July 20, 2020 | International, Land

OMFV: Army Wants Smaller Crew, More Automation

The draft RFP for the Bradley replacement, out today, also opens the possibility for a government design team to compete with private industry.

By SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR.on July 17, 2020 at 1:51 PM

WASHINGTON: The Army is giving industry a lot of freedom in their designs for its future armored troop transport, letting them pick the gun, weight, number of passengers and more. But there's one big exception. While the current M2 Bradley has three crew members – commander, gunner, and driver – a draft Request For Proposals released today says that its future replacement, the OMFV, must be able to fight with two.

Fewer humans means more automation. It's an ambitious goal, especially for a program the Army already had to reboot and start over once.

The other fascinating wrinkle in the RFP is that the Army reserves the right to form its own design team and let it compete against the private-sector contractors. This government design team would be independent of any Army command to avoid conflicts of interest.

If the Army does submit its own design, that would be a major departure from longstanding Pentagon practice. But the Army has invested heavily in technologies from 50mm cannon to automated targeting algorithms to engines, so it's not impossible for a government team to put all that government intellectual property together into a complete design.

The Army has embraced automation from the beginning of the Bradley replacement program, and that's been consistent before and after January's decision to reboot. OMFV's very name, Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle, refers to the service's desire to have the option to operate the vehicle, in some situations, by remote control – eventually. But an unmanned mode remains an aspiration for future upgrades, not a hard-and-fast requirement for the initial version of the vehicle scheduled to enter service in 2028.

By contrast, the two-person crew is one of the few hard-and-fast requirements in the draft RFP released this morning. It's all the more remarkable because there few such requirements in the RFP or its extensive technical annexes (which are not public). Instead, in most cases, the Army lays out the broad performance characteristics it desires and gives industry a lot of leeway in how to achieve them.

That's a deliberate departure from traditional weapons programs, which lay out a long and detailed list of technical requirements. But the Army tried that prescriptive approach on OMFV and it didn't work.

Last year, in its first attempt to build the OMFV, the Army insisted that industry build – at its own expense – a prototype light enough that you could fit two on an Air Force C-17 transport, yet it had to be tough enough to survive a fight with Russian mechanized units in Eastern Europe. Only one company, General Dynamics, even tried to deliver a vehicle built to that specification and the Army decided they didn't succeed.

So the Army started over. It decided heavy armor was more important than air transportability, so it dropped the requirement to fit two OMFVs on a single C-17; now it'll be satisfied if a C-17 can carry one. In fact, it decided rigid technical requirements were a bad idea in general because it limited industry's opportunity to offer ingenious new solutions to the Army's problems, so the service replaced them wherever it could with broadly defined goals called characteristics.

And yet the new draft RFP does include a strict and technologically ambitious requirement: the two-person crew.

Now, since the OMFV is a transport, it'll have more people aboard much of the time, and when an infantry squad is embarked, one of them will have access to the vehicle's sensors and be able to assist the crew. But when the passengers get out to fight on foot, there'll just be two people left to operate the vehicle.

A two-person crew isn't just a departure from the Bradley. This is a departure from best practice in armored vehicle design dating back to World War II. In 1940, when Germany invaded France, the French actually had more tanks, including some much better armed and armored than most German machines. But a lot of the French tanks had two-man crews. There was a driver, seated in the hull, and a single harried soldier in the turret who had to spot the enemy, aim the gun, and load the ammunition. By contrast, most German tanks split those tasks among three men – a commander, a gunner, and a loader – which meant they consistently outmaneuvered and outfought the overburdened French tankers.

A lot of modern vehicles don't need a loader, because a mechanical feed reloads automatically. But in everything from the Bradley to Soviet tanks, the minimum crew is three: driver, gunner, and commander. That way the driver can focus on the terrain ahead, the gunner can focus on the target currently in his sights, and the commander can watch for danger in all directions. A two-person crew can't split tasks that way, risking cognitive overload – which means a greater risk that no one spots a threat until it's too late.

