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US Military News, Reports, Data, etc.
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TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
Marines' aging amphibious vehicle fleet to get better armor, more power
By Lance M. Bacon, Marine Corps Times2:40 p.m. EST January 29, 2016
CHARLESTON, S.C — Marine Corps and industry officials on Jan. 28 unveiled an upgraded Assault Amphibious Vehicle that promises to add 20 years of service to the aging AAVs. The Corps will put the upgraded hog to the test throughout 2016.
The upgrades represent “substantial enhancements in both capability and survivability, aimed at ensuring the viability and relevance of the AAV fleet until they can ultimately be replaced,” said Bill Taylor, program executive officer for lands systems.
The AAV upgrade is centered on survivability. It replaces the angled Enhanced Applique Armor Kit with 49 buoyant, flat ceramic panels: 23 on the front and sides, and 26 thinner panels on the top. Each panel has four attach points and can be lifted by two Marines. Full assembly takes about 90 minutes. In addition, an aluminum armor underbelly provides MRAP-equivalent blast protection, while a bonded spall liner and armor-protected external fuel tanks allowed designers to install 18 blast mitigating seats in a carousel pattern (alternating high and low).
The need for better blast protection was evident in Iraq, where the AAV was unable to overcome the IED threat. This became painfully evident in August 2005, when 14 Marines were killed when their AAV struck a roadside bomb in the Euphrates River valley.
The addition of ceramic panels will add roughly 10,000 pounds, so each vehicle will get a VT903 engine that boosts horsepower from 525 to 675, as well as a new power take-off unit and KDS transmission.
“The old transmission is so bad that it is translucent. It has been built over and over again,” said Maj. Paul Rivera, AAV Survivability Upgrade project team leader. “If I threw on all that new armament, transmissions would have been blowing left and right and the engines would have been struggling.”
That’s good news for the crews who work tirelessly to keep these aging hogs up and running. Most AAVs are around 40 years old, and many parts are increasingly obsolete. In addition to more power and protection, crews will find a smoother ride. Shocks have been tossed in favor of a new suspension system that uses rotary dampers and upgraded torsion bars, and raised the hull by 3 inches.
SAIC is handling the upgrades, which run $1.65 million per vehicle. The Corps looks to beef up 392 personnel variants, which would provide lift for four infantry battalions (lift for another two battalions is expected by the Advanced Combat Vehicle). As it stands, low-rate initial production of upgraded AAVs is expected in 2017, initial operational capability in 2019, and full operational capability in 2023.
Many details, such as top speeds on land and water, will not be known until the upgraded AAV is run though myriad tests, officials said. Water and ground mobility tests were supposed to kick off in May, but officials are looking to get an early start since the program in on budget and two months ahead of schedule. Tests will be at a number of locations that span from Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, to Camp Pendleton, California.
Brig. Gen. (select) Roger Turner, capabilities development director at Marine Corps Combat Development Command, said he was encouraged by what he saw. He lived out of an AAV for seven months during Operation Desert Shield, and has watched them age in the decade since. He was “impressed” with the integration of the new engine and transmission, and was “really excited” about getting the fuel tanks out of the crew compartment. Though initially unsure about carousel seating, he was a fan after a short ride around the SAIC facility. But a final thumbs-up will have to wait on developmental and operational tests.
“We want to shake it out good and make sure we are getting what we pay for,” he said. “At the end of the day, it is about looking those young Marines in the eye and making sure that what we’re buying for them and what we’re delivering is going to give them that crew capability.”
Ironically, the AAV survivability upgrade was unveiled almost five years to the day after the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle was canceled. That vehicle relied heavily on undeveloped or unproven technologies. The approach consumed billions of dollars, and the AAV fleet suffered as a result.
No more.
“We’re getting life back into our old hog,” said Rivera, who has been with the upgrade project since it started in fall 2014, and has been a part of the AAV family for 14 years. “All commanders know what our limitations are with our current platform. We’re now answering a lot of those shortfalls.”
AAV7A1 is a work horse, she will keep on hauling. alongside the AAV SU the Marines are working on the Amphibious combat vehicle family which will offer similar water performance in a true IFV class 8x8
As the USS John F. Kennedy came to relieve the USS America after a six-month deployment in the Mediterranean, aircrewman Brian Christoff filmed three greased pigs each painted red, white, and blue on the flight deck of the USS Kennedy.
Deck of the USS Kennedy really packed
TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
USAF Awards Contract for Next Air Force One
By -
February 2, 2016
Air Force One
The Boeing Company was awarded a contract Jan. 29 for risk reduction activities for the Presidential Aircraft Recapitalization program, which will field the next Air Force One.
