Raw Intel

It was just another hot, process filled day for a mid-grade LCDR in Bahrain when the brief flush of the post-Cold War peace ended and the world we know today was rebuilt from the rubble. I would not have expected thing to be where they are today, 20-yrs later. For the first few months in theater before I returned home to a very different America, we were focused on what a more direct culture would call a "punitive expedition" - not what it became. In late 2001 and through 2002, we could see what was forming in DC, Brussels, think tanks, and faculty lounges in The West that became the complete disaster of pet theories and projects thrown on to the backs of the dead in New …

Americas Lockheed Martin Missiles won a $101.3 million contract modification for procurement of Hellfire missiles and containers. Hellfire is an air-to-ground, laser guided, subsonic missile with significant anti-tank capacity. It can also be used as an air-to-air weapon against helicopters or slow-moving fixed-wing aircraft. It has also been fielded on surface platforms in the surface-to-surface and surface-to-air roles. Work will take place in Florida. Estimated completion date is September 30, 2024. Northrop Grumman won a $28.7 million contract modification, which provides for the procurement of one additional G/ATOR system for the Air Force. The G/ATOR program is man…

Americas The Ross Group won a $10.6 million deal, which provides services for the phased demolition and construction of selected Ramp 200 and 300 fuel hydrants for KC-46A aircraft. The new work includes, but is not limited to, modify the current aircraft parking layout, demolish four existing aircraft direct fueling stations, demolish and replace six aircraft direct fueling stations suitable for KC-46A aircraft refueling operations, modify the existing fuel piping laterals, demolish and replace aircraft rated pavement on Ramps 200 and 300, as required, to demolish and install new hydrant pits and fuel piping, provide mooring points at all KC-46A parking spaces, and re-str…

Our military failures of the last half century have not been at the Tactical or for that matter the Operational level. They have been failures at the Strategic and POL/MIL levels, We have to accept that there is something wrong with not just who we select as our senior uniformed and civilian leaders, but how we educate them, and how we designed the system they work in. For today's post, let's just touch on one segment of the education portion; our war colleges. As our war colleges started to focus less on their part in the practice of war and instead pursued the pleasures and practices of colleges, our military has been less successful at war and have adopted some of the …

Americas Sikorsky Aircraft won an $11.9 million contract modification, which provides non-recurring engineering to include investigations, systems engineering support, risk analysis and integration development in support of the CH-53K Data Transfer Unit and Defensive Electronic Countermeasure System Replacement Phase III, to replace existing subsystems within the CH-53K production aircraft. The CH-53K is the United States Marine Corps’ (USMC) heavy lift replacement for the CH-53E. Work will take place in Maryland, Connecticut, Iowa, Texas and Vermont. Expected completion date is in June 2024. Honeywell International won a $9.4 million order for the procurement of the emb…

Is our nation's military as poorly maintained and lacking in self-respect as we seem to be from Kabul to the high seas? What messages are we sending? I'm pondering a long standing critique of mine over at USNIBlog today ... something more important now than ever. Come on by and give it a read. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=yIl2AUoC8zA http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=qj6IDK7rITs http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=JqG1mdM07lg:F-5p4aR4qRk:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=JqG1mdM07lg:F-5p4aR4qRk:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=JqG1mdM07lg:F-5p4aR4qRk:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feed…

I don't think the US press has done anything like this, yet. In a way, perhaps this is best. To get a good view of our great national humiliation, you really need to have a 3rd party provide it. The Australians are our friends and they fought with us. They too share our humiliation, but as you can see in the report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation program, 4 Corners - they are also angry at what the USA did. They should be. We all should be. Hat Tip Gray Connolly. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=yIl2AUoC8zA http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=qj6IDK7rITs http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=BnV2SHd4ge4:zv3oV9cruyo:gIN9vF…

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $25.8 million deal, which provides non-recurring engineering for the development, integration, testing, and deployment of the MH-60 Product Line System Configuration 24 fleet release for all MH-60 air platform variants, to include baseline management integrated management planning, integrated development environment support, support equipment baseline management, software architect, core lab support, problem trouble report legacy support, engineering tools support, and development aircraft support for the Navy and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. The MH-60R Seahawk missions are Anti-Submarine Warfare, Anti-Surface Warfare, Surveillanc…

Americas Harper Construction won a $101.7 million construction contract for design and construction of an F-35C hangar addition at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California. The project will include the construction of a two-module addition in support of F-35C operational squadrons. It will construct an aircraft parking apron and marshalling area, access apron and shoulders, taxiway connections and associated lighting, and construct an alternate mission equipment storage facility. The hangar addition will be constructed with reinforced concrete masonry unit, structural steel frames, metal deck and pile foundation. The work to be performed includes design and construction of t…

HPT-32 (click to view full) India’s stalled defense procurements have become an international joke, but they’re not funny to front-line participants. The country’s attempts to buy simple artillery pieces have become infamous, but their current problem with trainer aircraft is arguably a more significant wound. You can’t produce pilots properly without appropriate training, but the IAF’s fleet of 114 locally-designed HPT-32 Deepak basic trainers has been grounded since August 2009, because they aren’t seen as reliable enough or safe enough to fly. Since then, equally aged HJT-16 Kiran jets are being used for both Stage-I and Stage-II fighter training. That yawning gap h…

