Lockheed Martin Corporation has delivered the Israeli Air Force (IAF) F-16I Flight and System Trainer (FST) that will be used to support a variety of training requirements for the IAF F-16I "Soufa" fighter and ground attack aircraft.
Approximately 130 Airmen and five F-22 Raptors from Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, are deployed to Guam for two weeks to fulfill security requirements in the Asia Pacific region.
A small country like Norway cannot afford more than one type of fighter aircraft. Unlike larger countries, we cannot allow ourselves the luxury of having specialized single role planes," says Espen Barth Eide, State Secretary in the Ministry of Defense.
The Boeing Company has signed a commercial contract with the government of Germany for the production of Laser Joint Direct Attack Munitions (LJDAM) and integration support on Tornado aircraft, marking the first international sale of the LJDAM weapon system.
The first candidate for the Partial Tiger Replacement programme (PTR) landed Emmen this morning. With the arrival of the Swedish Gripen aircraft in Switzerland, the air and ground tests for the PTR programme will begin.
Chairman Ike Skelton (D-MO) and Seapower and Expeditionary Forces Subcommittee Chairman Gene Taylor (D-MS) made the following statements on the Navy’s decision to modify its shipbuilding plan with respect to surface combatants.
The Boeing Company today announced that Raytheon has joined its EP-X industry team. EP-X is a manned airborne intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting aircraft that will replace the U.S. Navy's EP-3 signals intelligence (SIGINT) platform.
The Secretary of the Navy today informed members of the Senate and House of its plans to cancel the DDG-1000 program after completion of the first two ships, one of which is scheduled to be completed at Bath Iron Works.
Now I've seen footage of SOF dudes catching a ride in the ammo bay of a Cobra in Afghanistan. And I've heard of other operators flying the "wings" of Apaches during an evac near Ramadi, but this is a tough one to believe...
[Editor's Note: Our good friend Martin Andrew, who publishes an investigative blaster chronicling Chinese military development called the Gi Zhou Newsletter, has some interesting tidbits for us this week. And please note, the picture at left is an earlier Type 89 self-propelled gun.]
New 122mm Self-Propelled Gun
In 1966, Luo Ruiqing, the PLA's then chief-of-staff criticised the defence industry because it was concentrating on R&D rather than on production. He was accused in the official Report of Luo's Mistakes that, 'he still frantically attacked our national defence scientific research work as going from data to data, from design to design, without completing anything'. Luo believed China was in imminent war with the United States, and advocated Soviet assistance. His criticism of the Chinese defence industry could well have applied into the 1990s as well as today with too many designs that achieve little.
A new 122mm self-propelled gun has been shown in the online version of PLA Daily. Titled 'Artillery troops enhance combat effectiveness with new equipment', it shows a battery of these guns. The vehicle uses the chassis from the new ZBD97 infantry fighting vehicle with a turret, most probably a modified version of the one used on the Model 89 122mm self-propelled gun.
WZ731 Tracked Scout Vehicle
Identified as a xinxihua zhanchang (Informationalised battlefield) system, the WZ731 tracked scout developed from the ZSD89 hull with a low profile turret mounting two armoured sights, one with a laser rangefinder and CCD daylight sight and the other a thermal imager. The WZ731 had a crew of up to six including a three man scout team. It was 6.62m long, 2.626m wide and 1.88m high at the hull and 2.556m at the top of the armoured sights. The combat weight was only 8.1t which gave it a maximum road speed of 80.5 km/hr.
The armament comprised eight 76mm smoke grenade dischargers, four mounted in a row on each side of the turret and a pintle mounted Model 59 12.7 x 108mm heavy machine gun on the left side if the commander's cupola which is directly behind the driver on the left hand side. This single machine gun on its open pintle mount was deemed insufficient in the event of the vehicle coming under attack. The lack of an automatic cannon was one reason the vehicle was not introduced into service. The British Scimitar tracked reconnaissance vehicle is similar in weight, is better armoured, smaller in size, more mobile and m mounts a 30mm cannon.
The basic design was sound and a new scout version of the ZSD89, using the enlarged rear hull of the ambulance version, with a modified low profile turret from the WZ731. This incorporates flat transmitter panels on the turret roof, and on top of this is a compressed gas catapult for a small UAV.
New Unmanned Air Vehicle
The Wenchuan Earthquake has seen the use of at least one Chinese developed and manufactured unmanned air vehicle (UAV). It was to survey the extent of the damage.
It is only 2.1 m long and has a wingspan of 2.6m. It weighs 20kg and is of pusher configuration with twin booms connecting a 'V' shaped rear fin. It can travel at 110km/hr, reach an altitude of 3,500m and has GPS assisted guidance. Its photographic images are excellent.
FORMER NASA astronaut and moonwalker Dr Edgar Mitchell - a veteran of the Apollo 14 mission - has stunningly claimed aliens do exist.
And he says extra-terrestrials have visited Earth on several occasions - but the alien contact has been repeatedly covered up by governments for six decades.
Dr Mitchell, 77, said during a radio interview that sources at the space agency who had had contact with aliens described the beings as 'little people who look strange to us.'
He said supposedly real-life ET's were similar to the traditional image of a small frame, large eyes and head.
Chillingly, he claimed our technology is "not nearly as sophisticated" as theirs and "had they been hostile", he warned "we would be been gone by now".
Dr Mitchell, along with with Apollo 14 commander Alan Shepard, holds the record for the longest ever moon walk, at nine hours and 17 minutes following their 1971 mission.
Was Mitchell a technical advisor to the new X-Files movie? Heck of a promo...
"I happen to have been privileged enough to be in on the fact that we've been visited on this planet and the UFO phenomena is real," Dr Mitchell said.
"It's been well covered up by all our governments for the last 60 years or so, but slowly it's leaked out and some of us have been privileged to have been briefed on some of it.
"I've been in military and intelligence circles, who know that beneath the surface of what has been public knowledge, yes - we have been visited. Reading the papers recently, it's been happening quite a bit."
So, I guess we are not alone.
Officials from NASA, however, were quick to play the comments down.
In a statement, a spokesman said: "NASA does not track UFOs. NASA is not involved in any sort of cover up about alien life on this planet or anywhere in the universe.
While the increase in troop numbers known as the surge has gotten much credit for the decline in combat and civilian deaths in Iraq one key component of the effort has been underplayed the changed role of intelligence teams operating in both Iraq and in Afghanistan.
In an exclusive interview with DoDBuzz, the director of the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, Vice Adm. Robert Murrett, said his people are working in teams with DIA, NRO, FBI and other intelligence agencies in theater and those teams are providing improved actionable intelligence to troops.
For example, every brigade combat team has NGA and other intelligence community personnel embedded to provide analysis and information on a 24-hour basis.
Its those intelligence community interagency teams that are working hand in glove with the forces that we have deployed forward that are making a difference, Murrett told me. While he was very cautious in discussing examples of just how those teams have operated, he offered two details: they are embedded with troops, often on the front lines; and the intelligence community teams have been a major factor in helping find IED caches.
One key component of this intelligence comes from commercial imagery. Since it is not classified NGA can supply that data much more quickly to front-line troops than it can provide classified imagery, Murrett said. However, I would want to emphasize that, particularly when our military forces are involved, we derive the very best data we can from whatever source we can get it from, he added. Often that means overlaying data from classified sources on to the commercial imagery, which requires that the whole package be classified.
The US Army has Constant Hawk. The US Marine Corps has Angel Fire. Somebody has something called Highlighter.
What the heck are they?
Constant Hawk, Angel Fire and Highlighter are the names of manned, light aircraft that have been invented since the Iraqi occupation began to fight against the scourge of improvised explosive devices.
Public details vary greatly for each of these semi-classified aircraft programs. Thanks to funding and turf wars, we know quite a bit about Constant Hawk (a modified Shorts C-23B Sherpa) and Angel Fire. [USA Today article is here. Great analysis by StrategyPage.com is here.]
The US Army Material Command was even generous enough to post a photo of Constant Hawk on their Flickr page.
All I know about Highlighter is that it was invented by the Joint IED Defeat Organization (JIEDDO), and it is an aircraft. (Dear Maj Gen Montgomery Meigs, Thank you for disclosing Highlighter's existence in a commentary you wrote to "correct" a critical Marine Corps Times editorial on April 16, 2007.)
We may -- finally -- have a clue about how all of these ideas were invented.
It could be a project office embedded in the Office of the Secretary of Defense [OSD] called "Liberty Ship".
Perhaps modelled on the US Air Force's famed Big Safari project office in Dayton, Ohio, OSD may be using Liberty Ship to skirt around the traps and tripwires of the military's acquisition system.
The code word Liberty Ship was first mentioned in a public forum earlier this week by General Norton Schwartz, OSD's nominee to become the next USAF chief of staff.
Before his nomination hearing, the Senate armed services committee posed written questions to Schwartz, including one query about how he would address the shortfall of spy aircraft in Iraq.
Schwartz replied in writing:
"By increasing the number of MQ-9 vehicles, pursuing the "Liberty Ship" construct for acquisition of more "light" manned ISR aircraft, and accelerating the development of the Wide Area Airborne Surveillance sensor system, the Air Force is working very hard to get more ISR capability to the combatant commanders in support of on-going operations. If confirmed, this will have my personal attention from day one."
For background, here's an excerpt from the Senate armed services report published in May on the fiscal 2009 defense budget request.
"The Army Constant Hawk and Marine Corps Angel Fire systems are current examples of wide-area collection systems. The DOD leadership requested funds for the Air Force to acquire a combined, enhanced system, currently called Wide-Area Airborne Surveillance (WAAS), to image a larger area than Constant Hawk or Angel Fire, enable night operations, real-time support to ground forces, provide a forensic capability, and support many simultaneous targeting and surveillance missions. It could cue and hand off targets to [full motion video] platforms for prosecution."
Liberty is not a common prefix for a code name. According to William Arkin's Code Names reference book, there are only two other known Liberty prefix's in the Pentagon's classified lexicon:
Liberty Shield, a Department of Homeland Security operation to increase security at the nation's critical infrastructure
Libertycap, a National Security Agency program to standardize all signals intelligence software
Clearly, these code names -- Angel Fire, Highlighter, Constant Hawk, Liberty Ship -- are the barest glimpse into the massive, multi-billion dollar and ambiguous effort to thwart the threat of IED attacks. I can't wait to read the book someday.
I wrote earlier this week about the apparent demise of the DDG 1000 in the Navy's future budget planning. Well, in an unusual step, two very key lawmakers have come out in favor of curtailing the program.
I am pleased with the Navys decision to focus its resources on the DDG 51 destroyer, with its known costs and capabilities, rather than the increasingly expensive DDG 1000, said Chairman Ike Skelton (D-MO). Our committee recommended this action in the fiscal year 2009 Defense Authorization Act, and I am pleased to see the Navy heed our advice. It is a responsible decision that will benefit both the Navy and the taxpayer for years to come.
I believe this is the right thing for the men and women of our Navy and the citizens who pay for these ships, Subcommittee Chairman Gene Taylor (D-MS) commented. The DDG 51 class destroyer is the premier destroyer in the world today. The ship has tremendous flexibility in a variety of warfighting missions, including the ability to serve as a ballistic missile defense platform. Just as important, the costs of these ships are well known. The Navy has built 62 of these superb vessels and our shipyards know how to build them on budget and on schedule.
Taylor continued, The two DDG 1000s that our nation will build will be extremely capable ships. However, virtually every independent organization with expertise in ship cost analysis has predicted the first two ships will cost up to $5 billion each, or more than $1.5 billion more than the Navy has budgeted. Such cost overruns would cripple the Navys plan to reach a 313-ship fleet.
Now, as DT reader George Skinner noted in his comments from Monday's post, the DDG 1000 has been a great incubator for new naval technologies. I'm in favor of using programs such as this to develop new gear for the next generation of hardware -- I see the same thing happening with the FCS program and I'm all for it. And it's refreshing when services make a tactical retreat on some programs and admit that they'll be used essentially as R&D labs.
Continues Taylor:
"I believe that our Navy and our nation are better served by building a large number of DDG 51s and then proceeding with a timely and orderly plan to begin construction of the next generation of nuclear powered cruisers. I look forward to working with Admiral Roughead and Secretary Winter during the return to DDG 51 production."
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has ordered a top-level review of the Pentagon's use of private security contractors, including the controversial Moyock, N.C.-based Blackwater Worldwide, to train American troops.
"Why have we come to rely on contractors to provide combat or combat-related security training ... Are we comfortable with this practice?" Gates asked in a July 10 memo to Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The defense boss also requested more detail on how much each of the military branches is spending on contractor-supplied training and whether the services have established "appropriate red lines" governing "what types of security training are permitted to be contracted out."
He expects initial answers sometime this week, Gates said in a letter Friday to Virginia Sen. Jim Webb. A Mullen spokesman confirmed that a response is in the works.
I've run into a lot of contractor trainers in my travels and I've got to tell you, they're by in large pretty darn good at what they do and provide a necessary service to American troops preparing for battle. Most of the training Soldiers and Marines receive at the camps in northern Kuwait, including Camp Buehring, before they go into Iraq comes from contractors. Everything from urban warfare training to tactical shooting drills are taught by retired master sergeants and gunnies.
The ones I've talked to are dedicated pros who don't complain about the abysmal conditions and isolation of some of these camps. I've also looked into the training that goes on at civilian organizations for special operations forces. Again, some of the most sophisticated and highly technical fighting and weapons training goes on at these places and it would be a shame to have to shut these relationships down.
I'm not sure where Webb is going with this inquiry. I've got to admit, I am a bit squeemish when I hear that sailors with the riverine force are being trained by Blackwater staff. Not because of the company involved, but more because that seems like pretty basic training that should be conducted by sailors themselves.
I'm willing to be convinced otherwise, but I just don't see what the problem is with retired grunts finding a new career training the same Joes they once served alongside. It's the same thing that happens in the civilian world with retired whomevers "consulting" in their prior business. If the troops are more effective for it, why not do it?
OK, so according to Marine Public Affairs, I was wrong...or should I say the veteran crew chief who told me during one of my flights in the Osprey was wrong.
Turns out, Obama was picked up at LZ Washington in the Green Zone in the MV-22. He was flown to Ramadi, where he met with tribal sheiks there who were part of the Anbar Awakening movement. Then he reboarded the Osprey and flew to Amman.
This is logical on several levels. First, if he's going to a Marine AO for meetings with Anbar officials, it stands to reason the Corps would pick him up in an Osprey rather than a 46. The trip is faster and at a higher altitude, so at least tactically, it's safer. Also, the Osprey is the most capable aircraft for the long trip from Ramadi to Amman. A 46 would suck for that distance and the 53 wouldn't be a whole lot better. And you can't land a C-130 at Ramadi.
Hence the Osprey flight. Marine officials, though at first skeptical themselves, didn't see a publicity stunt on this one.
But I am curious about the landing at LZ Washington. That LZ is pretty tight (thought I admittedly have really only seen it at night since all of my flights out of there have been at o-dark-thirty). But I vividly remember talking to a veteran Osprey crew chief who was involved in the testing phase of the MV-22 and is now in VMM-263 that the bird couldn't land at Washington because it was too tight.
I'm not sure if anyone else noticed this, but I think it's pretty significant in one way or another.
So, if you take a look at the pictures and video footage of Barack Obama's trip to Amman, Jordan, those of you who are sensitive to this sort of thing might notice something strange about the aircraft he was walking out of. For me, the tip off was the sound the plane was making.
Having spent some time with the squadron, something in my brain told me it wasn't a C-130 and it wasn't a 53 or a 47. "But surely," my consciousness told me, "they wouldn't risk the safety of a presidential candidate on something most 'experts' say is so dangerous..."
Then I pulled out my trusty TiVo remote and confirmed my suspicions.
Obama flew from Iraq to Amman on an MV-22 Osprey from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Transport squadron 162 -- the newest Osprey squadron to deploy to Iraq.
I'm kicking over some rocks as we speak to see if this was by happenstance or by design. Was the Corps strategically placing a potential president in the Osprey to wow him into continued support for the pricey assault support plane?
I'd also be interested to know a bit about the flight plan, since Obama spent his entire day-long trip to Iraq in the Green Zone, which the Osprey can't land in (LZ Washington being too tight for the wide-winged tiltrotor). So he must have flown out of BIAP...by why not in a C-130?
Curiouser and curiouser...But still, kind of a cool trip for the Osprey anyway. And having logged many hours in one myself, I am sure Obama and his entourage were duly impressed with its performance.
[Both photos from the Associated Press via Yahoo News]
Russia may start regular flights by long-range bombers to Cuba in response to US plans to build missile defence sites in Eastern Europe, the newspaper Izvestia reported Monday, quoting an official.
A US Air Force B-52 bomber crashed off the coast of Guam in the central Pacific killing two crew members and leaving four others missing, navy officials said.
The Spanish civil guard launched a dawn operation against ETA in the northern Basque country Tuesday, resulting in seven arrests and the dismantling of the armed separatist group's highly active Vizcaya unit, media reported.
Officials from the Government Accountability Office testified before Congress July 10 here about their decision to uphold Boeing's protests of the Air Force's selection of Northrop Grumman Corp. to produce 179 new tankers that would replace the aging KC-135 Stratotanker fleet.
Duke Field Airmen from the 711th Special Operations Squadron dropped the last operational Bomb Live Unit-82 from an MC-130E Combat Talon I July 15 at the Utah Test and Training Range.
The Missile Defense Agency announced the successful execution of an important system test today during which a long-range ballistic missile was tracked by radars of the missile defense system.
Construction activity is expected to commence on a joint Australian and United States defence satellite communications ground station at the Australian Defence Satellite Communications Station (ADSCS) Geraldton in the third quarter of 2008.
In an effort to bring together minds and ideas from across the cyberspace community, Air University officials hosted a week-long cyberspace symposium here recently.
An unmanned submersible operated by Rutgers University's Coastal Ocean Observation Laboratory (COOL) is "flying" -- underwater -- from New Jersey to Spain. The remote-controlled undersea glider will travel more than 3,800 miles, and will collect key scientific information on the temperature and salinity of the Atlantic Ocean.
"The big advantage is, it's totally unmanned," according to Conrad Lautenbacher, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which sponsors the submersible. "It's very efficient and can be used to obtain the same kind of data we gather from ships."
In general, sea gliders are Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) that use small changes in buoyancy in conjunction with wings to convert vertical motion to horizontal, and thereby propel themselves forward with very low power consumption. While not as fast as conventional AUVs with propulsion systems, gliders using buoyancy-based propulsion represent a significant increase in range and endurance compared to vehicles propelled by electric motor-driven propellers. The sea glider has a battery-powered data collection and satellite communication system. The U.S. Navy as well as NOAA have been developing such sea gliders for several years.
During its trans-Atlantic cruise the glider will periodically rise to the surface of the ocean to transmit data up to a satellite. But most of the time the COOL glider will travel at depths between 15 feet to 300 feet below the surface. The COOL researchers will share all collected oceanographic data with the Navy and other interested agencies. The lack of a propulsion system will aid in data collection, alleviating self-noise interference.
The Navy is also looking into glider-type AUVs -- which it calls UUVs for Unmanned Underwater Vehicles -- for several missions, primarily to undertake environmental measurements in areas where surface ships or aircraft (dropping sensors) cannot easily operate. And, of course, flotillas of such unmanned gliders would be much cheaper than manned research ships and craft.
The COOL-developed submersible is yellow, less than 8 feet long, and weighs about 130 pounds. Developed by Rutgers University, the craft will also provide the university with other important information, such as how long the crafts batteries will last and systems reliability. Larger and more capable AUV/UUVs are being developed by the Navy under the auspices of the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Commands systems center in San Diego and the Office of Naval Research.
According to the 2000 Program Guide to the U.S. Navy, the highest priority missions for Navy UUVs, presumably including gliders, are intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; mine countermeasures (i.e., locating and mapping mines); and anti-submarine warfare. Sea gliders could be very useful in collecting environmental information for ASW operations.
China and Russia signed an agreement Monday that ended a decades-long territorial dispute and finally determined their borders, in the latest sign of warming ties between the former Cold War foes.
Officials at the National Guard’s Eastern Aviation Training Site here yesterday unveiled the new UH-72A Lakota light utility helicopter, for which they will become the military’s sole trainers.
African Union leaders on Monday asked the UN Security Council to delay a decision by the International Criminal Court on whether to indict Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir on war crimes charges.
Following Asia Pacific’s rapid economic growth, which is the fastest in the world, there has been substantial rise in the armed forces’ spending on modernization and upgrade of ageing military aircraft and capabilities.
After a string of successful missile tests, India will undertake the climax trials of its indigenous third generation anti-tank missile 'Nag' next week.
Defence science and technology plays a crucial role in keeping both Australia and the United States secure, the Minister for Defence Science and Personnel, the Hon. Warren Snowdon MP, said in Washington D.C. this week.
The Boeing Company, working with industry teammates and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, today successfully completed a Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system test that demonstrated the most complex integration to date of sensors required to support a missile intercept.
IAE International Aero Engines has concluded an excellent week of business at the Farnborough International Airshow by dispatching the first production engine of its new V2500 SelectOne build standard to Toulouse.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Australia of M777A2 155mm Light-Weight Howitzers as well as associated equipment and services.
It's like the Navy's version of the F-22 -- a lingering vestige of the "blue water" fighting force the service once was. But like the F-22, and despite the Navy's best efforts to shift its emphasis to surface fire support (a concept that still clings to life despite air-to-ground and surface to surface missile and artillery advancements) talk is that the DDG 1000 is slipping away.
The DDG 1000 series of ships would run on quiet and compact electric motors, not today's gas turbine engines. The ships would be unusually large but built with a radar-evading profile to make them appear small, and they would carry a new gun able to hit precisely targets 50 miles or more inland.
Most important for sailors, the destroyers would carry highly trained, computer-savvy crews half as large as the force on current destroyers.
As recently as early June, the Pentagon's top weapons buyer reaffirmed the Bush administration's support for the new ships. But as Congress refines spending plans for 2009 this summer, Navy leaders appear ready to abandon the DDG 1000 program, building only two destroyers for what once was seen as a force of two dozen or more.
The House of Representatives already has voted for at least a pause in DDG 1000 purchases, citing the cost - as much as $5 billion each - of the first two ships in the series and their dependence on still-unproven technologies.
In a statement released last week , the Navy seemed resigned to an early end for the program. "Even if we do not receive funding ... beyond the first two ships, the technology embedded in DDG 1000 will advance the Navy's future," the statement asserted.
