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Report: Pentagon to destroy $1B in ammunition
Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY 12:59 a.m. EDT April 28, 2014
AP Virtual Currencies
(Photo: Jacquelyn Martin, AP)

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon plans to destroy more than $1 billion worth of ammunition although some of those bullets and missiles could still be used by troops, according to the Pentagon and congressional sources.

It's impossible to know what portion of the arsenal slated for destruction — valued at $1.2 billion by the Pentagon — remains viable because the Defense Department's inventory systems can't share data effectively, according to a Government Accountability Office report obtained by USA TODAY.

The result: potential waste of unknown value.

"There is a huge opportunity to save millions, if not billions of dollars if the (Pentagon) can make some common-sense improvements to how it manages ammunition," said Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., and chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. "Despite years of effort, the Army, Navy and Air Force still don't have an efficient process for doing something as basic as sharing excess bullets. This Government Accountability Office (GAO) report clearly shows that our military's antiquated systems lead to millions of dollars in wasteful ammunition purchases."

The Army and Pentagon, in a statement, acknowledged "the need to automate the process" and will make it a priority in future budgets. In all, the Pentagon manages a stockpile of conventional ammunition worth $70 billion.

The effect of inaccurate accounting of ammunition for troops at war was outside the scope of the study. However, there were limited supplies at times of .50-caliber machine gun and 9mm handgun ammunition at the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a senior military officer who spoke on condition of anonymity to talk about the issue.

"We simply cannot afford this type of waste and ineffectiveness," Carper said. "The (Pentagon) has a responsibility to efficiently manage its ammunition stocks, not only because it is important to be fiscally responsible, but also because our antiquated ammunition inventory systems can shortchange our war fighters and compromise their ability to complete their mission."

Other key findings from the report:

• The services have inventory systems for ammunition that cannot share data directly despite working for decades to develop a single database. Only the Army uses the standard Pentagon format; "the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps operate with formats that are obsolete."

• The services hold an annual conference to share information about surplus ammunition and swap bullets and other munitions as needed. Data about ammunition left over after the meeting disappears from the books, resulting in an unknown amount of good bullets headed to the scrap heap.

• The Army, although required by regulation, had not reported annually on its missile stockpile until last month, shortly before the GAO study was to be released.

The report illustrates the obsolete nature of the Pentagon's inventory systems for ammunition. A request for ammunition from the Marine Corps, for example, is e-mailed to the Army. The e-mail is printed out and manually retyped into the Army system because the services cannot share data directly. Not only is this time consuming, but it can introduce errors — by an incorrect keystroke, for example.

Waste, buying new ammunition while usable stockpiles exist, can occur "because the Army does not report information on all available and usable items," the report states. The annual conference among the services — although it saves about $70 million per year, according to the Pentagon — is inadequate. The services, in fiscal year 2012, exchanged 44 million items, including 32 million bullets for machine guns and pistols.

"Specifically, the Army's report does not include information from prior years about usable ammunition that was unclaimed by another service and stored for potential foreign military sales or slated for potential disposal," the report says.

Missiles are another source for concern, the report notes. The Army has an inventory of missiles, including Stingers, Javelins and Hellfires, that has totaled more than $14 billion in recent years. Hellfire missiles have been a weapon of choice for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in the CIA-run Predator and Reaper drone missions to kill terrorists in places like Yemen.

The GAO found that the Army and its missile command "do not contribute to required annual report." The reason, Army officials told investigators, is that it "rarely has items to offer for redistribution."

Without its cooperation, the Army "risks others services spending additional funds to procure missiles that are already unused and usable in the Army's stockpile."

The Army, in a statement, said that it began offering that information to the other services last month.

In its recommendations, the GAO urged Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to require the Army to make known information on all available for use by all services.

Follow @tvandenbrook on Twitter.

Mineman dodged sharks, saved shipmates after Guardian grounding
Apr. 27, 2014 - 06:00AM |

By David Larter
Staff writer NAVY times
FILED UNDER
News
Navy Sailor Hero ZOOM
Adm. John Richardson, director of Naval Nuclear Propulsion, presents Mineman 3rd Class Travis Kirckof with the Navy and Marine Corps Medal on April 11. (Senior Airman Dennis Sloan / Air Force)
Mineman Third Class (SW) Travis Kirckof was fast asleep in his bunk at 2:20 a.m. on Jan. 17, 2013, when the hull shuddered and the collision alarm sounded, jolting him and 78 shipmates out of bed.

