US military posture in Asia could change if China declares another Air Defense Identification Zone

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  November 7, 2018 | International, Aerospace

  South Korea and Spain seek deal to swap trainer jets for airlifters

  By: Jeff Jeong SEOUL — South Korean and Spanish defense officials are to discuss a possible trade of trainer and transport aircraft, according to arms procurement officials and industry sources in the Asian nation. The deal may involve about 50 basic and advanced trainer jets built by Korea Aerospace Industries, or KAI, and four to six Airbus A400M airlifters, they said. “South Korea and Spain plan to hold a joint defense industry committee in Madrid this month to discuss bilateral issues,” said an official with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, speaking on condition of anonymity. “The swap deal is not an official agenda item on the table, but the sides are open to discussing it.” The proposal was made by Spain during the Farnborough International Airshow in the U.K. last July, as the Spanish Air Force seeks to replace its older trainer fleet of Chilean ENAER T-35C Pillan jets, according to an industry source privy to the potential swap deal. “Spain ordered 27 A400M transport aircraft from Airbus but has decided not to use 13 of them, so the Spanish defense authorities have got approval from Airbus to sell the surplus products to other countries,” the source said. “Spain wants to sell four to six A400Ms to South Korea, and it buys 34 KT-1 basic trainer aircraft and 20 more T-50 supersonic trainer jets for advanced pilot training if possible.” If the deal is reached, Spain is willing to sell the A400M plane at 15 percent of the per-unit price of some $27 million, he said, adding the total value of the swap deal could be approximately $890 million. The envisaged deal could be a breakthrough for KAI to sell more of its trainer aircraft after its recent defeat in a U.S. Air Force trainer competition. “Any swap deal is delegated to the DAPA and its Spanish counterpart, and we're waiting on the results,” a KAI spokesman said. Airbus would not discuss the prospect of such a deal. Industry sources believe the proposed deal could meet the South Korean Air Force's need of acquiring larger airlifters for longer-range missions. During an Oct. 19 parliamentary inspection of the Air Force, the service revealed a plan to procure four more large transport aircraft in addition to its existing fleet of CN-235 and C-130 planes. “We have a plan to deploy larger transport aircraft to increase our capacity of rapid force deployment, emergency relief, peacekeeping and other operations over long distances,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Lee Wang-keun said in a report to lawmakers. Preliminary research on the requirements of the larger airlifter acquisition will be conducted between 2019 and 2020 before a request for proposal is issued for full operational capability by 2022, according to Air Force officials. The A400M Atlas is regarded as a strong candidate for the airlift procurement program, as the C-17 Globemaster III production line run by Boeing is shut down. The A400M can carry 116 fully equipped troops and up to 66 stretchers accompanied by 25 medical personnel. Email: jeff@defensenews.com https://www.defensenews.com/air/2018/11/05/south-korea-and-spain-seek-deal-to-swap-trainer-jets-for-airlifters

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  October 11, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - October 10, 2019

