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July 9, 2018 | International, Aerospace

Germany’s choice for a Tornado replacement could undermine NATO

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It is clear to any reasonable observer that the state of the NATO alliance is not good. Even as a candidate, Donald Trump made it clear that he desired to see the other alliance members contribute more to the common defense. As President, Mr. Trump shifted from a request to a demand that NATO countries meet their self-imposed target of spending 2 percent of their individual gross domestic product on defense. He recently returned to this theme, possibly previewing his message to the NATO summit scheduled for later in July.

“Germany,” he complained, “has to spend more money. Spain, France. It's not fair what they've done to the United States.”

In February, the German parliament's military commissioner published a devastating report on the German military's lack of readiness. At the end of 2017, no submarines and none of the Luftwaffe's 14 large transport planes were available for deployment due to repairs. Much of the rest of the German military's equipment, including fighter jets, tanks and ships, are outdated and in some cases not fully operational because of a lack of spare parts.

As a result, fighter pilot training has had to be curtailed because of the number of aircraft unavailable due to maintenance issues.

The new head of the Luftwaffe, Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz, confirmed the military commissioner's findings. He publicly admitted that his service is “at a low point. Aircraft are grounded due to a lack of spare parts, or they aren't even on site since they're off for maintenance by the industry.”

This lack of investment in critical military capabilities has effected NATO's nuclear deterrent. Germany's fleet of nuclear-capable Tornado aircraft are so old and obsolete that they will have to be retired beginning in 2025. Without a timely replacement, Germany will be out of the nuclear deterrence mission.

Any new aircraft being proposed to fill the role played by the Luftwaffe's Tornados must meet an extremely stringent set of safety and operational standards. Because this would be a German aircraft deploying a U.S. nuclear weapon, there are two sets of standards at play. Experts familiar with certifying a new aircraft as nuclear-capable say the process generally takes an average of six to eight years and costs hundreds of millions of dollars.

The obvious answer is for the Luftwaffe to acquire some number of F-35A Joint Strike Fighters to replace the Tornado for the nuclear mission. The U.S. Air Force and the F-35 team, led by Lockheed Martin, are currently in the early stages of the nuclear certification process. Italy and the Netherlands are acquiring the F-35 and will certainly use some as dedicated nuclear-delivery platforms.

Airbus and the Eurofighter consortium have proposed selling Germany additional Typhoon aircraft to replace the Tornados. The German government has asked Washington if it would accept a nuclear-capable and -certified Typhoon Eurofighter as a Tornado replacement. The Luftwaffe currently operates some 130 Typhoons for air defense.

There are two problems with this solution. First, given what it would take to design, develop and test a nuclear-capable Typhoon, much less the six to eight years required for certification, it is too late to go with this option and meet the 2025 date for Tornado retirement.

Second, even it could be certified to carry the B-61, the Typhoon will not be able to perform the mission in the high-density, advanced air-defense environment that is already blanketing much of Europe. Delivery of a gravity bomb requires the ability to fly over a heavily defended target, and to do so on the first day of a war.

Virtually all senior air force leaders in NATO agree that fourth-generation fighters, including the Typhoon, are not survivable without an extensive and protracted campaign to roll back the air defense threat. Only a fifth generation platform such as the F-35 can beat today's air defenses, much less those that will emerge over the next several decades.

The German inquiry regarding the acceptability to Washington of a nuclear-certified Typhoon is really motivated by industrial politics. Germany and France hope to begin development of a fifth-generation fighter ― a project that will take at least 15 years. But if Berlin acquires even a limited number of F-35s, this could undercut that objective. In fact, the head of Airbus recently gave an interview in which he declared that “as soon as Germany becomes an F-35 member nation, cooperation on all combat aircraft issues with France will die.”

The German government could not have picked a worse time to play industrial politics with its solemn obligation to participate in the alliance's nuclear deterrence mission. President Trump already believes that most of the NATO allies, including Germany, are not paying their fair share for the common defense. An attempt by Germany to shoehorn a Eurofighter variant into the nuclear weapons delivery mission is another signal that Berlin is just not serious about meeting its alliance obligations.

Daniel Gouré is a senior vice president with the Lexington Institute. He worked in the Pentagon during the administration of President George H.W. Bush, and he has taught at Johns Hopkins and Georgetown universities as well as the National War College.

https://www.defensenews.com/smr/nato-priorities/2018/07/06/germanys-choice-for-a-tornado-replacement-could-undermine-nato/

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  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - March 11, 2019

