31 mars 2023 | International, Terrestre

Army Materiel Command boss says logistics are key to future warfare

"Gone are the days when we had everything down to your favorite ice cream," warns Gen. Charles Hamilton.

https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/global-force-symposium/2023/03/31/army-materiel-command-boss-says-logistics-are-key-to-future-warfare/

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  • Sink Feeling: The Navy's 7 Big Problems (One Is the F-35)

    14 janvier 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval

    Sink Feeling: The Navy's 7 Big Problems (One Is the F-35)

    by Michael Peck “The Navy continues to struggle with rebuilding the readiness of the existing fleet due to enduring maintenance and manning challenges,” the report finds. “As the Navy seeks to expand its fleet by 25 percent, these challenges will likely be further exacerbated and the Navy will likely face additional affordability challenges.” The Navy must fix the teething troubles of a new and complicated aircraft that lacks sufficient spare parts: in 2017, only 15 percent of Marine F-35Bs were rated fully mission-capable. “The Navy and the Marine Corps may have to decide whether they are willing to accept less reliable and maintainable aircraft than originally planned,” GAO warned. How can the U.S. Navy buy more ships and planes when it can't maintain the ones it has? That's the question posed by a new Government Accountability Office report . “The Navy continues to struggle with rebuilding the readiness of the existing fleet due to enduring maintenance and manning challenges,” the report finds. “As the Navy seeks to expand its fleet by 25 percent, these challenges will likely be further exacerbated and the Navy will likely face additional affordability challenges.” Auditors point to seven problems that GAO, Congress's watchdog agency, have highlighted over the past several years, but which have yet to solved: Training: After a series of embarrassing collisions at sea in 2017, which led to fears that Navy has forgotten basic ship-handling skills, training was revamped along with fewer waivers for required training. Still, “while the Navy has demonstrated its commitment to ensuring that crews are certified prior to deploying, training for amphibious operations and higher-level collective training may not be fully implemented for several years.” Maintenance backlogs: Between 2012 and 2018, only 30 percent of maintenance was completed on schedule. In particular, most Navy attack submarines have suffered maintenance delays. The backlog is caused by insufficient capacity in public shipyards as well as shortages of shipyard workers. Overworked sailors: In 2017, GAO concluded that the Navy was underestimating how many sailors were needed to man ships, leading to undersized crews and overworked sailors. The Navy says it is aiming for surface ships based overseas to have a minimum of 95 percent of their complement, but GAO auditors who interviewed crews in Japan were told that “the Navy's methods for tracking fit and fill do not account for sailor experience and may be inaccurately capturing the actual presence of sailors onboard and available for duty on its ships. Moreover, sailors consistently told us that ship workload has not decreased, and it is still extremely challenging to complete all required workload while getting enough sleep.” Unrealistic budgeting: The Navy wants to boost the number of ships by 25 percent, and is planning to buy 301 new ships between now and 2048 as well as extending the life of older destroyers and submarines. But GAO and the Congressional Budget Office have calculated that the Navy “has consistently and significantly underestimated the cost and timeframes for delivering new ships to the fleet. For example, the Navy estimates that buying the new ships specified in the fiscal year 2019 plan would cost $631 billion over 30 years while the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that those new ships would cost $801 billion—a difference of 27 percent.” Aging aircraft: Numerous aircraft models across the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps have been plagued by low availability rates due to aging aircraft, lack of spare parts for older planes, and too few mechanics. Too few pilots: The shortage of Marine Corps fighter pilots quadrupled to 24 percent between 2006 and 2017, while the Navy has been scrambling to fill pilot vacancies. “Further compounding their pilot shortages, we also found that the services have not recently reevaluated squadron requirements to reflect an increased fighter pilot workload,” said GAO. “As a result, the reported shortage actually could be greater.” The F-35: The Navy must fix the teething troubles of a new and complicated aircraft that lacks sufficient spare parts: in 2017, only 15 percent of Marine F-35Bs were rated fully mission-capable. “The Navy and the Marine Corps may have to decide whether they are willing to accept less reliable and maintainable aircraft than originally planned,” GAO warned. Michael Peck is a contributing writer for the National Interest. He can be found on Twitter and Facebook. https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/sink-feeling-navys-7-big-problems-one-f-35-41502

  • Navy, Boeing make aviation history with MQ-25 becoming first unmanned aircraft to refuel another aircraft - Skies Mag

    8 juin 2021 | International, Aérospatial, Naval

    Navy, Boeing make aviation history with MQ-25 becoming first unmanned aircraft to refuel another aircraft - Skies Mag

    The Boeing-owned MQ-25 T1 test asset successfully extended the hose and drogue from its U.S. Navy-issued aerial refueling store and safely transferred jet fuel to a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet.

  • A C-130H training subcontractor has replaced Lockheed Martin as prime for Air Force contract

    28 septembre 2018 | International, Aérospatial

    A C-130H training subcontractor has replaced Lockheed Martin as prime for Air Force contract

    By: Daniel Cebul WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force has awarded CAE USA a contract to provide training services for C-130H aircrew, according to a Sept. 26 service announcement. The potential eight-year contract is valued at nearly $200 million and will begin Oct. 1. It comes with a one-year base period and seven additional option years. The company was a subcontractor on the training program for almost 20 years. “[W]inning the C-130 Aircrew Training System program to support the United States Air Force is a significant achievement and further testament to CAE's experience as the world's leading provider of training systems and services for the enduring C-130 Hercules aircraft,” said Ray Duquette, the general manager and president of CAE USA. Replacing Lockheed Martin as the prime contractor, CAE will be responsible for providing classroom and simulator instruction, training device modifications and upgrades, systems engineering support, program management, contract logistics support, and management of the C-130H Training Systems Support Center at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas. The formal training unit for the Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard C-130H training is based at Little Rock AFB, but is also provided at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia; Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington; Minneapolis Air National Guard Base, Minnesota; and Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico. Each year, more than 11,000 crew members from the U.S. Air Force, other U.S. military services and over 30 other countries are trained under the C-130H ATS program. https://www.defensenews.com/training-sim/2018/09/26/a-c-130h-training-subcontractor-has-replaced-lockheed-martin-as-prime-for-air-force-contract

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