Defense Industry Daily

ADM-160B/C MALD
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The Bosnian “Nighthawk Down” incident in 1999 showed that even old air defense systems could still be dangerous, and that smart tactics and selective use could keep those systems alive against heavy opposition. The challenge is finding them and targeting them. Against truly advanced air defense systems like the Russian SA-20 family, however, the challenge is survival. Advanced stealth technologies, advanced anti-radar weapons, and successful electronic jamming are required.

Air-launched decoys can help, and they are not a new concept by any means. The same technologies used in cruise missiles allow construction of “stealth in reverse” decoys that fly long distances along pre-planned flight patterns, carrying radar reflectors that simulate the radar return of fighter or bomber aircraft. Enemy air defenses see them as incoming aircraft, and must decide to either shut down and hide, or activate and reveal their position. If American aircraft are flying behind a wave a decoys, either option can be dangerous. The USAF’s ADM-160B/C Miniature Air-Launched Decoy (MALD) program began as a DARPA effort in 1996, but made it all the way into production, and is branching out into new fields. The US Navy already has their own ITALD, but they liked one of the new MALD variants enough to add it, too.

MALD and Its Variants

MALDs, loading

The ADM-160 MALD has changed over its program lifespan. One big change was required range, which forced the Air Force to move to a larger decoy. That led to a re-compete, which Raytheon won from original incumbent Northrop Grumman in 2003. Prices have increased along with size and capability, from $30,000 to $120,000 per decoy. This is still much cheaper than a $70 million fighter. Range for the 300 pound system has also increased, to 500 nm/ 575 miles, with the ability to loiter over targets.

With its range and loiter time, however, MALD lends itself to other uses as well. One obvious use is to install radar jamming equipment, instead of radar reflecting equipment. The resulting system can add realism to an incoming wave of MALD decoys while neutralizing specific threats, or fly ahead on a mission of its own. The “MALD-J” electronics will have to be powerful enough to be useful, however, while remaining small and light enough to fit into a 300 pound MALD decoy.

MALD, JSOW & HARM

The USAF wants to explore those possibilities. Raytheon received a 2-year, $80 million US Air Force contract for MALD-J Phase II risk reduction in April 2008, and MALD-J received its milestone C go-ahead into low-rate production in November 2011. Deliveries begun in the fall of 2012, for use with USAF F-16 fighters and B-52H bombers. Meanwhile, the US Navy is working to integrate it with its regular F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter fleet, as a lower-end alternative to its dedicated EA-18G Growler electronic attack variant.

A 3rd MALD type, MALD-V, would have an open payload space for insertion of modular surveillance gear, jammers, or other equipment. This may provide the go-forward architecture, and give customers the option of turning MALD into a UAV, or even a hunter-killer that homes in and destroys radars targeting it. But after several test failures in 2010/11, the Air Force clipped the program’s wings by terminating research on MALD-J Increment II.

Program Timeline

Industrial Team

More than 125 Raytheon employees design and build the MALD and MALD-J in Tucson, AZ; Goleta, CA; and El Segundo, CA. Key suppliers for MALD and MALD-J components include:

• AUSCO in Port Washington, NY
  
• Advanced Industries Inc. in Wichita, KS
  
• CEI in Sacramento, CA
  
• Celestica in Austin, TX
  
• Eagle Pitcher in Joplin, MO
  
• EDO in Bohemia, NY
  
• Enser in Pinellas Park, FL
  
• Engineered Fabrics Corp in Rockmart, GA
  
• GDOTS in Redmond, WA
  
• Hamilton-Sundstrand in Rockford, IL & San Diego, CA
  
• LaBarge in Joplin, MO
  
• Moog in East Aurora, NY
  
• Tecom in Westlake Village, CA
  
• Teledyne Microelectronics in Los Angeles, CA
  
• Daico, in Carson, CA
  
• Cobham in San Diego, CA

Boeing and Lockheed Martin don’t supply components, but will be responsible for making MALDs work with their respective aircraft.

Contracts and Key Events FY 2018

DOTE not sure about navigational accuracy. Lot 7 and beyond. Radio link.

August 28/18: Decoys The US Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO) has achieved a milestone in its Miniature Air-Launched Decoy X (MALD-X) development. MALD-X decoys are mini-cruise missiles, which are used to distract and deceive an enemy air defense system so that a real strike package can succeed and survive. The ‘stealth in reverse’ decoys fly long distances along pre-planned flight patterns, carrying radar reflectors that simulate the radar return of fighter or bomber aircraft. MALD-X enhances the modular nature of the mini cruise missile with the ability to accommodate different electronic warfare payloads that are more advanced than those found on its predecessors. A series of flight demonstrations were recently held at Naval Air Warfare Center Point Mugu, with additional tests to take place next year. Raytheon was awarded $34.8 million by the USAF to develop a new version in 2016.

FY 2014 – 2016

July 12/16: Raytheon has secured a $34.8 million USAF contract to modify its ADM-160 Miniature Air-Launched Decoy (MALD) for carriage on the Navy’s F/A-18E/F. Used currently on USAF F-16 and B-52s, the MALD deceives adversaries by replicating the signature of friendly aircraft, and the new development will see it receive an improved electronic warfare payload, the ability to carry out low-altitude flight, and an enhanced net-enabled datalink. The development will last for 24 months and see two demonstrations of the system.

September 11/15: Raytheon and the Navy have demonstrated the use of electronic warfare payloads fitted to the Miniature Air Launched Decoy – Jammer (MALD-J), with the system tested through a dozen different mission profiles. Known as Cerberus, the open architecture system was tested during Exercise Northern Edge in June. The tests showed how the payloads could be swapped into the MALD-J vehicle rapidly, using adapted motor sport technology.

Dec 9/14: data link. Almost 6 years after a January 2009 award to study the feasibility of adding a data link to MALD-J, Raytheon announces that it has conducted successful tests of that capability with the US Marines in Yuma, AZ. The benefit is to allow in-flight targeting adjustments.

Oct 15/14: Lot 9-11. The Air Force intends to award multiple sole source contracts for a total of $471M to Raytheon Missile Systems (RMS) for MALD-J lots 9-11; parts obsolescence management, sustainment, aircraft integration, non-warranty repair, technical support, and development of any future variants based on the MALD design.

June 30/14: USAF procurement. The Air Force releases a justification & approval document dated Oct. 31/12 that explains how lots 7 to 10 plan to procure 200 units each year from 2014 to 2017, on a Firm Fixed Price basis. Lots 7 and beyond should be contracted under a 10-year warranty, like lots 5 and 6, vs. 15 years for the first 4 lots. Source: FBO [PDF].

June 27/14: Lot 7. RMS is awarded a $80.8 million firm-fixed-price and cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the Lot 7 Miniature Air Launched Decoy Jammer (MALD-J) missile that includes data, mission planning, process verification program, and operational flight software. Work will be performed at Tucson, AZ, and is expected to be completed by June 30, 2016. Fiscal 2012, 2013 and 2014 procurement and operations and maintenance funds are being obligated in the amount of $79,112,476 at time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center/EBJM, Eglin Air Force Base, FL, is the contracting activity (FA8682-14-C-0004).

shoot these drones

May 2014: state of program. Raytheon says it has delivered a total of 1,000 MALD-Js, and all 33 flights performed during the past 2 years were successful, without elaborating on the success criteria.

January 2014: DOTE. The Pentagon’s Office of the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation, released its FY2013 report, with a section on problem discovery affecting OT&E. On MALD-J:

“All MALD-J vehicles launched during developmental testing performed within the navigational accuracy requirements. During IOT&E at an open-air flight test range (a more challenging operationally representative environment), several MALD-J vehicles experienced unexpected navigational accuracy issues. There were several different causes of the navigational errors, all classified, but all arose from technical performance issues that should have been uncovered during developmental testing.”

There is also a dedicated brief [PDF] on the program that details test activity so far.

FY 2011 – 2013

Milestone C for MALD-J; Lot 4-6 orders are all MALD-Js; Work begins to add MALD-J to MQ-9 UAVs, F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, and transport aircraft; MALD-J Increment II terminated; MALD-V for surveillance? IOT&E.

MALD CONOPS

April 22/13: Lot 6. Raytheon announces a USAF contract for 202 more MALD-Js and containers as Production Lot 6. It was exercised as an option under the Lot 5 contract “in Raytheon’s first quarter of 2013.”

As usual, contract work will take place primarily at Raytheon’s missile facility in Tucson, AZ.

Feb 13/13: MQ-9 UAVs. Raytheon Company and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. announce that they’re working to integrate MALD/MALD-J decoys onto the MQ-9 Reaper UAV. The Reaper’s slow speed means that their use would need to be timed well, and arranged carefully so as not to make their mission obvious. On the other hand, the Israelis have made an art form out of using drones to provoke air defense batteries into using their radars and communications, then harvesting the emissions for analysis and counter-programming. Enough of that in advance, and the MALDs could just look like the big killer strike wave has finally arrived.

Ground Verification Test phase completed in November 2012 at GA-ASI’s Gray Butte Flight Operations Facility in Palmdale, CaA. Integration is estimated to conclude in 2013.

Aug 22/12: Lot 5. An $81.8M firm-fixed price contract for MALD-Js, to be completed by the end of August 2014 (FA8682-12-C-0002). FBO.gov.

July 6/12: F/A-18E/Fs. Raytheon announces that the MALD-J has begun integration with the US Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornets. That will involve additional tests and demonstrations once work is finished to tie it into the Super Hornet’s systems. Meanwhile, the USAF is preparing to begin receiving MALD-Js for its F-16s and B-52s by the end of 2012.

The dedicated EA-18G Growler electronic warfare fighter doesn’t have the space to add MALD-J without badly compromising its range, but MALD-Js on regular Super Hornet fighters will give the US Navy additional electronic attack options beyond the Growler fleet.

June 01/12: In an interview with Defense Daily, Raytheon business development manager Jeffrey White defends the program, thanks to several successful tests so far this year. He adds that swarms of up to 192 decoys can be loaded on and dumped from heavy transport aircraft (see May 25/11 entry on MCALS). Now wouldn’t that be nice for business?

March 29/12: GAO report. The Government Accountability Office reviews the Pentagon’s airborne electronic attack efforts and starts its section on underperforming programs with MALD/MALD-J:

“In September 2011, citing ‘successful completion of MALD-J engineering and manufacturing development activities,’ the Air Force exercised a priced option to upgrade 240 of its planned MALD units to the MALD-J configuration, subsequently decreasing MALD quantities to 596. Because all future production lots are now planned as jammer-configured decoys (MALD-J), the 596 total represents the full MALD procurement – without the program having ever met the criteria necessary to proceed into full rate production. Since the MALD and MALD-J designs are identical – except for the addition of a jammer module to MALD-J–the absence of a proven manufacturing process for MALD introduces schedule risk to production of MALD-J.”

February 27/12: The FY 2013 President Budget terminates work on MALD-J Increment II. The USAF had previously planned to spend $272 million in order to develop this new version, which was intended to improve sensitivity and jamming power.

No MALD-J Increment II

Dec 2011: DOTE. The Director, Operational Test & Evaluation, issues its annual report [PDF]. They are satisfied by the Air Force’s follow-up on past recommendations, but urge a change to the Concept of Operations (CONOPS) so that some decoys can be used during exercises and training. The current CONOPS doesn’t allow that because of the device’s expendable nature. Overall, 2011 has been a better year for MALD-J than MALD.

Nov 29/11: Raytheon announces that the USAF has approved the MALD-J jammer variant for Milestone C, clearing it to enter Low Rate Initial Production. They also exercised a $5 million contract option, to convert Lot 4 production of the baseline MALDs into MALD-Js.

Milestone C

Sept 6/11: Raytheon touts a successful test with multiple MALD-Js in both free-flight and carry modes, simulating an electronic attack. That’s the last major hurdle toward a Functional Configuration Audit, and once that’s official, the USAF could authorize Milestone C and begin production by the end of 2011.

June 29/11: Boeing touts the first MALD-J powered launch “earlier this month” from a B-52 flying over the Gulf of Mexico, at the Eglin Air Force Base, FL test range. Boeing designed the avionics software on board the B-52 that controls and launches Raytheon’s MALD-J. Boeing.

May 27/11: LRIP-4. Raytheon Missile Co. in Tucson, AZ receives an $83 million firm-fixed-price contract modification MALD low rate initial production lot four (LRIP-4) production.

Work will be performed at Tucson, AZ. The contract is managed by the AAC/EBJM at Eglin Air Force Base, FL (FA8682-10-C-0007, PO 0019).

May 27/11: MALD-J/V. A Flight International article discusses US Navy interest in the USAF’s jammer variant, and notes work on a MALD-V, with an empty payload compartment that could carry surveillance payloads as well.

May 25/11: MALD MCALS. Raytheon announces that they’ve launched two MALD “instrumented shapes” from the ramp of a C-130 Hercules, using the new Raytheon-funded MALD Cargo Air Launched System (MCALS).

Adding cargo aircraft as a platform would offer many more options for using MALDs, on both combat strike and cargo missions. MCALS’ steel, birdcage-like framework body sits on a standard cargo pallet, and can hold as many as 8 MALDs. At a pre-determined altitude, the ramp is opened and MCALS rapidly ejects the MALDs, which then initiate a standard wing deployment and engine ignition sequence.

March 10/11: The US Navy posts FedBizOpps notice #N0016411RWS47: “14–SOLE SOURCE – MINIATURE AIR LAUNCHED DECOY (MALD)/ MINIATURE AIR LAUNCHED DECOY JAMMER (MALDJ)”:

“Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Crane Division plans to enter into a five year Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA) with Raytheon Missile Systems… ceiling in the amount of [$12.5 million, for] engineering, logistics and test support, test item hardware and software, support equipment hardware and software, prototypes, test and assembly fixtures, repair services, training, and various data products. This requirement will be negotiated on a sole source basis in accordance with the statutory authority 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1) as implemented by FAR 6.302-1… The POC for information regarding this requirement is Mr. Matthew Lucas, Code CXMN, telephone (812)854-8864, fax 812-854-3805 or send a request via e-mail (E-MAIL preferred)…”

FY 2006 – 2010

MALD-J: From initial R&D to EMD contract and free flight; MALD free-flight from F-16; USAF reaches initial target level for MALDs.

MALD
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May 5/10: LRIP-3. Raytheon Co. in Tucson, AZ receives a $96.7 million MALD low rate initial production contract for a 24-month effort, to include operational test and evaluation. Raytheon expects to supply 300 MALD decoys. At this time, $89.8 million has been committed by the 692th ARSS/PK at Eglin Air Force Base, FL (FA8682-10-C-0007).

Raytheon has already delivered more than 100 units to the USAF, and this Lot-III order for 300 is nearly equal to the total of Lots I and II combined. Additionally, the contract requires the delivery of the MALD-Jammer, in preparation for the MALD-J initial operational test and evaluation phase. Raytheon release

April 30/10: MALD-J EMD. Raytheon Co. in Tucson, AZ receives a $53.1 million contract to develop the MALD-J active jamming variant. This includes the associated engineering, program management, supportability, mission planning, modeling and simulation, hardware fabrication, production readiness, software and testing efforts. At this time, $24.5 million has been committed by the 692th ARSS/PK at Eglin Air Force Base, FL (FA8682-10-C-0010).

During EMD, Raytheon will put MALD-J through an aggressive series of free-flight and captive-carry tests, in order to meet the required operational availability date of 2012. Raytheon states that MALD-J has successfully completed all 27 test events so far, culminating in a free-flight test in December 2009, and a 2nd free-flight test April 27/10. Production is expected to begin in 2011. Ken Watson, the U.S. Air Force’s MALD program manager, explains the stakes:

“In executing the MALD-J program, Raytheon has been ahead of schedule and under budget for 39 months in a row… The success of this program is crucial because it will reduce or eliminate the need for manned stand-in jamming aircraft.”

MALD-J EMD

March 31/10: MALD. Raytheon announces that they have now delivered “an operationally significant quantity” of MALD decoys to the USAF, allowing the service to reach its “required assets available” as scheduled. Raytheon had committed to a 2010 delivery schedule in 2003.

Raytheon will continue to deliver additional MALDs to the U.S. Air Force, and expects to deliver its first system to the U.S. Air Force in 2012. It also says that it “continues to make progress developing a jamming variant of the MALD.”

Feb 18/10: MALD-J. Raytheon announces that the USAF completed a critical design review (CDR) for the MALD-J variant. Passing the CDR follows completion of the 1st MALD-J free-flight test in December 2009. This sets the stage for a final system design and development and low rate initial production.

MALD-J CDR

Jan 13/10: MALD-J. Raytheon announces that the USAF completed the 1st free-flight test of the MALD-J variant. The test demonstrated that the MALD-J has reached a technology readiness level 7 and sets the stage for the system to enter engineeing and manufacturing development. The Feb 18/10 announcement notes that the free-flight test was conducted in December 2009.

June 14/09: MALD-J. Raytheon announces that the company and the USAF completed a preliminary design review of the MALD-J variant.

MALD-J PDR

March 17/09: MALD-J. Raytheon announces that the USAF accepted delivery of the 1st MALD low-rate initial production unit. With this delivery, Raytheon said that it is on schedule to meet the USAF required asset availability date of March 2010.

1st MALD-J delivery

Jan 15/09: Datalink? Raytheon announces that it received a $12.2 million USAF contract to study the feasibility of increasing power and adding a data link capability for the MALD-J. The contract requires Raytheon to integrate a data link and more powerful jammer amplifiers into the baseline MALD/MALD-J vehicle. Raytheon will also determine the technical feasibility and performance capability of MALD-J Block II prior to building and flight testing the new vehicle.

April 9/08: MALD-J. Raytheon announces that it received a 2-year, $80 million contract from the USAF for Phase II risk reduction for the MALD-J. The contract calls for Raytheon to further develop, integrate and test the MALD-J variant.

MALD-J Phase II Dev

Feb 26/08: MALD. Raytheon announces that MALD completed government and Raytheon verification team flight testing on Jan 11/08. This sets the stage for MALD to enter low-rate initial production later in 2008. The testing, which began in June 2007, put the MALD through a series of flight profiles including jettison and powered flight tests from both F-16 and B-52 aircraft.

MALD flight testing

Oct 24/06: MALD. Raytheon announces that a series of MALD vehicles have demonstrated successful separation when launched from an F-16 fighter. The flight tests took place at Eglin Air Force Base, FL, under a development contract managed by the 728th Armament Systems Group. In total, 9 free-flight launches took place from May to July 2006 at Eglin.

Additional Readings

• Raytheon – Miniature Air Launched Decoy. See also brochure [PDF]

• GlobalSecurity.org – Miniature Air-Launched Decoy

• Deagle.com – MALD-J

• Wapedia – ADM-160 MALD

• Designation Systems – Northrop Grumman (Teledyne Ryan) ADM-160A MALD/ Raytheon ADM-160B/C MALD

L12 & LCVPs
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The 22,500t HMS Ocean is similar to some of the smaller LHD designs like the 21,300t French Mistral Class. Built to commercial standards, LPH01/ L12 carries a crew of 255, an aircrew of 206, and 480 Royal Marine Commandos; an additional 320 marines can be accommodated in a short-term emergency. The ship has capacity for 40 vehicles, but its 4 Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel (LCVP) Mk 5s aren’t designed to handle heavy vehicles like tanks. Its main assets are up to 18 helicopters: usually 12 transport (EH101 Merlins or H-3 Sea Kings), and 6 smaller maritime/ scout/ attack helicopters (multi-role Lynx variants, and/or WAH-64D Apache attack helicopters). H-47 Chinooks can be refueled and serviced on deck.

HMS Ocean’s primary role is as an amphibious support vessel. Secondary ship roles include training, a limited anti-submarine warfare role, humanitarian assistance, and acting as a base for anti-terrorist operations. The 2011 campaign over Libya added a strike carrier role of sorts, using the WAH-64D. Those kinds of events have forced the ship to remain at sea near more distant shores, and on longer voyages, than originally anticipated. Hence the priority on crew-related modifications. Not to mention some of the other changes being made under recent refits.

Contracts and Key Events

HMS Ocean
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HMS Ocean [L12] was built on the Clyde by Kvaerner Govan, launched in October 1995, named by Her Majesty the Queen on Feb 20/98, and commissioned in September 1998 in her homeport of Devonport.

August 28/18: Sailing for Brazil Jane’s reports, that the Brazilian Navy’s newest ship is dropping anchor in Rio de Janeiro. The PHM Atlantico was bought from the UK Royal Navy earlier this year as part of Brazil’s ‘Obtaining Full Operational Capability’ program. The deal has an estimated value of $108.7 million. While sailing for the UK the ship had the name HMS Ocean. The ship has a 22.500 t displacement and offers pace for a crew of 255, an aircrew of 206, and 480 marines. The vessel’s primary role is as an amphibious support vessel. Secondary ship roles include training, a limited anti-submarine warfare role, humanitarian assistance, and acting as a base for anti-terrorist operations.

April 16/17: The UK and Brazilian governments are in talks over the potential sale of the Royal Navy helicopter carrier, HMS Ocean, for the reported price of $100 million. Designed to support amphibious landing operations, the vessel was commissioned in 1998 but had been designated in 2015 for decommissioning in 2018 with no plans for a like-for-like replacement. Brazil’s interest in the vessel comes as their Navy decided to abandon the refit of the aircraft carrier Sao Paulo and decommission the vessel after a series of technical issues and accidents.

Dec 12/12: Refit. The UK MoD announces another refit for HMS Ocean. Her 15-month, GBP 65 million (about $105 million) upgrade will be carried out in the newly developed 10 Dock facility at Babcock’s Devonport Royal Dockyard in Plymouth. The work will secure about 300 jobs in Devonport, plus another 300 or so jobs with over 70 contractors who are set to be involved in the project.

Defensive upgrades include the new Type 997 “Artisan” Medium Range Radar system; 4 automated 30mm cannons and 20 km of accompanying power and control cabling to replace existing 20mm manned guns, and complement the ship’s 3 MK15 Phalanx advanced 20mm close-in weapon systems; a new fire detection system; the new multi-service Defence Information Infrastructure (Future) (DII(F)) communications system; and the DNA(2) Command System.

Mechanical and crew improvements include a first-of-class ballast water treatment system, and a first-of-class Membrane Bio-Reactor (MBR) system to treat waste water and sewage. They’ll ensure compatibility with environmental legislation and permit discharge at sea. Represervation work on the ship, and numerous improvements to crew quarters and facilities, round out major requirements. In all, about 1.2 km of new pipework will be installed; over 100 pumps, motors and valves will be overhauled in Babcock’s main factory, and around 100,000 litres of paint will be applied; and major structural modifications will be made to the interior of the ship.

Babcock has also introduced a number of improvements and new processes of its own to optimise delivery of this upkeep, including a new organisation structure in the form of zone management to further improve the planning and execution. Royal Navy | Babcock International.

Sept 21/12: The Royal Navy recounts HMS Ocean’s central role during the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The ship steamed up the Thames and moored in the middle of the river, becoming a visible attraction of her own. She embarked 450 soldiers from a mixture of Army units for venue security at Greenwich Park, whilst simultaneously supporting Fleet Air Arm (FAA) and Army Air Corps (AAC) helicopters – with Royal Marine and RAF Regiment snipers in the back – in order to assist the Metropolitan Police. Royal Navy.

Feb 18/09: Fleet return. HMS Ocean deploys as part of TAURUS 09, steaming in the Royal Navy’s Amphibious Task Group through the Mediterranean, the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Far East. Royal Navy.

Oct 13/08: Trials done. HMS Ocean has successfully conducted 2 weeks of sea trials. HMS Ocean will return to sea again to resume her program of sea trials, before embarking on operational sea training in November 2008. UK MoD | Just Plymouth.

Aug 22/07: Refit. The UK MoD announces HMS Ocean’s GBP 30 million (about $59.5 million) refit, and provides details. The work is part of the developing Surface Ship Support Alliance, a new contracting approach that was a pre-requisite to approval of the Royal Navy’s new 65,000t CVF Queen Elizabeth Class carriers.

The year-long refit of HMS Ocean will involve the fitting of new main propulsion shaft sections, extensive improvements in accommodation (including mess-deck dining areas in troop accommodation areas, storage for troop equipment, improvements to the galley and accompanying food storage areas), and an upgrade to the ship’s aviation support facilities to improve support to the Army’s WAH-64D Apache attack helicopters. Work is expected to start in September 2007 and, the ship is expected to return to service in September 2008 after a set of sea trials.

HMS Ocean participated Iraqi operations near Al-Faw in 2003, and her most recent assignment involved deployment to the Caribbean to counter drug smuggling (see video – at GBP 29 million, the value of seized drugs was about equal to the present refit costs), work with US Marine Corps’ HMM-774 “Wild Geese”s and their CH-46E Sea Knight helicopters in a joint training deployment, and offer humanitarian assistance to hurricane victims. In her absence, Britain’s 20,000t escort carrier and fleet flagship HMS Ark Royal will take on HMS Ocean’s role, embarking the helicopters and Royal Marines and serving as a less-optimized backup.

RBS-70, Australian Navy
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The domain of man-portable air defense missile systems (MANPADS) has 4 major competitors around the world. Saab’s RBS-70 is used by 18 countries, and Finland continues to raise its order. Sweden’s Nordic next-door neighbor uses the RBS-70 in 2 modes: as a dispersed, soldier-carried system, and as a vehicle-mounted VSHORAD(Very Short Range Air Defense) system.

A 2009 purchase will complement these dispersed, short-range RBS-70 systems with a wider air defense net based on Sentinel radars, and ground-launched AMRAAM missiles. This combination is intended to make Finland’s airspace dangerous enough to deny enemies full air dominance, while its difficult terrain and mobile land forces bleed any future invasion until it quits. If that strategy sounds improbable, recall that Finland forced Stalin’s Russia to settle for a qualified draw in the 1939 Winter War, when Hitler’s ally attacked Finland per the terms of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

• The RBS-70
  
• Contracts & Key Events
  
• Additional Readings
  

The RBS-70

Man-portable, sorta
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Unlike competitors such as Raytheon’s FIM-92 Stinger, MBDA’s Mistral, or KBM’s SA-18 Igla, the RBS-70 is an ‘unjammable’ laser beam-riding missile with no seeker head at the front. The RBS-70 is a bit heavy for shoulder firing, and is handled from a tripod. The system can be carried in its component parts by 3 infantry soldiers. Target acquisition includes an IFF (Identification, Friend or Foe) phase, but once fired, the missile locks on and vents its propulsion exhaust through the mid-section. This allows the laser beam riding system to fit in the tail, where it is extremely difficult to jam.

Its GlobalSecurity.org entry adds that the RBS-70 Mk 2 uses the Linear Quadratic Method based on the Kalman Theory for missile guidance, whereupon it delivers a 1-2 punch using a shaped charge surrounded by more than 3,000 tungsten pellets.

The Bolide missile is an RBS 70 Mk 2 upgrade that is faster (Mach 2 vs Mach 1.6), with a range up to 8 km (4.8 miles), an adaptable proximity fuse that gives it full effectiveness against a wider variety of targets, and new reprogrammable electronics. The 4th generation system incorporates the BOLIDE all-target missile, BORC clip-on thermal imager, a digital IFF Interrogator, a PC-based training simulator, and an external power supply for training. These improvements reportedly allow the RBS-70 Bolide to be deployed against surface targets as well, which makes it an especially interesting choice for naval use given the proliferation of small fast attack boat threats.

In a complete air defense system configuration, up to 9 RBS-70 firing tripods can be connected to a surveillance radar like Ericsson’s Giraffe 75, enabling all C3I functions. If the missile firing positions are set 4 km apart, the resulting networked VSHORAD (Very SHOrt Range Air Defense) battery protects an area of 175 square kilometers. A number of radar options are available for the RBS-70, including automatic threat evaluation, autonomous operations, et. al.

RBS-70 Bolide, cutaway
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Beyond Sweden, RBS-70 sales have been made over the years to Argentina, Bahrain, Brazil, Indonesia, Iran, Republic of Ireland, Norway, Pakistan, Singapore, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates. All together, Saab says that more than 16,000 missiles have been produced over 4 product generations.

In the last 3-4 years, the Australians have retired their Rapier systems in favor of the RBS-70 system (SEK 600M, incl. SEK 150M for 170 new Bolide missiles). Lithuania received RBS-70 missiles as a gift from Norway to protect critical infrastructure like the Ignalina nuclear plant, while Latvia (ex-Swedish launchers, unspecified missiles for SEK 185M) and the Czech Republic (SEK 204M, 16 launchers & 200 missiles) have also purchased the RBS-70.

Beyond confirmed customers, The SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) “Register of the transfers of major conventional weapons from Sweden 1995-2005” [PDF] also lists Mexico (100 missiles, supplier uncertain in 1993) and Thailand (85, in 1996 & 2001) as having these missiles in inventory. GlobalSecurity.org adds Venezuela’s Air Force, and the FAV Club site claims that an RBS-70 was successfully used to shoot down an OV-10 during a 1992 coup attempt.

Contracts & Key Events

RBS-70 fired from
ASRAD-R test vehicle
(click to view full)

August 28/18: Lithuanian upgrades Swedish defense manufacturer Saab confirms that Lithuania is upgrading its RBS-70 MANPADS. The company is being awarded with two contracts providing for the delivery of improved missiles and BORC night-capability sights. The two orders have a value of $10.9 million. The RBS 70 missile can be operated independently in stand-alone mode or can be configured with several firing units linked with a surveillance radar to form an anti-aircraft battery. Unlike competitors such as Raytheon’s FIM-92 Stinger, MBDA’s Mistral, the RBS-70 is an ‘unjammable’ laser beam-riding missile with no seeker head at the front. The BORC clip-on thermal sight allows the laser guidance beam from the day sight to pass without distortion to the missile for a jam proof accurate guidance. According to Saab, 19 nations have procured more than 1,600 RBS 70 systems, including more than 18,000 missiles.

October 26/15: Latvia has ordered more missiles for its RBS-70 MANPADS very short range air defense systems. The country has been looking to bolster its air defense capabilities in recent months, installing new air surveillance radar in May and ordering three more TPS-77 Multi Role Radar systems earlier this month. The country is also thought to have signed for FIM-92 Stinger MANPADS in August. Deliveries of the new RBS-70 missile will take place over the next year.

July 2/15: Saab has signed a $32.5 million contract with an undisclosed customer for RBS-70 Man Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS), with these due for delivery by 2016. Previous customers include Finland and Brazil, with the latter signing a $12.2 million contract with the company last year.

Jan 27/10: Saab announces a SEK 260 million (about $35.6 million) follow-on contract for further RBS-70 deliveries to the Finnish Army. First deliveries under the new contract are scheduled for 2011. Saab Group.

Jan 7/10: Germany’s Rheinmetall Defence Electronics has commenced an arbitration process against Finland, concerning the delayed delivery of its anti-aircraft defense system to the Finnish Defence Forces. Finland’s MoD says that this is the first time that arbitration has been filed against the Finnish Defence Forces, and adds that they see the allegations as groundless. Finnish Forsvarsministeriet.

Jan 18/07: Saab Bofors Dynamics announces a SEK 600 million (about $85.4 million) contract for the RBS-70 short-range, man-portable air defense system (MANPADS) with the Finnish army, including missiles and maintenance equipment. First delivery is expected at the end of 2008, and the order secures production of the RBS-70 until 2010. Saab release.

Aug 6/02: Finland signs a contract for an unspecified number of RBS-70 MANPADS, and 18 ASRAD-R mobile systems, with a coalition that includes Saab Bofors Dynamics, Germany’s STN ATLAS (now part of Rheinmetall) and Ericsson Microwave Systems (now part of Saab Group). These systems will include the new RBS-70 BOLIDE missiles, and a new RBS-70 night sight. The ASRAD-R systems will be mounted on Unimog 5000 trucks. First deliveries were in 2004, and were completed in June 2008.

STN ATLAS was the prime contractor for the EUR 120+ million contract, of which about EUR 30 million was for Saab Bofors Dynamics’ share. Saab Group.

Additional Readings

• Saab – RBS 70

• Army Technology – RBS 70 Short-Range Anti-Aircraft Missile, Sweden

• Army Technology – LeFlaSys (ASRAD) Light Mechanized Short-Range Air Defense System, Germany

• FAV Club – This page has photos of Venezuelan RBS-70 systems.

Americas

The US Air Force plans to integrate a new IRST system on its fleet of F-15C aircraft. Boeing will provide the Air Force with engineering, manufacturing, and development efforts of the F-15 Legion Pod. The contract has a value of $208.2 million and will run through November 2020. The Legion Pod is being developed in conjunction with Lockheed Martin. The pod features Lockheed’s IRST21 infrared sensor and advanced data processing capabilities. This multi-function sensor system has been designed to provide long-range detection and tracking of airborne threats in radar-denied environments. The common interface of the Legion pod allows it to be easily integrated onto any aircraft without affecting the aircraft’s operational flight programme. Work will bet performed at Boeing’s facilities on St. Louis, Missouri and Orlando, Florida.

The Navy is stocking up on spares for its Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile. Raytheon is receiving a firm-fixed-price contract that provides for the provision of ESSM Block I life-of-type-buy and assembly-level spares at a cost of $25.1 million. The RIM-162 is used to protect ships from attacking missiles and aircraft, and is designed to counter supersonic maneuvering anti-ship missiles. The ESSM Block I is a semi-active radar homing missile that depends on reflected radiation from the ship’s radar to see its target. Work will be performed at multiple locations inside and outside the US, including Andover, Massachusetts; Hengelo OV, Netherlands and Richmond, Australia. Work is scheduled for completion by June 2021.

The US Army is modernizing its stockpiles of Javelin missiles. Raytheon and Lockheed Martin will conduct a holistic engineering development to modernise the Javelin Weapon System under this $14.3 million contract modification. The FGM-148 Javelin is a man-portable anti-tank missile used to destroy moving vehicles, fixed fortifications, troops in the open and low-flying helicopters. It can be used for direct fire or in a pop-up mode that allows it to hit tanks from above to take advantage of their thinner top armor. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona and is expected to be completed by September, 2020.

The US Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO) has achieved a milestone in its Miniature Air-Launched Decoy X (MALD-X) development. MALD-X decoys are mini-cruise missiles, which are used to distract and deceive an enemy air defense system so that a real strike package can succeed and survive. The ‘stealth in reverse’ decoys fly long distances along pre-planned flight patterns, carrying radar reflectors that simulate the radar return of fighter or bomber aircraft. MALD-X enhances the modular nature of the mini cruise missile with the ability to accommodate different electronic warfare payloads that are more advanced than those found on its predecessors. A series of flight demonstrations were recently held at Naval Air Warfare Center Point Mugu, with additional tests to take place next year. Raytheon was awarded $34.8 million by the USAF to develop a new version in 2016.

Jane’s reports, that the Brazilian Navy’s newest ship is dropping anchor in Rio de Janeiro. The PHM Atlantico was bought from the UK Royal Navy earlier this year as part of Brazil’s ‘Obtaining Full Operational Capability’ program. The deal has an estimated value of $108.7 million. While sailing for the UK the ship had the name HMS Ocean. The ship has a 22.500 t displacement and offers pace for a crew of 255, an aircrew of 206, and 480 marines. The vessel’s primary role is as an amphibious support vessel. Secondary ship roles include training, a limited anti-submarine warfare role, humanitarian assistance, and acting as a base for anti-terrorist operations.

Middle East & Africa

Russian media reports that the east African nation of Burundi is considering purchasing the Pantsir-S1 air-defense system. The system is produced by Russia’s KBP and features a fire-control radar and electro-optical sensor, two 30-mm cannons and up to 12 57E6 radio-command guided short-range missiles. It is designed to protect vital small-size and big military areas, industrial targets and land forces units and reinforced the air defense units responsible for the protection of troops and military installations against precision-guided air attack from low and extreme low altitudes. The Burundi National Defense Force has currently a variety of air-defense weapons in its inventory, ranging from SA-7B Grail MANPADS to M-1939 anti-aircraft guns.

Europe

Swedish defense manufacturer Saab confirms that Lithuania is upgrading its RBS-70 MANPADS. The company is being awarded with two contracts providing for the delivery of improved missiles and BORC night-capability sights. The two orders have a value of $10.9 million. The RBS 70 missile can be operated independently in stand-alone mode or can be configured with several firing units linked with a surveillance radar to form an anti-aircraft battery. Unlike competitors such as Raytheon’s FIM-92 Stinger, MBDA’s Mistral, the RBS-70 is an ‘unjammable’ laser beam-riding missile with no seeker head at the front. The BORC clip-on thermal sight allows the laser guidance beam from the day sight to pass without distortion to the missile for a jam proof accurate guidance. According to Saab, 19 nations have procured more than 1,600 RBS 70 systems, including more than 18,000 missiles.

Asia-Pacific

The French Air Force is currently conducting a large-scale humanitarian relief mission in Asia. Operation Pegase, includes a fleet of three Rafale B fighter jets, an A310 transport plane and a C-135 refuelling tanker. Most recently the mission was joined by a A400M that flew 25 tons of aid from Jakarta to Lombok, the Indonesian island devastated by a series of powerful and deadly earthquakes. The airlifted ferried food supplies, two ambulances, building material, and NGO medical staff to the island just east of Bali. Operation Pegase, with its aircraft and about 100 flight crew members will now spend a couple of days in Vietnam.

Today’s Video

Watch: RMAF’s A400Ms take off from Subang

Americas

The US Marine Corps’ H-1 upgrade program is set to receive another major financial boost. Bell Helicopters will manufacture and deliver 29 newly built Lot 15 AH-1Z attack helicopters at a cost of $509.7 million. The contract modification also provides for long lead material and components for an additional seven Lot 16 aircraft. The H-1 program, is the USMC’s plan to remanufacture older helicopters into new and improved UH-1Y utility and AH-1Z attack helicopters. The Viper will receive a new newly designed “Integrated Avionics System” cockpit, including a Thales’ TopOwl helmet-mounted display system and the AN/AAQ-30 FLIR system. Work will be performed at Bell’s facilities in Fort Worth, Texas and Amarillo, Texas, and is scheduled for completion in February 2021.

The Navy is contracting Technical Systems Integration for the provision of necessary overhaul and modification work on the USMC’s Mk-105 minesweeping system. The firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract has a value of $10.5 million, but also includes options, which if exercises, would bring the face value to roughly $54 million. The Mk-105 Magnetic Influence Minesweeping System is a catamaran hydrofoil which is towed behind the MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopter. It is used to detect mines that use magnetic sensors to target the metallic hulls of ships before detonating. The twin magnetic tails, consisting of open-electrode magnetic sweeps, are towed behind the sled, detonating mines to clear the water for safe shipping. Work will be performed in Panama City, Florida, and is expected to be completed by August 2019.

Raytheon is being tapped to progress with the re-certification of the Navy’s Tomahawk Block IV cruise missiles. The cost plus-fixed-fee delivery order is valued at $9.3 million and provides validation and verification and cost risk analysis. The key to the next set of Tomahawk improvements is actually a warranty. The missile has a 15-year warranty and a 30-year service life, the re-certification process will keep the Tomahawk cruise missile flying through 2040. To keep the missiles up-to-date, Raytheon will add a newly developed ability to strike targets at sea. Work will be performed at multiple locations inside the continental US, including Walled Lake, Michigan; Tempe, Arizona and Albuquerque, New Mexico. The contract is expected to be completed in August 2019.

Middle East & Africa

The Israel Defense Force will receive new thermal weapon sights for its M-16 and M-4 rifles as part of a US Foreign Military Sales. FLIR Systems will deliver a number of Milsight T75 long-range thermal weapon sights, materials and training at a cost of $14 million. The ThermoSight T75 weapon sight that doubles as a portable reconnaissance scope, is designed to interface with scopes such as the Trijicon ACOG for the M-4, M-16, and similar weapons. The sight is compatible with any 1913 Mil-Std Rail System. It has three zoom capabilities, 1X, 2X, and 4X, for long range ID and engagement. It can be clipped-on to day-sight/RCO or use as stand-alone thermal sight for mission flexibility and works with all combat optics and rapidly adaptable to various weapon platforms. Work will bet performed at the company’s facility in North Billerica, Massachusetts. The sights are expected to be ready for delivery by end of December 2019.

Europe

The government of France is increasing its remote strike and surveillance capabilities. The European nation is ordering an unspecified number of MQ-9 UAVs from General Atomics. The firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract has a value of $123 million and involves foreign military sales to the government. France introduced the Reaper in 2013, when it requested the purchase of 16 MQ-9 aircraft and associated equipment at a cost of $1.5 billion. The drone s designed primarily for attack missions but can also be used for surveillance, close air support and reconnaissance. The MQ-9 has a a high cruise speed, a flight ceiling up to 40,000 feet and can carry a larger sensor and weapons payload than its predecessors. The Reapers can be armed with laser-guided missiles and bombs like the Hellfire and GBU-12 Paveway, as well as GPS-guided GBU-38 JDAMs. Work will be performed at GA’s facility in Poway, California and is expected to be completed on May 1st, 2020.

The French Air Force is finishing its deployment to Estonia, and will be replaced by the German Luftwaffe. From now on, four German Eurofighter Typhoons will take on the NATO air policing duties. There are currently NATO air and land forces from the Netherlands, Spain, the US, the UK deployed in the northeastern Estonian town of Tapa. They are part of NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence mission. Germany bought a total of 140 Eurofighters, equipped with IRIS-T short-range air-to-air missiles, Meteor long-range air-to-air missiles and a Captor radar.

Asia-Pacific

The Indian Ministry of Defense clears a major defense acquisition with a total value of $6.5 billion. The biggest chunk of the procurement will be the purchase of 111 naval utility helicopters. They will be built by an Indian company at a cost of $3.1 billion. $3.4 billion are earmarked for a variety of missiles and 150 Indian-made 155mm artillery gun systems. The Indian Navy will also replace its 12 outdated Seaking multi-role helicopters with 24 US-made MH-60Rs. This deal is expected to be worth about $1.8 billion. The MoD will further procure total of 14 Vertically Launched Short Range Missile Systems which will increase the capability of warships to shoot down and destroy incoming anti-ship missiles.

Today’s Video

Watch: A Jordanian fighter pilot was killed in a helicopter crash in Texas

UH-1Y and AH-1Z
by Neville Dawson

The US Marines’ helicopter force is aging at all levels, from banana-shaped CH-46 Sea Knight transports that are far older than their pilots, to the 1980s-era UH-1N Hueys and AH-1W Cobra attack helicopters that make up the Corps’ helicopter assault force. While the tilt-rotor V-22 Osprey program has staggered along for almost 2 decades under accidents, technical delays, and cost issues, replacement of the USMC’s backbone helicopter assets has languished. Given the high-demand scenarios inherent in the current war, other efforts are clearly required.

Enter the H-1 program, the USMC’s plan to remanufacture older helicopters into new and improved UH-1Y utility and AH-1Z attack helicopters. The new versions would discard the signature 2-bladed rotors for modern 4-bladed improvements, redo the aircraft’s electronics, and add improved engines and weapons to offer a new level of performance. It seemed simple, but hasn’t quite worked out that way. The H-1 program has encountered its share of delays and issues, but the program survived its review, and continued on into production and deployment.

DID’s FOCUS articles offer in-depth, updated looks at significant military programs of record. This article covers the H-1 helicopter programs’ rationales and changes, the upgrades involved in each model, program developments and annual budgets, the full timeline of contracts and key program developments, and related research sources.

The H-1 Helicopters

TopOwl
(click to view full)

For pilots, both H-1 helicopters will incorporate a newly designed “Integrated Avionics System” cockpit designed by Northrop Grumman, including dual mission computers, GPS navigation, moving map displays, and other modern aids. Pilot workload will be improved further by using Thales’ TopOwl helmet-mounted display systems (HMDS), to offer flight and targeting data no matter where the pilot looks.

FLIR Systems’ BRITE Star NTIS will handle targeting and surveillance on the UH-1Y Venom. The UH-1Y is currently slated to use only machine guns and 70mm rockets, but a March 2012 decision has added laser-guided APKWS rockets to its arsenal.

The AH-1Z Viper will use the more advanced Lockheed Martin/ Wescam/ Kollsman AN/AAQ-30, which is fully integrated into the AH-1Z fire control system and TopOwl HMD. It provides range and optical line-of-sight data for all weapons, even AIM-9M Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. TSS features a large-aperture, 3rd-generation staring mid-wave FLIR derived from Lockheed’s fighter-borne Sniper targeting pod; a 640 x 512 day/night TV with automatic video tracker and continuous zoom from high magnification to wide field of view; a laser spot tracker; an on-gimbal inertial measurement unit (IMU) for accurate line-of-sight pointing and geolocation of targets; coupled with a Kollsman laser designator/rangefinder with an eyesafe mode. The AAQ-30’s wide Field-of-View (FoV) optics also provide a secondary navigation capability when light levels are low, and night vision goggles are ineffective. All of this is packed into a stabilized L-3 Wescam turret.

Overall, the AH-1Z Viper will have a wider array of weapons to choose from, and it will become the Navy’s initial platform for the dual-mode radar/laser guided JAGM missile if the weapon makes it into production.

Neither helicopter uses extensive armoring for protection, as is the case with the AH-64 Apache, for instance. Instead, efforts like infrared-reducing paint and exhausts, design for low profiles, and some protection to key systems like energy-absorbing landing gear, self-sealing fuel systems and a fuel vapor inerting system are used. Troops riding in the UH-1Y will especially appreciate the energy attenuating seats that reduce the effects of G-forces in the event of a crash, or hard landing; in the UH-1N, they just had to sit on the floor and receive the full shock. Both helicopters will also rely on a common set of advanced defensive systems:

• ATK’s AN/AAR-47 missile approach warning system – will become JATAS
  
• BAE’s AN/ALQ-144 infrared (IR) jammer and AN/ALE-47 decoy dispensing system, serves as central ECM hub
  
• Northrop Grumman’s AN/APR-39A(V)2 radar warning receiver
  
• UT Goodrich’s AN/AVR-2A laser warning receiver
  
• A Directed InfraRed CounterMeasures (DIRCM) system of some kind may be added to the AH-1Z in particular

UH-1Y & AH-1Z: Performance Issues

AH-1Z, testing
(click to view full)

Some issues do remain with the helicopters. One is that the 2 engines provide almost 3,660 shp, but the aircraft’s transmission is flat-rated for 2,350 shp. That doesn’t matter as much at altitude or in very hot weather, or above 180 knots airspeed where drag becomes the limiting factor, so it was deemed acceptable.

For the AH-1Z, potential issues include a lack of robust armor – a characteristic it shares with earlier AH-1 models, but not with the Army’s heavily armored AH-64 gunship. The exception is the flight controls and some engine sections, which can withstand cannon fire up to 23mm. This is more of a design choice than a manufacturing flaw, but it does affect the helicopter’s usage.

A second AH-1Z design issue involves communications. Statements by H-1 upgrade program manager USMC Col. Harry Hewson seem to indicate that the older AH-1Ws will initially be more advanced in this area. The AH-1Zs will have secure voice communications only, while the upgraded AH-1W includes the tactical video data link (TVDL) that can broadcast sensor data to a ground controller with a ROVER system, or receive video from other helicopters or Marine aircraft with LITENING pods. As of 2014, a full-motion video project is in the works for the AH-1Z, but hasn’t been fielded yet.

On the manufacturing side, as of December 2010, several rotor components were falling far short of the original 10,000 hour reliability goal. Unfortunately, efforts to redesign the rotor head’s cuff and yoke weren’t going to provide enough improvement to justify the costs. NAVAIR says that current efforts involve improved tooling design and manufacturing processes for the existing design.

The H-1 Upgrade Program

UH-1N, Iraq
(click to view full)

It seemed fairly straightforward: update a pair of old USMC standbys in the UH-1N and AH-1W, creating a transport (UH-1Y Venom) and attack helicopter (AH-1Z Viper) backbone with maximum commonality, and minimum risk.

It hasn’t quite worked out that way.

The H-1 program is designed to resolve existing safety issues in both aircraft, reduce life-cycle costs, significantly enhance combat capability, and achieve 85% commonality between the 2 versions. Bell Helicopter believes this commonality can save up to $3 billion in operating and support costs over a 30-year lifespan, and the stated goal is airframes that will last through 10,000 flight hours of service life. Common components include the tail boom, engines, drive train, rotor blade, software controls, avionics, and displays.

Many of these helicopters will be remanufactured from the Marines’ old UH-1N Hueys and its AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters. Major modifications include a new 4-blade rotor system with semi-automatic blade fold, new composite main and four-bladed tail rotor, upgraded drive system and landing gear, and pylon structural modifications. The AH-1Z attach helicopter will also have 2,500 pounds of fuel instead of 1,900 (AH-1W), to extend strike range to over 170 miles. GE’s T700-401C engine will power both helicopters, giving them improved maneuverability, speed and range, and payload when compared to their UH-1N and AH-1W predecessors. The UH-1Y is touted as having 50% better range, a faster maximum speed, and 25% greater payload than its UH-1N predecessor. The AH-1Z is touted as almost doubling effective strike range over the AH-1W, or doubling weapons load carried to the same ranges. Maintainability is also being addressed, using embedded diagnostics that can provide warning of maintenance needs or impending faults.

H-1 Upgrade: Force Size & Structure Shifts

AH-1W, hard left
(click to view full)

The H-1 program has required substantial changes to both cost and schedule 4 times now, while addressing numerous technical issues. The UH-1Y/ AH-1Z upgrades program was originally structured as a remanufacturing effort, converting 180 AH-1W Super Cobras to AH-1Z Vipers, and 100 UH-1N Hueys to UH-1Y Venoms.

It didn’t stay that way.

The initial changes were prompted by 2 factors: effort and time.

The idea of remanufacturing the helicopters didn’t look so great once the true scope and expense of the work involved became clear. Worse, it involved taking each UH-1N Huey out of service for 2 whole years, in the face of ongoing demand from the front lines.

The program tried putting new UH-1Y nose sections into production earlier, and establishing a rotating pool of government-furnished equipment so a UH-1N doesn’t have to be taken out of service until a corresponding UH-1Y Venom is delivered. After the 1st 10 UH-1Y remanufactures, however, the rest were switched to new-build machines.

The next big change was the USMC’s Program Objective Memorandum for 2010, which raised the future fleet to 123 UH-1Ys and 226 AH-1Zs (58 new-build + 168 remanufactured), as part of a plan to grow the Marines by about 20,000 troops. Under this plan, the 58 new-build AH-1Zs would be delivered first, in order to maintain overall fleet availability by keeping existing AH-1Ws in service. Once the overall fleet had grown, AH-1Ws could be taken from the front lines and shifted into the remanufacturing program.

Subsequent shifts have pared back the number of AH-1Zs, and drastically reducing the number of remanufactured AH-1Zs, while increasing the number of UH-1Y Venoms. The legacy model is a USMC squadron of 18 AH-1Ws and 9 UH-1Ns, but the future will involve 15 AH-1Zs and 12 UH-1Ys in each squadron.

So, why the extra Venoms?

The UH-1Y’s extra power proved to be extremely useful in hot and high-altitude conditions, and the planned addition of guided 70mm rockets like APKWS and LOGIR would give them an attack punch comparable to previous AH-1 Cobras. The UH-1Y’s performance in Afghanistan using APKWS guided 70mm rockets has only reinforced these opinions.

The other question is, why did remanufactured AH-1Ws decline so sharply?

Heavy wartime use has increased the wear on existing AH-1Ws, which created a shortage of flyable attack helicopters, and made remanufacturing them more expensive. By FY 2013, cost estimates for new AH-1Z cabins offered an option that was now cheaper over the machines’ service life, while avoiding a critical USMC shortage by leaving AH-1Ws in the fleet.

H-1 Program: Budgets & Industrial Partners

Note that these years do not always correspond fully to Production Lot orders, though they can be used as a general guide. Since American supplemental funding bills are typically passed closer to mid-year, and not in conjunction with the baseline defense spending bills, aircraft appropriated under OCO/supplemental funding as war replacements are sometimes bought with the following year’s contract.

For instance, in 2009, the 11 baseline UH-1Ys, 5 baseline AH-1Zs, and 4 supplemental UH-1Ys were bought as Lot 6 (20 helicopters); but the program office didn’t have priced options for additional AH-1Zs negotiated for Lot 6. That’s why FY 2009’s 4 supplemental AH-1Zs were bought as part of Production Lot 7.

In FY 2010, those 4 Lot 7 supplemental AH-1Zs were added to FY 2010’s 18 UH-1Ys, 5 AH-1Zs, and 2 OCO funded new-build AH-1Zs, growing Lot 7 to 29 helicopters. The “29” total adds the 4 machines from FY 2009, but also omits the FY 2010 supplemental bill’s 1 UH-1Y and 1 AH-1Z. They’re part of Lot 8, because their bill’s timing prevented them from being added to Lot 7. And so it goes…

H-1 Upgrade Program industrial partners include:

Program Problems

UH-1Y & AH-1W,
in Afghanistan
(click to view full)

The original idea of remanufacturing existing helicopters, and adding some new performance enhancements, seemed like a low-risk program. Events have a vote, however, and the actual program has been much more challenging than expected.

In May 2005, the Navy warned Bell that the H-1 program was in serious jeopardy. The Texas-based company was described as failing to meet Navy needs, and the memo reserved the option of killing the program. It demanded “fundamental changes” in Bell Helicopter’s management processes as well as its production processes. Recertification in Earned Value Management, used to track program performance, was high on the list of “to-dos.”

Ultimately, changes were made – including some executive changes at the highest levels of Bell Helicopter Textron.

A May 31/06 Defense Acquisition Board process made the decision to proceed with the program. The UH-1Y and AH-1Z began Phase II of their Operational Evaluation (OpEval) in February 2008, and a full rate production decision was expected in August 2008.

After the management and process issues were sorted out, the UH-1Y did very well. Its Initial Operational Capability (IOC) came a month early, in August 2008, and it received a full production go-ahead in September 2008.

The AH-1Z has fared less well, thanks in part to issues surrounding the AAQ-30 surveillance and targeting system, and the TopOwl helmet-mounted display. Other issues included rocket gas ingestion by the engines, and problems with mission software. IOC for the AH-1Z was pushed back from FY 2008 to FY 2011, but the program is moving toward completion.

Contracts and Key Events

Unless otherwise noted, all contracts are issued by US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) in Patuxent River, MD to Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc. in Fort Worth, TX.

FY 2015 – 2018

August 27/18: More $ for the USMC The US Marine Corps’ H-1 upgrade program is set to receive another major financial boost. Bell Helicopters will manufacture and deliver 29 newly built Lot 15 AH-1Z attack helicopters at a cost of $509.7 million. The contract modification also provides for long lead material and components for an additional seven Lot 16 aircraft. The H-1 program, is the USMC’s plan to remanufacture older helicopters into new and improved UH-1Y utility and AH-1Z attack helicopters. The Viper will receive a new newly designed “Integrated Avionics System” cockpit, including a Thales’ TopOwl helmet-mounted display system and the AN/AAQ-30 FLIR system. Work will be performed at Bell’s facilities in Fort Worth, Texas and Amarillo, Texas, and is scheduled for completion in February 2021.

May 14/18: FMS-Czech Republic The Czech Republic will receive 12 UH-1Y Venom helicopters from Bell. The sale to the Eastern European country and NATO member have already been approved by the US government. The Armed Forces of the Czech Republic has a pressing need to replace many of its Warsaw Pact-era inventories, which include Mil Mi-2 ‘Hoplite’, Mi-8/17 ‘Hip’, and Mi-24 ‘Hind’ helicopters. The UH-1Y Venom is a product of the H-1 program, USMC’s plan to remanufacture older helicopters into new and improved utility and attack helicopters. The aircraft incorporate a newly designed “Integrated Avionics System” cockpit designed by Northrop Grumman, including dual mission computers, GPS navigation, moving map displays, and other modern aids. Pilot workload will be improved further by using Thales’ TopOwl helmet-mounted display systems (HMDS), to offer flight and targeting data no matter where the pilot looks. The UH-1Y utility helicopter provides command & control and assault support under day, night and adverse weather conditions.

April 30/18: FMS-Bahrain The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has approved the possible foreign military sale of 12 AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters to the kingdom of Bahrain. According to the agency’s press release, the fleet will be armed with 14 AGM-114 Hellfires, and 56 Advance Precision Kill Weapon System II. The estimated cost of the acquisition is set at $911.4 million. The Viper’s manufacturer Bell, alongside Textron and General Electric have been listed as principal contractors on the sale.

February 20/18: Lot 16-Long-Lead Items Bell Helicopters will supply additional long-lead items for 27 Lot 16 AH-1Z Viper helicopters in support of the US Marine Corps. Valued at $37.6 million, work on the contract modification will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and Amarillo, Texas, and is expected to be completed in March 2019. Last week, USMC Vipers of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, met up with service members from seven full participating nations in advance of the start of the “Cobra Gold” exercise in Thailand—a co-sponsored event by the US and Thailand that seeks to advance regional security and ensure effective responses to regional crises. “The Marines of Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 369 are here to promote multilateral training and deliver close air support for the participating nations such as the Kingdom of Thailand and Republic of Korea,” Maj. Kevin M. Keene, an operations officer and AH-1Z Viper pilot with HMLA-369, under the Unit Deployment Program with Marine Aircraft Group 36, 1st MAW, said in a press release. In addition to the Vipers, the USMC will use UH-1Y Venoms, along with CH-53E Super Stallions and KC-130J Hercules to provide aerial support for the exercise. The exercise will run until February 23.

October 25/17: The US State Department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has notified Congress of the potential foreign military sale of 12 Bell UH-1Y twin-engine, medium-sized utility helicopters to the Czech Republic. If approved, the Central European nation will be the first foreign operator of the rotorcraft. Valued at an estimated $575 million, the package includes 25 T-700 GE 401C engines, 13 Honeywell Embedded GPS/INS systems and 12 7.62mm M240 Machine Guns. Other items requested by Prague include the Brite Star II FLIR system, aircraft survivability equipment, the AN/AAR-47 missile warning and laser detection system, AN/ALE-47 counter-measure dispensing systems, and joint mission planning systems. Bell Helicopter, Textron and General Electric Company will act as principal contractors on the deal.

June 19/17: Bell Helicopters is considering a plan to manufacture AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters in Romania within the next 4-5 years. News of the deal comes almost twenty years after a previous attempt to assemble the AH-1 in the country fell through. The announcement follows Bells’ signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Romanian company IAR-Ghimbav Brasov Group last November that would see the local firm cover possible maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) of the AH-1Z should it be procured by Bucharest. While Romania has yet to launch a formal tender for their replacement, Bell is just one of several manufacturers, including Airbus, who are positioning themselves for an anticipated requirement.

April 9/17: Bell Helicopters is scheduled to deliver the first three of 12 AH-1Zs to Pakistan this summer, with the remainder to be delivered next year after being handed over to the US government. Approval for the deal was granted by Washington last April. The sale comes as the company expects the signing of a second export order for the H-1 series UH-1Y Venom utility and AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters in the coming months.

March 2/17: After a few months of delay, the USAF may soon re-release a request for proposals for the replacement of the UH-1 Huey helicopter fleet. The delay originated after a number of manufacturers told the service their off-the-shelf solutions would not meet all of the proposed requirements, with only the Sikorsky HH-60U Black Hawk fitting the earlier requirements. Speaking on the matter, USAF chief Gen David Goldfein said that the “delay in the UH-1 replacement is actually based on the dialogue we’re having with industry and what they’re saying they can produce based on our RFP.” “We want to make sure when the RFP hits the streets it’s right,” he added. Alongside the Black Hawk, Boeing and Leonardo are looking to offer a militarized version of the Italian firm’s commercial AW139 helicopter. An attempt at providing a media flight for the MH-139, however, had to be cancelled following the malfunction of one of its modular avionics units.

February 10/17: Bell Helicopters will provide long-lead items and components for the US Navy’s AH-1Z aircraft. valued at $49 million, the agreement covers 27 Lot 15 AH-1Z Vipers operated by the USMC, and work is expected to be completed by March 2018. According to manufacturer Bell, the AH-1Z is the only helicopter in the world to feature air-to-air missile attack capabilities.

December 28/16: AH-1Z Cobra attack helicopters operated by the US Navy will receive Target Sight Systems provided by Lockheed Martin. Valued at $150 million, the deal also includes production orders for the government of Pakistan under the foreign military sales program. Options included in the contract could raise the value to $284 million. The Target Sight System is a large-aperture mid-wave forward-looking infrared sensor designed to identify and designate targets at maximum weapon range, increasing the Cobra operator’s survivability and lethality.

October 18/16: Bell Helicopters is keen to sell its AH-1Z attack helicopter as a solution to Japan’s AH-X program. As part of preparations the company has teamed with engineers from Fuji Heavy Industries on modification work to the helicopter aimed at improving transmission performance. If selected, between 60-70 of the Bell 412EPI-based helicopters would be produced locally in Fuji with the first slated to deliver in 2022. Civilian variants would also be produced in Fuji in an effort to help the production line attain scale.

April 22/16: Protests have arisen by some US lawmakers against the USAF’s UH-1N Huey helicopter replacement program. The helicopters, which protect US supplies of inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), are to be replaced via a sole-source contract due to a new urgency felt by air force brass in fielding the capability favoring Sikorsky’s UH-60 Black Hawk. This in turn has caused a group in Congress to rail back who now want a fair and open competition for the Huey’s replacement.

March 15/16: The US Navy has awarded Bell Helicopters a $461 million contract to supply the force with 12 Lot 13 UH-1Y and 16 Lot 13 AH-1Z helicopters. The contract includes the provision of 16 auxiliary fuel kits. Completion of the sale is expected by February 2019 as part of the Navy’s H-1 upgrade program. Bell Helicopters has also signed a teaming agreement with BAE Systems Australia to offer the AH-1Z as a potential replacement for the Australian Army’s Tiger fleet.

August 19/15: The H-1 helicopter fleet of both the Navy and Pakistan will receive a boost through a $85.5 million contract to develop weapons systems for the aircraft as part of its system configuration set (SCS). The SCS intends to create prototypes for emerging operational requirements, with the majority of this contract covering acquisitions for the US Navy, with the contract set to run to 2020.

FY 2014

 

UH-1Y from LHD 4
(click to view full)

Sept 5/14: A $41.8 million firm-fixed-price contract for 3 UH-1Y flight training devices (aka. simulators), 1 AH-1Z flight training device, aircraft and/or trainer driven revisions, aircraft common operational equipment, provisioned device spares, associated technical data required for operational and maintenance support, and 3 months of initial operation evaluation period for each flight training device. All funds are committed immediately, using FY 2012 Navy reserve and FY 2014 aircraft budgets.

Work will be performed at Broken Arrow, OK (46%); Fort Worth, TX (33%); St. Louis, MO (15%); and Austin, TX (6%), and is expected to be complete in June 2018. The contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302.1 by the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division in Orlando, FL (N61340-14-C-1000).

Aug 4/14: UH-1Ns. The USMC plans to retire the last of its 205 UH-1N Huey helicopters in September 2015. Of that total, 10 were upgraded to UH-1Ys. Another 5 upgraded HH-1Ns will continue to serve at MCAS Yuma, AZ, but they will retire in 2015. Sources: Navy League Seapower, “Marine Corps to Retire UH-1N Helicopters in September; HH-1Ns in 2015”.

June 20/14: Support. A $44.7 million modification, finalizing a previously awarded contract to a cost-plus-fixed-fee price contract to repair various parts for the UH-1Y and AH-1Z Upgrade Helicopters. FY 2014 US Navy budgets will be drawn on as needed.

Work will be performed in Hurst, TX, and work is expected to be complete by January 2017. No funds will be obligated at the time of award and contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was a non-competitive requirement in accordance with 10 USC. 2304 (c)(1), managed by NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support in Philadelphia, PA (N00383-14-D-015N).

May 29/14: Sub-contractors. Northrop Grumman Guidance and Electronics Co. in Woodland Hills, CA receives a $25 million delivery order for 119 H-1 upgrade tech refresh mission computers. Those have been broken out into a separate purchase by the US Navy, as a way to improve costs. $10.9 million in US Navy FY 2013 – 2014 aircraft budgets is committed immediately.

Work will be performed in Woodland Hills, CA (79%); Salt Lake City, UT (13%); and Baltimore, MD (8%); it is expected to be complete in October 2017 (N00019-11-G-0016, DO 0002).

May 16/14: Lot 11. A $337.8 million contract modification finalizes the Lot 11 order for 12 new UH-1Ys and 12 new AH-1Zs, creating a fixed-price-incentive contract for the helicopters and a firm-fixed-price contract for the auxiliary fuel kits. See also May 28/13, which brings the total announced award to $388.4 million – but note that this contract adjusts the previous ratio from 15 UH-1Ys and 10 AH0-1Zs.

All funds are committed immediately, using FY 2013 & 2014 US Navy aircraft budgets, which makes sense. The final FY 2014 budget has cut buys to a base of 11 UH-1Ys and 10 AH-1Zs, and recall that annual contracts also tend to include supplemental funding purchases from the previous fiscal year. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX (60%) and Amarillo, TX (40%), and is expected to be completed in June 2017 (N00019-13-C-0023).

Lot 11 order

April 7/14: HMD. Thales Defense & Security Inc. in Clarksburg, MD received a $38.5 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Optimized Top Owl (OTO) Helmet Mounted Sight and Display (HMSD) Sustainment Capability services. They’re replicating the facility, labor, materials, parts, test and tooling equipment from Bordeaux, France to the United States.

$1.8 million in FY 2014 Navy budgets is committed immediately. Work will be performed in Clarksburg, MD, and is expected to be complete in April 2019. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302-1 by NAWCAD in Lakehurst, NJ (N68335-14-D-0014).

March 28/14: Lot 12. Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. in Hurst, TX receives a $59.7 million contract modification, buying long-lead items for Lot 12’s 15 new-build UH-1Ys and 11 new-build AH-1Zs.

All funds are committed immediately, using FY 2014 Navy aircraft budgets. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX (60%) and Amarillo, TX (40%), and is expected to be complete in September 2015 (N00019-13-C-0023).

March 28/14: Support. Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. in Hurst, TX receives exercises an $11.4 million firm-fixed-price contract option for H-1 upgrade program systems engineering and program management support.

All funds are committed immediately, using FY 2014 USN aircraft budgets. Work will be performed in Hurst, TX, and is expected to be complete in December 2014 (N00019-12-C-0009).

March 4-11/14: Budgets. The US military slowly files its budget documents, detailing planned spending from FY 2014 – 2019. The numbers are featured in the charts above, and the detailed documents add this:

“FY 2015 Airframe cost increases account for prime contractor’s new Business System Modernization (BSM) accounting structure and increased internal research and development investment, Pension Protection Act pension harmonization and higher medical forecasts, and continued effects of large business base decline. Due to airframe cost increases and USMC priorities, the program… added one year of production. Compared to President’s Budget 2014, unit cost growth is a result of deferred aircraft to FY 2020…. electronics previously harvested from UH-1N and AH-1W aircraft at no-cost were procured new, at cost, for all future lots beginning in FY 2013…: CD-45/ALE-47(V) Chaff/Flare Programmer, ICS Boxes, MT-6711 TACAN Mount, RT-1798 TACAN Receiver, APR39 System, CP-1975/AAR-47(V)2 Central Processor, SU-211/AAR-47(V)2 Optical Sensor, AS-2728 Antennas AT-741B/A Antennas, EGIs, CV-20 Digital Converters. GFE Electronics increase in FY 2014 due to Mission Computer being provided as GFE instead of CFE.

All new engines are factored into the budget formulation for FY 2014 through the FYDP. The program prefers to procure new T-700-401C engines for higher maintainability and reliability, increased time on wing, and ultimately lower life-cycle costs. Refurbished T-700-401C engines are procured as budget constraints warrant and the H-60 B/F sundown schedule permits. An additional determining factor for refurb engine procurement is the repair (refurb) contract ceiling for H-1 with General Electric Engine Services (GEES), currently at sixteen engines per year. Due to funding constraints as a result of sequestration, program reductions, and airframe costs, 16 UH-1Y refurbished engines were procured in FY 2013.”

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). The H-1 upgrade program is included, and as of July 2013, Bell Helicopter has delivered 79/160 UH-1Ys and 32/189 AH-1Zs.

The big issue with the H-1s is software, and to a lesser extent support. The SCS 6.0 software has a critical flaw: if it detects a failure in any electronic warfare component, whether real or a “false positive”, the helicopter loses the entire EW display for all threat detection systems. That cost 2 of 23 missions during testing. This problem was detected during developmental testing, but DOT&E blandly says that “the operational implications of this loss of electronic warfare situational awareness were not apparent until operational testing.” Really?

They’re testing SCS 7.0, which hopes to correct this problem, and DOT&E concludes that “H-1 Upgrades units remain survivable against small arms and automatic weapons fire (up to 12.7 mm) and legacy Man-Portable Air Defense Systems.”

Meanwhile, they note that the test helicopters had problems with readiness rates because of long waits for repair parts. Tail and rotor systems were an especial problem, in part because operational units quite properly have priority. What they don’t say is whether the level of problems encountered are an indicator of larger issues.

Jan 22/14: Support. A $13.5 million cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order for repair/overhaul work on 5 high priority UH-1Y/AH-1Z items.

$6.7 million in FY 2014 USN funds are committed immediately. Work will be performed in Hurst, TX, and the contract runs until January 2017. US Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support in Philadelphia, PA manages the contract (N00383-14-D-015N, DO 0001).

Dec 19/13: Avionics. Northrop Grumman Guidance and Electronic in Woodland Hills, CA receives a $10.6 million firm-fixed-price contract for low rate initial production of 45 improved (“technical refresh”) AH-1Z and UH-1Y helicopters mission computers, which are now being bought direct (q.v. Dec 29/11 entry).

All funds are committed immediately, using FY 2012 USN aircraft procurement budgets, and will expire of Sept 30/14. Work will be performed in Woodland Hills, CA, and is expected to be complete in October 2015. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302-1 by the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in China Lake, CA (N68936-14-C-0020).

Dec 17/13: Sensors. Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Orlando, FL receives a $34 million firm-fixed-price contract for the AH-1Z’s AN/AAQ-30(A) Target Sight Systems (TSS) and data. Based on past contracts, that’s about 12.

$31.2 million is committed immediately, using USN FY 2013 and 2014 aircraft procurement budgets. Work will be performed in Orlando, FL (80%), and Ocala, FL (20%), and is expected to be complete by May 2016. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.SC 2304(c)(1), as set forth in FAR 6.302-1(b)(1)(ii). The US Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, IN manages the contract (N00164-14-C-JQ65).

FY 2013

Orders; Loss in South Korea; Losing helicopters at program’s end?

AH-1Z, fully armed
(click to view full)

Sept 27/13: Training. Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc., Hurst, TX receives a $23.1 million firm-fixed-price contract modification to perform baseline configuration upgrades for 1 AH-1Z Full Flight Simulator, 1 UH-1Y Full Flight Simulator, and 1 UH-1Y Flight Training Device. All funds are committed immediately.

Work will be performed in Broken Arrow, OK (49%); Fort Worth, TX (35%) and St. Louis, MO (16%), and the larger contract runs until March 2017. The US Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, Orlando, FL manages this contract (N61340-12-C-0030).

Aug 27/13: Sensors. Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Orlando, FL received a $34 million firm-fixed-price contract for the AH-1Z’s AN/AAQ-30 Target Sight Systems (TSS). All funds are committed immediately.

Work will be performed in Orlando, FL (80%), and Ocala, FL (20%), and is expected to complete by November 2015. The US Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, IN manages the contract (N00164-13-D-JQ43).

Aug 26/13: Sensors. FLIR Systems Inc. in Wilsonville, OR receives a 5-year sole-source $136.6 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for BRITE Star Block II Systems (UH-1Y and MQ-8C), BRITE Star II’s class I engineering change proposal, plus BRITE Star I upgrades, cables, technical data, depot repairs, and engineering services. $4.2 million is committed immediately.

Work will be performed in Wilsonville, OR, and is expected to be complete by August 2018. The work was sole-sourced on the basis of FAR 6.302-1, “only one responsible source…” provision. The Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, IN manages the contract (N00164-13-D-JQ08).

July 15/13: Support. A $17.9 million firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to add US Navy depot level maintenance infrastructure. Bell Helicopter will develop, test, and deliver 1 H-1 main rotor gearbox test stand, and 1 H-1 tail rotor/intermediate gearbox test stand. The contract includes logistics support, maintenance efforts, follow-on support, and associated data. This is unsexy, but experience in countries like Pakistan demonstrates that unless this infrastructure is in place and in use, helicopters will remain in place and not in use.

Work will be performed in Hurst, TX using FY 2011 procurement funds, and is expected to be complete in March 2017. All funds expire at the end of FY 2013, on Sept 30/13. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302-1. by the US Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division in Lakehurst, NJ (N68335-13-C-0302).

June 18/13: Lot 10. A $38.8 million option order for 2 more new-build AH-1Z Vipers in Lot 10, whose main order was Dec 12/12. All funds are committed immediately, using FY 2013 procurement budgets. This brings that lot’s totals to 15 UH-1Ys and 12 AH-1Zs, with 1 AH-1Z option remaining.

Note that this doesn’t provide the full cost of 2 Vipers, and the USN places average flyaway costs for Lot 10 H-1 machines at over $26 million each. The difference will be made up via previous long-lead buys, and/or additional awards. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX (60%) and Amarillo, TX (40%), and is expected to be complete in September 2013 (N00019-12-C-0009).

June 18/13: Weapons. US NAVAIR touts the work of their PMA-242’s Crew Served Weapons Integration team, who redesigned the UH-1Y’s weapon mount to improve maximum elevation. That’s useful if you’re on or near the ground, being fired on from hills. In effect, the UH-1Y door gunner’s field of fire is now on par with the UH-1N in terms of overall range, azimuth and elevation.

Testing began in May 2013, and will continue at Pax River, MD for another 6 months or so. The USMC expects to deploy the new mounts to Afghanistan by the end of 2013. US NAVAIR.

May 28/13: Lot 11. Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. in Fort Worth, TX receives a $50.6 million advance acquisition contract modification for long-lead parts and components required for 25 Production Lot 11 helicopters: 15 UH-1Ys and 10 AH-1Zs, all new-build. All funds are committed immediately.

Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX (60%) and Amarillo, TX (40%), and is expected to be complete in September 2014 (N00019-13-C-0023).

April 17/13: South Korea loss. South Korea announces that the AH-64E Apache Guardian has beaten the AH-1Z Viper and T-129 ATAK helicopters for a 1.8 trillion won ($1.6 billion), 36-machine order. The attack helicopter decision had been due in October 2012, but was put on hold until after the elections. The ROK hopes to have the helicopters between 2016 and 2018.

The AH-1Z would have represented continuity with the existing AH-1S fleet, and a DSCA export request was already approved (vid. Sept 25/12). The Italo-Turkish T-129 would have been a reciprocal deal with a major arms export customer. A DAPA official is quoted as saying that the AH-64E’s superior target acquisition capability, power, and weapons load gave it the edge, and so South Korea will begin the acquisition process. The weapons load issue is debatable, but the Apache is certainly much more heavily armored than its counterparts, and its combination of modernized optics and MMW radar or UAV control does give it an edge in target acquisition. Korea Herald | Reuters.

Loss in South Korea

April 10/13: FY 2014 Budget. The President releases a proposed budget at last, the latest in modern memory. The Senate and House were already working on budgets in his absence, but the Pentagon’s submission is actually important to proceedings going forward. See ongoing DID coverage.

The H-1 program is cut slightly from 26 total helicopters to 25 this year, as part of a longer-term set of slight reductions that will stretch out the program. FY 2014 drops from 26 – 25, FY 2015 drops from 27 – 26, FY 2016 drops from 31 – 27, and FY 2017 drops from 30 – 28. An order of 30 helicopters in FY 2018 leaves just 30 more to close out the program.

The key will be where reductions are focused. The AH-1Z is behind due to delays, so these and other cuts at the end of the program will force the Marines to decide whether they want fewer attack helicopters in the future force, as they contemplate adjustments to the production split. Especially if future budget pressures cut these planned numbers again. The alternative is to stretch production into later years, but that will raise total costs because the fixed costs come due for more years of work.

April 1/13: Lot 11 long-lead. A $13 million advance acquisition contract to provide long-lead parts and components required for Production Lot 11’s 15 UH-1Ys and 10 AH-1Zs. All are new-build helicopters – Lot 9 held the last remanufactured helicopters.

Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX (60%) and Amarillo, TX (40%), and is expected to be complete in September 2014. All funds are committed immediately, using the FY 2013 Aircraft Procurement, Navy budget line. This contract was not competitively procured, pursuant to FAR 6.302-1 (N00019-13-C-0023).

Jan 16/13: Milestone. Bell Helicopter delivers the 100th H-1 upgrade helicopter to the US Marine Corps.

Bell Helicopter has since confirmed that it was a UH-1Y. Bell Helicopter | Fort Worth Star-Telegram Sky Talk.

#100

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 H-1 program is only included in passing, but it’s an interesting reference:

“The U.S. Army Aviation Applied Technology Directorate led a project to manufacture complex, curved ceramic armor for placement at strategic locations on aircraft, improving survivability with minimal weight impact. These installations protect flight-critical aircraft components that when damaged would lead to catastrophic aircraft loss. Due to their complexity, these structurally integrated panels required development of several cutting-edge material and processing technologies. Two implementations were demonstrated: the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior engine bay door and the AH-1Z Cobra helicopter flight control linkage bell-crank.”

Dec 27/12: Lot 10. A $418.9 million contract related to the FY 2012 order: 15 UH-1Y helicopters and 10 AH-1Zs. All helicopters will be new-build, and there are options for another 3 AH-1Zs. Two of those options were exercised on June 18/13, to make 12 AH-1Zs ordered.

The actual wording is “for the procurement of long lead parts and components required for the manufacture of…”, but NAVAIR has confirmed that this is the main Lot 10 order, covering FY 2013 helicopters for the most part. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX (60%) and Amarillo, TX (40%) and is expected to be complete in March 2016. All contract funds are committed immediately (N00019-12-C-0009).

Lot 10 order

Dec 20/12: Support. A $15.3 million firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee advance acquisition contract modification. Bell Helicopter will provide H-1 Upgrade Program systems engineering and program management services.

Work will be performed in Hurst, TX and is expected to be complete in December 2013. All contract funds are committed immediately (N00019-12-C-0009).

Dec 20/12: Support. A $12.3 million to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification to support of the H-1 Upgrade effort. Work will include logistics management support, technical material for maintenance planning, design interface, supply/material support; support of support equipment/technical data, distribution and inventory management/packaging; handling, storage and transportation; logistics management information; supportability analysis and technical manuals.

All contract funds are committed immediately. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX, and is expected to be complete in December 2013 (N00019-11-C-0023).

Nov 20/12: HUMS. Simmonds Precision Products Inc. (dba Goodrich Sensors and Integrated Systems in Vergennes, VT) receives a $6.9 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract, exercising an option for 28 integrated AH-1Z/UH-1Y mechanical diagnostic and health usage monitoring system kits.

This would appear to cover FY 2013 production: 13 AH-1Zs and 15 UH-1Ys. HUMS systems are undervalued by causal observers, but they pay for themselves very, very quickly via more cost-effective maintenance and higher in-service rates.

Work will be performed in Vergennes, VT, and is expected to be complete in May 2014. All contract funds are committed. US Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00019-12-F-4003).

Nov 6/12: Mission Computers. Northrop Grumman Guidance and Electronics Co., Inc. in Woodland Hills, CA receives a $9.3 million firm-fixed-price modification for 54 GEN II mission computers and trays, per the new buying arrangements (vid. Dec 29/11 entry). They’ll be used in Production Lot 10, which is mostly FY 2013 buys.

Work will be performed in Salt Lake City, UT, and is expected to be complete in January 2015. US Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD (N00019-11-G-0016).

Oct 16/12: Lot 9. A $391.4 million firm-fixed-price contract modification. As we saw on July 25/11, the Pentagon’s turgid language involving “definitization… to provide long lead parts” means that it’s the main Production Lot 9 (mostly FY 2012) buy, which is added to the previous contracts for long lead time components. US NAVAIR places the total Lot 9 contract at $447.8 million, plus any separately bought “government furnished equipment” like the T700 engines, mission computers (vid. Dec 29/11 entry), weapons and mounts, defensive systems, etc. Those “extras” add up.

The contract covers 15 new UH-1Ys (all new) and 10 AH-1Zs (3 remanufactured, 7 new). According to NAVAIR, Lot 9 will be the final production lot that will include remanufactured AH-1Z aircraft.

Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (60%) and Amarillo, TX (40%), and is expected to be completed in July 2015 (N00019-11-C-0023).

Lot 9 order

FY 2012

Orders; AH-1Z competes in South Korea; AH-1Z maiden operational deployment; AH-1W swap to Turkey; UH-1Ys using precision rockets.

UH-1Y & AH-1Z
(click to view full)

Sept 25/12: South Korea. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency announces [PDF] South Korea’s request to buy up to 36 AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support. The cost would be up to $2.6 billion, but this isn’t a contract. It doesn’t even mean that the AH-1Z is the ROK’s choice. South Korea is conducting a competition to replace its attack helicopters, and the DSCA request will make sure that everything the ROK wants is available if the AH-1Z is picked.

They appear to have picked the AH-1Z as the American contender, even though the AH-64D Apache Block III’s fuselage is made locally by KAI. That still leaves 2 more strong contenders. EADS Eurocopter is already producing Surion medium helicopters under a Korean Joint Venture, and is offering their EC665 Tiger attack helicopter. It’s in service with France, Germany, Spain, and Australia. The other contender is AgustaWestland/TAI’s T129, which is now a joint Italian/Turkish venture. Turkey is South Korea’s biggest defense export customer by far, and a loss could ruffle some important feathers. As for the AH-1Z, the DSCA request includes:

• 36 AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters
  
• 84 T-700-GE-401C Engines (72 installed and 12 spares)
  
• Integrated missile launchers
  
• 288 AGM-114K3 Hellfire laser-guided strike missiles
  
• 72 AIM-9M-8 Sidewinder air-air missiles. The missile’s range and performance are superior to weapons carried on other helicopters.
  
• AN/AAQ-30 Target Sighting Systems (TSS)
  
• APX-123 Identify Friend or Foe (IFF) Mode-4
  
• Electronic warfare systems: AN/ALQ-136 Radar Frequency Jammers, AN/AAR-47 Missile Warning System, AN/ALQ-144 Infrared Jammer, AN/ALE-47 Chaff and Flare Decoy Dispenser
  
• Communication and support equipment, spare engine containers, spare and repair parts, tools and test equipment, technical data and publications, personnel training and training equipment, and other US government and contractor support.

The prime contractors will be Bell-Textron Corporation in Amarillo, TX (helicopter), and General Electric in Lynn, MA (engines), though many of the ancillary items will come from firms like Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, BAE, et. al. Implementation will require multiple trips to Korea involving U.S. Government or contractor representatives on a temporary basis for program and technical support, and management oversight.

South Korea request

Sept 25/12: Training. A $44.7 million firm-fixed-price contract to buy 2 UH-1Y Flight Training Devices (simulators) for the US Marine Corps. In addition, this contract provides for the baseline configuration upgrade to create an AH-1Z FTD from the previous AH-1W simulator.

Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX (46%); Broken Arrow, OK (32.4%); St. Louis, MO (16.2%); and Austin, TX (5.4%), and is expected to be complete in March 2015. $19.8 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/12. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S.C. 2304c1 by the US Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division in Orlando, FL (N61340-12-C-0030).

April 3/12: Buy direct. US NAVAIR has made a slight acquisition shift, and is now ordering mission computers for the UH-1Y and AH-1Z directly from Northrop Grumman, instead of through prime contractor Bell Helicopter. Under the initial $8.9 million contract, Northrop Grumman will provide Gen II mission computers to the U.S. Marine Corps Light Attack Helicopter Program (PMA-276) directly, reducing the item’s price.

The dual mission computers are the heart of Northrop Grumman’s Integrated Avionics System (IAS) that powers the helicopters’ glass cockpits. Northrop Grumman.