And the sad thing is that the littoral combat ship was to precede the DDG 1000 and even that's on the skids (and is perhaps the most relevant ship the Navy's looking into right now). Rummy started it with the death of Cold War vestige programs in the Army (remember the Crusader and Comanche?) and Gates pounded a few more nails into the coffin with is "next-war-itis" crusade. The services are beginning to see the writing on the wall and refocus their efforts -- leaving a big job for the next defense secretary to get the procurement plans back on track.
My boy Dave Woroner sent this little item along to me and I forward it with enthusiasm.
Aside from the interesting blog site for BTDTs from which this issue came, the imagery of Chinese SWAT operators chasing down Olympic terrorists with little scooters tickles my funny bone.
That's right. The rolling thunder that is China's eeee-light counter-terrorist unit is locked, loaded and good to go...
No word yet on whether the gadget-loving higher-ups of the US military will invest the eleventy zillion dollars necessary to develop their own electric powered individual soldier short-range expedient deployment vehicle (or EPISSED to use the convenient acronym). Even if no one else wants one, we're confident the Air Force will buy at least a couple so the zipper-suited sun gods don't get footsore on the way to their planes.
Now, all jokes aside, the Air Force really could use some Segways on their flightlines for maintainers, loaders and crews. The huge fields employed stateside and in Iraq are littered with bicycles, so why not Segways? And I remember talking to the former head of the Marine Corps' "Chemical, Biological Incident Response Force" a few years ago and he mentioned they were looking into buying Segways to help shuttle their chem-bio suit-laden troops back and forth to infected areas.
But I do always laugh at the beat cops who hum around on these contraptions (a lot of DC, and Capitol Police included) -- which any jail-fearing perp could easily outrun..."Wait! Wait! Come back here!"...
DT buddy Steve Trimble scored a great scoop at the Farnborough air show this week. He reports:
Boeing's global marketing campaign for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet has drawn the public wrath of the senior U.S. military official leading the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
U.S. Air Force Lt Gen Charles Davis, speaking exclusively to Flight International, has accused Boeing of "spreading lies and half-truths" about the F-35 to bolster its case for selling the F/A-18E/F.
"That's just pissing us off," Davis says. "If Boeing has to say something negative about JSF to sell their aircraft, that tells me there is something wrong with their aircraft."
Davis specifically faults Boeing executives for predicting further cost overruns and delays for the F-35 program. By comparison, Davis says, he has heard BAE Systems make no such predictions in their efforts to sell the Eurofighter Typhoon.
However, it was pointed out to Davis that Boeing had delivered hundreds of F/A-18E/Fs on time and on budget, while the JSF program has reported a 50 percent cost increase and an at least 18-month delay during the first seven years of development.
Davis acknowledges the F-35's record, but refuses to back down in his criticism of Boeing.
He says the F-35's development challenges cannot be compared with the F/A-18E/F. The Super Hornet is based on an existing airframe, he says, and reuses the avionics suite from the original aircraft.
"That's the baseline they're measured against. How hard is that?" Davis asks.
The F-35 and F/A-18E/F are in competition in several countries, and not least in the USA, where Navy officials continue to debate the need for extending Super Hornet purchases if the JSF is further delayed.
Boeing executives were not immediately aware of the news articles that provoked the Davis outburst.
"We don't know much about JSF other than what we read in the paper," says Jim Albaugh, president of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems.
Tom Bell, a Boeing business development official, says he is unaware of the specific comments that triggered Davis' outburst, and so could not give a direct response.
Bell points out that two JSF development partners - Australia and Denmark - have already acquired or are considering acquiring F/A-18E/Fs instead.
"People with greater insight [into the F-35 program] than I are looking at the offerings available," Bell says. "Let people draw their own conclusions about why
."
So is it worse when the Air Force is pissed at Boeing or the other way around like it has been during the tanker protest furor? Or is this just the kind of "healthy tension" we need between these two legs of the Iron Triangle? Stay tuned.
(Photo: General Davis demonstrates what he'd like to do to those at Boeing who are badmouthing the JSF.)
You might remember a few months back -- as many lawmakers got themselves into a lather, treating the MRAP as the solution to every problem with the Iraq War -- we raised some questions about the pace at which they were being fielded and how they were going to be employed effectively during a counter-insurgency campaign.
Well, the dust is starting to clear from the stampede of those who were out to prove they love the troops more than the next congressman, and lo and behold, their zeal caused a few unintended consequences.
Here's an excerpt from the story running at Military.com:
The accelerated pace the military has used to buy and deploy thousands of heavily armored mine resistant vehicles for Iraq and Afghanistan could lead to problems with maintenance and cost overruns on the top priority project, according to congressional investigators.
Congress has appropriated $22 billion to acquire more than 15,000 mine resistant ambush protected vehicles, also known as MRAPs, to protect troops from roadside bombs and other insurgent ambushes, according to the Government Accountability Office report. Defense Secretary Robert Gates designated the program as the department's highest priority acquisition last year.
That meant testing of safety and performance occurred while the vehicles were being bought, raising the possibility costly errors would be uncovered after the fact. More than 100 vehicles the military paid for were not fielded because of problems discovered after their purchase, according to the GAO report made public Wednesday.
"While the department's concurrent approach to producing, testing, and fielding the vehicles has provided an urgently needed operational capability, it has also increased performance, sustainability and cost risks," the GAO concluded
Multiple sources have confirmed that China has openly threatened anyone who reuses or rebroadcasts the Beijing Olympics. Chinese officials publicly stated they will punish Internet Web sites, Re-broadcasters and other new media that replay the 2008 Olympic Games and related events without the authorization of state-run China Central Television.
Xu Chao, deputy director of the Copyright Management Division in the State Copyright Bureau said during the Olympic Games, many unauthorized broadcasts will flood into the market. We should initiate an attack against broadcast piracy. Xu went on to discuss some of their anti-piracy measures including a public hotline for reporting illegal broadcasting through the State Copyright Bureau website or by dialing the "12390" anti-piracy hotline to collaborate with the government. People involved will be rewarded for the reports once the report is found to be true.
The International Olympic Committee granted CCTV the new media broadcast rights for the summer games exclusively. We were unable to obtain their exact definition of new media broadcast. However, in a statement by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, the National Copyright Administration and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, they said Web sites and mobile platforms using Olympic broadcast signals without getting permission from the CCTV will be punished.
They went on to say that Web sites may be shut down if they carry the events illegally. Olympics coverage is big business. The 2008 Summer Games in Beijing will mark the arrival of streaming content as a viable alternative to the Olympics television broadcast. Online video streaming is attracting an increasing share of ad spending and many believe is the future of advertising. NBCOlympics.com will offer 4,400 hours of on-demand streaming content plus 2,200 hours of live programming, making the Beijing Olympics the largest streaming media project to date. There is little doubt that carbon copies of the streamed media will be available from numerous sources on the web and in the physical world. So it appears China has a big challenge ahead.
Are they really threatening cyber attacks on public companies, private industry and individuals? That is the way one Cyber Security Expert we spoke to interpreted it. Only time will tell. What if a company in the United States, or any other country, is attacked? How will the government respond? One thing for sure, this is a sign of things to come.
Facts:
The Olympics have become a very, very big business. Worldwide media rights to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing sold for $1.7 billion, with NBC Universal paying $894 million for the U.S. media rights alone.
China Central Television (CCTV) said that Web sites may be shut down if they carry the events illegally. In addition, a Chinese Government spokesperson said Any individual without authorization who uploads recorded Olympic events or pirated Olympics video broadcasting websites will face up to 100,000 RMB in penalties.
The statement in its entirety can be found here.
A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that President George W. Bush has the power to keep a terrorist suspect jailed indefinitely, but that the detainee has the right to challenge his detention as an "enemy combatant."
About 300 Georgia National Guard Soldiers arrived in Tiblisi, Georgia, Monday for Immediate Response 2008, a three-week international exercise to help build relationships with coaliton partners from several Eastern European nations.
The United States and Russia held rival war games Tuesday on either side of the Caucasus mountains amid simmering tensions over the fate of two rebel regions in ex-Soviet Georgia.
The breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia could join the Moscow-led Russia-Belarus union, a Russian newspaper reported Tuesday, citing the union's spokesman.
DT contributer emeritus Chris Michel gave us a heads up about a series of photos over at Gizmodo that show details of the aftermath of the B-2 crash in Guam a few months back.
Here's one of them:
Composites have afforded amazing performance capabilities in modern aircraft but they are nasty when they burn. The fibers get airborne in a fire and can get into the lungs of those who might inadvertantly breath the smoke -- which is why crash crews are careful to wear respirators even after that flames die off.
The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor air dominance fighter made its international air show debut outside North America today at the Royal International Air Tattoo held at RAF Fairford.
Northrop Grumman Corporation's Tanker team announced today that all four initial tanker System Design and Development (SDD) airframes are scheduled for final assembly and initial flight testing by the end of 2009.
As the most advanced rotorcraft technology innovation that will revolutionize vertical flight in the forthcoming future, the BA609 Tiltrotor features an unparalleled combination of high performance and maximum flexibility
This week, as Saab takes part in the world’s largest air show, Farnborough International Air Show, outside London, the world market’s interest in Gripen is greater than ever.
The Bell Helicopter-Boeing team that builds the V-22 Osprey will hold a press conference Tuesday at the Farnborough Air Show with a number of senior Marine corps officers playing the starring roles, presumably to extol the virtues of the V-22 and its performance in Iraq.
They might not want to volunteer the following recent incident so we'll do it for them. It just so happens that on June 21 a Marine V-22 crew had a serious engine problem forced the crew to quickly find a place to land.
An internal Marine memorandum sent to us by a source describes
the problem delicately.
WHILE IN FLIGHT, PILOTS NOTICED THAT THE R/H ENGINE TORQUE WOULD NOT GO ABOVE 66 PERCENT. THE AIRCRAFT WAS UNABLE TO HOLD ALTITUDE, AND HAD TO MAKE AN EMERGENCY LANDING IN THE FIELD. AFTER REPLACEMENT OF THE ENGINE, A BOROSCOPE INSPECTION WAS CONDUCTED TO INSPECT THE ENGINE INTERNALLY. IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT COMPRESSOR BLADES WERE DAMAGED FROM POSSIBLE FOD INGESTION. A BOROSCOPE INSPECTION OF THE COMBUSTION CHAMBER SHOWED THAT THE LINER HAD BROKEN
INTO PIECES. THESE PIECES ENTERED INTO THE GAS GENERATOR, CAUSING SIGNIFICANT
DAMAGE.
INTERNAL FAILURE OF THE ENGINE CAUSED FOR A
LOSS OF ALTITUDE CONTROL. THE AIRCRAFT WAS UNABLE TO STABILIZE OR HOLD AN ALTITUDE, AND WAS FORCED TO LAND. THIS COULD BE FATAL TO PERSONNEL ABOARD THE AIRCRAFT, AND CAUSE DETRIMENTAL DAMAGE TO THE AIRCRAFT. THE MISSION WAS ABORTED DUE TO THE FAILURE.
In other words, the engine was breaking up. Not a good thing. But whats more interesting is the indication that the troubled engine was still putting out considerable thrust, but the aircraft couldnt maintain altitude. The V-22 is supposed to be able to fly at least some distance and land on just one engine, but in this case it was unable to hold altitude while still getting significant power from the damaged engine.
We asked the Marines for comment on this incident and this
is what they said:
An MV-22 Osprey executed a precautionary landing June 21 in al Anbar province due to mechanical problems. Shortly after departing a forward operating base, engine problems prompted the crew to land the aircraft.
No personal injury or damage to the aircraft was sustained. The aircraft was repaired onsite and flew back to Al Asad Air Base without incident. Hostile fire was not involved.
The cause of the mechanical problem is currently being investigated.
Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 162 is currently in their third month of deployment here at Al Asad Air Base. This is the first incident of its kind involving the MV-22 Osprey in Iraq.
The aircraft continues to complete its mission as designed and prove its value as an essential asset to the Marine Corps' mission in Iraq.
"This environment is challenging for every aircraft
here in Iraq,"
said Lt. Col. Karsten Heckl, commanding officer, VMM-162. "The
maintenance Marines of VMM-162 have done an outstanding job keeping the Osprey in the fight through
preventative and routine maintenance."
We should point out a couple of things. One, it may have been the first precautionary (can you say emergency) landing due to an engine failure, there have been a number of incidents of rapid, unscheduled stops due to failed gearbox oil cooling systems, as reported in March by the Star-Telegram.
Second, the Marines have acknowledged publicly that they're wearing out V-22 engines far faster than anyone expected, both in the desert sands of Iraq and the far milder climes of the US.
DoD Buzz Editor Colin Clark will be representing us at the Farnborough International Air Show this year and I wanted to get a couple folks together to give readers an idea of what's going to be happening over there...what's hot, what's not and what you might not know to look for in that Granddaddy of all airshows.
So I interviewed DT contributors Steve Trimble of Flight International, Bob Cox from the Fort Worth Star Telegram and Colin to pick their brains on what to look for as we cover next week's events.
This is a first for me in presenting this podcast, so forgive any technical difficulties or audio snafus. We'll get better at it as we keep posting them.
In a move that could ruffle the feathers of an Army command that views the Colt Defense-built M4 as the best carbine in the world, a select group of top senate staffers is gathering today to look at what could be the future of the military's standard assault rifle.
About 30 legislative aides have signed up to attend a July 11 demonstration at Marine Corps Base Quantico, just outside Washington, D.C., that will feature weapons from various manufacturers vying to end the reign of the M16 and M4 as the U.S. military's most fielded personal weapon.
The range day is intended to help familiarize key lawmakers with possible alternatives to the M16 and M4 once the exclusive contract with Colt Defense of West Hartford, Conn., ends in the summer of 2009, a senior senate aide told Defense Tech.
"When you re-compete the M4 it shouldn't just be for the same thing we've been building for the last 20 to 30 years," said the senior senate staffer who requested anonymity because the issue is so sensitive with the Army.
Over the past year the Army has taken fire from M4 critics who say there are better options available to troops, weapons that require less intensive maintenance and fire more lethal rounds. While the Army -- which is responsible for procuring small arms for all the services -- continues to stand by the M4 and M16, a small group of tenacious senators, including Oklahoma Republican James Coburn, have pressed the issue, forcing the service to subject the M4 to rigorous environmental tests and pushing for side-by-side competitions with several M4 alternatives.
"There's no urgent need to improve the M4, it's clearly working better than the M16," the senior senate aide said. "Our concern is that, urgent or not, we really ought to be improving it on par with technological improvements [and] not be wedded to an older weapon just because that's the way we've always been doing it."
While the aide declined to list all the companies participating in the demo, congressional and industry sources say the shoot will feature the standard 5.56mm M4 carbine, the FNH USA-build Mk-17 -- which fires a 7.62mm round -- and a modified "M4-style" rifle that fires a new 6.8mm special purpose cartridge round, among others.
The 6.8mm SPC round was born of a 6-month program launched by the interagency Tactical Support Working Group which looked into how an M4 or M16 could be easily modified to fire a round that had better ballistic characteristics than the current arsenal when fired from a short barrel.
According to the TSWG, the so-called "modified upper receiver group" that accommodates the 6.8mm round "can be installed on [government-issued] M4 carbine lower receivers by operators in the field quickly and without tools for an immediate, considerable increase in projectile weight, surface area, and on-target terminal performance."
"The 6.8mm MURG offers improved combat capability and user survivability over comparable 5.56mm platforms," a TSWG statement said.
A consistent criticism of the M4 has been the 5.56 round's perceived lack of stopping power. A 2006 Center for Naval Analyses report conducted for the Army showed 30 percent of Soldiers surveyed wanted a rifle with a more deadly round.
"Across weapons, Soldiers have requested weapons and ammunition with more stopping power/lethality," the report said.
And one special operations Soldier who spoke to Defense Tech couldn't agree more.
"I know that when I'm shooting at someone I want to be confident that when I hit him, he's going to go down," the Special Forces operator said during a recent interview. "That's why I like the AK and its 7.62 round. It'll drop whatever you're aiming at."
The Army brushes off such criticism, saying lethality is closely tied to marksmanship. If you hit a target in the right place, you'll stop him, Army leaders argue.
The point of the July 11 test shoot is to allow manufacturers to showcase their M4 alternatives before an audience that's becoming more influential on small arms procurement decisions. The senate group tried to hold a similar demo last year, but the Army abruptly pulled out when news reports of the event leaked out, senate sources said.
Participants will have the opportunity to observe the effects of different caliber rounds in ballistic jelly, be shown how to fire each weapon and, of course, there will be some hands-on time as well.
Colorado Democratic Sen. Ken Salazar is heavily involved in the M4 alternative push and wants a competitive process that rewards the kind of innovation that leads to a host of choices when the M4 is re-bid in June of next year.
"Senator Salazar's concern is that the process itself could stifle industry innovation, it can result in lower weapons reliability and it can increase costs," said Salazar spokesman, Matt Lee-Ashley.
"He's going to work through the Army and the Armed Services Committee to make sure that when [the M4] is re-competed next June the process is open, that it's based on performance-based requirements and that it encourages industry innovation."
The first tactical use of the Inter-American Naval Telecommunications Network's (IANTN) Combined Enterprise Regional Information Exchange System (CENTRIXS) will begin at the end of July
Russia reacted angrily to a deal inked Tuesday between the US and the Czech Republic on a missile defense shield. Moscow has said it may respond with military action.
The Defense Department today announced new standards for cluster bombs to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure from the unintended consequences of unexploded munitions.
Iran’s test of short- and medium-range missiles is a disturbing development and points to the need for a European missile defense system, Pentagon officials said here today.
The U.S. Army notified Congress July 9 of a Nunn-McCurdy breach with the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter program. The prime contractor for this program is Bell-Textron.
General Dynamics NASSCO, a wholly-owned subsidiary of General Dynamics, has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Navy to modernize San Diego-homeported LSD 41 and LSD 49-class amphibious assault ships.
The United States' newly reactivated Fourth Fleet for Latin America does not have an offensive capability, a senior state department official said in Argentina late Thursday.
The Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVO) Major Shared Resource Center (MSRC) will house a powerful new IBM supercomputer that will be used principally to support the oceanographic modeling and analysis needs of researchers at the Department of Defense.
The propulsion plant of the nation's first Littoral Combat Ship, Freedom (LCS 1), has completed testing in preparation for dock trials. The ship is now ready to begin dock trials -- the final stage of testing before underway trials.
North Korea returned Thursday to international talks on its nuclear activities after a nine-month break, in what host China hailed as a potential turning point in the disarmament process.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan has asked headquarters for more AWACS radar planes to support its operations against the Taliban, an official said Thursday.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on his first trip to Iraq, said on Thursday Baghdad and Kurdish leaders had offered support in Turkey's battle against Kurdish rebels and that Ankara would assist Iraq's reconstruction efforts.
The United States has played down any prospects of war with Iran or any immediate dangers from its nuclear drive but warned that the world was ready to confront its "provocative" policies.
One of the most important aircraft of the 21st Century made its first flight last month -- the F-35B Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant of the 5th generation Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). Named Lighting II, the F-35B will provide a first-line fighter/strike aircraft for use from U.S. STOVL/helicopter carriers and from a half-dozen foreign aircraft carriers.
The Lockheed Martin F-35B made its first flight on 11 June, piloted by BAE test pilot Graham Tomlinson. A former Royal Air Force pilot, Tomlinson flew the aircraft in conventional takeoff and landing modes from the Lockheed Martin facility at Fort Worth, Texas. Transition to short/vertical takeoffs and landings and hover flight will begin early next year.
The F-35B was the second Lightning II to begin flight tests, following the conventional takeoff and landing F-35A, which first flew on 15 December 2006. That aircraft has made more than 40 flights to date. The F-35B is the second of 19 development and demonstration aircraft. The next variant to fly will be the F-35C, configured for aircraft carrier operations.
F-35 deliveries are to begin in 2010 and continue well beyond 2030. The F-35/JSF program is one of the few Defense efforts that has the full endorsement of the Department of Defense, the military services, and the Congress.
The F-35B STOVL variant will replace the AV-8B Harrier in U.S. Marine Corps squadrons, and GR (ground attack/reconnaissance) series Harriers aboard British aircraft carriers. Several other nations have "signed on" to the F-35B program, both for land-based operation as well as from existing and planned VSTOL carriers.
While the Harrier was inferior to most contemporary land-based fighter/attack aircraft, the F-35B will have the speed, electronics, and stealth characteristics of its land-based contemporaries. However, the F-35B will have a range of some 450 nautical miles on internal fuel compared to more than 600 nautical miles for the F-35A/C variants.
In the United States the F-35B will be able to operate from the Navy's large amphibious ships of the LHA/LHD classes, which now operate detachments of Harrier STOVL aircraft. The later ships of these types are being specifically configured for F-35B operations.
To date the most negative aspect evident in the F-35/JSF program is the aircraft's designation. Then-Secretary of the Air Force James Roche designated the aircraft as the F-35 because the JSF technology demonstration aircraft was the X-35. That research aircraft was not even a prototype JSF, but a scale technology demonstrator. The situation would be like having designated the tilt-rotor MV-22 as the MV-15 because its technology demonstrator was the XV-15.
According to the Department of Defense aircraft designation system, the next U.S. fighter aircraft should have been designated F-24. (The F-23 was the McDonnell Douglas competitive design to the Lockheed F-22 Raptor fighter.) The use of sequential numbers of each aircraft within a given category is spelled out in the official DoD instructions on aircraft designations. The instruction specifically states that the system "is mandatory for use by all DoD components."
Iran has test-fired nine long and medium-range missiles, including one which it previously said could travel as far as Israel and the United States bases in the region.
Defense Department officials have reopened the bidding process for a multibillion-dollar midair refueling tanker contract, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today.
A recently updated U.S. Air Force study on the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) airframe indicates that the fleet could stay in service beyond 2070.
Members of the 418th Flight Test Squadron here working with Boeing officials are currently conducting communication, navigation, radar and air data testing on two C-130 Hercules aircraft here as part of the Avionics Modernization Program.
A U.S. Defense Department memo says the United States will begin using cluster bombs that pose less danger to civilians, after international pressure to change its use of the controversial weapon.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice began talks here Wednesday with Georgian leaders as the United States and Russia accused each other of stoking violence in Georgia that could erupt into war.
Aircraft from the 302nd Air Expeditionary Group continued aerial firefighting support missions July 5 in a coordinated effort to control wildfires in California.
The Boeing Company has integrated network-centric capabilities into two operational U.S. Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft for a demonstration at Empire Challenge 2008, a joint military exercise being held July 7 through Aug.
The Continental U.S. NORAD Region, known as CONR, reached a significant milestone June 8 as the 50,000th Operation Noble Eagle sortie conducted over the continental United States was flown locally over South Carolina.
