March 4, 2024 | International, Aerospace
September 30, 2020 | International, Aerospace
Here’s what Lockheed will have to do to make up for F-35 spare parts problems
WASHINGTON — The Defense Department and Lockheed Martin reached a handshake agreement that will require the defense giant to invest about $70.6 million to fix an ongoing problem with F-35 spare parts, one that resulted in increased government labor costs, the department announced Sept. 29.
For the past few months, Lockheed and the Defense Contracts Management Agency have been locked in a dispute over more than 15,000 F-35 spare parts sent to the U.S. military with incorrect or incomplete “electronic equipment logs” or EELs, which allow the parts to be absorbed into the F-35′s logistics system and installed on the jet.
Lockheed and the Defense Contracts Management Agency expect a final agreement to be formalized sometime within the next two weeks or so, said DCMA spokesman Matthew Montgomery, who confirmed the $70.588 million deal to Defense News.
The use of EELs — which allow the government to track the usage and lifespan of major F-35 parts — is unique to the joint strike fighter program and is meant to help inform smarter, more cost-effective maintenance and buying practices.
But when parts are delivered with inaccurate EEL information, it can take hours for military maintainers and Lockheed support personnel to track down the correct data that will allow a part to be uploaded into the system and installed in the aircraft.
Instead of paying back the government directly for the added costs associated with the EELs, Lockheed will “compensate the government with Lockheed Martin investments” that will ultimately ensure spare parts are delivered with accurate electronic logs, said Lockheed spokesman Brett Ashworth.
“We appreciate the partnership with the Defense Contract Management Agency and the F-35 Joint Program Office, and we remain focused on ensuring the warfighter has the support they need to employ the F-35′s game changing capabilities,” he said.
The final sum of the agreement is less than half of the $183 million sum that DCMA initially projected that the government had spent to correct wrong or incorrect EELs since 2015. It was not immediately clear why DCMA had agreed to a compensation deal worth so much less than the department's estimated costs.
During a July hearing, lawmakers from the House Oversight and Reform Committee chastised Lockheed for its failure to deliver parts ready to fly.
“That's $183 million that the American taxpayers were forced to pay because Lockheed Martin failed to meet the requirements of its contract,” said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, the committee's chairwoman.
But Greg Ulmer, Lockheed's vice president for the F-35 program, said then that the company should not take all of the blame for the spare parts problems.
“It's not all associated with Lockheed Martin performance. There are many aspects associated with [parts that are] not ready for issue,” he said.
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May 29, 2020 | International, Land
IM-SHORAD delayed by pandemic, but first unit equip date remains in place
By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army's newest short-range air defense system is one of several projects that are facing delays due to COVID-19, but top officials insist that all major acquisition programs remain on track for their planned delivery dates to the field. For programs in the two largest categories of acquisition programs, “we remain on track for first unit equipped for all the programs,” Bruce Jette, the Army acquisition head, said Wednesday. However, “that doesn't mean that some of the programs aren't having adjustments to delivery schedules or adjustments to milestone. We're making adjustments as necessary, and then working with the companies to try and catch up.” One of the programs to fall behind is the Interim Maneuver Short-Range Air Defense (IM-SHORAD) system, which had been scheduled to wrap up developmental testing by June. Last week, Janes reported that there were software issues with integrating the weapons package onto the Stryker combat vehicle-based system used for the IM-SHORAD design. The Army plans to procure 144 of the systems, which would be deployed in Europe. “I think we flipped a few months to the right, based upon some software issues,” said Gen. Mike Murray, the head of Army Futures Command. “And matter of fact, I was just talking to the CEO today on the software issues, and we're jumping on that and they got an update yesterday and we're making great progress, but we did slide that a little bit to the right.” In addition to the software challenge, Murray said the need for COVID-19 safety measures was causing a delay in testing, as well. “When you're working tests like that, the run up like that for the test, it's almost impossible to maintain the 6 feet of social distancing. So it was getting the right [personal protective equipment] in place, and then the software issues we had,” Murray said. The general declined to say which CEO he had discussions with on the program. General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) is the lead integrator for the program, with a mission equipment package designed by Leonardo DRS. That mission equipment package includes Raytheon's Stinger vehicle missile launcher. The two officials appeared on a call hosted by the Defense Writers' Group. Jette said there is only one program that has had to make a “significant” change to its schedule, but described that program as an ACAT 3 level effort — the smallest acquisition category — with the delay a direct result of the small size of the company. “The greatest sensitivities tend to be down in those programs which have connectivity to small companies, as their major source of technology, delivery services, etc. Because if one person gets sick in the company, you often end up with the entire company being in quarantine for 14 days. And then if they do it again, it gets worse,” Jette said. “So with only one program having a major slip, and that being a small one, I think that's a pretty good success and tells you a little bit about how hard industry is working to try and stay on track,” he added. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/05/27/im-shorad-delayed-by-pandemic-but-first-unit-equip-date-remains-in-place/
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October 12, 2021 | International, Aerospace, Land
After delay, Joint Air-to-Ground Missile full-rate production decision now due in mid-2022
Having failed to achieve desired lethal effects on a maritime target, the U.S. Army and Marine Corps had to delay fielding of the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile. But now a full-rate production decision is expected in the summer of 2022, according to Maj. Gen. Robert Rasch, the Army's program executive officer for missiles and space.