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September 12, 2023 | International, Aerospace

Boeing to deliver first T-7 to US Air Force, outlines testing plans

The first two T-7s will head to Edwards Air Force Base in California this fall, and a third will undergo testing on extreme weather conditions elsewhere.

https://www.defensenews.com/air/2023/09/12/boeing-to-deliver-first-t-7-to-us-air-force-outlines-testing-plans/

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  • Integrated Hypersonic Plan Forms Amid Overlap Concerns

    August 1, 2019 | International, Aerospace

    Integrated Hypersonic Plan Forms Amid Overlap Concerns

    WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana—The U.S. Defense Department says data from an upcoming four-year test campaign covering 40 flights and three basic vehicle concepts will lay the foundation for a comprehensive hypersonic weapon road map that should allay growing congressional concerns over potential overlaps in costly weapons development capability. To a quarter of the tests, representing as many as 10 flights, will be focused on air-breathing scramjet-powered vehicles, says Mike White, assistant director for hypersonics at the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. Speaking to Aerospace DAILY on the sidelines of the inaugural National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) hypersonics capability conference at Purdue University here, White says test results from both boosted glide vehicle flights and powered missiles will form the basis for the integrated development plan. The overarching road map also will include the integration of a counter hypersonic development strategy, the preliminary steps toward which have been proposed by both the recently formed Space Development Agency (SDA) and the Missile Defense Agency. The SDA is studying a space-based distributed satellite architecture, while the latter has proposed a Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking and Surveillance System (HBTSS). “Offensive and defensive coordination is my job,” White says. The bulk of the prototype tests will be conducted using the common hypersonic glide body (C-HGB). Developed by Sandia National Laboratories, the bi-conic re-entry vehicle has been adopted as the basis for near-term boosted glide weapons by the U.S. Air Force, Army and Navy, with only minor differences in each version planned to reflect the varying operational characteristics of each role. The Army, which plans to ground launch the Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) from transporter erector vehicles, is meanwhile making the first moves toward industrializing production of what up to now has been small batch manufacturing runs of experimental vehicles. The service has issued a solicitation for transition of the design and production capability of the initial prototype LRHW C-HGB variant out of Sandia into industry. A contract award is expected to be issued this month. Other versions of the C-HGB are in development for the Navy's vertically launched Intermediate Range Conventional Strike Weapon (IR-CPS), and the Air Force's Hypersonic Conventional Strike Weapon (HCSW). Underwater launch tests of the IR-CPS, which follows the successful Flight Experiment-1 test in October 2017, from the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii, are due to run through 2024. The Air Force is scheduled to complete critical design review of the HCSW in 2020 prior to launch tests from a B-52. At least five other flight-test campaigns make up the remainder of the hectic four-year plan, three of which will be focused on the DARPA-led Tactical Boost Glide (TBG) vehicle and two proposed follow-on air-launched rapid response weapon (ARRW) vehicles in competitive development by Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. The balance are two air breathing vehicles, also in development by Lockheed/Aerojet Rocketdyne and Raytheon/Northrop Grumman, which will be evaluated under the Air Force's Hypersonic Air-Breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) program. Despite the ongoing efforts to refine the hypersonic road map, the proliferation of prototype vehicle programs continues to cause concern in Congress. Warning that not all programs will receive the funding requested in the fiscal 2020 budget, Peter Visclosky, chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, says some reductions are planned. Commenting at the NDIA event, he says, “Justifications in the budget for this effort receive the same scrutiny as every other program in the department and unfortunately certain aspects of that 2020 budget request were lacking.” Without identifying particular initiatives, Visclosky adds, “There were cuts to those specific programs where the justifications did not lead to a review. Each of the services impacted have been made aware of the issues that the committee has raised and the need to better define the strategy for the investment in these systems.” Visclosky also cautions that hypersonics, which is provisionally funded with a budget of $2.3 billion for fiscal 2020 and $10.5 billion over the period to 2024, also faces broader threats at a time of increased spending on other high-profile defense programs. “I am concerned about affordability in the future because this is a competitive process,” he said. “We have a nuclear modernization process that is underway and there is going to be a bulge in the federal budget. There is a new submarine and there is going to be a bulge in the budget. It is the same for the new [B-21] bomber under development and, while the Army doesn't have that ‘one' new program, collectively for the modernization program there is going to be one. “We need to make sure there is a concerted effort for commonality and collaboration to a common technical standard and system architecture. I think this will drive better affordability into the sustainment of the system,” he adds. https://aviationweek.com/defense/integrated-hypersonic-plan-forms-amid-overlap-concerns

