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Army wants early industry input on JADC2 battlefield concept
When it comes to the Army's contribution to a new joint architecture for battlefield command and control, the service said it will collaborate with industry in the very early stages.
James McPherson, undersecretary of the Army, said during an AFCEA-hosted webcast July 14 that the service will ask industry for its input into potential solutions for Joint All-Domain Command and Control prior to writing and publishing official requirements.
JADC2 is a new concept that seeks to connect sensors across the joint force to shooters making systems interoperable to share data, which officials believe will provide overmatch against sophisticated adversaries in a contested fight. The Joint Staff has created a cross-functional team to guide the military's efforts.
“We're looking to really partner with industry in a different way rather than just passing a document over the transom saying: ‘Here's a requirement. Industry, can you meet this?' We want to take the transom down and have a conversation with industry and say: ‘Here are some of the characteristics we're thinking about — what are your thoughts?' ” McPherson said.
“ ‘Here's the characteristics that we're looking for with regard to JADC2. Industry, how can you meet some of those characteristics? What other great ideas do you have, industry, to meet those characteristics? How do we turn those into requirements?' Then we turn that into a procurement document,” he added.
McPherson said earlier that morning that the top echelons of Army leadership met to hammer out some of those characteristics. He also said the Army is brainstorming how to include coalition partners in this new architecture.
“One of the pieces that the chief brought up is, you know, we're going to have to add a letter in front of JADC2, and that's combined. We need to start doing that,” McPherson said. “We need to start sharing, especially with our Five Eye[s] allies, but others as well ... what our concept of this battlefield of 2040 is going to look like and how we can partner with them in going forward with our data management and all things data in that future battlefield.”
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Northrop Grumman Expands Plant 42 as B-21 Continues Development
By BRIAN EVERSTINE PALMDALE, Calif.—Northrop Grumman is expanding its side of the secretive Plant 42 facility here and hiring thousands of employees while development of the new B-21 bomber remains largely under wraps. An older tan hangar-turned-production facility sits next to recently built white and blue buildings. Another large hangar is still under construction, and trailers serving as offices are lined up on-site. Heavy equipment dug through the dirt as speakers praised the evolution of the legacy B-2, which is helping lay the foundation for its next-generation successor, at a recent birthday ceremony at Northrop's facilities. The company won't specifically say whether the growth is driven by the B-21 Raider, only that the new construction is for “programs.” But it has funneled “multiple hundreds of millions” of dollars to improve Plant 42, according to Janis Pamiljans, the president of Northrop's aerospace sector. The company has also grown from about 25,000 to 28,000 employees in California alone since 2015 and continues to hire. “We've been on a tremendous hiring spree ... and you can see the kind of structures being built,” Pamiljans said. Northrop moved some of its other systems, such as the RQ-4 Global Hawk and the MQ-4 Triton, to new locations so it can better serve production of those aircraft. The shifts also free up space for other endeavors. Reporters were not allowed near the new facilities during an escorted visit throughout the Southern California site earlier this week. No other companies that are involved in B-21 development were visible on the premises. The promise of a new design remained even as Northrop and the Air Force celebrated the B-2 turning 30 years old at an Aug. 20 event. The “Spirit of Missouri” was parked in front of a hangar that is now partially used to produce F-35 jet fuselage and is partially dedicated to “other programs,” Pamiljans said. The B-21 is eventually expected to replace the stealthy B-2 over the coming decades. Northrop plans to use the Spirit program's focus on supportability, sustainability, and mission-capable rate as the blueprint for maintaining the B-21 as well. Northrop officials say they are taking lessons learned in the development and sustainment of low-observable technology, a key to the B-2's stealth, and applying them to these “other programs,” Pamiljans said. “The B-2 is setting the path, course for the B-21,” Pamiljans said. “What we've learned on B-2, we're finding baselined into the design of the B-21.” Eighth Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. James Dawkins told reporters in Palmdale that aspects of B-2 sustainment like computers, maintenance, and materials can naturally be leveraged for the B-21. He said the platform's cost and schedule performance are “right on expectations.” “From that standpoint, it's been very successful so far,” he said. “We're really happy about the way Northrop has approached this.” The Air Force remains mum about the state of B-21 production, other than to occasionally say it is going well. Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Stephen Wilson said last month the service is planning first flight of the B-21 in December 2021. The service is so far sticking with its plan to buy at least 100 of the bombers to go with 75 B-52s that will remain in service. The Air Force and Northrop continue to crunch overall production numbers, and haven't settled on an exact strategy for phasing out the B-2 as the B-21 comes online. There will be a transition period when both the B-2 and B-21 will be part of the strategic bomber fleet, Dawkins said. “I'm optimistic they will take lessons learned” from the B-2 for “any type of program” the company is developing, he added. http://www.airforcemag.com/Features/Pages/2019/August%202019/Northrop-Grumman-Expands-Plant-42-as-B-21-Continues-Development.aspx