29 octobre 2019 | International, Naval

Submarines are poised to take on a major role in strike warfare, but is that a good idea?

By: David B. Larter

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy is preparing to ink one of the largest contracts in its history with General Dynamics Electric Boat and the firm's partner shipyard Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News that will make the new generation of attack submarines a major force in strike warfare.

The Block V Virginia contract is expected to produce 11 boats with eight Virginia Payload Modules, and will triple the Virginia's Tomahawk Land Attack Missile capacity to 40 missiles per hull. Experts say that the new Virginia Payload Module will also be large enough to accommodate boost-glide hypersonic missiles like those the Navy is developing with the Army.

But the logic for the Virginia Payload Module has always been about replacing the Ohio-class guided missile submarines retiring in the 2020s. Because submarines have been the Navy's go-to asset to penetrate areas threated by Chinese and Russian surface-to-surface and anti-ship missiles, attack submarines loaded with strike missiles would have to be the ones to get close enough to be able to launch land-attack strikes.

That model upends decades of the surface Navy's supremacy in the world of strike warfare from the sea, but experts are beginning to question the logic of giving the strike warfare mission to submariners in an era of great power competition. With Russia and, to an even greater extent, China investing heavily in anti-submarine technology, does it make sense to give a stealthy asset a mission that will blow its cover?

Bryan Clark, a retired submariner and senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, wonders if the surface fleet is the best place inside the force to house the strike mission.

“I think the requirement may be changing,” he said in an Oct. 22 phone call with Defense News. “Over the past 10 years there has been a real emphasis on the submarine as the one tool we have that may be able to get into contested areas — the East and South China seas, up in the north Atlantic, etc.

“That's changing now: These countries are investing in their own anti-submarine warfare systems. China has put a lot of money into ASW systems, they are installing surveillance systems akin to our SOSUS [sound surveillance system]. So the idea that our submarines are our go-to asset to gain access, that may not be true in the next few years as it was in the past 10, so there is a question as to whether we should be investing in submarines to maintain the undersea strike capacity.”

‘Increasingly vulnerable'

The issue is not just that submarines run the risk of being detected, which is an ever-present risk anytime a submarine leaves the pier, but that it won't be able to create the volume of fires that the surface fleet could, especially with new concepts in development such as a large unmanned surface vessel that could act as a kind of arsenal ship.

“The surface fleet is likely going to be our best strike capacity asset in the next decade,” Clark said. “Submarines are going to be increasingly vulnerable, so the question becomes: Do I want to take my [Virginia Payload Module]-equipped SSN, put it inside the South China Sea to launch strikes, get counter-detected and harassed for days afterward? I lose it from the fight for a long time just evading attacks.

“Whereas if you used unmanned surface vessel[s], those can launch just as many cruise missiles as a Virginia class, many times cheaper; they can rotate, get reloaded and just keep launching strikes at a much higher rate of fire as you would ever get out of the SSN force.”

Jerry Hendrix, a retired naval flight officer and analyst with The Telemus Group, agreed that the surface fleet is likely going to be the place to house a strike capability, especially in the era of mass hypersonic fires, because of the cost it would impose on the U.S. to try to match Chinese capabilities on subs.

“I think there is a powerful argument to distribute these weapons across the surface force,” Hendrix said. “If you can create a strike weapon that allows the surface force to stand outside of DF-21 and DF-26 range and shoot three-pointers from outside, then yes. To create mass and volume in the submerged force is twice to three times as expensive as it is to create that volume from the surface force.

“So there is a solid argument just from the standpoint of cost. If I was trying to create 2,000 tubes of hypersonics — which are much more massive than Tomahawks, wont fit into a Mark 41 vertical launch system and hence will have to go into a different configuration — to create that mass in the submerged force is going to be very expensive.”

The Navy is looking at back-fitting destroyers with larger vertical launching system tubes to accommodate so-called prompt-strike weapons, Defense News reported in June. But some analysts say the mission is better suited for a large unmanned surface vessel.