The mine countermeasures ship Guardian had slammed into a reef off the Philippines, triggering a nearly two-day ordeal that pushed Kirckof past his breaking point.

Kirckof — who’d never thought he’d be put in a situation where he had to save a life when he earned his search and rescue swimmer qualification — swam for five hours in shark-infested waters to ferry shipmates into lifeboats against the current, saving two lives and aiding dozens more struggling sailors.

For his efforts, Kirckof earned one of the Navy’s highest medals in April: The Navy and Marine Corps Medal, often called the non-combat Medal of Honor.

“It was like a dream,” Kirckof said in an April 17 interview with Navy Times. “And not like a dream come true, it was just surreal.”

When Kirckoff felt the ship run aground, he grabbed a battle lantern and ran to the weather deck to see what had happened.

“I got to the fantail and looked over the side,” he recalled in the phone interview. “I swear the first thing I saw was the silhouette of a shark gliding through the water.”

Shining his battle lantern, all he could see was the waves crashing over the side of the ship. He couldn’t tell how bad it was.

It was bad.

Abandoning ship
The propellers were still in open water so the crew tried to back off the reef — anything they could do to get the wooden-hulled ship free. But Guardian had run hard aground and was sinking onto coral mounts.

The crew fought the inflowing seas for 32 hours, as waves battered the ship against the reef and worsened flooding.

By the morning of Jan. 18, the sea was winning. The flooding had increased dramatically, and Guardian was beginning to list heavily on its starboard side as 4-to-6-foot waves crashed against the port side.

The ship’s commanding officer, Lt. Cmdr. Mark Rice, gave the order to abandon ship and take to the lifeboats. At that point, the rigid hull inflatable boats from the Military Sealift Command support vessel C-Champion were on station to aid in the rescue.

The Guardian crew mustered on the fantail, where they’d jump into the water and swim to the life rafts, which were atop the reef about 70 yards away and being held in place by sailors.

That’s when things started going from bad to worse.

“People were scared because the waves and surf was so bad,” Kirckof said. “So we had a senior chief who decided he was going to be ‘Billy Badass’ and jump in first to show everybody how easy it was going to be to get to the lifeboats.”

The senior chief jumped in the water and was immediately slammed by the surf and grabbed by the rip current.

“He was getting pounded, and by the time he got to the rafts he was thrown up against the rocks and came up all bloody,” Kirckof said. “It made everyone more scared.”

'I was amped'
Kirckof and another SAR swimmer jumped in the water. The ship’s damage control assistant and Command Master Chief Christopher Stone directed sailors to jump in one at a time, timing the jumps with the swells to have the waves push them toward the lifeboats.

Many in the Guardian’s crew, all wearing inflatable life preservers known as rubber duckies, were not strong swimmers but were told they could bring their gear with them.

“One guy had his seabag slung over his front and when he jumped in he couldn’t pull the release for the rubber duckie,” Kirckof said. “He panicked and sunk straight down like a rock.”

Kirckof dove and saved his shipmate, freeing him from his load and getting back to surface.

Another shipmate jumped in and began to drift out to sea. Kirckof swam desperately after the panicking sailor and pulled him back to safety.

The rescue was proceeding slowly. After an hour, Kirckof had only managed to get four shipmates to the lifeboats because of the swells.

So Kirckof directed that lines be run from the ship to the life rafts so that he could haul them from the ship to the rafts more easily.

For five hours, Kirckof swam the 70 yards to the rafts and back, helping 46 shipmates to safety.

Kirckof was burning thousands of calories fighting the waves and swimming his shipmates to safety.

“People were throwing Cokes and cans of tuna down to me when I had a second to rest,” he said. “Pretty much anything they could find to get food in me.”

During this intense period, Kirckof said he was barely aware of the toll it was taking on his body.

“I was amped,” he said. “I never thought I would get the opportunity to rescue anyone, so this was a chance to do my job.”

'We were lucky'
After all his shipmates had abandoned ship, minus a skeleton crew on the Guardian that included Rice and the DCA, Kirckof remained in the water, freeing up lines.

It was at that point that the toll caught up with him.

“I locked up. I couldn’t swim anymore,” he said. “One of my friends saw I was in trouble, reached down and basically hauled me up into the boat.”

The rescue was over and the entire crew was safe. Rice was the last man off the ship, and when it was all over the crew was transferred from the lifeboats to the C-Champion and the MSC survey ship Bowditch, also on scene.

