US Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
well the headline I've noticed is
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!


OK only now I read that article to see "The issues are unrelated to design or engineering specifications. "
The USAF just gave them a platinum plated buy of F15XL, and is paying through the nose for Kc46. On top of the B737 Max issues come on!
Guy you are supposed to be in your best behavior here. What good is being the other fighter maker who gets orders if of the buyers open the avionics bay and find it looking like the inside of a high school student's locker? You think any military will accept your next aircraft if they find that on the first flight it dumps a million tons of Burger king wrappers and Pepsi cans? Or it lands dropping hammers and power tools?
 
Jan 31, 2019
Jan 17, 2019
related:
VIDEO: 2nd Fleet Takes Control of First Carrier Training Event Since Standing Up Last Summer
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

am wondering what the future holds for this particular numbered fleet
and
US Navy’s newly re-established 2nd Fleet to lead 18-nation Baltic Sea drill BALTOPS
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

The US 2nd Fleet (C2F) is scheduled to lead the major Baltic Sea exercise BALTOPS 2019, seven months after the command was re-established at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia.

The US 2nd Fleet, which falls under operational control of the US Fleet Forces Command,
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
after previously being disestablished in 2011.

Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) 2019 is in its 47th iteration and is the premier maritime-focused exercise in the Baltic region.

Taking place in the Baltic Sea mid-June 2019, the evolution will mark the fleet’s first time operating in the European theater since reestablishment.

Commander, C2F, Vice Adm. Andrew “Woody” Lewis, will lead the exercise on behalf of US Naval Forces Europe. He addressed more than 200 planners at the BALTOPS final planning conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, April 2.

“As you all are aware, US 2nd Fleet will be leading the exercise, but make no mistake, it will be founded on NATO and partner principles,” said Lewis. “Through BALTOPS 2019 and exercises like it, we strengthen our relationships and improve overall coordination and interoperability between allies and partners during both peace and times of conflict.”

BALTOPS will include air, maritime, and ground assets from 18 nations is an annual joint, multinational maritime-focused exercise.
 
The USAF just gave them a platinum plated buy of F15XL, and is paying through the nose for Kc46. On top of the B737 Max issues come on!
Guy you are supposed to be in your best behavior here. What good is being the other fighter maker who gets orders if of the buyers open the avionics bay and find it looking like the inside of a high school student's locker? You think any military will accept your next aircraft if they find that on the first flight it dumps a million tons of Burger king wrappers and Pepsi cans? Or it lands dropping hammers and power tools?
since it happened again, I would've called the FBI to look into a possibility of sabotage, they would've quickly identified the individual(s) who had littered the aircraft, I guess, to see if it's just idiot(s), or got paid or motivated to do this
 
Last edited:

Brumby

Major
LOL I wondered what tabloid you'd link, as there's no way of knowing AEGIS specs (outside the USN+contractors world)
Direct from the horses mouth - Raytheon presentation

upload_2019-4-4_10-39-31.png

What is even more interesting, contrary to what is widely reported that the AMDR is 15dB, this is now officially upgraded to 16dB by the USN without any publicity. This mean instead of a factor of 32 it is now 40 times more sensitive. Furthermore the upgrade of all SPY-1(D) to 24 RMAs will deliver a 11dB i.e. a factor of 12.6 times. Finally, while not considered official.Scott Spence, the Senior Director of Raytheon’ Naval Radar Systems, stated in January 2019 that: “It’s 70 times more sensitive than the current radar. That is a 18 dB plus.

upload_2019-4-4_10-52-20.png
 
Jun 30, 2018
Apr 17, 2018
now Senate spending bill could slow sub-launched nuke
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
but
Pentagon Developing Low-Yield Nuclear Cruise Missiles For Submarines
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

The Pentagon is in the early stages of developing low-yield submarine-launched nuclear-tipped cruise missiles, a senior Department of Defense official told lawmakers Wednesday.

Both Russia and China are making substantial improvements to their nuclear forces, notably increases to low-yield nuclear weapons, John Rood, the Under Secretary of Defense for policy, said during a Senate Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee hearing.

Inside the Pentagon’s Fiscal Year 2020 budget request, Rood said, the military is requesting money for a low-yield modification to an existing warhead for submarine-launched ballistic missiles and submarine-launched cruise missiles.

Military leaders and lawmakers have debated the need for creating submarine-launched low-yield ballistic missiles for some time, but the cruise missile plan is newer.

“The sub-launched cruise missile is further behind, and we’re just doing an AoA or analysis of alternatives at this stage,” Rood said.