European Union governments today endorsed a Capability Development Plan (CDP) defining the future military needs and priorities of European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) and agreed to use it to guide future national defence investment decisions and to seek opportunities to collaborate so as to address their short-to-longer-term military requirements coherently.
The first M-346 advanced trainer in the industrial pre-series configuration made its official first flight yesterday, flown by Alenia Aermacchi Chief Test Pilot Olinto Cecconello.
Lockheed Martin announced today that it has been awarded an extension to continue developing portions of the Army Battle Command System for project manager Battle Command, located at Fort Monmouth, NJ.
“Sukhoi” Company” has presented the newest Su-35 multifunctional fighter at the airfield of Flight Scientific Research Institute named after Gromov in Zhukovsky near Moscow.
Saab has received orders from the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration, FMV, for electronic warfare systems and supplementary weapons pylons for Gripen to a total value of 574 MSEK.
Force Protection, Inc. announced that it has received today a new contract modification under delivery order 6 for the service and support, including spare parts, of its Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles from the Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Virginia under Contract M67854-07-D-5031.
Boeing Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp. will submit new offers for a disputed $35 billion Air Force tanker contract, and the Pentagon will pick a winner by the end of the year.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday that his office - not the Air Force - will oversee the competition between Boeing and the team of Northrop and Airbus parent European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co.
The plan, which hands control to the Pentagon acquisition chief John Young and sets up a dedicated source-selection committee, shows that senior civilians at the Defense Department have lost confidence in the Air Force's ability to manage the contract.
"I think it's better," said Rep. Norm Dicks, a Washington Democrat. "No one has any faith in the Air Force."
We're going to have more analysis from Colin over at DoD Buzz in a few. He's truckin' it back from the Pentagon even as we speak.
Several sources say the Pentagon will announce its way forward on the KC-X tanker contract [today].
The last I heard from sources close to the issue was that John Young, undersecretary of Defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, wanted to go with a fly off. Boeing and Northrop Grumman would have to build and fly one or more test models. Whoever best met the requirements and demonstrated capability would win the contract. Given that Defense Secretary Robert Gates has made it pretty clear that he is uncomfortable relying on Youngs office about the tanker deal after all, Young signed off on and then defended the Air Force choice there seems to be a good chance that the fly off idea will be stillborn.
With [Wednesday's] announcement Gates may be trying to get ahead of any congressional steamroller on this one, since the House Armed Services air and land forces subcommittee has its tanker hearing scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
Several lawmakers close to Boeing have clearly signaled they expect the Pentagon to rebid the contract. One argument they offer is that Boeing is likely to sue the Pentagon unless the bidding is reopened and Boeing would use information in the GAO report as evidence. That would be perhaps the worst outcome, delaying any decision for years as things ground through the legal system and positions hardened.
Read the rest of this story, and more exclusive coverage of the Tanker Tango, at DoD Buzz.
Killer robots which can change their shape to squeeze under doors and through cracks in walls to track their prey are moving from the realms of science fiction to the front line in the fight against terrorism.
The US military has signed a GBP 1.6m deal with a technology firm to design robots which are intelligent enough to work out how to wiggle through small spaces to reach their target.
The action film, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, featured a seemingly unstoppable killer robot played by Robert Patrick. The machine was made from liquid metal and could change its form to slide under doors and walk through iron bars.
America's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) and the Army Research Office has awarded the contract to iRobot, which has developed other robots for the military.
They want scientists to come up with a design for a tiny robot able to move under its own power and change shape so it can get through gaps less than half an inch wide.
The US administration has not said what it wants the robot to do but its specification says: "Often the only available points of entry are small openings in buildings, walls, under doors, etc. In these cases, a robot must be soft enough to squeeze or traverse through small openings, yet large enough to carry an operationally meaningful payload."
In an effort to inspire creative ideas, the US military has pointed to examples in nature of creatures which are able to squeeze through narrow gaps and change their form.
Helen Greiner, co-founder and chairwoman of iRobot, said: "Through this programme, robots that reconstitute size, shape and functionality after traversal through complex environments will transcend the pages of science fiction to become real tools for soldiers in theatre."
But Scottish-based experts believe the challenge may be too much even for the US military's budgets and technology.
Mike Cates, professor of physics at Edinburgh University, said: "There are materials which can change their shapes and then regain them. There are alloys, known as memory metals, which are used in glasses and which can regain their shape. The difficulty in this case is all the other elements which need to be added to a device such as this, such as the circuitry and some form of system to propel it."
Brian Baglow, of technology firm Indoctrimat, said: "As well as designing the materials for this, the sensor systems will be a problem. It's not easy for them to work out where the gaps are which they can get through."
A prototype system for the reliable detection and identification of threat materials and contraband in containers and baggage has been successfully tested by EADS, validating a new inspection method that exceeds the performance of current security systems.
Officials from the Air Force, Army and Navy are now funding a Finnish research program that explores new approaches for improving telecommunications network management.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Monday he is negotiating a deal with Washington that will for the first time set a timetable for a withdrawal of foreign forces as part of a framework for a US troop presence into next year.
The Indian Air Force would be participating in a multinational Air Exercise, ‘Ex Red Flag 08’ at the invitation of United States Air Force (USAF), scheduled to be held at Nellis Air Force Base in the US from 09-23 Aug 08.
Within the framework of the techno-operational evaluation by the French Air Force of the Franco-Italian SAMP/T1 medium-range ground based air defence system, the French Air Force has carried out its first ASTER 30 firing.
The intelligence community listed "the vulnerabilities of the US information infrastructure to increasing cyber attacks by foreign governments, nonstate actors and criminal elements" as the fourth major bullet of the fourth page of the opening in the forty-five page report. The report goes on to state that due to the significance of computer and telecommunications to our country's security defense and economy, threats to our IT infrastructure are an important focus of the Intelligence Community. Also stated were the trends seen over the past year, which included cyber exploitation activity that grew more sophisticated, more targeted, and more serious. Finally, DNI stated that the Intelligence Community expects these trends to continue in the coming year.
Most concerning was the following statement excerpted from the report.
"We assess that nations, including Russia and China, have the technical capabilities to target and disrupt elements of the US information infrastructure and for intelligence collection." Nation states and criminals target our government and private sector information networks to gain competitive advantage in the commercial sector. The report went on to state that terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda, HAMAS, and Hezbollah have expressed the desire to use cyber means to target the United States.
The information contained in the report represents the cumulative views of highly skilled professionals working on this critical issue. All the warning signs are there.
You may not have caught this but, the Intelligence Operations Center of Spy-Ops reported on June 18th the Palestinian Islamist movement, Islamic Jihad, said it has a new division of its armed Al-Quds Brigades: a cyber war unit that claims it has hacked into the websites of several Israeli media outlets. I am not sure how I missed it but when did terrorist organizations start making press releases?
It seems like everyone is beginning to get into the cyber war capabilities. This now included cyber arms dealers and organizations that lease attack capacity on their BotNets. Not to be left out, criminal elements continue to show growing sophistication in technical capability and targeting, and today operate a pervasive, mature, online service economy in illicit cyber capabilities and services available to anyone willing to pay. Cyber weapons can be purchased for as little as $300 and some have been reported to sell for $50,000.
Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) won a large order for all-protected vehicles and remote controlled weapon stations from the Federal Office of Defence Technology and Procurement (BWB) in Koblenz.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is due next week in the Czech Republic to sign a long-sought but controversial missile shield deal amid fears it will further raise tensions with Russia.
Six-party talks on scrapping North Korea's nuclear programmes will resume on Thursday in Beijing after a nine-month break, South Korea's chief negotiator Kim Sook said.
The U.S. Army recently established a new distance record for the Lockheed Martin Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System rocket, destroying a target 85 kilometers from the launch site during a flawless system demonstration at White Sands Missile Range, NM.
Its top company officials are arrested, it made shoddy vests that had to be recalled and there's the constant fog of controversy hovering around them, but when the business sector is so small for body armor, it's tough to take your solicitation elsewhere.
That's why the Pentagon announced July 3rd that once again Point Blank Body Armor has been awarded an $86 million contract for Army "improved outer tactical vests." This comes about a year after the Army awarded the first series of contracts to Point Blank and Specialty Defense Systems at the initial launch of its IOTV.
Let's hope there's no more recalls or crass profiteering from that infamous (to some) company.
Defense Tech friend and contributor Bob Cox of the Fort Worth Star Telegram has been a Bell-Boeing/Osprey/tiltrotor watchdog for years. His latest story is quite a scoop and looks like a crushing blow to the civilian tiltrotor industry in which Bell had invested a lot of effort and hope.
Bell Helicopter spent a half-century developing tilt-rotor technology and the V-22 Osprey, but the companys once-enthusiastic commitment to build a similar aircraft for the civilian market seems to have diminished considerably.
The company doesnt see a promising market in the U.S. for the BA609 tilt-rotor aircraft and has shifted a larger share of the continuing development work to its Italian joint-venture partner, AgustaWestland.
Bell will continue to provide personnel and some funding for continued development and testing of the BA609, but Mike Blake, executive vice president of programs for the company, said AgustaWestland will provide more capital and take the lead in completing flight testing and production of the aircraft.
"I think Bell will always be involved in the 609 program in some way," he said in an interview with the Star-Telegram. "How is to be determined."
Officials of the two companies met recently and agreed on the latest revision to the development plan and timetable, Blake said. Test aircraft three and four have been delivered to AgustaWestland, which will now operate three of the four test planes. Bell will continue test flights of the first aircraft from its Xworkx facility in Arlington.
A six- to nine-passenger aircraft, the BA609 was designed to take advantage of tilt-rotor technology to provide an aircraft for government and private-sector users that combines airplane speed with the vertical takeoff and landing capability of a helicopter.
When the Bell-Agusta alliance was formed in 1998, company officials advertised the BA609 as a $10 million aircraft and said they had 68 orders. Now they have about 80 orders, many of them on the books for a decade. No firm price is quoted publicly, but numbers in the range of $15 million to $20 million each are tossed about within the industry.
Publicly, Bell officials continued to voice support for the program. But privately its another matter.
Again, as you all know I'm a proponent of tiltrotor technology and think that opposition to it has become almost like a religion. And with the bleak history of the V-22, who can blame them.
But to me if the civilian version of the V-22 can't get any traction then it seems that tiltrotors still have a long way to go before they can be considered viable alternatives to rotorcraft. And I guess cost and convenience would have to play a large role as well.
The Pentagon announced late last week that it had received the delivery of the 10,000th Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle to its facility in South Carolina where the various electronics and other components are installed before being shipped to Iraq or (strangely) Afghanistan.
The rapid response by the Department of Defense to protect the warfighters reached a major milestone today when the 10,000th Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle rolled off the assembly line and into government hands.
In February 2008 the MRAP program office, headed by Marine Corps Systems Command, recorded its 5,000th MRAP vehicle acceptance. That milestone was reached less than a year after the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates made MRAPs the DoD's top acquisition priority. Since then, the program has advanced at near-unprecedented speed, doubling production of the life-saving vehicle in just over four months.
Gates said, "This is a significant achievement. This program has gone from zero to ten thousand in just about a year and a half. These vehicles have proven themselves on the battlefield and are saving lives."
You know I've been critical of the MRAP rush, but this is a truly significant achievement in many ways for the Pentagon and they deserve some credit for pushing aside the usual barriers to get this capability to the battlefield quickly. One aspect of that streamlining that cannot be ignored is that Congress got out of the way as well -- in fact providing much of the motivation for the Pentagon's "crash" program.
It looks like the Pentagon's going to stop forcing the MRAPs on the services at 15,000. That's a long way from the one-for-one replacement of Up-armored Humvees to MRAPs some in Congress were agitating for, and it still gives the services some of that "boutique" capability Brogan originally considered the MRAP.
"The many successes of the joint MRAP vehicle program are the result of an overwhelming team effort by the many players in this program," said Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Michael Brogan, MCSC commander.
"From production to integration, from transportation to fielding, many commands and organizations have played major roles in this program."
One of my boys calls the MRAP a bank vault on wheels (which I sort of agree with), but give credit where credit is due. They saw a need, they got the money, the fielded the trucks. And, yes, they saved many lives.
As oil prices continue to soar, Air Mobility Command officials here are looking for ways to lower the amount of aviation fuel used by the command's fleet of airlifters and tankers.
Pakistani investigators sifted through evidence on Monday in the wake of a suicide bombing that killed 15 people near a protest marking the anniversary of a bloody raid on the radical Red Mosque.
Pakistan's top nuclear authority Saturday rejected claims by disgraced atomic scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan that the army and President Pervez Musharraf sent centrifuges to North Korea in 2000.
The head of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards has warned that any Israeli or US attack on its nuclear sites would mean the outbreak of war, the official IRNA news agency reported on Friday.
Israel has successfully tested a new defence system designed to intercept rockets fired from southern Lebanon and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, public radio reported on Sunday.
EADS Defence & Security (DS) is to equip the military airfields in Germany with the most modern airfield control radar in the world and, by doing so, will make an important contribution to increasing flight safety.
Northrop Grumman Corporation's Sperry Marine business unit has recently unveiled a new integrated desktop marine radar designed to meet the latest International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) performance standards.
Coalition airpower integrated with coalition ground forces in Iraq and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan during operations July 5, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.
A new chapter for the Army began this morning, July 2, when the Army Network Warfare Battalion (Provisional) was activated during a ceremony at Fort George G. Meade, Md.
The rapid response by the Department of Defense to protect the warfighters reached a major milestone today when the 10,000th Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle rolled off the assembly line and into government hands.
Members of the Coalition Air Force Training Team assigned to the 370th Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron here have been training and mentoring Iraqi air force members in their functional areas for years.
The Bulldog armoured vehicle is in the middle of its improvement programme and the contract to complete the modernization of around 900 of the vehicles is on time and on budget.
A Turkish court has charged two retired generals in connection with a shadowy grouping that allegedly planned to oust the government, the Anatolia news agency reported Sunday.
The Ministry of Defence has awarded BAE Systems a £275M contract for the design and supply of the mission system which will underpin the warfighting capabilities of the Royal Navy’s two new aircraft carriers.
Coalition airpower integrated with coalition ground forces in Iraq and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan during operations July 4, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.
The Northrop Grumman Corporation built amphibious transport dock ship Green Bay (LPD 20) successfully completed builder's trials last week, a collaborative effort between the company's Shipbuilding sector and the U.S. Navy.
The Royal Air Force's Typhoon aircraft marked another milestone in its capability today, Tuesday 1 July 2008, as it was declared operational in the air-to-ground role, becoming the Service's most advanced multi-role aircraft.
As Singapore continues to play its part in helping to create an inclusive security architecture where countries in the region can enjoy peace and security, the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) will continue to direct its efforts in three keys...
Just got a note that the innovative UAV design company Aerovironment has won a contract to provide a hand-held UAV for the special operations forces. The AE Puma is an upgrade from the RQ-11 Raven and sports IR and electro-optical cameras (spec sheet). It's got a range of 10 miles and an eight-foot wingspan.
According to a release on the contract:
The hand-launched Puma AE lands near-vertically on both land and water and is equipped with a day- and night-capable, waterproof sensor package that provides image tracking, image stabilization and high-image quality. Puma AE systems incorporate the same hand-held Ground Control Unit used by U.S. Department of Defense and allied military customers to control Raven and Wasp systems. Ship-based use of Puma AE requires no modification to naval vessels, enabling easy integration into maritime operations. The AECV program represents the fourth U.S. Department of Defense full and open competition for a small UAS program of record, and the fourth such competition won by AV.
I'm a fan of hand-held UAVs in priniciple but I'm worried that requirements folks can load too much stuff on the things, making them less efficient to operate and thus less attractive to troops who just want something that works and gives them the images they need to get the bad guys (see a video of the Puma in action).
U.S. armed forces including the Army, Marine Corps, Air Force and USSOCOM, as well as international forces such as those of Italy, Denmark, Spain and the Netherlands, use AV's hand-launched UAS for missions that include base security, route reconnaissance, mission planning, battle damage assessment and force protection. The U.S. Army has reported that Army Raven UAS were flown for approximately 150,000 combat hours in 2007. AV has delivered more than 10,000 small unmanned aircraft to date, including Raven, Wasp and Puma.
The contract is worth $6 million with an option for up to $200 million. It's a huge win for one of the pioneers in hand-held UAVs and it'll be interesting to see how well this thing operates in a wartime situation with the special operations forces' unique requirements.
"AV responded to a USSOCOM requirement for a hand-launched UAS. We are pleased to be chosen to deliver these capabilities into the hands of warfighters with a new, more capable third generation version of our Puma," said John Grabowsky, AV executive vice president and general manager of unmanned aircraft systems. "Puma AE joins Raven and Wasp in AV's product portfolio, delivering a powerful new solution for land and ship-based, over-the-horizon intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance," Grabowsky added.
The French defense procurement agency, the DGA, successfully carried out the second qualification firing for the infrared terminal guidance version of the modular air-to-ground AASM weapon at the DGA’s missile test center in Biscarrosse.
When an American F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot was given the opportunity of applying for an exchange posting, he had no hesitation in selecting a tour to fly the F-2 Typhoon with the Royal Air Force.
Navistar Defense, LLC continues to support security efforts in Iraq with six more delivery orders for severe service vehicles. The contract, combined with two previous delivery orders placed on September 28, 2007, are collectively worth up to $37 million.
Today the European Commission and the European Space Agency (ESA) have launched the procurement of the first complete constellation of the European satellite navigation system.
The Royal Air Force has declared its Typhoon jets multi-role capable today. The RAF Typhoons can now carryout precision Ground Attack as well as Air Defence tasks.
Opening the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) Global Forces Conference in Canberra today, the Minister for Defence Science and Personnel, the Hon. Warren Snowdon MP, highlighted Australia’s Strategic Imperatives.
Northrop Grumman Corporation has received a 56-month contract from Lockheed Martin worth up to $240 million, if all options are exercised, to provide critical technologies for the Airborne and Maritime/Fixed Station (AMF) Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS).
Today, the European Commission - with the support of ESA - is launching the procurement of Galileo, a global navigation system composed of 30 dedicated navigation satellites and a ground infrastructure with the main control centres in Europe and a network of dedicated stations deployed around the world.
In a first for Defense Tech, I'd like to set up an online, virtual interview with the new editor of our recently-launched sister site: DoD Buzz.
For 30 minutes, beginning at 1500 EDT July 3 we'll have a moderated chat session with Colin. He'll be able to answer your questions in real time and give you some deeper insight into his recent scoops, including the botched tanker deal, the flap over Wynne/Moseley/Gates and Schwartz, satellite launches and intelligence community intrigue.
Now, I know all you DT readers will be on your best behavior, but in case you're not, I'll be able to nix any inappropriate questions or comments. Seriously, I thought this would be a cool opportunity for you all to meet Colin and ping him on what's "Buzz"ing around DC in the defense and acquisition biz...And if this works well, I'll set up some more like it with defense officials, industry types and analysts.
So be sure to tune in here at 1500 (that's 3:00pm for you civilian types) tomorrow to chat with Colin catch the DoD Buzz live!
The Air Force wanted to send the F-22 to the Middle East and Defense Secretary Robert Gates nixed the plans, citing the strategic danger from the deployment if it were misread by Iran, among other factors. This comes from a single usually reliable source with knowledge of Air Force policy and operations.
Then-Air Force Secretary Mike Wynne sent a memo to Gates last December in which he made the recommendation, as well as laying out several major arguments for Air Force budget requests for the F-22 and bomber research and development, according to our source.
Central Command had approved the deployment request and we understand several Arab governments were also supportive of the Air Force effort. The main opposition to the request, we hear, came from Ryan Henry, principal deputy to the undersecretary of Defense for policy, who worried that Iran would interpret the deployment of the countrys most capable fighter as a regional escalation at a time when rumors were sweeping the region that the US was planning strikes against Irans nuclear facilities.
The argument for deployment of the sophisticated fighter was that the US needed to take the lead in the air war in the region. Right now, the United Arab Emirates deploys the most sophisticated fighter in the region, using the F-16 Block 60 50. Sending the F-22 would have allowed the US to field the worlds top fighter and provide ISR and targeting capabilities that no US or allied plane in the region currently posseses.
An alert DT reader forwarded this article to me from a British news service.
New search-and-rescue helicopters serving remote parts of the Highlands have yet to carry out a long-range rescue - eight months after being brought into service.
There have been problems with the multimillion-pound aircraft over the use of long-distance fuel-tanks.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has insisted the problems have all been resolved, saying the tanks are now fully operational.
But crews are understood to be unhappy about the loss of seating for casualties on the aircraft in order to accommodate the tanks.
Problems surrounding the fitting of the tanks have meant the four Sikorsky S92s based at Stornoway on Lewis and Sumburgh on Shetland have been unable to carry out non-stop rescues to the range which was originally heralded.
They are, in fact, covering half the distance.
The two helicopters at Sumburgh do not have the tanks - which double their range to 400 nautical miles - fitted, while those at Stornoway, where the extra distance is most needed, are yet to carry out a rescue using them.
The MCA confirmed there had been issues over fitting the tanks.
Crewmen and spokesmen at both Stornoway and Shetland Coastguard have confirmed the tanks are "not operational" yet, despite the MCA's insistence that they are.
An interesting development for sure, but hardly an indictment on the aircraft itself. Problem is, when Sikorsky is fighting tooth and nail to get back in the running on the CSAR-X contract, news like this can't help.
More...
The first S92s were introduced in Stornoway in October, and then in Shetland in November.
Some crew are also understood to be unhappy with the tanks because they halve the seating on the craft and have questioned whether they should be used.
One source said it was a "Catch 22 situation", adding: "Do you swap the extra miles for less room for casualties, so you rescue fewer people?
The tanks have cut the seats from seven to just three."
The problems first surfaced in March when a Stornoway-based helicopter was unable to rescue an injured crewman because it was out of range.
Instead, an RAF helicopter from Lossiemouth had to fly an extra round trip of 250 miles to rescue the Russian seaman, 185 miles off Benbecula -- ironically landing him at Stornoway where the new Sikorsky S92 is based.
There's a behind the scenes battle going on between Pinnacle Armor, the Air Force, the National Institutes for Justice and the Army.
You'll remember that a year ago the Air Force debarred Pinnacle after it found that the company had pumped up the ballistic capabilities of its SOV 2000 armor claiming it was Level III compliant when it wasn't. This ban of Pinnacle products came on the heels of the Army's very public outing of Dragon Skin test results conducted by Army ballistics experts and witnessed by Pinnacle president Murray Neal himself.
But after the dust cleared, the tenacious Neal waged his own battle against the debarment, filing suit and compiling evidence that he claims shows Army testers forging test result documents and intentionally painting Dragon Skin in a bad light to the Air Force.