Mission computers direct

March 2012: Laser-guided rockets. The APKWS laser-guided 70mm rocket is cleared for fielding by Marine Corps HQ, and shipped to Afghanistan. The rockets will initially be deployed in existing rocket launchers on USMC AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters, and UH-1Y Venom utility helicopters. It will be the UH-1Ys first precision-guided weapon, dramatically increasing its firepower.

BAE cites cite over 100 APKWS firings since 2007, with a 94% success rate, and an average distance from the center of laser spot to the impact point of less than one meter. US NAVAIR | BAE Systems.

Feb 13/12: FY 2013 request. The Pentagon releases its budget. FY 2013 would see it spend up to $851.5 million to buy 15 new-build UH-1Ys, and 13 AH-1Zs (4 remanufactured, 8 new, 1 new combat loss replacement). Over the longer term, the H-1 Upgrades program also escapes budget cuts.

Feb 13/12: A $56.75 million advance acquisition contract to provide long lead parts and components required for the manufacture of H-1 upgrade Lot 10 UH-1Y (15) and AH-1Z (13) helicopters. As noted above, correspondences aren’t exact, but these are mostly FY 2013 helicopters.

Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX (60%), and Amarillo, TX (40%), and is expected to be complete in September 2013. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302-1 (N00019-12-C-0009).

Dec 28/11: A $20.4 million firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification, exercising an option for H-1 upgrade program logistics management support; distribution and inventory management/packaging, handling, storage & transportation; logistics management information; technical material for maintenance planning; design interface; supply/material support; technical data, support of support equipment; technical data; supportability analysis; technical manuals and logistics/technical liaison support.

Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX (96%) and Afghanistan (4%) and is expected to be complete in December 2012 (N00019-10-C-0035).

Dec 27/11: Northrop Grumman Guidance and Electronics Co., Inc. in Woodland Hills, CA received an $8.9 million firm-fixed-price delivery order for 52 GEN II mission computers, which will be used in H-1 upgrade production Lot 9 (mostly FY 2012). Work will be performed in Woodland, CA, and is expected to be complete in January 2014 (N00019-11-G-0016).

Dec 13/11: Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc. in Fort Worth, TX received a $13.9 million firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification for systems engineering and program management work related to AH-1Z and UH-1Y production aircraft. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX and will run to December 2012 (N00019-11-C-0023).

Dec 8/11: An $85.2 million cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for design, development, studies, and implementation of upgrades to existing H-1 software and ancillary hardware, and/or improved functionality and electronics obsolescence management. Since the H-1 upgrades are designed to use the same cockpit electronics, investments in upgrades can benefit the whole fleet. As noted above, Northrop Grumman in the main sub-contractor for all cockpit systems.

Work will be performed in Woodland Hills, CA (70%); Hurst, TX (25%); and China Lake, CA (5%), and will run to December 2014. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S.C. 2304c1. The US Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division at China Lake, CA manages this contract (N68936-12-D-0003).

Dec 5/11: Lockheed Martin announces a pair of AN/AAQ-30 TSS spares and AH-1Z program support contracts from the US Naval Surface Warfare Center. Their release distinguishes these $30.6 million in support contracts for the AH-1Z’s surveillance and targeting turrets, from the TSS production contracts in March 2008, June 2010, and September 2011.

Nov 14/11: When USS Makin Island sailed on her maiden deployment, she sailed with the 1st operational deployment of AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters. The 4 AH-1s and 3 UH-1Ys function as a detachment of Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 367 (HMLA-367). NGC put out the release, to tout the common “Integrated Avionics System” cockpits that equip both helicopters.

AH-1Z deployment

Oct 31/11: Turkish swap. With Turkey’s fleet of serviceable AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters dwindling, demands from the Army for helicopters to use against the Marxist Kurdish PKK in Turkey and Iraq, and no arrival of even its emergency configuration T129 attack helicopters before mid-2012, Turkey launches an official request [PDF] for 3 AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters from US Marine Corps stocks. They’ll also get 7 T700-GE-401 engines (6 installed/ 1 spare), plus inspections and modifications, spare and repair parts, personnel training and training equipment, publications and technical documentation, and U.S. Government and contractor support.

The estimated cost is $111 million, and all sale proceeds will be reprogrammed into the USMC’s H-1 helicopter upgrade program. Implementation of this proposed sale will require the assignment of approximately 5 contractor representatives to Turkey for a period of up to 90 days, for differences training between U.S. and Turkish AH-1Ws helicopters.

FY 2011

Orders; AH-1Z achieves IOC, bull Full Operational Capability not until 2020; AH-1Z approved for Full-Rate Production; AH-1Z export strategy.

UH-1Y, Afghanistan
(click to view full)

Sept 27/11: Sensors. Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Orlando, FL receives a $16.7 million firm-fixed-price contract for 6 spare AN/AAQ-30 surveillance and targeting turrets for the AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter.

Work will be performed in Orlando, FL (90%), Ocala, FL (10%), and is expected to be complete by December 2014. This contract was not competitively procured by the US Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division in Crane, IN (N00164-11-G-JQ97).

Sept 22/11: Rotor redesign. A $10 million cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order to develop the H-1 cuff and yoke redesign, but not mass-produce it yet. These important parts of the rotor were falling well short of their expected service life, and this delivery order will include initiating the design-build-buy activities; part/drawing release; support analysis for detailed design, preparation, execution, and follow up for preliminary design review; process development for yoke full-scale process and drive system center; complete tooling conceptual designs and initiate tooling preliminary design; structural qualification; and flight test plans requirements.

Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX, and is expected to be complete in May 2013 (N00019-11-G-0003). See also March 2/11 entry.

Aug 30/11: Sensors. Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Orlando, FL receives a $50 million firm-fixed-price contract for 18 of the AH-1Z’s AN/AAQ-30 target sight systems (TSS). The DefenseLINK release identifies them as being specifically for the AH-1Z program; they are also found on armed C-130s operated by the USMC and US SOCOM.

Work will be performed in Orlando, FL (90%) and Ocala, FL (10%), and is expected to be complete by August 2014. The contract was not competitively procured, in accordance with 10 U.S.C. 2304c1 and FAR 6.203-1b-1-ii. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division in Crane, IN manages the contract (N00164-11-C-JQ77).

Aug 25/11: Innovation. USMC Sgt. Zachary Lucas gets a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal and a $5,000 check for inventing the “Lucas Seat” that’s now standard issue on UH-1Ys.

The helicopter’s 3 seats in the center were getting in the way of employing the door guns and tending the packs, so Lucas designed a 2-man bed seat while serving in Afghanistan, in 2009. It passed through some iterations on its way to becoming a Corps-wide issue, and the current configuration allows for a 3-man bench seat or a single seat.

Lucas’ peers are currently developing a hold-down map rack to install in the center area between pilots and the crew, making it easier for the crew to read them while the helicopter is in flight. Pentagon DVIDS.

The Lucas Seat

July 25/11: A $550 million firm-fixed-price modification that lists itself as being “for long lead materials and components associated with” the manufacture and delivery of 35 helicopters: 19 UH-1Y Lot 8 new-build, 8 AH-1Z remanufactured, and 6 AH-1Z Lot 8 new-build helicopters.

In reality, this modification is the “production definitization” of the Lot 8 Advance Acquisition Contract. In English: It’s the main Lot 8/ FY 2011 contract. Now, why couldn’t they just say that? See Feb 5/10 entry for the accompanying partial long lead-time items contract, of $50.4 million. That makes $600.4 million so far for 35 helicopters, not including items like key electronics, sensors, etc. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX (60%), and Amarillo, TX (40%), and is expected to be complete in February 2014 (N00019-10-C-0015).

FY 2011 order

June 6/11: FY 2012 lead-in. A $7.2 million contract modification to buy Lot 9 long-lead items for the USMC’s H-1 Upgrades Program. Per notes above, Lot 9 mostly involves FY 2012 purchases. See also March 14/11.

Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX (60%), and Amarillo, TX (40%), and is expected to be complete in September 2012 (N00019-11-C-0023).

March 16/11: Sub-contractors. Simmonds Precision Products, Inc., dba Goodrich Corp. in Vergennes, VT receives a $7.4 million firm-fixed-price contract for 30 integrated mechanical diagnostic and health usage monitoring system (IMD/HUMS) units for FY 2011 “Lot 8 production upgrade aircraft”: 19 UH-1Ys and 8 AH-1Zs). Work will be performed in Vergennes, VT, and is expected to be completed in November 2012. This contract was not competitively procured (N00019-11-F-4002).

IMD/HUMS contracts aren’t very big by themselves, but their long term impact on a fleet’s readiness and operating costs is quite significant. They shift maintenance away from programmed formulas toward less expensive at-need practices, and are instrumental in tracing faults and spurring useful upgrades. As data accumulates, HUMS can even be used to make proactive predictions.

March 14/11: FY 2012 lead-in. A $48.4 million advance acquisition contract to provide long lead parts and components required for 26 Lot 9 (FY 2012) UH-1Y and AH-1Z helicopters for the Marine Corps: 15 UH-1Y build new aircraft; 4 AH-1Z remanufactured aircraft; and 7 AH-1Z new-build aircraft. That’s not quite in sync with the stated FY 2012 budget request (18 new UH-1Y, 2 AH-1Z remanufactured, 5 AH-1Z new-build incl. 1 supplemental), but as noted above, supplemental/OCO helicopters can end up under contract in the next year.

Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX (60%), and Amarillo, TX (40%), and is expected to be complete in September 2012. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/11. This contract was not competitively procured (N00019-11-C-0023).

March 9/11: US NAVAIR announces that the AH-1Z Cobra achieved Initial Operating Capability ahead of [the new] schedule in February 2011, and will deploy to Afghanistan later in 2011.

U.S. Marine Corps Light and Attack Helicopters program manager, Col. Harry Hewson, reiterates the current program target of 131 remanufactured AH-1Zs from existing AH-1W helicopters, and 58 new AH-1Zs. Full operational capability, defined as when all AH-1Z maintenance and repair support, test equipment, and spares are in place to support active component force primary aircraft authorization, isn’t expected until 2020.

AH-1Z IOC, but FOC will be late

March 2/11: Rotor redesign. A $12.6 million cost-plus-fixed-fee order to support the AH-1Z and UH-1Y’s cuff and yoke redesign. The reason for this contract is that several rotor components are falling far short of the original 10,000 hour reliability goal. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX, and is expected to be complete in June 2013 (N00019-11-G-0003).

Feb 15/11: Engines. General Electric Engine Services, Inc. in Cincinnati, OH receives a $13.8 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract modification to repair 15 T700-GE-401 engines and 36 T700-GE-401C engines for the AH-1Z and UH-1Y helicopters. The -401C engines equip all UH-1Ys and new-build AH-1Zs, and may eventually be retrofitted to the remanufactured AH-1Zs; see Sept 15/09 entry for more details.

Work will be performed in Winfield, KS, and is expected to be completed in February 2012. Contract funds in the amount of $4,349,904 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, n Sept 30/11 (N00421-09-D-0008).

Jan 14/11: Exports? Aviation Week says the AH-1Z is slated to deploy to Afghanistan in November 2011, and adds some insight on the export front:

“[Vice president of military business development at Bell, Richard] Linhart says Bell intends to underbid the current Apache model and Eurocopter Tiger HAD, which is being fielded in France and Spain. However, with the near-term focus on adding volume to the USMC fleet, production slots are not likely to emerge for foreign customers until 2012 at the earliest.”

There have been unconfirmed rumors, not reported by Aviation Week or other publications, that the AH-1Z was offered to Iraq, which held out for AH-64D Apaches but was refused.

Dec 30/10: Support. A $22 million firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification to exercise an option for logistics products and services in support of H-1 helicopter upgrade program. Services include logistics management support, technical material for maintenance planning, design interface, supply/material support, technical data, distribution and inventory management/packaging, handling, storage and transportation, logistics management information, supportability analysis, technical manuals, and logistics support/technical liaison support.

Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX (96%), and Afghanistan (4%), and is expected to be complete in December 2011 (N00019-10-C-0035).

Dec 28/10: Infrastructure. A $13.5 million firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification, exercising an option for system engineering, and program management overseeing H-1 helicopters upgrade program production. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX, and is expected to be complete in December 2011 (N00019-10-C-0035).

Nov 28/10: The AH-1Z is approved for full rate production, as Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics, Dr. Ashton B. Carter issues a milestone III acquisition decision memorandum.

NAVAIR’s release reiterates that: “A total of 189 new and remanufactured AH-1Z helicopters are anticipated, with deliveries expected to be complete by the end of 2021.”

AH-1Z FRP

FY 2010

Orders; AH-1Z passes testing; GAO program review cites woes, progress; Manufacturing expansion.

AH-1Z: Hellfire test
(click to view full)

Sept 24/10: AH-1Z OpEval. The US Navy’s Commander, Operational Test and Evaluation Force, notifies NAVAIR’s H-1 Upgrades program office that the AH-1Z was found to be “operationally effective and suitable” during Operational Evaluation, and have been recommended for fleet introduction. Operational effectiveness means it can perform its missions. Operational suitability refers to the platform’s reliability and the service’s ability to support it.

That designation clears an important delay for the program, and NAVAIR adds that:

“A total of 189 new and remanufactured AH-1Z helicopters are anticipated, with deliveries expected to be complete by the end of 2021… The evaluation report noted that the AH-1Z fire control and additional weapons delivery modes allowed for improved weapons delivery accuracy, reduced pilot workload, and enhanced employment flexibility compared with the AH-1W. The H-1 Upgrade Program offers 84 percent “identicality” of parts shared between the AH-1Z and UH-1Y helicopters.”

AH-1Z passed OpEval

Sept 13/10: Sub-contractors. L-3 Platform Integration Crestview Aerospace in Crestview, FL announces [PDF] a follow-on contract from Bell Helicopter Textron to produce another 38 UH-1Y cabin assemblies between 2010 – 2013.

Under the preceding contract, L-3 Crestview Aerospace has delivered 35 cabin assemblies to Bell, with 5 remaining under contract.

June 16/10: Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc. in Fort Worth, TX is being awarded a $546 million firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for Production Lot 7 UH-1Y and AH-1Z helicopters for the US Marine Corps: 18 new UH-1Ys, 9 remanufactured AH-1Zs; and 2 new AH-1Zs.

Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX (60%), and Amarillo, TX (40%), and is expected to be complete in July 2013. This competition was decided long since, so the contract was not competitively procured (N00019-10-C-0035).

FY 2010 order

April 20/10: Sensors. Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Orlando, FL receives a $44.4 million firm-fixed-price supply contract for 18 AN/AAQ-30 thermal sight system (TSS) and associated data, for use on AH-1Z helicopters. Work will be performed in Orlando, FL (90%), and Ocala, FL (10%), and is expected to be completed by October 2012. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane, IN manages the contract (N00164-10-C-JQ84). Lockheed Martin release

This is a follow-on order to the initial 16 system order placed March 28/08. The first production system was delivered on June 30/08, and see also the Sept 28/09 long-lead contract. Delivery of all systems contracted under Lot 6 and 7 low-rate initial production will be complete in 2011. Lockheed Martin’s TSS has had integration problems with Thales’ TopOwl helmet-mounted sight, but the Marines are hoping that their fixes will prevail during 2010 Operational Evaluations. If OpEval goes well, a contract for full-rate production of 226 total units is expected in fall 2010.

March 30/10: GAO Report. The US GAO audit office delivers its 8th annual “Defense Acquisitions: Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs report. Overall, the H-1 upgrade program has risen in both costs and quantity since the October 1996 baseline. As of December 2008, program R&D had risen from the $680.2 million baseline to almost $1.84 billion (170% growth), while total program cost has risen from $3.54 billion to about $11.52 billion. Part of that involves an original target of 284 helicopters jumping to 353 (+24.3%), but part of it involves issues that pushed procurement costs up by 239.2%, to $9.69 billion, and have delayed the program. GAO summarizes:

“In December 2008, the Navy reported a unit cost increase of 19 percent over the program’s then current baseline, breaching the significant cost growth threshold. Program officials stated this breach was due to growth in the cost of material, labor, government furnished equipment, and nonrecurring engineering. This breach followed four previous major restructuring efforts. The program’s new acquisition program baseline delays completion of operational testing for the AH-1Z by 28 months from March 2008 to July 2010 and establishes a new full-rate production decision review for the AH-1Z, which is planned for October 2010. The revised baseline also accounts for an almost 25 percent increase in planned procurement quantities from 280 to 349 aircraft (123 UH-1Ys and 226 AH-1Zs) to support the Marine Corps’ growth plans.”

In terms of program progress, the UH-1Y is already in full-rate production and operating on the front lines, and is demonstrating “3x normal operating rates” versus older Hueys, along with better ability to cope with the performance-draining effects of hot and/or high altitude conditions. AH-1Z risk reduction testing is complete, and the AH-1Z Operational Evaluation (OPEVAL) begins in spring 2010. The Navy says that “[p]reviously noted deficiencies with Target Sight System, rocket gas ingestion, helmet mounted sight system, and mission software have been corrected and will be formally assessed” in that OpEval.

Overall, “supplier base issues” have slowed production, and advance funding for long-lead items is expected to help resolve prior supply issues. At present, the GAO is concerned that Bell Helicopter has yet to demonstrate the 28 helicopters per year pace called for in the FY 2010 budget, and revised program baseline. On the other hand, 52 UH-1Y and 21 AH-1Z aircraft were on contract as of December 2009, with LRIP phase deliveries happening in accordance with the production ramp-up plan, and the last 13 helicopter deliveries coming ahead of schedule.

Feb 5/10: FY 2011 lead-in. An undefinitized advance acquisition contract with an estimated value of $50.4 million for long lead materials and components associated with the manufacture and delivery of 18 Lot 8 UH-1Y build new aircraft, 8 Lot 8 AH-1Z remanufactured aircraft, and 1 Lot 8 AH-1Z build new aircraft. Work will be performed in Fort Worth (60%) and Amarillo, TX (40%), and is expected to be complete in January 2014 (N00019-10-C-0015).

Dec 11/09: Support. A not-to-exceed ceiling-price $14.8 million contract for repair coverage for 8 “items required to support the H-1 aircraft.” Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX, and is expected to be complete in December 2010. This contract was a sole source, with manufacturer Bell Helicopter deemed the “sole source responsible and responsive offeror.” The Naval Inventory Control Point in Philadelphia, PA manages the contract.

Oct 23/09: Industrial. A ceremony in Amarillo, TX marks breaks ground for a new 137,000 square foot H-1 Hangar at Bell’s Military Aircraft Assembly and Delivery Center. The hangar is slated to be complete in October 2010, and will be capable of housing up to 10 UH-1Y and AH-1Z helicopters at a time as the H-1 program’s annual production numbers grow.

Amarillo is also home for the final assembly of the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, following its selection 11 years ago by Bell. Since then, public/ private partnerships between the city, Amarillo College, the Amarillo Economic Development Center and Bell have worked to provide both the infrastructure required, and a trained and capable workforce. Bell’s delivery goals for 2010 are 28 V-22 and 20 H-1 aircraft.Textron release.

FY 2009

Orders; 1st production AAQ-30 TSS delivered; Problem parts; Program change to more rebuilds.

AN/AAQ-30 TSS
(click to view full)

Sept 28/09: Sensors. Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Orlando, FL is being awarded a $11.5 million firm-fixed-price contract for long lead time components for 8 of the AH-1Z’s target sight systems (TSS). Long lead material includes the gimbal assembly and laser designator, and the advance orders are used to reduce TSS production delivery time.

Work will be performed in Orlando, FL, and is expected to be complete by May 2011. Since the AN/AAQ-30 TSS has already been selected, this contract was not competitively procured by the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane IN (N00164-09-C-JQ82).

Sept 15/09: Engines. Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc. in Fort Worth, TX received a $35.8 million cost-plus fixed-fee delivery order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement to provide Phase 2 non-recurring engineering for the AH-1Z new-build helicopter airframe, and to develop an engineering change proposal related for incorporating the T700-401C engine.

The -401C engine is present in all new-build AH-1Zs, but at present it is not inserted into remanufactured helicopters, which use refurbished T700-401 engines from the existing AH-1Ws. At some point in the future, as funding allows, NAVAIR says that the Marines also plan to retrofit any remanufactured AH-1Zs that still have older engines with T700-401Cs. This ECP paves the way for that future change as well.

Work will be performed in Ft. Worth, TX (50%) and Amarillo, TX (50%), and is expected to be complete in April 2013. All contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year (N00019-06-G-0001).

Aug 3/09: Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc. in Fort Worth, TX received a $6.3 million cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement to provide 3D modeling in support of the AH-1Z new-build new program, including associated technical data for the Marine Corps.

Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX and is expected to be complete in February 2010. All contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/09 (N00019-05-G-0001).

June 30/09: Sensors. Lockheed Martin delivers its first AAQ-30 Target Sight System (TSS) production unit, at a ceremony held at its Orlando, FL, facility. USMC Col. Harry Hewson of PMA-276 is present. Production of the 16 systems ordered under the March 28/08 contract will take place at Lockheed Martin’s facilities in Ocala and Orlando, FL, and will be complete in 2010. Lockheed Martin release.

June 25/09: The US Senate Armed Services Committee issues Report 111-035. An excerpt concerns the UH-1Y/AH-1Z program:

“Fiscal year 2010 would be the first year of buying new AH-1Zs. Operational testing for the UH-1Y has been completed, which resulted in a positive Milestone B decision in September 2008. Operational testing for the AH-1Z has been delayed, mainly due to issues surrounding the targeting sight system. The program office now predicts that operational testing for the AH-1Z configuration will not be completed until late in fiscal year 2010. Also since last year, the Secretary of the Navy notified Congress that the Service Acquisition Executive had determined the program had breached the significant cost growth threshold of 15 percent, compared to the baseline average procurement unit cost.

The committee recommends a decrease of $282.9 million to keep the UH-1Y/AH-1Z program at the same level of effort as fiscal year 2009.”

In the end, it makes no difference. Section 211 of the S.1390 budget bill, which passes in the Senate on July 23/09, restores this funding.

June 15/09: Bad parts. Aviation Week reports that

“[USMC Lt. Gen. George J.] Trautman is also monitoring problems with recently delivered UH-1N and AH-1Z aircraft delivered to the Navy/Marine Corps from Bell. Bad parts from a subvendor caused problems with the transmission in these aircraft. Fixes are underway, and by mid-July, these helicopters will be back in service, he says.

The USMC is also planning to deploy the new Hueys to the Afghan theater later this year. Operational testing of the AH-1Z is expected to finish next year, Trautman says.”

April 22/09: Testing. The US Air Force discusses cooperative efforts with the Marine Corps to figure out exactly how to load the UH-1Y Venom and AH-1Z Viper into the C-5 Galaxy transport:

“…the Marines have been working with Air Force representatives for three months to find the best method of transporting their helicopters to the fight. According to John Buchanan, 60th APS cargo operations manager, they tried to use a C-17 Globemaster III first but found they had to strip too many parts off the helicopter. So the next logical step was to test the C-5 capability.”

These helicopters’ 4-bladed rotor doesn’t fully fold, which makes even the C-5 has been a challenge. At one point in the loading process, clearance for the UH-1Y helicopter is down to 3 inches.

April 7/09: Support. A not-to-exceed $14.6 million modification to a previously awarded cost plus fixed fee contract (N00019-06-C-0086) for H-1 Upgrade logistics products and services, including: logistic management support, technical material for maintenance planning, design interface, supply /material support, support of support equipment, technical data, distribution and inventory management/packaging, handling, storage & transportation, configuration management, supportability analysis, aircraft acceptance discrepancies, and contractor logistics support/technical liaison.

Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX and is expected to be complete in May 2010.

April 6/09: Industrial. A $9.25 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to buy production rate tooling for the H-1 program. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX (70%) and Amarillo, TX (30%), and is expected to be complete in December 2011. This contract was not competitively procured (N00019-09-C-0023).

March 26/09: A $288.9 million firm-fixed-price contract for the FY 2009 (Lot 6) buy of 11 UH-1Y and 5 AH-1Z helicopters and associated technical data for the U.S. Marine Corps. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX (60%) and Amarillo, TX (40%), and is expected to be complete in October 2011. This contract was not competitively procured (N00019-09-C-0023). Bell Helicopter’s release adds:

“Bell is now on contract to produce a total of 65 upgraded H-1 aircraft for the Marines: 17 AH-1Z attack aircraft and 48 UH-1Y utility aircraft. So far, the company has delivered 23 upgraded H-1 helicopters: six AH-1Zs and 17 UH-1Ys.”

FY 2009 order

Jan 13/09: Sub-contractors. A Northrop Grumman release touts the role of its Integrated Avionics System (IAS), and the company’s efforts in preparing the UH-1Y Huey helicopters for initial deployment early in 2009 with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

Dec 18/08: Support. A $10.5 million firm-fixed-priced delivery order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-06-G-0001). It covers Systems Engineering and Program Management (SE/PM) for Lot 6 production under the H-1 Upgrade program.

Work will be performed in Hurst, TX (79%); Amarillo, TX (15%); and New Bern, NC (6%), and is expected to be complete in December 2009.

Nov 12/08: Support. A $12.8 million modification to a previously awarded firm fixed price contract (N00019-06-C-0086) to prepare, validate and deliver revisions to organizational, intermediate and depot level technical manuals in digital format. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX, and is expected to be complete in May 2010. All funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

Oct 27/08: More rebuilt AH-1Zs. Inside Defense reports that:

“The H-1 helicopter program has nearly cut in half the number of Marine Corps AH-1Z attack helicopters it plans to build from scratch in order to avoid a breach of the Nunn-McCurdy Act, which requires that the Pentagon notify Congress when a program exceeds certain cost thresholds, the program office acknowledged last week…”

Oct 7-16/08: The new Bell UH-1Y is tested as part of the Boxer Expeditionary Strike Group (BOXESG) integration exercise, flying from USS Boxer [LHD 4]. US Navy.

FY 2008

Orders; Marines want a larger program; UH-1Y reaches IOC; Why AH-1Z slipped.

UH-1Y on LHD 4
(click to view full)

Sept 30/08: A $210.2 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract . NAVAIR is exercising its contract option to make the FY 2008 purchase of 11 UH-1Y scout/utility helicopters, and 4 AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters.

Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX (60%) and Amarillo, TX (40%), and is expected to be complete in January 2011 (N00019-06-C-0086).

FY 2008 order

Sept 29/08: FLIR systems receives a contract from the US Navy and Marines for 116 AN/AAQ-22E Brite Star II surveillance and targeting turrets, 25 upgrades from AAQ-22D to AAQ-22E status, and non-warranty repair and support for their BRITE STAR turret stocks. Purchases for the UH-1Y are included within this order.

Aug 22/08: More H-1s. Flight International reports that September 2008 will see the US Navy propose adding 69 aircraft to the Bell Helicopter H-1 upgrade program, despite a recent setback during an operational evaluation of the AH-1Z. Expanding from 280 to 349 helicopters (226 AH-1Zs and 123 UH-1Ys) would parallel the overall expansion of the US Marine Corps to 202,000 personnel. NAVAIR’s proposal will look to increase existing yearly orders, as well as adding to the back-end of the production schedule.

The combined proposal to restructure the program, again, will be presented for final approval on Sept 17/10 to John Young, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics.

Aug 18/08: The US DoD releases its latest Selected Acquisition Reports, and the H-1 program is included. The source of the AH-1Z program’s delays becomes a bit clearer:

“This SAR was submitted to report schedule delays of six months or more since the prior report. Specifically, the Operational Evaluation (OPEVAL) Phase I Complete (AH-1Z) slipped two years from May 2008 to May 2010 due to unresolved Critical Operational Issues related to the AH-1Z weapons employment. There were no cost changes reported.”

SAR – delays explained

Aug 15/08: Lt. Gen. George Trautman declares that the UH-1Y has reached the official “Initial Operational Capability” milestone, in a ceremony at Marine Corps Headquarters in Quantico, VA. This helicopter’s IOC was supposed to come in September 2008; it appears to be a bit early. NAVAIR release.

The 6 pilots, 6 crew chiefs, and 3 UH-1Ys of Marine Light Attack Helicopter Training Squadron HMLAT-303 have been training with the aircraft for over a year, They have now reported to the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit in preparation for deployment, which is scheduled for January 2009 aboard the USS Boxer [LHD 4].

UH-1Y IOC

Aug 11/08: Inside Defense reports that:

“Bell Helicopter-Textron is expecting a delay in deliveries of UH-1Y utility helicopters due to a slippage in deliveries of cabins by a subcontractor, a company spokesman told Inside the Navy.”

Aug 1/08: Support. A $12.6 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-06-C-0086) for H-1 Upgrade logistics products and services. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be complete in May 2009.

This modification includes logistic management support, technical material for maintenance planning, design interface, supply /material support, support of support equipment, technical data, distribution and inventory management/packaging, handling, storage & transportation, configuration management, supportability analysis, aircraft acceptance discrepancies, and contractor logistics support/technical liaison.

Aug 1/08: Support. A $6.5 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-06-C-0086) for non-recurring engineering necessary to build, install and test of the combining Gearbox Test Stand in support of the H-1 Upgrades Aircraft. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX and is expected to be complete in June 2011.

July 11/08: Rotor redesign. Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc. in Fort Worth, TX received a $9.4 million cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-06-G-0001) for the H-1 program. The delivery order covers one-time engineering services to improve the new main rotor gearbox’s ability to “run dry”, i.e. without lubrication. This makes the aircraft more likely to survive if, for example, enemy gunfire severs key connections and leaves the main rotor gearbox without its usual lubrication.

Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX and is expected to be complete in December 2012. Contract funds in the amount of $5.6 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

April 22/08: More H-1s? Military.com reports that the initiative to expand the Corps by about 20,000 Marines may also grow the H-1 program from 100 UH-1Ys to 123, and 180 AH-1Zs to 226. The USMC has submitted their 2010 Program Objective Memorandum, which forecasts the service’s budget request for 2010, but that submission has not been approved yet by DoD officials.

The additional helicopters would also avert a potential shortage of AH-1 attack helicopters, by ordering the new-build helicopters first. This would enable the Marines to withdraw existing AH-1W Super Cobras from service for the 2-year overhaul program, without affecting the number of available machines.

March 28/08: Sensors. Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Orlando, FL receives a $50 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for 16 AN/AAQ-30 Thermal Sight Systems (TSS) for the USMC’s AH-1Z Viper helicopter. Major subcontractors include L3 Communications/Wescam of Ontario Canada (turret assembly) and Elbit subsidiary Kollsman, Inc. of Merrimack, NH (Common Laser Designator Range Finder).

Work will be performed in Orlando, FL (86%); Ocala, FL (9%); and Santa Barbara, CA (5%), and is expected to be complete by October 2010. Bids were solicited via the Federal Business Opportunities and Navy Electronic Commerce Online websites, and 1 offer was received by the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, IN (N00164-08-C-JQ24).

Feb 22/08: More H-1s? A Bell Helicopter release claims that:

“While the current contract calls 100 Yankees and 180 Zulus, the Marines have indicated a desire to increase the number of aircraft they will purchase in their total force plan.”

Feb 12/08: Phase II OpEval. The UH-1Y and AH-1Z begin Phase II of their Operational Evaluation (OpEval). A full rate production decision is expected in August 2008. Source.

Feb 11/08: A not-to-exceed $19.9 million cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement for 2 non-recurring engineering (NRE) efforts associated with the manufacture of a minimum of 40 build new AH-1Z aircraft for the U.S. Marine Corps. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX and is expected to be complete in November 2009.

The first portion of the NRE effort includes tool design and loft for producing the tool proof cabin and other tool proof parts, and initiates manufacturing engineering and production planning. The second NRE effort will be issued to integrate and qualify the T700-401C engine for use in the new-build AH-1Z aircraft (N00019-06-G-0001).

Jan 3/08: FY 2008 lead-in. A $60 million not-to-exceed modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract for long-lead, time-critical parts in support of the Fiscal Year 2008 Lot V procurement of 11 UH-1Y Venom utility and 4 AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters.

Work will be performed in Hurst, Texas (80%) and Amarillo, Texas (20%), and is expected to be complete in July 2010 (N00019-06-C-0086).

Oct 1/07: Training. Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc. in Hurst, TX received awarded a $16.7 million fixed-price-incentive fee modification to a previously awarded firm fixed price contract for an AH-1Z Full Flight Simulator (FFS).

Work will be performed in Broken Arrow, OK (75%) and Hurst, TX (25%) and is expected to be complete in January 2010. The Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division in Orlando, FL issued the contract (N00019-06-C-0086).

FY 2007

Orders.

UH-1Y, armed
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Sept 26/07: Spares. Bell Helicopter Textron in Hurst, TX received $5.6 million for ceiling priced order #GB4A under a previously awarded contract for spare components for the H-1 aircraft. Work will be performed in Hurst, Texas is expected to be complete December 2009. One company was solicited for this non-competitive requirement by the Naval Inventory Control Point in Philadelphia, PA (W58RGZ-06-G-0003).

Sept 21/07: Spares. A $32.1 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-06-C-0086) for procurement of initial spares in support of the fiscal year 2007 Lot IV aircraft – 9 UH-1Y and 2 AH-1Z aircraft (see July 27/07). Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX and is expected to be complete in April 2010.

July 27/07: A $162.3 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, fixed-price-incentive fee contract (N00019-06-C-0086), exercising an option for the FY 2007 Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) Lot IV procurement of 9 “Venom” UH-1Ys and 2 “Viper” AH-1Z aircraft.

Work will be performed in Hurst, TX (80%) and Amarillo, TX (20%), and is expected to be complete in October 2009.

FY 2007 order

July 6/07: Training. A $12.5 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-06-C-0086) for the procurement of phases II and III of the Composite Maintenance Trainers (CMTs) effort, to include 2 UH-1Y trainers and 2 AH-1Z trainers. The CMTs will be based at Camp Pendleton, CA, and will be used to train personnel on the repair and maintenance of the H-1 Upgrades Aircraft. Work will be performed in Hurst, TX and is expected to be complete in August 2012.

Jan 30/07: Support. An $11.7 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-06-C-0086), exercising an option for systems engineering and program management support for the UH-1Y and AH-1Z aircraft for Calendar Year 2007. Work will be performed in Hurst, TX (80%) and Amarillo, TX (20%), and is expected to be complete in December 2007.

FY 2005 – 2006

Orders.

UH-1Y ropedown
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Aug 11/06: Spares. A $31.7 million ceiling priced modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract for the FY 2006 lot III procurement of initial spare parts in support of the UH-1Y aircraft.

Work will be performed in Hurst, TX and is expected to be completed in December 2008 (N00019-06-C-0086).

July 20/06: Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc. in Fort Worth, TX received a $137.4 million firm-fixed-price, fixed-price-incentive fee contract for the fiscal year 2006 low rate initial production (LRIP) lot III procurement of 7 UH-1Y aircraft, 1 UH-1Y full flight simulator, and 4 composite maintenance trainers (Phase I) under the H-1 upgrade program.

Work will be performed in Hurst, TX (80%), and Amarillo, TX (20%), and is expected to be complete in September 2008. This contract was not competitively procured by the Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD (N00019-06-C-0086).

FY 2006 order

May 2006: AH-1Z OpEval I. The AH-1Z, equipped with an AAQ-30 surveillance and targeting system, enters Operational Evaluation. Source.

Jan 31/06: Support. A $7.1 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-04-C-0001), exercising an option for the logistics support, initial spares, build-to-print package, initial operational test and evaluation period, and helmet support for FY 2006 Flight Test Devices for the AH-1Z and UH-1Y Program.

Work will be performed in Camp Pendleton, CA (76%); Tulsa, OK (13%); and Fort Worth, TX (11%), and is expected to be complete in January 2007.

June 3/05: Spares. A $17.6 million not-to-exceed modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-04-C-0001) for initial spare parts in support of FY 2005 Lot II UH-1Y and AH-1Z aircraft. Work will be performed in Amarillo, TX and is expected to be complete in September 2007.

May 26/05: An estimated $7.7 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-04-C-0001) for the procurement of the non-recurring effort required to replace the remanufactured UH-1N or HH-1N structural parts with new structural parts used to manufacture a UH-1Y helicopter. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX, and is expected to be complete in December 2006.

April 4/05: A $104.2 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-04-C-0001) for the H-1 upgrade program. The funds exercise an option for FY 2005 low rate initial production lot II procurement of 3 AH-1Z and 4 UH-1Y aircraft.

Work on this particular contract will be performed in Amarillo, TX and is expected to be complete in December 2007.

FY 2005 order

Feb 23/05: IAS. A $165.4 million cost-plus-award-fee contract for the development of Integrated Avionics Suite (IAS) software upgrades in support of the H-1 helicopter upgrade program. In addition, this contract provides for incorporation of the software upgrades into existing AH-1W Cobra attack helicopters and UH-1N transport helicopters, to convert them to AH-1Zs and UH-1Ys, respectively.

Work will be performed in Woodland Hills, CA (70%); Hurst, TX (25%), and China Lake, CA (5%), and is expected to be complete in February 2010.

IAS development

Dec 29/04: Avionics. A $35.3 million ceiling-priced modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract for the development of the Generation II Mission Computer for the AH-1Z and UH-1Y aircraft under the H-1 Upgrade Program. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX and is expected to be complete in September 2010 (N00019-04-C-0001).

Dec 8/04: Support. A $23.6 million modification to a previously awarded firm fixed price contract (N00019-04-C-0001) for the FY 2005 procurement of acquisition logistics support for Lot I and II Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) AH-1Z and UH-1Y aircraft. Work will be performed in Hurst, TX and is expected to be completed in October 2007.

FY 1999 – 2004

Orders; AH-1Z Prototype rollout; Lockheed Martin’s TSS surveillance and targeting system picked for AH-1Z. N.B. incomplete.

H-1s on LHD 5
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July 20/04: SDD. A $15.9 million estimated value modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-award/incentive fee contract (N00019-96-C-0128) for the non-recurring development of a turned exhaust system for the AH-1Z helicopter. The turned exhaust system deflects exhaust gasses up into the rotor blades for dispersal, minimizing the helicopter’s infrared signature to enemy missiles etc.

Work will be performed in Amarillo, TX (53%) and Fort Worth, TX (47%), and is expected to be complete in March 2006. The Naval Air Systems Command issued the contract.

April 2/04: Spares. A $14.25 million delivery order under previously awarded basic ordering agreement (DAAH23-02-G-0008) for various spare items to support the low rate initial production (LRIP) for the H-1 upgrades program. Work will be performed in Hurst, TX and is expected to be complete by December 2006. This contract was not competitively procured by the Naval Inventory Control Point is the contracting activity (Order GB1C).

March 22/04: Support. A $13.1 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-04-C-0001) for the FY 2004 procurement of acquisition logistics support for Lot I and II Low Rate Initial Production AH-1Z and UH-1Y aircraft. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX and is expected to be complete in October 2007.

March 5/04: Training. A $45.5 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-04-C-0001) for the design, development, manufacture, and installation of 1 AH-1Z and 1 UH-1Y flight training device. Work will be performed in Arrow, OK (60%), and Fort Worth, TX (40%), and is expected to be complete in November 2006.

Dec 29/03: Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. in Fort Worth, TX received a $183.8 million firm-fixed-price contract for the low rate initial production of 3 Super Cobra helicopters (AH-1Z) and 6 Huey helicopters (UH-1Y).

Work will be performed in Amarillo, TX (53%), and Fort Worth, TX (47%), and is expected to be complete in January 2007. This contract was not competitively procured by the Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD (N00019-04-C-0001).

FY 2004 order

Aug 15/01: Sensors. Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control delivers its first Hawkeye eXtended Range (XR) Target Sight System (TSS) to Bell Helicopter during a brief ceremony in Orlando, FL. Lockheed Martin’s release adds that the Hawkeye TSS will be installed on an AH-1Z Cobra helicopter in early 2002. The first flight test of the TSS on an AH-1Z took place in August 2002.

Nov 20/2000: The rollout ceremony for the AH-1Z is held at Bell Helicopter Plant 6 in Arlington, TX. Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control conducts public flight demonstrations of its Hawkeye Target Sight System (TSS, would become AAQ-30) at the Lockheed Martin release:

“Prospective customers from Turkey, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Greece, and Slovenia were given an opportunity for in-flight “hands-on” operation of the system that Lockheed Martin had installed on a Bell Model 222 helicopter. A real-time video downlink was also displayed.”

AH-1Z rollout

July 1998: Sensors. Bell Helicopter awards Lockheed Martin a $7.8 million Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) contract for the [AAQ-30] TSS targeting and surveillance system. This would be followed by additional contracts covering Engineering Change Proposals. Lockheed Martin reportedly fabricates the whole nose section of the AH-1Z. Source.

Additional Readings & Sources

Thanks to Neville Dawson for the lead photograph, which is used with permission.

Helicopters & Ancillaries

• US Navy NAVAIR – USMC Light/Attack Helicopters.

• Bell Helicopter Textron – AH-1Z Zulu.

• Bell Helicopter Textron – UH-1Y Yankee.

• Lockheed Martin – TSS.

• Deagel – Hawkeye XR / AN/AAQ-30 GMS2 TSS. Hawkeye XR is related to the GMS2 system being fitted to AC-130U Spooky gunships.

• FLIR Systems – BRITE Star.

• DID – APKWS II: Laser-Guided Hydra Rockets in Production At Last.

• DID – JAGM: Joint Air-Ground Missile Again. If it debuts, the AH-1Z will be its initial Navy platform.

News & Views

• Flight International (Dec 20/10) – CUTAWAY: AH-1Z Viper enters production as substantially new aircraft.

• USMC (Dec 19/08) – Corps Cobra Receives New Fangs.

• Flight International (Aug 8/06) – Bell gets H-1 programme on track.

CH-53K concept
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The U.S. Marines have a problem. They rely on their CH-53E Super Stallion medium-heavy lift helicopters to move troops, vehicles, and supplies off of their ships. But the helicopters are wearing out. Fast. The pace demanded by the Global War on Terror is relentless, and usage rates are 3 times normal. Attrition is taking its toll. Over the past few years, CH-53s have been recalled from “boneyard” storage at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, AZ, in order to maintain fleet numbers in the face of recent losses and forced retirements. Now, there are no flyable spares left.

Enter the Heavy Lift Replacement (HLR) program, now known as the CH-53K. It aims to offer notable performance improvements over the CH-53E, in a similar airframe. The question is whether its service entry delay to 2018-2019 will come too late to offset a serious decline in Marine aviation.

The HLR Program Lifts Off

Sikorksy on HLR, 2011

The $25.5 billion, 200-helicopter CH-53K program will define the long-term future of the US Marine Corps’ medium-heavy lift capabilities – and may be needed to save Marine aviation in the medium term.

On average, existing CH-53E aircraft are more than 15 years old, have over 3,000 flight hours under tough conditions, and are becoming more and more of a maintenance challenge with a 44:1 maintenance man-hours:flight hours ratio. Not to mention the resulting $20,000 per flight-hour cost ratio. According to Jane’s Defense Weekly, a 1999 analysis showed that the existing fleet has a service life of 6,120 flight hours, based on fatigue at the weakest point where the tail folds. The USMC expected that the existing fleet would start to reach this point in 2011, at a rate of 15 aircraft per year. The funding profile below suggests a problem for the Corps:

Excel
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The Marine Corps itself is the source of the disconnect. The HLR program initially called for 156 new-build helicopters derived from the CH-53E Super Stallion design, with initial flight tests in 2010-2011, and initial operating capability (IOC) in 2014-2015. IOC was defined as a detachment of 4 aircraft, with combat ready crews, and prepared to deploy with all required equipment and spares.

In 2010, however, the Marines grew the program plan to 200 helicopters, even as they pushed its initial flight back to FY 2013, and IOC back to FY 2018. The program wasn’t experiencing problems, and no reasons were given, beyond statements concerning the program’s aggressive schedule. Further slippage has occurred since. Here’s the full timeline:

Up, up, and…
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The current schedule creates a number of risks for the Marine Corps. There’s no question that pushing the CH-53K program back will leave the Marines with a dwindling heavy-lift helicopter fleet, whose size, capability, and safety are governed by mechanical realities rather than political diktat. In April 2010, the US military ran out of stored CH-53D/E airframes to refurbish and return to the front lines. In February 2011, the USMC retired its CH-53D fleet altogether.

The other risk is political. On the one hand, the CH-53K is a large program, and the farther the Marines push it away, the easier it is to cut amidst budget crises. With its heavy-lift fleet dwindling, that could be disastrous for the force. On the other hand, budgetary crises also look for programs that are late or experiencing problems, and the CH-53K is big enough to earn a lot of attention if it’s seen as screwing up. That fact that the original schedule was overly aggressive wouldn’t be remembered.

Was the move to push the CH-53K back an act of political negligence, to protect less critical programs like the V-22? Or was it an act of supreme prudence, which will lead to a strong program that survives precisely because it goes out and meets its targets? Opinions vary. Time will tell.

Current Status

Some assembly required
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US Navy PMA-261 is responsible for the CH-53K program. Sikorsky is currently working under a $3.5 – 4 billion System Development and Demonstration (SDD) contract, to include 4 SDD flight test helicopters, 1 ground test airframe, and associated program management and test support. As the development timeline stretched out, 6 System Development Test Aircraft were added to to that mix. To date, Sikorsky’s industrial partners include:

The CH-53X / CH-53K

Mission example
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The CH-53K’s maximum gross weight (MGW) will increase to 88,000 pounds with external loads, versus 73,500 pounds for the CH-53E. MGW with internal loads will be 74,000 pounds, compared to 69,750 pounds for the CH-53E. It’s being designed to carry a cargo load of 27,000 pounds (13.5 tons) 110 nautical miles, operating at an altitude of 3,000 feet and an ambient temperature of 91.5 degrees Fahrenheit. This is nearly double the capacity of the current CH-53E Super Stallions, all in a helicopter that’s roughly the same size.

Those altitude and temperature qualifications matter, too, because “hot and high” conditions lower aircraft load carrying capabilities and combat radius – especially for helicopters. This reduced performance has recently been a factor during operations in Afghanistan and relief efforts in Pakistan, for instance, and has been a factor with earlier models of the C-130 Hercules as well. Figures for the CH-53K operating entirely around sea level and in cooler temperatures would be higher, but would not be double that of existing CH-53Es.

As an example of these variables at work, Sikorsky’s CH-53K brochure states that the improved CH-53K will have a maximum external load of 16.3t/ 36,000 lbs. On the other hand, an operation that carries an externally-slung load from sea level to a point 3,000 feet above sea level, with a total range there and back of 220 nautical miles/ 407 km, and 30 minute loiter at the landing zone, would have a maximum mission load of only 12.25t/ 27,000 lbs.

MRAP: RG-31, IEDed
(click to view story)

Even at sea level, however, increased lift capacity will be important. As the Hummer’s fundamental lack of survivability began to marginalize it on the battlefield, the Marines led the charge to field “MRAP” blast-resistant vehicle designs instead. While an up-armored HMMWV weighs about 9,100 pounds empty, the lightest Category 1 MRAP patrol vehicles check in at weights ranging from 16,000 – 31,000 pounds, and even the “light” JLTVs that will replace a large segment of the HMMWV fleet are expected to weigh 14,000 – 20,000 pounds.

Those weights mean that tactical operations to airlift mobile forces ashore beyond the beach, or within the zone of operations, will have only one helicopter available that can get the job done: the CH-53.

If the Marines think their CH-53 fleet is seeing heavy use now, just wait.

New Technologies

CH-53K concept
(click to view full)

In order to meet those requirements, the CH-53K will be depending on a number of new technologies. No one technology constitutes a big stretch, which is good news for the program. Instead, a host of technologies that have been developed since the CH-53E program will be refined, and used in inter-related areas. For the basic outlines of many low-risk CH-53X/CH-53K improvements, read “

/http://www.vtol.org/pdf/garmspring02.pdf">An Affordable Solution To Heavy Lift” [PDF] by Lt. Col. James C. Garman, an H-53 family pilot and Senior Preliminary Design Engineer in Sikorsky’s New Product Definition Group. See also this interview with former HLR program manager Col. Paul Croisetiere.

The most important new addition to the CH-53K will be its 7,500shp class GE38 / T408 engines, which have already hit 8,300 shp in ground tests. The military is hoping for 18% better specific fuel consumption than the similarly sized T64 engine, even though the engine would produce 57% more power. To improve maintenance and reliability, the GE38 is also expected to have 63% fewer parts.

Other technologies slated for the CH-53K include a “glass” [digital] cockpit that has high commonality and interoperability with existing Army and Navy helicopters, high-efficiency rotor blades with anhedral tips that have 12% (main) and 15% (tail) more surface area, plus different construction to handle higher loads; a composite cuff attachment that attaches the main blades directly to an elastomerically-articulated titanium rotor head, without the need for specialized tools or multiple redundant fasteners; a cargo rail locking system; external cargo improvements, survivability enhancements, and enhancements designed to extend service life.

Changes will be made as the program progresses, and engineers get a better sense of which technologies are ready, and which would create risks to the program. For example, the CH-53K was going to use a “viscoelastic lag damper” for the rotors, in order to minimize vibration and stress. It was removed in order to speed up deployment, and a modified version of standard linear hydraulic dampers will be used instead. The Navy hopes to achieve 2x reliability compared to the existing CH-53Es, but gave up the potential for 4x reliability, in exchange for less development risk.

Sikorsky on CH-53K

Given the CH-53E’s large maintenance ratio, reliability will matter. As former HLR program manager Col. Paul Croisetiere put it in a NAVAIR release:

“Given the CH-53E’s operational costs and maintenance demands, heavy lift has built its reputation for excellence on the backs of our maintainers… We are going to take our maintainers somewhere they’ve rarely been before. Home for dinner.”

Several decades of weapon program history suggest that the odds of meeting this goal are low. Instead, the trend is that these promises are made, but more advanced and complex weapons wind up having more points of failure, and require even more maintenance. If the CH-53K program can break that cycle, it would represent a landmark success in Pentagon weapons acquisition.

Contracts & Key Events

Unless otherwise noted, all contracts are issued by US Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD.

FY 2014 – 2018

 

Takeoff?
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August 27/18: Keep’em sweeping The Navy is contracting Technical Systems Integration for the provision of necessary overhaul and modification work on the USMC’s Mk-105 minesweeping system. The firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract has a value of $10.5 million, but also includes options, which if exercises, would bring the face value to roughly $54 million. The Mk-105 Magnetic Influence Minesweeping System is a catamaran hydrofoil which is towed behind the MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopter. It is used to detect mines that use magnetic sensors to target the metallic hulls of ships before detonating. The twin magnetic tails, consisting of open-electrode magnetic sweeps, are towed behind the sled, detonating mines to clear the water for safe shipping. Work will be performed in Panama City, Florida, and is expected to be completed by August 2019.

May 01/18: IOC delays Bloomberg reports that the Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion helicopter program may be falling behind schedule, as Pentagon officials have found that a significant number of components require redesign and re-qualification. While a spokesperson from Sikorsky’s parent-company Lockheed Martin said that most of these items are already “fixed and proven or are in process,” initial operational capability—originally scheduled for December 2019—could be delayed by as much as eight months. According to a Pentagon review prepared in February, four helicopters currently in the flight test program were operating at 69 percent effectiveness as of late last year, “well below” the 75 percent to 90 percent benchmark needed. 200 King Stallions have been ordered by the US Marin Corps in a $31 billion heavy-lift program with Lockheed chasing exports to potential operators such as Germany.

April 20/18: German Heavy-Lift-Industrialization plan Sikorsky, Lockheed Martin’s helicopter subsidiary, revealed on Wednesday its industrialization plan for competing in the German Air Force “Schwerer Transporthubschrauber” (STH) Program, or effort to buy new heavy-lift helicopters. Offering its CH-53K King Stallion, Sikorsky has already teamed up with German defense giant Rheinmetall Group—who will take care of in-service support if Berlin chooses the King Stallion—and the Sikorsky CH-53K team plans to host German companies in an industry chalet during the ILA Berlin Airshow April 25-29, where it will showcase plans for the long-term sustainment of the CH-53K by German aerospace industry. Companies expected alongside Rheinmetall include MTU, ZF Luftfahrttechnik GmbH, Autoflug, HYDRO Systems KG, Rockwell Collins Germany, Jenoptik, Hensoldt, Liebherr, and Rohde & Schwarz. Germany is looking to replace its legacy fleet of CH-53G, some of which have been in service since the mid-1960s, with a new capability. Facing off against the CH-53K is Boeing’s CH-47F Chinook.

March 6/18: Potential Sales-Partnerships Sikorsky has selected German engine manufacturer MTU to be its engine maintenance partner as the US helicopter firm builds up local partners to help its bid to supply CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter to the German Air Force. The agreement tasks MTU with providing maintenance, repair and overhaul services for the helicopter’s GE Aviation T408-GE-400 engines should Berlin order the King Stallion as the replacement for its ageing fleet of CH-53G/GA/GS helicopters. At present, MTU already have an 18 percent share of the T408’s engine program, producing its power turbine, exhaust casing and output shaft. Also included on the team for Sikorsky’s German bid is Rheinmetall.

February 16/18: Initial Production Orders The Pentagon awarded Tuesday, February 13, a $126.5 million US Navy contract modification to Sikorsky for initial production of CH-53K King Stallion helicopters. Under the terms of the deal, the Lockheed Martin subsidiary will secure “long lead items in support of the low rate initial production of seven Lot III CH-53K aircraft.” Work will take place at Stratford, Connecticut, with work running until January 2019. The US Marine Corps is scheduled to receive 200 King Stallions, replacing the service’s older E variants for its heavy-lift mission. The first units are expected to become operational by 2019.

February 8/18: German Heavy Lift-Partnership Lockheed Martin subsidiary Sikorsky has signed a strategic teaming agreement with German defense giant Rheinmetall, to offer Sikorsky’s CH-53K King Stallion helicopter to Germany’s upcoming heavy-lift competition. A Lockheed Martin press release stated that further German teammates will be announced in the coming weeks and “will leverage and build upon the deep knowledge and expertise of the German defense industry.” The statement added that the King Stallion “provides the German Armed Forces with a proven heavy lift helicopter that can be entered into service seamlessly without need for upgrades for the next several decades.” Facing the Sikorsky-Rheinmetall team will be Boeing’s CH-47 Chinook, whose MG-47 variant is the only model thus far capable of Germany’s fleet-wide aerial refueling capability requirement.

November 21/17: Contracts-Spares General Electric Aviation (GEA) has been awarded a $143.4 million US Navy contract to provide 22 low-rate initial production Lot 1 and 2 T408-GE-400 turboshaft engines for the CH-53K King Stallion helicopter. In additional to the engines, the sale will also include associated engine and programmatic support, logistics support, peculiar support equipment, and spares. Work will take place in Lynn, Massachusetts, and is expected to be completed in July 2021.

November 17/17: Airshow Debut Lockheed Martin’s CH-53K Super Stallion will make its international debut at the Berlin Airshow next April, sources close to the program told Reuters. Built for the US Marine Corps by Lockheed subsidiary Sikorsky under the Heavy Lift Replacement (HLR) program, the heavy-lift helicopter is being touted as a possible solution to Germany’s CH-53G replacement program, which will see the King Stallion face off against the smaller Boeing CH-47F Chinook in a $4.7 billion competition for about 40 units. However, an official start to the program—along with a formal structure to the competition—is unlikely to be unveiled until Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives manages to negotiate a ruling coalition with the pro-business Free Democrats and the Greens—horse-trading that could take until the end of the year. Israel is also reported to be interested in the King Stallion, adding a potential 20 units to Lockheed’s order book.

September 04/17: Lockheed Martin subsidiary Sikorsky has been awarded a Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) Lot 1 contract to deliver two CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift helicopters to the US Marine Corps (USMC). Valued at $304 million, the firm will deliver the models by 2021 in addition to spares and support, with work to be carried out in Stratford, Connecticut. The US Department of Defense’s Program of Record remains at 200 CH-53K aircraft, with the USMC intending to stand up eight active duty squadrons, one training squadron, and one reserve squadron to support operational requirements. Designed to lift three times as much weight as its predecessor, the CH-53E Super Stallion, its increased payload capacity can internally load 463L cargo pallets, High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV) or a European Fenneck armored personnel carrier while still leaving the troop seats installed.

July 11/17: With CH-53K King Stallion helicopters recently completing their first long-range flight test from West Palm Beach, Florida to NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, where it will continue flight testing, manufacturer Sikorsky has begun courting German industry in an effort to line up orders for the new heavy-lift helicopter from Berlin. The two day event, held in West Palm Beach, saw the delegates told that if the King Stallion is selected, German suppliers would be responsible for the majority of the work when it comes to platform sustainment. Germany is expected to issue a request for proposals for the replacement of its fleet of 81 CH-53GA/GS helicopters, originally delivered in the 1970s, in mid-2018, with deliveries to commence in 2023. Boeing is also likely to pitch its CH-47 Chinook as the “proven” helicopter.

May 24/17: Sikorsky has been awarded a $55 million contract modification to a previously awarded contract for the long-lead support of low-rate production of four Lot II CH-53K King Stallion helicopters. An upgrade of the Sea Stallion heavy-lift helicopter, work on the King Stallion contract will be conducted at the Sikorsky plant in Stratford, Conn and is expected to be completed by March 2022. The helicopter is capable carrying up of 27,000 pounds of external sling load. It can carry artillery pieces and Humvee utility vehicles and it’s cabin is capable of carrying 463 pallets for cargo transportation.

April 6/17: Lockheed Martin subsidiary Sikorsky will proceed with low-rate production of the CH-53K King Stallion since the helicopter has received a Milestone C status by a US Defense Acquisition Board review. A total of 200 CH-53Ks are to be acquired by the US Marine Corps. The first six aircraft are under contract and are expected to be delivered starting next year. Long-lead procurement of parts and materials for the first two low-rate initial production helicopters is underway. The King Stallion is capable of lifting three times as much as its predecessor, the CH-53E, and can carry as many as three external loads at the same time.

March 29/17: The US Department of Defense is expected to award Lockheed Martin a multi-billion contract to start production of 200 new heavy cargo helicopters for the US Marines Corp by the end of the week. Colonel Hank Vanderborght, head of the Pentagon’s CH-53K King Stallion program, stated that each unit will cost $87 million on average and $105 million including spare parts and certain service contracts. The total value of the program is $27 billion. Developed by Lockheed’s helicopter subsidy Sikorsky, the CH-53K can lift 36,000 pounds and would replace the CH-53E Super Stallion, which has operated as the backbone of field logistics for the USMC since the mid-1980s.

October 24/16: The CH-53K King Stallion helicopter has completed its initial operational testing. A two-week trial period, known as the OT-B1, took place at Sikorsky’s Development Flight Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. Requirements asked of the helicopter included multiple external lift scenarios of 27,000 lb. (12,200 kg), in-hover, and 12,000 lb. (5,422 kg) 110 nautical mile radius missions.

June 29/16: Sikorsky has achieved a key USMC requirement with the CH-53K King Stallion by successfully flying 100ft above the ground with a 12,250kg (27,000lb) payload. Due to replace the CH-53E Super Stallion, the new helicopter promises better range and triple the E model’s payload in hot weather conditions, as well as flight-by-wire flight controls designed to reduce pilot workload in degraded visual environments. While successful testing has the CH-53K currently on track, it hasn’t always been plain sailing with gearbox trouble delaying its first flight for a year.

May 18/16: Pricing and availability for the Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion helicopters is being sought by Germany to meet its heavy vertical lift requirement. Other options include Boeing’s CH-47 Chinook, however the US Marine Corps is keen to take advantage of the better pricing that could be achieved by adding a sizable King Stallion order at the front-end of the production ramp. The latest K-model has twice the max gross take-off weight of the legacy CH-53G operated by the Luftwaffe at 40t (88,000lb) with external loads compared to 19t (42,000lb).

April 22/16: A USMC test has seen a Sikorsky CH-53K complete its first external load flight test, lifting a 12,000 pound external load in a hover. The April 12 test will see further loads tried with external payloads of 12,000 pounds flown first in hover, then incrementally increasing speeds up to 120 knots, followed by 20,000 and 27,000 pound external payloads. The system features an electrical load release capability from the cockpit and cabin, and a mechanical load release capability at each of the pendant locations. An auto-jettison system is incorporated to protect the aircraft in the event of a load attachment point failure.

March 17/16: The second prototype of the CH-53K helicopter made its maiden flight in January according to Lockheed company Sikorsky. In addition, the first aircraft into the test program has achieved flight envelope expansion to 120 knots for the USMC’s CH-53K King Stallion heavy lift helicopter program. The two are the most heavily instrumented of the Engineering Development Models (EDM) and will focus on structural flight loads and envelope expansion. Two more will join the flight line later this year and will focus on performance, propulsion, and avionics flight qualification.

January 5/16: The USMC seems to have given the seal of approval to the latest CH-53 after the first marine pilot to test the helicopter commended its abilities. Lt. Col. Jonathan Morel tested the CH-53K King Stallion which is set to become the largest and heaviest helicopter in the US military. Two hundred of the rotorcraft will be procured by the USMC in a deal worth $25.5 billion.

October 29/15: The Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion helicopter has flown for the first time, eleven months behind schedule. The new helicopter is intended to replace the Marine Corps’ fleet of CH-53E Super Stallion heavy lift helicopters, with the new design boasting three times the lift capability of the older model. The first CH-53K, known as Engineering Development Model-1 (EMD-1) will be joined by an additional three aircraft to undergo 2,000 flight hours of testing.

July 31/14: Engines. General Electric in Lynn, A receives a $68.6 million firm-fixed-price contract modification for 16 GE38-1B engines, closure kits, tooling, and associated systems engineering and program management in support of the CH-53K helicopter program’s Operational Evaluation phase. This is on top of the July 17/13 contract for “time critical parts”, and the $84.3 million total represents the first engine buy beyond the 20 covered by the System Development & Demonstration contract. $22.5 million in FY 2013 – 2014 US Navy RDT&E budgets are committed immediately.

Note that each CH-53K is equipped with 3 engines. Work will be performed in Lynn, MA, and is expected to be complete in January 2017 (N00019-13-C-0132). See also GE, “U.S. Navy Awards GE38 Engine Production Contract”.

June 9/14: Leadership. PMA-261 Program Manager U.S. Marine Corps Col. Robert Pridgen turns over command to Col. Henry Vanderborght, a long-time CH-53E pilot, former John Glenn Test Pilot of the Year, and former Light/Attack Helicopters (PMA-276) platform team lead for UH-1Y production and the UH-1N’s sundown. Vanderbought wasn’t actually a full Colonel until he was promoted on the morning of the change-of-command ceremony.

Pridgen will become the program manager for the Presidential Helicopters Program (PMA-274) in July 2014. Sources: US NAVAIR, “Heavy-lift helicopters program welcomes new program manager”.

May 5/14: Naming. Sikorsky officially unveils their CH-53K flight test helicopter EDM-2, and the USMC officially names the type “King Stallion”.

One can see the natural extension from the CH53A/D Sea Stallion and CH-53E Super Stallion, but there comes a point where one can push the boundaries in unintended directions. Maybe they were thinking of the 1942 movie with Chief Thundercloud. In the modern era, people are more likely to think that somewhere, an adult entertainer wants his name back. Sources, Sikorsky, “Sikorsky Unveils CH-53K Helicopter; U.S. Marine Corps Reveals Aircraft Name” | South Florida Sun-Sentinel, “Sikorsky introduces new ‘King Stallion’ helicopter” | Stamford Advocate, “Sikorsky unveils its new King Stallion heavy lift helicopter”.

“King Stallion”

May 1/14: Testing. Sikorsky announces that full testing is finally moving ahead with the non-flying GTV, including powered “light-off” with all 7 main rotor blades and 4 tail rotor blades spinning, and powered by its three 7,500 horsepower class GE engines. This begins a rigorous 2-year test program of the rotor blades, transmission, engines, and all subsystems using the GTV. Sources: Sikorsky, “Sikorsky Begins Powered Ground Tests of CH-53K Helicopter with Rotor Blades”.

March 31/14: GAO Report. The US GAO tables its “Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs“. Which is actually a review for 2013, plus time to compile and publish. With respect to the CH-53K, their top concern is that the USMC is scheduled to begin ordering helicopters before testing is done. Beyond that concurrency worry:

Nearly 9 years later the program’s two critical technologies – the main rotor blade and main gearbox – are approaching maturity. The program expects these technologies to be demonstrated in a realistic environment by its planned February 2016 production decision, a delay in 6 months over last year’s schedule. Program officials reported that they conducted a three-blade whirl test that produced results that exceeded required outcomes. Flight testing is expected to begin in late 2014.

March 4-11/14: FY15 Budget. The US military slowly files its budget documents, detailing planned spending from FY 2014 – 2019. The current Navy plan will begin buying production CH-53Ks with an order for 2 in FY 2017, followed by 4 in FY 2018 and 7 in FY 2019. That means production has been pushed back by about a year, because:

“Late delivery of components into qualification, and subsequent qualification challenges, have delayed Ground Test Vehicle (GTV) delivery, Flight Readiness Reviews (FRR – GTV & 1st Flight), Engineering Development Models (EDM) delivery and CH-53K 1st Flight, and have moved Milestone C (MSC) and other associated events to 3Q 2016. Budgetary constraints delayed start of the Aircraft Procurement (APN) program by one year. As such, Advanced Acquisition Contracts (AAC) and LRIP awards have been adjusted accordingly. In order to procure aircraft that effectively demonstrate manufacturing processes are both mature and under control, two (2) additional RDT&E,N-funded System Demonstration Test Articles (SDTAs) in FY15 with delivery in 4Q 2018 and 1Q 2019 were added to the program.”

Sources: USN, PB15 Press Briefing [PDF] and detailed budget documents.

Oct 31/13: Rotors. Sikorsky has completed initial tests of the CH-53Ks new rotor blades, including fatigue tests and whirl-tower balance tests. Additional blade qualification testing will continue for several years, in order to validate aspects like aerodynamic stability, tip deflection, and rotational twist. The next steps involve installation and testing on the stationary CH-53K GTV.

There’s a lot to test, because the rotors are new technology. The 35 foot span, 7-bladed main rotor has blade of almost 3 foot chord width, with new airfoil designs, twist, and taper to handle the engines’ 71% power increase. The new blade tips are designed to improve hover performance, and a composite cuff attachment allows attachment of each blade to the elastomerically-articulated titanium rotor head, without tools or redundant fasteners. The rotor hub itself is almost 9 feet in diameter, and the blade radius will be 39.5 feet when assembled, with 12% more total surface area than the CH-35E.

The 4-blade tail rotors are also new, with 10 foot blades and 15% more surface area compared to the CH-53E. Sikorsky says that the CH-53K tail rotor produce as much thrust as the main rotor blades on Sikorsky’s 5.5 ton S-76 medium helicopter, which is used in the offshore oil industry. Source: Sikorsky via PR Newswire, “Sikorsky Completes Initial Tests of First Rotor Blades for CH-53K Helicopter”.

Oct 11/13: EVM penalty. Bloomberg News:

“Sikorsky was notified Sept. 6 of three deficiencies on a contract for the Navy’s CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter related to guidelines for the recording of direct costs and material accounting, Navy Commander William Urban, a Pentagon spokesman, said in an e-mailed statement. A corrective action plan is expected from the company by Oct. 21, he said.”

While Bloomberg doesn’t say so, the issue in question relates to a quantitative approach to project tracking called Earned Value Management. Until they’re satisfied, the Pentagon is withholding the maximum 5% on payments. Sikorsky responds that 2 of the 3 issues are already resolved, and they don’t expect this to affect the program. Sources: For Dummies.com, “Earned Value Management Terms and Formulas for Project Managers” | Bloomberg, “Pentagon Withholds Sikorsky Payments for Business System Flaws”.

Oct 1/13: Sub-contractors. Kratos Defense & Security announces that an $8.5 million contract from Sikorsky to design and develop CH-53K maintenance trainers. The full-fidelity Maintenance Training Device Suite (MTDS) is meant to provide a true-to-life environment for maintenance training; as well as remove-and-replace training for avionics systems, electrical systems, hydraulic systems and many other mechanical subsystems.

The Helicopter Emulation Maintenance Trainer (HEMT) uses a 3D virtual environment to support maintenance training scenarios: functional tests, fault isolation, troubleshooting, and remove and installation for 27 subsystems. Sources: Kratos Oct 1/13 release.

FY 2013

SAR shows program cost increases; Ground Test Vehicle delivered; Flight test helicopters ordered.

CH-53K GTV
(click to view full)

Sept 27/13: Sensors etc. Raytheon in El Segundo, CA receives a $20 million firm-fixed-price delivery order for:

CH-53K, using FY 2013 USN RDT&E budget…

• 5 AAQ-29 day/night surveillance turrets
  
• 2 Memory Loader Verifier System cables
  
• Software update, system integration, and test support

USAF HH-60 search & rescue helicopters, using FY 2011 procurement budget…

• 25 AAQ-29 day/night surveillance turrets
  
• 25 L2G multifunction control units and 35 L2G system control units
  
• 1 technical data package
  
• 1 repair of repairables analysis

All funds are committed immediately, and $16.2 million expires on Sept 30/13. Work will be performed in McKinney, TX (92%) and El Segundo, CA, (8%), and is expected to be complete in September 2015. US Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD manages the contract (N00019-10-G-0018).

Sept 23/13: IG OK. The Pentagon’s Inspector General submits a non-public report concerning the CH-53K program. Their public statement: the program has been managed appropriately, but it may not meet its February 2016 Milestone C decision date, or its revised costs.

The Acquisition Program Baseline was updated on April 24/13, to address cost growth and schedule delays. Contractor manufacturing delays and component testing failures, hence the risk of not being ready in time for the low-rate production decision, and not meeting even its revised costs. The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics is aware of these issues. Sources: OIG, “CH-53K Program Management Is Satisfactory, but Risks Remain (Project No. D2013-D000CD-0095.000)”.

July 17/13: Engines. General Electric Co. in Lynn, MA receives a $15.7 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to buy “time critical parts” for incorporation into the CH-53K’s T408-GE-400 gas turbine engine. All funds are committed immediately by the US Navy.

Work will be performed in Lynn, MA, and is expected to be complete in December 2016. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302-2-1(a)(1) by US Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD (N00019-13-C-0132).

June 27/13: Sub-contractors. Boeing spinoff Spirit Aerosystems announces a $60 million sub-contract, as a result of the #435 million order for 4 System Demonstration Test Article helicopters (q.v. May 30/13). Spirit makes the base cockpit and cabin, essentially the body of the helicopter.

Spirit will begin work during 2013 at its Wichita, KS facility, with deliveries to Sikorsky’s CH-53K prototype assembly line in West Palm Beach, FL to begin in 2014. When the helicopters are finished, they’ll enter Operational Evaluation in 2017, to verify that their performance meets projections. The contract follows over $150 million in work on 7 structures, for the first 5 prototype test helicopters and the 2 ground test frames.

Spirit recently announced work with Spintech Ventures, of Xenia, OH on a set of trademarked products called Inflexion/ Smart Tooling. The technology uses re-formable, reusable mandrels that can change states through the layup and cure phases. That helps form complex, highly integrated composite structures into large and/or unusual shapes and configurations – like full integration of skins, stringers, and frames or ribs in one step. Spirit | Wichita Eagle | Spirit re: Inflexion.

May 31/13: Hostile IG Report. The Pentagon’s Inspector General issues a report under Audit Project No. D2012-D000CD-0037.000, telling the USMC that the CH-53K’s program increase to 200 helicopters isn’t justified. The Marines politely tell the IG to stick it where Chesty can’t find it.

The Inspector General’s statement that “the Marine Corps risks spending $22.2 billion in procurement and operating and support funding for 44 additional aircraft” is a blatant error – that’s the entire 2011 program cost for 200, plus R&D. Beyond that, they complain that the USMC:

• did not follow the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System Instruction and obtain Joint Requirements Oversight Council [DID: JROC] approval for the increase;
  
• did not have requirement studies prepared to determine a procurement quantity in consideration of program affordability;
  
• incorrectly relied on a 2008 memorandum from the Deputy Commandant for Aviation directing the increase of the procurement quantity to 200 aircraft, without support;
  
• incorrectly used the 2010-2011 Force Structure Review’s war-gaming scenarios as justification for the quantity increase; and
  
• did not justify or appropriately consider the impact of the Marine Corps personnel reductions effect on Heavy Lift quantity requirements.

In response, the USMC Deputy Commandant says the existing analyses do justify it, and JROC approved the 200. Then the Milestone Decision Authority approves the Marine Corps’ request to rebaseline the program with a 54% procurement cost increase over the 2005 baseline (a jump from Dec 2011 figures, if true) and formally push the Milestone C decision from December 2012 to February 2016 (later than the current August 2015). The IG wants additional comments re: the re-baselining. Which is fine, as far as it goes, but the whole process seems like an ad for the Lexington Institute’s Daniel Goure, who argues that the Pentagon’s procurement processes are an out of control overhead burden. It’s all about paper, rather than the soundness of the conclusion. And you can’t use what you learn in war games to change procurement decisions? What idiot thinks that’s a good idea? Pentagon IG Report.

May 30/13: Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT receives a $435.3 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract modification, to buy 4 CH-53K System Demonstration Test Article helicopters. The April 5/06 System Development & Demonstration contract already included 4 test helicopters, and US NAVAIR and Sikorsky subsequently confirm that these 4 SDTA helicopters are a different set that the Marines will test during operational evaluation. The buy is structured as an additional line item under the 2006 contract, and initial funding will use $48.1 million in FY 2013 RDT&E budgets.

Sikorsky CH-53K Program VP Dr. Michael Torok says the SDTA helos will be based on the configuration of the 4th and final flight test aircraft from the 2006 contract, which is currently being assembled on the prototype production line. To date, Sikorsky has delivered 2 non-flying SDD CH-53Ks: the Ground Test Vehicle and the Static Test Article. That leaves the 4 flight test prototypes, 1 stationary Fatigue Test CH-53K, and now the 4 SDTA helicopters. First flight of a CH-53K prototype is now expected in “late 2014” instead of Spring 2014, and this contract requires 1st SDTA delivery by September 2016. Final delivery is scheduled by the time OpEval begins in March 2017, with incentives for early delivery.

Work will be performed in Stratford, CT (17%); West Palm Beach, FL (17%); Wichita, KS (15%); Salt Lake City, UT (10%); St. Louis, MO (4%); Bridgeport, WVA (3%); Windsor Locks, CT (3%); Ft. Walton Beach, FL (2%); Redmond, WA (2%); Forest, OH (2%); Jackson, MS (2%); Cudahy, WI (2%); Irvine, CA (2%); Kent, WA (1.2%); Bristol, United Kingdom (1%); Phoenix, AZ (1%); Chesterfield, MO (1%); Los Angeles, CA (1%); Rochester, United Kingdom (1%); Buckinhamshire, United Kingdom (1%); Longueil, Quebec, Canada (1%); Cedar Rapids, IA (0.8%); Twinsburg, OH (0.8%); St. Clair, PA (0.5%), and various other locations (8.7%) (N00019-06-C-0081). See also US NAVAIR | Sikorsky

4 flight test helos

May 24/12: SAR. The Pentagon finally releases its Dec 31/12 Selected Acquisitions Report [PDF].

“CH-53K Heavy Lift Replacement Helicopter – Program costs increased $1,897.6 million (+7.1%) from $26,626.8 million to $28,524.4 million, due primarily to changing the cost estimating methodology from analogy-based to supplier bottom-up (+$1,796.6 million), use of commercial indices for materiel escalation costs (+$948.9 million), revised escalation indices (+$539.4 million), an increase in the production line shutdown estimate (+$120.7 million), and an increase in support equipment, repair of repairables, and spares costs (+$64.9 million). These increases were partially offset by decreases in other support costs (-$664.0 million), initial spares requirements (-$589.0 million), and the application of new inflation indices (-$385.3 million).”

To put the estimating into English, the program had estimated costs based on similar programs, but now they’ve gone through the chosen suppliers and built an estimate using actual costs for components and materials, plus commercial figures for raw materials etc. The result adds almost $2.85 billion to the program, and other cost jumps bring the total increase to $3.47 billion. The downward revisions to spares and support, and to inflation, prevent costs from rising over 13%.

Are the changes reasonable? We won’t know until flight testing is well underway and time has revealed real inflation costs, but there’s reason to be skeptical. It could be a case of “paper cuts now, then cost increases once production is underway and jobs in Congressional districts are committed.” We’ll have to talk to the program to even begin to judge.

SAR: program cost increases – questionable cuts?

May 17/13: General Electric in Lynn, MA receives a $7.6 million firm-fixed-price delivery order to buy critical hard tooling required to support the manufacture of the CH-53K’s GE38-1B engines. The current order involves GE38s for the CH-53K System Demonstration Test Article (SDTA) helicopters, and they’re the engine’s inaugural platform.

Work will be performed in Lynn, MA (20%); Morristown, TN (20%); Groton, CT (20%); Hooksett, NH (10%); Fort Wayne, IN (10%); North Clarendon, VT (10%); and Albany, OR (10%); and is expected to be complete in November 2014. All funds are committed immediately, using FY 2013 RDT&E budgets (N00019-10-G-0007).

March 28/13: GAO Report. The US GAO tables its “Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs“. Which is actually a review for 2012, plus time to compile and publish. Overall, expected costs have risen (q.v. March 30/12 entry), though the added cost per helicopter is only 5.6% above the baseline. The “ground test vehicle” non-flying model has been delivered, but issues with a test stand are delaying progress.

GAO points out that the design is released, but not necessarily finished. The big break in the program remains the April 2011 shift from a cost-plus award fee to cost-plus incentive fee contract, tied to specific cost and schedule goals, and associated with a much-delayed schedule. The next big event will be the beginning of system-level prototype testing in 2013.

Dec 4/12: Testing. Sikorsky delivers the 1st CH-53K Ground Test Vehicle (GTV) prototype. It won’t fly, just help test the performance of the rotor blades, transmission, and engines. The 4 follow-on flight test helicopters aren’t expected to fly until 2014-2015. Sikorsky.

GTV delivered

FY 2012

GAO report says development will need more $; Last CH-53D retired.

CH-53E lifts M113 APC

May 6/12: Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT receives a $7.8 million cost-plus-award-fee contract modification to incorporate CH-53K live fire test and evaluation. This is exactly what it sounds like – the Navy will shoot lots of holes in test platforms, and assess damage resistance.

Work will be performed at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, China Lake, CA (80%), and Stratford, CT (20%). Work is expected to be complete in December 2018 (N00019-06-C-0081).

April 12/12: Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT receives a $25.7 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract modification, to provide detailed maintenance plans in support of the CH-53K helicopter program. Work will be performed in Stratford, CT, and is expected to be complete in December 2015 (N00019-06-C-0081).

March 30/12: GAO report. The US GAO tables its “Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs” for 2012. With respect to the CH-53K:

“Program officials reported that in July 2011, the contract’s estimated cost was increased by $724 million to $3.4 billion. According to Defense Contract Management Agency officials, the estimated contract costs increased because of several factors including the need for additional flight test hours and spare parts, increased material costs, and design complexity. The contract was also changed from cost-plus award fee to cost-plus incentive fee for the remaining period of performance. The incentive fees are tied to specific cost and schedule goals… According to Marine Corps officials, a force structure review has been conducted to assess the required quantity of aircraft and that review determined that the requirement for 200 aircraft is still valid despite the proposed manpower reduction.”

Feb 28/12: Avionics. Northrop Grumman announces a $5.6 million Phase II contract from US NAVAIR to modify existing software for the CH-53K’s LN-251 embedded GPS/fiber-optic inertial navigation system (INS). Northrop Grumman’s Navigation Systems Division will provide updated software and engineering support for platform integration and flight tests, to both NAVAIR and Sikorsky Aircraft.

Feb 24/12: Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT receives a $15.5 million cost-plus-incentive-fee CH-53K contract modification. The program needs a condition-based maintenance plus software toolset (almost certainly ISS – vid. Oct 26/11), to integrate the helicopter’s onboard prognostics and the Navy’s fleet common operating environment maintenance computers. The contract includes installation, operation, and recurring data analysis.

Funds and work will be assigned if and as needed, and work will be performed in Lexington Park, MD (90%), and Stratford, CT (10%). The contract is expected to run until February 2018. US Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD manages the contract (N00019-06-C-0081).

Feb 10/12: USMC retires CH-53D. The USMC holds a “sundown ceremony” to retire its CH-53D Sea Stallion fleet, leaving only CH-53E Super Stallions. See also Aug 16/10 entry. US NAVAIR explains that the retirement isn’t immediate, but it is imminent:

“The Sea Stallion’s last mission is currently underway with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 363 supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. The helicopter will be flown from Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay to its final destination at the Pacific Aviation Museum, where it will be displayed.”

CH-53D retired

Dec 19/11: Sub-contractors. Northrop Grumman announces a follow-on contract from US NAVAIR in Patuxent River, MD to define system requirements for the integration of its LN-251 embedded global positioning system (GPS)/fiber-optic inertial navigation system (INS) on the new CH-53K.

The firm touts the LN-251 system as “the world’s smallest, lightest navigation-grade embedded GPS/INS unit in its class… [whose] modular, open architecture supports additional applications and evolving requirements.”

Oct 26/11: Recognition. The CH-53K Helicopter Systems Engineering Team wins a Department of Defense Systems Engineering Top 5 Programs Award, at the annual NDIA Systems Engineering Conference Award Luncheon in San Diego, CA. US NAVAIR.

Oct 26/11: ISS Patent. Sikorsky Aerospace Services’ Integrated Support System (ISS) aftermarket software suite has received a patent. ISS integrates onboard diagnostics (vid. Sept 26/08 HUMS entry) and usage data with ground-based troubleshooting and service information. This technology is part of Sikorsky’s efforts to move toward proactive diagnostics, and ISS platforms for the Sikorsky CH-53K and S70i are under development. Future plans include expansion to other aircraft types. Sikorsky.

Oct 11/11: Sub-contractors. Thermoplastic composites firm Fiberforge announces the addition of Njord A. Rota as its CH-53K Program Manager. They explain that the Lockheed Martin veteran will lead all management aspects of Fiberforge’s work for DRS Technologies Inc. Their work includes the design, development and production of the carbon fiber composite components within the CH-53K’s Internal Cargo Handling System. Helihub.

FY 2011

GE delivers 1st engine, sees GE38 civil and military market potential as $4+ billion; Sikorsky unveils virtual reality center, FAFO experimental assembly line.

August 2011: Re-baselined. The CH-53K program undergoes a major time shift. Delivery dates for engineering development models are moved, 1st flight is pushed back to 2014, and Initial Operational Capability is moved from 2015 to 2018 (later 2019). Source: GAO.

Contract rebaselined

GE38 engine
(click to view full)

Aug 4/11: Engine. GE has delivered the 1st GE38 engine, for use on the Sikorsky CH-53K Ground Test Vehicle. After 2 years of testing, GE touts 57% more power and 18% lower specific fuel consumption than the CH-53E’s similarly-sized GE T64, while using 63% fewer parts.

In addition to the CH-53K SDD program’s 20 flight engines, the GE38 testing program includes 5 factory-test engines that will accumulate more than 5,000 engine test hours by 2013. GE is pushing ahead on its engine despite CH-53K delays, and expects it to have applications in the fixed wing and naval markets, alongside its helicopter potential. They see a total civil and military market potential of $4+ billion. GE.

June 21/11: Industrial. Sikorsky announces that they’ve begun assembly of the CH-53K Ground Test Vehicle (GTV), which is currently in position 4 on the line. It’s the 1st of 5 prototype CH-53Ks to be assembled at the Sikorsky Florida Assembly and Flight Operations (FAFO) facility in West Palm Beach, FL, which opened in March 2011.

Another 2 GTVs will be assembled at Sikorsky’s main manufacturing plant in Stratford, CT, making 3 ground test and 4 flight test helicopters. CH-53K ground testing is scheduled to begin in early 2012, and flight testing during FY 2014. To give one a sense of the CH-53K, its rotor hub and transmission alone weigh 15,000 pounds – about the empty weight of a UH-60 Black Hawk.

April 2011: Restructuring. The CH-53K program undergoes a major shift. The SDD contract is changed from a cost-plus award fee structure to cost-plus incentive fee contract, which is tied to specific cost and schedule goals. Source: GAO.