Remarkably, crew members suffered only minor cuts from the reef, and sunburn from sitting for hours in lifeboats in the open.

“We were lucky,” Kirckof said.

The damage to the Guardian proved beyond repair. It was sawed into pieces and removed from the reef over three months. Rice, whose crew performed so superbly in the crisis, was fired along with his executive officer for navigation errors that led up to the accident.

For his actions, Kirckof was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal on April 11, putting him in elite company: James E. Williams, the most decorated enlisted sailor in Navy history, and a former president.

“When my mom found out I was getting the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, she did a bunch of research,” Kirckof said. “She called saying, ‘[John F. Kennedy] got the Navy and Marine Corps Medal! You’re going to be the next president!’

“It’s really cool,” Kirckof said. “It’s a great honor.”

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U.S. clamps down on defense exports to Russia
Apr. 28, 2014 - 10:32AM |


By Zachary Fryer-Biggs
Staff writer Military times
FILED UNDER
News
World News
Related Links
Obama: U.S. to levy new Russia sanctions Monday
Joint Chiefs chairman describes talk with Russians
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration announced Monday that it would be preventing and potentially revoking licenses of high-technology defense items in response to Russia’s activities regarding Ukraine.

The restrictions will apply to items on the United States Munitions List (USML), which regulates the sale of sensitive defense materials overseas.

“Effective immediately, the Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) will deny pending applications for export or re-export of any high technology defense articles or services regulated under the U.S. Munitions List to Russia or occupied Crimea that contribute to Russia’s military capabilities,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement to the press. “In addition, the Department is taking actions to revoke any existing export licenses which meet these conditions.”

The US continues to publicly chastise Russia for its efforts to gain control over regions of Ukraine, previously by moving troops into Crimea, and more recently with activities in the eastern provinces of the country.

On Thursday, Secretary of State John Kerry said that US intelligence had confirmed that some of the armed men leading militia groups in eastern Ukraine are Russian intelligence agents, a claim that had picked up steam after pictures of some of the operatives were broadly published in the press last week. Kerry has repeatedly said there would be consequences if Russia tries to destabilize Ukraine, but has been cautious to avoid specifics aside from stating that they would likely include sanctions.

In addition to the export restrictions, 17 companies were added to sanctions lists, including several natural resource extraction companies.

“Russia’s dangerous and inflammatory actions against Ukraine are illegal and illegitimate,” Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said in a statement. “Since Russia has refused to follow through on its Geneva commitments, today the United States is following through on its statements — we are imposing additional costs against Russia.”

No more Acogs and Eotechs Putin! Your buying Belorussian now.

U.S. steps up air adviser work with European, Asian air forces
Apr. 27, 2014 - 06:00AM |

By Kristin Davis
Staff writer Airforce Times
FILED UNDER
News
Congress & DOD
Capt. Justin Rex, 435th Contingency Response Group air adviser, describes elements of the flightline to Capt. Nikolay Mateev, Bulgarian air force aeronautical engineer, during a recent course to introduce members of the Bulgarian air force to methods of installation planning and development. ZOOM
Capt. Justin Rex, 435th Contingency Response Group air adviser, describes elements of the flightline to Capt. Nikolay Mateev, Bulgarian air force aeronautical engineer, during a recent course to introduce members of the Bulgarian air force to methods of installation planning and development. (Air Force)
Related Links
EUCOM dismisses reports of secret U.S. base in Crimea
U.S. military shifting gears in Europe
First F-16s arrive in Poland to bolster training mission
A year and a half before Russia’s March annexation of Crimea resurrected Cold War fears in Eastern Europe, U.S. airmen began a series of security cooperation activities with countries across the region.

They have aided air forces in Poland, Slovenia, Lithuania and a dozen other Eastern Europe and Western Asia nations in aerospace terminology, search and rescue, mobility aircraft maintenance, expeditionary air capability and base security — among others.

In the coming months, the specially trained air advisers assigned to the 435th Air Ground Operations Wing at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, will work with Azerbaijan on NATO-compatible airbase planning and air traffic control. They’ll assist Latvia with airfield management and restricted airspace development.

“The U.S. military has been doing this historically since the 1800s,” said Maj. John Sherinian, chief air adviser. But the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan demonstrated “a need for a standing force.”

The air advising program in Europe stood up in August 2012, said Master Sgt. Simon Merfeld, superintendent of the air adviser branch.

Eighteen full-time air advisers, usually working in teams of three to five, assist nations that just two decades ago were emerging from the Cold War.