This is the first contract the Air Force has awarded for this program. Additional modifications will be made to this contract in the future to purchase the commercial 747-8 aircraft, as well as to design, modify and test those aircraft to meet the presidential mission.
These efforts are the first step in a deliberate process to control program risks and life cycle costs. These activities will include the definition of detailed requirements and design trade-offs required to support informed decisions that will lead to a lower risk Engineering and Manufacturing Development program and lower life cycle costs.
“This is the start of our contractual relationship with Boeing. It will allow Boeing to begin working on what will be the next Air Force One,” said Col. Amy McCain, the Presidential Aircraft Recapitalization program manager. “This initial effort is about reducing risk, really understanding where the tough work will be, finding affordability opportunities, and getting the best value for the taxpayer, while continuing to meet the needs of our commander in chief.”
The secretary of the Air Force has made it clear that affordability will be a key element of the Presidential Aircraft Recapitalization program.
“We will continue to insist upon program affordability through cost conscious procurement practices,” said Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James.
“The presidential aircraft is one of the most visible symbols of the United States of America at home and abroad,” James said. “We will ensure the next Air Force One meets the necessary capabilities established to execute the presidential support mission, while reflecting the office of the president of the United States of America consistent with the national public interest.”
The Air Force wants to own enough of the technical baseline to permit competition for modifications and sustainment throughout the aircraft’s planned 30-year life cycle. Competition can keep costs down, spur innovation and provide technical options.
“We are focused on ensuring this program is affordable,” McCain said. “This contract gets us started on determining how to modify a 747-8 to become the next Air Force One, and finding opportunities for cost reduction through detailed requirements choices, competition of subsystems, and in the sustainment of the aircraft after it has been fielded.”
“The current fleet of VC-25A presidential aircraft has performed exceptionally well, a testament to the Airmen who support, maintain and fly the aircraft,” James said. “Yet, it is time to replace them. Parts obsolescence, diminishing manufacturing sources and increased down times for maintenance are existing challenges that will increase until a new aircraft is fielded.”
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A replacement for the KA-6D each CAW had 4 a UAV tanker
The F-18 have a enough short range CR 700 km, F-18E/F better 900 but enoughh small for fighter of 30 t and better for F-35C 1100 km despite A-6 and F-14 retired had 1400/1200 km, then Naval Aviation think to find a longer range, for counteract A2/AD strategy.
But maybe a good idea put more money on existing F-35C and buy up to 36 F-18E/F for help Front line units as put money on a future Armed UAV which based on X-47 would have a very long CR ~ 2000 km, payload 2 t only internaly, F-35 up to 9 t int+ext but mainly unable for A2A combat, not versatile.
The F-18 have a enough short range CR 700 km, F-18E/F better 900 but enoughh small for fighter of 30 t and better for F-35C 1100 km despite A-6 and F-14 retired had 1400/1200 km, then Naval Aviation think to find a longer range, for counteract A2/AD strategy.
But maybe a good idea put more money on existing F-35C and buy up to 36 F-18E/F for help Front line units as put money on a future Armed UAV which based on X-47 would have a very long CR ~ 2000 km, payload 2 t only internaly, F-35 up to 9 t int+ext but mainly unable for A2A combat, not versatile.
Good-Bye, UCLASS; Hello, Unmanned Tanker, More F-35Cs In 2017 Budget
PENTAGON: After of over whether the Navy’s future UCLASS drone should be or , the Defense Department has chosen — neither. Instead, the proposes a program that is less ambitious than either version of UCLASS but, to their mind, more immediately useful than either: an unmanned, carrier-launched tanker.
“What you’re going to see is not a UCLASS [Unmanned Carrier-Launched Strike & Surveillance aircraft] anymore: It’s a carrier-based tanker that is going to be integrated into the carrier air wing,” a senior defense official told me.
“The combination of buying more , freeing up Es and Fs that are currently doing tanking, plus more , this is the best way to handle the problem in the near term,” the defense official said. “Right now, most of the aerial refueling is [Super Hornet] Es and Fs, which is causing a problem when you’re already short of fighters.”
“People will say, ‘well, don’t you want to have an unmanned bomber coming off the carrier?'” the defense official acknowledged. ‘We’d say, sure we would, but, right now, based on our analysis, this is the best way to go about the problem. We don’t have enough money.”