  ARMY CDM-Alberici JV, Boston, Massachusetts (W9128F-20-D-0002); Aptim Federal Services, Alexandria, Virginia (W9128F-20-D-0003); Wood-Cape, Blue Bell, Pennsylvania (W9128F-20-D-0004); Weston Solutions Inc., West Chester, Pennsylvania (W9128F-20-D-0005); ECC Environmental LLC, Burlingame, California (W9128F-20-D-0006); Conti Federal Services LLC, Edison, New Jersey (W9128F-20-D-0007); and AECOM Technical Services Inc., Los Angeles, California (W9128F-20-D-0008), will compete for each order of the $999,000,000 hybrid (cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price) contract for rapid disaster infrastructure construction. Bids were solicited via the internet with seven received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of April 9, 2028. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha, Nebraska, is the contracting activity. Adams & Associates LLC,* Fort Collins, Colorado (W9128F-20-D-0015); RHA LLC,* Glendale, Arizona (W9128F-20-D-0016); Strategic Value Solutions Inc.,* Independence, Missouri (W9128F-20-D-0017); and Value Management Strategies Inc.,* San Marcos, California (W9128F-20-D-0018), will compete for each order of the $9,900,000 firm-fixed-price contract for architect and engineer services for an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with services consisting of value engineering studies and related technical review and design analysis of civil works, military and other projects. Bids were solicited via the internet with seven received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 9, 2024. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha, Nebraska, is the contracting activity. Coastline Consulting & Development LLC,* Branford, Connecticut, was awarded a $7,845,150 firm-fixed-price contract for Annisquam River maintenance dredging. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work will be performed in Gloucester, Massachusetts, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 22, 2020. Fiscal 2010 civil construction funds in the amount of $7,845,150 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Concord, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity (W912WJ-20-C-0001). AIR FORCE Space Exploration Technologies Corp., Hawthorne, California (FA8818-20-D-0001); Xbow Launch Systems Inc., Auburn, California (FA8818-20-D-0002); Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems, Chandler, Arizona (FA8818-20-D-0003); Firefly Black LLC, Cedar Park, Texas (FA8818-20-D-0004); United Launch Alliance, Centennial, Colorado (FA8818-20-D-0005); Aevum Inc., Huntsville, Alabama (FA8818-20-D-0006); VOX Space LLC., El Segundo, California (FA8818-20-D-0007); and Rocket Lab USA Inc., Huntington Beach, California (FA8818-20-D-0008), have been awarded a combined ceiling $986,000,000 multiple-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price contract with a nine year ordering period. The contract seeks to capitalize on the emerging small launch providers while providing dedicated and primary launch services to the Department of Defense and other government agencies. The program allows for the rapid acquisition of launch services to meet mission requirements for payloads greater than 400 pounds, enabling launch to any orbit within 12-24 months from task order award. Work will be performed at the contractor facilities and a variety of government launch sites, depending on mission requirements. This award is the result of a competitive source acquisition and nine offers were received. Fiscal 2019 space procurement funds in the amount of $50,000 are being obligated at time of award. The Space and Missile Systems Center, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY US Foods Inc., Los Angeles, California, has been awarded a maximum $85,950,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-quantity contract for full-line food distribution for Department of Defense customers in the Southern California region. This was a sole source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a 237 day bridge contract with no option periods. Location of performance is California, with a June 6, 2020, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Air Force and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting agency is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE300-20-D-3242). The Gorman-Rupp Co.,* Mansfield, Ohio, has been awarded a maximum $7,245,900 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for hydraulic pump units for heavy expanded mobility tactical truck vehicles. This was a sole source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Ohio, with an Oct. 8, 2024, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Warren, Michigan (SPRDL1-20-D-0006). NAVY Brandes Associates Inc.,* Lone Tree, Colorado, is awarded a $78,227,293 cost-plus-fixed-fee indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract provides developmental and engineering support to include development, integration and test of mission planning products such as Naval Mission Planning Systems, Navy Tactical Aircraft, Joint Mission Planning Systems - Marine, Expeditionary, and legacy variants, emerging technology mission management capabilities, defensive electronic warfare libraries and all associated mission planning and control systems and subsystems. Work will be performed in Point Mugu, California (95%); and China Lake, California (5%), and is expected to be completed in November 2024. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was a small business set aside competitively procured via an electronic request for proposal; one offer was received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, China Lake, California, is the contracting activity (N68936-20-D-0001). ImSAR LLC,* Springville, Utah, is awarded a $7,287,309 cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order (N68335-20-F-0008) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N68335-18-G-0015). This order is in support of a Phase III Small Business Innovation Research effort (AF112-144) titled, "Advanced Radar Concepts for Small Remotely Piloted Aircraft." This order provides for the research, development, procurement and sustainment of the AN/DPY-2 split aces payload systems and communications relay package for the RQ-21A Blackjack unmanned aerial system. Work will be performed in Springville, Utah, and is expected to be completed in October 2020. Fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement; and research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $7,287,309 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Newport News, Virginia, is awarded a $7,150,019 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-17-C-2103 to exercise an option for the accomplishment of planning and design yard functions for standard Navy valves of nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers. This option exercise is for engineering and design support, including material support and the standard Navy valve planning and design yard for in-service nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by September 2020. Fiscal 2020 operation and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $1,700,000 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/1986937/source/GovDelivery/

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  April 24, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  America’s bomber force is facing a crisis