    March 12, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - March 11, 2019

    DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Alon USA LP, Dallas, Texas (SPE602-19-D-0460, $94,761,255); BP Products North America Inc., Chicago, Illinois (SPE602-19-D-046, $336,763,299); BP Products North America Inc., Chicago, Illinois (SPE602-19-D-0462, $94,753,559); Calumet Shreveport Fuels LLC,* Indianapolis, Indiana (SPE602-19-D-0463, $91,042,014); Epic Aviation LLC,* Salem, Oregon (SPE602-19-D-0464, $36,973,147); Equilon Enterprises, doing business as Shell Oil Products, Houston, Texas (SPE602-19-D-0465, $259,795,782); Exxon Mobil Fuels Lubricants & Specialties Marketing Co., Spring, Texas (SPE602-19-D-0466, $90,495,076); Hunt Refining Co., Tuscaloosa, Alabama (SPE602-19-D-0467, $34,052,469); Husky Marketing & Supply Co. Dublin, Ohio (SPE602-19-D-0468, $81,348,500); Lazarus Energy Holdings LLC,* Houston, Texas (SPE602-19-D-0470, $125,906,184); Petromax Refining Co.,* Houston, Texas (SPE602-19-D-0477, $241,944,848); Placid Refining Co. LLC,* Port Allen, Louisiana (SPE602-19-D-0472, $124,968,052); Tesoro Refining & Marketing Co., LLC, San Antonio, Texas (SPE602-19-D-0473, $45,029,489); Valero Marketing and Supply Co., San Antonio, Texas (SPE602-19-D-0474, $141,128,080); Wynnewood Energy Co., Sugarland, Texas (SPE602-19-D-0475, $92,328,466); Hermes Consolidated LLC, doing business as Wyoming Refining Co.,* Houston, Texas (SPE602-19-D-0476, $42,147,054); and Phillips 66 Co., Houston, Texas (SPE602-19-D-0478, $884,362,445), have each been awarded a fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract under solicitation SPE602-18-R-0717 for various types of fuel. These were competitive acquisitions with 32 offers received. These are one-year contracts with a 30-day carryover. Locations of performance are Texas, Ohio, Alabama, Wyoming, Illinois, Indiana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, New York, New Jersey, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Louisiana, with a March 31, 2019, performance completion date. Using customer is Defense Logistics Agency Energy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. ARMY Jacobs Technology Inc., Tampa, Florida, was awarded a $785,000,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for instructors. Bids were solicited via the internet with six received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of March 14, 2026. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity (W900KK-19-D-0004). Jacobs Technology Inc., Fort Walton Beach, Florida, was awarded a $38,253,942 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for testing for evaluation of various interactions of chemical and biological agents. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work will be performed in Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, with an estimated completion date of June 23, 2020. Fiscal 2018 and 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $8,392,148 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command, Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, is the contracting activity (W911S6-19-C-0002). Atlantic Diving Supply Inc.,* Virginia Beach, Virginia (W81XWH-19-A-0003); American Purchasing Services LLC,* Miramar, Florida (W81XWH-19-A-0004); and TQM LLC, Saint Charles, Missouri (W81XWH-19-A-0005), will compete for each order of the $20,500,000 firm-fixed-price contract for brand-name medical equipment repair parts. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of March 10, 2024. U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, Fort Detrick, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Cubic Global Defense Inc., San Diego, California, was awarded a $7,996,042 modification (P00003) to contract W564KV-18-F-0001 for analytical support services. Work will be performed in Stuttgart, Germany, with an estimated completion date of March 9, 2023. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $7,996,042 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army 409th Combat Support Battalion, Kaiserslautern, Germany, is the contracting activity. (Awarded March 10, 2019) NAVY Dell Marketing LP, Round Rock, Texas, was awarded an estimated $231,170,000 firm-fixed-price blanket purchase agreement (BPA) in accordance with the firm's General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule contract. This agreement will provide VMware brand-name software licenses, software maintenance and services to the Department of the Navy (DON). The products will meet the following functional capabilities: data center and Cloud infrastructure; networking and security; storage and availability; Cloud management; network functions virtualization; digital workspace; desktop and application virtualization; and training. Under the Enterprise Software Initiative, the DON leverages its aggregate buying power to establish enterprise agreements with information technology manufacturers and resellers for high demand, commercial-off-the-shelf IT products and services. This BPA will be available for ordering VMware products and services throughout the Navy, worldwide, and the ordering period is expected to be completed March 7, 2023. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated as task orders are issued using operations and maintenance (Navy) funds. This contract was competitively procured via publication on the GSA E-Buy website with 895 vendors solicited, three offers received, and one selected for award. Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N66001-19-A-0055). (Awarded March 8, 2019) Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., San Diego, California, is awarded an $89,534,733 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide sustainment and engineering services in support of the MQ-4C Triton Unmanned Aircraft System. Additionally, this contract procures the technical expertise of field service representatives, logisticians and test support to ensure MQ-4C air vehicles and mission control and operator training systems are fully sustained and mission capable. Work will be performed at Patuxent River, Maryland (45 percent); Jacksonville, Florida (25 percent); Andersen Air Force Base, Guam (20 percent); and Point Mugu, California (10 percent), and is expected to be completed in March 2020. Fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy); and fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $69,309,254 will be obligated at time of award, $4,000,000 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00019-19-C-1020). General Atomics, San Diego, California, is awarded $18,898,425 for cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order N0001919F2709 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-16-G-0006). This delivery order provides Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) integrated test and evaluation effort for EMALS test site operations, Failure Reporting Analysis and Corrective Actions System, prototype and testing, environmental qualification testing and remediation, electromagnetic interference testing, and training efforts. Work will be performed in Lakewood, New Jersey (60 percent); Tupelo, Mississippi (25 percent); and Rancho Bernardo, California (15 percent), and is expected to be completed in January 2021. Fiscal 2018 and 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $18,898,425 will be obligated at time of award, $2,737,924 of which will expire at the end of the fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Bethel-Webcor JV-1,* Anchorage, Alaska, is awarded $11,470,000 for firm-fixed-price task order N4425519F4123 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N44255-17-D-4032) for the P-253 Fleet Support Facility at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington. The work to be performed provides for the construction of P-253 Fleet Support Facility to include construction of a single-story addition to Building 2836. 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    July 21, 2022 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence

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