Opinion: Three Waves Of Change Shaping The Defense Industry | Aviation Week Network

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  August 12, 2019 | International, C4ISR

  Extending Field of View in Advanced Imaging Systems

  New program focuses on developing curved infrared focal plane arrays to improve optical performance and widen field of view while reducing system size of military imagers The military relies on advanced imaging systems for a number of critical capabilities and applications – from Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) and situational awareness to weapon sights. These powerful systems enable defense users to capture and analyze visual data, providing key insights both on and off the battlefield. Today, nearly all imaging systems rely on detector arrays fabricated using planar processes developed for electronic integrated circuits on flat silicon. While significant progress has been made in advancing these technologies for narrow field of view (FOV) systems, optical aberrations can limit the performance at the periphery in wide FOV systems that then require large, costly, and complex optics to correct. The trade-off for correcting optical aberrations by using large, heavy lenses is a reduction in optical signal and a large size penalty, which limits their use for new and emerging capabilities. “Tremendous progress has been made over the past 20 years towards making multi-megapixel infrared (IR) focal plane arrays (FPA) for imaging systems cost effective and available to the Department of Defense,” said Dr. Whitney Mason, a program manager in DARPA's Microsystems Technology Office (MTO). “However, limitations to the technology's performance and size remain. Current advances on the commercial side have shown the viability of small area, curved FPAs (CFPAs) for visible cameras. While these technologies have shown modest benefits, more must be done to achieve the performance and size requirements needed for imaging systems used in emerging defense applications.” DARPA developed the FOcal arrays for Curved Infrared Imagers (FOCII) program to expand upon the current commercial trend for visible sensor arrays by extending the capability to both large and medium format midwave (MWIR) and/or longwave (LWIR) infrared detectors. The program seeks to develop and demonstrate technologies for curving existing state-of-the-art large format, high performance IR FPAs to a small radius of curvature (ROC) to maximize performance, as well as curve smaller format FPAs to an extreme ROC to enable the smallest form factors possible while maintaining exquisite performance. FOCII will address this challenge through two approaches to fabricating a curved FPA. The first involves curving existing state-of-the-art FPAs, while keeping the underlying design intact. The focus of the research will be on achieving significant performance improvements over existing, flat FPAs, with a target radius of curvature of 70mm. The fundamental challenge researchers will work to address within this approach is to mitigate the mechanical strain created by curving the FPGA, particularly in silicon, which is very brittle. The second approach will focus on achieving an extreme ROC of 12.5 mm to enable a transformative reduction in the size and weight compared to current imagers. Unlike the first approach, researchers will explore possible modifications to the underlying design, including physical modifications to the silicon that could relieve or eliminate stress on the material and allow for creating the desired curvature in a smaller sized FPA. This approach will also require new methods to counter the effects of any modifications during image reconstruction in the underlying read-out integrated circuit (ROIC) algorithm. The FOCII program is hosting a proposers' day on August 13, 2019 at the Executive Conference Center, 4075 Wilson Blvd., Suite 300, Arlington, Virginia, 22203 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. EDT. The purpose of this meeting is to provide information on the FOCII program, promote additional discussion on this topic, address questions from potential proposers, and provide an opportunity for potential proposers to share their capabilities and ideas for teaming arrangements. The Special Notice for can be found here, https://www.fbo.gov/index.php?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=4c8a360d1f5be2e1b7e784f86b7d42fb&tab=core&_cview=0 Full details are available in the FOCII Broad Agency Announcement on FBO.gov: https://go.usa.gov/xV3EH. https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2019-08-09

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  April 5, 2018 | International, Aerospace

  Pentagon formulating plan to move F-35 management from central office to services

