Northrop missile-warning satellites pass early design review

On the same subject

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  January 23, 2020 | International, Naval

  Congress should fund new, not used sealift vessels, say former Maritime Administration officials

  By: David B. Larter WASHIGTON — Five former Maritime Administration officials have called on Congress to fund the construction of new sealift vessels instead of pushing the plan to buy and convert used ships on the open market. In a letter to the chairs of the House and Senate Appropriations committees, officials from both Republican and Democrat administrations said replacing the nation's organic surge sealift fleet, which has an average hull life of 44 years, is essential to maintaining the ability to send troops and materiel overseas on short notice. The letter, signed by former MARAD Administrator Clyde Hart, as well as four other former MARAD attorneys and policy chiefs, called for Congress to build new ships to spur shipbuilding in the United States and to cut down on maintenance hassles that could spell delays in a crisis. “First, the new ships would be immediately operational,” the letter said, “and the Maritime Administration won't have to spend precious time finding long-obsolete parts, therein delay surge capacity. Second, building ships in the United States creates jobs, spurs spending and strengthens the U.S. shipbuilding industry.” The letter comes in the wake of findings from last year's turbo activation that only about 40 percent of the sealift fleet would be ready to surge in a crisis, and that the force would be “challenged to be immediately ready for a large-scale inter-theater force deployment,” which is its entire raison d'etre. The sealift fleet is composed of 26 Military Sealift Command pre-positioning ships, 46 ships in the Ready Reserve Force and 15 command-owned roll-on/roll-off surge force ships. Many of the roll-on/roll-off ships are steam-operated, and the obsolete equipment is causing significant personnel issues in the pool of qualified civilian mariners needed to operate them. The White House's Office of Management and Budget favors a “buy used” policy for the sealift fleet, which is rapidly aging out. The Army in 2018 sent a warning to the House Armed Services Committee in an information paper regarding the nation's surge sealift capacity — which would be responsible for transporting up to 90 percent of Army and Marine Corps equipment in the event of a major war. The Army said the capacity would fall below its requirement by 2024. “Without proactive recapitalization of the Organic Surge Sealift Fleet, the Army will face unacceptable risk in force projection capability beginning in 2024,” the document said, adding that the advanced age of the current fleet adds further risk to the equation. “By 2034, 70% of the organic fleet will be over 60 years old — well past its economic useful life; further degrading the Army's ability to deploy forces,” the document read. https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2020/01/22/congress-should-fund-new-not-used-sealift-vessels-former-maritime-administration-officials-say/

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  February 18, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  L'Espagne rejoint la France et l'Allemagne dans le projet d'avion de combat du futur

  Frédéric Dubessy FRANCE / ESPAGNE. Le projet SCAF - pour système de combat aérien du futur - s'enrichit d'un nouveau partenaire. Après la France et l'Allemagne, l'Espagne s'associe à cette initiative comme l'a indiqué Margarita Robles, ministre espagnole de la Défense, jeudi 14 février 2019 au siège de l'Otan à Bruxelles. Une lettre d'intention a été signée le même jour entre les trois pays. Alors que l'Allemagne a pris les commandes du projet de char européen au niveau industriel, c'est la France qui se trouve à la tête de cet avion du futur avec Airbus Defence and Space, filiale d'Airbus, et Dassault Aviation. Fin avril 2018, les deux entreprises paraphaient un accord industriel. Le 31 janvier 2019, elles se voyaient attribuer le contrat de l'architecture et du concept (65 M€) alors que Safran et MTU Aero Engines développeront le moteur. Annoncé en juillet 2017, le nouvel avion de combat européen constituera la matrice d'une défense européenne en étant connecté à d'autres avions, à des satellites, des systèmes de l'OTAN et des systèmes de combat terrestres et navals. L'avion de combat du futur devrait être opérationnel "à l'horizon 2040", selon Florence Parly, ministre française de la Défense. Il viendra alors remplacer le Rafale du Français Dassault aviation et l'européen Eurofighter EF-2000 (ou Typhoon) développé par la Grande-Bretagne, l'Allemagne, l'Italie et l'Espagne (la France s'étant retirée en 1986 pour sortir le Rafale). Aucun budget n'est pour l'instant fixé, et aucun coût réparti entre les trois pays, le projet n'en étant qu'à une phase d'études. https://www.econostrum.info/L-Espagne-rejoint-la-France-et-l-Allemagne-dans-le-projet-d-avion-de-combat-du-futur_a25249.html

