May 21, 2020 | International, Naval

A fleeting advantage: No time to lose for US Navy’s unmanned ambitions

By: Rear Adm. Nevin Carr (ret.)

There has been no shortage of debate lately about the future size and shape of the U.S. Navy in an era of great power competition. Through the fog of competing priorities, fiscal constraints and a growing list of force architecture studies, one thing seems certain: The future Navy will include autonomous ships in some form.

These vessels (it's not even clear they'll be called “ships”) will not replace the Navy's highly capable combatants, but they will extend their fighting horizons and deepen their magazines to increase combat power.

There is an urgent need to build trust before the Navy can safely and effectively integrate this emerging technology. While the debate rages in Washington, the Navy's autonomous workhorse, Sea Hunter, is quietly approaching four years and 30,000 miles of underway experimentation and risk reduction. More than half of those miles have been sailed under autonomous self-control.

As with any new technology, lessons are learned along the way. Navy Assistant Secretary James Geurts put it best: To embrace innovation, we must “learn fast and act fast,” to “press the boundaries” and “expect failure” with appropriate judgement and measured risk.

Interestingly, many of the lessons with Sea Hunter have involved issues related to basic components like filters, switches and sensors that were not originally designed for autonomous operation. Meanwhile, the underlying autonomy has proven to be remarkably resilient and mature. The good news is that these lessons present solvable challenges. No magic is required.

Last year, the Navy sent Sea Hunter from San Diego, California, to Hawaii and back as part of a major fleet exercise. There were lessons learned along the way, but by the return transit, Sea Hunter made the entire 2,000-mile voyage untouched over nine days. This was a major success, and prompted the Navy to plan for a similar event in 2020. That exercise, unfortunately, had to be scaled back due to the impacts of COVID-19.

With $200 million and four years invested, the Navy is well down a learning curve that is building the trust necessary to underpin fleet integration of unmanned surface vessels, or USV. This head start is precious and must not be wasted. While USVs are not yet ready for complex roles in close proximity with maneuvering ships, they will soon be ready to fulfill independent missions. By taking a “crawl-walk-run” approach, the Navy can realize operational benefits in the near term while continuing to mature the technology and spiral in increasingly complex behaviors.

USV technology is maturing rapidly. Ironically, the main obstacles are not technological. Despite some in the Navy leaning forward, they're largely cultural and programmatic. “Optional manning,” for example, might provide a level of comfort for developers, but the real effect is to increase cost, consume precious space and soften the imperative for pursuing fully autonomous capability.

Consider what the Global Hawk or Triton UAVs would look like today, and how many would exist, if the services had insisted they be “optionally manned.” Minimal or optional manning makes sense if weapons are involved, for security and maintenance, but surveillance and reconnaissance USVs will need to optimize every inch and every dollar so they can be fielded in sufficient numbers as the eyes and ears of the fleet.

The late Navy captain, Wayne Hughes, wrote that victory at sea often goes to the one who can “fire effectively first.” Unmanned surface vessels can help the fleet do just that. The U.S. Navy has a precious head start, and we should press that advantage by putting near-term capability to sea, while steadily maturing and incorporating more complex behaviors in stride. There's no time to lose.

Retired U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Nevin Carr currently serves as the Navy strategic account executive and vice president at Leidos. He previously held the position of chief of naval research in the service.

https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/commentary/2020/05/15/a-fleeting-advantage-no-time-to-lose-for-us-navys-unmanned-ambitions