Right now throughout Afghanistan and the different ways out of that nation, Americans, Brits, and others are doing all they can to fill in the gaping scar of dishonor that is our defeat-of-choice and retreat from Afghanistan. There are individuals, ad-hoc groups of like minded veterans, family members, and others who are doing all they can to help Americans, family members, and those who trusted and fought with us from almost certain death. From American school kids, to helicopter pilots - people are trusted in our government to not leave them behind are trapped. There are good people on the other end who are doing extraordinary things to make up for the disgraceful offic…

Americas Hamilton Sundstrand won a $60 million requirements contract for the repair of the constant frequency generator used on the V-22 aircraft in support of the weapon replaceable assemblies and shop replaceable assemblies programs. The V-22 Osprey is a joint-service, medium-lift, multimission tilt-rotor aircraft. The aircraft operates as a helicopter when taking off and landing vertically. The nacelles rotate 90° forward once airborne, converting the aircraft into a turboprop aircraft. Work under the contract will take place in Illinois. Estimated completion will be by September 2026. Midnight Sun-Centennial Kirratchiaq won a $19 million deal for providing Simplified…

What was Navy, was taken by the Army, loved by everyone ... and is hinting that we have some wonderful ideas about how to sustain operations in the Western Pacific against China, and it would be a shame if something happened to them. Thinking a bit over at USNIBlog on things that go "brrrrrrrr." Come ponder it out with me. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=yIl2AUoC8zA http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=qj6IDK7rITs http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=oHMvIwXEYaI:SeM6iUvjnFg:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=oHMvIwXEYaI:SeM6iUvjnFg:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=oHMvIwXEYaI:SeM6iU…

Americas Sikorsky won a $48 million deal, which procures eight spare part and management and delivery of parts in support of the CH-53K low rate initial production configuration aircraft. The CH-53K can be fielded from amphibious assault ships for the transportation of personnel and equipment. Work will take place in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Washington, UK, Canada, California and North Carolina. Estimated completion will be in December, 2026. Rockwell Collins Simulation and Training Solution won a $17.6 million modification, which procures initial spare parts and aircraft common equipment to support the E-2D Hawkeye Integrated Training Systems flight, tactics, and mai…

Americas EaglePicher Technologies won a $12 million deal for the BBU-63/B Impulse Cartridge for the B-2 bomber. The B-2 is a low-observable, strategic, long-range, heavy bomber capable of penetrating sophisticated and dense air-defense shields. Work will take place in Missouri. Estimated completion date is September 30, 2026. The US Navy has sent its third and final ship Zumwalt Class destroyer off to sea trials, its maker, General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, announced. The USS Lyndon B. Johnson, christened in April 2019, left the Bath Iron Works shipyard on Friday and is expected to be commissioned by the Navy in 2023, after its combat systems are fully installed and acti…

All together now… (click to view full) Britain’s practice of “contracting for availability” for key equipment, rather than paying for spare parts and maintenance hours, may be its most significant defense procurement reform. In a world where older air, sea, and ground vehicle fleets are growing maintenance demands beyond countries’ available budgets, it’s an approach whose success could have global significance. Across the pond, the USA is significantly behind in this area. Fortunately, they have not ignored the model entirely. Recent changes to the contracts covering their B-2 Spirit stealth bomber fleet demonstrate that some progress is being made, via a $9+ billion …

It wasn't supposed to end like this. If in the early fall of 2001, just as we just finished OPERATION RHINO, someone at C5F put up a picture of a 10-yr old boy standing behind a group of five newborns, three 1-yer olds, three 2-yr olds, and a 4-yr old and told us, "We will take Kabul, and after 18-months without a single casualty, we will abandon everything. We will be allowed to go home only at the pleasure of the Taliban and after we sacrifice these 13-children and abandon hundreds of American citizens behind us as we leave in darkness, tens of billions of dollars of our equipment left as tribute in addition to our children." we would have thought you insane, sick, and…

Why do people leak? In the national security arena, there are broadly two kinds of leaks; - 1) the real dangerous ones that contain information that reveal sources and methods, or worse, put people in danger; - 2) the ones that simply provide evidence that an official position is a lie, or that someone who claims X happened when in reality Y happened … but there is nothing really “classified” about it that would put it in #1 above. You also need to look at who (organization/company/reporter) is reporting them. That can give you a hint as to how accurate they are (yes kiddies, some people invent leaks) and perhaps the motivation of the leaker. Also, if you have a lot of …

Americas Raytheon Missiles and Defense won a $77.1 million contract modification for Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) Production Lot 35 Captive Air Training Missiles (CATM) and CATM guidance sections. This Captive Air Training Missile is an inert store that is captive carried on the aircraft and simulates the AIM-120 AMRAAM missile for training purposes. Work will take place in Arizona. Estimated completion date is April 30, 2024. According to Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division, the US Navy’s guided missile destroyer Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121) completed builder’s trials. The Arleigh Burke Class destroyer spent three d…

Americas Sikorsky won a $53.9 million contract modification for production of UH-60M Black Hawks. UH-60 Black Hawk is a multi-mission helicopter. The UH-60M is the latest variant in the Black Hawk family of helicopters. More than 2,000 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter variants are in service with the US, and more than 600 have been exported. Work will take place in Connecticut. Estimated completion date is June 30, 2022. The US Navy Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) successfully conducted a test of the second stage Solid Rocket Motor (SRM) for a newly developed missile booster. The missile booster will be combined with the Common Hypersonic Glide Body (CHGB) to form the Conven…