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  August 5, 2019 | International, Naval

  Huntington Ingalls Industries Continues Planning for Mid-life Refueling Overhaul of USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74)

  NEWPORT NEWS, Va., Aug. 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE: HII) announced today that its Newport News Shipbuilding division has received a $290 million contract modification from the U.S. Navy to continue planning for the refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) of the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74). The contract funds the second and third years of planning, long-lead-time material procurement, shop fabrication, shipboard inspections, and facilities readiness for the RCOH. As part of the planning contract, Newport News also will perform some shipboard work, which will take place in Norfolk. The initial year of planning was funded at a base value of $187.5 million. “The second and third year of planning is important to the overall success of a project of the magnitude of an RCOH,” said Chris Miner, Newport News' vice president of in-service aircraft carriers. “This contract allows us to continue our critical planning for each step of the process so we're ready to begin execution when the ship arrives in the first quarter of 2021.” Stennis will be the seventh Nimitz-class carrier to undergo a major life-cycle overhaul at Newport News, representing 35 percent of all maintenance and modernization completed during its service life. An RCOH is an extremely complex engineering and construction project that involves more than 680 suppliers from 40 states providing material and services critical to the overhaul process. Once completed, a recapitalized carrier is capable of supporting current and future warfare doctrine and continuing to operate as the centerpiece of the Navy's fleet and national defense for another 25 years. About Huntington Ingalls Industries Huntington Ingalls Industries is America's largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of professional services to partners in government and industry. For more than a century, HII's Newport News and Ingalls shipbuilding divisions in Virginia and Mississippi have built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. HII's Technical Solutions division provides a wide range of professional services through its Fleet Support, Mission Driven Innovative Solutions, Nuclear & Environmental, and Oil & Gas groups. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII employs more than 41,000 people operating both domestically and internationally. For more information, visit: HII on the web: www.huntingtoningalls.com HII on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HuntingtonIngallsIndustries HII on Twitter: twitter.com/hiindustries CONTACT INFORMATION Duane Bourne Manager of Media Relations (757) 380-3581 Duane.A.Bourne@hii-co.com https://newsroom.huntingtoningalls.com/releases/photo-release-huntington-ingalls-industries-continues-planning-for-mid-life-refueling-overhaul-of-uss-john-c-stennis-cvn-74

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  December 4, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  Dispute Not Stalling F-35 Testing System, Lockheed Martin Says

  By Bill Carey ORLANDO, Florida—A legal dispute between Lockheed Martin and the U.S. government that held up development of a key F-35 testing system is not further delaying the effort, says the manufacturer, which is awaiting a verdict by the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA). Lockheed Martin has delivered its products to the Naval Air Systems Command (Navair) to build the Joint Simulation Environment (JSE), including an “F-35 In a Box” software module that replicates the fighter's mission systems for testing purposes. The software module contains nine algorithms that the manufacturer claims as intellectual property (IP), which the government disputes. The Pentagon is relying on activation of the JSE, a high-fidelity modeling and simulation environment, to complete mission testing required for the F-35's initial operational test and evaluation phase and a full-rate production decision. But the dispute over intellectual property rights has delayed the JSE by 2 1/2 years, according to acquisition executives. The JSE was supposed to begin operating in late 2017 but now is scheduled to achieve the first-use milestone in July 2020, Robert Behler, Pentagon director of Operational Test and Evaluation, told lawmakers during a House Armed Services subcommittee hearing last month. During a briefing Dec. 3 at the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference, Chauncey McIntosh, Lockheed Martin vice president for F-35 training and logistics, said the IP dispute is not holding back Navair's development of the JSE. “Lockheed Martin has delivered all of its products to the Navair team,” including the F-35 In a Box module, McIntosh said. “The JSE team is currently integrating that product along with the other products that they're fielding. There is no dispute that is preventing development of the Joint Simulation Environment for Navair.” When a Defense Contracts Audit Agency review found no proof of Lockheed Martin's IP claim, the manufacturer appealed to the ASBCA. It continues to await a decision. “We are supporting that appeal and [will] progress from there based on what happens with the appeal,” McIntosh said. Also testifying before the House Armed Services subcommittee on Nov. 13, Air Force Lt. Gen. Eric Fick, F-35 program executive officer, said the program moved forward with the JSE despite the legal dispute. “That slowed our progress in getting started and slowed our early progress once we had begun,” Fick told lawmakers. “In order to get on contract, in order to start moving forward, we had to sign up to accept less than government purpose rights, but reserved the right to challenge that intellectual property assertion.” While Navair is developing the JSE at its headquarters at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Maryland, the U.S. Air Force announced in January that it was building complementary JSE facilities at Edwards AFB, California, and Nellis AFB, Nevada. Plans call for breaking ground on both facilities next May. https://aviationweek.com/defense/dispute-not-stalling-f-35-testing-system-lockheed-martin-says

