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  August 8, 2022 | International, Aerospace

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  July 15, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Air Force’s Roper Sparks Debate On ‘Nationalizing Advanced Aviation’ Industry

  The Air Force should field several iterations of improved drones before 2030 -- not just to replace the MQ-9 -- but to do everything from ISR to strike to counter-air missions. By THERESA HITCHENSon July 14, 2020 at 4:44 PM WASHINGTON: Air Force acquisition head Will Roper is worried the ever-shrinking US defense industrial base may force DoD to nationalize major programs in the not-so-distant future — expressing surprise that other senior leaders are not more concerned. “I think it's really important that we find a new model where there are no big winners, and no big losers, but continual competition,” he told reporters today. “Because if our industrial base collapses any more, we'll have to nationalize advanced aviation — and maybe other parts of the Air Force that currently aren't competitive.” While rushing to say that, as of now, there has not been any internal Pentagon discussion about nationalization of the aerospace industry, he told reporters today: “I don't think that's out of the tea leaf reading. “It has surprised me in this job that there's not more concern in the Pentagon about the continual shrinking of the defense industrial base,” he added. “And it's not because the defense industrial base has gotten worse — it's just that programs are so few and far between.” He explained that this reality forces defense companies to acquire “a pretty diversified portfolio” because the only competitions “may be a fighter one year, a satellite the next year, and a helicopter the next year. “We've seen this trend of major acquisitions to get those portfolios diverse enough so that you can deal with the chutes and rapids of few and far between major acquisitions. So that should be a huge concern to us, especially with our research and development dollars in defense only accounting for 20 percent of the total nation's.” A shrinking base means less competition; combine with that the fact that innovation now happens primarily in the commercial sector, not the defense sector. “I don't have to tell you that, eventually, we will nationalize warfighting capabilities and the defense industrial base, it will happen by necessity — by national security necessity, but I don't think that that's a fait accompli,” he said. Digital Century Series That concern is one of the reasons Roper is betting on the Digital Century Series concept as the Air Force considers its development plans and procurement strategy for the highly classified Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD). “My hope in the Digital Century Series is to stabilize, at least for tactical aircraft, the collapse of our aviation industrial base any further,” he said. The new Program Executive Office for Fighters and Advanced Aircraft working on those programs has drafted a study to determine whether that concept — where new versions of aircraft are rotated into the fleet every 15 or so years — is actually cheaper than traditional programs, where up front unit costs are low but vendors make bank on modernization and sustainment. In major acquisition programs where one winner takes all, he explained, “there is no way to tell industry, in a way you can enforce, not to significantly invest — it's too big of a deal, they have to win. That internal investment is then what creates that strong incentive to lock into the program, to put intellectual property into all different interfaces, no matter how good we are at trying to police it out of the system.” “The designer always have mechanisms to skirt around our best policy and oversight,” he said wryly, because without being able to ensure future contracts for upgrades and upkeep, the firm wouldn't have a business case. But for the Air Force, modernizing and sustaining aircraft after year 15 results in increased costs of somewhere between three and eight percent per year, he said. The idea with Digital Century Series, by contrast, is to break out of this model into one where the up-front price the Air Force pays for new aircraft — “somewhere between X-planes and mass production” — is essentially the “total price of ownership.” The hope, he said, is that while the up-front unit prices will be higher, the cost over time will be significantly lower than a traditional major program buy. And in fact, he said, Air Force's “compare and contrast” study of the two different acquisition models so far has found that the Digital Century Series concept is “slightly cheaper.” “Maybe significantly cheaper,” he added, “but slightly cheaper than a traditional acquisition,” even one leveraging digital engineering to help keep the costs of future modernizations down. However, Roper said he has now brought in independent experts to “check our assumptions, check our math,” and is awaiting the results of their assessment. “I think in three weeks, I'll be able to go from pencil to ink and say whether this is viable or not,” he said. MQ-9 Reaper and MQ-Next In the wide-ranging briefing, Roper also touched on the hot-button MQ-9 Reaper replacement effort that has piqued congressional concern. The reason the service is taking a bit of time to study future options, he explained, is the belief that future peer combat will require not just a new unmanned aerial vehicle for ISR/strike — but instead a multi-mission family of drones to do everything from air-to-air missions to ISR/strike to base defense. “We need these UAVs to be true utility players, to use the baseball analogy,” he suggested. But Roper knows he's got to keep a