“Their entire line of aircraft has changed. They’re wanting to build up. They’re basically starting from scratch. We help facilitate building these [air forces] for the long-term,” Sherinian said. “It’s a long-term investment ... a low-cost, high-impact way of building partners for the long term.”

It’s also an opportunity to exchange information, Merfeld said, “to take away what we can from their best practices and learn something else about our capabilities.”

The concept is based in the age-old proverb that if you give a man a fish, he can eat for a day, but if you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime, he said.

“People think air advising is done in areas of contention and conflict. Most regard Europe as a peaceful area. Conflicts can happen with little to no warning,” Sherinian said.

That proved true at the end of February, when Russian forces snatched the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine.

“Unlike other air advisers around the world, we’re forward, capable and ready right now, and we can execute these missions for combatant commanders,” Sherinian said.

And their mission is growing, though that is due to a growing capability rather than the current tensions in Eastern Europe, Merfeld said. The air advisers have completed 17 of 38 projects scheduled for fiscal 2014 — about 50 percent more than the year before.

“These were events that were planned, programmed and paid for up to about two years ago,” Sherinian said. “Unless something changes ... we’re here to execute what we’ve got.”

The advisers represent 24 Air Force specialty codes and are considered subject matter experts, he said. All attended a monthlong course on culture, language, history and politics at the Air Advisor Academy, although that could change.

Funding to the academy is set to run out in September as part of “budget saving initiative,” Capt. Lauren Wright, an Air Education and Training Command spokesman, said in written responses to questions from Air Force Times. “However, there are ongoing senior leader discussions that may allow the ... academy to continue to support current operations in [fiscal 2015] and beyond until full funding can be restored.”

The advisers also receive formal classroom training and training on evasion and conduct after capture, “a weeklong course similar to survivor training for a peacetime environment,” Sherinian said.

“Because we are here in Europe ... we get to meet with high-level individuals. I’ve met the chief of staff of two nations. As a major in the United Stated Air Force, you don’t get that opportunity very often. It’s a great opportunity for airmen to fill this type of role for the Air Force.”

Stephen Losey contributed to this story.

173rd paratroopers land in Lithuania
April 28, 2014

By Sgt. A.M. LaVey, 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne)

SIAULIAI AIR BASE, Lithuania (April 28, 2014) -- Paratroopers from the 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) arrived in here Saturday, to begin a training rotation with the Lithuanian army's "Iron Wolf" Mechanized Infantry Brigade.

Approximately 130 paratroopers from Company B, 1st Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry Regiment, were welcomed planeside by Lithuanian soldiers as well as distinguished visitors, including Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite.

The Soldiers are here to conduct an unscheduled training exercise with their Lithuanian counterparts at the Rukla training area, to enhance their training relationship and assure NATO allies of America's commitment to the alliance. The brigade currently has paratroopers in Poland and Latvia conducting similar training, with a planned arrival in Estonia as well.

"The 173rd Airborne Brigade is not just another American unit. This is our most prestigious brigade in the United States Army," said Maj. Gen. Richard C. Longo, deputy commanding general of U.S. Army Europe, and commander, U.S. Army NATO. "They're the most relevant, best-prepared, the best-led, the best-disciplined [brigade in the Army]. I guarantee to you that they will make [us] proud as they train with the soldiers from Lithuania."

The 173rd Airborne is U.S. Army Europe's Contingency Response Force, capable of projecting forces to conduct the full of range of military operations across the United State European, Central and African Command areas of responsibility.

"American and Lithuanian Soldiers have stood in formation before," said Lt. Gen. Arvydas Pocius, the Lithuanian chief of defense. "They've served in the Balkans, Iraq and now are working shoulder to shoulder in Afghanistan."

The two brigades have trained together, most recently in NATO Exercise Steadfast Jazz in November in Drawsko Pomorskie, Poland. Drawsko Pomorskie is currently host to 173rd Soldiers training alongside Polish paratroopers.

"We all know the context, the reasons for your arrival in Lithuania today and these reasons go beyond common training," said Juozas Olekas, the Lithuanian minster of defense. "Your deployment is needed for the security of the NATO alliance and for the stability on the European continent. These testing times reaffirm the importance of the alliance and the importance of the U.S. military presence in Europe."

Through rotational deployments, bilateral training and exercises the U.S. will maintain a presence in the region for the next few months and beyond, including Exercise Saber Strike, scheduled in to be held here in Lithuania in June.