  • The US Navy’s Riverines are up-gunned, high tech and ready to lean into great power competition

    July 9, 2019 | International, Naval

    The US Navy’s Riverines are up-gunned, high tech and ready to lean into great power competition

    By: David B. Larter JOINT EXPEDITIONARY BASE LITTLE CREEK, Va. — The Mark VI patrol boat bristles with heavy automatic weapons, and that's the way its crews like it. “I tell the crews that you want to look like a porcupine,” said U.S. Navy Senior Chief Derrick Cox, who trains the sailors that man the Mark VI as part of Coastal Riverine Squadron 2's training evaluation unit. “You don't want to kick a porcupine because you know there will be consequences.” The Mark VI is a replacement for the Riverine Command Boat, which gained notoriety three years ago when two of them, along with their crews, were captured by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard when they strayed into Iranian waters near Farsi Island in the Arabian Gulf. “This has double, maybe even triple the firepower of the RCB,” Cox said. The RCBs had four mounts that could support a number of heavy weapons to defend the boat. The Mark VI is in another league all together. The boat shown to Defense News this month packed two stabilized, remote-operated, optically guided MK 50, .50-caliber Gun Weapon Systems; two MK 38 Mod 2 (25mm) Gun Weapon Systems (also remotely operated with an advanced optics system); and two crew-served .50-caliber machine guns. “We've demonstrated that we can sustain a firefight for 45 minutes in the Mark VI,” Cox said. The Mark VI was just coming online in January 2016 when the incident at Farsi Island went down — the last of the 12 were delivered by the end of 2018. And though ultimately none of the 10 captured sailors were hurt — they were released along with their RCBs after the personal intervention of then-Secretary of State John Kerry — the incident was deeply embarrassing for the Navy and infuriating for senior leadership. It prompted the service to refocus the Riverines' mission and change the mindset. Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, the parent command of the Riverines, dispensed training for offensive operations and refocused the Coastal Riverine Force toward port and infrastructure security, high-value unit escort missions, and other such anti-terrorism, force protection missions. It also forced the Riverine crews to get serious about their jobs, Cox said. “Our missions were in more permissive environments, and a lot of our training was tailored toward that,” he said. “Now we are geared toward non-permissive environments.” The head of NECC, Rear Adm. Brian Brakke, is taking that new focus and his new Mark VI platform and turning toward the challenge at hand: great power competition. “Where I would like to go is where do we have the opportunity inside the littorals to be able to conduct missions for the Navy that may free up capital assets to go do other missions,” Brakke said. The new Mark VI has a communications suite that well exceeds that of the RCB. The new boat can connect with the fleet via Link 16; it also has high- and ultrahigh-frequency and satellite comms so shore side controllers won't lose track of the boat, as happened during the Farsi Island incident. The 85-foot boat has a top speed of more than 40 knots and a range of up to 500 miles. It has a 10-person crew and can accommodate up to 20 personnel — the RCB maxed out at 15 personnel. Among the possibilities Brakke is looking at: using the Mark VI as a mothership for swarm attacks in conjunction with new 40-foot patrol boats being introduced to the force; operating unmanned aircraft for over-the-horizon surveillance; operating autonomous wave runners for various missions. The boat already comes with a ramp and rails to launch sleds for autonomous vehicles, which means the boats can be employed for mine countermeasures operations in the littorals. The launch capability is an area that needs improvement but is full of potential, Brakke said. “From a force-development and innovation perspective, that's where we are taking a look at how to grow this force and what it can do for us,” Brakke said. “We understood when they developed the craft that if it's going to have that interaction with the fleet, we have to be able to communicate. So having SATCOMs, Link 16, being able to come up on blue-force tracker so that we know where they are, and they know where we are, that was a big piece of this.” Fixing what's broken The 2016 incident with Iran also forced significant organizational changes into the Coastal Riverine Forces. Since the Farsi Island debacle, NECC has worked to close the gaps that contributed to the incident. Up and down the chain of command, the Navy has boosted