I spoke with Neal about this at length, and while I'm skeptical that the Army is resorting to lying and forging documents, there are some things that definitely look fishy about this case.
Neal provided me with an example of a document that purportedly shows forged test results and failures of the armor that didn't happen during tests conducted for the Air Force by H.P. White Labs. A lot of Pinnacle proponents point to a recent article by the hysterical bloggers at Soldiers for the Truth as explanation for the suspected forgeries and other skull duggery and I'll let DT readers make their own judgment on that.
But Neal claims that when the actual shooters at HP White were cross examined during depositions, they claimed that over two days of testing they did NOT see the failures tabulated on the result summary table. I asked Neal to forward me some copies of the deposition transcripts to prove that. What he sent me didn't seem to correlate with what he was claiming (they are too large to upload so email me if you want to see them)...prompting still more questions about what is actually going on here.
Seems to me Neal at least has some cause here for fighting the debarment. Rumor has it the Air Force/NIJ is willing to settle and reverse the ban. I've had difficulty with Pinnacle's claims and chafed it the company's absolutist claims and hyperbolic publicity stunts, but there's a limited number of armor makers in the world and there's no sense in keeping anyone out of the fold unless their product is totally bogus -- which Dragon Skin is not.
Airmen from the 8th Civil Engineer Squadron here and South Korean army soldiers teamed up for combined nuclear, biological and chemical training June 23 and 24 at Kunsan Air Base.
The Iraqi army has grown by 60 percent in the last year, and stands now at nearly 180,000 soldiers. The army is also now training its own soldiers, and its effectiveness in combat has allowed it to concentrate more on improving logistics and supply chains.
The Army announced today, June 26, that it is accelerating the delivery of key cutting-edge Future Combat Systems (FCS) capabilities to Soldiers in the Army's infantry brigade combat teams, known as IBCTs.
The Defence Public Sector Undertaking, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has secured an order for supply of 7 Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters to Ecuadorian Air Force.
Russia and India have agreed to exchange knowledge in the training of mountain troops as part of an extensive military cooperation program, an aide to Russia's Ground Forces commander said on Tuesday.
First multinational exercise in the army's combat exercise centre supported by the Saab integration tool WISE. Despite different system configurations from Austria and Germany, troop units from both nations exercised together in the ORF formation in the ALTMARK.
President Ma Ying-jeou on Wednesday told a United States delegation led by former U.S. Secretary of Defense, William Perry, that Taiwan will continue to allocate funds for defensive arms to "ensure a solid national defense force."
Soldiers in Infantry Brigade Combat Teams now get the first crack at Future Combat System technology, Army officials said during a news conference at the Pentagon June 26.
Cyber attacks from individuals, organized crime, extremist groups, terrorists as well as nation states pose a significant threat to the national security of the United States. While many believe that this is a government issue, closer analysis of the problem suggests otherwise. Any computer that is not properly protected can be compromised and used as a weapon against the system owner, businesses and our economy, the nation's infrastructure or in some rare cases our defenses. Personal, business and government systems are constantly under attack and the frequency and sophistication of the attacks is rapidly increasing.
The number of new computer systems threat skyrocketed nearly 570 percent from those identified in 2006. According to one 2007 computer security study, the average annual loss reported by U.S. companies increased by nearly 210 percent to $350,424 (per occurence) in 2007. The top three primary sources of loss were financial fraud, losses due to computer virus and system penetration by outsiders. About 20 percent of the companies reporting security incidents said they have fallen victim to targeted malware attacks. Nearly 1.2 million different pieces of malware have been identified and reside in the malware repository. Malware is software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner's informed consent. The term is a combination of the words malicious and software. The expression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, destructive, intrusive, or annoying software. The bad news is malware is just one of the many threats to computers, systems and networks.
A reader of the blog asked me "Why with all the U.S. technological expertise are we so vulnerable to these threats?" That is a great question. Considering a recent report suggested that around 90 percent of breaches could have been prevented, why are our computer systems so at risk?
After giving this a fair amount of thought I came to the following realization. It is our attitude! For some reason there is an abundance of "I know more than they do" types in information security. If that is not bad enough, the second most prominent attitude is "It can't happen here" followed closely by "I will address it when it happens to me."
Example 1 - A $13 billion publically traded corporation has five full time staff assigned to information security. When I asked the Director how he spent his time he said by far most was in the Human Resources Department and with corporate lawyers.
Example 2 - A systems design and development organization that services part of our nation's infrastructure was briefed on the issues and threats of cyber attack. Numerous examples were provided to that organization that showed their industry had already experienced cyber attacks. In addition, a high level overview of their operational procedures resulted in the identification of two critical vulnerabilities that exposed the systems to compromise. The organization addressed one of those issues and decided to take a wait and see approach to addressing the other.
Example 3 - A security consulting firm contacted me as an advisor. They were brought in to review security and recommend changes of a publically traded company. During their work they discovered the company had been breached. They had found a "bot" attached to an Oracle database. The "bot" collected information about the manufacturing cost of the company's products. They approached the CIO with the facts and the Sarbanes-Oxley issues, he refused to communicate the issue to the senior executives and then cancelled their contract.
Well, we don't know more than all the hackers do. This is a highly dynamic threat environment that even the top security professional say is "challenging." The "it can't happen here" attitude is insane. One veteran US Special Agent in cybercrime investigation publically stated how companies do their best to cover up corporate espionage and insider theft. He went on to say he had seen entire corporate networks of over 100,000 systems completely compromised and hundreds of thousands of files exfiltrated and not disclosed. The fact is, if all system breaches were reported the security metrics would be much worse that the ones reported earlier here. So it not only can happen here, it probably already did and got covered up.
Recognizing that the transition to a new presidential administration could be “a time of great vulnerability,” the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here today that his Joint Staff already is working to ensure the transition goes as smoothly as possible for the next commander in chief.
The first vehicles will be delivered in theatre by 1 October this year, bringing the total supplied to the Dutch armed forces to 49. The contract is worth over $15 million (EUR 9.2 million), and includes an option for additional vehicles to meet ongoing requirements.
In addition to the 150 RIDGBACK vehicles on order, the MoD is purchasing more than 85 new VIKING and JACKAL protected vehicles for troops in Afghanistan and has unveiled two new vehicle types, RIDGBACK and PANTHER, Baroness Taylor said today.
Numerous media reports, today, focus on a single sentence in the 67-page GAO analysis reached yesterday supporting its decision to sustain the Boeing tanker protest.
The United States has removed its nuclear arsenal in Britain, ending its half-century deployment there and reducing its European nuclear deployment to six locations in five countries, a report said.
The US Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a compromise bill to free up 162 billion dollars for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the final congressional step before the bill goes to President George W. Bush for his approval.
Though the Defense Department doesn’t see China as a strategic adversary, the country’s military buildup and lack of openness in how it’s going about it has officials wondering about Chinese leaders’ intentions, senior Pentagon officials told the House Armed Services Committee today.
The European land-based ISTAR vehicle electronics markets continue to witness good growth as countries across the region are actively undertaking programmes to modernise their defence forces.
Turkmenistan has signed a $70 million contract with Russia to buy six Smerch multi launch rocket systems (MLRS), a Russian business daily said on Tuesday.
UPDATE: The House Armed Services airland subcommittee will hold a July 10 hearing at 2 p.m. in Rayburn 2118 on the tanker contract at which John Young, undersecetary of Defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, Sue Payton, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, and a representative from the Government Accountability Office will testify. ALSO, see below for information about a closed meeting today with House lawmakers, a GAO rep and one from the Pentagon.
That enormous sucking sound you heard at the Pentagon Thursday was the intake of breath by the senior OSD and acquisition officials who handled the tanker contract when they heard Defense Secretary Robert Gates offer almost no defense of the contracting process that led to the Northrop Grumman contract.
Gates was asked Thursday point blank if he had confidence in Sue Payton, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, who led the team that decided to award the contract. "I have confidence in the team until I find evidence to the contrary," Gates said. Given the recent forced resignations of Air Force Secretary Mike Wynne and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mike Moseley, Payton must be getting ready to move out if asked since Gates also said the Government Accountability Offices report found that the "Air Force team made significant errors. At the same time, Gates did say he needs to get a better feel for the nature of criticisms" made by the congressional watchdog and had not made any decisions about the contract yet, adding that the "first indication" he had of trouble with the contract award was the GAO report.
The Defense Secretary has made clear he will be closely watching the decision whether to rebid the deal or not, signaling that he realizes the political sensitivity of the deal, as well as raising questions about his confidence in the handling of the issue by the office of John Young, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics.
"We clearly need to have an approach that has the confidence of the Congress so we are looking at several options," Gates said. Asked if he would personally get involved in the decision, Gates said he did not think that would be "appropriate, frankly."
UPDATE: In other tanker action today, the House Armed Services airland subcommittee met behind closed doors for more than three hours with a representative from the GAO and a fairly low-ranking Pentagon acquisition official to discuss the tanker deal. No one but lawmakers were allowed to attend. We hear that even Northrop Grumman supporters conceded that the GAO report has devastated their case. For those at the Pentagon who would like to relegate the GAO report to the usual trash can they get put in the building, our source said there was unanimity among lawmakers at the meeting that the GAO had done a fine job in its report and had the ear of members.
Lockheed Martin has received a $3 million contract from the Office of Naval Research to develop and demonstrate a mission management system that will enable U.S. Navy ships, helicopters and unmanned vehicles to collaborate as a team when mine hunting in shallow coastal waters.
DuPont and SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG (SFC) today announced that the M-25 portable fuel cell, which combines DuPont's direct methanol technology with SFC's commercially proven fuel cell systems, products, and integration expertise, has been deployed for its first limited use in the field for the U.S. Army.
Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) conducted a successful test of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) Weapon System at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) on Kauai, HI.
The Missile Defense Agency announced today the completion of a successful “hit to kill” intercept in partnership with the U.S. Army for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense test element at the Pacific Missile Range Facility off the island of Kauai in Hawaii.
Northrop Grumman Corporation said, today, that it continues to support the United States Air Force and looks forward to its next steps regarding the direction of the KC-45 tanker program.
Strong economic growth, increasing military budgets and the urgency to modernize and replace old aircraft are driving the market for new aircraft and radar upgrades for better coverage in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions.
WASHINGTON - The Army will deliver some key technologies to ground forces in war zones three years ahead of schedule as part of its $160 billion Future Combat Systems program led by Boeing Co. and SAIC Inc.
Senior Army officials on June 26 said changes to the FCS program will expedite the use of high-tech equipment, including unmanned sensors and robotics, to infantry brigades fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan by 2011.
Portions of FCS were expected to be used by armored units by 2014, but Army officials say the technology being developed is needed for the current war effort.
Lt. Gen. Michael A. Vane, director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center, said accelerating FCS and other complementary programs will help "filling the gaps" created by huge demands on the infantry brigades, while increasing the effectiveness and safety of U.S. soldiers.
Army officials maintain that while costs may rise in the short-term from the new schedule, they will balance out in future years and will not raise the program's overall price tag, which has been criticized by lawmakers.
Lead contractors Boeing and SAIC said the Army's decision to accelerate the FCS technologies shows confidence in the program's progress. FCS includes 14 manned and unmanned systems that are linked through a secure communications network.
On Wednesday, Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey briefed Defense Secretary Robert Gates on plans to restructure the program. Gates, who backed the shift, told reporters at a separate briefing Thursday that FCS "deserves support."
Dan Goure, a defense analyst at the Lexington Institute, said it appears that the Army "didn't want to repeat the same mistake" as the Air Force in battling Gates publicly over F-22 jets made by Lockheed Martin Corp. Gates also has previously raised doubts about the FCS program.
"Clearly this show that Gates is in command in a way few secretaries have been of the services," said Goure.
A few lawmakers lauded the Army's choice to deploy the latest technology to soldiers in the field. But House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., and Hawaii Democrat Neil Abercrombie, chairman of the air and land subcommittee, expressed concern that the new plan "may not allow for adequate testing of the equipment due to its very tight schedule."
The FCS program has long been criticized for remaining over budget and behind schedule. Earlier this year, the House Armed Services Committee voted to cut about $200 million from the Army's request of $3.6 billion for the FCS program in the fiscal 2009 budget.
"The Army has struggled to justify FCS for years, this is the latest evolution in this saga," said Nick Schwellenbach, an analyst for the Project on Government Oversight. "Yet at least now FCS may now end up helping troops currently deployed overseas."
Lockheed Martin is integrating sophisticated mission systems aboard a second VH-71 test vehicle at the Presidential Helicopter Integration Facility in Owego, NY.
Once the most violent place in Iraq, Anbar province will come under Provincial Iraqi Control on Saturday, a senior military official said Monday.
So far, nine Iraqi provinces are under Provincial Iraqi Control, or PIC, in which Iraqi security forces perform day-to-day operations and U.S. troops provide assistance as needed, the military official told reporters.
"When you PIC a province, the coalition force goes into what we call an operational overwatch: They're there, essentially as a security blanket," the official said.
Though the Washington Post ran a story on its Web site today which lead with the heinous attempt by AQI to disrupt the handover by bombing a provincial council meeting and killing an estimated 20 (which hits pretty close to home for me because I met some of these tribal leaders in the very place where the bombing occurred -- see the picture above), the paper edition did not have a story on the handover, nor did the New York Times.
Remember, these were the papers that jumped on the leak of a Marine Corps Intelligence report in September 2006 that Anbar was lost. Wrote the NYTimes:
As the situation has deteriorated, insurgent attacks have increased. The report describes Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia as an integral part of the social fabric of Anbar.
Aside from being flat out wrong on that assessment, the stories painted a grim picture of the situation in Anbar and help solidify impressions (with an election coming up just a month later) that Iraq was a lost cause.
But how times have changed. Anbar is flat out boring to go visit anymore. Believe me, I was there for two months in 2005-2006 and I know how violent it was.
And you know I went back in January and now Marines are itching to ditch their protective gear and whining louder and louder about coming home or heading to a real fight in Afghanistan. But why can't the regular media bring themselves to report such a development. Anbar was the headquarters for al Qaeda in Iraq for years -- now it's secure enough to hand over to Iraqi control...before eight other provinces...That's news.
The German government plans to send 1,000 additional troops to Afghanistan by the end of this year, Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung announced on Tuesday, June 24. The issue is likely to be a political hot potato.
The Hungarian Air Force has paid a visit to FMV’s test site in Vidsel and has carried out a number of trials with the Sidewinder air-to-air missile for the JAS 39 Gripen.
Defence and support services company VT Group, through its Support Services Division, has been named preferred bidder to provide initial flying training for all three Armed Forces.
AgustaWestland is pleased to announce that the contracts of the Turkish Attack and Reconnaissance Helicopter (ATAK) Program have become effective and the program has officially started at the ceremony held at the facilities of the Turkish Aerospace Industries, Inc. (TAI) today.
A strike against Iranian nuclear-related targets could be carried out before the next US administration enters office.
Israeli military intelligence (AMAN) may estimate that Barack Obama has more than a fair chance of winning in upcoming elections. However, they may wait for the results before deciding to strike.
Ironically, an Obama victory will probably be the tipping point. Israeli MI is no doubt cognizant of the fact that Obama's Middle East policy-makers will favor "diplomacy" and try to avert a strike at all costs.
However, the Israeli government may attempt to utilize the frightening specter of a strike to expedite the sale of advanced military equipment to the Jewish state.
A Likud government led by Benjamin Netanyahu (with support from Shas and other rightist parties) would be more likely to strike Iranian nuclear targets, much like Menachem Begin (against Osirak) in 1981.
There would be intense consultations with the outgoing Bush administration over the timing and scope of the strike, specifically regarding how it would affect the burgeoning price of oil.
As conditions on the ground in Iraq show steady signs of improvement the RAF are finding innovative ways to carry out reconnaissance missions which in turn are helping land troops to deal with the threat of enemy forces.
The MU90 Lightweight Torpedo completed a successful test firing from HMAS TOOWOOMBA on 18 June, which marks the first time an MU90 has been fired from an Australian warship.
A U.S. House of Representatives committee says the U.S. embassy in Albania approved action to conceal the illegal Chinese origins of ammunition being shipped by a U.S. contractor from Albania to Afghanistan.
Senior Pentagon and Air Force officials who have read the full 67-page report about the tanker bid by the Government Accountability Office think they can still grant a contract before the end of the Bush Administration. John Young, the Pentagons acquisition czar, has reportedly drafted a letter for the four congressional committees that oversee defense spending and policy informing them of the Pentagons decision to go ahead and award the contract to Northrop Grumman.
There have been reports that the GAO ruling on the tanker contract could add two years or more to the contract award, something that has greatly concerned Air Force leaders eager to start building new tankers after almost a decade of trying.
"Their finding is that the full document is quite different from the summary," issued last Wednesday, said a source familiar with the issue. The source said Air Force leaders believe much of what was challenged is procedural and can be resolved without rebidding the deal.
The 69-page report is expected to become public today.
The GAO said in its summary that it found a number of significant errors that could have affected the outcome of what was a close competition between Boeing and Northrop Grumman and recommended that the bid be reopened. By law, the Air Force has 60 days to inform the GAO of how it will respond to the recommendations.
Any Air Force decision to press ahead with the contract award to Northrop Grumman is likely to spark outrage on Capitol Hill among supporters of Boeing, who include Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.), the Nr. 2 member of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, as well as Washingtons two senators and lawmakers from Kansas.
Read the rest of this story over at Military.com's new online defense and acquisition journal, DoD Buzz.
The U.S. Air Force is initiating a program to develop the Next Generation Unmanned Aerial System (NG-UAS) or unmanned aerial vehicle while Washington is still in an uproar over the last major Air Force contract competition -- the KC-X advanced tanker aircraft. And, the Air Force action takes place while the UAV picture is clouded by a protest filed in May against the Navy's contract award to Northrop Grumman for the Global Hawk-derived RQ-4N aerial vehicle for the Navy's Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) system.
The notice to industry for the NG-UAV sent out by the Air Force in May seeks a follow-on UAV to the highly successful MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper aircraft, the latter a much improved variant of the Q-1 series. Those UAVs -- with the prefix letter "M" -- indicating multimission -- have proved invaluable in combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq
The Air Force lists seven potential key missions for the NG-UAV:
Limited interdiction
Close air support/forward air control
Combat search and rescue support
Limited suppression of enemy air defenses
Joint maritime operation support
Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance
Force protection (identifying threats such as IEDs, mortars, and rocket sites)
These missions are to be carried out in all low- and some medium-threat environments.
The NG-UAS platform is planned to have capabilities beyond existing UAVs. Compared to the MQ-1 Predator and the derivative MQ-9 Reaper, the new vehicle would have improved maneuverability and time on station among other features.
The planned initial operational capability of the NG-UAS would be 2015. The MQ-1 Predator, developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, first flew in July 1994; the improved Predator-B, which was redesignated MQ-9 Reaper, first flew in February 2001. Both have been produced in the hundreds. They have suffered significant losses in the combat area, albeit several losses being due to collisions with smaller, low-flying UAVs. Still, their efficacy cannot be questioned.
General Atomics has already developed a candidate for the NG-UAS role now known as Predator-C. That UAV is believed to have swept-back wings and stealth characteristics. The firm has not "pushed" the Predator-C because of the continuing demand for its Predator and Reaper UAVs.
Other firms, notably Northrop Grumman, which produces the also highly successful RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV and is said to have a scaled down version in the works, as well as several foreign firms are expected to enter the competition for the NG-UAVs. Still, as both U.S. and foreign aerospace firms consider the Air Force's interest in the next generation UAV, the dark cloud of the controversial KC-X program and now the protesting of the Navy's BAMS competition award hang over the NG-UAS landscape.
I didn't really understand it until I noticed the seriousness in the source's eyes. I hadn't given it much thought recently, what with all the other stuff going on around us ... MRAP, Air Force shakeup, body armor, tanker -- you name it.
But when the far-ranging discussion we were having came around to the subject of aircraft carriers, this guy said (and I paraphrase) "you think carriers are irrelevant in a contested environment now, just wait til someone gets an anti-ship ballistic missile capability. That'll be a game-changer."
To me, this seemed implausible. Shooting a ballistic missile at a moving ship?
"Did you see the ASAT test? That was 10-times more difficult," he replied. "And they're a lot closer than anyone thinks."
He wouldn't tell me the country that's so close to getting this capability, but it's not hard to guess which one it is.
China is developing an anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) based on a variant of the CSS-5 medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) as a component of its anti-access strategy. The missile has a range in excess of 1,500 km and, when incorporated into a sophisticated command and control system, is a key component of Chinas anti-access strategy to provide the PLA the capability to attack ships at sea, including aircraft carriers, from great distances.
That's subtle -- not a whole lot there. But my guy tells me this country that he would not mention could plausibly demonstrate that capability "very soon."
Work is believed to be ongoing to provide this missile with a sophisticated terminal guidance system. According to some reports the Mod 2 version of the CSS-5 will be comparable to the US Pershing II IRBM, employ advanced radar guidance to achieve extremely high accuracy.
Now, here's what it means: carriers must stay at least 1000 miles off this enemy's coast. Think how that affects strike planning, surveillance, rescue...any number of factors that go into naval aviation planning. And how do you defend against such a strike? I'm not sure about all the details, but it seems to me there's a pretty short flight time in which to generate a solution for an anti-ballistic missile interceptor. Maybe ABL could handle this one, but how many can it shoot down at any one time? A salvo of even five or 10 of these could be devistating.
Another source tells me there have been tests of the system but they have so far been unsuccessful. But the source also told me the Russians might have recently delivered a key component to the Chinese to make this system more effective.
We'll have more on this as it develops and I'll be interested to see what DT readers might be able to add on this...
Computers and networks have blurred the boundaries when you look at cyber warfare, cyber crime, and cyber terrorism. There is no doubt that future conflicts will involve cyber warfare between nations. Distinguishing between military and criminal and civilian attacks is tough and could create a dangerous problem in determining who is behind a cyber attack. It's very difficult to trace cyber attacks back the responsible parties. It is rarely the case that the computer forensic analysis conducted as a result of a cyber attack yields enough hard evidence that would meet the "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard we apply in non-civil court actions.
There are millions of pieces of malicious code available today along with a significant number of vulnerabilities that can be exploited by cyber soldiers, hackers and others who wish to compromise computers and networks. Websites now provide both novice and expert level computer attackers with the latest, up-to-date programs and support needed to plan, design, develop and initiate cyber attacks. In fact, these websites provide services to parties that are interested in hacker computer systems and networks.