"As we look to the future, we are strengthened and reassured by our strong bilateral partnership in the strongest alliance the world has known," said Deborah A. McCarthy, the American ambassador to Lithuania. "As NATO allies, bound by our strong transatlantic values and holding a common vision of a Europe that is free and at peace, we resolve to continue and expand our cooperation in the Baltic region and beyond to build a more prosperous and secure future."

 

[navyreco]

General Dynamics Awarded $18 Billion by U.S. Navy for 10 Virginia-Class Submarines

The U.S. Navy today underscored its commitment to an advanced and adaptable submarine force by awarding General Dynamics Electric Boat a contract valued at $17.6 billion for the construction of 10 additional Virginia-class submarines. Electric Boat is a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics.

The multi-year Block IV contract enables Electric Boat and its industry teammate, Newport News Shipbuilding, to proceed with the construction of two ships per year over a five-year period. Construction of the first Block IV submarine, SSN-792, will begin May 1. The 10th ship to be procured under this contract is scheduled for delivery in 2023.

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[Equation]

General Dynamics Awarded $18 Billion by U.S. Navy for 10 Virginia-Class Submarines

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Damn...you beat me to it!

 

[Jura The idiot]

On E-2D:

Posted on InsideDefense.com: April 28, 2014

The Navy and Northrop Grumman are renegotiating the terms of a proposed multibillion-dollar procurement of the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft, aiming to agree by June on a deal that reflects Pentagon plans to buy 21 percent fewer aircraft than planned between 2014 and 2018, according to service officials.

Last year, Congress authorized the Navy to enter into a multiyear procurement contract with Northrop for up to $4.7 billion to buy 32 E-2D aircraft -- an arrangement the service claimed would avoid $522 million, or 10 percent, in costs it would have to spend to purchase the same aircraft through a series of one-year deals.

However, while developing the FY-15 budget and bracing for lower-than-expected Pentagon budget growth, the Navy determined that it would buy 25 aircraft between fiscal year 2014 and FY-18, eight fewer than planned.

The Navy and Northrop "are still in negotiations to determine the dollar amount of the multiyear procurement of the E-2D aircraft," Rob Koon, a spokesman for the E-2/C-2 airborne tactical data systems office (PMA-231), which is party to the negotiations, told InsideDefense.com in an April 24 email statement.

No additional congressional notification of the decision to buy fewer aircraft is required, Koon said. By law, the Defense Department must notify defense congressional committees at least 30 days before entering into a multiyear procurement contract.

"DOD has not sent congressional notification letters since the U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman are still in negotiations to determine the dollar amount of the multiyear procurement of the E-2D aircraft," Koon added.

The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye program was launched in 2003. The aircraft is designed to synthesize data from numerous sensors on the aircraft as well as off-board sensors; calculate complex tactical decisions; and disseminate actionable information to forces at sea, on the ground and in the air.

The aircraft features the newly developed AN/APY-9 Mechanical Electronic Scan Array radar, which piggybacks on the aircraft's fuselage. It works with the Cooperative Engagement Capability system to collaborate with surface combatant ships outfitted with the Aegis combat air defense system to detect, track and defeat cruise missile threats as well as air threats in the vicinity of any aircraft carrier battle group.

The E-2D is the service's third-largest aircraft modernization effort by dollar amount, behind only the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the P-8A Poseidon. Its large profile in the budget exposed the service's near-term E-2D spending plans to revision in the FY-15 budget. Specifically, the Pentagon moved to defer 10 aircraft in the program of record beyond the future years defense plan and extend production by two years, from 2021 to 2023.

These changes added a total of $1.2 billion to the program's total cost, the Pentagon disclosed on April 17 in a summary of the latest E-2D Selected Acquisition Report. That more than wiped out the cost avoidance the Navy hoped to secure under the new multiyear procurement. The revised cost estimate pushes the total development and acquisition of the 70-aircraft fleet to $21.6 billion, a 5.9 percent increase over the previous $20.4 billion price tag, according to the DOD report.

The production stretch-out added $759 million to the E-2D program costs. Another $341 million in cost growth is attributed to the addition of a number of capabilities, according to the DOD summary report, including: "fighter-to-fighter backlink, data fusion, integrated fire control, net enabled weapons J11 message, navigation warfare anti-global positional system jam electronic protection, and stores performance assessment requested quality."