Rood brought up the low-yield nuclear missile work when responding to a question from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) about the importance of low-yield tactical nuclear weapons as an effective modern deterrent.

Based on Russia’s recent development activities and statements, Rood said there’s a growing concern in the Pentagon and other government agencies the Russian government is developing low-yield nuclear weapons because of a perceived advantage.

The Russian thinking, Rood said, is if the U.S. does not have similar weapons, the U.S. will not be able to respond to a Russian low-yield nuclear weapon strike. The Russians are counting on a U.S. desire to not escalate a low-yield nuclear strike by responding with the larger nuclear warheads currently in the U.S. arsenal.

However, the Pentagon’s desire to continue the low-yield nuclear weapons plan is already facing resistance on the other side of Capitol Hill in the House Armed Services Committee.

A week ago, when Air Force Gen. John Hyten, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, made a similar argument about the need for low-yield nuclear weapons, he was met by skeptical lawmakers in a
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
.

Rep. Susan Davis (D-Calif.) said she was unconvinced such weapons are needed, and Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the HASC chair, has been a frequent critic of the low-yield weapon plan, often stating the nation’s current nuclear deterrent is more than adequate.
 
Nov 22, 2018
Mar 30, 2018
now
BRRRT with Surround Sound: A-10 May Get New 3D Audio System
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
was the previous one about the Warthog "retirement", now
Air Force Gearing Up for Next A-10 Re-Winging Contract
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

The U.S.
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
is preparing for the next
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
contract to re-wing more of the close-air support aircraft.

The next contract for the "A-10-Thunderbolt II Advanced-Wing Continuation Kit," known as "ATTACK," is going through source selection and is expected to be awarded this fall, Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said Monday. The service has $267 million set aside to buy "about 20 total wings," she said.

The service last year
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
to rebuild wings on the A-10 after ending its arrangement with Boeing Co., even though officials have not committed to re-winging the entire fleet. The Air Force has 281 A-10s in its inventory, but it has decided to maintain wings for only six of its nine A-10 combat
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
.

Boeing is on track to complete its re-winging agreement, known as the "Enhanced Wing Assembly," for 173 aircraft by this summer, Stefanek said. So far, 169 aircraft have been re-winged under the contract, with the remaining four to be completed in the next few months.

But work on the next few close-air support mission planes is changing as the Air Force moves forward with new acquisition and research and development techniques.

Dr. Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics, said "digital engineering" sometimes allows the service to bypass the regular manufacturing process for parts.

Digital engineering
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
. If the service
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
of a plane or weapon, digital engineering lets developers see how to make the part and, in some cases, allows maintainers and engineers to create it themselves if they have the right tools and materials.

That's been working on the A-10, Roper said.

"I think new technologies
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
allow us to change how production and design are done, and I think … [digital engineering] will allow us to not raise the cost of sustainment for very heterogeneous Air Force," he said last month
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
.

"We don't have nearly enough [digital engineering programs]," he said, adding that it is also being used on the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent program
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
the
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
intercontinental ballistic missile system.

With digital engineering, the Air Force "can make smart choices" in very early stages, Roper said. In addition to potentially giving aircraft a few additional flight years, "we can completely change the game on how we do aircraft development and fielding," he said.
 
Yesterday at 9:12 PM
Mar 22, 2019now
Navy Confident That Maintenance Workload Transparency, Better Business Practices Will Avoid Future Backlogs
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
related:
NAVSEA SIOP Office Leading $21 billion Naval Shipyard Modernization
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

A new Navy program office will centrally coordinate a plan to recapitalize its four public shipyards, the Naval Sea Systems Command Office of Corporate Communication said in an April 3 release.

The Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Plan (SIOP) Program Office, PMS-555, established in June 2018, is working in concert with Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC), and Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) to recapitalize and modernize the infrastructure at the four public nuclear shipyards to include critical dry dock repairs, restoring needed shipyard facilities and optimizing their placement, and replacing aging and deteriorating capital equipment.

Executing this plan will improve the naval shipyards' productivity and increase their maintenance throughput to support the combat readiness of the Navy.

Without major upgrades and reconfigurations, the shipyards would not be able to meet the fleet's future aircraft carrier and submarine depot maintenance and inactivation requirements looking out through 2040.

"The Navy relies on NAVSEA to deliver combat-ready ships and submarines out of planned maintenance availabilities on time," said NAVSEA Cmdr. Vice Adm. Tom Moore. "Modernizing our four naval shipyards — a massive task under any circumstance — is critical because it's the only way we will be able to meet our future mission requirements."