and improved training and communication, said Cmdr. Mike Ray, the head of Coastal Riverine Group 1, during a June 26 interview. Watch standers in the operations centers that lost track of the RCBs as they got lost and bumbled their way into Iranian waters receive more training and are more fully appraised on the individual boat crews — their strengths and weaknesses, and what exactly they've been trained to do. The turnover process in theater has also been greatly improved and is overseen by both the operational command in theater and by the administrative command, which is responsible for providing a manned, trained and equipped force to the operators. “One of the specific deficiencies that was brought up in the Farsi investigation was that the [turnover] process allowed the incoming squadron and those forces to be ill-prepared to understand some of the theater-specific requirements or changes since the last time they deployed," Ray said. "So every time a squadron turns over now, you've got representatives of my staff or my counterpart in Little Creek from Group 2 who go over there to essentially shepherd that process hand in hand with the [operational control] task force commander to ensure that once the handover is complete, that new squadron ... is fully prepared to execute in that theater.” The improved turnover process gets after what was one of the more controversial questions in the aftermath of the Farsi Island incident: Was that unit ill-prepared when it entered theater, or did it degrade while it was in theater? Vice Adm. Kevin Donegan, then commander of 5th Fleet, determined that the Riverine crews were insufficiently trained prior to departing for deployment. But others argued that Commander Task Force 56 tasked the Riverine crews with a mission for which they weren't properly trained — a long, open-ocean transit from Kuwait to Bahrain — and that the sailors had been in theater for months by the time disaster struck, well removed from their training. The improved turnover then, ideally, cuts out the finger-pointing and ensures that both the relevant task force knows the unit it's getting and are fully briefed on the training and capabilities. Communication between the task force and the trainers back in the states during the deployment has also increased, Ray said. Even though the Riverines are turned over to the operational chain of command in theater, his group is still available to offer expertise and guidance on employment of their units on a mission-by-mission basis. “We backstop them by providing Coastal Riverine Force-specific expertise in those planning briefs. Although they are [in operational control], they reach back to us a lot to provide oversight and review of those to ensure nothing is missed,” Ray said. ‘Ready to fight' One of the more troubling aspects of the Farsi Island incident for the U.S. Navy was the behavior of the crew members, both in allowing themselves to be captured and in the leader of the voyage apologizing to Iran on camera. Leaders in the Riverine force seem to chalk that behavior up to complacency and a lack of the proper mindset in a contested environment. “We spend a significant amount of time talking about a combat mindset — understanding that contact with the enemy is a plausible scenario that they need to be ready for mentally, physically and tactically," Ray said. “I just had the privilege of sending some sailors off to Bahrain to go do security, and it suffices to say that the 5th Fleet theater is contested," he added. "And I'll tell you that every one of those sailors understood that they were headed into an environment where they potentially could be called up to employ those weapons skills, mental toughness, in a contested environment. “So, not to say that there was any goodness that came out of the Farsi Island incident, but it served to reinforce the reality to our sailors that any given sailor, on any given day, perhaps is going to be called upon to demonstrate that toughness, to demonstrate that seriousness of purpose and demonstrate that tactical training: It was a good reminder for all of our sailors of the environment in which they serve.” Brakke, the NECC commander, put it even more directly. “And a lot of times when we talk to the units and the squadrons before they deploy we tell them that you have to be ready to expect that not all of you might come home,” he said. “And that focuses them that this isn't just something where we're going over to just ride around: We're ready to fight and win our nation's wars if we have to. “That's the culture that we've tried to put into place.” https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2019/07/08/the-us-navys-riverines-are-up-gunned-high-tech-and-ready-to-lean-into-great-power-competition/