When you use the Internet, you leave the equivalent of digital footprints and attacks leave digital fingerprints as well as digital DNA. Every message a computer sends to a different computer travels in a series of hops from one router or server to another leaving behind logs and addresses of the route. Even after the message is received, the record of its path of travel remains behind. There are also a number of ways that attackers use to obscure their location and identity. Intelligence around cyber weapons development and cyber attacks is very limited. In our vast sources of intelligence gathering capabilities only electronic intercepts and human intelligence have the ability to provide the primary sources for our intelligence helping to defend our nation against cyber attacks. The tools and technologies available to law enforcement and the Defense Department are not keeping pace with the rapid advances being made in cyber weapons used by attackers. The current state of the practice and available tools regarding the technical ability to track and trace cyber attacks remains very primitive. The advanced level of sophisticated cyber attacks make it close to impossible to trace to their true source and have the hard evidence that would pass the court of public opinion. In addition, the technical nature of the investigation would make it difficult to effectively communicate to those serving on a jury. Advanced tools for tracing complex attacks are among the research topics that are currently under development by multiple organizations and agencies, but we need them now.
We have seen the harbingers of cyber warfare and the image they present instills fear in our military and technical professionals. Dozens of nation states currently have highly sophisticated cyber attack capabilities and many others are in the process of developing cyber weapons of mass disruption. Advances are needed now to defend our systems against such attacks. Likewise, advances tools, techniques and trained staff are needed now to conduct the investigations into the rash of cyber attacks we are experiencing. Finally, international laws and doctrine must rapidly be developed and implemented as part of our overall cyber defense activities.
India and France may soon join hands to make the latest variants of surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) with a lethal hundred per cent kill probability, on the lines of the highly successful Indo-Russian Brahmos supersonic cruise missile.
Controlling the electromagnetic spectrum to deny or attack an adversary -- that is electronic warfare, and the Air Force is in search of ways to maximize that capability.
Royal Navy technicians based at HM Naval Base Devonport have been helping to assemble Jackal armoured vehicles which when complete will be deployed on operations overseas.
Over the past two years the Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) have fielded the ITO 05 air defence system, developed by Rheinmetall Defence under the product name ASRAD-R.
Iran on Sunday dismissed reports that Israel had been practising for air strikes against its nuclear drive as "psychological operations" but warned of a limitless response to any attack.
Rheinmetall Defence's motto for Eurosatory 2008 perfectly sums up the extensive array of products and projects the company is presenting this year in Paris, including the new Command and Multipurpose Vehicle, better known by its German initials GFF.
Thales and Saab have agreed to combine their know-how and experience to design the instrumentation for the future joint battle group facility at the French Army urban combat training complex in Sissonne, northern France.
When coalition forces came under heavy attacks from insurgents in Iraq, the flames of the British Army gunners' 155mm AS90s proved to be the showstopper.
Thales considerably increases network capacity and becomes end-to-end logistics operator under new amendment to information and communication system services contract in Afghanistan.
Coalition airpower integrated with coalition ground forces in Iraq and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan during operations June 21, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.
In the presence of representatives from the Italian Defence Ministry and the local institutions, Avio delivered to the French shipyards the first turbine to equip the new Italian-French frigates FREMM.
Top UN atomic experts left Sunday for Syria on a three-day visit to inspect a mysterious site bombed last year by Israel and suspected by the US of being a nuclear facility.
Government Accountability Office officials announced their findings and sustained portions of the Boeing protest of the KC-45A aerial refueling tanker competition.
Coalition airpower integrated with Coalition ground forces in Iraq and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan in the following operations June 20, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.
The Minister for Defence, the Hon. Joel Fitzgibbon MP, today inspected the Wedgetail integration laboratory at BAE Systems Australia’s Edinburgh facility.
What's the Air Force's move? Yesterday, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) just upheld Boeing's protest of the Air Force's refueling tanker contract award to a partnership between Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman
Don't expect too many bear hugs, but Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans to attend Friday's retirement ceremony for the man he pushed out the door, Air Force Secretary Mike Wynne.
The Pentagon, at least so far, isn't trumpeting Wynne's departure. It is trumpeting the retirement of Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden - also known as the director of the CIA - who retires at 10 a.m. at Washington's Bolling Air Force Base. The administration had come in for some criticism for nominating a military officer to head the CIA and appears to have been sensitive to this issue. Gates will spend much of the day doing retirements since Wynne's ceremony begins at 1 p.m.
Combine Gates' attending Wynne's ceremony with his recent trips to the Air Force commands and it becomes very, very clear that the secretary knows he has fences to mend and is trying hard to limit the damage done by his firing of Wynne and Air Force Gen. Mike Moseley. Over the next few months we will get to see whether the new secretary (acting or confirmed by the Senate) and the new chief of staff can, as a congressional aide put it after the GAO tanker protest decision came out, be the miracle workers they must be.
As you all well know I've been very passionate about the promise of unmanned aerial vehicles -- especially combat drones that can execute long-range strike missions and even dogfight.
My good friends Tom Ehrhard and Bob Work at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments put together an exhaustive report making the case for naval UCAVs. Tom, a former Air Force colonel and one of those guys that was almost too smart for the service's own good, has done a lot of work and research on the promise of UAVs in a service that views them with suspicion. Bob Work, a former Marine officer, has been wading through the weeds of US naval power and strategy for years and understands the art of the possible in a service steeped with tradition and resistant -- sometimes -- to change.
The long and the short of it is that both analysts believe that the Navy must invest in naval UCAV as a growing part of its long-range strike capability.
The logic supporting accelerated development of a longer-range, carrier-based UCAS is straight-forward. Using manned aircraft, current carrier air wings are best suited for striking targets at ranges between 200 and 450 nautical miles (nm) from their carriers. At the same time, due primarily to the limits of aircrew endurance, these aircraft lack persistence. That is to say, they are generally limited to missions no more than ten hours long, and they more typically fly missions that last only a few hours. Therefore, US carrier air wings can maintain a persistent 24-hour-a-day presence over the battlefield only by massing several carriers. However, emerging national security challenges including defending the homeland in depth, defeating global terrorist networks, operating in a world with more nuclear-armed regional powers, and hedging against the appearance of new anti-access/area-denial networkswill likely require future carrier task forces to stand off and fight from far greater distances than in the past, and to maintain a far more persistent presence over future battlefields. Moreover, when under constant threat of guided weapons attack, carriers will need to operate dispersed and mass their aircraft over targets from widely distributed operating areas. Under these circumstances, a carrier-based UCAS with an unrefueled combat radius of 1,500 nm or more and unconstrained by pilot physiology offers a significant boost in carrier combat capability.
Indeed, with aerial refueling, a UCAS would be able to stay airborne for 50 to 100 hoursfive to ten times longer than a manned aircraft. With multiple aerial refuelings, a UCAS could establish persistent surveillance- strike combat air patrols at ranges well beyond 3,000 nm, and could strike fixed targets at even longer ranges. Such extended reach and persistence would allow a dispersed aircraft carrier force to exert combat power over an enormous area.
Range, stealth, persistance, improved networking...this is what Gates wants and this is what the naval UCAS promises. But there's rumors of strong resistance within the Navy on this program, even though the service has devoted $620 million over the next few years to a demonstration program that would see a combat drone deployed to a carrier for the first time in naval aviation history.
Despite these welcome steps, the current demonstration and technology maturation programs for carrier-based unmanned aircraft are far less ambitious that earlier Navy plans. Indeed, the Navys conservative approach toward N-UCAS suggests that the carrier community is reticent to fully embrace the new system. This reticence Distances in the Pacific is perhaps understandable. The carrier flight deck is arguably one of the most dangerous workplaces in the world, and the job of spotting, fueling, arming, launching, and recovering aircraft is a complex process requiring close teamwork and timing. As a result, many carrier aviators remain highly skeptical that unmanned air systems can be safely integrated into carrier operations, and insist that they earn their way aboard the ship. To many Navy carrier aviators, a simple naval UCAS demonstration focused on carrier flight deck and flight operations, followed by a slower, more deliberate development of unmanned air combat systems, is the prudent, safe way to go.
And as Tom and Bob point out, there's a strange historical inconsistancy here:
This rather timid, less-than-certain development approach stands in stark contrast to the period between the two World Wars, when the Navy aggressively worked to integrate aircraft into naval operations. At that time, the prevailing attitude seemed to be to prove why aircraft should not be taken to sea and incorporated into fleet operations. There was never any doubt in the minds of naval officers that aircraft would improve fleet operations in important ways.
But, for some reason, the Navy is tepid on this situation...and while the CSBA guys can't say it, the Navy may be kicking the can down the road even further in the future budget planning.
The program fared much better in the FY 2008 budget cycle, with both the Senate and House endorsing full funding of the Navys UCASD request. However, given the other competing requirements facing Navy planners, how hard will carrier aviators fight for the UCAS-D program in the future if DoN aviation budgets are less than expected, or if they are faced with a choice of funding either the UCAS-D or another competing priority? If history is any guide, given the inattention to and lack of interest in unmanned systems within the carrier aviation community, the answer to this question is not likely to be encouraging. This seems especially true given that the newly published Naval Aviation Plan 2030 folds the N-UCAS program into a sixth-generation strikefighter (F/A-XX) program, and slips this new program even further into the future (around 2025). Moreover, with manned/unmanned decision points built into the new F/A-XX program, it is not even certain that an unmanned air combat system will survive. This may make it easier to shift funds from the UCAS-D program in the face of sharp budget pressures over the next several years.
Air Force Research Laboratory scientists have demonstrated world-record performance of transparent transistors created from thin-film nanocrystalline zinc oxide which can function, undetected, on clear surfaces such as glass or plastic.
Alenia North America, a subsidiary of Alenia Aeronautica and part of the Finmeccanica Group, announced today that the first C-27J Spartan for the U.S. Army’s Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA) successfully completed its maiden flight at the Alenia facility in Turin, Italy.
The UK was the top global defence exporter in 2007, winning a UK record £10 billion ($19bn) of new business and a 33% market share, according to figures announced by UK Trade & Investment’s Defence and Security Organisation (UKTI DSO) today.
NATO has welcomed President Nicolas Sarkozy's announcement that France is to fully reintegrate into the military alliance in a significant shift away from French exceptionalism.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced a major overhaul of the country's defense to better meet new threats like terrorism. Mr. Sarkozy also announced France was ready to rejoin NATO's military wing, after a four-decade absence.
Lithuania would consider being the base for a contested US missile shield if Washington asks it, but believes the United States will persuade Poland to host the system, Lithuania's defence minister said Wednesday.
Last year, the three nations with the world's biggest military expenses were the United States ($547 billion), the United Kingdom ($59.7 billion) and China ($58.3 billion).
The 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division "Rakkasans" continues to use air assaults to execute their mission in southwest Baghdad Province. At the same time, the Iraqi army draws on the expertise of the Rakkasans during these combined air assaults.
Exercise Atlantic Strike VII kicked off June 14 in the swampy pinegroves of the Avon Park Air Ground Training Complex as more than 800 joint and coalition warfighters from around the world gathered to practice and train in the complex art of coordinating close-air support for ground maneuvers.
On top of insider trading charges in Europe, Airbus parent EADS also faces two shareholder lawsuits filed with a federal court in New York. The suits allege the European aircraft manufacturer misled investors.
iRobot Corp. today announced the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the U.S. Army Research Office have awarded the company a new multi-year, multi-million dollar R&D project to develop Chemical Robots (ChemBots).
Sagem Defense and L3 Communications (Communication Systems-West) have signed a deal to develop a new networked tactical information system for air-land targeting, designed RT-SAATS (Real Time – Situational Awareness Airborne Targeting System).
The Spanish Army Disaster Response Unit (UME) has just taken delivery of its first EC135 helicopter. This is an important milestone in the program to equip the UME, a new unit of the Spanish Armed Forces created by the Spanish Government on 7 October 2005.
Personnel and B-52 Stratofortress bombers from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., continue to provide a bomber presence here, helping maintain stability and provide security in the Asia-Pacific region.
L-3 Communications, prime contractor for the C-27J Joint Cargo Aircraft Program (JCA), announced today the successful completion of the C-27J JCA’s first flight in Turin, Italy.
Goodrich Corporation has received production contracts from Lockheed Martin and General Electric Aircraft Engines (GEAE) to supply pylons and nacelle systems for the U.S. Air Force C-5 Galaxy strategic airlifter Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program (RERP).
Earlier today, Government Accountability Office officials announced their findings and sustained portions of the Boeing protest of the KC-45A aerial refueling tanker competition.
Northrop Grumman Corporation said today that if the Government Accountability Office (GAO) rejects the protest filed against the Air Force selection of the Northrop Grumman KC-45 aerial refueling tanker, there should be no further delay in the program moving forward.
Marlin Dailey, vice president of Sales for Europe, Russia, and Central Asia, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, today met with media in Istanbul to review recent Boeing activities and to comment on the Turkish aviation market.
The decision to uphold the Boeing protest of the airborne tanker award to Northrop Grumman Corp. raises fundamental questions about the ability of the Air Force -- and the Pentagon in general -- to buy weapons effectively, according to lawmakers, congressional aides and defense analysts.
"The GAO's decision in the tanker protest reveals serious errors in the Air Force's handling of this critically important competition. We now need not only a new full, fair and open competition in compliance with the GAO recommendations, but also a thorough review of -- and accountability for -- the process that produced such a flawed result," said the Senate's senior defense lawmaker, Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, in a June 18 statement.
The congressional Government Accountability Office upheld Boeing's protest of a $35 billion Air Force tanker contract awarded to Northrop Grumman and Airbus parent European Aeronautic Defence and Space, and it recommended that the service hold a new competition. The GAO said it found "a number of significant errors" that could have affected the outcome of "what was a close competition."
The contract for 179 aerial refueling tankers is the first of three deals worth up to $100 billion to replace the Air Force's entire tanker fleet over the next 30 years.
The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee was more understated in his criticism.
"The GAO did its work, and the Air Force is going to have to go back and do its work more thoroughly," Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) said in a statement.
Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington state, a vociferous Boeing supporter, said the GAO criticisms "were a scathing indictment of the Air Force's process.
A congressional aide said the Air Force may be on the brink of collapse from the accumulated weight of bad acquisition, personnel and strategic decisions.
"You have to ask how much more can the Air Force take. Are they really that broken? Not just on acquisition but across the board. Are they more broken than any other services or is it just their time in the glass house?" the senior congressional aide said.
This aide, who has been sharply critical of Air Force acquisition practices in the past, said that the ruling by the Government Accountability Office makes the appointment of the next Air Force Chief of Staff "more than a critical appointment. They need a miracle worker."
A defense analyst said the Air Force -- and the military in general -- now faces a crippled system for buying anything.
"At this point the procurement system is so broken that I believe that we are at a structural disarmament point, and we certainly will not fund a strike Air Force," the analyst said. This source noted that the Air Force lost its bid to buy more F-22s and pointed to the Navy and Coast Guard's broken acquisition efforts as further sign of the crippled state of Pentagon acquisition.
The head of Boeing's tanker programs, Mark McGraw, said the company welcomed the ruling, "fully supporting the grounds of our protest. We appreciate the professionalism and diligence the GAO showed in its review of the KC-X acquisition process. We look forward to working with the Air Force on next steps in this critical procurement for our warfighters."
While the GAO decision is not binding, it puts tremendous pressure on the Air Force to reopen the contract and could help Boeing capture part or all of the award. It also gives ammunition to Boeing supporters in Congress who have been seeking to block funding for the deal or force a new competition.
The Boeing Company protested the award of a contract to Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation under solicitation No. FA8625-07-R-6470, issued by the Department of the Air Force, for KC-X aerial refueling tankers to begin replacing its aging tanker fleet. Boeing challenged the Air Forces technical and cost evaluations, conduct of discussions, and source selection decision.
Our Office sustained Boeings protest on June 18, 2008. The 69-page decision was issued under a protective order, because the decision contains proprietary and source selection sensitive information. We have directed counsel for the parties to promptly identify information that cannot be publicly released so that we can expeditiously prepare and release, as soon as possible, a public version of the decision.
Although the Air Force intends to ultimately procure up to 179 KC-X aircraft, the solicitation provided for an initial contract for system development and demonstration of the KC-X aircraft and procurement of up to 80 aircraft. The solicitation provided that award of the contract would be on a best value basis, and stated a detailed evaluation scheme that identified technical and cost factors and their relative weights. With respect to the cost factor, the solicitation provided that the Air Force would calculate a most probable life cycle cost estimate for each offeror, including military construction costs. In addition, the solicitation provided a detailed system requirements document that identified minimum requirements (called key performance parameter thresholds) that offerors must satisfy to receive award. The solicitation also identified desired features and performance characteristics of the aircraft (which the solicitation identified as requirements, or in certain cases, as objectives) that offerors were encouraged, but were not required, to provide.
The agency received proposals and conducted numerous rounds of negotiations with Boeing and Northrop Grumman. The Air Force selected Northrop Grummans proposal for award on February 29, 2008, and Boeing filed its protest with our Office on March 11, supplementing it numerous times thereafter. In accordance with our Bid Protest Regulations, we obtained a report from the agency and comments on that report from Boeing and Northrop Grumman. The documentary record produced by the Air Force in this protest is voluminous and complex. Our Office also conducted a hearing, at which testimony was received from a number of Air Force witnesses to complete and explain the record. Following the hearing, we received further comments from the parties, addressing the hearing testimony as well as other aspects of the record.
Our decision should not be read to reflect a view as to the merits of the firms respective aircraft. Judgments about which offeror will most successfully meet governmental needs are largely reserved for the procuring agencies, subject only to such statutory and regulatory requirements as full and open competition and fairness to potential offerors. Our bid protest process examines whether procuring agencies have complied with those requirements.
Our review of the record led us to conclude that the Air Force had made a number of significant errors that could have affected the outcome of what was a close competition between Boeing and Northrop Grumman. We therefore sustained Boeings protest. We also denied a number of Boeings challenges to the award to Northrop Grumman, because we found that the record did not provide us with a basis to conclude that the agency had violated the legal requirements with respect to those challenges.
Specifically, we sustained the protest for the following reasons:
1. The Air Force, in making the award decision, did not assess the relative merits of the proposals in accordance with the evaluation criteria identified in the solicitation, which provided for a relative order of importance for the various technical requirements. The agency also did not take into account the fact that Boeing offered to satisfy more non-mandatory technical requirements than Northrop Grumman, even though the solicitation expressly requested offerors to satisfy as many of these technical requirements as possible.
2. The Air Forces use as a key discriminator that Northrop Grumman proposed to exceed a key performance parameter objective relating to aerial refueling to a greater degree than Boeing violated the solicitations evaluation provision that no consideration will be provided for exceeding [key performance parameter] objectives.
3. The protest record did not demonstrate the reasonableness of the Air Forces determination that Northrop Grummans proposed aerial refueling tanker could refuel all current Air Force fixed-wing tanker-compatible receiver aircraft in accordance with current Air Force procedures, as required by the solicitation.
4. The Air Force conducted misleading and unequal discussions with Boeing, by informing Boeing that it had fully satisfied a key performance parameter objective relating to operational utility, but later determined that Boeing had only partially met this objective, without advising Boeing of this change in the agencys assessment and while continuing to conduct discussions with Northrop Grumman relating to its satisfaction of the same key performance parameter objective.
5. The Air Force unreasonably determined that Northrop Grummans refusal to agree to a specific solicitation requirement that it plan and support the agency to achieve initial organic depot-level maintenance within 2 years after delivery of the first full-rate production aircraft was an administrative oversight, and improperly made award, despite this clear exception to a material solicitation requirement.
6. The Air Forces evaluation of military construction costs in calculating the offerors most probable life cycle costs for their proposed aircraft was unreasonable, where the agency during the protest conceded that it made a number of errors in evaluation that, when corrected, result in Boeing displacing Northrop Grumman as the offeror with the lowest most probable life cycle cost; where the evaluation did not account for the offerors specific proposals; and where the calculation of military construction costs based on a notional (hypothetical) plan was not reasonably supported.
7. The Air Force improperly increased Boeings estimated non-recurring engineering costs in calculating that firms most probable life cycle costs to account for risk associated with Boeings failure to satisfactorily explain the basis for how it priced this cost element, where the agency had not found that the proposed costs for that element were unrealistically low. In addition, the Air Forces use of a simulation model to determine Boeings probable non-recurring engineering costs was unreasonable, because the Air Force used as data inputs in the model the percentage of cost growth associated with weapons systems at an overall program level and there was no indication that these inputs would be a reliable predictor of anticipated growth in Boeings non-recurring engineering costs.
We recommended that the Air Force reopen discussions with the offerors, obtain revised proposals, re-evaluate the revised proposals, and make a new source selection decision, consistent with our decision. We further recommended that, if the Air Force believed that the solicitation, as reasonably interpreted, does not adequately state its needs, the agency should amend the solicitation prior to conducting further discussions with the offerors. We also recommended that if Boeings proposal is ultimately selected for award, the Air Force should terminate the contract awarded to Northrop Grumman. We also recommended that the Air Force reimburse Boeing the costs of filing and pursuing the protest, including reasonable attorneys fees.
By statute, the Air Force is given 60 days to inform our Office of the Air Forces actions in response to our recommendations.
Throughout history wars have been triggered by events. Being at war is a state or condition. To be legal, a war must be declared by a branch of the government entrusted by the Constitution with this power. In the Constitution of the United States, Article I provides Congress the power to declare war. War is defined as a contention by force; or the art of paralyzing the forces of an enemy. An act of war is typically defined as an aggressive act that constitutes a serious challenge or threat to national security, armed conflict, whether or not war has been declared, between two or more nations; or armed conflict between military forces of any origin. This frames the discussions around traditional war. In the physical sense it is easy to define such infractions; enemy troops crossing another countries border, military strikes by missiles or bombs, basically you know it when you see it. What constitutes a serious challenge and a threat to our national security in cyber space? That is much more difficult to define.
In the U.S. Army's Cyber Operations and Cyber Terrorism Handbook 1.02 I found the following reference to the definition of Cyber Warfare & Terrorism: "the premeditated use of disruptive activities, or the threat thereof, against computers and/or networks, with the intention to cause harm or to further social, ideological, religious, political or similar objectives or to intimidate any person in furtherance of such objectives." This was an excerpt from an article I wrote back in 2003 when the issue of cyber war was in its infancy. While this frames acts of cyber war, in retrospect it does not address a measure of the disruptive acts or provide guidance assess if individual acts, or a collection of acts rise to the level to be considered an act of cyber war.
