 Flight III toward the price of larger and more advanced DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class ships.

Flight III buys now appear set to start no earlier than FY 2018, if indeed they start at all. Current plans do call for an interim step, however, as part of the proposed 2012-2017 multi-year buy.

Under the current multi-year proposal, 1 of 2 FY 2016 ships (DDG 123), and both FY 2017 ships (DDG 124-125), will “incorporate Flight III capability,” but not the new radars themselves. The addition of the AMDR-S radar and other associated systems would be funded as an engineering change proposal (ECP), so it doesn’t look like it’s affecting multi-year pricing. Otherwise, the Navy wouldn’t be able to show enough savings [1] to justify a multi-year buy under US laws. The Flight III ECP won’t be awarded until the Flight III Milestone Decision Authority approves the configuration, and the greatest risk would be changes that involve significant retrofits of DDG 123-125, beyond adding the AMDR radar. Those kinds of changes are always much more expensive than installing systems during ship construction.

Contracts & Key Events

Article coverage essentially terminated in FY 2013, as the USA moved to a multi-year block-buy from both shipyards to finance remaining Flight IIA destroyers, and the initial Flight III ships.

One thing to notice while reading these is that ship construction contracts do not include important equipment like guns, radar, combat systems, missile launchers, etc. Those are bought independently as “Government Furnished Equipment,” though ship construction contracts do pay to have that equipment installed in the ships. Many of those contracts are not publicly announced, or not broken out specifically by ship. As such, any ancillary contracts covered here are suggestive and informative, not comprehensive. Indeed, those “ancillary” contracts make up the largest portion of the ship’s total cost.

FY 2013 – 2017

May 4/17: Raytheon has received a $327.1 million US Navy contract for the low-rate production of the Air and Missile Defense Radar system. Known as the AMDR or AN/SPY-6(V) , the order calls for the procurement of three initial systems, including the equipment and engineering systems needed to produce, and will be mounted on Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers. The Air and Missile Defense Radar is part of the ship’s AEGIS system, and is 30 times more sensitive than the search radars on the Flight II Arleigh Burkes. Work is expected to be completed by October 2020.

February 23/17: Huntington Ingalls Industries has marked a production milestone for the USS Frank E. Petersen during a keel authentication ceremony. The company was contracted by the Navy in March 2016 to produce the Arleigh Burke-class Flight IIA guided missile destroyer which is named after Frank Emmanuel Petersen Jr., who served as the USMC’s first African-American pilot and general officer. During the ceremony, Petersen’s window, Dr. Alicia Petersen said, “He wasn’t a man who wanted a lot of praise or recognition; however, if he could see this great ship being built for other young men and young women to see and look up to, he would be very proud.”

July 22/15: The Chief of Naval Operation Adm. Jonathan Greenert wants to buy ten Arleigh Burke-class destroyers (DDGS) to the tune of two a year, according to his Navigation Plan announced this week. This will bring the total number to be procured by 2020 to seventy-two. The Plan also calls for the procurement of the Navy’s Small Surface Combatant frigates by 2019, as well as investment in deterrent and attack submarines. The latter would involve boosting the fleet of Virginia-class boats to twenty-two within five years, in addition to the maintenance of the Ohio-class ballistic missile boats, with a replacement eyed for 2031.

April 15/15: The future Flight III Arleigh-Burke Class destroyers are making good progress, with an order scheduled for 2019. The Navy recently told Congress that the program would take the shape of a ten-ship multi-year procurement contract.

Nov 4/13: DDG 113. HII officially lays the keel for DDG 113 John Finn. She’s the 1st ship of the DDG 51 program restart, and will become the 29th Arleigh Burke Class ship built by HII. Sources: US NAVSEA, “Keel Laid for Future USS John Finn”.

Sept 12/13: DDG 114. The Navy marked the start of fabrication for DDG 114, the future USS Ralph Johnson. Keel laying won’t take place until Q3 2014. Sources: US NAVSEA, “Future USS Ralph Johnson starts fabrication”.

FY 2012

 

Mk 45 firing
(click to view full)

June 7/12: Lead vs. Follow Yard. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. in Pascagoula, MS receives a $17.3 million cost-plus-award-fee/ cost-plus-fixed-fee contract with performance incentives, for DDG 51 class follow yard services. The firm explained that they remain the follow-yard behind General Dynamics’ Bath Iron Works for previous Arleigh Burke Class destroyers in the US Fleet (DDGs 51-112).

As the follow yard, they offer many of the same services as the lead yard, when required. That includes engineering, technical, material procurement and production support; configuration; class flight upgrades and new technology support; data and logistics management; lessons learned analysis; acceptance trials; post delivery test and trials; post shakedown availability support; reliability and maintainability; system safety program support; material and fleet turnover support; shipyard engineering teams; crew training, design tool/ design standardization, detail design development, and other technical and engineering analyses for the purpose of supporting DDG 51 class ship construction and test and trials.

In addition, DDG 51 class follow-yard services may provide design, engineering, procurement and manufacturing/ production services to support design feasibility studies and analyses that modify DDG 51 class destroyers for Foreign Military Sales programs. Japan’s Kongou Class, and South Korea’s KDX-III destroyers, are both examples of that phenomenon.

Work on this contract will be performed in Pascagoula, MS (98%), and Washington, DC (2%), and is expected to be complete by February 2013. This contract was not competitively procured by US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC, as these relationships were set a long time ago (N00024-12-C-2312).

Feb 15/12: Naming. The US Navy names DDG 113-115.

DDG 113: John Finn, who retired as a lieutenant, received the Medal of Honor from Adm. Chester Nimitz for displaying “magnificent courage in the face of almost certain death” during the Japanese attack on military installations in Hawaii during Pearl Harbor.

DDG 114: Marine Corps Pfc. Ralph Henry Johnson was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for shouting a warning to his fellow Marines and hurling himself on an explosive device, saving the life of one Marine and preventing the enemy from penetrating his sector of the patrol’s perimeter during the Vietnam War.

Nov 16/11: Jane’s Navy International is reporting that DDG-51 flight III destroyers with the new AMDR radar and hybrid propulsion drives could cost $3-4 billion each.

If that’s true, it’s about the same cost as a DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class ship, in return for less performance, more vulnerability, and less future upgrade space. AMDR isn’t a final design yet, so it’s still worthwhile to ask what it could cost to give the Flight IIIs’ radar and combat systems ballistic missile defense capabilities – R&D for the function doesn’t go away when it’s rolled into a separate program. Indeed, if the Flight III cost estimate is true, it raises the question of why that would be a worthwhile use of funds, and re-opens the issue of whether continuing DDG-1000 production and upgrades might make more sense. DoD Buzz.

FY 2011

 

Sept 26/11: The US Navy releases the totals for the June 15/11 contract: $783.6 million in shipbuilding costs for DDG 113. Note that this is just the shipbuilder’s share. It excludes key items like radars, electronics, weapons, and other “government-furnished equipment.” For the recent DDG 1001/1002 contract, Bath Iron Works’ shipbuilding costs were a bit more than $2 billion for 2 ships, each of which is expected to cost a bit less than $3 billion when all is said and done. The actual cost of DDG 113/114 would work out to around $2 billion each at a similar ratio. Equipment for an Arleigh Burke Flight IIA ship has a long production history, is less sophisticated in some ways than DDG 1000’s, and does not include extras from other shipbuilders – like the Zumwalt’s composite deckhouse from HII. As such, DDG 113’s furnished equipment is very likely to be less expensive in absolute terms. The question is, would it be more than 30% less expensive, which is required in order to be lower relative to shipbuilding costs?

The Navy also announces a $697.6 million fixed-price-incentive contract for DDG 114 construction. For DDG 114 construction, significant amounts of work will be performed in Pascagoula, MS; Cincinnati, OH; Walpole, MA; York, PA; Charlottesville, VA; Erie, PA; and Burns Harbor, IN; and is expected to be complete by July 2018. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was procured via a limited competition between Huntington Ingalls and Bath Iron Works, run by US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC (N00024-11-C-2305). See also HII.

August 17/11: Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors, Moorestown, NJ, is awarded a $6,986,478 option exercise modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-03-C-5115) for management and engineering services to maintain and modify the design of DDG 51-class combat system compartments and topside arrangements. Required services include program management and operation support, quality assurance, configuration management, ship design integration, fleet lifecycle engineering support, installation support, firmware maintenance, combat system test and evaluation, Navy-furnished material support, special studies, and future-ship integration studies.

Work will be performed in Moorestown, N.J. (37%); Bath, ME (25%); Pascagoula, MO (22%); San Diego, Calif. (6%); Washington, DC (5%); Norfolk, VA (3M); Port Hueneme, CA (1%); and Syracuse, NY (1%). Work is expected to be completed by September 2012. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, DC, is the contracting activity.

June 15/11: Huntington Ingalls, Inc. in Pascagoula, MS receives a fixed-price-incentive contract for DDG 113 construction, engineering change proposals, and design budgeting – in other words, the main ship contract. The US Navy just won’t tell anyone what the cost is. They’ll only say that “significant work” will be performed in Pascagoula, MS; Cincinnati, OH; Walpole, MA; Burns Harbor, IN; York, PA; and Charlottesville, VA. Work is expected to be complete by July 2017. This contract was not competitively procured by US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC (N00024-11-C-2309). And yet:

“As this award represents the first DDG 51 class ship to be awarded for the continuation of the DDG 51 class program, and there is a competitive solicitation for [3] additional DDG 51 class ships, the contract award amount and percentages of work to be performed in each location for DDG 113 are considered source selection information (see 41 U.S.C. 2101, et seq., FAR 2.101 and FAR 3.104) and will not be made public at this time.”

We’ve seen a similar pattern recently in the Littoral Combat Ship program, and the net effect is to obscure the program’s major costs from public view. Depending on how long the Navy decides to define the program as competitively solicited, and it has been built in 2 shipyards for a long time now, this could obscure costs for many years. All for a critical component of the American fleet. See also H.I.I. release.

June 15/11: Defense News reports that Saudi Arabia may be shifting their focus away from a fully armed variant of the Littoral Combat Ship, carrying the smaller AN/SPY-1F radar and AEGIS combat system. In its place, they received May 2011 briefings concerning full DDG-51 Arleigh Burke Class destroyers displacing about 3 times the tonnage, with ballistic missile defense capability upgrades. The cost trade-off would be about 4-6 modified LCS ships, in exchange for about 2 DDG-51 Flight IIA BMD ships.

The unspoken threat here is, of course, Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The unspoken concern is the security of a top-level defense technology, which is critical to defending the USA and its allies, in Saudi hands.

To date, the DDG-51 Arleigh Burke class has never been exported per se, though their AEGIS combat system and accompanying AN/SPY-1D radars have. Japan is the only foreign country with full AEGIS BMD systems, on board their natively produced Kongo Class destroyers. Spanish F100 frigates have participated in US missile defense tests, and are eligible for the full BMD upgrade; Australia’s forthcoming Hobart Class “destroyers” are a close derivative. South Korea’s large KDX-III destroyers could be upgraded to add BMD capabilities, but the smaller SPY-1F radars on Norway’s Fridjhof Nansen Class frigates don’t have that same upgrade path available.

Another possible option for Saudi Arabia would be used US Navy DDG-51 Flight I ships, upgraded with AEGIS BMD. That would allow the Saudis to field more ships for the same money, if an agreement was reached. The costs would lie in questions about hull life and length of service, and the Flight Is’ lack of a helicopter hangar. Helicopters have been shown to be essential defenses against speedboat threats, of the kind that Iran fields in the Persian/Arabian Gulf. Defense News | Information Dissemination.

June 12/11: Looking ahead, Aviation Week reports that DDG-51 Flight III may be hitting design growth problems. Power, cooling, and weight distribution have always been seen as the most likely stumbling blocks to fitting next-generation radars like AMDR on the DDG-51 hull, and:

“As the possible requirements and expectations continue to grow for the proposed DDG-51 Arleigh Burke-class Flight III destroyers, so is the concern among defense analysts and contractors that the U.S. Navy may once again be trying to pack too much into one ship… And yet it is the need to field [AMDR] that is driving some of the additional requirements for the Flight IIIs… “Sometimes we get caught up in the glamour of the high technology,” Huntington Ingalls Industries CEO Mike Petters says. “The radars get bounced around. They get changed. Their missions get changed. The technology changes. The challenge is if you let the radars drive the ships, you might not get any ships built.”

June 3/11: BAE Systems Land & Armaments, LP in Minneapolis, MN wins a $54.6 million firm-fixed-price sole-source contract for MK 41 Vertical Launching System mechanical modules and related equipment and services. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring its cumulative value to $55.5 million.

A June 22/11 BAE release reveals that the equipment will be installed in HII’s DDG 113 & 114, and Bath Iron Works’ DDG-115. Each ship will receive 2 sets, for a total of 6. Production on the missile launchers will begin in June 2011 and run through 2013, though the contract runs to September 2015. Work will be performed in Aberdeen, SD (45%); Aiken, SC (25%); York, PA (20%); Louisville, KY (5%); and Fridley, MN (5%). Work is expected to be complete by September 2015 (N00024-11-C-5301).

June 2/11: Northrop Grumman spinoff Huntington Ingalls Industries in Pascagoula, MS receives a $25.3 million not-to-exceed contract modification for DDG 113 long lead time materials, which must be bought early to keep the ship on schedule.

Work will be performed in Cincinnati, OH (60%), and Pascagoula, MS (40%), and is expected to be complete by June 2011 (N00024-10-C-2308).

Feb 25/11: Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors in Moorestown, NJ receives a $26.7 million contract modification, exercising an option for DDG 114’s Aegis weapon system, including a multi-mission signal processor, and associated special tooling and special test equipment.

Work will be performed in Moorestown, NJ (87%), and Clearwater, FL (13%), and is expected to be complete by November 2013. US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC manages the contract.

Dec 20/10: Raytheon Co. in Sudbury, MA receives a $45.3 million firm-fixed-price contract modification, exercising options for the production of 2 AN/SPY-1Dv transmitter groups and 2 MK 99 Mod 8 fire control systems, for installation on DDG 114 (Northrop Grumman) and DDG 115 (GD). See also May 3/10.

Work will be performed in Andover, MA (88%), and Sudbury, MA (12%), and is expected to be complete by April 2013. US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington Navy Yard, DC manages the contract (N00024-09-C-5111).

Oct 14/10: Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors in Moorestown, NJ received a $97 million contract modification t finalize production of the DDG 113 Aegis weapon system (including a multi-mission signal processor [MMSP]); plus an additional MMSP for the Surface Combat System Center on Wallops Island, VA; DDG 114-115 advanced procurement efforts; and associated technical services. Note that DDG 115 is being built by General Dynamics Bath Iron Works.

Work will be performed in Moorestown, NJ (87%), and Clearwater, FL (13%), and is expected to be complete by October 2014 (N00024-09-C-5110).

FY 2010

 

Sept 29/10: BAE Systems in Louisville, KY receives a $7.8 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for engineering services and supplies to convert and upgrade one 5-inch/ 127mm MK 45 MOD 4 gun mount for the future guided missile destroyer DDG 113.

Work will be performed in Louisville, KY (80%), and Minneapolis, MN (20%), and is expected to be complete by February 2013. $282,340 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/10. The contract was not competitively procured by the Naval Surface Warfare Center’s Port Hueneme Division in Port Hueneme, CA (N00024-07-G-5438).

Aug 23/10: Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems in Sudbury, MA received a $46.9 million firm-fixed-price contract modification, finalizing a deal to produce an AN/SPY-1D-V radar transmitter group, MK 99 Mod 8 fire control system, and other engineering services in support of DDG 113’s Aegis weapons systems ship set.

Work will be performed in Andover, MA (88%), and Sudbury, MA (12%), and is expected to be complete by February 2014. The Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington Navy Yard, DC manages these contracts (N00024-09-C-5111).

June 21/10: Philadelphia Gear Corp. announces an $80 million contract to provide main reduction gears for 3 new Arleigh Burke Class destroyers (DDG 113, 114, and 115). Options for additional ships could bring the contract’s eventual total to more than $425 million.

Philadelphia Gear has supplied supplied gears, sprockets and transmissions for US Navy ships since the First World War, and the firm now specializes in the design and manufacture of Main Reduction Gears (MRGs) for front line combat and support vessels. Main reduction gears are used to turn the very fast rotational speed of an engine, such as a DDG-51 type destroyers’ LM2500 turbines, into efficient slower speed rotation of the ships’ propellers. The entire assembly weighs over 100,000 pounds, is rated at at 51,550 shp, and uses a reduction ratio of 21.3746 to 1.

Note that this contract will supply both Northrop Grumman (DDG 113/114) and Bath Iron Works (DDG 115). Earlier this year, Philadelphia Gear announced plans to move its West Coast operations from Lynwood, CA to a renovated facility in Santa Fe Springs, near Los Angeles. The new 120,000 square foot facility is slated to open in Q3 2010, and will house all assembly and test, plus more than 80% of the manufacturing work for the US Navy’s DDG program. Philadelphia Gear Corp. | FedBizOpps solicitation, which explains the exact structure of these main reduction gears.

May 3/10: “Government-Furnished Equipment” remains a substantial share of any warship’s cost. Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors in Moorestown, NJ receives a $91.3 million firm-fixed-price not-to-exceed modification to a previously awarded contract for advance procurement of the consolidated bill of material and associated labor to support beryllium oxide resistors, phase shifters, surface mount work center production and engineering services support of production of the DDG 114 and 115’s Aegis weapon system.

Aegis refers to both the SPY-1 radars that equip these ships, and the combat system that integrates the ship’s radar and weapons into a single coordinated defensive system. It is so integral to this and related ship classes that they are frequently described in common parlance as “Aegis destroyers/ cruisers/ frigates.”

Work will be performed in Moorestown, NJ (85%), and Clearwater, FL (15%), and is expected to be complete by December 2011. The Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington Navy Yard, D.C. manages these contracts (N00024-09-C-5110).

April 22/10: Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, Inc. in Pascagoula, MS receives an $114 million modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-10-C-2308), exercising an option for long lead time materials. This includes propulsion gas turbines, generators, controllable pitch propeller, and other components to support construction of DDG 114, the firm’s 30th DDG-51 destroyer.

Work will performed in Cincinnati, OH (32%); Walpole, MA (30%); Charlottesville, VA (11%); Erie, PA (7%); Anaheim, CA (7%); Warminster, PA (2%); and various locations (11%). The effort is anticipated to start immediately, with a base period of performance ending 37 months after contract award. The Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington Navy Yard, DC manages the contracts. See also Northrop Grumman release.

Dec 2/09: Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, Inc. in Pascagoula, MS receives a not-to-exceed $170.7 million letter contract for DDG 113 long lead time materials under the DDG 51 Arleigh Burke Class destroyer program. Funds will be used to buy things like propulsion gas turbines, generators, air conditioning systems, controllable pitch propeller and other components, so they’ll be ready in time when construction of DDG 113 begins.