On the same subject

September 25, 2018 | International, Naval

With a big cash infusion, Congress is all-in on the amphibious Navy
By: David B. Larter WASHINGTON — Congress sent a message this year that it wants the Navy to build amphibious ships, and it's going to put up the money to do it. Overall the Navy's shipbuilding account got a $2.2 billion boost over the $21.9 billion it asked for, but amphibs fared especially well in the deal. The minibus spending bill that advanced out of the Senate and is headed to the House for its final vote funded $350 million for accelerated acquisition of the LPD-17 Flight II, a somewhat streamlined version of the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock. That move comes on the heels of the Navy awarding Huntington Ingalls Industries a $165.5 million contract for purchasing long-lead time materials in August. The ship, which is destined to cost $1.64 billion for the first ship and $1.4 billion for each subsequent ship, will replace the old dock-landing ships designed to launch both helicopters and amphibious vehicles onto the beach. But the spending spree on amphibs didn't stop with LPD-17 Flight II. Congress added three ship-to-shore connector craft for a total of eight in 2019, a $182.5 million plus-up over what the Navy requested. Congress also added $350 million for the advance procurement of Landing Helicopter Assault Ship 9, and added an expeditionary fast-transport ship (a fast ferry) to the budget for a total of $225 million. The congressional largess toward amphibious shipbuilding is driven both by Congress' desire to push the Navy to a 355-ship fleet as fast as possible, and by the evolving role played by amphibious ships in the Navy's strategic thinking, said Bryan Clark, a retired submarine officer and analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. Clark, who worked on one of the Navy's recent studies to choose a composition of the future fleet, said the Navy is increasingly using the amphibs and their aircraft in combat roles and keeping the carriers in more blue water environments. “They are using the amphibs more as front-line capital ships, with the carriers being more of a strategic force that you keep maybe not as close to the enemy shoreline,” he said. Anti-access, area denial This move is being driven by China and Russia, which have made the capability of long-range anti-ship strike from shore batteries a priority in order to keep the U.S. Navy's carriers at bay. But to combat this dynamic, the Navy has increasingly looked to the Marine Corps and its amphibious force as a way to throw off the calculations of adversaries, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, said Dakota Wood, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel and now analyst with The Heritage Foundation. The thinking goes that the Marine Corps can slip into the range of Chinese missiles, land a force on a feature or island, and start fighting back with missiles and sensors of their own. This will force the Chinese to expend resources to address the Marine threat, creating opportunities for the Navy to use its hefty strike capabilities. “A Marine landing force on an island or feature has to present a problem to the enemy that is credible — anti-ship cruise missiles, short-range air defense, a sensor node contributing to the air or surface picture,” Wood said. “It has to be able to thin out the enemy's fire power, sensor grid and attention span to give the Navy the chance to get inside the envelope, close and have an impact.” Jobs Congress is also worried about attracting and keeping shipyards in business and skilled workers in the shipyards to support a growing fleet. Pumping money into shipbuilding is the best way lawmakers know to do that. “The plus-up is really across the board in shipbuilding,” said Clark, the CSBA analyst. “You look at the three littoral combat ships Congress is buying, two of which the Navy didn't ask for. They are buying as many attack subs as the industrial base can deliver, and they are pushing toward allowing the Navy to procure two carriers at once to get the economic order quantity there.” But in the case of amphibs, Congress is doing something new by spending on advance procurement. Generally the Navy has purchased amphibious ships one at a time, without multiyear contracts or a lot of advanced procurement money, Clark said. Even for a 13-ship class like the LPD-17 Flight I, the ships were purchased as the money became available. Congress adding money to advance procurement is an attempt to save funds by creating a more regular rhythm for the way the service buys its destroyers, littoral combat ships and attack submarines, Clark said. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/modern-day-marine/2018/09/24/with-a-big-cash-infusion-congress-is-all-in-on-the-amphibious-navy
November 9, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - November 8, 2018
