April 23, 2019 | International, Naval
By: David B. Larter
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy is shaking up its plan for acquiring a new, much larger and more deadly version of its Virginia-class attack submarine it aims to start buying this year.
The plan heading into this year was to start a contract on the 5th block of Virginias in October, beginning with an upgraded version of the block-four Virginia (a “straight-stick” Virginia), then the second boat in 2019 would be the first boat with the added with 84-foot section known as the Virginia Payload Module, designed to expand the Virginia's Tomahawk strike missile load-out from 12 to 40.
The rest of the 10-ship buy was suppose to have the VPM, a move designed to offset the retirement of the four 154-Tomahawk-packing guided missile submarines in the mid-2020s.
But the Navy is looking for savings and things have changed heading into the 2020 budget cycle.
Instead of nine of 10 block-five Virginias being VPM boats, the Navy is proposing to Congress that they add a third Virginia in 2020, but the first boat will be another “straight-stick.” Then in 2021, the Navy will return to buying two Virginias, but the first boat again will be a straight-stick and the second will have VPM. All the block five boats, VPM and otherwise, will have acoustic upgrades.
The net effect will be one fewer Virginia Payload Module in the block-five buy. Instead of nine of 10 boats in the buy having VPM, the Navy is proposing that eight of 11 boats have the VPM, deferring the VPM presumably to Virginia Block Six, which is slated to begin in 2024.
The last-minute shuffling of the deck on Virginia, which includes pushing out VPM boats for which Congress had already appropriated advanced procurement money, shifts what was originally supposed to be the end of the straight-stick Virginias this year to buying one new straight stick a year for the next three years.
This has raised concerns among those in the submarine building industry because of the potential for disruptions in the workflow at the yards, which is carefully planned out years in advance, and could even bleed over into the new, strategically vital Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine program.
“Just like there is one rule in real estate (‘location, location, location'), there is one rule in building ships: Predictability, predictability, predictability,” said Dan Gouré, a former Bush Administration defense official and military analyst with the Arlington-based Lexington Institute. “And they are messing with that now, for the first time in quite a while. And that makes no sense.”
The late changes have also affected the timeline for contract negotiations, and a source with knowledge of the details said a planned April contract date for block five is now unlikely. The date had already slipped from the beginning of the fiscal year in October, according to 2018 budget documents.
The Virginia-class program has begun seeing creeping delays which the Navy acknowledged this year will likely be between four and seven months on each boat for the foreseeable future. The service says it has struggled to meet more aggressive construction timelines because of issues within the supplier base, which are causing delays.
A spokesman for the Navy's research, development and acquisition office said he wouldn't comment on precisely what savings would be achieved with the strategy, citing ongoing negotiations, but said the move of a matter of competing priorities within the budget. He also said the changes in the VPM schedule were not part of ongoing supplier challenges.
“To support the Navy's PB-20 request the decision to delay VPMs in FY-20 and 21 was based on competing requirements,” said Capt. Danny Hernandez, RD&A spokesman. “This was not based on any issues with shipbuilding or supply chain.”
Added Wrinkle
The third boat in 2020 also adds a wrinkle to the schedule. According to the Navy's justification books, the third boat will not start construction until 2023, which is the year before the service plans to buy a second Columbia-class boomer.
That means the shipyards will be building three Virginias in 2023.
The Virginia Payload Module strategy of continuing to buy straight-stick Virginias into 2021, ensures that General Dynamics Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls Newport News will be building both straight sticks and Virginia Payload Module Virginia-class boats and the Columbia class simultaneously through 2026 and beyond, according to Navy budget documents.
That will stress the yards and the supplier base, raising the risk that Columbia could run late, according to an industry source who spoke on background.
“The juxtaposition of Virginia VPM and Columbia will be an added challenge for the shipyards,” the source said. “VPM and Columbia will have no learning curves when both projects are started. As we saw with Seawolf and Virginia (and every other first of a class ship the Navy has ever built) first ships are late and over cost.
“Unfortunately, with the delay to the original program, Congress and the Navy have run the clock down, so there is no margin for Columbia to be late.”
The mounting challenges within the submarine building enterprise prompted RD&A chief James Geurts to stand up a new program office specifically for the Columbia class, which was previously organized under Program Executive Office Submarines. Rear Adm. Scott Pappano is heading the new enterprise.
“My concern was with Columbia being our No. 1 acquisition priority and all the other submarine activities we have going on, do we have enough leadership bandwidth available to oversee and run all those programs simultaneously?” Geurts said in an early March roundtable with reporters.
“As I understand the challenges going forward, [I wanted to] get PEO-level support to that program as it starts ramping up. And I didn't want to wait for a crisis for that to occur; I wanted to make sure we are proactively working the program.”