Work is expected to be performed in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Alabama, Indiana, Louisiana., Mississippi, New York, Texas, Virginia and Washington, to be completed by January 2013. This contract was not competitively procured by The Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington Navy Yard, DC, since Northrop Grumman had already been picked to build the ship (N00024-10-C-2308).

The formal award of the DDG 113’s main construction contract is expected in 2010. See also Northrop Grumman release.

FY 2009

 

April 7/09: Rep. Gene Taylor [D-MS, Seapower subcommittee chair] announces that the Pentagon has reached agreements with General Dynamics’ Bath Iron Works in Maine, and with Northrop Grumman’s Ingalls Shipyard in Mississippi. Read “Bath, Ingalls Agree to Navy’s Surface Combatant Plans” for details of the arrangements.

April 6/09: US Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates announces his recommendations for the FY 2010 defense budget:

“…in this request, we will include funds to complete the buy of two navy destroyers in FY10. These plans depend on being able to work out contracts to allow the Navy to efficiently build all three DDG-1000 class ships at Bath Iron Works in Maine and to smoothly restart the DDG-51 Aegis Destroyer program at Northrop Grumman’s Ingalls shipyard in Mississippi. Even if these arrangements work out, the DDG-1000 program would end with the third ship and the DDG-51 would continue to be built in both yards.

If our efforts with industry are unsuccessful, the department will likely build only a single prototype DDG-1000 at Bath and then review our options for restarting production of the DDG-51.”

Additional Readings

• US Congressional Research Service (Feb 26/10 update) – Navy DDG-51 and DDG-1000 Destroyer Programs: Background and Issues for Congress

• DID – AMDR Competition: The USA’s Next Dual-Band Radar

• DID – US Destroyers Get a HED: More Power to Them! Hybrid-Electric drive modifications might solve the class’ power problems.

• DII – Serious Dollars for AEGIS Ballistic Missile Defense Modifications (BMD)

• USNI Proceedings Magazine (May 2008) – Where Are the Ballistic-Missile-Defense Cruisers?. The DDG-51s, which would have been called cruisers in a previous age, are becoming that answer. Is that a good response? it could cost to give the Flight IIIs’ radar and combat systems ballistic missile defense capabilities – R&D for the function doesn’t go away when it’s rolled into a separate program. Indeed, if the Flight III cost estimate is true, it raises the question of why that would be a worthwhile use of funds, and re-opens the issue of whether continuing DDG-1000 production and upgrades might make more sense. DoD Buzz.

Additional Readings

• US Congressional Research Service (Feb 26/10 update) – Navy DDG-51 and DDG-1000 Destroyer Programs: Background and Issues for Congress

• DID – AMDR Competition: The USA’s Next Dual-Band Radar

• DID – US Destroyers Get a HED: More Power to Them! Hybrid-Electric drive modifications might solve the class’ power problems.

• DII – Serious Dollars for AEGIS Ballistic Missile Defense Modifications (BMD)

• USNI Proceedings Magazine (May 2008) – Where Are the Ballistic-Missile-Defense Cruisers?. The DDG-51s, which would have been called cruisers in a previous age, are becoming that answer. Is that a good response?

• Naval Technnology – Arleigh Burke Class destroyers

FOOTNOTES

fn1. The FY 2013 budget’s multi-year buy proposal estimates total savings of $1.538 billion, or 8.7% savings over buying the 9 ships with annual contracts. Current destroyers have a hardware cost of $250-350 million each for their Aegis radars and weapons systems, of which “major hardware” is an overwhelming percentage. Even if we use the low-end estimate for current systems, and assume no cost for retrofitting, 3 x $250 million would cut the projected total savings in half, dropping the proposed multi-year buy below the 5% savings threshold. [return]

Americas

• Raytheon has received a $327.1 million US Navy contract for the low-rate production of the Air and Missile Defense Radar system. Known as the AMDR or AN/SPY-6(V), the order calls for the procurement of three initial systems, including the equipment and engineering systems needed to produce, and will be mounted on Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers. The Air and Missile Defense Radar is part of the ship’s AEGIS system, and is 30 times more sensitive than the search radars on the Flight II Arleigh Burkes. Work is expected to be completed by October 2020.

• The US Navy has awarded Lockheed Martin a $64.6 million contract—with the potential to increase to $94.1 million—for engineering on the Common Compartment Strategic Weapons System. The contract includes testing of a special test vehicle, maintenance and the integration of the Trident D5 II SLBM to the system. Britain will contribute $1.9 million to the program in order to continue their collaboration on the Trident missile, despite the issue causing some controversy there over the missile’s cost and questions as to whether Britain should keep it’s undersea nuclear deterrent. However, with future upgrades, the Trident II is likely to remain both Washington and London’s main SLBM onboard both the US Ohio-class and the British Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarines until 2040.

Middle East & North Africa

• Israeli UAV manufacturer Meteor Aerospace has secured its first customer for its Impact 700 system. Measuring at 7m (22.9ft) in length and with a 12m wingspan, the UAV has an endurance of 24 hours and is currently being test-flown. While the buyer of the Impact 700 is unknown, the firm’s main investor, Hezi Bezalel, is known to be very active in Africa. The firm also announced that they are working on a larger version of the UAV, named the Impact 1300, with company president Itzhak Nissan stating that the new design “will be a much bigger UAV in the MALE [medium-altitude, long-endurance] category.”

Africa

• The US State Department has cleared the sale of 12 MD 530F Cayuse Warrior light attack helicopters to the government of Kenya. At an estimated cost of $253 million, the sale includes the provision of 24 HMP 400 machine gun pod systems, 24 M260 rocket launcher systems, and assorted ammunition. Also provided are communications and navigation equipment, contractor logistics support, training, US Government technical assistance, airframe and weapon system spare parts support, Contractor Field Service Representative (CFSR) support, and Special Assigned Airlift Mission (SAAM) flight delivery support. The sale goes towards helping Kenya modernize its rotorcraft fleet in order to improve border security, undertake operations against the Somalian jihadist group, al-Shabaab, and as a troop contributor to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). The helicopter has been used for a similar mission scope by the Afghan Air Force.

Europe

• BAE Systems Hägglunds, the Swedish subsidiary of BAE, has entered into partnership with Czech firm Ray Services to deliver parts for the Mjölner mortar system to the Swedish armed forces. The move comes as BAE looks to boost its cooperation with Czech firms as part of preparation to bid for the Czech government’s replacement of its aging BMP-2 Infantry Fighting Vehicles. The team of several companies led by BAE and including firm VOP CZ will come together to offer the CV90 IFV as part of Prague’s competition. The CV90 has over 1200 units in service in seven countries, including several NATO members.

• Slovakia is waiting on US Congress to approve the potential sale of nine Bell 429 light utility helicopters, after the sale was cleared by the US State Department. Valued at an estimated $150 million, the DSCA said the order would enable Slovakia to “strengthen its homeland defence and deter regional threats.” Also included in the sale are WESCAM MX-10 cameras, training, spare parts, and logistical support, mission equipment, communication and navigation equipment, special tools and test equipment, ground support equipment, airframe and engine spare parts, technical data, publications, maintenance work order/electronic change proposals, technical assistance, repair and return, quality assurance team, and transportation of aircraft. At present, the Slovak air force’s rotorcraft inventory includes three Mil Mi-2s and 14 Mi-17s, with nine Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawks already on order.

Asia Pacific

• South Korea has announced that it has started construction of its second Dokdo-class Landing Platform Helicopter (LPH) amphibious assault ship. The milestone was marked by a keel-laying ceremony at the shipyard of Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co. in Busan, and it is expected that the vessel will be launched in April of next year. It will be delivered to the South Korean Navy in 2020, following sea trials. Seoul’s undertaking in constructing such vessels has been noted as its most major naval transport project in over a decade.

• The Australian Royal Navy has commissioned the first of two Austal-built Cape-class patrol boats. Constructed in a $47.4 million contract, Austal says the ADV Fourcroy was officially named in a recent ceremony at a base in Western Australia and will help “secure and protect Australia’s extensive maritime borders, with eight operated by the Australian Border Force and two to be operated by the RAN.” Austal are currently preparing a bid in collaboration with German designer Fassmer to design and build 12 new Offshore Patrol Vessels for the Australian Navy.

Today’s Video

• South Korea’s Dokdo-class Landing Platform Helicopter (LPH) amphibious assault ship:

Americas

• Lockheed Martin has received a $109 million US Navy contract to deliver modification kits for a Block 3F software upgrade for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The upgrade includes the provision of 567 modification kits as well as labor costs for contractors performing the installation and maintenance for aircraft operated by the USAF, US Navy, USMC, as well as international partners. Earlier this month, the software was successfully tested during a test-launch of an inert GBU-12 Paveway II bomb against a moving target.

Middle East & North Africa

• Israel is looking to add the life-saving Automatic Ground-Collision Avoidance System (Auto-GCAS) to its fleet of F-16s. Once integrated, the system will offer a solution to the problem of accidents caused by distracted or incapacitated pilots flying into the ground in an otherwise fully functioning aircraft. However, current negotiations surrounding the potential procurement are first centered around obtaining the hardware and software modifications necessary to facilitate the installation of Auto-GCAS onboard the fighters. Israel’s push to install the technology is part of a broader effort to increase safety across its air force fleet following a number of recent crashes, most recently, last October’s crash of an F-16I which was lost while attempting to land with an asymmetric weapons load.

• In Syria, Israeli jets targeted an arms dump used by the Lebanese militia group, Hezbollah. The move was condemned by both the Syrian government and Russia, and is being seen as a wider sign of the heightened tensions surrounding a six year-long Syrian Civil War that has already caught up regional and international powers. The strike, which caused no injuries, is said to have been targeting weapons sent from Iran via commercial and military cargo planes, and destined to resupply groups such as Hezbollah. While Israel has limited its involvement in the war in Syria, officials have consistently referred to two red lines that have prompted a military response in the past—any supply of advanced weaponry to Hezbollah, and the establishment of “launch sites” for attacks on Israel from the Golan Heights region.

Europe

• Bulgaria’s interim government has selected Saab’s JAS-39 Gripen as the replacement for their aging fleet of MiG-29 fighters. The Swedish jet won out against an offering of second-hand F-16s from Portugal and an Italian offer for the Eurofighter Typhoon. Further discussions with Saab on contract details are scheduled to take place once the new government takes office next month, but it is expected that at least eight aircraft will be procured at a cost of $850 million. This new government will oversee a large military modernisation effort, with plans already approved to purchase new warships as well as a new collection of armored vehicles.

• Saab’s backlog shows that a third order has been placed for the GlobalEye airborne early warning aircraft. While the customer was not revealed, the company has already received a $1.27 billion order from the UAE for two examples, which places the Saab Erieye airborne early warning radar, a ground surveillance radar and other intelligence-gathering sensors aboard an adapted Bombardier Global 6000 business jet. The firm received a second order worth $236 million in January from another unnamed buyer. Speaking on the uptake in interest, Saab CEO Håkan Buskhe added that the company forsees “an increase in leads, and an increase in offers that we are sending out to different customers.”

• Ukraine and Poland are to collaborate on helicopter production that ranges from undertaking modernization efforts, to designing and serial producing their own models for their armed forces. Announcing the new plan, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Stepan Kubiv said that his country could not undertake such efforts on its own and needed help from Polish industry as well as potentially other Western companies. The statement follows comments made in late 2016 by Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz, who said Warsaw and Kiev are discussing plans to launch a joint production effort of helicopters that could be used by the militaries of Central and Eastern European allies.

Asia Pacific

• Lockheed Martin has been awarded a contract to upgrade the Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-TADS/PNVS) system for Japan’s fleet of AH-64DJP Apaches. Under the deal, 14 laser designation kits will be delivered to Tokyo by 2020, as well as providing Performance Based Logistics (PBL) support. Known as the “eyes of the Apache,” the new systems will provide pilots with long-range, precision engagement and pilotage capabilities for safe flight during day, night and adverse weather missions. Having already delivered some 1,350 M-TADS/PNVS systems and spares to the US Army and international customers, Japan is the first customer to receive such upgrades.

• Taiwan’s Institute of Science and Technology has signed a contract, on behalf of the Taiwanese government, with the Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation for the production of 66 advanced jet trainers. The effort comes as part of Taipei’s move to militarize the island following a recent spate of island building by China in the South China Sea. The defense ministry is to allocate $2.8 billion until 2020 to develop the advanced trainers, and begin testing the jets until 2026, when 66 units are planned for deployment. The jets will then replace older F-5 and AT-3 aircraft, which are scheduled to be decommissioned in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

Today’s Video

• How Auto-GCAS works:

Americas

• Lockheed Martin has posted weaker-than-expected sales and lower profitability in three of four divisions, making it the first cut Lockheed has made to earnings per share estimates in seven years. Stock fell more than 2 percent as the company slashed their forecast by 10 cents to $12.15 to $12.45 per share, from $12.25 to $12.55. According to the firm, higher development costs for a United Arab Emirates’ missile defense system were partly to blame for the charges. In response, Lockheed is pursuing international expansion with a goal of growing the international customer base to 30 percent of total sales.

• BAE Systems has developed a new 3-Dimensional Advanced Warning System (3DAWS) to help protect military aircraft from threats. Designed to protect aircraft in a multi-threat environment using layered countermeasure defense, the 3DAWS maximizes the effectiveness of current flare and directable infrared counter-measures, and also provides tracking capabilities for future soft- and hard-kill counter-measures. The system uses a passively-cued, semi-active radio frequency tracker as an adjunct to the company’s Common Missile Warning System or any future passive threat detection system. Furthermore, the system is modular and built to open architecture standard allowing for easy integration with US Army aircraft.

Middle East & North Africa

• Kuwait has moved ahead with a planned purchase of 30 H225M helicopters from Airbus. The helicopters had been selected by Kuwait back in August but the deal had remained unfinished by the end of 2016. Now, it’s expected that the $1.8 billion contract will be ratified “over the next few weeks,” according to the company’s CEO, Guillaume Faury. News of the deal comes as Airbus gears up to release their first-quarter results today, where details on the company’s backlog, as well as the financial impact of the continued grounding of the civil H225 in Norway and the UK, are expected to be released. Heavy restrictions were put in place on operating the aircraft last April following the aftermath of a fatal crash of a H225 on Norway’s west coast.

Europe

• Two US F-35As have landed in Estonia for the first time, in what is being described as a show of NATO solidarity and reinforcement of US commitments to protecting NATO members along Russia’s borders. The visit of the Joint Strike Fighters, which flew from UK and spent several hours in Estonia, is part of broader US jet pilot training program across Europe as the NATO alliance seeks to deter Moscow from any possible incursion in the Baltics. Training with the fifth-generation fighters is expected to last several weeks and the F-35 pilots will undergo exercises with other NATO aircraft as well as showcase the fighter’s capabilities to allies that are also acquiring F-35 fleets.

• The French government has placed orders for two types of newly-designed armored vehicle platforms as part of the SCORPION program. Thales, Nexter, and Renault Trucks Defense will deliver over 300 models of the Griffon, a 6×6 multi-role personnel carrier, and the 6×6 Jaguar, which is armed with a 40mm gun and anti-tank missiles. The exact order by the French procurement agency, DGA, for 319 Griffons and 19 Jaguars, comes just after 27 months of vehicle development. Paris is likely to use the Griffon to replace the VAB Hot personnel carriers currently used by the French Army, while the Jaguar will replace the army’s wheeled light tanks.

• DCNS has been contracted to build five intermediate-sized frigates for the French Navy. The vessels are to be based on the company’s BELH@RRA digital frigate, with the French design featuring additional self-defence and special forces projection capabilities a new generation radar from Thales, the Sea Fire four flat antenna radar, and Aster 30 missiles supplied by MBDA. Unveiled during the Euronaval 2016 expo, DCNS expects to have the French vessels in active service by 2025.

Asia Pacific

• South Korea is looking to add two additional EL/M-2080 Green Pine early warning radars to the two currently operated by their armed forces. Capable of detecting ballistic missile threats within a range of 800 kms, the extra radars are being sought amid the recent round of rising tensions between Seoul—with their ally in Washington—and an increasingly belligerent North Korea. Deliveries of the Israeli-made radars are expected to be made by the end of the year. Meanwhile, the South Korean government has confirmed that parts of the US THAAD air defense system have been moved onto the site of its deployment in the south of the country and that the deployment is expected to be ready for full operation by the end of this year.

• With tensions in the South China Sea higher than ever, Beijing has launched their first indigenously built aircraft carrier for the first time, although the vessel will not be ready to enter service until 2020. Little is known about the secretive carrier project, but Chinese officials have said the new carrier’s design draws on experiences from the country’s first carrier, the Liaoning, bought second-hand from Ukraine in 1998 and refitted in China. It’s expected that the new vessel will be able to carry China’s Shenyang J-15 fighter jets, and it features Soviet-designed ski-jump bows intended to give pilots and aircraft enough lift to take off from shorter decks. Once in service, the carrier will participate in military and humanitarian missions, while the Liaoning will serve primarily as a training vessel.

Today’s Video

• F-35s in Estonia:

ROK Flag

South Korea continues to modernize its forces, and take steps toward full sovereign control of its defenses. PAC-2 GEM+ missiles were ordered in 2008 to be operational in 2010 and fully in place by 2012. South Korea doesn’t appear to be aiming as high as Japan, with its license-produced Patriot PAC-3s and long-range naval SM-3 systems, but medium range SM-2 Block IIIA/B missiles fired from ROKN KDX-III destroyers do offer another limited option for the ROK’s coastal cities.

As countries like the UAE have been quick to recognize, turning a series of point defenses into a cohesive system that can respond in time requires long-range detection, and strong regional command-and-control systems. Now, a key contract has been signed, as South Korea prepares to field its Air and Missile Defense Cell (AMD-Cell) radars and command system.

Contracts and Key Events

Note that this article doesn’t cover every South Korean BMD purchase. It focuses on the core AMD-Cell command and control system, key radars, and overall assessments. Beyond that, it notes key milestones and decisions that may involve weapons within KAMD, like PATRIOT missiles, KDX-III destroyers, etc. Links to in-depth coverage of more specific systems are provided in the “Additional Readings” section.

2010 – 2017

KDX-III destroyer
(click to view full)

North Korea is believed to have deployed more than 600 short-range Scud missiles with a 320-500 km range, and around 200 Rodong missiles with a 1,300 km range.

April 26/17: South Korea is looking to add two additional EL/M-2080 Green Pine early warning radars to the two currently operated by their armed forces. Capable of detecting ballistic missile threats within a range of 800 kms, the extra radars are being sought amid the recent round of rising tensions between Seoul—with their ally in Washington—and an increasingly belligerent North Korea. Deliveries of the Israeli-made radars are expected to be made by the end of the year. Meanwhile, the South Korean government has confirmed that parts of the US THAAD air defense system have been moved onto the site of its deployment in the south of the country and that the deployment is expected to be ready for full operation by the end of this year.