 

[Jura The idiot]

On CANES

first, what's CANES

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now:
Posted on InsideDefense.com: April 25, 2014

The Pentagon has re-phased the fielding plan for the Navy's new tactical afloat network, eliminating installations for six current cruisers and four current submarines and deferring 20 installations until after fiscal year 2019, according to a report reviewed by Inside the Navy.

"The revised fielding plan increases the likelihood of successful [Consolidated Afloat Network and Enterprise Services] program execution in the future," according to a Critical Change report dated February 26, 2014, the Navy's top acquisition official Sean Stackley sent to Congress.

The Navy's CANES system failed to achieve a full deployment decision by Dec. 31, 2013, more than five years after selection of the program's preferred alternative, according to the report, which was reviewed by ITN.

The Pentagon made the decision to re-phase the fielding plan in response to repeated delays in the program schedule, the document states.

Installations of CANES have experienced repeated delays over the years, ITN reported in February. The Navy's Commander, Operational Test and Evaluation Force (COTF) planned to conduct the CANES initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) for unit-level ships aboard the Milius (DDG-69) in April 2014, J. Michael Gilmore, the Defense Department's director of operational test and evaluation, wrote in his annual report to Congress. That report was released in January and covered testing activity in 2013.

However, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command spokesman Steven Davis told ITN in February that the Milius is no longer the target platform for IOT&E "due to test and evaluation schedule changes."

Two future integrated test events that were scheduled to address the full CANES functionality have also been delayed by several months.

Gilmore's report states that IT-C1, a functional test of the CANES production representative system in a lab environment, was slated to take place in December 2013. Davis told ITN in February that this test event was to have taken place Feb. 24 through April 12 ,2014.

The report also stated that IT-C2, a shipboard test to evaluate CANES and to demonstrate compatibility with the shipboard environment and interoperability with shipboard systems, would take place in February 2014. However, Davis wrote that IT-C2 is now slated to take place May 19 through June 11, 2014.

This updated time frame indicates that CANES will not proceed to operational testing in April 2014, as stated in Gilmore's report, ITN reported in February.

These delays were due primarily to the most recent continuing resolution -- a stopgap spending bill enacted by Congress to fund the federal government in lieu of a defense appropriations bill -- and congressional marks in fiscal year 2011, as well as a longer than expected shipyard maintenance period for the Milius, the February 26 report states.

"Last year's sequestration/[government] shutdown, sequestration, and deferred or cancelled ship availabilities have all played a role," Davis wrote in an April email to ITN.

 

[Jeff Head]

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(Two per year over the next five years)

​

The U.S. Navy plans to build 10 new SSN 774 Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarines over the next five years. Price tag: $17.6 billion.

A contract with General Dynamics Electric Boat and chief subcontractor Huntington Ingalls Newport News Shipbuilding was announced Monday, the Navy Times reported.

“The Block IV award is the largest shipbuilding contract in U.S. Navy history in terms of total dollar value,” said Rear Adm. Dave Johnson, program executive officer for submarines at Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), the Navy Times reported. It “builds upon the Virginia-class program’s successful Navy and industry relationship,” he added.

The Navy contract calls for two new ships per year over the next five years.

General Dynamics bills the Virginia-class submarine as “the first U.S. Navy warship designed from the keel up for the full range of mission requirements in the post-Cold War era.” Its website says the ships are “optimized for maximum technological and operational flexibility,” to play “a key role in the nation’s defense with their stealth, firepower and unlimited endurance."

 

[Jura The idiot]

On "Doomsday Plane"

Posted on InsideDefense.com: April 30, 2014

The House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee this week criticized the Pentagon's continuing lack of clarity on nuclear command, control and communications operational concepts, epitomized by the department's failure to determine how to support or replace the E-4B National Airborne Operations Center fleet of aircraft.

Those four airplanes transport the most senior members of the United States government and are meant to represent a survivable, airborne control center in case of nuclear war or other crises.

According to the subcommittee's mark-up of fiscal year 2015 defense authorization legislation, the Pentagon submitted a report to Congress in January describing the "way ahead" for the E-4B fleet -- but the report presented only a history of failed replacement efforts and a dismal picture of the complex sustainment requirements for the aircraft moving forward.

The congressional language incorrectly refers to the aircraft as the E4-B, instead of by its proper military designation, the E-4B. The aircraft is derived from the Boeing commercial 747 platform and is often referred to as the "Doomsday Plane."