So how do fighter jets and combat helicopters survive, since most of them have one or two crew at most? The answer is extensive training and expensive technology. If the Army wants a two-person crew in its OMFV, the crew compartment may have to look less like a Bradley and more like an Apache gunship, with weapons automatically pointing wherever the operator looks. The Army's even developing a robotic targeting assistant called ATLAS, which spots potential targets on its sensors, decides the biggest threat and automatically brings the gun to bear – but only fires if a human operator gives the order.

Now, industry does not have to solve these problems right away. The current document is a draft Request For Proposals, meaning that the Army is seeking feedback from interested companies. If enough potential competitors say the two-man crew is too hard, the Army might drop that requirement. The current schedule gives the Army about nine months, until April 2021, to come out with the final RFP, and only then do companies have to submit their preliminary concepts for the vehicle. The Army will pick several companies to develop “initial digital designs” – detailed computer models of the proposed vehicle – and then refine those designs. Physical prototypes won't enter testing until 2025, with the winning design entering production in 2027 for delivery to combat units the next year.

https://breakingdefense.com/2020/07/omfv-army-wants-smaller-crew-more-automation/

On the same subject

June 8, 2020 | International, Aerospace

US Air Force relaunches effort to replace MQ-9 Reaper drone
By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — It has been eight years since the U.S. Air Force canceled its effort to field a successor to the MQ-9 Reaper, but it appears the service might take another swing at developing a new combat drone. On June 3, the Air Force issued a request for information on a next-generation unmanned aircraft with strike, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, with the intent to accept delivery of the first systems in 2030 and field them in 2031. The solicitation was first reported on by Aviation Week. “With the MQ-9 platform planning for end of service life, a need to identify a solution that continues to provide for this demand is imperative,” the RFI stated. “The purpose of this RFI is to research potential solutions for the Next Generation UAS ISR/Strike platform, the Next Generation Medium Altitude UAS and potential follow-on program to the MQ-9 weapon system.” The Air Force is looking to collect market research on existing technologies as well as systems that are currently under development, with a focus on drones that incorporate advanced technologies such as autonomy, artificial intelligence, machine learning, digital engineering and open-mission systems. In addition, the service is open to attritable technologies — meaning systems that are not cheap enough to be considered expendable, but some losses are still expected in combat. “The Air Force is also interested in researching alternative ways to support future lower-end, lower-cost ISR missions which may include initiatives to modernize, augment, and/or replace existing systems,” the RFI stated. “This RFI inquires about unique and innovative practices that can deliver relevant capability efficiently, timely and at a reduced life-cycle cost.” Although the Air Force has not solidified an acquisition strategy, it intends to hold multiple competitions for the air vehicle itself, as well as its ground control systems and the suite of sensors and data exploitation technology it will use to collect and dissect information. Each technology area will be built to open-architecture standards. Responses to the RFI are due July 20. This latest effort would mark the second time the Air Force has tried to replace the MQ-9 Reaper, currently being manufactured by General Atomics. In its first attempt, known as MQ-X, the service sought to procure a more survivable combat drone that could operate in contested spaces where a Reaper cannot fly. The program was canceled in 2012. Over the years, the Air Force remained mostly quiet about what an MQ-9 replacement could look like. But in 2019, Kenneth Bray, acting associate deputy chief of staff for ISR, said the service has done a fair amount of behind-the-scenes thinking on the topic over the past three to four years. But instead of starting with requirements for the aircraft itself, Bray said the service focused on the data the system would collect and how to optimize the drone's design to to gather and use that information. “We're starting to think not from the sensor or from the platform, we're starting to think from the data and decide: Is it even collecting the right size data, or do I need to have different sensors on those platforms?” he told Defense News. “Are those platforms even relevant anymore, or do I need a different platform because what I need is this type of data, and only this type of platform can get me that type of data? That is how we're going to change our thinking.” In March, Will Roper, the Air Force's top acquisition official, said the service is working on a study that will inform the fiscal 2022 budget and lay out a path for replacing the MQ-9 Reaper. Finding a single replacement to fill the MQ-9′s strike and surveillance mission is unlikely, Roper said, as the service wants to be able to operate in all environments without solely relying on exquisite, pricey systems. The service may need a family of systems that includes high-end, military-specific drones as well as cheaper UAVs that could be sourced from the commercial unmanned systems market, he said. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2020/06/04/the-air-force-is-looking-for-a-next-gen-replacement-to-the-mq-9-reaper-drone/
May 13, 2020 | International, Aerospace

