13 novembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre
By: Aaron Mehta
WASHINGTON — A long-term continuing resolution will result in delays for modernizing America's nuclear warheads, while putting at risk an already challenging plan to build plutonium pits needed for the next generation of U.S. intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear officials are warning.
The National Nuclear Security Administration is a semiautonomous agency under the Department of Energy that handles the manufacturing and maintenance of America's nuclear warheads. Like other government agencies, NNSA would be limited to fiscal 2019 funding limits under a continuing resolution, and it would be unable to start new contracts.
The current continuing resolution, or CR, is set to end Nov. 21, but there is little expectation that regular budgeting will then resume. Congress is debating the merits of pushing the CR through December, but analysts are concerned the CR could extend into next year.
“We are in a situation right now where we have single-point failures throughout our enterprise,” Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, the NNSA administrator, said during a Defense Writers Group breakfast earlier this month. “It's necessary for us, for the NNSA and for the nuclear security enterprise to receive consistent and robust funding to modernize our infrastructure as well as continue ongoing operations.”
“We're looking at where we can move funding insofar as CRs will allow us to do so,” she added. “We're working very closely with OMB and the administration to see what we can do to continue our important programs to modernize the infrastructure as well as the stockpile and our workforce initiatives and our endeavors.”
Gordon-Hagerty did not go into detail about specific CR-related worries, but according to an NNSA source, the agency has identified three main areas of concern under a longer CR.
The first is, broadly, keeping the warhead modernization efforts on schedule. Two of those modernization programs — the B61-12 gravity bomb and W88 submarine-launched ballistic missile warhead — already face program delays thanks to an issue with a commercial part that has to be redesigned.
Gordon-Hagerty said a CR should not impact that particular issue, as the funding for a solution is coming from a realignment of other warhead modernization programs. But a delay to one program caused by a CR “does affect all of the other modernization programs and all of the other work that we have ongoing throughout our nuclear security enterprise,” she said.
The second major area of concern is the surplus plutonium disposition program, which is supposed to dispose of 34 metric tons of excess plutonium at a South Carolina facility. That program emerged as the successor to the controversial MOX program, and has faced opposition from South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham. Construction on that facility could be delayed under a CR.
The NNSA source said that the agency requested extra funding for the surplus plutonium disposition program through the budget anomaly process, but was not given the resources it requested.
The third area of concern is a 10-year plan to develop a native plutonium pit in the United States. The NNSA has been charged with producing 80 plutonium pits a year by 2030, a target that Gordon-Hagerty acknowledged is a tight window for the agency to hit, even with stable funding.
“We are again rebalancing, looking at our budget across the entire enterprise to see what it is we need to do to meet the scope and schedule of that 2030,” she said. “Am I confident we can get there? Yes. Is it fraught with — probably a bad way of saying it — land mines? It is.”
Construction costs
Construction featuring prominently on this list should not be a huge surprise; NNSA officials are quick to point out in public events that they are still using some buildings that date back to the Manhattan Project. According to Gordon-Hagerty, more than 50 percent of NNSA facilities are more than 40 years old, and over a third of those are about 70 years of age.
The looming CR extension comes as the agency launches a number of construction projects, and a CR could lead to major delays in standing up those facilities.
While that's an issue for every agency under a CR, the NNSA is concerned that the specialty construction talent needed to build those facilities may not available if a contract is frozen and then picked up again later.
There could also be high-dollar costs. Responding to a lawsuit by environmental groups trying to halt the construction of the Y-12 facility in Tennessee, NNSA said a six- to 12-month delay in construction at that location could result in almost $1 billion in extra costs for taxpayers and the agency may have to lay off 1,000 construction personnel.
Those numbers, first reported by the Exchange Monitor, likely have resonance with other potential delays at construction sites caused by a CR — meaning construction delays at one or more sites could quickly become costly for an agency whose facilities and construction needs have traditionally been underfunded.
“It's been on schedule and on budget for the last six years. It will be finished in 2025 for approximately $6.5 billion,” Gordon-Hagerty said of the Y-12 facility. “If that funding somehow fails to materialize, then we've got over 1,000 crafts [personnel] working at the site right now. Crafts personnel are hard to come by, especially those that are qualified. So if they see a question about funding or funding gets pulled back, they're going to find positions elsewhere.”
14 avril 2023 | International, Terrestre
For Rheinmetall, the total value of the order comes to ?129 million?if Norway exercises the option to procure additional Leopard 2 tanks, the order will be worth an additional ?44...