Contract restructured

March 22/11: Industrial. Sikorsky officially opens its new 60,000 square foot Florida Assembly and Flight Operations (FAFO) campus, establishing experimental assembly line operations for the new CH-53K heavy lift helicopter. The FAFO line introduces a set of new manufacturing technologies. It’s equipped with wireless data connections to all operator plasma data screens, uses digital operation sheets, and is outfitted with overhead power and air dropdowns, new aircraft work stands, and overhead cranes. Sikorsky, incl. video.

Feb 16/11: Sub-contractors. Donaldson provides an update regarding its Engine Air Particle Protection System, which is a critical piece of equipment in desert or dusty environments. They received the contract in September 2007:

“We built the first full-scale EAPPS in just three months following the CDR, [DID: which was August 2010]” said Sheila Peyraud, General Manager, Aerospace and Defense at Donaldson. “Developmental testing began in November 2010 to support testing of the helicopter’s GE38-1B engine in 2011. We are pleased that initial results in this phase of the program are exceeding expectations originally set during the conceptual design phase. Qualification testing will begin in May 2011.”

Jan 14/11: Industrial. Sikorsky unveils a state-of-the-art virtual reality center for the CH-53K heavy lift helicopter program, attempting to help identify production and maintenance issues before the initial build takes place by using a 3-dimensional digital environment.

Located within the engineering labs at Sikorsky’s main manufacturing facility in Stratford, CT, the virtual reality center uses sophisticated software, along with 12 cameras, a head-mounted display headset, gloves, and a gripping tool. All devices are linked to 3 computers, which comprise the “command center” for operating the system.

Nov 19/10: Sub-contractors. ITT Corporation (formerly EDO) announces that after nearly 3 years of advanced design, development, testing and manufacturing, they’ve delivered the first pair of CH-53K sponsons to Sikorsky. Each sponson is 25 feet long by 4 feet wide and 5 feet high, and fits on the helicopter’s side to house landing gear, fuel, and other mechanical and electrical assemblies.

ITT used composite materials instead of traditional sheet metal for the sponsons, and hopes they’ll provide benefits in weight, corrosion resistance, and in-flight stress tolerance. To make that work, ITT has to use advanced manufacturing technologies like electronic model control, laser-ply projection, 5-axis computer numerically controlled machining, automated trimming and drilling, and laser and ultrasonic inspection of all subassemblies. The CH-53K parts will be built at ITT’s Electronic Systems facility in Salt Lake City, UT.

FY 2010

Why was the CH-53K program pushed back 2 years?; SAR raises plans to 200; Critical Design Review passed; AAQ-29 surveillance turrets for CH-53K; No more “boneyard” CH-53D/Es left.

CH-53Ds in Hawaii
(click for video)

Sept 6/10: Sub-contractors. GKN Aerospace delivers the first major CH-53K structural assembly to Sikorsky – an aft transition fuselage section that measures approximately 20′ x 9′ x 9′, built of an advanced hybrid composite, aluminum and titanium structure covered with external composite skins.

GKN Aerospace was accorded full design authority and manufacturing responsibility for the CH-53K helicopter aft transition fuselage section, cargo ramp, and overhead door structural assemblies in 2007. Structural design is carried out by the GKN Aerospace Engineering Development Center in Nashville, TN, and manufacturing of over 1,000 separate components takes place at the Company’s plant in St. Louis, MO. GKN Aerospace is employing manufacturing technologies including automated fibre placement (AFP), automated trim and drill, and digital inspection. GKN Aerospace.

Aug 16/10: CH-35D plans. DoD Buzz looks at the shifting plans to replace the USMC’s 30 CH-53D Sea Stallions. The original plan was to replace them with MV-22s. At some point in 2007/08, the Marine Corps formally decided replace their aging CH-53Ds with CH-53Ks. But now USMC Lt. General Trautman is saying that he wants an east coast and a west coast MV-22 squadron to replace the CH-53Ds in Afghanistan, and “When I can do that, that’ll be the start of getting CH-53 Delta out of the way.”

Exactly what “out of the way” means is ambiguous. If it means out of service, DoD Buzz correctly notes that this raises questions about the USMC’s support for the CH-53K, and would seem to be better news for the MV-22. If it means “shifted back to Hawaii while MV-22s serve in Afghanistan,” that would be something else. The exact meaning isn’t 100% clear in the article.

Aug 3/10: CDR. Sikorsky announces a successful Critical Design Review for its CH-53K, following a week-long meeting in late July that included representatives from the military, Sikorsky, and 21 industrial partners. At the review, the CH-53K team had to demonstrate that their design meets NAVAIR’s system requirements. System-level performance projections indicate that all 7 Key Performance Parameters (KPPs) will be achieved with adequate risk mitigation margin built-in. Over 93% of the design has been released for manufacturing, and the final design definition concludes, the next step involves initial prototypes and testing.

The overall program CDR follows previous efforts including a System Requirements Review (SRR), System Functional Review (SFR), System Preliminary Design Review (PDR), 77 supplier-level CDRs, 64 supplier and internal software reviews, and 16 sub-system CDRs. Sikorsky VP and CH-53K Chief Engineer Mike Torok offers an update of other preparations:

“Parts are being made throughout the supply base and at our new Precision Component Technology Center; test facilities are being fabricated and prepped for installation in our recently opened ground test facility; the integrated simulation facility is marching toward a late 2010 opening, already having received the first increment of software for the aircraft; and the final assembly facility in West Palm Beach is being prepared to start building the ground and flight vehicles early next year. It’s time now to prove out our design and show that this helicopter system will indeed meet the war fighting requirements of the USMC…”

CDR

June 28/10: Sub-contractors. Raytheon Co. in El Segundo, CA received a $26.5 million firm-fixed-price delivery order for 50 forward looking infrared devices that will be fitted to CH-53E (42) and CH-53K (8) helicopters. Discussions with corporate representatives confirm that these will be AN/AAQ-29 turrets, using a 480 x 640 element, 3-5 micron wavelength indium antimonite infrared detector, and a 2 field of view telescope on a 12-inch diameter turret.

This is a follow-on to a previous order. Work under this basic ordering agreement will be performed in El Segundo, CA, and is expected to be complete in June 2012. $530,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/10 (N00019-10-G-0018).

June 4/10: No more CH-53D/Es. US NAVAIR announces that it has delivered the last available CH-53s from storage at AMARG in Tucson, AZ. The last H-53E to come out of desert retirement was delivered to Marine Helicopter Training Squadron 302 on May 7/10, while the last CH-53D was delivered April 16/10.

Since the start of the program in August 2005, FRC East H-53 artisans have inducted and completed 10 of the heavy-lift helicopters. The team delivered 8 CH-53Es and 2 CH-53Ds, some of which had been idle for as many as 11 years, ahead of schedule and under budget. Each helicopter still took about 25,000 total work hours for all testing, modifications, and maintenance. Sikorsky ended CH-53 production in 1999, so AMARG was the last remaining source of airframes.

Boneyard out of CH-53s

May 10/10: Engine. Flight International reports that even though the CH-53E is delayed, GE remains committed to delivering the 7,500 shp class GE38-1 engine on schedule. The firm sees re-engining opportunities and related sales beyond the CH-53K, so they’ve begun delivering GE38s for ground tests years before airframes become available for flight test.

As of Feb 15/10, GE had recorded 176 engine starts and 177 operating hours, with sustained power of 7,760 shp and peak power of 8,300 shp. April 2010 saw delivery of a 2nd engine for ground tests.

The article is less positive about the CH-53K’s odds of winning the German/French heavy-lift helicopter program. Apparently, Germany wants a helicopter that will fit key vehicles internally, not underslung. Ultimately, the question will be whether Germany can afford to develop what it wants, can find it elsewhere, or is forced to remove some requirements.

April 29/10: Why the delay? DefenseTech reports that the USMC has pushed back the initial flight date of the CH-53K by 2 years to FY 2013, and Initial Operational Capability by 3 years to FY 2018, “with little concrete justification beyond an ‘overly aggressive initial program schedule’ “, and while stressing that the program has not run into technical problems. Craig Hooper writes:

“The CH-53K was an unsung showpiece for those preaching the virtues of incremental development, and, as a result, appetite for the platform has grown by about 30 percent, with the program of record expected to increase from 156 aircraft to 200. But, in the process, the CH-53K has become something of a MV-22-killer. Is this the problem?… In late 2009, the Marine Corps decided to go with the CH-53Ks to replace their 40-year old CH-53D fleet (MV-22 Ospreys were originally slated to replace the CH-53D). At about the same time, Israel decided to forego the Osprey for the CH-53K, killing the Osprey’s best hope of snaring an international buyer. And with the Osprey 65% availability and the MV-22s high operating costs of about $11,000 dollars an hour… worse, studies from the Pentagon demonstrated that a CH-53K-equipped big-deck amphib provided a lot more logistical support for embarked Marines than the MV-22… Slowing CH-53K development will… prevent real-data comparisons between platforms… [until] a second multi-year MV-22 contract gets signed in FY 2013. Even worse, slowing the CH-53K schedule raised the program price by at least $1.1 billion dollars, raising the per-unit price… Why slow a program that stands to be a high-demand showpiece with potential markets in Israel, Germany, France, Turkey, Singapore and Taiwan?”

Asked for a response, US MARCORSYSCOM said that US NAVAIR was the only agency that could respond; NAVAIR did not respond to DID’s simultaneous inquiry.

April 1/10: SAR – Program grows. The Pentagon releases its April 2010 Selected Acquisitions Report, covering major program changes up to December 2009. The CH-53K is included, because the Marines want more of them – but there’s a self-imposed catch:

“CH-53K – Program costs increased $6,817.8 million (+36.4%) from $18,708.3 million to $25,526.1 million, due primarily to a quantity increase of 44 aircraft from 156 to 200 aircraft (+$3,108.9 million), and increases in other support costs (+$749.7 million) and initial spares (+$456.2 million) associated with the quantity increase. Costs also increased due to a three-year delay in the procurement profile shifting initial purchases from fiscal 2013 to fiscal 2016 (+$1,148.4 million), schedule growth attributable to funding constraints (+$669.6 million), and an increase in the cost estimate for the development contract (+$611.2 million).”

Feb 22/10: Sub-contractors. Cobham announces [PDF] a sub-contract from Sikorsky to manufacture all leading and trailing edge details and precisely locate and bond the details onto the CH-53K’s main rotor blade spar.

The work will be done by its Antenna Systems unit, which has consolidated all composites-related operations within the company. Depending on how many CH-53K helicopters are eventually built by Sikorsky for the US Marine Corps, the contract could be worth up to $25 million.

Jan 22/10: Industrial. Sikorsky formally opens its new $20 million Precision Components Technology Center, as part of United Technologies Corp.’s $130 million investment the CH-53K program.

The center currently employs 8 people, and was designed to allow the development of new product lines with “zero setup time” and quick changeover from one component to another. The center will produce major dynamic components of the CH-53K helicopter such as rotating and stationary swashplates, main and tail rotor hubs, and main rotor sleeves. The equipment in the center has the capability to produce any precision rotor and drive system dynamic component, including earlier-model configurations, and forgings machined there can be up to double the size of previous on-site limits. Sikorsky release.

Jan 7/10: IDR. Sikorsky announces the wrap-up of its Integration Design Review for the CH-53K, in preparation for the Critical Design Review coming in 2010. The event included industrial team members , and personnel from US NAVAIR and the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Risk reduction initiatives on the critical split torque main gear box and the advanced main rotor blade are done, and 2010 will also hold a Technology Readiness Assessment. Initial Operational Capability is currently slated for early 2016.

Established features of the CH-53K helicopter currently include a joint-interoperable glass (digital screens) cockpit; fly-by-wire flight controls; 4th generation rotor blades with anhedral tips; a low-maintenance elastomeric rotor head; upgraded engines; a locking cargo rail system; external cargo handling improvements; survivability enhancements; and design for reduced operation and support costs. Sikorsky release.

FY 2009

CH-53s flying at 3x planned usage; 1st GE38 engine test; VELD removed from the design; Sub-contractors picked.

CH-53E, Cobra Gold 2002
(click to view full)

July 28/09: Engine. The GE38 team holds a ceremony at General Electric in Lynn, MA, celebrating the completion of the first full GE38 engine test. This first engine test, which began June 24/09, focused on basic engine checkout and risk reduction. All engine test parameters were within predicted values.

SDD phase testing will include 5 ground-test engines that will accumulate more than 5,000 engine test hours, plus production of 20 flight-test engines for the CH-53K development helicopters (each helicopter carries 3 engines). NAVAIR release.

May 7/09: Sub-contractors. Curtiss-Wright Corporation announces a contract from Sikorsky to develop and supply data concentrator units for the CH-53K. Curtiss-Wright’s system consists of 2 data concentrator units (DCUs) that will receive and provide various avionic and air vehicle discrete, digital and analog inputs for monitoring, processing data and controlling various CH-53K subsystem components.

Curtiss-Wright’s Motion Control segment will develop and manufacture the DCU systems at its newly-opened City of Industry, CA, facility. The initial contract runs through 2011 with the production phase starting in 2013. The contract has a total potential value of $22 million when development and all aircraft production options and phases are completed.

April 21/09: Sub-contractors. Curtiss-Wright Controls Inc., announces a contract from United Technologies subsidiary Claverham Ltd. (a Hamilton Sundstrand Flight Systems business unit) to provide multi-channel linear variable displacement transducers (LVDTs) for the fly-by-wire (FBW) systems controlling the main rotor and tail rotor on the Sikorsky UH-60M Upgrade and CH-53K helicopters.

The LVDTs are special pressure sealed linear displacement transducers that are embedded in Claverham’s Primary Flight Control Actuators. The transducers provide electrical signals that are proportional to the position of the hydraulic actuator rod, and the actuators change pitch angles on the main and tail rotors in response to the pilot’s commands.

These two programs have a potential contract value in excess of $20 million over a 15-year period, with shipments expected to begin in 2009. The company will supply these products from its Christchurch, UK operation.

March 30/09: GAO. The US GAO audit office delivers its 7th annual “Defense Acquisitions: Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs report, which looks at 47 programs including the CH-53K HLR. The CH-53K stands out, as one of the few programs to show lower R&D projections (from $4.23 billion to $4.17 billion) and estimated delivery time (2 months early) since its 2005 baseline. The truth is, the Marines have little choice. The time crunch has already begun:

“According to program officials, all available decommissioned CH-53E helicopters have been reclaimed… Currently deployed CH-53E aircraft are flying at three times the planned utilization rate… The program intends to manufacture up to 29 of the 156 total [CH-53K] helicopters (19 percent) during low-rate initial production at the same time that it is conducting initial operational testing. While concurrent testing and production may help to field the systems sooner, it could also result in greater retrofit cost…”

That’s likely, since a number of requirements and systems have been shelved, in order to deliver the helicopter on time:

“Both of the CH-53K’s current critical technologies, the main rotor blade and the main gearbox, are immature and are expected to be fully mature following the low-rate initial production decision in 2013. The program replaced a third technology, the viscoelastic lag damper, with a modified version of an existing [linear hydraulic damper] technology. During preparations for the preliminary design review, it was discovered that maturing system engineering tasks would potentially require additional cost and time. As a result, the program eliminated noncritical requirements to contain costs and delayed the preliminary and critical design reviews and low-rate initial production decision.”

Feb 8/09: Sub-contractors. BAE Systems announces contracts from Sikorsky Aircraft for development and initial deliveries of CH-53K Cockpit Seats and Cabin Armor Systems, and for integration of the CH-53K’s fly-by-wire flight controls. BAE Systems efforts will include design, development, testing, qualification, and delivery of initial systems to support the flight test and ground test aircraft. Follow-on contracts would be placed for production orders and spares.

The seats will be based on BAE Security & Survivability Systems S7000 armored, crashworthy seats, and first deliveries of both seats and cabin armor are scheduled for 2010. The total value of the programs is estimated at approximately $90 million through 2022, if 156 CH-53K aircraft are built.

FY 2008

PDR successful; Sub-contractors picked.

Iraq: CH-53E lifts UH-60
(click to view full)

September 2008: PDR. The CH-53K program conducts a successful Preliminary Design Review. Source.

PDR

Sept 26/08: Sub-contractors – HUMS. Goodrich announces that it has been picked to supply its IVHMS Health Usage and Monitoring Systems (HUMS) for the CH-53K. HUMS are embedded sensors within the aircraft’s key components, like engines. They monitor these systems, and can often tell if things are beginning to wrong inside before something actually breaks.

Avoiding breakdowns, and helping to pinpoint problems faster if something does break, saves money. Further savings can be had by using HUMS in conjunction with advanced maintenance and fleet management software. Once a baseline of good data is available, it becomes possible to switch from “do it just in case” maintenance and overhaul checklists, to “condition-based maintenance” that’s performed only when necessary, based on a combination of HUMS readings and predictive software.

Goodrich has carved out a strong market position in this area, supplying HUMS systems of varying complexity for a number of US military helicopters. IVHMS will supposedly build on earlier IMDS systems implanted in the CH-53E, but will be broader in nature, monitoring “the CH-53K helicopter’s entire mechanical drive train from the engines to the rotor system, and hundreds of aircraft systems.”

Sept 2/08: Sub-contractors. Breeze-Eastern Corporation announces that Sikorsky has picked them to provide the CH-53K’s Internal Cargo Winch System. The initial contract requires the delivery of 5 units for the System Design and Development phase.

Breeze-Eastern has worked with Sikorsky in this area to supply the S-92, and to retrofit USMC CH-53Ds. Bloomberg.

May 30/08: Camber Corp. in Huntsville, AL received an $8.6 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for program management, acquisition management, and engineering and technical services in support of the CH-53D, CH-53E, MH-53E, and CH-53K.

Work will be performed in Patuxent River, MD and is expected to be complete in November 2008. This contract was not competitively procured by the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, MD (N000421-08-C-0044).

Feb 18/08: Sub-contractors. Northrop Grumman Corporation announces that U.S. Naval Aviation Systems Command has picked their APR-39BvX radar warning receiver (RWR) integration program for the Navy’s CH-53K helicopter fleet. The APR-39 BvX upgrade, scheduled for completion and flight testing in late 2009 or early 2010, builds on the recently completed AvX program and includes new, faster processors and “massive” memory expansion.

Under the terms of the $17 million phase Phase 2 contract, Northrop Grumman will incorporate all electronic warfare (EW) integration capabilities of the APR-39Av2 and APR-39Bv2 versions, which are variants of the same system tailored to the kind of aircraft computer and cockpit interfaces in Navy/USMC aircraft. The APR-39BvX program will create one interoperable version for the forthcoming CH-53K fleet. This phase 2 program will include electronic warfare controller and integration interfaces to multiple missile and laser warning sensors, and also tie the APR-39 into Northrop Grumman’s Directional Infrared Countermeasures (DIRCM) systems onboard each of the helicopters. The intended result is a system providing warning and protection against electro-optical, infrared, and radar guided missiles, and electronic warfare threats. NGC release.

Nov 6/07: Sub-contractors. Sikorsky has selected fellow United Technologies Corporation subsidiary Eaton Corporation to design, develop and supply the CH-53K’s integrated fuel system. This is in addition to the contract for the helicopter’s hydraulic power generation system and fluid conveyance package awarded to Eaton in July 2007.

During the development phase of the program, which runs through 2014, Eaton will provide the integrated fuel system support hardware for 5 helicopter shipsets in addition to a number of system development test sets. “Based on expected production of more than 156 helicopters for the U.S. Marine Corps, the contract value is approximately $96 million and, when combined with anticipated foreign military sales, is expected to exceed $160 million over the approximate 12-year life of the program.” Eaton release.

FY 2007

Sub-contractors picked; Sikorsky opens CH-53K development center.

CH-53E Super Stallions:
2 HMMWVs, to shore
(click to view full)

Sept 25/07: Sub-contractors. Donaldson Company announces that Sikorsky has picked them to provide the CH-53K’s engine air particle protection system (EAPPS), which helps keep blown sand and other contaminants from gumming up the helicopter’s engines.

Sept 17/07: Sub-contractors. Fellow United Technologies’ subsidiary Hamilton Sundstrand announces that they’ve been selected to supply integrated secondary power systems for the CH-53K, consisting of the environmental control system, auxiliary power unit and main engine start system. The environmental control system (flight deck and avionics air conditioning, cabin ventilation and heating, engine bleed system, and supply air for the onboard inert gas generation system) and main engine start system will be built at Hamilton Sundstrand’s Windsor Locks, CT facility. The Auxiliary Power Unit will be built at the company’s San Diego, CA facility.

The contract includes design, development and production work; design and development will begin immediately with first hardware deliveries scheduled for 2009. Hamilton Sundstrand says that this agreement has a potential value of more than $400 million. The firm already holds contracts to supply the CH-53K’s fly-by-wire flight control computers, and primary main and tail rotor actuators. Hamilton Sundstrand release.

Sept 4/07: Sub-contractors. Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation has selected Goodrich Corporation to act as integrator for the CH-53K’s input and tail drive shaft system, as well as supplying the electrical power generation and distribution system (q.v. June 17/07).

July 12/07: Sub-contractors. Sikorsky Selects fellow UTC subsidiary Eaton to supply the CH-53K’s Hydraulic Power Generation System and Fluid Conveyance Package. During the development phase of the program, which runs through 2014, Eaton will provide support hardware for 10 aircraft shipsets. Based on expected production of more than 156 aircraft for the U.S. Marine Corps, as well as anticipated foreign military sales, the potential value of the contract over the life of the program is expected to exceed $200 million. Eaton release.

June 20/07: European HTL. France & Germany confirm their heavy-lift helicopter program, known as HTL in France and FHT in Germany. A full set of specifications have not been created yet, and the countries involved are still trying to decide whether to pay the price of a full R&D program to get exactly what they want, or base their helicopter on an existing design. Possible contenders include the CH-53K, Boeing’s CH-47F, and Rosvertol’s super-giant Mi-26T helicopter.

June 18/07: Sub-contractors. Canadian aerospace manufacturer Heroux-Devtek Inc.’s Landing Gear Division received a contract from Sikorsky to design, develop, fabricate, assemble, test and deliver the CH-53K’s landing gears and tail bumper during the SDD phase, which includes the production of landing gears and tail bumper assemblies for 8 systems. Total revenue for the SDD and the Production Phase, which will be awarded in a separate contract, is expected to exceed C$ 95 million (about $89 million). Rotor News.

June 17/07: Sub-contractors. Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation has selected Fortune 500 firm Goodrich Corporation to supply the electrical power generation and distribution system for the CH-53K program. Goodrich’s Pitstone Green, UK and Twinsburg, OH facilities will be involved in the development and delivery of a complete electrical power system for the aircraft, consisting of generators and controls; primary power distribution; AC/DC converters; battery; and external power controls.

Goodrich currently supplies power generation for the Sikorsky S-92/H-92 Superhawk, and has recently been selected to supply the DC power generation for the Sikorsky’s upgraded S-76D civil helicopter. Rotor News | Goodrich press kit release incl. pictures

May 9/07: Sub-contractors. Sikorsky Aircraft announces its selection of 4 subcontractors to design and fabricate the CH-53K’s major fuselage sections, “following an extensive solicitation and evaluation of multiple bids over a 12-month competition”: They include Aurora Flight Sciences in Manassas, VA; Bridgeport, WVA; and Columbus, MS; R&D in Cambridge, MA (main rotor pylon). EDO Corp. composites in Salt Lake City, UT; select resin transfer molding parts from Walpole, MA; and final assembly in North Amityville, NY (tail rotor pylon & side sponsons). GKN Aerospace in Nashville, TN & St. Louis, MO (aft transition). Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, KS (cockpit and cabin).

Design will be conducted in a collaborative environment between supplier sites and Sikorsky’s Heavy Lift Development Center using model management systems linked to Sikorsky IT and data systems. Composite and titanium materials are being employed extensively to provide superior fatigue and corrosion durability at minimum weight, and state-of-the-art manufacturing processes such as co-curing, automated part fabrication, super high speed machining, and determinant assembly are being pressed into service to keep costs down. Sikorsky release.

Assemblies will initially be built for 7 test and certification aircraft (4 Engineering Development Models, 1 Ground Test Vehicle, 1 Static Test Article and 1 Fatigue Test Article.) The CH-53K SDD program schedule runs through the end of September 2015.

ADDENDA: GKN Aerospace’s release says that they’re contracted to deliver their 7 development ship sets to Sikorsky between 2009 – 2012, and estimates that this deal could be worth up to $70 million to them. Aurora Flight Sciences’ release clarifies that the Main Rotor Pylon (MRP) is one of 6 major fuselage sections; it is mostly made of composite materials, and houses the CH-53K’s Main Rotor Head, the No. 2 engine and other aircraft subsystems. EDO Release [PDF]

Feb 12/07: Manufacturing. Sikorsky Opens the CH-53K Development Center. The CH-53K program’s new Heavy Lift Development Center is a 106,000-square-foot office building in Stratford, CT, about 5 miles from Sikorsky’s main facility. It houses the CH-53K Program and Engineering staff, co-locating 500 team members consisting of Sikorsky, Naval Air Systems Command, Defense Contracting Management Agency personnel and subcontractors. These members work in Integrated Product Teams to design, develop, test and manufacture major systems and subsystems within the CH-53K.

Dec 22/06: Engine picked. Sikorsky Aircraft has selected General Electric Aviation to provide the new CH-53K heavy lift helicopter’s main engines. The GE38-1B engine planned for the CH-53K is a derivative of the CFE738 commercial turbofan engine used in the Falcon 200 business jet; the CFE738 was in turn derived from the T407 turboprop intended to power the US Navy’s updated P-7 Orion (that program was canceled and a competition restarted that left the 737-derived P-8A MMA as the winner). See also GE’s Feb 7/07 release.

According to this Flight International article, GE’s engine beat out Pratt & Whitney’s PW150 and a derivative of Rolls Royce’s AE1107 that powers the V-22 Osprey.

Oct 30/06: Rotor. Sikorsky Aircraft has submitted test results for its 4th Generation(TM) rotor blade, which builds on the work done for the Growth Rotor Blade(TM) (GRB) currently used on their new UH-60M and S/H-92 helicopters, using anhedral tips. The CH-53K model wind tunnel testing performed late in the summer of 2006 has reportedly shown a significant improvement in forward flight efficiency over the GRB. Earlier in the year, similar model rotor hover testing indicated large gains in hover efficiency. Read Sikorsky’s release.

FY 2004 – 2006

Program OK and $3 billion development contract; European HTL opportunity?

CH-53D at work
(click to view full)

July 19/06: European HTL. Jane’s reports that EADS Eurocopter is seeking partners for a “super lift” helicopter to be fielded around 2020 with the French & German militaries, and confirms that talks have been held with Sikorsky regarding a modified CH-53K with European avionics and a larger cabin.

The Germans apparently want to replace their CH-53Gs (actually modified CH-53Ds) around 2020, and will look for upgrade programs to bridge the gap. The French currently lack heavy-lift helicopters in the CH-53 or CH-47 class, though the supergiant Russian Mi-26 was evaluated recently. Eurocopter and Sikorsky recently partnered on the successful $3 billion LUH program, but the firm has said it is keeping all its options open and is making no commitments.

UPDATE: Germany is updating their CH-53Gs, and the 2 countries are also going ahead with the heavy lift helicopter program. The CH-53K is still a competitor. Where does it stand? Read “The European Heavy Lift Helicopter Program?”

April 5/06: SDD contract. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT receives a $3.04 billion modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-award-fee contract (N00019-06-C-0081) for the System Development and Demonstration (SDD) of the CH-53K aircraft, to include 4 SDD aircraft, 1 ground test vehicle, and associated program management and test support.

Work will be performed in Stratford, CT and is expected to be complete in December 2015. See also NAVAIR release.

SDD contract

Dec 22/05: Green light. A formal decision by the Honorable Kenneth R. Krieg, US Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, gives the estimated $4.4 billion HLR program the green light to proceed to the System Definition and Development (SDD) phase.

CH-53E Super Stallion
(click to view full)

August 25/05: Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT received a $43.3 million cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order against a previous basic ordering agreement to perform requirements definition and engineering studies in support of the Marine Corps’ Heavy Lift Replacement (HLR) Program. Work on the requirements definition and engineering studies will be performed in Stratford, CT and is expected to be complete in April 2006.

Jan 6/05: Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT received an $8.4 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for preliminary design work in support of HLR, as part of the initial system development and demonstration of the Marine Corps’ CH-53X Heavy Lift Replacement (HLR) program. Work on the preliminary design contract (N00019-06-C-0081) will be performed in Stratford, CT and is expected to be complete in January 2008 (N00019-03-G-0003).

Dec 23/04: A $34 million time and materials delivery order, issued against basic ordering agreement N00019-03-G-0003, to perform requirements definition and engineering studies in support of the Marine Corps’ Heavy Lift Replacement Program. Work was performed in Stratford, CT, and was expected to be complete in May 2005.

This contract number is not exclusive to the CH-53K. Other awards under this particular contract covered the Presidential Helicopter program (Sikorsky lost) and other helicopter engineering.

Appendix A: Flying Between Scylla and Charbydis: Navigating the Political Shoals

JHL: QTR Concept
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DID’s coverage of the HLR program has also included a report about HLR’s potential merger with the US Army’s futuristic JHL program. The Joint Heavy Lifter (JHL) is imagined as an aircraft with cargo capacity that approaches a C-130 Hercules transport (about 20 tons), but with the ability to take off and land like a helicopter. No current US military helicopter platform even comes close. JHL’s competitors are deploying some radical and different technologies in their attempt to achieve these goals – from quad tilt-rotors to coaxial skycranes and even compound helicopters.

Marine Corps acquisition officials also weighed the option of participating in JHL. While Congress could always step in to force the issue – and may still do so – the Marine Corps note that this would be deeply unwise for a number of reasons:

“The Army’s proposed heavy lift requirement to transport the Future Combat System greatly exceeds our requirement,” said program manager, Col. Paul Croisetiere. “The actual aircraft hasn’t been designed yet, but initial analysis suggests the joint heavy lifter will be too large to operate from current and programmed amphibious shipping. We may have a use for it, but in more of a logistical role as a possible KC-130J [air tanker] replacement – we still need the CH-53K for tactical heavy lift.”

Joint Heavy Lifters may not be available any sooner than 2025, according to Croisetiere, which is more than 10 years after the Marine Corps will be forced to start retiring its current CH-53E fleet. Even if the Marines could use it, Croisetiere pointed out that as currently envisioned, JHL will be too big to operate from the Marines’ amphibious ships.

V-22 Osprey

This is a logical argument. However this rationale might sell better if the USMC hadn’t spent the last decade describing tilt-rotor technology as the necessary wave of the future that would make helicopters obsolete, in its quest to sell the $100 million per plane V-22 Osprey.

When budgets are also being squeezed hard by multiple cost overruns on a wide swath of programs, programs that appear to be similar to each other will become big targets for Congressional cuts and pressure to merge. The US Marines have been the leading service advocates of tilt-rotor technology as a transformational necessity. Having invested so much of their prestige and credibility in the V-22, some people on Capitol Hill seem inclined to view the Marines’ rejection of a program that includes similar Quad Tilt Rotor and OSTR (Optimum Speed Tilt-Rotor) options as inconsistent, and hence mere territoriality. If this view spreads, it will not bode well for the HLR Program’s political survival.

It certainly wouldn’t be the first time in US military procurement history that the promise of the shiny new thing has found itself in the way of fulfilling military necessities with cheaper, proven options.

MH-53J Pave Low IV
(click to view alt.)

The natural response to such pressures would be twofold. One track would emphasize the comparatively speculative nature of the JHL Program’s technologies and their uncertain development timelines. The other track would tout the value of cheaper builds of proven helicopters, in order to meet immediate needs and an uncompromising timeline for fleet airframe life. This is exactly what Col. Paul Croisetiere has done.

Making that argument, however, flies in the face of almost everything the USMC said when some in Congress pushed for immediately available conventional helicopter options to replace the Marines’ extremely aged Vietnam-era CH-46 Sea Knights. Options that would also have cost about half the price per aircraft. If the CH-46s could be patched together via life extension programs and extensive maintenance while the V-22s sorted out their difficulties and eventually reached production many years late, why not the CH-53Es? Especially if pursuing a similar tilt-rotor technology like the JHL’s QTR would reduce the V-22’s per-aircraft costs while increasing overall interoperability, and therefore easing long-term maintenance and logistics costs as well?

These arguments may or may not be considered valid. Nevertheless, they should absolutely be expected as the Global War on Terror, unexpected future contingencies, and a looming demographic shift put increasing pressure on US defense budgets. The US Marine Corps has certainly prepared the ground well.

The HLR program may have an eventful political journey ahead of it.

Appendix B: Interesting Ideas: The CH-53X Skycrane Concept

CH-53X Skycrane Concept
(click for details)

As a point of interest, this is one of the more innovative suggestions we’ve seen re: the next-generation CH-53X. It proposes turning the CH-53 into a “Skycrane” variant, and using it in conjunction with the trend toward “battle box” containerized forces, plus underslung light armor & vehicles.

The idea is that this would improve both the CH-53E’s capabilities (via reducing aircraft weight but not power) and the USA’s transformational deployability (via faster and more versatile load and ship that would also improve tactical surprise).

Additional Readings & Sources

• Sikorsky – CH-53K.

• GlobalSecurity.org – Heavy Lift Replacement [CH-53X].

• SLD (Oct 16/10) – Adding a Core USMC Capability: The CH-53K As A Logistical Force Multiplier. An Interview with Major Jeff “Kingpin” Davis.

• Sikorsky Frontlines, via WayBack (Q3 2009) – CH-53K Update [PDF].

• American Helicopter Society’s Vertifile Magazine, via WayBack (Spring 2002) – An Affordable Solution To Heavy Lift [PDF] by Lt. Col. James C. Garman, MH-53E pilot in HMH-772 and a Senior Preliminary Design Engineer in the New Product Definition Group, Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation. It describes the basic outlines of many low-risk CH-53X improvements.

• Naval Technology – CH-53E Super Stallion – Heavy-Lift Helicopter, USA.

• GE Aviation – GE38. CH-53K’s Engine, designated T408-GE-400 by the US Navy.

• MTU – GE38. The firms are partnering to develop it, with the German firm having an 18% stake; MTU will be licensed to offer it for any European FTH helicopter program.

• DID – Incoming & Hostile: The USN’s JATAS Aircraft Warning System. ATK picked, will be used on the CH-53K.

News & Views

• Flight International, via WayBack (May 10/10) – CH-53K delay will not hold up GE38 engine programme. Its potential uses go beyond helicopters, to include things like hovercraft, and GE sees its market potential as $4+ billion.

• Flight International, via WayBack (June 25/08) – GE plots GE38 engine’s future in emerging heavylift market. Offers further details re: the CH-53K’s planned engine.

• US DoD DefenseLINK: Transformation, via WayBack (Jan 9/06) – New Heavy Lift Helicopter Starts Development.

• US Navy NAVAIR, via WayBack (April 5/06) – $3B CH-53K contract awarded to Sikorsky.

• Jane’s Defense Weekly, via WayBack (Feb 24/06) – US heavy-lift aircraft will stretch state of the art. Full subscriber’s article includes JHL Program coverage as well.

• DID (Jan 9/06) – CH-53X (HLR) Program Moves Into SDD, Preliminary Design. An $8.6 million preliminary design contract is issued to Sikorsky, beginning the SDD phase. The CH-53X program is also redesignated CH-53K. Has the HLR program dodged the bullet?

• DID (Sept 27/05) – CH-53X HLR & JHL: Future Heli Programs on Collision Course? The shiny new (expensive, uncertain) thing may become the enemy of the necessary, proven thing in the US military’s procurement culture. Again.

• DID (Sept 21/05) – CSAR-X: And Boeing Makes 3…. The HLR program may be affected by the choices Sikorsky makes in the CSAR-X competition.

• DID (Aug 29/05) – HLR (CH-53X) Helicopter Program Moves Toward Milestone B Approval.

• Aviation Today, via WayBack (July 1/05) – Future Heavy Lift for the Marine Corps. An interview with Col. Paul Croisetiere, program manager for the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command H-53 Heavy Lift Helicopters Program PMA 261.

• Hill News, via WayBack (June 1/05) – House language could create friction over chopper programs.

• USMC, Leatherneck Magazine, via WayBack (May/05) – Heavy Lift Replacement: A Vital Marine Corps Program.

• American Helicopter Society’s Vertifile Magazine, via WayBack (Spring 2002) – From The Past To The Future Of Heavy Lift Part Three: Heavy Lift Helicopters [PDF].

Americas

The US Navy needs more support services to keep the fleet’s single combat system running. Lockheed Martin will provide additional engineering and technical services for the Submarine Warfare Federated Tactical Systems (SWFTS) program. This cost-plus-incentive-fee modification has a value of $13.5 million. SWFTS is an engineering and management program that consists of all submarine combat system subsystems, consultation, command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence to aid in integrating all systems into a single combat system for naval battle group interconnectivity. SWFTS essentially is a common architecture for the Navy’s five different classes of submarines, transforming the submarines from stand-alone vessels to nodes in combat networks. Work will be performed at Lockheed’s facility in Manasses, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by December, 2018.

The US Army is contracting General Atomics for further engineering services in support of its Gray Eagle UAS. The modification to previously awarded contract has a value of $11 million. The MQ-1C Gray Eagle is based on the MQ-1 Predator, but it is bigger, can carry more payload and has an engine that runs on the same kind of fuel that is used to power US Army vehicles. Its expansive mission set includes, but is not limited, to wide-area Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), convoy protection, Improvised Explosive Device (IED) detection and defeat, close air support, communications relay, and weapons delivery missions. The Gray Eagle, equipped with signal jammers, will likely be one of the Army’s primary electronic warfare platform. Work will be performed at the company’s location in Poway, California and is scheduled for completion by end of September, 2019.

Progeny Systems is set to supply the Navy and a number of US foreign military sales customers with a number of Mk-54 Mod 1 lightweight torpedo kits. The contract has a value of $40.6 million, but includes options which, if exercised, would increase the total face value of the contract to $303.2 million. FMS customers include Canada, Australia, the UK and Taiwan. The Mod 1 kit is an upgrade that adds a new sonar array assembly, and improved processing capability. The torpedo has a price-tag of $1 million per piece and is designed to work in both deep water and near-shore or shallow environments. Work will bet performed at multiple locations, including Charleroi, Pennsylvania; Salt Lake City, Utah and Manassas, Virginia.

Middle East & Africa

Jane’s reports, that Saudi Arabia is deploying one of its Patriot batteries to protect pilgrims in Mecca. Satellite imagery collected by DigitalGlobe shows that the missile launchers were aimed towards the Yemeni border, some 354 miles away. Houthi rebels have regularly launched ballistic missiles towards the kingdom, and targeted Mecca directly on October 9th, 2016. PAC-3 is the current standard, its enhanced capabilities allow it to be used for point defense against ballistic missiles. Saudia Arabia is believed to have ordered a total of 802 PAC-3 missiles at a cost of $7.15 billion since 2014.

Europe

The government of Bulgaria is inviting Russian and Belorussian companies to submit offers for a multi-million deal. The country urgently needs to overhaul its fleet of Russian-made Su-25s, a process that already is 10-years overdue. The Su-25 is a single-seat, close-support aircraft, known by the Nato reporting name Frogfoot. The plane is equipped with a 30mm twin-barrel gun, its wings have ten pylons for carrying a range of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapon systems selected for the mission. Bulgaria currently operates a total of 35 Su-25s, which entered service 1988. The planes were grounded in December 2017 because the Ministry of Defense did not have the resources to conduct necessary maintenance work. The modernization efforts will likely cost $24.2 million.

The Ukrainian military is currently testing a new domestically developed 80mm unguided missile. Tests are held at Chernihiv firing-range, to date a total of 300 RS-80 Oskol missiles were fired from a Mi-8 helicopter. The country is in the midst of a low-intensity conflict with pro-Russian separatists in its eastern Donbass region.

The Austrian Ministry of Defense plans to procure a number of new helicopters for the Air Force. The new aircraft are needed to replace Austria’s fleet of Alouette-IIIs, which are already over 50-years old. The Ministry is looking into a variety of platforms suitable to fill the role of the Alouette. Possible successors could be Leonardo’s AW-109, Bell’s 429 or Airbus’ H-145M. In addition, the Army plans to buy three overhauled Blackhawks. To guarantee the necessary funding, Austria’s quite limited military budget of $2,6 billion will be boosted with a $463 million special investment program.

Asia-Pacific

The Russian military will soon receive an upgraded variant of of the Mi-28NE Night Hunter combat helicopter. The Mi-28NE is designed to carry out search and destroy operations against tanks, armored and un-armored vehicles, and enemy personnel in combat, as well as low-speed airborne targets. Upgrades include an new external radar and the capability to fire new anti-tank guided missiles. The new ATGM is the latest variant of the 9M123M Khrisantema-VM, known by Nato as AT-15 Springer.

Today’s Video

Watch: Close up of an A-10 Warthog

ER/MP, armed
(click to view full)

Its initial battles were fought within the Pentagon, but the US Army’s high-end UAV has made its transition to the battlefield.

The ER/MP program was part of the US Army’s reinvestment of dollars from the canceled RAH-66 Comanche helicopter program, and directly supports the Army’s Aviation Modernization Plan. The US Air Force saw this Predator derivative as a threat and tried to destroy it, but the program survived the first big “Key West” battle of the 21st century. Now, the MQ-1C “Gray Eagle” is in production as the US Army’s high-end UAV. As CENTCOM’s wars end, however, the Gray Eagle may find that staying in the fleet is as hard as getting there.

This FOCUS article offers a program history, key statistics and budget figures, and ongoing coverage of the program’s contracts and milestones.

The MQ-1C Gray Eagle, and its Band of Brothers

Predator landing
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With General Atomics MQ-1A/B Predators, MQ-1C Gray Eagles, and MQ-9 Reaper UAVs all headed for the skies above the conflict zone, our readers have asked us to help them tell the difference. It’s clear that all 3 share a design philosophy, but their capabilities diverge in important ways.

View from the Air

The MQ-1 Predator is 27 feet long, with a 55 foot wingspan. Its maximum gross takeoff weight is 2,300 pounds, and it can carry 625 pounds of fuel, 450 pounds of internal payload (sensors), and another 300 pounds on its wings for up to 2 AGM-114 Hellfire anti-armor missiles or equivalent loads. Its service ceiling is 25,000 feet, which can keep it well above the 10,000-15,000 ft ceiling above which most guns are ineffective. The piston engine is a Rotax 914 turbo that runs on aviation fuel, and pushes the Predator at a slow speed of 120 KTAS. It’s controlled by UHF/VHF radio signals, and is designed to be flown by a pilot – without automated takeoff and landing.

The USAF also had an MQ-1B Block X/ YMQ-1C project underway, to develop a Predator system that would run on heavy fuel and carry up to 4 Hellfires. That project, and questions of cross-service compatibility, died when the USAF stopped buying MQ-1 Predators, and shifted its focus to the larger MQ-9 Reaper instead.

MQ-9 w. Paveways
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The MQ-9 Reaper, once called “Predator B,” is somewhat similar to the Predator. Until you look at the tail. Or its size. Or its weapons. It’s called “Reaper” for a reason – while it packs the same surveillance gear, it is much more of a hunter-killer design than its counterparts. The Reaper is 36 feet long, with a 66 foot wingspan. Its maximum gross takeoff weight is a whopping 10,500 pounds, carrying up to 4,000 pounds of fuel, 850 pounds of internal/ sensor payload, and another 3,000 pounds on its wings. The MQ-9 has 6 pylons, which can carry GPS-guided JDAM family bombs and other MIL STD 1760 compatible weapons, Paveway laser-guided bombs, Sidewinder missiles for air-air self defense, and AIM-114P Hellfire missiles or laser-guided Hydra rockets. With that arsenal the Reaper becomes the equivalent of a close air support fighter with less situational awareness, less speed and less survivability if seen – but much, much longer on-station time than its manned counterparts.

MQ-1 vs. MQ-9
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The Reaper’s service ceiling is 50,000 feet unless it’s fully loaded, but even the lower altitudes it usually flies at make a lurking MQ-9 very difficult to find from the ground, and the ability to drop GPS and laser-guided bombs makes high-altitude precision strikes fperfectly plausible. The engine is a Honeywell TPE 331-10T, which pushes it along at a rather speedier clip of 240 KTAS. Not exactly an F-16, or even an A-10, but the extra speed does get it to the problem area more quickly when a call comes in from the troops.

Several MQ-9 variants exist. An extended range variant adds fuel tanks, and lengthens the wingspan to 88 feet. US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) also flies the MQ-9 Reaper, and has its own MQ-1 Predator program, too. Both UAVs are referred to as Medium Altitude Long Endurance Tactical (MALET) platforms. If SOCOM has to bring the MALET to hammer a target down, or soften it up, they fly in enhanced variants with improved video transmission, infrared modifications, signals intelligence payloads, and “delivery of low collateral damage weapons.” The latter presumably includes precision mini-missile options like Raytheon’s Griffin, and precision glide bombs like Northrop Grumman’s GBU-44 Viper Strike and Lockheed Martin’s Scorpion, all of which allow a single Hellfire rail or weapon station to carry multiple weapons.

General Atomics’ Mariner maritime surveillance UAV and FAA-certified high-altitude Altair research UAV are both derived from the MQ-9 Reaper. So, too, is NASA’s Ikhana.

The Army’s MQ-1C Gray Eagle

The MQ-1C Sky Warrior/ Gray Eagle looks a lot like the Predator, but it’s a little bit bigger, can carry more weapons, and has an engine that can run on the same “heavy fuel” that fills up the Army’s land vehicles. The initial engine was Thielert’s 160hp Centurion, but the firm filed for insolvency after substantive revelations of accounting fraud (q.v. May 17/08), and in July 2013, its commercial assets were bought by China’s AVIC. Gray Eagles will continue to fly with existing stocks of the Thielert engine, but new UAVs will fly with Lycoming’s 250hp DEL-120.

Maximum operating altitude is 29,000 feet, at a speed of up to 135 knots. The sensor turret payload was initially Raytheon’s AN/DAS-2, but has shifted to the final “Army Common Sensor Payload” AN/AAS-53 variant. The Army also added a communications relay, and has been working to give the UAV “sense and avoid” capabilities for safety in crowded airspace.

An Improved Gray Eagle variant was introduced in July 2013, and this type has flown a 45 hour mission in unarmed configuration. It includes the new Lycoming DEL-120 engine, and a heavier airframe thanks to a deep belly design that raises internal fuel load from 575 pounds to 850 pounds. A 500-pound wet centerline hard point can be used to push the UAV’s fuel total to 1,350 pounds. The new MQ-1C IGE also has a maximum 540-pound internal payload capacity, compared to the MQ-1 Block 1’s 400 pounds. The end result is a maximum takeoff weight that rises from 3,600 pounds to 4,200 pounds.

Sensors and Add-Ons

ZPY-1 STARLite
click for video

Beyond its standard equipment, the US Army is also developing and qualifying new payloads for the MQ-1C fleet, thanks to efforts by Product Manager RUS (Robotic and Unmanned Sensors) and PM-ARES (Airborne Reconnaissance and Exploitation Systems).

AN/AAS-53 CSP+. Raytheon’s base Common Sensor Payload (CSP) is being upgraded, and CSP High Definition (HD) is planned for production cut-in in FY 2013. It adds high-definition Full Motion Video (FMV) in both the Electro-optical and Mid-wave IR spectrums. A retrofit plan will begin in FY 2014 to convert all MQ-1Cs to CSP HD. The Army sees CSP Target Location Accuracy (TLA) as the final upgrade, upgrading targeting accuracy to allow timely use of GPs-guided bombs and missiles. All Gray Eagles will eventually be equipped with CSP TLA.

AN/ZPY-1 STARLite-ER. Northrop Grumman’s Small Tactical Radar – Lightweight (STARLite) Synthetic Aperture Radar/ Ground Moving Target Indicator (SAR/GMTI) is a lightweight, high performance, all weather radar that can track small moving ground targets, down to small car size, even in bad weather. It cross-cues with the UAV’s cameras, and enhancements have been approved to extend its range, and detect man-sized targets. STARLite ER (Extended Range) has been cut into production since FY 2011, and began fielding and retrofitting in FY 2012. The Army plans to buy 1 STARLite ER system per UAV.

Sense and Avoid. Ground Based Sense and Avoid (GBSAA) is a system designed to be aware of other aircraft, especially in civil airspace, and help avoid collisions with the MQ-1C. The Phase 2, Block 0 system will provide the operator with an air traffic display, color-coded to reflect the highest-priority potential conflicts. The Block 1 system will add recommended maneuvers to avoid crashing into others. That isn’t the full sense-and-avoid you’d see on a commercial jet, but by 2015 it will let the Army fly the UAVs from Fort Hood, TX; Fort Riley, KS; Fort Stewart, GA; Fort Campbell, KY; and Fort Bragg, NC, through Class D military airspace, to nearby test ranges without a manned chase plane. As the acronym suggests, making this work requires certain equipment in place on the ground at those locations.

Traveler Pod. BAE’s pods are designed to find and eavesdrop on electronic emitters, identify them (enemy radio communications? radar? etc.), then offer aerial precision geolocation (APG) and copying. SIGINT/ELINT pods and equipment can already be installed in larger UAVs like the USAF’s RQ-4 Global Hawks, and aboard light surveillance planes like the Beechcraft King Air MC-12Ws. The challenge is to shrink them and their supporting systems within the MQ-1C’s weight and size limits.

NERO pod. Provides electronic jamming that can prevent remote detonation of land mines, giving the UAV a very useful convoy overwatch role. It can also disrupt enemy communications. Raytheon’s NERO is adapted from the CAESAR pod that equips manned C-12 (Beechcraft King Air) turboprops. Initial deliveries took place in 2013.

The Army’s ER/MP Program

Prep for flight
(click to view full)

The Gray Eagle began in August 2005, as “Team Warrior” won a $214.4 million contract to develop the Extended Range/ Multi Purpose Unmanned Aerial Vehicle System (ER/MP UAS). The Army wanted its ER/MP UAV to fill both surveillance and attack roles. General Atomics’ Sky Warrior, derived from their famous MQ-1 Predator, beat the Hunter II system offered by Northrop Grumman, Aurora Flight Systems, and IAI.

That was just the first step along the US Army’s $5 billion road to fielding a true Medium Altitude, Long Endurance, armed UAV, modified from the USAF’s famous MQ-1 Predator. Its position got a boost when a 2007 program restructuring short-circuited the Future Combat Systems Class III UAV competition, in favor of ER/MP. That decision has held, and the UAVs are now operated by the US Army and by SOCOM’s “Night Stalkers” regiment.

The Systems Development and Demonstration (SDD) phase of GA-ASI’s multi-year ER/MP contract began with 17 MQ-1C UAVs, and 7 One System Ground Control Stations (OSGCS). Those pre-production Block 0 Gray Eagles began flying on the front lines, in Quick Reaction Component (QRC-1, 1R, and 2) deployments which began in December 2009. QRC drones are unarmed, and lack other key capabilities. Even so, the Army has been very enthusiastic about their performance.

As of 2013, the current plan reorganized its 152 planned buys to equip 10 active duty divisions, 2 special operation units, 2 aerial exploitation units, and the National Training Center. Gray Eagle companies are equipped with 9 UAVs and 5 Ground Control Stations each. Only deployed units get the extra 3 aircraft, drawn from stateside units, to bring their division up to 12 MQ-1Cs. Gray Eagle companies fit within each division’s Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB), following a model initiated in March 2012 at the 1st Infantry Division. Once the division’s UAVs are broken down, each CAB would end up with 4 Gray Eagles, 8 smaller RQ-7B Shadows, and 35 mini-UAVs.

A few years after the ER/MP program began, General Atomics-ASI’s Steve May was already saying that “The Army is now as large a customer for us as the Air Force.” At the time, the firm saw a potential market for as many as 540 “Sky Warrior” UAVs – 45 sets of 12 UAVs each for each brigade, plus accompanying ground stations and crews. The Army’s production program grew five-fold, but it’s still only about 30% of that maximum prediction, and remains far behind the USAF.

Excel
download

As the MQ-1C transitioned into production, Pentagon documents began breaking the program out from its USAF counterparts. The total program, including both the initial development contract and follow-on production, looks like it will be worth almost $5 billion. Budgets from 2004-2017 include:

There’s also a manpower equation for the Army, which affects ongoing operating costs. Those aren’t found in these budgets, but they make up well over half of a program’s actual lifetime cost. Fully automated take-off and landing (ATLS) systems are becoming more common among UAVs, and the MQ-1C’s ATLS is an important difference from the USAF’s MQ-1 Predators, which have all flight operations handled by pilots. While the initial batch of Gray Eagle UAVs will be flown by Army aviators, the Army plans to assign future MQ-1Cs to non-pilot warrant officers with UAV training. That’s a less expensive proposition, in terms of both salary and training costs. It’s also less expensive in terms of lost UAVs, as ATLS seems to lead to fewer crashes.

Key MQ-1C industrial partners include:

Contracts & Key Events FY 2018

 

MQ-1 IGE
(click to view full)

August 24/18: Support Services The US Army is contracting General Atomics for further engineering services in support of its Gray Eagle UAS. The modification to previously awarded contract has a value of $11 million. The MQ-1C Gray Eagle is based on the MQ-1 Predator, but it is bigger, can carry more payload and has an engine that runs on the same kind of fuel that is used to power US Army vehicles. Its expansive mission set includes, but is not limited, to wide-area Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), convoy protection, Improvised Explosive Device (IED) detection and defeat, close air support, communications relay, and weapons delivery missions. The Gray Eagle, equipped with signal jammers, will likely be one of the Army’s primary electronic warfare platform. Work will be performed at the company’s location in Poway, California and is scheduled for completion by end of September, 2019.

FY 2016 – 2017

December 29/17: Contracts-Support & Services The US Air Force (USAF) has awarded General Atomics a $328.8 million contract for MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft support and services. Under the terms of the agreement, GA will be tasked with “core management, logistics support, configuration management, technical manual and software maintenance, contractor field service representative support, inventory control point management, flight operations support, depot repair, and depot field maintenance,” according to the notice published on December 22. Work will take place at Poway, Calif., and is expected to be completed by December 2018.

October 13/17: General Atomics announced this week that it has officially switched production of its MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAV over to the longer-range variant, the MQ-1C ER Gray Eagle Extended Range. The new UAV will be tasked with long range intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, in addition to aiding in communications relay and the delivery of weapons to assist ground forces. Recent endurance tests of the new long range drone saw it fly for 41.9 hours, significantly more than the 25-hour capability of the current variant. The firm said the first four MQ-1C ER aircraft are currently being used for developmental testing and will progress to follow-on operational test and evaluation next spring 2018, with customer deliveries of MQ-1C ER to proceed from summer 2018.

September 26/17: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has been awarded a $27 million US Army contract modification for service support to the Gray Eagle unmanned aerial system program. Work will be performed in Poway, California, with an estimated completion date of March, 17, 2019. Derived from the Predator UAV, the Gray Eagle conducts intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR) and strike missions. It has space for mounting electro-optical and infrared cameras for target detection and can mount up to four Hellfire laser-guided missiles. It can also carry its own laser designator for targeting of its own ordnance or for other platforms.

September 13/17:The US has deployed the MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAV to the island of Mindanao “in support of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) counterterrorism efforts.” The drone’s 25 hour endurance is expected to allow for “a larger area of reconnaissance and surveillance” on the island, where Manilla has been battling an islamist insurgency focused on the besieged city of Marawi. However, Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte continued his criticisms of Washington policy, reiterating his displeasure in receiving expensive second-hand equipment from the US. “For me, everything has to be brand-new. All the planes and helicopters will have to be brand-new. Your guns, I want just one source for it. I’m not going to mention what country it is but it’s just two — two countries.” He did not reveal who those two countries were.

February 26/17: After 21 years of service, the MQ-1 Predator UAV will be retired in 2018. The USAF will instead opt for a full MQ-9 Reaper fleet citing better equipment and overall operational capabilities such as bigger payloads, higher flight ceilings, and top speeds. As a result, the USAF will no longer have to maintain a training pipeline or equipment on two separate aircraft, which eliminates the cost of operating two different airframes. Speaking on the Reaper, 432nd Operations Group commander Col. Joseph said in a statement “I think when we look at the legacy of the MQ-1 we’re going to be scratching our heads wondering how we did so much with so little.”

December 28/16: General Atomics has been contracted to perform MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper support services for the USAF. Under the $359 million contract, the company will be tasked with conducting logistics support, program and configuration management, depot repair, and additional services, with work to be completed in December, 2017. Both the Predator and its successor, the Reaper, have been used by the US and UK for intelligence gathering missions as well as targeted strike operations as part of counter-terrorism operations in the Middle East.

October 6/16: India is anxious to close a number of defense and nuclear related deals with the Pentagon as the Obama administration enters its final months. Deals including the purchase of 22 MQ-1 Predator UAVs are in advanced stages of negotiations and should be finalized within the coming months. But with a potentially radical regime change on the cards in Washington, New Delhi may want to capitalize on the good relationship between leaders Modi and Obama as the prospect of an “America First” Trump administration may spark a US pullback from Asia.

December 2/15: A US Air Force MQ-1 squadron has been deactivated in Djibouti, raising doubts over the continued use of UAVs in combat operations based out of the area. The 60th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron had flown over 24,000 hours between November 2014 and October 2015. During this period, the MQ-1s neutralized 69 enemy fighters, including five high valued individuals. Based out of camp Lemonnier, the MQ-1s were involved in operations not only on the African continent, but in the Gulf region as well. It is unclear if other units are operating UAV missions from the base or its network of camps and outposts or if the 60th is to be replaced.

October 16/15: A $121.4 million order for 19 MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAVs back in June has now been revealed as the first order for the Improved Gray Eagle configuration, first introduced in July 2013. The new model uses a heavier airframe and a new engine to increase fuel capacity, range, internal payload weight and take-off weight. The Army is also now looking to introduce more weapon options and other improvements for the Gray Eagle.

October 15/15: As the Army looks to standardize equipment to better enable Manned-Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T), the datalink equipping AH-64E Apaches will be replaced by one capable of operating across a broad spectrum of bandwidths used by various UAV systems. L-3 was awarded a contract last month for the MUM-TX datalink capable of operating across this spectrum, with this set to equip the future Apache fleet. In June the Army carried out a MUM-T test involving an AH-64 Apache and a MQ-1C Gray Eagle, with the Apache demonstrating the ability to launch a Hellfire missile using data remotely received from the UAV’s sensors.

Meanwhile, the Army is looking to field a wider array of weapons on the MQ-1C, with a particular focus being given to cheap, small munitions to complement the expensive AGM-114 Hellfires to which it sis currently limited. The program office is also looking for subsonic, lightweight weapons weighing around 30lb. The Hellfire currently weighs in at 105lb, with the reduced weight allowing for more weapons to be carried by the UAV. The Army also wants to implement a host of other improvements to the Gray Eagle, including more jam-resistant datalinks and assured position navigation and timing.

FY 2014 – 2015

 

June 25/15: The Army has successfully conducted Manned Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T) involving an AH-64 Apache and a MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAV. The Gray Eagle was used to designate a target for the Apache, with the latter then firing a Hellfire missile using data from the UAV. The test has allowed the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade to certify the Fort Stewart complex for live Hellfire tests, an important tool as access to training ranges in Afghanistan and Iraq has diminished.

In related news, the Army awarded a $121.4 million contract to General Atomics on Tuesday for nineteen MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAVs, with these set for delivery by 2018. This follows a comparable contract in March, also for nineteen Gray Eagles, with that contract valued at $133 million. The company was also awarded a $84.8 million contract in May for performance-based logistics to support the UAV.

March 17/15: 19 More.The Army awarded General Atomics a contract for 19 Gray Eagle UAVs, as part of a $132m contract which also included SATCOM terminals and support.

April 23/14: Sensors. Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. in Linthicum Heights, MD receives a $40.7 million firm-fixed-price multi-year contract to provide up to 94 STARLite ground-looking SAR/GMTI radar systems. A system consists of 1 Aviation (A-Kit) and 1 B-Kit.

All funds are committed immediately, using mostly FY 2013 funds and some FY 2014 funds. Work will be performed in Linthicum Heights MD, and the estimated completion date is April 22/17. One bid was solicited and 1 received by the US Army Contracting Command in Aberdeen, MD (W15P7T-14-C-C005).

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. The MQ-1C is a stable design, but:

“Program officials said they are considering a change to the aircraft tail, which would be costly and require retrofitting the entire fleet. The program is also developing a new ground control station which will not undergo operational testing until May 2015. In addition, a production readiness review conducted in support of the program’s full-rate production decision identified several high risk supplier base issues that pose uncertainty for the program’s cost and schedule.”

Supplier issues include the new engine, “…and the Defense Contract Management Agency are also tracking other risk items related to multiple suppliers’ financial concerns as well as quality control….” Program officials say that have mitigation strategies are in place if something goes wrong.

Finally, the Ground Control System has been criticized in past evaluations. The Army is moving to new hardware and software, with follow-on testing planned in May 2015. If it goes well, the Army would begin deploying the new GCS to new and fielded units.

March 4-11/14: FY15 Budget. The US military slowly files its budget documents, detailing planned spending from FY 2014 – 2019. FY 2015 is the last year of Gray Eagle production: 19 UAVs, 19 Satellite Airborne Data Terminals (SADT), Government Furnished Equipment (GFE), Ground Based Sense and Avoid (GBSAA) Block 1 software, and site preparation and fielding for 2 locations. Payloads and Universal Ground Control Station systems will still be bought for a few more years.

For R&D, the Army continues development and integration of changes to the the Universal Ground Control Station, the GBSAA system as an alternate means of FAA compliance in properly-equipped civil airspace, and a signals intelligence (SIGINT) capability.

Nov 19/13: SOCOM. The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (“Night Stalkers”) receives the 1st of E-Company’s 12 MQ-1C Gray Eagles. Sources: The Aviationist, “Legendary U.S. Army Special Operations Force gets MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones”.

SOCOM’s 160th SOAR

Dec 13/13: Support. General Atomics Aeronautical in Poway, CA receives an $110.4 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for continuing MQ-1C support and spares services until Dec 15/14.

$8 million in FY 2014 operations and maintenance funds are committed immediately. Work will be performed in Afghanistan and Poway, CA. One bid was solicited with one received by the US Army Contracting Command (Aviation) in Redstone Arsenal, AL (W58RGZ-14-C-0008).

Oct 22/13: Engine. During AUSA 2013, General Atomics confirms to DID that the US Army will use its existing inventory of Thielert Centurion heavy fuel engines to keep the current Gray Eagle fleet running for now, rather than doing wholesale retrofits. One presumes that retrofits would follow if Centurion stocks or part inventories drop too low.

Oct 22/13: Testing. GA-ASI uses their own funds to conduct a 45-hour MQ-1C Improved Gray Eagle flight, in reconnaissance-only configuration. They also confirm that new Gray Eagle IGEs will be built with Lycoming’s 205hp DEL-120 heavy fuel engine, replacing the discontinued Thielert Centurion (q.v. July 26/13).

A 2nd demonstration, which is planned for later in 2013, will feature an MQ-1C IGE with a wing-mounted external payload and weapons. Source: GA-ASI, Oct 22/13 release.

FY 2013

Annual order; NERO jamming pods delivered; What now for the USA drone fleets?; The pilot issue; FRP decision.

MQ-1C: what now?
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Sept 26/13: Support. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. in Poway, CA receives an $86.6 million cost-plus-incentive-fee modification to finalize FY 2013 Gray Eagle performance-based logistics product support. The contract covers both newer, armed Block 1s program and the initial few Block 0/ Quick Reaction Capability drones.

Work is performed from Poway, CA. The contract was solicited via the web with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command – Redstone Arsenal (Aviation), Redstone Arsenal, AL, is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-12-C-007, PO 0032).

Sept 24/13: Djibooted. The small but strategically critical African state of Djibouti has forced the US military to move its drones out of Camp Lemonnier, which serves as Africa Command’s main base. Their problem? Lemonnier’s runway is too close to the international airport, and 5 Predator drone crashes since 2011 have left the locals unwilling to continue done flights.

The Pentagon has moved its drone operations to a more remote base, and the Gray Eagle’s automatic landing equipment makes it rather less crash-prone than USAF Predators and Reapers. At the same time, it’s an issue that the Army’s fleet will also face. Operations over a war zone are one thing. ISR support operations to aid friendly countries that have national and international air traffic moving through their space are a totally different kettle of fish. Sources: Washington Post, “U.S. moves drone fleet from Camp Lemonnier to ease Djibouti’s safety concerns” | VOA, “US Military Relocates Drone Fleet From Djibouti Base”.

Sept 25/13: Support. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. in Poway, CA receives a sole-source $70.2 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract to conduct MQ-1C Gray Eagle 4.3.2 software development and depot repair of related spares.

Work will be funded from FY 2012 and 2013 R&D funds. US Army Contracting Command – Aviation in Redstone Arsenal, AL manages the contract (W58RGZ-13-C-0136).

Sept 25/13: STARLite radar. Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. in Linthicum Heights, MD receives an $85.3 million cost-plus-fixed-fee, multi-year, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quality contract to provide STARLite system support, including the SAR/GMTI features. Performance location and funding will be determined with each order. See the “Sensors and Add-Ons” section for full details re: the ZPY-1 STARLite.

This contract was a sole-source acquisition, but its duration isn’t clear. US Army Contracting Command – Aviation in Redstone Arsenal, AL manages the contract (W15P7T-13-D-C118).

Sept 25/13: General Atomics announces that the Gray Eagle fleet has reached 20,000 successful launch and recoveries using their Automatic Takeoff and Landing System (ATLS). They hit the 10,000 milestone in June 2012.

ATLS has been deployed at 8 sites worldwide, including 3 overseas, with 4 additional sites planned by January 2015. Source: GA-ASI, Oct 23/13 release.

Sept 13/13: FY 2013. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. in Poway, CA receives a sole-source $199.7 million firm-fixed-price contract to provide FY 2013 MQ-1C Gray Eagle production (19 UAVs), and “FY 2012 hardware backfill requirements.” General Atomics confirmed that the overall contract involves 19 UAVs, plus ground control equipment, automatic landing systems, SATCOM and data terminals, spares, and mobile maintenance facilities.

Work will be performed in Poway, CA. US Army Contracting Command, Aviation at Redstone Arsenal, AL manages the contract (W58RGZ-13-C-0109).

Aug 25/13: Help Wanted. The USAF has a pilot recruitment problem for drones, driven by lower recognition and a true perception that promotions are less likely in that service. The US Army has an easier time of things, because they tap enlisted and non-commissioned soldiers to fly their UAVs: 15W Operator and 15E Repairer are enlisted soldiers positions, and 150U technician positions involve a warrant officer. Here’s the USAF’s math:

The USA has 61 round-the-clock UAV Combat Air Patrols, and plans to increase that to 65 by 2015. That increase is now suspect. If it’s maintained, the Pentagon’s April 2012 “Report to Congress on Future Unmanned Aircraft Systems Training, Operations, and Sustainability” says the USAF will require, at minimum, 579 more MQ-1/9 UAV pilots from December 2011 – 2015. In 2012, the 40 USAF training slots attracted just 12 volunteers, and training attrition rates are 3x higher than they are for regular pilots. Unlike the USAF’s manned aircraft training slots, only 33 RPA (Remotely Piloted Aircraft) training slots were filled (around 82%), triggered in part by the correct perception that those who succeed will have less successful careers. Based on present rates, 13% fewer RPA pilots have become majors, compared to their peers.

Army schadenfreude aside, the Pentagon’s April 2012 report did say that the Army needed to add 820 more MQ-1C Gray Eagle positions between December 2011 – 2015. They can’t neglect this area, either. Sources: Stars & Stripes, “Unmanned now undermanned: Air Force struggles to fill pilot slots for drones” | See Additional Readings section for full Pentagon report.

Aug 22/13: Training. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. in Poway, CA receives a maximum $30.5 million cost-plus-incentive fee, option eligible, multi-year contract for 1 MQ-1C Gray Eagle Composite Maintenance System Trainer (CMST) suite of equipment, plus Interim Contractor Support at Fort Huachuca, AZ. US Army Contracting Command Aviation at? Redstone Arsenal, AL manages the contract (W58RGZ-13-C-0127).

Aug 16/13: Support. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. in Poway, CA receives an $11.4 million cost-plus-fixed-fee, option-eligible, non-multi-year, contract modification.

The award exercises an option for additional MQ-1C engineering services, and the announcement’s confusing language is “$11,423,474.37 with a cumulative maximum value of $156,370,264”. We’ve added all awards under this contract, and so far, announced awards total $81.9 million. But General Atomics clarifies that (since Sept 2009) “we have received contracts that value $156.4 million for Gray Eagle engineering services, including the $11.4 million contract that was just announced.”

Work will be performed in Poway, CA, using FY 2013 “other funding.” One bid was solicited, and 1 receives by US Army Contracting Command (Aviation) in Redstone Arsenal, AL (W58RGZ-09-C-0136, PO 0094).

July 26/13: MQ-1 IGE. A successful first flight of the Improved Gray Eagle (IGE) derivative of the MQ-1C Block 1, at GS-ASI’s Adelanto, CA facility.

IGE is designed for increased endurance, thanks to its “improved Heavy Fuel Engine” and deep belly fuselage with over 50% more capacity. In the field, that translates into up to 23 more hours aloft on reconnaissance missions. Overall payload capacity also improves by 50%, with an upgraded centerline wet hardpoint that can mount a 500 pound external fuel tank or a 360 degree sensor payload. General Atomics also cites the “potential of incorporating lightning protection, damage tolerance, and Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) features.” Source: General Atomics, July 26/13 release.

Improved Gray Eagle introduced, flies

July 23/13: Engine out. State-owned Aviation Industry Corp. of China buys Thielert’s commercial assets out of insolvency, and folding them into its Continental Motors division. In order to get approval for the sale from the German government, however, the firm has to divest its military business. They elect to close it, leaving the MQ-1C Gray Eagle and Turkey’s Anka UAV without an engine. Sources: Bloomberg, “AVIC Buys Thielert to Shift Company to Planes From Drones” | Reuters, “China’s AVIC to buy German aircraft engine maker Thielert”.

Thielert to China

June 14/13: FRP. The Defense Acquisition Board approved Gray Eagle for Full Rate Production (FRP), which will lead to the purchase of an additional 49 aircraft over FY13-15. Because of the current budget constraints, the FY13 buy was reduced from 19 to 15. FY14 is planned for an additional 19, with a final 15 units in FY15.

Deputy Program Manager Jeff Crabb tells DID that the program was also moved from the ACAT 1D down to the ACAT 1C level, meaning the Army is now the Milestone Decision Authority (MDA), as opposed to the Office of the Secretary of Defense. This makes sense since close to 70 aircraft have already been delivered after 3 LRIP lots, out of a planned total of 152. Of these, 4 have been lost in combat so far.

The program’s next milestone is Follow-on Operational Test & Evaluation (FOT&E) in early 2015, mostly around the universal ground control station (GCS) which involves both hardware and software components.

FRP

May 14/13: NERO EW pod. Raytheon announces that they’ve delivered the first 2 Networked Electronic Warfare, Remotely Operated (NERO) pods, as part of a contract awarded by US NAVSEA-Crane in 2012 for use on the US Army’s MQ-1C Gray Eagle.

NERO is an airborne electronic attack system capable of jamming enemy communications systems, including remote detonators for land mines. It’s derived from the Army’s Communications Electronic Attack with Surveillance and Reconnaissance (CEASAR) program, which is mounted on MC-12W King Air manned turboprops. Moving to the Gray Eagle doubles or triples flight time, at a similar or lower operating cost. Raytheon.

May 7/13: Support. GA-ASI in Poway, CA receives a $110.3 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract modification for MQ-1C support and fleet sustainment, driving the contract’s total cumulative face value to $354.7 million.

Work will be performed in Afghanistan, using FY 2013 Operations and Maintenance funds, and other Procurement fund. The US Army Contracting Command in Redstone Arsenal, AL manages the contract (W58RGZ-12-C-0075, PO 0032).

April 10/13: FY 2014 Budget. The President releases a proposed budget at last, the latest in modern memory. The Senate and House were already working on budgets in his absence, but the Pentagon’s submission is actually important to proceedings going forward. See ongoing DID coverage. For the Gray Eagle, the budget requests $627.1 million, of which just $10.9 million is RDT&E. That’s a cut of about $151.8 million from previous plans, and when combined with 2015 plans it cuts the program by $337.8 million. They’re still ordering the same number of UAVs, though.

The FY 2014 request covers continued development of the Universal Ground Control Station, a Ground Based Sense-and-Avoid system for flights at several US based locations (vid Aug 10/12 entry), 15 UAVs, 8 AN/ZPY-1 STARLite ER radars, 8 AN/AAS-53 Common Sensor Payload surveillance & targeting turrets, 16 Tactical SIGINT (TSP for signals interceptions) payloads, and 3 modular platoon sets of equipment.

April 2/13: What now? Defense News aptly summarizes the key question facing the USA’s large drones:

“On the one hand, the work in Mali shows that the signature weapon of the U.S. war in Afghanistan is outlasting that conflict. On the other, the detachment is a tiny fraction of the Predator/Reaper fleet – and just where are the rest of them going to go?”

With flights below 60,000 feet heavily restricted within the USA, there aren’t that many options stateside, and most of the MQ-9 fleet’s $8,000 per flight hour operations are funded by wartime OCO appropriations. AFRICOM may have the best combination of circumstances abroad, thanks to growing trouble in the Gulf of Guinea to the West, as well as the Indian Ocean to the East. Even a massive increase in surveillance can’t absorb all of the UAVs, and the $6,000 per flight hour manned MC-12s are a natural competitor.

FY 2012

Attack helicopter control MQ-1C in flight; Operational Testing & Evaluation; Approval sought to extend LRIP buys; Predator GCS virus won’t affect Army; SIGINT pod.

Gray Eagle in Iraq
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Unless otherwise specified, the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command in Redstone Arsenal, AL issues the contracts to General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) in Poway, CA.

Oct 2/12: Support. A $102.6 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for services to support the Gray Eagle UAS.

Work will be performed in Poway, CA, with an estimated completion date of May 7/13. One bid was solicited, with one bid received (W58RGZ-12-C-0075).

Oct 2/12: Engine retrofits. A $10.7 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification to retrofit MQ-1C Block 0 UAVs with an alternate heavy fuel engine.

Work will be performed in Poway, CA with an estimated completion date of Sept 26/13. One bid was solicited, with one bid received (W58RGZ-12-C-0001).

Aug 27/12: A $25.9 million fixed-price-incentive contract modification will add “a platoon set of ground equipment.” Note that for these UAVs, a “platoon” is 12 MQ-1Cs.

Work will be performed in Poway, CA with an estimated completion date of June 30/15. One bid was solicited, with one bid received (W58RGZ-12-C-0057).

Aug 27/12: An $11 million fixed-price-incentive contract modification, to buy more universal ground data terminals. Work will be performed in Poway, CA with an estimated completion date of April 30/14. One bid was solicited, with one bid received (W58RGZ-11-C-0099).

Aug 10/12: Civil airspace. The U.S. Army has validated the design and functionality of a Phase 2 ground-based sense and avoid (GBSAA, see above) radar system that will support training flights of MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAVs in unrestricted airspace, beginning in 2014.

The baseline GBSAA system was demonstrated in June 2012 at Dugway Proving Ground’s unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) testbed, and the Army’s UAS Rapid Integration and Acceptance Center. The 2-week demonstration covered several “vignettes” involving live RQ-7 Shadow and RQ-5 Hunter UAVs as well as simulated UAVs and intruder aircraft. The testing also replicated the airspace over other military installations and used live and recorded air traffic data from Salt Lake City, UT and Boston’s Logan airports. AIN Online.

July 18/12: A $19 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification for MQ-1C contractor logistics support. Work will be performed in Poway, CA with an estimated completion date of July 15/13. One bid was solicited, with 1 bid received (W58RGZ-11-C-0001).

July 11/12: A $411 million fixed-price-incentive contract for Gray Eagle systems, initial spares, and additional hardware. Work will be performed in Poway, CA with an estimated completion date of March 31/15. The bid was solicited through the Internet, with one bid received (W58RGZ-12-C-0057).

Looks like they got that authorization to continue Low-Rate initial Production.

July 2/12: Support. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. in Poway, CA receives an $8.6 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification for MQ-1C Gray Eagle engineering support.

Work will be performed in Poway, CA, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30/13. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, AL manages the contract (W58RGZ-09-C-0136).

June 27/12: Reliability & report. The US Army has some good news, and some bad news.

The bad news is that Gray Eagles are flying at about 80% availability rates after 24,000 combat flight hours, instead of their target 90%. The problems are mostly traceable to software issues that arise when new sensors are added.

The good news? The program is under budget. The UAVs have added weapons, ground-looking radars, and communication relays to their payload. The Army likes them a lot, and thinks they’re making a big difference, so they’ve decided to focus on expanding Gray Eagle capabilities for now, rather than trying to reach 90% availability rates. Right now, there are a pair of platoon-size 4-UAV QRC units in Afghanistan, and the “Fox 227” full-size company of 12.

May 29/12: IOT&E funds. An $8.5 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract modification supplies incremental funding to support MQ-1C operational test and evaluation. The program’s IOT&E was moved back from October 2011, and is now expected in August 2012 (a milestone that was indeed met at that date).

Work will be performed in Poway, CA, with an estimated completion date of Nov 30/12. One bid was solicited, with one bid received (W58RGZ-05-C-0069).

May 10/12: A $141.8 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract, for services in support of the MQ-1C Gray Eagle. Work will be performed in Poway, CA, with an estimated completion date of May 7/13. One bid was solicited, with 1 bid received (W58RGZ-12-C-0075).

April 4/12: Plans. The US Army discusses its plans for the MQ-1C, which includes the addition of a new Synthetic Aperture Radar with Ground Moving Target Indicator, and the development of a Universal Ground Control Station, or UGS that can show video feeds from Gray Eagle, Shadow and Hunter UAS on a single system.

A full company of 12 Gray Eagle UAS have now deployed as part of a full-spectrum Combat Aviation Brigade, and a Pentagon Defense Acquisition Board meeting is planned for mid-May 2012, to approve another Low Rate Initial Production buy. Initial Operational Test & Evaluation is scheduled for summer 2012.

March 30/12: GAO Report. The US GAO tables its “Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs” for 2012. With respect to the MQ-1C, it mentions that the Army will be modifying the UAV’s tail rudder and elevator, and the GAO is now satisfied with the automatic take-off and landing system’s technical maturity:

“However, the tactical common data link is still not fully mature… its air data relay capability has been deferred until fiscal year 2012. The March 2011 accident involving an MQ-1C in testing has delayed several key program events… The Army now plans to start [IOT&E] operational testing in August 2012 [instead of October 2011, and a]… full-rate production decision was postponed from August 2012 to March 2013. The Army has already awarded two low-rate production contracts in 2010 and 2011 for 55 aircraft. To avoid a break in production, the Army is planning to seek approval to award a third low-rate contract for 29 aircraft in May 2012. Based on the current program schedule, the Army will procure more than half of the total planned aircraft before the system’s operational effectiveness and suitability is fully tested…”

Jan 26/12: Preliminary FY 2013 budget materials discuss coming shifts in Pentagon priorities, as the defense department moves to make future cuts. The USAF will get fewer MQ-9 Reapers, but the Army’s MQ-1C is protected:

“Unmanned Air Systems – fund enough trained personnel, infrastructure, and platforms to sustain 65 USAF MQ-1/9 combat air patrols (CAPs) with a surge capacity of 85; the Predator aircraft was retained longer than previously planned, allowing us to slow the buy of the Reaper aircraft and gain some savings; we also protected funding for the Army’s unmanned air system, Gray Eagle.”

See: Pentagon release | “Defense Budget Priorities and Choices” [PDF]

Jan 17/12: A $30.3 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract modification to support the MQ-1C Gray Eagle Quick Reaction Capability drones in theater. Work will be performed in Poway, CA, with an estimated completion date of May 7/12. One bid was solicited, with one bid received (W58RGZ-09-C-0153).

Jan 5/12: SIGINT Pods. BAE Systems in Nashua, NH receives a $12.3 million firm-fixed-price and cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for T-Pod SIGINT Systems. on the MQ-1C Unmanned Aircraft System. A December 2011 expression of interest stated that the US Army was looking for up to 5 tested and calibrated Traveler Pods within 4 months for integration work on the MQ-1C, and within 6 months for deployment. The pods are designed to find and eavesdrop on electronic emitters, identify them (enemy radio communications? radar? etc.), then offer aerial precision geolocation (APG) and copying. Pods and equipment can already be installed in larger UAVs like the USAF’s RQ-4 Global Hawks, and aboard light surveillance planes like the Beechcraft King Air MC-12Ws. The challenge is to shrink them and their supporting systems so that it falls within the MQ-1C’s weight and size limits.

Work will be performed in Nashua, NH, with an estimated completion date of Dec 27/12. One bid was solicited, with 1 bid received by US Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD (W15P7T-12-C-C009). See also FBO.gov.

Jan 5/12: A $20.5 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract modification to pay for operational test and evaluation. It does not specify further, but the contract is the MQ-1C’s.

Work will be performed in Poway, CA, with an estimated completion date of Nov 30/12. One bid was solicited, with one bid received (W58RGZ-05-C-0069).

Dec 30/11: A $12 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for Warrior A/Block 0 support services. These are the Quick Reaction Capability drones. Work will be performed in Poway, CA, until Dec 17/13. One bid was solicited, with one bid received (W58RGZ-12-C-0001).

Dec 23/11: An $18 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract. “The award will provide for the modification of an existing contract to allow for incremental funding of previous change order”; it does not specify further, but the contract is the MQ-1C’s. Work will be performed in Poway, CA; Hunt Valley, MD; Salt Lake City, UT; and Lake Forest, CA, with an estimated completion date of Dec 31/11. One bid was solicited, with 1 received (W58RGZ-05-C-0069).

Nov 10/11: A $15.2 million cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-plus-incentive-fee contract modification, to support the MQ-1C QRC contingents. Work will be performed in Poway, CA, with an estimated completion date of Jan 7/12. One bid was solicited, with one bid received (W58RGZ-09-C-0153).

Nov 9/11: An AH-64D Apache Block III attack helicopter fitted with the Unmanned Aerial Systems Tactical Common Data Link Assembly (UTA) atop its mast has controlled the payload and flight of an MQ-1C Grey Eagle UAV, while both are in flight. This marks the 1st time an unmanned vehicle has been controlled from the cockpit of an Apache helicopter.

Lockheed Martin says that the test program proved the UTA’s design, adding that: “All goals of this phase of UTA testing were completed with 100 percent success.”

Oct 17/11: A $30.3 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification for additional MQ-1C engineering services. Work will be performed in Poway, CA, with an estimated completion date of Aug 30/12. One bid was solicited, with 1 bid received (W58RGZ-09-C-0136).

Oct 7/11: Hacked. WIRED Danger Room reports that a “keylogger” virus has infected the USAF’s MQ-1A/B Predator and MQ-9 Reaper fleets:

“The virus, first detected nearly two weeks ago by the military’s Host-Based Security System, has not prevented pilots at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada from flying their missions overseas. Nor have there been any confirmed incidents of classified information being lost or sent to an outside source. But the virus has resisted multiple efforts to remove it from Creech’s computers, network security specialists say… “We keep wiping it off, and it keeps coming back,” says a source familiar with the network infection, one of three that told Danger Room about the virus. “We think it’s benign. But we just don’t know.”

Unlike the USAF, the Army’s philosophy is to operate its MQ-1C Gray Eagles in-theater. The virus doesn’t compromise Army UAVs, therefore, but it may indicate a similar vulnerability point in the Army’s network.

Oct 5/11: Support. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. in Poway, CA receives an $84.8 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract. The award will provide for the logistics and hardware services in support of Gray Eagle First Unit Equipped system hardware.

Work will be performed in Poway, CA, with an estimated completion date of March 27/13. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, AL manages the contract (W58RGZ-11-C-0143).