USAF Agility Prime Aims To Boost Investor Confidence In EVTOL Market
Graham Warwick For a defense program with relatively little funding behind it, Agility Prime comes freighted with expectations. The U.S. Air Force program to help build a domestic electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) industrial base is a lifeline for a nascent market as private capital dries up because of COVID-19. For the Air Force, if successful, Agility Prime could be a model of how to bring defense procurement together with commercial markets to compete with China's national drive for technology supremacy. U.S. Air Force's Agility Prime aims to boost investor confidence in eVTOL market Prototype agreements will produce vehicle test reports “For me, it's a template for how to take the military market—our entire value proposition, not just our funding—and bring it to bear on an emerging commercial market in a way that accelerates it for all of us, and not just for the military,” says Air Force acquisition chief Will Roper. Agility Prime aims to tap into existing commercial investment in eVTOL development and, through in-kind support in the form of access to test resources and technical expertise, help U.S. manufacturers along the way to FAA certification. At the same time, the program will seek out opportunities within the Air Force and other government agencies for early purchases of eVTOLs to help ramp up production. The program has been conceived to avoid what happened in the small drone market, where the Pentagon failed to engage the emerging U.S. industry and the supply chain migrated overseas. Drones made in China by market leader DJI are now regarded as a security risk in the U.S. “Because we were not proactive, the market went in a way that was not to the benefit of our national security or industry,” says Roper. The value Agility Prime brings to the nascent eVTOL market is more than just funding, he says. It includes access to resources to help manufacturers move quickly through military certification so that the Air Force and other agencies can begin buying vehicles for missions including logistics, base defense and disaster relief, “removing the risk that the market will move overseas,” he says. “This looks like a model that could counteract the benefits a country like China gets with a nationalized industry base where you're able to pick winners and losers,” says Roper. “What I like about this is it brings together our national assets—our vibrant commercial ecosystem, private capital, government—but it maintains those markets that have been so amazing at keeping innovation fresh and vibrant.” Joby has used military airspace to test-fly its eVTOL under a Defense Innovation Unit contract won in 2017. Credit: Joby Aviation “The Air Force's Agility Prime initiative comes at a critical time when many innovative eVTOL developers are beginning to fly demonstrators but need support to move forward,” says Mike Hirschberg, executive director of the Vertical Flight Society. As private investment in startups and corporate spending in R&D have been hit by the novel coronavirus crisis, Agility Prime “is an endorsement of the potential of eVTOL technology that should also bolster investor confidence,” he says. The Air Force has established three “areas of interest” (AOI) under the Agility Prime “innovative capabilities opening” released in late February. The first AOI is for eVTOL air taxis carrying three to eight people, the second for one- or two-person vehicles and the third for unmanned cargo aircraft able to carry payloads of more than 500 lb. Each AOI has three phases: submission of a proposal or “solution brief,” a site visit to determine funding and testing needs and, if successful, an invitation to submit a prototype proposal. To qualify, bidders must be able to fly a full-scale prototype by Dec. 17. The program plans to award no-cost “other transaction authority for prototype” contracts to produce test reports on the vehicles. In return for providing access to Defense Department test resources and certification expertise, the Air Force, Marine Corps and other government agencies will get to assess the performance and capabilities of commercial eVTOLs with an eye to procuring aircraft off the shelf for military and public-use missions that have yet to be identified. The Air Force plans to field a small quantity of eVTOLs by 2023, says Lynda Rutledge, Air Force mobility and training aircraft program executive officer. The Air Force is particularly interested in the promise of eVTOL to provide lower acquisition and support costs, reduced acoustic and infrared signatures, and simplified flight control requiring less pilot training, says Agility Prime team lead Col. Nathan Diller. The missions being studied include transporting ballistic-missile operators to remote launch control centers, perimeter security at large bases, “lateral logistics” by moving packages and personnel between squads, disaster support to civilian agencies and distributed personnel recovery by locating rescue assets closer to combat. The $25 million provided by Congress for Agility Prime in fiscal 2020 is small compared with the cost of certifying an eVTOL. “When you look across our [vehicle] partners, just to develop an experimental aircraft is $100-150 million. To certify that aircraft is $750 million-1 billion,” Mark Moore, Uber Elevate director of strategy, told the Agility Prime virtual kickoff event on April 28. But the Air Force hopes that putting these vehicles through its trusted airworthiness program, and the data collected operating them, will accelerate FAA certification while early procurements will help scale up the supply chain. The Air Force goal is to operate 30 vehicles by 2030, says Roper, and the Marine Corps and Special Operations Command are also involved. By fielding eVTOLs “in some substantive way” by 2023, when Uber plans to begin limited commercial service in its pilot cities, the Air Force aims to “stress-test this new capability in a way that brings acceptance by the public, as well as delivers better capability for the Defense Department, [and] ultimately for the commercial market,” says Col. Scott McKeever, global mobility lead for the Air Force Warfighter Integration Capability office. A key consideration for Agility Prime is how private investors react to the Air Force working with eVTOL startups. Investors previously devalued companies if they were engaged with the Defense Department, Roper says. But since the Air Force revamped how it interacts with technology startups, the ratio of private to government investment has risen to 3:1 from 0.75:1, bringing more than $1 billion in private money into its programs, he says. “They now raise the value of a company if it is engaged with the Air Force,” he adds. By providing a boost to emerging eVTOL manufacturers at a time when access to private capital is limited, the Air Force hopes Agility Prime will help avoid a repeat of “the cautionary tale” of the drone industry. The virtual kickoff event, which ran from April 27-May 1, “really came out strong about the need for the U.S. to invest in American eVTOL developers and discouraged U.S. companies from accepting ‘adversarial capital' from countries like China,” says Hirschberg. “There are so many challenges with developing commercially compelling eVTOL systems; Agility Prime helps build momentum to overcome them,” says Hirschberg. “If we get Agility Prime right, I hope that it becomes the standard for how the Pentagon engages in all areas of commercial tech,” Roper says. Register for our latest free webinar on Friday May 15 where Agility Prime Team Leader Col. Nate Diller and Vertical Flight Society Executive Director Mike Hirschberg join Aviation Week editors to discuss this glimmer of hopeful news in hard times.
November 10, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, C4ISR