"This is a comprehensive plan, developed in partnership with NAVFAC and CNIC, that will allow the Navy to bring its organic shipyards into the 21st century to fully support the Navy the nation needs," Moore added.

The Navy's four public shipyards — Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia; Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine; Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Bremerton, Washington; and Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii — were originally designed and built in the 19th and 20th centuries to support construction of sail- and conventionally-powered ships using industrial models of the time. As a result, they are not configured to maintain and modernize nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines.

Developing, programming and executing the plan falls to the PMS-555 program office, which is staffed by industrial engineers, process improvement specialists, facilities engineers, regulatory compliance specialists, strategic and financial analysts, Civil Engineer Corps officers, construction managers and construction schedulers from NAVSEA, CNIC and NAVFAC.

"The Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Plan articulated a vision that shipyard infrastructure has three interdependent components: the dry docks, the facilities and the capital equipment; and that these configurations are fundamentally linked to the shipyards' ability to execute the mission they are tasked to do," said Steven Lagana, PMS-555 program manager.

"We are utilizing modeling and simulation as a tool to integrate these components to better inform the desired infrastructure layout. Through this, the Navy will be in a better position to make meaningful, long-lasting investments that not only address the condition of the facilities and equipment but also change the way the work is conducted. Once we're finished, the Navy will recover more than 300,000 work days per year, every year."

The first milestone PMS-555 is scheduled to achieve is the development of a "digital twin" of the naval shipyards. This will be a virtual representation of the shipyards that will be used to conduct modeling and simulations of the shipyard environment to aid in evaluations and decisions for the future shipyard infrastructure. The program office is also developing comprehensive strategies to address historic preservation and environmental compliance during this recapitalization effort.

The program office is hosting its first industry day April 8 at the Washington Navy Yard.

"We're sold out," Lagana said. "We have more than 100 companies from 19 states and the District of Columbia who are coming to hear about the program and see how they can be part of this once-in-a-century team that will deliver the shipyards the Navy needs."
 
Today at 7:06 AM
Yesterday at 9:12 PM
related:
NAVSEA SIOP Office Leading $21 billion Naval Shipyard Modernization
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
similar:
US Navy hosts industry day as $21B public shipyards upgrade project gets underway
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

The US Naval Sea Systems Command is kick-starting the $21 billion plan to upgrade the four public shipyards to improve their productivity and increase their maintenance throughput in order to support the combat readiness of the navy the nation needs.

The Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Plan (SIOP) Program Office, PMS-555, established in June 2018, is working in concert with Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC) and Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) to recapitalize and modernize the infrastructure at the four public nuclear shipyards to include critical dry dock repairs.

Without major upgrades and reconfigurations, the shipyards would not be able to meet the fleet’s future aircraft carrier and submarine depot maintenance and inactivation requirements looking out through 2040.

“The Navy relies on NAVSEA to deliver combat-ready ships and submarines out of planned maintenance availabilities on time,” said NAVSEA Commander Vice Adm. Tom Moore. “Modernizing our four naval shipyards — a massive task under any circumstance — is critical because it’s the only way we will be able to meet our future mission requirements.”

The Navy’s four public shipyards — Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia; Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine; Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Bremerton, Washington; and Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii — were originally designed and built in the 19th and 20th centuries to support construction of sail- and conventionally-powered ships using industrial models of the time. As a result, they are not configured to maintain and modernize the nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines of today or tomorrow.

Developing, programming and executing the plan falls to PMS-555 program office comprised of industrial engineers, process improvement specialists, facilities engineers, regulatory compliance specialists, strategic and financial analysts, Civil Engineer Corps officers, construction managers and construction schedulers from NAVSEA, CNIC and NAVFAC.

The first milestone PMS-555 is scheduled to achieve is the development of a “digital twin” of the naval shipyards. This will be a virtual representation of the shipyards that will be used to conduct modeling and simulations of the shipyard environment to aid in evaluations and decisions for the future shipyard infrastructure. The program office is also developing strategies to address historic preservation and environmental compliance during this recapitalization effort.

The program office is hosting its first industry day April 8 at the Washington Navy Yard.

“We’re sold out,” said Lagana. “We have more than 100 companies from 19 states and the District of Columbia who are coming to hear about the program and see how they can be part of this once-in-a-century team that will deliver the shipyards the Navy needs.”
 
Mar 20, 2019
Yesterday at 8:27 PM
related:
Late is the new normal for Virginia-class attack boats
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
now
The US Navy, seeking savings, shakes up its plans for more lethal attack submarines
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

The U.S. Navy is shaking up its plan for acquiring a new, much larger and more deadly version of its
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
it aims to start buying this year.