April 18/17: South Korea will decide next month if their M-SAM air-defense system will be declared operational. According to sources, testing and evaluations of the low-tier missile system have been completed and it now awaits a final process next month to determine its suitability for intended combat missions. Seoul had initially intended to have the system deployed in the early 2020s, but ongoing tensions with North Korea caused the government to push the deployment between 2018 and 2019. Employing hit-to-kill technology, the system will intercept incoming hostile ballistic missiles at altitudes of around 20 kilometers.

May 27/14: Thinking THAAD through. The US government is considering exo-atmospheric THAAD interceptors as an option to protect American forces in South Korea, and has conducted a site survey in South Korea. The issue is that South Korea is developing its own national KAMD missile defense system, and continues to reiterate that it won’t be part of a joint system with the USA and Japan. Which means that interoperability with systems like THAAD is a potential issue.

The Americans are thinking in geo-political terms, as a visible response to North Korea, and there’s also that standard underlying “of course they want to do it our way and buy THAAD” flavor. Very American. The thought that perhaps South Korea is happy with its Green Pine radars, frequently says that terminal defense is all it can use, and would rather deploy its own Cheolmae 4-H missile developed in conjunction with Russia, never enters the picture. On the other hand, the Americans might reply that their own forces would rather have THAAD’s protection, that more than 2 long-range radars might be a good idea against an enemy whose war plan includes in-depth terrorist attacks, and that a shared set of PATRIOT PAC-3 and THAAD systems could create a basis for independent command and control systems that can still cooperate. Sources: Wall St. Journal, “Washington Considers Missile-Defense System in South Korea”.

May 26/14: KAMD. Marcin Andrzej Piotrowski looks at past and current regional tensions are preventing South Korea from fully participating in an integrated missile defense network with Japan and the US. The tensions have also prompted Seoul to modernize its defense industry, and to collaborate with Russia and Israel instead. It also has a good summary of KAMD’s current state and plans, though it fails to pay much attention to KM-SAM program efforts with Russia:

“Since 2006, Seoul has been working on low-altitude defence, the Korea Air and Missile Defence (KAMD), which would initially cost $3 billion. This is currently based on the Israeli C3I Citron Tree system and two Green Pine early warning radars. Since 2009, KAMD has included eight strategic location batteries with 48 launchers and 192 PAC-2 GEM-T missiles. Negotiations about the delivery of an additional 112 PAC-2 missiles from the U.S. are ongoing (at a cost of $404 million). Between 2008 and 2012, ROK Navy also received three modern KDX-III Sejong-class destroyers with Aegis systems and SM-2 missiles…. In the context of the growing threat, ROK has decided to augment KAMD further between 2016 and 2020, with American PAC-3 missile interceptors ($1.3 billion). Seoul is planning another three Sejong-class destroyers with SM-6 missiles, more advanced than the SM-2s. It is possible that Seoul will decide to buy more capable missile defence systems, such as THAADs, SM-3s, Arrows, or even S-400s. Due to the scale of the rocket threat, the large area of Seoul and the costs of interceptors, procurement of the Israeli Iron Dome system is much less likely. However, ROK is planning to buy 10 RPS-42 TASRS Israeli radars ($191 million) in the near future, for detecting drones and cruise missiles at very low altitude.”

Sources: ISN, “South Korea’s Air and Missile Defence: Below the Threat Level”.

April 28/14: PATRIOT. South Korea’s defense establishment formally confirms their intent to upgrade existing PATRIOT systems to PAC-3/Config-3 status (q.v. March 12/14). The budget is WON 1.3 – 1.4 trillion (about $1.25 billion), and they aim to deploy the system between 2016 – 2020. Sources: The Korea Herald, “Seoul to upgrade missile defense”.

PATRIOT upgrade OK

July 26/13: KAMD. South Korea is investing in deterrence and ISR capabilities that will complement its KAMD system, and plans to devote $63 billion of its $192.6 billion 2014 – 2018 budget period for KAMD and deterrent systems.

“The activation of a new Air and Missile Defense Cell (AMD-Cell) was planned for this month, after few months delay. This command and control center will support the entire KAMD enterprise. The AMD-Cell will integrate early warning and target tracks from multiple sources, including US Early Warning Satellites (DSP), SPY-1 naval radars deployed on the KDX-III AEGIS destroyers and the new, land-based Green Pine delivered by israel.”

Deterrent systems include their own ballistic missiles and mediu-long range cruise missiles, and the new budget also contemplates high-altitudes, long-endurance RQ-4B Global Hawk Block 30 jet-powered UAVs. These systems aren’t enough to seriously threaten China yet, but once deployed, they will create a full defense and kill chain that completely outclasses North Korea.

Even all of this equipment won’t stop the DPRK from destroying Seoul if the tense cease-fire reverts to full conflict. What it will do is make South Korean retaliation very thinkable if North Korea decides to shell populated areas, blow up a number of Cabinet members in a terrorist attack, sink South Korean ships, etc. as it has done in the past. An enemy that is comprehensively outclassed loses at least some of its escalation dominance, no matter how aggressive they may be. Sources: Defense Update, “Seoul to Invest US$63 Billion in Strategic Deterrence, Missile Defense”.

June 11-12/13: Naval. The Yonhap news agency quotes “a senior government official,” who says that its KDX-III destroyers will have their SM-2 missiles supplemented by SM-6 purchases as of 2016, as part of KAMD. The SM-6 will complement the ROK’s existing SM-2s. By 2016, they’ll be usable as terminal point defense against ballistic missiles, while also providing long-range air defense against enemy fighters, cruise missiles, etc. If the 2016 delivery date is fixed, it implies a 2014 order for SM-6 missiles. It also implies a future system upgrade for the ships, from a standard Aegis combat system to Aegis BMD 5.0.

On land, South Korea is looking to upgrade its PATRIOTs to the latest PAC-3/Config-3 standard. The question is how compatible that system will be with the USA’s missile defense systems. A working group has been set up with the USA, and findings are expected in early 2014. South Korea hopes to have KAMD v1.0 fully ready by 2020. Sources: Yonhap, “S. Korea to deploy new surface-to-air missiles for Aegis destroyers” | Global Post, “S. Korea aims to establish missile destruction system by 2020”.

Naval BMD OKed

Dec 23/12: Issues. Korea and the USA are talking about integrating AMD-Cell in Osan with the U.S. Forces Korea’s PATRIOTs. The problem is that they need to create a firewall that would insulate that joint system from other US BMD assets outside South Korea. Which is to say, in Japan.

Korea was invaded by Japan during WW2, and Japanese atrocities left a lot of hard feelings. South Korean governments have faced firestorms of criticism when proposals have been made to share intelligence with Japan, even if that intelligence concerns North Korean missile launches. North Korea’s networks of sympathizers in South Korea are happy to stir up those hard feelings up whenever it’s convenient, of course. Sources: SLD, “Defending South Korea: The Challenge of North Korean Missiles.

Dec 5/12: Green Pine deployment. South Korea’s Green Pine radars are almost ready to deploy:

“South Korea brought in two Israeli-made “Green Pine” radars this year, one of them in August and the other last month, and has since been conducting tests to ensure they have no defects.

“Acceptance testing of the Green Pine radar No. 1 comes to an end today with a final assessment of 24-hour continuous operation,” the source said. “It will be deployed immediately after the acceptance testing and will be in service when North Korea launches its long-range rocket.”

Testing of the second radar will be completed by mid-December and deployed thereafter, the source said.”

Sources: Yonhap, “S. Korea to deploy newly introduced radar ahead of N. Korea rocket launch”.

Green Pine radars deployed

Oct 28/12: PATRIOT. A joint study by the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses and the US Missile Defense Agency concludes that the PATRIOT PAC-2 system has an interception success rate of below 40% against ballistic missiles. South Korea’s government looked at that, then concluded that they need to buy PAC-3 batteries, in order to push their odds above 70% for covered areas.

The PAC-3 systems appear to be a priority, with deliveries to begin in 2014. To achieve that, a DSCA export request will need to be issued in the very near future. As PAC-3 systems arrive, South Korea reportedly plans to divert their billion-dollar buy of German PAC-2 batteries to defend against aircraft and cruise missiles. ROK’s Yonhap News Agency, S. Korea moves to upgrade Patriot defense system” | Chosun Ilbo, “PAC-2 Missiles Flunk Intercept Test”.

Oct 26/12: Made in Korea. Despite American urgings, South Korea sees America’s system as unsuitable for their needs. American systems tend to focus on midcourse intercepts, but the Koreans see hundreds of missiles just 5-10 minutes flight from their territory, and prefer terminal intercept capabilities. They also aren’t about to give up their own research and capabilities in this critical area, given their doubts about US resolve, but it’s best not mention this to your ally:

“The MD system that the United States envisions is a multi-layered defense system, which is fundamentally different from the Korean type of missile defense system that is oriented to low-layer defense,” a defense ministry official told reporters on condition of anonymity. “We cannot but build a low-layer defense system under operational situations on the Korean Peninsula. Therefore, building the KAMD (Korean Air and Missile Defense) means never participating in U.S. efforts to build a multi-layer defense system,” the official said.”

It’s the “never” that tells you there’s more at work here than just operational considerations. Sources: Yonhap, “Defense ministry denies possibility of S. Korea joining U.S. missile defense”.

April 10/10: KAMD. South Korea is sticking to its course and deploying an indigenous missile defense system, with initial deployment scheduled for July 2010.

“South Korea, which decided not to join the U.S.-led global missile defense system, has gradually been building an independent, low-tier missile shield called the Korea Air and Missile Defense System (KAMD) since 2006 by acquiring Patriot missiles and long-range early warning radars.

The KAMD involves early warning radars, ship-to-air and land-based missile defense systems, arming Seoul with the ability to track and shoot down the North’s low-flying, short- and medium-range missiles, with help of U.S. early warning satellites.”

Sources: Yonhap, “S. Korea to deploy indigenous missile defense system in July”.

2009

EL/M-2080 “Green Pine”
(click to view larger)

Sept 23/09: Israel Aerospace Industries announces a $280 million pair of contracts with South Korea, one of which covers the Oren Yarok (EL/M-2080 Block B “Green Pine”) radar. South Korea will join Israel and India as customers for the system. Globes adds that IAI’s usual contract policies involve a down payment of 25-35%, suggesting that it will record $70-98 million revenue from these contracts in its consolidated financial report for 2009.

Reports as early as Sept 17/09 had indicated that the Israeli radar had won the AMD-Cell competition against Raytheon and Thales, and that a contract was imminent. Earlier discussions had revolved around figures of about $215 million for 2 Green Pine radar systems, and current reports offer a figure of $200 million for an undisclosed number of systems. The low number of TA-50 and F/A-50 fighter orders at this early stage of their development, and the EL/M-2032 fighter radar’s low R&D needs given its mature state, make those figures plausible in the absence of a detailed breakout between the 2 contracts. Ha’aretz adds that:

“South Korea is discussing with the IAI the possibility of purchasing the Arrow missile defense system [link DID’s]. Israel is making contacts with other countries on this issue as well, with Turkey among those that have expressed interest. Nonetheless, chances are slim that a foreign country will purchase the Arrow before a joint Israeli-American missile defense development occurs.”

Ha’aretz is referring to 2 trends. One is America’s government using blocking tactics or pressure, in order to stymie Israeli sales to mutual allies in international competitions. If the equipment might be said to contain any American or American-derived technologies, the sale can be blocked outright, or simply made untenable by dithering over permissions. Otherwise, diplomatic pressure and sales of advanced American equipment to Israel become the lever. South Korea’s E-X AWACS competition, India’s MMRCA fighter competition, and Turkey’s tank competition have all featured as recent examples. The other trend is an evolving jockeying between Boeing’s GBI and Arrow, Raytheon’s SM-3 (which Israel is reportedly considering), and Lockheed Martin’s THAAD missile for significant long-term roles in land-based missile defense. IAI release | Korea Times | Ha’aretz newspaper | Globes business | Agence France Presse | Flight International.

2 Green Pine radars

May 19/09: Competition. The Korea Times reports that 3 foreign bidders have submitted contract proposals for South Korea’s AMD-Cell program: Israel’s Elta, Raytheon of the United States, and Thales Nederland.

IAI Elta’s Green Pine radar has already been discussed below. Thales Nederland manufactures a number of advanced active array naval radars, some of which are capable of ballistic missile tracking; SMART-L is probably the best known, and South Korea already uses it on their Dokdo class amphibious assault ships. Raytheon’s products include a number of missile defense radars, including the AN/TPY-2 used as part of the USA’s THAAD theater defense system.

South Korea’s DAPA defense procurement agency plans to select the finalist by the end of the year after reviewing each firm’s contract proposal, and finishing price negotiations.

Feb 15/09: Competition. The Korea Times reports that South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) is likely to select Israel’s EL/M-2080 Green Pine radar systems, buying 2 radar sets by 2010 in a WON 300 billion/ $215 million deal. Green Pine radars are an integral component of Israel’s own national missiles defense system, where they are used in conjunction with Patriot PAC-2 GEM+ missiles and Boeing/IAI’s longer-range Arrow-2 interceptors. They may also become part of India’s emerging ABM system.

Green Pine radars have a claimed detection range of 500 km/ 300 miles, which can be extended to 800 km/ 480 miles in the most modern versions. Just one of those “Super Pine” radars cold cover all of North Korea from a position well behind the armistice’s front lines.

The ballistic missile early warning radars are part of the ROK’s planned Air and Missile Defense-Cell (AMD-Cell), a missile defense command-and-control center that will play a key role in monitoring, tracking and intercepting incoming cruise and ballistic missiles from North Korea. AMD-Cell will reportedly be interoperable with US Forces Korea’s own theater missile defense system.

An anonymous source told the paper that the USA’s Forward-Based X-Band Radar-Transportable (FBX-T) was denied due to export restrictions, which the French M3R radar failed to meet all requirements. Overall:

“The DAPA concluded negotiations with foreign bidders over the selection of the early-warning radar systems last week and believes the Israeli radar is the most suitable for the country’s theater missile shield in terms of price and capabilities.”

Israel and South Korea have had limited defense ties over the years, but those ties appear to be growing. South Korea has begun buying Israeli UAVs, and Israel is considering South Korea’s T-50 jets as its future advanced flight trainers. See also: Korea Herald | Ha’aretz, Israel.

Additional Readings

• IAI – ELM-2080 Green Pine Radar system

• Radar Basics – Green Pine Radar

• Army Technology – Arrow 2 Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence System, Israel. Technically, an IAI/Boeing collaboration. Includes information regarding the Green Pine.

• Wikipedia – Arrow (missile). Includes a section covering the EL/M-2080.

• IEEE Digital Library (Oct 15-18/96) – EL/M 2080 ATBM early warning and fire control radar system. “This paper describes the system concept and some of the hardware design…”

Related Systems

• DID – Korea’s KDX-III AEGIS Destroyers. Naval component of KAMD national ballistic missile defense, which will use SM-6 missiles for terminal point defense.

• DID – Timely Defenders: Keeping Patriots in Shape. South Korea bought PAC-2 systems from Germany, and will be buying new missiles and upgrading the ground systems to reach PAC-3/Config-3 status.

• Defense Update (Dec 17/11) – Cheongung – a New MR-SAM for the South Korean Multi-Tier Defense System. Medium-range M-SAM system and Cheolmae-2/ Cheongung missile, developed in conjunction with Russia’s Almaz-Antey. May develop ABM capabilities with a larger Cheolmae 4-H missile, which would benefit from Russian S-400 technologies.

News & Views

• Missile Defense Review (Sept 3/14) – Patch up Asian BMD.

• ISN (May 26/14) – South Korea’s Air and Missile Defence: Below the Threat Level.

• Yonhap (May 26/14) – Acquiring SM-3 missiles not an option for S. Korea: defense ministry.

• Yonhap (Oct 15/13) – S. Korea seeks multi-layered missile defense against North.

• The Diplomat (July 26/13) – South Korea Goes All In On Missile Defense.

• RUSI (March 12/13) – South Korea’s Emergent Missile Defence Capabilities.

• SLD (Dec 23/12) – Defending South Korea: The Challenge of North Korean Missiles. More specifically, of integrating AMD-cell with US Forces Korea’s PATRIOTs.

• DID (Dec 1/08) – Raytheon Begins SAM-X/Patriot Missile Work in South Korea. Eventually led to sales of ground systems, which were combined with ex-German PAC-2 missiles.

SSBN-X concept
(click to view full)

The US Navy needs new SSBN nuclear missile submarines. Their existing Ohio Class boats will begin to retire at a rate of 1 hull per year, beginning in 2027, as they reach the end of their 42-year operational lifetimes. Hence SSBN-X, also known as the Ohio Replacement Program for now.

The first step toward recapitalization involved a new Common Missile Compartment and Advanced Launcher for current and future nuclear missiles. The next step involves finalizing a design that can serve effectively to 2080, without destroying the US Navy’s shipbuilding budget in the process. Good luck with that one, but they have to to try. The maintenance of the USA’s nuclear deterrent is too important, in a world where nuclear weapons are proliferating.

SSBN-X Background

Trident D5 (larger)
and C4 predecessor
(click to view larger)

The USA aims to begin construction of the new SSBN in 2021, and have the new type enter service with the fleet in 2031. A total of 12 boats would be produced, with the last boat expected to leave service around 2085. That’s a very long lifetime for a submarine, whose hull is alternately squeezed and released by water pressure as it dives and surfaces. Unfortunately, delays in starting the program mean that the USA is likely to end up with just 10 SSBNs from 2029 – 2042. If the Ohio Replacement Program suffers further development delays, this high-risk period will see corresponding extensions.

America isn’t alone in their pursuit. At present, Britain, France, India, Russia, and China are all working on new sub-launched ballistic missile systems and/or SSBN submarines. The American SSBN-X will be the end product of intense debate, especially given its aggressive production cost target of FY10$ 4.9 billion. So far, what’s known about the design includes:

Basics: The submarines will be about the same length as the Ohio Class at 560 feet, but may be a bit wider. They will be powered by a new-design reactor using 90% enriched uranium. Like the current SSN Seawolf and SSN Virginia Classes, the new reactor won’t need refueling during the submarine’s lifetime.

SSBN-X propulsion will be all-electric, which decouples the drive train from the turbines, and the pump-jet propulsor will use shrouded technology taken from the Virginia Class. The usual sail-mounted dive planes will be present, along with X-shaped stern surfaces.

One suggested way to save money was to reduce the submarine’s maximum speed from 20 to 15 knots. That would cut maximum power needs sharply, and reduce maximum required diving depth because the submarine won’t require as much space to pull out of a jam dive. The penalty would be poorer evasion of enemy torpedoes if the sub is found.