"Plans for replacement of the E4-B have been delayed largely because of uncertainty in future concepts of operations (CONOPs) for nuclear command, control, and communications (NC3) National Military Command System (NMCS) airborne fleets," the mark-up states. "The January 2014 report describes several efforts underway, and scheduled for completion by late summer 2014, that are examining and defining NC3 requirements, architectures, and CONOPs. The committee believes these efforts must be completed expeditiously to inform critical decisions regarding the nation's NC3 system, including potential replacement of the E4-B system."

The provision would obligate the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to complete and submit a pair of reports no later than Nov. 15. The first would share the results of a capabilities-based assessment of the nuclear command and control system, and the second is analyzing the mission of airborne senior-leader fleets like the E-4B and Air Force One.

If DOD does end up committing to an E-4B recapitalization program likely to cost billions of dollars, the Air Force would have to pay that bill in conjunction with its funding of a new bomber, tanker, the F-35, presidential aircraft and many other costly acquisitions.

Congress did not limit its legislation on nuclear command and control issues to the Doomsday Plane. Lawmakers also expressed an interest in how the Air Force's developmental refueling tanker, the KC-46, might contribute to nuclear operations.

"As the Air Force recapitalizes its tanker fleet, the committee believes it is important that nuclear command and control requirements for tankers be re-validated and a long-term plan be developed to fulfill any unmet requirements," the mark-up states. To that end, the subcommittee has asked the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to review and, if necessary, update the formal Pentagon instruction that governs tankers' participation in the NC3 enterprise. That review should be conducted in conjunction with the Air Force secretary and the head of U.S. Strategic Command.

A briefing on any consequential findings is due to Congress on April 1, 2015. Should the review find that any requirements are unmet, the Air Force would have to submit a report by November of next year spelling out how the service would modify those tanker aircraft to meet NC3 needs, when any updates or modifications would be conducted, and how much those would cost.

 

[Jeff Head]

The new contract for the last four Block III boats and then the first six Block IV Virginia boats is exciting.

Currently there are ten Virginia SSNs commissioned and in service.

The 11th, the USS North Dakota, SSN-783, is in trials and will commission this summer. The 12th, the USS John Waner, SSN-785, will launch this spring and commission next year. 13 and 14 are under construction. That's 14 boats either commissioned, launched and in trials, or under construction.

The first of the ten new boats will start construction in May of this year, with the second starting later this year. Then, in 2014-2017, two new boats will start construction each year.

By 2019-2020, there will be 24 Virginia class boats in commission. Pretty nice construction speed for these 5th generation, almost 8,000 tons, very modern nuclear attack submarines.

USS North Dakota, SSN-783, was launched in Spetember of 2013.

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[TerraN_EmpirE]

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Lockheed stresses importance of ‘flying wing’ UCLASS design
By: JON HEMMERDINGERWASHINGTON DC Source: Flightglobal.com in 2 hours
Lockheed Martin’s “flying wing” design for an unmanned carrier-launched aircraft has the “inherent” stealth the US Navy needs to operate in future high-threat environments, says the company during an interview with Flightglobal.

“Stealth is something that has to be designed into the [aircraft]. That’s one of the advantages that we believe we have,” says Bob Ruszkowski, Lockheed’s capture director for the navy’s unmanned carrier-launched airborne surveillance and strike (UCLASS) programme.

Ruszkowski says Lockheed has been stressing to the navy the importance of getting the initial design “right”, saying improvements in capability may not be viable if the service doesn’t “start out with the right shape of the aircraft.”

Lockheed, Boeing, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and Northrop Grumman are in the running for a UCLASS contract to develop a stealthy UAV that operates from USN ships.

General Atomics told Flightglobal earlier this month that it is making progress on its design, which will draw from technology used in its Predator C Avenger.

Northrop built its prototype X-47B unmanned combat air system demonstrator and operated the aircraft from a USN carrier last year.


Lockheed Martin
Ruszkowski says Lockheed’s design (company rendering pictured above) will draw from the stealth and computer technology the company developed for its RQ-170 stealth UAV and its F-35C Joint Strike Fighter.
“It’s a flying wing configuration and inherently stealthy with good endurance characteristics,” he says. “You need to have inherent, broad-band stealth characteristics to ensure you can have persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to be effective in future scenarios.”

Ruszkowski adds that Lockheed’s aircraft will also have an open systems architecture, that will make integrating new technology easier. And the flying wing design requires less complex manufacturing and tooling, he says.

The UCLASS programme moved forward earlier this month, when the navy released a draft request for proposals (RFP). A final RFP is expected later this year, and the service has projected first flight in the third quarter of fiscal year 2018, according to budget documents.