The plan heading into this year was to start a contract on the 5th block of Virginias in October, beginning with an upgraded version of the block-four Virginia (a “straight-stick” Virginia), then the second boat in 2019 would be the first boat with the added with 84-foot section known as the Virginia Payload Module, designed to expand the Virginia’s Tomahawk strike missile load-out from 12 to 40.

The rest of the 10-ship buy was suppose to have the VPM, a move designed to offset the retirement of the four 154-Tomahawk-packing guided missile submarines in the mid-2020s.

But the Navy is looking for savings and things have changed heading into the 2020 budget cycle.

Instead of nine of 10 block-five Virginias being VPM boats, the Navy is proposing to Congress that they add a third Virginia in 2020, but the first boat will be another “straight-stick.” Then in 2021, the Navy will return to buying two Virginias, but the first boat again will be a straight-stick and the second will have VPM. All the block five boats, VPM and otherwise, will have acoustic upgrades.

The net effect will be one fewer Virginia Payload Module in the block-five buy. Instead of nine of 10 boats in the buy having VPM, the Navy is proposing that eight of 11 boats have the VPM, deferring the VPM presumably to Virginia Block Six, which is slated to begin in 2024.

The last-minute shuffling of the deck on Virginia, which includes pushing out VPM boats for which Congress had already appropriated advanced procurement money, shifts what was originally supposed to be the end of the straight-stick Virginias this year to buying one new straight stick a year for the next three years.

This has raised concerns among those in the submarine building industry because of the potential for disruptions in the workflow at the yards, which is carefully planned out years in advance, and could even bleed over into the new, strategically vital Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine program.

“Just like there is one rule in real estate (‘location, location, location’), there is one rule in building ships: Predictability, predictability, predictability,” said Dan Gouré, a former Bush Administration defense official and military analyst with the Arlington-based Lexington Institute. “And they are messing with that now, for the first time in quite a while. And that makes no sense.”

The late changes have also affected the timeline for contract negotiations, and a source with knowledge of the details said a planned April contract date for block five is now unlikely. The date had already slipped from the beginning of the fiscal year in October, according to 2018 budget documents.

The Virginia-class program has begun seeing creeping delays which the Navy acknowledged this year will likely be between four and seven months on each boat for the foreseeable future. The service says it has struggled to meet more aggressive construction timelines because of issues within the supplier base, which are causing delays.

A spokesman for the Navy’s research, development and acquisition office said he wouldn’t comment on precisely what savings would be achieved with the strategy, citing ongoing negotiations, but said the move of a matter of competing priorities within the budget. He also said the changes in the VPM schedule were not part of ongoing supplier challenges.

“To support the Navy's PB-20 request the decision to delay VPMs in FY-20 and 21 was based on competing requirements,” said Capt. Danny Hernandez, RD&A spokesman. “This was not based on any issues with shipbuilding or supply chain.”

Added Wrinkle

The third boat in 2020 also adds a wrinkle to the schedule. According to the Navy’s justification books, the third boat will not start construction until 2023, which is the year before the service plans to buy a second Columbia-class boomer.

That means the shipyards will be building three Virginias in 2023.

The Virginia Payload Module strategy of continuing to buy straight-stick Virginias into 2021, ensures that General Dynamics Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls Newport News will be building both straight sticks and Virginia Payload Module Virginia-class boats and the Columbia class simultaneously through 2026 and beyond, according to Navy budget documents.

That will stress the yards and the supplier base, raising the risk that Columbia could run late, according to an industry source who spoke on background.

“The juxtaposition of Virginia VPM and Columbia will be an added challenge for the shipyards,” the source said. “VPM and Columbia will have no learning curves when both projects are started. As we saw with Seawolf and Virginia (and every other first of a class ship the Navy has ever built) first ships are late and over cost.

“Unfortunately, with the delay to the original program, Congress and the Navy have run the clock down, so there is no margin for Columbia to be late.”

The mounting challenges within the submarine building enterprise prompted RD&A chief James Geurts to stand up a new program office specifically for the Columbia class, which was previously organized under Program Executive Office Submarines. Rear Adm. Scott Pappano is heading the new enterprise.

“My concern was with Columbia being our No. 1 acquisition priority and all the other submarine activities we have going on, do we have enough leadership bandwidth available to oversee and run all those programs simultaneously?” Geurts said in an early March roundtable with reporters.

“As I understand the challenges going forward, [I wanted to] get PEO-level support to that program as it starts ramping up. And I didn’t want to wait for a crisis for that to occur; I wanted to make sure we are proactively working the program.”
 
Top