Sensors: SSBN-X is expected to use the horseshoe-shaped Large Aperture Bow Array (LAB) sonar that was developed for the Virginia Block III submarines. The submarines will undoubtedly deploy an array of other sensors, including flank sonars, towed sonar, fiber-optic masts that don’t have to penetrate the ship’s hull, ESM signal recognition and location technologies, etc.

The key will be making these sensors upgradeable at low cost. The 65 years from 2015 – 2080 is a huge amount of time in the technology world. If upgrades are too expensive, the entire SSBN force could find itself compromised mid-way through its life.

ULRM
(click to view full)

Weapons: The new CMC/AL assemblies are slated for production in blocks of 4 tubes, allowing the USA and UK to tailor the total number of missile tubes to their final submarine designs. Current American Ohio Class SSBNs have 24 tubes, but SSBN-X currently plans to reduce that to 16 tubes. The Trident II D5 missiles, which are being refurbished and improved, will switch over to the new boats as their initial nuclear weapons.

Beyond that, there are questions. Should the new boats have torpedo tubes, in order to protect themselves from enemies under, on, or even above the water? Or should they eliminate that feature and its accompanying space? Sometimes the best defense really is a good offense, but even if the torpedo or missile destroys its enemy, the act of destruction is a beacon to enemy forces as soon as they’re aware of it. Attention is the last thing an SSBN wants, so this is a last resort action. On the other hand, torpedo tubes are useful to keep up SSN training and testing roles, ensuring that American submariners remain proficient enough to be assigned between types.

Then there’s the question of non-nuclear payloads in some of the CMC missile tubes. Converted Ohio class SSGNs, for instance, have already replaced nuclear missiles with American special forces, land attack missiles, and UAVs. In a similar and related vein, the Virginia Class Block III fast attack submarine replaced their 12 vertical-launch cruise missile tubes with 2 Common Weapon Launcher (CWL) “six-shooters” derived from the SSGNs’ converted missile tubes. The size of those CWLs allows Virginia Class Block III submarines to launch cruise missiles, UAVs, UUVs, and more from these same tubes.

Nuclear missile submarines are a nation’s most strategic assets, because they are its most secure and certain deterrence option. One does not commit them casually, to any purpose. As key trends like cheaper sensors and the Robotic Revolution grind onward, however, the next 40 years will see big changes underwater warfare. SSBNs will need the flexibility to adapt and leverage these changes if they intend to survive. For the USA and Britain, their weapon launchers need to be part of that adaptation.

Contracts and Key Events

Note that Common Missile Compartment design, and refurbished Trident nuclear missile production, are covered by their own articles. Unless otherwise indicated, the US Strategic Systems Programs in Washington, DC manages the contract.

FY 2017

April 25/17: Electric Boat Corporation has been selected by the US Navy to produce 17 ballistic missile tubes for submarines constructed under the Ohio Replacement Program. Valued at $95.6 million, delivery is expected to be completed by December 2023. These upcoming Columbia-class submarines are being produced under the Common Missile Compartment program—joint effort with the UK to use the Trident ballistic missile as primary underwater nuclear deterrent—and will eventually enter service after 2031. Once in service, the vessels will serve as the primary undersea nuclear force for the United States for at least 50 years.

FY 2016

Shipbuilders Growing Impatient

October 6/15: The US’ top shipbuilders are growing impatient with the Navy over the Ohio-class Replacement Program (SSBN-X), with General Dynamics Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls Industries both calling for the service to comment on a proposed workshare between the two yards. The two yards submitted a proposal for a working arrangement in March, which will see Electric Boat complete the majority of work for the twelve new subs; however the Navy has yet to finalize its procurement strategy for the program, despite advanced procurement scheduled to start in 2017 after a DoD review of the Navy’s acquisition strategy in mid-2016.

FY 2015

Mar 5/15: Congressmen praise new refresh effort.
At trade association forum, senator and representative both stressed the importance of replacing the boomers. They also, coincidentally, come from states with the major East Coast sub bases.

Feb 5/15: FYDP puts $10 Billion in kitty.The Future Years Defense Plan calls for a $10 billion investment, split between research and long-lead-time procurement, over the next five years. After that, the real money really starts to add up. The Navy today estimates that it will cost $100 billion to replace the existing 14 boomers with 12 new ones – an amount equal to Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product at the end of the first cold war. Over their service life, they would be expected to cost roughly four times that. Several rear admirals have suggested that the navy will need budget relief to get this accomplished, yet still have funds to afford other shipbuilding programs. The idea of moving this big project off their books appears to be more and more frequently floated.

FY 2014

Specifications “finalized”; GAO and DOT&E reports; Proposal to move it outside of Navy budgets.

Plans 2014-2023
(click to view full)

June 10/14: GAO Report. The US GAO releases GAO-14-373, “Ten-Year Budget Estimates for Modernization….” of American nuclear forces. With respect to SSBNs:

“…the Navy’s Ohio Replacement Program included $27.8 billion in research, development, test, and evaluation and ship construction estimates over the 10-year period for a new SSBN. However, the Navy’s submarine-replacement program is further along in the acquisition process than either the Air Force’s ICBM-replacement effort, or its new bomber program.”

May 27/14: Sub-contractors. Northrop Grumman announces a contract from General Dynamics Electric Boat to design and deliver the Ohio Replacement Program’s 1st turbine generator units, which will provide all of the submarine’s propulsion and other electrical power. They add that the award “…follows separate ORP contract awards from General Dynamics to Northrop Grumman’s Marine Systems business unit for other ORP components.” Sources: NGC, “Northrop Grumman Selected to Provide Turbine Generator Units For US Navy’s Ohio Replacement Submarine Program”.

May 23/14: Politics. The Senate Armed Services Committee’s FY 2015 mark-up calls for the establishment of a separate budget to finance SSBN-X construction, instead of consuming the Navy’s shipbuilding budget for several years:

“Establishes a National Sea-based Deterrence Fund, to provide resources for ensuring that we implement the Ohio-class replacement program at the appropriate level of priority assigned to it by the Secretary of the Navy and the Chief of Naval Operations, with an [initial] authorization of $100 million.”

They’re going to have to reconcile that with the House bill before that becomes any kind of organizing structure for the program. Sources: SASC, “Senate Committee On Armed Services Completes Markup Of The National Defense Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2015”.

April 7/14: Specifications. The US Navy has reportedly finalized the specifications for their new SSBNs. They’ll be about as long as the current Ohio Class, but with 8 fewer missile tubes (16 total). The submarines will have a new electric propulsion system, and the same kind of no-refuel reactor enjoyed by recent American fast attack boats. All of this was already established wisdom, and they aren’t saying much more than that publicly.

The latest Navy figures reportedly estimate $110 million per boat per year in operating costs. US Navy estimates at this stage of a program have a bad record, so caveat lector. Sources: DoD Buzz, “Navy Finishes Specs for Future Nuclear Sub” | USNI, “Navy Has Finalized Specifications for New Ohio-Replacement Boomer”.

SSBN spec done?

March 31/14: GAO Report. The US GAO tables its “Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs“. Which is actually a review for 2013, plus time to compile and publish. With respect to SSBN-X, the numbers are very large: $95.103 billion total for 12 boats, split $11.718 billion RDT&E and $85.385 billion in procurement costs.

“The Navy has set initial configurations for areas including the torpedo room, bow, and stern. In 2014, the program expects to complete initial specifications, set ship length – a major milestone – and start detailed system descriptions and arrangements.”

Navy officials are trying to reduce costs for boats 2-12 from an estimated FY10$ 5.6 billion to FY10$ 4.9 billion, and one approach is to seek commonalities with the Virginia Class and the UK’s Successor SSBN. The CMC itself is already doing some of that.

Jan 30/14: UUV launcher. A joint effort between the US Navy and General Dynamics Electric Boat is now testing a prototype Universal Launch and Recovery Module (ULRM) system that would launch and capture underwater drones from SSBN/SSGN vertical launch tubes, and from the Virginia Payload Module on forthcoming Virginia Class submarines. Diagrams show payloads up to a pair of Bluefin-21 (future SMCM mine countermeasures) UUVs, but the extend and launch method itself is adaptable to any new UUV that fits within the space.

This isn’t a development that touches the CMC directly, nor is it new. Indeed, engineer Steve Klinikowski’s idea was tabled in 2005, and a model was exhibited at DSEi 2011 in Britain. This article is particularly helpful in showing pictures of the mechanisms, and in confirming that ULRM has progressed to testing. If there was any doubt that the CMC’s tubes are likely to include payload options beyond nuclear missiles, those doubts are effectively removed. The time to contemplate those needs is right now, during the CMC’s design phase. Engineering.com Designer Edge, “Navy Begins Test of UUV Launch System” | Fox News, “Navy, Electric Boat test tube-launched underwater vehicle”.

Jan 28/14: DOT&E Testing Report. The Pentagon releases the FY 2013 Annual Report from its Office of the Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E). CMC is included indirectly, as part of the “SSBN Ohio Class Replacement Program”.

SSBN-X is currently slated to include a new propulsor, a new electric drive system, and a degaussing system, all of which should make the new submarines harder to detect. The new nuclear reactor won’t require mid-life refueling, a long refit whose operational impact would have forced the USA to build 14 submarines instead of the planned 12. CMC provides the main weapons interface, and there’s currently a debate about whether to even give the SSBNs torpedo tubes. The Strategic Weapon System includes the Trident II D5 Life Extension missile, launcher, fire control, navigation systems, and associated support systems. Most of the SWS will be carried over from existing submarine classes, as will items like communications, sonar, and internal computer networks.

From September 2012 – July 2013, the Navy conducted an Early Operational Assessment (EOA) – an extensive review of Ohio and Ohio Replacement documentation to identify program risks, and a modeling and simulation study to compare the survivability of the existing and future submarine classes. The EOA did come up with some program risks, which are classified. The modeling and simulation was informative, but the acoustic and threat models need updating.

FY 2012 – 2013

The case for the program; Some specifications finalized, incl. all-electric propulsion; Navy decides not to adapt Virginia Class.

Ohio class SSBN, tubes open
(click to view full)

Jan 9/13: Long-lead. GD Electric Boat in Groton, CT receives a $15 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification for integrated tube and hull long-lead-time material in support of the Ohio Class Replacement Program. This contract combines purchases for the US Navy (50%) and the Britain (50%).

All funds are committed immediately, using FY 2014 RDT&E budgets and UK government monies. Work will be performed in Groton, CT, and is scheduled to be complete by November 2016. The USN’s Supervisor of Shipbuilding Conversion and Repair in Groton, CT manages the contract (N00024-13-C-2128).

Jan 26/13: All-Electric. TG Daily reports that the next American SSBNs will be doing away with their mechanical drivetrain, which connects the reactor turbines directly to the boat’s propellers. In order to make the boat quieter, and free up electricity for other functions, power from the reactor would flow into an all-ship electrical grid. Some of that power would be harnessed by electric motors connected to the shortened propeller shafts, and it would probably be more than the 20-25% available in more conventional nuclear designs.

This kind of “all-electric” system is becoming more and more common on naval surface ships, so its adaptation to next-generation submarines is unsurprising. Even so, the cramped, no-failure world of submarine design always adds new engineering challenges. The USN also plans to field its new SSBN submarines with reactors that don’t require mid-life refueling, something they’ve already accomplished on the Virginia Class fast attack boats.

Sub design 101
click for video

Dec 21/12: SSBN Design. General Dynamics Electric Boat Corp. in Groton, CT receives a $1.849 billion cost-plus-fixed-fee with special incentives contract to design America’s new class of ballistic missile submarines. GDEB will also undertake shipbuilder and vendor component and technology development; engineering integration; concept design studies; cost reduction initiatives using a design for affordability process; and full scale prototype manufacturing and assembly. Additionally, this contract provides for engineering analysis, should-cost evaluations, and technology development and integration efforts. This contract includes options which could bring the cumulative value to $1.996 billion.

Other efforts contemplated under this contract include the continued design and development of US unique Common Missile Compartment efforts; and continuing the design and development of the joint US Navy/UK CMC. About 8% of the contract involves foreign military sales to the United Kingdom.

Work will be performed in Groton, CT (91%); Newport News, VA (7%); Quonset, RI (1%); and Bath, ME (1%), and is expected to be complete by September 2017. $183.1 million is committed immediately, with the rest allocated as needed; $8 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/13. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with FAR 6.302-1 by US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC (N00024-13-C-2128).

Initial SSBN design ordered

Sept 27/12: Integration. Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. in Sunnyvale, CA receives a sole-source $51.6 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for engineering efforts to support next-generation SSBN programs. The firm was deemed to be the only company that could integrate the TRIDENT II Missile and Reentry Strategic Weapon System subsystems into the CMC, and design an updated missile service unit that will be compatible with both current and new submarine fleets. With options, this contract could rise to $52.2 million.

Work will be performed in Cape Canaveral, FL (50%); Sunnyvale, CA (34%); Syracuse, NY (10%); Magna, UT (2%); Washington, DC (1%); yet to be determined locations (2%); and other locations of less than 1% (1% TL); and will run until Dec 31/17 (N00030-12-C-0058).

Sept 24/12: Program Risk. US Navy Director, Undersea Warfare Rear Adm. Barry Bruner answers questions about the Ohio Class Replacement Program. He defends the Navy’s vision of 12 submarines instead of 14, with 16 tubes each instead of 24, at a target cost of $FY10 4.9 billion per hull for boats 2-12. At the same time, he acknowledges that the existing SSBN force will have a problematic period, which will become very problematic if the replacement program suffers any significant delays:

“Because ship construction of the Ohio Replacement shifted from the year 2019 to 2021, there will be fewer than 12 SSBNs from 2029 to 2042 as the Ohio-class retires and Ohio replacement ships join the fleet. During this time frame no major SSBN overhauls are planned, and a force of 10 SSBNs will support current at-sea presence requirements. However, this provides a low margin to compensate for unforeseen issues that may result in reduced SSBN availability. The reduced SSBN availability during this timeframe reinforces the importance of remaining on schedule with the Ohio Replacement program to meet future strategic commitments. As the Ohio Replacement ships begin their mid-life overhauls in 2049, 12 SSBNs will be required to offset ships conducting planned maintenance.”

If the Ohio Class Replacement Program manages to come in on time, and anywhere close to its budget, it will be a very unusual example within recent US Navy shipbuilding programs. The higher-odds bet, unfortunately, is that the USA is headed for serious problems with the readiness of its SSBN deterrent. With respect to costs, and proposals to use the Virginia Class or existing Ohio Class blueprints:

“To date, the Navy has reduced costs by reducing specifications to the minimum necessary to meet national strategic deterrent requirements, implementing modular construction design, re-using the Trident II D5 Strategic Weapons System, and re-using Virginia- and Ohio-class components where feasible….. has already reduced approximately $1.1 billion in construction per ship and ~$3 billion in design from its fiscal year 2011 plan (calendar year 2010).

….Although some savings would be realized due to lower design costs, an SSBN class based on a Virginia hull would require additional platforms, additional nuclear refueling, increased personnel costs, and its acoustic signature would be vulnerable to projected threats. Ultimately, the Navy would receive an SSBN class that is more expensive and less capable. Similarly, rebuilding Ohio-class SSBNs would save on design costs. However, the Ohio-class does not have sufficient stealth to stay viable out to the 2080s, and construction of more Ohio-class ships would not be able to take advantage of efficiencies of modern construction techniques.”

Sources: USN’s Navy Live, “Next Generation Ohio-Class”.

Sept 6/12: SSBN-X Specifications. US Navy, “Navy Signs Specification Document for the Ohio Replacement Submarine Program, Sets forth Critical Design Elements”:

“The Navy formalized key ship specifications for both the United States’ Ohio Replacement and United Kingdom’s Successor Programs in a document signed Aug. 31 at the Washington Navy Yard…. Ship specifications are critical for the design and construction of the common missile compartment, which will be used by both nations’ replacement fleet ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) programs. Specifically, the First Article Quad Pack Ship Specification establishes a common design and technical requirements for the four missile tubes and associated equipment that comprise each quad pack.”

CMC specifications

Oct 18/11: No Virginia. The US Navy has reportedly shelved the idea of a Virginia Class SSBN variant (vid. July 20/11), in favor of a new and quieter SSBN design that will carry the CMC. The question is whether that stance can last, given the new design’s current estimated cost of $7 billion per boat. If those costs rise, or budgets shrink, that Navy may find itself with fewer submarine platform choices than it would like. AOL Defence

FY 2008 – 2011

Britain joins common CMC program, launches its own future SSBN program; US Navy considering SSN Virginia Class adaptation.

Virginia Block III bow
(click to view full)

July 20/11: Virginias? To date, the assumption in America has been that CMC would equip a newly designed SSBN submarine, and GD Electric Boat has been hiring with the idea in mind. Connecticut’s The Day now quotes vice-Adm. Cartwright, Vice-Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as saying that budget cuts may force the Navy to lengthen its Virginia Class attack submarine, in order to fit ballistic missile compartments and act as an SSBN.

By nature, fast attack submarines tend to be less optimized for stealth than SSBNs. The Virginia Class is said to be remarkably stealthy, but the USA will still want improvements, and the weight/ size gap is very challenging. Ohio Class SSBNs are about 18,750 tons submerged. Britain’s Vanguard Class SSBNs are 17,800 tons, and France’s Triomphant Class SSBNs are 15,800 tons. In contrast, the basic Virginia Class is about 7,800 tons. Even with fewer missile tubes on board, finding a solution that offers an affordable extension, instead of a full submarine redesign that defeats the point of starting with the Virginia Class, won’t be easy. The Day.

July 6/11: General Dynamics Electric Boat Corp. in Groton, CT receives a $15.8 million modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-09-C-2100) for continued engineering, technical services, concept studies, and design of a common missile compartment for the United Kingdom Successor SSBN and the Ohio replacement SSBN submarine.

Work will be performed in Groton, CT (93%); Quonset Point, RI (3%); Newport News, VA (2%); and Newport, RI (2%). Work is expected to be complete by December 2011. US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC manages the contract.

May 18/11: British go-ahead. Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox announces government approval for the early phase of design to replace the existing Vanguard Class. The new “Successor Class” submarines will use the same CMC launcher system as the USA’s SSBN-X, and fire the same Trident II D5 MK6LE missiles. They’ll also be powered by a new nuclear propulsion system known as the Pressurised Water Reactor 3, which is more expensive but safer. The design phase as a whole could be worth up to GBP 3 billion.

The Initial Gate approval ensures that more detailed design work will be undertaken and long-lead items ordered, even though the main build decision for the submarines will not be taken until 2016. Under current plans, the first replacement submarine is expected in 2028. For all further coverage of Britain’s new submarines, see “New Nukes: Britain’s Next-Gen Missile Submarines“.

Britain’s related SSBNs

Dec 23/08: General Dynamics Electric Boat Corporation, Groton, CT receives a $75.6 million sole-source, cost plus fixed fee contract to perform concept studies and design of a Common Missile Compartment (CMC) for the United Kingdom Successor SSBN and the USA’s Ohio Class Replacement program. This contract includes options which would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $591.8 million, and take design work to December 2013.