  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - May 13, 2019

    May 14, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - May 13, 2019

    NAVY C.E.R. Inc.,* Baltimore, Maryland (N40080-19-D-0011); Repaintex Co.,* Leesburg, Virginia (N40080-19-D-0012); Veterans Construction Coalition LLC,* Norfolk, Virginia (N40080-19-D-0013); Belt Built-CFM JV,* Crofton, Maryland (N40080-19-D-0014); G-W Management Services LLC,* Rockville, Maryland (N40080-19-D-0015); EGI-HSU JV LLC,* Gaithersburg, Maryland (N40080-19-D-0016); Desbuild Inc.,* Hyattsville, Maryland (N40080-19-D-0017); Tuckman-Barbee Construction Co. Inc.,* Upper Marlboro, Maryland (N40080-19-D-0018); Tidewater Inc.,* Elkridge, Maryland (N40080-19-D-0019); and Donley Construction LLC,* Aberdeen, Maryland (N40080-19-D-0020), are awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple award construction contract for construction projects located primarily within the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Washington area of operations (AO). The maximum dollar value including the base period and one option year for all 10 contracts combined is $240,000,000. C.E.R. Inc. is being awarded the initial task order at $4,338,999 for the renovation of Rooms A143A through 162, Building 209 at Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, District of Columbia. Work for this task order is expected to be completed by December 2020. All work on this contract will be performed primarily within the NAVFAC Washington AO to include Washington, District of Columbia (40 percent); Virginia (40 percent); and Maryland (20 percent). The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months, with an expected completion date of May 2024. Fiscal 2019 supervision, inspection, and overhead; and fiscal 2019 Navy working capital funds (NWCF) in the amount of $4,338,999 are obligated on this award, of which $10,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by military construction (Navy); operations and maintenance (Navy and Marine Corps); and NWCF. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with 50 proposals received. These 10 contractors may compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the awarded contract. NAVFAC Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is awarded $139,808,430 for modification P00009 to a previously awarded, fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00019-16-D-1002). This modification increases the ceiling of the contract to procure up to 12,000 additional Precision Laser Guidance Sets for the Laser Joint Direct Attack Munition. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (68.23 percent); Cincinnati, Ohio (10.1 percent); St. Louis, Missouri (9.38 percent); Odessa, Missouri (4.37 percent); Simpsonville, South Carolina (4.03 percent); Minneapolis, Minnesota (1.68 percent); and various locations within the continental U.S. (2.21 percent), and is expected to be completed in April 2020. No funds are being obligated at time of award; funds will be obligated on individual delivery orders as they are issued. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Applied Research Laboratory, University of Hawaii, Menoa, Hawaii, is awarded a maximum value $77,209,225 five-year, sole source, cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, task order contract for research, development, engineering, and test and evaluation for programs throughout the Department of Defense. Running concurrently with the maximum ceiling announcement is an initial delivery order of $777,710. Work will be performed in Manoa, Hawaii, and is expected to be complete by May 2024. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funding in the amount of a $777,710 will be obligated at initial delivery order and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract is awarded pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c) (3), as implemented in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-3; industrial mobilization; engineering, developmental, or research capability; or expert services. Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N00024-19-D-6400). BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair, San Diego, California, is awarded a $32,324,635 firm-fixed-price contract for the execution of the medium auxiliary repair floating drydock (non-self-propelled) ARCO (ARDM 5) fiscal 2019 docking service craft overhaul availability. This availability will include a combination of maintenance, modernization and repair of the ARCO. This is a seven-month availability and was competed on a coast-wide (West Coast) basis without limiting the place of performance to the vessel's homeport. BAE will provide the facilities and human resources capable of completing, coordinating and integrating multiple areas of maintenance, repair and modernization. Work will be performed in San Diego, California, and is expected to be completed by March 2020. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $32,324,635 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured using full and open competition via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with two offers received in response to solicitation N5523618R0011. The Southwest Regional Maintenance Center, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N55236-19-C-0007). R. Stresau Laboratory Inc., Spooner, Wisconsin, is awarded a $19,982,892 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a five-year ordering period for MK18 MOD0 electric blasting caps and MK20 MOD2 electric squibs in support of the Navy, Army, Air Force, and Special Operations Command. The MK18 MOD0 electric blasting cap is initiated by an electric source such as a blasting machine or battery and is used in multiple explosives. The MK20 MOD2 electric squib is a stand-alone device used to ignite smokeless powder and pyrotechnic compositions used in electric demolition operations. Work will be performed in Spooner, Wisconsin, and is expected to be completed by April 2024. Fiscal 2018 and Fiscal 2019 procurement of ammunition (Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marine Corps) funding in the amount of $3,048,863 will be obligated at the time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with one offer received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, Crane, Indiana is the contracting activity (N00164-19-D-JR66). AIR FORCE UES Inc., Dayton, Ohio (FA8650-19-D-2904); and University of Dayton Research Institute, Dayton, Ohio (FA8650-19-D-2905), have been awarded a not-to-exceed $99,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for scientific research. This contract provides for scientific exploration for the discovery and/or advancement of power, energy, thermal, integration and control (PETIC) technologies in order to develop enabling materials, processes, devices, modeling and simulation for advanced high performance military weapon systems and emerging applications. Work will be performed at the Air Force Research Laboratory Wright Research Site, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and is expected to be complete by Aug. 21, 2024. This contract is the result of a competitive acquisition and two offers were received. Fiscal 2019 research and development funds in the amount of $4,341,500 are being obligated on task orders at the time of award. Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Raytheon Co., McKinney, Texas, has been awarded a maximum $36,739,122 firm-fixed-price delivery order (SPRPA1-19-F-CB04) against a five-year basic ordering agreement (SPRPA1-19-G-CB01) with no option periods for aircraft spare parts. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.301-1. Location of performance is Texas, with a Sept. 30, 2022, performance completion date. Using customer is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2022 Navy aircraft procurement funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Serco Inc., Reston, Virginia, has been awarded a maximum $21,113,749 modification (P00011) exercising the second one-year option period of a one-year base contract (SP3300-17-C-5003) with four one-year option periods for chemical management services. This is a firm-fixed-price contract with cost-reimbursement and cost-plus-fixed-fee line items. Locations of performance are Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, and California with a May 15, 2020, performance completion date. Using customer is Defense Logistics Agency Aviation. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is Defense Logistics Agency Distribution, New Cumberland, Pennsylvania. United Technologies Corp., doing business as Pratt & Whitney Military Engines Division, East Hartford, Connecticut, has been awarded a maximum $9,048,256 firm-fixed price contract for TF-33 aircraft engine first stage turbine blades. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.301-1. This is a two-year, six-month contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Connecticut, with an Oct. 29, 2021, performance completion date. Using military service is Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (SPRTA1-19-F-0249). Safety Kleen Systems Inc., Richardson, Texas, has been awarded a maximum $8,334,836 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity contract for engine lubricating oil. This was a competitive acquisition with one offer received. This is a one-year base contract with four one-year option periods. Locations of performance are Louisiana and California, with a May 12, 2020, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Richmond, Virginia (SPE4A6-19-D-0023). DEFENSE INFORMATION SYSTEMS AGENCY DRS Network & Imaging Systems LLC, Melbourne, Florida, was awarded a sole-source, firm-fixed-price delivery order (HC1084-19-F-0145) with a face value and approximate total contract value of $28,600,000, under contract NNG15SC08B on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement contract vehicle for additional Army installation kits and spares in support of the Army Program Executive Office Command, Control, and Communications-Tactical Project Manager, Mission Command. This action is funded by fiscal 2019 procurement funds. Performance is throughout the continental U.S. The contract period of performance is 12 months. The DISA/Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity. ARMY Stanton Engineering Services LLC,* Columbia, Missouri, was awarded a $9,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for architect and engineering fire protection support services. Bids were solicited via the internet with four received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of May 13, 2024. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville, Kentucky, is the contracting activity (W912QR-19-D-0026). *Small business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1846374/source/GovDelivery/

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