close eye on the Hill, because “building a utility player that can meet multiple mission demands is not something that our acquisition system has historically been good at. And we've got to get good quickly to convince Congress that this is a good pivot, and I look forward to having those discussions that summer.” Roper said he met with the development team studying concepts for the “Next Generation UAS ISR/Strike Platform” two weeks ago to discuss everything from how high-end drones could be teamed with relatively inexpensive and attritable ones to how to do “smart automation” that limits the number of people needed to operate them. “We made the pivot to divest MQ-9 to pivot into high-end warfighting, and we're gonna have to build new systems for high-end warfighting and teamed systems for high-end fighting. So I think the litmus test for ‘MQ-Next' is going to be what other letter can we assign to its name because it's doing a mission other than is ISR strike,” he said, with a chuckle. “Ones that that jumped to the forefront for me,” he added, “are arming systems with air-to-air weapons, not just air-to-ground, so that you could play a role with forward tac air, but also being able to pull said system back to defend high-value assets that don't have defensive systems that are able to hold adversary air at risk. I think that would be a wonderful combination.” Roper said it's necessary for the Air Force “to explore more than just the MQ-9 mission” of gathering ISR data and striking targets in places like the Middle East, because there simply isn't enough budget leeway to do otherwise as the service shifts focus to combat with peer competitors. Lawmakers are concerned that the service doesn't yet have a solid acquisition strategy for replacing the venerable MQ-9 — a platform that has flown more than 4 million operational flight hours. Thus there has been a wave of congressional opposition to the Air Force's decision in its 2021 budget request to begin divesting of the aircraft, and its February stop-order on production by prime General Atomics. The full House Appropriations Committee today approved its subcommittee's decision to add $343.6 million for 16 MQ-9s to the Air Force's budget — with Rep. Ken Calvert noting the importance of the drone to combatant commanders. Report language accompanying the bill highlighted concerns among lawmakers — also voiced by the House and Senate Armed Services Committees — that the Air Force's replacement effort is moving too slowly could result in a gap in capability. Roper, however, said that not only can the Air Force have new drones fielded by 2030, but that there should be several iterations of improved platforms developed over the next decade. “Absolutely we can get there by 2030. In a digitally engineered future,10 years is an eternity. I would hope we could spiral multiple times within that 10 years,” he stressed. Responses to the Air Force's June request for information are due July 24, and judging by discussions so far,. vendors are likely to offer a number of approaches. “I expect to see a lot of high-end tech options in the submissions that are trying to help us do a current mission, other than ISR strike, differently,” he said, noting that if a system can do that, it also makes ISR easier especially in a permissive environment. “If you can do those high-end missions, then I'm willing to hit the ‘I believe' button,” he said. On the other hand, he also expects contractors to come in with “a different approach to survivability” — perhaps proposing large quantities of cheap attritable drones; or concepts that team sensor carrying drones with others carrying munitions, Roper said. “You can imagine, designing things that may not return is a complete cultural shift for us and for industry, but I've been pretty pleased with the informal engagements thus far,” he said, “and I expect to see some really creative thinking.” https://breakingdefense.com/2020/07/air-forces-roper-suggests-nationalizing-advanced-aviation-industry

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  June 11, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  Relativity to Build New Autonomous Rocket Factory and Expand Testing Facilities at NASA Stennis Space Center in Mississippi

  LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Relativity, the world's first autonomous rocket factory and launch services leader, today announced that it has secured an agreement with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and an incentive package from the Mississippi Development Authority to expand facilities and infrastructure at NASA's historic Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, Mississippi. Through this agreement, Relativity will leverage valuable existing NASA infrastructure and capital investment incentives from the Mississippi Development Authority to build and integrate a pioneering robotic 3D printing rocket factory and an expanded testing facility for autonomous production of Relativity's Terran 1 rocket launch vehicles. The agreement with NASA includes exclusive use of 220,000 square feet within building 9101 at Stennis Space Center for a 9-year lease. The facility includes an 80-foot high bay, multiple bridge cranes, and extensive industrial infrastructure. The agreement also includes an option to extend the lease for an additional 10 years. Relativity's partnership with the Mississippi Development Authority is supported by a significant cost reimbursement and tax incentive package for Relativity's employment and capital investments for advanced aerospace manufacturing and technology development in the State of Mississippi. Disrupting 60 years of global aerospace manufacturing, Relativity is developing the first and only aerospace platform