Work will be performed in Groton, CT (92%), Newport News, VA (4%), Quonset, RI (3%), and Newport, RI (1%), and is expected to be complete by December 2009 for the base contract, and December 2013 if all options are exercised. This contract was not competitively procured, and is formally run through the Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC (N00024-09-C-2100). At present, this contract involves Foreign Military Sales to the United Kingdom (100%), but that may change.

CMC: initial concept studies

Additional Readings Background: Related Technology

• US Navy Fact File – Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarines – SSBN.

• GlobalSecurity – SSBN-726 Ohio-Class FBM Submarines.

• DID – Trident II D5 Missile: Keeping Up with Changing Times.

• DID – CMC Program Defining Future SSBN Launchers for UK, USA.

• DID – SSGN “Tactical Trident” Subs: Special Forces and Super Strike. the 1st 4 Ohios had their 24 tubes converted to cruise missile arsenals via rotary 7-slot launcher inserts, and also became mobile special forces bases.

• DID – New Nukes: Britain’s Next-Gen Missile Submarines.

Official Reports

• US GAO (June 10/14, #GAO-14-373) – Ten-Year Budget Estimates for Modernization Omit Key Efforts, and Assumptions and Limitations Are Not Fully Transparent. Not a problem for SSBNs, but it is for the USAf’s bombers and missiles.

News & Views

• Defense One (April 30/14) – Funding to Replace Nuclear Subs Up in the Air. It may be moved outside the Navy shipbuilding budget, as a national strategic item.

• Defense Tech (Oct 24/13) – Ohio Replacement Submarine Starts Early Construction. At least, CMC does.

• USNI Proceedings Magazine (September 2013) – The Future of Deterrence? Ballistic-Missile Defense. In other words, remove the USA’s SSBN capability. Doesn’t get a great reception from readers.

• USN’s Navy Live blog (Sept 24/12) – Next Generation Ohio-Class. Q&A with Rear Adm. Barry Bruner.

• USNI Proceedings Magazine (June 2012) – The Incredible Shrinking SSBN(X).

Americas

• Orbital ATK has won a USAF contract to supply rocket motors for AIM-9P Sidewinder missiles. The agreement, which could reach a potential value of $67 million, covers the production and provision of motors for ordinance that will be sold to other governments under the US foreign military sales program. First developed in the 1970s, the AIM-9 has undergone significant upgrades to improve its capabilities and lethality over the years, with the present version featuring Orbital ATK’s SR116-HP-1 reduced-smoke rocket motor. Work will continue through until February 2022.

• UTC Aerospace Systems’ MS-177 sensor has been successfully tested by Northrop Grumman onboard an RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV. The sensor is a high-resolution imaging device designed to improve capabilities for the Global Hawk in addition to several other surveillance platforms operated by the USAF, with UTC adding that the sensor will provide warfighters with the most advanced reconnaissance tools to date. Demonstrations with the sensor began in early March and Northrop will continue through the first half of 2017. Prior to being integrated on such a high altitude platform, the MS-177 has been equipped on the E-8C JSTARS aircraft.

• The USAF’s F-16 fighting fleet is to receive service life extension work from Lockheed Martin. The decision boosts the service life for the jets from 8,000 Equivalent Flight Hours to 12,000 with the service looking to continue operating the jets through to 2048. As many as 300 F-16C/D Block 40-52 aircraft will be affected by the work, and will also benefit foreign military customers. It’s intended that the aircraft will supplement US and allied forces while they recapitalize with new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

• Lockheed Martin has secured legal permission to explore the potential use of exoskeleton technology for the military market. The firm secured licensing of bionic augmentation technology from B-Temia and will incorporate it to supplement its FORTIS industrial exoskeleton project. Designed to make labor easier by transferring pressure through the exoskeleton to the ground in a process that makes heavy tools “weightless,” the system requires no external power to operate, and can boost military capabilities by enabling soldiers to carry more equipment over longer distances. The product can be used in standing or kneeling positions, and uses a tool arm to reduce muscle fatigue and boost productivity.

Middle East & North Africa

• Despite issues with gaining certain technology transfers for the Altay, Turkey could begin serial production of the main battle tank as early as this May, according to Defense Minister Fikri Isik. Pakistan and some Gulf nations are believed to be lined up as potential customers for the vehicle. Talk of potential delays to the Altay surfaced when local contractor Tümosan was unable to continue working on providing a domestic diesel engine for the tank, after Austria’s AVL List GmbH, which it had as a technical support partner, ceased working with the Turkish firm amid concerns that the Turkish government were sliding on human rights issues. It now looks like Ankara may instead turn to Ukraine for help, with the Altay possibly adopting the Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau’s (KMDB) 1,500 hp 6TD-3 diesel engine.

Europe

• Italian manufacturer Leonardo has handed over its 500th operational Eurofighter Typhoon to the Italian Air Force. Marking the occasion was a ceremony at the firm’s Turin facility and saw attendance from various military and security industry representatives, including leaders from Leonardo, NETMA, and Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug. Speaking at the event, Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug CEO Volker Paltzo stated that the “500-strong Eurofighter Typhoon fleet represents one of the largest and most capable fighter fleets in the western hemisphere, and will be the backbone of European airpower for decades to come.” European armed forces have been operating the Typhoon since 2003, when the first completed jet was delivered to Britain’s Royal Air Force. The service received their 100th plane in September 2006 while Germany’s air force accepted the delivery of the 400th jet in 2013.

• Russia has displayed its Pantsyr-S1 and Tor-M2 air defense systems integrated on DT-30-series all-terrain tracked carriers (ATTCs) optimised for Arctic operations. The DT-30 vehicle is amphibious, has a load-carrying capability of around 30 tonnes, and wide tracks that provide a low ground pressure that allows it to cross terrain that is not passable by conventional tracked and wheeled platforms. It consists of two sections that are joined by an articulated joint to allow for a high degree of articulation while moving across rough terrain, including sand, ice, and snow. However, while normally the Pantsyr-S1 usually contains 12 missile launch tubes (six on each side) and two twin 30 mm 2A38M cannons, the arctic version drops the use of the 30mm guns.

Asia Pacific

• The first three months of the year have shown an increase in the number of times that the Japanese air force has had to scramble its fighter jets to ward off foreign aircraft. Figures released by Tokyo show that fighters were scrambled 1,168 times over the 12 months, up from 873 last year. A record 851 jets headed off approaching Chinese planes, or 280 more instances than in the corresponding period last year. The uptick in Chinese activity has contributed to rising tension in East Asia since the start of the year as North Korea pushes ahead with ballistic missile and nuclear bomb tests that have stoked fears in Japan, the United States and elsewhere.

Today’s Video

• The 500th Eurofighter:

Americas

• Lockheed Martin has won a $372 million contract modification in order to address several issues with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The US Navy contract did not specify any particular work that needed to be undertaken under the agreement, however it facilitates deficiency corrections for US operators as well as the country’s foreign military customers. Work will be carried out in Texas, California, New Hampshire, Japan and Britain, and is expected to be complete by March 2020.

• Future US Navy frigates may come with added air defense capabilities as a new study group is being commissioned to examine adding such a platform to the requirements. At present, service specifications call for a vessel to have enough surface-to-air missiles to protect itself. The new idea is to double the RIM-162 Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (ESSM) load from 8 to 16 or having a Mark 41 Vertical Launching System loaded with eight Standard Missile-2 (SM-2). Upgunning the frigates will change the Navy designation for the ships from FF, meaning frigate, to FFG — guided missile frigates able to provide area air defense.

• General Dynamics has proven that Raytheon’s ALR-69A Radar Warning Receiver (RWR) can work on an MQ-9 UAV. The demonstration used a company-owned Predator B with the RWR stored within GA-ASI’s standard payload pod against a series of various ground-based radars. A company statement said that the new radar provided enhanced situational awareness by identifying potential radar threats to ground-based crew, and that more test demonstrations are planned that will include the aircraft flying with an integrated Link 16 data link.

• An MQ-8C Fire Scout UAV has been tested onboard a littoral combat ship (LCS) for the first time. 37 recovery evolutions were conducted onboard the USS Montgomery over the course of seven days in order to verify the MQ-8C launch and recovery procedures and test interoperability between the unmanned helicopter and the ship. A larger version of the MQ-8B, the “C” variant was given Milestone C status by the Navy earlier this month and will begin initial operational test and evaluation this fall.

Middle East & North Africa

• United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) President Yuri Slyusar has confirmed that the Egyptian government has bought a number of MiG-29M/M2 aircraft, with the first batch of deliveries expected for this year. As part of the $2 billion sale, Cairo will receive as many as 50 of the fighters by 2020 as well as receiving pilot training and associated equipment. Improvements on the legacy MiG-29 aircraft include design changes to the airframe, improved turbofans in the RD-33MK (which is similar in weight to the RD-33, but benefits from a higher thrust rating and full-authority digital engine control), fly-by-wire flight control system, updated avionics and Zhuk-ME pulse-Doppler radar.

Europe

• The NATO Eurofighter 2000 and Tornado Management Agency (NETMA) has contracted Saab to deliver 29 units of the latest version of its BOZ-101 electronic warfare self-protection and countermeasures system for the German Air Force. The wing-mounted pod has been in use on Tornados for many years and provides pilots with early warning and missile detection capabilities while in flight. Saab’s work will be performed at its facilities in Järfälla, Sweden and Centurion, South Africa. German authorities expect deliveries to take place between 2017 and 2020.

• Leonardo believes its AW139M helicopter will suit all the requirements for the Czech Republic’s new fleet of multi-role helicopters, as Prague prepares for the release of a request for proposal (RFP). The company stated that the AW139M is “fully compliant with the [defence ministry’s] request for information and subsequent request for additional data,” which includes requirements such as being capable of carrying troops and air-to-surface weapons; including anti-tank missiles as well as being capable of flying in all weather conditions and at night. Leonardo will not disclose details of the proposed aircraft configuration ahead of RFP release, but the AW139M is also likely to feature defensive aids system equipment and countermeasures dispensers. The company has released an image of a notional fire-support-roled aircraft carrying air-to-surface missiles, guided/unguided rocket pods, a pod-housed gun and an electro-optical/infrared sensor payload.

Asia Pacific

• India is looking to secure long-term ammunition supply contracts with local private industry worth $3 billion over ten years. The initiative aims to encourage capital investments by private sector companies in ammunition manufacturing facilities as India struggles with critical ammunition shortages — of the total 170 types of ammunition, there is a shortage in 125 types. Various types of ammunition wanted by New Delhi include: 500,000 rounds of 30mm high-explosive grenades (VOG-17) for automatic grenade launchers; 125mm APFSDS-T (Armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot — tracer) ammo for T-90 and T-72 tanks; 122mm extended-range multiple rocket launcher ammo for the BM GRAD; 23mm HEI/APIT (high-explosive incendiary/armor-piercing incendiary tracer) ammo for ZU-23 air defense guns; 30mm HEI/T (high-explosive incendiary — tracer) ammo for BMP-2 infantry combat vehicles; 40mm MGL/UBGL (multiple grenade launcher/underbarrel grenade launcher) ammo; and electronic fuzes for artillery guns.

Today’s Video

• Sikorsky-Boeing Future Vertical Lift (FVL) concept:

RIM-162: sections
(click to view full)

The RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) is used to protect ships from attacking missiles and aircraft, and is designed to counter supersonic maneuvering anti-ship missiles. Compared to the RIM-7 Sea Sparrow, ESSM is effectively a new missile with a larger, more powerful rocket motor for increased range, a different aerodynamic layout for improved agility, and the latest missile guidance technology. Testing has even shown the ESSM to be effective against fast surface craft, an option that greatly expands the missile’s utility. As a further bonus, the RIM-162 ESSM has the ability to be “quad-packed” in the Mk 41 vertical launching system, allowing 4 missiles to be carried per launch cell instead of loading one larger SM-2 Standard missile or similar equipment.

This is DID’s FOCUS article for the program, containing details about the RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow missile family, and contracts placed under this program since 1999. The Sea Sparrow was widely used aboard NATO warships, so it isn’t surprising that the ESSM is an international program. The NATO Sea Sparrow Consortium includes Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, and the USA – as well as non-NATO Australia. Foreign Military Sales ESSM customers outside this consortium include Japan, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates.

ESSM: The Missiles More Than An Upgrade

RIM-7 Sea Sparrow Launch
(click to view full)

The RIM-162 is based on the RIM-7P, but it’s a new missile in almost all respects. The ESSM is a tail-controlled missile with strakes instead of the RIM-7 Sea Sparrow’s wings and fins, using thrust vectoring to achieve a 50g maneuvering capability. ESSM also features a larger and completely new boost-only solid rocket motor (25.4 cm, 10 in diameter), a new autopilot, and a new insensitive-munition blast-fragmentation warhead. Effective range is significantly bigger than that of the RIM-7P, making ESSM a short to medium-range surface-to-air missile that fits in between “zone defense” options like the SM-2/3 and short-range point defenses like Mistral, RBS-70, RIM-116 SeaRAM, et. al.

ESSM Block I is a semi-active radar homing missile that depends on reflected radiation from the ship’s radar to see its target. Within that approach, the missile proceeds through various modes and phases. Generally speaking, there are 3 fundamentally different guidance modes used by ESSM Block I: Home All the Way (HAW), S-Band Midcourse Guidance (SB MCG), and X-Band Midcourse Guidance (XB MCG).

During Home All the Way operation, ESSM receives target illumination and rear reference for the entire flight from launch to intercept. This limits the number of missiles the ship can guide against multi-path saturation attacks, because on ships that must use HAW, limited shipboard radar resources must focus completely on one target if they focus at all. The only way to get around this limitation of the launching ship is to use missiles with active seeker heads of their own, sacrificing radar power and hence accuracy against difficult targets. ESSM Block II will begin to offer that option.

The RIM-162 missile always begins in the transition guidance mode where the missile safely exits the launcher, clears the ship’s structures, and then completes the pitch-over maneuver. At this time, the Thrust Vector Control (TVC) unit is jettisoned, and midcourse guidance begins unless it’s operating in HAW mode. For ships whose systems are advanced enough to use it, midcourse guidance allows search radars to keep track of multiple incoming missiles, offering navigation updates to each ESSM missile in the air. This lets them all remain roughly on target as they close in. SB MCG is the mode used when operating with the S-band AEGIS radar & combat system. XB MCG is the mode used with combat systems with X-band Multi-Function Radars (MFRs) like APAR, SPY-3 and CEAFAR/CEAMOUNT.

ESSM flies an energy efficient profile during midcourse guidance, switching to proportional navigation and full homing guidance from the ship during the last moments before intercept. This gives the missile maximum accuracy, while minimizing the use of limited shipboard radar resources.

ESSM Variants

ESSM stages
(click to view full)

The RIM-162A. Has an S-band uplink for SB MCG use with AEGIS-equipped ships, and is the most frequently produced version. It equips some American Arleigh Burke Class destroyers, and some Ticondergoa Class cruisers are also being modified to carry it. Foreign AEGIS ships that are slated to carry it include Japan’s Kongo Class destroyers, Norway’s Fridjhof Nansen Class frigates, Spain’s F100 Alvaro de Bazan Class frigates, and Australia’s derivative Hobart Class destroyers.

RIM-162B. A version for use on non-AEGIS ships equipped with the MK 41 Vertical Launch System; as such, it lacks the AEGIS S-band uplink. It’s used with on ships like Germany’s F124 Sachsen Class frigates and their Dutch De Zeven Provincien Class counterparts, which use advanced Thales APAR X-band radars. Australia ANZAC Class frigates being upgraded to add new CEAFAR/CEAMOUNT radars, which allow XB MCG.

The RIM-162C and RIM-162D. These are derivatives of the RIM-162B, for use with the MK 48/56 VLS and MK 29 box launchers, respectively. The UAE’s Baynunah Class corvettes, for instance, will pack the RIM-162C, fired from the MK56 8-cell vertical launchers.

US Carriers and LHD/LHA amphibious assault aviation ships pack the RIM-162D in 8-box launchers, as the USA replaces RIM-7 missiles on those platforms and builds new ships with RIM-162 ESSM.

RIM-162 Block II. This program is just beginning. Right now, it aims to define the changes needed in order to address emerging aerial threats, and assess their cost, technical risks, and potential development time. The biggest goal for Block 2 is to give the missile an active seeker option that allows independent guidance. That would make ESSM much more effective against saturation attacks, though ESSM would also retain the ability to home in on reflected radiation from the ship’s much larger and more powerful radar. The bottom line is simple: as more competitors are fielded with independent guidance (Raytheon SM-6, Eurosam Aster-15, MBDA Sea Ceptor, etc.), ESSM needs to keep up.

Older ships will find active guidance especially useful, but even some newer ships could benefit in certain scenarios. So can a wholly different class of equipment…

Go to Ground. A different change involves work to make the RIM-162 a ground-based air defense option. Norway’s Kongsberg is leading the way integrating ESSM missiles into both its AMRAAM-based NASAMS system, and into older MIM-23 Hawk missile systems that are still used by 17 countries. Raytheon is even working with Poland’s WZU to convert old Russian-built SA-6 systems into modern ESSM launchers, with the addition of new missile canisters, radars, etc. If they succeed at that, it could open up a big market.

ESSM Block II’s active guidance will be especially helpful to land-based air defense systems, which are constantly under threat from enemy missiles, rockets, etc. Air defense systems can foil some radar-killing missiles by intermittently shutting off their radars. They can also use transmitted results from other search radars, while depending on their own active seeker missiles to handle target tracking once they get close.

Countries that already deploy naval ESSM and ground-based NASAMS systems include the Netherlands, Norway, and Spain. Countries that already deploy both naval ESSM and ground-based Hawk missiles in their militaries include Greece, Spain, Turkey, and the UAE. Countries like Morocco, which deploys advanced Hawk missiles, or Finland, which adopted an AMRAAM based system as its main air defense option, may also find diversification into ESSM appealing.

ESSM Program: The USA, and Beyond

Under the NATO Sea Sparrow Consortium, Raytheon’s Missile Systems business unit is leading a team of 18 companies from 10 countries (as of late 2002) in developing and producing various aspects of the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile system. Different launch platforms and configurations mean that only some of these components are common for all customers. One aspect that makes the ESSM program unusual is that the design responsibility for each sub-system is vested in the industrial partner producing it, rather than at the prime contractor level.

The average cost per missile varies slightly with annual production, but seems to be consistently in the $1.3 – 1.5 million range.

Note that Mitsubishi Electric Corporation also has a final assembly line, under a 2012 license-production agreement with Raytheon. The international program’s full timeline follows:

ESSM-Related Contracts & Key Events

Related systems
(click to view full)

Unless otherwise noted, contracts are issued by the US Navy’s Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC to Raytheon Co. in Tucson, AZ. Fiscal years are by US fiscal year, which ends on September 30th.

