16 octobre 2018 | International, Terrestre

General Dynamics Griffin Takes Lead To Replace M2 Bradley

BAE System's CV90 Mark IV is the latest upgrade of a 25-year-old vehicle widely used in Europe; the Rheinmetall-Raytheon Lynx is an all-new design, although individual components have a good track record; but the General Dynamics Griffin III is in the middle, combining a new gun and new electronics with the time-tested chassis from the European ASCOD family.

AUSA: General Dynamics looks like the early favorite to replace the Army's 1980s-vintage M2 Bradley troop carrier. That's my personal assessment after talking at length to officers and contractors at last week's Association of the US Army conference, where months of uncertainty finally gave way to some real clarity about both what the Army wants and what industry can offer.

In brief, GD's Griffin III demonstrator seems to hit the sweet spot between innovative and proven technologies that the Army wants to start fielding a Next Generation Combat Vehicle (NGCV) as soon as 2026. Of the three vehicles on display at AUSA,

BAE System's CV90 Mark IV is the latest upgrade of a 25-year-old vehicle widely used in Europe;
the Rheinmetall-Raytheon Lynx is an all-new design, although individual components have a good track record;
but the General Dynamics Griffin III is in the middle, combining a new gun and new electronics with the time-tested chassis from the European ASCOD family.

The competitors do have a lot in common. All offer tracked vehicles with diesel engines — even BAE, which once touted its hybrid-electric drives as a key selling point. All three boast open-architecture electronics to ease future upgrades, an integrated Active Protection System to shoot down incoming anti-tank warheads, modular armor that can be layered on or stripped down depending on the mission, and a turret capable of mounting a 50 mm gun, the Army's preferred caliber.

Only the Griffin actually has a 50mm installed right now, however. The others currently have 35mm cannon. It's also the only vehicle that can point its gun almost straight up, at an 85 degree angle, to hit rooftop targets in urban combat, something the Army has worried about extensively. Details like this suggest that General Dynamics has been listening more closely to the Army than its competitors. In fact, even where the Griffin III underperforms its competitors, most notably by carrying fewer infantry, it does so in areas where the Army is willing to make tradeoffs.

The End of the Beginning

Now, it's still early in the NGCV race. While we only saw three contenders on the floor at AUSA, it's still entirely possible a fourth player could jump in. My money's on the team of SAIC and Singapore-based STK, which is already offering a modified Singaporean army vehicle for the US Army's Mobile Protected Firepower (MPF) light tank.

The other MPF competitors are BAE, with an update of the Armored Gun Systemcancelled in 1996, and GD, offering a version of the Griffin. By November, the Army will award two of the three companies contracts to build prototypes. If either GD or the SAIC-ST team wins, they'll have at least a slight advantage for NGCV, since buying related vehicles for both roles will simplify training, maintenance, and supply. (BAE's AGS is totally unrelated to its CV90, so an MPF win wouldn't help it on NGCV).

By contrast to MPF, the competition for NGCV is only at the end of the beginning, not the beginning of the end. The Army's still refining its requirements, in part based on discussions with industry at AUSA.

What's the timeline? Col. James Schirmer, the program manager, said at the conference that “we are within weeks of having that requirement finalized.” Brig. Gen. Richard Ross Coffman, the Army's director of armored vehicle modernization, said a formal Request For Proposal (RFP) based on those requirements will come out no later than January.

So there'll be time for the competitors to revise their NGCV designs before submitting them. Even after that, more than one company will get a contract to build prototypes for Army testing.

What's the objective that drives both this pace and the technological tradeoffs the Army is willing to make? Fielding the first operational unit in 2026 — nine years earlier than the original plan — to help deter Russian aggression.

Deadline 2026

“All options are on the table, but the schedule will be the schedule,” Brig. Gen. Coffman told reporters at AUSA. “We would like to field this vehicle by 2026.”

“If someone could develop a clean sheet design that could meet that timeline,” he said, “it'd be great, but I don't know that's doable.”