The tanker would have some capabilities to relay communications and perhaps conduct reconnaissance, but it would be unarmed. It would be about the size of the Super Hornet fighter, and it would not be stealthy.
Rather than penetrate enemy airspace itself, as the stealth UCLASS would have, the tanker will free up strike fighters from refueling duties and extend their range. Rather than invest in combat drones, the new Navy budget plan instead will buy more manned aircraft — both F/A-18E/F Super Hornets (in 2018, not 2017) and — to cover the current shortfall in strike fighters.
“This was the fastest way that we could think of to get stealth on the deck and allow the carrier to fight from range…..based on the resources that we had,” the official said. Given, he said, “we need to get more stealth on the carrier deck in the early ’20s” — too short a timeline to develop an all-new aircraft.
So “we decided to accelerate F-35C buys,” the official said. “Some people would say, ‘let’s go all in on the UCLASS and make it stealthy,’ but if you did that, you wouldn’t be able to get can the stealth on the deck as fast. There’s just no way you could have done it.”
The F-35C is in low rate initial production and already flying, while an unmanned strike aircraft is on the drawing board. Better to enable the F-35 fleet now than to wait for an unmanned bomber to become available at some unknown time and cost in the future, the official argued.
“Getting an unmanned system, even though it might be non-stealthy and not a strike [aircraft], and getting the F-35 on the decks faster was a higher priority for us than getting a stealthy unmanned system in this budget,” the official said. “We have to spend a little more time to determine where we’re going to go on the unmanned strike side.”
In fact, the budget is so tight and the priority on the F-35 is so high that the Navy won’t be able to buy any F/A-18E/F Super Hornets this year, despite its desire for more manned strike fighters.
The multi-year budget plan may “look a little weird,” because “we didn’t have the budget headroom in ’17 to put airplanes in,” the official said. Instead, the Pentagon expects to get 14 Super Hornets in 2016 — 12 already added by Congress and two more requested to replace combat losses — and will buy another 14 in 2018.
So where are the orders to in 2017? “What we are assuming and hoping is will help us fill in the hole,” the official said.
In the very long term, the Navy is looking at what’s variously called or Next Generation Air Dominance, with a debate already broiling over whether it should be manned or unmanned. (Navy Secretary is on the record saying the F-35 is the “last manned strike fighter” the Navy should ever buy). The official Analysis of Alternatives (AOA) for the F/A-XX just started last week.
But doesn’t abandoning UCLASS contradict the Pentagon’s emphasis on long range and stealth to penetrate increasingly sophisticated and -made air defenses, I asked? Doesn’t it contradict the “” with its emphasis on and ““?
The Air Force’s newly awarded contract for a stealthy is a key part of the answer to that “” problem, the official said. On the drone front, he continued, “there’s a whole lot of different things we’re doing in unmanned systems. Some of them will be apparent of the budget and some of them won’t, because they’ll be .”
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And these three small pigs finished in an oven
At this time the CAW was clearly more big a Attack Sqn in more with 12 A-6/ 4 KA-6D and a Sqn with 8 S-3 about 84 aircrafts now about 60.
Godspeed Captain Kirk!
BATH, Maine (AP) — The largest destroyer ever built for the U.S. Navy headed out to sea for the first time Monday, departing from shipbuilder Bath Iron Works and carefully navigating the winding Kennebec River before reaching the open ocean where the ship will undergo sea trials.
More than 200 shipbuilders, sailors and residents gathered to watch as the futuristic 600-foot, 15,000-ton USS Zumwalt glided past Fort Popham, accompanied by tugboats.
Kelley Campana, a Bath Iron Works employee, said she had goose bumps and tears in her eyes.
"This is pretty exciting. It's a great day to be a shipbuilder and to be an American," she said. "It's the first in its class. There's never been anything like it. It looks like the future."
Larry Harris, a retired Raytheon employee who worked on the ship, watched it depart from Bath.
"It's as cool as can be. It's nice to see it underway," he said. "Hopefully, it will perform as advertised."
Bath Iron Works will be testing the ship's performance and making tweaks this winter. The goal is to deliver it to the Navy sometime next year.
"We are absolutely fired up to see Zumwalt get underway. For the crew and all those involved in designing, building, and readying this fantastic ship, this is a huge milestone," the ship's skipper, Navy Capt. James Kirk, said before the ship departed.
The ship has electric propulsion, new radar and sonar, powerful missiles and guns, and a stealthy design to reduce its radar signature. Advanced automation will allow the warship to operate with a much smaller crew size than current destroyers.