  By: Valerie Insinna and Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — The Defense Department plans to dissolve the F-35 Joint Program Office and revert to a more traditional management structure where the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps all run their own program offices – eventually. In a March 27 letter to Congress, the Pentagon's top acquisition official acknowledged that splitting up the F-35 management into smaller offices is likely the way to go for the future of the Pentagon's largest acquisition program. But exactly when such a transformation will occur was not defined in the letter written by Ellen Lord, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, and the expectation in the Pentagon is that it could happen within the next several years. “In order to effectively integrate and sustain the F-35 in the joint force, the military departments must have more direct ownership of the F-35 program and leverage organic capabilities, processes and infrastructure,” Lord wrote in the letter, which was sent to the congressional defense committees and first acquired by Inside Defense. “The department will evaluate the right time to begin this transition through the F-35 executive steering group, which has participation across the department.” The department intends to formulate a plan over the next year on how best to transition to service-led offices, Pentagon spokesman Cmdr. Patrick Evans told Defense News. Evans told Defense News that the transition will occur in three phases: “A measured restructure of the existing F-35 management structure, which begins immediately.” A hybrid structure, where separate service-run F-35 program offices report to a Joint Program Executive Officer, a position currently held by JPO head Vice Adm. Mat Winter. The full transition, where the services will have separate program offices and program executives that will report to the military department's acquisition head. “The full transition dates will be determined through a conditions-based detailed implementation plan with risk-informed criteria,” he said. Lord's letter lays out nine near-term actions that will enable the stand up of F-35 program offices specific to each military department. Lord's letter specifies that the eventual management structure will be comprised of an F-35A office led by the Air Force and an F-35B/C program office run the Navy and Marine Corps. Some of the near-term changes involve greater participation by the services within the F-35 JPO. For instance, the Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy will establish service deputies at the O-6 level. Those officials will be collocated at the JPO to provide the services' feedback on JPO decisions and also to help execute the transition to separate service-led offices. The JPO will also bring in “F-35A, F-35B and F-35C variant leads” that will eventually form the “nucleus” of future transition teams, the letter states. Meanwhile, the services will “conduct a gap analysis, charter and implementation plan to stand up individual fleet management offices.” That plan will include a proposed schedule and criteria for initial and full operational capability for the offices. The Pentagon will also conduct an audit of the JPO's billet structure and review the F-35 program charter with the intent to optimize manpower and cut down on bureaucracy, it said. While the changes could make it easier for the services to have oversight over their respective F-35 variants, the eventual dissolution of the JPO could make it more difficult for international customers to interface with the program. The JPO currently functions as a one-stop shop for foreign buyers — some of which, like Japan, are considering buying more than one variant of the aircraft. The office also oversees the work done by final assembly lines in Japan and Italy, as well as at sustainment hubs around the world. Evans said that the department will continue to work closely with F-35 international partners, but acknowledged that “in the longer-term, current international agreements will need to be updated and transition to service-based agreements. The phased implementation approach allows time to work through these changes in close coordination with our international partners in a way that maintains our strong commitment to them and our partnership.” In an emailed statement, the JPO said it was supportive of this initiative to improve the management of the F-35 program. “We are implementing improvements to increase transparency, and we'll continue to assess and evaluate the most efficient ways to support and manage this vital national defense program,” the statement read. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2018/04/03/pentagon-formulating-plan-to-move-f-35-management-from-central-office-to-services/

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  December 4, 2019 | International, Other Defence

  NATO’s London meetings are off to a rocky start

  By: Sebastian Sprenger LONDON — U.S. President Donald Trump landed Tuesday in London with a splash, decrying French President Emmanuel Macron's recent description of NATO as brain dead, calling it a “nasty” assessment and unfair to the alliance. Trump's remarks on the eve of a meeting of government leaders here on Wednesday come as NATO members are already on edge about myriad internal differences. Clashing views have become so pronounced in the last few weeks that some observers fear the worst for what has been billed as NATO's 70th birthday bash. “You just can't go around making statements like that about NATO,” Trump said of Macron in a joint news conference with Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. “It's very disrespectful.” The U.S. president's words are remarkable not for their tone — he also delivered an en passant bashing of French politics and economy — but for the substance of the argument. Trump, who has shown a deep disdain for the mere principle of multilaterlism, appears to be shielding NATO from Macron's critique, which in turn was partly aimed at himself. Talk about the three-dimensional chess of geopolitics. Or something like that. Stoltenberg, for his part, sought to downplay any cracks within the alliance, arguing in typical fashion that healthy squabbling should be expected in any group of countries working together. “If you look at the substance, you can see that the alliance is delivering,” he said at the NATO Engages think tank event in central London. He named ongoing operations to secure the eastern flank against Russia, the training of security forces in Iraq and an uptick in defense spending by all allies in recent years as examples of an alliance that continues to be operationally relevant. Stoltenberg was noncommittal, however, on the latest curveball thrown by member country Turkey. The Turks want their perception of a terrorist threat posed by YPG Kurdish units to their border with Syria recognized by all of NATO as a quid pro quo for backing the alliance's bolstering of the Baltics. Such a deal could cause a significant rift. Trump is an admirer of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and will likely get more deeply involved in the issue during meetings here. “Turkey does not question the alliance, but rather Turkey expects an understanding of the threat of terrorism to one of its allies,” Gülnur Aybet, Erdogan's senior adviser on foreign policy, told the NATO Engages audience. “We don't question the credibility of Article 5. On the contrary, we expect it to be fulfilled,” she added, referring to the alliance's creed that an attack on one member will prompt a response by all. https://www.defensenews.com/smr/nato-2020-defined/2019/12/03/natos-london-meetings-are-off-to-a-rocky-start/