“I think this is going to one of the main things driving the design of the large unmanned surface combatant,” said Dan Gouré, an analyst at the Lexington Institute think tank. “We're back to arsenal ship: long-range, park it into a surface action group of carrier strike group — kind of like a surface version of the SSGN.”

https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2019/10/28/submarines-are-poised-to-take-on-a-major-role-in-strike-warfare-but-is-that-a-good-idea/

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11 novembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - November 10, 2020
AIR FORCE The Boeing Co., Defense, Space & Security, St. Louis, Missouri, has been awarded a $9,800,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for F-15 support for Saudi Arabia. This contract provides for modernization and sustainment of the F-15 Saudi fleet to include such efforts as hardware, software, and interface design, development, integration, test, subsystem and structural component production and installation of future modifications and enhancements to the F-15 Saudi weapon system as well as product support. Work will be performed in St. Louis and as separately specified in individual task and delivery orders and is expected to be completed by November 2025. The ordering period for this contract is five years from the date of contract award plus an option for an additional five year ordering period. This contract involves Foreign Military Sales (FMS) to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Initial delivery order FA8634-21-F-0015 will be awarded concurrently in the amount of $1,032,649 using FMS modification and development type 4F funds. The F‐15 Division Contracts Branch, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8634‐21‐D‐2703). The 3M Co., St. Paul, Minnesota, has been awarded a $37,460,947 firm-fixed-price modification (P00003) to contract FA8638-20-C-0046 for the production capacity expansion for N95 respirators undefinitized contract action (UCA). This modification definitizes the UCA. Work will be performed in Aberdeen, South Dakota, and is expected to be completed April 30, 2021. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2020 other procurement funds in the full amount are being obligated at the time of award. This modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $125,460,947. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia, has been awarded a $10,319,026 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for Pulsed and Continuous Wave Innovation for Integration and Effects Research (PACIFIER). This contract provides for enhanced experimental and predicative capabilities to address existing and emerging laser systems and to quantify the effects of high power continuous-wave lasers interacting with a variety of materials and targets. Work will be performed at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, and is expected to be completed Sept. 30, 2025. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and three offers were received. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,800,233 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Research Laboratory, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, is the contracting activity (FA9451-20-C-0026). (Awarded Sept. 29, 2020) KIDDE Technologies Inc., Wilson, North Carolina, has been awarded a $7,800,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the manufacture of fire cartridge extinguishers. This contract provides for supply of fire cartridge extinguishers for F-35, E-8, E-3, and KC-10 aircraft. Work will be performed in Wilson, North Carolina, and is expected to be completed Dec. 31, 2026. This contract involves sales to Joint Partner Nations and Foreign Military Sales countries and is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2021 Joint Strike Fighter funds in the amount of $97,986 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8213-21-D-0001). NAVY RAMSys GmbH, Ottobrunn, Germany, was awarded a €35,324,329 and $35,634,345 firm-fixed-price modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-18-C-5403) for fiscal 2021 German Navy requirements for Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) MK 49 Guided Missile Launching Systems (GMLS), and associated shipboard hardware and spares. The RAM Guided Missile Weapon System is co-developed and co-produced under an International Cooperative Program between the U.S. and Federal Republic of Germany's governments. RAM is a missile system designed to provide anti-ship missile defense for multiple ship platforms. This contract is to procure material, fabricate parts, assemble, test, and deliver RAM MK 49 GMLSs and spares. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona (33%); Ulm, Germany (26%); Roethenbach, Germany (16%); Louisville, Kentucky (12%); Ottobrunn, Germany (10%); and Schrobenhausen, Germany (3%), and is expected to be completed by June 2028. German cooperative funds in the amount of €35,324,329 and $35,634,345 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured under the exception 10 U.S. Code 2304(c) (4), International Agreement. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Awarded Nov. 5, 2020) KBR Diego Garcia LLC, Houston, Texas, is awarded a $61,307,522 modification for the exercise of Option Three under an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for base operating support services at U.S. Navy Support Facility, Diego Garcia. After award of this option, the total cumulative contract value will be $240,038,950. The work to be performed provides for general management and administration services; command and staff (information technology services, information technology support and management, telephone services, telecommunication services, antenna maintenance); public safety (fire protection and emergency services); air operations (ground electronics, airfield facilities, and passenger terminal and cargo handling); port operations; supply (supply services and petroleum, oil and lubricant management and operations, and ship's store service activities); morale, welfare and recreation support; galley; bachelor quarters; facilities support (facility management, facility investment sustainment, restoration and modernization, custodial, pest control, integrated solid waste management, grounds maintenance, and pavement clearance); utilities (electrical, compressed gases, wastewater, steam, hot water and demineralized water and potable water); base support vehicles and equipment; and environmental to provide integrated base operating services. Work will be performed in Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory, and is expected to be completed by November 2021. No funds will be obligated at time of award. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy and Air Force); and fiscal 2021 non-appropriated funds in the amount of $42,801,266 for recurring work will be obligated on individual task orders issued during the option period, of which $42,801,266 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Far East, Yokosuka, Japan, is the contracting activity (N62742-17-D-3600). Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Linthicum, Maryland, is awarded a $33,921,325 cost-plus-fixed-fee job order with a two-year period of performance, to procure supplies, services, and repairs for the AN/ALQ-218 and AN/ALQ-240 systems and their variants. Work will be performed at the Baltimore, Maryland facility and will be completed by November 2022. Contract funds in the amount of $40,000 will be obligated at the time of contract award. Obligated funding is fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement, Navy. In accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1), this contract was not competitively procured; only one responsible source and no other sources will satisfy agency requirements. The contracting agency is Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, Crane, Indiana (N0016421GWS42). Hornbeck Offshore Operators LLC, Covington, Louisiana, is awarded a $9,176,100 firm-fixed-price contract for the Undersea Rescue Command support vessel HOS Dominator in the Eastern Pacific vicinity of San Diego, but may be employed worldwide. This vessel shall function as offshore support vessel primarily for the U.S. West Coast. The vessel's primary mission shall be to support Navy submarine rescue utilizing the Navy Submarine Rescue Chamber Flyaway System, Assessment Underwater Work System, and the Navy Submarine Rescue Diving and Recompression System, including training. The vessel may also serve as escort for submarine sea trials, as well as a diving platform utilizing existing and developing portable diving systems, and other missions as required by the Navy and permitted by the vessel's certifications and classifications. The contract also contains four unexercised options which, if exercised, would increase cumulative contract value to $44,245,122. Work is expected to be completed by November 2025. Fiscal 2021 working capital funds (Navy) in the amount of $6,787,800 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the beta.SAM.gov website, with four proposals received. The Navy's Military Sealift Command Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N32205-21-C-4115). ARMY Turner Construction Co., New York, New York, was awarded a $34,050,240 firm-fixed-price contract for construction of a new aircraft hangar facility at Redstone Arsenal. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2022. Fiscal 2020 military construction, Army funds in the amount of $34,050,240 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W91278-21-C-0006). *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/article/2411921/source/govdelivery/
6 mai 2022 | International, Aérospatial