  By: Maj. Gen. Larry Stutzriem (ret.) and Douglas Birkey The nation faces a bomber crisis, and it is time to openly acknowledge the scale and scope of the problem. Tasked with deterrence and, if necessary, striking targets around the globe, Air Force crews operating these aircraft afford the nation's security leaders unique options best embodied in the phrase: anytime, anyplace. Despite the criticality of this mission, the Air Force currently operates the smallest, oldest fleet of bombers since its 1947 founding. No other service or ally has this capability, which places an imperative on this finite force. The service's recent announcement that it will be ending its continuous bomber presence in Guam further amplifies the precarious state of bombers. It is a stark warning to senior leaders in the Pentagon, in the executive branch and on Capitol Hill that the Air Force is “out of Schlitz” when it comes to the critical missions they perform. Bombers are unique instruments of power. They can strike targets with large volumes of kinetic firepower without requiring access to foreign bases and without projecting the vulnerability associated with regionally based land or sea forces. The striking power of a single bomber is immense. In fact, B-1Bs flying missions against ISIS in the opening days of Operation Inherent Resolve were able to carry more munitions than that delivered by an entire carrier air wing. Stealth bombers can penetrate enemy air defenses, depriving mobile targets of sanctuary. They can also carry large bunker-buster munitions required to eliminate deeply buried and hardened facilities. Bomber aircraft are also cheaper to operate on a per-mission basis when compared to alternate options, like ships, large packages of smaller strike aircraft or standoff missiles. The erosion of the bomber force is no secret. At the end of the Cold War, the U.S. Air Force possessed 400 bombers arrayed to fight the Soviet Union. Today, it has just 157, with a plan to cut a further 17 in the fiscal 2021 budget submission. Air Force efforts to modernize the bomber force a decade ago were thwarted within the Department of Defense by an excessive near-term focus on counterinsurgency operations. Bombers are requested by combatant commands on a continual basis given the concurrent threats posed by peer adversaries, mid-tier nations like Iran and North Korea, and hostile nonstate actors. The Air Force knows this mission area is stretched too thin, and that is precisely why in 2018 leaders called for an additional five bomber squadrons in “The Air Force We Need” force structure assessment. Well-understood risk exists with operating a high-demand, low-density inventory for too long. The B-1B force, which makes up over one-third of America's bomber capacity, offers a highly cautionary tale in this regard. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, the service retired 26 of these aircraft to free up modernization funds, which subsequently were snatched away from the bomber mission area for other uses. For the next two decades, the Air Force flew the B-1B in a nearly continuous string of intense combat deployments. Sustainment funding was under-resourced, which further wore down the B-1B force. Last summer, B-1B readiness rates plummeted below 10 percent — effectively putting them out of commission. As Air Force Global Strike Command Commander Gen. Tim Ray explained: “We overextended the B-1Bs.” It was a toxic formula of too much mission demand and too few airplanes. Air Force leaders continually signaled concern, but their calls for help went unanswered. The normal solution to this sort of a challenge would be straight-forward: Go buy more airplanes. However, operational B-21s will not be in production until the latter 2020s. The Air Force is asking to retire 17 B-1s to free up resources to nurse the remaining aircraft along as a stopgap measure. COVID-19 emergency spending and corresponding downward pressure on future defense spending are only going to aggravate the complexity of this juggling act with mission demand, available force structure and readiness. Whether world events will align with these circumstances is yet to be seen. It was in this context that the Air Force decided to end its continuous bomber presence on Guam. Launched in 2004 to deter adversaries like China and North Korea and to reassure regional allies, the mission has been a tremendous success. It clearly communicated U.S. readiness to act decisively when U.S. and allied interests were challenged. Ending continuous bomber presence in the Pacific now sends the opposite message, just as the region grows more dangerous. This is a decision with significant risk, yet it is an outcome compelled by past choices resulting in a bomber force on the edge. The path forward begins with admitting the nation has a bomber shortfall. Retiring more aircraft exacerbates the problem. Nor is this just an Air Force problem. Bombers are national assets essential to our security strategy and must be prioritized accordingly. If other services have excess funds to invest in ideas like a 1,000-mile-range cannon when thousands of strike aircraft, various munitions and remotely piloted aircraft can fill the exact same mission requirements, it is time for a roles and missions review to direct funding toward the most effective, efficient options. Bombers would compete well in such an assessment. Ultimately, the solution demands doubling down on the B-21 program. There comes a point where you cannot do more with less. Given the importance of bombers to the nation, rebuilding the bomber force is not an option — it is an imperative. Retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Larry Stutzriem served as a fighter pilot and held various command positions. He concluded his service as the director of plans, policy and strategy at North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command. He is currently the director of studies at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, where Douglas Birkey is the executive director. Birkey researches issues relating to the future of aerospace and national security, and he previously served as the Air Force Association's director of government relations. https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/commentary/2020/04/23/americas-bomber-force-is-facing-a-crisis/