to integrate machine learning, software, and robotics with metal 3D printing technology to build and launch rockets in days instead of years. Traditional aerospace manufacturing relies on fixed tooling, a complex supply chain, and extensive human labor. Relativity's groundbreaking autonomous rocket platform is highly reconfigurable, with a radically simplified supply chain and no fixed tooling, reducing part count 100x. On path to first orbital launch in 2020, Relativity will be building out first stage assembly, engine integration and testing, and a full 3D printing and robotics-enabled production line at the site. The technologies developed through Relativity's Stennis Factory site are the first step toward the company's long term vision of 3D printing the first rocket made in Mars and expanding the human experience in space. Through the factory build-out and expansion, the company will create a total of 200 jobs and invest $59 million in the state of Mississippi. This partnership between Relativity, NASA and the Mississippi Development Authority advances innovation, economic development, and job growth in the Gulf Coast, and progresses Relativity's leadership in American aerospace development. Relativity will invest in regional workforce development programs, university and education outreach, and community engagement initiatives. The infrastructure and resource incentives will enable the company to accelerate development and scaling of its technology and shorten lead times to launch. “We are excited to partner with NASA and the Mississippi Development Authority to bring our patented 3D printing rocket platform to Hancock County,” said Jordan Noone, cofounder and CTO of Relativity. “We believe this groundbreaking technology is the future of aerospace manufacturing, and we look forward to bringing this innovation to the Gulf Coast.” “This partnership will foster innovation, investment, and growth in Mississippi,” added Tobias Duschl, VP of Operations at Relativity. “The integration of our 3D printing rocket production and testing facilities at one site will also enable Relativity to offer greater flexibility to commercial and government entities needing faster, more frequent, and lower cost access to space.” “This agreement demonstrates again NASA's commitment to work with our industry partners to expand commercial access to low-Earth orbit. This helps NASA maintain focus on the ambitious Artemis program that will land the first female and the next male on the south pole of the moon by 2024. Relativity is a valuable member of the Stennis federal city and we look forward to building on our already successful partnership. This is a significant expansion of their presence at Stennis and we appreciate their confidence in making south Mississippi an integral part of their future,” said Dr. Rick Gilbrech, Director, Stennis Space Center. “The Mississippi Gulf Coast has a strong aerospace presence, and Relativity's expansion at Stennis further positions our state as a leader in this prominent sector,” Governor Phil Bryant said. “The important work that will be done for Relativity by our skilled workforce will play a crucial role in developing new methods to connect to outer space and other planets.” Relativity is accelerating growth of a customer manifest including leading global satellite operators, commercial companies, and government payloads. Recently, the company announced customer agreements with Telesat, the renowned global satellite operator, to support their LEO constellation; mu Space, the innovative Thai satellite and space technology company, to launch their first LEO satellite; and Spaceflight, the leading satellite rideshare and mission management provider, to launch Spaceflight's dedicated smallsat rideshares. Relativity is on track to conduct its first orbital test launch at the end of 2020 and enter commercial service in 2021. With this expansion at Stennis, Relativity is increasing infrastructure fourfold to over 280,000 square feet of operations, production, testing, and launch facilities and is on track to reach over 350,000 square feet of space in 2019. In the past year, the company increased team size over 6x from 14 to 90 employees. Relativity became the first venture-backed company to secure a launch site Right of Entry at Cape Canaveral Launch Complex-16 from the U.S. Air Force, and has a 20-year exclusive-use Commercial Space Launch Act (CSLA) agreement at the NASA Stennis Space Center E4 test complex, as well as membership on the National Space Council advising the U.S. White House. Relativity is also securing a polar and Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO) capable launch site this year. About Relativity Relativity is the first autonomous rocket factory and launch services leader for satellite constellations. The company's vision is to build the future of humanity in space -- starting with rockets. Disrupting 60 years of aerospace technology, Relativity's platform vertically integrates intelligent robotics and 3D autonomous manufacturing technology to build the world's first entirely 3D printed rocket, Terran 1. Terran 1 has 100x lower part count than traditional rockets, a radically simple supply chain, and will be built from raw material to flight in less than 60 days with unparalleled iteration speed. Relativity deploys and resupplies satellite constellations with industry-defining lead time, flexibility, and cost, better connecting and securing our planet. Relativity is backed by leading investors including Playground Global, Y Combinator, Social Capital, Phillip Spector formerly of Intelsat, and Mark Cuban. For more information, please visit https://www.relativityspace.com/. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190611005304/en