AIR FORCE Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado, has been awarded a $255,418,494 firm-fixed-price contract modification (P00008) to previously awarded contract FA8810-18-C-0002 for the Weather System Follow-on Microwave. This contract modification provides for the exercise of an option for development and fabrication of the Weather System Follow-on Microwave Space Vehicle 1. Work will be performed in Boulder, Colorado, and is expected to be completed by Jan. 15, 2023. Fiscal 2018 research, development, test and evaluation funds are being obligated at the time of award. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $349,552,413. The Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, California, is the contracting activity. Crew Training International Inc., Memphis, Tennessee, has been awarded a $241,410,854 firm-fixed-price contract for the MQ-9 Contract Aircrew Training and Courseware Development training program. Work will be performed at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada; Holloman AFB, New Mexico; March Air Reserve Base, California; Hancock Field Air National Guard Base, New York, and other locations that may be required in the future in accordance with the performance work statement. Work is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2023. This award is a result of a competitive acquisition and eight offers were received. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $1,006,536 are being obligated at time of award for the phase-in period. Acquisition Management and Integration Center, Join Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, is the contracting activity (FA4890-19-C-0003). (Awarded Nov. 7, 2018) UNKS Construction, Las Vegas, Nevada (FA4686-19-D-A001); Trinity North Star Construction JV, Plumas Lake, California (FA4686-19-D-A002); Hesperia Construction Co., Pleasanton, California (FA4686-19-D-A003); Utility Construction, Mesa, Arizona (FA4686-19-D-A004); Atwood Hay Inc., Beale Air Force Base, California (FA4686-19-D-A005); Synergy Electric Co. Inc., Santee, California (FA4686-19-D-A006); Tri-Technic Inc., Sonora, California (FA4686-19-D-A007); and Nomlaki Technologies, Yuba City, California (FA4686-19-D-A008), have been awarded a not-to-exceed $93,000,000 firm-fixed-price, multiple-award, electric-construction, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Task orders will provide the execution of a broad range of projects, including, but not limited to, construction, repair, replacement and installation of various electrical distribution components. Work will be performed at Beale AFB, California, and is expected to be completed November 8, 2023. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and 10 offers were received. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $16,000 ($2,000 for each awardee) are being obligated at the time of award. The 9th Contracting Squadron, Beale AFB, California, is the contracting activity. ARMY Colt's Manufacturing Company LLC, West Hartford, Connecticut, was awarded an $88,607,109 modification (P00008) to contract W15QKN-15-D-0102 for M4 and M4A1 carbines. Work will be performed in West Hartford, Connecticut, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 25, 2020. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $88,607,109 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, New Jersey, is the contracting activity. FN America LLC, Columbia, South Carolina, was awarded an $88,607,109 modification (P00009) to contract W15QKN-15-D-0072 for M4 and M4A1 carbines. Work will be performed in Columbia, South Carolina, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 25, 2020. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $88,607,709 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, New Jersey, is the contracting activity. Deloitte & Touche LLP, Arlington, Virginia, was awarded an $18,056,941 firm-fixed-price contract to provide a cyberspace analytics capability. Twenty-eight bids were solicited with four received. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 7, 2023. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,250,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W52P1J-19-C-0004). Parsons Government Services Inc., Pasadena, California, was awarded a $15,837,195 firm-fixed-price contract to provide Defensive Cyberspace Operations Mission Planning program. Nineteen bids were solicited with seven received. Work will be performed in Centerville, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 7, 2019. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,000,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W52P1J-19-C-0005). Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co. LLC, Oak Brook, Illinois, was awarded a $10,779,850 firm-fixed-price contract for maintenance dredging. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed in Mayport, Florida, with an estimated completion date of May 30, 2019. Fiscal 2019 other funds in the amount of $10,779,850 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity (W912EP-19-C-0002). IronMountain Solutions Inc.,* Huntsville, Alabama, was awarded a $9,000,081 Foreign Military Sales (Brazil, Egypt, Jordan, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Slovakia, Sweden, Tunisia, Thailand and United Arab Emirates) modification (000024) to contract W31P4Q-17-A-0001 for support services for non-AMRDEC technical support for the Utility Helicopter Project Office. Bids were solicited via the internet with three bids received. Work will be performed in Huntsville, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of May 14, 2019. Fiscal 2018 foreign military