If a foreign government hacks a sensitive system of another government and accesses security and defense information, is that an act of cyber war? If so, that has already occurred. If a foreign government hacks a sensitive system of another government and places software on the system that collects data and sends it back, is that an act of war? If military personal from a foreign government infiltrates another nation's networks or systems through the use of counterfeit hardware and monitors communications, is that an act of cyber war? Both are certainly acts of espionage and have already taken place. The factor that will determine if an act or acts of cyber attack rise to the level of an act of war rests in the magnitude of disruption that accompany the acts. Adding to the complexity is the fact that much of our critical infrastructure that are prime targets for cyber attacks are owned or operated by the private sector not the government. This infrastructure in some cases carries military communications, supports civilian emergency services as well business and consumer services. An attack on the infrastructure impacts multiple segments. The question of what constitutes an act of cyber war remains unanswered.
Given that we are in relatively new territory, each individual attack must be examined and the forensic evidence weighed to determine the source of attack. Little physical evidence will ever exist that you can hold up and point to or take a picture of and say "they did this." Much debate is currently taking place over the legality of cyber warfare tactics and their use. Is a cyber attack on our networks and systems an act of war? Are acts of cyber espionage a violation of international law? It is better we investigate and answer these questions now rather than reacting to cyber events in the heat of the moment when they occur.
Thales is pleased to announce the launch of its armoured combat support vehicle, known as Bushmaster Copperhead, at the Eurosatory defence exhibition in Paris, France.
Since 3 June, Eurofighter combat aircraft of Fighter Wing 74 (JG 74) at Neuburg have officially been on constant alert for air policing tasks in the Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) role.
Lockheed Martin has successfully integrated key shipboard combat system components aboard the U.S. Navy's first Littoral Combat Ship, PCU Freedom, with COMBATSS-21, the ship's core combat management system.
Coalition airpower integrated with coalition ground forces in Iraq and International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan during operations June 16, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.
Iran said it will "never" suspend its enrichment of uranium, in defiance of demands from world powers to suspend the sensitive nuclear activity, the official IRNA agency reported.
Afghan forces supported by Canadian NATO soldiers launched a "clean-up" operation Wednesday to drive out Taliban militants massed in villages near the southern city of Kandahar.
BAE Systems has been awarded a $53 million contract modification from the U.S. Marine Corps for 40 Special Operations Command (SOCOM) Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles.
Lockheed Martin and Kaman Aerospace Corporation have demonstrated to the U.S. Army and Marine Corps the feasibility of transporting supplies to ground troops by an unmanned helicopter.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has demonstrated that damage-tolerant flight control technology can successfully allow an unmanned aerial vehicle to continue to fly even after losing large portions of its wing.
One of the most important program decisions of this administration was made on Tuesday last week. After years of dithering, the Pentagons Deputys Advisory Working Group (known affectionately as the DAWG) approved Tier 2 -- the next stage of the Transformational Satellite Communications system.
For a program that had just been whacked by $4 billion over the fiscal 2009 Program Objective memorandums five years this is a remarkable achievement and is testament to the enduring need for enormous amounts of protected communication bandwidth. Lockheed Martin and Boeing executives, who just four months ago feared the program was headed for the trash heap of history, were elated. Lockheed partners with Northrop Grumman and Juniper Networks on the program. Boeing partners with Cisco and Hughes.
T-Sat, aside from providing the vaunted comms on the move capability, will provide something even more important enough bandwidth for the Armys future Combat System and other key joint systems to function. There are two separate T-Sat programs -- the ground segment and the satellite segment. The DAWG meeting approved going ahead with the satellites and the plan is to build five of them and one spare.
The June 10 decision came as quite a surprise to several industry players. One told us Thursday that their company could not believe that the Pentagon leaders had approved the program unanimously.
The DAWGs action spells an end to several years of questions about whether to go with what many people have called T-Sat light, which would have been basically a fifth version of the Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite. Congressional staff had been leaning increasingly to such a solution to cover what they feared might be an 18-month gap in protected comms coverage as the old MILSTAR satellites began to fail.
The gap is no longer a concern, according to a senior Pentagon source, adding that launch is now set for 2018. This source says that the DAWG locked in the T-Sat requirements. Doing that basically means that this program barring major technical or schedule screwups is likely set for a long life.
And this from Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell...some interesting tidbits (edited for brevity):
There has been absolutely no change in this building's position on that contract. As the secretary has said time and time again, this is the number-one acquisition priority of the Air Force. It has to be. It is 10 years overdue.
The average age of this fleet is 47 years old. These plans desperately need to be replaced, not yesterday, not the year before, but 10 years ago. Any further delay would be a real problem.
And we believe that the acquisition and the contracting process that eventually produced Northrop Grumman and EADS as the winner of this deal was a fair and transparent one. It was very deliberate.
And we believe it provided the American taxpayer with -- we believe it provided our warfighters with the most capable aircraft and the taxpayer the most cost-effective solution to this very real need of replacing the tanker fleet.
Nothing really new here. Of course the Pentagon is going to back their service's decision. But what I think is interesting in Morrell's comment is the idea that the decision was the "most capable" aircraft and the "most cost effective" one. That's more than just a stock endorsement. It's a value decision.
Then it got really interesting...
I think our people felt very secure about the contracting process. Obviously, the eyes of the world were upon the Air Force, as they were pursuing this contract, and in light of what had happened with the previous attempt to award this contract.
Precisely. It's hard to argue any underhandedness here and that somehow the wool was pulled over Boeing's eyes for this very reason.
More:
You know, I know there's been a lot of concern in Congress about this and the impact that this contract may have on the loss of jobs in particular states. And the secretary has told Congress time and again that the only factors that they are allowed to consider when letting these contracts is cost and capability.
And that if they wish to change the contracting criteria to include the impact on jobs, they should be aware of the potential impact that would have on U.S. military companies, because they do an awful lot of business overseas. And you run the risk of opening the door to retaliatory trade restrictions that would ultimately have a far greater impact on domestic jobs than perhaps this one contract will.
Kudos to Colin for recognizing this aspect in yesterday's post. And clearly the Pentagon is worried about the health of the defense sector and its ability to sell systems worldwide.
A pro-Boeing source sent me the following this AM...
The best indication we have at this point is that the GAO decision on the Boeing protest of the Air Force tanker contract is likely to be announced late Wednesday. The initial announcement in these cases (e.g. the CSAR-X protest) will be somewhat limited, simply stating the GAOs conclusion, for example, that the Air Force made serious mistakes in conducting the competition. In the CSAR-X case, the announcement said: GAO sustained the protest on the basis that the Air Forces actual evaluation of the MPLCC (most probable life-cycle cost) was inconsistent with the required approach as set forth in the solicitation. GAO recommended that the solicitation should be amended, but later recommended that the CSAR-X competition be re-opened.
So it looks like GAO might make an initial call on the tanker deal tomorrow -- a day earlier than planned.
And here's another interesting way of phrasing the controversy from the anti-EADS folks as well:
The Air Force was pressured into altering the program requirements and the decisionmaking models, leading to its subsequent misjudgment of the factors of 1] Mission Capability, 2] Risk, 3] Past Performance and 4] Cost.
The Air Force was pressured? By whom? McCain...who spent little time on this issue once it was recompeted?
The arguments are getting weirder and weirder as this goes forward. We're all sort of holding our breath to see how this shakes out. Colin's piece yesterday was interesting too in noting the cold reception U.S. reps could get at Farnborough if the KC-45 is pulled.
President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday presents a new security doctrine for France that places greater emphasis on the intelligence war and sets the stage for major cuts in the armed forces.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and tactical reconnaissance radars, today announced that two Sky Warrior Block 0 UAS are now operational in Iraq, supporting U.S. Army ground forces in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF).
Eurocopter, the world’s leading helicopter manufacturer, highlights once again its wide range of multipurpose products well adapted to the increasingly complex homeland security and defence missions faced by our governmental customers today.
Many home owners have found it difficult recently to pay their mortgages, but quick intervention by loan counselors at the Department of Veterans Affairs has actually reduced the number of veterans defaulting on their home loans.
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) announced the successful completion of a tracking exercise conducted by MDA and the U.S. Navy today off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii by the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system aboard the USS Lake Erie (CG 70).
Thales UK is playing a major role at this year’s Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration (CWID) and we are contributing to or supporting many of the other trials running over the course of the exercise.
BAE Systems has completed the integration of the first Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) Cannon prototype: the U.S. Army's first fully integrated Future Combat Systems (FCS) Manned Ground Vehicle.
Pakistan stoked tensions with Afghanistan on Monday, summoning the Afghan envoy and vowing to defend its sovereignty after President Hamid Karzai threatened cross-border attacks on militants.
British troops in the urban environments of Afghanistan and Iraq are set to benefit from greater protection as the first "Cougar" vehicles begin their transformation into "Ridgbacks".
Coalition airpower integrated with coalition ground forces in Iraq and International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan during operations June 15, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.
Today, Bombardier Aerospace announced that the government of Malaysia has placed a firm order for two Bombardier 415 multipurpose amphibious aircraft (Bombardier 415MP) for the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA).
Iran said on Saturday its answer to an offer from world powers over its nuclear programme would depend on how the West responds to an Iranian package Tehran put forward last month.
IAI/MBT Missiles Division will present its family of laser guided weapons and will introduce an advanced operational concept for network-centric laser guided warfare at Eurosatory 2008 (Paris, France).
The Indian Navy has virtually written off the naval variant of the advanced light helicopter (ALH), Dhruv, saying it has failed to meet basic operational requirements.
Alliant Techsystems announced today that it has received $97 million in follow-on production and new contracts for tactical and training tank ammunition from the U.S. Army.
The successful first flight of a supersonic fighter jet, the next generation of Navy and RAF jump-jets, took place on 11 June at Lockheed Martin's Texas plant.
The Defence Ministers of the Strategic Airlift Capability nations met at NATO Headquarters to review progress and map the way forward to meet the goal of receiving the first aircraft in November 2008.
Reuters and several other media outlets are reporting, this afternoon, on a Boeing corporation filing before the Government Accountability Office concerning word from the Air Force that it had slightly miscalculated what is known as the Most Probable Life Cycle Cost of Boeing's tanker design and the Northrop Grumman KC-45.
With BAE Systems test pilot Graham Tomlinson at the controls, the first short take off and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the F-35 Lightning II has taken to the skies above Fort Worth, Texas, for the first time.
AgustaWestland and Kanematsu Corporation are pleased to announce they have been awarded a contract by the Japan National Police Agency (JNPA) to supply a further five AW109 Power Law Enforcement Helicopters as part of an on-going program to modernise the Police helicopter fleet.
We dont have any inside track on the Government Accountability Offices decision this week about the Boeing protest of the airborne tanker contract award to Northrop Grumman, but here are some of the possible pitfalls no matter which way the GAO rules. (If you know something about the protest and want to tell us before it's officially released, email me at colin.clark@military-inc.com. No one will know where it came from.)
If the protest is denied, Boeings supporters in Congress are clearly prepared to try and make life as miserable for the Pentagon as possible. Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.), a senior member on the House Appropriations defense subcommittee and one of Boeings biggest boosters on the Hill, made it clear after Thursdays meeting of the House Aerospace Caucus that he was working hand in glove with Rep. John Murtha (D-Penn.), dean of the defense subcommittee, to come up with creative ways to stymie Northrop. Although single members such as these can cause heartache and heartburn, I think the relative quiet of most senators (aside from the two Washington state lawmakers) on the issue indicates that barring some pretty spectacular goof by the Air Force contracting folks Northrop will probably get the contract through the appropriations and authorization processes
In addition to the congressional angle, there are enormous allied industrial cooperation issues at stake. The award of the contract to Northrop was seen as a bold and welcome move by the Air Force to include allied companies on truly major contracts.
Taking it away now either through congressional action or by reopening the bid as a result of the protest decision would be read as a slap in the face of NATO allies and raise questions about the viability of the United States as a defense industrial partner. As one defense analyst, who has been in the thick of the contract award process, told me this afternoon, any American attending the Farnborough Air Show in mid-July will need an armed guard should the Northrop-EADS team be denied the contract.
Recently much attention is being given to the topic of cyber warfare and rightfully so. Our computers and networks are under continuous attack from all over the world. The level of sophistication of these attacks and the quality of the code written to perform these attacks both have raised significantly in the past year. Experts agree we have entered a new era of warfare and are transitioning from bombs and bullets to bits and bytes.
In January two classified presidential directives were signed related to defending the country against cyber attacks. At that time the price tag was estimated at $6 billion. In mid May the price tag was revised and believed to be $17 billion. Now, the price has risen again to be $30 billion. That is a big pot of money by anyone's standards. So the question is, where will this money be spent? Increasing cyber defense will require investment in Research and Development as well as in existing technology and services. The first and most critical activity will be to fortify current systems against known cyber threats.
Spending Allocation:
Hardware 18% $5.4 Billion USD
Software 25% $7.5 Billion USD
Consulting 29% $8.7 Billion USD
Services 24% $7.2 Billion USD
R&D 4% $1.2 Billion USD
The R&D efforts will focus on near term delivery of advanced defensive capabilities (like behavioral modeling) of software processes and transaction to evaluate if they pose a threat to the system. Additionally, advanced modeling capabilities are required for evolving defenses and investigative activities. Advanced modeling will be used to certify and authenticate chips, hardware and software to be authentic and free of malicious code. One of the most promising capabilities centers on the development of a "Digital DNA" database repository. The ultimate goal of this work is the same as with current DNA forensics - to identify the perpetrators of the assault. Most cyber attacks leave behind forensic evidence that can be used to assess the capabilities of the attacker, understand the implications of the attack and to create defensive measure to guard against this type attack in the future. With all the attacks that have taken place, there is significant intelligence out there about techniques, cyber weapons, and strategies that have been used in these cyber assaults. Analysis of this evidence can create Digital DNA which could also help to identify the source of the malicious code and potentially lead to the attacker.
ASDF represents the four Digital DNA characteristic sets.
A = attributes, abilities, abstraction, architecture, assembly, adaptation
S = style, signatures, syntax, structure, source, specification, scope
D = demographics, delivery, development, discipline, data, design
F = functions, features, faults, formidability, fields, forms, factors
There are currently over a million pieces of malware. On average there are approximately 200 new computer viruses released monthly, so the raw cyber DNA materials are not in short supply. The potential use and value of the Digital DNA repository will increase with every single entry and the analysis of attacks. According to a source close to the Digital DNA project, the repository is currently in its infancy, it continues to grow and mature with the knowledge gained from each cyber attack. John Foley, CEO of Defcomm1 and former CEO of Vigilant Minds a leading managed security services provider said, "Much like the human genome project, Digital DNA will basically fingerprint the technical and human factors behind the malicious software and attacks." Security experts believe that Digital DNA type data is a critical component and required to fight cyber attacks and defend systems.
Two hundred and thirty-three years ago, the United States Army was established to defend our Nation. From the Revolutionary War to the Global War on Terror, our Soldiers remain Army Strong with a deep commitment to our core values and beliefs. This 233rd birthday commemorates Americas Army Soldiers, Families and Civilians who are achieving a level of excellence that is truly Army Strong both here and abroad. Their willingness to sacrifice to build a better future for others and to preserve our way of life is without a doubt, the Strength of our Nation.
And a little history...
The June 14 date is when Congress adopted "the American continental army" after reaching a consensus position in The Committee of the Whole. This procedure and the desire for secrecy account for the sparseness of the official journal entries for the day. The record indicates only that Congress undertook to raise ten companies of riflemen, approved an enlistment form for them, and appointed a committee (including Washington and Schuyler) to draft rules and regulations for the government of the army. The delegates' correspondence, diaries, and subsequent actions make it clear that they really did much more. They also accepted responsibility for the existing New England troops and forces requested for the defense of the various points in New York. The former were believed to total 10,000 men; the latter, both New Yorkers and Connecticut men, another 5,000.
At least some members of Congress assumed from the beginning that this force would be expanded. That expansion, in the form of increased troop ceilings at Boston, came very rapidly as better information arrived regarding the actual numbers of New England troops. By the third week in June delegates were referring to 15,000 at Boston. When on 19 June Congress requested the governments of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire to forward to Boston "such of the forces as are already embodied, towards their quotas of the troops agreed to be raised by the New England Colonies," it gave a clear indication of its intent to adopt the regional army. Discussions the next day indicated that Congress was prepared to support a force at Boston twice the size of the British garrison, and that it was unwilling to order any existing units to be disbanded. By the first week in July delegates were referring to a total at Boston that was edging toward 20.000. Maximum strengths for the forces both in Massachusetts and New York were finally established on 21 and 22 July, when solid information was on hand. These were set, respectively, at 22,000 and 5,000 men, a total nearly double that envisioned on 14 June.
The "expert riflemen" authorized on 14 June were the first units raised directly as Continentals. Congress intended to have the ten companies serve as a light infantry force for the Boston siege. At the same time it symbolically extended military participation beyond New England by allocating 6 of the companies to Pennsylvania, 2 to Maryland, and 2 to Virginia. Each company would have a captain, 3 lieutenants, 4 sergeants, 4 corporals, a drummer (or horn player), and 68 privates. The enlistment period was set at one year, the norm for the earlier Provincials, a period that would expire on 1 July 1776.
With his decision to tap Gen. Norton Schwartz to be the next Air Force chief of staff, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has done two things.
First, he has smashed an Air Force culture ceiling by putting into the top job a pilot who does not come out of the fighter or bomber community.
Second, Gates has put into place someone who can help heal the rift between the Air Force and the Army, one that has grown in recent years over the Air Force's heavy-handed move to take ownership of the Joint Cargo Aircraft -- originally an Army program -- its seeming stinginess in getting to ground commanders badly-needed UAV assets and the service's lack of interest in sending Airmen to help out on Army missions.
"A couple of things about 'Norty' Schwartz that a lot of folks didn't realize [before] - he spent a lot of time in the special ops arena," said a retired four-star who, like Schwartz, once headed U.S. Transportation Command at Scott Air Force Base, Ill. "And any of our blue suit guys who have spent time in the special ops arena have a tendency to be closer to our Army brethren and others. I think that's a positive thing."
According to several former field and general Air Force officers, there does need to be some fence-mending after the last five or six years.
Terry Stevens, a retired colonel and personnel officer familiar with Air Force manpower and budget issues, said it was Moseley who fought the "in-lieu-of" program that helped the Army flesh out its ranks in Iraq and Afghanistan with Airmen. Moseley also balked at aggressively getting unmanned aerial vehicles into theater until Gates and Congress recently insisted he deploy them.
And at a time when Air Force missions around the world already were stretching its personnel thin, Moseley ordered a force restructuring that envisioned cutting 40,000 positions so that the money could be redirected to weapons programs such as the F-22 Raptor.
Taken together with the more widely known controversies -- including nuclear weapon snafus, corruption scandals and impolitic budget manipulations -- Moseley was seen as the head of a service with serious problems.
"I believe that General Moseley is an honorable man with the best interest of the Air Force in his heart, but he was not as politically aware as he should have been," Stevens said. "He also couldn't seem to see the big picture from the Department of Defense's perspective."
Another retiree, a former wing commander speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Air Force had become estranged from everyone, including its own people.
"Over the last five or six years, the Air Force has continued to lose credibility on the Hill, lose credibility with the Joint Chiefs and with the other service chiefs, and it lost credibility with the Airmen whose feet are on the ramp," he said. "I'm pleased to see that Gates is cleaning house."
Retired Maj. Gen. Paul Weaver, a former director of the Air National Guard who flew and commanded fighter and mobility units, said Schwartz would be "a great leader."
Schwartz, Weaver said, was Air Force director of operations at the Pentagon for several years under Donald Rumsfeld's tenure, which Weaver said is a testament to Schwartz's "strong character and strength."
"I think he'll be able to calm the storm here [in Washington] and move things forward," Weaver added.
Weaver also believes that Gates' decision to move Gen. Duncan McNabb -- currently the deputy Air Force chief of staff -- to take over Schwartz' command is a smart move for the Air Force and one that will make McNabb personally happy.
"I think Duncan probably has a smile on his face from ear to ear going back to [Scott]," Weaver said. That's because McNabb, until assigned to the Pentagon last year, had been commander of Air Mobility Command, a job McNabb loved. McNabb has been a transport pilot throughout his career.
"He always said the greatest job in the world was commanding AMC," Weaver said. "He did a fantastic job there." McNabb also made friends on Capital Hill during his time at the Pentagon and during past testimony he has given to congressmen, Weaver said.
"The people love him on the Hill. He's extremely credible," Weaver said. "I'm thinking that of anybody, if they're going to tap Schwartz for chief of staff, they needed somebody who, as we go forward in the new tanker area we've got to have somebody [at Transcom] who really knows mobility very well. And McNabb knows it better than anybody. He's very good and it will be a new team in the Pentagon."
Taking McNabb's place at the Pentagon will be Lt. Gen. William Fraser III, a bomber pilot who had been in line to take over Transcom if time and circumstance had not scuttled Schwartz's original plan to retire.
With his rise to chief of staff, Schwartz is the first to break the fighter/bomber pilot mafia's hold on the top uniformed job. Not only does he come to the job with mobility background, but in Air Force helicopters as well.
He has flown MC-130 Combat Talons and MH-53 Pave Lows and MH-60 Blackhawk special ops helos, and his operations background goes back to the final days of Vietnam. At the time, he was a crew member taking part in the 1975 airlift evacuation of Saigon. By 1991 he was chief of staff of the Joint Special Operations Task Force for Northern Iraq during the first Gulf War.
Its been an entire fiscal year since the Groundbased Midcourse [missile] Defense system underwent a flight test, a congressional aide told me this morning. That failure of the Missile Defense Agency to perform tests for an entire fiscal year has got both Republican and Democratic staff and lawmakers pretty warm under the collar. The congressional aide told me this morning that we are troubled because this appears to be a sign of problems with management at MDA.
The proximate cause of this unhappiness is the latest cancellation of a GMD test known as FTG-04, scheduled for July. The congressional aide says that a third tier supplier supplied a telemetry unit with an improperly soldered motherboard. Since MDA would not have been able to gather any data about the scheduled test even if everything else worked as planned the agency decided to cancel the scheduled test.
The Center for Defense Informations Victoria Samson, who watches MDA like a hawk, sent me an analysis this morning saying that this latest goof is alarming because it appears to raise questions about the GMD interceptors reliability not true, according to the congressional aide and because it has become one of many missile defense tests that have been called off That is absolutely true, said the congressional aide, who ticked off a list of GMD tests since 2001 six hits; one miss; one no-test, two tests without interceptors.
Army Lt. Gen. Kevin Campbell, head of the Army Space and Missile Defense Command in Huntsville, Ala., said this morning that it is true that there has not been enough realistic testing of GMD in terms of countermeasures and interceptors, but he added that he feels they are now on the right track. The congressional aide did not disagree with Campbells statement, but said MDA has not done enough testing of the basic system, let alone countermeasures and interceptors.