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  February 3, 2021 | International, Naval

  The report card is in for the US defense industry’s health

  By: Joe Gould WASHINGTON ― The health of America's defense industrial base ranks a middling “C” due to growing cyber vulnerabilities, a poor ability to surge production in a crisis, and political obstacles for defense budgeting, according to a lead defense trade group's new study. According to the National Defense Industrial Association's second annual “Vital Signs” report, the defense industrial base entered the COVID-19 pandemic in a weakened state despite healthier marks for competition, profitability and demand. The report, released Tuesday, graded eight performance areas from 0 to 100 for an average score of 74 for the year 2020. Government data firm Govini co-produced the data-driven report, which used the Pentagon's 2018 assessment of the defense industrial base as a jumping off point. “The defense industrial base is facing multiple headwinds: industrial security threats, flat future defense budgets, a shortage of skilled, cleared workers and decreased investments in the sciences that fuel U.S. innovation,” NDIA's chief executive, Hawk Carlisle, said in a statement. “Add to these the increased regulatory burdens and barriers for new entrants, which continue to shrink both the number of companies that participate in the DIB and the number of new companies entering the defense marketplace.” He added that the report, which makes no recommendations, ought to drive discussions as the Pentagon ramps up for competition with China and Russia. Though the study predates both COVID-19 and the revelation that elite cyber spies have spent months secretly exploiting SolarWinds' software to peer into computer networks, it raised alarms over industrial security. As data breaches and cybersecurity vulnerabilities both surged, industrial security overall showed “clear and continued deterioration,” ranking the lowest of all with a 56. The industrial base's ability to meet surge demand during a crisis received a failing grade of 66. Companies NDIA surveyed said that in the first 30 days, the industrial base could ramp up quickly but the rate of progress would slow soon thereafter; more than a 100 percent increase would take 180 days. More than half of firms said the availability of skilled labor would be a factor in increasing defense production, and 16.5 percent said a gap in U.S.-based human capital was the most vulnerable part of their supply chain ― in part fueled by a security clearance backlog. The size of the defense industry workforce fell to about 1.1 million people from its mid-1980s peak of 3.2 million, the report said. An analysis of public opinion, congressional action and regulatory action downgraded the “political and regulatory” outlook by 10 points since 2018 ― even prior to the pandemic and a related emphasis on domestic spending. A key factor was a new Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification framework and its “additional regulatory burdens for all defense contractors,” the report said. Also, public opinion in favor of defense spending saw its largest decline since the Reagan-era defense buildup of the 1980s: A Gallup poll found that 17 percent of respondents felt the United States is spending too little on national defense and military purposes, down from 25 percent in 2019 and 33 percent in 2018. Industry can be pleased the “Demand” category jumped 16 points, corresponding with an increase in contract obligations issued by the Department of Defense. DoD contract obligations grew from $329 billion in fiscal 2017 to $394 billion in fiscal 2020, marking about a 20 percent increase. Foreign military sales also grew by nearly 20 percent over the same time period. Among all categories, major defense platforms ― aircraft, naval vessels and land vehicles ― were awarded the largest share of total contract obligation value, but contract obligation value for electronics and communication services grew 89 percent, leading all service categories. https://www.defensenews.com/2021/02/02/c-grade-for-us-defense-industrys-health-warns-trade-group-report