(By contrast, the potential replacement for the M1 Abrams tank is coming later, so the service is looking for radical innovation).

Schirmer offered more specifics. “We have a pretty challenging test schedule... very similar to MPF, (so) we really can't afford a clean sheet design,” he said. The more mature the component technologies, the better, he said, but what's best is that those individual components have been proven as an integrated system.

Specifically, Schirmer said, “for the Bradley replacement, we are going to be buying vehicles that are based on a mature architecture — powertrain, track, suspension — that's already in service somewhere in the world.”

While these remarks leave the door open for the Lynx, or at least ajar, they're not particularly encouraging. By contrast, the CV90 series entered service with Sweden in 1993, with variants now serving in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Holland, Norway, and Switzerland. The Griffin III is the latest member of the ASCOD family — the Spanish Pizzaro, Austrian Ulan, and British Ajax — which debuted in Spain in 2002.

While the Army wants a proven hull, however, Schirmer says there is one area where technology is advancing fast enough for it be worth taking some risk: lethality, i.e. the gun and sensors. In particular, while the Bradley has a 25mm chaingun, the Army really wants NGCV to have a 50mm cannon — firing shells about four times as big — that's now in development at the service's Ammunition Research, Development, & Engineering Center (ARDEC).

That gun, the XM913, is currently integrated on just one competitor, the Griffin, although both the Lynx and CV90 turrets could accommodate it. All three vehicles, like the Bradley, also have room in the turret to mount anti-tank missiles of various types. The Griffin on the show floor also mounts a launcher for AeroVironment Shrike mini-drones, while the Lynx will have the option to launch Raytheon's Coyote: Both mini-drones can be configured either with sensors to scout or with warheads to destroy.

Even on weaponry, however, the Army is willing to make compromises to speed fielding, just as it introduced the original M1 Abrams with a 105 mm gun but with room to upgrade to the desired 120mm when it was ready a few years later. For NGCV, Schirmer said, they want the vehicle to have the 50mm gun eventually but “may settle on the 30 in the near term, just to meet schedule.”

Armor & Passengers

Besides gun caliber, the other easily measured aspect of an armored vehicle is its weight, which is very much a two-edged sword. There's been no breakthrough in armor materials since the 1980s and none on the horizon, so the only way to get better armor is to make it thicker. So a heavier vehicle is probably better protected, but it also burns more fuel, wears out more spare parts, and has more trouble getting places: Bridges and transport aircraft in particular can only take so much weight.

Full article: https://breakingdefense.com/2018/10/general-dynamics-griffin-takes-lead-to-replace-m2-bradley

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8 septembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial

U.S. Air Force Studies Rocket-Based Hypersonic Flying Testbed Plan
The U.S. Air Force is studying options for a hypersonic demonstrator, including potentially a return to rocket-based combined-cycle concepts similar to the X-43B project that was canceled in the 2000s. Credit: NASA To fully exploit the military utility of hypersonic speed in roles beyond high-speed weapons, the U.S. Air Force is stepping up its decades-long quest to develop a combined-cycle air-breathing... https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/aircraft-propulsion/us-air-force-studies-rocket-based-hypersonic-flying-testbed-plan
14 décembre 2018 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - December 11, 2018
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Michelin North America Inc., Greenville, South Carolina, has been awarded a maximum $51,004,943 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity, requirements contract to provide tire support for the global tires program. This was a competitive acquisition with seven responses received. This is a three-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is South Carolina, with a Dec. 10, 2021, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2018 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Columbus, Ohio (SPE7L1-19-D-0006). Practicon Inc., Greenville, North Carolina, has been awarded a maximum $40,000,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for dental consumable items. This is a one-year base contract with four one-year option periods. Maximum dollar amount is for the life of the contract, including options. This was a competitive acquisition with 25 offers received. Location of performance is North Carolina, with a Dec. 10, 2023, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2023 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2DE-19-D-0001). Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio, has been awarded a maximum $31,242,109 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity, requirements contract to provide tire support for the global tires program. This was a competitive acquisition with seven responses received. This is a three-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Ohio, with a Dec. 10, 2021, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2018 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Columbus, Ohio (SPE7L1-19-D-0005). NAVY Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., a Lockheed Martin Co., Stratford, Connecticut, is awarded $38,170,404 for cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order N0001919F2503, against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-19-G-0029). This delivery order provides for the development and delivery of a provisioning parts database of technical information to include 2D drawings that support all organizational, intermediate and depot levels in support of initial operational capability for the CH-53K program. Work will be performed in Stratford, Connecticut, and is expected to be completed in November 2023. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $8,600,000, will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. General Dynamics Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut, is awarded a $24,770,301 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-18-C-2101, to exercise an option for engineering and technical design effort to support research and development concept formulation of undersea technology for current and future submarine platforms. This contract procures advanced submarine research and development, including studies to support manufacturability, maintainability, producibility, electronic obsolescence, reliability, manning, survivability, hull integrity, performance, structural, weight/margin, stability, arrangements, main and auxiliary machinery systems, fluid systems, acoustics, non-acoustics, hydrodynamics, ship control, logistics, human factors, materials, stowage, submarine safety, automation and affordability. Work will be performed in Groton, Connecticut (99 percent); and Newport, Rhode Island (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by October 2019. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funding in the amount of $1,310,000 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin, Mission Systems and Training, Baltimore, Maryland, is awarded $16,158,990 for cost-plus-award-fee order N6278619F0001, against previously awarded basic ordering agreement (N00024-15-G-2303), to provide engineering and management services for LCS-13 post shakedown availability. Lockheed Martin will provide engineering and management services in support of 65,000 man-hours level of effort, and to provide the work specification, pre-fabrication, and material. Work will be performed in Baltimore, Maryland (33 percent); New York, New York (60 percent); and Marinette, Wisconsin (7 percent), and is expected to be completed by February 2020. Fiscal 2013 and fiscal 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $15,087,040 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end at the end of the current fiscal year. The Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion, and Repair, Bath, Maine, is the contracting activity. Bluestone-Ch2m JV ,* Berwyn, Pennsylvania, is awarded a maximum amount $10,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity architect-engineering contract for professional hazardous material and waste management environmental compliance, and engineering services in the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southeast (SE) area of responsibility (AOR). Initial task order is being awarded at $163,789 to prepare a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act-compliant closure of Building 257 at Naval Air Station, Corpus Christi, Texas. Work for this task order is expected to be completed by December 2019. All work on this contract will be performed at various Navy and Marine Corps installations in the NAVFAC SE AOR. The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months with an expected completion date of December 2023. Fiscal 2018 military construction (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $163,789 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the 2021 fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by operations and maintenance (Navy). This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with seven offers received. Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity (N69450-19-D-0105). ARMY World Wide Technology, Maryland Heights, Missouri, was awarded a $26,232,882 modification (P00003), to contract W15QKN-18-C-0108, for Army End Point Management Solutions-as-a-Service. Work will be performed in Maryland Heights, Missouri, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 26, 2019. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $26,232,882, were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, New Jersey, is the contracting activity. Rockwell Collins Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was awarded a $15,123,120 firm-fixed-price contract for small mission computer hardware and software. One bids was solicited with one bid received. Work will be performed in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with an estimated completion date of July 11, 2021. Fiscal 2017 and 2018 other procurement, Army funds in the amount of $15,123,120 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W911QY-19-C-0014). Raytheon Lockheed Martin Javelin JV, Tucson, Arizona, was awarded a $12,055,715 cost contract for Javelin engineering services. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 30, 2019. Fiscal 2018 other procurement, Army funds in the amount of $12,055,715, were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-19-C-0038). The Protective Group, A Point Blank Co.,* Miami Lakes, Florida, was awarded an $11,924,240 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of enhanced ballistic armor protection system kits. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 10, 2022. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-19-D-0013). Construction Co. Inc.,* Dayton, Ohio, was awarded a $9,429,000 firm-fixed-price contract for design and interior renovation and repair (Building 20) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Bids were solicited with three received. Work will be performed in Dayton, Ohio, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 24, 2020. Fiscal 2018 military construction funds in the amount of $9,429,000, were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville, Kentucky, is the contracting activity (W912QR-19-C-0007). AIR FORCE The Boeing Co., El Segundo, California, has been awarded a $22,772,840 modification (P00028) to contract FA8819-15-C-0007, to exercise Option Four for Space Based Space Surveillance Block 10 sustainment. This modification provides for the exercise of an option for the sustainment and required development necessary for Air Force operations and maintenance of the Space Based Space Surveillance system and Red Local Area Network. This effort includes systems engineering, operations, operations support, and contractor logistics support. Work will be performed in El Segundo, California; and Colorado Springs, Colorado, and is expected to be completed by June 20, 2022. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $14,943,930 are being obligated at the time of award. Space Superiority Systems Directorate, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, California, is the contracting activity. *Small business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1710661/
5 avril 2018 | International, Naval