Campbell also mentioned at the breakfast sponsored by the National Defense University that there is increasing recognition that much more ammunition needs to be bought for the THAAD and Aegis systems. The congressional aide said this came out of the Future Capabilities Mix study recently completed by the Joint Staff. Look for an amendment to be introduced in the Senate to restore some of the $400 million cut from MDA when the defense authorization bill is considered by the whole Senate, probably next week. The amendment will argue this money should be used to buy more missiles for these two systems.
Defense Tech (and personal) friends Sharon Weinberger and Nathan Hodge are being interviewed on the NPR program Fresh Air right now. They're discussing their new book A Nuclear Family Vacation, a world tour of nuclear test sites, labs and missile silos.
Pratt & Whitney's F135 short-takeoff/vertical-landing (STOVL) propulsion system powered the F-35B Lightning II's first flight test today in Fort Worth, Texas.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. today delivered the 30th UH-60M BLACK HAWK helicopter to the U.S. Army for the 4-101 Assault Battalion, making it the First Unit Equipped (FUE) with the aircraft. Sikorsky is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp.
The Boeing Company in partnership with ImSAR and Insitu Inc., achieved a major milestone in May with the real-time processing of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data aboard a ScanEagle unmanned aircraft (UA) equipped with a standard inertially stabilized electro-optical (EO) camera.
A six-member Egyptian Defence Delegation led by Maj Gen Mohamed Mohsen Saad El Shazly, Deputy Chief of Operation Authority of the Egyptian Armed Forces, called on the Minister of State for Defence Dr. MM Pallam Raju here today.
A flight of Aggressor F-15 Eagles and F-16 Fighting Falcons fly in formation June 5 over the Nevada Test and Training Range. The jets are assigned to the 64th and 65th Aggressor squadrons at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.
Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd will release its Iron Dome defense system against short range artillery rockets at Eurosatory 2008 in Paris next week.
The Russian town of Pochep is home to a massive stockpile of chemical weapons, some decades old. Too dangerous to move, Germany is helping build a facility in the town which will destroy the arsenal.
Following a year-long refit, HMS St Albans is ready to take to the water again for sea trials which will put the multi million pound raft of upgrades through their paces.
The United States insisted Thursday that its forces were retaliating against a "hostile act" when an air strike killed 11 Pakistani soldiers on the murky border with Afghanistan.
Following 90 days of Lorient-based trials, KD Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first DCNS-designed Scorpene submarine for the Royal Malaysian Navy, has now returned to Cherbourg for a post-trials refit.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said he is pleased with the early results from a panel looking into intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets.
The Stamford Advocate is reporting today a change of heart for Connecticut lawmakers who sent a letter to President George W. Bush objecting to Northrop Grumman's contract to build America's next generation of aerial refueling tankers.
A senior Senate lawmaker, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), told me this morning that he believes the Air Force suffers from systemic problems and must examine how it buys weapons, how it manages its forces and perhaps rebuild its long-term strategy in the face of todays changing international situation.
Sessions a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and ranking member of its strategic forces subcommittee, said he and his colleagues arent certain how to proceed yet to fix the service.
Sessions did praise Gates for his actions in sacking Air Force Secretary Mike Wynne and Chief of Staff Mike Moseley, noting he had helped reestablish personal responsibility among senior leaders.
A congressional source, asked about the likelihood that Congress might undertake a probing look at the Air Force to try and figure out what must be done to rebuild the service said any action was unlikely before the election. Senior lawmakers are already being drawn into daily management of the campaign message wars. And senators such as Sessions, while eager to do the right thing, will find it difficult to muster support from their colleagues for a bipartisan effort such as this would require.
Sessions comments came the day after Defense Secretary Robert Gates made extraordinary visits -- well intentioned and well executed to Air Force commands to deliver the message that he believes the service matters and has his support and to give service officials the chance to ask him questions face-to-face. One of the most interesting exchanges shed some bright light on just how much far apart are the secretary and the Air Force.
Gates, flying to Colorado Springs, Colo., told reporters that he took the opportunity of a question about the F-22s to address the speculation that, in truth, these changes were due to disagreements over the F-22. And I said that that was not true, that in fact that issue had been settled for some weeks. And that I had essentially made the decision that we would allocate enough money to keep the production line open so that the next administration could decide on the balance between buying more F-22s and buying more joint-strike fighters. And I thought that that was a significant procurement decision that ought not be made in the last six or seven months of an administration. You can imagine how much the Air Force officers believed that, no matter how true it is. The gap is so wide that even gates spokesman, Geoff Morrell, felt compelled to tell reporters that despite rumors: the F-22 issue had nothing to do with the secretary's decision for a change of leadership in the Air Force.
Gates briefly mentioned the acquisition side of the Air Forces problems, noting that he is figuring out how to get the modernization program back on track. He gave the example of the tanker decision. I mean, we're 10 years past when we should have started replacing the tanker fleet.
Gates said that no one asked him about his recommendation of Gen. Norton Schwartz, leader of Transportation Command, as Air Force Chief of Staff. A reporter asked about the choice. He's very process-oriented. I mean, the changes that he's made in TRANSCOM have been pretty dramatic in terms of how you manage all these priorities and the logistics of supporting the war in two theaters with limited capability But I also liked his experience and mobility and jointness. He has a lot of joint experience. His whole command has been about how do you support all of the services. So that was important. And frankly, also, the Special Operations experience.
In case you all missed it, Lockheed took its first major test flight of the STOVL JSF today.
From Lockheed Martin:
With test pilot Graham Tomlinson at the controls, the short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] F-35B Lightning II streaked into blue Texas skies Wednesday, marking the first flight of an aircraft that will provide a combination of capabilities never before available: stealth, supersonic speed and STOVL basing flexibility.
Tomlinson, a former Royal Air Force Harrier pilot now employed by BAE Systems, performed a conventional takeoff at 10:17 a.m. CDT from Lockheed Martins Fort Worth facility. As planned, all initial F-35B flights will be made using conventional takeoffs and landings, with transitions to short takeoffs, hovers and vertical landings beginning early next year. Tomlinson guided the jet to 15,000 feet and performed a series of handling tests, engine-power variations and subsystems checks before landing at 11:01 a.m. CDT.
A great team effort led to a relaxed first flight, with the aircraft handling and performing just as we predicted based on STOVL simulator testing and flying the F-35A, Tomlinson said. The F-35B, known as BF-1, becomes the second Lightning II to enter flight test, preceded by the conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) F-35A, which first flew in December 2006 and has completed 43 flights. The F-35B that flew today is the second of 19 System Development and Demonstration aircraft and the first to incorporate new weight-saving design features that will apply to all future F-35 aircraft.
You know the Brits (and Marines) are psyched. Now, what I'm waiting for are the transition flight tests. I want to see just how that lift fan design works when it's pushed around a little bit.
A former executive at Eurocopter, the European helicopter manufacturing company, went on trial in Germany for allegedly selling documents about the aircraft to Russian spies.
Typhoon, the RAF's newest fighter aircraft, has passed its latest major hurdle on the way to becoming a fully fledged multi-role combat aircraft with flying colours.
If Taliban sanctuary bases in Pakistan are not eliminated, the United States and its NATO allies will face crippling long-term consequences in their effort to stabilize and rebuild Afghanistan, according to a RAND Corporation study issued today.
An academic and industrial consortium led by Northrop Grumman Corporation has been awarded the first phase of an advanced research contract to develop a panoramic day/night optical system that will utilize human brain activity to detect, analyze and alert foot-soldiers to possible threats.
If it were not for the serious decline in the Air Force’s nuclear mission focus and performance, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today, he would not have felt the need to replace the Air Force leadership.
Rockwell Collins, through newly-acquired Athena Technologies, has completed a successful flight test of a significantly damaged unmanned F/A-18 subscale model air vehicle.
Russia's Defense Ministry is planning to expand the presence of the Russian Navy in the world's oceans and extend the operational radius of submarines deployed with the Northern Fleet, a high-ranking military official said on Tuesday.
Tamil Tiger rebels attacked and destroyed a navy outpost in north-western Sri Lanka on Wednesday, killing at least three sailors and losing four fighters of their own, a navy spokesman said.
US and Iraqi military operations in northern Iraq have cut the number of roadside bombs there nearly in half since February, the commander of Multinational Division North told reporters at a Pentagon briefing today.
BAE Systems is showcasing its global land, sea and air autonomous capabilities at this year’s AUVSI North America 2008 in San Diego from June 10th – 12th, underlining the company’s integrated approach to developing unmanned technologies across all three domains.
The next 12 months promise the beginnings of the first serious discussions of arms control and disarmament in more than a decade, according to Dr Bates Gill, Director of SIPRI, speaking at the launch of SIPRI Yearbook 2008.
US President George W. Bush and European leaders warned Iran Tuesday of new sanctions if Tehran refuses to halt a nuclear programme the West suspects to be a covert atomic weapons drive.
Gripen Industrial co-operation moves forward and the fourth annual Report on Offset Performance in the Czech Republic approved by the Czech Ministry of Defence amounts to CZK 2.6 billion.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a posible Foreign Military Sale to Israel of T-6A Texan aircraft as well as associated equipment and services.
While most Airmen are comfy in their beds, the flightline here is buzzing with activity and the mission continues. Airmen are covered in sweat, loading bombs, fueling and fixing planes 24 hours a day to preserve freedom.
Northrop Grumman Corporation welcomed the opportunity to participate in the enquiry by the House of Commons Defence Select Committee into ISTAR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance) and the role of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) in providing ISTAR capability.
The eyes of the U-2 have been scanning and scrutinizing the battlespace for more than 51 years. Achieving that degree of longevity requires another set of eyes, equal in power and focus to that of the U-2's eyes, scanning and scrutinizing the aircraft itself for defects, imperfections, deficiencies and impediments.
Every year in response to a Congressional directive the Department of the Navy issues reports that describe its plans for ship construction over a 30-year period.
If you see the man in the picture grab him and talk to him -- in a nice way and about the military. Fred Downey, military legislative aide to Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), will be joining the Aerospace Industries Association as vice president of national security at the end of this month.It is refreshing to see the biggest defense industry lobby has made a very smart hire.
Ive known Downey for about 10 years (though we didnt talk much while I was covering space for the last four years). You can expect a wily and febrile mind that is committed to joint operations, that understands the possibilities and limits of transformation (or whatever were calling it since Rumsfeld so tarred the term) and has had one of the highest profile bosses on defense issues on the Hill and knows where to step and where to tread lightly.
Before joining Lieberman, Downey had one job that marked him for life assistant to the man many reporters call the Yoda of the Pentagon, Andrew Marshall, head of the Office of Net Assessment.
Downeys hire also appears to mark a return to a more traditional approach by AIA to defense and intelligence issues. It also should mark a return to greater stability at the group, which has gone through four national security bosses in less than six years.
The organization tried combining its highest profile issues international affairs and defense under a single person, Mark Esper, who was named executive vice president of defense and international affairs in April 2006. Esper made the decision one year ago to join something many of us can barely remember -- the presidential campaign of former Sen. Fred Thompson.
I noticed the following contract announcement this morning when I read the DoD's daily roundup:
Boeing Co., of Huntington Beach, Calif., is being awarded a firm fixed price, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract for $7,521,000. The Speed Agile Concept Demonstration program seeks to achieve a technology readiness level of at least five 2010 on an integrated mobility configuration in the areas of high lift, efficient transonic flight, and flight control, in order to support future technology development and acquisition activities. At this time $800,000 has been obligated. Department of the Air Force, 84 CSW, 518CBSS/PK, Hill AFB, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8212-08-C-0006).
Sounds interesting enough. "Speed Agile" concept demonstrator? So, I scanned around for some more info. Looks like back in August the Air Force published a solicitation for a concept demonstrator for a new generation of lifters that can operate with capabilities somewhere in between the C-130 and the C-17. Could this be the FCS Lifter?
The Speed Agile Concept Demonstrator, or SACD (I bet the Hill staffers love that acronym), will be able to take off in less than 4,000 feet, carry 65,000 pounds of gear or troops and fly around 1,500 nm unrefueled. This is what the Air Force is thinking about for a standard mission, and they're asking for a cruise speed of greater than .8mach at more than 30,000 feet, which means the aircraft will have to be pressurized.
The Air Force also wants the plane to be able to perform a special operations mission, carrying 20,000 lbs about 1,000 nm with a specialized flight profile that performs a 250 nm "low ingress cruise" and a similar egress cruise at "best range mach, best range altitude." The specs are intended to provide a plane that can "maximize radius and minimize mission execution time for given payload and mid-mission field length," according to an Air Force solicitation document.
The plane will have to be able to handle seven standard-sized pallets, with one on the ramp. The cargo bay dimensions would be an objective of 158" wide at the bottom of the loading bay, where the C-130 checks out at about 123" at its widest point.
This is just a "concept" and the Air Force is careful to point out:
The mission profiles and performance goals provided are only intended to provide a basis for the physical scaling of concepts and are not official USAF requirements. They are intended to represent an amalgam of various physical capabilities that are of interest, and a common point of departure for comparison/parametric sensitivities to assess the robustness of integrated mobility vehicle concepts.
Well, we'll keep an eye on this and see what comes out of it. But, clearly, Boeing's getting a pretty hefty chunk of change to put this SACD together.
EADS North America's first two UH-72A Lakota Light Utility Helicopters for the U.S. Army National Guard were formally presented to the 1/114th Service Support Battalion
With fuel prices soaring and no apparent end in sight, the Defense Department is feeling the pinch in its pocketbook and is looking for ways to save through conservation and alternative fuels programs.
Humvees will soon become the Afghan National Army's vehicle of choice on the battlefield, but not until every soldier is qualified to safely operate them.
The Light Combat Aircraft 'Tejas' underwent hot weather flight trials at Air Force Station, Nagpur recently. The trials were planned at Nagpur because of the high ambient temperature conditions prevailing there during this period.
The United States government awarded Lockheed Martin an Undefinitized Contract Authorization (UCA) for the production of 24 Advanced F-16 Block 52 aircraft for Morocco, making the Kingdom of Morocco the 25th nation to select the F-16.
While bands play, flags wave and families rejoice at the return of 4th Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division Soldiers to Fort Lewis, Wash., the operation to return home their battle-weary Stryker Combat Vehicles goes on here in Southwest Asia.
The Boeing Company, in partnership with Insitu Inc., has been awarded a $65 million contract to provide continuing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) services through the ScanEagle unmanned aircraft system.
Iran on Monday vowed a "very painful" response to any Israeli action after a senior minister of the Jewish state warned of attacks if Tehran did not halt its atomic drive, the ISNA news agency reported.
US President George W. Bush on Tuesday looked to persuade European leaders to tighten the squeeze on Iran's finances, a central message of what was likely his farewell tour of the continent.
EADS Defence & Security (DS) has delivered the last of four TRS-3D naval radars to the Royal Norwegian Coast Guard, thus completing a two digit million Euro project aiming at improved security of Norway’s coastal waters and safe helicopter guidance in extreme weather conditions.
AgustaWestland is pleased to announce that the Finnish Border Guard has chosen the AW119 Ke as its new helicopter to sustain its fleet modernization and enhancement programme.
Minister for Education and Second Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen launched the Infantry Gunnery and Tactical Simulator (IGTS) at Pasir Laba Camp on 6 Jun 08.
Distorted data introduced by a B-2 Spirit's air data system skewed information entering the bomber's flight control computers ultimately causing the crash of the aircraft on takeoff at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam
Finland's aviation authorities plan to investigate why two Russian fighter aircraft followed a Finnair airliner in Russian airspace en route to South Korea on Wednesday.
At the invitation of Pakistan's navy, the officer who commands U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces spoke to officers at the Pakistan Navy War College today.
A powerful set of tools specifically designed to circumvent security on computers running the Microsoft Windows operating systems was released to law enforcement and military intelligence staff in the U.S and other foreign countries by Microsoft in the summer of 2007.
The USB device was dubbed COFEE which stands for Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor. COFEE is said to contain over 100 software programs that allow the holder to quickly discover passwords, decrypt files and folders, view recent Internet activity and a great deal more. On piece of functionality allows evidence to be gathered while the computer is still connected to the Internet or other network. All you have to do is plug COFEE into a USB port of a running computer and the data extraction begins with the click of a mouse. Some security professionals and privacy advocates are concerned that Microsoft has created a secret back door within Windows. This is a concern the Microsoft has denied.
Nearly 400 people from more than 80 agencies in 35 countries attended the conference where Microsoft provided training on this tool. COFEE seems to be an easy to use, automated computer forensic tool that can be used by investigators in the field. However, one has to wonder how fast one of these devices will find their way to the darks side and in the hands of criminals. I would bet within hours of the initial distribution of this device, a bounty was established payable to the first person to deliver COFEE into the hands of the bad guys.
The attendees were shown how to use the device and other technologies that can help them fight cybercrime as well as help them investigate traditional crime with an online component. They were also instructed on topics that covered how to collect evidence from PDAs running Windows CE and how to gather evidence from Microsoft's online services and products like Hotmail and Windows.
Distribution: More than 2,000 law enforcement and intelligence officers in 15 countries, including Poland, the Philippines, Germany, New Zealand and the United States have received the device.
Development: COFEE is said to have been developed by a former Hong Kong police officer who now works for Microsoft.
Professional hackers and cyber weapons designers are smarter than you think. They have their own versions of COFEE and in all likelihood they are much better than the Microsoft tool. In fact, one professional hacker said, "If it works as good as other Microsoft applications - no one has anything to worry about." I bet they get the old "Blue Screen of Death as well."
The risk of tools like this being used by criminals and our enemies is very real. So is the potential misuse of these capabilities and the threat that it poses to privacy. That being said, given the current state of cyber crime and the threat of cyber terrorism and the looming risk of cyber war, the military, intelligence organizations and law enforcement needs all the help they can get. As I have said many times before, one person's tool is another's weapon.
From the office of Defense Secretary Robert Gates:
"Today I provided my recommendation to the President for the nominations to the top civilian and military leadership positions in the Air Force.
"I recommended that Michael Donley be nominated to serve as Secretary of the Air Force.
"Mike Donley is presently the Director of Administration and Management for the Department of Defense, essentially charged with running the Pentagon and its many complex operations. Mike served as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management in the first Bush Administration and, for a period, as Acting Secretary of the Air Force. In order to minimize any disruption caused by this leadership transition, I have also recommended to the President that he designate Mike Donley as Acting Secretary of the Air Force effective June 21.
"I further recommended to the President that General Norton Schwartz be nominated to serve as Air Force Chief of Staff.
"General Schwartz is presently the Commander of U.S. Transportation Command, which is in charge of the Department's extensive transportation network and world-wide operations. Prior to that, General Schwartz served in senior joint military positions as Director of the Joint Staff, Director for Operations for the Joint Staff and Deputy Commander of Special Operations Command.
"In addition, I have recommended two additional Air Force military leadership changes.
"First, General Duncan McNabb, the current Air Force Vice Chief of Staff, has been recommended to take General Schwartz's place at US Transportation Command. General McNabb has spent most of his three-plus decades in the Air Force in the areas of lift, refueling and logistics making him an ideal candidate to assume the helm of this command.
"Second, I have recommended that the President nominate Lieutenant General William Fraser III, to follow General McNabb as the next Air Force Vice Chief. General Fraser is currently the Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In that role he is the Chairman's chief liaison and advisor on international relations and political-military matters. In addition to his numerous flying and command assignment in the bomber community, General Fraser has extensive wartime, contingency and humanitarian relief operational experience.
"I am confident that Mike Donley, General Schwartz and the new Air Force leadership team have the qualifications, skill and commitment to excellence necessary to guide the Air Force through this transition and beyond.
I don't know much about Donley, but I know Norty Schwartz and really like the dude. He's a good guy, understands unconventional fights and is an independant thinker. I can't think of a better leader to take the Air Force once and for all out of the Cold War mindset.
It's also noteworthy that Duncan McNabb will replace Schwartz at Transcom, and William Fraser will replace McNabb as Vice Chief. Why? Well, look at their resumes. McNabb is a longtime transport and rotor wing pilot (red-headed step children in the AF) and Fraser is a bomber pilot (another pariah in the fighter-dominated service). If the jet-jocks can't get their act in gear, then we'll get the slow-movers into the game so change can finally come...We'll see.
Ceremonies held at Holloman AFB, N.M., today marked the formal beginning of operations for the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor with the United States Air Force's 49th Fighter Wing.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today announced a new task force to recommend improvements needed to ensure top-level accountability and control of U.S. nuclear weapons, delivery vehicles and sensitive components.
A senior Turkish general says Turkey and Iran have carried out coordinated strikes against Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq. Over the past few months, Turkey has reportedly intensified its attacks against bases of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) announced the successful completion of the latest flight test of the sea-based Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) element, conducted jointly with the U.S. Navy off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii.
I believe I have seen the future replacement for the E-8C Joint STARS fleet (shown pictured), and it's not going to be a US Air Force aircraft.
The US Navy is preparing to replace the EP-3E ARIES II, an electronic intelligence aircraft, with a new-start acquisition program called EPX.
But the navy's requirements for EPX call for an aircraft that would not only spy on enemy electronic signals, like the EP-3E, but also find and track moving targets, like the E-8C.
Interestingly, the EPX program of record will acquire 19 to 26 aircraft to replace only 11 EP-3Es flying today. At the high end of that range, 26 aircraft would nicely replace all 11 EP-3Es and all 17 E-8Cs in service. (One E-8C is a testbed, and doesn't count.)
If the air force can't pay for an E-8C replacement to appear after 2015, or even to modernize the radar on the current fleet, watch for the navy to steal this mission with the EPX. It's the roles and missions equivalent of a pick-pocketing.
And it's happened before. In 1998, the air force lost the EC-135 Looking Glass mission to the navy's E-6 take-charge-and-move-out (TACAMO) aircraft. Now, it's happening again, unless the air force acts very quickly.
This all became clear to me during my weeklong tour of Boeing's defense sites based in the Pacific Northwest. Paul Summers, Boeing's capture lead for EPX, briefed reporters about the navy's requirements, explaining that the size of the future EPX fleet had grown from 14-19 aircraft to 19-26 aircraft since last year.
The obvious question later occurred to me: Why does the navy need 26 EPX aircraft to replace 11 EP-3Es. Clearly, the navy has bigger ideas for this fleet.
Paul also discussed the new radar for the EPX. This in itself is noteworthy. The EP-3E does not have a radar. The aircraft intercepts and maps enemy communications and other electronic transmissions.