sales; research, development, test and evaluation; and other procurement, Army funds in the amount of $9,000,081 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Longbow LLC, Orlando, Florida, was awarded an $8,973,759 modification (P00073) to contract W31P4Q-16-C-0035 for laser and longbow HELLFIRE engineering services. Work will be performed in Orlando and Ocala, Florida, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 7, 2019. Fiscal 2018 other procurement, Army funds in the amount of $8,973,759 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY Raytheon Missile Systems Co., Tucson, Arizona, is being awarded a $74,847,815 sole-source, cost-plus-incentive-fee modification (P00049) to contract HQ0276-15-C-0003. This modification award is for the execution of the Guidance Electronics Unit (GEU) Phase III procurement under the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA contract. Congress was notified of the Phase II procurement in December 2016. Under this contract, the contractor will continue efforts for qualification, test and integration of the enhanced GEU capability to the SM-3 Block IIA missile. The modification brings the total face value of the SM-3 BLK IIA contract to $1,192,183,647 from $1,117,335,832. The work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona, with an expected Phase III completion date of Sept. 30, 2020. The performance period is from Oct. 1, 2018, through Sept. 30, 2020. Fiscal 2018 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,000,000 will be obligated at the time of award. The Missile Defense Agency, Dahlgren, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HQ0276-15-C-0003). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY General Dynamics Land Systems Inc., Sterling Heights, Michigan, has been awarded a maximum $12,243,227 firm-fixed-price contract for tank periscope head assemblies with storage containers for the M1A1 Abrams tank. This is a one-year base contract with one 180-day option period being exercised at time of award. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. Locations of performance are South Carolina and Michigan, with a Dec. 15, 2022, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2022 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Warren, Michigan (SPRDL1-18-C-0317). Knox County Association for Retarded Citizens,** Vincennes, Indiana, has been awarded a $8,999,635 modification (P0002) exercising the first option period of a one-year base contract (SPE1C1-18-D-N024) with two one-year option periods for undershirts. This is a firm-fixed-price contract. Location of performance is Indiana, with a Nov. 12, 2019, performance completion date. Using military services are Army and Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Central Power Systems & Services Inc.,* Liberty, Missouri, has been awarded a maximum $7,240,000 firm-fixed-price contract for diesel engines. This is a three-year contract with no option periods. This was an acquisition permitting other than full and open competition for manufacturer parts with two responses received, using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. Location of performance is Missouri, with a Nov. 8, 2021, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2021 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Warren, Michigan (SPRDL1-19-D-0012). NAVY DRS Laurel Technologies, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, is awarded $8,608,626 for firm-fixed-price delivery order N0002419F5601 under previously-awarded contract N00024-15-D-5201 for 18 Technical Insertion (TI) 16 Common Processing System (CPS) water-cooled core computing system production cabinets and six TI-16 CPS water-cooled advanced storage area network production cabinets. The CPS provides the computer processing and memory, data storage and extraction and input/output interfaces to support host software applications of Navy combat systems. This delivery order involves foreign military sales to the Republic of Korea. Work will be performed in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and is expected to be completed by December 2019. Foreign military sales funding in the amount of $8,608,626 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. *Small business **Mandatory source https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1686733/source/GovDelivery/
March 15, 2021 | International, Aerospace

L'équipementier Rafaut se renforce dans la Défense
L'Usine Nouvelle revient sur la croissance de Rafaut, qui a annoncé le 4 mars avoir acquis Lace, filiale de Lisi Aerospace, spécialisée dans les accroches pour hélicoptères. Une acquisition qui représente la seconde opération de croissance externe en deux mois pour Rafaut, après le rachat en janvier de Secapem, qui développe des radars et des systèmes d'entraînement au tir pour les forces armées. « Nous complétons nos métiers dans la Défense. Dans ce secteur, les contrats internationaux imposent désormais une taille critique », explique Bruno Berthet, président de Rafaut, basé à Villeneuve-la-Garenne (Hauts-de-Seine). Ces deux nouvelles activités, qui représentent environ 80 nouveaux salariés, apportent un volume d'affaires de 13 millions d'euros. L'Usine Nouvelle du 15 mars

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