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  June 11, 2018 | International, Aerospace

  Air Force's New Battle Management System Will Be Based at Robins

  By Oriana Pawlyk Robins Air Force Base has been selected to host an elite system that will fuse intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance sensor data from around the world, the Air Force announced Wednesday. The Georgia base, which currently hosts the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System aircraft, or JSTARS, will be home to the next-generation Advanced Battle Management System, the service said in a release. "We must adapt our capability to survive in the changed threat environment and move swiftly to advanced battlefield management and surveillance," said Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson. "The critical capabilities at Robins allow us to leverage key expertise and accelerate toward the network needed for contested environments." The ABMS is intended to replace the current JSTARS fleet, which will keep flying until the mid-to-late 2020s. The network, which fuses the data from hundreds of sensors to provide situational awareness for combatant commanders across the globe, will function "as [a] decentralized system that draws on all domains," said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein. "This is an important step as we move forward with a resilient and survivable network to ensure we are ready to prevail against changing threats," Goldfein said in the release. The network will leverage air and space systems and will include "a fusion center and associated supporting activities," the service said. "In addition, the network will also include some remotely piloted aircraft at Robins with sensors capable of collecting and transmitting information from the battlefield." Officials have said RPAs such as MQ-9 Reaper aircraft would be used to plug into such a network for additional situational awareness. Sens. Johnny Isakson and David Perdue, both Republicans from Georgia, were optimistic but cautious about the announcement Wednesday. They have previously voiced concerns over the Air Force's plan to cancel the JSTARS recapitalization program in favor of the ABMS. "We welcome any and all new missions that the Air Force is willing to bring to Robins, and I will continue to work with the Air Force as the implementation of this plan proceeds," Isakson said in a joint statement with Perdue. "In the meantime, I urge Secretary Wilson to work with us to ensure that there will be no capabilities gap that could put our warfighters at risk during the transition to this new system." Perdue added, "This additional new mission at Robins will be critical to fulfilling President Trump's National Defense Strategy and provides for the new Advanced Battle Management System." Both senators in August said they were "alarmed" to find out earlier that month that the Air Force might pursue "alternative intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms" instead of procuring a JSTARS replacement. The service in 2016 launched a $6.9 billion request for proposal for the engineering, manufacturing and development phase of the upgraded aircraft. It had planned to buy 17 new aircraft. In February, during the Air Force's fiscal 2019 budget rollout briefing, service officials said they were scrapping the initiative. The current JSTARS fleet is capable of developing, detecting, locating and tracking moving targets on the ground. The Air Force on Wednesday said there is no intent to reduce manpower at Robins as it transitions to ABMS. Lawmakers want to ensure there is no capability gap for troops on the ground as the service moves from the E-8C to the ABMS system. In April, the House Armed Services tactical air and land forces subcommittee in its markup to the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act said it will cap funding for the ABMS program until the Air Force restores the JSTARS recapitalization contract. The HASC passed its version of the fiscal 2019 bill on May 10. But members of the Senate Armed Services Committee have hinted they are open to the Air Force's effort to invest in a more survivable system than the JSTARS, which could be shot down. "There's a recognition in the Senate bill that we don't want to retire aircraft too quickly before a replacement capability arises such that we end up with a gap," an SASC staffer told Defense News on May 30. But "we do not direct them to proceed with the recap out of concerns with survivability, which we share with the department." The Senate is poised to vote on the bill in coming weeks. https://www.military.com/dodbuzz/2018/06/07/air-forces-new-battle-management-system-will-be-based-robins.html