All of that innovation has led to construction delays and a growing price tag. The Zumwalt, the first of three ships in the class, will cost at least $4.4 billion.
The ship looks like nothing ever built at Bath Iron Works.
The inverse bow juts forward to slice through the waves. Sharp angles deflect enemy radar signals. Radar and antennas are hidden in a composite deckhouse.
The builder sea trials will answer any questions of seaworthiness for a ship that utilizes a type of hull associated with pre-dreadnought battleships from a century ago.
Critics say the "tumblehome" hull's sloping shape makes it less stable than conventional hulls, but it contributes to the ship's stealth and the Navy is confident in the design.
Eric Wertheim, author and editor of the U.S. Naval Institute's "Guide to Combat Fleets of the World," said there's no question the integration of so many new systems from the electric drive to the tumblehome hull carries some level of risk.
Operational concerns, growing costs and fleet makeup led the Navy to truncate the 32-ship program to three ships, he said. With only three ships, the class of destroyers could become something of a technology demonstration project, he said.
Great video of a US Navy F-18 Hornet following a Tactical Tomahawk fired from the USS Kidd as it attacks and hits a target ship designated by the F-18 at sea.
This is GREAT demonstration by the US Navy that all of those VLS cells on the Arleigh Burkes, the Ticonderogas, and US nuclear submarines are capable of attacking and hitting adversary ships with these long range tactical Tomahawk cruise missiles that carry various types of large warheads. Hugely damaging to ships.
My guess is that the laser head could easily be replaced by an intelligent targeting device in the future.
An excellent compliment to the LRASMs that will be coming soo.
This is GREAT demonstration by the US Navy that all of those VLS cells on the Arleigh Burkes, the Ticonderogas, and US nuclear submarines are capable of attacking and hitting adversary ships with these long range tactical Tomahawk cruise missiles that carry various types of large warheads. Hugely damaging to ships.
My guess is that the laser head could easily be replaced by an intelligent targeting device in the future.
An excellent compliment to the LRASMs that will be coming soo.
Sea Waves said:Seattle January 24, 2016 - Boeing and U.S. Air Force aircrews successfully completed the KC-46A tanker’s first refueling flight today in the skies above Washington State.
Following takeoff from Boeing Field in Seattle, the KC-46A test team worked through a series of test points before smoothly offloading 1,600 pounds of fuel to an F-16 fighter aircraft flying at 20,000 feet.
“Today’s flight is an important milestone for the Air Force/Boeing team because it kicks off the Milestone C aerial refueling demonstration, which is the prerequisite for the low-rate initial production decision,” said Col. Christopher Coombs, U.S. Air Force KC-46 system program manager.
“We have a lot of work yet to do, but this is an exciting time for the airmen who are preparing to fly, maintain and support the KC-46 Pegasus for decades to come.”
During the 5 hour and 43-minute flight, both Boeing and Air Force air refueling operators accomplished multiple contacts with the F-16 that confirmed the system was ready to transfer fuel. Master Sgt Lindsay Moon, U.S. Air Force KC-46 air refueling operator, then “flew” the tanker’s 56-foot boom downward and waited for the F-16 to move into position before fully extending the boom into its refueling receptacle.
The KC-46 offloaded fuel to the fighter and when the fuel transfer was complete, the system automatically turned off the pumps and Moon smoothly retracted the boom.
"The refueling boom’s handling qualities throughout the flight were exceptional,” said Rickey Kahler, Boeing KC-46 air refueling operator who also guided the boom during contacts with the F-16 while sitting in the tanker’s state-of-the-art refueling operator station in the front of the tanker. “The boom was extremely stable – it handled like it was an extension of my arm.”
The KC-46A that accomplished today’s refueling milestone will soon begin refueling a number of other military aircraft as well, including a C-17, F/A-18, A-10 and AV-8B. Also known as EMD-2, the tanker made its first flight September 25, 2015 and has now completed 32 flights.
The program’s first test aircraft (EMD-1), a 767-2C, has completed more than 260 flight test hours to date since its first flight in December 2014. EMD-3 and EMD-4 will begin flight testing later this year.
As part of a contract awarded in 2011 to design and develop the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation tanker aircraft, Boeing is building four test aircraft – two are currently configured as 767-2Cs and two as KC-46A tankers.
The KC-46A is a multirole tanker Boeing is building for the U.S. Air Force that can refuel all allied and coalition military aircraft compatible with international aerial refueling procedures and can carry passengers, cargo and patients. Overall, Boeing plans to build 179 KC-46 aircraft for the U.S. Air Force.