Netherlands ‘very welcome’ to join European sub program — with a caveat
By: Sebastian Sprenger COLOGNE, Germany — The Netherlands would be welcome to join a German-Norwegian submarine acquisition program, even as the door is closing for final design work on the boats, the Norwegian defense ministry said. The statement comes as German defense industry officials have talked for weeks about what they believe is an impending move to reshuffle big-ticket shipbuilding programs by way of a new naval cooperation umbrella with the Dutch. In that telling, The Hague would join the purchase of 212CD-class submarines, built by Thyssen Krupp Marine Systems' undersea division, and gain a say in the fate of Germany's Mehrzweck-Kampfschiff 180 frigate program, from which the surface division of TKMS was excluded last month. While Berlin and The Hague have officially kept mum about details, several German industry officials and analysts surveyed for this article believe the prospect of a Dutch move is keeping the MKS-180 program's fate unpredictable. When asked about the Netherlands' interest in the German combat ship effort, Dutch defense ministry spokesman Peter Valstar only wrote in an email to Defense News that senior acquisition officials from both countries had met recently to discuss “various topics like possible cooperations on all kinds of defense projects.” As for submarines, “We're currently in the B-phase (research) of our so-called ‘Defence Material Process,‘” Valstar wrote. “The ‘need' (A-phase) of a submarine purchase is clear. The C-phase (further research) and D-phase (product and supplier) are still to come.” Norway has always considered the door open for additional submarine buyers since Oslo teamed with Berlin last year. The joint acquisition would see Norway buy four boats and Germany two. Buying and maintaining identical submarines would keep cost down for both countries, the argument goes. “Norway and Germany would like to see additional partners joining the cooperation, and it would be very welcome if the Netherlands should decide to join,” Norwegian defense ministry spokeswoman Ann Kristin Salbuvik wrote in an email to Defense News. “We are working together towards several potential nations, and we have a good dialogue with potential partners,” Salbuvik added when asked if the Dutch had formally expressed an interest. But the door is closing for would-be partners to have a say in the boats' configurations. “The design of the German-Norwegian submarines will soon be frozen in order for the supplier, TKMS, to be able to provide a binding offer in July 2018,” the spokeswoman wrote. “After this point in time, design changes will be costly, and will also have a negative impact on time and delivery schedules for the German-Norwegian submarine building program,” she added. “If additional partners join the cooperation, it will be beneficial for them to strive for as identical a design as possible.” It is unclear how far discussions for a Dutch-German naval armaments pact have bubbled up toward the defense ministries' leaders. But the issue is “very much a topic of conversation in political Berlin,” one source noted. If given the chance to tweak the MKS-180 configuration, the Dutch would push for a smaller ship design than is currently envisioned, one industry source predicted. With Damen Shipyards, the Dutch already have local industry in the running for the program, teaming with Germany's Blohm &Voss, which is now part of the German Lürssen group. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2018/04/04/netherlands-very-welcome-to-join-european-sub-program-with-a-caveat/

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