Le Canada injecte près de 100 millions US pour le développement du F-35
Ottawa a effectué un versement de près de 100 millions US dans le cadre d’un accord renégocié qui devrait voir le Canada assumer dorénavant une plus grande part de la facture commune pour le développement du F-35.
19 juin 2018 | International, Aérospatial, Naval

Trump orders creation of independent space force - but Congress will still have its say
Valerie Insinna and Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday appeared to sign an executive order directing the Pentagon to create a new ”Space Force,” a move that could radically transform the U.S. military by pulling space functions variously owned by the Air Force, Navy and other military branches into a single independent service. But while the president's support for a new military branch is notable, experts -- and a powerful member of Congress -- believe Trump still needs the support of Congress to make a space force happen. “I am hereby directing the Department of Defense and Pentagon to immediately begin the process necessary to establish a Space Force as the sixth branch of the armed forces,” Trump said during a meeting of the National Space Council. “That's a big statement. We are going to have the Air Force and we are going to have the Space Force. Separate but equal. It is going to be something. So important,” Trump added. “General Dunford, if you would carry that assignment out, I would be very greatly honored.” Dunford responded in the affirmative, telling Trump, “We got you.” According to a White House pool report, the president signed the executive order establishing the Space Force at about 12:36 p.m. EST. However, a readout issued from the White House later that day of the executive order contained no language related to the creation of a new military branch, leaving open the question of whether Trump has actually issued formal guidance to the military. The Air Force referred all questions to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, which did not respond immediately to requests for comment. However, a defense official, speaking on background, said “The Joint Staff will work closely with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, other DoD stakeholders and the Congress to implement the President's guidance." Trump's support for creating a separate branch for space is a break from his own adminsitration's stance last year, as well as that of Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis. “At a time when we are trying to integrate the Department's joint warfighting functions, I do not wish to add a separate service that would likely present a narrower and even parochial approach to space operations vice an integrated one we're constructing under our current approach,” Mattis wrote in a 2017 letter to members of Congress. But in recent months, Trump has signaled he was intrigued by the idea of a stand alone space force, saying in a May 1 speech that “We're actually thinking of a sixth” military branch for space. At the time, that statement confounded Air Force leaders who had publicly opposed the creation of a separate space service, leading them to adopt a softer tone when talking about the potential for Space Force to avoid being seen as out of step with Trump. This time, however, Trump's announcement tracks with the Pentagon's schedule for an interim report on whether to establish an independent space corps. Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan said in April that it was on track to be wrapped up on June 1. The final report, which would be sent to Congress, is due in August. Trump's announcement was characteristically vague, but experts say that any new branch would have to come through an act of Congress. “The Congress alone has the power to establish a new branch of the military and to establish the positions of senior executive officials to lead such a department,” said Jonathan Turley, a professor at Georgetown University's law school who has studied constitutional issues relating to the military. “While the Pentagon can informally create study or working groups, it has no such authority.” The president can have the military lay the groundwork for a future new branch, Turley said, which is close to what Trump seemed to be getting at. By: Kelsey Atherton “What the President can do is to order the study and proposal for a new branch, which would ultimately go to Congress of any authorization and appropriations,” he said. Todd Harrison, an expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, agreed, tweeting Monday that “The president can't just create a new military service on his own. It requires congressional authorization..” “So the near-term practical effect of all this is that the president can direct DoD to come up with a plan and start preparing to create a Space Force, but he still needs congress to authorize it,” Harrison continued. And while sources on Capitol Hill said they believe Trump does have the authority to establish the new military branch, and that their attention will now turn to funding and missions for the new Space Force, at least one Republican member of Congress made his stance clear. “Establishing a service branch requires congressional action,” House Armed Services Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee chair Mike Turner, R-Ohio. “We still don't know what a Space Force would do, who is going to be in it, or how much is it going to cost. “The congressionally mandated report evaluating a Space Force to answer those questions is due in August,” Turner added. “After we get the report that we required as a legislative body and the President signed off on, then this issue can be appropriately evaluated for what's best for national security.” Congress reacts Trump's announcement also left it unclear whether this new space force will rest under the Department of the Air Force — much like the Marine Corps is a component of the Department of the Navy — or whether a new “Department of the Space Force” will also be created. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., the head of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, tweeted out his support for Trump's order. Rogers had previously proposed a separate space service as part of Congress' annual defense policy bill. However, lawmakers and experts also immediately registered their opposition to the announcement. Sen. Bill Nelson, (D-Fla.), the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee that oversees nonmilitary space programs, tweeted that now was not the right time to establish a separate space force. Harrison noted that the infrastructure may already exist to smooth the creation of a space force. “Creating a Space Force would not necessarily mean a huge increase in funding. We already have space forces within the military, this would just be reorganizing them under a single chain of command,” he tweeted. “Yes, there would be some extra overhead costs, but it doesn't have to be huge.” But David Deptula, a retired Air Force lieutenant general and currently dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, questioned whether the administration had hammered down the details needed to successfully consolidate the military's space functions into a single service. “This is another case of ready, fire, aim,” he said. David Larter, Joe Gould, Tara Copp and Leo Shane III contributed to this report. This story is developing.

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Submarines are poised to take on a major role in strike warfare, but is that a good idea?

Sur le même sujet

Le Canada injecte près de 100 millions US pour le développement du F-35 Ottawa a effectué un versement de près de 100 millions US dans le cadre d’un accord renégocié qui devrait voir le Canada assumer dorénavant une plus grande part de la facture commune pour le développement du F-35.

Le Canada injecte près de 100 millions US pour le développement du F-35
Ottawa a effectué un versement de près de 100 millions US dans le cadre d’un accord renégocié qui devrait voir le Canada assumer dorénavant une plus grande part de la facture commune pour le développement du F-35.