Note that ORDALT stands for ORDnance ALTeration. It usually means that a ship which had been configured to carry RIM-7 Sea Sparrow missiles is having those launch systems swapped out for the RIM-162 ESSM package.

FY 2016-2017

Fired
(click to view full)

April 12/17: Future US Navy frigates may come with added air defense capabilities as a new study group is being commissioned to examine adding such a platform to the requirements. At present, service specifications call for a vessel to have enough surface-to-air missiles to protect itself. The new idea is to double the RIM-162 Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (ESSM) load from 8 to 16 or having a Mark 41 Vertical Launching System loaded with eight Standard Missile-2 (SM-2). Upgunning the frigates will change the Navy designation for the ships from FF, meaning frigate, to FFG — guided missile frigates able to provide area air defense.

May 13/16: Raytheon Missile Systems has been awarded a $76 million contract from the US Navy for long lead support for the production of the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles (ESSM) Block I. The procurement will last for fiscal years 2016, 2017 and 2018. The ESSM program is an international cooperative effort to design, develop, test, and procure ESSM missiles for the US Navy and the governments of Australia, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, and Norway as part of the NATO Sea Sparrow Consortium.

November 2/15: November 2/15: Thailand has been cleared by the State Department to buy RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles. The potential deal is estimated to value $26.9 million, including canisters and other auxiliary equipment. The Royal Thai Navy became the thirteenth ESSM customer in January 2013, with the country signing a letter of acceptance with prime contractor Raytheon following a DSCA request in August 2012.

FY 2014 – 2015

Nov 14/14: Support. BAE Systems Technology Solutions & Services Inc. in Rockville, MD receives an $8.5 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification, exercising Option Year 1 for a NATO Seasparrow Consortium support contract. It covers the RIM-162 ESSMs, RIM-7P NATO Seasparrows, the Stalker long range electro-optical sensor suite, and day-to-day office operation in support of the 12 nation consortium. $4 million in FY 2015 US Navy and international funds is committed immediately.

Work will be performed in Arlington, VA (90%), and Chesapeake, A (10%), and is expected to be complete by October 2015 (N00024-14-C-5404).

Sept 30/14: Support. Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, AZ, receives a $10.7 million firm-fixed-price contract modification for FY 2014 ESSM spares, on behalf of the United States (94.75%), and the governments of the United Arab Emirates (2.77%), and Japan (2.48%), under the Foreign Military Sales program. $9.5 million in FY 2014 US Navy and international funds is committed immediately.

Work will be performed in Grand Rapids, MI (16%); Mississauga, ON, Canada (14%); Canton, NY (13%); Elmadag, Turkey (11%); McKinney, TX (8%); Ottobrunn, Germany (7%); Koropi Attica, Greece (7%); Raufoss, Norway (6%); Tucson, AZ (5%); Salem, NH (4%); Cincinnati, OH (3%); Melville, NY (2%); Brockton, MA (1%); Andover, MA (1%); Greensboro, NC (1%); and Richmond, VA (1%), and is expected to be complete by October 2016 (N00024-13-C-5409).

Sept 26/14: Launchers. Raytheon IDS in Portsmouth, RI receives a $12.1 million contract modification for FY 2014 NATO Seasparrow Surface Missile Systems (NSSMS) MK 57 MOD 13 and Guided Missile Launching System (GMLS) MK 29 MOD 4/5. The upgraded MK57 NSSMS integrates commercial off-the-shelf hardware for processing and displays, state-of-the-art microprocessors for signal processing, and new solid-state transmitter technology. The result is an open system that integrates seamlessly with the SSDS combat system, optimizing the detect-to-engage capabilities with the advanced ESSM. The MK 29 is also a valid launch platform. All funds are committed immediately, using FY 2014 US Navy budgets.

Work will be performed in Portsmouth, RI, and is expected to be complete by July 2016 (N00024-13-G-5413).

May 9/14: Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, AZ receives a $30.9 million contract modification to previously awarded contract for MK 698 Guided Missile Test Sets with Evolved Seasparrow Missile and Standard Missile test capability, upgrade kits, installation kits, repair tool kits, associated spares and technical support. This contract includes Foreign Military Sales to Australia and the Netherlands (100%).

The MK 698 GMTS is common to the RIM-162 ESSM and RIM-67 SM-2 Standard, and has also been used with the RAM missile.

$22.5 million in FY 2013 Navy procurement, foreign funding, and NATO Seasparrow Consortium funding is committed immediately. Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (86%), Australia (10%), and the Netherlands (4%), and is expected to be complete by December 2016. NAVSEA in Washington, DC manages the contract (N00024 13 C-5409).

March 4-11/14: FY15 Budget. The US military slowly files its budget documents, detailing planned spending from FY 2014 – 2019. ESSM buys are dropping slightly each year vs. the FY 2014 plan, in parallel with a steady rise in R&D spending as work begins on ESSM Block II with its active seeker head. Average cost per missile remains in the $1.4 – 1.5 million range through 2019.

See the chart above for full figures.

Oct 31/13: BAE Systems Technology Solutions and Services in Rockville, MD receives a $21.7 million cost-plus-fixed fee contract for major production and in-service efforts such as the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile, NATO Sea Sparrow Surface Missile System, Stalker Long Range Electro-Optical Sensor Suite and day-to-day office operation in support of the 12 nations that comprise the NATO Sea Sparrow Consortium. This is a follow-on, continuing efforts that were performed under contract N00024-08-C-5404. $2.7 million are committed immediately.

This contract was not competitively procured based upon International Agreement IAW 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(4). US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington DC manages the contract (N00024-14-C-5404).

FY 2013

Multi-year contract; 1st Thai order.

HTMS Naresuan
(click to view full)

May 14/13: Testing. Raytheon announces that an ESSM missile successfully destroyed a high-diving, supersonic threat during a recent firing from the U.S. Navy’s Self-Defense Test Ship.

The short warning time from low-altitude flight, and violent maneuvering at the end, make this a challenging target profile. That challenge, and the added damage done by blasting through lightly-armored decks toward the ship’s keel, is why a number of supersonic anti-ship missiles use this approach. Sources: Raytheon, “ESSM intercept of high-diving threat proves expanded defensive capability”.

Jan 14/13: Thailand. Initial order, as Raytheon announces a Letter of Offer and Acceptance with the U.S. government for 9 ESSMs, making them the 13th country to order the missile.

Per the Aug 8/12 DSCA request, below, these ESSMs are destined for the 8-cell MK.41 vertical launchers on Thailand’s 2 Naresuan Class frigates, which are currently undergoing overhauls and upgrades. By using the MK 25 Quad Pack canisters, each ship could carry up to 32 RIM-162s, but Thailand’s initial order looks set to fit only 1 VLS cell on each ship, plus 1 spare. Raytheon.

Thai order

Jan 17/13: DOT&E testing. The Pentagon releases the FY 2012 Annual Report from its Office of the Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E). The ESSM is included tangentially, under the SSDS combat system:

“The CVN-68 ship class [DID: Nimitz Class aircraft carriers] combat system continues to have several problems that hinder it from successfully completing the ship self-defense mission. Specific problems include deficiencies in weapon employment timelines, sensor coverage, system track management, and NATO ESSM performance [emphasis DID’s], as well as deficiencies with the recommended engagement tactics for use against multiple ASCM [DID: Anti-Ship Cruise Missile] threat classes.”

They aren’t more specific, for understandable reasons, but DOT&E’s recommendations include: “Develop combat system improvements to increase the likelihood that ESSM and RAM [DID: RIM-116 short-range air defense missile] will home on their intended targets.”

Dec 27/12: Production. Raytheon in Tucson, AZ receives a $226.8 million firm-fixed-price, multi-year contract, covering FY 2013 – 2015 ESSM production, with options that could raise it to $259.9 million. $45.2 million is committed immediately, and just $139,772 will expire on Sept 30/13. The contract total appears to support an initial plan of about 250-260 missiles.

This contract combines purchases for the US Navy (83.47%); NATO Sea Sparrow consortium members Australia (1.13%); Denmark (1.42%); Canada (2.87%); Germany (2.36%); Norway (0.60%); Greece (1.37%); Netherlands (2.29%); Spain (0.04%); and Turkey (0.84%); plus foreign sales to Japan (0.08%); and Thailand (3.53%).

Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (19%); Norway (13%); Germany (11%); Australia (10%); Canada (9%); Andover, MA (7%); The Netherlands (6%); San Jose, CA (4%); Spain (4%); Greece (3%); Camden, AR (3%); McKinney, TX (3%); Turkey (2%); Beverly, MA (1%); Minneapolis, MN (1%); Reston, VA (1%); Cincinnati, OH (1%); Cheshire, CT (1%); and Denmark (1%) and is expected to be complete by September 2016. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.S.C. 2304 (c)(1), by US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC (N00024-13-C-5409). See also Arizona Daily Star.

2013-2015 production

Dec 27/12: 2013 support. Raytheon in Tucson, AZ receives a $140 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for calendar year 2013 work as ESSM’s Design Agent, plus in-service support, technical engineering support services, and work on RIM-162 Block 2 risk reduction. Options could raise this contract to $237 million. This contract combines:

• Evolved Sea Sparrow Design Agent Services for the US Navy (77%), Australia (19%), and Denmark (4%).
  
• ESSM Block II Risk Reduction Support for the USS Navy (25%), Australia (33%), Canada (22%), and Norway (20%).
  
• In-Service Support and Technical Engineering Support Services for the US Navy (32%), Australia (17%), Canada (15%), Germany (11%), The Netherlands (6%), Norway (5%), Turkey (5%), Denmark (3%), Greece (4%), and Spain (2%).

Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (90.65%); Germany (2.55%); Norway (2.11%); Australia (1.53%); The Netherlands (1.36%); Canada (0.68%); Spain (0.42%); Turkey (0.30%); Denmark (0.28%); and Greece (0.12%) and is expected to be complete by December 2013. $13 million is committed immediately, with the rest to follow as required. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.S.C. 2304 (c)(1), by US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC (N00024-13-C-5410).

2013 support

FY 2012

Japanese license; Thai request; Land SAM test.

ESSM from NASAMS
click for video

Sept 4/12: ESSM swap on SA-6s? The MSPO 2012 show has an interesting display, courtesy of Raytheon and Poland WZU: a 2K12 Kub/ SA-6 “Gainful” launcher, modified to incorporate 4 RIM-162 ESSM launch canisters instead of the Russian missiles. Raytheon is building upon on the successful May 2012 Norwegian tests, involving a NASAMS launcher and the HAWK XXI High-Power Illuminator (HPI) radar. The modified “Pelican” launch vehicle is a useful step, but the team will have to either let the ESSM work with the system’s Russian radars, or (more likely) create a mobile radar system refit that uses a modern system like NASAMS’ AN/AMPQ-64F1 Improved Sentinel.

Poland is looking to modernize its national air defense system at all levels, and Raytheon hopes to offer a unique, low-cost solution for mid-tier air defense. If the team succeeds, Poland isn’t the only NATO country with Soviet equipment and an interest in air defense modernization. The SA-6 was widely deployed beyond the Warsaw Pact, which could create a very interesting market niche for Raytheon’s SL-AMRAAM/ ESSM solutions. Army Recognition.

Aug 8/12: Thai request. The US DSCA announces [PDF] Thailand’s request to buy an initial lot of 9 RIM-162 ESSM missiles, 3 MK25 Quad Pack canisters to fit into a Mk41 Vertical Launch System, 4 MK783 shipping containers; plus spare and repair parts; support and test equipment; publications and technical documentation; personnel training and training equipment; and other forms of U.S. Government and contractor support.

The prime contractors will be Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, AZ and BAE Systems in Aberdeen, SD. The estimated cost is up to $18 million.

The proposed FMS case includes support equipment, training and technical assistance required for the Royal Thai Navy to effectively incorporate the ESSM into its fleet. Which is a very interesting story all by itself. After a poor initial experience buying Chinese Type 053H2 Jianghu-III frigates, improved Thai familiarity and Chinese processes led Thailand to place a follow-on order for 2 stretched Type 053 frigates later in the decade. HTMS Naresuan and HTMS Taksin were very different, however, in that they had western systems on board. Recent upgrades give them an array not seen on any other Chinese ships: Thales radars, Saab’s 9LV combat system and datalinks, BAE’s 127mm naval gun, Boeing’s RGM-84 Harpoon missiles, and an American 8-cell Mk41 vertical launch system intended to host 32 ESSM missiles. The missiles and packs noted above appear to be test articles, and once the upgrades are all tested, the 3,000t Naresuan Class will become the Royal Thai Navy’s most advanced ships.

Thai request

Aug 2/12: #2,000. Raytheon announces that they’ve delivered the 2,000th Evolved SeaSparrow Missile to the NATO SeaSparrow Consortium, and expect continued production past 2017. Sources: Raytheon, “Raytheon Evolved SeaSparrow program delivers 2,000th missile”.

#2,000

July 9/12: NASAMS firing. Raytheon announces that the Royal Norwegian Air Force has successfully fired ESSM from a Norwegian NASAMS (National Advanced Surface-to-Air-Missile System) launcher, which usually fired AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles. The risk-reduction firing event used the NASAMS Fire Distribution Center (FDC) and launcher, but ESSM Block I also needs a radar to illuminate the target for guidance. Kongsberg and Raytheon used the Hawk air defense system’s High-Power Illuminator radar (q.v. May 2012) for that purpose.

During the test at the Andoya Rocket Range in Northern Norway, the ESSM intercepted and destroyed its aerial target. NASAMS has now fired AIM-120 AMRAAMs with active seeker heads, shorter-range infrared guided AIM-9X missiles, and ESSM Block I with its semi-active seeker head. ESSM Block I, in turn, has now demonstrated compatibility with Hawk XXI and NASAMS. Sources: Raytheon, “Norway fires first ground-based Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile from NASAMS launcher”.

Land firing: NASAMS

May 2012: Onto land. The United States Security Assistance Management Directorate, Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF), Raytheon, and Kongsberg co-operate to test-fire a RIM-162 ESSM missile from a Hawk XXI air defense system. The missile successfully engaged its air target at the Andoya Rocket Range in Norway. Kongsberg makes the point that:

“…HAWK system is deployed by 17 nations worldwide. The ESSM ground launched missile will enhance HAWK’s capability and provide operators with an in-production replacement missile.”

That’s an attractive offer, but the Hawk version required for that level of compatibility is fielded only by Morocco, South Korea, Romania & Turkey. Other Hawk customers could choose to perform a similar upgrade, of course, which involves an almost complete switch of radar and control systems. The selling point would be continued use of their MIM-23 Hawk missiles, with new electronics that are easier to maintain and replace, combined with “future-proofed” options to launch AIM-9X Sidewinder, AIM-120 AMRAAM and RIM-162 missiles. For existing NASAMS customers, it’s a much more straightforward upgrade that lets them mix and match AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles with shorter range Sidewinders and longer-range RIM-162 ESSMs. Kongsberg | Raytheon | Raytheon Technology Today | Video. See also June 22/11 entry.

Land firing: Hawk XXI

Jan 10/12: Japan. Raytheon announces a 2-year Direct Commercial Sale contract to provide Japan’s Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MELCO) the components and assemblies necessary to license-build ESSMs for the Japanese Ministry of Defense. Licensed production will take place at MELCO’s facility in Japan.

They announce it as part of a pair of orders totaling $212.8 million, and the numbers and dates strongly suggest that the other contract is the Sept 30/11 entry, below. That would value the MELCO license-production contract at $68.9 million.

License production

Dec 22/11: A $26.7 million contract modification for calendar year 2012 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) production support. That includes missile improvement, support equipment improvement, software engineering and improvement, reliability monitoring, system safety monitoring, quality assurance, risk management, test equipment, parts control, obsolete materials, manufacturing qualification, logistics impacts, and other activities needed to support the engineering of an effective ESSM for the NATO Sea Sparrow Consortium.

The United States, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates will fund the effort under this contract modification. Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (45%); Australia (11%); Andover, Mass. (10%); Germany (8%); Canada (7%); the Netherlands (6%); Norway (5%); Spain (3%); Camden, Ark. (2%); Denmark (1%); Greece (1%); and Turkey (1%); and is expected to be complete by December 2012 (N00024-07-C-5432).

FY 2011

Annual order & support; Block 2 studies.

RIM-162D, loading
(click to view full)

Sept 30/11: The FY 2011 order for ESSMs commits just $15.6 million, but the core contract modification has a maximum of $143.9 million, and options could bring the cumulative value to $177 million. This includes RIM-162 missiles, associated shipping containers, and spares. This contract action combines purchases for the US Navy (27.9%, $40.1M), and the governments of Australia (32.2% $46.3M), Denmark (29.8%, $42.9M), Germany (4.2%, $6.0M), Norway (3.4%, $4.9M), Greece (0.8%, $1.2M) and Canada (0.6%, $863k) under the NATO Sea Sparrow Consortium, plus Foreign Military Sales to Japan (1.1%, $1.6M).

Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (45%); Australia (11%); Andover, MA (10%); Germany (8%); Canada (7%); Netherlands (6%); Norway (5%); Spain (3%); Camden, Ark. (2%); Denmark (1%); Greece (1%); and Turkey (1%); and is expected to be complete by August 2014. US Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity (N00024-07-C-5431).

2011 order

Aug 30/11: Australia’s government gives both 1st pass and 2nd pass approval to an Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile Upgrade program, also known as SEA 1352 Phase 1A. It will begin with an A$20 million to the NATO Sea Sparrow Project Office, to conduct the study to develop an upgraded ESSM, the “RIM-162 Block 2,” that can replace the current production “Block 1” missiles currently serving on Australia’s upgraded FFG-7 Adelaide Class, and on its ANZAC Class frigates.

Australia’s DoD says that this multinational study is meant to look at emerging aerial threats, and figure out what kind of performance, and hence cost and risk, might be needed to counter them. The NATO Sea Sparrow Consortium would then have to consider cost targets and associated performance tradeoffs, before finalizing a design, and paying for system development. Once that’s complete, Australia can choose to order upgrades, or new missiles, depending on what makes the most sense.

From an operational point of view, it will be some time before this new weapon is deployed to sea. When it does, the Royal Australian Navy plans to begin by installing the RIM-162 Block 2 as the primary air defense weapon aboard its (probably-upgraded) ANZAC frigates, and as the second-tier air defense weapon on its Hobart Class air defense ships, behind the SM-2/SM-6. The total cost of Project SEA 1352 Phase 1 is cost capped between A$ 1-2 billion in current the Public Defence Capability Plan.

RIM-162
Block 2 study

June 22/11: Onto land. At the 2011 Paris Air Show, Raytheon announces that the ESSM will follow its larger SM-3 counterpart onto dry land as an air defense option. It won’t take on ballistic missiles like the SM-3, but it becomes a serious medium range competitor against options like SLAMRAAM and even Patriot, while offering more commonality for countries already using the ESSM at sea.