Oct 5/11: An $8.8 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract will fund RESET efforts for the Warrior A/Warrior Block 0 Unmanned Aircraft Systems. RESET is a program for worn vehicles and aircraft, involving tear-down and comprehensive inspections, followed by replacement of any worn parts, and restoration to “like new” condition. The question is whether these initially-fielded “Quick Reaction Capability” UAVs will be upgraded to full operational MQ-1C Block 1 status, complete with weapons.

Work will be performed in Poway, CA, with an estimated completion date of June 30/13. One bid was solicited, with 1 bid received (W58RGZ-11-C-0001).

FY 2011

MQ-1C program ramp-up; USAF accepts last MQ-1B Predator; TRACER foliage-penetrating radar; Iraq quick reaction deployment discussed.

QRC-1 sunrise, Taji
(click to view full)

May 20/11: An $8.9 million cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost-plus-incentive-fee contract, that buys additional spare hardware under the MQ-1C Gray Eagle’s logistics support contract. Work will be performed in Poway, CA, with an estimated completion date of Jan 18/12. One bid was solicited, with 1 bid received (W58RGZ-09-C-0153).

May 10/11: Support. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. in Poway, CA receives an $9 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract May 6/11. The award will provide for MQ-1C Universal Ground Control Station integration.

Work will be performed in Poway, CA, with an estimated completion date of June 30/11. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, AL manages the contract (W58RGZ-09-C-0136).

April 25/11: An $8.3 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract, providing incremental funding to cover an extension of the ER/MP system development and design contract. Work will be performed in Poway, CA, with an estimated completion date of Dec 31/11. One bid was solicited with 1 bid received by U.S. Army AMCOM Contracting Center in Redstone Arsenal, AL (W58RGZ-05-C-0069).

April 12/11: +26. $173.5 million of a $354 million fixed-price-incentive-fee contract, for MQ-1C Gray Eagle low rate initial production. Queries to GA-ASI indicate that the contract covers 2 Gray Eagle systems: 26 UAVs (12 aircraft per system, plus 2 spares for losses), 15 of AAI’s OneSystem Ground Control Systems, L-3 Communications’ Satellite Communications equipment, and other peripheral equipment to support the systems.

GA-ASI says that part of this contract is for FY 2010 buys, and part is FY 2011. Work will be performed at Poway, CA, with an estimated completion date of April 30/14. One bid was solicited and one received (W58RGZ-11-C-0099).

March 7/11: A $64.3 million cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost-plus-incentive-fee contract modification for MQ-1C Gray Eagle product support, logistical support and sustainment operations.

Work will be performed in Poway, CA; Adelanto, CA; Palmdale, CA; Salt Lake City, UT; and Hunt Valley, MD, with an estimated completion date of Nov 7/11. One bid was solicited with one bid received (W58RGZ-09-C-0153).

March 3/11: The USAF accepts delivery of its 268th and last Predator UAV, an MQ-1B, at General Atomics’ Gray Butte Aeronautical Systems’ Flight Ops Facility. The delivery leaves the US Army as the only customer for MQ-1 Predator UAVs, unless the RQ-1 Predator XP variant finds some export customers.

Col. James Beissner, Air Combat Command’s Chief Irregular Warfare Division, accepted the aircraft. Aeronautical Systems Center’s Chief of Medium Altitude UAS Division, Col. Christopher Coombs, cites fleet totals of over 900,000 hours since its 1st flight in July 1994, with mission capable rates over 90%. What he does not mention is a high accident rate, which accompanies UAVs without auto-takeoff and landing capabilities. The Army’s MQ-1C Gray Eagle does not suffer from the same officer pilot bias as the USAF, and has adopted these technologies. Wright Patterson AFB | General Atomics.

Milestone

March 2/11: +30. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. in Poway, CA receives an announced $335.5 million fixed-price-incentive-fee contract for MQ-1C Gray Eagle systems. In-depth discussions with General Atomics place the order in its full context, which is somewhat complex.

In February 2010, General Atomics says the US Army placed a not-to-exceed $399 million contract, but did not appropriate any money. Their first step was the $195.5 million 49% funding contract in the May 19/10 entry. According to the firm, this award funds the remaining contract with another $115.1 million, to make a total of $310.6 million. This will include the LRIP Lot 1 order for 2 systems (24 UAVs + 2 attrition), plus the FY 2009 supplemental funding of 8 UAVs, and a sizable quantity of plus-up air, ground and communication equipment.

Work will be performed in Poway, CA, with an estimated completion date of Dec 31/12. One bid was solicited with one bid received (W56RGZ-10-C-0068).

Feb 14/11: Budget request. The Pentagon releases its FY 2012 budget request, which includes breakout information concerning the MQ-1C Gray Eagle program. The FY 2012 request is $805.8 million for 36 systems, which includes $137 million in RDT&E(Research, Development, Testing & Evaluation) funds.

Jan 18/11: Program ramp-up. A US Army release quotes Tim Owings, deputy project manager for Army Unmanned Aircraft Systems:

“We’re going to accelerate Gray Eagle yet again. We’re accelerating from two systems per year to three systems per year, which will result in seventeen systems being procured by FY 2014… Defense Acquisition Board in February of this year is expected to confirm the addition of two more Low Rate Initial Production Gray Eagle systems – each consisting of 12 air vehicles, five ground control stations and five additional attrition vehicles… The Army has already deployed two Gray Eagle “Quick Reaction Capabilities.” One QRC is now flying with Army Soldiers in Iraq and another is with U.S. Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan”

Nov 28/10: Iraq T&P work. A posting from the 1st Infantry Division discusses [Pentagon DVIDS | US Army] some of the work that goes into the Gray Eagle’s Quick Reaction Capability 1-Replacement 1 (QRC-1/R1) deployment in Iraq, which is working to pioneer Gray Eagle tactics, techniques and procedures before the UAVs are deployed throughout the Army. Some excerpts:

“The QRC1-R1 operators are working with aviators from the brigade’s Apache battalion to integrate their mission… The unit has flown nearly 7,000 accident free hours, more than 350 combat missions, produced over 16,000 surveillance-type images, and maintained a systems operational readiness rate of about 93 percent [in its first 6 months].

“…One of the biggest things we try to do is educate other units about our capabilities,” said [unit commander Capt. Michael] Goodwin. “A lot of units have the ability to use our assets, but they don’t know what we can do.” One of the most useful tools the unit offers ground troops is education on a portable system known as the OSRVT, or One Station Remote Viewing Terminal. “We’re finding that a lot of units have the OSRVT, but don’t know what it does for them,” said Goodwin. “Our company helps train the ground guys on the system, on how to access our feeds and use our aircraft to support them.” …The unit is working to prepare the aircraft to carry hellfire missiles, and is scheduled to conduct a live test of the missiles in Iraq this January.

Sgt. Brent Randal, a Gray Eagle operator deployed with QRC1-R1 and a native of Las Vegas, Nev., said that one of the aircraft’s best features is its new Synthetic Aperture Radar, or SAR. Mounted underneath the Gray Eagle’s nose, the SAR can compare high resolution images of a location taken at different times to determine whether objects have been removed from or placed at a scene… The Gray Eagle can also help ground troops communicate with their headquarters over long distances. The success of [Predator drones he flew for Task Force ODIN] helped pave the way for the Army’s acquisition of the Gray Eagle, said [former scout Staff Sgt. Raymond] Ballance.”

Nov 19/10: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. in Poway, CA receives a $31.9 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract, providing incremental funding to cover an extension of the ER/MP system development and design contract. Work will be performed in Poway, CA, with an estimated completion date of Dec 31/10. One bid was solicited with one bid received by U.S. Army AMCOM Contracting Center in Redstone Arsenal, AL (W58RGZ-05-C-0069).

Announced System Development & Demonstration contracts covered here, not including any UAV buys or any support contracts, now stand at $253.4 million.

Nov 8/10: STARLite radar. Northrop Grumman announces a contract for 40 more AN/ZPY-1 STARLite synthetic aperture ground-looking radars, bringing announced orders to 73. These lightweight radars include Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI) capabilities, and will equip the Army’s MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAVs,. Under the terms of the contract option, deliveries to the Army’s Product Manager Robotic & Unmanned Sensors Program Management Office will begin in March, 2011 and conclude in March, 2012.

Pat Newby, vice president of Weapons and Sensors for Northrop Grumman’s Land and Self Protection Systems Division. “STARLite completed all first article and government testing requirements, which led to this award. These systems are ready now for immediate deployment.” See Feb 11/10, Apr 28/08 entries for more.

Oct 27/10: TRACER radar. Lockheed Martin’s tree-penetrating Tactical Reconnaissance and Counter-Concealment-Enabled Radar (TRACER) flies for the 1st time aboard NASA’s Ikhana MQ-9, because the Army Gray Eagle MQ-1C fleet that will eventually host the external unpressurized TRACER pods are all busy on operations.

TRACER is a dual-band synthetic-aperture radar (SAR), designed to detect vehicles, buildings and other man-made objects that are buried, camouflaged or concealed under trees and other foliage. The flight tests on Ikhana focused on the radar’s performance in the harsh environment of the unpressurized pod, as the TRACER system will eventually be installed on a variety of manned and unmanned aircraft. Lockheed Martin.

FY 2010

ER/MP becomes “Gray Eagle”; Army hits 1 million total UAV hours; USAF bows out of Predator buys, ending UAV War; MQ-1C arming approved; Hellfire missile tests; 1st STARLite radars delivered.

MQ-1C test flight
(click to view full)

In 2010, the Army officially changed the planned number of production MQ-1C Gray Eagle Block I+ systems from 13 company-sized units of 12 aircraft, to 31 independent “UAS Platoons” with 4 MQ-1Cs each, plus Standard Equipment Package (SEP), and Ground Equipment. The main production program would also buy 21 UAVs to replace those lost, and 7 training UAVs, for a total of 152.

Oct 4/10: Support. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems in Poway, CA receives a $5.8 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification for ER/MP engineering and integration support, integrated logistics support, and program management. It was actually issued at the end of FY 2009.

Work will be performed in Poway, CA, with an estimated completion date of Sept 30/11. One bid was solicited with 1 bid received by the US Army at Redstone Arsenal (W58RGZ-09-C-0136, PO 0018).

Sept 10/10: A $7.2 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification for ER/MP Quick Reaction Capability contractor logistics support replenishment sustainment spares. Work is to be performed in Poway, CA with an estimated completion date of June 6/12. One bid was solicited with 1 bid received (W58RGZ-09-C-0153).

Aug 24/10: The ER/MP’s new name is confirmed during a US Army UAS panel discussion at AUVSI Unmanned Systems North America. US Army UAS US Army Project Manager Col. Gregory Gonzalez says that using both ER/MP and SkyWarrior had created name recognition issues, and the USAF had approved the name. US Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Capabilities Manager Col. Robert Sova adds:

“That’s ‘Grey Eagle’ as ‘G-R-E-Y’… The naming nomenclature, of course, is usually after an Indian chief or Indian tribe and I would suggest that you look up ‘Grey Eagle,’ because there is a good history of that particular Indian chief and his lineage with the army and special operations. So it is not only a cool’ name, it has substance and meaning behind it.”

We’re not the only ones scratching our heads about this reference, which is probably a mistake that stems from believing too many things on the Internet. Though we do like Shephard Group | this Chief Gray Eagle.

Milestone

May 24/10: A $38.5 million cost-plus-incentive-fee/cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification that pays for new contractor logistics support; a transition to performance-based logistics for the Quick Reaction Capability 1 (see December 2009 entry), QRC-1R, and QRC-2 UAVs; and a UAS training base in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

Work is to be performed in Adelanto, CA (34%); Hunt Valley, MD (24%); Poway, CA (18%); Palmdale, CA (17%); and Salt Lake City, UT (7%). The estimated completion date is May 19/11. One bid was solicited with one bid received (W58RGZ-09-C-0153, #P00011).

May 19/10: +26. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. in Poway, CA received a $195.5 million fixed-price-incentive-fee contract for MQ-1C supplemental hardware and low-rate initial production. Work is to be performed in Poway, CA, with an estimated completion date of Nov 30/12. One bid was solicited with one bid received (W58RGZ-10-C-0068).

General Atomics tells us that this is for the first half (49%) of the LRIP Lot 1 contract, and covers 2 full Sky Warrior systems (24 UAVs) and FY 2009 supplemental hardware (2 attrition UAVs). The rest of the funding is expected in a few months, and could drive this contract set to about $399 million for 34 Sky Warrior aircraft, 16 of AAI’s One System Ground Control Stations, L-3 Communications West’s airborne and ground Tactical Control Data Link (TCDL) equipment, and various other items to include automatic landing systems, spares, and ground support equipment. Beginning in December 2011, the company is scheduled to deliver over 2 MQ-1C aircraft a month through the end of 2012.

This award comes at the same time that the U.S. Army is celebrating the achievement of 1,000,000 flight hours for its entire unmanned aircraft systems fleet, of which GA-ASI Sky Warrior Alpha and Sky Warrior UAS have logged 145,000 flight hours. See also July 8/10 release.

May 7/10: Lynx radar. General Atomics announces that its Lynx Block 30 Synthetic Aperture Radar with Ground Moving Target Indicator (SAR/GMTI) has achieved over 1,000 collective mission hours on their 4 Sky Warrior Block 1 UAVs in Iraq. The radar has a broad area GMTI scanning mode for detecting moving vehicles in front and to either side, can cue the camera payload to things it “sees” by using the CLAW payload control software, and features very fast Coherent Change Detection (CCD) algorithms.

The US Army’s Quick Reaction Capability-1 (QRC-1) deployment began in December 2009. A second group of 4 Lynx Block 30 radars is scheduled to begin Limited User Testing with the Army later in May 2010, in support of this summer’s planned QRC-2 deployment. In addition to supporting QRC-1 operations with the Lynx radar, GA-ASI is providing full Contractor Logistics Support (CLS), including radar operation, image analysis, and maintenance support.

May 7/10: A $5.8 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for continued performance of the ER/MP’s SDD phase. Work is to be performed in Poway, CA, with an estimated completion date of Dec 31/10. One bid was solicited with one bid received by U.S. Army Contracting Command, AMCOM Constructing Center at Redstone Arsenal, AL (W58RGZ-05-C-0069).

May 6/10: A $15.2 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract, exercising an option in support of the ER/MP production readiness test asset. Work is to be performed in Poway, CA, with an estimated completion date of April 09/11. One bid was solicited with one bid received by U.S. Army Contracting Command, AMCOM Constructing Center at Redstone Arsenal, AL (W58RGZ-09-C-0151). Asked about this contract, General Atomics spokespeople said that:

“…this is not the other half of the [April 22/10] PRTA contract, this is an additional amount for spares and ground support equipment.”

On other topics, they add that the ER/MP’s name change from General Atomics’ Sky Warrior designation to the US Army’s Gray Eagle designation is not official – yet.

April 29/10: 1,000,000 UAV hours. The US Army announces that April 2010 saw the 1,000,000th flight hour for its UAV fleets. That’s a dramatic change from the handful of Army RQ-7 Shadow and RQ-5 Hunter systems in 2001, to roughly 1,000 UAVs by 2010 that are logging up to 25,000 of UAV flight hours per month. It has taken 13 years to put together the first 100,000 hours, followed by 8.5 years to add the next 900,000. About 88% of these flight hours are from time in combat.

The Army now operates 6 MQ-5 Hunter systems that have recently been armed, 87 RQ-7 Shadow UAS systems that are likely to become armed MQ-7 variants son, 9 MQ-1C ER/MP variants, 1,300 Raven mini-UAV systems and 16 RQ-18 gMAV systems. Each system includes several UAVs, plus launch platforms if needed and associated ground control station and communications equipment. Tim Owings, deputy program manager, Army UAS:

“Ninety-five percent of what the Army has in its inventory today did not even exist at the beginning of the war… A lot of people liken Vietnam to a helicopter war – I liken these two wars as the unmanned systems wars because these are the wars where these systems hit the central axis of the way we fight and became part and parcel to the way the Army prosecutes wars… It has been absolutely amazing, no matter how many we have built there has always been a need for more.”??

A Quick Reaction Capability (QRC) of 4 unarmed MQ-1C Block 0s were deployed to Iraq in 2009 – and another ERMP QRC is slated for Afghanistan later in 2010, armed with Hellfire missiles. The idea of the QRC is to field technologies in service of the ongoing war effort as they are available while simultaneously developing a system as a program of record.

April 22/10: +4. A $17 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract to finalize a contract for ER/MP production readiness test assets. Work is to be performed in Poway, CA, with an estimated completion date of Sept 30/11. One bid was solicited with one bid received (W58RGZ-09-C-0151). In response to a query, General Atomics tells DID that the contract includes:

“…4 Sky Warrior ER/MP aircraft, 2 ER/MP One System GCS, TCDL/GDT, SGDT, TALS, etc.). The [equipment is] to be used for the Initial Operational Test & Evaluation (IOT&E) phase that follows SDD.”

The other $23.4 million part of this contract, plus the May 6/10 contract, leaves the final price at $55.6 million for systems and support.

MQ-1C Sky Warrior
(click to view full)

March 30/10: GAO report. The US GAO audit office delivers its 8th annual “Defense Acquisitions: Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs report. With respect to the ER/MP:

“…a Secretary of Defense memorandum to field the capability as soon as possible… affected the program in several ways. According to program officials, it extended system development and demonstration by about 2 years and delayed the award of the low-rate initial production contract by over 1 year. In accordance with the Secretary’s direction, the Army fielded one “Quick Reaction Capability” system in 2009 and plans to field another in 2010. These systems lack the full capabilities planned.”

“…All four critical technologies are now mature and have been demonstrated on the final version of the unmanned air system… The ER/MP is expected to enter low-rate initial production in early 2010 with all its manufacturing processes demonstrated in a production representative environment… the program was approved in February 2010 for low-rate initial production, and they now anticipate changes in cost, quantity, and schedule. However, official, detailed information was not available in time for inclusion in this report… the Air Force has determined it will no longer acquire the MQ-1C Predator. The Army now anticipates a DOD acquisition memorandum closing the [DoD’s earlier] direction to combine the programs.”

Feb 19/10: General Atomics Aeronautical System in Poway, CA receives a $36.7 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract, covering in-theater support for ERMP Alpha and Block 0 UAVs for the Iraqi and Afghan theaters of war. The contract will run until Nov 15/11. One bid was solicited, with one bid received (W58RGZ-10-C-0044).

Feb 18/10: Tests, and Milestone C. The US Army announces that the ER/MP has successfully completed a series of tests with the HELLFIRE II UAS missile variant, whose 360-degree targeting ability, allowing UAVs that lack a helicopter’s instant maneuverability to put missiles on target faster. Testing began on Nov 22/09, and took place at Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake, CA, following cooperation from General Atomics-Aeronautical Systems, Inc.’s Software Integration Laboratory, the company’s El Mirage Flight Test Facility in El Mirage, CA, and Edwards Air Force Base, CA..

The tests began with dry runs and an inert test missile, followed by a successful “cold” pass using a live missile to verify lock-on, followed by “hot pass” firing. November and December involved testing in various conditions, from varying altitudes, against stationary or moving targets. Tests recorded 9 successful shots, which helped pave the way for the UAV’s February 2010 Milestone C approval.

Feb 13/10: The US military issues a FedBizOpps notice as it conducts market research seeking sources to provide in-theatre logistical support, to include field service representatives and maintainers to support sustainment of the AN/DAS-2 payload and the AN/AAS-53 sensor and target designation turrets. The usual winner in these cases is the contractor, especially when, as in this case, “The government does not own the technical data package for these payloads.”

The AN/DAS-2 equipped initial SkyWarriors. The day/night sensing and targeting turret contains a continuous zoom day camera, a thermal imager, a visible imager, a laser designator, and an eye-safe laser rangefinder, all packaged within a stabilized gimbal. The AN/AAS-53 “is planned to replace the AN/DAS-2 beginning in fourth quarter 2009.” FBO solicitation.

Feb 11/10: STARLite, express. Northrop Grumman announces the recent delivery of the first 2 production AN/ZPY-1 STARLite radars for the US Army’s ER/MP, under a compressed 18-month schedule. The STARLite radar is a 65 pound synthetic aperture radar (SAR) with ground moving target indicator (GMTI) capabilities. In SAR mode, the radar provides images along the aircraft’s flight path or along a path independent of the flight path. It can also provide a high-resolution image of a specific area on the ground. In the GMTI mode, the radar provides moving target locations overlaid on a digital map. It can see through battlefield obscurants at all times of day, and in all weather. It also has software that connects with the Army One Common Ground Station.

Northrop Grumman is working under a $78.5 million contract with the Army’s Robotics and Unmanned Sensors Product Office at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD, to provide a total of 33 STARLite radar systems by April 2011.

Feb 2/10: Milestone C. The Army’s ER/MP passes its Milestone C review, following success during the UAV’s Operational Assessment test phase, and a positive verdict regarding production readiness. The decision allows Low Rate Initial Production to begin. Tim Owings, the US Army Deputy Project Manager for Army UAS, states that Milestone C authorizes 2 complete systems of 24 total UAVs plus ground control and related equipment, plus 8 UAVs for training and war-loss replacement. US Army.

Milestone

Feb 1/10: The Pentagon releases its FY 2011 budget requests. For the ER/MP program, Research, Development, Testing & Evaluation would jump 45% to $123.2 million. Purchases would jump about 5% to $506.3 million for 29 UAVs, including 3 UAVs under OCO/war funding purchases.

Dec 11/09: Arming begins. Aviation Week reports that the Army is beginning to arm its MQ-1Cs as its pushes toward a “Milestone C” production decision. Tests at China Lake, CA began with 2 Hellfire shots in late November, and will continue until Dec 18/09.

“The soon to be re-designated Gray Eagle UAV, currently called the extended range/multi-purpose (ERMP) unmanned aircraft system by the Army, is being rushed into service with newly-formed quick reaction capability (QRC) units in Iraq and Afghanistan… the initial QRC-1 unit is now deployed in Iraq with four unarmed aircraft… The current weapons tests… form part of preparations to arm QRC-2 aircraft which will be deployed to Afghanistan in July [2010].”

Army UAS project manager Col. Gregory Gonzalez confirmed to Aviation Week that QRC-2 will have the first real weaponized MQ-1C system.

Oct 27/09: The DEW Line highlights a Raytheon Program Manager job ad that discusses possible improvements to the MQ-1C fleet:

“[Raytheon] has proposed a significant upgrade program to the baseline CSP configuration to include High Definition (HD) EO/IR capability and Target Location Accuracy (TLA) enhancements. This position is the program manager (PM) of the CSP TLA/HD (approx $30M) development program. The selected individual will be responsible for managing all aspects of the development program including start up, gate reviews, customer reviews, customer daily interface, supplier management, build of 6 integration and test systems, quality testing and flight testing. It is anticipated the CSP TLA/HD development program will result in retrofit of up to 100 baseline CSP systems and this position would manage the follow-on retrofit business. The TLA/HD upgrade program will be run in parallel with the CSP IDIQ base program and will require integration and leveraging with the on-going CSP production program.”

Oct 9/09: Support. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems in Poway, CA receives on Sept 30/09 a $16.8 million cost-plus-fixed-fee engineering services contract, to support product improvements and new technology insertions into the ER/MP UAS.

Work will be performed in Poway, CA, with an estimated completion date of Sept 29/12. Bids were solicited online, with 1 bid received. U.S. Army Aviation & Missile Command Contraction Center, Redstone Arsenal, AL, is the contacting activity (W58RGZ-09-C-0136).

FY 2008 – 2009

1st mission in-theater; GAO decision blasts GA-ASI; Insolvency & fraud scandal for engine-maker Thielert; UAV Wars.

MQ-1C, Block 0
(click to view full)

August 2009: QRC-1 deploys. Deployment of Sky Warrior Block 1 (ER/MP program version), as the Quick Reaction Capability-1 (QRC-1). Feedback from the field will be incorporated into the QRC-2 deployment as software and hardware upgrades, and tactical changes. Source.

March 2/09: +8. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. in San Diego, CA received a $35 million cost plus incentive fee, definitization of a letter contract to acquire 8 ERMP Quick Reaction Capability UAVs, and associated support equipment. This acquisition is directed by the Joint Chief of Staff to accommodate a surge of UAVs in theater.

Work is to be performed at San Diego, CA (46%); Adelanto, CA (14%); Palmdale, CA (8%); Salt Lake City, UT (18%); and Hunt Valley, MD (14%), with an estimated completion date of Jan 15/10. One bid was solicited and one bid received (W58RGZ-05-C-0069).

Feb 5/09: No SAR. Jane’s Defence Weekly [site] reports that:

“The US Army is suspending a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) requirement for Warrior unmanned aerial systems (UASs) in order to… speed the Warrior’s deployment to theatre, where intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) assets are in great demand.”

USAF MQ-1A/Bs currently carry the AN/APY-8 Lynx ground-looking synthetic aperture radar, which gives them the ability to notice certain kinds of objects more prominently, and to see through some obscurants like low clouds, smoke, etc. On Feb 5/09, General Atomics tested a Lynx II dual-beam variant, with a Space Time Adaptive Processing (STAP) upgrade developed in cooperation with BAE Systems. The modifications cancel the main beam’s GMTI (ground moving target indicator) clutter, which helps the radar detect slow-moving objects more accurately and at longer ranges.

Sept 18/08: General Atomics Aeronautical System in San Diego, CA received a $37.2 million cost plus incentive fee price contract for incremental funding for systems development and demonstration (including integration of the Hellfire Missile) for the ER/MP. Work will be performed in San Diego, CA, Adelanto, CA, Palmdale, CA, Salt Lake City, UT, Hunt Valley, MD, and Huntsville, AL, with an estimated completion date of Aug 31/09. One hundred and twenty bids were solicited and 3 bids were received (W58RGZ-05-C-0069).

Aug 19/08: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems in San Diego, CA received a $7.9 million cost plus fixed fee contract to acquire 3 ERMP Block 0 Unmanned Aircraft in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Work will be performed in San Diego, CA with an estimated completion date of March 31/10. One bid was solicited and one bid received (W58RGZ-06-C-0208).

Aug 8/08: GA-ASI issues. A US GAO decision denies Lockheed Martin’s bid protest over the BAMS maritime surveillance UAV contract – and cites ongoing performance issues with its key partner General Atomics as the reason. The GAO summary for Bid Protest B-400135 states that:

“Agency reasonably determined, in procurement for unmanned maritime surveillance aircraft, that awardee [DID: Northrop Grumman] had significant advantage over protester [DID: Lockheed Martin] with respect to past performance where: protester’s subcontractor [DID: General Atomics], responsible for approximately 50 percent of contract effort, had recent past performance history of being unable to resolve staffing and resource issues, resulting in adverse cost and schedule performance on very relevant contracts for unmanned aircraft; record did not demonstrate that protester’s subcontractor had implemented systemic improvement that resulted in improved performance; [in contrast] operating division of the awardee also had performance problems on very relevant contracts for unmanned aircraft, many had been addressed through systemic improvement; and overall performance of awardee’s team on most evaluated contract efforts was rated better than satisfactory, while the overall performance of protester’s team on 11 of 26 contract efforts was only marginal.”

The BAMS bid in question has been based on General Atomics’ Mariner, a variant of its larger MQ-9 UAV. The GAO decision then goes on to discuss these issues in more detail, including this passage:

“In contrast, however, GA-ASI’s contract performance was a matter of great concern to the agency. Specifically, while recognizing that GA-ASI had demonstrated a willingness and ability to respond on short notice to evolving Global War on Terror (GWOT) warfighter requirements, the SSEB found that GA-ASI’s performance demonstrated: inadequate staffing, resulting in performance problems on SDD contracts for the MQ-9 Reaper (a second-generation, Predator B model) and the MQ-1C Extended Range/Multipurpose (ER/MP) UAS (a second-generation Predator model); unfavorable schedule performance on four of seven relevant GA-ASI contracts, including very relevant contracts for the MQ-9 Reaper, UAS ground control stations, MQ-1C ER/MP, I-GNAT Extended Range UAS (a version of the Predator with some differences for the Army), and MQ-1 baseline Predator; poor performance in meeting technical quality requirements on three of seven GA-ASI contracts, including contracts for the MQ-9 Reaper, MQ-1C ER/MP, and I-GNAT Extended Range UAS; and workload exceeded the firm’s capacity on five of seven GA-ASI contracts, including contracts for the MQ-9 Reaper, UAS ground control stations, MQ-1C ER/MP, I-GNAT Extended Range UAS, and MQ?1/MQ-9 maintenance support. In summary, the SSEB found the overall performance of GA-ASI on its very relevant contracts for the MQ-9 Reaper (most delivery orders), UAS ground control stations, MQ-1C ER/MP, and I-GNAT Extended Range UAS to be marginal.”

June 12/08: 1st mission. General Atomics announces that 2 MQ-1C Block 0 UAvs are now operational in Iraq. The first mission for WY-201 occurred on April 18/08 and lasted 10.5 hours. MQ-1C #WY-202 was deployed at the end of April.

Milestone

May 17/08: Thielert scandal. Thielert Engines insolvency administrator Dr. Bruno M. Kubler discusses the current situation in a release, including some revelations with implications for customers like General Atomics. The statement notes that attempts are being made to keep Thielert as a an operating concern, with some flexibility shown by creditors and Frank Thielert may not be CEO, but he remains the personal holder of key permits and therefore remains involved. Meanwhile:

• German insolvency law does not permit the assumption of warranties or guarantees free of charge for products and services supplied prior to the declaration of insolvency. Parts supplied after insolvency can be warrantied, but the firm is in no position to do so. Dr. Kubler hopes that aircraft manufacturers will step in.

• Higher prices will be charged for engines and spares.

• Payment in advance is now required, but assurances are made re: delivery once payment is made.

• The firm’s #1 customer, Diamond Aircraft, has pushed for concessions and preferential deals with Thielert, using both private negotiations and public tactics. Relations are deteriorating, but the firms are still negotiating.

April 28/08: STARLite radar. Northrop Grumman announces that its STARLite has been selected by the U.S. Army Communication-Electronics Life Cycle Management Command to equip ER/MP UAVs. The initial $42 million contract will finalize development, and deliver 10 radars.

The ground looking SAR/GMTI (Sythetic Aperture Radar with Ground Moving Target Indicator) fills the niche that General Atomics’ own AN/APY-8 Lynx radar occupies on USAF MQ-1A/B Predators.

April 16/08: +8. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems in San Diego, CA receives $38.5 million cost-plus incentive fee contract for the acquisition of 8 ER/MP quick reaction capability unmanned aircraft vehicles and assorted support equipment.

Work will be performed primarily in San Diego, CA and is expected to be complete on May 15/09. One bid was solicited on March 17/08 (W58RGZ-05-C-0069).

April 10/08: Thielert insolvency. SkyWarrior engine maker Thielert issues a release concerning their “urgent liquidity crisis.” The act is not an isolated incident, but rather a culmination of trends that include formal charges of accounting fraud and falsification of documents.

It is followed by a declaration of insolvency in May 2008.

March 31/08: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. flies the first Sky Warrior Block 1 UAV from the company’s El Mirage Flight Operations Facility in Adelanto, CA. GA-ASI release.

March 3/08: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems in San Diego, CA received an $18.7 million cost-plus incentive fee contract that provides incremental funding for system development and demonstration of the ER/MP UAV. Work will be performed in San Diego, CA; Adelanto, CA; Palmdale, CA; Salt Lake City, UT; Hunt Valley, MD; and Huntsville, AL; and is expected to be complete by Aug 31/09. There were 120 bids solicited on Sept 1/04, and 3 bids were received (W58RGZ-05-C-0069).

Feb 14/08: Raytheon announces 2 U.S. Army orders totaling $17.2 million for 18 common sensor payloads, as system design and development continues. The article does not give details that would confirm the Nov 7/07 entry as one of those contracts, but it is possible. The firm states that they’ve delivered 10 AN/DAS-2 sensors so far.

Nov 7/07: Raytheon Co. in McKinney, TX received a delivery order amount of $11 million as part of an $800 million firm-fixed-price and cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for common sensors for the ARH-70A helicopter and the MQ-1C Sky Warrior ER/MP UAV. Work will be performed in McKinney, TX and is expected to be complete by Oct. 31, 2016. Bids were solicited via the World Wide Web on April 24, 2007, and 5 bids were received by the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command in Fort Monmouth, NJ (W15P7T-08-D-S602).

Raytheon’s release adds that the program calls for design and development, testing and air vehicle integration of a variant of Raytheon’s Multi-spectral Targeting System, in a project could be worth up to $1.2 billion for 875 units, if all options are exercised. See also Raytheon Feature | Common Sensor Platform product page. Raytheon’s CSP completes its Predator family trifecta; it also supplies the AN/DAS-1 system that equips MQ-1 Predator UAVs, and the AN/AAS-52 on MQ-9 Reapers. With respect to deliveries to the Sky Warrior program thus far:

“The company has delivered 10 AN/DAS-2 electro-optical/ infrared/ laser designator sensors under a system design and development contract let in May 2005. At the beginning of this year, the Army ordered seven more systems under a low rate production option.”

Oct 19/07: General Atomics Aeronautical System in San Diego, CA received a $20.8 million increment as part of a $231.2 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for system development and demonstration for the ER/MP UAV Vehicle, including integration of the Hellfire Missile.

Work will be performed in San Diego, CA (43%), Adelanto, CA (14%), Palmdale, CA (8%), Salt Lake City, UT (18%), Hunt Valley, MD (14%), and Huntsville, AL (3%), and is expected to be complete by Aug 31/09. There were 120 bids solicited on Sept. 1, 2004, and 3 bids were received (W58RGZ-05-C-0069).

Oct 1-17/07: UAV Wars. DID talks to the US Army about the SkyWarrior program. Going forward, the USAF will manage the program according to jointly agreed requirements, but each service will maintain its own budget for the UAVs it wants.

A common version will be selected and approved by late 2008, but no decision has been reached re: which version will predominate: the MQ-1B Block X/MQ-1C with 4 missile pylons and a heavy fuel engine that can burn diesel, or the existing MQ-1 that burns aviation fuel and has 2 missile pylons.

Oct 1/07: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems in San Diego, CA received a $27.5 million modification to a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for contractor logistics support for the Sky Warrior Block 0 Unmanned Aircraft System.

Work will be performed in San Diego, CA (80%); Hunt Valley, MD (10%); and Salt Lake City, UT (10%); and is expected to be complete by Sept. 27, 2008. This was a sole source contract initiated on Sept. 14, 2007 (DAAH01-03-C-0124).

FY 2005 – 2007

UAV Wars between US Army & USAF; Army Future Combat System changes improve ER/MP’s opportunity; 1st ER/MP flight; ER/MP development contract issued.

MQ-1C Sky Warrior
(click to view full)

Sept 28/07: UAV Wars. In its Daily Report for this date, the Air Force Association’s Air Force Magazine Online discusses the UAV executive agency issue:

“Defending the recent Pentagon decision not to give the Air Force executive agency over medium- to high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles, Army Secretary Pete Geren told defense reporters Thursday that the Army’s modernization goals don’t fit with an executive agent approach. “The need for control with UAVs fits close to the individual soldier,” Geren said. Part of the Army’s Future Combat Systems program is to empower soldiers and give them greater control over assets such as UAVs. He noted that Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley have met on the issue recently to work out disagreements. “Some of the disagreements have arisen because these issues have not been tackled at a high enough level,” Geren said. While sympathetic to the Air Force’s perspective, he noted that an executive agent approach that’s advocated by some would make sense if we were fighting a conventional war. “It’s a different debate when you’re talking about the kind of fight we are in today,” Geren declared.”

See also Military.com’s article re: the decision fallout.

Sept 13/07: UAV Wars. Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England rejects Air Force efforts to become the executive agent for all medium- and high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles, over objections from the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps. In his memo, England directed the Pentagon’s acquisition office to create a task force on UAV issues to “enhance operations, enable interdependencies, and streamline acquisition” of the drones. He also directed Pentagon officials to take other steps to foster cross-service collaboration on the UAV programs.

The Predator and SkyWarrior programs, however, have been merged. The exact meaning of that move remains to be seen – either to standardize the Predator on a similar SkyWarrior/MQ-1C version, or eliminate the Warrior variant and use existing MQ-1As. GovExec | The Hill.

Aug 22/07: A $5.15 million increment as part of a $215.4 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for system development and demonstration for the ER/MP UAV. Work will be performed in San Diego, CA (43%), Adelanto, CA (14%), Palmdale, CA (8%), Salt Lake City, UT (18%), Hunt Valley, MD (14%), and Huntsville, AL (3%), and is expected to be complete by Aug. 31, 2009. There were 120 bids solicited on Sept. 1, 2004, and 3 bids were received (W58RGZ-05-C-0069).

According to DID’s calculations based on DefenseLINK public announcements, about $167 million of the $215.4 million ER/MP program’s contracts have been issued as of this increment.

Aug 6/07: +2 YMQ-1C. General Atomics in San Diego, CA received a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for $7.3 million to provide 2 Pre-Production YMQ-1C Block X aircraft. General Atomics has confirmed to DID that these are USAF versions of the Army Sky Warrior. See the May 7/07 entry and Appendix A for details; this award should be seen in the context of the USAF’s effort to take over UAV authority.

At this time, total funds have been obligated. Solicitations began in April 2006, negotiations were completed in July 2007, and work will be complete in January 2009 (FA8620-05-G-3028-0018).

July 5/07: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems in San Diego, CA received a $14.7 million increment as part of a $215.4 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for system development and demonstration for the ER/MP Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. Work will be performed in San Diego, CA (43%), Adelanto, CA (14%), Palmdale, CA (8%), Salt Lake City, UT (18%), Hunt Valley, MD (14%), and Huntsville, AL (3%), and is expected to be complete by Aug. 31, 2009. There were 120 bids solicited on Sept. 1, 2004, and 3 bids were received (W58RGZ-05-C-0069).

June 27/07: UAV Wars. Air Force Times report: With the question of whether there should be an executive agency in charge of medium- and high-altitude UAVs still hanging in the air, U.S. deputy defense secretary Gordon England wrote in a letter earlier in June to Army and Air Force leaders asking the services to collaborate on procuring and operating the Predator and Warrior UAVs. Army and Air Force officials were asked to submit briefings to England by the end of June 2007.

June 6/07: The first ER/MP Sky Warrior aircraft flew successfully from General Atomics’ El Mirage Flight Operations Facility in Adelanto, CA. The company-owned Block 0 aircraft completed all stated objectives for its maiden flight. General Atomics release.

Milestone

May 17/07: UAV Wars. The Congressional Government Accountability Office releases report #GAO-07-578, “Greater Synergies Possible for DOD’s Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Systems,” which explicitly discusses the possible merger of Warrior & Predator programs. It mentions that “The Air Force and the Army are currently working to identify program synergies in a three-phased approach:

• First, the Air Force will acquire and test two of the more modern Warrior airframes.

• Second, the two services will compare their requirements for ground control stations and automated takeoff and landing.

• Finally, the Army and Air Force plan to compare concepts of operation and training requirements for additional synergies.”

May 10/07: The JROC directs the USAF to flesh out its executive agency plan. No firm deadline is set, and no firm decision is taken.

May 7/07: “Predator Block X”. General Atomics in San Diego, CA received a $10.1 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract from the USAF’s Headquarters Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH. This contract action will provide a series of required tasks to design, fabricate, integrate, and test the Predator MQ-1B Block X aircraft which will utilize a Heavy Full Engine (HFE), will support a 3,200 lbs gross take-off weight, and will carry 4 Hellfire missiles (2 on each wing). The Predator MQ-1B Block X shall leverage off technology from the existing Predator B (MQ-9) program, the Army’s ER/MP program, and on-going GA-ASI internal research and development efforts. At this time, total funds have been obligated. Solicitations began June 2006 and negotiations were complete April 2007 (FA8620-05-G-3028-0016).

It should come as no surprise to anyone that the ability to operate the engine on “heavy” fuels like diesel, and to carry 4 Hellfire missiles instead of 2, constitute the two biggest differences between the USAF’s MQ-1 Predator and the Army’s Warrior UAV. This award should be seen in the context of the USAF’s effort to take over UAV authority, vid. Appendix A.

May 7/07: UAV Wars. Officials with the DoD’s Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) meet with Army and Air Force officials to discuss proposals to put all such UAVs under a single executive agency. See Appendix A for more background.

April 6/07: General Atomics Aeronautical System in San Diego, CA received a $5.3 million modification to a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for ERMP Block 0 UAVs. Work will be performed in San Diego, CA (65%), Adelanto, CA (5%), Palmdale, CA (5%), and Salt Lake City, UT (25%), and is expected to be complete by Aug. 31, 2007. This was a sole source contract initiated on June 21, 2006 (W58RGZ-06-C-0208).

March 5/07: UAV Wars. US Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley’s circulates a memo, proposing to name his service as the Pentagon executive agent for UAVs. See Appendix A for more background.

Feb 14/07: 4 more. General Atomics Aeronautical System in San Diego, CA received an $11.7 million modification to a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for acquisition of 4 ERMP Block 0 UAVs, associated support equipment, and initial spares. This appears to be the initial installment on the test aircraft.

Work will be performed in San Diego, CA (65%), Adelanto, CA (5%), Palmdale, CA (5%), and Salt Lake City, UT (25%), and is expected to be complete by Dec. 18, 2007. This was a sole source contract initiated on June 21, 2006 (W58RGZ-06-C-0208).

Jan 9/07: FCS changes. The US Army restructures its $160+ billion Future Combat Systems program, and “delays”/ eliminates its Class II and Class III UAVs. The Warrior ERMP is expected to be one of the existing systems filling the Class III brigade-level gap.

Dec 22/06: General Atomics Aeronautical System, San Diego, CA was received a $63.1 million increment as part of “a $215.4 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for System Development and Demonstration for the Extended Range / Multi-Purpose Unmanned Aerial Vehicle.”

Work will be performed in San Diego, CA (43%), Adelanto, CA (14%), Palmdale, CA (8%), Salt Lake City, UT (18%), Hunt Valley, MD (14%), and Huntsville, AL (3%), and is expected to be complete by Aug. 31, 2009. There were 120 bids solicited on Sept. 1, 2004, and 3 bids were received by the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command in Redstone Arsenal, AL (W58RGZ-05-C-0069).

March 13/06: DID – Warrior UAV Program Underway. $67 million increment received for the Warrior program, as part of a “$214.3 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for System Development and Demonstration for the Extended Range / Multi-Purpose Unmanned Aerial Vehicle” (W58RGZ-05-C-0069).

Oct 6/05: DID – AAI Takes Another UAV Ground Control Project. A $30 million subcontract for the Warrior UAV’s ground control.

Aug 8/05: Winner! General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. in San Diego, CA has won a $214.4 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for research, development, test and evaluation of the Extended Range Multi Purpose Unmanned Aerial Vehicle system (ERMP UAV).

One hundred twenty bids were solicited on Sept 1/04, and 3 bids were received. Work will be performed at facilities in 6 locations: San Diego, Adelanto and Palmdale, CA; Salt Lake City, UT; Hunt Valley, MD; and Huntsville, AL, and is estimated to be complete by Aug. 31, 2009. The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal, AL issued the contract (W58RGZ-05-C-0069). The Army’s public affairs office can be reached at (256) 955-9174.

Milestone

Appendix A: US Army et. al. vs. USAF Over UAVs

US Army Air Corps

Faced with an aerial tanker fleet that’s 50+ years old, front line fighters under flight restrictions due to age and fatigue, and heavy strain on transport aircraft resources, the USAF has been making strenuous efforts to take over the UAV domain. At the moment, UAVs are bought by individual services: Army, Navy, USAF, Marines. The Army in particular has been using UAVs for reconnaissance and persistent fire support, as in-house assets that involve less organizational friction to deploy, and can be prioritized for purchase according to the needs of soldiers on the ground.

The USAF had asked for authority over all American UAVs before, but this was refused. The Pentagon’s JROC(Joint Requirements Oversight Committee) determined that an executive agent was not necessary. Instead, they created the Joint Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Center of Excellence at Creech Air Force Base, NV to share operational tips; and the Joint Unmanned Aerial Systems Materiel Review Board in order to work out best practices for materiel. There is also a US Army UAV Center of Excellence at Fort Rucker, AL.

The end of the argument? No, because of the organizational and budgetary threat that non-USAF UAVs represent.

Viper Strike
(click to view larger)

One measure of the potential threat can be inferred from usage figures. As of September 2007, MQ-1 Predator UAVs had reached 300,000 flight hours since inception around 2001, of which 80% were combat flight. Fully 1/3 of those flight hours were accumulated in the previous 12 months, and total fleet flying hours had risen to 10,000 hours/month. On Nov 9/07, Jane’s International Defense Review reported that by the end of the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2007, US Army UAVs had flown a total of 295,181 hours in Iraq, nearly 18% of the total hours flown by the army aviation fleet.

Well below a Predator’s size threshold, US Army RQ-7 Shadow battalion-level UAVs are racking up 8,000 flight hours per month in Iraq (almost equal to the Predators’ recent totals), accompanied by US Army RQ-5 Hunter aircraft that sit somewhere between a Predator and Shadow in size and are accumulating their own flight time. Smaller UAVs like the popular RQ-11 Raven, meanwhile, are racking up their own significant totals, with shorter flight times offset by much larger numbers in the field to produce 300,000 flight hours in 2007 alone. The Army reached 1 million UAV flight hours for its fleet of RQ-5 Hunter, RQ-7 Shadow, RQ-11 Raven, RQ-18 gMAV, and MQ-1C ER/MP UAVs in April 2010, and is adding to that at 25,000 hours per month.

The RQ-5 Hunters have been tested with Viper Strike mini-bombs, and the Shadows may be eligible as well if the Army wishes. Shadows will certainly be eligible for NAVAIR’s 5-6 pound Spike missile project (scheduled for an autumn 2007 UAV test), and all UAVs can provide targeting for M30 GPS-guided MLRS rockets, long-range ATACMS MLRS missiles, or the 155mm Excalibur artillery shells entering service in Q3 2007. Larger UAVs like the Sky Warrior add Hellfire II missiles, the 250 lb. Small Diameter Bombs, and 250 – 500 lb. GPS-guided JDAMs or laser-guided Paveway bombs to the mix.

With these fire support assets on the airframe or on call, most close air support functions encountered in counterinsurgency missions can be covered.

Manned fighters offer their own advantages: anti-air capabilities, a payload capacity several times a UAV’s, greatly improved panoramic visibility, no need for potentially vulnerable or limited-bandwidth long-range communications in order to fly, better intimidation presence via fast flyovers, and better survivability/ fewer crashes. In counterinsurgency scenarios, however, air threats are minimal to nonexistent, fighters are usually loaded with just a couple of weapons; and except for the A-10 or dedicated COIN (COunter-INsurgency) turboprops, the planes are moving so quickly that they must rely on targeting pods with the same narrow field of view as a UAV pilot’s. That still leaves intimidation and survivability advantages, but your average jet fighter is extremely expensive to buy, has a 7,000 – 10,000 hour airframe life, costs many multiples of dollars per flight hour to operate, and offers an on-station time that is usually less than half that of a Predator class MALE UAV.

Specialty close-support aircraft like the USA’s A-10, gunships like the AC-130s, and even COIN turboprops offer combinations of affordability and/or compelling advantages that keep them competitive in counterinsurgency scenarios. Can the same be said for the USAF’s F-16s, F-15… or its future F-35 Lightning II and F-22A Raptor fighters? In their January 2007 article “UAVs With Bite,” Air Force Magazine notes that:

“The Air Force now has provisional plans to buy some 170 Predator MQ-1s by 2010 and acquire 50 to 70 MQ-9s by around 2012, for a total of 220 or more of the combat-capable drones. At present, the service plans on retiring a comparable number of F-16s over the same period.”

MQ-1 Predator:
circling to kill?
(click to view full)

This calculus is why some observers saw the UAV fight as the “Key West Agreement” fight for the 21st century, with the outcome determining the future organizational backbone and role of the USAF – and other services besides.

Hence the USAF’s persistence. The USAF’s return foray in March 2007 involved a move to take over acquisition authority for all UAVs designed to operate at “medium or high altitudes.” Battalion-level UAVs like the RQ-7 Shadow 200 might or might not escape, but even so the maneuver would neatly strip away virtually all armed UAVs, and hence the bureaucratic threat of Army UAVs evolving toward the USAF’s close air support role. Besides, with the USAF re-organizing its ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance) assets into their own dedicated function, they can always come back for the rest later under a “unified ISR” claim, once a large portion of UAV acquisition and prioritization are already under their control.

The ER/MP Warrior program is obviously a front-line target in this fight, given its derivation from the MQ-1 Predator UAVs the USAF had already bought in quantity, before switching future orders to the larger MQ-9 Reaper.

Three broad-brush outcomes were possible:

# The US Army and USAF retain separate control of their UAVs, and continue to work out standards et. al. through the established joint centers of excellence; Warrior program unaffected.
# The USAF does NOT acquire executive authority over UAVs, but there is consolidation between the US Army and USAF MQ-1 variants/programs to a common version. This is the current state. The Warrior program survives only if it becomes that common version.
# The USAF acquires executive authority over “medium to high altitude” UAVs. The ER/MP Warrior UAV program is almost certainly canceled, future USMC programs are under threat, and the Navy will have to fight to maintain control of its own programs.

In the end, the answer was solution #1, with a twist. The USAF also switched its future UAV production plans from the Predator to the MQ-9 Reaper, whose high altitude performance and 3,000 pound ordnance load give it dramatically different capabilities.

There’s obviously a larger debate going on here. The Kasserine Pass disaster in World War 2, where commanders in quiet sectors refused to turn over their aircraft to units under fire, provided the impetus for today’s TacAir system, which puts airmen in charge of managing and allocating air assets in response to the needs of the ground commander. At some level, the USAF arguments hark back to that concept, and to the 1948 “Key West Accords,” which ended up turning Army Aviation into a helicopter force. There’s also a procurement angle, as noted during coverage of USAF Chief of Staff Moseley’s testimony on this issue before Congress:

“Without an executive agency, the services will likely continue their separate design and procurement efforts, and the DOD will have forfeited the considerable savings it could have realized. Additionally, DOD will have lost an opportunity to create and harness the interservice synergies that would result from building upon — rather than duplicating — each service’s strengths, General Moseley said.”

On the other hand, the US Army hasn’t always felt well served by the USAF’s procurement priorities, which many feel have tended to emphasize high-end USAF assets at the expense of some key roles (forward observation, light transport, close support) needed by troops on the ground. That fact that UAVs serve in a couple of the roles that have previously received short shrift doesn’t make the Army feel any better. They also worry that a service run by fighter jocks is likely to steer unmanned systems away from anything that might intrude on their established roles, or call high-ticket platforms into question. The last 40 years of organizational and political theory tends to support that worry.

Tim Owings, deputy project manager for the Army’s unmanned aircraft systems:

“From our perspective, consistently what has come out of theater is the need for our commanders to have direct control and ownership of the UAV application. That has played out in every theater that we have been in.”

In 2010, director of the Army Quadrennial Defense Review Timothy Muchmore brought the issue into sharp relief, when he was quoted as saying that:

“The air power provided by our sister services has dominated the third dimension, but the Army is unable to leverage that third dimension… We’ve had two combat outposts overrun by superior forces [during the past year]. Those are losses that we consider unacceptable, because we couldn’t see what was going on around the outposts.”

Anyone who has worked in a large organization can see the shape of the bureaucratic battle here. On one side, you have the staff department, preaching the benefits and savings of centralization and standards, and urging central control over the function. Some of those benefits may be real. Some of the “joint” and “team” rhetoric may also be real. But the real issue is control. On the other hand, you have the front-line business unit managers who want resources that are dedicated to their needs – and under their clear authority, in order to ensure required accountability and service levels. Some of that may be required. Still, the key is not so much the promised dedication as the control that guarantees it. Throw in a central department that has sometimes placed business unit needs lower on the priority scale than their own long term plans, add a dash of politics, and stir.

The US Navy, with a long history of running its own aviation programs, and the qualifying UCAS-D unmanned strike aircraft and BAMS maritime reconnaissance UAV programs underway, will not be watching idly. Nor will the US Marines, who also operate integrated aircraft and have UAV plans of their own.

There’s always a proper balance point in any organization, and points beyond which either central control or local control of key functions can become dysfunctional. The thing is, there’s no set recipe. It’s different in each organization, and depends on the situation, past institutional performance, and (legitimately) on the personalities involved at the time.

Where is that balance point for the US military and UAVs? Because there’s a larger issue a-wing beyond the ER/MP program – and this time, getting the answer right really is a matter of life and death.

• = DID is aware that the US Army Air Corps no longer exists.

Footnotes

fn1. A communication from General Atomics to DID referred to the platform as the “MC-1C”, a designation DID subsequently used in the article. Andreas Parsch of the fine site Designation Systems asked some questions about that, and the investigation revealed that it had been a typo. DID has corrected the article accordingly. Danke schön, Andreas.

Appendix B: Who Controls the UAVs? Readings & Primers

• Associated Press – Rise of the Machines: UAV Use Soars. Very interesting facts and figures concerning UAV use.

• US Army (April 29/10) – Army surpasses 1 million unmanned flight hours

• National Defense Magazine (April 2010) – Army on a Fast Track to Build its Own High-Tech Air Force

• National Defense (February 2010) – Army to Air Force: We Won’t Give Up Our Surveillance Aircraft. They back that up with anecdotes about USAF UAVs leaving enemies to plant land mines, and Army UAVs saving lives.

• National Defense (January 2010) – Air Force to Army: There Are Better Ways to Deploy Surveillance Aircraft. The Army disagrees.

• C4ISR Magazine (Nov 1/09) – Different courses: New-style UAV trainees edge toward combat

• General Atomics (Sept 15/08) – GA-ASI War Fighter Support Reaches Historic Proportions.

“Predator-series aircraft have amassed over a half-million flight hours and will soon complete 50,000 total missions, with 85-percent of that time spent in combat… Predator-series aircraft are now flying over 20,000 hours a month supporting U.S. coalition forces in combat and homeland security requirements… In the past year alone, monthly flight hours have doubled. Over 300 Predator-series aircraft have been produced to date”

• DID (Aug 29/08) – UAMS Experiment Brings Deconfliction Closer for Smaller UAVs. If efforts like UAMS succeed, the argument for single-service UAV control suffers a major blow.

• US Army (July 3/08) – Leaders discuss new joint unmanned aerial operations. “Army and Air Force leaders met Monday to discuss developing a new joint unmanned aerial system concept of operations…”

• NY Times (June 22/08) – At Odds With Air Force, Army Adds Its Own Aviation Unit. Project ODIN includes both manned C-12s and UAVs like SkyWarrior. “The work of the new aviation battalion was initially kept secret, but Army officials involved in its planning say it has been exceptionally active, using remotely piloted surveillance aircraft to call in Apache helicopter strikes with missiles and heavy machine gun fire that have killed more than 3,000 adversaries in the last year and led to the capture of almost 150 insurgent leaders.” See also…

• CASR (June 22/08) – Counterinsurgency Legacy – US Army Aviation Supports its Own: US Air Force turns out to be too Tardy to be Tactically Useful. Excerpts and background the NYT article. The US Army is reportedly seeking money to raise a similar unit in Afghanistan by late 2008/early 2009.

• Military.com (March 18/08) – Army Embarks on Ambitious UAV Program. Discusses key tactical and operational differences between the Army and USAF’s use of UAVs.

• US Air Force Association, Air Force Magazine (October 2007) – The Big Squeeze. Describes steps the USAF is taking to improve its ISR capabilities, the challenges, and some of the platforms involved. As recapitalization of major assets is pushed back, UAV/UAS options will grow in popularity.

• Lexington Institute (Sept 5/07) – Army Plans For Reconnaissance Drones Misuse A Vital Asset. Loren Thompson’s analysis explains the drivers at both ends of the UAV controversy without really addressing the implications of each, and without securing some underlying assumptions re: employment. Both sets of drivers and assumptions may even be true as written, and the question then becomes one of priorities:

bq. “Only 34 of the 1,200 drones U.S. forces are using in Southwest Asia can operate beyond the line of sight of ground controllers, so sometimes the wait for access to that handful of planes can be quite lengthy… Under the Army plan, if five divisions were deployed in Iraq (as is presently the case), their combined inventory of 60 Predators would be able to keep 12-15 aloft at any given time. In contrast, the approach used by the Air Force can keep nearly three times as many drones in the air because the availability of the fleet is not tied to rotation patterns and concentrating all the drones at a few sites permits maintenance efficiencies.”

• Air Force Magazine (July 2007) – The Drone War [PDF, see also Google HTML format]

• Congressional Government Accountability Office (May 17/07, #GAO-07-578) – Greater Synergies Possible for DOD’s Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Systems

• Defense News (May 14/07) – USAF Pushes Plan To Handle Pan-Service UAVs

• USAF Aim Points (April 27/07) – JROC wants Air Force to flesh out its UAV ‘Executive Agent’ proposal

• In From the Cold (April 27/07) – An “Executive Agent” for UAVs?

• USAF (April 20/07) – US Air Force official testifies on UAV executive agent issue

• US Army (April 16/07) – US military officials discuss executive agency for UAVs

• Aviation Week & Space Technology (April 2/07) – U.S. Army faults Air Force in UAV debate

• Defense Tech (Dec 13/06) – So Long, Key West

• DID (March 27/06) – USAF’s 25-Year Take on UAV Operations & Management

• DID (Aug 29/05) – USA’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Roadmap, 2005-2030. That roadmap is already changing.

Additional Readings

Thanks to DID correspondent Trent Telenko for his assistance.

Background: Gray Eagle UAVs & Related Tech

• General Atomics Aeronautical Systems – Gray Eagle UAS

• Defense Update – Sky Warrior ERMP UAV System. Now the Gray Eagle.

• General Atomics Aeronautical Systems – Predator UAS. MQ-1B.

• General Atomics Aeronautical Systems – Predator B UAS. MQ-9.

• Air Force Technology – Predator RQ-1 / MQ-1 / MQ-9 Reaper – Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), USA

• Army Technology – IGNAT-ER Long Endurance Unmanned Air Vehicle, USA. The Predator’s precursor.

• DID – UAV Data Explosion & Management

Background: Sensors and Ancillaries

• Raytheon – AN/DAS-2 Common Sensor Platform product page

• General Atomics – Lynx multi-mode radar

• Northrop Grumman – AN/ZPY-1 STARLite Small Tactical Radar – Lightweight

Official Reports

• Pentagon, via WayBack (April 2012) – Department of Defense Report to Congress on Future Unmanned Aircraft Systems Training, Operations, and Sustainability [PDF]

News & Views

• War Is Boring (Sept 29/14) – Air Force Drone Crews Got So Demoralized That They Booed Their Commander. Mistakes for the Army to avoid, though having lower-ranking operators will help.

• US Army (Feb 5/13) – Divisions will get 9 Gray Eagles to train, but deploy with 12.

• US Army (June 28/12) – Army expanding, upgrading Gray Eagle fleet.

• Alter Net, via WayBack (Oct 16/11) – America’s Secret Empire of Drone Bases: Its Full Extent Revealed for the First Time.

• US Army (Jan 18/11) – Army expanding UAS fleet, speeding up delivery.

• Esquire Magazine, via WayBack (Oct 14/09) – We’ve Seen the Future, and It’s Unmanned.

• Federal Computing Weekly, via WayBack (Oct 9/09) – Army shows Air Force the way on unmanned aerial safety. Automated take off and landing seems to be a better way to go, however injurious to pilot egos.

• Strategy Page, via WayBack (April 30/09) – Cylons 1, Humans 0. “The army uses automatic landing software for its larger UAVs [including the MQ-1C], while the air force does not [using human pilots instead]. Thus the air force has lost about a third of its UAVs to various equipment problems and operator errors, while the army loss rate was less than half that.”

• US Air Force Association, Air Force Magazine, via WayBack (Jan 7/07) – UAVs With Bite. Places the Predator family, Reaper, et. al. in a larger context.

Americas

The US Army is modernizing one of its training systems. Lockheed Martin will provide the service with an upgraded Close Combat Tactical Trainer Manned Module (CCTT) under a $356.3 million hybrid contract. The CCTT is a computer-driven, manned-module simulator that replicates the vehicle interiors of close-combat units. integrates all facets of combat vehicle operations to immerse Warfighters in the scenarios they will face on the battlefield. Through the CCTT, units train and are validated in tactics, doctrine, weapons systems, mission planning and rehearsals. Crewed simulators, such as the Abrams MBT, the Bradley and the Humvee, offer sufficient fidelity for collective mission training. Work locations and relevant funding will be determined with each individual order. The modernization efforts are scheduled for completion by August, 2028.

The US Air Force is procuring an unspecified number of aerial target from Kratos. The contractor will provide the service with Lot 14-16 BQM-167A high performance, jet powered unmanned aerial target drone systems at a cost of $108.9 million. The Air Force uses the BQM-167A to test and evaluate air-to-air and surface-to-air weapons systems. The system is capable of speeds from 230 to 600 knots. The drone can achieve flight altitudes from 50 feet above ground level to 50,000 feet mean sea level. Maneuvers include G-turns up to 9G’s, and other aerial acrobatic turns. The UAV can carry a full range of current Air Force subscale target payloads which include a scoring system, infrared and radar enhancements, electronic attack pods and a chaff/flare dispenser set. Work will be performed at Kratos’ facility in Sacramento, California, and is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.

The US Marine Corps is adding more unmanned aircraft systems to its inventory. Insitu is being contracted to provide the service with four Lot 2 RQ-21A Blackjack drone systems. The firm-fixed-price contract also includes the delivery of eight attrition air vehicles, of which seven are reserved for the USMC and one for Poland, which will receive the vehicle as part of a US foreign military sale. The order has a total value of $53.9 million. The Blackjack belongs to the family of Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems (STUAS). The drone can be deployed in persistent maritime and land-based tactical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, data collection, target acquisition and dissemination missions. One UAS consists of five air vehicles with multi-mission payloads, two ground control stations and ancillary equipment. Work will be performed at Insitu’s facilities in Bingen, Washington and Hood River, Oregon. The systems are expected to be ready for delivery by June 2019.

Middle East & Africa

Iran is showing off its ‘new’ fighter jet as the diplomatic relations with the US further deteriorate. The Iranian Ministry of Defense claims that Kowsar-88 is the first domestically produced 4th generation fighter jet. However, experts quickly noted that the unveiled jet looks quite similar to the 50s era US-made F-5F. The F-5 was sold to Iran in the 1960s and first entered service in the Iranian Imperial Air Force in 1965. During the jet’s presentation President Hassan Rouhani reasserted Iran’s political standpoint that it will not yield to diplomatic or economic pressure. He clearly stated that the country is readying itself to counter any foreign military powers that seek to take over Iran’s territory and resources, while adding that under President Donald Trump the United States was becoming isolated even from its own allies. Iran is currently in the process of building up its influence in the region. It has a significant amount of troops stationed in Syrian and is sponsoring Houthi rebels in Yemen. To date the claim that the Kowsar-88 is indeed a new fighter jet seems to be just a product for domestic propaganda rather than genuine information.

Europe

The Swedish Air Force needs a new fighter jet after one of its JAS 39 Gripen crashed yesterday, August 21. Shortly after take-off the aircraft collided with a bird and subsequently crashed in a forested area about five miles north of a military air base near the southern Swedish city of Ronneby. The Gripen multirole fighter aircraft, developed by Saab, was first flown in December 1988 and entered operational service with the Swedish Air Force in 1997. The JAS-39, is a canard-winged successor to the Viggen and one of the world’s first 4+ generation fighters. The Gripen remains the only lightweight 4+ generation fighter type in service, its performance and operational economics are both world-class, and it has become one of the most recognized fighter aircraft on the planet.

Russia’s influence in the Balkans is growing, as the Serbian Air Force is now flying two Russian MiG-29 fighter jets. During the handover ceremony Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for helping make Serbia’s armed forces stronger. Produced between 1989 and 1991, the warplanes are somewhat newer than Serbia’s four existing MiGs, which were delivered in 1987. Serbia claims military neutrality and formally wants to join the European Union. But it is also negotiating additional arms purchases from Russia, including attack and transport helicopters, Buk-M1 and Buk-M2 air-defense missile systems, and Tunguska antiaircraft systems. The small country received the second-hand fighter jets free of charge but will be responsible to pay about $213 million for upgrades and maintenance work on a total of six MiG-29s. Serbia faces a mini arms race with NATO-member Croatia, which has recently agreed to purchase 12 used F-16 fighter aircraft from Israel.

The Royal Navy is introducing a new mine countermeasures sonar to its service. Produced by Thales, the enhanced 2093 Wideband variant has been developed under the Royal Navy’s 2093 Capability Sustainment Programme (CSP). The system is currently installed on the Navy’s Sandown-class minehunter HMS Grimsby and was extensively tested off the coast of Scotland. Thales will also refit the Grimsby’s six sister ships as part of multi-million pound contract. Sandown-class minehunters are built almost entirely of non-magnetic materials and are designed to resist high shock levels. Their manoeuvrability is controlled, either manually or automatically, by using the Ship Position Control System (SPCS) developed by Vosper Thornycroft. The 2093 sonar transmitter and receiver are contained within a towed body which is lowered below the ship by automated winch of armoured cable, penetrating oceanic temperature layers which can block sonar signals. The system greatly improves the minehunters ‘coverage rate’ and ‘speed of advance’.

Asia-Pacific

The Japanese government is currently negotiating a potential development cooperation with Germany and France. Japan plans to sell its P-1 maritime patrol aircraft to the two European countries. The Japanese Ministry of Defense began the development of P-1 along with the C-X transport aircraft in 2001 to replace the ageing P-3C fleet. The aircraft built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries and is equipped with new acoustics and phased array radar systems with enhanced capabilities for detecting and tracking submarines and small vessels. Germany is currently in possession of P-3Cs, while France relies on Dassault’s Atalantic. The two countries will soon need to replace their ageing aircraft and are looking for offers that reduce procurement costs as much as possible, while Japan at the same time is heavily promoting the export of military equipment as means to revitalise its domestic defense industry. Germany and France will use the new patrol aircraft to monitor increased Russian submarine activity.

Today’s Video

Watch: Marine Corps infantry training

Americas

One of the Navy’s Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruises is getting an overhaul. BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair is being contracted to modernize the USS Gettysburg (CG 64) at a cost of $146.3 million. The company is responsible to provide the Navy with ‘long-term’ availability that combines maintenance, modernisation and repair work on the vessel. The Ticonderoga Class remains critical to American seapower, functioning as the fleet’s most powerful anti-air defense, and contributing substantial anti-ship and anti-submarine combat power to its assigned naval groups. The Cruiser Modernization program aims to improve the CG 47 Ticonderoga class by modernizing the computing and display infrastructure and the Hull, Mechanical and Electrical (HM&E) systems. Weapons and sensor sets will also be improved, in order to upgrade their anti-submarine capabilities, add short range electro-optical systems that can monitor the ship’s surroundings without the use of radar emissions, as well as routine machinery upgrades to improve all areas of ship functionality. The modernized cruisers are expected to become more cost efficient to operate, as their lives are extended to serve in the fleet through the year 2030. Work will be performed at BAE’s shipyard in Norfolk, Virginia and is expected to be completed by March 2020.

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems is set to develop a new sensor for the Missile Defense Agency’s MQ-9 UAVs. The cost-plus-award fee contract has a total value of $133.9 million and provides for finalising the development, integration and flight testing of an advanced sensor. The sensor will be evaluated in realistic test scenarios, to be held at various locations inside and outside the continental US. The MQ-9 Reaper is an armed, multi-mission, medium-altitude, long-endurance remotely piloted aircraft that is employed primarily against dynamic execution targets and secondarily as an intelligence collection asset. The new sensor technology has been in the works for some time. It is designed to significantly improve the ability to track cold body targets through their time of flight and enhance discrimination. The MDA is also planning to equip the MQ-9 with high-energy laser systems that could destroy intercontinental ballistic missiles in the boost phase at long standoff ranges. The sensor will be manufactured at GA’s facility in San Diego California from August 2018 through October 2021.

Camber Corp is being tapped to support the USMC’s CBRN contingency efforts. The awarded $15.2 million cost-plus-fixed-fee modification allows the company to perform a variety of technical and engineering services in support of the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and High-Yield Explosive Consequence Management Program. CCMRF is a robust federal entry force that is scalable and task-organized to mitigate further loss of life and relieve suffering in response to a CBRNE disaster. It supports local and state requests for assistance as part of a federal response. The USMC’s Chemical Biological Incident Response Force is capable of deploying as a battalion task force consisting of two subordinate initial response forces (IRFs) with approximately 150 personnel each. In the event of a CBRNE attack, the battalion will deploy Marines who specialize in identification and detection, and they will gather the first wave of intelligence that will be used to define the manner in which the mission will be accomplished. Work will be performed in Washington DC until August 22nd, 2019.

Middle East & Africa

The Qatari Air Force is ordering 28 NH-90 helicopters from Italian defense contractor Leonardo. The deal has a value of $3.4 billion and includes 12 NFH naval helicopters, 16 TTH troop transports, and a number of training services. The NH-90 began life as a leap-ahead competitor that would create a compelling alternative to Sikorsky’s 1980-era H-60 family airframe designs. The NH-90 TTH is the base variant for land and air forces. The platform can carry 12-20 troops and can be configured to perform SOF, MEDEVAC and CSAR missions. The NH-90 NFH an be used as a utility helicopter like the TTH, or as an anti-submarine helicopter. In its ASW configuration the helicopter is equipped with a naval radar, a dipping sonar, sonobuoys, a magnetic anomaly detector, and up to 2 light anti-ship missiles or torpedoes on side pylons. The naval variant will be manufactured at Leonardo’s facility in Venice, while the troop transporters will be assembled at a non-disclosed Airbus location. The helicopters are scheduled for delivery between 2022 and 2025.

Europe

Norway is currently testing its newly acquired F-35 JSFs. Two of Norway’s F-35s recently competed against two US F-22 stealth fighters in a number of simulated dogfights. The F-22s are among 13 jets currently deployed in Europe. Norway is a Tier 3 partner in the JSF program, has ordered a total 52 aircraft and is developing a stealthy Joint Strike Missile with the F-35 as its explicit target. The JSM/NSM is produced by Kongsberg, it can strike land or sea targets and and can be carried inside the F-35A/C weapons bay. The Raptor is considered to be the first 5th generation fighter, even though the aircraft is out of production, the program itself will continue to attract spending on maintenance, spares, and upgrades. The F-22’s deployment is part of US efforts to reassure European allies after Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.

Asia-Pacific

South Korea’s Navy is funding a research project to explore the possibility of operating F-35Bs aboard its amphibious landing ships. The project aims to devise a feasible and affordable options to remodel the country’s 14,000-ton Dokdo-class vessel. Necessary work is likely to include retrofitting the ship with a ski-jump ramp, similarly to the one seen on the Queen Elizabeth-class carriers, and adapting the flight deck so that used materials can withstand the high-temperatures caused by fighter jet operations. In 2014, South Korea decided to acquire 40 F-35As at a cost of $6.4 billion, some experts speculate that the country will also opt for a few F-35Bs as means to mitigate the dangers of a future shortage of warplanes caused by decommissioning its ageing fleet of F-4s and F-5s.

The Singapore Air Force is adding a new multi-role transport aircraft to its fleet. Recent social media posts indicate that the aircraft recently landed at Changi West Air Base. The Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) was designed from the outset to be able to function as an aerial tanker and a transport aircraft at the same time. The A330 MRTT has a maximum fuel capacity of 246.000 lbs. and 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. The aircraft is powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent 772B-60EP engines, has a hose-and-drogue refuelling pod on both wings and a refuelling boom. Singapore has five additional A330 MRTT’s on order.

Today’s Video

Watch: Russia’s 6th Gen. fighter jet

Voyager & friends
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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 2018

Queen’s Birthday
(click to view full)

August 22/18: Hello – Singapore! The Singapore Air Force is adding a new multi-role transport aircraft to its fleet. Recent social media posts indicate that the aircraft recently landed at Changi West Air Base. The Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) was designed from the outset to be able to function as an aerial tanker and a transport aircraft at the same time. The A330 MRTT has a maximum fuel capacity of 246.000 lbs. and 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. The aircraft is powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent 772B-60EP engines, has a hose-and-drogue refuelling pod on both wings and a refuelling boom. Singapore has five additional A330 MRTT’s on order.

2015 – 2017

October 18/17: Airbus has selected Spanish defense electronics firm Indra to develop a tactical and integrated procedures simulation trainer for pilots of the former’s new A330 MRTT aerial refueling tanker. Indra’s Integrated Procedures Trainer (IPT) will be connected to the Partial Training system (PTT) used by boom operators to learn how to handle the refueling tube for supplying fuel to the aircraft, and will allow pilots to familiarize themselves with the systems of the A330 MRTT tanker and practice situations impossible to reproduce using a real plane, such as engine failure, aircraft stall and emergency landings. Previous work with Airbus has seen Indra develop simulators for Airbus’ commercial A320 and A330 aircraft and Airbus helicopters’ H135, H225, H175, H145 and AS350.

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
(click to view full)

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…
(click to view full)

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
(click to view full)

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
(click to view full)

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
(click to view full)

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

Boeing is being contracted to upgrade the current IRST system on the Navy’s F/A-18E/F aircraft. The cost-plus-incentive-fee contract has a value of $152.4 million and provides for the design, development and integration of the new Infrared Search and Track System (IRST) Block II. The IRST is designed to locate the heat emitted by aircraft engines without the use of active radar, which is easily detected by enemy planes and ships. It also helps countering stealth technology. The new IRST system will be embedded on a special centerline fuel tank as means of giving the fighter jet some parity with peer aircraft. Work will be performed at Boeing’s facilities in Orlando, Florida and St. Louis, Missouri and is scheduled for completion by December 2021.

Lockheed Martin is being tapped to support the US military with further engineering activities associated with the F-35’s logistics system. The order is valued at $26.1 million and provides for the design, development, integration and testing of the Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) Security Architecture and the ALIS Sovereign Data Management (SDM) system. ALIS gives F-35 Lightning II operators the ability to plan ahead, to maintain, to plan and sustain its systems over the life of the air vehicle. The system has been criticised in the past due to reliability and security concerns. Last year the USMC had to halt operations of a F-35 squadron due to unspecified ‘anomalies’ in the ALIS software. In addition, some experts have claimed that ALIS could offer an incredibly attractive Achilles heel for enemy hackers to sink their teeth into. This order combines purchases for the Air Force ($10.7 million), Marine Corps ($7.8 million), Navy ($1.9 million), and international partners ($5.4 million). Work will be performed at Lockheed’s facilities in Forth Worth, Texas and Orlando, Florida. The order is expected to be completed in June 2020.

Middle East & Africa

The US Army is awarding Six3 Intelligence Solutions with a modified intelligence support contract. The $125.8 million modification provides for a variety of intelligence support services to US troops in Afghanistan and the Operation Resolute Support director of intelligence. The company’s mission solutions include biometrics, identity intelligence (I2), counterintelligence; command, control, communications, computers, and combat systems intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (C5ISR); and Cyber security and enterprise architectures. There are currently 16.000 US troops deployed in Afghanistan. When Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with soldiers in July he reiterated that the Taliban cannot win on the battlefield, cannot wait us out, and will ultimately have to settle their differences with the Afghan government at the negotiating table. Work will be performed in Kabul and is estimated to be completed by end of February, 2020.

Europe

Britain’s MoD plans to restart its future frigate contest for the Royal Navy. In February, Britain launched the competition to find a contractor interested in building five frigates, at a total cost of no more than £1.25 billion (roughly $1.6 billion). But the process had to be abandoned in late July when the DE&S said it had failed to attract sufficient compliant bids. A MoD spokesperson said that the government is determined to move ahead with the Type 31e program and that a Prior Information Notice has been issued so that the acquisition process does not lose any momentum. Jane’s described the Type 31e as a “credible frigate” that will cover “maritime security, maritime counter-terrorism and counter-piracy operations, escort duties, and naval fire support sitting between the high-end capability delivered by the Type 26 and Type 45, and the constabulary-oriented outputs to be delivered by the five planned River-class Batch 2 OPVs”. There are currently two designs that will we likely contenders. One is the Arrowhead designed by Babcock and the Leander designed by BAE Systems. The Royal Navy is currently in the process of replacing its aged Type 23s with new Type 26 ASWs, the remainder of Type 23s will be replaced by the new Type 31e frigates.

Asia-Pacific

Indian media reports that the country successfully tested its first indigenous nuclear capable Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM). The missile, built under the codename B-05, was launched from the INS Arihant. During the test three missiles were fired from the Arihant at a depth of 20m and about 10km off the Vizag coast. Developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the 10-meter long B-05 has a strike range of about 750 km and weighs ten tonne. The two-stage missile uses solid propellant and can carry a payload of about 1000 kg. The INS Arihant is capable of carrying 12 B-05 or Sagarika missiles as well as torpedoes and cruise missiles. Indian defense scientists have also been testing longer-range K-series submarine-launched strategic missiles for the past few years. The long range (3,500 kilometers) K-4 missiles have so far been tested three times successfully from underwater pontoons, but the last test from a pontoon in December 2017 failed as the missile did not activate properly during the test. India has also started working on the K-5, which has a range of 5,000 kilometers, as well as the K-6, with its range of up to 6,000 km, for nuclear-powered submarines. This successful test heaves India into a quite exclusive club of nuclear countries. India is now the 6th country that has a nuclear triad, meaning that it can fire nuclear tipped missiles, from land, sea and air.

Taiwan is currently deploying its Tien Kung 3 air defense missile. The missile was developed by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, or NCSIST. The TK III s designed to engage different threats, including: aircrafts, cruise missiles, anti-radiation missiles, and short range tactical missiles. The system is composed of the surface-to-air missiles, the canisters, and the mobile fire control units. The fire control unit includes the phased array radar, communication relay, engagement control station, the launcher, and power plant equipment. The Tien-Kung system provides Taiwan with a domestically produced and highly capable air defense. Each new variant has allowed for greater range of defense. The newest variant, the Tien-Kung III provides medium- to long-range coverage that better ensures Taiwan’s ability to intercept threats earlier in their trajectory when they pose a lower risk. The Tien-Kung III is also capable of providing defense against some ballistic missiles.

Jane’s reports that Australia is ordering several hundred Boxer CRVs from Rheinmetall Defense Australia (RDA). The acquisition of 200 Boxer CRVs is part of Australia’s Project Land 400 Phase 2. The Australian Defence Force (ADF) will introduce several variants of the Boxer with the reconnaissance variant, accounting for 133 of the 211 vehicles. The Boxer’s design is based on a modular structure selected to give the maximum flexibility for multipurpose operations. The vehicle incorporates a high level of standardisation and uses commercially proven automotive components. The 8×8 vehicle provides a load capacity of up to 8t and has an internal capacity of more than 14m³. The contract has a value of $4.1 billion. The vehicles are scheduled for delivery between 2019 and 2026.

Today’s Video

Watch: Su-25 lands on road during exercise Vostok-2018

SSN Akula Class
(click to view full)

According to GlobalSecurity.org, India’s ATV (advanced technology vessel) program to build a nuclear-powered submarine began in 1974, and became a serious effort in 1985. The Federation of American Scientists’ December 1996 document “The Indian Strategic Nuclear Submarine Project: An Open Literature Analysis” remains one of the best single open sources on India’s program. Unfortunately, it was compiled over a decade ago and has become rather dated. That project has continued, and this DID Spotlight article continues to collect open source information on the ATV program.

More and more sources were claiming that a rented Russian Akula class boat would be operational as a training vessel by 2009. The concept was correct, but the date was not. A deadly accident during K-152 Nerpa’s sea trials delayed that project, and further complications pushed its hand-over date to 2012. As efforts to move the Nerpa into service continue, India has finally launched its indigenous nuclear sub Arihant, to begin sea trials and testing.

The ATV Program: Background Strategic Pressure: Keeping Up with the Shangs

SSK Scorpene Class
(click to view full)

India has long sea lanes, and industrial progress is forcing greater interest in Africa, with its natural resources and sizable Indian diaspora. China maintains a similar interest, and so the sea lanes from South Africa to the Straits of Malacca have become a focus for quiet rivalry. A nuclear-powered submarine’s ability to remain underwater almost indefinitely has substantial benefits over long sea lanes. It also creates a significant deterrent, if the boat is equipped with cruise missiles for land attack roles.

Even if one omits the new Type 094 Jin class ballistic missile submarines, problem-plagued Type 091 Han class nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSN), and the old, updated-Romeo Type 035 Ming class SSKs, China’s attack sub force was projected at about 30 subs by 2010, including 4 Type 093 Shang class SSN nuclear powered attack subs and 8 Kilo (Project 636) & Advanced Kilo class (Project 877) diesel-electric SSKs. In contrast, India’s fleet sits at just 14 combined Kilo (Sindhughosh Class), and Type 209 (Shishumar Class) SSKs.

The Indian Navy was originally scheduled to receive a Russian SSN Akula Class nuclear submarine in late 2008, to serve as a training vessel with secondary operational capabilities. Unfortunately, an onboard fire caused numerous fatalities during a check-out cruise, and delayed “INS Chakra’s” delivery until early 2012.

By 2020, aging equipment and a slow procurement bureaucracy means that the best case scenario will leave just 5 Kilos and 4 U209s as the survivors of India’s current operational fleet. The 6 new SSK Scorpene submarines on order would have begun to restore the overall fleet’s mid-decade drop, if deliveries really do begin in 2015. Caution is warranted, however; the project is already quite late, and further delays are possible. The nuclear-powered INS Chakra is still scheduled to be operational in 2020, but it’s technically a training vessel.

Even if one counts INS Chakra, assumes that all Scorpene submarines are operational by 2020, and assumes that India can keep its U209 Shishumars in the water that long, its operational attack submarine fleet would sit at just 16 submarines by 2020, with a rapid drop to 12 or fewer imminent. China’s SSK/SSN fleet will be well past 30 submarines by then, and Pakistan’s 3 Agosta-90B+ AIP submarines are comparable to the Scorpenes.

On the SSBN front, China has submarines that can launch nuclear missiles, and continues to build more modern designs. India can’t do that just yet, but the ATV project is bringing it close. Its 1st ATV project boat, INS Arihant, has successfully launched a short/medium range K-15 ballistic missile.

ATV: Searching for Answers

Charlie Class SSGN
(click to view full)

Building a nuclear-powered submarine approaches the complexity of a manned space program. India’s native capabilities in submarine design and construction do factor in, but developing a miniaturized reactor suitable for naval use in submarines, and a boat design that can safely and reliably include that reactor, are unique technical challenges. Once those steps are feasible, the submarine’s design must still balance capability, safety, and quiet operation, while incorporating new technologies.

Despite the growing disparity with China, therefore, the ATV project’s going has been slow in India. Reports indicate that it took until the late 1980s before funding began to flow into the ATV project in a more serious manner.

In January 1988, Russia reportedly leased India a single-reactor Charlie-I Class SSGN for a decade of evaluation and training. Unfortunately, it was a bridge to nowhere. India’s ATV program wasn’t moving fast enough to be ready on the other end.

Nuclear Propulsion Basics
(click to expand)

The first big sign of a breakthrough was the Indian light water[1] development reactor that went critical at Kalpakkam in southern India in October 2004. By 2005, renewed reports began to surface about a follow-on nuclear training submarine lease, and by August 2006, Jane’s Navy International reported Indian claims that they had successfully developed a “fully operational” naval 100MW atomic reactor for the ATV SSN program.

On the question of the submarine’s design, reports varied, but many seemed to converge around the concept of an ATV influenced by Russia’s Project 670M/ Charlie-II class nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine, measuring 110m in length and with a displacement of about 6,000 tonnes.

Given a nuclear submarine’s inherent capabilities, however, the big question has always revolved around weaponry. Was the ATV envisioned as a long range patrol submarine with conventional land attack capabilities, like most SSNs, or did India intend to build an SSBN, armed with nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles as its primary mission?

In a December 2007 press conference, India’s Naval chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta hinted at the ATV’s ultimate SSBN purpose when he said that:

“…in our credible minimum nuclear deterrent plans, the induction of nuclear weapons under sea constitutes the third triad.”