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June 13, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Security
By: Vivek Raghuvanshi NEW DELHI — In a move to bolster India's space warfare capabilities, the ruling National Democratic Alliance government has approved the creation of the Defence Space Research Organisation. DSRO will provide technical and research support to its parent organization, the Defence Space Agency. Last week, India's Cabinet Committee on Security, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the creation of DSRO to also develop space warfare systems and associated technology, according to a Ministry of Defence official. DSRO will be headed by a senior defense scientist who will lead a team of other scientists. The agency is expected to be operational by the end of this year. The organization is also charged with finding and implementing defense applications for India's entire spectrum of space technologies. In April, the government established the Defence Space Agency, or DSA, to command the space assets of the Army, Navy and Air Force, including the military's anti-satellite capability. The agency is also to formulate a strategy to protect India's interests in space, including addressing space-based threats. The MoD official noted that the creation of the two agencies is aimed at developing a multidimensional approach to using outer space for strategic purposes. The DSA will be headed by an Air Force vice marshal and will have a staff of 200 personnel from three wings of the armed forces, according to another MoD official. In addition, the DSA will seek input on space as a domain of warfare from the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Defence Research and Development Organization. India's existing military space agencies — including the Defence Imagery Processing and Analysis Centre, located in New Delhi, and the Defence Satellite Control Centre, located in Bhopal — will be merged with DSA. In March, India also conducted an anti-satellite test, which demonstrated its capability to shoot down satellites in space. https://www.defensenews.com/space/2019/06/12/india-to-launch-a-defense-based-space-research-agency/
January 11, 2019 | International, Aerospace
Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson sets sights on next century of British air power as major fighter jet milestones are reached Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has today revealed that Britain's combat air power has reached new heights whilst speaking in a brand-new hangar displaying one-hundred years of fighter jets. Speaking at RAF Marham, the Defence Secretary announced the UK now has nine F-35 Lightning jets ready to be deployed on operations around the world. The F-35 Lightnings will form the backbone of the UK's combat air fleet alongside the Typhoon jets, which the Defence Secretary also announced have now been fitted with a state-of-the-art complex weapons suite to vastly increase its capability. Under ‘Project Centurion', worth £425m over the past three years, the Typhoon now has deep strike cruise missile Storm Shadow, air-to-air missile Meteor and the precision attack missile Brimstone at their disposal. It means the jets have boosted capabilities to intercept airborne missiles and strike ground based targets, seamlessly taking over from the Tornado's attack role as it nears retirement. Completed on-time and to budget, the upgrades transform the fleet into a world-leading multi-role combat air platform for decades to come. Military engineers and personnel have worked together with hundreds of UK workers from British defence firms including BAE Systems, MBDA and Leonardo to reach the milestone. The Defence Secretary made the announcement in front of four different aircraft, in a brand-new maintenance hangar at RAF Marham, which he opened today along with a state-of-the-art new training centre. These facilities, along with resurfaced runways and new landing pads to accommodate the jet's ability to land vertically, are a key part of the £550m being invested in the Norfolk base. Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said: As we bid farewell to the RAF's first century, we are setting our sights on the next 100 years. Our nation is moving into a new era outside the EU, and our huge achievements in air capability make our commitment to a role on the world stage clear to both our allies and our enemies. The incredible F-35 jets are ready for operations, a transformed Typhoon has the power to dominate the skies into the 2040s and we continue to look even further into an ambitious future. The RAF has long shown Britain at its great and global best, and today it lifts our nation to even greater heights. The year ahead will see the F-35 Lightning pilots and ground crew continue learning how to operate and maintain the jets in the new centre, which features state-of-the-art simulators, classrooms, and physical aircraft mock-ups. The facility provides a real-life training environment replicating the challenges that both pilots and crew will face in supporting and operating the F-35 Lightning. Pilots from 617 Squadron, who are already based at RAF Marham, will practice flying the next generation aircraft from four full mission simulators. Having the F-35s ready for operations on time is a huge landmark in what is the biggest defence project in history, which the UK has been a leading partner in for almost 25 years. Around 150 UK personnel had been working with the jets in the US before the first batch of aircraft came to the UK last summer. Not only does the programme offer the UK a game-changing military capability, but with British industry manufacturing 15% of a global orderbook of over 3,000 jets, it supports around 25,000 UK jobs and is projected to be worth around £35bn to the national economy. The Defence Secretary made the announcement in front of four aircraft, which represent the past and future of British fighter jets. They included the Tornado, which has been in-service since 1979, making its combat debut in the 1991 Gulf War, and which will be retired later this year. Its unique capabilities have now been transferred to the Typhoon. In addition to the Typhoon and F-35, the Tempest concept fighter jet model was also on show. The model, which represents an example of what the UK's future capability might look like, was unveiled last Summer at Farnborough International Air Show, when the Defence Secretary launched the nation's Combat Air Strategy to ensure the UK remains a world-leader in the sector for years to come. The aim is then for a next-generation capability to have initial operational capability by 2035. Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier said: I am proud to confirm that the RAF's Combat Air capability has taken yet another significant step towards the realisation of our Next Generation Air Force. With its cutting-edge stealth technology, our F-35s are now ready to deploy on operations and, alongside our combat-proven Typhoon, offer a step-change in our ability to employ air power around the world. Furthermore, the successful integration of Stormshadow, Brimstone and Meteor on Typhoon completes and enhances the transition of world-class capabilities from Tornado and allows a stalwart of the RAF's Combat Air inventory to retire from service. The successful attainment of these milestones and the potential offered by Project TEMPEST will continue to assure the RAF's ability to protect the nation, defend the United Kingdom's interests and support the national prosperity agenda now and well into the future. The RAF has already trialled its Typhoon and F-35 Forces' interoperability. In a series of operational trials, the evidence clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of both platforms when operating alongside one another. With its larger payload and increased agility and range, the Typhoon will operate in concert with the stealthy F-35 and its next-generation sensors, making the RAF one of the few air forces with the ability to exploit the synergy of 4th and 5th generation combat aircraft and delivering the UK a potent force equipped to counter evolving threats in the global environment. The UK is a world-leader in the combat air sector, which supports over 18,000 highly skilled jobs with a mix of skills and technologies unique in Europe. The sector delivers a turnover in excess of £6bn a year and has made up over 80% of defence exports from the UK over the last ten years. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/defence-secretary-sets-sights-on-next-century-of-british-air-power