Can the National Guard help solve states' cyber problems?

On the same subject

• 

  July 2, 2019 | International, Naval

  US Navy eyes new launchers on destroyers for hypersonic weapons

  By: David B. Larter WASHINGTON — With bigger, faster missiles in development and bound for the fleet, the U.S. Navy's engineers are considering installing upgraded launchers on the stalwart Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. The head of Naval Sea Systems Command, Vice Adm. Thomas Moore, told an audience at a conference of naval engineers that the Arleigh Burkes — due to their vertical launch system and Aegis missile capabilities — were easier to keep relevant than other destroyers such as the Adams and Spruance classes. Still, with the service attempting to keep the ships longer, new launchers may be in order to pace the threat from Russia and China, which have been developing their own hypersonic weapons. “Vertical launch system has been a real game changer for us. We can shoot any number of things out of those launchers,” Moore said. “We'll probably change those out and upgrade them for prompt strike weapons down the road.” Putting hypersonic weapons on surface ships would greatly increase the effectiveness of their strike capabilities. The current main strike weapon, the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile, is a subsonic missile that is vulnerable to evermore advanced Russian and Chinese air defenses. Prompt strike, which refers to a Pentagon-wide effort to field hypersonic weapons to quickly strike anywhere in the world, are most likely coming first to submarines, said Thomas Callender, a retired submarine officer and analyst with the Heritage Foundation. Because subs are stealthy and can sneak in close to land undetected more easily than a surface ship, they make the most sense. “They're looking at putting hypersonics on submarines first because where you can get access,” Callender said. “You can potentially then put them on surface ships as an added capability for them, but the submarines would be the priority for access and the ranges you can achieve.” The Navy is designing a new large surface combatant to replace the cruisers and ultimately the destroyers with larger missiles in mind. As a result, the ship may be fairly large, former Surface Warfare Director Rear Adm. Ron Boxall told Defense News last year. The benefit of larger vertical launch cells is that you can pack more missiles into each cell, if you are not using the cell for the larger hypersonic missiles, Boxall said. “We are going to need, we expect, space for longer-range missiles,” he said. They are going to be bigger. So the idea that you could make a bigger cell, even if you don't use it for one big missile, you could use it for multiple missiles — quad-pack, eight-pack, whatever.” The missiles that would go into a larger launcher are still very much under development. The Navy is teamed with the Army to develop a booster for a hypersonic missile, and the Army is leading a team with the Navy and Air Force to internally build a common glide body that is producible on a larger scale. Radar upgrades Naval Sea Systems Command is also examining installation of a scaled-down version of the air and missile defense radar AN/SPY-6, under development for the Flight III DDG. The scope of that project, however, remains to be determined. “We are looking at a scaled-back version of the air and missile defense radar to back-fit the Flight Is and Flight IIs, similar to how we are looking for a version of the [Enterprise Air Search Radar] developed for [the Ford-class aircraft carriers] to back-fit on some of the old Nimitz class,” Moore said. “I'm not sure how many ships it is going to go on, we're still doing the design work. It's a fairly significant change to the structure of the ship, AMDR versus Spy.” The purpose of the upgrade would be used to track the faster, more dynamic missiles under development by Russia and China. The array is a smaller version of the SPY-6 intended for the Flight III DDG, the first of which is now under construction at Huntington Ingalls Industries. The SPY-6 destined for DDG-125 will have 37 radar modular assemblies, or RMA, which are 2-foot-by-2-foot-by-2-foot boxes that use gallium nitride technology to direct radar energy on air targets. The Flight IIA version will have 24 RMAs in the array. A version of the radar planned for the FFG(X) future frigate is a nine-RMA configuration. The Navy wants to upgrade all of its DDGs to Aegis Baseline 9 or higher with a ballistic missile defense capability and extend the service lives to 45 years as part of an effort to grow the fleet. But the Navy is going to try to get 50 years out of its Flight IIA ships. The IIAs make up the bulk of the DDG fleet, with 46 total planned for the service — DDG-79 through DDG-124. DDG-127 will also be a Flight IIA. That upgraded SPY-6 will be far easier to maintain than the current SPY-1D. Raytheon claims the radar can be maintained by simply removing an RMA and switching it out with a new one, with the rest of the work performed offsite. https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2019/06/30/navy-eyes-new-launchers-on-stalwart-destroyers-for-putting-hypersonics-afloat/

• 

  June 10, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  US Air Force delays full-rate production decision for KC-46 aircraft