Navy, AF Order Tactical Radios from L3Harris Technologies
Posted on November 9, 2020 by Seapower Staff ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, supporting the U.S. Air Force, has awarded L3Harris Technologies an order for nearly 1,000 Falcon IV AN/PRC-163 two-channel handheld tactical radios that will provide Air Force personnel with Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) airmen with advanced communications capabilities, the company said in a Nov. 9 release. The order is part of a five-year Navy Portable Radio Program IDIQ contract received in 2017. The AN/PRC-163 is a multi-channel, software-defined radio that meets the Air Force's requirements for a small, multiband, multifunction and multi-mission tactical radio. The radio's enhanced interface is easy-to-use, and the flexible software-defined architecture enables users to quickly add new waveforms and capabilities such as Mesh ONE. The addition of mission modules allow tailored applications for specific missions such as ISR full-motion video. L3Harris' Falcon IV radios are integrated network systems that can simultaneously communicate over multiple channels and crossband between those channels. They are capable of satellite communications, VHF/UHF/L/S-band and multiple mobile ad-hoc networking waveforms including ANW2, WREN and U.S. Army tactical waveforms. Air Force TACPs can now access mission-critical information at a glance via interface with the Special Warfare Assault Kit, which enables blue force tracking and supports coordination of air-to-ground and ground-to-ground fires using multiple NSA type 1 waveforms. Situational awareness is advanced through the ISR mission module's full motion video capabilities. “L3Harris' AN/PRC-163 provides the TACP community with the most advanced, interoperable handheld radios for the Joint Terminal Attack Controller mission,” said Dana Mehnert, president, Communication Systems, L3Harris. “The radios deliver maximum flexibility in the joint domain and are a critical enabler of the future of the Advanced Battle Management System communications network. The AN/PRC-163 is being fielded by USSOCOM and the U.S. Army, which provides critical networking capability to the JADC2 architecture.” https://seapowermagazine.org/navy-af-order-tactical-radios-from-l3harris-technologies/

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