It was only a hint, however, given the ability to launch nuclear weapons from torpedo tubes. Israel’s German-built Dolphin Class is reportedly prepared to do just that, using the country’s locally-developed Popeye Turbo cruise missiles. Yet the Dolphins are conventionally-powered diesel-electric submarines, and Israel’s limited resources mean that they are heavily used for conventional attack submarine and special forces missions.

In 2009, much of the speculation was resolved, as India unveiled its ATV design: the Arihant Class.

The Arihant Class: Destroyer of Enemies

Arihant concept
(click to view larger)

Arihant was built at “The Shipbuilding Centre” in Vishakhapatnam by Indian conglomerate Larsen and Toubro. The boat’s 2009 unveiling made it clear that it has been built to launch ballistic missiles, carrying nuclear warheads. India’s current program involves 4 boats of class: INS Arihant and S-2 Aridhaman have been named, while S-3 and S-4 have yet to be named.

The Arihant Class’ most potent armament will be in 4 silos on its hump. Initial armament will be up to 12 of India’s new 750 km BO5/ K-15 Sagarika medium range ballistic missiles, which can reportedly carry a nuclear weapon. A program is underway to develop the K-4, a 3,500 km range SLBM (Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile) follow-on, derived from India’s land-based Agni III IRBM (Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile).

Indian missiles
(click to view larger)

Even so, the submarine’s design is something of a hybrid. Arihant Class submarines would be able to carry just 4 K-4s, in comparison to the 12-16 long-range missiles carried by other SSBN designs. The boats will also include a 6-pack of 533mm torpedo tubes in the bow, giving them the ability to launch cruise missiles, mines, and torpedoes.

For internal power, the Arihant Class will be powered by an indigenous nuclear reactor developed by the Department of Atomic Energy’s Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), working in cooperation with India’s DRDO defense researchers – and reportedly, with a Russian team as well. The highly enriched uranium reportedly comes from the Rare Materials Project at Ratnahalli, near Mysore, India.

As a form of quick comparison, some dived tonnages for nuclear fast attack (SSN), cruise missile (SSGN), and ballistic missile submarines (SSGN) include:

• 33,000+: SSBN Typhoon class, Russia
  
• 17,010t: SSBN/SSN Ohio class, USA
  
• 15,930t: SSBN Vanguard class, Britain
  
• 14,120t: SSBN Triomphant class, France
  
• 12,770t: SSN Improved Akula/ Type 971-I/ Schuka-B class, Russia
  
• 10,885t: SSBN Type 094 Jin class, China (est.)
  
• 7,925t: SSN-774 Virginia class, USA
  
• 7,800t: SSN Astute class, Britain
  
• 7,011t: SSN-688 Los Angeles class, USA
  
• 6,500t: SSN Type 093 Shang class, China (median: est. 6,000-7,000)
  
• 6,000t: SSBN Arihant class, India (surface or dived – unclear)
  
• 5,800t: SSBN Type 092 Xia class, China (median: est. 4,400-7,200)
  
• 5,400t: SSGN Charlie-II Class, Russia (not currently operational)
  
• 5,200t: SSN Trafalgar class, UK
  
• 5,000t: SSGN Charlie-I class, Russia (not currently operational)
  
• 5,000t: SSN Type 091 Han class, China (median: est. 4,500-5,500)
  
• 3,950t: SSK Advanced Kilo class, Russia (non-nuclear, in Indian service)
  
• 2,730t: SSN Rubis Amethyste class, France

Events and Reports 2018

Initial SLBM ready for integration; Chakra reactor fully activated at last; India to lease a 2nd nuke?

click for video

August 21/18: India achieves nuclear triad Indian media reports that the country successfully tested its first indigenous nuclear capable Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM). The missile, built under the codename B-05, was launched from the INS Arihant. During the test three missiles were fired from the Arihant at a depth of 20m and about 10km off the Vizag coast. Developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the 10-meter long B-05 has a strike range of about 750 km and weighs ten tonne. The two-stage missile uses solid propellant and can carry a payload of about 1000 kg. The INS Arihant is capable of carrying 12 B-05 or Sagarika missiles as well as torpedoes and cruise missiles. Indian defense scientists have also been testing longer-range K-series submarine-launched strategic missiles for the past few years. The long range (3,500 kilometers) K-4 missiles have so far been tested three times successfully from underwater pontoons, but the last test from a pontoon in December 2017 failed as the missile did not activate properly during the test. India has also started working on the K-5, which has a range of 5,000 kilometers, as well as the K-6, with its range of up to 6,000 km, for nuclear-powered submarines. This successful test heaves India into a quite exclusive club of nuclear countries. India is now the 6th country that has a nuclear triad, meaning that it can fire nuclear tipped missiles, from land, sea and air.

2013 – 2015

October 13/15: The INS Arihant – India’s first indigenous nuclear submarine – has completed sea trials ahead of planned testing of the Nirbhay cruise missile later this month. The Indian Navy plans to subsequently test a B-05 Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM), as the country pursues a nuclear triad capability. The intention of testing this missile was first announced in July.

June 18/14: Not ready. INS Arihant isn’t ready for sea trials yet, and harbor acceptance trials could take a few more months. The 83-MW pressurized light-water reactor went critical in August 2013.

When sea trials begin, they’ll involve 6-8 months of system testing, and a K-15 missile live firing. Sources: Indian Express, “Contrary to Claims, Arihant not Prepared for Sea Trials”.

January 2014. An India Strategic interview with DRDO chief Dr. Avinash Chander sets INS Arihant’s date for initial shakedown voyages around March 2014. The nuclear reactor went critical in August 2013, and is slowly being brought up to 100% capacity in phases. The boat has cleared all Harbour Acceptance Trials, and once the submarine is ready to perform, the missiles (“all the weapons are ready”) are ready for firing trials with dummy warheads.

Dr. Chander also cites the special steel used in Arihant as a DRDO product, which once had to be imported from Russia. Sources: India Strategic, “India’s n-Submarine Arihant Ready for Sea by March”.

Aug 28/13: Lease another? India has been considering a second nuclear submarine lease for a little while now, but the sinking of INS Sindhurakshak has added urgency to the idea. Firstpost even reports that “zealots in South Block have already christened the potential acquisition as INS Chakra III.”

The thing is, the Russians have figured out that no-one else will lease India a nuclear submarine, so the Russians plan to charge a lot more this time.

Not a great advertisement for buying Russian in the upcoming Project 75i, but then, customer relations is not a Russian strong point. The key bellwether? On Sept 1/13, Indian Defence Secretary RK Mathur will lead a tri-service delegation to Moscow for the next High Level Monitoring Group on Defence session. Progress, or lack thereof, will be telling. Sources: BSR Russia, “India all set to lease a second nuclear submarine from Russia” | Firstpost.India, “After INS Sindhurakshak tragedy, India seeks second nuclear sub from Russia”.

Aug 14/13: Sunk. An explosion and fire sink the Kilo Class INS Sindhurakshak while the boat is docked in Mumbai, killing 18 people on board. Firemen manage to contain the blaze to the submarine, so it doesn’t end up sinking the submarine docked next to it as well.

The explosion happens the day before India’s independence day, and the comprehensiveness of the damage leaves observers inside and outside India considering the possibility that it was a terrorist plot. Sources: India’s Business Standard, “INS Sindhurakshak crippled; experts blame battery fire and ammunition explosion” | The Hindu, “Submarine blasts due to ‘possible ignition of armament'” | Hindustan Times, “Russia distances itself from India sub disaster”.

Explosion

Aug 9/13: SSBN. The Arihant’s nuclear reactor goes critical, which is to say that it’s fully activated and providing power. Yes, that’s a long delay (q.v. July 26/09 launch). Sea trials were supposed to be done in 2012, but now they’ll start in late 2013. The submarine will make shallow dives, complete the deep diving trials, and prepare for weapon trials of the torpedoes and test missiles. Those tests will include a BO5 launch, which has previously taken place only from submerged test sites. Reports also list key industrial participants, including:

• Submarine Building Centre (SBC) at Vishakapatnam – assembly
  
• Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
  
• Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) – USHUS sonar, radars and the Combat Management System.
  
• Defence Material Department at Hyderabad – Heat exchanger turbine propulsion system.
  
• Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) in Kalpakkam – Training and testing.
  
• Larsen & Tourbo – Hull sections.
  
• MIDHANI – special steel requirements.
  
• Jindal pipes
  
• KSB pumps
  
• Tata Power Ltd – Control pedestal, works with BAE.
  
• Walchandnagar Industries – Gear box and shafting.
  
• “a rubber vulcanising firm in Mysore” – Anechoic tiles.

See: India MoD | NDTV | NDTV analysis.

Reactor fully activated,
Industrial participants

Jan 27/13: K-15 SLBM to BO5. India fires its 14th and last developmental test of the K-15 missile, which has officially been designated “BO5”. Video-gamers would have been more impressed with “BO55”, but it did its job and hit its target, about 6 minutes after being launched from a 50m depth within the Bay of Bengal.

This is the first test that has been opened to reporters. DRDL director AK Chakrabarty told NDTV that the weapon is now ready for integration with Indian submarines, which at the moment means INS Arihant. NDTV | Launch video.

2011 – 2012

K-152 Nerpa becomes INS Chakra; New head of submarine programs; Chakra has readiness problems.

INS Chakra
(click to expand)

Dec 24/12: Bad Chakra Karma. The Press Trust of India reports that India is having problems with its SSN, INS Chakra. Like so many other Russian products, support and readiness is the issue:

“The 8,000-tonne submarine has been facing problems with its critical components and Russia has been asked to provide the parts for the vessel which need to be replaced, Navy sources told PTI here. However, they did not divulge the components which would have to be replaced but indicated they are critical for the operations of the submarine.”

To be fair, readiness for India’s overall submarine fleet of Russian Kilos and German U209s was recently placed at just 40% (vid. Jan 14/12 entry).

March 12/12: K-15 SLBM fired. India finally tests its K-15 ballistic missile, which will equip the Arihant. It was reportedly tested from an underwater launching platform, positioned 20 feet underwater and 10 km off the Visakhapatnam coast. The missile then traveled 700 km to its target, though reports don’t comment on its accuracy.

DRDO won’t comment on any aspect, as one expects, but they’ve reportedly scheduled the 2nd test of this new nuclear-capable missile for March 14/12. IBN Live.

1st K-15 missile firing

March 6/12: Paramarine software. Britain’s QinetiQ announces that Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) have selected QinetiQ GRC’s Paramarine design software for submarine concept design, in a sale made through QinetiQ GRC’s Indian distributor, Conceptia Pvt Ltd. Larsen & Toubro built Arihant and is one of the largest technology, engineering, construction and manufacturing companies in India’s private sector. Commander (Retd) DK Phule, Senior DGM of Marine Design Centre, L&T:

“We selected Paramarine for submarine concept design and analysis because its integrated structure enables faster iterations of the concept design. The software is not just an input/output algorithm, but has inbuilt knowledge of the basic submarine design research and allows a flexibility for innovative designs. We feel that it may prove to be an excellent tool for validation of concept design of submersibles at bid stage itself. Paramarine delivers a fully integrated submarine modelling, stability, manoeuvring, powering, endurance and early stage design solution. In addition QinetiQ GRC provided us with a comprehensive onsite training programme in concept design and best practical use of the software…”

Paramarine is used by BAE Shipbuilding, DCNS, Northrop Grumman, and MIT, among its customers. The software is too late to play a role in Arihant’s design, but could play a role in designing subsequent boats.

Jan 23/12: SSN. Russia officially hands the K-152 Nerpa over to India, as its name changes to INS Chakra. The ceremony is held in the Zvezda plant, in Russia’s Far Eastern Primorye Territory. Its Indian crew will soon sail it to Visakhapatnam, where the SSN will serve as a training platform and hunter-killer submarine, armed with torpedoes and 3M54 Klub-S missiles.

An at-sea nuclear deterrent will have to wait until 2013 at the earliest, assuming that INS Arihant becomes fully operational by early-2013. That SSBN submarine is slated to begin extensive sea trials in February or March 2013. The Asian Age | Interfax | RIA Novosti | Times of India || Times of India re: Arihant’s schedule.

INS Chakra (ex-Nerpa) handed over

Jan 14/12: SSBN. The Hindu reports that construction of India’s 2nd Arihant Class submarine, Aridamana, leaves it slated for launch in late 2012 or early 2013. Fabrication of the 3rd ATV submarine has begun. Meanwhile, unnamed sources in the Indian Navy continue to express concern about the country’s silent service:

“The decline in the operational availability of submarines [as low as 40 per cent] has seriously compromised the force’s vital sea denial capability. The absence of Air Independent Propulsion… is another debilitating factor.”

Jan 2/12: SSBN.The Times of India places the total ATV program at 4 boats, and transliterates S-2’s bestowed name as “Aridhaman”.

Their report also sets India’s SSN plans at 6 boats over the long term. That will have to take place over the long term, because India hasn’t designed and built its own SSN yet, and the requirements are very different than they are for an SSBN.

Dec 6/12: SSBN. India’s Financial Express quotes Indian naval chief Nirmal Verma:

“I had said that we will do so (commissioning of INS Arihant) in 2012 and by and large we are on track. A firm date can be given only when we have the sea trials which will happen from some months from now… Arihant will require a nuclear regulatory authority certification. BARC (Bhabha Atomic Research Centre) would have a prominent role in this. The submarine will be deployed once this ends…”

July 29/11: Personnel. Rear Admiral MT Moraes takes over as the Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Submarines) at Delhi, to look after the planning and acquisition of submarines.

Rear Admiral Srikant is also slated to take over as Flag Officer Submarines (FOSM) based at Visakhapatnam. This is the Indian Navy’s class authority on submarines, responsible for defining standards, policies and procedures for their operation and maintenance. Rear Admiral G Ashok Kumar will take over as Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST) at Kochi. India MoD.

July 9/11: SSBN #2. Indian media report that the keel has been laid for India’s 2nd nuclear sub, and the initial work is on full swing. Asian Age | domain-b.

Jan 16 – March 6/11: K-15 missile. India’s DRDO shifts a K-15/B-05 submarine-launched ballistic missile test back. It was supposed to be test-fired from an underwater platform off the Vishakhapatnam coast, but it was pushed back to Jan 30/11, then sometime in February. It finally took place on March 6/11.

That 7th test was successful, giving the K-15 test launches a 5 for 7 record. Times of India | Aviation Week | Indian Express.

January 2011: The publication India Strategic says that India’s nuclear submarine program is farther along than some think, and offers a notional date for Russia’s Nerpa submarine to enter its leased service:

“According to well placed sources, while work on Arihant, the first nuclear submarine that was launched in 2010, was going on as scheduled, construction of the hull and sub components of the remaining two submarines was also underway. Considerable experience has been built from the development of Arihant, and the successive two submarines would be considerably more potent with more power and punch. The Indian Navy also hopes to get the nuclear powered K-152 Nerpa from Russia around March 2011… Indian crews are already training on board the vessel, an Akula-II class 12,000 tonne submarine… There was no official confirmation on what is happening on building the nuclear submarine capability…”

2009 – 2010

K-152 Nerpa’s delays; INS Arihant launched

Arihant concept
(click to expand)

Nov 28/10: SSN delay. Another delay, as the Indian Navy refuses to accept the Nerpa until Indian crews reach satisfactory performance. The Chandigarh Tribune:

“The Indian naval teams do not have enough under-sea operating experience on board the nuclear-powered Nerpa, hence the Russians have been told to provide more hours of training, sources confirmed to The Tribune. The training of the Navy teams has been going on for the past one year but the top brass is “not satisfied” with the operational ability that has been acquired so far. This training will take some five months to complete, which means a new delivery deadline of March 2011 has been fixed. This is the third such shift in the deadline for the delivery of the vessel…”

Sept 4/09: SSN. Russia’s RIA Novosti reports that a crew of Indian submariners will take part in sea trials of a Russian nuclear submarine in mid-September 2009, as part of a course of training together with Russian specialists and servicemen. They will subsequently operate on their own under the supervision of Russian instructors.

July 26/09: Arihant Launched. India launches the 6,000t INS Arihant (“Destroyer of Enemies”), its first domestically-produced nuclear submarine. The launch occurs on Kargil Victory Day, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in attendance as his wife, Gursharan Kaur, does the honors of launching the submarine. So much for the July 8/09 reports of a quiet, low-key launch on another day.

While Arihant’s sea trials are expected to last for 2 years, most reports quoting expert observers in India and beyond see that as an extremely optimistic forecast, and predict a 3-5 year delay before India has an operationally credible nuclear submarine. The Indian Express adds that:

“Significantly, all three dignitaries who spoke at the function – the PM, Defence Minister and Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta – made special mention of the Russian “cooperation” received in the project. While it is an open secret that Russia helped in the design of the submarine and miniaturisation of the reactor, this is the first time that its help has been openly acknowledged. The entire Russian design team and the Russian Ambassador to India, V I Trubnikov, were present at the function.”

Another 2 Arihant class boats are currently under construction. Based on quotes from Indian Admirals, the navy will want 5-6 nuclear submarines of this class, in order to ensure that at least one is always at sea with its nuclear missiles. Naval Open Source Intelligence (incl. video) | India’s Business Standard |. Economic Times of India | The Hindu | Sify | Times of India | Times of India re: induction time || Pakistan’s Dawn | Associated Press | Asia Times | China Daily, incl. comparison graphic | South Korea’s Chosun Ibo | Reuters | Singapore’s Straits Times | Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald.

Arihant SSBN (ATV #1) launched

July 24/09: SSN. An unnamed Amur Shipyard official tells RIA Novosti that final sea trials of the Nerpa are continuing on schedule. The goal remains an end of 2009 delivery.

July 10/09: SSN. RIA Novosti reports that sea trials for the Akula II class sub Nerpa have resumed in the Sea of Japan off Russia’s Pacific Coast.

July 8/09: ATV. Indian Express says that the launch of India’s locally-built nuclear submarine has been postponed due to political considerations:

“The submarine was scheduled to be launched on July 26 but the date has now been changed because it also happens to be Kargil Victory Day and the government has no intention of sending any message to the neighbourhood. As of now, the plan is to quietly launch the submarine without fanfare or overt publicity. Even Defence Minister A K Antony is not expected to be present for the launch.”

It will reportedly sail out of Visakhapatnam harbor and into the Bay of Bengal for sea trials.

May 11/09: SSN fixed. Interfac quotes Amur Shipyard director Nikolai Povzyk as saying that:

“The repairs [of the Nerpa] are complete and the vessel is technically ready for the resumption of sea trials… We are completing the enrolment of trial team, which will have to finish trials and deliver the [Schuka-B/ Akula II Class] submarine to the Indian side by the end of this year.”

Meanwhile, domain-b reports that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has announced plans to provide funds to the Amur Shipyard, in order to complete the Indian order. If so, it might remove the possibility of yet another rancorous, drawn-out contract renegotiation between India and Russia.

Feb 12/09: ATV. The Times of India quotes India’s defence minister A. K. Antony:

“Things are in the final stage now in the ATV (advanced technology vessel) project. There were bottlenecks earlier… they are over now.”

The submarines’ biggest technical problem has revolved around the design of small enough pressurized water nuclear reactors, and their containment.

“[Times of India] sources said such technical problems are a thing of the past now, with a little help from countries like Russia and France.”

Feb 10/09: SSN. A high-level, 4-member Indian delegation led by naval Inspector General Nuclear Safety Vice Admiral K.N. Sushil, heads to Russia on a 2-day fact finding mission to physically inspect the K-152 Nerpa. They will then present a report on the induction of the submarine, and the impact of the recent accident.
India Today | Indopia | RIA Novosti.

Jan 23/09: The Hindu quotes Indian Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta, regarding the Kommersant reports:

“There is no delay as far as we are concerned… The only delay is that it has to go for tests after the incident.”

Jan 21/09: SSN delays. Kommersant reports that Russia has ‘indefinitely’ postponed the Nerpa’s delivery, due to problems encountered in the wake of the November 2008 accident on board. The problems are twofold: lack of a trial crew, and lack of cash. Gennady Bagin, Director of the Amur shipyard’s ‘Vostok’ unit, says that:

“Some members of the trial team, which was on the submarine during last year’s accident have died, some are medically unfit, while some others have refused to go to the sea due to psychological reasons.”

Sailors have always been superstitious, and a ship believed to be ‘cursed’ could indeed have such problems. Bagin says that the new team will not be ready before March 2009 and would have to undergo up to 1 year of refresher courses before it could be authorized to resume pre-delivery trails. Komersant’s reference to a shortage of funds is also ominous, as it probably presages another “renegotiation” of a Russian defense contract with India. Past renegotiations of signed deals have tended to double the original price, or more. Press Trust of India.

2007 – 2008

K-152 Nerpa’s renegotiations, then fire.

Dec 15/08: More SSN leases? Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency quotes Mikhail Dmitriyev, the head of Russia’s Federal Military and Technical Cooperation Service (FSVTS). Dmitriyev’s quote breaks little new ground, but does serve to illustrate a growing level of official acknowledgement:

“There is a real possibility of leasing out to India several of our submarines powered by nuclear reactors for a term of 10 years… This possibility can materialise in the coming years… The talk is not about selling submarines into India’s property, but about their rent by India’s navy.”

Dmitriyev added that the leased submarines would be of the same Akula Class as the Nerpa. Reuters.

Nov 10/08: SSN. India’s Zee News reports on the Nerpa accident, and seems to confirm that K-152 was due to be handed over:

“Indian Navy officials are already there in Russia monitoring the submarine project — both during its construction phase and now during the sea trial phase. So we are keeping a close watch on the developments,” Navy officials here said on Monday.”

Nov 9/08: SSN re-negotiation? The Times of India’s Economic Times reports that K-152 Nerpa was to be transferred to India in July-August 2009, as the leased nuclear training submarine mentioned in reports. A number of other news agencies have made the same claim, but that transfer looks like it will be delayed. It may also be more expensive.

The Economic Times report adds that Russia is demanding more for Nerpa, beyond the initial $650 million agreed to for the lease. Russia had halted construction on the submarine in 1991, following that country’s budget crash. Those kinds of steps lead to loss of talent and expertise, which tends to drive up the cost of resuming a project or a production line. It also raises the risks of mistakes, and the recent disaster involving K-152 will drive Russia’s costs up yet again. The only question is what percentage of those costs they will seek to extract from India. Since India wants to field nuclear submarines, and a training platform like K-152 is a necessary per-requisite, Russia has an extremely strong negotiating position – unless some other country steps in with a similar lease offer.

Nov 7/08: SSN. At least 20 people (17 contractors and shipyard workers, 3 naval officers) are killed and another 21 injured during sea trials of an Akula-II/Nerpa Class nuclear fast attack submarine. The submarine had 208 people on board at the time, including 81 military personnel. It has submerged for the first time on Oct 27/08.

No radiation leak is involved; the incident reportedly occurred in the nose section, away from the reactor. At present, all that is known is that the submarine’s freon gas fire extinguishing systems were triggered. It is unknown whether there was a fire at the time, but reports from Russia claim that autopsies show death from suffocation. Submarine crews are issued portable breathing devices for such eventualities, but for whatever reason, they appear not to have been used. AFP quotes former naval captain Gennady Illaryonov, who blames over-reliance on automated procedures and adds:

“I cannot exclude that among those civilians who found themselves on board, not everyone had the (necessary safety) equipment and that those who did may not have known how to use it,”

Reuters quotes former Russian Navy captain Alexander Nitkin along similar lines. K-152 Nerpa returned to the port of Bolshoi Kamen, near Vladivostok, under its own power. RIA Novosti initial report | RIA Novosti: “What happened on the Nerpa?” | Moscow News: “Lessons from the Nerpa sub accident” | AFP | BBC re: “accident waiting to happen” | India’s Chennai Online | CNN | Press Trust of India (PTI) | Reuters | UK’s Times Online | Washington Post | China’s Xinhua.

Nerpa SSN accident

Aug 9/08: Indian Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta appears to confirm 2009 as the in-service date for the Akula Class nuclear fast attack submarine INS Chakra, under a 10-year lease with Russia:

“After various delays, the nuclear-powered vessel (Akula) for crew training will come some time next year… Though it is an operational submarine… Akula will be used to train our crew before they come up at the platform that will be developed by DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) in two years’ time.”

That ATV project is also delayed, and India will need additional operational experience with nuclear submarines before it is ready to test and fix its own design. The Calcutta Telegraph adds that 3 Indian naval crews for the nuclear submarine have already been trained at the specially set up training centre in Sosnovy Bor near St. Petersburg.

Mehta also reiterated his belief in a submarine-launched nuclear deterrent:

“With nuclear proliferation posing a greater threat along with Weapons of Mass Destruction, our unilateral policy of no-first-use necessitates that India possesses a credible and survivable nuclear deterrent including submarine-launched.”

While existing treaties prevent the sale of long-range nuclear-capable cruise missiles to India, there is nothing preventing the country from developing its own. See: Press Trust of India | IANS | Calcutta Telegraph | AP Pakistan | domain-B.

SSN lease confirmed

June 23/08: SSN. Pakistan’s Online News claims that India will induct a 12,000-tonne Akula-II class nuclear-powered attack submarine into its Naval fleet by December 2009, as a 10 year lease. The article was less clear than it could have been, but the core claims are that nearly 300 Indian naval personnel, or 3 sets of crews, have already been trained to take control of INS Chakra at a specially constructed facility in Sosnovy Bor near St Petersburg, Russia. The article also claims that the sub will be the focus for all future ATV training, while adding that it will be armed with Agni-III ballistic missiles, as well as cruise missiles with a range up to 5,000km.

Analysis of those ballistic missile claims raises questions about their foundations.

The rumored Agni-IIISL is believed to be 2m wide and 12.5m tall, which would place it between the Trident C4 and Trident D5 missile in size. It would be suitable for deployment from an SSBN nuclear missile submarine with big enough launching tubes, but not SSGN cruise missile submarines like the Russian Charlie-II class, which rely on large torpedo tubes for launch and have a secondary naval attack role. Russia’s Akula Class also lacks the ability to launch ballistic missiles.

See also the Dec 6/07 comments below from India’s naval chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta, which seem to separate the training submarine lease from the ATV itself. On the other hand, the reported in-service date of December 2009 does fit with past statements from Indian authorities – as long as the project itself manages to meet its deadlines with a working boat.

Dec 6/07: ATV. India’s Naval chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta vows that the ATV nuclear submarine, currently under construction at Vishakhapatnam by the DRDO, will be commissioned and ready for trials “within 2 years” (2009). The reactor, he said, is now in the process of being mounted on the submarine’s hull.

In the meantime, he said, India was negotiating to lease a Russian SSN Akula Class/ Project 971 nuclear submarine, and hoped the country would get the platform in the middle of 2008 for training Indian naval personnel. India Today claims that the Navy plans to induct the 12,000-tonne Akula class SSN to quickly train personnel to man the ATV. India Today | Daylife news roundup on the topic | New Kerala report.

Senior members on India’s military have issued many statements of this kind on various topics, only some of which emerge from India’s procurement and development bureaucracy and come true. Time will tell, but if the naval reactor is operational and proves to be safe, India will have conquered the biggest part of the SSN challenge.

The Akula lease may prove more problematic. Given Mehta’s reported rejection of Russia’s request for additional funds to finish work on the INS Vikramaditya (ex-Gorshkov) carrier conversion, it would certainly be easy for Russia to use an Akula lease as a very strong bargaining chip, and hold up approval pending satisfaction on other fronts. After all, barring a major and unexpected commitment from the USA, India isn’t likely to find a lease of that type from any other source.

Nov 8/07: SSN. Jane’s Defence Weekly reports that:

“Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to finalise an agreement to lease two Russian Akula II-class nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs) during a visit to Moscow beginning on 11 November. Official sources said one of the 12,000-ton Akula (Bars)-class Type 971 SSNs, currently nearing completion at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur shipyard, would be leased for 10 years for around USD700 million.”

Sept 9/07: ATV. Other sources convey a Press Trust of India report re: the former chairman of India’s Atomic Energy Commission, who reportedly made the surprise announcement on this day that India is building an atomic submarine. Canadian Press | China’s People’s Daily.

1998 – 2006

Submarine reactor design ready; Leases: from INS Chakra I to INS Chakra II.

Aug 18/06: ATV – reactor. The Hindu reports that the reactor for India’s nuclear-powered submarine project at Kalpakkam is working smoothly at its full capacity of 100 MWe. It adds that Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee inspected the project on July 18 while taking part in the 20th anniversary celebrations of the commissioning of the Fast Breeder Test Reactor there.

July 5/06: SSN. Russia’s deputy chief of federal agency for military-technical cooperation Vladimir Paleshchuk denies media reports about the lease of a NATO classification Akula-2 nuclear powered submarine to India. “Russia is not negotiating lease of project 971 Nerpa atomic submarine with India… We are discussing lease of (submarines), but not of atomic powered submarine,” Paleshchuk was quoted as saying by Itar-Tass. Zee News report.

July 1/06: SSN. The Hindu reports that Russia’s Nerpa fast attack nuclear submarine is launched at the Amur shipyard. Nerpa is a Project 971 third-generation submarine (NATO code name Akula-II). RIA Novosti reports that she will join Russia’s Pacific Fleet in 2007 after undergoing sea trials – Indian and Russian officials have denied reports that she would be leased to India.

February 2006: SSN. The Russian online daily Kommersant reports an announcement by Russian Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation head Mikhail Dmitriev, that Russian arms export for the year 2005 touched $6.126-billion. This amount is $826 million more than the amount announced by Russian President Vladmir Putin on Dec 28/05. Kommersant, quoting military sources, attributes the increase to the delivery to China the eighth Project 636 submarine ($225 million) and sale to India of the Akula Project 971 nuclear submarine ($600 million) constructed by Amur Shipbuilder in the Khabarovsk Region. Source.

January 2006: SSN. The Monterey Institute for International Studies’ Center for Nonproliferation Studies reports that:

“Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov has announced that Russia plans to lease two nuclear submarines to India. The statement was made during his visit to the Amurskiy Shipyard [see map] in the Russian Far East in late January 2002. The shipyard is constructing the first submarine India would lease — the Nerpa, a Shchuka B-class [NATO name ‘Akula II’] nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN). [See Shchuka B-Class SSN Stats.] The second submarine, the Kuguar, is being constructed in the Far North at the Sevmash facility in Severodvinsk. India will provide Russia with financing to complete construction of the two SSNs, while Russia will train four Indian submarine crews and provide India with the submarines for five years, beginning in 2004.”

Sept 17/98: ATV. The Bellona Foundation’s brief concerning the Russian Northern Fleet conveys a report from the Russian Defence Ministry’s official newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda that Russia is assisting India in completing the submarine’s hull and installation of the nuclear reactor. It adds:

“During the past years, ATV has not been receiving sufficient funding, as most of the recourses were spent on development of nuclear bombs. This year, the Indian Defence Ministry has managed to increase funding by 15% for 1998/1999, amounting to more than $10 billion. The future funding has been guaranteed as well… According to Russky Telegraph, the hulls of the submarines laid down in India are almost blueprints of the newest Russian attack submarine, the Severodvinsk-class, which is currently under construction in Severodvinsk, Arkhangel’sk County. Indian submarines reportedly will be outfitted with one PWR reactor with a power output of 190 MW. The same machinery is placed on the Severodvinsk-class submarine.”

1988-1991: SSGN lease. A Soviet Project 670A/ “Charlie Class” SSGN is leased to India, manned by a Russian crew training Indian seamen to operate it. “INS Chakra” under then Capt RN Ganesh operated with the Indian Navy from January 1988 to January 1991. Upon expiration of the ship leasing term in 1991, the submarine was returned to Russia and decommissioned from the Russian Navy.

SSGN lease

End Notes

fn1. In nuclear parlance, a light water reactor uses normal water for cooling. As opposed to a heavy-water reactor, which uses water made with the hydrogen isotope Deuterium (D2O). [return]

Additional Readings ATV Program

• Bharat Rakshak – INS Arihant

• GlobalSecurity – Arihant – Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV)

• Naval Technology – SSBN Arihant Class Submarine, India

• Global Security – Project 670 Skat / Charlie I; Project 670M Skat-M / Charlie II. Several sources referred to India’s Arihant/ ATV as being derived from the Charlie-II design. Judge for yourself.

Related Submarines

• Naval Technology – SSN Akula Class (Bars Type 971) Attack Submarine, Russia. The rented INS Chakra II is one.

• India & Russia Report – INS Chakra II. Ex-Russian Navy’s Nerpa.

• Global Security – SSGN Chakra. What the Charlie Class submarine India leased from 1988-1991 was called.

• GlobalSecurity.org – Project 885 Yasen / Graney / Granay Severodvinsk class. Note that unless India’s new naval reactor scales beyond the reported 100 MW, it becomes rather unlikely that its SSN will be a copy of a class that sports a 190 MW reactor.

• DID FOCUS Article – India’s Project 75 SSKs: Too Late to Save the Submarine Force? The conventionally-powered side of India’s force, whose decline is beginning to affect the nuclear programs.

The Russian Factor

• NTI – Russia: Nuclear Exports to India Developments

• Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, via WayBack (last updated February 2010) – Russia: Nuclear Exports to India: Training and Know-How

• India Defence Update (November 2007) – DRDO’s ATV Classified Submarine Project

• Federation of American Scientists’ (December 1996) – The Indian Strategic Nuclear Submarine Project: An Open Literature Analysis

News & Views

• YouTube (Jan 27/13) – India Tests K-15 Sub-surface Launched Missile. Final developmental test of the BO5, which used to be the K-15.

• Calcutta Telegraph (Aug 3/09) – Unveiled: Arihant’s elder brother. They mean the “Plutonium Recyling Project (PRP)” testbed reactor at Kalpakkam. The entire propulsion plant with primary, secondary, electrical and propulsion systems must fit within a 42m x 8m space. It uses a light water/enriched uranium pressurized design, instead of the heavy water/standard uranium approach.

• domain-b (July 30/08) – India’s missile programme: A summary

• WMD Insights (December 2007 – January 2008 issue) – Questions Persist on Reported Russian Lease of Nuclear Sub to India. A more up-to-date open source review of the nuclear submarine leasing issue, penned by a CNS staffer.

• Center for Policy Research, New Delhi (2003-04) CPR Occasional Paper 2003-04: Dealing with Reality: India’s Thermonuclear Force as Strategic Safety-Net and Security Stabilizer in the Indian Ocean Region [PDF]. Page 12 refers to an Indian ATV design modeled on Russia’s Charlie-II Class SSBN [link restricted now].

• The Rediff, via WayBack (Oct 10/03) – India’s nuclear infrastructure nearly ready

Background Data: China

• GlobalSecurity.org – China/ Ships

• Sino Defense – Type 093 Shang Class Nuclear-Powered Attack Submarine

• Sino Defense – Type 091 Han Class Nuclear-Powered Attack Submarine

• Global Security – Type 091 Han Class

Tag: indiassn

Boxer MRAV
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Wheeled armored vehicles have become much more common, but the Dutch-German Boxer stands out from the crowd. Its English acronym is “Multi Role Armoured Vehicle” (MRAV), but rather than being a family of different vehicles, the Boxer will use a single chassis, with snap-in modules for different purposes from infantry carrier to command, cargo, ambulance, etc.

The base vehicle has a maximum road speed of 100 km/h (60 mp/h) and an operational range of 1,000 km (600 miles). In its troop carrying configuration, it has a crew of 2 and can carry 10 fully equipped troops. The MRAV is fighting for space in a crowded market, but its principal countries are beginning to give it the front-line credibility it needs to succeed.

Boxer MRAV: The Vehicle

Boxer modular concept
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The base 8×8 vehicle provides a load capacity to 8 tonnes (9 tons) and has an internal capacity of more than 14 square meters. The Mission modules fit into the base vehicle’s steel shell, incorporating a primary safety cell with a triple floor and shaped sides to deflect mine blasts. Ceramic modular armor is sandwiched between the vehicle cell and the steel coat, and all three elements are secured by fastening bolts. The shaped sides of the modules also work to deflect mine blasts away from the soldiers inside, while a double-lined hull soaks up critical blast deformation.

The exact maximum weight of a Boxer MRAV depends on the version, and on its add-on armor package. The base is currently about 30 tonnes (33 tons), but its current design allows it to grow to 36 tonnes (39.6 tons) without any additional modification to the drive line. The vehicle and modules are air transportable in an A400M or larger aircraft, and modules are interchangeable in less than one hour.

Boxer MRAV: The Program

CV90-35 MkIII
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In mid-2006 the Netherlands decided to remain in the ARTEC consortium’s joint Boxer MRAV modular armored personnel carrier project with Germany. Despite earlier reservations, Dutch secretary of Defense Cees van der Knaap declared to the 2nd Chamber that the country wanted to continue with the project. By June 28th, 2006, a release noted that the Chamber had given the green light; the APC’s price has apparently been reduced to an acceptable level following negotiations with Stork. A formal contract worth up to EUR 1.2 billion (about $1.6 billion) was finally signed in December 2006, clearing the way for both Dutch & German vehicle production.

The Royal Netherlands Army is purchasing 200 Boxer vehicles for transport, engineering, command, and transportation of wounded, replacing some of their YP-408s and all of their M577s (command post version of the M113). The 200 Boxer MRAVs will be delivered in 5 versions – 58 ambulances, 55 Command Post variants, 41 engineer group (pioneer) vehicles, 27 cargo vehicles, and 19 cargo/command-and-control vehicles to replace the current YPR 765 tracked vehicles. Note that this figure is down from initial estimates of 384 vehicles.

In addition to the Boxers, the Dutch Army will also be operating BAE Hagglunds’ CV90-35 MkIIIs as Infantry Fighting Vehicles.

Land trials, with RWS
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Under current plans, Jane’s revised reports indicate that the German Army is due to take delivery of 272 Boxer vehicles in 3 baseline versions: 135 armored personnel carriers (APCs), 65 command post (CP) variants, and 72 heavy armored ambulances. The Boxers will replace some Fuchs 6 x 6 and tracked M113-series APCs currently in service; like the Dutch Boxers, they will fill a middle weight armor role alongside heavier tracked Infantry Fighting Vehicles – in this case, the new KMW/Rheinmetall Puma.

The Boxer program is being managed by the European OCCAR (Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation) Armaments Agency. Britain was initially part of the MRAV consortium as well, but left in 2003 to pursue its own future armored vehicles project called FRES. The industrial contractor is ARTEC GmbH – acting on behalf of the consortium formed by Kraus-Maffei Wegmann (36%), Rheinmetall Landsysteme (14%) and Stork PWV (50%).

Manufacturing of the vehicles will take place in both countries. Amsterdam-based Stork PWV is the national prime contractor and system integrator for the Dutch Boxer vehicles. As a partner, Stork Special Products is also responsible for assembling of the power pack consisting of a MTU engine, angular gear, transmission, cooling block and over 1,200 minor parts in total. They’re also developing the Environmental Control System, an air-conditioning system with integrated NBC(nuclear, biological, chemical) protection.

Contracts and Key Events

MRAV Ambulance
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August 21/18: Boxer CRVs for the ADF Jane’s reports that Australia is ordering several hundred Boxer CRVs from Rheinmetall Defense Australia (RDA). The acquisition of 200 Boxer CRVs is part of Australia’s Project Land 400 Phase 2. The Australian Defence Force (ADF) will introduce several variants of the Boxer with the reconnaissance variant, accounting for 133 of the 211 vehicles. The Boxer’s design is based on a modular structure selected to give the maximum flexibility for multipurpose operations. The vehicle incorporates a high level of standardisation and uses commercially proven automotive components. The 8×8 vehicle provides a load capacity of up to 8t and has an internal capacity of more than 14m³. The contract has a value of $4.1 billion. The vehicles are scheduled for delivery between 2019 and 2026.

April 04/18: UK back in the Boxer’s ring The United Kingdom will again join the Dutch-German Boxer program, 14 years after deciding to opt out. The Boxer, a “Multi Role Armored Vehicle” (MRAV), uses a single chassis, with snap-in modules for different purposes from infantry carrier to command, cargo, ambulance and others. The base vehicle has a maximum road speed of 60 mph and an operational range of 600 miles. In its troop-carrying configuration, it has a crew of 2 and can carry 10 fully equipped troops. The UK left the program in 2003 over concerns that the vehicle would be too heavy for transport by RAF’s C-130s. For well over a year, British Army officials have been pushing for a deal with Artec, the Boxer producing Krauss-Maffei-Wegmann and Rheinmetall joint venture. The Boxer is supposed to fulfill the Army’s mechanized infantry vehicle requirement by 2023. Recently Australia tapped the German manufacturer for the provision of 200 vehicles with a total cost of $2.48 billion. Artec will cooperate with local partners including, BAE Systems, Pearson Engineering, Raytheon UK and Thales UK. Assembly, design, and manufacture in the UK would generate approximately 1,000 jobs and keep about 60 percent of the $2.7 billion contract within the UK.

February 9/18: An offer the UK can’t refuse? German-Dutch consortium ARTEC has promised to produce and assemble the majority of its Boxer armored personnel carrier (APC) at Pearson Engineering’s factory in northeast England, if the UK Ministry of Defense finalizes orders for the supply of several hundred of the eight-wheel drive APCs to the British Army. Assembly, design, and manufacture in the UK would generate approximately 1,000 jobs and keep about 60 percent of the $2.7 billion contract within the UK—an attractive offer in a nation looking to keep and boost manufacturing employment after the decision to leave the European Union in 2016. The announcement was made by ARCTEC—a joint venture between Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall?as part of a statement that it had recruited as part of its team, Pearson, BAE Systems and Thales UK, and comes as the MoD closes on a decision whether to buy the Boxer without a competition. However, as the Daily Telegraph reports, concerns about a funding hole in the defence budget means a decision contract has been pushed back, as well as being complicated by rival suppliers complaining they have been shut out of the program and that Artec’s proposals would not offer as much work to the UK supply chain as theirs.

July 7/17: Rheinmetall MAN Vehicles expects to receive a contract from ARTEC—the consortium behind the Boxer 8×8 vehicle—to modernize 38 of the armored vehicles for the German Army. ARTEC, a joint venture of Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH, Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles GmbH and Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles Nederland, received the order from OCCAR, the European procurement agency in late June, in a deal that is in excess of $23.8 million. The deal will see the vehicles upgraded from the command variant to the A2 level, which requires changes to the vehicles’ chassis and mission modules. Other enhancements include advanced driver visualization technology, new weapon systems, IT equipment modules and new communication systems.

August 24/16: Lithuania’s Ministry of Defense continues with the modernization of their land forces after awarding a $435.1 million contract to the German-Dutch Artec consortium for the provision of 8×8 Boxer infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs). The group, a cooperation between Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles will deliver the vehicles equipped with Israeli-made turrets and armed with 30 mm cannons and Spike LR anti-tank missiles. This follows a bilateral cooperation between Lithuania and the Dutch government, who are currently in the process of transferring second hand Army land vehicles east to boost Lithuanian military capabilities.

June 25/14: Dutch delivery. Formal delivery of the 1st Dutch Boxer to the 13th NL Brigade’s medical company. The Director of the NL Defence Materiel Organisation symbolically delivers the vehicle by handing over a wrench that serves as an emergency opener for the rear door. Sources: OCCAR, “Formal handover of first Netherlands BOXER vehicle to the customer”.

April 7/14: Update. OCCAR-EA’s BOXER Programme Manager has approved delivery of the first Dutch Boxer, an ambulance variant. The NL AMB BOXER vehicle is the first BOXER vehicle built at the new Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles – NL facilities in Ede, The Netherlands. The schedule foresees that the last of the 52 NL AMB will be delivered in January 2015, to be followed with the next NL BOXER vehicle types: Command Post (CP), Engineers Group (GNGP) and Cargo (CAR). The Dutch are getting 8 Driver Training Vehicles (DTV), and 192 Boxer variants for delivery by the end of 2017.

Germany has already received 225 vehicles, built by KMW in Munich and by Rheinmetall in Kassel, leaving just 47 left to be delivered to Germany before the end of 2016. Sources: OCCAR, “Start of The Netherlands’ Ambulance BOXER delivery”.

May 2012: LANCE. Rheinmetall announces that a concept study equipping the Boxer with Rheinmetall’s LANCE medium caliber turret has finished trials at their test center in Unterluss. The firm worked with RMMV Kassel, RLS Augsburg and RLS Kiel, to combine the LANCE turret system with a Boxer module, and modify the mission module.

Jan 24/12: The German Bundeswehr produces a video about the Boxer’s combat deployment in Afghanistan. Deployment is going well, but they may want more storage space. That’s always an interesting challenge with APCs. The Boxer CP variant is set to arrive in theater in February 2012. German Bundeswehr [in German] | Aviation Week.

July 22/11: German Boxer A1 MRAVs ship out to Afghanistan, aboard chartered AN-124 aircraft.

A1 is a modification set designed for ISAF operations in Afghanistan. It includes extra armor, raising the FLW-200 remote weapon station 30 cm/ 1 foot to give it better coverage high and low, and an appropriate camouflage pattern for the ISAF region. FuInfoSys networking between the Boxer and the infantry group equipped with the IdZ-21 Future Soldier system is standard. KMW.

March 3/11: Germany readies to deploy the Boxer. Its driver training school in Dornstadt received 7 Driver Training Vehicles (DTV) in 2010. In February 2011, another 8 Boxer APCs were delivered to 292 Jaegerbattalion in Donaueschingen, in preparation for the vehicle’s deployment to Afghanistan with this unit in August 2011. OCCAR | German Army [in German].

Oct 7/10: BAE Systems announces a $3.6 million contract from Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) to manufacture and deliver SCHROTH brand 4-point harness safety restraint with integrated airbag systems, to equip for 125 German Boxer vehicles. BAE will produce 7 restraint systems per vehicle (875 total), along with replacement parts. As part of the agreement, SCHROTH engineers have also developed a special, self-administered diagnostic tool for soldiers to verify that the systems are in working order. Deliveries of the new restraint system are expected to be completed in 2014.

Airbags to protect passengers are nothing new in civilian vehicles, but they’re still rare in combat vehicles. In the event of a crash, sensors on the SCHROTH harness measure the resulting acceleration, and send signals to gas generators whose micro pyrotechnical charges deploy the airbags in a fraction of a second.

April 27/10: A brief to the Dutch Parliament says that Boxer MRAV “Drive Module” (main body) qualification will not be done by the end of 2010, as scheduled. The vehicle did not fully meet contracted standards, and Germany’s intent to use Boxers in Afghanistan in 2010 has had effects of its own.

An agreement was reached with Germany for post-delivery qualifications in 2010, during so-called “Reliability Batch Trials,” with any changes Germany requires made at the manufacturer’s expense. Agreements were also made concerning post-qualification of some Drive Module sub-components, and alteration of the Logistic Qualification Course.

In contrast, the Dutch absolutely require pre-qualification before they’ll accept delivery. That means delays for series production of Dutch vehicles, and to the future Cargo, Ambulance and Command versions. Extra budget is also being requested to modify the Dutch C2-LAN system to a full C4I system. Kamenbrief [in Dutch]

Feb 8/10: KMW subsidiary Dutch Defense Vehicle Systems (DDVS) opens a new production facility in Helmond, near Eindhoven, NL. The facility will produce all hulls and several mission modules for the German-Dutch Boxer vehicle program, which currently stands at a total of 472 vehicles. Helmond will also be the site for logistics and maintenance service to the Dutch fleet of Fennek reconnaissance vehicles. KMW release [PDF]

Sept 23/09: At a ceremony in Munich, Rheinmetall Defence and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) transfer the first serially produced Boxer to the Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d’Armement (OCCAR), which is administering the Boxer project, and Germany’s Federal Agency for Defence Technology and Procurement (BWB). Rheinmetall | KMW [PDF format].

May 8/08: ARTEC’s Boxer MRAV made a dramatic comeback to reach the finals, but lost to General Dynamics MOWAG’s Piranha-V in Britain’s FRES-Utility competition. | UK MoD release | General Dynamics UK release.

June 14/07: Stung by criticism that the MoD has wasted years in order to select off-the-shelf vehicles that may not be survivable enough, Minister for Defence Equipment and Support Lord Drayson fires back in a public forum:

“Yes, the Boxer was a programme the MoD pulled out of when it was known as the MRAV programme. We took that decision in 2002 in light of the requirement at the time. We have since reviewed the FRES requirement in light of recent operational experience in Iraq and Afghanistan. Force protection in theatre now has a higher priority than strategic deployability – I don’t think anyone would argue with that view. When the situation changes our procurement process must be capable of responding to that change… I’m not going to go into the details of the protection FRES will have in a public forum… But to suggest that we are ignoring the threats we face in Iraq and Afghanistan today when we set the requirement for our future vehicles is wrong. And the idea that taking into account the full range of threats FRES will be less well protected than the patrol vehicles you list (such as the Mastiff) is also wrong. Finally, let’s all be clear that FRES is neither a protected patrol vehicle nor a replacement for Warrior…”

Given Canada’s poor experiences with wheeled vehicles in Afghanistan, and the Stryker’s emerging difficulties against new IED land mines in Iraq, this may become a recurring subject.

June 8/07: Britain’s MoD announces the FRES finalists. Surprisingly, the SEP vehicles don’t make that list, nor do other test platforms. All of the finalists are wheeled: General Dynamics MOWAG’s Piranha IV, Nexter (formerly Giat’s) VBCI – and the KMW-ARTEC Boxer, which Britain pulled out of several years ago in order to pursue FRES.

The vehicles will go on to the “trials of truth,” and the MoD says the outcome of the trials will be announced by the end of November 2007. At that point, “one or more utility vehicle designs will go forward for detailed assessment.” UK MoD release | Nexter release | KMW release.

May 23/07: Jane’s Defence Weekly reports that ARTEC expects to deliver the first Boxer 8 x 8 MRAV to the German Army on schedule in late 2009, with deliveries to the Royal Netherlands Army following in 2011.

Dec 19/06: At Bernardkazerne in Amersfoort, the Netherlands, a contract is signed for series deliveries of the Boxer Multi-Role Armoured Vehicle to the Netherlands and German armed forces. The series production contract covers up to 272 vehicles for Germany and the 200 vehicles for the Netherlands, with a total value of EUR 1.2 billion (about $1.58 billion), of which Stork will receive EUR 500 million (about $660 million) from 2008 – 2016. Up to 70% of Stork’s turnover will be subcontracted. Deliveries of the vehicles will start in 2009 and extend for seven years.

The contract for Stork encompasses a continued design for 2 new Boxer versions, the series production of 200 Boxer vehicles in 5 versions and an initial in-service support package. The Netherlands army will use the Boxer in 5 different versions: an ambulance vehicle, command post, engineer vehicle, and two types of cargo vehicles. See Stork release.

Dec 13/06: The Budget Committee of the German Bundestag approves MRAV acquisition. Formal signing of an OCCAR acquisition contract by representatives of Germany and the Netherlands is expected to take place on December 19, 2006. The order will reportedly encompass 400 vehicles, 200 of which are earmarked for the German Bundeswehr. Under this contract, the Germans would also have an option for a further 72 units configured as field ambulances. See Rheinmetall release, also KMW release in German.

Oct 13/06: The Dutch Ministerie Van Defensie issues a release noting that the Council of Ministers has approved the purchase of 200 Boxer APCs for the Dutch Army; the final decision now moves on to Parliament (and see Oct 10/06 entry below). The first Boxer MRAVs will enter service in 2011, and deliveries will be complete in 2016. Defense Aerospace’s translation adds some additional information that doesn’t appear to be in the Dutch release, noting that:

“On the basis of information supplied by industry, the operating cost of the Boxer for 200 vehicles over a life span of 30 years was initially estimated at approx. 1,125 million euros (excl VAT). More recent estimates have allowed the Ministry of Defence to reduce the projected life-time operating cost to 938 million euros (excl VAT), based on the best available data.”

In approximate US dollars, the range would be $1.176 billion – $1.41 billion, or about $5.88 – $7.05 million per vehicle over a 30-year operating period.

Oct 10/06: Jane’s International Defence Review reports that The Netherlands national elections scheduled for November 22, 2006 could lead to changes on the defense front. “With the electorate more or less split down the middle, a change of government from the current centre-right coalition to a new centre-left or even 100 per cent-left coalition is not impossible.” Such shifts would have implications for programs like the Boxer MRAV. As it happens, the Dutch elections produced losses for all major parties and left Parliament in a similar balance.

Additional Readings & Sources

• ARTEC Boxer official site

• Stork NV – Boxer. The subsidiary tasked with production is Stork PWV, who has this Boxer page, and also the Stork Special Products page that includes details re: some of Stork’s sub-projects within the program.

• KMW – Boxer Wheeled Vehicle

• Rheinmetall Defence – Boxer

• Army Technology – Boxer MRAV Wheeled Multi-Role Armoured Vehicle, Europe

• Ministerie van Defensie (June 28/06) – Kamer Steunt Voortgang Boxer

• Janes (May 22/06) – Revised bid aims to put Boxer back in the ring

• Ministerie van Defensie (June 21/06) – Nederland Gaat Door Met Boxer Pantservoertuig

• Janes (Oct 3/05) – Boxer misses key pricing deadline

Americas

The Army is contracting Foster-Miller to support its counter-IED efforts. The company is being awarded with a hybrid contract valued at $11.6 million. Foster-Miller, doing business as QinetiQ North America will provide the service with a new Route Clearance and Interrogation System (RCIS) Type I. The Route Clearance and Interrogation System Type I essentially involves automation of the High Mobility Engineering Excavator (HMEE) platform. The HMEE-I is a backhoe loader developed by JCB. The vehicle can carry a two-man crew and was specifically developed for the US military, to replace its small emplacement excavator. The HMEE-I can be used to clear roads, lay power lines and create obstacles to hinder enemy forces. It has a lifespan of 25 years. The vehicle can be outfitted with a variety of self-protection kits that can provide ballistic and blast protection protection against small arms fire and improvised explosive devices. Under the RCIS program an operator will be able to wirelessly control the HMEE-I from a separate control vehicle. Work will be performed at the company’s location in Waltham, Massachusetts and is expected to be completed by March 14th, 2025.

The US Army is moving ahead with its Hellfire replacement. Lockheed Martin is being awarded with a contract modification that provides for the procurement of Joint-Air-to-Ground missiles at a cost of $26.4 million. The JAGM was cleared for low-rate initial production on June 27th. Its seeker combines a semi-active laser with millimeter-wave radar sensors that give it the capability to go up against stationary and moving land and maritime targets in bad weather or obscured conditions at ranges up to 16km. Initial operational capability through the Army is expected in early 2019. Work will be performed at Lockheed’s facility in Orlando, Florida and is expected to be completed by February 28th, 2020.

BAE Systems is being tapped to provide the US military with additional countermeasure systems for its F-35s as part of the PMA272 Air Expendable Countermeasures Program. The firm-fixed-price delivery order provides for the manufacture of T-1687/ALE-70(V) countermeasures at a cost of $70.4 million. PMA272 Air Expendable Countermeasures are designed to protect aircraft from radio-frequency and infrared targeted weapon systems. The ALE-70 towed radio frequency countermeasure consists of the reel and launcher assembly, tow line, T-1687 countermeasure transmitter, and electronic and mechanical subassemblies. It also has canisters, and explosive cartridges to deploy the decoys. When deployed from the aircraft, the ALE-70’s countermeasure transmitter responds to commands from the countermeasure controller located in the jet and emits waveforms to confuse or decoy adversary radars or radar-guided weapons. The system may be towed or free-flying. Work will be performed in Nashua, New Hampshire, and is scheduled for completion by March 2021.

The Navy is funding research on its fleet of MH-60 Sierra Multi-Mission Helicopters. The aircraft’s manufacturer Sikorsky is being awarded with a cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order valued a $9.7 million. The company will be responsible to conduct engineering efforts necessary to conduct comprehensive fatigue life analysis to define the expected service life of the Knighthawk. The MH-60S entered service in 2002 as a replacement for the US Navy’s Boeing CH-46D Sea Knight, flown mostly in utility roles that involve moving cargo between ships. It is designed specifically for amphibious assault operations but it fulfills multi-role operational capabilities. The MH-60S functions as a heavy-lift capable helicopter for ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore transport. Work will be performed at Sikorsky’s facility in Stratford, Connecticut and is expected to be completed in January 2022.

Middle East & Africa

Jane’s reports that the Central African Armed Forces (FACA) is now in possession of over 120 new vehicles. The Central African Republic (CAR) received a variety of vehicles donated by the US and China. The Chinese company Poly Technologies delivered Dongfeng EQ2050 4×4s and Dongfeng CSK131 4×4 protected vehicles, at a total cost of $15 million. The Dongfeng CSK131 has got an armored hull that provides protection against small arms fire and artillery shell fragments. The vehicle can carry 5 troops and a driver and can be fitted with a shielded machine gun position or a remotely-controlled weapon station. The Dongfeng is the Chinese version of the US Humvee. The US delivered 42 Toyota Hilux 4×4 pickups and six Renault K380 utility trucks worth about $8.5 million. The Central African Republic (CAR) has been unstable since its independence from France in 1960. In 2013 the country plummeted into a religiously motivated civil-war when Muslim rebels from the Seleka umbrella group seized power in the majority Christian country. The country is undergoing an internationally supervised transition involving a constitutional referendum as well as presidential and parliamentary elections.

Europe

HMS Queen Elizabeth is currently on her way to the United States. The Royal Navy’s new flagship is sailing from Portsmouth Naval Base to Norfolk, Virginia. During carrier’s 11 weeks at sea two US-based F-35Bs will carry out 500 landings and take-offs. The UK’s second carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales is currently being fitted at Rosyth in Fife. Once the new ships of the Queen Elizabeth Class are complete, Britain will possess a full-size carrier for the first time in several decades. When fielded, the CVF design will be the largest ships in the world to use electric rather than mechanical propulsion drives. The new carriers will have 2 core components in the air wing, and 2 important ancillaries. The HMS Queen Elizabeth is expected to embark on its first operational deployment in 2021.

The German Army’s air-wing is weaker than expected. A new study by the Bundeswehr found that it needs between 70 and 80 new light helicopters to cover shortfalls in flight hours for pilot training and carry out other missions. If the government approves the necessary funding the army could order dozens of Airbus’ H145M light utility helicopter. German Special Forces are already operating 15 of those helicopters and mission readiness is above 99%. According to the company’s website the H145M can be outfitted with a wide range of available optional mission equipment packages. Reconfigurations range from troop transport with seats to armed scout with a set of weapons and ballistic protection.

Asia-Pacific

The Russian Ministry of Defense is issuing the largest defense contract in FY2018. The Ministry is ordering at least 36 Su-30SM fighters at a cost of $1 billion. The Su-30SM fighter was designed in accordance with the requirements of the Russian Air Force. It is being manufactured by IRKUT, a company based in Russia. The multirole Su-30SM can be deployed in counter-air strikes, counter-land and counter-sea missions. It can conduct electronic counter-countermeasures and early warning tasks. The aircraft also acts as a command-and-control platform within a fleet of combat aircraft performing joint missions. Russia has ordered a total of 116 Su-30SM fighter jets in 2012, delivery of which is scheduled for completion by the end of this year.

Today’s Video

Watch: HMS Queen Elizabeth is leaving for the USA

JAGM infographic
(click to view full)

The AGM-114 Hellfire missile remains a mainstay for the US military and its allies around the world, and efforts to replace it have repeatedly stalled. The Joint Common Missile (JCM) was meant to offer new guidance options, and use on fast jets as well as helicopters and UAVs. It performed well, but was canceled. It returned from the procurement dead as JAGM, a program that has undergone several major changes within itself. While other air forces field fast-jet solutions like MBDA’s Brimstone, JAGM will initially be limited to helicopters and UAVs, as a dual-mode guidance upgrade to current model Hellfire missiles.

The JAGM Program JAGM Missile Increments

Hellfire II: what’s next?
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Oddly, the problems faced by Hellfire’s JCM and JAGM successors have been largely unrelated to cost or to performance. Rather, the programs kept getting cut to pay for other things. The Hellfires were seen as good enough to equip American helicopters and large UAVs like the Predator. To compete, new entrants had to fit into a new category. Smaller guided 70mm rockets gained a foothold because more of them could be carried in the same space, while small multi-mode glide bombs found a niche by being launched from the back ramps of cargo aircraft. JAGM was a straight substitute, and that wasn’t interesting enough.

After enough JCM/JAGM missile program cancellations and resurrections to make even Lazarus give up, the US Army looked at its Hellfire stocks, and realized that they’d need something new anyway. In response, they decided to try squaring this circle using an incremental approach, one focused on replacing the most at-risk AGM-114L radar-guided missiles first.

Initial. The JAGM Continued Technology Development phase now aims to create dual-mode laser/radar guidance sections that can equip existing Hellfire II missiles. Essentially, JAGM Increment 1 would create a Hellfire III missile with dual-mode guidance, matched to the AGM-114R’s multi-role warhead and rocket. Initial Army platforms would include the AH-64E Apache attack helicopter, and MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAV. The USMC’s initial platforms will be the AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter and KC-130J Harvest Hawk armed tanker/ transport, for integration by FY 2019.

JAGM Increment 2. Intends to increase the maximum range to 12 km, and move to the full tri-mode seeker with semi-active laser, Imaging Infrared (IIR), and millimeter wave radar guidance modes. If Raytheon bids, they’d be offering the tri-mode seeker in Increment 1 as well.

JAGM Increment 3. This is the original JAGM concept, more or less. It would have a maximum range of 16 km that would likely force a new rocket motor, alongside other redesigns for carriage and launch from helicopters or fast jets. Initial fixed-wing platforms would include the USMC’s AV-8B Harrier and F-35B Lightning II STOVL fighters, but there’s no set schedule. The earliest F-35 integration slot involves Block 4 fighters, whose software isn’t likely to be ready before 2021-2023.

Timeline & Budgets

If JAGM can be delivered to the required cost targets, it may add the originally-planned tri-mode (imaging infrared + semi-active laser + millimeter wave radar) guidance set, and Increments 2 & 3 may revive interest in new rocket motor technology that would eventually allow safe launches from fighter jets. Those kinds of advances sit beyond the current timeline.

Budgets to date have included:

Scope and Scale

F-16 fires Maverick

If the US Army and Navy have total current program numbers for JAGM, they aren’t disclosing them in recent documents. We do know that JAGM’s scope is much reduced, but it could still expand again.

The original Joint Common Missile (JCM) was seen as the next-generation, multi-purpose, air-to-ground precision missile that will replace AGM-114 Hellfire family, AGM-65 Maverick family, and airborne xGM-71 TOW missiles with a single weapon usable by the airplanes, helicopters and UAVs of the US Army, Navy, and Marine Corps. It was also being considered for use on some ground vehicles, and had naval potential. The original JCM had a goal of 54,000 missiles.

JAGM was revised lower, and a 2010 GAO document estimated the total 20-year program cost at about $6.4 billion: $1.64 billion for Research, Development, Test and Evaluation; and $4.74 billion to build 33,853 missiles. As of November 2011, the totals had reached $6.88 billion for 35,422 missiles.

Then the FY13 budget came in, grinding the program to a near halt as the Navy left. The program was restructured, and the USMC returned to the program in time for the FY15 budget submission, but the program’s scope has been reduced further.

Part of the reason involves fewer platforms. “Increment 1 & 2” versions of JAGM can’t replace the Mavericks on fixed-wing jets. Until at least 2019, the missiles will be limited to US Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, USMC AH-1Z attack helicopters, US Army MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAVs, and USMC KC-130J Harvest Hawk armed tanker/transports.

SDB-II

Meanwhile, the US Navy and USAF have a substitute. The Navy expects to follow the AGM-65 Mavericks on its jets with small GBU-53 SDB-II glide bombs, carrying a tri-mode IIR/laser/MMW radar seeker that may yet see derivative use in JAGM. The USAF will be doing likewise, instead of turning to JAGM or to similar missiles like MBDA’s Brimstone.

US Navy MH-60s can expect eventual JAGM integration, since AGM-114 Hellfire deliveries are set to end in 2017. Farther into the future, the USMC wants to equip its AV-8B and F-35B fighters with JAGM Increment 3. Note, however, that there’s no set schedule for missile upgrades. On the export front, if JAGM is added to F-35Bs, it will be competing with the MBDA Brimstone and SPEAR missiles that Britain plans to integrate into its own F-35B fleet.

Other opportunities exist. Vehicle-mounted options for Hellfire-class missiles are springing up, but competition from dedicated anti-armor weapons like the shorter-range Javelin, MMP, and Spike, or the longer range Spike-NLOS, will be fierce. Naval options may be even more promising for fire-and-forget missiles, where JAGM could replace the AGM-114L Hellfire on the USA’s Littoral Combat ships, or fit out other vessels who need a deadly fire-and-forget counter to small boat swarms. In that arena, MBDA’s laser/radar guided Brimstone and Raytheon’s GPS/laser/IIR guided Griffin C will be its main competitors.

Competition: MBDA’s Brimstone/ SPEAR

Brimstones on GR4s
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While the JCM/ JAGM program has churned specifications and burned time, a different program has already produced an interesting competitor with many of the same specifications, and some of the flexibility.

AGM-114P/R Hellfire missiles are now qualified for use at high-altitudes on UAVs like the MQ-9 Reaper, but they aren’t a solution for fixed-wing jets, and range limitations make Hellfire dangerous to use against even short-range air defenses. MBDA’s Brimstone 2 solves those problems.

The Brimstone’s first combat use came in 2011 over Libya, where its man-in-the-loop option and attack profiles made it one of the few weapons that NATO commanders could use to attack enemy armor in urban areas. It has been integrated with Britain’s Royal Air Force Tornado GR4 strike aircraft and Harrier GR9 jump-jets, and is slated to add the Eurofighter Typhoon to that list. F-35 integration was scheduled for F-35B Block 3 in 2018, but overall F-35 development problems look set to push the British effort back to Block 4 in 2021-2023.

SPEAR

With combat credentials and a significant head start, MBDA can be expected to make more market inroads.

Nor is MBDA resting on its technical laurels. Their SPEAR project for Britain’s Complex Weapons program aims to take the Brimstone’s warhead and guidance, and mount it on a larger missile with a range of 75 – 100 km. SPEAR will be mounted in multiples on external hardpoints, or carried inside the weapons bay of Britain’s forthcoming F-35Bs.

Contracts and Key Events

The JAGM program will be managed by the U.S. Army’s Aviation and Missile Command in Redstone Arsenal, AL.

FY 2018

USMC back in the program; Raytheon out of CTD; Brimstone for MQ-9 Reaper UAVs?

JAGM Inc 1
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August 20/18: Hellfire Adé! The US Army is moving ahead with its Hellfire replacement. Lockheed Martin is being awarded with a contract modification that provides for the procurement of Joint-Air-to-Ground missiles at a cost of $26.4 million. The JAGM was cleared for low-rate initial production on June 27th. Its seeker combines a semi-active laser with millimeter-wave radar sensors that give it the capability to go up against stationary and moving land and maritime targets in bad weather or obscured conditions at ranges up to 16km. Initial operational capability through the Army is expected in early 2019. Work will be performed at Lockheed’s facility in Orlando, Florida and is expected to be completed by February 28th, 2020.

FY 2016

June 6/16: The US Army has successfully fired Lockheed Martin’s multi-mode Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (MQ-1C Gray Eagle at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. The Gray Eagle test was the seventh flight test for the JAGM missile. The missile was previously tested on Apache attack helicopters and Marine Corps Cobra helicopters.

April 15/16: The Redstone Test Center is playing host to the engineering and development phase of the Joint Air to Ground Missile (JAGM). So far, the missile completed tests on its guidance section which included captive flight testing, tower testing, and environmental testing. The JAGM will now enter the Product Qualification Test (PQT) phase which will see the weapon carried on the Grey Eagle unmanned aerial system (UAS) and AH-64 Apache helicopter for flight testing.

FY 2013 – 2015

USMC back in the program; Raytheon out of CTD; Brimstone for MQ-9 Reaper UAVs?

Aug 3/15: Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $66.4 million contract to further develop the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) for the Army and Navy. The company submitted its bid for the program in April and successfully test fired two JAGMs in mid-July. The JAGM is intended to replace AGM-114 Hellfire, AGM-65 Maverick and BGM-71 TOW missiles currently in service.

July 14/15: Lockheed Martin reported on Monday that the company has successfully tested two Joint Air-to-Ground Missiles (JAGM) during recent testing over Elgin AFB in Florida. The company is bidding for its missile to win the Army’s JAGM competition, delivering its proposal in April.

Nov 3/14: USMC Plan. The USMC’s Aviation Plan to 2030 deals with weapons as well. JAGM is mentioned, and its 3 planned increments are fully outlined. Under current plans, JAGM Increment 1 will begin integration with AH-1Z attack helicopters in 2015, and will achieve Initial Operational Capability on the AH-1Z and on KC-130J Harvest Hawk armed tanker/ transport planes in 2019.

Beyond 2019, the USMC plans to field JAGM Increment 3 on the AV-8B Harrier II and F-35C Lightning II. Note that the earliest available integration slot for the F-35 would involve Block 4 software, around 2021-2023. Britain, is likely to add its competing Brimstone missile to the F-35B in Block 4, after original plans to feature it in Block 3 fell through. Sources: USMC, Marine Aviation Plan 2015 [PDF].

Oct 13/14: Lockheed Martin is preparing its expected JAGM bid with the current dual-mode laser/radar seeker, following successful tests.

Raytheon, whose solution was dropped at the same time as JAGM dropped to a dual-guidance mode because of funding shortfalls (q.v. July 18/13), is deciding whether to bid at all. If they do bid, they’re going to stick to their original plan and use the same tri-mode laser/IIR/radar seeker from the GBU-53 Small Diameter Bomb II. It’s a reasonable hedge against perceived risk, offering more capability for the same dollars. Of course, the level of perceived risk could be far more even if both designs had been funded through development.

Given the likely scope of future JAGM orders, and the tiny fraction of the procurement budget involved in JAGM development, there’s a legitimate policy question here re: the responsibility of the Pentagon to promote competitive tenders for significant weapon systems. Sources: Aviation Week, “Lockheed Martin Preparing JAGM Bid; Raytheon Unsure”.

May 13/14: FBO.gov, “14–JAGM ENGINEERING AND MANUFACTURING DEVELOPMENT”:

“The U.S. Army Contracting Command – Redstone (ACC-R) intends to issue a Draft Request for Proposal (DRFP), W31P4Q-14-R-0107, for the purpose of supporting a full and open competitive procurement to fulfill the requirements for the Joint Air to Ground Missile (JAGM) Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase with options for Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP)…. The JAMS project office plans to host a Pre-proposal Industry Day sometime in the June 2014 timeframe to present general unclassified information on the U.S. Army’s projected procurement strategy of the JAGM and the Army’s vision…”

March 4-11/14: Budgets. The US military slowly files its budget documents, detailing planned spending from FY 2014 – 2019. According to those documents, AGM-114 Hellfire orders stop in FY 2015 (USAF), and the last Hellfires will be delivered in April 2017. The Army’s documentation says nothing about JAGM production, except that the Milestone C decision for low-rate production is expected in Q2 FY17:

“The Army has depended on Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding to replenish [AGM-114] stocks since FY 2008. The Army continues to evaluate the transition strategy from HELLFIRE to Joint Air to Ground Missile (JAGM).”

Meanwhile, Navy documents indicate that they’re back in the program. They show JAGM integration on AH-1Z helicopters beginning in FY15, and orders beginning in FY19. JAGM will be re-using most of the AGM-114R Hellfire, which is already integrated on the AH-1Z, but Navy helicopters are used to the video interface that JAGM won’t have, and don’t typically carry fire-control radars. So, some changes will be necessary.

Feb 20/14: Lockheed Martin announces that its JAGM dual-mode guidance section has flown on a Hellfire missile and hit a moving laser-designated target. The missile was fired from 6km during an internally funded flight test at Eglin AFB, FL. Essentially, the missile acted like a normal Hellfire. Tests of the seeker in dual-mode are coming.

In a briefing, Lockheed Martin gives JAGM’s range as 8 km, whether launched low or high with its boost-only motor. The M299 launcher interface has a few changes from the basic Hellfire, and hews to the radar-guided AGM-114L Hellfire Longbow missile’s serial interface instead of a video interface. Otherwise, JAGM is basically an AGM-114R Hellfire missile with a new guidance section. System qualification is expected in Q4 2014, and JAGM will be integrated with the Army’s AH-64 Apache attack helicopters and MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAVs. Sources: LMCO, “Lockheed Martin Demonstrates JAGM Dual-Mode Guidance Section in Recent Flight Test” | JAGM Media Briefing with LMCO VP Tactical Missiles/Combat Maneuver Systems Frank St. John.

July 18/13: LMCO only. IHS Jane’s, “US Army to move ahead with Lockheed Martin JAGM”:

“The US Army will not award Raytheon Missile Systems a contract for the remainder of the Technology Development (TD) phase of the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM)…. [but will] continue to execute the Lockheed Martin contract through the remainder of the TD phase, US Army Colonel James Romero, the project manager for the Joint Attack Munitions Systems, told IHS Jane’s during a 17 July interview at the Pentagon.

“A [$36 million] funding shortfall was the primary catalyst for the decision,” Col Romero said.”

JAGM is also being scaled back to a dual-mode MMW radar/ laser seeker at first. Raytheon and Boeing’s tri-mode guidance solution is already developed for the SDB-II bomb, so they remain in a position to compete for JAGM production orders if the US military wants to hold a competitive buy when the time comes.

TD now Lockheed Martin only

May 3/13: Brimstone for Reapers? With JAGM fielding still some way off, if ever, the USAF’s 645th Aeronautical Systems Group rapid acquisition office is reportedly interested in adding MBDA’s longer-range, dual laser/ MW radar guided Brimstone missile to the MQ-9’s arsenal. It’s real attraction is a ‘man in the loop’ feature that lets the firing aircraft abort an attack after launch, or correct a missile that locks on the wrong target. In Libya, those characteristics reportedly made it one of the few weapons NATO commanders could use to hit enemy armored vehicles in urban areas.

Brimstone already serves on RAF Tornado GR4 strike jets, and was an option for Britain’s Harrier GR9s before the entire fleet was sold to the US Marines. With Britain’s MQ-9s deployed, they’ve reportedly asked for tests using USAF MQ-9s, and also hope to interest American armed services in the weapon. Defense News | Defense Update.

April 10/13: FY 2014 Budget. The President releases a proposed budget at last, the latest in modern memory. The Senate and House were already working on budgets in his absence, but the Pentagon’s submission is actually important to proceedings going forward. See ongoing DID coverage. For JAGM, there isn’t a lot of near-term funding, and there are a lot of milestones to hit on the way to funding it as a Hellfire upgrade beginning around 2017. Budget figures to 2018 are compiled above.

R/B JAGM pre-test
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Dec 11/12: CTD. Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, AZ receives a “$10 million” firm-fixed-price contract for JAGM’s continued technology development. Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ with an estimated completion date of March 31/13. One bid was solicited, with 1 bid received (W31P4Q-13-C-0080). It appears to have taken longer than expected (vid. Aug 17/12 entry), but Raytheon has its CTD contract.

Raytheon’s Dec 3/12 release places the total value of both CTD phases at $65 million, just like Lockheed Martin. During the next 4 months, Raytheon will update its design and complete a delta (design changes) Preliminary Design Review. During the next 24 months, the team will focus on a Critical Design Review, guidance section qualification and testing, and delivery of JAGM guidance sections. The CTD phase will culminate with the US Army integrating Raytheon JAGM guidance sections to Hellfire missiles. Based on current schedules, Raytheon’s SDB II tri-mode seeker will be in its 2nd year of production by the time JAGM CTD concludes.

JAGM CTD contract

FY 2012

Lockheed Martin CTD. Navy out.

LMCO on JAGM
click for video

Aug 17/12: CTD. Lockheed Martin Missiles & Fire Control in Orlando, FL announces a $64 million extended technology development contract from the US Army, in order to keep the JAGM program one notch above dead. The Pentagon follows with an Aug 27/12 announcement for $32 million to continue developing the seeker & guidance unit, but “50% award announcements” are common, and Lockheed Martin’s figure remains authoritative.

Work will be performed in Orlando, FL, with an estimated completion date of Nov 28/14. Two bids were solicited, with 2 bids received (W31P4Q-12-C-0003).

Observant readers may notice that $64 million is about half of the $127 million the GAO was talking about for FY 2012 (vid. March 29/12 entry). Raytheon’s head of JAGM business development, J.R. Smith, says that their own CTD contract is currently in negotiation, and expected within the next several weeks.

JAGM CTD contract

May 31/12: A March 2012 presolicitation from the US Navy for JAGM integration on F/A-18E/F aircraft may have sent mixed signals, but its cancellation confirms the Navy’s intent.

March 29/12: GAO report. In its 2012 Selected Weapons Program assessment report, the GAO underlines the uncertain nature of JAGM’s future – not quite cancelled but close. It notes that Hellfires have been working well in theater, weakening the case for an expensive replacement.

According to the GAO, $127M in funding for the current fiscal year will allow a 27-month extension of the technology development phase to hopefully address affordability issues and reduce risk. The Pentagon’s comptroller sizes up the savings from stalling on JAGM at $300M in FY2013 and a total of $1.6B over the FYDP.

March 20/12: I’m Still Alive. Frank Kendall, undersecretary for acquisition, technology, and logistics, signs an Acquisition Decision Memorandum, granting new life to the JAGM program. Meanwhile, the Army has produced a JAGM affordability study, and provided it to the 2 teams. Can JAGM rise again, perhaps as the Joint Effects Strike Unified Sensors missile?

Raytheon’s head of JAGM business development, J.R. Smith, says that he believes there’s about $300 million in prior-year funding left over from FY 2011-12, which can be used to keep the program running. If this feels like a rerun, that’s because it is, as the Dec 30/05 entry shows. AOL Defense.

ADM survival

Feb 2012: Navy out. In the FY2013 Presidential Request, the US Navy estimates it is a “manageable risk to terminate the Navy’s and USMC’s investment in the JAGM program,” choosing to invest instead in SDB II and continued Hellfire procurement.

Unless this decision changes, it makes JAGM an Army-only program. DID therefore humbly suggests rebranding the program as AAGM, or possibly AAHAAGMM given the “living dead” JCM/JAGM history so far.

Navy/USMC out

FY 2011

Analysis of Alternatives. Industry tests.

Raytheon/ Boeing JAGM
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Aug 2011: JAGM AoA. The program office submits its Analysis of Alternatives, defending JAGM as a cost-effective solution. They will probably have to fight hard to make that case.

June 7/11: Testing. Lockheed Martin touts company-funded trials of a JAGM seeker mounted in a Sabreliner 60 executive jet flying at 20,000 feet, which was used to track small, fast naval targets in the Gulf of Mexico near Eglin AFB, FL. Targets included a Revenge Advanced Composites (RAC) state-of-the-art, low-signature, high-speed patrol craft performing evasive maneuvers.

The test was designed to highlight robust mid-wave infrared performance, fixed wing performance, high humidity performance, effectiveness against a challenging low-signature target, and EMD readiness – since captive flight isn’t required until the next stage.

June 6/11: Bids in. Deadline day for the JAGM RFP, and both Team Lockheed and Team Raytheon submit their bids. A single contract award for the program’s Engineering & Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase is expected during Q4 (summer) 2011. Lockheed Martin | Raytheon.

RFP bids

May 2/11: Testing. The Raytheon/ Boeing team follows up their Oct 23/10 firing, and completes the series of government-funded JAGM tests. The latest firing uses the new rocket motor, but only after subjecting it to thermal cycling from -45F to 160F degrees.

The test was whether the new motor would still work after 5-20 cycles of that treatment. It did, and Raytheon VP Advanced Missiles and Unmanned Systems Bob Francois gets to point out that “Every single test of the Raytheon-Boeing JAGM has been an unqualified success, even those using EMD motors.”

April 13/11: The US Army Aviation and Missile Command issues its JAGM Engineering and Manufacturing (EMD) and Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) Request for Proposals. The scope of the JAGM EMD contract will be to “complete all major component and subsystem critical design reviews (CDRs), a system-level CDR, component and subsystem testing, design verification testing, engineering development tests and production prove-out tests on the six threshold JAGM platforms.” In addition to the EMD requirements, the RFP calls for 3 fixed-price LRIP production lot options, as well as 2 fixed-priced advance procurement clauses for long lead time components.

Lockheed Martin’s team and the Raytheon-Boeing team both formally announce their intent to bid; at this point,a contract is expected in Q3 of FY 2011.

EMD/LRIP RFP

March 21/11: Test equipment. US NAWCWD announces its intent to hand WINTEC, Inc. of Walton Beach, FL a contract for 5 M299/310 Launcher and Missile Emulator (LME) systems, Part Number JLE00010-4. The LMEs are existing Special Test Equipment used to support the integration, test, and verification of Launchers and missiles at the MIL-STD-1760 interface to host platforms. The LMEs have traditionally been used for AGM-114 Hellfires, but new launcher models/simulations and missile model/simulations have been added, to support the JAGM program objectives for planned laboratory and platform integration testing.

The sole source award is being done in accordance with FAR 6.302-1. Anticipated award is May 2011.

March 7/11: US FedBizOpps notice #N00019-09-P2-PC041:

“The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) intends to issue a Cost Plus Fixed Fee Order under NAVAIR Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA) N00019-11-G-0001 for the engineering services of hardware integration analysis, wind tunnel tests, ground tests, flight test planning, aircraft/weapon system integration and instrumentation, ground and flight test technology support, data reduction, documentation, and reporting requirements for integration of the Prototype Joint Air to Ground Missile (JAGM) Systems on F/A-18E/F aircraft. NAVAIR intends to negotiate this Order on a sole source basis with McDonnell Douglas Corporation (MDC), A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of the Boeing Company, St. Louis, MO 63166-0516. MDC is the sole designer, developer, manufacturer and supplier of the F/A-18 Weapon System and MDC is the only known source capable of performing this effort within the required time frame.”

Feb 8/11: JAGM pre-solicitation #W31P4Q-11-Q-0006 issued:

“The Government plans to issue separate Request For Quotations (RFQ) W31P4Q-11-Q-0006 and RFQ) W31P4Q-11-Q-0007 to Lockheed Martin Missile Systems and Raytheon Missile Systems repectively [sic] to provide input, advice, and recommendations regarding JAGM System Engineering integrated product team activities… Solicitation from any other source is not feasible because only the recommendations and input from the two existing JAGM TD prime contractors Lockheed Martin Missile Systems and Raytheon Missile Systems can fulfill Government needs.”

Jan 3/11: Testing. Lockheed Martin has had some issues with its JAGM design so far, but continues to push to get where they want to be by the time a winner is picked. They announce successful flight tests aboard a Super Hornet from Oct 5/10 – Nov 2/10. This was a test of the missiles’ ability to handle conditions at various altitudes and speeds, as well as a test of the aerodynamic consequences of mounting the Lockheed Martin/ Marvin engineering JAGM triple rail at various points, with various load-outs.

Oct 23/10: Testing – rocket. A Raytheon/Boeing funded test fires a JAGM prototype equipped with the new Boeing-ATK rocket motor, which would be used on their production missile. The test is successful in collecting data to update the missile’s flight and simulation software, and allows the team to advance to engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) and a Preliminary Design Review.

This is the team’s 6th missile test, and the 3rd privately-funded test. All tests to date have met their objectives. Raytheon.

Oct 15/10: Testing. DoD Buzz reports that Raytheon isn’t using a production version of the JAGM missile in its firing tests, just the seeker. Raytheon replies that the tests’ terms are aimed at the seeker, and do not require production-ready missiles. DoD Buzz must concede the point:

“Here is what the RFP says: “The fly-off missile prototypes will represent PDR(Preliminary Design Review) level configurations using a Warhead Replacement Telemetry Unit. It will include a series of Tactical Missile Air-gun and/or Rail Test Firings with a Warhead integrated into a non-functional Tactical Missile to gain insight into Warhead /Fuze functioning.”

Lockheed Martin says that their JAGM test missiles have all been production ready configurations – but that will only help them in the short term if failings in their test firings are traceable to their missile design, rather than their seekers. Meanwhile, Raytheon & Boeing will continue component and higher-level testing of their missile design.

FY 2010

Preliminary Design Review.