The draft RFP is not publicly available, and Ruszkowski declines to discuss its details. However, he says it calls for the development of a strike and reconnaissance aircraft that will gain additional capabilities over time. Those additional capabilities, he says, include the ability for the aircraft to be refuelled aerially, and to act as a tanker, providing fuel to other aircraft, like fighters.

House panel mostly backs service plans for fighters, helos, UAVs, vehicles
Apr. 30, 2014 - 02:04PM |

By John T. Bennett
Staff writer Military times
FILED UNDER
News
Congress & DOD
WASHINGTON — One word dominated a summary of legislation released Wednesday by the House panel that oversees Army, Marine Corps and Air Force weapon programs: “Support.”

The House Armed Services Tactical Air and Land Forces subcommittee largely backed the services’ plans for everything from new fighter jets to tiltrotor aircraft to helicopters to surveillance drone planes to combat vehicles.

The panel backed the Pentagon’s plans to buy 34 Lockheed Martin-made F-35 fighter jets in 2015, a strong start to the congressional defense budget cycle for a company and Defense Department with much to lose if lawmakers begin chipping away at buy rates of the fifth-generation jet. The F-35 program continues to battle developmental issues that have caused substantial delays and budget overruns.

The legislation, however, does indicate HASC members continue to have questions about the program’s many issues. It would require the US comptroller general to submit an annual report to Congress, beginning next April, until the program hits full-rate production.

That proposed annual study would have to cover “the extent to which the F-35 aircraft acquisition program is meeting cost, schedule and performance goals; the progress and results of developmental and operational testing; the progress of the procurement and manufacturing of the F-35 aircraft; and an assessment of any plans or efforts of the secretary of defense to improve the efficiency of the procurement and manufacturing of the F-35 aircraft,” according to the legislation.

Notably, the subcommittee’s legislation contains no mention of an Air Force plan to retire its A-10 attack plane fleet in 2019 to save money. Several House members have banded together with hawkish senators to fight the service’s plan, meaning amendments aiming to block the retirement are possible during the full panel’s markup next week of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

The subcommittee also supports the Army’s plan to buy 197 new helicopters and the Marine Corps’ proposal to purchase 19 MV-22 Osprey tiltrotors, made by Bell Helicopter and Boeing.

The proposed legislation, which the subcommittee is expected to send to the full committee on Thursday morning, also gives its “support” to “26 new H-1 series helicopters, and continued development of the CH-53K heavy lift helicopter.” That is good news for Bell and Sikorsky, though three defense panels must first also endorse those plans.

The panel appears to support an Air Force plan to keep its Global Hawk surveillance drone aircraft and retire the venerable U-2 spy plane fleet. The summary reads: “Support the president’s request for the Global Hawk unmanned aerial system, and other high altitude intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance platforms.” Good news for Northrop Grumman, maker of the Global Hawk.

The panel is proposing some funding restrictions for major weapon programs. One is the Army’s Armored Multipurpose Vehicle (AMPV) program. The legislation would cap 2015 funding for the initiative at 80 percent of the final appropriation until Army brass deliver lawmakers a report on its “plan to eventually replace all M-113 Armored [Personnel] Carriers (APC) within Echelons-Above-Brigade (EAB) formations.”

“The committee continues to support the AMPV program and expects the Army to conduct the competition in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulations,” states the legislation. “However, the committee is concerned that although the Army’s current plan addresses a critical shortfall within EBB formations, there is currently no plan to address the survivability shortfalls within Echelons-Above-Brigade formations.”

The subcommittee also would require the Army to examine whether mine-resistant armor-protected (MRAP) vehicles purchased for Iraq and Afghanistan could serve a different role in the fleet.

“The committee believes there may be some operational value in using MRAP vehicles as mobile command posts at echelons above brigade,” the bill states. “Therefore, the committee directs the chief of staff of the Army to provide a briefing to the congressional defense committees not later than February 13, 2015, on the advisability and feasibility of using MRAP vehicles as part of current mobile command post modernization strategies.”

An initial review of the subcommittee’s bill indicates its leaders opted to leave some controversial matters, such as Army and Marine Corps end-strength cuts and the idea of an independent commission to study the Army’s future rotorcraft plans, for the full Armed Services Committee to debate.

That will happen May 7, when the full panel begins work on the version of the 2015 NDAA that will go to the House floor later this year.

Paul Mcleary contributed to this report.