28 avril 2020 | International, Aérospatial
Lee Hudson The U.S. Navy has expedited its component workshare agreement with an Air Force aviation depot because of coronavirus-related workforce shortages. Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) located in North Carolina was initially scheduled to begin working on a Boeing F-18 cabin safety valve later this year while the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex's test chamber was closed for scheduled maintenance. But the time line was accelerated when Tinker AFB in Oklahoma had a significant number of workers unavailable due to COVID-19 risk mitigation efforts. The cabin safety valve is an integral part of the aircraft's environmental control system, Mary Linton, an aerospace engineer on the Gas Turbine Compressor-Pneumatics Fleet Support Team at FRCE, said in an April 27 statement. The valve is a component on both legacy F/A-18 Hornets and newer Super Hornets that acts as a backup to maintain cabin pressure above 23,000 ft. The part also serves as a supplement to the cabin air pressure regulator when the aircraft is in a rapid dive. “The original intent of bringing this workload to FRCE was to support Tinker Air Force Base through a major support equipment rework effort,” Linton said. “All of the great effort that went into establishing this capability proved even more critical to maintaining the readiness of the F-18 fleet as we navigate through the COVID-19 crisis.” The FRCE team was prepared to begin repairing, checking and testing the cabin safety valves in May, beginning with 20 per month before getting to a monthly rate of 40 by July, said John Miller, a planner and estimator with the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul Logistics department at FRCE. To date, FRCE has completed 18 of the 40 units inducted so far, with plans to funnel 10 more into the pipeline. Once those first units are completed, the team must wait for additional valves to maintain the workflow. “The availability of components is still in flux due to COVID-19 and other factors, but the transition should move smoothly,” Miller said. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/budget-policy-operations/covid-19-forces-usn-expedite-usaf-workshare-agreement
21 février 2020 | International, C4ISR, Sécurité
Budget has $9.8 billion for cyber security and cyber warfare; $3.2 billion for hypersonics; and $800 million for artificial intelligence (AI) research. THE MIL & AERO COMMENTARY – The 2021 U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) budget proposal is out, and it looks like several years of consistent growth driven by the Trump Administration may be leveling off. A closer look, however, may indicate a pivot to new leading-edge technologies and away from legacy systems. DOD leaders in their fiscal 2021 budget request to Congress, which was released last month, are asking for $705.4 billion, which is down about 1 percent from this year's level of $712.6 billion. Before you conclude that the Pentagon budget has turned flat, however, take a look at where the money's going. First, the bad news: procurement. This is where big-ticket items like aircraft, combat vehicles, and ships get funding. The DOD's procurement budget request for 2021 is $136.9 billion, down nearly 7 percent from this year's level of $147.1 billion. Contained in the DOD budget for procurement, moreover, are aggressive cuts to legacy weapons systems. The U.S. Air Force, for example, will retire 24 RQ-4 Block 20 and Block 30 Global Hawk Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and Block 30 multi-intelligence aircraft UAVs next year. Related: Army researchers eye fuel cells to provide power for infantry wearable electronics on the leading edge The U.S. Navy, meanwhile, will retire four Ticonderoga-class missile cruisers. The U.S. Army plans to eliminate 13 programs involving munitions, fires, protection, sustainment, mobility, mission command, and cyber programs that no longer are priorities. Additional cuts are expected. Next year the Navy plans no additional purchases of P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft; the MQ-4 Triton long-range maritime patrol UAV; or the MQ-25 Stingray UAV. The counterweight to these procurement cuts, however, is in the DOD's budget for research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E). As procurement spending is going down, the research budget is headed in the other direction. The Pentagon is asking for $106.6 billion, which is up about 1 percent from this year's research budget of $106.6 billion. Revealing is money is going. The DOD next year plans to spend $9.8 billion for cyber security and cyber warfare -- up 81 percent from $5.4 billion this year; $3.2 billion for hypersonics; $1.5 billion for military microelectronics and 5G networking; and $800 million for artificial intelligence (AI) research. Related: The new era of high-power electromagnetic weapons The Pentagon hypersonics budget will pay for research and development initiatives to develop the Army Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon; Navy Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS); and Air Force Advanced Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW). Research money also would include $1.1 billion for the Navy's next-generation frigate; $4.4 billion for the future Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine; and $464 million for two Large Unmanned Surface Vessels. The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is asking for $3.6 billion in 2021, a 3 percent increase from the $3.5 billion the agency received this year. DARPA has asked for $322.7 million for electronics research in 2021 -- a 1.7 increase from the 317.2 million the agency received this year. For sensors research, DARPA is asking for $200.2 million in 2021 -- a 26 percent increase over the $158.9 million the agency received this year. Related: Military researchers host industry day briefings for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning So, in short, it sounds like out with the old, and in with the new at the Pentagon. Four Navy cruisers that are at least 30 years ago are heading for retirement. Large, slow, and vulnerable Global Hawk UAVs are to be taken out of service, and Army programs no longer relevant amid today's global threats will be taken off the board. At the same time, enabling technologies considered crucial for today's military needs are on the upswing: hypersonic munitions and aircraft, cyber security and cyber warfare, 5G networking, and artificial intelligence. Perhaps the DOD has been due for a house cleaning like this for a while. Getting rid of obsolescent weapons systems makes sense because they're past the point of diminishing returns. Pumping more money into technologies for tomorrow's battlefield makes sense, too. These kinds of realignments are painful, yet essential. https://www.militaryaerospace.com/defense-executive/article/14168362/dod-budget-leadingedge-technologies-research