JAGM test (loud!)
click to play video

Sept 10/10: Testing fail. DoD Buzz reports that the cause of Lockheed Martin’s missile failure in its second test-firing was a bracket that holds one of the rocket motors. Unfortunately, they’re going to have to delve into more root cause analysis, because…

“The day before the deadline for official government testing, Lockheed Martin’s Joint Air To Ground Missile prototype missed the target, leaving the defense giant with two misses out of three in the competition for the $5 billion program. Raytheon struck the target on its third test, a company source said, giving them their third successful shot of three.”

That doesn’t end the team’s chances, it just means that further firing tests would have to come out of Lockheed Martin’s pocket, as the team moves toward its final submission model. Given the huge future stakes involved, there’s no doubt that Lockheed Martin will finance any tests required.

Sept 1/10: Testing. Raytheon announces success in the 2nd of 3 government-sponsored JAGM firings. Their missile used its uncooled imaging infrared (IIR) guidance system to hit an armored vehicle target at 4 kilometers/ 2.5 miles. During the most recent test, all three guidance systems operated simultaneously and provided telemetry data that enabled engineers to conduct further analysis of the weapon. The test is significant, because Lockheed Martin’s matching test was an overshoot, and Raytheon’s uncooled IIR sensor s generally seen as a tradeoff between lower cost and maintenance, in exchange for lower performance.

This is actually the Boeing/Raytheon team’s 4th test firing, as the team funded 2 of its own tests in April 2010.

Aug 16/10: Lockheed PDR. Lockheed Martin and teammates Marvin Engineering and Aerojet announce successful JAGM component and system Preliminary Design Reviews (PDRs). The team completed PDRs on Aerojet’s JAGM propulsion solution, which uses Roxel UK’s minimum-smoke propellant grain, and on launchers that included the U.S. Navy’s quad-missile helicopter (AH-1Z, MH-60R) and tri-missile fixed-wing (F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet) launchers. The team continues to increase the severity of environmental testing in preparation for engineering manufacturing development. Lockheed Martin.

Aug 9/10: SDB-II win. Raytheon wins the SDB-II competition against Boeing and Lockheed Martin, and cites its tri-mode seeker as a key reason. It remains to be seen whether their use of the same seeker for JAGM proves helpful.

Aug 6/10: Testing. DoD Buzz gets information from Lockheed and Raytheon concerning their manufacturer-financed test shots to date.

To date, Lockheed Martin has had 2 flight readiness checks in June & July. A Lockheed-funded check had a pre-launch malfunction. A government-funded check failed when range instruments malfunctioned, but that missile was later used on Aug 2/10 for a successful test shot at White Sands Missile Range, NM. The Aug 2/10 laser-guided shot tested the tri-mode seeker, but used the laser for targeting, and scored a direct hit from 16km. An Aug 3/10 IIR test against a tank target at 4km led to an overshoot. Team Lockheed says they’re confident they’ll have their 3 successful tests by the deadline.

Raytheon paid for 2 missile test shots in April 2010 to see if they were on the right path, and met their objectives. Their next test shot on June 23/10 tested the tri-mode seeker, but used the laser for targeting, and scored a direct ht from 16km. A 4th test shot is scheduled for Aug 13/10.

July 26/10: Testing. The Raytheon-Boeing team announces that their JAGM design has successfully completed the 1st of 3 government-sponsored firings, using its laser guidance system to hit an 8×8-foot target board from a distance of 10 miles/ 16 km. All 3 guidance modes were used during the flight for telemetry data, but the laser was used to final targeting. This is actually the 3rd test firing of their design, following 2 company funded tests in April 2010.

May 5/10: Testing. Raytheon announces that their partnership has completed wind tunnel testing of the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile from the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet.

May 5/10: Testing. Lockheed Martin announces a successful end to JAGM wind tunnel tests involving the Navy’s F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet jet fighter.

The more than 200 hours of initial high-speed flying qualities wind tunnel tests were conducted at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, CA. The goal was to ensure minimal changes to the fighter’s handling characteristics with the missiles on board. After that, tests moved to 150 hours of work at the Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) wind tunnel in Tullahoma, TN. Those tests further refined the structural requirements of the launcher and JAGM, and included safe launch and separation tests involving Lockheed Martin and Marvin Engineering’s triple-rail JAGM launcher. A final set of tests at the Boeing Vertol wind tunnel in Philadelphia, PA, demonstrated and validated low-speed flight characteristics of the Super Hornet when loaded with JAGM.

April 20/10: Testing. Raytheon/Boeing team announce the 1st successful test of its Joint Air-to-Ground Missile at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The weapon, fired from a ground-based rotary-wing launcher, reportedly performed a series of pre-programmed maneuvers and flew to a predesignated location, validating the flight control software and Brimstone airframe. Raytheon-Boeing release

April 13/10: Testing. Lockheed Martin concludes a series of static, tower-based and captive-carry flight tests of its tri-mode JAGM seeker in a limited dirty battlefield/countermeasure rich environment at Redstone Arsenal, AL. The seeker was tested against both active and passive countermeasure systems including white and red phosphorous, fog oil, smoke, millimeter wave chaff, flares, camouflage netting and mobile camouflage systems.

This test series was preceded by an array of successful captive-carry tests conducted by Lockheed Martin in clean, non-dirty-battlefield flight environments, during both favorable and adverse weather conditions including sun, rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow. Hady Mourad, JAGM program director at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, said that “the seeker performed precisely as designed.” Lockheed Martin release.

April 6/10: Testing – rocket. Lockheed Martin announces successful extreme temperature tests for its proposed JAGM rocket motor, developed in conjunction with Gencorp’s subsidiary Aerojet. The final completed tests were a series of cold temperature missile motor firings were conducted in Camden, AR, using the same rocket motor design planned for the tactical missile, with a composite motor case, with the system conditioned to -65F degrees in order to simulate high-altitude conditions.

The partners describe these tests as a “breakthrough,” which may not be an exaggeration. The rocket is one of the program’s most challenging technologies, because it has to do several things at once: smokeless/ low-smoke launch and flight, operation over a wide range of temperatures from searing deserts to extreme cold at fighter-jet altitudes, and a high enough turn-down ratio (flow variance from boost to sustain) to give the missile its required performance and range. The Raytheon/Boeing team is also working on this area, but their partner is ATK. Joint release: Lockheed Martin | Aerojet.

March 31/10: Testing. Lockheed Martin announces successful initial tests on the multi-mode seeker for its JAGM contender, demonstrating all of the sensor modes simultaneously. Program officials also recently held Kaizen events, or Structured Improvement Activity (SIA), to streamline the manufacturing process at Lockheed Martin’s seeker and electronics production facilities in Ocala, FL; and Troy, AL.

The Lockheed Team is a bit behind their competitors at this point. Upcoming captive-carry testing will verify performance in a flight environment, with thermal and vibration performance, and electromagnetic interference testing slated for later in 2010. Lockheed Martin release.

March 30/10: GAO Report. The US GAO audit office delivers its 8th annual “Defense Acquisitions: Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs report. With respect to the JAGM program, the GAO document is more an official fact sheet than an analysis, given the program’s early stages. Data from that document has been incorporated into this article.

The GAO adds that the program must also complete a “postpreliminary design review assessment” before it can be certified to enter engineering and manufacturing development.

Jan 29/10: Testing. Raytheon and Boeing announce the end of their captive flight tests for the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile competition, which test the missile’s ability to pick up targets, guidance, and ability to handle the stresses created by its platforms and their flight environments. The next step would be guided test shots.

Oct 6/09: Testing. Raytheon and Boeing announce that they’ve completed a series of captive-carry flight tests of their tri-mode JAGM seeker, within the same size dimensions as their planned JAGM missile. By demonstrating that the seeker fits, and will not be affected by the buffeting associated with carriage on a fast-moving aircraft, the way is clear for installation in prototype missiles and use in live firings.

Raytheon’s next-generation tri-mode seeker leverages technology used on their Small Diameter Bomb II (where Boeing is their main competitor) and the NLOS-LS/NETFIRES improved Precision Attack Missile.

FY 2009

TD contracts.

Lockheed JAGM concept
(click to view full)

May 13/09: TD. Boeing subsidiary McDonnell Douglas Corp. in St. Louis, MO received a $7.4 million time and material delivery order against a previously issued Basic Ordering Agreement (N00019-05-G-0026) for wind tunnel testing of JAGM prototypes on their F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.

Work will be performed in St. Louis, MO (92%); and Philadelphia, PA (8%), and is expected to be complete in March 2011. About $5.8 million in contract funds will expire on Sept 30/09, at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD will manage this contract.

Oct 8/08: TD. Lockheed Martin announces and details its JAGM team.

Oct 2/08: TD. The US military announces the initial contracts under the JAGM program, within each contracting team’s limit per earlier entries. Bids were solicited via the Web, and 2 bids were received by the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command in Redstone Arsenal, AL.

Raytheon Co. in Tucson, AZ receives an $18.7 million fixed price incentive firm target contract, for 27 months of technology development for the Joint Air Ground Missile Program. Work will be performed in St. Louis, MO (Boeing) and Tucson, AZ (Raytheon) with an estimated completion date of Dec 31/10 (W31P4Q-08-C-A789).

Lockheed Martin Corp. in Orlando, FL received an $18.7 million fixed price incentive firm target contract, for 27 months of technology development for the Joint Air Ground Missile Program. Work will be performed in Orlando, FL; Ocala, FL; and Troy, AL, with an estimated completion date of Dec 31/10 (W31P4Q-08-C-A123).

FY 2008

Raytheon/Boeing and Lockheed Martin Technology Development.

Boeing JCM
(click to view full)

Sept 22/08: The Raytheon / Boeing team announces a 27-month, $125 million Technology Development contract for the JAGM program. The contract funds a program to develop and fire 3 prototype missiles with fully integrated tri-mode seekers.

Sept 18/08: Lockheed Martin announces that it has won a 27-month, $122 million competitive risk-reduction phase for the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) system. Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control VP Rick Edwards:

“Our extensive risk-reduction tests have significantly mitigated risk on the three critical subsystems [seeker, warhead, rocket motor], our software and simulations are mature and proven, and we have made significant strides in developing low-risk platform integration solutions.”

See also the Orlando Sentinel: “Lockheed’s $122M missile contract could create 200 jobs in Orlando area.”

JAGM TD contracts

April 14/08: Competition. Raytheon Company and Boeing announce a teaming agreement to pursue the U.S. Army-U.S. Navy Joint Air to Ground Missile program, which has an intended in-service date of 2016. Raytheon will be the prime contractor within the team, and the move is significant in that Boeing will not be teamed up with Northrop Grumman this time around.

Raytheon makes existing TOW and Maverick missiles, and the team-up with Boeing creates commonality on a different level: integration with the manufacturer of many USAF and Navy aircraft, an area that Lockheed Martin covers on its own. Boeing is also part of the MBDA-led team that developed the Brimstone missile, Britain’s answer to the JCM program. Raytheon release.

Feb/March 2008: JAGM RFP. JAGM RFP re-issued, for May 19/08 turn-in.

Up to FY 2007

Program start. JCM terminated.

JCM

Sept 26/07: Jane’s Missiles & Rockets reports that:

“A new Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) programme is expected to become the successor of the Lockheed Martin AGM-169 Joint Common Missile (JCM) programme. As with the JCM, the JAGM is to be a multiservice weapon able to replace all versions of the Lockheed Martin Hellfire, Raytheon Maverick and Raytheon TOW missiles that currently equip fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles in US service…”

September 2007: Original JAGM RFP rescinded.

June 17/07: Original draft of JAGM RFP issue.

June 15/07: JCM Terminated. Official termination of the Joint Common Missile program.

Feb 21/07: The Lexington Institute think-tank wades into the controversy with “Joint Common Missile: Why Argue With Success?“:

“Here’s a fantasy. Imagine three military services agreed on the need for a versatile air-to-ground missile that could precisely destroy a wide range of elusive targets — everything from camouflaged armored vehicles to terrorist speedboats. Imagine they found a low-cost design that could do those things day or night, good weather or bad, even when enemies were trying to jam the missile. Imagine the services selected a company that developed the missile on time and on cost, meeting all of its performance objectives. And imagine the missile was fielded expeditiously, replacing four cold-war missiles with an easy-to-maintain round that saved military lives while minimizing unintended damage.

You’d have to be pretty naive to believe the Pentagon’s dysfunctional acquisition system could deliver all that, wouldn’t you? That’s right, you would — because the military actually has a program matching that description, and senior officials have been trying to kill it for two years. Why? Well, nobody really knows why…”

Jan 26/07: Inside Defense, “Pentagon OKs Funding For Hellfire Replacement Effort”:

“The Pentagon comptroller has directed the Army and Navy to pony up $68.5 million to fund missile research and development in an account that could be used to revive the Joint Common Missile — or something like it — more than two years after the Office of the Secretary of Defense moved to terminate the program…”

Dec 30/05: Inside Defense reports that when US House and Senate conferees reconciled the details of the FY 2006 defense appropriations bill, they restored $30 million to the Army-led JCM program to continue the missile’s development ($26 million in research, development, test and evaluation funding from the Army, and $4 million from the Navy).

They have also required a report by Jan 30/06 explaining how the Pentagon plans to fill the future gaps created by the missile’s demise, and a cost analysis of continuation vs. termination and buying existing missiles. Depending on what that study says, the JCM program could rise again.

Appendix A: The JAGM Missile – Original Concept Technical Desires & Challenges

Lockheed’s UAV pitch
click to play video

The stakes have always been very big for the JCM/JAGM. Pentagon planners expected that standardization from the TOW, Hellfire, and Maverick families of missiles to 1 variant of JAGM would keep maintenance and supply costs lower. Integration with the F-35 fighter family was possible in future, and so were international contracts if the missile makes it through development to become a program of record. In industrial terms, that made JAGM the last big American missile competition for some time. So the stakes were huge, the genesis was long, and progress remains slow because of budgetary pressure.

The US military was looking for a missile that’s about 110 Lbs, 70″ long, and 7″ in diameter, with a range of 0.5 – 16 km when fired from helicopters, and 2 – 28 km if fired from fixed wing aircraft. The seeker would be multi-mode: active designation via semi-active laser or millimeter wave radar will duplicate all Hellfire variants in a single variant, and a passive imaging infrared option would add additional insurance and versatility.

On the seeker side, the program isn’t actually breaking a lot of new technical ground. The various seeker modes requested (laser, IIR, radar) have all been implemented on other missiles, and Raytheon’s GBU-53 Small Diameter Bomb II has already pioneered an accepted tri-mode seeker. Performance enhancements are always possible, but this will be a matter of refinement and integration, rather than groundbreaking development.

Instead, the big challenges involved the missile and its propulsion system, which was envisioned as a single rocket motor solution to be used on all platforms. That meant it had to have minimum smoke, in order to avoid smoke inhalation by by helicopter engines or easy tracking of the missile’s origin. It would also need to handle a much wider temperature range than Hellfire, from the hottest desert sun beating down to nap-of-the-earth helicopters to the Antarctic-class temperatures at high fighter jet altitudes. Just to make things interesting, it also had to meet the Navy’s unique requirements for insensitive munitions, in order to be safe enough for use in naval combat.

After meeting all of those requirement, it had to deliver the requested missile range, which is almost 2x the advertised range for its AGM-114 Hellfire predecessor when fired from a similar platform. The ability to fire from fast jets would extend that range even further, which is extremely important against defended targets.

If the US military could get all that, it would have an extremely valuable weapon system.

The Road Less Taken – JCM/JAGM’s Program History

Brimstone from Tornado
(click to view full)

In May 2004, Lockheed Martin was picked over Raytheon and a Boeing-Northrop Grumman team to conduct the Joint Common Missile’s (JCM) 4-year system development and demonstration (SDD) phase, which was to be worth as much as $1.6 billion. The long-term U.S. production estimate of 54,000 missiles would have brought the program to $5 billion, and the United Kingdom had expressed interest in the new weapon and participated in the development process.

The JCM program had made heavy use of modeling & simulation in its early phases, and was the first missile program ever to reach a Milestone B decision without conducting a live test. Subsequent live tests, including live fire tests against simulated urban targets, were also successful.

The missile reported less success on the budget front, however. In 2005, the Pentagon cut the Joint Common Missile (JCM) program in order to fund operations in Iraq. Canceling the Army-led JCM was estimated to save about $2.4 billion over the next 6 years ($928 million Army, $1.5 billion Navy). This triggered a counter-campaign by Congressional representatives, and created a controversy over the future of the program that never really went away. In June 2007, JCM was formally cancelled.

The UK ended up developing its own system. In November 1996, the UK had given MBDA the Brimstone contract, in order to create a fire-and-forget anti-armor missile that could be fired by fast jets as well as helicopters. Brimstone uses inertial guidance plus millimeter-wave radar, and has a terrain following mode as well. In October 2003, a successful series of test firings were carried out, and the missile entered service with the RAF in March 2005.

The Lazarus Missile: JAGM

JAGM schedule in 2009
(click for cutaway)

The need for a capability similar to the JCM remained clear even to the Pentagon, and so the U.S. Department of Defense’s Program Budget Decision (PBD) No. 753 directed the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to commission a study for a very similar weapon system in time for the 2008 budget review. Meanwhile, the Alabama Congressional delegation and other members of Congress kept lobbying to keep something like JAGM going. It still made a great deal of sense, the program hadn’t suffered from cost overruns or major technical difficulties, and Britain’s fielding of the Brimstone missile offered external validation.

The original JCM requirements were really designed for the RAH-66 Comanche scout helicopter, however, and they were written before the Army’s Future Combat Systems mega-program. The new Joint Air-Ground Missile (JAGM) competition updated those requirements, and attempted to re-start the competition in 2008 under a new competitive approach, and with the planned number of missiles lowered to around 34,500. Pentagon acquisition czar Young introduced a prototyping requirement for JAGM as part of a wider-ranging set of acquisition reforms, hence the September 2008 Technology Development contracts to 2 teams.

By fall 2010, the JAGM program had wrapped up in a 27 month “risk reduction” development phase, leading up to a competitive flyoff between the 2 contractor teams. Program Management Reviews were held in Q2 of FY 2009, and a Milestone B decision that would begin full-scale System Design and Development for the winner was planned for Q1 of FY 2011 (November 2010). That deadline slipped, and for a while the next phase seemed likely to start at the end of Q4 2011 instead.

Instead, the program stalled again, and became an Army-only effort in 2012. A Continued Technology Development phase will carry it to 2014, at which point JAGM technologies may begin showing up in the next generation of AGM-114 Hellfire missiles.

JAGM: Original Plans & Platforms

TOW 2B missile
(click for cutaway)

Under the original plan, JAGM would begin supplementing – and eventually replacing – Lockheed Martin’s GM-114 Hellfire family of missiles on the Army’s AH-64D Apache attack helicopters, its scout helicopters, and its MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAVs. The Navy would make the same substitution on their new MH-60R/S Seahawk helicopters, and US Navy and USMC F/A-18 Hornets and Super Hornets would carry them in place of Raytheon’s AGM-65 Maverick missile. The Marines’ AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter would carry them in place of Hellfire missiles, or Raytheon’s xGM-71 TOW family.

Platform integration would occur during the 48-month Engineering & Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase, and 2016 would have marked Initial Operational Capability (IOC) on USMC AH-1Z Viper and Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, as well as Navy F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets. IOC on the Army’s MQ-1C Predator-family Gray Eagle UAV, and the Navy’s MH-60R helicopter, was expected in FY 2017. This second wave of platform integrations would begin during the EMD phase, but continue into Low-Rate Initial Production.

The roster of platforms had a lot of expansion potential, since Hellfire missiles are already slated for a wide array of future UAVs, including the MQ-8 Fire Scout and A160 Hummingbird. Hellfires are even equipping some C-130J Hercules transport aircraft, thanks to modular quick-fit programs like Harvest Hawk. Existing foreign helicopters like the UAE’s AH-60M Battlehawks, French Tiger HAD, and Australia’s Tiger ARH helicopters would be another JAGM opportunity, alongside air force jet fighters like the F-15 Strike Eagle, F-16 Falcon, JAS-39 Gripen, etc. that have been qualified with AGM-65 Mavericks. Suitability for naval use, and extended range compared to existing Hellfires, could even make a full JAGM round a potential replacement for existing Griffin-B missiles on board patrol boats, and on the Littoral Combat Ship.

JAGM’s backers hope that success as a front-end bolt-on will eventually lead to contracts that would improve the missile as well, and restore the missile’s original concept.

The challenge is cost.

A role as a Maverick missile replacement is fairly straightforward, but the real volume and money is found in TOW and Hellfire replacement orders. Unfortunately, that’s also where the specifications for JAGM are significantly more challenging than the missiles they’d replace. A JAGM that’s more expensive than TOW or Hellfire won’t be a bargain for the US military, and would have a harder time selling abroad into the large helicopter and UAV markets.

Appendix B: JAGM’s Competing Industrial Teams Team Lockheed

History repeats.

After JAGM rose from the dead, previous JCM incumbent Lockheed Martin came back with a team, in order to compete against the Raytheon/ Boeing team. In Team Lockheed’s design, The JAGM’s body and tri-mode sensors built on the existing body designs and sensors from Lockheed Martin’s AGM-114 Hellfire missile family, with its options of Hellfire II semi-active laser or millimeter wave Hellfire Longbow missiles. They also build on the cooled sensors used by the Lockheed/Raytheon Javelin imaging infrared (IIR) missile to add extra fire-and-forget insurance. Lockheed Martin will also push to leverage its incumbent status for both the current Hellfire missile family, and the M299 missile launcher that equips most helicopters.

Seeker improvements beyond the tri-mode features include extended range, “safing” that would allow carrier landings with live weapons instead of forcing planes to jettison their loads, and greater “fire and forget” capability. A single insensitive-munition rocket motor provides the required propulsion. Once it reaches the target, a multi-purpose warhead similar to the Hellfire II’s packs a shaped-charge designed to defeat the most advanced armored threats, along with a blast fragmentation capability to defeat ships, buildings, and bunkers with a two-phase warhead punch.

Team Lockheed included:

• LM Missiles and Fire Control (lead integrator, tri-mode seeker)
  
• Honeywell in Minneapolis, MN (inertial measurement unit)
  
• L3 in Cincinnati, OH (focal plane array infrared detector)
  
• EMS technologies in Atlanta, GA (millimeter wave antenna)

The following firms were also included, but aren’t likely to have much of a role under the new program structure:

• Aerojet in Camden, AK (rocket motor)
  
• Alliant Techsystems in Woodland Hills, CA (aircraft integration)
  
• General Dynamics OTS in Niceville, FL (multi-purpose warhead)
  
• Roxel in Summerfield, UK (propellant)
  
• Marvin Engineering in Inglewood, CA (JAGM launchers)
  
• Moog in Aurora, NY (control fin actuators)
  
• and Perkin Elmer in Miamisburg, OH (warhead firing module).

Raytheon & Boeing

Boeing JCM on F-18
(click to view full)

Raytheon and Boeing are working with rocket-maker ATK on their own offering, which leverages a variety of existing technologies. Some algorithms from Raytheon’s XM1111 Medium Range Munition guided tank shell were helpful, and the tri-mode laser/radar/ uncooled imaging infrared seeker would leverage Raytheon’s existing Common Tri-Mode Seeker (CTMS) program. For the full JAGM offering, MBDA and Boeing’s Brimstone missile is already designed and tested for use on fast jets like the Harrier, Tornado, and Eurofighter. It would serve as the body. The challenging specs for a new rocket motor would be addressed by ATK.

Raytheon’s uncooled infrared seeker currently offers less resolution than Lockheed’s cooled seeker, but it’s more reliable, lighter, and cheaper to maintain. The CTMS is already part of the NETFIRES NLOS-LS PAM, and helped Raytheon win the GBU-53 Small Diameter Bomb Phase II competition – against Boeing, no less – in 2010.

Despite all of this re-use, component assembly wasn’t the team’s focus. Raytheon’s Senior Business Development Manager Michael Riley flew AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopters for 10 years. “What this is, is not a missile program,” he says. “It’s an integration program,” because that’s where many of the costs and challenges typically lie. To make this point, he drew a whiteboard picture of the Apache and of the F-18 during a planning session. “Who builds the helicopter? The black boxes that go in it? Who builds the fighter? Who performs missile integration for these platforms? Is there anything else I need to tell you?” The answer to these questions was “Boeing,” and discussions soon brought the firms together under a common vision.

Chief Engineers Emil Davidoff and Andy Hinsdale saw the F/A-18 Hornet as the toughest integration engineering problem, because of the conditions it faces: -65C temperature at altitude, shock, vibration and impact from carrier landings, plus supersonic buffeting underwing. All for a missile that was supposed to be similar in size and weight to the Hellfire, but with 2x range, a tri-mode seeker, and a similar cost target.

Even so, the most difficult challenges in these kinds of efforts are not technical, but human. “Coopetition” between firms that are competing on related projects is a difficult process at the best of times, and can feel like an arranged marriage even when it succeeds. Trust-building over time, a firewall between co-operating and competing teams, and other standard measures are always useful; but they do not guarantee success.

In business, as in rocket motors, there is such a thing as chemistry. The relationship between Chief Engineers Davidoff and Hinsdale has been part of that, and so has a joint belief that this competition is ideally suited for their partnership. Win or lose, therefore, the JAGM partnership between Raytheon and Boeing is flourishing, and may have long-term effects. Before the verdict on their main effort has even been rendered, both teams have said that they are looking for synergies in other areas, and other programs.

JAGM’s 2012 program shifts have changed the competition, so that integration is no longer the overriding focus it once was. Fortunately, the Raytheon/Boeing Team made a number of technical decisions that will keep them in the game.

So far, the team has managed “good enough” performance that has tested successfully and met specifications. They believe their uncooled infrared technology’s cost advantage could become important, and that fixed-price GBU-53 SDB-II orders will raise seeker and guidance production volumes to a level that can meet the Army’s new cost targets. Raytheon’s head of JAGM business development, J.R. Smith, notes that by the time the JAGM CTD phase is done in 2014, their SDB-II will be 75% of the way through Engineering & Manufacturing Development, with 2 years of production underway.

Raytheon remains partnered with AH-64 manufacturer Boeing, and has told DID that they still consider ATK to be a team member, even though their rocket motor isn’t currently a priority for the US military.

Additional Readings & Sources

DID thanks the personnel at Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson for their time and cooperation in clarifying their JAGM bid.

Background: Missiles

• Defence-Update.com: JCM – Joint Common Missile.

• GlobalSecurity.org: Joint Common Missile.

• Boeing All Systems Go Magazine (Vol. 1 #6, 2003) – The Next Generation Weapon: Joint Common Missile.

• Lockheed Martin – JAGM. 2011 snapshot. See also Feb 20/2014 media briefing [PDF].

• Raytheon – Joint Air-to-Ground Missile. It’s interesting to look at this 2009 snapshot, then fast-forward to 2011 and 2013 snapshots.

• Boeing – Brimstone Precision Guided Missile. Britain’s answer to the JCM’s demise; development was led by MBDA. Brimstone’s missile body was initially part of the Boeing/Raytheon team’s JAGM bid, when it was an entirely new missile.

• MBDA – Brimstone. The current version offers dual-mode laser and millimeter-wave radar guidance, just like the forthcoming JAGM Increment 1. Unlike JAGM, it can be fired from jet fighters.

News & Views

• DoD Buzz (Aug 6/10) – Last $5B Tac Missile Competition.

• AFCEA Signal (June 2009) – Multipurpose Missile Program Accelerates.

• Lexington Institute (Feb 21/07) – Joint Common Missile: Why Argue With Success?

• Huntsville Times (Mar 24/05) – Battle stepped up to save Redstone missile project.

• Spacewar.com (Mar 17/05) – Lockheed Martin Joint Common Missile Destroys Urban Targets.

• Aerospace Daily & Defense Report (Jan 05/05) – Joint Common Missile’s Demise Spurs ‘Capability Needs’ Study.

• Battle Command, Simulation & Experimentation Directorate (July 30/03) – SMART Lessons Learned Case Summary.

USN Heli Plan
(click to view full)

The US Army’s UH-60 Black Hawks have always had a naval counterpart. SH-60B/F Seahawk/ LAMPS helicopters were outfitted with maritime radar, sonobuoys, and other specialized equipment that let them perform a wide variety of roles, from supply and transport, to anti-submarine warfare, search and rescue, medical evacuation, and even surface attack with torpedoes or Kongsberg’s AGM-119 Penguin missiles. Like their land-based counterparts, however, the Seahawks are getting older. The Reagan defense build-up is receding into history, and its products are wearing out.

European countries chose to build new designs like the medium-heavy EH101 and the NH90 medium helicopter. They’re larger than the H-60s, make heavy use of corrosion-proof composites, and add new features like rear ramps. The USA, in contrast, decided to upgrade existing H-60 designs for the Army and Navy. Hence the MH-60R Multi-Mission Helicopter (aka. “Romeo”) and MH-60S (aka. “Sierra”) Seahawks. MH-60Rs and MH-60Ss will eventually replace all SH-60B/F & HH-60H Seahawks, HH-1N Hueys, UH-3H Sea Kings, and CH-46D Sea Knight helicopters currently in the US Navy’s inventory. Both programs are underway, and will be covered in this DID FOCUS Article.

The New Sikorsky Seahawks

Romeo, Armed: The MH-60R Multi-Mission Helicopter

MH-60R

Before this program began, MH- was the traditional designation for special forces aircraft, but the Navy has now adopted it to stand for “multi-mission.” Confusing nomenclature aside, the new MH-60R/S helicopters will be the backbone of the US Navy’s future helicopter force.

The ‘Romeo’ multi-mission Seahawks will erase a previous division of labor. The previous SH-60F traditionally handled the advanced dipping sonar, and performed utility and rescue tasks, while the SH-60B used its radar for wider anti-submarine sweeps, and was armed with a wider array of weapons beyond torpedoes and door guns. That division of labor is being erased by the MH-60R, which can handle all surface attack and anti-submarine roles by itself. Secondary missions that include directing naval surface fire support, search and rescue, vertical replenishment, logistics support, personnel transport, medical evacuation and communications and data relay. At one time, it was informally known as the “Strikehawk.” The MH-60R will replace the faster and longer-range S-3 Viking sea control jet, as well as existing Seahawks.

The U.S. Navy had planned to convert all of its SH-60B/Fs to multi-mission H-60Rs (“R” for “remanufactured”). The new version would feature a multi-mode, long-range search radar that can automatically detect and track an increased number of surface vessels, low frequency dipping sonar that provides significantly increased range for detecting submarines, an advanced electro-optical surveillance and target designation turret, the addition of Hellfire anti-armor missile capabilities, an integrated self-defense suite, and a host of other improvements that include a new cabin, a service life extension for the tail, and new avionics including Link 16 datalink connectivity.

SH-60F over CG 55
(click to view full)

In 2001, the US Navy restructured the SH-60R program from a remanufacture of the existing U. S. Navy SH-60 fleet to a new procurement program that would remanufacture only 7 helicopters, and build the rest new. This would keep existing SH-60s available for duty, while supplying new-generation helicopters with longer wear lifespans.

Initial production MH-60Rs were delivered to U.S. Navy training squadron HSM-41, at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, CA. The first MH-60R operational squadron was the HSM-71 “Raptors,” also based at NAS North Island in San Diego, CA. The squadron stood up in October 2007, and made their first deployment in April 2009 as part of the USS John C. Stennis [CVN 74] aircraft carrier strike group.

Australia became the MH-60R’s 1st export customer in 2011, with an order for 24, but the RAN doesn’t have any serving helicopters yet. Formal requests have also been placed by Denmark (2010, for 10), Qatar (2012, for 10), and South Korea (2011, for 8). India and Saudi Arabia are other countries that have reportedly evaluated the MH-60R, but haven’t placed a formal export request.

Avionics & Sensors

Common cockpit
(click to view full)

Mission systems and integration are bought as a separate item, through a multi-year contract with Lockheed Martin Systems Integration of Owego, NY (see Aug 15/07 entry). They include:

Common cockpit: The new MH-60R common “glass” cockpit is based on display screens rather than dials, and will be shared with the MH-60S. This will allow pilots to switch from one aircraft type to another with greater ease and will reduce the logistic support infrastructure, resulting in lower cost of ownership. It integrates 4 Night Vision Device compatible 8×10 inch color active matrix liquid crystal displays, and provides the operators with: Dual integrated programmable keysets for data entry and mission management; Dual prime/backup flight management computers allowing redundancy for all flight critical operations; Audio management computer providing digital audio for flight communications and sensors; Dual embedded global positioning inertial navigation (EGI) system that includes all weather coupled hover operations.

In the MH-60R models and MH-60S Block 2A+ configurations, one of the flight management computers is replaced with a mission computer providing all flight related capabilities plus multiple sensor/weapon data fusion. The cockpit as a whole received Instrument Flight Conditions certification in September 2001, the first NAVAIR IMC certification issued to a glass cockpit.

MTS EO: Like the MH-60S, the “Romeos” feature an advanced multi-spectral electro-optical turret, but they use the more advanced Raytheon AN/AAS-52 MTS (Multi-spectral Targeting System) with a wider field of view.

Radar: Unlike their MH-60S counterparts, however, the MH-60Rs can be distinguished by the cylindrical naval radar profile on their undersides, characteristic of anti-submarine helicopters around the world. Telephonics’ AN/APS-147 (now APS-153) radar was designed to meet both blue water and shallow/coastal littoral performance requirements in all weather conditions. Its day and night maritime domain surveillance that includes small target detection even amidst wave clutter, thanks to Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (ISAR) imaging that uses the motion of the contact to create a picture of the contact. The radar also includes an Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) interrogator, which is readily upgradeable and fully integrated with the helicopter’s combat systems. The AN/APS-153 upgrade adds hardware and software to create an Automatic Radar Periscope Detection and Discrimination System (APRDDS), which automatically discriminates between periscopes and other small surface objects.

Sonar: The MH-60Rs will also have full sonar capabilities via their Raytheon/Thales AN/AQS-22 Airborne Low-Frequency Sonar (ALFS) and on-board sonobuoys, a big change from the past when bulky electronics forced Sikorsky to split the radar and sonar roles between the SH-60B (radar) and SH-60F (sonar). HSM-71’s Cmdr. Michael K. Nortier has said that this fusion, plus other advances, enables his MH-60R squadron to provide 5x-10x better coverage of the strike group than previous helicopters, and ALFS itself is proving to be much more sensitive than previous systems.

Weapons & Upgrades

MH-60Rs fire Hellfire
(click to view full)

Weapons: Current MH-60R armament includes Mk.46 or Mk.54 lightweight torpedoes, AGM-114 Hellfire light strike missiles, DAGR or APKWS laser-guided 70mm rockets (in progress), and machine guns. The MH-60R cannot use the AGM-119 Penguin short-range anti-ship missiles that equipped earlier SH-60F/ S-70 machines.

Upgrades: Lot I-II production MH-60R helicopters were equipped with SysConfig 19.9 software, as well as all of the advanced equipment originally planned for the type. Part-way through Lot III (6 helicopters), after around 10 production helicopters, the software leaped ahead to SysConfig 46. Those helicopters added IMDS prognostics in key mechanical areas, along with updates to the ALE-47 countermeasures. These are MH-60R Block 1.

MH-60Rs were later built or upgraded to next-generation SysConfig 58 software, and add an array of new equipment. These “Block 2” [DID reference] helicopters will add the DoD-wide Joint Mission Planning System, improved internal wireless, satellite, and radio communications, and:

• A Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) with audible alerts like “roll left,” “pull up!” etc.

• Link-16, for a common tactical picture shared with other ships and aircraft;

• A “SAASM EGI” Embedded GPS Inertial Navigation System with better resistance to countermeasures;

• Upgrades to the Identification, Friend or Foe (IFF) system via Mode 5 IFF’s much improved algorithm, encryption, range, and civil compatibility. It also adds “lethal interrogation” as a must-respond last chance, and the ability to see individual aircraft even when they’re close together. The further addition of Mode S assigns a discrete ‘squawk’ which is unique to that aircraft. Together, they improve combat identification and enable unrestricted flight in civilian airspace.

Upgrades planned after 2010 include electronic surveillance capabilities (Copperfield 2 ELINT and Dragonfly COMINT), the AN/APS-153 maritime radar with a periscope detection mode, integration of conventional 70mm and APKWS-II laser-guided rockets into MH-60R and MH-60S Block 3s, and ongoing reliability improvements to the ALFS dipping sonar. Several of these are in progress.

Hawklink: The other component of note is a project called “Hawklink,” which aims to improve the helicopters’ Common Data Link. Why does Hawklink matter? In a word, bandwidth. MH-60R and SH-60B Seahawks currently send data across the C-band microwave frequency range. Using the Ku band and the high definition SAU 07000 Ship Air Upgrade interface will create point-to-point Internet-equivalent connectivity between the MH-60R and ships up to 100 nmi away, enabling both to publish and subscribe for information. That would allow a ship or strike group to request data from the helicopter’s sensors, including sonobuoy data or real-time video, while sending other messages and data to the helicopter.

The AN/ARQ-59 system is mounted on the helicopter. The AN/SRQ-4 is its shipboard counterpart, mounted on American cruisers, destroyers, frigates/ LCS, and carriers. Terminals can also be configured for interoperability with several generations of CDL surface terminals deployed by the US Army, US Air Force, and American allies.

MH-60R Lite. While the USA is looking for ongoing upgrades, some countries are more interested in downgrades. In 2011, reports surfaced of a planned “MH-60R Lite” variant, which would make the ALFS dipping sonar a removable option. That would improve its range, and increase cabin space from 3 people to 8, at the expense of limiting its anti-submarine capability without ALFS. Lockheed Martin was even contemplating a version that also removes the sonobuoy launcher and acoustic processors, leaving a helicopter with just surface attack, search and rescue, and utility helicopter capabilities. It would really be more of an MH-60S+, with an advanced maritime radar and other electronics improvements.

Denmark ended up buying that full downgrade in 2012. Their helicopters will be missing both ALFS and sonobuoys.

Blue Collar Sierra: The MH-60S

MH60S & CH-46E
(click to view full)

The MH-60S entered service in 2002 as a replacement for the US Navy’s Boeing CH-46D Sea Knight, flown mostly in utility roles that involve moving cargo between ships. There was a fair bit of discussion about renaming it the “MH-60S Knighthawk” in honor of its predecessor, a move that would also have distinguished it from the MH-60R Seahawk; indeed, several official Navy releases featured this nomenclature. Unfortunately, the Navy decided to add type confusion to the special forces nomenclature confusion by referring to both MH-60 helicopters as “Seahawks.”

With the addition of the MH-60S program, the U.S. Navy will become an all H-60 helicopter fleet. Its roles will encompass troop transport, search and rescue, and other standard roles. The ‘Sierras’ will also become the Navy’s primary mine countermeasures platform. The US Marines, in contrast, are scheduled to replace their CH-46Es with MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotors. If the Navy continues to decline investment in 48 HV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft of its own for combat search and rescue, special warfare, and fleet logistics support duties, the MH-60S will formally add its already-emerging assignment as the primary naval helicopter for those roles.

The US Navy expects to buy 275 MH-60S helicopters:

• 50 Block 1
  
• 225 Block 3, with all Block 2s scheduled for retrofit

MH-60S: Block 1 to Block 3

AMCM Components
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Block 1. Initial MH-60S deliveries, with glass cockpits and data buses, but little specialized mission equipment. They appear to be destined for supply, utility, and training roles only, as they will be the only helicopters without Link 16’s common tactical picture capability at the program’s end.

Block 2. Structurally strengthened Block 2A and 2B helicopters added the “common console,” an auxiliary fuel tank, and the ability to carry the Airborne Mine Counter-Measures (AMCM) kit. Link 16 will be backfit into existing Block 2 aircraft after its introduction in Block 3B, allowing the automated transmission of a common tactical picture shared with other ships and aircraft. This will convert MH-60S Block 2As into Block 2Bs.

The US Navy plans to buy a total of 66 AMCM ancillary kits. These new MH-60S AMCM helicopters were supposed to have 5 mine-hunting systems available to them, but a combination of technical failures and MH-60S’ size/power limitations cut that to just 2: AMNS remotely piloted anti-mine torpedo delivery, and the ALMDS mine-detecting laser. This will give the MH-60S a limited ability to sweep for mines from any ship, and will end up being a step back from the much larger MH-53E Sea Dragon dedicated mine sweeping helicopters.

MH-60S Hellfire test
(click to view full)

Block 3A. These MH-60S add armament kits, including an AN/AAS-44C electro-optical turrets similar to those mounted on existing SH-60 and HH-60 Seahawks; integration for Hellfire anti-armor missiles (8) or DAGR laser-guided rockets (32); and .50 caliber (GAU-21/M3M) and 7.62 mm (M240B) machine guns. Other changes include IMDS(Integrated Mechanical Diagnostic System) prognostics for key mechanical areas, a Digital Map System, and kneeboard and floor armor. These helicopters will receive Link 16 backfit upgrades as well, after this capability is introduced in Block 3B.

Block 3B. The “final” MH-60S version, which will make up the vast majority of the fleet after all retrofits are done. These helicopters began production using SysConfig 58 core software and the upgrades described above for the MH-60R “Block 2”, plus the DALS Downed Aircrew Locator System. It receives signals from survival radios and can GPS-locate them, then send voice communications, or use quieter text messages.

The MH-60S continues to evolve. Some sub-systems like AMCM are evolving in parallel, and weapons capability continues to increase. The MH-60S will have the option of carrying 70mm laser-guided rockets after March 2014, and items like 20mm cannon are being trialed. Both changes are being driven by greater attention to the threat from small boats.

The MH-60R/S Program

MH-60R: ALFS & Hellfires
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With the Reagan defense build-up receding into history, the US Navy believed that technology advances offered the prospect of integrating greater capabilities into each machine, without having to spend much on R&D. Unlike new-design, new-materials projects like the EH101 and NH90 in Europe, or Sikorsky’s H-92 Superhawk (CH-148 Cyclone maritime helicopter) on order for Canada, the US Navy decided that enhancing the proven H-60 Seahawk design would be the most cost-effective recapitalization option. Hence the MH-60R Multi-Mission Helicopter (aka. “Romeo”) and MH-60S (aka. “Sierra”).

Each program is currently set within the 5-year MYP-8 multi-year procurement deal that runs from FY 2013-2017, and also includes US Army UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters and foreign military sales.

Total MH-60R procurement costs are expected to be approximately $10.5 – 11.5 billion over the life of the program. The US Navy originally planned to field 254 MH-60R “Romeo” helicopters, but the final number will be somewhere between 249 – 278, with American production now set to end in mid-2016. After that, the MH-60R production line will depend on foreign orders, though the related H-60M Black Hawk production line will remain active for some time. The current end of production date is 2018.

Foreign orders to date include Australia (24) and Denmark (9 “MH-60R Lite”). Active formal requests have been submitted by Qatar (lost to NH90) and South Korea (lost to AW159).

Total MH-60S procurement costs will be approximately $6.8 billion over the life of the program. When fully deployed, the Navy will field 275 MH-60S “Sierra” helicopters in 23 squadrons – 16 Active, 3 test, 2 Reserve and 2 Training squadrons, with 40 aircraft in the training squadrons. There will also be MH-60S helicopters in each of 5 Search And Rescue stations around the USA.

MH-60S production is slated to end in 2015. Having said that, the MH-60S is even closer to the H-60M model, so its sister-line’s expected continuation past 2020 is likely to expand its sales window. Foreign orders to date include only Thailand (2 of 6 approved). Active formal requests have been submitted by Qatar (lost to NH90) and South Korea (2009: 8 MH-60S AMCM).

MH-60R/S Budgets

Budgeted program amounts for each helicopter type break down as follow. RDT&E stands for “Research, Development, Test, & Evaluation,” and “procurement” also includes long-lead time materials for subsequent years’ production:

MH-60R/S Contracts and Key Events

MH-60S w. AQS-20
(click to view full)

Editorial note: the MH-60 helicopters have a wide variety of ancillary equipment. The rule we use here at DID is that if it’s not an integral part of operating the helicopter, we cover it separately. Flight trainers and maintenance are an integral part of operating the helicopter, so they’re covered. A weapon or other switch-in item is not integral. The MH-60S’ AMCM mine countermeasures set is an example of switch-in optional gear – though modifying the helicopters to be able to accept the AMCM components is covered, because that aspect is integral. Likewise, the MH-60R has been sold without its ALFS dipping sonar. Note that for some integral items, like the MTS surveillance and targeting turrets, it isn’t always possible to connect every order with the MH-60.

Unless otherwise specified, all contracts are managed by US Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD. The exception is new helicopters, which are now being bought under a multi-year joint contract managed by the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) at Redstone Arsenal, AL.

MH-60S helicopters receive engines from GE and a common cockpit from Lockheed Martin, which are installed by Sikorsky. When an MH-60S leaves Sikorsky, it’s done. If the Navy wants to add modifications like AMCM gear later, that’s their business. For MH-60Rs, on the other hand, they leave Sikorsky without their common cockpit or any mission equipment. The US Navy flies them to Lockheed Martin in Owego, NY for full outfitting with their maritime radar, dipping sonar, sonobuoy launcher, cockpit, etc.

FY 2015 – 2018

FY 2015 buy.

MH-60S VERTREP
(click to view full)

August 20/18: How long will they fly? The Navy is funding research on its fleet of MH-60 Sierra Multi-Mission Helicopters. The aircraft’s manufacturer Sikorsky is being awarded with a cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order valued a $9.7 million. The company will be responsible to conduct engineering efforts necessary to conduct comprehensive fatigue life analysis to define the expected service life of the Knighthawk. The MH-60S entered service in 2002 as a replacement for the US Navy’s Boeing CH-46D Sea Knight, flown mostly in utility roles that involve moving cargo between ships. It is designed specifically for amphibious assault operations but it fulfills multi-role operational capabilities. The MH-60S functions as a heavy-lift capable helicopter for ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore transport. Work will be performed at Sikorsky’s facility in Stratford, Connecticut and is expected to be completed in January 2022.

April 23/18: DSCA Clearance-Mexico Despite differences over who will pay for the wall along their common border, the Mexican government has been cleared by the Trump administration for the potential purchase of 8 Sikorsky MH-60R Seahwak helicopters. Announced in a Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) press release on Thursday, April 19, the package is estimated to reach $1.2 billion with Lockheed Martin’s Rotary and Mission Systems outfit based out of Owego, New York acting as principal contractor in the sale. Included in sale are engines, radars, radios, naval equipment and spares, alongside deliveries of Hellfire missiles, Captive Air Training missiles, Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System (APKWS) II rockets, and Mk -54 Lightweight Hybrid Torpedoes (LHTs). The Seahawk is the US Navy’s version of the US Army’s UH-60 Black Hawk. According to the DSCA, the potential acquisition of the helicopters is part of a modernization push by Mexico’s armed forces.

March 1/18: Datalinks L-3 Technologies received Monday, February 26, a $25.6 million US Navy contract for datalink systems to be used on the service’s MH-60R Seahawk helicopters. The agreement tasks L-3 with the manufacture, testing, delivery, management, and support of the Common Data Link Hawklink AN/SRQ-4 system, which will give helicopters the ability to share sensor information in real time with naval surface ships. Work will occur in multiple locations across the US and Canada, with completion scheduled for August 2020.

January 11/18: Development Contract—AOEW Lockheed Martin announced the receipt of an undisclosed value US Navy development contract to provide the service’s MH-60 helicopters with an enhanced electronic warfare surveillance and countermeasure capabilities against anti-ship missile (ASM) threats. The firm’s Advanced Off-Board Electronic Warfare (AOEW) Active Mission Payload (AMP) AN/ALQ-248 system, is a self-contained EW pod that will be integrated and hosted on both MH-60R and S-variant helicopters, and will provide the Navy with advanced ASM detection and response capabilities. The system can work either independently or with the ship’s onboard electronic surveillance sensor, SEWIP Block 2 AN/SLQ-32(V)6, to detect an incoming missile and then evaluate where it is going. AOEW then uses radio frequency countermeasure techniques to deter the missile. Under the terms of the contract, if all options are exercised, Lockheed will deliver up to 18 AOEW AMP AN/ALQ-248 pods to the Navy. The company will start manufacturing in early 2019 with a target to reach initial operational capability in 2021.

September 12/17: Lockheed Martin has received a $27 million modification to an existing US Navy contract for the supply of retrofitting kits for the 60 Automatic Radar Periscope Detect and Discrimination (ARPDD) program. The firm will deliver 11 standard and 5 SEED kits for the program, which will provide a series of radar upgrades for use on MH-60 Seahawk helicopters to help spot and discriminate enemy submarine periscopes. Work will primarily take place in Farmingdale, NY and Oswego, NY, with completion by October 2020. ARPDD has been in use with the Navy since 2009 and upgraded several times since then. It is one of the few systems available that are capable of identifying and tracking submarine periscopes.

September 04/17: The US State Department has cleared a $360 million upgrade program for Australian-operated MH-60R Multi-Mission Helicopters. Running for ten years, 24 Seahawks will receive upgrades, which aims to increase Canberra’s anti-submarine and surface warfare capability, provide an improved search-and-rescue capability, enhance its anti-ship surveillance capability, and will help it carry out international commitments for transport, surveillance, and search-and-rescue operations with the United States and other allies. Included in the deal are training devices, spare and repair parts, support and test equipment, engineering and technical services, logistics support. Sikorsky, the helicopter’s manufacturer, will act as lead contractor.

April 4/17: The US subsidiary of Israel’s Elbit Systems received their first production order for the Helmet Display and Tracker System (HDTS) with the Continuously Computed Impact Point (CCIP) algorithm for the US Navy’s fleet of MH-60S helicopters. Valued at $50 million, work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas and completed by June 2021. The advanced technology of the helmet and processor provides pilots and crews with line-of-sight tracking to improve interaction with the flight navigation system, enhance pilot and co-pilot situational awareness, and increase the accuracy of weapons delivery.

January 13/17: Lockheed Martin will design a new Electronic Warfare (EW) pod for US Navy MH-60 helicopters. Known as the Advanced Off-board Electronic Warfare (AOEW) system, the pod will relay the signals it picked up back to the ship’s existing SLQ-32 system without any input from the helicopter crew. Company officials said the new capability will allow the fleet to respond to threats beyond the horizon, however declined to comment on whether the technology would come with any offensive capacity.

June 9/16: Denmark has received the first three of an eventual nine Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk anti-submarine warfare helicopters to be operated by the Royal Danish Air Force. Completion of the order is expected by mid-2018. The MH-60R acquisition will see the RDAF replace their aging Westland Lynx 90 fleet and aims to extend Copenhagen’s reach and capabilities.

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

December 29/15: In addition to the $130.6 million contract to provide AH-64 modernized day sensor assemblies to the government of Qatar, Lockheed Martin has been awarded over $227 million in additional contracts by the US Department of Defense to provide work to Saudi Arabia. The first, worth $117.2 million, is a modification of a previously existing fixed price contract for the manufacture and delivery of 10 MH-60R Mission Avionics Systems and Common Cockpits to Riyadh. The second is for non-recurring engineering to support the MH-60R aircraft. The contract, worth $110.2 million, is for the development, test and qualification of the MH-60R Mission Avionics Systems and Common Cockpits configuration for production. Both contracts will run until April and June 2016 respectively. The US State Department approved the sale of the multi-mission helicopters back in May 2015, in a deal worth $1.9 billion as part of a modernization of the Saudi navy’s eastern fleet.

December 9/15: The Pentagon has ordered 29 more MH-60R Seahawk helicopters in a deal worth $354 million. The contract was awarded to Lockheed subsidiary Sikorsky Aircraft Corp on Monday. Work is to be completed by the end of 2017 and is “for funding for the Navy’s fifth program year” for the helicopters and to “fund associated program and logistics support”. Seahawks are expected to remain in Navy service until the 2030s. As of late, the US Navy has been discussing the future of Naval strategy and plans to increase its fleet size by 20% over the next five years.

July 27/15: Taiwan is expected to soon place an order for eight to ten Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk helicopters, according to reports this weekend. The helicopters are thought to be destined for the country’s Navy, with a contract announcement expected later this year. The Taiwanese Navy currently operates the Sikorsky S-70C helicopter, with the new helicopters set to bolster the force’s anti-submarine warfare capability.

Nov 17/14: FY 2015 USA. The US military buys 102 helicopters for the Army and Navy for $1.302 billion, as its FY 2015 purchases.

Part of it is a $535.3 million order under the MYP-8 multi-year program for 29 MH-60R and 8 MH-60S helicopters, plus associated sustaining engineering, program management, systems engineering, provisioning, technical publications, other integrated logistics support. There’s also advance procurement funding for program years 4 and 5. All funds are committed immediately, using FY 2015 Navy aircraft budgets. Work will be performed at Stratford, CT (W58RGZ-12-C-0008, PO 0202).

FY 2015: 29 MH-60R, 8 MH-60S

Nov 13/14: MH-60R #200. Lockheed Martin delivers the 200th fully-equipped MH-60R “Romeo” helicopter to the US Navy, which includes a patch signing with Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron Seven-Two (HSM-72). Sikorsky makes the base helicopter, but Lockheed MArtin outfits them and delivers them. The firm adds:

“The cornerstone of the U.S. Navy’s anti-surface and anti-submarine operations, MH-60R helicopters have flown more than 250,000 hours in operation with the Fleet, providing increased surveillance and situational awareness.”

Sources: Lockheed Martin, “Lockheed Martin Delivers The 200th Romeo Helicopter To The U.S. Navy”.

200th MH-60R

FY 2014

FY 2014 buy; APKWS rocket integration; MH-60R to end USN production a year early?

MH-60R w. ALFS
(click to view full)

Sept 30/14: Weapons. Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training in Owego, NY receives $6.9 million for integration of APKWS Digital Rocket Launcher capabilities into MH-60R and MH-60S avionics software. $2.6 million in FY 2014 Navy RDT&E budgets is committed immediately.

APKWS is a semi-active laser-guided 70mm rocket that’s being integrated into the US Navy; it will give equipped MH-60S and MH-60R helicopters 7 guided weapons per hardpoint, instead of 4 Hellfires. The rockets don’t pack the same punch as a Hellfire against larger naval targets or main battle tanks, but against small boat swarms and most targets ashore, there are no degrees of dead.

Work will be performed in Owego, NY (95%), and Patuxent River, MD (5%), and is expected to be complete in July 2016. Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD manages the contract (N00019-14-G-0019, DO 4007).

Sept 2/14: Upgrades. Lockheed Martin Mission Systems & Training, Owego, NY, received $8.9 million for MH-60 Terrain Awareness Warning System (TAWS II) and Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast enhancements, including integration of the TAWS II software into the 2018 product line. These services are in support of the US Navy ($8.4 million / 95%) and the governments of Australia ($90,645 / 1%) and Denmark ($392,585 / 4%). $8.4 million is committed immediately,

Work will be performed in Owego, NY, and is expected to be complete in October 2017. Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD manages the contract (N00019-14-G-0019, DO 4001).

June 20/14: Denmark. A $115.7 million firm-fixed-price delivery order to support the production and delivery of 9 Danish MH-60Rs. When previous announced contracts (q.v. June 26/13, Sept 23/13, Jan 6/14) are included, the total is now $223.8 million, out of a declared budget of $686 million (q.v. Nov 19/12).

All funds are committed immediately. Work will be performed in Stratford, CT (52%); West Palm Beach, FL (22%) and various locations outside (17%), and within (9%) the continental United States (9%). Work is expected to be complete in July 2018 (N00019-14-G-0004, DO 4019).

May 8/14: MH-60S AMCM. Sikorsky in Stratford, CT, receives a $7.9 million firm-fixed-price delivery order for MH-60S Aircraft Mine Counter Measure Removable Mission Equipment B Kits. AMCM kits convert the helicopters into mine-countermeasures specialists that can accept specialized equipment.

All funds are committed, using US Navy FY 2012 & 2013 aircraft budgets; $4.3 million will expire on Sept 30/14. Work will be performed in Stratford, CT, and is expected to be complete in April 2016. US NAVAIR in Patuxent River, MD, manages the contract (N00019-14-G-0004, DO 4007).

May 6/14: Support. Lockheed Martin in Owego, NY receives a $6.8 million firm-fixed-priced delivery order, for repairs to 11 MH-60R/S common cockpit items.

All funds are committed using US Navy FY 2014 working capital budgets. Work will be performed in Owego, NY (73%); Farmingdale, NY (21.25%); Middletown, CT (2.5%); and Grand Rapids, MI (3.25%); and is expected to be complete by Jan 30/16. This requirement was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 USC. 2304(c)(1) by US NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support in Philadelphia, PA (N00383-12-G-010F, DO 7027).

April 22/14: MYP-8. Lockheed Martin ups the pressure on the US Navy, by reminding everyone that they have a multi-year contract with termination fees. CFO Bruce Tanner says that work had already begun on cockpits, radars, and other equipment for the MH-60Rs. He recommends buying them and selling them to allies:

“That would probably be a better deal for the taxpayer than paying close to 100 percent and not getting anything for it…. The cost to terminate partially built helicopters is pretty significant relative to the cost to actually finish those helicopters.”

Sources: Reuters, “Lockheed says costly for Pentagon if it cancels MH-60 helicopters”.

April 17/12: Support. Lockheed Martin in Owego, NY receives a $7.3 million firm-fixed-priced delivery order for repairs to 12 items in the H-60R/S common cockpits.

All funds are committed immediately, using FY 2014 US Navy budgets. Work will be performed at Owego, NY (77%); Farmingdale, NY (9%); Phoenix, AZ (6%); Salt Lake City, UT (6%); Hershey, PA (2%), and is expected to be complete by Jan 12/16. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.S.C 2304(c)(1), by the US Naval Supply Systems Command, Weapon Systems Support in Philadelphia, PA (N00383-12-G-010F, #7026).

April 15/14: MYP-8. The Pentagon is trying to find ways not to break their MYP-8 multi-year contract with Sikorsky, given the likely effects on the Army’s Black Hawk fleet. Defense News goes a step further, and reports that Sikorsky officials are saying that any cancelation of the Navy buy would cancel the entire contract, destroying multi-year procurement for the US Army. Sources: Defense News, “DoD Looking for Ways Not To Break MH-60R Helicopter Deal”.

April 9/14: Politics. Sikorsky director of maritime programs Tim Healy points out that the US Navy’s proposed cancellation of 29 helicopters within the current multi-year deal has consequences. One involves the likelihood of higher prices for US Army Blackhawks, which are still being purchased. The other is more basic:

“This is not a legal issue. This is a confidence issue…. If multiyear contracts are negotiated and then not followed through … industry is back to making year-to-year calculations and investments because you never know when the next year’s contract is going to be canceled.”

That would be the rational approach, but industry enters into these contracts in order to reduce the odds of program cutbacks and cancellation in an irrational political environment. In other words, the contracts are primarily political acts. Our take: cancellation will dent industry’s credence in these contracts, but won’t make much difference. Companies will still rush to sign them, until and unless they see a behavior pattern that destroys their belief in this strategy. Sources: Reuters, “U.S. Navy move to ‘break’ multiyear deal worries industry-Sikorsky”.

March 28/14: Weapons. US Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division has been working on a project to modify 19-tube rocket launchers for NAVAIR’s Direct and Time Sensitive Strike Weapons (PMA 242) program office. The new LAU-61G/A Digital configuration adds a launcher electronic assembly that will allow a mix of guided and unguided rockets, mixed rocket load-outs, on-command inventory, tube-usage count, and built-in system check testing. In other words, it starts to look like the missile launcher it’s becoming, instead of just an unguided rocket launcher.

The CNO Rapid Deployment Capability project is aimed at the MH-60S fleet, to help them defend carrier strike groups against fast-attack craft. The 16 Early Operational Capability versions that NSWC IHEODTD just delivered can only use APKWS laser-guided rockets (q.v. Dec 18/13), which will be used in a coming deployment with USS Carl Vinson [CVN 70] strike group. Sources: US Navy, “NSWC IHEODTD Supports Digital Rocket Launcher Early Operational Capability”.

March 27/14: Qatar. The Gulf Emirate orders 22 NH90s, at a reported purchase price of around QAR 8.9 billion (about $2.446 billion). The order covers 12 NH90-TTH utility helicopters, and 10 NH90-NFH naval helicopters, whose functions roughly correspond to the MH-60S and MH-60R, respectively. A June 28/12 DSCA request involved 10-18 MH-60Rs and 12 MH-60S machines (see also Sept 22/11), but Sikorsky lost the competition.

The helicopters will replace Qatar’s 12-13 old Westland Commando (Sea King) maritime utility and patrol helicopters, and at least some of its Lynx and/or Puma family helicopters. With this buy, Qatar joins their near neighbor Oman as an NH90 customer. No word yet re: their delivery schedule. Other Qatari buys in their $23 billion DIMDEX shopping spree included 24 attack helicopters, air defense and anti-tank missiles, fast attack boats, 2 A330 aerial refueling planes, and 3 E-737 AWACS aircraft. Sources: Al Defaiya, “Qatar Announces Big Defense Deals at DIMDEX 2014” | Arabian Aerospace, “Qatar in $23bn arms order including Apache and NH90 helicopters” | Reuters, “Qatar buys helicopters, missiles in $23 billion arms deals”.

Qatar loss

March 21/14: Raytheon Co. in McKinney, TX receives $17.7 million for modification to previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract for 19 MH-60R/S MTS surveillance and targeting turrets.

All funds are committed immediately. Work will be performed in McKinney, TX, and is expected to be complete by March 2016. US Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, IN manages the contract (N00164-12-G-JQ66, 0044-01).

March 4-11/14: FY15 Budget. The USAF and USN unveil their preliminary budget request briefings, but it takes another week to release detailed documents. FY 2015 orders are unaffected: 8 MH-60S will end production for the US Navy, and 29 MH-60R helicopters will be bought as planned. On the other hand, the planned FY 2016 close-out order for 29 MH-60R helicopters is gone.

The cut is linked to the planned removal of 1 carrier air wing (to 10) and cap in the number of LCS ships at 32. The problem is twofold. One, the air wing would have to be put back if the Navy does decide to fund USS George Washington’s mid-life RCOH in FY16. Two, the 20 subsequent LCS buys are supposed to be replaced by ships with frigate-like capabilities, and those ships will need ASW helicopters. Navy officials said that advance procurement funds for FY 2016 were still present in the FY 2015 budget, and the Navy could reverse course. They’re under a multi-year procurement deal, so unless there’s a resale of some kind that’s allowed within the terms, you’d have to think that the penalty fees for cancellations would be high. Sources: USN, PB15 Press Briefing [PDF] | Defense News, “US Navy Budget Plan: Major Questions Abound”.

March 4/14: Support. Lockheed Martin Corp. Owego, NY receives $10.6 million for a firm-fixed-price delivery order, covering the repair of 13 items in support of the MH-60R’s radar and “Electronic Measurement System”.

All funds are committed immediately, using USN FY14 budgets. Work will be performed in Owego, NY, and is expected to be complete by March 2015. The contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.SC 2304 (c)(1), by the NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support in Philadelphia, PA (N00383-09-D-021F, #7048).

Jan 9/14: FY 2014. Sikorsky in Stratford, CT receives a $549.9 million contract modification, funding the base airframes and some integration for 18 MH-60S and 19 MH-60R helicopters, plus advance procurement for years 4 & 5 of the multi-year deal; and associated sustaining engineering, program management, systems engineering, and other support.

Work will be performed in Stratford, CT, and will be complete by Dec 31/15 (W58RGZ-12-C-0008, PO 0126).

FY 2014: 18 MH-60S, 19 MH-60R

Jan 6/14: Denmark. Raytheon Co., McKinney, TX, is being awarded a $10.5 million firm-fixed-price contract for 9 multi-spectral targeting systems for Royal Danish Navy MH-60R helicopters. All funds are committed immediately. When combined with previously announced orders (q.v. June 26/13, Sept 23/13), Denmark’s total now stands at $108.1 million for their 9 MH-60R Lite variants. The overall budget for their Foreign Military Sale case is about $686 million (q.v. Nov 19/12 entry).

Work will be performed in McKinney, TX, and is expected to be complete by December 2015. The MH-60R’s equipment is set, and the Danes didn’t want a change, so this wasn’t an open competition per US FAR 6.302-1. The US Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, IN acts as Denmark’s agent (N00164-12-G-JQ66-0037).

Dec 18/13: Weapons. H-60 Program Manager Capt. James Glass discusses programs to upgrade the fleet with new weapons and systems.

The MH-60S naval utility helicopters are slated to integrate APKWS laser-guided 70mm rockets by March 2014, in an early version of the 19-tube LAU-61G/A digital launcher (q.v. March 28/14). The MH-60S is also about to begin test-firing the same M197 3-barrel 20mm gatling gun used on Cobra attack helicopters. Presumably, that will be a podded version. Laser guidance isn’t ideal against boat swarms, because it requires continuous guidance to each target. A 20mm gun would compensate by allowing a 2nd attack option that can be pursued independently.

The MH-60R’s new AN/APS-153 radar with automatic radar periscope detection and discrimination (ARPDD) will reach the fleet by January 2014. By March 2015, the MH-60Rs will add APKWS. The last set of MH-60R upgrades concern the ALFS dipping sonar, which is being engineered for more reliability. Sources, Military.com, “Navy Arms MH-60S Helicopter with Gatling Gun”.

Dec 12/13: HUMS. Simmonds Precision Products, DBA Goodrich Corp. Sensors and Integrated Systems in Vergennes, VT receives a $7.9 million firm-fixed-price option for 8 MH-60S integrated mechanical diagnostic systems (IMDS) production A1 kits, 27 IMDS integrated vehicle health, management units and data transfer units, 17 MH-60S IMDS retrofit kits, 19 MH-60R IMDS Troy kits, and 19 MH-60R IMDS production A1 kits. All funds are committed immediately from FY 2014 USN aircraft budgets.

Work will be performed in Vergennes, VT, and is expected to be complete in December 2015. US Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD manages the contract (N00019-12-C-2015).

Dec 3/13: Hawklink. L-3 Communications Systems – West in Salt Lake City, UT receives a $22.9 million firm-fixed-price option for 4 AN/SRQ-4 (ship-based) and 31 AN/ARQ-59 (MH-60R) Common Data Link Hawklink radio terminal sets (see “Weapons & Upgrades” section, above). All funds are committed immediately, using FY 2014 USN budgets.

Work will be performed in Salt Lake City, UT (60%); Atlanta, GA (14%); Mountain View, CA (6%); Exeter, NH (2%); plus 1% each in Phoenix, AZ; El Cajon, CA; Oxnard, CA; Salinas, CA; Sunnyvale, CA; Boise, ID; Derby, KS; Littleton, MA; Stow, MA; Minnetonka, MN; Skokie, IL; Dover, NH; Bohemia, NY; York Haven, PA; Providence, RI; Cedar Park, TX; Fort Worth, TX; and Toronto, Canada. The underlying contract runs until September 2017. US Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD manages the contract (N00019-12-C-2024).

Nov 20/13: Exelis Inc. in Fort Wayne, IN receives a $7 million indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for up to 62 radar signal simulators. They’ll equip MH-60Rs for the US Navy (33) and Australia (27), and Brazil’s S-70Bs (2).

Work will be performed in Fort Wayne, IN, and the umbrella contract runs until November 2017. This contract was not competitively procured, per FAR 6.302-1. The US Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, NJ manages the contract (N68335-14-D-0005).

Oct 1/13: MH-60S. FBO.gov:

“The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) DRAFT Request for Proposal (RFP) N00019-13-R-0039 for Crashworthy Troop Seat (CWTS) System for the MH-60S Platform is hereby cancelled, along with the accompanying site visit that was scheduled for the period of 08-11 October 2013.

The DRAFT RFP and site visit cancellations are a result of Navy funding limitations and the program being defunded.”

FY 2013

FY 2013 buy; Danish buy MH-60R Lite.

MH-60S: Rescue diver
(click to view full)

Sept 26/13: Support. Lockheed Martin in Owego, NY receives a $7.2 million firm-fixed-price delivery order for the repair of 12 Common Cockpit items for the MH-60 Seahawk family of Helicopters. All funds are committed immediately.

Work will be performed in Owego, NY (97%) and Farmingdale, NY (3%), and is expected to be complete by April 30/15. The contract was sole-sourced in accordance with 10 U.SC 2304(c)(1), by US NAVSUP Weapons System Support in Philadelphia, PA (N00383-12-G-010F, 7023).

Sept 26/13: Support. Lockheed Martin in Owego, NY receives a $15 million firm-fixed-price contract delivery order against a previously awarded for the repair of 5 H-60 Seahawk helicopter components. All funds are committed immediately.

Work will be performed in Owego, NY, and is expected to be complete by Sept 30/14. This contract was sole-sourced in accordance with 10 U.SC 2304(c)(1). The contract was sole-sourced in accordance with 10 U.SC 2304(c)(1), by US NAVSUP Weapons System Support in Philadelphia, PA (N00383-09-D-021, 7040).

Sept 23/13: Radar. Lockheed Martin Mission Systems & Training, Owego, NY receives a $98.4 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for up to 50 radar kits, which will upgrade their APS-147 maritime radars into AN/APS-153(V)1s with automatic radar periscope detection and discrimination. $29.8 million in FY 2013 Navy aircraft procurement funds are committed immediately.

Work will be performed in Farmingdale, NY (93%) and Owego, NY (7%), and is expected to be complete in September 2016. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302-1a2 (N00019-13-D-4000).

Sept 23/13: Denmark. Lockheed Martin Mission Systems & Training in Owego, NY receives a $67.3 million firm-fixed-price delivery order for Danish modifications to their 9 MH-60Rs’ mission avionics and common cockpit. Work includes the integration of Danish-specific equipment, plus associated engineering and program support. Denmark is receiving MH-60R helicopters without ALFS dipping sonars or sonobuoys, and needs to use its own communications equipment, etc.

When combined with previous mission system and cockpit orders (q.v. June 26/13), Denmark’s total now stands at $97.6 million for their 9 helicopters. The overall budget for their Foreign Military Sale case is about $686 million (q.v. Nov 19/12 entry).

Work will be performed in Owego, NY (98%), Farmingdale, NY (1%), and various other locations in the United States (1%) and is expected to be completed in June 2018. FMS contract funds in the amount of $67,290,982 will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00019-09-G-0005, #4085).

July 31/13: Support. Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training in Owego, NY receives a $39.4 million cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract to provide help maintain software related to the MH-60R/S and SH-60B helicopters. They’ll update and maintain operational software, vendor software, maintenance-related software, and laboratory support software in support of flight test, technical and management work, and process support services. Just $814,024 is committed immediately.

Work will be performed in Owego, NY (85%); Patuxent River, MD (12%); Pascagoula, MS (1.5%); and Bath, ME (1.5%), and is expected to be complete in September 2015. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to “one responsible supplier” provisions in 10 USC 2304(c)(1). US Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD manages the contract (N00019-13-D-0011).

July 12/13: Support. Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training in Owego, NY receives a $12.9 million delivery order for repair coverage of 25 items in the MH-60R/S common cockpit. $9.7 million is committed immediately.

Work will be performed in Owego, NY (33%); Salt Lake City, UT (46%); Farmingdale, NY (12.5%); Middletown, CT (7.5%); and Phoenix, AZ (1%), and all work will be complete by July 1/15. The contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1) by US NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support in Philadelphia, PA (N00383-12-G-010F, DO 7021).

June 26/13: Denmark. Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training in Owego, NY receives a $30.3 million firm-fixed-price modification under an existing multi-year contract for 9 MH-60R Mission Avionics Systems and Common Cockpits. It’s part of Denmark’s 9-helicopter “MH-60R Lite” Foreign Military Sale (vid. Nov 19/12 entry), and all funds are committed immediately.

Work will be performed in Owego, NY (71%); Farmingdale, NY (10%); Woodland Hills, CA (8%); Cedar Rapids, IA (3%); Ciudad Real, Spain (3%); Bennington, VT (2%); Lewisville, TX (1%); and various locations throughout the United States (2%), and is expected to be complete in April 2018. US Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00019-11-C-0020).

June 25/13: Hawklink. L-3 Communications, Communication Systems–West in Salt Lake City, UT receives a $6.7 million firm-fixed-price contract modification for 5 Common Data Link Hawklink AN/SRQ-4 radio terminal sets, in support of US Navy MH-60R (4) and US Coast Guard (1) helicopters. All funds are committed immediately, using FY 2012 Coast Guard and FY 2013 US Navy funds.

Work will be performed in Salt Lake City, Utah (60%); Atlanta, GA (14%); Mountain View, CA (6%); Exeter, NH (2%); and Phoenix, AZ; El Cajon, CA; Oxnard, CA; Salinas, CA; Sunnyvale, CA; Boise, ID; Derby, KS; Littleton, MA; Stow, MA; Minnetonka, MN; Skokie, IL; Dover, NH; Bohemia, NY; York Haven, PA; Providence, RI; Cedar Park, TX; Ft. Worth, TX; and Toronto, Canada (1% each), and is expected to be complete in May 2015. $1.3 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/13. US Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD manages the contract (N00019-12-C-2024).

Jan 16/13: Korea. The MH-60R loses the MH-X finals to AgustaWestland’s AW159 Wildcat, with AW159 deliveries planned from 2015-2016. South Korea’s DAPA spokesperson Baek Yun-hyung:

“The Wildcat was deemed superior in three of four fields: cost, operational suitability, and contractual arrangements…. The overall consensus is that the Wildcat is the better option…. In joint operations the US model is superior but both models meet our performance requirements.”

South Korea loss

Dec 28/12: Hawklink. L-3 Communications Communication Systems West in Salt Lake City, UT receives a $16.9 million firm-fixed-price contract modification for Common Data Link Hawklink systems, incl. 31 AN/ARQ-59 radio terminal sets for the MH-60R.

Work will be performed in Salt Lake City, UT (60%); Atlanta, GA (14%); Mountain View, CA(6%); Exeter, NH (2%); and Phoenix, AZ; El Cajon, CA; Oxnard, CA; Salinas, CA; Sunnyvale, CA; Boise, Idaho; Derby, KS; Littleton, MA; Stow, MA; Minnetonka, MN; Skokie, IL; Dover, NH; Bohemia, NY; York Haven, PA; Providence, RI; Cedar Park, TX; Ft. Worth, TX; and Toronto, Canada (1% each), and is expected to be complete in March 2016. All contract funds are committed immediately (N00019-12-C-2024).

Dec 18/12: MTS. Raytheon in McKinney, TX receives an $18.4 million firm-fixed-price order against a previously issued Basic Ordering Agreement for 19 multi-spectral targeting systems for the MH-60R/S helicopter.

Work will be performed in McKinney, TX and is expected to be complete by December 2014. This non-commercial contract was procured and solicited on a sole source basis in accordance with the statutory authority of 10 USC 2304c1. The US Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, IN (N00164-12-G-JQ66, 0026).

Dec 11/12: FY 2013. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT receives a $563.8 million firm-fixed-price contract modification, which funds the Navy’s 2nd Program Year of the MYP-8 multi-year program. Sikorsky tells us that Year 2 buys 18 MH-60S Production Lot 15 helicopters for delivery in 2013-2014, and 19 MH-60R Production Lot 11 Helicopters for delivery in 2014. The contract also covers sustaining engineering, and the usual set of advance materials for the next production lots.

Work will be performed in Stratford, CT, with an estimated completion date of Sept 30/16. One bid was solicited, with 1 bid received (W58RGZ-12-C-0008).

FY 2013: 18 MH-60S, 19 MH-60R

Dec 6/12: GPS sonobuoys. US FBO.gov:

“The Naval Air Systems Command intends to negotiate a sole source order under a Basic Ordering Agreement with Lockheed-Martin Mission and Sensor Systems (LM MS2). It is anticipated that this contract action will be a Cost Plus Fixed Fee order to implement reception and processing capability of GPS-enabled sonobuoys into the MH-60R. This effort includes updates to the operator display and other software changes, and laboratory checkout through simulation.”

Nov 21/12: Denmark. Denmark’s Forsvarsministeriet announces that it has picked the MH-60R for a 9-helicopter buy, to replace their existing fleet of 7 AgustaWestland Lynx 90B machines. The DKR 4 billion (about $686 million) choice must next be approved by the Finance Ministry, and then passed in a budget by Parliament. That’s expected to happen, and it would be followed by deliveries from 2016 – 2018.

The US Foreign Military Sale request is already issued (vid. Dec 2/10 entry) for up to 12 machines, so the path to a deal is clear. A cost per helicopter of $76.2 million is high, but small helicopter buys of a new type also incur costs for training, spares, and support for a negotiated period. To date, announced contracts total $223.8 billion:

• $115.7 million – June 20/14, production
  
• $10.5 million – Jan 6/14, 9 MTS surveillance & targeting turrets
  
• $67.3 million – Sept 23/13, mission system & cockpit modifications
  
• $30.3 million – June 26/13, 9 mission systems and common cockpits

Denmark had been widely reported as a potential customer for a stripped-down MH-60R with reduced capabilities (vid. Nov 4/11 entry), and Sikorsky has since confirmed to DID that the Danish helicopters will remove most anti-submarine equipment. Danish MH-60Rs will be missing their sonobuoy launchers and ALFS FLASH dipping sonar, while retaining their naval radar and light surface strike capability. This will increase their available internal cabin space for transport missions. Danish Forsvarsministeriet [in Danish] | Sikorsky | Flight International.

Denmark: 9 MH-60R Lite

FY 2012

MH-60R w. ALFS
(click to view full)

Sept 11/12: Hawklink. L-3 Communications – Communication Systems – West in Salt Lake City, UT receives a $27.9 million firm-fixed-price contract for the manufacture, test, delivery and support of the Common Data Link Hawklink system, including 7 AN/SRQ-4 Ku-band Radio Terminal Sets for ship small surface combatants, and 29 AN/ARQ-58 RTSs for MH-60R helicopters.

Work will be performed in Salt Lake City, UT (60%); Atlanta, GA (14%); Mountain View, CA (6%); Exeter, NH (2%); and Phoenix, AZ; El Cajon, CA; Oxnard, CA; Salinas, CA; Sunnyvale, CA; Boise, ID; Derby, KS; Littleton, MA; Stow, MA; Minnetonka, MN; Skokie, IL; Dover, NH; Bohemia, NY; York Haven, PA; Providence, RI; Cedar Park, TX; Ft. Worth, TX; Toronto, Canada (1%) each and is expected to be complete in September 2015. This contract was competitively procured under an electronic request for proposals, with 1 offer received by US NAVAIR in Patuxent River, MD (N00019-12-C-2024). See also L-3 Communications.

July 11/12: MYP-8. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT receives a firm-fixed-price umbrella contract to buy and provide initial support for up to 916 UH/HH/MH-60 Helicopters for the US Army and US Navy, with Foreign Military Sales options. The Pentagon announces the initial total as $2.828 billion, which probably allocated funds for initial helicopter.

Sikorsky puts the base contract’s total value at $8.5 billion. Sikorsky also breaks up the MYP-8 contract into an $8.5 billion base for 653 helicopters, plus options for up to 263 more that could push the contract as high as $11.7 billion, including Foreign Military Sales.

Those totals compare to $7.4 billion for 537 helicopters in MYP-7, plus 263 additional options that Sikorsky said could push the contract to $11.6 billion for 800 helicopters. Orders ended up falling well short of that total, but the options were there. Read “Sikorsky’s $8.5-11.7B “Multi-Year 8” H-60 Helicopter Contract” for full coverage.

MYP-VIII Multi-Year Framework

June 28/12: Qatar. The US DSCA announces [PDF] a Foreign Military Sale request from the Government of Qatar to buy up to 28 modern Seahawk family helicopters, to replace the QEAF’s aging fleet of H-3 “Westland Commando” Sea Kings, and likely its remaining handful of Westland Lynx helicopters as well. If contracts are signed, they could be worth up to $2.5 billion. This appears to be an expansion of the Sept 22/11 DSCA request (q.v.).

Qatar wants 10 MH-60R base configuration helicopters, optimized for anti-submarine warfare, anti-ship attacks, and maritime patrol. They also want 12 MH-60S Seahawk utility helicopters equipped with the Armed Helicopter Modification Kit, which will let them carry laser-guided Hellfire missiles and guided 70mm rockets. That would make them dangerous opponents for smaller ships, especially the armed go-fast boats favored by Iran. They would also be useful against land targets, alongside the kingdom’s lighter SA342G Gazelles. An extra option would increase the armed MH-60S buy to 18 if it’s exercised. Qatar will also need 48 T-700 GE 401C Engines (44 installed, 4 spare, could grow to 61 with options).

The prime contractors will be Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in Stratford, CT (helicopters), Lockheed Martin in Owego, NY (MH-60R mission systems and MH-60S kits), and General Electric in Lynn, MA (engines). Implementation of this proposed sale will require the assignment of 15 contractor representatives to Qatar on an intermittent basis over the life of the case to support delivery of the MH-60R and MH-60S helicopters and provide support and equipment familiarization.

Qatar request

June 28/12: IMDS/HUMS. Simmonds Precision Products (United Technologies’ Goodrich Sensors and Integrated Systems) in Vergennes, VT receives a $9.6 million firm-fixed-price contract for 120 various Integrated Mechanical Diagnostic System kits in support of The US Navy and Australia’s MH-60R/S helicopters. As their name implies, these embedded sensors are used to detect mechanical problems in critical areas of the helicopter, allowing maintenance to shift from a regular schedule regardless of need, to a “condition-based” response to problems while they’re still small.

The US Navy gets 11 retrofit kits and one Delta retrofit kit, 18 integrated vehicle health management units and data transfer units, and 18 production kits. The numbers suggest that they’re slated for a US Navy MH-60S buy.

Australia receives 24 Troy kits, 24 integrated vehicle health management units and data transfer units, and 24 production kits for its 24 MH-60Rs.

Work will be performed in Vergennes, VT, and is expected to be complete in March 2014. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302-1. US NAVAIR manages the contract (N00019-12-C-2015).

May 16/12: South Korea’s MH-X. The US DSCA announces [PDF] the Republic of Korea’s official request for 8 MH-60R Seahawk Multi-Mission Helicopters, but the estimated cost of up to $1.0 billion indicates a very large long-term service & support package built into this request, which could comprise a majority of the deal’s cost.

The request includes 8 MH-60Rs, 18 T-700 GE 401C Engines (16 installed and 2 spares), spare engine containers, communication equipment, unspecified “electronic warfare systems,” support equipment, spare and repair parts, tools and test equipment, technical data and publications, personnel training and training equipment, and “other related elements” of US government and contractor support. If a contract is signed, the prime contractors would be Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in Stratford, CT (MH-60R); Lockheed Martin in Owego, NY (sensors and mission systems); and General Electric in Lynn, MA (engines). Implementation would require “multiple trips to Korea involving U.S. Government or contractor representatives on a temporary basis” for program and technical support, and management oversight.

South Korea has an MH-X program for its next-generation naval helicopter, with competitors expected to include AgustaWestland’s AW159 Lynx Wildcat, NH Industries’ NH90-NFH, and a naval version of the Eurocopter/KAI Surion, with co-operation from Elbit Systems. This MH-60R request follows a July 2009 (vid.) DSCA request for 8 MH-60S helicopters. The sinking of ROKS Cheonan by a North Korean submarine would certainly justify improving the ROKN’s anti-submarine capabilities, but the MH-60S’ ability to carry mine-detection gear is likely to be equally valuable. An MH-X decision is expected in October 2012. See also Defense Update.

South Korea request

May 9/12: Lite Danish? Sikorsky Aircraft and Terma announce a broadened Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). It extends the existing February 2010 MoU to include composites and electrical component manufacturing, as well as the possible use of Terma’s survivability equipment on widely-bought platforms like the UH-60 Black Hawk. This cooperation is conditioned on an MH-60R order from the Danish government. The Danes seem to be more interested in an MH-60R Lite version, though, as the release adds that:

“…the aircraft can be upgraded to provide anti-submarine warfare if one day required by Danish Defense.”