  By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force will delay a full-rate production milestone for the KC-46 aerial refueling tanker to the end of fiscal 2024 to correspond with a fix for one of the aircraft's key systems, the service announced late Monday. The Pentagon's independent weapons tester — Director of Operational Test and Evaluation Robert Behler — intends to conclude operational testing of the KC-46 only after prime contractor Boeing fixes the tanker's critical deficiencies and has finalized its production configuration. “Accordingly, the Air Force will defer the KC-46 full rate production decision until after the completion of [initial operational test and evaluation], and the receipt of the statutorily-required Beyond Low Rate Initial Production report from [Behler],” the Air Force said in a statement. The KC-46 program has several remaining category 1 deficiencies, the term used by the Pentagon to describe the most serious form of technical problems. Two of the deficiencies involve the aircraft's remote vision system, which is a series of cameras and sensors used by the boom operator to see outside the KC-46 and refuel other aircraft. The Air Force has contended that the RVS does not properly function in all weather and lighting conditions; the service has refused to deploy the KC-46 until the problem is fixed. Boeing in April agreed to completely redesign the system on its own dime, which will take until at least 2023. One other issue involves the KC-46 boom, which was developed to meet NATO-specific requirements but cannot refuel the A-10 aircraft. The Air Force is paying to redesign the boom actuator, as the service signed off on the original design and did not realize until afterward that it did not meet the specifications needed to refuel the A-10. In March, the Air Force announced an additional category 1 deficiency after maintainers found fuel leaking between the tanker's primary and secondary fuel protection barriers. It is unclear whether this is still a problem, as Boeing had already developed a fix and began retrofitting aircraft when the issue was revealed. “Given its confidence in deficiency resolution timelines for both the aerial refueling boom and Remote Vision System, the Air Force is rescheduling the KC-46's Full Rate Production Decision milestone to late Fiscal Year 2024,” the service stated. The Air Force notes that delaying the full-rate production decision will not affect the program's cost — which is locked into place courtesy of a firm, fixed-price deal with Boeing that holds the contractor financially responsible for cost overruns;nor will it cause the service to alter its current delivery schedule. Boeing is already producing KC-46s at “full rate,” which for the program is 15 tankers per year. It delivered the first KC-46 to McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, in January 2019. Since then, Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma, and Pease Air National Guard Base, New Hampshire, have also taken on new KC-46s. Boeing is set to produce 179 KC-46s over the program of record. The company has racked up cost overruns of about $4.6 billion in excess of the $4.9 billion contract it was awarded in 2011. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2020/06/09/the-air-force-delays-a-full-rate-production-decision-for-the-kc-46/

• 

  May 29, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Italy defense minister commits to F-35 after calls to suspend program

  By: Tom Kington ROME – Italy's defense minister has thrown his weight behind the F-35 program to counter demands from within his coalition government to suspend purchases of the aircraft to help Italy's coronavirus-stricken economy. Lorenzo Guerini said he “confirmed that the program would continue,” after calls from Italy's Five Star party to halt F-35 purchases for a year as Italy seeks cash to help rebound from the virus, which has killed 33,000 in Italy. In an interview with Italian publication Formiche, Guerini said defense spending was often slashed during economic crises, but claimed cuts to Italy's planned 90-aircraft buy would hurt high-tech jobs and damage an industrial sector which “offers very significant economic returns to our nation.” Italy has currently taken delivery of 15 F-35 aircraft including 12 F-35A's and three F-35B's. Final assembly of the aircraft occurs at Italy's own facility at Cameri Air Base in the north of the country, which is due to become a maintenance hub for the aircraft. Guerini hails from the center-left Democratic Party, which is a minority partner with the Five Star party in a coalition government formed last year. Previously, Five Star had governed alongside the anti-migrant League party. Five Star has had a turbulent relationship with the F-35 program. Prior to first entering government in 2018 it vowed to scrap the program altogether, before giving ambiguous signals about the aircraft once it was in power. Italy's coronavirus outbreak, which started in late February and prompted a strict, nationwide shut-down, has only now eased, with most restrictions on movement dropped on May 18. But after two months of lockdown the economy is in tatters, from manufacturing to services to tourism, which accounts for 13 percent of GDP. The government has been slow off the mark to pay furlough wages and economists see GDP shrinking by up to ten percent this year. In late March, 50 Five Star members of parliament signed a motion backing a suspension of ongoing F-35 purchases for one year to free cash for health spending. “We would also consider renegotiating and resizing this program,” one Five Star member in the group said at the time. In his interview, Guerini backed F-35 but also supported Italy's historical alliance with the United States and NATO, which was thrown into doubt by an April poll asking Italians which countries they considered “Friends”. Some 52 percent indicated China, followed by Russia on 32 percent and the United States on 17 percent. Compared to a similar survey carried out in 2019, China leaped 42 percent, Russia by 17 percent, while the U.S. dropped 12 percent. Asked which country Italy should ally with in the future, 36 percent said China while only 30 percent said the United States. The survey followed very visible visits by Chinese and Russian doctors to Italy to help during the virus outbreak. Last year, Italy announced plans to sign up to China's controversial Belt and Road global trade routes plan, incurring criticism from U.S. diplomats, who warned the program was designed to help China more than its partners. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/05/28/italy-defense-minister-commits-to-f-35-after-calls-to-suspend-program/