April 11/11: Industrial. Raytheon announcesthat the firm delivered 366 ESSM missiles in 2010, more than doubling 2009’s total, while still using an international manufacturing base.

Feb 21/11: UAE. UAE’s The National reports on Raytheon’s industrial offset commitments, which are attached to the UAE’s 2008 Patriot missile buy (vid. Dec 17/08 entry). The firm is waiting for the UAE’s Offset Program Bureau to approve 2 new facilities:

• A joint venture with Abu Dhabi Ship Building to build an intermediate level maintenance facility for missiles used by the UAE Navy, incl. Raytheon’s RIM-116 RAM and RIM-162 ESSM ship defense missiles.

• A 3 way joint-partnership with Lockheed Martin and Emirates Advanced Investment’s Global Aerospace Logistics, to build a consolidated maintenance facility for Patriot missiles. Since The UAE ordered both PAC-2 GEM and PAC-3 missiles, both Lockheed and Raytheon need to participate.

Feb 18/11: A $57.2 million contract modification for Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) production support and technical engineering tasks needed to support missile production, but which are not directly associated with the manufacture of missile hardware for the NATO Sea Sparrow consortium and the United Arab Emirates. These tasks include missile improvement, support equipment improvement, software engineering and improvement, reliability monitoring, system safety monitoring, quality assurance, risk management, test equipment, parts control, obsolete materials, manufacturing qualification, logistics impacts, and other activities.

The NATO Sea Sparrow consortium will fund the effort. Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (45%), Australia (11%), Andover, MA (10%), Germany (8%), Canada (7%), The Netherlands (6%), Norway (5%), Spain (3%), Camden, AR (2%), Denmark (1%), Greece (1%), and Turkey (1%).

FY 2010

2010 order; Support contracts.

ESSM from Mk.29
(click to view full)

Aug 11/10: Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems in Tewksbury, MA receives a $36.1 million contract modification (N00024-05-C-5346) for mission systems equipment (MSE) that will be used on the US Navy’s Self Defense Test Ship, 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).

May 26/10: A $36.7 million cost-plus fixed fee modification to the existing contract (N00024-07-C-5432) establishes a contract line item (CLI) ceiling covering ESSM production support and technical engineering from May 2010 through December 2010.

Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (45%); Camden, AR (2%); Andover, MA (10%); Australia (11%); Canada (7%); Denmark (1%); Greece (1%); Germany (8%); The Netherlands (6%); Norway (5%); Spain (3%); and Turkey (1%). Work is expected to be complete by December 2010, and $936,401 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/10.

March 26/10: A $7 million modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-07-C-5431) for funding for savings on value engineering change proposals for warhead fairing, dual band antenna, telemetric data transmitting set, rear receiver, Unit 10 front microwave receiver, power converter, 2-piece Marmon clamp, and control section component parts of the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile.

Value Engineering Change Proposals allow contracts to submit proposals for reducing system costs, and keep a specified percentage of those savings. It resembles a number of successful industrial programs, including the supplier model that sparked Chrysler’s 2nd big turnaround in the late 1980s to early 1990s.

Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (45%), Camden, AR (2%), Andover, MA (10%), Australia (11%), Canada (7%), Denmark (1%), Greece (1%), Germany (8%), The Netherlands (6%), Norway (5%), Spain (3%), and Turkey (1%), and is expected to be complete by August 2013.

Feb 1/10: The Pentagon releases its budget request for FY 2011. American RIM-162 orders tailing off somewhat, from budgeted totals of $84.6 million for 50 missiles in FY 2009, to $51.2 million for 43 missiles in FY 2010, to $48.2 million for 33 missiles requested in FY 2011.

Dec 30/09: Establishment of a contract line item (CLI) ceiling worth $13.2 million, to offer ESSM production support for January through April of calendar year 2010. Production support includes tasks needed to support missile production that are not directly associated with the manufacture of missile hardware, and this modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed fee contract combines purchases of the NATO Sea Sparrow Consortium for the US Navy and the governments of Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Turkey.

Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (45%); Camden, AR (2%); Andover, MA (10%); Australia (11%); Canada (7%); Denmark (1%); Greece (1%); Germany (8%); The Netherlands (6%); Norway (5%); Spain (3%); and Turkey (1%). Work is expected to be complete by April 2010 (N00024-07-C-5432, #P00025).

Dec 18/09: Raytheon in Tucson, AZ receives a $200.9 million modification to a previously awarded contract from the NATO Sea Sparrow consortium, covering 241 missiles and 47 shipping containers.

Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (45%); Andover, MA (10%); Camden, AR (2%); Australia (11%); Germany (8%); Canada (7%); The Netherlands (6%); Norway (5%); Spain (3%); Denmark (1%); Greece (1%); and Turkey (1%), and is expected to be complete by August 2013 (N00024-07-C-5431).

2010 order

Dec 10/09: A $9.8 million modification exercising options for MK 56 tactical missiles and shipping containers, ESSM inert operational missiles and shipping containers, and auxiliary equipment to accompany them. Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (45%); Camden, AR (2%); Andover, MA (10%), Australia (11%), Canada (7%), Denmark (1%), Greece (1%), Germany (8%), The Netherlands (6%); Norway (5%); Spain (3%); and Turkey (1%), and is expected to be complete by August 2012 (N00024-07-C-5431).

The Mk56 [data sheet, PDF] is a compact vertical launch system, specifically designed for the ESSM. It is well suited to smaller ships like corvettes, or ship upgrades that face severe space constraints.

FY 2009

2009 order; Support contracts; What’s an EVCP?

ESSM from VLS
(click to view full)

Aug 20/09: A $151.6 million modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-07-C-5431), buying 186 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles, 77 shipping containers, and spares for the NATO Sea Sparrow Consortium and the United Arab Emirates. The UAE will use them on its new Baynunah class corvettes. The contract includes a $210.3 million option to produce an additional 255 missiles, which would bring the total to $361.9 million and 441 missiles.

Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (45%); Camden, AR (2%); Andover, MA (10%), Australia (11%), Canada (7%), Denmark (1%), Greece (1%), Germany (8%), The Netherlands (6%); Norway (5%); Spain (3%); and Turkey (1%), and is expected to be complete by August 2012. See also Raytheon release.

2009 order

April 9/09: A $15.4 million modification to previously awarded contract N00024-07-C-5432 for production support and technical engineering support for the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM). This involves tasks needed to support missile production, which are not directly associated with the manufacture of missile hardware. These activities can include missile improvements, support equipment improvements, software engineering, reliability monitoring, system safety monitoring, quality assurance, risk management, test equipment, parts control, obsolete materials, configuration management, production verification inspection, and manufacturing qualification.

Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (45%); Andover, MA (10%); Camden, AK (2%); Australia, (11%); Germany (8%); Canada (7%); The Netherlands (6%); Norway (5%); Spain (3%); Denmark (1%); Greece (1%); and Turkey (1%), and is expected to be complete in April 2010.

March 12/09: A $9.7 million modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-07-C-5431), to incorporate something called a “Value Engineering Change Proposal (VECP).” VECPs are cost-saving ideas from industry, which may also enhance performance as a side-benefit. In an arrangement that mirrors Chrysler’s successful initiatives with its supply chain in the 1990s, contractors are rewarded by being allowed to share in some of the savings created by their accepted VECPs. This contract modification incorporates VECPs to the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles for Australia, Canada, Germany, Greece, Norway, Spain, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and the United States.

The NATO Sea Sparrow consortium, which includes the United States and 10 other countries, will fund the effort. Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (45%); Camden, AR (2%); Andover, MA (10%); Australia (11%); Canada (7%); Denmark (1%); Greece (1%); Germany (8%); The Netherlands (6%); Norway (5%); Spain (3%); and Turkey (1%), and is expected to be complete by December 2011.

Dec 12/08: An $11.8 million modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-06-C-5422), exercising the NATO Sea Sparrow Program Office’s FY 2009 options. This modification is a follow-on effort, which was previously performed under contract N00024-02-C-5421. The NATO Sea Sparrow consortium, which includes the United States and 12 other countries, will fund all of the effort under this modification.

Under this order, the USS Theodore Roosevelt [CVN 71] will receive 2 MK29 MOD 4 ESSM ORDALT Kits, and 4 Solid State Transmitter (SSTX) MK73 MOD 3 ORDALT Kits. That effort is part of the ship’s multi-billion dollar mid-life RCOH overhaul. This order also includes 2 more MK29 MOD 4 ESSM ORDALT Kits for use on LHD ships. Work will be performed in Portsmouth, RI and is expected to be complete by October 2010.

Nov 24/08: An $11.3 million modification to previously awarded contract N00024-07-C-5432 for ESSM technical engineering support. Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (45%); Camden, AR (2%); Andover, MA (10%); Australia (11%); Canada (7%); Denmark (1%); Greece (1%); Germany (8%); The Netherlands (6%); Norway (5%); Spain (3%); and Turkey (1%), and is expected to be complete by November 2010. Contract funds in the amount of $349,968 will expire at the end of FY 2009.

FY 2008

2008 order; Support contracts; ORDALT.

ESSM loading into VLS
(click to view full)

June 3/08: A $16.5 million modification to previously awarded contract N00024-07-C-5432 for ESSM production support. This contract action will fulfill required production support activities for FY 2008 for multiple production contracts. Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (55%), Camden, AZ (2%), Australia (11%), Canada (7%), Denmark (1%), Greece (1%), Germany (8%), The Netherlands (6%), Norway (5%), Spain (3%), and Turkey (1%), and is expected to be complete by May 2010.

This contract modification procures production support for the ESSMs for the NATO Sea Sparrow Consortium. Tasks under this contract include maintaining the integrity of the missile requirement and design, maintaining missile reliability, monitoring parts obsolescence, maintaining data package configuration, system safety monitoring, quality assurance, risk management, test equipment, configuration management, performance verification testing, manufacturing qualification, logistics impacts, and other activities needed to support the production of an effective ESSM missile.

May 12/08: A $21.2 million modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-06-C-5435) for 68 MK 20 MOD 1 Canisters and 156 MK 20 MOD 1 Frangible Covers in support of the EESSM. The MK 20 MOD 1 Canisters are for Canada. The MK 20 MOD 1 Frangible Covers are designed to keep seawater out of the canister, then break harmlessly when the missile is fired and begins rocketing out. The covers are being ordered for Canada, Netherlands and Belgium. The NATO Sea Sparrow consortium will fund this modification. Work will be performed in Hooveveen, the Netherlands, and is expected to be complete by December 2010.

May 9/08: BAE Systems Applied Technologies, Inc. in Rockville, MD received a $10 million sole source, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for engineering and technical services to the to support the NATO Sea Sparrow Program Office (NSPO) “in support of the NATO Sea Sparrow surface missile system, target acquisition system, MK48 guided missile vertical launching system, and the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) and any improvements thereto.” The contract includes 4 options which would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $46.3 million, if exercised.

Work will be performed in Arlington, VA (72%); Silver Spring, MD(12%); and Chesapeake, VA (16%), and is expected to be complete by April 2013. Contract funds in the amount of $311,845 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year (N00024-08-C-5404). This contract is actually a follow-on effort, which was previously performed under contract (N00024-01-C-5402). The NATO Sea Sparrow Consortium, which includes the United States and 12 other countries, will fund most of the effort under this contract. A small amount of effort may be funded by Japan and Korea under Foreign Military Sales program cases.

May 9/08: Raytheon Co. in Tucson, AZ received a $10.8 million modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-07-C-5432), covering technical engineering support for the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile for the NATO Sea Sparrow Consortium and for the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Foreign Military Sales case funding will provide the funding for the UAE portion, while the NSSC will fund the remaining effort under this contract modification. Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (55%); Camden, AK (2% – could they mean, Camden, AR?); Australia (11%); Canada (7%); Denmark (1%); Greece (1%); Germany (8%); The Netherlands (6%); Norway (5%); Spain (3%); and Turkey (1%), and is expected to be complete by May 2010. Contract funds in the amount of $1.2 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

April 7/08: A $245.5 million firm-fixed-price modification under previously awarded contract (N00024-07-C-5431) to procure 307 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles (ESSM), 163 shipping containers, and spares for the NATO Sea Sparrow Consortium and the United Arab Emirates.

Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (45%), Andover, MA (10%), Camden, AR, (2%), Australia (11%), Germany (8%), Canada (7%), The Netherlands (6%), Norway (5%), Spain (3%), Denmark (1%), Greece (1%), and Turkey (1%); and is expected to be complete by December 2010. This contract was not competitively procured.

2008 order

Feb 22/08: A $17.8 million modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-06-C-5422) to procure Mk 57 MOD 12/13 NATO Sea Sparrow Surface Missile System (NSSMS) Ordnance Alteration (ORDALT) Kits, MK 73 Solid State Transmitter (SSTx) ORDALT Kits, MK 29 Guided Missile Launcher System (GMLS) Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) ORDALT Kits, and related spares for U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier (CVN), Amphibious Assault (LHA/LHD), and consortium ship installations. These kits will convert existing launchers for RIM-7 Sea Sparrow missiles to RIM-162 ESSM launchers. Raytheon release.

The upgraded MK57 NSSMS integrates commercial off-the-shelf hardware for processing and displays, state-of-the-art microprocessors for signal processing, and new solid-state transmitter technology. The result is an open system that integrates seamlessly with IDS’ Ship Self Defense System, optimizing the detect-to-engage capabilities with the advanced ESSM. Work will be performed in Portsmouth, RI (23%); Andover, MA (22%); Waterloo, Canada (14%); Windber, PA (13%); Long Island, NY (15%); Dallas, TX (13%), and is expected to be complete by February 2010.

FY 2007

2007 Order; UAE 1st order; ESSM boat killer; Japanese industrial agreement.

ESSM from HMAS Sydney
(click to view full)

Sept 18/07: A $9.6 million cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-07-C-5432) for ESSM technical engineering support, including tasks needed to support missile production. These tasks include missile improvement, support equipment improvement, software engineering and improvement, reliability monitoring, system safety monitoring, quality assurance, risk management, test equipment, parts control, obsolete materials, logistics impacts, and other activities or the NATO Sea Sparrow Consortium.

Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (45%); Andover, MA (10%); Camden, AR (2%); Australia (11%); Germany (8%); Canada (7%); The Netherlands (6%); Norway (5%); Spain (3%); Denmark (1%); Greece (1%); and Turkey (1%). This modification combines support for the U.S. Navy/NATO Sea Sparrow Consortium (99%), and the United Arab Emirates (1%) under the Foreign Military Sales program.

Sept 11/07: Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, AZ receives a $22.5 million firm-fixed-price modification to procure 32 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles (ESSM) and 40 shipping containers, under a Foreign Military Sales case with the United Arab Emirates and for the NATO Sea Sparrow Consortium. This modification procures ESSMs for the United Arab Emirates’ Baynunah Class corvettes, and containers for the NATO Sea Sparrow Consortium.

FMS Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (45%); Andover, MA (10%); Camden, AR (2%); Australia (11%); Germany (8%); Canada (7%); The Netherlands (6%); Norway (5%); Spain (3%); Denmark (1%); Greece (1%); and Turkey (1%), and is expected to be completed by February 2010 (N00024-07-C-5431).

UAE initial buy

Aug 20/07: Australia. The Australian Oliver Hazard Perry Class frigate HMAS Sydney fires an ESSM against a Kalkara unmanned airborne target, destroying it. The missile was launched from a new Vertical Launch System, which was recently installed in HMAS Sydney as part of Australia’s FFG Upgrade Program. The firing was supported by the Australian Distributed Architecture Combat System (ADACS) software, developed and delivered by Thales Australia. The FFG Upgrade Project is scheduled for completion in December 2009.

This Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile firing is the first from an FFG-7 class frigate, which presumably uses the RIM-162B missile and homing all the way guidance. Australian DoD announcement & photos.

June 27/07: A $223 million firm-fixed-price modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-07-C-5431) to procure 294 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles (RIM-162 ESSM), 68 shipping containers, and spares for the NATO Sea Sparrow Consortium.

Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (45%); Andover, MA (10%); Camden, AK (2%); Australia (11%); Germany (8%); Canada (7%); The Netherlands (6%); Norway (5%); Spain (3%); Denmark (1%); Greece (1%); Turkey (1%), and is expected to be complete by February 2010. The contract was not competitively procured.

2007 order

May 30/07: Raytheon announces that it has worked with the U.S. Navy and successfully completed the first test of Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile’s improved surface-to-surface capability against surface threats. It was also an at-sea firing of the ESSM using the MK 57 MOD 12 fire control system that marked the first Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile firing from the MK 29 MOD 4, 8-cell trainable launcher that is being installed on U. S. Navy aircraft carriers and select L-Class ships, and the first at-sea demonstration of the MK 57 MOD 12/13 and its MK 73 MOD 3 solid-state transmitter to support Evolved Sea Sparrow.

The surface-to-surface improvements to Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile’s capability were implemented completely through changes to the missile’s software. This software improvement was co-developed by the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in China Lake, CA, and Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, AZ. Additional surface-to-surface firings are scheduled later this year from the Navy’s Self Defense Test Ship (formerly USS Paul F. Foster [DD 964]) and from a Dutch frigate. Raytheon release | SpaceWar.

Boat killer

May 25/07: Japan. Raytheon announces an agreement with representatives of Mitsubishi Electric Company (MELCO) that will allow both companies to cooperatively explore global market opportunities in naval radars and combat systems. The release adds that:

“The agreement extends a relationship into new markets that has existed for more than 40 years between the two businesses. MELCO is already the licensed producer for some Raytheon systems, including HAWK, Sea Sparrow, ESSM, and Patriot.”

March 5/07: A $23.7 million, cost-reimbursement contract for long lead material in support of FY 2007 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) production. The components will be used in production for some NATO Sea Sparrow Consortium countries (Australia, Canada, Germany, Greece, Norway, Spain, USA) and Foreign Military Sales customers (the United Arab Emirates).

Work will be performed in Australia (26%); The Netherlands (25%); Spain (19%); Tucson, AZ, USA (12%); Norway (6%); Greece (4%); Germany (4%); Canada (2%); Denmark (1%); and Turkey (1%), and is expected to be completed by Feb. 2010. This contract (N00024-07-C-5431) was not competitively procured.

FY 2006

2006 order; ORDALT explained; ESSM for Spain’s F100 frigates.

RIM-162 ESSM launch
(click to view full)

July 6/06: Lockheed Martin, Maritime Systems & Sensors (MS2) in Moorestown, NJ recveived a $30.3 million cost-plus-award-fee/cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for combat system engineering, computer program support, system integration and test, ship integration and test, staging, FMS program management, and integrated logistics support to include training and technical manuals, for the upgrade of the AEGIS Weapon System on Spanish F-100 Frigates (F101 through F104) in support of the Foreign Military Sales Case SP-P-LFZ. This effort is a follow on to NAVSEA Contract N00024-97-C-5171 which procured the AEGIS computer program and support for the Spanish F-100 AEGIS Combat System program.