April 27/12: APS-153. Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors (MS2) in Owego, NY receives a $13.8 million firm-fixed-price delivery order, funding ongoing efforts to design, develop, and produce new Automatic Radar Periscope Detection and Discrimination (ARPDD) configured AN/APS-153V retrofit kits for the MH-60R. This order funds the validation and verification effort, all integrated logistic support elements, and the technical directives required to retrofit MH-60R aircraft. Kit quantities include 8 A-kits; 4 SEED B-kits; 2 STD B-kits; 2 Val/Ver A-kits; and 5 Antenna Array B-kits.

Work will be performed in Farmingdale, NY (70%); Owego, NY (29%); and various locations throughout the United States (1%); and is expected to be complete in April 2015 (N00019-09-G-0005).

April 19/12: Support. Lockheed Martin Corp. in Owego, NY receives a $61.4 million basic ordering agreement to repair/overhaul 182 various weapons replacement assemblies and shop replaceable assemblies used in support of the MH-60R/S common cockpit; the MH-60R’s ESM receiver processor that notices and backtracks electronic emissions like radar; and the MH-60S OAMCM mine warfare helicopter.

Work is expected to be completed by April 19/15. Only one company was solicited for this non-competitive requirement, and one offer was received in response to the solicitation, but a number of firms will be doing the work. Work will be performed at:

• General Electric in Grand Rapids, MI (5%)
  
• Hamilton Sundstrand in Phoenix, AZ (1%)
  
• Kaman in Middletown, CT (1%)
  
• Lockheed Martin in Owego, NY (33%)
  
• Northrop Grumman in Salt Lake City, UT (41%)
  
• Telephonics in Farmingdale, NY (12%)
  
• Ultra Flightline in Victor, NY (2%)
  
• US Navy FRC-SW in San Diego, CA (5%)

The contract is managed by NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support in Philadelphia, PA (N00383-12-G-010F).

April 20/12: Australia. Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors in Owego, NY receives a $126.5 million modification to Australia’s previous advance acquisition contract, which turns its preliminary order for 24 MH-60R mission systems and common cockpits into a finalized firm-fixed-price contract. This brings all contracts related to these sub-systems up to $315.1 million, or $13.13 million per helicopter. Read “MH-60R Wins Australia’s Maritime Helicopter Competition” for full coverage.

April 5/12: Common cockpits. Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors in Owego, NY receives a $1.05 billion contract modification, finalizing the MH-60R/ MH-60S’ 2012-2016 mission avionics system/ common cockpit advance acquisition contract to a firm-fixed-price, multiyear contract. These mission avionics systems and common cockpits will equip 162 MH-60Rs in production lots 10-14, and the last 62 MH-60S helicopters in production lots 14-17, with integrated logistic support provided alongside. A number of buys had already occurred under this contract for MH-60R Lots 10-11, and MH-60S Lots 14-15.

Work will be performed in Owego, NY (58%); Farmingdale, NY (25%); Woodland Hills, CA (4%); Ciudad Real, Spain (3%); East Syracuse, NY (2%); Victor, NY (2%); Everett, WA (1%); Stratford, CT (1%); St. Charles, MO (1%); Lewisville, Texas (1%); Bennington, VT (1%); and other locations inside the United States (1%). Work is expected to be completed in June 2018. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00019-11-C-0020). See also Lockheed Martin.

March 15/12: Radios. Rockwell Collins, Inc. in Cedar Rapids, IA received a $6.5 million firm-fixed-price contract modification, exercising an option to provide AN/ARC-210V electronic radio and ancillary equipment: 48 RT-1990C/ARC receiver-transmitters for the MH-60R, and 28 RT-1990C/ARC receiver-transmitters for MH-60S.

Work will be performed in Cedar Rapids, IA, and is expected to be complete in September 2013. US Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00019-09-C-0069).

March 13/12: Australia. Sikorsky in Stratford, CT received a $27.6 million firm-fixed-price contract for the “advanced procurement funding services in support of the Royal Australia Navy MH-60R program.” Work will be performed in Stratford, CT, with an estimated completion date of Dec 13/12. One bid was solicited, with one bid received by US Army Contracting Command in Redstone Arsenal, AL (W58RGZ-08-C-0003).

Dec 29/11: Australia. Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors in Owego, NY receives a $103.5 million firm-fixed-price delivery order for Australia. It covers common cockpit and mission avionics to equip 24 MH-60R helicopters for the Royal Australian Navy, including non-recurring engineering, program support, and associated efforts required for the production and delivery. Read “MH-60R Wins Australia’s Maritime Helicopter Competition” for full coverage.

Dec 28/11: Long-lead. Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors in Owego, NY receives a $24 million firm-fixed-price advance acquisition contract modification. They’ll provide FY 2012 long-lead material and “end of life components” (spares) for MH-60S Production Lot 14 and MH-60R Lot 10 common cockpits, and specialized MH-60R Lot 10 mission electronics.

Work will be performed in Owego, NY (57%); Farmingdale, NY (26%); Woodland Hills, CA (4%); Ciudad Real, Spain (3%); East Syracuse, NY (2%); Victor, NY (2%); Everett, WA (1%); Stratford, CT (1%); St. Charles, MO (1%); Lewisville, TX (1%); Bennington, VT (1%); and various locations throughout the United States (1%), and is expected to be complete in February 2012 (N00019-11-C-0020).

Dec 14/11: Training. The first US Navy MH-60S Aircrew Virtual Environmental Trainer (AVET) is installed and ready at NAS North Island near San Diego, CA. The Navy has had “TOFT” simulators for pilots since Oct 6/06, but this is a stand-alone, reconfigurable, full-motion simulator to train aerial gunnery, search and rescue, cargo replenishment, confined area landings, and emergency procedures for the MH-60S and HH-60H.

Binghamton Simulator Company in Binghamton, NY developed AVET under Navy SBIR funding, working with experts from PMA-205 and the US Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division in Orlando, FL. Its big difference from other simulators is that instead of a large, expensive screen, it uses a strap-on helmet mounted visor for each student. This allows multiple students to train on cooperative tasks like these, while enjoying full 360 degree simulation, at an affordable cost. The longer-term goal will network AVET trainers with pilot TOFTs, allowing full-crew mission rehearsals that don’t have to fly expensive helicopters. US NAVAIR.

Dec 14/11: Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors in Owego, NY receives a $72.2 million firm-fixed-price advance acquisition contract modification. They’ll provide FY 2013 long-lead material and associated efforts for MH-60S Production Lot 15 and MH-60R Lot 11 common cockpits, and specialized MH-60R Lot 11 mission electronics.

Work will be performed in Owego, NY (57%); Farmingdale, NY (26%); Woodland Hills, CA (4%); Ciudad Real, Spain (3%); East Syracuse, NY (2%); Victor, NY (2%); Everett, WA (1%); Stratford, CT (1%); St. Charles, MO (1%); Lewisville, TX (1%); Bennington, VT (1%); and various locations throughout the United States (1%). Work is expected to be complete in December 2012 (N00019-11-C-0020).

Dec 12/11: MH-60R Upgrades. Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems in Portsmouth, RI receives a $10.4 million firm-fixed-price delivery order to integrate an improved ALFS sonar Digital Transducer Assembly into MH-60Rs, as Engineering Change Proposal (ECP) 6515-E-022, Part II.

Work will include engineering, highly accelerated life test, and integrated logistics services. Work will be performed in Brest, France (64%), and Portsmouth, RI (36%), and is expected to be complete in October 2012 (N00019-08-G-0013).

Dec 2/11: Australia. Lockheed Martin MS2 in Owego, NY receives an $85.1 million firm-fixed-price contract modification for work at both ends of the MH-60R Mission Avionics Systems and common cockpit life-cycle. It includes both long-lead materials to begin building cockpits, and “end-of-life components” so the Australians have enough of certain items to support their 24 Royal Australian Navy MH-60Rs.

Work will be performed in Farmingdale, NY (53%); Owego, NY (32%); Ciudad Real, Spain (5%); Victor, NY (4%); St. Charles, MO (3%); Lewisville, TX (1%); Windsor Locks, CT (1%); and various locations throughout the United States (1%). Work is expected to be complete in March 2012. US Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD manages the contract, as the agent of their Foreign Military Sale client (N00019-11-C-0020).

Nov 4/11: MH-60R Lite. Australian Defence Magazine reports that Lockheed Martin is self-funding development of an “MH-60R Lite” variant, which would make the ALFS dipping sonar a removable option. That would improve its range, and increase cabin space from 3 people to 8, at the expense of limiting its anti-submarine capability without ALFS. Lockheed Martin is even contemplating a version that also removes the sonobuoy launcher and acoustic processors, leaving a helicopter with just surface attack, search and rescue, and utility helicopter capabilities. It would really be more of an MH-60S+, with an advanced maritime radar and other electronics improvements.

Australia is already set to buy standard MH-60Rs, but Denmark has reportedly been briefed on the project (vid. Sept 8/09, Dec 2/10 entries). They bought AW101 helicopters for the search and rescue role, but a September 2008 Parliamentary report [PDF] confirmed that availability problems had left the Danes without the full SAR capabilities they need. They’re also looking to replace a handful of Lynx maritime helicopters, and an MH-60R with removable dipping sonar might solve both problems.

FY 2011

Thai MH-60S
(click to view full)

Sept 29/11: MTS. Raytheon in McKinney, TX receives a $9.8 million firm-fixed-price contract for 10 MH-60S multispectral targeting systems. Work will be performed in McKinney, TX, and is expected to be complete by October 2013. This contract was not competitively procured by the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division in Crane, IN (N00164-11-C-JQ34).

Sept 29/11: Support. Lockheed Martin MS2 in Owego, NY receives an $8.2 million firm-fixed-price contract modification for one-time efforts required to fix part obsolescence issues in the MH-60R/S with solutions that have the right form, fit, and function. Work will be performed in Owego, NY, and is expected to be complete in November 2013 (N00019-06-C-0098).

Sept 27/11: Point & click, at last. Lockheed Martin MS2 in Owego, NY receives a $26.8 million firm-fixed-price contract modification for the procurement of 699 newly designed “point and click operator system interface kits”, and 123 pointing devices, in support of the MH-60R/S helicopter fleet. The contract includes installation, and NAVAIR confirms to DID that the operator-system interface (OSI) is being updated for all MH-60R and MH-60S helicopters.

Work will be performed in Owego, NY (61.1%); Austin, TX (20%); and Everett, WA (18.9%), and is expected to be complete in February 2015. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00019-11-C-0048).

Sept 27/11: Support.Lockheed Martin Corp. in Owego, NY receives a $9 million firm-fixed-price contract for specialized test equipment necessary to perform depot-level repairs to the ALQ-210 Electronic Support Measures Receiver Processor System. The AN/ALQ-210 ESM picks up incoming radar and electronic signals, and helps the helicopter backtrack to their emitters; it is deployed on the MH-60R.

Work will be performed at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, FL, and is expected to be completed in June 2014. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302-1 by the US Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division in Lakehurst, NJ (N68335-11-C-0403).

Sept 22/11: Qatar MH-60Rs? The US DSCA announces [PDF] Qatar’s official request to buy up to 6 MH-60R Seahawk naval warfare helicopters, 13 T-700 GE 401C Engines (12 installed and 1 spare), plus communication equipment, support equipment, spare and repair parts, tools and test equipment, technical data and publications, personnel training and training equipment, and other U.S. government and contractor support. The estimated cost is up to $750 million.

The MH-60R helicopters will supplement and eventually replace the Qatar Air Force’s aging Westland Sea King maritime patrol helicopters, whose main concern is currently Iran’s Russian-built Kilo Class diesel-electric attack submarines.

The prime contractors will be Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in Stratford, CT (helicopter), Lockheed Martin in Owego, NY (mission systems) and General Electric in Lynn, MA (engines). If the notice turns into a contract, require the assignment of 10 contractor representatives to Qatar on an intermittent basis over the life of the case, to support delivery of the MH-60R helicopters and provide support and equipment familiarization.

Qatar request

Aug 8/11: Thailand. Sikorsky loads a pair of MH-60S Seahawk helicopters for shipment to Thailand, who is the type’s first export customer thanks to a 2007 order.

Aug 4/11: MH-60R Upgrades. Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors in Owego, NY receives a $30 million delivery order modification for additional Phase 2 efforts in support of the MH-60R situational awareness technology insertion (SATI) engineering, manufacturing, and development. Work will be performed in Owego, NY (95%), and Melbourne, FL (5%), and is expected to be complete in February 2014. All contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/11 (N00019-09-G-0005).

Discussions with Lockheed Martin shed additional light on this award, which completes SATI’s pre-development portion. SATI upgrades the current Gen III Flight Management Computers and Mission Computers to Gen V, and adds a new Integrated Digital Map, and upgrades to the existing IFF interrogator.

July 1/11: APS-153. Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors in Owego, NY receives a $14.1 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for one-time engineering efforts to add a Mode 5 Interrogator Subsystem into the MH-60R Automatic Radar Periscope Detection and Discrimination System. Work will be performed in Farmingdale, NY (68%), and Owego, NY (32%), and is expected to be complete in November 2012. This contract was not competitively procured, pursuant to FAR 6.302-1 (N00019-11-C-0068).

Discussions with Lockheed Martin shed additional light on this award. ARPDD upgrades the existing AN/APS-147 radar’s hardware and software, to automatically discriminate between periscopes and other small surface objects. The upgraded MH-60R radar with the ARPDD capability is designated as an AN/APS-153. As noted above, Mode 5 is a form of automated “identification, friend or foe” technology. The helicopter transponders already include IFF Mode 5, but the helicopters’ radar-linked IFF interrogator system is also getting an upgrade. With submarines test-firing anti-aircraft missiles from torpedo tubes (vid. IDAS), creating a 2-way threat, IFF for ASW machines could become even more useful.

June 27/11: Training. CAE USA, Inc. in Tampa, FL receives a $32.1 million firm-fixed-price contract modification for 2 MH-60R tactical operational flight trainer (TOFT) advanced simulators, including install and test.

Work will be performed in Tampa, FL (42%); Lexington Park, MD (35%); Salt Lake City, UT (9%); Huappauge, NY (5%); San Francisco, CA (4%); Montreal, Canada (2%); Huntsville, AL (2%); and Leesburg, VA (1%), and is expected to be complete in October 2013. US Naval Air Warfare Center, Training Systems Division in Orlando, L manages this contract (N61340-11-C-0006).

June 16/11: MH-60R for RAN. The MH-60R beats the NH90-NFH for Australia’s 24-helicopter, A$3+ billion (over $3.16 billion) AIR 9000, Phase 8 helicopter competition, even though Australia had switched from H-60/S-70 Army helicopters to the NH90-TTH several years ago. A combination of problems with its “MRH-90s,” slow NH90 TTH development, MH-60R naval interoperability benefits, and the MH-60R’s low-risk operational status tipped the balance.

Read “MH-60R Wins Australia’s Maritime Helicopter Competition” for full coverage.

Australia: 24 MH-60R

March 30/11: Upgrades. Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors in Owego, NY receives an $8.9 million firm-fixed-price contract for A and B modification kits in support of the MH-60 acoustic technical insert (ATI). ATI includes cable modification kits, ATI, software defined sonobouy compatibility, the pre-amplifier unit, sensor operator consoles, link-16 retrofits and notch filters.

Work will be performed in Owego, NY (66.56%); Victor, NY (23%); Farmingdale, NY (4.5%); Butler, NJ (3.3%); and Ciudad Real, Spain (2.6%). Work is expected to be complete by in March 2016. This contract was not competitively procured. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/12. The Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD manages the contract (N00019-11-C-0048).

March 9/11: FY 2011? A $129.4 million firm-fixed-price contract “for the procurement of UH-60M Helicopters, HH-60M Helicopters, MH-60S Helicopters and MH-60R Helicopters,” numbers unspecified. Absent a budget per the Senate’s legal responsibility, it is difficult to commit a lot of money to buying things.

Work will be performed in Stratford, CT with an estimated completion date of Dec 31/12 (W58RGZ-08-C-0003).

FY 2011 order?

March 3/11: Sub-contractors. Sikorsky signs a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Trakka Corp. in Melbourne, Australia. Searchlights are Trakka’s specialty, and they are integrated into a highly efficient pan and tilt gymbal, allowing slewing up to 60 degrees per second. Internal filtering allows the searchlight to choose the appropriate light spectrum for the mission, while precision optical elements and a low power light source deliver a more intense and efficient on-target beam than conventional reflector-type searchlights.

This MoU goes beyond just Australia or its naval helicopter competition, to cover H-60 Black Hawk and Seahawk helicopters generally. Trakka develops and manufactures aviation searchlight products in its AS9100 certified facility in Australia, but it also has operations in Scottsdale, AZ to support its U.S. customers, including U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and the U.S. Coast Guard. Sikorsky.

March 1/11: MTS. Raytheon announces a $50 million contract to deliver 50 AAS-44C (V) Multi-Spectral Targeting System surveillance and targeting turrets, for use on the U.S. Navy’s MH-60R and MH-60S helicopters. Deliveries are expected to begin in 2011 and end in 2012.

Feb 28/11: HUMS. Goodrich subsidiary Simmonds Precision Products, Inc. in Vergennes, VT receives a $7.2 million firm-fixed-price contract modification for the procurement of 42 MH-60R/S integrated mechanical diagnostic and health usage monitoring system (HUMS) units, 42 data transfer units, and 18 retrofit kits. HUMS systems use embedded sensors to capture data about the performance of key mechanisms, and some can even predict likely failures. Their adoption can make maintenance approaches more efficient, pinpoint hidden design & manufacturing issues, and lead to redesigns for reliability.

Work will be performed in Vergennes, VT, and is expected to be completed in September 2012. $3.2 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/11 (N00019-06-C-0298). See also Goodrich’s Rotary HUMS Product Sheet [PDF].

Feb 25/11: Hawklink. L-3 Communication Systems in Salt Lake City, UT receives a $32 million fixed-price-incentive contract modification, exercising to exercise an option for MH-60R Hawklink datalink hardware, incl. 6 AN/SRQ-4(Ku) radio terminal sets for small surface combatant ships, and 52 AN/ARQ-59 radio terminal sets. See the MH-60R section for more details re: Hawklink.

Work will be performed in Salt Lake City, UT, and is expected to be complete in June 2012. The US Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD manages this contract (N00019-09-C-0059).

Feb 25/11: Sub-contractors. Lockheed Martin has issued a Request For Information to Australian firms to supply MH-60R weapons pylons, with selections expected by the end of 2011. The RFI is issued under the auspices of a recently signed Global Supply Chain (GSC) Deed, giving Australian companies new opportunities to compete for subcontracts on a range of Lockheed Martin products and services. Lockheed Martin’s naval helicopter program head, George Barton:

“Growth in orders for the MH-60R has resulted in an urgent need for an expanded supply base, and Australian industry has a depth of capability that would be an ideal supplement to our dedicated supplier base.”

The pylons are just the 1st opportunity, and tie into the billion-dollar naval helicopter competition there, featuring the MH-60R vs. the NH90-NFH. Lockheed Martin.

Feb 14/11: FY 2012 request. The 111th Congress’ failure has left the military without a FY 2011 budget. As the next 112th session takes up that challenge, the Pentagon releases its official FY 2012 budget request on schedule.

The FY 2012 request would spend a total of $1.532 billion buy 24 MH-60Rs ($1.018 billion) and 18 MH-60S helicopters ($513.5 million). Those helicopter numbers and mix match the FY 2011 budget, but the amounts are less.

Feb 2/11: MH-60R Australia? The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency announces [PDF] Australia’s formal request to buy a 10-year Through-Life-Support (TLS) contract for 24 MH-60R helicopters at an estimated cost of up to $1.6 billion. With the ADF’s MRH-90 program facing difficulties and receiving increased scrutiny, the support offer caps what amounts to a $3.7 billion maximum (A$ 3.66 billion) offer for 24 MH-60Rs, plus 10 years of support (vid. July 20/10), to set against the NH90 NFH in Australia’s SEA 8000, Phase 8 competition. Read “MH-60R Wins Australia’s Maritime Helicopter Competition” for full coverage.

Australia MH-60R support request

Jan 19/11: Training. CAE USA, Inc. in Tampa, FL receives a $43.5 million firm-fixed-price contract to design, build, install and test 1 MH-60R Tactical Operational Flight Trainer (TOFT) simulator and one MH-60R/S Tactical Operational Flight Trainer.

Work will be performed in Tampa, FL (42%); Lexington Park, MD (35%); Salt Lake City, UT (9%); Hauppauge, NY (5%); San Francisco, CA (4%); Montreal, Canada (2%); Huntsville, AL (2%); and Leesburg, VA (1%), and is expected to be complete in June 2014. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1 by the US Naval Air Warfare Center, Training Systems Division in Orlando, FL (N61340-11-C-0006).

Jan 5/11: Long-lead. Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors in Owego, NY receives a $72.6 million advance acquisition contract for long lead materials and support associated with the manufacture and delivery of 24 mission avionics systems and common cockpits for the Production Lot 10 MH-60R helicopters, and 18 common cockpits for the Production Lot 14 MH-60S helicopters, under a Multi-Year II advanced acquisition contract. This contract also buys end-of-life components for the MH-60R and MH-60S, so the Navy will have adequate stocks.

Work will be performed in Farmingdale, NY (48%); Owego, NY (26%); Woodland Hills, CA (13%); Ciudad Real, Spain (6%); Horseheads, NY (2%); Lewisville, TX (2%); Bennington, VT (1%); Windsor Locks, CT (1%); and various locations throughout the United States (1%), and is expected to be complete in December 2011. Funding is provided by FY 2011 Aviation Procurement Navy funds, and this contract was not competitively procured by US Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD (N00019-11-C-0020).

As of January 2011, Lockheed Martin and partner Sikorsky Aircraft have delivered more than 85 MH-60R helicopters [Source].

Dec 29/10: APS-153. Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors in Owego, NY receives a $33.6 million firm-fixed-price contract modification to incorporate the automatic radar periscope detection and discrimination radar into 6 MH-60R full rate production aircraft, moving this improvement from the system development phase to the production phase. This upgraded version of the MH-60R’s Telephonics AN/APS-147 radar offers 8 times the processing power of the previous model, along with the new radar mode. $24.7 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/11.

Work will be performed in Farmingdale, NY (86%), and Owego, NY (14%), and is expected to be complete in December 2013 (N00019-06-C-0098).

Dec 29/10: Long-lead. Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors in Owego, NY receives a $37.7 million firm-fixed-price contract modification to supply common cockpits for MH-60S Production Lot 13 and MH-60R Production Lot 9 helicopters, plus common cockpit components and spares in support of the overall MH-60R and MH-60S helicopter programs.

Work will be performed in Owego, NY (58.8%); Salt Lake City, UT (13.9%); Farmingdale, NY (12.7%); Grand Rapids, MI (4.7%); Woodland Hills, CA (3.7%); Lewisville, TX (2.9%); Windsor Locks, CT (2.2%); Middletown, CT (0.6%); and Butler, NJ (0.5%), and is expected to be complete in April 2013 (N00019-06-C-0098).

Dec 20/10: MH-60R Upgrades. Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors in Owego, NY receives a $35 million cost-plus-incentive-fee delivery order for one-time efforts in support of the MH-60R’s “situational awareness technology insertion” pre-engineering, manufacturing and development. Work will be performed in Owego, NY (86%); Farmingdale, NY (11%); and Melbourne, FL (3%). Work is expected to be complete in October 2012, but all contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/11 (N00019-09-G-0005, #4030).

A subsequent Lockheed Martin release clarifies: SATI is an 8-component package of upgrades and improvements to the helicopter’s flight management system, including a new integrated digital map and an Identification Friend-or-Foe (IFF) system upgrade.

Dec 2/10: Denmark request. The US DSCA announces [PDF] Denmark’s request to buy 12 MH-60Rs, 27 T-700 GE 401C Engines (24 installed and 3 spares), plus communication equipment, support equipment, spare and repair parts, tools and test equipment, technical data and publications, personnel training and training equipment, and U.S. government and contractor support.

The estimated cost is up to $2.0 billion, and the prime contractors will be Sikorsky in Stratford, CT; Lockheed Martin in Owego, NY; General Electric in Lynn, MA; and the Raytheon Corporation in Portsmouth, RI. If a contract is signed, implementation of this proposed sale will require the assignment of 10 contractor representatives to Denmark on an intermittent basis over the life of the case to support delivery of the MH-60R helicopters and provide support and equipment familiarization.

That’s an extraordinarily high ceiling price, unless very long term support contracts are also involved. The Romeos seem destined to replace Denmark’s 8 remaining Super Lynx helicopters in various roles, including “homeland defense and protect critical infrastructure.” The Danish Lynx fleet is getting quite old, and 3 helicopters have already been decommissioned.

Denmark MH-60R request

Oct 14/10: Support. Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors in Owego, N.Y received a $10 million firm-fixed-price contract for specialized test equipment required to perform depot-level repairs to the MH-60 common cockpit avionics suite, including artisan training, 2 operator control panels, and 1 universal power supply tester.

Work will be performed in Owego, NY, and is expected to be complete in January 2013. This contract was not competitively procured, pursuant to FAR 6.302-1 (N68335-11-C-0050).

FY 2010

VERTREP from
T-AOE 6 to CG 72
(click to view full)

Sept 21/10: JMPS. Lockheed Martin announces a $10 million contract to add the Navy/USAF Joint Mission Planning System (JMPS) to the MH-60 family by 2012. The firm’s Owego, NY employees will spend 30 months developing a “unique planning component” software module configured to JMPS, which must also contain unique information about the MH-60R and MH-60S, and their mission types. Once the module is delivered, tests will be conducted at Naval Air Weapons Station Point Mugu, CA and Naval Air Station Patuxent River, MD.

The idea is that missions are planned on a laptop, ten loaded into the Common Cockpit system via a memory card. The software modules will be loaded onto a planning system laptop that allows MH-60 pilots to select preconfigured mission plans, compile weather data, maps, navigational routes, targeting data, and enter their helicopter’s chosen weapons and sensors. The finished mission profile is transferred to a memory card and uploaded to the helicopter. Once airborne, the aircraft’s avionics will know what mission they’re assigned, the intended route and navigation waypoints, the communications frequencies, available weapons and sensors, and other critical information.

July 21/10: No sonobuoys? Aviation Week Ares reports that future MH-60R helicopters may abandon their current sonobuoy launchers:

“U.S. Navy program manager for H-60, Capt. Dean Peters… said the aircraft’s Airborne Low Frequency Sonar (ALFS) worked so well during last year’s deployment of the aircraft there “was not much need for the [sonobuoy] launcher.” The potential exists, he says, to “take out the sonobuoy launcher,” and launch fewer buoys using a different type of launch system. The goal is reduce the amount of cabin space taken up by the launcher… ALFS provides so much range that it might be wise to have another helicopter prosecute the mission and “have the sonar remain in the dip.”… We’re evaluating other options to free up space and reduce cost.”

July 9/10: MH-60R Australia? The US DSCA announces [PDF] Australia’s formal request to buy 24 MH-60R Seahawk Multi-Mission Helicopters and related equipment, for up to $2.1 billion.

DSCA requests are not contracts, and in this case, it may not even indicate intent. The MH-60R is competing against the NH90 NFH in Australia, and it isn’t unusual for countries to submit requests during competitions, in order to ensure that the American equipment has full export clearances. Read “MH-60R Wins Australia’s Maritime Helicopter Competition” for full coverage.

Australia MH-60R request

June 11/10: Support. Lockheed Martin MS2 in Owego, NY received a $12.7 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-06-C-0098) for MH-60R/MH-60S common cockpit provisioned items. Work will be performed in Owego, NY, and is expected to be complete in July 2012.

June 8/10: Hawklink. Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors (MS2) in Owego, NY received a $9 million firm-fixed-price delivery order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-09-G-0005) for services in support of the MH-60R Common Data Link (CDL) Hawklink upgrade.

Services to be provided include production support; first article inspection test; generation of engineering change proposals to incorporate CDL Hawklink into the MH-60R; product test verification supporting an MH-60R fleet release; and on-aircraft production validation testing. Work will be performed in Owego, NY, and is expected to be complete in December 2011.

April 28/10: Australia RFP. Australia issues its formal solicitation for “AIR 9000, Phase 8” to buy naval helicopters: either the NH90 NFH or the MH-60R, with a decision expected in 2011. Ministerial release.

April 1/10: SAR – more MH-60Rs. The Pentagon releases its April 2010 Selected Acquisitions Report, covering major program changes up to December 2009. The MH-60R is included, because the planned number is going up:

“MH-60R – Program costs increased $2,101.6 million (+17.3%) from $12,139.4 million to $14,241.0 million, due primarily to a quantity increase of 46 helicopters from 254 to 300 helicopters (+$1,385.4 million) and associated schedule, engineering, and estimating allocations

• (+$171.6 million), and increases in other support costs and initial spares associated with the quantity increase (+$257.3 million). There was an additional increase due to a revised cost estimate for 23 additional airborne low frequency sonars (+$282.8 million).”

SAR – more MH-60Rs

March 23/10: MH-60S upgrades. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CoT receives an $18.2 million firm-fixed-price modification to a previously issued delivery order under a basic ordering agreement (N00019-08-G-0010). NAVAIR is buying 36 integrated self defense (ISD) mission kits and 33 weapons kits for the MH-60S.

Work will be performed in Tallassee, AL (76.1%); Coxsackie, NY (17.6%); Wichita, KS (4.3%); Valencia, CA (1%); and at various locations across the U.S. (1%) and is expected to be complete in January 2012. $1,487,432 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

March 15/10: Hawklink. L-3 Communications Corp. in Salt Lake City, UT receives a $37.5 million modification to a previously awarded fixed-price-incentive contract (N00019-09-C-0059), exercising an option related to the Hawklink sub-program.

The Navy will buy 11 AN/SRQ-4 (Ku) radio terminal sets for ship small surface combatants, and 51 AN/ARQ-59 RTS for the MH-60R aircraft, including technical data. These upgraded Ku-band systems will extend existing Hawklink connectivity from small surface combatants to the aircraft carrier, and increase data rates between MH-60Rs and surface combatants. Work will be performed in Salt Lake City, UT, and is expected to be complete in March 2013.

Feb 25/10: Australia. Australia formally announces Project AIR 9000 Phase 8, which will be a competition between the MH-60R Seahawk and the NH90-NFH. Australia currently operates S-70 Seahawks as naval helicopters, but it also chose the NH90-TTH to replace its Army Blackhawks. In the end, the MH-60R won.

Jan 19/10: FY 2010 contract. A $600.7 million firm-fixed-price contract, funding Program Year 4 for the US Navy under the current multi-year H-60 contract. The order funds 42 helicopters: 18 MH-60S Seahawks (Lot 12 production), 24 MH-60R Seahawks (Lot 8 production); plus tooling, program systems management, and technical publications.

Work is to be performed in Stratford, CT, with an estimated completion date of Dec 31/12. One bid solicited with one bid received (W5RGZ-08-C-0003).

FY 2010: 18 MH-60S, 24 MH-60R

Jan 6/10: Australia. Australia’s Daily Telegraph reports that Australia’s Labor Party government has rejected a DoD request to approve a $4 billion “rapid acquisition” of 24 MH-60R Seahawk helicopters, plus related equipment including training weapons, etc. The buy would have been an emergency replacement for the long-running, ill-starred, and canceled SH-2G Super Seasprite program.

Instead, successful lobbying by Eurocopter will force a competition between Sikorsky’s MH-60R, in service with the US Navy, and the European NH90 NFH variant, which is expected to be ready for service sometime around 2011-2012.

Dec 30/09: Common cockpit. Lockheed Martin Systems Integration-Owego in Owego, NY, which has just been amalgameted with Maritime Systems and Sensors in an internal Lockheed Martin reorganization, received an $82 million firm-fixed-price modification to finalize a previous contract to deliver MH-60 common cockpits for MH-60S Lot 12 and MH-60R Lot 8 production. This modification also provides for long lead materials that need to arrive early, in order to support timely production of MH-60S Lot 13 and MH-60R Lot 9 common cockpit kits.

Work will be performed in Owego, NY (58.8%); Salt Lake City, UT (13.9%); Farmingdale, NY (12.7%); Grand Rapids, MI (4.7%); Woodland Hills, CA (3.7%); Lewisville, TX (2.9%); Windsor Locks, CT (2.2%); Middletown, CT (0.6%); and Butler, NJ (0.5%). Work is expected to be complete in July 2012 (N00019-06-C-0098).

Dec 24/09: Lockheed Martin Systems Integration in Owego, NY received a maximum $68.3 million sole-source firm-fixed-price contract for receiver transmitters and processors. The date of performance completion is December 2013. The Defense Logistics Agency, Philadelphia issued the contract (N00019-06-C-0098).

Dec 23/09: Support. Lockheed Martin Systems Integration in Owego, NY received a $10 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract to develop, integrate and test modifications for the audio management computer and embedded GPS/inertial navigation system in the MH-60R and MH-60S common cockpit.

These efforts address electronics obsolescence issues, which are common given an electronics industry whose product lifecycles are 5-7 years, vs. military platforms’ 30-50 years. Work will be performed in Owego, NY, and is expected to be completed in February 2012. All contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year (N00019-04-C-0028).

Dec 18/09: JMPS. Lockheed Martin Systems Integration – Owego in Owego, NY receives a $10 million firm-fixed-price delivery order to incorporate Joint Mission Planning Systems v1.2 into MH-60R and MH-60S helicopters. Work will be performed in Owego, NY, and is expected to be complete in July 2012. All contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/09 (N00019-09-G-0005).

Dec 9/09: MH-60S upgrades. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CoT received an $11.5 million firm-fixed-price contract for incorporation of recurring costs associated with Navy MH-60S Engineering Change Proposals (ECPs). ECP 4003 covers night vision device compatible rotor head lights, and ECP 4035 covers active vibration control installation. Work is to be performed at Stratford, CT, with an estimated completion date of Dec 31/12. One bid was solicited and one bid received by U.S. Army Contracting Command, AMCOM Contracting Center at Redstone Arsenal, AL (W58RGZ-08-C-0003).

Dec 8/09: Hawklink. Lockheed Martin announces a $14.75 million U.S. Navy contract to integrate the high definition SAU 07000 Ship Air Upgrade interface. This is a digital messaging interface that will improve the MH-60R’s Hawklink communications system to make full use of the Ku band, as opposed to the C-band limitations of current MH-60Rs and SH-60Bs.

Developed jointly by US NAVAIR and NAVSEA, the SAU 07000 interface will be integrated into ship combat systems, including Aegis-equipped ships. SAU 07000-equipped MH-60R aircraft will remain backward compatible with the legacy C-band message interface to support naval ships that have not yet upgraded. See June 12/09 and May 28/08 entries for more contracts and background concerning Hawklink Ku-band improvements.

To date, Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin have delivered 48 MH-60Rs, which are deployed in 4 squadrons. Ku band-capable MH-60Rs are scheduled for deployment as part of the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) Carrier Strike Group in 2012.

Nov 23/09: Support. Telephonics, a subsidiary of Griffon, received a $6.9 million contract from Lockheed Martin Systems Integration-Owego to supply test equipment for diagnosis and repair of the MH-60R/S helicopters’ communication systems. The equipment will be delivered to the US Navy’s Fleet Resource Center Southwest, which plans to have the test capability operational in early 2011. The contract also includes training Navy personnel in the repair of the communication systems and operation of the equipment.

Oct 23/09: Australia. The Australian reports that the country’s military chiefs have recommended the MH-60R as Australia’s next anti-submarine helicopter, citing it as a cheaper and lower risk solution compared with the NH90 NFH, with better allied interoperability. Australia would be looking to buy 24 helicopters for service by 2014, per its 2009 Defence White Paper.

Read “MH-60R Wins Australia’s Maritime Helicopter Competition” for full coverage.

Oct 4/09: MH-60R prospects. Aviation Week quotes Lockheed Martin VP of rotary wing programs as saying that the MH-60R is in flight trials with India, with Australia, Denmark, and Saudi Arabia also evaluating the Romeo’s capabilities.

FY 2009

MH-60S from USS JFK
(click to view full)

Sept 25/09: MH-60R upgrades. Lockheed Martin Systems Integration – Owego in Owego, NY received a $14.75 million firm-fixed-price order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-09-G-0005) for non-recurring engineering support to complete the design, development, integration and test of an unspecified MH-60R upgrades. Work will be performed in Owego, NY, and is expected to be complete in April 2012.

Sept 24/09: MTS. Raytheon Systems Co. in McKinney, TX received an $11.7 million firm-fixed-price order for multi-spectral targeting systems (MTS) and associated line items in support of the US Navy’s MH-60R/S helicopters. Work will be performed in McKinney, TX and is expected to be complete by February 2011. The order under the existing Basic Ordering Agreement was awarded on a sole source basis by the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane in Crane, IN (N00164-06-G-8555).

Sept 24/09: Common cockpits. Lockheed Martin Systems Integration, Owego, in NY received a $6.4 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-04-C-0028) for additional MH-60R/S common cockpit components. Work will be performed in Owego, NY, and is expected to be complete in April 2010.

Sept 18/09: MTS. Raytheon in McKinney, TX received a $44.3 million firm-fixed-price job order for 62 U.S. Navy H-60 helicopter configuration multi-spectral targeting systems (MTS). The MTS turrets will be installed on U.S. Navy MH-60R and MH-60S models. Work will be performed in McKinney, Texas, and is expected to be complete by November 2011. The job order was awarded on a sole source basis by the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane IN (N00164-06-G-8555).

Sept 17/09: +2 MH-60S. A $24.6 million firm-fixed-price contract for 2 MH-60S “overseas contingency operation” (supplemental budget funding) aircraft for the US Navy. Work is to be performed in Stratford, CT with an estimated completion date of Dec 31/12 (W58RGZ-08-C-0003).

Sept 15/09: Sub-contractors. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division in Crane, IN awards a set of firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity multiple award contracts with a maximum value of $14 million, to 6 firms. The firms will compete for delivery orders for various types of MH-60S/R and V-22 gun mount components, along with bore sight kits. Work is expected to be completed by September 2014. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online and Federal Business Opportunities websites, with 14 proposals being received. Contractors include:

• Guardian Technology Group in Crawfordsville, IN (N00164-09-D-JN14)
  
• Northside Machine Company in Dugger, IN (N00164-09-D-JN60);
  
• MCD Machine Inc. in Bloomington, IN (N00164-09-D-JN61)
  
• C&S Machine in Plainville, IN (N00164-09-D-JN62)
  
• Precision Laser Services, Inc. in Fort Wayne, IN (N00164-09-D-JN63)
  
• Colbert Mfg, Co., Inc in Lavergn, TN (N00164-09-D-JN64)

Sept 15/09: Support. Simmonds Precision Products, Inc., DBA Goodrich Fuel and Utility Systems in Vergennes, VT received a $14.7 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-06-C-0298) for various integrated mechanical diagnostics system kits and parts in support of MH-60R/S helicopters. Work will be performed in Vergennes, VT, and is expected to be complete in December 2010.

Sept 8/09: Denmark. Lockheed Martin and Terma A/S announce a Memorandum of Understanding to offer the MH-60R to the Danish Government, in the wake of a June 2009 authorization to procure new ship-based helicopters for Royal Danish Navy vessels. Lockheed Martin isn’t the MH-60R’s manufacturer, but they are the systems integrator. Lockheed and Terma have a long history of collaboration on Danish defense projects, including the F-16, C-130 and F-35 programs. Lockheed Martin release.

The MH-60R has yet to receive an export order. Expected Danish competitors include the NH90 NFH ordered by Denmark’s neighbors in Germany, Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands. AgustaWestland’s Lynx/Super Lynx helicopters are already in service with Danish vessels, and its AW 159 Future Lynx SMCR is another expected competitor.

July 30/09: Common cockpits. Lockheed Martin Systems Integration in Owego, NY received a maximum $25.2 million firm-fixed-price, sole source contract for multi-mode radar and common cockpit system parts.

There was originally one proposal solicited with one response. The date of performance completion is May 2012. US Defense Logistics Agency Procurement Operations in Philadelphia, PA manage this contract (N00383-06-G-016F-THZ1).

July 22/09: South Korea MH-60S request. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announces South Korea’s request for a squadron of 8 MH-60S Airborne Mine Counter-Measures systems, at an estimated cost of $1 billion. The specific request includes:

• 8 MH-60S helicopters with associated Airborne Mine Countermeasure (AMCM) Sensors
  
• 16 T700-GE-401C engines
  
• 8 AN/AQS-20A Towed Sonar systems
  
• 8 AN/AES-1 Airborne Laser Mine Detection Systems (ALMDS)
  
• 8 AN/ASQ-235 Airborne Mine Neutralization Systems (AMNS)
  
• 8 AN/ALQ-220 Organic Airborne and Surface Influence Sweep Systems (OASIS)
  
• 8 AN/AWS-2 Rapid Airborne Mine Clearance Systems (RAMICS cannons)
  
• Plus test and support equipment, spare and repair parts, personnel training and training equipment, and other forms of support.

Korea already uses the related H-92 Superhawk as its Presidential helicopter, and H-60 Black Hawk helicopters for VIP transport, utility transport, and search and rescue duties. Implementation of this proposed sale will require temporary travel for U.S. Government or contractor representatives to the Republic of Korea for in-country training. The principal contractors will be:

• Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in Stratford, CT (MH-60S, incl. GE engines)
  
• Lockheed Martin Systems Integration in Owego, NY (AMCM overall)
  
• Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems in Tucson, AZ (AQS-20A, AMNS)
  
• Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems in McKinney, TX
  
• Northrop Grumman Corporation in Melbourne, FL (ALMDS, RAMICS)
  
• ITT Corporation in Panama City, FL (OASIS)
  
• Concurrent Technologies Corp. for-profit affiliate Enterprise Ventures Corporation in Johnstown, PA.

DID called EVC to ask about this contract, but did not receive a response. EVC’s parent firm is closely linked to Rep. John Murtha [D-PA], and has been a frequent recipient of Congressional earmarks. CTC has also been involved in current and past investigations, as a client of The PMA Group, and for its partial charitable status.

South Korea MH-60S request

June 19/09: Support. Lockheed Martin Systems Integration in Owego, NY a $13.8 million firm-fixed-price contract for Specialized Test Equipment used to perform depot level repairs to the MH-60 family’s Common Cockpit Avionics Suite: 1 Audio Management Computer, 1 Relay Assembly, 1 Flight Management Computer, 1 Mission Computer, and the Communication Systems Controller testers.

Work will be performed in San Diego, CA (50%); Owego, NY (25%); and Farmingdale, NY (25%), and is expected to be completed in October 2010. This contract was not competitively procured by the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division in Lakehurst, NJ (N68335-09-C-0149).

June 12/09: Hawklink. L-3 Communications Corp.’s Communications Systems group in West, Salt Lake City, UT received a $59.8 million fixed-price-incentive contract for 9 SRQ-4(Ku) radio terminal sets for ship small surface combatants and 45 ARQ-58 RTSs for the MH-60R aircraft, including technical data. These upgraded Ku-Band systems will extend existing Hawklink connectivity from small surface combatants to the aircraft carrier and increase data rates between MH-60R to surface combatants; see May 28/08 entry for more.

Work will be performed in Salt Lake City, UT, and is expected to be complete in June 2012. This contract was competitively procured under an electronic request for proposals, and 2 offers were received by the Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD (N00019-09-C-0059).

May 29/09: MH-60S armed upgrade. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT received a $7.9 million firm-fixed-price delivery order for 22 Armed Helo Weapons System Fixed Provision Armament Retrofit Kits. Removable Mission Equipment will include an Integrated Self Defense Countermeasures Dispensing System, Forward Looking Infrared, Armor, and various weapons. They will be delivered under the existing Basic Ordering Agreement (N00019-08-G-0010), and used to retrofit 22 MH-60S Block 2A aircraft to MH-60S Block 3A configuration.

Work will be performed in Stratford, CT (21.8%); Ontario, Calif., (13.1%); Ronkonkoma, NY (11.3%); Milford, CT (8.6%); Tallassee, AL (6.7%); Mineola, NY (5.9%); Wallingford, CT (5.4%); Sylmar, CA (5.3%); Vernon, CT (4.1%); Berlin, CT (3%); Orange, CT (2.7%); Coxsackie, NY (1.7%); Shelton, CT (1.2%); Yaphank, NY (1.1%); Tempe, AZ (1%); and at various locations across the United States (7.1%), and is expected to be complete in December 2011.

April 15/09: Radars. Griffon Corp. subsidiary Telephonics announces a $99.3 million follow-on order from Lockheed Martin for AN/APS-147 Multi Mode Radar System and subsystem spares. It appears to be connected to the March 18/09 order, which covers equipment for 30 MH-60Rs from production Lot 7.

See also Aug 15/07, Oct 8/07, and March 18/09 entries. This is part of a multi-year contract covering 139 MH-60R helicopters from 2007 through 2013.

April 6/09: Lockheed Martin Systems Integration in Owego, NY received a $7.8 million modification to a previously awarded firm fixed price contract (N00019-04-C-0028) for 18 MH-60S helicopter Mission Computers, and components for MH-60R/S Common Cockpit Trainers. Work will be performed in Owego, NY, and is expected to be complete in April 2010.

March 25/09: Support. Lockheed Martin Integrated Defense Systems in Owego, NY receives a $56.6 million sole-source, firm-fixed-price retirements type long term contract. Lockheed Martin will repair and/or overhaul various weapons replaceable assemblies used to support the HM-60R/S helicopters.

Weapons replaceable assembly (WRA) is a generic term that includes all replaceable packages installed in an aircraft weapons system. A WRA is composed entirely of shop replaceable assemblies (SRAs), and does not include cable mounts, fuse boxes, or circuit breakers.

Work will be performed at Farmingdale, NY (60%); Phoenix, AZ (13%); Clearwater, FL (13%); and Salt Lake City, UT (14%), and work is expected to be complete by March 2014. The Naval Inventory Control Point is managing this contract (N00383-09-D-021F).

March 18/09: Radars. Griffon Corp. subsidiary Telephonics announces a $9.5 million order from Lockheed Martin to fund long-lead purchase of subsystem spares for the AN/APS-147 Multi-Mode Radar and its Identification Friend or Foe Interrogator System.

The award covers spares to support the U.S. Navy’s Lot 7 purchase of 30 MH-60R helicopters, for delivery beginning in 2012. The spares are part of a $1.065 billion multi-year contract awarded to Lockheed Martin in July 2007 to integrate the avionics and mission systems onto 139 MH-60R aircraft through 2013. See also April 14/09, Oct 8/07, and Aug 15/07 entries.

Feb 26/09: MH-60S armed upgrade. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT received a $16.5 million firm-fixed price modification, against a previously issued delivery order, under a Basic Ordering Agreement (N00019-08-G-0010). That complicated contract structure will buy MH-60S Armed Helicopter Mission Kits: 33 Integrated Self Defense (ISD) Mission Kits, 30 Weapons Kits, and the B-Kit installation hardware.

Work will be performed in Tallassee, AL (76.1%); Coxsackie, NY (17.6%); Wichita, KS (4.3%); Valencia, CA (1%); and at various locations across the United States (1%), and is expected to be complete in April 2012.

Feb 3/09: MH-60S upgrades. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT received a $5.7 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity time and material contract (N00019-07-D-0005) for one-time engineering efforts. Work involves the planned retrofit of MH-60S aircraft 1-119, or all helicopters through Block 3A, to improve their capabilities.

Sikorsky will design and develop the retrofit kits; deliver 4 of them for 2 separate validation and verification tests; and prepare and deliver 2 routine action technical directives for the MH-60S Warfighter Operational Safety Improvement Program. Work will be performed in Stratford, CT (84.5%); Coronado, CA (12.2%); and Lexington, KY (3.3%), and is expected to be complete in June 2011.

Dec 24/08: +6 MH-60R. Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in Stratford, CT receives an $85 million firm-fixed-price contract, exercising an option for 6 more MH-60R Helicopters. Note that they only provide the airframe; the mission systems are under contract from Lockheed Martin. Work is to be performed in Stratford, CT, with an estimated completion date of Dec 31/12 (W58RGZ-08-C-0003).

Dec 23/08: Common cockpits. Lockheed Martin Systems Integration-Owego in Owego, NY received a $45.1 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price multi-year contract (N00019-06-C-0098) to provide for end-of-life components, FY 2010 long-lead time items and associated efforts required for the production and delivery of Common Cockpit Kits. These kits will be used during MH-60S Lot XII and MH-60R Lot VIII production, in FY 2010. Work will be performed in Owego, NY, and is expected to be complete in December 2009.

Dec 16/08: FY 2009 order. A $619.9 million firm-fixed-price contract the H-60 VII multi-year contract. The Navy is buying 24 MH-60R helicopters (Lot 7) and 18 MH-60S helicopters (Lot 11), plus tooling; Program Systems Management, and technical Publications.

Work will be performed in Stratford, CT with an estimated completion date of Dec 31/12. Since it’s done under a set multi-year contract, one bid was solicited and one bid was received (W58RGZ-08-C-0003).

FY 2009: 18 MH-60S, 24 MH-60R

Dec 16/08: Common cockpits. Lockheed Martin Systems Integration in Owego, NY received a $37.5 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract for 49 common cockpit sets: 18 MH-60S, 30 MH-60R, and 1 MH-60R Trainer set. Work will be performed in Owego, NY, and is expected to be complete in April 2010 (N00019-04-C-0028).

Dec 12/08: Sub-contractors. Concurrent Technologies Corp. (CTC) in Johnstown, PA received a $10 million ceiling-priced contract to design, build, install and test the Navy MH-60S Helicopter Aircrew Carriage Stream, Tow, and Recovery System Trainer (CSTRS-T).

CSTRS is part of MH-60S AMCM helicopers, and is used to tow and retrieve items like sonars, decoys, and other components of the US Navy’s Organic Airborne Mine Countermeasures (OAMCM) program. Because the MH-60S is considerably smaller than the current MH-53E Sea Dragon, the challenge was to develop a small, modular system capable of accommodating both towed and non-towed sensor systems. CSTRS-T will be located at the Naval Station Norfolk, VA, where it will offer high fidelity simulation of the MH-60S helicopter’s interior for Helicopter Sea Combat Fleet Replacement Squadrons (FRS) and post-FRS aircrew training. The CSTRS-T will support training for CSTRS winch operators, and refresher training on normal, emergency, and degraded procedures.

Work will be performed in Johnston, PA and is expected to be complete in December 2011. Contract funds in the amount of $9.2 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured by the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division in Orlando, FL (N61339-09-C-0009).

Oct 16/08: MH-60S armed upgrade. A $15.2 million firm-fixed-price order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-08-G-0010) for MH-60S Armed Helicopter Mission Kits, which consist of the Integrated Self Defense Mission Kit (32); Weapons Kit (31); and the B-Kit installation hardware. The ISD Weapons Kit is comprised of the Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) Mission Kit and the External Weapons System (EWS) Wings Mission Kit.

Work will be performed in Tallassee, AL (76%); Coxsackie, NY (17.5%); Wichita, KS (4%); Valencia, CA (1%); Stratford, CT (7%); Ronkonkoma, NY (2%); and at various locations across the United States (6%) and is expected to be complete in April 2011.

FY 2008

MH-60S utility
(click to view full)

Sept 29/08: +2 each R/S. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT receives a $52.7 million firm-fixed-price contract for an option for 2 MH-60S and 2 MH-60R helicopters for the US Navy. Note that expensive items like engines, cockpits, and mission systems are bought under separate contracts.

Work will be performed in Nashua, NH, with an estimated completion date of Dec 31/12. One bid was solicited and one bid was received by AMCOM (W58RGZ-08-C-0003).

Sept 29/08: Common cockpits. Lockheed Martin Systems Integration in Owego, NY receives a $16.3 million modification to a previously awarded firm fixed price contract (N00019-04-C-0028) for 2 additional MH-60R Common Cockpits and 2 additional MH-60S Common Cockpits, plus associated spares. Work will be performed in Owego, NY, and is expected to be complete in April 2010.

Aug 18/08: SAR – AMCM. The MH-60S AMCM problems noted in this article’s April 28/08 entry are officially documented in the US DoD’s latest Selected Acquisition Report:

“This SAR is being submitted to report schedule delays of six months or more. Specifically, Airborne Mine Countermeasures (AMCM) Initial Operational Capability (IOC) slipped 20 months from July 2008 to March 2010 and AMCM Interim Process Review (IPR) IV slipped two years from September 2008 to September 2010 due to testing and reliability issues. There were no cost changes reported.”

SAR re: MH-60S AMCM

July 22/08: +2 MH-60S. Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in Stratford, CT received a $22 million firm-fixed price contract for 2 MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopters. Note that expensive items like engines, cockpits, and mission systems are bought under separate contracts.

Work will be performed in Stratford, CT and is expected to be complete by Dec 31/12. One bid was solicited on Oct 20/05 (W58RGZ-08-C-0003).

June 26/08: APS-153. Lockheed Martin Systems Integration – Owego in Owego, NY received a $144 million modification, finalizing a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (N00019-08-C-0005) to a cost-plus-incentive-fee contract. This modification provides for the system design and development of the MH-60R Advanced Radar Periscope Detection and Discrimination System, to include design, development, integration and test. Read “$144M to Help MH-60Rs Detect Enemy Periscopes” for a full explanation of this award’s tactical significance and challenges.

Work will be performed in Owego, NY (51%) and Farmingdale, NY (49%), and is expected to be complete in September 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD manages this contract.

May 28/08: Hawklink. Lockheed Martin Systems Integration-Owego in Owego, NY received a $5.8 million modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract (N00019-05-C-0076) for non-recurring efforts associated with integration of the Ku-Band Hawklink Common Data Link (CDL) into Phase II of the MH-60R Block I upgrade (vid. Sept 28/08 entry). Work will be performed in Owego, NY (80%); and Patuxent River, MD (20%), and is expected to be complete in December 2008.

Why does Hawklink matter? In a word, bandwidth. MH-60R and SH-60B Seahawks currently send data across the C-band microwave frequency range. Using the Ku band and the high definition SAU 07000 Ship Air Upgrade interface will create point-to-point Internet-equivalent connectivity between the MH-60R and the ship, enabling both to publish and subscribe for information. That would allow a ship or strike group to request specific data from the helicopter, simultaneously receive streaming imagery and other messages, and capture ever greater levels of detail about multiple targets.

April 29/08: Point & click. Lockheed Martin Systems Integration in Owego, NY received a $21.7 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-04-C-0028) for 17 point-and-click operator system interface test assets. They are being used as part of a redesign of the MH-60s’ common cockpit to include more of a “trackball point-and-click” approach, and this contract includes modification, testing, integration, training and logistics support tasks.

Work will be performed in Owego, NY (80%) and Austin, TX (20%), and work is expected to be completed in April 2010.

April 28/08: AMCM OpEval stopped. Inside Defense reports that the US has halted its OpEval (operational evaluation, realistic tests) of the MH-60S AMCM mine-countermeasures helicopter. A discussion with NAVAIR reveals that the problem is with one specific system, and OpEval is continuing with the rest of the AMCM package in its current state.

The problem is related to the AQS-20 towing sonar. The sonar works fine, but the mechanisms that deploy it out the side of the helicopter are encountering reliability issues. A team of engineers has been formed to look into the problem. Once they report back, the US Navy will have a better idea of the time and effort required to deliver a fix. AQS-20 OpEval will be rescheduled at a later date, once the Navy is confident that a fix is well underway.

March 31/08: Support. Lockheed Martin Integrated Defense Systems in Owego, NY won $57 million for firm-fixed-price delivery order #5012 under a previously awarded basic ordering agreement contract (N00383-06-G-016F). This buys “initial and wholesale spares requirements for 6 different weapons replaceable assemblies that are required to support the system used on the MH-60R/S helicopter.”

Work will be performed in Owego, NY, and work is expected to be complete by October 2010. The Naval Inventory Control Point is the contracting activity.

Feb 6/08: +1 MH-60S. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT received a $14.2 million firm-fixed-price contract for “option one.” This is a single MH-60R Sea Hawk Helicopter in flying condition, but without mission systems and some avionics (see Aug 15/07 entry, these add about $8 million to the price). The way the current multi-year contract works is through a set of pre-contracted “lots”, in the MH-60R’s case Lots IV-IX. Options also exist that allow the Navy to take up to 2 helicopters out of a production lot, or add up to 3.

Work will be performed in Stratford, CT. The announcement says it is expected to be complete by Dec 31/12, but the helicopter is actually expected in 2010. It will have SysConfig 58 software plus the MH-60R’s associated “Block 2” equipment. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One bid was solicited on Oct. 20, 2005, and 1 bid was received by the U.S. Army Aviation & Missile Command in Huntsville, AL (W58RGZ-08-C-0003).

Jan 30/08: Support. Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems in Portsmouth, RI received $58.4 million for a delivery order under a previously awarded basic ordering agreement contract (N00383-06-G-011F, #5005). They will provide initial and wholesale spares for various weapons replaceable assemblies (WRAs) used in the development and deployment of the common cockpit and multi-mode radar system for the MH-60R helicopter.

Work will be performed in Portsmouth, RI and is expected to be complete by October 2010. This contract was not competitively procured by the Naval Inventory Control Point.

Jan 22/08: Sub-contractors. Vought Aircraft Industries, Inc. announces a 5-year contract with Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. to manufacture cabin structures for UH-60L, UH-60M and MH-60S helicopters. Each cabin structure consists of approximately 3,600 parts made from aluminum, titanium and steel. The total estimated contract value is approximately $600 million for deliveries through 2012.

The new award follows an earlier 2005 cabin structures contract with Sikorsky, which led to delivery of 90 helicopter cabins to Sikorsky over the last 3 years and employed 450 people in Dallas, TX. With UH-60M Black Hawk and MH-60R/S Seahawk production hitting full stride, the number of cabin structures involved in this contract is likely to increase sharply. Vought release.

Jan 22/08: Sub-contractors. Kaman Aerospace Corporation’s Aerostructures Division announces a Memorandum of Agreement with Sikorsky to manufacture cockpits for UH-60M, HH-60M and MH-60S helicopters at Kaman’s Jacksonville, FL facility. The value of initial orders to Kaman is approximately $74.3 million, but if all options are exercised through 2012, the new multi-year agreement has a total potential value of approximately $196.4 million.

Kaman began manufacturing cockpits for Sikorsky in 2005. The firm delivered 147 cockpits of various models through November 2007, including UH-60L, UH-60M, and S-70A Black Hawks, and MH-60S Seahawks. In addition to manufacturing the cockpit structures, Kaman also installs all wiring harnesses, hydraulic assemblies, control pedals and sticks, seat tracks, pneumatic lines, and the composite structure that holds the helicopter windscreen. Kaman release [PDF].

Dec 27/07: FY 2008 contract. A $1.51 billion firm-fixed-price contract for 117 UH-60, HH-60, and MH-60 helicopters for the USA and UAE, under the 2nd year (FY 2008) of the Multi-Year VII contract. Work will be performed in Stratford, CT and is expected to be complete by Dec 31/12. One bid was solicited on Oct 20/05, and 1 bid was received (W58RGZ-08-C-0003). Helicopters produced under this award will include:

• 18 MH-60S (US Navy utility, Lot 10)
  
• 25 MH-60R (US Navy ASW/strike, Lot 6)
  
• 28 UH-60M (US Army utility, Lot 32)
  
• 26 UH-60M (United Arab Emirates)
  
• 20 HH-60M (US Army rescue & medical, Lot 32)

Dec 14/07: The Multi-Year VII initial year (MY VII, FY 2007) contract award is a $1.48 billion firm-fixed-price contract. It covers for procurement of 106 Army and Navy helicopters for the USA, Bahrain and Thailand, as well as tooling, program systems management and production of technical publications. Work will be performed in Stratford, CT, and is expected to be completed by Dec 31/12. There was 1 bid solicited on Oct 20/05, and 1 bid was received (W58RGZ-08-C-0003). The helicopters purchased were:

• 18 MH-60S (US Navy utility, Lot 9)
  
• 02 MH-60S (Thailand)
  
• 25 MH-60R (US Navy ASW/strike, Lot 5)
  
• 34 UH-60M (US Army utility, Lot 31)
  
• 09 UH-60M (Bahrain)
  
• 13 UH-60M (Optional Aircraft moved over from MY VI contract)
  
• 05 HH-60M (Optional aircraft moved over from MY VI contract)

Multinational orders incl. 38 MH-60S, 50 MH-60R

Dec 12/07: MYP-VII buy. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. signs a 5-year, multi-service contract in Huntsville, AL for 537 helicopters to be delivered to the U.S. Army and Navy. The “Multi-Year VII” contract covers UH-60M Black Hawk and HH-60M MEDEVAC(MEDical EVACuation) helicopters that will replace the Army’s current UH-60 Black Hawk fleet, and the Navy’s MH-60S and MH-60R Seahawks.

The agreement is a price framework agreement rather than a firm schedule; actual production quantities will be determined year-by-year over the life of the program, based on funding allocations set by Congress and the Pentagon. Under the terms of the contract, Sikorsky will provide helicopters plus technical publications and updates, while its field service representatives provide technical guidance and on-site training to Army and Navy maintenance personnel. The deliveries are scheduled to be made from 2007 – 2012, and options for an additional 263 aircraft, spares, and kits could push the total contract value from $7.4 billion to $11.6 billion and the number of helicopters to 800. Sikorsky release.

MYP-VII umbrella contract

Dec 3/07: Sub-contractors. GKN Aerospace, teamed with Sikorsky Aircraft and the US Army’s ManTech Program Office, completes the design, development and manufacture of the UH-60 Common Composite Tailcone (CTC) test unit. The new tail would offer reduced weight, parts count, tooling costs, and manufacturing costs, all of which would be attractive for Army UH-60Ms. Naval MH-60R/S helicopters would also benefit very strongly, however, because composites don’t corrode in the saltwater spray. This is one reason their new European competitors (NH90-NFH and EH101) make extensive use of composites, instead of metal.

GKN Aerospace’s Reduced Tooling Concept cut the number of tools by more than 70% over traditional methods while replacing traditional honeycomb-in-sandwich structures with a highly repeatable, close tolerance structure made of a material called X-Cor. Costs have also been reduced through the use of automated fiber placement in the manufacture of the tailcone skins – providing high quality, repeatable laminates that never need painting, because the color is integrated into the skin itself at the lay-up stage.

In 2005, during the design phase, the CTC program received the prestigious Robert L. Pinckney Award from the American Helicopter Society for notable achievements in the manufacturing research and development for rotorcraft components. GKN release.

Oct 8/07: Go heavier? Congress is questioning the US Navy’s Helicopter Master Plan, and some members believe key capabilities have been sacrificed for economics. Mine warfare, battlefield medical support, and the H-60 family’s inability to carry mission modules to the new Littoral Combat Ships were all highlighted as areas of concern:

“There are several missions that we believe are very constrained if we do not have a heavy-/medium-lift helicopter,” said Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., ranking minority member of the House Armed Services seapower subcommittee… [retired admiral] Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., agreed…”

The medium-heavy lift role is filled by helicopters such as the CH-53 family in the US Navy, and the EH101 in Europe and Japan. Sikorsky’s H-92 Superhawk approaches this category, and offers high commonality with the H-60 family. The European NH90 is similar to the H-92: both punch above their size due to extensive use of lighter, corrosion proof composites in the airframe, and higher performance engines. Of these 3 options, however, only the CH-53 could be assured of the ability to transport underslung LCS mission modules by air. See Defense News article | Information Dissemination includes an excerpt from a September 2007 USNI Proceedings article.

Note that the Navy’s proposed HV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor would not address any of these areas well, as its cabin’s 5.5 foot height is too low for a MEDEVAC role, its design is not well optimized for mine warfare speeds, and its ability to transport an underslung LCS module’s full weight is questionable.

Oct 8/07: Radars. Griffon Corporation subsidiary Telephonics announces that its Radar Systems Division has won a spares contract valued in excess of $42 million from Lockheed Martin Systems Integration in Owego, NY. This modification to a previously awarded contract includes the delivery of spare components for the AN/APS-147 Multi-Mode Radar (MMR) system, which will support fleet deployment of the U.S. Navy’s MH-60Rs. When combined with the previous award of a $318 million multi-year, full-scale production contract, the total contract value for MMR production systems, spares and services now exceeds $361 million.

Oct 4/07: MH-60R standup. The US Navy establishes the first MH-60R squadron, Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 71, in a ceremony held at Naval Air Station (NAS) North Island. The MH-60R is replacing their SH-60B and SH-60F Seahawks, and possesses their combined capabilities: the radar role of the SH-60B, and the SH-60F’s sonar role. In the US Navy story, HSM-71’s commanding officer Cmdr. Michael K. Nortier said:

“Now, we have one aircraft with all the capabilities of every (previous) aircraft. That’s a significant change… Also, with the advances in technology and training for our Sailors, we’re providing five to 10 times more coverage than we have in the past, which is a huge improvement in how we defend the strike group.”

FY 2007

SH-60B fires Penguin
(click to view full)

Sept 28/07: MH-60R. The “Seahawks” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 41 graduated not only the last class of SH-60B helicopter naval air crew, but also the first class of MH-60R helicopter naval air crew at Naval Air Station North Island. Since 1983, the squadron has trained more than 3,000 fleet replacement pilots and air crew for the SH-60B helicopter and fleet squadrons. When HSM-41 received the Romeo aircraft (MH-60R) in December 2005, they started training the first set of pilots and air crew for the new aircraft. US Navy story.

Sept 27/07: MTS. Raytheon Systems Co. in McKinney, TX receives a $26.3 million firm-fixed-price order under previously awarded Basic Ordering Agreement (N00164-06-G-8555) for 24 AN/AAS-44C Multi-spectral Targeting Systems (MTS) and associated line items, in support of the MH-60S Block 3A program. Work will be performed in McKinney, Texas, and is expected to be complete by May 2009. Contract funds in the amount of $23,186,860, will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane, Crane, Ind., is the contracting activity.

Sept 25/07: Support. Lockheed Martin Integrated Defense Systems in Owego, NY, received a $31.7 million firm fixed priced delivery order on a basic ordering agreement contract for initial and wholesale spares requirements for 6 different weapons replaceable assemblies (WRAs) that are required to support the system used on the MH-60R/S helicopter. Work will be performed in Owego, NY, and work is expected to be completed by November 2008. This contract was not awarded competitively by the Naval Inventory Control Point (N00383-06-G-016F-5007).

Sept 13/07: HSC-8. Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC-8) receives its first MH-60S helicopter, and becomes the Navy’s first Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron (HS) to transition to an HSC. The MH-60S now flown by HSC-8 replace the HH-60H and SH-60F helicopters, as well as CH-46D Sea Knights. They provide search and rescue (SAR), combat search and rescue (CSAR) and logistics to include movement of personnel and equipment. In the US Navy story, HSC-8’s Commanding Officer Cmdr. Larry Vincent said that:

“The Sierra is designed to operate in an over-land environment where there are threats. The helo has a self-defense package and offensive weapons. I think we can really make an evolutionary leap forward in how we use this aircraft, especially in a joint environment [where the Marines may need us].”

The name and airframe aren’t the only things that are new. The new squadron will not deploy as individual detachments. Rather, the entire squadron will now deploy as part of the carrier air wing as a second helicopter squadron, and provide detachments to the strike group’s ships. HSM-71 and their new MH-60Rs will join HSC-8’s MH-60S helicopters in Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 9, aboard USS John C. Stennis [CVN 74].

Sept 7/07: Support. Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems in Portsmouth, RI received a firm fixed priced delivery order on a basic ordering agreement contract in the amount of $30.9 million for “initial and wholesale spares requirements for various weapons replaceable assemblies that are required to support the system used on the MH-60R helicopter.”

Work will be performed in Portsmouth, RI, and is expected to be complete by October 2009. This contract was not competitively procured by the Naval Inventory Control Point (N00383-06-G-011F-5004).

Aug 15/07: Multi-year Mission Systems buy. Lockheed Martin Systems Integration-Owego in Owego, NY received a $951.7 million finalization modification to a previously awarded advance acquisition contract (N00019-06-C-0098). This creates a firm-fixed-price multiyear contract for 139 MH-60R Mission Avionics Systems, including radars and other sensors, from FY 2007 (Lot 5) through FY 2011 (Lot 9). When combined with advance procurement contracts from January and May 2006 totaling $113.6 million, the total value of this multi-year contract rises to $1.065 billion – or $7.66 million per set.

It could have been $8.58 million each. Lockheed Martin’s release says the multi-year approach creates a 12% savings compared to individual batch buys. Work will be performed in Owego, NY, and is expected to be complete in December 2013. See “$1.065B Buys Electronics for 139 MH-60R Helicopters” for full coverage.

Mission Systems MYP

Aug 3/07: Training. Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 41 on Naval Station North Island was given the first MH-60R Tactical Operational Flight Trainer 2. As soon as the simulator doors opened, HSM-41 pilots and air crewmen immediately began training with the TOFT 2.

According to Cmdr. Ed Balaton, NAVAIR’s MH-60R training systems program manager, TOFT 2 benefits include a more realistic simulation of combat environments along with having the ability to train for nearly every scenario. Development began in 2006, with new features that include new designs weapon systems technology, improved graphics capabilities, and electro-hydraulic machinery that require far less maintenance than its predecessor. In the near future, the TOFT 2 will be able to link systems with other training simulators in different locations across the world and throughout every branch of service. US Navy story.

July 30/07: MTS. Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems in McKinney, TX received $9.9 million for firm-fixed-price, definite-delivery/definite-quantity order #0012 under previously awarded basic ordering agreement contract (N00383-02-G-018A) for manufacture of spares for the MH-60R helicopter’s AN/AAS-44C multispectral targeting system (MTS). Most MH-60Rs will be fitted or upgraded past this version. Work will be performed in McKinney, TX and is expected to be completed by December 2008. This contract was not awarded competitively by the Naval Inventory Control Point.

June 25/07: Support. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT, received an $18.8 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-04-C-0115) for production sustaining support for the MH-60R, including project management, engineering, and logistics. Work will be performed in Stratford, CT, and is expected to be completed in December 2007.

May 30/07: Sub-contractors. Kimball Electronics Group in Jasper, IN won an estimated $15.7 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Circuit Card Assemblies (Sets H and Q). Circuit cards, consisting of H and Q, are for MH-60 helicopters and ALQ-99 ECM pods. Set H is used to provide compatible interface between external stores, weapons systems and aircraft control devices in MH-60 helicopters. Set Q will be used to produce additional ALQ-99 Pod Programmable Interface units for the EA-18G Growler Aircraft.

Work will be performed in Jasper, IN and is expected to be complete by May 2012. Contract funds in the amount of $156,668 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured and advertised via the Internet, with 12 proposals solicited and 3 offers received by the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division in Crane, IN (N00164-07-D-0008).

April 7/07: Thai MH-60S request. the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency announces Thailand’s request for up to 6 MH-60S Knight Hawk helicopters and 14 T700 engines, plus spare and repair parts, support equipment, publications and technical data, personnel training and training equipment, contractor engineering and technical support services and other related elements of logistics support. The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $246 million.

This would also make Thailand the MH-60S helicopter’s first international customer. The final agreement is signed in June 2007.

Thailand request

March 15/07: MTS. Raytheon Systems Company in McKinney, TX received a $28.7 million firm-fixed-price order under previously awarded Basic Ordering Agreement (N00164-06-G-8555) for Multi-Spectral Targeting Systems Navy configuration including 25 turret units and associated line items in support of the MH-60R. The MTS is a forward-looking infrared system that provides real-time imagery selectable between infrared and day TV as well as laser designation capability. Work will be performed in McKinney, Texas, and is expected to be completed by April 2009. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division in Crane, IN issued the contract.

Jan 31/07: Mission systems. Lockheed Martin Systems Integration-Owego in Owego, NY received as $51.1 million firm-fixed-price modification to a previously awarded advance acquisition contract (N00019-06-C-0098) for long lead efforts and materials associated with the production and delivery of the Fiscal Year 2008 Full Rate Production of 27 Lot VI MH-60R Mission Avionics Systems. Work will be performed in Owego, NY, and is expected to be complete in December 2007.

Jan 30/07: Armed MH-60S tests. Navy HX-21 Squadron completes developmental testing of the MH-60S’ “Armed Helo” mission kit. The tests began in March, 2006 and tallied more than 260 flight test hours, included firing missiles from both sides of the aircraft. Previous-generation Seahawks could only do that from the left side, limiting them to 4 Hellfires. The MH-60R, and Mh-60S armed kit, double that capacity to 8.

HX-21 also tested GAU-21 .50 caliber and M240D 7.62mm machine guns from the MH-60S, but the entire kit will need to pass Operational Evaluation (OpEval) before it can be fielded with the fleet. US NAVAIR.

Jan 29/07: Support. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT received a $68.8 million firm-fixed-price indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity time-and-material contract for sustaining engineering and maintenance support for legacy MH-60 aircraft. Services to be provided include program management, engineering, test, logistics, training, repair, studies and aircraft technical and maintenance support for the MH-60R and the MH-60S aircraft fleets.

Work will be performed in Stratford, CT and is expected to be complete in November 2007. Contract funds in the amount of $300,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured (N00019-07-D-0005).

Jan 5/07: Support. Lockheed Martin Systems Integration-Owego in Owego, NY received an $8.5 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity long term contract for repair/overhaul of 14 various weapon replaceable assemblies used on the common cockpit of the MH-60R/S helicopters. This contract includes options, which if exercised, brings the total estimated value of the contract to $68.3 million.

Work will be performed in Owego, NY (54%); Salt Lake City, UT (26%); Farmingdale, NY (13%); Grand Rapids, MI (5%); Middletown, CT (1%); and Phoenix, Ariz. (1%), and work is expected to be complete by January 2008. This contract was not competitively procured by The Naval Inventory Control Point (N00383-07-D-004F).

Dec 27/06: Support. Lockheed Martin Systems Integration-Owego in Owego, NY received a $10.5 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-04-C-0113) to exercise an option for program management, engineering and integrated logistics support to provide production support services for the MH-60R Program. Work will be performed in Owego, NY, and is expected to be completed in June 2007. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md. is the contracting activity.

Nov 16/06: +12 MH-60R. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT received a $138.5 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-04-C-0115) for the procurement of 12 full rate production MH-60R Lot 4 air vehicles. Work will be performed in Stratford, CT (92%); and Troy, AL (8%), and is expected to be complete in December 2007.

Oct 31/06: MS-60s armed upgrade. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT received an $18.6 million Navy modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price Army contract (DAAH23-02-C-0006) for the manufacture and installation of armed helo mission kit fixed provisions into 28 MH-60S aircraft including related logistics support.

Work will be performed in Stratford, CT (92%) and Crestview, FL (8%) and is expected to be complete in March 2008.

MH-60R TOFT
(click to view full)

Oct 6/06: Training. The Navy announces that the first MH-60R Seahawk helicopter Tactical Operational Flight Trainer (TOFT) was recently delivered to the “Seahawks” of HSM-41, the West Coast Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) at Naval Air Station North Island, CA. The TOFS shipment caps an aggressive 41-month design, build, and test schedule by the government agency Manned Flight Simulator (MFS), who worked with the Aviation Training Systems program office [PMA-205], NAVAIR’s Orlando Training System Division and Integrated Battlespace Simulation and Test Department (IBST), and Navy Fleet personnel from test squadrons VX-1 and HX-21, and FRS HSM-41.

The Romeo flight trainer actually consists of two separate trainers that can be combined together. The first trainer is the Operational Flight Trainer (OFT), which contains the high-fidelity cockpit for training the pilot and the Airborne Tactics Officer (ATO). The second trainer is the Weapons Tactics Trainer (WTT), which contains a high fidelity Sensor Operator (SO) station and a partial ATO station. The OFT and WTT can be used individually for simultaneous training or combined for multi-crew training.

One of the key challenges was that the MH-60R TOFT project required engineers and programmers to accommodate the software changes in the aircraft. This was partially offset by the team’s ability to use MFS’ existing Multi-Mission Helicopter MH-60R/S T&E lab trainer as a platform to test models and upgrades, while cultivating lessons learned. NAVAIR release.

FY 2006

MTS on Predator
(click to view full)

Sept 28/06: MTS. Raytheon Systems Co. in McKinney, TX received a $24.2 million firm fixed price order under previously awarded Basic Ordering Agreement N00164-06-G-8555, for Multi-spectral Targeting Systems (MTS), including 21 Turret Units and associated items in support of MH-60 R/S Multi-Mission Combat Helicopters. The MTS is a forward-looking infrared system that is also used on Predator UAVs; it provides real-time imagery selectable between infrared and night vision camera, as well as a laser designation capability. Work will be performed in McKinney, TX and is expected to be complete by May 2008. The Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, IN issued the contract.

Sept 28/06: MH-60R/S upgrade. Lockheed Martin Systems Integration-Owego in Owego, NY received a $7 million modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract (N00019-05-C-0076) for non-recurring design efforts associated with Link 16/P3I Phase II of the MH-60R/S Block I Upgrade. Work will be performed in Owego, NY, and is expected to be completed in May 2008.

July 6/06: Lockheed Martin Systems Integration-Owego in Owego, NY received a not to exceed $41.9 million ceiling-priced order against a basic ordering agreement for procurement of 12 weapons replaceable assemblies for the MH-60R helicopter. Work will be performed in Owego, NY, and is expected to be complete by January 2008. The Naval Inventory Control Point is the contracting activity.

May 24/06: Long-lead. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT received a $40.2 million modification to a firm-fixed-price contract for advance procurement funding for the MH-60R Helicopters. Work will be performed in Stratford, CT, and is expected to be complete by Dec. 31, 2007. This was a sole source contract initiated on Oct. 4, 2000. The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, ALA issued the contract (DAAH23-02-C-0006).

May 17/06: Mission systems. Lockheed Martin Systems Integration-Owego in Owego, NY received a $76.5 million modification for 12 full rate production mission avionics systems, including the multi-mode radar. This award definitizes the previously-awarded FY06 Lot IV MH-60R advance acquisition contract (AAC). Work will be performed in Owego, NY and is expected to be complete in August 2008 (N00019-04-C-0113).

May 17/06: MH-60S armed upgrade. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT received a $6.3 million firm-fixed-price order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement for non-recurring engineering, required to incorporate the armed helicopter weapon system fixed provisions in the MH-60S production line. Work will be performed in Stratford, CT and is expected to be complete in July 2007 (N00019-03-G-0003).

May 1/06: Mission Systems. Lockheed Martin Systems Integration-Owego in Owego, NY received an estimated $51 million advance acquisition contract for long lead efforts and materials associated with the production and delivery of the FY 2007 full rate production of 25 Lot V MH-60R helicopter mission avionics systems. Work will be performed in Owego, NY, and is expected to be complete in January 2007. This contract was not competitively procured by the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD (N00019-06-C-0098).

April 28/06: MTS. Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems in McKinney, TX received a $16 million firm-fixed-price, definite-delivery/ definite-quantity order (#0010) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00383-02-G-018A) to manufacture spares for the initial MH-60Rs’ AN/AAS-44C multispectral targeting system. The AAS-44C is shared with current SH-60B & HH-60 Seahawks, and P-3C aircraft. Work will be performed in McKinney, TX. This contract was not competitively procured by the Naval Inventory Control Point.

MH-60S: Easy rider?

April 10/06: MH-60S upgrade. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT received a $6.8 million cost-plus-fixed-fee order against a previously awarded basic ordering agreement N00019-03-G-0003 for the development effort to modify, integrate, test, and qualify an active vibration control system for the MH-60S Knight Hawk helicopter. Work will be performed in Stratford, CT and is expected to be complete in June 2007.

Active Vibration Control deliberately sets up a counter-vibration in the helicopter that cancels out engine-induced vibration. The result is a helicopter that’s a lot easier on the people and instruments in it.

March 31/06: The MH-60R is approved for full-rate production.

March 28/06: MH-60R/S upgrades. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT received an $8.2 million cost-plus-incentive-fee order against a previously awarded basic ordering agreement (N00019-03-G-0003) for the development effort to complete the installation of pre-planned product improvement upgrades into the MH-60R and MH-60S helicopters in support of Class I engineering change proposals. Work will be performed in Stratford, CT and is expected to be complete in March 2008.

March 28/06: Support. Lockheed Martin Systems Integration-Owego in Owego, NY received a not to exceed $41 million for delivery order #5045 under previously awarded basic ordering agreement (N00383-01-G-004N) to purchase spares for the H-60R helicopter’s multi-mode radar system.

Work will be performed in Owego, N.Y. (20%), and Farmington, N.Y. (80%), and is expected to be complete by December 2007. This contract was not awarded competitively by the Naval Inventory Control Point.

March 20/06: Infrastructure. Basing modifications are also part of a weapons program’s cost. Walbridge Aldinger Co. in Detroit, MI received a $41.4 million (first increment) firm-fixed price design/ build construction contract for design and construction of an MH-60R Type I helicopter hangar at Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville.

The new Type I hangars shall be configured as 5 repetitive contiguous hangar modules under one roof. They will be designed to house five helicopter squadrons consisting of approximately 13 aircraft and approximately 330 personnel in each module. In addition to the open hangar bay space, the project includes required maintenance support, administration, and building support spaces for each squadron. The project also includes a helicopter wash rack along with site improvements such as utility infrastructure, repair/replacement of hangar aprons and tie-downs, new aircraft pavement markings, security fencing and gates, pedestrian circulation and parking lots.

March 16/06: MH-60R/S upgrades. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT received a $16.3 million cost-plus-incentive-fee delivery order against a previously awarded basic ordering agreement (N00019-03-G-0003) for development efforts to complete the Link-16 Tactical Data Link (TDL) Full Scale Integration (FSI) of the MH-60R and MH-60S aircraft. Work will be performed in Stratford, CT and is expected to be complete in September 2007.

The Link-16 effort will provide a high capacity, multiple access, jam-resistant, digital data system that provides a common tactical picture between participating ships, aircraft, and even land installations. Because it’s radio based, it also has a secure voice system built in.

March 8/06: MH-60R upgrade. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT received a $23.2 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-04-C-0115) for production sustaining support, integrated logistics services, and the manufacture and installation of 6 Active Vibration Control kits in support of the Low Rate Initial Production Lot III MH-60R aircraft. Work will be performed in Stratford, CT (90%); and Owego, N.Y. (10%), and is expected to be complete in December 2006.

Active Vibration Control deliberately sets up a counter-vibration in the helicopter that cancels out engine-induced vibration. The result is a helicopter that’s a lot easier on the people and instruments in it.

Feb 2/06: MH-60S buy. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT received a $271.4 million modification to a firm-fixed-price contract for MH-60S Knight Hawk Helicopters. Work will be performed in Stratford, CT and is expected to be complete by Dec. 31, 2007. This was a sole source contract initiated on Oct. 4, 2000 by the Army Aviation and Missile Command in Redstone Arsenal, AL (DAAH23-02-C-0006).

Jan 19/06: MH-60R rollout. Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 41 introduced the new MH-60R Seahawk at a rollout ceremony held at Naval Base Coronado, CA. US Navy story.

Jan 18/06: MH-60S buy. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT received a $33.3 million modification to a firm-fixed-price contract for MH-60S Navy Knight Hawks. Work will be performed in Stratford, CT and is expected to be complete by Dec 3/07. This was a sole source contract initiated on Oct. 4/2000 by the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command in Redstone Arsenal, AL (DAAH23-02-C-0006).

Jan 4/06: MH-60S AMCM. Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in Stratford, CT received a ceiling $25 million cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-quantity/ indefinite-delivery contract for highly specialized engineering and design efforts associated with continued integration of organic airborne mine countermeasures (AMCM) systems with full-production level MH-60S helicopters to provide organic airborne mine defense for carrier and expeditionary strike groups.

Work will be performed in Stratford, CT (60%) and Panama City, FL (40%), and is expected to be complete by January 2011. The contract was not competitively procured. by the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Panama City, FL (N61331-06-D-0012).

Dec 22/05: MH-60S fixes. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT received an $11 million firm-fixed-price delivery order against a previously awarded basic ordering agreement (N00019-03-G-0003) for nonrecurring retrofit efforts in support of Engineering Change Proposal 4010 for correction of operational deficiencies in the MH-60S aircraft. Work will be performed in Stratford, CT and is expected to be complete in December 2008.

Dec 5/05: MH-60R received. A US Navy story salutes Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron (Light) HSL-41 as the first squadron to receive 2 new MH-60R Seahawk helicopters. HSL-41 is currently the Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) used to train pilots, and only MH-60R squadron in the Navy. Lt. Eugene Bolton, MH-60R pilot and instructor, put it this way:

“The MH-60R takes sonobuoy and Hellfire missile launching, forward-looking infrared, radar and electronic support measures capabilities from the SH-60B and adds to it the dipping sonar and torpedo launching capabilities from the SH-60F…. It also adds a ‘glass cockpit.’ “

MH-60R fielded

FY 2005 and earlier

MH-60S at work
(click to view full)

Sept 28/05: Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT received a $14.4 million firm-fixed-price delivery order against a previously awarded basic ordering agreement (N00019-03-G-0003) for the manufacturing and installation of 8 Fixed Provisions and 5 Removable Mission Equipment to be installed on the MH-60S aircraft. Work will be performed in Stratford, CT (82%) and Crestview, FL (18%), and is expected to be complete in September 2006.

Sept 28/05: MH-60R Upgrade. Lockheed Martin Systems Integration-Owego in Owego, NY received a $38.1 million modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract (N00019-05-C-0076) for non-recurring design efforts associated with Phase II of the MH-60R Block I Upgrade. Work will be performed in Owego, NY, and is expected to be completed in June 2008.

Efforts to be provided include development and/or integration of the Global Antenna System; Identification Friend or Foe Mode 5 and Mode S; Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module; Mission Planning System; Joint Mission Planning System; Satellite Communications; Ground Protection Warning System; KU Band; CV Integration; Built-in-Simulator; MK-54 torpedo; Electronic Surveillance Measures; and Right Hand Extended Pylon.

Sept 16/05: MH-60R/S upgrades. Lockheed Martin Systems Integration-Owego in Owego, NY received a $5.9 million firm-fixed-price delivery order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-03-G-0014) for continued flight test support and various planned program upgrades for the MH-60R and MH-60S programs. Work will be performed in Owego, NY, and is expected to be complete in December 2007.

Sept 1/05: MH-60R OpEval. The MH-60R completes Operational Evaluation (OPEVAL) successfully.

MH-60R OpEval

Aug 29/05: +6 MH-60R. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT received a $64.7 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-04-C-0115) for the production and delivery of 6 Low Rate Initial Production MH-60R Multi-Mission helicopters. Work will be performed in Stratford, CT (92%); and Troy, Ala. (8%), and is expected to be completed in December 2006.

Aug 29/05: MH-60R/S upgrades. Lockheed Martin Systems Integration-Owego in Owego, NY received an estimated value $50.7 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for the Link-16 Full Scale Integration of the MH-60R and MH-60S aircraft. See this DID article for an explanation of Link 16 and what it does.

This contract includes research and development efforts to design, develop, integrate, and test the Link-16 Tactical Data Link subsystem and Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System (SINCGARS) functionality for both the MH-60R and MH-60S aircraft, and the Downed Aircrew Locator System Personnel Locator System for the MH-60S. Work will be performed in Owego, NY and is expected to be complete in January 2008. This contract was not competitively procured (N00019-05-C-0049).

Aug 19/05: MH-60R. Sikorsky Aircraft celebrates the delivery of the first new production MH-60R helicopter today in a ceremony held at their Stratford, CT facility. The previous 7 had been SH-60 rebuilds.

May 25/05: +12 MH-60R. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT received a $24.9 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price advance acquisition contract (N00019-04-C-0115) for long lead material and effort associated with the fiscal year 2006 production and delivery of 12 full rate production MH-60R Multi-Mission helicopters. Work will be performed in Stratford, CT and is expected to be complete in April 2006.

May 9/05: MH-60R. The MH-60R Helicopter enters Operational Evaluation, a key final step before approval can be given for full-rate production. See DID’s article, which explains the process in detail.

MH-60R, Bermuda
(click to view full)

Aug 9/04: +8 MH-60R. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT received a $12.3 million firm-fixed-price advance acquisition contract for long lead material and effort associated with the production and delivery of 8 Low Rate Initial Production MH-60R Multi-Mission helicopter air vehicles. Work will be performed in Stratford, CT and is expected to be completed in March 2005. This contract was not competitively procured (N00019-04-C-0115).

Dec 29/03: Common Cockpit MYP. NAVAIR awards Lockheed Martin Systems Integration (LMSI) in Owego, NY a $423 million multi-year contract for common cockpits for the MH-60R and MH-60S helicopters. By combining 4 years of annual buys into one contract, with an option for a 5th year in FY 2009, the Navy expects to save up to $63.9 million. Rotorhub article.

Feb 28/03: MH-60R trials. A US Navy story reports that 2 MH-60R helicopters recently got a break from the cold weather at Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) Patuxent River, MD, deploying to the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) in Bermuda. More than 50 NAVAIR test team members accompanied the two Romeos to AUTEC. Pilots logged 126 hours on the two helicopters in three weeks and captured all of the data required by the test plan. Firsts performed there included the first shipboard landing (aboard USS Gettysburg [CG 64]). the first in-flight launch of a sonobuoy, and the first location of a live submarine using airborne low frequency sonar (ALFS) while also conducting a radar sweep of the surface environment using the multimode radar and electronic surveillance measures (ESM).

The tests performed by VX-21 primarily looked at how the radar, acoustics and ESM systems worked together. NAVAIR engineers also evaluated the MH-60R’s data fusion system, which takes data from the subsystems and fuses them into one piece of information for the crew. This test phase puts all the systems together in one package and verifies the expected performance of each system, as well as how they function and communicate with each other. This was the first phase for the Romeo where the test team actually performed mission profiles to see if it could conduct a complete mission. AUTEC, with its uniquely instrumented range, is the only facility where this type of acoustics testing is conducted.

Additional Readings & Sources

Readers with corrections, comments, or information to contribute are encouraged to contact DID’s Founding Editor, Joe Katzman. We understand the industry – you will only be publicly recognized if you tell us that it’s OK to do so.

Background: Helicopters

• Sikorsky – SEAHAWK(R) Helicopter. MH-60S and MH-60R naval helicopters, whose base airframe are bought under multi-year agreements.

• Lockheed Martin – MH-60R. Lockheed Martin is responsible for the MH-60R’s unique equipment.

• Naval Technology – MH-60R Seahawk Multimission Naval Helicopter, USA

• GlobalSecurity.org – MH-60R Seahawk [ex Strikehawk]

• Naval Technology – MH-60S Knighthawk Multi-Mission Naval Helicopter, USA. Technically, it’s a Seahawk not a Knighthawk, though that was widely believed to be its distinguishing name when it was first fielded, and sources including the Pentagon still use it on occasion.

• Naval Technology – MH-60S Knighthawk Multi-Mission Naval Helicopter, USA

• DID – NH90: Europe’s Medium Helicopter Contender. The main global competitor to the MH-60R/S. It’s larger, and uses a lot of composite materials to reduce the threat of corrosion. On the flip side, it took until late 2013 to begin delivering NH90-NFH machines with full ASW capabilities, and delivery backlogs are an issue.

Background: Ancillary Systems

• DID Spotlight – LCS & MH-60S Mine Counter-Measures Continue Development. Covers all AMCM systems, with links to related DID coverage of its various components. Most of them have since been moved off of the MH-60S, which doesn’t have enough heft and power to use them effectively.

• Lockheed Martin – Common cockpit far from ordinary.

• Raytheon – AN/AAS-44 Infrared Laser Detecting-Ranging-Tracking Set

• Raytheon – MTS Family of Sensor Solutions. Includes the AN/AAS-52 Multi-Spectral Targeting System (MTS); this older sheet [PDF] covers the AAS-52 specifically.

• DID Spotlight – Fly and Listen: The AN/AQS-22 ALFS Sonar System.

• DID Spotlight – APKWS II: Laser-Guided Hydra Rockets in Production At Last.

• Concurrent Technologies Corp – Carriage, Stream, Tow, and Recovery System (CSTRS) [PDF].

• DID Spotlight – The Wonders of Link 16 for Less: MIDS-LVTs.

• L-3 Communication Systems – West – CDL Hawklink AN ARQ 59 Radio Terminal Set [PDF]. The CDL Hawklink AN SRQ 4 Radio Terminal Set [PDF] is the shipborne counterpart; they can be up to 100 nmi apart.

• DID Spotlight – Listening Sticks: US Navy Sonobuoy Contracts.

News and Views

• Aviation Week (July 21/10) – No more sonobuoy launcher for MH-60R?

• Information Dissemination (Oct 9/07) – Congress Looking Into US Navy RW Gaps. Includes an excerpt from Captain George V. Galdorisi, USN (Ret.) and Scott C. Truver’s article in the September 2007 edition of the USNI’s Proceedings Magazine.

• Defense News, limited access via NLA Trove (Oct 8/07) – Congressmen Question U.S. Navy Copter Plan. “There are several missions that we believe are very constrained if we do not have a heavy-/medium-lift helicopter,” said Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., ranking minority member of the House Armed Services seapower subcommittee…. [retired admiral] Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., agreed….”

• Military.com (July 28/06) – Navy Gets New High-Tech Choppers.

• National Defense Magazine (Sept. 2005) – Navy, Marine Helicopter Fleets Will See Steady Arrivals of New Aircraft.

• Sea Power Magazine (June 2003) – MH-60 Romeo, Sierra Rack Up Successes.

Americas

The upcoming FY2019 will be good year for US aerospace companies. The recently signed National Defense Authorization Act allows for the procurement of 413 aircraft at a cost of $39.5 billion. The US Navy is set to order a total of 119 warplanes. This includes 24 Super Hornets, 10 P-8 maritime surveillance aircraft, eight CH-53K helicopters. In addition, the Naval Air Systems Command is being entrusted with a multi-year contract authority for the F/A-18 Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler and E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft which gives it the right to negotiate bulk discounts with vendors based on a guarantee of several years of orders. The Air Force will buy 15 KC-46 tanker aircraft with a grant of $2.4 billion. The service will also be able to spend a further $300 million to procure aircraft for its Light Attack and Armed Reconnaissance (OA-X) program. Lockheed Martin will provide the Air Force, USMC and Navy with a total of 77 F-35 fighter jets. This $7.6 billion order is the largest appropriation for a single aircraft type. The company will deliver 48 F-35As, 20 F-35Bs and 9 F-35Cs. The total US defense funding rose by 2.4% to a total of $717 billion.

The US Army is investing in IED detection systems. Chemring Sensors and Electronic Systems will provide the service with a number of Husky Mounted Detection System systems. This firm-fixed-price contract has a value of $92.5 million. The Husky was initially developed in the 1970s by South Africa-based RSD, a division of Dorbyl and marketed by Critical Solutions International (CSI). The vehicle is equipped with a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) that detects mines and explosives by using hydraulically-controlled deploy and retract modes. The vehicle is fitted with automatic target recognition algorithms for GPR and metal detection data processing. The Husky’s crew is protected by a V-shaped hull and bulletproof glass. The employment strategy for the VMMD system involves a lead mine-detection vehicle searching for antitank mines. Upon detection, the prime mover would move forward towing the detonation trailers. A squad of engineers could then neutralize the mine or the trailers could detonate the mines in place. Locations of performance and funding will be determined with each order. Work is scheduled for completion by August 15th, 2022.

The Navy is contracting TOTE Services to support SBX-1. The company is being awarded with a firm-fixed-price contract valued at $11.1 million. The company will be responsible for operating and maintaining the Sea-Based X-Band Radar vessel. The X-band radar, also known as the SBX, was originally planned as a land-based system but a sea-based system became possible when the Bush administration withdrew from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. It constitutes a mid-course fire control radar based on a seagoing semi-submersible vessel. The $815 million, mechanically-slewed, X-band phased array assembly is 280 feet tall, and weighs 2,400 tons. The radome alone weighs 18,000 pounds, stands over 103 feet high, and is 120 feet in diameter. Made entirely of a high-tech synthetic fabric, the radome is supported by air pressure alone, and is designed to withstand 130+ mph winds and a “100-year storm” at sea. The radar performs cued search, precision tracking, object discrimination and missile kill assessment. The in-flight interceptor communication system data terminal transfers commands from the GMD fire control system to the interceptor missile during its engagement with the target missile. This contract is scheduled for completion by September 2019, but does include several options which could extend the contract until end of March, 2024. The total cumulative value of this contract would rise to $65.3 million, if all options are exercised.

General Dynamics Bath Iron Works is being tapped to replace the centralized 400-Hz power distribution system of three Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. The contract modification has a value of $9.5 million and provides for material and labor needed to add new integrated power node centers on the USS John Basilone (DDG 122), the USS Harvey C. Barnum Jr. (DDG 124) and on the USS Gallagher (DDG 127). The current centralized 400-Hz power-distribution system, consists of two air-cooled solid state frequency converters. The new integrated power node center combines power transfer, frequency conversion, voltage transformation, power conditioning, and fault protection into one cabinet. Electrical power is at the heart of any modern warship. On destroyers for example they allow the Mk41 VLS to perform its job. For each launcher there are 400-Hz and 60-Hz power distribution units to supply power to the launcher electronics. Work will be performed at the company’s shipyard in Bath, Maine, and is expected to be completed by November 2022.

Middle East & Africa

Reports suggest that the United Arab Emirates is currently deploying one of its Wing Loong II UAVs from its Assab airbase in Eritrea. In October 2017 satellite imagery confirmed the UAE as the first export customer of China’s next-generation medium-altitude long-endurance and strike-capable UAE. The Diplomat states that the Wing Loong II has been primarily designed and developed for export and has been marketed by China’s defense industry as a more cost-effective alternative to the US-made General Atomics MQ-1 Predator. The Wing Loong UAV’s fixed mid-mounted wings with high aspect ratio provide improved performance by reducing the drag. Its fuselage structure is designed to minimise the radar cross-section. It features two vertical tail fins, arranged in a V shape. The tricycle landing gear, with two main wheels under the fuselage and one single wheel under the nose, facilitates safe take-off and landing. The unmanned combat aerial vehicle can be armed with a variety of weapons including laser-guided bombs and missiles to attack and destroy air or ground-based targets. The UAE is currently fighting Al-Qaeda in Yemen.

Europe

Germany is issuing a long-awaited final request for its multi-national TLVS (Taktisches Luftverteidigungssystem) program. MBDA and Lockheed Martin will now negotiate the cost and technical parameters of the program with the Bundeswehr. If the German Bundestag, the country’s parliament, approves the necessary procurement funding, the Bundeswehr would receive its first-ever fielded air-defense system with a built-in 360-degree capability. The Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) program aimed to replace Patriot missiles in the United States, the older Hawk system in Germany, and Italy’s even older Nike Hercules missiles. MEADS will be designed to kill enemy aircraft, cruise missiles and UAVs within its reach, while providing next-generation point defense capabilities against ballistic missiles. MEADS is the product of a $4 billion development program shared by the US, Germany and Italy that incorporates Lockheed Martin’s hit-to-kill PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) missile in a system including 360-degree surveillance and fire control sensors, netted-distributed tactical operations centers, and lightweight launchers. So far, only Germany has chosen to field the system.

Asia-Pacific

Taiwan’s F-16 pilots are set to receive training support as part of a US foreign military sale. L3 Technologies is being awarded with a $25.8 million contract modification for an additional training system to be installed in an F-16 A/B Block 20 Mission Training Center. The Republic of China Air Force operates a total of 150 F-16A/B block 20 aircraft. Twenty F-16A/B Block 20 aircraft are based in the US for testing and training purposes. MTC’s immerse pilots in high-definition, dynamic training scenarios that enables them to practice air-to-air and air-to-ground missions under any condition that might be encountered during actual flight. Each F-16 MTC consists of four simulators that incorporate high-definition displays, image generation, databases and dynamic environments. Work will be performed in Arlington. Texas and is scheduled for completion by end of October, 2024.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is adding 12 L-15 advanced jet trainers to its training school. The PLAN Aviation University was formed in 2017 and is based in Shandong. The Hongdu L-15 Falcon made its maiden flight in 2006 and is intended to train pilots to fly high-performance forth-generation aircraft, such as the J-10 and Su-27. It is also suitable to complete all basic jet flight training courses. The Hongdu L-15 features a full glass cockpit which can accommodate two crew members, either a student pilot and instructor, or an official pilot and weapons systems officer. The jet has six hard points of which four are located under the two wings and two under the wing-tips. It can accommodate 6,000lb of payload. The aircraft can carry short range air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles, bombs and rocket pods. The development comes amid Beijing’s general airpower build-up, specifically as it develops air wings for its growing fleet of aircraft carriers.

Today’s Video

Watch: Jane’s reports of Merlin helicopter carrier deployment

MEADS: air view
(click to view full)

The Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) program aimed to replace Patriot missiles in the United States, the older Hawk system in Germany, and Italy’s even older Nike Hercules missiles. MEADS will be designed to kill enemy aircraft, cruise missiles and UAVs within its reach, while providing next-generation point defense capabilities against ballistic missiles. MBDA’s SAMP/T project would be its main competitor, but MEADS aims to offer improved mobility and wider compatibility with other air defense systems, in order to create a linchpin for its customers’ next-generation air defense arrays.

The German government finally gave their clearance in April 2005, and in June 2005 MEADS International (MI) formally signed a contract worth approximately $3.4 billion to design and develop the tri-national MEADS system. In February 2011, however, events began to signal the likely end of the program. Since then, the US Administration has been battling with Congress where there is little support for a continued American participation.

MEADS: The System

MEADS concept
click for video

MEADS was intended to match up against foreseeable enemy aircraft over the next 30 years, as well as stealthier and/or supersonic cruise missiles, UAVs, and even ballistic missiles. The system will incorporate its own 3-radar set, along with networked communications for use as either a stand-alone system, or a component of larger air defense clusters that include other missiles.

The core vehicle for the US MEADS program appears to be the USA’s FMTV 6×6 trucks. These 5-ton capacity vehicles will carry the radars, containerized Tactical Operations Center (TOC), launcher, and reload packs. FMTVs can be carried in C-130 aircraft, and MEADS International has already tested some of the prototype systems for fit. Italian and German test vehicles have used their own national truck brands, and the Germans in particular appear to leaning to larger vehicles.

During the MEADS SDD phase, MEADS International was asked finalize designs for equipment and complete their integration into the system. The system’s 6 major equipment items are:

US TOC, ItAF launcher
(click to view full)

[1] Netted and distributed Battle Management, Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence (BMC4I) Tactical Operations Center (TOC). The 3-workstation TOC shelter is a joint project of EADS, Lockheed Martin, and MBDA. It can be carried by 3 different trucks to meet national preferences, and adapter systems could probably be built to widen the number of compatible wheeled and/or tracked vehicles.

[2] Two 360-degree, Multifunction Fire Control Radars (MFCRs). The X-band MFCR employs active phased array technology, using transmit/receive modules developed in Germany. It also incorporates advanced identification-friend-or-foe (IFF) sensors with improved capabilities. As a point of comparison, the G-band AN/MPQ-65 radar used in the PATRIOT Config-3 system has a 120 degree field for horizontal coverage, narrowing to 90 degrees for engagement. Raytheon has begun studies toward a rotating 360-degree version, but MEADS has one now.

[3] Surveillance radar. These “Low Frequency Sensor” UHF radars will have self-diagnostic capability, to ease the extra maintenance load caused by replacing 1 MPQ-53/65 Patriot radar with 3 improved MEADS radars.

[4] Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) certified missile round based on the current PAC-3 missile, augmented by Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) technologies that will give it greater range, and possibly greater performance.

[5] Light weight launcher, mounted on a truck with a built-in winch to auto-load the missile packs.

[6] Reloader truck.

MEADS components
click for video

Lockheed Martin’s PAC-3 MSE is still a hit-to-kill missile, with upgraded batteries, an 11-inch dual-pulse solid fuel rocket motor, a thermally hardened front end, a enlarged fins and better control surfaces to improve maneuverability, upgraded guidance software. The desired end result is a longer range missile that is more agile, and able to counter both tactical ballistic missiles and more conventional threats. It’s also being designed to cost less than existing PAC-3 missiles, and time will tell if it succeeds.

The missile has survived MEADS’ demise, and US Army budget documents indicate that production will begin in FY 2014. It will be added to existing PATRIOT batteries, and current plans call for 1,680 missiles to be produced.

MEADS: Mobility and Employment

Harpy UAV’s dive attack
(click to view full)

As attack drones like Israel’s anti-radar Harpy long-loiter UAV, loitering precision missiles, and improved anti-radar missiles like the Italo-American AGM-88E AARGM come into service, air defense assets will also find themselves needing to use “switch-on/ switch-off” and “shoot and scoot” tactics to survive. This was certainly the pattern used by one successful battery in Serbia which not only survived the NATO air campaign, but used its 1970s-era SA-3 missiles to down an American F-117 stealth fighter. The idea is to have MEADS elements or other air defense systems “plug and fight,” joining in or breaking off from a common-picture air defense network as needed, in order to protect or reposition themselves.

Existing Patriot systems have some mobility to provide this kind of self-protection, but they aren’t really designed to maneuver with attacking US forces. Indeed, during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, the Patriot system’s heavy HEMTT trucks and other large equipment found themselves hard-pressed to keep up with the US military’s rate of advance.

Early C-130 test
(click to view full)

MEADS would be better than that, but it isn’t really a forward air defense system for mobile units. It was originally envisioned to be transportable by C-130 or equivalent medium transport aircraft, able to roll off the transport and begin operations very shortly thereafter. At present, most elements are designed to be compatible with the USA’s 5-ton capacity FMTV 6×6 trucks; depending on their final weight, FMTV-mounted MEADS components may even be transportable as underslung loads on medium-heavy helicopters like the CH-47 Chinook, CH-53 Super Stallion, and the notional Franco-German Heavy-Lift Helicopter. Even the container-sized Tactical Operations Center (TOC) is being designed to be able to drive on and drive off the C-130, or serve as an underslung load on CH-47/ CH-53 class helicopters.

Cutting set-up time and adding air-transportability should help MEADS improve on the Patriot system’s deployability into theater, and mobility within it. Even so, MEADS will retain mobility limitations of its own, due to the terrain limits inherent in all trucks. German forces will have options like their short-range LeFlaSys armored vehicle system for full front-line mobility, while US forward units on the move may end up relying on equally short range Stinger-based systems like hand-held FIM-92 missiles, Avenger Hummers, LAV-II ADs, or Bradley M6 Linebackers for short-range air defense. Note that a number of Bradley M6 and Hummer Avenger systems have been converted out of the air defense role, weakening US forward-based air defense options.

MEADS is designed to operate behind those forward defense systems, and its broader goal was an open architecture system that can plug into broader defensive systems, working with shorter-range systems like the USA’s SLAMRAAM/CLAWS vehicle-mounted AMRAAMs, Italy’s Spada 2000, etc.; with wider surveillance systems like the JLENS tethered blimps; and with longer range theater-defense systems like the Lockheed/ Raytheon/ Northrop-Grumman THAAD, IAI/Boeing’s Arrow-2, or even Raytheon’s naval SM-3 missiles, connected to a common view of the battlefield via Co-operative Engagement Capability. That open architecture’s first big test, will be much simpler, however: integrating a vertical launch version of the European IRIS-T short-range air-to-air missile alongside the longer-range, radar-guided PAC-3 MSE.

Plug-and-Fight
click for video

MEADS International claims that this emphasis on open architecture, plug-and-fight system capabilities in MEADS’ requirements has led to a MEADS Tactical Operations Center (TOC) that can support other MEADS stations, or even other air defense systems. Normal operations require only 2 of the 3 workstations, leaving an additional seat that lets the MEADS TOC be used as a wider task force level TOC, complete with German, Italian, U.S, and NATO command and control functionality. Germany planned to use this capability to integrate MEADS with ground-launched IRIS-T short range infrared guided missiles.

Lockheed Martin is even touting the MEADS BMC4I TOC as a key component of the US Army’s competition for an IBCS system that would integrate all anti-aircraft defenses in a sector.

MEADS: The Program

MEADS fire unit
(click to see whole)

In September 2004, the NATO MEADS Management Agency (NAMEADSMA) awarded MI a Design & Development letter contract valued at approximately $2.0 billion + EUR 1.4 billion (about $3.7 billion total at the time). Because Germany hadn’t signed yet, the initial letter contract involved preliminary funding to proceed on a “limited basis,” under the authority of the American-Italian MEADS Design and Development Memorandum of Understanding. Germany’s acceptance and signature in April 2005 enabled NAMEADSMA to sign the full MEADS D&D risk-reduction contract.

The MEADS venture is being led by Lockheed Martin Corp. and includes MBDA Italia, French-German aerospace firm EADS and Germany’s MBDA-LFK (LenkFlugKorpersysteme). Together, these companies have focused an international engineering team in Orlando to develop systems and technologies for the MEADS program. Development work was allocated in accordance with national funding: USA 58%, Germany 25%, and Italy 17%.

• Lockheed Martin: Orlando, FL; Dallas, TX; Huntsville, AL; and Syracuse, NY.

• MBDA-LFK: BMC4I control suite, launcher, Surveillance Radar; and Multifunction Fire Control Radar (MFCR) elements at plants around Munich, Germany.

• MBDA’s Italian operating company MBDA Italia will perform work on the BMC4I, MFCR, and launcher/reloader elements in Rome, Italy.

MEADS MFCR radar
(click to view full)

The original 1990s plan for MEADS was for production by 2007, but the 2004 Memorandum of Understanding resulted in a late start, and envisioned System Design & Development until 2014. The US Army intended to see benefits before that 9-year period was over, revising its MEADS acquisition strategy to combine management, development, and fielding of both the MEADS and PATRIOT systems. Under this spiral development approach, the Patriot/PAC-3 system would evolve toward MEADS through the early introduction of the MEADS Major End Items (MEI).

Key milestones for MEADS included a systems requirements review, followed by subsystem and system-level preliminary design reviews from about February 2007 to August 2007. Subsystem critical design reviews (CDR) were finished in 2009, followed by a system-level CDR that finished in 2010. A series of 9 flight-tests were planned from 2011 – 2013, and deployment was scheduled for 2018.

That won’t happen in the USA. By 2009, the US Army had examined its budgets, and declared that it didn’t want the system. They also added a long string of extra requirements, involving expensive integration with back-end command and control systems. The US Missile Defense Agency might have picked MEADS up instead, but by 2011, MEADS production date with all the new requirements had slipped to 2018 at the earliest, and the Pentagon had reservations about MEADS ability to meet even that. The program’s cost estimate was around $4.2 billion, and revised estimates threatened to push it even higher. In response, the USA moved toward ending the program at the end of the Design and Development MoU. Later in 2011, Germany also announced that it would stop at the end of the MoU, as part of their ongoing budget austerity program.

Lockheed Martin has pinned some hopes on its eventual revival if tests go well, and they have. Germany and Italy are reconsidering a European Follow-On Program (EFOP), and interest from Japan may yet help to save MEADS. Russia has also provided considerable assistance, by reigniting an atmosphere of threat and crisis in Europe, and China has done the same in Asia. Their inadvertent cooperation may yet prove to be as pivotal to MEADS as the USA’s.

If Not MEADS, What?

Aster-30 launch
(click to view full)

In MEADS’ absence, the US Army intends to continue relying on its existing PATRIOT batteries, with some system upgrades and the new PAC-3 MSE missile. The MEADS LFS surveillance radar, developed under a separate contract with Lockheed Martin, may be the next PATRIOT addition.

Germany and Italy would have several options, if they wish to continue air defense modernization. MEADS will finish its reconfigured development program, but it will do so with key technologies unfinished.

One option would be to finish MEADS and buy it. Drumming up export interest elsewhere is critical, and they’ve reportedly received some interest in via Poland’s WISLA national air and missile defense program, and from Japan.

Italy would like to field a single MEADS battery around Rome, as the best point defense system they can afford. Or, they could simply delete the requirement for a MEADS battery, and rely on their high-end modern SAMP/T Aster-30 systems, which are BMD-capable against short range missiles.

NASAMS launch
(click to view full)

Germany has several options of its own. One possibility would be to take the same approach as the USA, and upgrade their existing PATRIOT batteries. They’re already in talks to do so, and would like to add some MEADS technologies, just as the USA is doing. If they do, the BMC4I command system and links to IRIS-T SL/SLS missile launchers are likely to join whatever systems the USA integrates with PATRIOT.

If Germany wanted to reach for more range than MEADS, and better ballistic missile defense than PATRIOT, they could buy EuroSAM/MBDA’s SAMP/T systems of their own as a new customer. Adding Germany to create a customer core of France, Germany and Italy would improve export prospects in Europe and abroad, while offering useful industrial spinoffs as the system becomes the core of Europe’s missile defense. SAMP/T’s down side is its high cost, a potentially fatal problem given the Euro-zone’s fiscal woes and Germany’s budget austerity. On the other hand, Iran’s continued development of longer-range missiles and nuclear weapons is likely to continue ratcheting up the pressure for European missile defense. If Europe decides not to rely wholly on America’s “phased adaptive approach” of off-continent THAAD systems and land-based SM-3 missiles, SAMP/T would be the logical choice.

Another option for Germany would be to sacrifice ballistic missile defense capability, and field less expensive replacement systems like the AIM-120 AMRAAM-based NASAMS from Kongsberg and Raytheon, already employed by Dutch, Norwegian, and Spanish forces within NATO. NASAMS already employs the AIM-120 AMRAAM missile used by the Italian and German air forces. It can be supplemented with short-range, radar-independent missiles like the IRIS-T SL which Germany intended to add to MEADS, or NASDAMS can extend its overall range by adding the RIM-162 ESSM that serves on German ships. To date, however, NASMS installations have been fixed sites. Mobility is possible, but some work would be required.

Contracts & Key Events

Beyond 2011, PAC-3 MSE related contracts are covered under DID’s general PATRIOT program coverage, as the missile gears up for production beginning in FY 2014. This article will only cover new MSE contracts in the context of MEADS purchases.

FY 2014 – 2018

Odds improving in Polish competition; Twin-kill test; IFF Mode 5 certification.

Test preview
click for video

August 17/18: Next phase Germany is issuing a long-awaited final request for its multi-national TLVS (Taktisches Luftverteidigungssystem) program. MBDA and Lockheed Martin will now negotiate the cost and technical parameters of the program with the Bundeswehr. If the German Bundestag, the country’s parliament, approves the necessary procurement funding, the Bundeswehr would receive its first-ever fielded air-defense system with a built-in 360-degree capability. The Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) program aimed to replace Patriot missiles in the United States, the older Hawk system in Germany, and Italy’s even older Nike Hercules missiles. MEADS will be designed to kill enemy aircraft, cruise missiles and UAVs within its reach, while providing next-generation point defense capabilities against ballistic missiles. MEADS is the product of a $4 billion development program shared by the US, Germany and Italy that incorporates Lockheed Martin’s hit-to-kill PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) missile in a system including 360-degree surveillance and fire control sensors, netted-distributed tactical operations centers, and lightweight launchers. So far, only Germany has chosen to field the system.

March 9/18: A Joint Venture for Germany Lockheed Martin announced the formation of a new joint venture with MBDA’s German outfit that will proceed with negotiations to develop a new air and missile defense system to replace the German military’s existing Patriot batteries. In 2015, the Medium Extended Air Defence System (MEADS) was chosen ahead of the Patriot as the selected platform of Germany’s TLSV program, however, discussions between the companies and the government were complicated by new procurement guidelines aimed at increasing the transparency of the process and reducing the risk of technical delays and cost overruns endemic on new projects. Furthermore, while initial procurement plans had costed the project at about $4 billion dollars, sources close to the project expect an adjustment that is likely to add several billion dollars to initial costings. MEADS is the product of a $4 billion development program shared by the US, Germany and Italy that incorporates Lockheed Martin’s hit-to-kill PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) missile in a system including 360-degree surveillance and fire control sensors, netted-distributed tactical operations centers, and lightweight launchers. So far, only Germany has chosen to field the system.

March 7/17: The Germany defense ministry has delayed the signing of contracts with MBDA for the multi-billion Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS). The deal will instead move into the spring of 2018 as Berlin reaffirms its commitment to the project while maintaining that there was still work to do on the MBDA proposal, as well as on how the overall project would be managed. In the meantime, the ministry plans to spend several hundred million euros to modernise the software and hardware of the German military’s existing Patriot system, the system MEADS will eventually replace.

February 3/17: Raytheon has been awarded a $202 million foreign military sales contract to provide engineering services for international operators of the Patriot weapon system. US allies set to receive the support include Germany, Israel, South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Spain, Taiwan and the Netherlands, with work to be performed in various locations and due to be completed by the end of January 2018. The company’s bid was the only one received.

January 2/17: Poland has received a proposal from the Lockheed Martin-led team behind the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS), as part of the drive to upgrade air defense capabilities under the Wisla program. MEADS, Israel’s David’s Sling, and a French consortium were initially considered alongside Raytheon’s Patriot system, though all but the Patriot were dismissed by Warsaw due to the fact that they were still in development. However, since the procurement process has dragged on, MEADS is much closer to the fielding stage and was therefore asked to submit a proposal on request from the Polish government, triggering a head-to-head between Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. The proposal includes a potential order for 16 systems and a plan to include a work-share agreement with Polish industry.

October 19/16: A proposal submitted by MBDA and Lockheed Martin to provide the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) to Germany will cost nearly double the $4.5 billion originally estimated. Several sources have backed up the claims made by Reuters, but little reason has been given as to why the costing has jumped so suddenly. Berlin is expected to request that MBDA provide an additional detailed breakdown of the cost of the major items in the proposal while some officials have already raised the possibility of going back to negotiate with Raytheon about a new version of the current Patriot missile defense system.

September 12/16: MEADS International has teamed with Poland’s Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ) to bid on the country’s Wisla air defense program and related opportunities. PGZ stands to take a partnership role with MI alongside Lockheed Martin and MBDA. Benefits would ensure PGZ’s long-term participation in future expansion and sales of the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS). Before production specifications are finalized, Poland will be able to tailor elements of the system to national needs through the Wisla program.

July 14/16: Lockheed Martin has dismissed fears that its joint proposal with MBDA to supply the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) to Germany could slip into difficulty. While negotiations could well run into 2017, an election year, officials said lawmakers could still approve the deal as long as it was done in the first three months of the year, before the German national election cycle kicks off in earnest ahead of the September vote. MBDA is expected to have its final proposal submitted very soon.

July 13/16: Negotiations between Germany, Lockheed Martin and MBDA over the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) looks likely to run into next year, dashing earlier hopes by the manufacturers that they would have a final contract proposal submitted by the end of the month. Experts say it may be difficult to win parliamentary approval for the $4.5 billion project if negotiations drag on too long too close to Germany’s national elections in September 2017. The MEADS system won out against Raytheon’s Patriot system to replace the current Patriot system fielded in the 1980s.

March 4/16: Poland and Lockheed Martin are back in discussions over the possible procurement of the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS). The tender, estimated to be in the region of $5 billion, would form a central pillar of Poland’s large-scale military modernization efforts made all the more urgent by the Ukraine crisis and Russia’s renewed assertiveness in the region. A deal between Lockheed and the government, now five months in power, would represent a shift from the previous government, who were on the cusp of purchasing two Patriot batteries from Raytheon. An agreement on the MEADS deal would represent a massive coup for Lockheed, as they try to gather customers from countries looking to replace their aging Patriot systems.

May 18/15: The German Defense Ministry has reportedly selected the MEADS system as a replacement for its existing Patriots. The Defense Ministry has neither confirmed nor denied the reports circulating in German media, with an official decision expected to be announced in June. MEADS – Medium Extended Air Defense System – has been jointly developed by Lockheed Martin and MBDA, with funding received from three partner nations; the US, Germany and Italy. If the system has been selected over competitor Raytheon – who are offering upgrades to the in-service Patriots – then this would be a much-needed boost to the MEADS consortium, which urgently needs a buyer having failed to impress the US Army owing to cost and schedule overruns.

June 30/14: Poland. Poland’s MON announces the Wisla program’s finalists: Raytheon, and EuroSAM. Poland won’t become part of the MEADS program, nor will it buy Israel’s David’s Sling. The 2-stage technical dialogue led Poland to conclude that they required an operational system, and valued prior integration into NATO systems. Accordingly, MEADS and David’s Sling failed to qualify. Sources: Poland MON, “Kolejny etap realizacji programu Wisla zakonczony”.

Loss in Poland

June 16/14: Germany. MBDA Deutschland spokesman Wolfram Lautner says that Germany is considering MEADS adoption, even if it means going it alone on a EUR 2.5 – 3.5 billion program. A decision is expected by the end of 2014:

“The money would be spent on aligning MEADS with German standards and adapting it to fire the Iris-T missile, and it would start to go operational by 2018-19…. There is a requirement, and an RFP could be issued either to MEADS or for an updated version of the Patriot system Germany operates…. After that, there will be a negotiated contract and parliament will decide since the cost will exceed [the legal threshold of EUR] 25 million.”

Sources: Defense News, “Germany Could Spend €3 Billion To Get MEADS Going”.

May 21/14: IFF certification. MEADS gets full Mode 5 Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) certification from the United States Department of Defense International AIMS (Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System, Identification Friend or Foe, Mark XII/Mark XIIA, Systems) Program Office. The certified IFF system is used in both MEADS radar types: the UHF Surveillance Radar, and the X-band Multifunction Fire Control Radar.

Mode 5 is NATO’s most secure IFF mode, and certification is a big deal to European NATO countries who might wish to go forward with MEADS. Sources: MBDA, “MEADS System Gains Full Certification For Identifying Friend Or Foe Aircraft”.

IFF Mode 5 cert.

May 14/14: Poland. The USA has reportedly used export clearance to block Israel’s David’s Sling system from WISLA consideration, and France’s continued willingness to sell Russia amphibious assault helicopter carriers is hurting them. Which leaves a strong likelihood that WISLA will be American-made.

At the same time, Lockheed Martin’s Marty Coyne told Reuters that the US government had “supported the MEADS bid by giving Lockheed permission to offer producing its baseline PAC-3 missiles in Poland, and to help Polish industry set up production of its own long-range missile.” If the winner is MEADS, that would mean either a PAC-3 downgrade within the more advanced MEADS system, or full local production of the PAC-3 MSE, which is the USA most advanced air defense missile. Read “Alone, If Necessary: The Shield of Poland” for full coverage.

Nov 6/13: Twin-kill. MEADS testing provides an impressive swan song, as the system destroys a circling QF-4 Phantom drone to the south, while simultaneously nailing a Lance tactical ballistic missile coming in from the north at White Sands Missile Range, NM. The test used 3 PAC-3 MSE missiles, as planned, using semi-automatic mode to direct 2 missiles at the Lance and 1 at the QF-4.

The deployed system included all MEADS elements: The two 360-degree radars for Surveillance (UHF-band) and Multifunction Fire Control (X-Band), the Battle Manager, and a pair of launchers in the Italian and German configurations. Now it’s up to the USA to decide if it wants to add key MEADS technologies like the UHF VSR to PATRIOT, while Italy, Germany, and other potential buyers need to decide whether they want to buy the entire system. Sources: Lockheed Martin, Nov 6/13 release.

All tests finished

October 21/13: Testing. Lockheed Martin announces another successful test at White Sands, NM using the MFCR radar. Whereas the 1st test in April consisted of the (easy) tracking of a small aircraft, this time the result is more significant as the target was a 20 ft Lance tactical ballistic missile (TBM). Next month there is a final, more momentous test scheduled to wrap up 2013, which will combine the interception of a TBM with an air-breathing target. Source: Lockheed Martin, “MEADS Multifunction Fire Control Radar Tracks Tactical Ballistic Missile for First Time.”

FY 2013

Germany and Italy pursue EFOP follow-on, may have partners; MEADS cruise missile test is a kill; PAC-3 MSE missile aces high-low intercept test, MEADS wants its last test to be harder.

Test launch #1
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June 19/13: Testing. During NATO’s Joint Project Optic Windmill (JPOW) exercises in May-June 2013, a MEADS tactical battle management command, control, communications, computers and intelligence (BMC4I) tested its ability to operate with other NATO systems. That’s important, because Germany, Italy, and others would need to use MEADS with NATO’s overarching command and control systems, in order to be most effective against ballistic missiles.

It was something of a lab test, and also somewhat limited. MEADS demonstrated the ability to transmit, receive and process Link 16 messages, as well as “other elements of threat engagement and target intercept.” It needs Link 16 and full threat engagement and target intercept data sharing. Lockheed Martin.

June 18/13: Testing & Future Plans. After the successful high-low test of PAC-3 MSE missiles mounted on a PATRIOT system (q.v. June 7/13), MEADS wants to use the same kind of challenging test for its last scheduled full-system test, with the 2 targets arriving almost simultaneously and 120 degrees apart, and 2 launchers participating together. That’s outside the PATRIOT’s capabilities, but proving MEADS this way means that the added cruise missile drone and accompanying test changes need to be funded. Which means they have to ask the USA, Germany, and Italy.

The Europeans may be interested in paying, even if the USA isn’t really sure what it wants to do with MEADS. That kind of demonstration would help their European Follow-on Program (EFOP) get traction with partners like Poland, and talks to lay out an EFOP plan are expected this fall. As things stand, it looks like the Europeans will get the BMC4I control centers to form the core of any further testing and development, a fire-control radar each, and 2 launchers. The United States really wants the surveillance radar. Aviation Week | Military.com.

June 16/13: Germany. Raytheon’s VP of Integrated Air and Missile Defense, Sanjay Kapoor, tells Bloomberg that Germany is discussing an upgrade of its own PATRIOT systems, and wants to incorporate elements of MEADS after spending all that R&D money. Bloomberg.

June 7/13: MSE Splash 2. The improved PAC-3 MSE aces a big test at White Sands Missile Range, NM, killing both a tactical ballistic missile (TBM) target and a cruise missile. The missile is fired as part of a PATRIOT system, as opposed to its more advanced MEADS counterparts.

The TBM was assigned 2 ripple-fired missiles, but the 1st hit so #2 self-destructed. Missile #3 took out the BQM-74 jet-powered target drone. Preliminary data indicates that all test objectives were achieved. Lockheed Martin | Raytheon.

May 15/13: Export interest. Aviation week quotes Italian National Armaments Director Lt. Gen. Claudio Debertolis, and Lockheed Martin Missiles & Fire Control EVP Rick Edwards, to confirm that 2 new nations are interested in MEADS. One of them is Poland, and the other is said to be Japan.

Poland is in the process of building a national air and missile defense system, and MEADS offers them a very strong air defense system with a BMD point defense option. Beyond its performance premium over PATRIOT, MEADS can also offer workshare benefits from early involvement.

Lt. Gen. Claudio Debertolis adds that Italy would like to deploy a single MEADS battery around Rome, as the most capable BMD solution that Italy can afford, given its poor fiscal situation. When one counts MBDA’s Aster-30 missiles deployed by Italian Horizon Class ships and SAMP/T army units, Rome could have a 2 layer BMD system. Aviation Week.

April 10/13: FY 2014 Budget. The President releases a proposed budget at last, the latest in modern memory. The Senate and House were already working on budgets in his absence, but the Pentagon’s submission is actually important to proceedings going forward. MEADS gets no FY 2014 funding, as expected. The $400.9 million budgeted in FY 2013 is designed to finish development, and meet all contractual obligations.

PAC-3 MSE missile production would begin with a budget of $540.5 million, covering 56 missiles plus long-lead time items for FY 2015’s 72 missiles. DID budget coverage.

April 9/13: Testing. MEADS tests continue under the development program, and Lockheed Martin continues to highlight progress in hopes of drumming up interest. During a recent test that tracked a small test aircraft near Syracuse, NY, MEADS’ UHF Low-Frequency Sensor radar succeeded in cueing its companion MFCR X-band fire-control radar, via the MEADS Battle Manager.

It’s a very basic test. Upcoming tests in a NATO exercise, and firing test #2 at White Sands missile range, will be much more significant. Lockheed Martin.

March 28/13: The US GAO tables its “Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs” for 2013. Which is actually a review for 2012, plus time to compile and publish. With respect to the “Patriot/Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) Combined Aggregate Program (CAP) Fire Unit,” the report pegs funding from all parties through FY 2013 at $3.3255 billion, including $781.9 million from the Pentagon during FY 2012 and 2013.

Development of the system support vehicle, MEADS network radio, and reloader has been cut, focusing efforts on the 360-degree MFCR fire control radar; near-vertical launcher; and battle management system. Program officials cite all 3 as having met or exceeded predicted performance. So, which technologies are likely to find their way into other programs, other than the PAC-3 MSE missile? The volume search radar is cited as the leading candidate, followed by the near-vertical launcher, and the cooling technology used for its rotating phased array radars.

The system’s final test in late 2013 will involve a ballistic missile, against a MEADS system that accompanies the MFCR with a low-cost (just 50% of T/R arrays) version of the surveillance/ volume search radar design.

March 26/13: Politics. MEADS survives another Senate vote, with $381 million included in the Continuing Resolution to finish development. It’s the usual argument: the contention that cancellation would cost as much as finishing funding, while eliminating all of the associated jobs early and preventing the Army from picking up some MEADS technologies for future use.

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste adds an interesting wrinkle, leaking a confidential Pentagon report that says it might not have to pay termination costs. It cites the 2005 MoU clause that makes MEADS activities subject to “the availability of funds appropriated for such purposes.” If Congress cuts off funding, does that mean the Army can exit the program with no penalty? Sen. Kelly Ayotte [R-NH] led the charge to reapportion MEADS funding to pay for operations and maintenance. Sens. Chuck Schumer [D-NY-LMCO], Senate Appropriations Chair Barbara Mikulski [D-MD], and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid [D-NV] worked to keep Ayotte’s amendments from ever coming to the floor, believing that if they did, they’d probably pass.

In response, Sen. Ayotte has placed a hold on Alan Estevez’s nomination to be the next Principal Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. She contends that MEADS was funded even though the NDAA prohibits such MEADS funding, via a provision that prevents the Pentagon from funding systems that won’t ever reach the battlefield. Sen. Ayotte in New Hampshire Sentinel Source | CNB News | Defense News Intercepts.

Jan 29/13: Italy & Germany letter. The German and Italian defense ministries send a formal letter to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, pressing the USA to continue MEADS funding through development. Excerpts:

“The results of the Design and Development (D&D) phase of the MEADS program remain vital for both Germany and Italy as they will be the basis for our future Air and Missile Defense System Architecture…. If the US does not fulfill its funding commitment for 2013, Germany and Italy would need to interpret this as a unilateral withdrawal. Under the terms of the MoU, Germany and Italy expect formal notification of the US intent to withdraw…. In a first estimate the current US position results in an economic damage to Germany and Italy of more than 400 Mio. US$…. In addition, there are wider implication of the US withdrawing or breaking the MoU and this would set a bad precedent for future transatlantic cooperation in principle.”

See: MEADS AMD [PDF].

Nov 29/12: Intercept. A partial MEADS configuration with a networked MEADS battle manager, a lightweight launcher firing the PAC-3 MSE, and a 360-degree MEADS Multifunction Fire Control Radar (MFCR) intercept and kill an MQM-107 target drone simulating a cruise missile.

This is MEADS’ 1st intercept test; a 2nd is planned for late 2013. Lockheed Martin | MEADS, incl. more photos etc.

Cruise missile intercept

FY 2012

 

MEADS: ground view
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Aug 21/12: US Army Brig. Gen. Ole Knudson, Program Executive Officer Missiles and Space, said during a conference that the surveillance radar is the piece of MEADS most worth salvaging. The Army has already turned the PAC-3 MSE missile into its own program, so perhaps he means “the next piece of MEADS most worth salvaging.” AviationWeek.

July 2012: Difficult funding. So far this fiscal year, reviving support in the US Congress for the program has been rocky. The Administration asked for $400M in its February budget request. In response, the House voted a bill that would prohibit obligating or expending funds for MEADS. Later the Senate Armed Services Committee concurred. In its statement of policy [PDF] issued in June in response to the House NDAA FY13 bill, the OMB wrote that it:

“strongly objects to the Committee’s decision to omit funding for MEADS. If the Congress does not appropriate the funding in the FY 2013 Budget request, there is a high likelihood that this action would be perceived by our partners, Italy and Germany, as breaking our commitment under the Memorandum of Understanding. This could harm our relationship with our Allies on a much broader basis, including future multinational cooperative projects. It also could prevent the completion of the agreed Proof of Concept activities, which would provide data archiving, analysis of testing, and software development necessary to harvest technology from U.S. and partner investments in MEADS.

SecDef Panetta wrote to SAC Chairman Inouye to ask for his support. That seemed to help as the Senate Appropriations Defense subcommittee maintained $380M for MEADS funding in its markup. However, given far from universal support in the Senate and opposition in the House, this will be hard to push through the eventual bill, whenever that happens given the likelihood of a Continuing Resolution in the fall. Scenarios to terminate MEADS were already floated in a CBO report on deficit reduction [PDF] and by the Pentagon (see Feb 14/11 entry) in early 2011.

July 9/12: MSS-M. Lockheed Martin deploys an 18-wheeler rig with its MEADS System Stimulator – Mobile (MSS-M) to White Sands Missile Range, NM. Its’s a way of reducing costs, and lowering risks, both of which are critical to a program whose funding is running down, with no buyer in sight.

Without MSS-M, they’d be limited to hardware-in-the-loop simulations in a laboratory environment. With it, they can do the same work in the field, running simulations and checking performance by the same live systems that will be used in firing tests. They will be very busy as the first MEADS target intercept test, scheduled for later in 2012, approaches. Lockheed Martin.

June 12/12: Testing. The 1st MEADS power and communications unit hass finished acceptance testing in Germany. The truck-mounted power and communications unit provides power for the MEADS fire control and surveillance radars. It includes a diesel-powered generation unit. A separate commercial power interface unit permits radar operation using commercial power (50 Hertz/60 Hertz). Lockheed Martin.

April 19/12: Testing. The 1st MEADS X-band Multifunction Fire Control Radar (MFCR) has begun system-level testing with a MEADS battle manager and launcher at Pratica di Mare AFB near Rome, Italy. Lockheed Martin.

Feb 22/12: Testing. Lockheed Martin announces that they’ve begun integration testing on the 3rd completed MEADS battle manager at its facility in Huntsville, AL. This one will be used as part of the ballistic missile intercept test planned for 2013 at White Sands Missile Range, NM. The other 2 are already supporting system testing at Pratica di Mare AFB, Italy and Orlando, FL.

Nov 17/11: The 1st full MEADS firing test successfully engages an “over the shoulder” target approaching from behind at White Sands Missile Range, NM. The test used the PAC-3 MSE missile, lightweight launcher and BMC4I battle manager, and the nature of the test required a unique sideways maneuver from the missile. Since the threat was not an actual target drone, the missile’s self destruct was triggered at the end. Lockheed Martin.

1st full firing test

Nov 10/11: Testing. In a simulated test at at Pratica di Mare, Italy, the MEADS BMC4I battle manager demonstrates the “plug and fight” concept, including attaching and detaching the launcher from the MEADS plug-and-fight network; configuring and initializing the MEADS launcher and simulated sensors; performing track management functions, threat assessment and identification; and transmitting a valid launch command to the launcher.

NAMEADSMA General Manager Gregory Kee adds that “Because of its advanced capabilities, there is international interest in MEADS.” Technicaly, that’s already true, due to its program structure. The question is whether there’s interest from an outside country with the funds to integrate MEADS into an existing air defense command-and-control framework, conduct further tests, and begin manufacturing. MEADS’ current publicity campaign is partly designed to help it find that buyer – if that buyer exists. Lockheed Martin.

Nov 3/11: The National Armaments Directors of Germany, Italy and the United States approve a amendment that lays out the rest of the MEADS System Development & Demonstration contract, which ends in 2014. Lockheed Martin will say only that MEADS “remains within the funding limit authorized… in the 2004 MEADS [MoU].” Testing will include engagement using remote tracks, plug-and-fight capabilities for MEADS components, the system’s netted/distributed operation, and interoperability through Link 16. In addition:

Fall 2011 will see a launcher missile characterization test, demonstrating MEADS’ 360 degree capability with an over-the-shoulder launch of a PAC-3 MSE missile, against a target approaching from behind.

Late 2012 will see an intercept flight test against an air-breathing (as opposed to rocket powered) threat.

Late 2013 will see a sensor test, followed by the grand finale: a tactical ballistic missile intercept test. Lockheed Martin.

Revised MEADS program

Nov 1/11: PAC-3 MSE. Lockheed Martin in Grand Prairie, TX receives a $16.1 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification to cover PAC-3 MSE follow-on flight tests.

Work will be performed in Grand Prairie, TX; Chelmsford, MA; Camden, AR; Huntsville, AL; Pinellas, FL; Vergennes, VT; Hollister, CA; Torrance, CA; and Wichita, KS; with an estimated completion date of Dec 31/12. One bid was solicited, with one bid received (W31P4Q-07-G-0001).

Oct 24/11: Testing. Lockheed Martin announces that a MEADS launcher has arrived at White Sands Missile Range, NM, after system integration testing, to begin live fire testing. While PAC-3 MSE missiles have been fired before, it was done from existing launcher systems.

Integration and checkout tests are continuing in preparation for a November flight test, where the MEADS system will demonstrate an unprecedented over-the-shoulder launch of a PAC-3 MSE missile, against a simulated target that attacks from behind.

Oct 21/11: Deutschland raus. Germany changes its mind about termination, as it continues to cut its already weak defense sector. Under the new plan, Germany will also pull out of MEADS, and will cut its Patriot systems in half from 29 to 14.

This move virtually ensures the end of MEADS. If Italy also decides to pull the plug, as now seems likely, there will be no termination costs to fellow partners for shuttering the program. Depending on how they choose to go about closing things down, however, there may be termination costs to the contractors. Aviation Week.

Germany out

Oct 17/11: MICS. Lockheed Martin announces the early delivery of MEADS’ intra-fire unit communications kits for the MEADS Internal Communications Subsystem (MICS).

MICS provides secure communications between the MEADS sensors, launchers and battle managers across a high-speed internet protocol network. That network can have MEADS elements removed and added with no delay, and can be expanded to include other elements using a “plug-and-fight” architecture.

Oct 12/11: Battle Manager. MEADS International announces that they’ve begun integration testing on the first completed MEADS battle manager system (BMC4I TOC), which provides overall control and configuration of MEADS intended “plug and fight” system. The Battle Manager, mounted on back of an FMTV truck, completed acceptance testing in May 2011 at MBDA in Fusaro, Italy, and arrived at the MEADS Verification Facility in Orlando, FL in July 2011.

The Florida facility is putting the new system through its paces using the MEADS system stimulator, in preparation for a system live-fire in November at White Sands Missile Range, NM. In these simulated scenarios, the MEADS battle manager will configure the other major end items and receive Surveillance Radar tracks for simulated threats, cue the Multifunction Fire Control Radar, send launch commands, and complete interceptor launches and target intercepts.

FY 2011

 

MEADS BMC4I-TOC
(click to view full)

Sept 13/11: Lockheed Martin announces that MEADS’ Integrated Launcher Electronics System (ILES) has successfully executed a simulated missile launch, as they prepare for MEADS first major live-fire test in November at White Sands Missile Range, NM.

Aug 16/11: Battle manager. MEADS’ Battle Management Command, Control, Communications and Computers and Intelligence (BMC4I) “battle manager” successfully completes its software design review in Huntsville, AL. Lockheed Martin.

July 21/11: Unhappy partners. Italy and Germany are rattling cages in the USA, in response to FY 2012 budget committee votes. Germany is saying that they won’t agree to joint termination, while Italy’s undersecretary for defense, Guido Crosetto, sends a letter to the Pentagon saying:

“I expect that the U.S. DOD will put in place all the necessary actions to ensure that U.S. Congress will provide the required funds to complete the Meads development and meet our mutually agreed commitments within the limits… [otherwise] the U.S. shall then be required to bear all the resulting contract modifications and cancellation costs up to the total financial contribution established.”

Given the likely size of those contract penalties, that really does sound like an offer the USA can’t refuse. Bloomberg.

July 5/11: At least we’re secure. MEADS International wins its 3rd James S. Cogswell Outstanding Industrial Security Achievement Award. It’s presented by the U.S. Defense Security Service (DSS), who has responsibility for more than 13,000 cleared contractor facilities, during the National Classification Management Society’s Annual Seminar in New Orleans, LA.

Less than 1% are considered for Cogswell recognition, but MEADS International also won in 2000, and in 2007. Their 2011 Cogswell Award includes recognition for 7 consecutive years of Superior security ratings. Lockheed Martin.

June 21/11: Revised objectives. The National Armaments Directors of Germany, Italy and the United States have approved a revised set of MEADS development objectives, including 2 intercept flight tests by 2014. To support final system integration and flight test activities, MI has taken ownership of facilities at White Sands Missile Range, NM. Lockheed Martin.

June 15/11: Zero-out? Bloomberg reports that some members of the US Senate Armed Services committee are looking to zero-out MEADS funding in the FY 2012 budget. That happens the day after the US House Appropriations Committee approves a 2012 defense-spending draft that cuts $149.5 million from MEADS’ FY 2012 budget, and the SASC would go on to remove the MEADS’ request entirely.

The Pentagon has proposed funding MEADS development, due in part to MEADS’ termination costs. It remains to be seen whether that becomes a factor in debate.

May 4/11: PAC-3 MSE. Raytheon’s Patriot system successfully test fires Lockheed Martin’s PAC-3 MSE at White Sands Missile Range, NM. This is another step forward for MEADS development program. It also shows that the missile can be incorporated into existing Patriot systems, as an upgrade that stops short of full MEADS capabilities. Raytheon.

March 2011: Testing. The 2nd MEADS Launcher Platform Group (LPG) completes formal acceptance testing in Dello, Italy, after demonstrating capabilities including automatic upload/offload, switch from emplacement to mobile configuration, and detachment of components from the MAN truck carrier to allow helicopter transport.

Following integration with an Integrated Launcher Electronics System, Launcher Power System and Internal Communication System (MICS), the completed launcher will begin system-level integration with other MEADS elements, then begin flight tests at White Sands Missile Range, NM later in 2011. Lockheed Martin.

March 21/11: DOD Buzz reports from AIAA’s annual missile defense conference that MEADS may have bought itself the time it needs to survive, as the participants work to complete development instead of paying termination fees:

“Lockheed Martin believes there is a good chance the US will recommit to the tri-nation MEADS missile defense program, driven by its smaller manpower requirements, ease of transport and higher [8x – 10x higher] reliability. And Germany and Italian officials told a senior Lockheed official that they remain committed to MEADS and other countries may well join the program sometime in the next two years. Mike Trotsky, Lockheed’s vice president air and missile defense systems, told reporters during that adding more countries could substantially lower the price of American participation…”

April 15/11: The Pentagon’s Selected Acquisitions Report ending Dec 30/10 includes the “Patriot/Medium Extended Air Defense System Combined Aggregate Program (MEADS CAP) Fire Unit – Program”:

“…costs decreased $18,661.8 million (-85.0 percent) from $21,965.3 million to $3,303.5 million, due primarily to the Department’s decision to remove the production funding for the fire unit from the program and modify the design and development phase to continue as a proof of concept effort ending in fiscal 2014.”

SAR – termination

March 21/11: Testing. Lockheed Martin announces that a MEADS launcher and accompanying BMC4I Tactical Operations Center (TOC) have entered system test and integration at Pratica di Mare Air Force Base in Italy. Later additions of the Multifunction Fire Control Radar (MFCR) and a MEADS System Stimulator will enable demonstration of the full MEADS system in simulated engagements of live target aircraft. After pre-integration at Pratica di Mare, the MEADS system will complete integration at White Sands Missile Range, NM, and begin flight testing in 2012.

March 3/11: PAC-3 MSE. Lockheed Martin Corp. in Grand Prairie, TX receives a $7 million incremental-funding, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to eliminate obsolete materials in the PAC-3 and PAC-3 MSE solid rocket motor, in support of the United States and Taiwan.

Work will be performed in Grand Prairie, TX, with an estimated completion date of June 30/14. One bid was solicited with one bid received (W31P4Q-07-G-0001).

March 2/11: BMD firing test. Lockheed Martin announces that a PAC-3 MSE missile successfully intercepted a “threat representative” tactical ballistic missile target at White Sands Missile Range, NM. Richard McDaniel, director of PAC-3 Missile Programs at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control:

“We continue to test the PAC-3 MSE Missile at higher altitudes and against more challenging targets, and it continues to meet expectations…”

Feb 16/11: Germany wobbles. Media reports confirm that Germany will not pursue MEADS beyond the development phase. A Feb 15/11 letter from the Germany defense ministry to its parliamentary budget committee was leaked to Reuters, and it reportedly states that:

“With the closing of the planned development of MEADS … between the United States, Germany and Italy,… a realisation or acquisition of MEADS will not be carried out in the foreseeable future…”

That doesn’t mean an immediate pullout. Announcements of the kind the Pentagon just made only happen after long and close consultation with partners, and agreement behind the scenes on what to do. All 3 countries will almost certainly be financing MEADS development instead of paying termination costs, before going their separate ways. Reuters.

Feb 16/11: Pentagon program suicide? DoD Buzz has a take on MEADS from Frank Cevasco. While a senior Pentagon official at the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Cevasco and co. pushed a future extended air defense program, which eventually became MEADS. His thoughts on what followed:

“I was told that doesn’t make sense [to want to replace Patriot units 1:1] as a MEADS fire unit has substantially greater geographic coverage than Patriot [but the Army did]. I agree there would be additional costs associated with integrating MEADS with a separate Army command and control system, a requirement that was levied on the program unilaterally by Army about two years ago. Moreover, a portion of the cost overruns and schedule slippages can be attributed to the Army and DoD technology disclosure community who refused to allow the MEADS industry team to share key technology. The matter was resolved but only after intervention by senior OSD officials and the passage of considerable time; and, time is money with major weapons system development programs… Army has done its best from the every beginning to sabotage the program, preferring to develop a US-only solution funded by the US (with funds provided by the good fairy).”

Feb 15/11: Germany. German lawmakers are pushing to follow the US lead and drop MEADS, but so far, Germany seems to be taking the same position as the US. Which isn’t really surprising, since the American decision would have been discussed extensively before it was made public. Opposition is coming from the Free Democrats and Greens, both minor players. The cost of continuing existing MoU commitments is about EUR 250 million for Germany, while the cost of cancellation is currently unknown. Bloomberg reports that:

“Germany will continue its commitments for the development phase of the project, according to a Defense Ministry official who declined to be identified in line with government rules. The official wouldn’t comment when asked about the government’s intentions beyond the development phase.”

Feb 14/11: Pentagon comptroller Robert Hale tells a budget briefing that the USA will fund MEADS up to its $4 billion cap and into FY 2013. After that?

“Yes, our proposal would be that we would invest no more U.S. funds in MEADS after 2013, fiscal year ’13. We will – we will let the program run out under its current plan so we don’t incur any termination liability. But we wouldn’t spend money beyond there. And we would try to harvest some of the technology, and we may use that in other programs, and our partners may go forward with some MEADS. But it is not our plan to do so.”

At present, the USA is committed to spending another $804 million under the current MEADS MoU. With MEADS behind on cost and schedule targets, a recent restructuring proposal would have reportedly added another 30+ months (to the existing 110 month development period) and another $974 million – $1.16 billion of American funding to the program. The Pentagon estimates that another $800 million would be needed to certify MEADS and integrate it into existing US air defense systems. In addition, MEADS lateness meant that the USA would have to spending more money than they had planned on new Patriot missiles and system modernization. That burden, on top of existing MEADS overruns and fielding costs, is what pushed the Pentagon to the breaking point with MEADS. Hence the current proposal, which will spend the committed $804 million or so on MEADS development instead of termination costs, produce prototypes and limited integration, and look to incorporate anything promising into existing systems.

The odds that Italy or Germany would pick up the system are poor, given Germany’s ongoing disarmament and austerity program, and Italy’s slow-motion budget crisis. The FY 2013 date is significant for the USA, however, as it leaves the next Presidential administration the option of deciding to keep MEADS going. Hale briefing transcript | Pentagon’s MEADs Fact Sheet [PDF] | Bloomberg | DoD Buzz | Gannett’s Army Times | Reuters.

US backing out

Feb 14/11: US Budget. The Pentagon unveils the official FY 2012 budget request, which amounts to $570.5 million for MEADS components.

$406.6 million would be dedicated to MEADS development, down from $467.1 million requested in FY 2011, and $571.0 appropriated in FY 2010.

The FY 2012 request also includes $163.9 million in PAC-3 MSE missile work ($89M RDT&E, $75M procurement), up from FY 2011’s request for $62.5 million.

Jan 31/11: Radar. Lockheed Martin announces that the MEADS Multifunction Fire Control Radar (MFCR) subteam at LFK in Germany completed integration of the antenna array in 2010, clearing the way for assembly-level testing of the Transceiver Group. Coolant pressure testing was completed, and cooling distribution was demonstrated at the slip ring and antenna rotary joint. Final rotation tests at both 15 and 30 rpm were successfully completed.

The X-band MEADS MFCR has not yet begun full system tests at Pratica di Mare air force base in Italy. The program is now completing final build, integration and test activities, hopefully leading to flight tests involving all system elements at White Sands Missile Range in 2012. If, that is, the program survives.

Jan 4/11: Passed but frozen. The FY 2011 US defense “budget” is passed in a very odd way, but it has a provision in it that’s specific to MEADS. About 75%, or $350.2 million of the approved $467 million annual funding, is frozen until a firm decision is made to either continue or cancel the program. There were also requirements in the Senate’s S.3454 bill, Sec. 233 around decisions by Germany and Italy regarding funding and production, and a variety of certifications and cost estimates. But the final bill passed was H.R. 5136.

Through June 30/10, the USA has approved spending about $2 billion on the program. So far, MEADS program estimates have grown in cost by about $900 million (to $4.2 billion), and its overall schedule has been delayed by 18 months. Bloomberg.

Dec 13/10: PAC-3 MSE. Lockheed Martin in Grand Prairie, TX receives a $9.1 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to design obsolete materials out of the PAC-3 and MSE solid rocket motor. These sorts of moves can improve performance, but their most important function is to ensure ongoing availability of spares and new-build components.

Work will be performed in Grand Prairie, TX, with an estimated completion date of Nov 30/13. One bid was solicited and one bid was received. by the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command Contracting Center in Huntsville, AL (W31P4Q-07-G-0001).

Nov 9/10: PAC-3 MSE. Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Dallas, TX receives a $7.3 million cost-plus-incentive fee contract for PAC-3 MSE contract overrun funding.

Work is to be performed in Dallas, TX (95.74%); Camden, AR (0.25%); and Ocala, FL (4.01%), with an estimated completion date of Feb 29/12. One bid was solicited with one bid received by the U.S. Army’s AMCOM Contracting Center at Redstone Arsenal, AL (DAAH01-03-C-0164).

Oct 25/10: MICS. Lockheed Martin announces delivery of the first 2 MEADS Message Routing Subsystem units, as essential elements of the MEADS Internal Communications Subsystem (MICS) hardware, which will provide IP-based secure tactical communications between the launcher, surveillance radar and multifunction fire control radar across a high-speed network.

The Message Routing Subsystem supports the networked exchange of command, control and status data between the major components and the Tactical Operations Center.

FY 2010

 

MEADS elements
(click to see whole)

Sept 30/10: PAC-3 MSE. Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Dallas, TX receives an $11.6 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the Patriot PAC-3 MSE missile program.

Work is to be performed in Dallas, TX (95.74%), Camden, AZ (0.25%), and Ocala, FL (4.01%), with an estimated completion date of Feb 29/12. One bid was solicited with one bid received by U.S. Army Contracting Command’s AMCOM Contracting Center at Redstone Arsenal, AL (DAAH01-03-C-0164).

Sept 22/10: O&S costs. Lockheed Martin touts the MEADS program’s estimate of its required life cycle costs, which has been submitted to the governments of the USA, Germany, and Italy as cash-strapped European governments and the US Missile Defense Agency decide whether to use their funds to put MEADS into production. The assumptions and data used in that estimate aren’t discussed in any depth, but they contend that:

“MEADS will especially reduce operation and support (O&S) costs. Ordinarily, over two-thirds of the total cost of ownership is spent in this area, but MEADS O&S costs are about half [DID: which would be a 37% reduction – unless the absolute total is 37% or more higher than previous systems]. Savings result from features of the MEADS design that include high reliability, automated fault detection, prognostics, two-level maintenance and a reduction in the number of system elements. Additionally, MEADS was shown to defend up to eight times the coverage area with far fewer system assets… [DID: vs. Hawk? Nike Hercules? Patriot? Doesn’t say.]

NAMEADSMA General Manager Gregory Kee said, “The combination of advanced 360-degree sensors, near-vertical launch capability and the improved PAC-3 MSE Missile gives MEADS a far greater defended area. MEADS active phased array, digital beamforming radars make full use of the extended range of the PAC-3 MSE Missile.”

Sept 21/10: PAC-3 MSE. Lockheed Martin in Dallas TX receives $6 million in contract overrun funding for the Missile Segment Enhancement program’s cost-plus-incentive-fee contract.

Work will be performed at Dallas, TX; Camden, AZ; and Ocala, FL, and is expected to be complete by Feb 29/12. One bid was solicited, with one received by the US Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, AL (DAAH01-03-C-0164; Serial #1971).

Aug 26/10: CDR. MEADS completes its final Critical Design Review, leaving the United States, Germany and Italy to make decisions about moving on to low-rate production in October 2010. The government-industry team had to demonstrate 1,100 elements of design criteria during 47 separate critical design reviews, and the week of Aug 23/10 featured the final summary critical design review.

The next step will involve the NATO MEADS Management Agency, who will conduct an October 2010 program review during which decisions are expected concerning production rates and sizes during the LRIP and production and sustainment phases. The question is whether MEADS will continue beyond the development phase, and in what form. The US Army no longer wants the system, Germany’s Bundeswehr is in the midst of savage budget cuts, and Italy is finding it difficult to meet its existing budgetary commitments.

Meanwhile, the program’s initial phase continues, and MEADS International is now producing test hardware and prototypes. Current plans call for Practica di Mare AFB, Italy to begin receiving the system’s first battle management and command and control system in late 2010, followed by launcher and fire control radar hardware in early 2011. Surveillance radar integration activities will take place in Cazenovia, NY, before all of the hardware is shipped to White Sands Missile Range, NM for 3 years of flight testing, beginning early in 2012. Space News | Aviation Week | defpro | Lockheed Martin.

Critical Design Review

July 2010: Battle manager. MEADS battle management element demonstrates interoperability with the NATO Air Command and Control System (ACCS) during the Joint Project Optic Windmill (JPOW) test, which used NATO’s Active Layer Theatre Ballistic Missile Defense (ALTBMD) Integration Test Bed. During Optic Windmill, MEADS systems shared simulation and military communications data, including track reports for different tactical ballistic missile threats. The test represents the 1st time that the MEADS program has been authorized to exchange data outside of its 3 partner nations.

MEADS is designed to work with a wide range of platforms and command and control structures, and NATO interoperability is especially important to Germany and Italy. NATO ACCS is its overarching tactical command and control element for theater missile defense. NATO’s ALTBMD program is tasked with designing a theater missile defense architecture that will include MEADS as a key component.

Lockheed Martin’s Sept 27/10 release says that MEADS system elements are continuing integration and testing at system integration laboratories in the U.S. and Europe, and are on track for flight tests at White Sands Missile Range, NM, starting in 2012.

March 10/10: Army antagonism. The meeting, involving senior Army officers and the US Missile Defense Agency, produces no resolution concerning the potential transfer of MEADS to the US MDA. Instead, senior officials from both organizations reportedly agreed that follow-up questions needed to be answered, and additional analysis was needed first. Defense News.

March 9/10: Army antagonism. The Washington Post reports that the US Army wants to cancel MEADS:

“After several failed attempts, the Army is trying again to cancel a $19 billion missile defense system that the United States is developing in partnership with Italy and Germany… the Army says MEADS has become too expensive, is taking too long to produce and is difficult to manage because any changes in the program require German and Italian approval. “The system will not meet U.S. requirements or address the current and emerging threat without extensive and costly modifications,” an internal Army staff memo concluded last month in recommending the cancellation of MEADS… Officials said a primary reason for sticking with the project is that it would be too expensive to stop. If the Defense Department were to cancel the system now, it would be required to pay $550 million to $1 billion in penalties… [and could] undercut the Pentagon’s relations with Germany and Italy, which need to replace their own aging missile defense systems… The Army is scheduled to decide this week whether it will continue to oversee the development of MEADS or hand over responsibility to the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency.”

Feb 1/10: US Budget. The Pentagon releases its FY 2011 budget request, and begin to break out MEADS-related spending from its Patriot programs, instead of aggregating them.

The FY 2011 request is for $467.1 million, down from FY 2010’s $566.2 million budget, but still above FY 2009’s $454.7 million.

Oct 6/09: Foreign crypto. The MEADS program has received approval to use a European cryptographic device to implement SELEX Sistemi Integrati’s Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) in its radars, via a waiver from the U.S. National Security Agency. This makes MEADS the first American system ever to incorporate a foreign cryptographic device.

SELEX’s IFF will be packaged into MEADS’ UHF Surveillance Radar, and its X-Band Multifunction Fire Control Radar (MFCR) used for missile targeting. Selection of the SELEX unit means that the MEADS IFF subsystem is available to begin testing this fall at Pratica di Mare AFB near Rome, Italy, ahead of schedule. Lockheed Martin describes SELEX’s products as:

“…more robust than current implementations of U.S. IFF systems…SELEX leads U.S. industry in IFF development because Europe has already adopted new standards for radar operation and civilian aircraft. The U.S. is moving to adopt these standards in the future.”

FY 2009

 

PAC-3 MSE drawing
(click to view full)

Sept 15/09: T/R acceptance. EADS Defence & Security announces that its transmit/receive (T/R) modules for MEADS’ Multifunction Fire Control Radar (MFCR) have passed all required acceptance tests “with margin,” paving the way for integration into the 1st of 3 planned prototypes. The firm says that it has produced more than 10,000 of these modules already, which are core elements of the MFCR’s AESA radar. During the Design and Development phase, Defence Electronics will produce thousands of additional T/R modules, including the associated control electronics, under a EUR 120 million sub-contract.

These EADS DS T/R modules are the only ones in Europe which are certified in accordance with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standard – as is the “Microwave Factory” clean room facility in Ulm, Germany. These modules and technologies are mature, and have already been used in other EADS SMTR family radars, including the TerraSAR space radar, the BUR vehicle-mounted ground and air surveillance radar, and the Eurofighter‘s developmental E-Captor radar. EADS release.

Aug 5/09: Component CDRs. MEADS International announces that they has successfully completed Critical Design Reviews (CDRs) for all major components, clearing the way for production of radars, launchers, tactical operation centers, and reloaders needed for the system.

Under its design and development contract, this clears the way for MEADS International to provide 6 Battle Management, Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence Tactical Operations Centers, 4 launchers, 1 reloader, 3 surveillance radars, 3 multifunction fire control radars, and 20 PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement missile rounds for system tests at White Sands Missile Range, NM.

The next stage is a set of CDRs for the system as a whole, instead of just its individual components. A total of 15 system-level CDR events will be completed in the year ahead, leading to final evaluations of MEADS’ survivability, logistics, safety, integration and test, life cycle cost, and performance. The final system-level CDR event is expected in August 2010, and initial flight tests are planned for 2012.

Feb 2/09: MEADS + IRIS-T. Lockheed Martin announces Germany’s request to add the IRIS-T SL (Surface Launched) as a secondary MEADS missile for German fire units. The request will involve software adaptation to integrate the missile and launcher Via a standardized plug-and-fight data interface, and incorporation of the second missile into existing MEADS simulations. This will be an early test of the system’s open architecture electronics. Incorporating the missiles themselves will not require any redesign of MEADS hardware.

The IRIS-T SL system is based on the concept of the short-range, infrared guided IRIS-T air-to-air missile, adding a larger solid-propellant rocket motor, a data link, and a nose cone for drag reduction. The combination of radar-guided PAC-3 MSE and infrared-guided IRI-T SL missiles would expand MEADS’ options by allowing for engagements even with the tracking radar shut down as a result of command decisions or damage. Competing launchers like Israel’s Spyder-MR (Derby radar-guided and enhanced Python-5 missiles) and France’s MICA-VL (MICA-IR and MICA-RF missiles) employ similar philosophies. Lockheed Martin.

Adding IRIS-T SL

FY 2008

 

BMC4I TOC
(click to view full)

March 28/08: Lockheed Martin Corp. in Grand Prairie, TX received a $6.7 million cost-plus fixed fee contract finalizing the change order for the CLIN 0002 PAC-3 missile segment enhancement, effort, and making changes to the PAC-3 MSE master test plan. See Jan 16/08 for more.

Work will be performed in Grand Prairie, TX and is expected to be complete by March 31/09. One bid was solicited on July 30/07 by the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal, AL (DAAH01-03-C-0164).

Feb 18/08: Nav. Northrop Grumman Corporation announces that MBDA Italia chose their navigation and localization system for NATO’s MEADS program within the design and development phase.

Feb 11/08: Lockheed Martin announces that the MEADS project has completed its System Preliminary Design Review (PDR), which tests whether the basic design of MEADS is ready to move forward into detailed design. Over the 6-month period leading to the PDR summary event on December 18, transatlantic review teams attended 27 multi-day design reviews to ensure that the needs of the three3 partner nations are being met.

The MEADS team will now focus on detailed design work for the system, with the Critical Design Review (CDR) scheduled for 2009, leading to initial MEADS flight tests in 2011. Lockheed Martin release.

Preliminary Design Review

Jan 16/08: PAC-3 MSE. Lockheed Martin announces that NATO’s MEADS Management Agency awarded them a $66 million contract to develop the Lockheed Martin PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) Missile as the baseline interceptor for the tri-national program. The baseline PAC-3 Missile was selected as the primary missile for MEADS when the design and development program began in 2004, but PAC-3 MSE adds additional range and coverage by using larger folding control surfaces, and a more powerful rocket motor designed to boost range by up to 50%, to about 30 km/ 18 miles.

The MEADS Steering Committee, composed of 1 government representative from each of the 3 participating nations, recommended the change following submittal of a study by MEADS International, Inc. that assessed the principal technical, schedule, cost, contract and program implications of integrating the PAC-3 MSE Missile instead. MEADS International Technical Director Claudio Ponzi:

“Changing the baseline interceptor during our Preliminary Design Review keeps risk to a minimum and keeps us on track to provide the three nations with the 21st century air and missile defense system they have requested.”

PAC-3 MSE development

Nov 15/07: Security. For the third consecutive year, MEADS International receives Superior ratings in an annual audit by the U.S. Defense Security Service (DSS). DSS has responsibility for approximately 12,000 cleared contractor facilities, and fewer than 5% demonstrate the top-rated “Superior” performance for an industrial security program. It’s reserved for contractors that consistently and fully implement the requirements of the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual in a documented fashion that provides a superior security posture, compared with other contractors of similar size and complexity.

In announcing the results, DSS team leader Rob Gerardi noted that although MI received a Superior rating in 2006, the inspection team found several improvements to the security program this year. Lockheed Martin release.

FY 2007 and earlier

 

Aug 14/07: TOC. MEADS International releases more details concerning its Tactical Operations Center (TOC). With a large US Army contract on the horizon for an IBCS system that would integrate all anti-aircraft defenses in a sector, MI President Jim Cravens adds that:

“We have invested years of architectural and conceptual work to meet these requirements via an open, modular set of software that gives MEADS great flexibility to accommodate additional requirements. This flexibility offers the U.S. Army an opportunity to leverage the MEADS Battle Manager functionality as a backbone for its IBCS (common TOC) initiative.”

Lockheed Martin joined Northrop Grumman’s IBCS bid team in April 2007, becoming the 3rd member alongside NGC & Boeing. Their team’s main competitor is Raytheon, who is partnered with General Dynamics as well as Davidson Technologies, IBM, and Teledyne Brown Engineering.

Aug 7/07: Lockheed Martin announces that MEADS recently completed its 2-day Start of System Preliminary Design Review (PDR), which allows the project to continue on to detailed design.

The Start of System PDR marks the end of 33 months of Design and Development effort. It summarized previous Major End Item-level PDRs, including allocated baseline documentation, and addressed a set of operational and performance analyses. The PDF kicks off a series of 29 reviews over the next 4 months, leading to a Summary System PDR in late October 2007. Initial flight tests are still scheduled for 2011.

June 19/07: Security Award. MEADS International announces that The US Defense Security Service (DSS) has announced that MEADS International is one of 30 companies to receive the James S. Cogswell Outstanding Industrial Security Achievement Award, the most prestigious honor DSS may bestow on a cleared facility. To be a candidate for the award, a facility must receive a minimum of two consecutive Superior industrial security review ratings and show sustained excellence and innovation in their overall security program, including a security program that goes well beyond basic National Industrial Security Program requirements.

This is MEADS International’s second James S. Cogswell award, and follows implementation of a transatlantic NATO classified network that enables MI’s 7 work locations to collaborate in designing the MEADS system. MEADS International release.

Jan 16/07: Lockheed Martin announces a $3 million contract from the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to continue the Air-Launched Hit-to-Kill (ALHTK) initiative, which would enable fighter aircraft to carry and launch Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) Missiles to intercept hostile ballistic and cruise missiles.

Since a modified PAC-3 is slated to act as the MEADS system missile, and air-defense batteries can share information with fighters via channels like Link 16, the announcement has implications for future MEADS capabilities as well.

Feb 9/06: Management. MEADS International announces 2 changes within its management organization on the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) program, adding a finance director/ treasurer, and a planning manager.

Aug 4/05: Management. MEADS International announces the expansion of its Orlando technical management organization to lead development of the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) with a multinational set of appointments. In addition, 3 new positions have been added to the program management Team. See MEADS International release for more details.

June 17/05: MBDA buys LFK. MBDA buys a 100% stake in LFK, which used to be owned jointly by EADS and MBDA.

June 1/05: MEADS International Signs $3.4 Billion Design and Development Contract. The D&D contract extends the period of performance of a previous letter contract that was awarded to MI by the NATO MEADS Management Agency (NAMEADSMA) in September 2004. Lockheed Martin release.

Final SDD contract

April 20/05: Germany approves involvement in MEADS missile. This clears the way for the signing of the full development contract.

September 2004: NATO’s MEADS Management Agency (NAMEADSMA) awards MEADS International a letter contract valued in then-year terms at approximately $2.0 billion plus EUR 1.4 billion euros to design and develop the system, with an initial period of performance for which the overall maximum financial ceiling was approximately $54.5 million plus EUR 54.8 million.

Initial SDD contract

Additional Readings The Program

• US Office of the Secretary of Defense (Feb 11/11) – Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) Fact Sheet [PDF]. Provides program background, and explains the decision to end funding in FY 2013.

• MEADS International Inc. See also MEADS Program Overview Presentation [PDF]

Background: MEADS Components

• Lockheed Martin – Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS).

• Lockheed Martin – PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement.

• Diehl BGT Defence – IRIS-T SL / IRIS-T SLS. Will serve as as the secondary missile in the German MEADS system.

• Army Technology – MEADS Medium Extended Air Defense System, Germany / Italy / USA.

• GlobalSecurity.org – Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) Corps SAM.

Background: Related Systems

• US Missile Defense Agency – Terminal Phase Defense. Includes THAAD, Arrow II, Patriot PAC-3 & MEADS.

• Designation Systems – Lockheed-Martin Patriot PAC-3.

• DID FOCUS Article – Keeping Patriots in Shape. The Patriot Engineering Support contract already included provisions for MEADS-related MEI work.

DID FOCUS Article – THAAD: Reach Out and Touch Ballistic Missiles. A ground-based complement to MEADS that offers the next step up in range.

News & Views

• DID – Alone, If Necessary: The Shield of Poland.

• SLD (Oct 28 – Nov 5/10) – Regional Missile Defense: The Challenge of Crafting Integrated Missile Defense in NATO and Other Allied Regions. Read Part One | Part Two.

• Air Defense Artillery Magazine (July-September 2005) – It’s Time to Start Thinking MEADS [PDF]

• Aviation Daily & Defense Report (Oct 27/04) – Germany Expected To Approve New MEADS Phase In December. Actually, it happened in late April, 2005.

• BASIC Publications (May 15/01) – European Missile Defense: New Emphasis, New Roles.