We've known for about a year that Boeing and Raytheon have installed the new littoral surveillance radar systems (LSRS) on a subset of the P-3C fleet, giving the navy its own mini-Joint STARS capability.
It is now clear that the LSRS is the proverbial trojan horse, injecting the navy into the Joint STARS business for the long-term.
Paul also explained that Boeing will consider the LSRS or another radar for EPX. The only possible alternative is a new variant of Northrop Grumman's wide area surveillance sensor developed under the multi-platform radar technology insertion program (MP-RTIP).
This will force Northrop to make a tough choice. Northrop, you see, is the prime contractor the E-8C, so it has everything to lose if the navy takes over the mission. However, if the company decides to join Boeing's EPX bid, that could be a signal that it believes the air force will never get around to replacing the E-8C.
The navy has money in the budget beginning next year to launch EPX. The air force has no funds to replace E-8Cs for the foreseeable future, and now faces a potentially disruptive leadership transition.
I'm not a betting man, but, if I was in Northrop's position, I know where I'd place my bet.
The air force has only itself to blame. The folly of the E-10 program, which spectacularly failed to combine an E-8C, and E-3A AWACS and an airborne operations center onto the same platform, has left the air force without a discernible plan to replace its aging fleets of 707-based aircraft.
The air force's only hope to stay in the E-8C business may be to observe the adage: if you can't beat them, join them.
Establishing a true "joint" partnership to acquire and operate a new fleet of narrowbody-class aircraft to serve all of the specialized missions performed today by 707s looks like the only way back in. (This idea also has the charm of making sense.)
Indeed, it has been proposed several times in the past. The only difference now is that the air force won't be calling the shots.
The navy, meanwhile, is not in this position merely through good fortune.
In 2004, the navy picked the Boeing P-8A -- based on the 737-800ERX -- to replace the P-3C, giving itself a versatile and capable platform to expand into new missions.
That's not to say that Boeing won't have to face challengers to win the EPX contract. The navy is inviting other companies to compete for EPX, but it will be difficult for the Airbus A320 and the Embraer E190 to overcome the incumbent advantages of the P-8A.
Paul Summers told us that Boeing had to make more than 50 modifications costing $1 billion to simply adapt the basic 737 airframe to meet the navy's more demanding certification requirements. The A320 and the E190 would face similar costs, possibly killing the chances for holding a fair airframe competition on EPX.
I expect that the navy will try to level the playing field in other ways. Perhaps, the navy will select the P-8A as the baseline platform and invite bidders -- including Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop -- to compete for the systems integrator role.
Sixty-four years ago, a multi-national force of more than 130,000 Soldiers embarked on what is to this day, the largest one-day military invasion in history.
Greg Combet, the Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Procurement, today announce that the first Airbus A330 had arrived in Australia for conversion to a KC-30B Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) under Project Air 5402.
Harris Corporation, an international communications and information technology company, has been awarded $118 million in orders to supply the U.S. Marine Corps with Falcon II AN/PRC-117(F) multiband manpack radios.
SIDM, the French interim system of medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), has successfully completed its flight acceptance operations at Air Base 118, Mont-de-Marsan.
Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), Munich, and General Dynamics European Land Systems (GD ELS), Vienna, are teaming to develop and market a new generation, air deployable, autonomous and remotely operated 155mm artillery system.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today announced the resignations of Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne and Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley following an investigation revealing a decline in the Air Force's nuclear program focus, performance and effective leadership.
Here's another input from DT's publisher emeritus Chris Michel. This video shows a couple of B-2s launching, the second one not so well. Fortunately, the pilots punch out in time.
What's a couple billion among friends and taxpayers?
Type up some nefarious code, hack into a government system and "boom" you bring down the whole network without even firing a shot, right?
Well that's not how the Air Force's cyber warriors see it. To them, dropping a "logic bomb" into a computer network is the same as launching a 2,000-pound JDAM from a B-2 bomber at 20,000 feet -- you've done the same kind of damage but with different means.
So take cover from incoming.
You can use standard combat terminology in cyber warfare as you can with traditional warfare, said Col. Tony Buntyn, vice commander of Air Force Cyber Command, during a June 3 interview with military bloggers.
"You can find, fix, target, and engage an enemy," he said. "A target could be a [computer] network ... or it could be physical, with a [geographical] location. But we need the capabilities, just like we have in kinetic warfare, to engage targets when necessary."
Cyber warfare -- the use of computers and digital code to penetrate information systems and damage or infiltrate a foreign network -- is becoming an increasingly critical capability to the U.S. military. Because of the ease of access to powerful hardware and the ubiquity of hacker software, more countries and non-state actors are getting into the game, Pentagon and government officials say.
Countries like China, Russia and North Korea have quietly entered the cyber-warfare arena, already scoring significant hits against U.S. and other government computer and communications networks.
To computer warriors like Buntyn and his fellow Airmen, sometimes your defense is only as good as your offense.
"It could be either a kinetic or non-kinetic effect you want to achieve. And we need the ability to provide either," Buntyn said.
But when and how to use either method is based on the kind of conflict you're in.
"It depends on our target; it depends on our rules of engagement -- are we conducting open warfare with an adversary?" Buntyn explained. "If that's the case, then we don't really need to be discreet about it. When we drop a JDAM and leave a big smoking hole, that's not very discreet."
"If I can [locate] it and I can take it out with a kinetic attack ... and it meets the rules of engagement, then that might be the preferred method."
That works if you're targeting terrorist nodes and communication relays during an open conflict. But what about malicious network infiltration originating from a country with whom the U.S. is not at war?
"If it's an [Internet]-based target that's accessible to us and we can take it out electronically, reliably, then that may be the preferred method," Buntyn added.
Though China has become "cyber-enemy-number-one" recently, with stories of DoD network hacking attacks and millions spent by the PLA on its computer warfare capabilities, the Air Force isn't looking too hard over its shoulder at the rising cyber power in the Pacific -- despite Pentagon warnings.
"In the past year, numerous computer networks around the world, including those owned by the U.S. Government, were subject to intrusions that appear to have originated within the PRC. These intrusions require many of the skills and capabilities that would also be required for computer network attack," according to this year's Pentagon report on Chinese military power. "Although it is unclear if these intrusions were conducted by or with the endorsement of the PLA or other elements of the PRC government, developing capabilities for cyber warfare is consistent with authoritative PLA writings on this subject."
But to Buntyn, the threat is more diffuse, accessible to all and is proliferating more than on a simple state-to-state basis.
"The entry into this warfighting domain is very cheap. A 12 year old with a laptop can spend a couple hours on the Internet and achieve a pretty good capability," he said. "It's not limited to nation states. There are plenty of criminal organizations that are out there just trying to make a buck and they're using the same offensive tools that a nation-state would use."
Air Force officials say the B-1B Lancer sniper pod could be operational as early as this summer after accelerated testing cut the length of the sniper pod program from nine to three months.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates sacked the air force's civilian secretary and chief of staff, blaming them for two major blunders that shook confidence in US control over its nuclear arsenal.
More than 200 members of Holloman Air Force Base gathered to welcome the first two F-22 Raptors as they taxied into Hangar 301 here at 2:49 p.m., marking June 2 as an important date in 49th Fighter Wing history.
Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island ushered in the next generation of naval electronic attack aircraft with the official arrival of its first EA-18G Growler, June 3.
Raytheon Company system integrator of the Patriot Air Defense System, successfully led a team in the launch of the Patriot's newest interceptor, the Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) version of the PAC-3 missile, during a recent test at White Sands Missile Range, N.M.
Changes in technology and adversary behavior will invariably produce new threats that must be assessed by defense and homeland security planners, and a decision must be made about whether they merit changes in current defenses or the development of new defensive approaches.
The Boeing Company today announced that Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) has completed the first in-country modification of a 737-700 into an Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) platform for Turkey's Peace Eagle program.
The U.S. Navy has completed developmental testing of a BAE Systems fiber-optic towed decoy, and has begun operational tests on the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet...
The nation's first Littoral Combat Ship, Freedom (LCS 1), has successfully completed another testing milestone with the "light off" of the new warship's twin gas turbine propulsion engines as it undergoes final preparation for sea trials.
The Royal Navy’s new advanced naval air defence system, PAAMS (Principal Anti-Air Missile System), was successfully test fired for the first time on 4th June from the trials barge Longbow at the French DGA’s CELM (Centre d’Essais de Lancement des Missiles ) test range near the Ile du Levant off the French coast.
Lockheed Martin Corporation has delivered the Israeli Air Force (IAF) F-16I Flight and System Trainer (FST) that will be used to support a variety of training requirements for the IAF F-16I "Soufa" fighter and ground attack aircraft. 
Approximately 130 Airmen and five F-22 Raptors from Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, are deployed to Guam for two weeks to fulfill security requirements in the Asia Pacific region. 
The Spanish Air Force has announced the assignment of Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) responsibilities to Eurofighter Typhoon. 
The Boeing Company has signed a commercial contract with the government of Germany for the production of Laser Joint Direct Attack Munitions (LJDAM) and integration support on Tornado aircraft, marking the first international sale of the LJDAM weapon system. 
The first candidate for the Partial Tiger Replacement programme (PTR) landed Emmen this morning. With the arrival of the Swedish Gripen aircraft in Switzerland, the air and ground tests for the PTR programme will begin. 
A US Air Force B-52 bomber crashed off the coast of Guam in the central Pacific killing two crew members and leaving four others missing, navy officials said. 
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Australia of M777A2 155mm Light-Weight Howitzers as well as associated equipment and services. 
The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor air dominance fighter made its international air show debut outside North America today at the Royal International Air Tattoo held at RAF Fairford. 
Eurofighter Typhoon flies into this year’s Farnborough International propelled by a wave of recent Air Force successes. 
Northrop Grumman Corporation's Tanker team announced today that all four initial tanker System Design and Development (SDD) airframes are scheduled for final assembly and initial flight testing by the end of 2009. 
Louisiana's Aviation Command last week became the latest National Guard unit to receive the new light utility UH-72A Lakota helicopter. 
NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan has asked headquarters for more AWACS radar planes to support its operations against the Taliban, an official said Thursday. 
Army and Air Force leaders met Monday to discuss developing a new joint unmanned aerial system concept of operations. 
Iran has test-fired nine long and medium-range missiles, including one which it previously said could travel as far as Israel and the United States bases in the region. 
Members of the 418th Flight Test Squadron here working with Boeing officials are currently conducting communication, navigation, radar and air data testing on two C-130 Hercules aircraft here as part of the Avionics Modernization Program. 
“Sukhoi” Company” has presented the newest Su-35 multifunctional fighter at the airfield of Flight Scientific Research Institute named after Gromov in Zhukovsky near Moscow. 
Coalition airpower integrated with coalition ground forces in Iraq and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan during operations July 5, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here. 
The sixth C-17 Globemaster ZZ176 to arrive in the UK was delivered to RAF Brize Norton yesterday evening, 2 July 2008. 
The Northrop Grumman Corporation built amphibious transport dock ship Green Bay (LPD 20) successfully completed builder's trials last week, a collaborative effort between the company's Shipbuilding sector and the U.S. Navy. 
The Royal Air Force's Typhoon aircraft marked another milestone in its capability today, Tuesday 1 July 2008, as it was declared operational in the air-to-ground role, becoming the Service's most advanced multi-role aircraft. 
The Royal Air Force has declared its Typhoon jets multi-role capable today. The RAF Typhoons can now carryout precision Ground Attack as well as Air Defence tasks. 
Airmen from the 8th Civil Engineer Squadron here and South Korean army soldiers teamed up for combined nuclear, biological and chemical training June 23 and 24 at Kunsan Air Base. 
The first vehicles will be delivered in theatre by 1 October this year, bringing the total supplied to the Dutch armed forces to 49. The contract is worth over $15 million (EUR 9.2 million), and includes an option for additional vehicles to meet ongoing requirements. 
Though the Defense Department doesn’t see China as a strategic adversary, the country’s military buildup and lack of openness in how it’s going about it has officials wondering about Chinese leaders’ intentions, senior Pentagon officials told the House Armed Services Committee today. 
Turkmenistan has signed a $70 million contract with Russia to buy six Smerch multi launch rocket systems (MLRS), a Russian business daily said on Tuesday. 
Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) conducted a successful test of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) Weapon System at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) on Kauai, HI. 
The Hungarian Air Force has paid a visit to FMV’s test site in Vidsel and has carried out a number of trials with the Sidewinder air-to-air missile for the JAS 39 Gripen. 
Royal Navy technicians based at HM Naval Base Devonport have been helping to assemble Jackal armoured vehicles which when complete will be deployed on operations overseas. 
Over the past two years the Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) have fielded the ITO 05 air defence system, developed by Rheinmetall Defence under the product name ASRAD-R. 
Rheinmetall Defence's motto for Eurosatory 2008 perfectly sums up the extensive array of products and projects the company is presenting this year in Paris, including the new Command and Multipurpose Vehicle, better known by its German initials GFF. 
Coalition airpower integrated with coalition ground forces in Iraq and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan during operations June 21, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here. 
Coalition airpower integrated with Coalition ground forces in Iraq and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan in the following operations June 20, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here. 
Alenia North America, a subsidiary of Alenia Aeronautica and part of the Finmeccanica Group, announced today that the first C-27J Spartan for the U.S. Army’s Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA) successfully completed its maiden flight at the Alenia facility in Turin, Italy. 
The Indonesian Armed Forces will soon receive a delivery of six Russian Mi-35 Hind attack helicopters, the Antara national news said on Wednesday. 
The Spanish Army Disaster Response Unit (UME) has just taken delivery of its first EC135 helicopter. This is an important milestone in the program to equip the UME, a new unit of the Spanish Armed Forces created by the Spanish Government on 7 October 2005. 
Personnel and B-52 Stratofortress bombers from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., continue to provide a bomber presence here, helping maintain stability and provide security in the Asia-Pacific region. 
L-3 Communications, prime contractor for the C-27J Joint Cargo Aircraft Program (JCA), announced today the successful completion of the C-27J JCA’s first flight in Turin, Italy. 
Northrop Grumman Corporation said today that if the Government Accountability Office (GAO) rejects the protest filed against the Air Force selection of the Northrop Grumman KC-45 aerial refueling tanker, there should be no further delay in the program moving forward. 
Thales is pleased to announce the launch of its armoured combat support vehicle, known as Bushmaster Copperhead, at the Eurosatory defence exhibition in Paris, France. 
Since 3 June, Eurofighter combat aircraft of Fighter Wing 74 (JG 74) at Neuburg have officially been on constant alert for air policing tasks in the Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) role. 
Coalition airpower integrated with coalition ground forces in Iraq and International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan during operations June 16, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here. 
Visitors to the Pentagon were treated June 13 to a look at a prototype of the Non-Line of Sight Cannon. 
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and tactical reconnaissance radars, today announced that two Sky Warrior Block 0 UAS are now operational in Iraq, supporting U.S. Army ground forces in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). 
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) announced the successful completion of a tracking exercise conducted by MDA and the U.S. Navy today off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii by the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system aboard the USS Lake Erie (CG 70). 
British troops in the urban environments of Afghanistan and Iraq are set to benefit from greater protection as the first "Cougar" vehicles begin their transformation into "Ridgbacks". 
Coalition airpower integrated with coalition ground forces in Iraq and International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan during operations June 15, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here. 
Reuters and several other media outlets are reporting, this afternoon, on a Boeing corporation filing before the Government Accountability Office concerning word from the Air Force that it had slightly miscalculated what is known as the Most Probable Life Cycle Cost of Boeing's tanker design and the Northrop Grumman KC-45. 
Pratt & Whitney's F135 short-takeoff/vertical-landing (STOVL) propulsion system powered the F-35B Lightning II's first flight test today in Fort Worth, Texas. 
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. today delivered the 30th UH-60M BLACK HAWK helicopter to the U.S. Army for the 4-101 Assault Battalion, making it the First Unit Equipped (FUE) with the aircraft. Sikorsky is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. 
The Boeing Company in partnership with ImSAR and Insitu Inc., achieved a major milestone in May with the real-time processing of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data aboard a ScanEagle unmanned aircraft (UA) equipped with a standard inertially stabilized electro-optical (EO) camera. 
A flight of Aggressor F-15 Eagles and F-16 Fighting Falcons fly in formation June 5 over the Nevada Test and Training Range. The jets are assigned to the 64th and 65th Aggressor squadrons at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. 
Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd will release its Iron Dome defense system against short range artillery rockets at Eurosatory 2008 in Paris next week. 
EADS Defence & Security (DS) will carry out the modernization programme of four Harrier AV-8B "Day Attack" aircraft of the Spanish Navy. 
Following 90 days of Lorient-based trials, KD Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first DCNS-designed Scorpene submarine for the Royal Malaysian Navy, has now returned to Cherbourg for a post-trials refit. 
The Stamford Advocate is reporting today a change of heart for Connecticut lawmakers who sent a letter to President George W. Bush objecting to Northrop Grumman's contract to build America's next generation of aerial refueling tankers. 
The Boeing Company today announced it has successfully flight-tested an electro-optical/infrared targeting pod system designed for the B-1 bomber. 
A former executive at Eurocopter, the European helicopter manufacturing company, went on trial in Germany for allegedly selling documents about the aircraft to Russian spies. 
Typhoon, the RAF's newest fighter aircraft, has passed its latest major hurdle on the way to becoming a fully fledged multi-role combat aircraft with flying colours. 
If Taliban sanctuary bases in Pakistan are not eliminated, the United States and its NATO allies will face crippling long-term consequences in their effort to stabilize and rebuild Afghanistan, according to a RAND Corporation study issued today. 
Rockwell Collins, through newly-acquired Athena Technologies, has completed a successful flight test of a significantly damaged unmanned F/A-18 subscale model air vehicle. 
Russia's Defense Ministry is planning to expand the presence of the Russian Navy in the world's oceans and extend the operational radius of submarines deployed with the Northern Fleet, a high-ranking military official said on Tuesday. 
Gripen Industrial co-operation moves forward and the fourth annual Report on Offset Performance in the Czech Republic approved by the Czech Ministry of Defence amounts to CZK 2.6 billion. 
The Boeing Company said today that the first C-130 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) aircraft, H2, has completed its 100th flight. 
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a posible Foreign Military Sale to Israel of T-6A Texan aircraft as well as associated equipment and services. 
While most Airmen are comfy in their beds, the flightline here is buzzing with activity and the mission continues. Airmen are covered in sweat, loading bombs, fueling and fixing planes 24 hours a day to preserve freedom. 
The National Guard received its first two UH-72A Lakota light utility helicopters last week, marked by a ceremony Saturday in Tupelo, Miss. 
EADS North America's first two UH-72A Lakota Light Utility Helicopters for the U.S. Army National Guard were formally presented to the 1/114th Service Support Battalion 
Recently, Soldiers from Combined Task Force Currahee test drove a new vehicle that could help alleviate maneuverability constraints in Afghanistan. 
Humvees will soon become the Afghan National Army's vehicle of choice on the battlefield, but not until every soldier is qualified to safely operate them. 
The Light Combat Aircraft 'Tejas' underwent hot weather flight trials at Air Force Station, Nagpur recently. The trials were planned at Nagpur because of the high ambient temperature conditions prevailing there during this period. 
The permanent U.S. representative to NATO said on Monday she would like to see Russia as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 
An RAF Reaper Unmanned Aerial Vehicle used its weapons system in support of coalition forces in Afghanistan for the first time this week. 
The United States government awarded Lockheed Martin an Undefinitized Contract Authorization (UCA) for the production of 24 Advanced F-16 Block 52 aircraft for Morocco, making the Kingdom of Morocco the 25th nation to select the F-16. 
While bands play, flags wave and families rejoice at the return of 4th Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division Soldiers to Fort Lewis, Wash., the operation to return home their battle-weary Stryker Combat Vehicles goes on here in Southwest Asia. 
The Boeing Company, in partnership with Insitu Inc., has been awarded a $65 million contract to provide continuing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) services through the ScanEagle unmanned aircraft system. 
EADS Defence & Security (DS) has delivered the last of four TRS-3D naval radars to the Royal Norwegian Coast Guard, thus completing a two digit million Euro project aiming at improved security of Norway’s coastal waters and safe helicopter guidance in extreme weather conditions. 
Air Force Reserve Command officials announced June 6 that a second F-22 Raptor fighter squadron will be established at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M. 
AgustaWestland is pleased to announce that the Finnish Border Guard has chosen the AW119 Ke as its new helicopter to sustain its fleet modernization and enhancement programme. 
Distorted data introduced by a B-2 Spirit's air data system skewed information entering the bomber's flight control computers ultimately causing the crash of the aircraft on takeoff at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam 
At the invitation of Pakistan's navy, the officer who commands U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces spoke to officers at the Pakistan Navy War College today. 
Ceremonies held at Holloman AFB, N.M., today marked the formal beginning of operations for the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor with the United States Air Force's 49th Fighter Wing. 
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today announced a new task force to recommend improvements needed to ensure top-level accountability and control of U.S. nuclear weapons, delivery vehicles and sensitive components. 
A senior Turkish general says Turkey and Iran have carried out coordinated strikes against Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq. Over the past few months, Turkey has reportedly intensified its attacks against bases of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. 
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) announced the successful completion of the latest flight test of the sea-based Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) element, conducted jointly with the U.S. Navy off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii. 
The shortest Arab-Israeli war, the Six-Day War, broke out on June 5, 1967. It lasted until June 10 when the Arabs were comprehensively defeated. 
Sixty-four years ago, a multi-national force of more than 130,000 Soldiers embarked on what is to this day, the largest one-day military invasion in history. 
The Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229 engine has been selected by the Royal Moroccan Air Force to power their new fleet of F-16 Block 52 aircraft. 
Indonesia needs a high-tech operational marine equipment to monitor the situation at its sea and to save its territory. 
Greg Combet, the Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Procurement, today announce that the first Airbus A330 had arrived in Australia for conversion to a KC-30B Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) under Project Air 5402. 
Harris Corporation, an international communications and information technology company, has been awarded $118 million in orders to supply the U.S. Marine Corps with Falcon II AN/PRC-117(F) multiband manpack radios. 
SIDM, the French interim system of medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), has successfully completed its flight acceptance operations at Air Base 118, Mont-de-Marsan. 
Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), Munich, and General Dynamics European Land Systems (GD ELS), Vienna, are teaming to develop and market a new generation, air deployable, autonomous and remotely operated 155mm artillery system. 
Air Force officials say the B-1B Lancer sniper pod could be operational as early as this summer after accelerated testing cut the length of the sniper pod program from nine to three months. 
More than 200 members of Holloman Air Force Base gathered to welcome the first two F-22 Raptors as they taxied into Hangar 301 here at 2:49 p.m., marking June 2 as an important date in 49th Fighter Wing history.