The new effort described herein is the upgrade to the AEGIS Computer Program to include the addition of Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) and SM-2 BLK IIIB functionalities. Work will be performed in Moorestown, NJ (85%), and Spain (15%), and is expected to be complete by December 2008. This contract was not competitively procured (N00024-06-C-5113).

April 28/06: ORDALT. A $21.5 million letter contract to procure Mk 57 Mod 12/13 NATO Sea Sparrow Surface Missile System (NSSMS) ordnance alteration (ORDALT) kits, MK 73 solid state radar transmitter ORDALT kits, MK 29 guided missile launcher system Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) ORDALT kits, and related spares for Navy aircraft carrier and amphibious assault ship installations.

Work will be performed in Portsmouth, RI (60%); Long Island, NY (20%); and Waterloo, Canada (20%), and is expected to be complete by June 2008. This contract was not competitively procured (N00024-06-C-5422).

These upgrades appear to improve capabilities on these ships, allowing Ship Self Defense System Mk 2 combat systems and Mk 57 NSSMS on-board hardware to be capable of mounting and fully using ESSM missiles. The core of the NSSMS consists of the Mk 91 Guided Missile Fire Control System (GMFCS), and the Mk 29 Guided Missile Launching System (GMLS).

The Mk 73 is the focus of the US navy’s Solid State Continuous Wave Illuminator Transmitter upgrade program. This will allow the solid state Mk73 radar to illuminate targets for the Standard Missile family (SM1-3), the RIM-7 Sea Sparrow Missile, and the RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM).

The GMFCS Mk 91 is a computer-operated fire control system that provides automatic acquisition and tracking of a designated target, and generates launcher and missile orders. In automatic mode, it can initiate firing as soon as a target can be engaged, albeit with operator intervention and override at any time.

The GMLS Mk 29 is a swiveling, lightweight 8-box launching system, and associated electronics. On many ships, it still contains the old RIM-7 Sparrow series, which is much less capable than ESSM.

Feb 9/06: A $21.4 million firm-fixed-price modification under a previously awarded contract (N00024-05-C-5482) to exercise options for additional missiles and shipping containers to satisfy FY 2006 requirements. Budgeted quantities for FY 2006 are 116 missiles for a total of $98.5 million. The modification will provide 31 (ea) RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles and 22 shipping containers to satisfy FY 06 requirements for The United States.

ESSM has been a multi-national program from the start, and work will be performed in Tucson, Ariz. (38%), Andover, MA (10%); Camden, AZ (5%), Minneapolis, MN (1%), Australia (13%), Canada (7%), Germany (7%), Norway (7%), The Netherlands (6%), Spain (3%), Denmark (1%), Greece (1%), and Turkey (1%), and is expected to be completed by October 2008. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC issued the contract.

Dec 22/05: a $152.5 million firm fixed price modification to previously awarded contract N00024-05-C-5482, to procure 198 (ea) RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles (ESSM), 59 (ea) shipping containers and spares for the NATO Sea Sparrow Consortium. This modification procures ESSMs for Germany, Greece, Norway, Spain, The Netherlands, Norway, and the United States. The NATO Sea Sparrow consortium will fund the effort.

Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (38%); Andover, MA (10%); Camden, AR (5%); Minneapolis, MN (1%); Australia (13%); Canada (7%); Germany (7%); Norway (7%); The Netherlands (6%); Spain (3%); Denmark (1%); Greece (1%); and Turkey (1%), and is expected to be completed by October 2008. Raytheon release.

2006 order

FY 2002 – 2005

Full-Rate Production approved; 2005 order; Australia’s ANZAC frigates add ESSM.

RIM-162D-1 launch
(click to view full)

May 5/05: A $162.8 million firm-fixed-price modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-05-C-5482) to procure 251 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles (ESSM), 38 shipping containers and spares for the NATO Sea Sparrow consortium.

Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (38%); Andover, MA (10%); Camden, AR (5%); Minneapolis, MN (1%); and the countries of Australia (13%); Canada (7%); Norway (7%); Germany (7%); The Netherlands (6%); Spain (3%); Denmark (1%); Greece (1%); and Turkey (1%), and is expected to be completed by October 2007. Raytheon release.

2005 order

March 4/05: Japan ORDALT. A $12.7 million firm fixed price contract upgrades to modify existing Japanese MK 48 vertical launch units to launch more modern Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles (ESSM). The contract provides for Ordnance Alteration (ORDALT) support and test equipment, updated technical documentation, training, and associated material, in support of the Government of Japan under the Foreign Military Sales program.

Work will be performed in Portsmouth, RI (60%) and Sudbury, MA (40%), and is expected to be completed by July 2007. It was not competitively procured (N00024-05-C-5483).

Aug 5/04: Sub-contractors. Raytheon Australia announces that it is recognizing Australian radar technology company CEA Technologies for outstanding achievement in the NATO Sea Sparrow Program. The focus is CEA’s G710386-1 Waveform Synthesizer, a Stable Master Oscillator providing the main reference signal for Raytheon’s Mk 73 Solid State Continuous Wave Illuminator Transmitter upgrade program. This allows the solid state Mk73 radar to illuminate targets for the Standard Missile family (SM-1/2), the RIM-7 Sea Sparrow Missile, and the RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM).

CEA has produced over 90 Waveform Synthesizer units for Raytheon as of this release, with further orders in the pipeline.

July 6/04: Advanced Technology & Research Corp. in Burtonsville, MD received a $15 million ceiling cost-plus fixed-fee completion, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for research & development technical, engineering and analytical support services in the program areas of Continuous Rod Warhead, Assault Breaching Systems, Thermobaric Warhead and Evolved Sea Sparrow. The task areas include the following: weapon shipboard systems, weapons effects tests, submarine and surfaces survivability, warheads, energetic-material devices and delivery systems, design/analyze and optimize projectiles, evaluate performance of explosives and other energetic materials.

Work will be performed in Carderock, MD, Dalhgren, VA, and Indian Head, MD, and is expected to be complete by July 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The contract was competitively procured and advertised on the Internet, with 1 offer received by the Naval Sea Systems Command, Indian Head Division in Indian Head, MD (N00174-04-D-0012).

April 20/04: A $6.5 million cost-plus-fixed-fee modification under previously awarded contract (N00024-99-C-5473), exercising an option for FY 2004 ESSM production support. Raytheon and a consortium of European participating companies were funded for the Low-Rate Initial Production of the ESSM and associated production support.

Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (35.7%); Andover, MA (8.9%); Camden, AR (2.9%); Minneapolis, MN (1.5%); Australia (12%); Germany (10%); The Netherlands (9%); Toronto, Canada (7%); Norway (4%); Spain (3%); Denmark (2%); Greece (2%) and Turkey (2%), and is expected to be complete by December 2004.

March 17/04: A $5.5 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for final development, qualification, and shock and vibration testing of the MK 29 Guided Missile Launching System (GMLS) Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) Ordnance Alteration (ORDALT).

Work will be performed in Sudbury, MA (51%) and Portsmouth, RI (49%), and is expected to be complete by May 2005. This contract was not competitively procured (N00024-04-C-5455).

NSSC
(click to visit)

Jan 12/04: The Honorable John J. Young, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research and Development, approves the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) to enter into full rate production. The USS Chaffee (DDG-90) is the first ship to receive tactical rounds in February 2007.

Full Rate Production

Oct 28/03: A $6.4 million modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-99-C-5473), exercising an option to fund FY 2004 ESSM production support.

Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (35.7%); Andover, MA (8.9%); Camden, AR (2.9%); Minneapolis, MN (1.5%); Australia (12%); Germany (10%); The Netherlands (9%); Toronto, Canada (7%); Norway (4%); Spain (3%); Denmark (2%); Greece (2%) and Turkey (2%), and is expected to be complete by January 2005.

May 2/03: A $6.6 million modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-99-C-5473), exercising an option to fund FY 2003 production support for the ESSM program. This procurement supports the funding for the countries of Australia (24%), Germany (19%), The Netherlands (18%), Canada (14%), Norway (7%), Spain (6%), Denmark (5%), Turkey (4%) and Greece (3%) under the Foreign Military Sales Program.

Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (35.7%); Andover, MA (8.9%); Camden, AR (2.9%); Minneapolis, MN (1.5%); Australia (12%); Germany (10%); The Netherlands (9%); Toronto, Canada (7%); Norway (4%); Spain (3%); Denmark (2%); Greece (2%); and Turkey (2%) and is expected to be complete by January 2004.

Jan 30/03: Australia test. Managing Director of Raytheon Australia Mr Ron Fisher today congratulated the Royal Australian Navy on its landmark firing of an Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) from HMAS Warramunga. In the Raytheon Australia release, Mr Fisher said: “This missile launch from an ANZAC Class frigate was a first-of-class firing for the RAN and follows the first ever firing from a surface combatant, USS SHOUP (DDG 86) in July last year.”

Oct 31/02: A $6.4 million cost-plus-fixed-fee modification under previously awarded contract (N00024-99-C-5473), exercising an option for FY 2003 production support for the ESSM. Raytheon Co. and a consortium of Canadian, Australian and European participating companies were funded under this contract for the Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) of the ESSM. This procurement funds the U.S. Navy’s share of the FY 2003 production support effort associated with the production of the ESSM.

Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (35.7%); Andover, MA (8.9%); Camden, AR (2.9%); Minneapolis, MN (1.5%); Australia (12%); Germany (10%); The Netherlands (9%); Toronto, Canada (7%); Norway (4%); Spain (3%); Denmark (2%); Greece (2%) and Turkey (2%) and is to be completed by January 2004.

Dec 3/02: Raytheon announces a $118.7 million contract from the U.S. Navy for the second year of low-rate initial production of the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM). This award includes funding for 163 all-up-round missiles. Raytheon also has been awarded a $6 million contract for ESSM radome production. Raytheon release.

FY 2002 and earlier

1st production order; 1st production missile delivered; 1st USN firing from VLS.

Multinational ESSM

Sept 4/02: 1st delivery. Raytheon delivers the first production Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) to the U.S. Navy.

July 23/02: 1st VLS launch. A Raytheon ESSM is successfully launched for the first time from a Mk41 Vertical Launch System aboard the Arleigh Burke Class AEGIS destroyer USS Shoup [DDG 86], destroying the incoming target at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division sea range near Point Mugu, CA. The closure rate between the missile and the target, a BQM-74, approached Mach 3. In Raytheon’s release, Capt. Ken Graber, the NATO Sea Sparrow program manager, said:

“This was the first ESSM firing from an AEGIS destroyer, first firing from a Mk41 at sea, first firing using a U.S. Navy crew, first ESSM firing using AEGIS Baseline-6 Phase III, and demonstrates ESSM is ready for the OPEVAL firings planned for the second quarter of next year from this same ship…”

Gary Hagedon, Raytheon’s ESSM program manager, added that:

“This test, in conjunction with the successful firings over the last six months from the Self Defense Test Ship, demonstrates ESSM is the right choice…”

July 11/02: a $6.75 million cost-plus-fixed-fee modification under previously awarded contract (N00024-99-C-5473), exercising an option for FY 2002 production support of the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM).

Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (35.7%); Andover, MA (8.9%); Camden, AR (2.9%); Minneapolis, MN (1.5%); Australia (12%); Germany (10%); The Netherlands (9%); Toronto, Canada (7%); Norway (4%); Spain (3%); Denmark (2%); Greece (2%) and Turkey (2%), and is to be complete by January 2004.

Nov 5/01: a $6.6 million modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-99-C-5473) to fund the U.S. Navy’s share of FY 2002 production support for the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile.

Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (35.7%); Andover, MA (8.9%); Camden, AR (2.9%); Minneapolis, MN (1.5%); Australia (12%); Germany (10%); The Netherlands (9%); Toronto, Canada (7%); Norway (4%); Spain (3%); Denmark (2%); Greece (2%); and Turkey (2%), and is expected to be complete in January 2004.

Aug 30/01: A $212.6 million modification to previously awarded fixed-price-incentive and cost-plus-fixed-fee contract. This modification is for 255 NATO Evolved Sea Sparrow (ESSM) Missiles including production support and technical engineering services.

Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (35.7%); Andover, MA (8.9%); Camden, AR (2.9%); Minneapolis, MN (1.5%); Australia (12%); Germany (10%); The Netherlands (9%); Toronto, Canada (7%); Norway (4%); Spain (3%); Denmark (2%); Greece (2%); and Turkey (2%), and is expected to be complete by January 2004. This contract was not competitively awarded (N00024-99-C-5473).

Into production

March 29/01: A $7.3 million modification to previously awarded cost reimbursable contract (N00024-99-C-5473) for the procurement of the Phase III Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM).

Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ (48%) and Camden, AR (1%), and within NATO consortium countries Australia (12%), Denmark (9%), Greece (9%), Norway (7%), Germany (5%), The Netherlands (3%), Canada (2%), Spain (2%), and Turkey (2%), and is expected to be complete by March 2003. The Naval Sea Systems Command in Arlington, VA issued the contract.

Oct 28/99: A $25.5 million modification to previously awarded contract N00024-99-C-5473 for the fabrication of ESSM long lead material (LLM) Phase #2. This contract is a NATO Sea Sparrow Consortium involving the countries of: Australia (69.18%); Denmark (12.25%); United States (10.78%); Germany (2.09%); The Netherlands (1.98%); Canada (1.56%); Norway (0.78%); Spain (0.62%); Turkey (0.40%); and Greece (0.36%).

Work will be performed Adelaide, Australia (68.5%); Schrobenhausen, Germany (14%); Tucson, AZ (7%); Rocket City, WVA (6.1%); and Ankara, Turkey (4.4%), and is expected to be completed by October 2000. The Naval Sea Systems Command in Arlington, VA issued the contract.

Sept 16/99: A $9.2 million cost-reimbursable contract for the fabrication of ESSM Long Lead Material Phase #1 which includes the thrust vector control and warhead components. This contract is a Royal Australian Navy (83%) and Royal Danish Navy (17%) requirement, as both nations are participants in the NATO Sea Sparrow Consortium. Funding obligated at contract award will be $6.7 million for Australia and Denmark. Work will be performed in Adelaide, Australia (68.5%); Schrobenhausen, Germany (14%); Tucson, AZ (7%); Rocket City, WVA (6.1%) and Ankara, Turkey (4.4%), and is expected to be complete by May 2002. The Naval Sea Systems Command in Arlington, VA issued the contract (N00024-99-C-5473).

Additional Readings & Sources

• Raytheon – Products & Services: ESSM.

• Designation Systems – Raytheon RIM-162 ESSM.

• GlobalSecurity.org – RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM).

• Designation Systems –RIM-7 Sparrow series.

• NATO Sea Sparrow Consortium.

• Common Defence Quarterly – Origins of a Four Decade Success Story: NATO SeaSparrow’s founders got it right [PDF].

Americas

• The US Navy has continued the grounding of T-38 Talon aircraft for another week, after the service’s instructor-pilots reported that crew were experiencing physiological episodes. A three-day grounding was initially called last Wednesday in order for an investigation to take place into what was causing the issues. Finding the cause or causes of the problem, however, has been difficult with several investigations taking place, including the aircraft’s oxygen system. A statement by Vice Adm. Mike Shoemaker, Commander, Naval Air Forces said that the service is taking “an ‘unconstrained resources’ approach to the problem, meaning we have not been nor will we be limited by money or manpower as we diligently work toward solutions.”

• Orbital ATK has been contracted $92 million for the supply of small caliber ammunition to the US Army. The 5.56mm and 7.62mm rounds will be produced at the company’s Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Independence, Mo. The largest manufacturer of small-caliber ammunition for the US DoD, Orbital has produced more than 17 billion rounds of small-caliber ammunition at Lake City to support US and allied troops.

• Negotiations on the next batch of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters could see savings of at least 5% as the unit cost per fighter looks to dip below $80 million. Current talks between the Pentagon and lead contractor Lockheed Martin are said to be for a batch of about 130 planes, 100 of which are likely to be the A-model configuration. It is on these 100 aircraft that between 5-7 percent, or $660 million, could be shaved off the total price in potential savings. This follows comments made by the program’s head Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan last month who said that the government hoped that by 2020 the F-35 would cost less than $80 million, a 16 percent drop from its current price.

Middle East & North Africa

• Thirty mostly Democratic Party lawmakers have expressed their concerns to US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, over the potential sale of precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia. The signed letter comes after an earlier attempt to sell the missiles to Riyadh last December was put on hold due to concerns raised over the increased reports of civilian casualties as a result of sorties from the Royal Saudi Air Force’s campaign in Yemen. Congressional aides told Reuters the Trump administration was on the verge of sending a formal notification to Congress about the sale, which would trigger the formal 30-day review to allow members of Congress to attempt to pass legislation to stop any sale.

• Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) Hurkus aircraft has completed its first missile launch with a Roketsan L-UMTAS laser-guided long-range air-to-surface anti-tank missile. The March 7 test was conducted at the Firing Test and Evaluation Group Command test range near the central Anatolian town of Konya-Karapinar. Alongside the L-UMTAS, the Hurkus will be armed with Roketsan UMTAS infrared-guided anti-tank missiles, Cirit laser-guided 70 mm rockets as well as bombs upgraded with Teber precision guidance kits; has five stores pylons and will be able to carry a payload of 1,500 kg. As well as operating as a basic trainer, the aircraft will be used for light assault and armed reconnaissance missions in the counter-insurgency role. The type is planned to enter into service in 2018.

Africa

• The Trump administration is moving ahead with a plan to sell as much as $600 million worth of A-29 Super Tucano aircraft and related equipment to help the Nigerian Air Force in their fight against the jihadist group Boko Haram. Initial permission had been granted under the previous Obama administration but was put on hold following Nigeria’s bombing of a refugee camp in January. Congress is expected to receive notification on the sale of 12 Super Tucanos and sophisticated targeting gear within weeks, and Trump plans to go ahead with other foreign defense sales delayed under Obama by human rights concerns.

Europe

• Rauma Marine Constructions has been contracted by the Finnish government to design new vessels for the Squadron 2020 project. The announcement of the $7.9 million award came without any specifics of what the design will entail. The Finnish Navy’s Squadron 2020 project is to replace seven Navy corvettes that have been, or will be, decommissioned. Contracts for the construction of the new vessels will be signed in 2018.

Asia Pacific

• Taiwan is in need of five types of submarine technology for their domestic submarine program, according to local defense analysts. Modern torpedo tubes and periscopes are believed to be some of the tech missing by Taipei, as well as the possible need for air-independent propulsion technology or an equivalent to allow the submarine to be practically silent when operating in a submerged environment. The government has allocated spending of $94.81 million for the program’s design phase, due to run until December 2020, and have already dispatched delegations to find foreign suppliers of the technology it requires. While several nations have established submarine programs, most may shy away from selling such tech to Taiwan for fear of upsetting relations with China.

Today’s Video

• Langkawi International Maritime & Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA) 2017: