HG S2 (Intel Bot)

Americas Boeing won a $49.7 million deal for the inspection and overhaul of the CH-47 Chinook mechanical transmission. The CH-47D Chinook helicopter transports troops, artillery, supplies and equipment to the battlefield with other applications ranging from medical evacuation, aircraft recovery, parachute drop, search and rescue to disaster relief, firefighting and heavy construction. Work is estimated to be completed by August 23, 2025. The US Army, together with the Israeli Missile Defense Organization (IMDO) announced the successful first life fire of its Iron Dome air defense system engaging eight cruise missile targets. Soldiers from the Army’s 3-43 Air Defense Artillery (ADA) successfully engaged eight cruise missile surrogate targets as part of a coordinated performance test and live fire event. The 3-43 Battalion (BN) is the first unit to undergo New Equipment Training, and execute live fire tests with the newly acquired interim cruise missile defense system. Middle East & Africa Negotiations for the sale of an additional battery of Russian S-400 Air Defense System (ADS) to Turkey are in the final stages. Discussions between Russia’s arms export agency, Rosoboronexport and Turkey on the S-400 were held during the recent IDEF exhibition where the negotiations were brought to fruition, the head of Rosoboronexport Alexander Mikheev told reporters during the ARMY-2021 event. Japan is dispatching one C-2 and two C-130s to Afghanistan for the evacuation of its citizens there. The first aircraft, the C-2, will depart Japan tonight. The C-130s will follow the next day. Europe AERALIS, a British modular military jet developer, will be showcasing its modular jet design at the DSEI 2021 defence industry show. DSEI is taking place from September 14 to September 17 at the ExCel exhibition centre in London, and AERALIS will be exhibiting at its Stand H7-440 in the Aerospace Zone. Asia-Pacific Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) said it inked a contract with Pakistan’s National Engineering and Science Commission (NESCOM) to produce components for TAI’s medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) combat drone, Anka. TAI opened its first office in Pakistan in December 2019 at the country’s National Science & Technology Park. Today’s Video Watch: Gray Eagle VS Anka Drone | America’s MQ-1C Gray Eagle VS Turkish TAI Anka Combat Drone View the full article

Americas Elbit Systems and L3 Technologies will compete for each order of the $92 million firm-fixed-price contract for the Aviator’s Night Vision Imaging System III. The Aviator’s Night Vision Imaging System III has Independent eye span adjustment and 25-mm relief eye piece accommodate eyeglasses and unique user requirements. Low-profile battery pack improves head mobility. Objective lens coatings filter glare from cockpit instrument lighting. Work is estimated to be completed by August 22, 2025. The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) released a request for information (RFI) on August 18 to industry seeking technologies that would support its development of new ground-effect vehicles (GEVs). Also called wing-in-ground-effect (WIG) vehicle, ground-effect craft, wingship, flarecraft or ekranoplan, it can move over the surface by gaining support from the reactions of the air against the surface of the earth or water. Middle East & Africa A US Air Force F-15E fighter shot down an Iranian unmanned air vehicle over Syria on August 21. The drone was deemed a threat to Mission Support Site Green Village, which has hundreds of American troops stationed there. Europe A US Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211 conducted a first-of-its-kind operation which saw F-35B aircraft launched from British HMS Queen Elizabeth land on the amphibious assault ship USS America to load ordnance, refuel, and strike follow-on objectives on August 20th, 2021. Asia-Pacific The Indian Navy (IN) and the Vietnam People’s Navy (VPN) have once again demonstrated their ability to interoperate in the South China Sea with a series of naval drills near the disputed waters. The drills took place on 18 August, and it involved the IN’s Rajput-(Kashin II) class (Project 61ME) guided-missile destroyer INS Ranvijay , and the Kora (Project 25A)-class corvette, INS Kora. The Republic of Korea Navy (RoKN) has commissioned its first locally built submarine capable of firing submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), Jane’s reports. The 3,000-ton-class submarine, named Dosan An Chang-ho, is the first of three 3,000-ton-class Changbogo-III Batch-I submarines that South Korea plans to build by 2023. Today’s Video Watch: THIS IS HOW IT’S MADE | THE SECOND DOSAN AHN CHANGHO CLASS SUBMARINE View the full article

One thing the USA can do better than anyone else is move a lot of people quickly even in the most hazardous environment. As mentioned by MG Taylor, USA this AM, in the last 24-hrs 25 C-17, 3 C-130 and 61 commercial aircraft carried 16,000 people out of Kabul. The US military was responsible for a little under 11,000 of those. MG Taylor: As of this morning, 25 U.S. Military C-17s, 3 U.S. Military C-130s and 61 charter/commercial flights departed Kabul. The total passenger count for those flights was approximately 16,000. Of that number, the U.S. military transported just under 11,000 personnel. pic.twitter.com/wsZYBAa3Mh — Department of Defense 🇺🇸 (@DeptofDefense) August 23, 2021 As August 31st approaches, those numbers are good, but time is running out. Over the next 8 days, we need to keep a few things in mind. 1. August 31st is the Taliban’s requirement, not the Biden Administration’s desire: Taliban spokesman Dr Suhail Shaheen said the group will not accept an extension to the deadline and warned of retaliation if Western forces extend their 'occupation' since the group dramatically swept to power. He told Sky News: 'It's a red line. President Biden announced that on 31 August they would withdraw all their military forces. So if they extend it that means they are extending occupation while there is no need for that. 'If the US or UK were to seek additional time to continue evacuations - the answer is no. Or there would be consequences. 'It will create mistrust between us. If they are intent on continuing the occupation it will provoke a reaction.' The Taliban have zero reason to extend, and some of our leaders are foolish to think they care about what Western politicians care about; ...the Taliban will have a choice: they can either seek to engage with the international community and show that they want to be a part of the international system, they want to be engaged in international diplomacy, or they can turn around and say there is no opportunity for an extension. ... 'I think everybody has to be clear that this is not just a discussion that happens between G7 leaders tomorrow, it is a discussion which happens with the Taliban.' 2. We will leave our people behind. Afghanistan is the size of Germany and France combined. Even in Kabul, many we want to get out are having trouble getting to the airport. From the reports I’ve seen, those outside Kabul are having trouble getting in. In the present timeline, it is unavoidable that Americans, Green Card holders and those who worked with us will be left behind. I am sure extraordinary efforts are underway that we’ll find out about later. No one from the White House, State Department or Pentagon has been able to give a number for how many American citizens remain in Afghanistan. It's unclear if or when the US will start flying Afghans out again. ... President Joe Biden last night said he 'hoped not to' extend the date for pulling his 6,000 remaining US troops from Kabul. The current date is August 31. 3. At some point, we will have to transition from getting non-combatants out of Kabul to simply getting our remaining 6,000 uniformed Americans and even more allied forces out. That will be a point of the most extreme danger when the masses of civilians realize their clock is out. We will be totally at the mercy of the Taliban at that point, even more than now. 4. More will come. Be prepared for millions of Afghans who will be looking for another country to go to. The international community will have to find some construct to deal with this. Hard discussions will need to be had on what our obligations are and to whom. It can’t be everyone. No one knows the future, but if you think this has a happy ending, you haven’t been paying attention. The possible 2nd and 3rd order effects from this disastrous end to the Afghan occupation will echo for years to come. As we reviewed on yesterday’s Midrats, good people can argue the utility of leaving or not, but that point is moot. The issue is how we’ve done it. I would be hard pressed to outline a greater failure of the United States national security infrastructure – all of it – than what we are seeing now. We need to accept that fact right in front of our face and decide what we need to do to make a system that better serves our nation. The one we have today does not. 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=joZvD1FhoUk:0Yxwux9vdnc:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=joZvD1FhoUk:0Yxwux9vdnc:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=joZvD1FhoUk:0Yxwux9vdnc:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=joZvD1FhoUk:0Yxwux9vdnc:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/joZvD1FhoUkView the full article

Americas Raytheon won a $7 million modification in support of the evolved Seasparrow Missile Block II life of type buy of parts for the NATO Seasparrow Consortium. The Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) (RIM-162) is a medium-range, surface-to-air missile designed and manufactured by Raytheon Missile Systems. It offers naval combatants reliable self-defense and high fire-power. Work will take place in California and Arizona. Estimated completion date is in October 2021. Boeing won a $487 million deal for Apache AH-64 engineering services and technical support. The AH-64E Apache is designed and equipped with an open systems architecture including the latest communications, navigation, sensor and weapon systems. It has an improved Modernized Target Acquisition Designation System that provides day, night and all-weather target information, as well as night vision navigation capability. Estimated completion date is February 6, 2026. Middle East & Africa The Russian-made air defense systems operated by the Syrian military reportedly destroyed 22 missiles fired by Israeli fighters at targets in Damascus and Homs provinces on Friday night. “At about 23:00 on August 19, six Israeli Air Force tactical fighters from Lebanese airspace struck 24 guided missiles on targets in the Syrian Arab Republic in the provinces of Damascus and Homs. Syria’s Buk -M2E and Pantsir-S destroyed 22 missiles,” Deputy Head of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria Rear Admiral Vadim Kulit said at a briefing. Europe Lockheed Martin has painted Germany’s first C-130J in Luftwaffe livery. Germany is getting three C-130Js and three KC-130Js.These aircraft will join the French-German allied squadron based in Evreux, France. Ukraine’s Ukrspetsexport will soon set up a facility to repair Mi-17 helicopters in Turkey. An agreement pertaining to setting up the unit was inked with Turkey’s THK Teknik A.? during IDEF-2021 exhibition in Istanbul. The contract calls for the creation of a service and repair center for Turkish customers, as well as fulfillment of various orders for third countries, Ukroboronprom said in a statement August 18. Asia-Pacific Local media revealed that Japan’s defense ministry is unlikely to seek funding in the fiscal 2022 budget to build the alternative for the abandoned Aegis Ashore missile defense system. A government official was quoted as saying that “such budget requests will likely be impossible over the next few years.” Japan’s goal was to install those land-based systems on warships instead. But questions remain over the cost of designing and operating those ships. Today’s Video Watch: Watch The Navy Fire Its New Evolved Sea Sparrow Block II Missile For The First Time View the full article

I’m not sure where today’s Midrats will take us. Our co-host is getting a little underway time, so this will be just you and me. As the initial stage of the collapse of Kabul unfolded last weekend, a lot of Midrats loyalists reached out to me to ask, “Where is this week’s Midrats?” In hindsight, perhaps I should have brought up a show, but last Sunday was just not a good time to put a microphone in front of me,. By Monday I was ready, and my posts last week covered much of the thoughts bouncing around my head then. Today from 5-6pm Eastern we’re going to free-form this together. The chat room is open for questions or points of order, and the studio phone line is open as well if you have a question you want to call in or if you served in Afghanistan and just wan to talk it out a bit. Call in. Outside of that, I’ll try over the next hour or so to give you my thought on how we got here, what happened, and what we need to look at next. Join us live if you can and roll in with your preferred topic in the chat room or call the switchboard number right here on the showpage. If you use iTunes, you can add Midrats to your podcast list simply by clicking the iTunes button at the main showpage - or you can just click here. 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=gNbDZayOLpw:WZA4RV3wdyc:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=gNbDZayOLpw:WZA4RV3wdyc:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=gNbDZayOLpw:WZA4RV3wdyc:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=gNbDZayOLpw:WZA4RV3wdyc:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/gNbDZayOLpwView the full article

Captain Lindsey S. McCarthy, USN giving a hot wash-up to the crew after USS Newport News (CA-148) and USS Lynde McCormick (DDG-8) engage shore batteries in North Vietnam 19 December 1967. Interesting this if you go to the YouTube page, comments from crew members and their families in the years since 2013 since I first posted it. 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=QKrxdM53SkM:OICxYQQy4NA:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=QKrxdM53SkM:OICxYQQy4NA:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=QKrxdM53SkM:OICxYQQy4NA:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=QKrxdM53SkM:OICxYQQy4NA:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/QKrxdM53SkMView the full article

Americas Boeing won a $10 million modification for F-15C and F-15E Mission Training Centers (MTC). The contract modification provides for updates to the F-15 MTC training systems in order to achieve training service objectives. Boeing is upgrading USAF F-15C and F-15E MTCs with the Suite 9.1 Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System. Work will take place in Idaho, North Carolina, Nevada, Japan and England. The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) tested its three-setting 2,000-pound (nearly 910 kg) Dialable Effects Munition (DEM) recently. The Air Force says that this capability will give it the ability to prosecute targets more effectively in high-end fights, which equates to greater mission flexibility. On July 28, an F-16 from the 96th Test Wing released a single DEM onto the target area as part of the tests. Prior to the weapon’s release, the pilot programmed the DEM to conduct a precise lethal footprint attack from the cockpit. The precise lethal footprint attack focuses the weapons effects to a limited area where collateral damage could be a concern. Middle East & Africa Vertex Aerospace won a $10 million modification, which exercises an option to provide organizational and intermediate depot maintenance, logistics and supply support for three KC-130J aircraft for the government of Kuwait. Additionally, this modification provides limited repair of common support equipment. The country ordered three KC-130Js in 2010. The tanker is designed for mid-air refueling of military aircraft to extend their range and loitering time. Work will be performed in Abdullah Al-Mubarak Air Base, Kuwait, and is expected to be completed in August 2022. TUSAS Engine Industries Inc. (TEI), a subsidiary of Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with GE Marine to explore opportunities pertaining to production of engines for warships. The MoU was signed during the ongoing IDEF 2021 exhibition in Istanbul. Europe The Russian Ministry of Defense will order weapons for $6.8 billion at the Army 2021 military-technical forum to be held next week. “We are planning to sign 45 government contracts worth 500 billion rubles,” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in an interview with a local newspaper. Asia-Pacific South Korea’s Defense Agency for Technology and Quality has cleared the indigenous Cheongung II air defense missile system for mass production. Recent testing were carried out at the Anheung test site of the National Defense Science Research Institute. The system utilizes the 9M96 interceptor missile used on the Russian S-350E and S-400 systems. Today’s Video Watch: F-15S/MTD Extreme Eagle vs F-22A Raptor: Dogfight & History | DCS WORLD View the full article

We know that friends and competitors alike are questioning our nation's competence right now. If our warships pulled in to their port looking like this, would that help or hinder concerns they have - rightfully - after our horrible humiliation in Afghanistan? Sometimes the first step in solving complex, hard challenges is to respond in a simple, straightforward way. I'm pondering over at USNIBlog. Come by and tell me what you think. 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=D_Z5627fF6A:yWRdy0xfYcs:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=D_Z5627fF6A:yWRdy0xfYcs:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=D_Z5627fF6A:yWRdy0xfYcs:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=D_Z5627fF6A:yWRdy0xfYcs:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/D_Z5627fF6AView the full article

Americas The US Marine Corps has used its Navy/Marine Corps Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) to attack a target ship more than 100 nautical miles away during a test in Hawaii. The actual firing of the Naval Strike Missile was carried out by engineers from Marine Corps Systems Command as the NMESIS is not an operational system yet. Two missiles were launched during the test on August 15. Raytheon won an $11.5 million order, which provides for the upgrade of 10 AN/APG-79 radars from Configuration A to Configuration B and continuing required efforts to repair Weapons Replaceable Assemblies identified as nonfunctioning following baseline testing. AN/APG-79 provides situational awareness, near-instantaneous track updates, and multi-target tracking capability for Marine Corps combat aircraft. Work will take place in Texas, Mississippi and California. Estimated completion will be in July 2023. Middle East & Africa Turkish company Meteksan unveiled its NAZAR System, which provides laser soft-kill capability against Electro-optic (EO) and Infrared (IR) guided missiles. EO/IR guided missiles are increasingly becoming threats to military bases, ammunition depots and civilian strategic facilities due to advancing technologies. The NAZAR system has been developed with the ability to detect EO and IR guided missiles and to apply laser dazzling and soft-kill techniques directed against missiles to neutralize them from long distances. France has suspended its military co-operation with Ethiopia due to concerns about the conflict in the northern region of Tigray, news agency AFP cited two official sources with knowledge of the issue as saying. They said that a deal agreed by French President Emmanuel Macron and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in March 2019 was suspended at the beginning of July. Under the agreement, France would loan EUR85 million to help Ethiopia set up a navy even though it has been landlocked since Eritrea gained its independence in 1993, AFP reported. Europe Babcock International won a contract to deliver the installation of a variable speed drive system for the central cooling system on board the Irish Navy’s Samuel Beckett Class ships. The company said in a news release that the variable speed drive system was first installed on the central cooling system of the fourth Offshore Patrol Vessel, LÉ George Bernard Shaw (P64), at time of build, enabling the vessel to use a variety of power outputs depending on the conditions and requirements. Asia-Pacific Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) secured a licensing agreement to assemble and test the ASRAAM at its facility in India. The missile manufactures at the Bhanur unit in Telangana will be for both the domestic and foreign markets. The facility might be expanded to include the maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) of air-to-air missiles in the future. Today’s Video Watch: Top 10 Most Powerful Fighter Jet Radars (2021) View the full article

AN/APG-79 AESA Radar (click to view full) The AN/APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar began life as a replacement. Initial F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet production batches installed Raytheon’s all-weather, multimode AN/APG-73, but the APG-79 has intrinsic technical features that offered revolutionary increases in capability, reliability, image resolution, and range. Unlike the APG-73 that equipped the first Super Hornets, the APG-79’s AESA array is composed of numerous solid-state transmit and receive modules that are fixed in place, eliminating a common cause of breakdowns. To move their beams, they rely on electronic changes in each module’s transmissions, creating useful interference patterns in order to aim, focus and shape their output. Other system components include an advanced receiver/exciter, ruggedized commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) processor, and power supplies. With its open systems architecture and compact COTS parts, it changes what both aircrews and maintenance staff can do with a fighter radar – and does so in a smaller, lighter package. AN/APG-79 & The AESA Advantage The APG-79 Program APG-79 usage concept (click to view full) The AN/APG-79 will replace Raytheon’s own AN/APG-73 on F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet Block II aircraft, and equips the derivative EA-18G “Growler” electronic warfare aircraft now entering service. Since the original contract award in 2001, Raytheon employees say that the APG-79 program has met all its milestones on time. The system has performed well in flight tests, and is already in widespread use. In April 2005, Boeing and Raytheon debuted an F/A-18F Block II Super Hornet equipped with the AN/APG-79 AESA radar system at a St. Louis ceremony. That was the first step toward fulfilling the Navy’s roadmap to expand the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet family’s future capabilities. In October 2006, the first Super Hornet Block II squadron attained the requisite “safe for flight” designation, certifying that they were ready for independent operations with the new equipment. Production installations and retrofits of older Super Hornets have continued, with the 300th radar delivered in November 2011. The APG-79’s AESA Advantage AESA: Technical Advantages Before: AN/APG-73 (click to view full) The downside of AESA radars is that they cost more to buy. The cost of producing all those transmit/receive (T/R) modules has come down, but it’s still a more expensive choice initially. On the other hand, AESA radars offer a number of performance advantages, and appears to be a cheaper choice over the fighter’s entire lifespan. American AESA radars feature a fixed array, with active electronic beam scanning that moves the beams rather than the radar array. That allows faster scans over a broader area. AESA radar can also commit clusters of T/R modules to each task, allowing pilots and crew to do something previous generation radars could not: conduct simultaneous air-to-air and air-to-surface operations, at a higher level of performance. Raytheon personnel cited a 2-3x expected range improvement when moving from a mechanical phased array radar to Raytheon AESA radar with the same power input and the same aperture. This is due to better dynamics in the beams, and more efficient use of power by the array of individual T/Rs. F-35B (click to view full) The final set of AESA technical advantages involves entirely new roles. AESA arrays’ depth of individually programmable T/R modules gives them the potential to send high-bandwidth communications, and even perform offensive electronic warfare functions. That latter capability suggests that the radar may start to become the fighter’s electronic warfare fulcrum, instead of relegating that role to drop in EW system “black boxes”. The dedicated EW systems would still be there, but emphasis would shift to coordination with the radar as both an emissions receiver and a compatible electro-magnetic emitter. Raytheon sees this EW Center of Gravity role as more of a next-generation feature for integrated platforms, but the APG-79’s use in the EA-18G dedicated electronic warfare aircraft may give them some future development opportunities. That will be important, because Northrop Grumman’s APG-77 and APG-81 AESA radars have already been picked to equip the USA’s next-generation F-22 and F-35 fighters. The F-35 in particular features a lot more integration between its systems, and electronic warfare capabilities are among the top requests from F-35 customers. That creates demand-pull pressure on Northrop Grumman to move forward along these lines. If they do, it could create a competitive advantage for NGC that would affect Raytheon’s Electronic Warfare components business, as well as its radar orders. AESA Advantages AESA: The Tactical Advantage click for video The tactical consequences are equally significant. One is concealment. AESA radars also offer less emission “leakage” beyond their scanning cone, and can spread their signal emissions over a broad set of frequencies. Most people don’t think of the radar as part of a platform’s stealth level, but it is. Less side-lobe leakage improves the radar cross-section directly. “Agile beam” radars can both spread and switch frequencies as they go, which makes the radar very hard to detect, even when it’s on. Previous generation radars haven’t had that advantage, and turning on your fighter’s radar was kind of like the policeman who turns a flashlight on to find bad guys in a big warehouse. In all likelihood, they can see the light source before the policeman can use the beam to see them. Modern infantry solve this problem by using invisible infrared lights, which work with their night-vision goggles and allow them to see without being seen. Agile beam AESA radars offer the same advantage for a modern fighter jet. In air-to-air mode, an AESA radar’s improved sensitivity can allow targets to be engaged at longer ranges. If political Rules of Engagement permit, fighters can launch at maximum range, taking full advantage of new longer-range air-air missiles and air-ground weapons. Raytheon employees could not comment on speculation that resolution improvements might allow APG-79 radars to lengthen the positive ID range for enemy aircraft. If that were true, however, it would solve a big problem. Rigid Rules of Engagement have often required positive identification, which has forced American planes to close to visual range before firing. This removes many of the benefits of having beyond visual range air-to-air missiles like Raytheon’s AIM-120 AMRAAM on board. In air-to-surface mode, AESA radars offer a choice of same-resolution ground mapping at 2-3x longer standoff ranges, or improving the resolution “by faster than linear” margins (i.e. by more than 2-3x). Its SAR (synthetic aperture radar) images can be used to designate multiple targets at once, identify unplanned ground targets and engage them, and sort fast-moving naval targets despite the clutter created by waves and weather. With the previous APG-73 radar, only pre-planned ground targets, entered into the system before the mission began, could be attacked at full capability. A US Navy R&D program called “Initiated Strike Accelerator” aims to “identify targets using Advanced Target Recognition,” using the AN/APG-79 radar and ATFLIR surveillance and targeting pod. If it succeeds, it could certainly help with ground strikes. The interesting question is whether these capabilities could also be used for air-to-air engagements, in order to break through the up-close visual identification Rules of Engagement. APG-79: The Maintenance Advantage APG-79 LRM removal (click to view full) Beyond the front lines, AESA radars offer a number of operational and maintenance advantages. One set of advantages involves long-term costs. Unlike predecessor radars like the mechanically scanned APG-73, American AESA designs to date have no moving parts to serve as sources of failure. Better yet, AESA radars’ inherent redundancy allows them to fly and perform well even if some of the individual T/R modules need replacing. As a rule, therefore, failed modules are just left alone. Raytheon touts a 10x – 15x improvement in overall reliability, and an expected flight lifetime of 10,000 – 15,000 hours. That compares to a 6,000 flight hour lifetime for their fighters, or 10,000 with life-extension programs. Fighters can take 30 years to exhaust 10,000 flight hours, so the maintenance savings make AESA radars a cheaper long-term option, in exchange for higher up-front investment. The APG-79 adds one more operations & maintenance innovation: Line Replaceable Modules (LRM). Most radars, up to and including Raytheon’s APG-63v3 AESA that flies on advanced F-15s, have Line Replaceable Unit “black boxes,” that must be sent back to depots for diagnostics and repair. It’s expensive, and time consuming. In contrast, the LRM philosophy has the radar do most internal monitoring and diagnosis. Once its recommendations are delivered, a field technician on the front lines can open a box that used to be a depot-only LRU, and swap out an LRM that looks like a circuit card. Doing this in the field, on the front lines, really lowers costs and improves readiness. As a bonus, the LRM philosophy makes options like processor upgrades, etc. similarly modular. Money and time must still be spent on testing durability for the new LRMs, ensuring software compatibility, and testing it with other radar components. Once that’s done, however, the hardware swap is much faster and cheaper, saving money that can be used on development work to take advantage of the new capabilities. The AN/APG-79 has a downside, however, and it’s a big one. Pentagon testing reports consistently cite software problems with the APG-79, including instability and issues with its Built-In Test (BIT) functions. A Wider Market? Spinoffs and Spin-back RAAF F/A-18F, armed (click to view full) The U.S. Navy plans to buy over 400 AN/APG-79 AESA systems, and potential foreign sales span future Super hornet family customers, as well as the 7 countries that fly earlier-model F/A-18A-D Hornets. Australia’s purchase of 24 F/A-18F Block II Super Hornets made them the radar’s first foreign customer. At present, the AN/APG-79 appears destined to equip only F/A-18 Super Hornet family aircraft, but co-investment in the APG-79 by the US Navy and by Raytheon has paid wider dividends beyond the program itself. Related technologies will equip American F-15s, and may equip a wide variety of American and foreign fighters as retrofits. Once those products are sold, Raytheon’s Common Radar Roadmap’s emphasis on commonality and modularity means that the technology influence will begin to cut both ways. One spinout has already paid dividends for the USAF. Technologies from the APG-79 have found their way into the AN/APG-82v1 radars that will be retrofitted to USAF F-15E Strike Eagles, and the new radars will also share the APG-79’s LRM approach. /images/ELEC_Radar_RACR_in_F-16.jpg RACR in F-16 (click to view full) Raytheon’s resizable RACR AESA radar also owes the APG-79 a debt. RACR is aimed at a very large potential market, as a retrofit for F-16s and F/A-18 Hornets around the world, and as an option for new planes like the JAS-39 Gripen New Generation. The essential idea of RACR is to leverage the AESA improvements described earlier, using APG-79 technologies. Keep the existing radars’ aperture and keep the same power requirement, allowing customers to just drop it in F-16 and F/A-18s without structural or power changes. The translation of received data is mostly handled within the RACR modules already, minimizing other changes to the receiving fighter. This same flexibility is possible for other platforms with previous-generation radars. Aperture sizes can be changed by changing the number and arrangement of T/R modules, and power back-ends can be varied. The continuum from the large APG-82, to the APG-79, to RACR, using closely related technology, demonstrates this. That makes RACR retrofits or forward-fits on other platforms equally plausible. As related radars like the APG-82 and RACR are sold, they will bring benefits back to the APG-79. Raytheon employees told DID that it’s possible to develop a radar mode like RCDL high-bandwidth communications for a platform like the F/A-18E/F, and have it made available to RACR or APG-82 customers. The cost and effort would involve minimal engineering work, followed by LRM swap-in or software reprogramming, and check-out testing. The reverse would also be true, allowing innovations requested by RACR customers to find their way back to the APG-79 fleet. Beyond the aerial domain, Raytheon employees added that the firm is involved in requests from other customers to bring the firm’s Common Radar Roadmap technologies and approach over to non-aircraft platforms. They won’t say who or what, yet. It’s worth noting, however, that Northrop Grumman’s G/ATOR multimode ground radar for the USMC uses technologies from its APG-81 AESA radar, so these kinds of conversions are very possible. Raytheon IDS’ President was the father of the APG-79, and that part of the firm is involved in systems like the USA’s Patriot missile system, as well as next-generation naval radars like DBR, and AMDR. Contracts & Key Events In many cases, the AN/APG-79 was bought by Boeing for its Super Hornet family planes, rather than being bought separately as Government-Furnished Equipment and given to Boeing. Direct contract exceptions are noted below, and radar retrofits do appear in Navy budget documents. With that said, many radar production contracts will be private and therefore unannounced. Based on Navy budget documents, recent costs per radar appear to be around $2.8 million. FY 2014 – 2021 APG-79 maintenance (click to view full) August 19/21: Configuration B Raytheon won an $11.5 million order, which provides for the upgrade of 10 AN/APG-79 radars from Configuration A to Configuration B and continuing required efforts to repair Weapons Replaceable Assemblies identified as nonfunctioning following baseline testing. AN/APG-79 provides situational awareness, near-instantaneous track updates, and multi-target tracking capability for Marine Corps combat aircraft. Work will take place in Texas, Mississippi and California. Estimated completion will be in July 2023. September 2/20: Wide Band Radomes General Dynamics Mission Systems won a $17.5 million deal for wide band radomes. The deal provides for production of wide band radomes supporting Air Force F-16 aircraft outfitted with Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars. AESA is a phased array system in which the beam of signals can be steered electronically in any direction, without physically moving the antenna. The antenna consists of an array of an array of small antennas each with a separate feed. The beam is steered by electronically by controlling the phase of the radio waves transmitted and received by each of the multiple radiating elements in the antenna. Work will take place in Marion, Virginia and expected completion date is by August 30, 2032. August 7/20: Fomation Test Testers from the US Air Force’s 40th Flight Test Squadron and the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron carried out the first four-ship F-16 formation test of the new APG-83 AESA radar on July 2. The mission objective was to determine if the jets experience interference when all four radars are active at the same time and to determine if there is signal improvement or degradation during the flight. According to the press release from Egline Air Force Base, the APG-83 is powerful enough that it allows the pilot to target a corner of a small building or the cockpit of an aircraft from beyond line-of-sight. December 12/19: Spare Parts Raytheon won a $45.1 million delivery order for APG-79 Radar System spare parts. The AN/APG-79 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar is an airborne radar made for F/A-18 E/F aircrafts. It is comprised of numerous solid-state transmit and receive modules to practically eliminate the possibility of mechanical breakdown. With a range of 150 km, the AN/APG-79 provides instantaneous track updates and multi-target tracking capabilities. The AN/APG-79 is strategically valuable because of its active electronic beam scanning. This feature allows the radar beam to be steered at nearly the speed of light, optimizing situational awareness and providing superior air-to-air and air-to-surface capabilities. Performance location will be California. Estimated completion date is December 30, 2022. October 11/19: Spare Parts Raytheon won a $11.9 million delivery order for the procurement of 101 spare part units across nine assemblies used in support of the F-18 APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array radar system. The AN/APG-79 AESA radar is an airborne radar made for F/A-18 E/F aircrafts. It is comprised of numerous solid-state transmit and receive modules to practically eliminate the possibility of mechanical breakdown. With a range of 150 km, the AN/APG-79 provides instantaneous track updates and multi-target tracking capabilities. Its X-band radar allows for higher resolution imaging, helping with target identification and discrimination. The AN/APG-79 is the replacement radar for the AN/APG-73. Work will take place in Forest, Mississippi. Estimated completion date will be by December 2022. March 29/19: Repair Services The US Navy awarded Raytheon Space Airborne Systems $58 million for repair services for the APG-79 active electronically scanned array radar system used on the F/A-18 Super Hornets. The deal has Raytheon fix 25 weapon repairable assemblies for the AN/APG-79. The APG-79 AESA radar system utilizes active electric beam scanning, which provides nearly instantaneous track updates and multi-target tracking capability. It features an entirely solid-state antenna construction, which improves reliability and lowers the cost compared to a traditional system. The radar allows the Super Hornet crew to fire the AIM-120 AMRAAM, while at the same time guiding several missiles to several targets widely spaced in azimuth, elevation or range. Its X-band radar allows for higher resolution imaging, helping with target identification and discrimination. Raytheon delivered the first low rate production APG-79 radar set to Boeing Integrated Defense Systems in Saint Louis on January 13, 2005. Up to 415 radar sets were expected to follow the first one to outfit US Navy’s Super Hornets beginning in September 2006. On 28 June 2005, Boeing awarded Raytheon a $580 million multi year procurement contract for 190 APG-79 radars to equip the US Navy’s F/A-18E/F and EA-18G aircraft. Raytheon will perform work in Forest, Mississippi and will approximately be finished by March 2022. May 14/15: Raytheon announced that it has successfully flight-tested the APG-79(V) X AESA radar system, intended to extend the service lives of F/A-18C/D aircraft by 15 to 20 years. This latest test builds on a previous successful test in January, with new features such as Synthetic Aperture Mapping (SAR) announced with the company’s press release. Sept 5/14: Support. Raytheon Co. in El Segundo, CA receives an $11.4 million firm-fixed-price delivery order, covering potential repairs to 288 radar component units consisting of 18 different weapons repairable assemblies (WRAs) used in support of the F/A-18 family’s AESA. All funds are committed immediately, using FY 2104 US Navy budgets. Work will be performed in El Segundo, CA and is expected to be complete in March 27/15. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.S.C. 2304 (c)(l) nu US Navy NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support in Philadelphia, PA (N00383-10-G-005H, DO 7040). June 12/14: Boeing in St. Louis, MO receives $10.2 million for cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order to conduct an engineering change in the APG-79’s 5th and 6th Receiver Channel Wiring. Boeing is, of course, the F/A-18 Super Hornet family’s manufacturer. One hopes NAVAIR will also get around to investing in a serious fix for the radar’s long-standing software issues (q.v. Jan 28/14). All funds are committed immediately, using FY 2014 aircraft budgets. Work will be performed in Andover, MA (40%); Forest, MS (30%); El Segundo, CA (20%); and St. Louis, MO (10%), and is expected to be complete in January 2016. US Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD manages the contract (N00019-11-G-0001, DO 0200). Jan 28/14: DOT&E Testing Report. The Pentagon releases the FY 2013 Annual Report from its Office of the Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E). The APG-79 is included, and the verdict isn’t great: “AESA demonstrated marginal improvements during FOT&E from prior testing and provides improved performance relative to the legacy APG-73 radar. However, operational testing has yet to demonstrate a statistically significant difference in mission accomplishment between F/A-18E/F aircraft equipped with AESA and those equipped with the legacy [APG-73] radar. ….Though aircraft software has demonstrated acceptable suitability, the continued poor reliability of the AESA radar appears to be a result of software instability. The radar’s reliability and poor built-in test (BIT) performance remain deficient. The Navy did not attempt to address long-standing deficiencies in air warfare or AESA radar reliability with SCS H8E [the latest aircraft software build]. Overall, the F/A-18E/F/G is not operationally effective for use in certain threat environments, the details of which are addressed in DOT&E’s classified report issued following SCS H6E, SCS 23X, and AESA FOT&E.” FY 2011 – FY 2013 300th radar delivered; 3rd & 4th radar retrofit contracts; Combat ID using AESA? EA-18G: key systems (click to view full) Unless otherwise indicated, all contracts are issued by the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) in Patuxent River, MD to Boeing subsidiary McDonnell Douglas Corp. in St. Louis, MO. It’s Raytheon’s radar, but Boeing is the lead contractor for the aircraft, and assumes overall responsibility for buying the radars and integrating them into the aircraft. Workshare in “El Segundo, CA,” for instance, is actually Raytheon’s. buying the radars and integrating them into the aircraft. Workshare in “El Segundo, CA,” for instance, is actually Raytheon’s. Sept 26/13: ECP. Raytheon in El Segundo, CA receives a $34.7 million cost-plus-incentive-fee delivery order for AN/APG-79 Engineering Change Proposal 6381 Step 2’s flight test requirements. All funds are committed immediately. Work will be performed in Andover, MA (50%); Forest, MS (30%); and El Segundo, CA (20%), and is expected to be completed in August 2016. US NAVAIR in Patuxent River, MD manages the contract (N00019-10-G-0006, 0047). Sept 24/13: ECP. Boeing in St. Louis, MO receives a $6.9 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification for engineering work associated with flight test requirements for AN/APG-79’s general purpose processor 3 upgrade. More computing power is always good, and it’s being conducted under Engineering Change Proposal 6381SOWR2 (see also June 20/12, though other ECPs have involved GPP-3), bringing its announced total to $38.1 million. All funds are committed immediately. Work will be performed in El Segundo, CA (76%), and St. Louis, MO (24%), and is expected to be complete in February 2014. US Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00019-12-C-2006). Sept 23/13: +15. Raytheon Co., El Segundo, CA, is being awarded $39 million for 15 AN/APG-79 AESA radar systems, as a firm-fixed-price delivery order. All funds are committed immediately. Note that FY 2013 fighter orders involve 38 radars (23 F/A-18E, 3 F/A-18F, 12 EA-18G), and final FY 2014 orders involve 21 radars (all on EA-18Gs). Work will be performed in Forest, MS (80%), and El Segundo, CA (20%), and is expected to be complete in November 2015. US Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD (N00019-10-G-0006, #0048). 15 radars June 13/13: ECP. Raytheon in El Segundo, CA receives a $22.4 million order, covering 53 ECP-6279 retrofit kits for F/A-18 E/F and EA-18G aircraft. ECPs involve aircraft or component modifications, and the announcement doesn’t explain which one, but our coverage elsewhere (vid. Oct 07/09) shows that it involves improvements to the APG-79 AESA radar. All funds are committed. Work will be performed in Forest, MS (80%), and El Segundo, CA (20%), and is expected to be completed in July 2015. US Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD manages the contract (N00019-10-G-0006; delivery order 0036). June 13/13: ECP. Boeing St. Louis, MO receives a $9 million firm-fixed-price delivery order for 30 ECP-6038 R2/R3 retrofit kits for the F/A-18 E/F aircraft, including radomes for the AN/APG-79 active electronically scanned array radar. A fighter’s radome nose cone is very specialized. It needs to allow the right radiation wavelengths to pass in and out easily, while remaining durable enough to handle the shocks and stresses of flight. All funds are committed immediately. Work will be performed in Marion, VA (57%) and St. Louis, Mo. (43%), and is expected to be completed in January 2016. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD manages the contract (N00019-11-G-0001). June 27/12: Australia. Raytheon in El Segundo, CA receives a $6.7 million cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order, for upgrades that will let the F/A-18 AN/APG-79 AESA radar commercial depot diagnose and validate repairs of RAAF APG-79s under the Foreign Military Sales Program. Work will be performed in El Segundo, CA (70%), and Forest, MS (30%), and is expected to be complete in August 2014. US Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD manages the contract on behalf of its Australian client (N00019-10-G-0006). June 20/12: ECP. A $31.2 million cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price contract for APG-79 Engineering Change Proposal 6381SOW, for engineering related to the general purpose Processor 3 upgrade. Work will be performed in El Segundo, CA (84%), and St. Louis, MO (16%), and is expected to be complete in May 2013. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302-1 (N00019-12-C-2006). April 30/12: ECP. A $12 million firm-fixed-price delivery order for supplies and services associated with Super Hornet family Engineering Change Proposal 6038. Supplies include 42 R2/R3 retrofit kits for the AN/APG-79 radomes. Radomes are the “nose cone” of the aircraft, engineered to protect the radar and take the punishment that comes from their position on the aircraft, while letting radar waves through efficiently. Work will be performed at the Marion, VA (57%), and St. Louis, MO (43%), and is expected to be complete in August 2015 (N00019-11-G-0001). Feb 29/12: +16. Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems in El Segundo, CA receives a $45.3 million firm-fixed-price contract modification to fund 16 AN/APG-79 radars, to be retrofitted into F/A-18E/F Block I aircraft that were built with AN/APG-73 radars during production lots 26-29. Work will be performed in Forest, MS (43%); Dallas, TX (29%); El Segundo, CA (27%); and Andover, MA (1%), and is expected to be complete in December 2014. $8.4 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/12 (N00019-09-C-0003). This is Raytheon’s 4th refit contract, and brings the order total to 73 of the planned 133 fighter refits in that sub-program. As one might guess, most APG-79s are fitted into new Super Hornet family fighters on the production line. Refits: 16 radars Feb 13/12: Combat ID? Pentagon budget documents (US Navy RDT&E BA1-3) show that in 2011-2012 the Initiated Strike Accelerator R&D program aimed to: “…provide an advanced airborne capability to accurately identify targets using Advanced Target Recognition (ATR). These capabilities are utilizing the F/A-18 E/F, AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array) Radar and ATFLIR (Advanced Targeting Forward Looking Infrared [pod]) sensors…” It’s an interesting and logical extension of known AESA capabilities, and using the ATFLIR pod’s long-range cameras and geolocation as an additional input also makes sense. If it works, it would certainly help pilots strike ground targets with greater assurance. The big question is whether the resolution and algorithms would also be fine enough to remove the biggest obstacle to effective combat use of medium-range air-to-air missiles: Rules of Engagement that require close-in visual ID, because electronic IFF (Identification, Friend or Foe) systems aren’t considered reliable enough to avoid all friendly fire. Nov 22/11: #300. Raytheon announces the delivery of its 300th AN/APG-79 radar to Boeing, for integration on U.S. Navy and RAAF Super Hornet family fighters. #300 May 13/11: +42. Raytheon announces a contract from Boeing for 42 APG-79 radars, to equip Super Hornet family aircraft bought in the 2nd year of the 2010-2013 Multi-Year III program. Raytheon doesn’t always announce these contracts, but they can be assumed whenever Super Hornet family aircraft are ordered. They don’t give cost figures. Work will be performed at Raytheon facilities in El Segundo, CA; Andover, MA; Forest, MS; and Dallas, TX. 42 radars – Boeing contract May 2/11: ECP. A $12.6 million cost-plus-fixed-fee order for one-time engineering work associated with Engineering Change Proposal 6381 re: the AN/APG-79’s General Purpose Processor 3, and for the purchase of 12 engineering development modules. Work will be performed in El Segundo, CA (65%); Forest, MS (20%); and St. Louis, MO (15%). Work is expected to be complete in January 2012 (N00019-11-G-0001). Nov 30/10: Support. A $17 million ceiling priced order for AN/APG-79 radar repairs. Work will be performed in Forest, MS, and is expected to be complete by June 2012. This contract was not competitively procured by the US Naval Inventory Control Point in Philadelphia, PA (N00383-10-G-005H, #0001). Nov 16/10: +19. Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems in El Segundo, CA receives a $52.25 million firm-fixed-price contract modification for 19 AN/APG-79 AESA radars, to be retrofitted into F/A-18E/F aircraft Lots 26-29. Work will be performed in Forest, MS (43%); Dallas, TX (29%); El Segundo, CA (27%); and Andover, MA (1%). Work is expected to be complete in December 2013. Raytheon’s release adds that: “This third retrofit contract brings orders for the update of block II F/A-18s up to 57.” Refits: 19 radars FY 2009 – FY 2010 200th radar delivered; 2nd retrofit radars contract; Processor upgrade. Raytheon diagram (click to view full) July 21/10: #200. Raytheon announces that it has delivered is 200th APG-79 AESA radar to Boeing. #200 April 8/10: +2. Raytheon Co. Space and Airborne Systems in El Segundo, CA received an $5.8 million delivery order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement for procurement of 2 AN/APG-79 AESA test radars for the F/A-18E/F and EA-18G aircraft. Work will be performed in Forest, MS (45%), El Segundo, CA (35%), and Andover, MA (15%), and Dallas, TX (5%) and is expected to be complete in November 2011 (N00019-05-G-0008). 2 test radars April 5/10: ECP. A $13.6 million cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order against a previously issued Basic Ordering Agreement (N00019-05-G-0026) to complete the AESA waveform generator DDS II die parts obsolescence redesign engineering change proposal for the F/A-18 E/F aircraft. Work will be performed in El Segundo, CA (87.7%), and St. Louis, MO (12.3%), and is expected to be complete in March 2011. March 24/10: GPP. From FedBizOpps, solicitation #20047-10 deals with a reality of modern equipment. The equipment lasts long after the underlying electronics are completely obsolete. Imagine if your computer went 15 years without an upgrade. The USAF experiences that as an ongoing reality, for even longer periods. For the APG-79: “The Naval Air Systems Command has a requirement for an engineering change to the AN/APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA)… upgrades the general purpose processor in order to support additional capability requirements. The AESA prime integrator is The Boeing Company, St. Louis, MO. The Navy intends to negotiate the engineering change as a sole source firm fixed price delivery order to the F/A-18 & EA-18G Basic Ordering Agreement with Boeing. Boeing will be responsible for the non-recurring and recurring engineering changes. Award of the delivery order will be made with authority under FAR 6.302-1, only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. Boeing has the requisite RADAR knowledge, experience, and technical data required to respond to this requirement. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals.” The result will almost certainly be a sub-contract to the radar’s manufacturer, Raytheon, but as noted above, Boeing owns final engineering responsibility. Oct 7/09: ECP. Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems in El Segundo, CA received a $5.7 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract to perform engineering change proposal 6279. This will enhance the AN/APG-79 active electronically scanned array radar on a number of Lot 33 production aircraft: 14 F/A-18Es, 9 of the 2-seat F/A-18Fs, and 22 EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft. Work will be performed in Forest, MS (42%); El Segundo, CA (36.8%); and St. Louis, MO (21.2%), and is expected to be complete in September 2011 (N00019-04-C-0014). April 2/09: +19. Raytheon Co., Space and Airborne Systems in El Segundo, CA receives a $54.5 million firm-fixed-price contract for 19 AN/APG-79 active array radars. The radars will be retrofitted into F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft built during Lots 26-29, replacing Raytheon’s mechanically-scanned APG-73 phased array radars. Work will be performed in Forest, MS (43%); Dallas, TX (29%); El Segundo, CA (27%); and Andover, MA (1%) and is expected to be complete in December 2010. This contract was not competitively procured (N00019-09-C-0003). As of Raytheon’s May 26/09 release, the firm had delivered 134 APG-79 radars for use in F/A-18 Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler aircraft, most of which have been slated for new aircraft. With this latest contract, orders for the APG-79 retrofits now total 38 of the planned 133 fighters. See also the related Dec 21/07 entry. Refits: 19 radars Oct 17/08: Support. An $11.2 million firm-fixed-price, definite-delivery/ definite-quantity modification under a previously awarded delivery order contract. The US Naval Inventory Control Point is buying APG-79 radar system spares. Work will be performed in St. Louis, MO (40%); and El Segundo, CA (60%), and is expected to be complete by May 2011. This contract was not competitively procured (N00383-06-D-001J-0005). FY 2007 – FY 2008 1st retrofit contract; Australia orders; R&D to expand capabilities; 100th radar delivered; 1st USN Super Hornet block II squadron declared ready. F/A-18Es over Afghanistan (click to view full) Sept 25/08: Support. An $8 million cost plus fixed fee delivery order under previously awarded contract to repair AN/APG-79 radars. Work will be performed at El Segundo, CA (90%) and St. Louis, MO (10%), and is expected to be complete by September 2009. This contract was not competitively procured by The Naval Inventory Control Point (N00383-06-D-001J, #0004). July 1/08: #100. The US Navy and its industry partners, Raytheon and Boeing, mark the 100th delivery of the APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar at a celebration in Forest, MS. NAVAIR release. #100 March 31/08: Support. A $38.5 million firm-fixed-price, definite-delivery/ definite-quantity contract modification under a previously awarded basic ordering agreement. The firm will deliver new spares to support the AN/APG-79 AESA radar. Work will be performed in El Segundo, CA (90%) and St. Louis, MO (10%), and is expected to be complete by August 2010. This contract was not awarded competitively by the Naval Inventory Control Point (N00383-06-D-001J, #0004). Dec 21/07: +19. Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems in El Segundo, CA received a $54.8 million firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of 19 AN/APG-79 active electronically scanned array radars to be retrofitted into F/A-18E/F aircraft Lots 26-29. The radars will replace the APG-73 radars currently installed in the aircraft. Deliveries were: LOT-26: 48 aircraft, LOT-27: 45 aircraft, LOT-28: 42 aircraft, and LOT-29: 42 aircraft, for a total of 177 aircraft. A total of 42 Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) APG-79 radars were delivered for installation in the aircraft production line, and the remaining 135 (now 133) aircraft will be retrofitted. This contract mentioned above is the 1st of 5 projected annual contracts to retrofit those 135 Lot-26 and above F/A-18 E/Fs with the APG-79. Work will be performed in Forest, MS (43%); Dallas, TX (29%); El Segundo, CA (27%); and Andover, MA (1%) and is expected to be complete in Dec. 2009. This contract was not competitively procured (N00019-08-C-0001). Refits: 19 radars Oct 17/07: APG-79B An $11.2 million order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement for the nonrecurring engineering to upgrade 210 AN/APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array radar to the APG-79B configuration (includes 114 retrofit and 96 production upgrades). All Raytheon would say is that the B configuration is “an approved engineering change for a hardware modification.” Work will be performed in El Segundo, CA (95%) and St. Louis, MO (5%), and is expected to be complete in September 2011 (N00019-05-G-0026). Future RAAF F/A-18F (click to view full) July 11/07: Support. A $7.6 million firm-fixed-price, definite-delivery/ definite-quantity delivery order under previously awarded contract on July 10/07, for new spare parts to support the F/A-18 AN/APG-79 (AESA) radar. Work will be performed in El Segundo, CA (9%) and St. Louis, MO (10%), and is expected to be complete by October 2008. This contract was not awarded competitively by the Naval Inventory Control Point (N00383-06-D-001J, #0002). July 5/07: ECP. Boeing received a $90.2 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-04-C-0014) for a newly developed, additional capability for the AN/APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array radar. Work will be performed in El Segundo, CA (95%) and St. Louis, MO (5%), and is expected to be complete in September 2011 While these exact capabilities were not disclosed, DID’s top bets would be either the “big SAR” wide angle surface scans that will now be part of the production F-35 Lightning, or limited electronic warfare capabilities. May 16/07: ECP. A $7.4 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract for the redesign of 5 monolithic microwave integrated circuits utilized in the AN/APG-79 AESA radar. Work will be performed in El Segundo, CA (95%) and St. Louis, MO (5%), and is expected to be complete in December 2008. Contract funds in the amount of $6 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year (N00019-04-C-0014). May 5/07: Australian order. Australia’s DoD announces a contract for 24 F/A-18F Block II Super Hornets and associated support systems. This will mean accompanying export orders for the AN/APG-79. Read “Australia Buying 24 Super Hornets As Interim Gap-Fillers” for full coverage. Jan 8/07: F/A-18E/F Block II. Boeing announces delivery of the 11th F/A-18E/F Super Hornet Block II to Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana, VA. Boeing is delivering AESA-equipped Super Hornet Block II aircraft to 2 squadrons at NAS Oceana: the Black Lions of VFA-213 and the Gladiators of VFA-106. In addition, there are two AESA-equipped Block 2 Super Hornets attached to VFA-122, the Flying Eagles Fleet Replacement Squadron (i.e. training squadron), at NAS Lemoore, CA. Oct 27/06: F/A-18E/F Block II. The “Black Lions” of VFA-213 squadron have transitioned from their F-14D Tomcats, and become the first AESA-equipped F/A-18E/F Super Hornet operational squadron to attain “safe for flight” status, which clears it to independently fly and maintain its state-of-the-art Block II aircraft. Source. Fully operational FY 2005 – FY 2006 Sub-contract for 190 radars; LRIP-3 order; Super Hornet Block II rolled out; Tests with AMRAAM, JDAM, and APG-73 equipped Super Hornet cohorts demonstrate increased firing range, real-time targeting, and coordinate passing to non-AESA fighters. “Black Lions” F-14D: transitioning out (click to view full) Sept 21/06: Support. Raytheon Co. Space and Airborne Systems in El Segundo, CA received an $11 million delivery order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement for system test equipment (STE) for the AN/APG-79 AESA radar for the F/A-18E/F and EA-18G aircraft. The STE will be used to test radar modules returned for repair to determine root cause of failures and to return the radars to the Fleet in a ready for issue status. Work will be performed in El Segundo, CA and is expected to be complete in September 2009. Contract funds in the amount of $6.4 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year (N00019-05-G-0008). April 18/06: Testing. Boeing announces a successful demonstration of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet Block II’s to provide targeting coordinates to other aircraft using the Raytheon APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar system: “During the test at the Naval Air Weapons Center at China Lake, Calif., an AESA-equipped F/A-18F created a long-range, high resolution synthetic aperture radar map and designated four closely-spaced stationary targets. The aircraft then data-linked two target designations to non-AESA equipped Super Hornets, which successfully delivered four 2,000-lb. Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM). All four weapons impacted the targets within lethal distance. The targeting Super Hornet then used the AESA to provide highly detailed bomb damage assessments to confirm the hits.” AN/APG-79 AESA Radar Dec 5/05: Testing. Raytheon states that its a Super Hornet equipped with its APG-79 radar successfully delivered multiple JDAM GPS-guided smart bombs on target, using real-time targeting coordinates derived from a high resolution SAR (synthetic aperture radar) image taken by the radar. The tests were conducted at the U.S. Navy’s China Lake facility. They add that the release of multiple precision-guided weapons from a single radar SAR map is a first, and note integration with other equipment as well: “To further demonstrate the synergy of the onboard Raytheon sensors, the JDAM test also employed the ATFLIR (Advanced Targeting Forward-Looking Infrared) system to provide imagery of the targeting area. Interfacing seamlessly with the APG-79, ATFLIR recorded the impact of the weapons against two diverse targets, confirming simultaneous weapon delivery while providing post-impact bomb damage information… The program has also been highly successful during the recent air-to-air live fire demonstrations last month in which an AMRAAM was successfully deployed. This proved that weapons delivery from an AESA equipped F/A-18 can now be executed at ranges not possible before. “In the past, the weapon’s capability exceeded that of the aircraft. The missile could reach the target, but the radar couldn’t see it. Now, with the APG-79 radar, the aircraft’s capability exceeds that of the weapon, and this gives us an enormous advantage when prosecuting a mission,” said Capt. Aaron “Slime” Bowman, U.S. Navy AESA program manager for the F/A-18.” Oct 31/05: Testing. Raytheon discusses the results of multiple live firing tests this month using inert AMRAAM and JDAM weapons. Both AMRAAM (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile) and JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition) live fire tests were successful at proving out the radar’s air-to-air and air-to-ground targeting capabilities. How does this work? Raytheon explains: “The AMRAAM engages long-range targets after launch by incorporating targeting data from the APG-79 AESA. During flight the AMRAAM receives updated tracking/targeting information from the APG-79 AESA radar via data link from the launch aircraft… The JDAM “Smart Weapon” uses the APG-79 AESA radar to provide precise targeting coordinates. The pilot uses a high resolution SAR (synthetic aperture radar) image to identify the intended target. The target is designated from the image; the target coordinates are passed to the JDAM weapon; the weapon is released and flies under GPS navigation to impact, thus completing the kill chain. Prior to the introduction of the APG-79 radar, it has only been possible for pre-mission planned ground targets to be attacked. Now, with the Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) APG-79, real time, time sensitive ground targets can be identified and engaged.” The APG-79 radar is currently in developmental flight testing and initial operational assessment. The program is expected to transition into OPEVAL (operational evaluation) on schedule in early 2006. June 28/05: Main sub-contract. Raytheon Co. announces a $580 million, multi-year subcontract to deliver 190 AN/APG-79 AESA net-centric enabled radar systems for the Boeing Co. over the next 5 years, for installation in production F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet fighter planes. This successfully concluded negotiations for 190 radars from low rate initial production (LRIP) lots 3 & 4, through full rate production lots 1-3. These radars will serve as retrofits and also equip new fighters on the production line. The first low rate initial production APG-79 AESA radar designed for the F/A-18E/F was delivered to Boeing IDS (Integrated Defense Systems) in January 2005. Following successful installation and testing, Boeing plans to deliver the first AESA-equipped F/A-18F to the U.S. Navy in April 2006. Sources: Raytheon release, June 29/05. Boeing APG-79 production sub-contract: 2005-2010 June 23/05: +22. a $102.4 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract, exercising exercise an option for 22 AN/APG-79 low-rate-initial-production III (LRIP III) Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar systems for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft. Work will be performed in El Segundo, CA (88%); St. Louis, MO (6%) and Marion, VA (6%), and is expected to be complete in December 2007 (N00010-03-C-0054). LRIP-3: 22 radars April 21/05: Rollout. Boeing debuts the F/A-18E/F Block II Super Hornet equipped with the APG-79 AESA radar system at a ceremony at Boeing’s St. Louis, MO facilities. The aircraft will be used as part of the AESA radar flight test program prior to entering Operational Evaluation (OPEVAL) in 2006. The AESA radar, built by the Raytheon Corporation of El Segundo, CA is part of the F/A-18E/F Block II upgrade, which includes integration of advanced mission computers, high speed data network, cockpit controls and displays, environmental control system upgrade and forward fuselage affordability improvements. It works with several existing elements of the weapon system, such as the stores management system, the gun director, and AIM-120 and AIM-9 missiles, to enhance the lethality, survivability and affordability of the F/A-18E/F. The AESA radar and the Block II upgrades are being delivered under 2 multi-year contracts. Sources: Boeing release, April 21/05. Super Hornet Block II rollout FY 2001 – FY 2004 From concept, to 20 LRIP orders. F/A-18F (click to view full) Feb 5/04: +12. A $61.8 million modification to a previously awarded fixed-price-incentive contract (N00019-03-C-0054), exercising an option for 12 AN/APG-79 low-rate initial production II (LRIP II) AESA radar systems for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft. Work will be performed in El Segundo, CA (70%); St. Louis, MO (25%); and Marion, VA (5%), and is expected to be complete in September 2006. Boeing’s release adds that: “Production of the LRIP2 radar is scheduled to begin March 2004, with delivery of the first LRIP2 radar-equipped aircraft scheduled for December 2005. The radars will be installed in selected two-seat “F” model Super Hornets. The radar system currently is undergoing evaluation testing at Naval Air Systems Command, China Lake, Calif.” LRIP-2: 12 radars Sept 3/03: +8. A $49.5 million fixed-price-incentive contract for 8 AN/APG-79 low-rate-initial-production AESA radar systems for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft (q.v. Jan 15/03). Work will be performed in El Segundo, CA (70%); St. Louis, MO (25%); and Marion, VA (5%), and is expected to be complete in September 2006 (N00019-03-C-0054). Boeing’s release adds that: “Production of the LRIP1 radar could begin as soon as next month, with delivery of the first LRIP1 radar scheduled for early 2005.” LRIP-1: 8 radars June 30/03: Testing. An F/A-18 Super Hornet test aircraft carrying the APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array radar system completes several test flights with the radar operating at Naval Air Systems Command China Lake, CA. They are the first test flights with this AESA radar. Boeing release. Jan 15/03: A $14 million ceiling-priced order against a previously awarded basic ordering agreement (N00019-97-G-0037) to buy Time Critical Parts for 8 low-rate initial production AN/APG-79 AESA radars for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Work will be performed in El Segundo, CA (90%) and St. Louis, MO (10%), and is to be complete in June 2003. Nov 20/02: Radar Rollout. Boeing and subcontractor Raytheon roll out integrated APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar in a ceremony at Raytheon facilities in El Segundo, CA. Boeing release | Raytheon release. AN/APG-79 rollout Feb 8/01: A $324.5 million cost-plus-fixed-fee, award-fee contract for the design, development, fabrication, integration, installation and test of 5 full and 2 partial AN/APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar engineering development models for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft. Work will be performed in St. Louis, MO (59%) and El Segundo, CA (41%), and is expected to be complete by January 2006. This contract was not competitively procured (N00019-01-C-0074). APG-79 development contract Additional Readings DID would like to thank Raytheon personnel for their insights and interviews. Special thanks are due to Larry Seeley and Kevin Gabriel. Raytheon – AN/APG-79 AESA Radar. See also Raytheon AN/APG-79 Product brochure [PDF, 2007 capture] Raytheon – Raytheon’s Revolutionary AESA Technology. Includes links to their various AESA radar designs and capabilities, and adds as a list of related press releases at the bottom. Raytheon’s AESA fighter radars fly on the USA’s F/A-18 Super Hornet (APG-79) and F-15 Eagle/ Strike Eagle (APG-63v2-3, APG-82) fleet. Northrop Grumman – AESA Radar: Revolutionary Capabilities For Multiple Missions [PDF format]. Details a number of the radar type’s characteristics that make it special, and offers insights into some of the developments within the AESA field. NGC makes AESA fighter radars for the F-16 Block 60 (APG-80), F-22 (APG-77), and F-35 (APG-81) platforms. DID (Dec 18/05) – AESA Comlinks. Dr. Carlo Kopp has already done a fair bit of work in the field, beginning with his PhD thesis in Melbourne in 1999. Aviation Week & Space Technology (Dec 11/05) – Talking Radars. DID (Oct 24/05) – Supersonic SIGINT: Will F-35, F-22 Also Play EW Role? Australian Aviation (June 2002) – Active Electronically Steered Arrays: A Maturing Technology. Related Super Hornet Contracts DID FOCUS Article – Super Hornet Fighter Family MYP-III: 2010-2013 Contracts. DID Spotlight Article – The USA’s 2005-2009 Multi-Year Hornet Procurement Contract. DID FOCUS Article – EA-18G Program: The USA’s Electronic Growler. DID Spotlight Article – Australia Buying 24 Super Hornets As Interim Gap-Filler to JSF. They will be 2-seat F/A-18F Block II aircraft, with the APG-79. View the full article

Americas Sikorsky won a $116.5 million deal for maintenance and overhaul of the Black Hawk main rotor blade. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. The UH-60 Black Hawk, developed by Sikorsky, has been operational in the US Army since 1978. In April 2001, the US Army approved an upgrade programme for more than 1,500 Black Hawks to UH-60M. The UH-60M features new wide chord composite spar main rotor blades, strengthened fuselage and advanced infrared suppression. Estimated completion date for this contract is August 15, 2026. Integral Aerospace won a $10 million contract for the repair of two parts associated with the 650 gallon fuel tanks in support of the CH-53 aircraft. All work will be performed in Santa Ana, California, and the ordering period is expected to be completed by August 2026. The CH-52 Super Stallion is a heavy-lift helicopter. The marine corps uses the Super Stallion in the amphibious assault role and for transporting heavy equipment. The US Navy also use the Super Stallion for vertical delivery and recovery of damaged aircraft on aircraft carriers. Middle East & Africa Turkish UAV manufacturer UAVERA will showcase its new Cagatay VTOL UAV at the 15th International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF) 2021 being held in Istanbul TÜYAP Fair and Congress Center between August 17 and August 20. The Cagatay VTOL UAV is a sub-cloud UAV (BIHA) class with 6 hours of flight time and a communication range of up to 150 kilometers. The UAV also is equipped with satellite control, feel-and-avoid, anti-collision, and swarm capabilities. Europe The Spanish Civil Guard has issued a tender for the supply of a minimum of 3,500 5.56x45mm caliber assault rifles worth about six million euros. Infodefensa reported that the tender also includes the supply of rifle holders, cases with cleaning tools, facemasks, user manuals and 10,500 magazines, with delivery of the rifles and the other items during 2022 and 2023. Asia-Pacific Japan’s first KC-46A recently refueled another KC-46A over the state of Washington. “Refueling with the first Japan KC-46A is an important milestone for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force,” Jamie Burgess, KC-46 program manager, said in a statement from Boeing. Japan is the first non-US KC-46A customer, and is scheduled to receive its first tanker later this year. According to Jane’s, South Korean firm LIG Nex1 announced in late July the completion of sea trials of its Haegum-3 (Sea Sword 3) unmanned surface vehicle (USV). The development work was carried out under the umbrella of a two-year public-private joint venture, called ‘The Coastal Security and the Rapid Response Unmanned Surface Vehicle Civil-Military Technology Commercialization Support Program’, between 2019 and 2021. Today’s Video Watch: CH-53K King Stallion Takes Flight at MCAS New River View the full article

Reviewed By Jeff Schultz Mike Norman and Michael Jones’ The Falklands War: There and Back Again – The Story of Naval Party 8901 is a gripping memoir of the 1982 Falklands/Malvinas War told from the perspective of the Royal Marine commander of Naval Party 8901 (NP-8901), the British troops assigned to defend the islands. NP-8901 surprisingly survived the initial Argentine occupation without loss and steadfastly volunteered to participate in the later recovery of the Falklands in this peculiar, late-stage, imperial conflict set against the backdrop of the Cold War. Mike Norman is a thirty-year veteran of the Royal Marines who served proudly from 1962 to 1992 in locations ranging from Glasgow to Bahrain. Among his many postings, Major Norman commanded NP-8901 through the Falklands War. Michael Jones, a Royal Historical Society fellow and author of a dozen historical books, brings his keen research to this project which greatly helps to round out Norman’s narrow eyewitness account and provide a fuller narrative. This book is divided into eleven chapters with a timeline, glossary, references, and list of sources. The text is well-supported by thirty-two black and white photos, along with five useful maps. Divided into roughly three parts, the first two chapters cover the backstory of the conflict and the long Royal Marine tradition of intermittently stepping in to defend the windswept Falkland Islands beginning in the 18th century. The next three chapters discuss the events related to the arrival of NP-8901, the subsequent Argentine invasion and the defenders’ repatriation home under a dark cloud of suspicion. The last part of the book, spanning six chapters, explores the return of the maligned British defenders and their subsequent rehabilitation, reassembly and inclusion in the burgeoning Task Force which took part in the recapture of the disputed islands. The unfolding narrative is well-supported by historical documents and references which add credence to Norman’s retelling, giving fuller context to events that were unavailable in 1982 as the situation unfolded. In the first part, akin to a vibrant travelogue, Norman and Jones provide important background information for the Falkland Islands which will prove interesting to many readers as very few people visit these remote islands. Norman provides a historical sketch for the role of the Royal Marines as traditional defender of the area and their connection to the Falklanders who number nearly 2,000 hardy souls living mostly in scattered sheep-raising farmsteads in a place known for pastoral scenes, difficult weather, and isolation. Their homes fall in a place where Arctic military training can only be considered informative, given the extremes faced by intrepid residents. The boggy ground is resistant to digging and the islands lack conventional roads, presenting unique environmental challenges both for resident and those that would engage in combat there. Owing to a contentious 19th century Argentinian territorial counterclaim, the islands were caught up in a modern war where the ruling Argentinian junta reasoned it could distract their population from the growing economic tension at home by taking remote British territory that London would not fight over. This put NP-8901 in the crosshairs of the junta’s Operation Rosario, Norman’s force having arrived only days before to relieve the outgoing Royal Marine detachment, when the enemy suddenly struck in a coup de main. The brief, yet spirited NP-8091 defense of the Stanley area in early April 1982 features prominently in the second part of the book, followed by the Royal Marine surrender, which came from Sir Rex Hunt, the Islands governor, and not from the Royal Marines themselves who were ready to keep fighting even against great odds. Incoherent or missing directives from Whitehall’s diplomats and the Ministry of Defense (MOD) worsened the situation for Norman at a critical time. Unfortunately, the widely circulated Argentine media photos of Royal Marines laying down, as if surrendering without a shot fired, quickly lead to recrimination in London. The losses suffered by the Argentines were ignored by the press in the absence of Royal Marine casualties, disgusting Norman. The way NP-8901 were served up as sacrificial lambs in the absence of clear orders and the unwillingness of the British authorities to set things right were particularly galling. In the last part of the book, Norman recalls his fight for NP-8901’s reputation, demonstrating that they did fight back and eventually winning them a place in Margaret Thatcher’s Operation Corporate, however peripheral. Once they got to Ascension Island, circumstances gradually enabled his all-volunteer group (only a few NP-8901 members declined to return) to find their way into the Royal Navy Task Force’s “Juliet Company” of No. 42 Commando, an improvised formation scratch-built on the P&O ocean liner Canberra (jokingly called “The Great White Whale”). After training feverishly during transit, Norman’s men went ashore at San Carlos and slogged their way into several engagements. They eventually beheld the surrender of the invaders and the raising of the Falkland flag, having bitterly witnessed the raising of the Argentine flag in the initial attack. Along the way they endured many hardships, mostly due to the terrible weather and terrain but also due to enemy action. This should remind the reader that even a seemingly outmatched foe like the Argentine military can put up a surprisingly fierce fight. The sinking of multiple British warships and merchant vessels, such as the vital cargo ship Atlantic Conveyor (which forced the troops to walk much more than intended due to the loss of the embarked helicopters) and landing ships Sir Galahad and Sir Tristram at Fitzroy (which Norman witnessed) are stark reminders of how dangerous it can be to underestimate an adversary. Mike Norman and Michael Jones’ The Falklands War: There and Back Again – The Story of Naval Party 8901 rewards readers with a highly readable yet harrowing account, rife with defeat, disappointment, tragedy, and eventual triumph set against the stormy waters of the South Atlantic. Jeff Schultz is an Associate Professor of History at Luzerne County Community College. The Falklands War: There and Back Again – The Story of Naval Party 8901 (Mike Norman and Michael Jones, Pen & Sword Military, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, Great Britain, 2020) The post Blog first appeared on Naval Historical Foundation. View the full article

Reviewed by Jeff Schultz Mariano Sciaroni and Andy Smith’s “Go Find Him and Bring Me Back His Hat”: The Royal Navy’s Anti-Submarine Campaign in the Falklands/Malvinas War is an important look at the relatively obscure rivalry between a few Argentine diesel submarines and the Royal Navy’s anti-submarine defenses such as helicopters, warships and the Royal Air Force’s maritime patrol aircraft which tried to limit the threat to the Task Force vessels as they transited to the disputed islands. Most related books focus on the land and air aspects of the war instead of the exhausting battle above and beneath the sea fought by tired crews trying to find elusive diesel submarines. Above all else, the book highlights the challenges of waging modern war against a non-peer rival like Argentina and the considerable British losses suffered defeating them. A lawyer by trade, Sciaroni has authored two books and a number of articles on Argentine military history, while Smith brings his research knowledge of the Falklands War to this interesting project. The 72-page A4 format book is divided into ten brief chapters with references and sources, well-supported by many black and white photos, detailed color maps, interview snippets, primary sources and a selection of color plates featuring aircraft and submarines. The range of images and the attention to detail they exhibit will prove valuable not only for naval history buffs but also modelers. In particular, taking the perspective of an Argentine submariner sheds new light on the challenges they faced, and their limitations, delivering a much-needed alternative viewpoint to the typically British retellings of this post-imperial war taking place amidst the larger Cold War conflict. Since the authors still draw heavily from the British experience in addition to lesser-known Argentine content, the reader can gain a richer sense of both sides’ methods, The great value of this work derives from its attention to details which may remain unaddressed in more land or air-centric narratives. “Go Find Him and Bring Me Back His Hat” covers the tactics employed by both sides, as well as the technical limitations and variety of equipment being operated, equipment malfunctions and failures, operational helicopter losses, usage of sonobuoy/dipping sonar, the general uncertainty of tracking submarines among the objects both biological and non-biological littering the deep, the importance of interservice cooperation and the grinding monotony of protecting high value assets against attack. There are a number of supporting tables, such as “Royal Navy Escorts” (p. 26) which lists all twenty-two British escort vessels that did their best to protect carriers, logistics vessels, and high value units (HVU). Additionally, “Anti-Submarine Attacks During Operation Corporate” (pp. 38-40) provides an exhaustive list of the breadth of attacks during the campaign, ranging from Mk 46 torpedoes to Mk 10 Limbo mortar salvos. A table detailing “Weapon Employment Against Submarine ARA Santa Fe” (p. 45) specifically is also noteworthy. The graphics in the color plates section show the different anti-submarine warfare (ASW) tracks of specific encounters from April to May, 1982, along with the “Argentine submarine patrol areas” and the British ASW screen formation used to counter potential threats (pp. iii-viii). The Royal Navy also had to contend with a surreptitious Soviet presence, consisting not only of surveillance vessels like the Zaporozhye but also of potential submarines shadowing the effort since a possible World War III was always in the offing (p. 59). It was to counter the Soviet threat that the Task Force carried nuclear depth charges, which thankfully went unused (p. 33). Despite the scale of the British ASW effort, they really only faced one submarine in the Falklands Islands area of operations, the German-built Type-209 ARA San Luis with a second submarine threat in the South Georgia area in the form of the American-built ex-Balao class ARA Santa Fe. A third submarine, the Type-209 ARA Salta sat in port during the war, unable to contribute. Against one modern and one aging diesel submarine the British brought a large collection of escorts along with two aircraft carriers, the HMS Hermes and Invincible. In addition, five submarines, including nuclear-powered “hunter-killers”, operated in the region. One such sub, the HMS Conqueror, sunk the cruiser ARA General Belgrano (formerly WW2-era ex-Brooklyn class USS Phoenix), with two Mk8 torpedo strikes. This resulted in the loss of over 300 Argentine sailors and prompted the Argentine Navy to suspend all offensive actions from May 2, 1982 onwards (p. 29). British submarine fears were also justified, as ARA San Luis claimed attacks on Royal Navy vessels on two different occasions, but the advanced SST-4 torpedoes failed to hit their targets. The story of the submarine ARA Santa Fe is detailed among other vignettes, and ranks as one of the more interesting clashes in recent history. When a hostile but aging diesel boat was spotted and engaged by missile-armed British helicopters in the waters off South Georgia Island, the crew of the ARA Santa Fe (formerly WW2-era ex-Balao class USS Catfish) was sent to reinforce the existing Argentine garrison and found themselves tasked with sneaking past the British cordon in a modernized GUPPY II version of a World War II submarine. Ultimately, the British Wasp helicopters of the icebreaker HMS Endurance fired nine wire-guided AS.12 missiles at the Santa Fe and five hit home. This, combined with a Wessex HAS.3 helicopter’s depth charge attack disabled the Santa Fe enough to end its involvement in the war (42-48). Though Argentina is certainly not the only nation to operate second-hand warships from countries like the United States, this confrontation ranks as one of the more fascinating of the campaign. Mariano Sciaroni and Andy Smith’s “Go Find Him and Bring Me Back His Hat”: The Royal Navy’s Anti-Submarine Campaign in the Falklands/Malvinas War provides important material, from both the British and Argentine points of view, pertaining to the 1982 Falklands/Malvinas War, and in particular the “cat and mouse” anti-submarine game played out in the dark and unforgiving waters of the South Atlantic. Readers may be surprised to hear of the large amount of ordnance used to prosecute potential sub-surface targets, among other details which presents this heretofore neglected aspect of history as a rich tapestry of desperate efforts to stem a worrisome undersea foe. Jeff Schultz is an Associate Professor of History at Luzerne County Community College. “Go Find Him and Bring Me Back his Hat”: The Royal Navy’s Anti-Submarine Campaign in the Falklands/Malvinas War (Mariano Sciaroni and Andy Smith, Helion & Company, Warwick, Great Britiain, 2020) The post Blog first appeared on Naval Historical Foundation. View the full article

The Afghan army and government the Soviet Union left behind lasted over 3-yrs. The Afghan army and government the USA left behind lasted barely 1 month. This is a nugget everyone needs to hoist onboard. It is bolded and underlined for a reason. For those in the elder GenX cohort and older, we remember vividly all the comments made, especially after its fall, of the failures of the Soviet Union. We liked to talk about its stifling bureaucracy, oppressive government nomenklatura, busy body rules, crumbling infrastructure, military infested with political officers pushing ideology, corruption, and almost comical government officials - all so assured of their power, such believers in their own press releases, so confident they were the future. Even those younger, they’ve seen the videos, movies, documentaries - read the books, articles and snarky posts. And yet, the tottering Soviet Empire in its last death rattles was able in less time to build in Afghanistan a military and civil society based on a philosophy with one foot in the grave that lasted … hell, let’s do the math here. - Colonel General Boris Gromov, Red Army and with him the Soviet Union leaves Afghanistan over the Friendship Bridge: 15 FEB 89. The Soviets were in Afghanistan 9-years and 2-months. - The President of Afghanistan Najibullah ousted from power & hides in UN compound after fall of Kabul: 15 APR 92 3 years and 2 months; 38 months. That is how long the Soviet trained Afghan Army and government lasted after the withdraw of the Red Army. (NB: The Soviet Union died on 26DEC91, a little under three years after the Friendship Bridge crossing. Najibullah was dragged out of his UN safe-haven - as one does - in SEP of 1996 and hung from a lamp post in Kabul, a bit over four years after the fall of Kabul. Use those benchmarks as you see fit.) - General Scott Miller, US Army lands in DC: 14JUL21. That would be 19-years and 11-months, but as we all know, American forces are still in Afghanistan at the pleasure of the Taliban trying to hold down half of the Kabul airport so we can get our people out. - President Ghani abandons Kabul: 15AUG21. 1-month. There is your benchmark. The Soviets were 38-times more successful in Afghanistan than we were, and they did it in half the time. Let that soak in. Let the humiliation flow over you like a healing balm. Fear and shame - regardless of what modern minds try to tell you otherwise - are great motivators. Let this motivate you. Almost exactly two decades after the attacks of 07SEP01, as a nation we are covered in disgrace. A global humiliation on a national scale. Accept that. Hold it close to you. Feel it. Smell it. Know it, because it will be attached to us for at least the rest of the decade - most likely longer. Good people can agree or disagree about staying or going from Afghanistan, but no one can defend how we did it. Everyone here who given responsibility by the American people failed. The President failed. Joe Biden: "There's gonna be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of a embassy of the United States from Afghanistan. It is not at all comparable." https://t.co/gYkxaHR6Ml pic.twitter.com/2cw7rO8bgq — Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) August 12, 2021 The State Department failed. Secretary of State Blinken (July 7th): “We are not withdrawing, we are staying, the embassy is staying, our programs are staying … If there is a significant deterioration in security … I don’t think it’s going to be something that happens from a Friday to a Monday.” pic.twitter.com/5RGuw4OfZL — Alex Salvi (@alexsalvinews) August 15, 2021 The Pentagon failed. Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said there is ‘no question’ about the Taliban's advances in Afghanistan but downplayed an intelligence assessment that Kabul could fall to the militants within 90 days, saying ‘no potential outcome has to be inevitable’ https://t.co/aain1zuWOo pic.twitter.com/uISiA8YGW1 — Reuters (@Reuters) August 11, 2021 All our intelligence agencies failed their government and the people. Our think tanks, the legions of foreign policy and diplomacy PhDs from all the right schools who populate the National Security State who like to tell everyone how smart they are - they all failed. So, what do we do from here? "If you withdraw 2,500 troops, and then you have to send 6,000 back, that's not planned. That's on its face an example of failure." - Jake TapperAccountability. Even the most die hard Biden partisan should be demanding the resignation of the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, and the National Security Advisor. In another age, they would have all resigned already - but we don’t live in that age. All the Joint Chiefs of Staff need to resign as one. Either they own their collective failure because they offered this plan as a good one, or they don’t have the confidence of the President and their recommendations not to do this were ignored. Either are sufficient for resignation as honor demands. They are imminently replaceable. We are bloated and thick with excessively credentialed General and Flag Officers who can take their place. We can do nothing about the past, it is done. The present is already written. What we can do is set the condition for the future. We can try to contain the compounding damage to our national credibility. A first step is to tell our remaining friends that the United States knows failure and rot when it sees it, and is confident enough to excise it and move forward. We need accountability. The honorable thing to do is to resign. If not, the proper thing is for the President to fire those who advised him so horribly. If not the President, then Congress should have hearings with a pair of pliers in one hand and a blow torch in another and humiliate people in to resigning. If neither happens, then bad on the American people for allowing a political system to function in such a way that people such as these are the ones who rise to the top of both parties. Look again at that migraine inducing chart above. Failures such as this take more than one part of government to fail. Let me end with what I know best, the US military. We like to tell ourselves that we are in some way apart, perhaps a bit more honorable, than the politicians we serve. We served the Constitution and the nation, not individuals. We can make that point...unless we were just telling each other another of those little white lies that we do now and then. 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=gQrNapnySOc:CnYbYADuVWA:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=gQrNapnySOc:CnYbYADuVWA:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=gQrNapnySOc:CnYbYADuVWA:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=gQrNapnySOc:CnYbYADuVWA:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/gQrNapnySOcView the full article

Americas The Defense Department’s Space Development Agency (SDA) plans to launch an experimental payload, developed together with the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), to study the infrared background created by the Earth. The experiment is called Prototype Infrared Payload or PIRPL and is foundational for developing DoD capabilities to detect and track dim, fast-flying hypersonic missiles, SDA officials said in a briefing last week. The US Army says it’s developed a combat-capable prototype of a high-energy laser weapon. According to an army press release, the laser can be mounted on a Stryker military vehicle and used to defend troops against drones as well as rockets, artillery and mortars. Over the summer, the new weapon was successfully tested in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in a “combat shoot-off” against a series of possible combat scenarios. Middle East & Africa Two US CH-47 Chinook helicopters arrived in Turkey to aid the country suppress major wildfires. According to a release from the US Ambassador to Turkey, David M. Satterfield, the helicopters along with 18 crew members, arrived Friday at Dalaman Airport in Mugla. The USS Monterey visited Egypt’s Berenice Naval Base on Thursday, the first time a U.S. warship has pulled into the Red Sea base. The Navy announced the visit to the Berenice Naval Base, which officially opened in January 2020, in a press release. Europe According to local media, the Cypriot cabinet had recently approved the start of negotiations for the sale of 11 Mi-35P attack helicopters to Serbia. In documents seen by Politis, Cyprus intends to replace the Mi-35P with 12 new attack helicopters. The proposal involves buying six aircraft initially and another six later, over a 10-year period. Asia-Pacific Indian state run firm Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) announced the completion of Ground Run and Low Speed Taxi Trials (LSTT) of its indigenously developed civilian aircraft Hindustan-228. Hindustan-228 is the first fixed wing aircraft built in India.This is also the company’s first foray into the manufacturing of civilian aircraft with its services being tended to only defence customers till present. The trials were a part of the country’s 75th Independence Day. Today’s Video Watch: Mil Mi-35P Phoenix in Action View the full article

After the events of this weekend, I'm not really up to writing something to kick Monday off. It isn't that I did not have time, it is just that I wanted to invest it in something else. While there are a lot of entities who need some self-reflection, I think for today we need to look back at the senior in-theater leadership of the military effort in Afghanistan. We'll talk in more detail later. This works best on full screen, and you only have 10 seconds a slide, so don't dilly-dally. Ponder. 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=WkAN3tHqTP4:KUqPik_mzss:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=WkAN3tHqTP4:KUqPik_mzss:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=WkAN3tHqTP4:KUqPik_mzss:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=WkAN3tHqTP4:KUqPik_mzss:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/WkAN3tHqTP4View the full article

Americas Northrop Grumman won a $8.4 million delivery order for support of the E2-D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft program avionics flight management computers. The E-2D provides broad area coverage resulting in broader range capabilities. With the E-2D’s enhanced ability to work in the littoral and over land, the platform provides a critical capability to protect our nation’s interests. Work will take place in California. Estimated completion date is February 5, 2025. Great Eastern won a $9.1 modification to exercise and fund the second 12-month option on a firm-fixed-price contract with reimbursable elements for the offshore support vessel Hercules. This vessel will be utilized to support refueling and resupply of the Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX-1). The contract includes a 12-month base period, three 12-month option periods, and one 11-month option period. Work will take place in the US Pacific Command’s area of responsibility. Estimated completion date is July 15, 2024. Middle East & Africa Ukrainian firm Practika reportedly delivered a batch of Kozak-5 lightweight armored vehicles to Saudi Arabia this year. The Kozak-5 armored vehicle based on 4×4 truck Ford F550, chassis specially enforced (front axle strengthening, suspension and brakes enforcing, bigger wheels installing for armored vehicle building). Europe QinetiQ supported and hosted ‘At Sea Demonstration/ Formidable Shield’ (ASD/FS), the latest US-led NATO training exercise at MoD Hebrides, Scotland. Responsible for modernizing the base to enable the exercise to take place, QinetiQ say they worked closely with international partners within NATO and made a significant contribution to allies’ abilities to deliver against future threats. Asia-Pacific The Tejas Mk1A is to fly by March next year, in a new deadline set by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). HAL’s chairman R Madhavan said the critical design reviews for the mission computer, digital map generator and digital flight control systems are completed. In its budget proposal for 2022, the Japan’s Ministry of Defense will budget $912 million to acquire 10 F-35 fighters from the US. This is nearly double of what the ministry had budget in 2021 for six aircraft. Japan’s mid-term defense plan is to acquire 27 F-35As and 18 F-35Bs. Today’s Video Watch: Here Comes the New Upgrade E-2D Hawkeye Cockpit (And Much More) View the full article

SBX-1, Pearl Harbor (click to view full) As rogue state proliferation by the likes of North Korea made missile defense a growing priority for nations including the USA, Japan, and Israel, the USA began to look at the linchpin of any defense: powerful radars that could both track ballistic missiles, and guide interceptors. The USA has its BMEWS tracking system, but that would not serve. America’s Safeguard ABM system was dismantled long ago – though Russia still maintains its counterpart System A-135 network around Moscow. Something new would be needed. Enter Raytheon’s new XBR radar, based on an SBX-1 platform that looks a lot like a mobile oil drilling rig. Basing the radar at sea offers numerous advantages. One is the obvious ability to move the radar as threats materialize, allowing much greater coverage with fewer radars. Another is the ability to protect allies, without having to invest in expensive systems whose regional capabilities and value to the USA could be put at risk by the decisions of a single foreign government. In exchange for this freedom from political interference, of course, the designers must contend with nature’s interference in the stormy Pacific. Boeing SBX system is linked to its land-based GMD (Ground-based Mid-course Defense) missile system but can also operate with other naval and land elements. The XBR Radar and SBX Platform SBX concept (click to view full) Initially, the SDX will provide the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) element of the Ballistic Missile Defense System with an advanced training and decoy discrimination capability that will help interceptor missiles located in Alaska and California provide a defense against a limited long-range missile attack. Information from SBX would go to the missile system nerve center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, which could then deploy defensive missiles from sites in Alaska and California. The radar’s position in the northern Pacific would allow it to keep an eye on North Korea, which is viewed as the greatest missile threat to the United States at present. It had been homeported midway along the Aleutian Islands chain in Adak, Alaska, but SBX-1 is capable of moving throughout the Pacific Ocean to support both missile defense advanced testing and defensive operations. Tests of GMD intercept missiles thus far have been hit-or-miss, with close to half of the interceptors either not getting off the ground or missing the target. Naval launches of Raytheon’s SM-3 missile have had far more success, however, and the SBX has been used in a number of these launches as a collaborating element. Meanwhile, system development of the land-based GMD system continues. After the radar was removed from operational status in 2012 as a money-saving move, it was located in Hawaii. By April 2013, however, North Korean threats pushed the US Navy to activate SBX and sail it into the Pacific once more. Boeing Co. is GMD’s prime contractor, including the GMD missiles and overall integration of SBX. Raytheon is the primary subcontractor, with responsibility for the XBR radar. Alpha Marine Services’ M/V Dove is chartered as the platform’s supply vessel, and Interocean American Shipping Corp. holds the crewing charter for the underlying SBX-1 vessel. The XBR Radar Catching foreign speeders (click to view full) Raytheon’s giant XBR radar is a distant relative of the X-band radars used by police to detect speeding drivers, but designed to detect and illuminate incoming missiles instead. It floats on a system resembling an oil drilling platform, and will usually provide long-range mid-course guidance for ballistic missile defense systems. It can also provide earlier guidance if positioned correctly. The Sea-Based X-Band radar (SBX) that uses it was originally planned as a land-based system, but a sea-based system became possible when the George W. Bush administration withdrew from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. The XBR radar has been fitted to a huge mobile oil platform built by a Russian firm. It would normally steam out to offshore waters and be used as a base to drill oil and gas wells. Instead, SBX will steam at a top speed of about 7 mph and add a mobile element to the USA’s missile defense network. The $815 million, mechanically-slewed, X-band phased array assembly is 280 feet (85 meters) tall, and weighs 2,400 tons. The radome alone weighs 18,000 pounds, stands over 103 feet high, and is 120 feet in diameter. Made entirely of a high-tech synthetic fabric, the radome is supported by air pressure alone, and is designed to withstand 130+ mph winds and a “100-year storm” at sea. This makes it far more durable than any air-supported radome of remotely comparable size, and its design and fabrication required development of several new processes, materials, and technologies. New technologies have been developed within the radar as well. XBR leverages lessons learned on earlier radar programs, including the Ground-Based Radar – Prototype (GBR-P), located at Kwajalein in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the land-based AN/TPY-2 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) radar. Raytheon continued to work on design and manufacturing enhancements, including 3 iterations of cost and reliability improvements to Raytheon’s Gallium Arsenide Transmit/Receive (GaN T/R) module, which lies at the heart of its X-Band radar family. That’s good, because XBR uses over 45,000 T/R modules, and has a Physical Aperture of 384 m2 and Active Aperture of 248 m2. XBR provides 2-90 degree elevation coverage (not exactly vertical, can be tipped upward), and about 270 degrees of azimuth coverage (beam width profile). It scan a horizon of about 2,500 miles (4,000 km) at a sensitivity so great that it could detect the movement of a baseball at the opposite end of the United States. X-band radars also have much tighter discrimination than UHF radars like Alaska’s Cobra Dane, which means they’re faster and better at telling separating incoming warheads apart from debris and decoys. Contracts & Events Unless otherwise noted, the US Missile Defense Agency (US MDA) in Huntsville, AL manages these contracts. FY 2012 – 2021 Budget cuts force SBX out of operation; North Korea forces it back into operation; Crewing charter. SBX departs (click to view full) August 16/21: Hercules Great Eastern won a $9.1 modification to exercise and fund the second 12-month option on a firm-fixed-price contract with reimbursable elements for the offshore support vessel Hercules. This vessel will be utilized to support refueling and resupply of the Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX-1). The contract includes a 12-month base period, three 12-month option periods, and one 11-month option period. Work will take place in the US Pacific Command’s area of responsibility. Estimated completion date is July 15, 2024. September 25/19: Research And Develoment Support Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems won a $500.6 million contract modification in order to perform research and development support for the Army Navy Transportable Radar Surveillance Control Model-2 and Sea-Based X-Band radar. Raytheon’s nine-story-high X-band Radar is the world’s largest X-band radar. The sea-based X-band platform that it sits on stands more than 250 feet high and displaces more than 50,000 tons. It consists of a semi-submersible oil production platform topped with the XBR. The AN/TPY-2 is a missile defense radar that can detect, classify and track ballistic missiles. It operates in the X-band of the electromagnetic spectrum, which enables it to see targets more clearly, and it has two modes – one to detect ballistic missiles as they rise, and another that can guide interceptors toward a descending warhead. The modification also includes continued product improvement, warfighter support, engineering services, Ballistic Missile Defense System test subject matter experts support, modeling and simulation SME support, and cybersecurity. Work will take place in Woburn, Massachusetts. Period of performance is from November 1, 2017 through October 31, 2022. August 17/18: Sea-based BMD The Navy is contracting TOTE Services to support SBX-1. The company is being awarded with a firm-fixed-price contract valued at $11.1 million. The company will be responsible for operating and maintaining the Sea-Based X-Band Radar vessel. The X-band radar, also known as the SBX, was originally planned as a land-based system but a sea-based system became possible when the Bush administration withdrew from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. It constitutes a mid-course fire control radar based on a seagoing semi-submersible vessel. The $815 million, mechanically-slewed, X-band phased array assembly is 280 feet tall, and weighs 2,400 tons. The radome alone weighs 18,000 pounds, stands over 103 feet high, and is 120 feet in diameter. Made entirely of a high-tech synthetic fabric, the radome is supported by air pressure alone, and is designed to withstand 130+ mph winds and a “100-year storm” at sea. The radar performs cued search, precision tracking, object discrimination and missile kill assessment. The in-flight interceptor communication system data terminal transfers commands from the GMD fire control system to the interceptor missile during its engagement with the target missile. This contract is scheduled for completion by September 2019, but does include several options which could extend the contract until end of March, 2024. The total cumulative value of this contract would rise to $65.3 million, if all options are exercised. April 26/13: What’s My Role? The GAO looks at the Missile Defense Agency’s full array of programs in report #GAO-13-342, “Missile Defense: Opportunity To Refocus On Strengthening Acquisition Management.” With respect to SBX, it has this to say: “MDA faces continuing portfolio challenges…. For example, after approximately $2 billion had been spent in several years of development, the SBX sea-based radar was downgraded from operational status to a limited test status because of funding limitations…. Limited test support status means SBX will support BMDS flight and ground tests as appropriate, but can be recalled to active, operational status when warnings indicate a need…. By transitioning SBX to a limited test support status, MDA officials expect to save almost $670 million in operation and maintenance costs for fiscal years 2013 through 2018. Because SBX is primarily used to support GMD’s defense of the United States, removing SBX from operational status also changes how the BMDS operates…. [Northern] command has developed alternatives for conducting engagements without the SBX. However… there is a difference in how the BMDS operates without SBX, the details of which are classified.” Those plans must include the huge Cobra Dane PAVE PAWS radar in Alaska – but its sustainment funds only exist to 2015, its UHF frequency isn’t good for target discrimination, and it will need another upgrade soon. Replacing Cobra Dane would cost an estimated $1 billion, though the NRC’s suggestion of a “GBX” stacked TPY-2 radar could bring that cost down considerably. April 1/13: Off the bench. The USA deploys SBX, sailing it from Pearl Harbor and toward North Korea in the wake of serous threats made against the USA as well as South Korea. Obviously, the Navy isn’t talking about exactly where it’s headed, but there are many safe places in the Pacific that offer a better vantage point for North Korea’s expected “test” launches. Chosun Ilbo | Hankyoreh | Hawaii News Now | KITV Hawaii | conservative Heritage Foundation. Dec 13/11: Support. Boeing in Huntsville, AL receives a $15.1 million sole-source cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification, exercising an option for continued SBX operation and sustainment services from Jan 1/12 through June 30/12. Work will be performed in Huntsville, AL. FY 2012 research, development, test, and evaluation funds will be used (HQ0147-09-C-0007). Nov 3/11: Crewing. Interocean American Shipping Corp. in Moorestown, NJ receives a $28.2 million firm-fixed-price contract to crew and maintain the Sea-Based X-Band Radar platform, SBX-1. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/12, but 4 more 1-year option periods could turn it into a 5-year, $165.2 million deal. This contract was competitively procured via solicitations posted to Military Sealift Command, Navy Electronic Commerce Online, and FBO.gov websites, with 5 offers received out of 100 firms with access. US Military Sealift Command in Washington, DC manages the contract (N00033-12-C-2500). Crewing charter Nov 1/11: Support. The US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) awards Raytheon IDS of Woburn, MA a maximum $307.6 million indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract. Under this new contract, Raytheon will maintain software required to operate “the X-band family of radars,” and perform and Ballistic Missile Defense System test planning, execution and analysis. Discussions with Raytheon personnel confirmed that the funding applies to SBX’s XBR radar, as well as Raytheon’s AN/TPY-2 radars (THAAD, European missile defense, deployed in Israel & Japan), and a “Ground Based Radar Prototype” that they’re working on as a technology demonstrator. Work will be performed in Woburn, MA from Nov 1/11 through Oct 31/13, and the MDA’s FY 2012 research, development, test and evaluation funds will be used to fund initial orders. The MDA at Redstone Arsenal, AL manages the contract (HQ0147-12-D-0005). Oct 19/11: To Hawaii. The US MDA announces that SBX is about the head into Pearl Habror, HI for scheduled maintenance and crew training operations. FY 2010 – 2011 Test failure: try to turn it all on next time; Supply vessel chartered. Renewed Vigor (click to view full) Sept 19/11: Support vessel. Edison Chouest subsidiary Alpha Marine Services, LLC in Galliano, LA wins a $25.3 million firm-fixed-price contract for the time charter of M/V Dove, a US-flagged, anchor-handling, towing supply vessel that will be used to support SBX-1. M/V Dove will transfer fuel, supplies, and offshore workers to and from SBX-1, and will function as the platform’s oil spill response vessel. Alpha Marine Services will operate and maintain M/V Dove for the duration of the charter. This contract includes 4 more 1-year option periods, which could bring the total contract to $147 million. Work will be provided in the Pacific Ocean, and is expected to be complete by September 2012. Contract funds are subject to availability in FY 2012, and will expire on either Sept 30/12 or Sept 30/13; subsequent options could extend that. This contract was competitively procured via a solicitation posted to the Military Sealift Command, Navy Electronic Commerce Online, and FBO.gov websites with 4 offers received. US Military Sealift Command in Washington, DC manages the contract (N00033-11-C-2006). Support vessel charter Aug 20/11: Maintenance. SBX leaves from Vigor Shipyards (formerly Todd Shipyards) in Seattle, WA, where the sea platform has been undergoing scheduled maintenance and planned upgrades over the past 3 months. A Naval Vessel Protection Zone will be applied to SBX as it departs, and will be monitored by the US Coast Guard. US MDA. April 19/11: Maintenance. A sole-source, not-to-exceed $27.2 million cost-plus-fixed-fee (CPFF) contract modification. The firm will provide support for SBX’s shipyard maintenance at Todd Pacific Shipyard in Seattle, WA, from March 2011 through September 2011. $10.4 million in FY 2011 Research, Development, Test and Evaluation funds will be used to incrementally fund this effort (HQ0147-09-C-0007, P00028). Oct 7/10: Maintenance. The Missile Defense Agency is planning to have SBX undergo modifications and maintenance at the Todd Shipyard in Seattle, WA. Work is expected to start in March 2011, cost about $9.4 million, and take about 90 days. Work on the vessel’s thrusters and other modifications must begin in March, 2011, in order to maintain its Certificate of Inspection issued by the American Bureau of Shipping. Maintaining SBX requires a port with water depth of at least 50 feet, and there are only 3 facilities on the US West Coast with deep enough facilities: Todd, Naval Station Everett, WA; and Naval Air Station North Island, CA. US MDA. Sept 30/10: Development. Boeing in Huntsville, AL, receives a $27.9 million sole-source cost-plus-award-fee modification to continue Sea-based X-band Radar development, test and evaluation efforts. Work will be performed in Huntsville, AL from October 2010 through July 2011. This procurement will be funded with both FY 2010 and FY 2011 Missile Defense Agency research, development, test and evaluation funds (HQ0147-09-C-0008). April 6/10: Why? Aviation Week is able to add some details regarding the January 2010 test failure: “The first problem, known in the rocket sector as “chuffing,” occurred as the target boosted from the Kwajalein Atoll… refers to the sound that the motor makes, but it is also used to describe changes in the burn rate or pressure of burning in the solid-rocket fuel… [it’s] common in rocket motors, particularly older boosters. LV-2 used Trident C4 boosters, some of which are 25-35 years in age. …While the chuffing did not affect target performance, a problem arose when… Algorithms designed to help SBX “filter out” chuffing were not engaged during the test [which became] more complex than it should have been. In a real engagement, this official says, the algorithms would be engaged… The second problem contributing to the test failure involved the functioning of the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV) itself, according to the officials. The EKV apparently experienced a mechanical failure in a thruster. This was described by one of the officials as a quality control issue brought on by a faulty connector.” Jan 31/10: Testing. The USA MDA announces that, following a number of successful missile interception tests involving SBX in a supporting role, the latest test experienced a glitch: “A target missile was successfully launched at approximately 3:40 p.m. PST from the U.S. Army’s Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Approximately six minutes later, a Ground-Based Interceptor was successfully launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Both the target missile and Ground-Based Interceptor performed nominally after launch. However, the Sea-Based X-band radar did not perform as expected.” See also: WIRED Danger Room. Test failure FY 2007 – 2009 SBX deployed, supported, begin participating in tests. X-Band install March 23/09: Sub-contractors. Raytheon announces a $27 million contract from Boeing to support the Ground-based Mid-course Defense system’s 6-month bridge effort. Work will include continued evolution, maturation, test, and verification of the Raytheon-built X-Band Radar aboard the Boeing-developed SBX, plus work on the Upgraded Early Warning Radars at Beale Air Force Base, CA, and at Fylingdales, England; and the Cobra Dane Upgrade Radar at Shemya, AK. Dec 5/08: Testing. The USA’s Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system successfully intercepts a target warhead in a live-fire test that includes SBX. The long-range ballistic missile target lifted off from the Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska. In response, a GMD interceptor missile was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA, and received target data updates from the GMD fire control system, which collected and combined data from 4 different sensors: naval AEGIS Long Range Surveillance and Track system; the AN/TPY-2 land-based; the Upgraded Early Warning Radar at Beale Air Force Base, CA; and SBX. After flying into space, the interceptor released its exoatmospheric kill vehicle, which tracked, intercepted and destroyed the target warhead. Norm Tew, Boeing’s chief engineer for GMD: “This test was an important milestone for the Sea-Based X-Band Radar… This was the first intercept test in which data from SBX was combined with data from the other sensors to provide tracking data and guidance aimpoint updates to [a live] interceptor.” See: Boeing. July 18/08: Testing. The U.S. Missile Defense Agency tests the land-based Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system of sensors, including SBX. While previous tests typically involved a single target-tracking sensor, this test used 4: a ship-mounted AEGIS Long Range Surveillance and Track system in the Pacific; an AN/TPY-2 radar in Juneau, AK; the Upgraded Early Warning Radar at Beale Air Force Base, CA, and the Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX) in the Pacific. During the test, the sensors detected, tracked and assessed a long-range ballistic missile target launched from the Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska. The sensors provided target information via ground and satellite links to GMD’s dual-node, distributed fire control system, located at Fort Greely, AK, and NORAD HQ in Colorado Springs, CO. Boeing. March 17/08: Support. Raytheon announces 2 two task orders worth $28.3 million, as part of an indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity Consolidated Contractor Logistics Services program to operate and sustain the US MDA’s X-Band radars (AN/TPY-2 used in the FBR and THAAD, GBR-P radar, and XBR/SBX). The first task order, valued at $1.2 million, provides management services for the operation and sustainment of the Raytheon-developed X-Band radar (XBR) aboard the Sea-Based X-Band radar (SBX) vessel and subsequent task orders. The second task order, valued at $27.1 million, covers the XBR/SBX’s day-to-day management, direction and control, and operations. Raytheon adds that this contract award signifies a long-term partnership between Raytheon and MDA to consolidate operations and sustainment, designed to improve operational availability and reduce the total cost of ownership by identifying and leveraging efficiencies and improvements throughout the missile defense mission. This contract is structured to include a 5-year base period worth $756 million, plus 5 one-year options, bringing the total potential value to $1.9 billion over 10 years. Work will be performed at Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems Missile Defense Center in Woburn, MA; Integrated Air Defense Center in Andover, MA; and by Raytheon Technical Services Company personnel at sites designated by the MDA. Sept 20/07: Infrastructure. Boeing announces that the Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX) mooring system has been installed at SBX’s homeport near the Aleutian island of Adak, Alaska. Boeing sub-contractor Manson Construction used tugs, barges and cranes to place the mooring system’s 8 anchors on the bottom of Kuluk Bay. Heavy machinery aboard a barge then dragged the 75-metric-ton anchors, embedding them into the sea bed. The construction team completed the installation 3 weeks ahead of schedule. Boeing’s partners in this effort included partners Manson Construction Co., Golder Co., Glosten Associates, the US Missile Defense Agency; and the American Bureau of Shipping, which had to ensure that the work met all mooring installation standards. March 21/07: Testing. The US MDA completes a Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system test using the SBX radar, which detected, tracked and assessing a long-range ballistic missile target launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA. This was primarily a test of the system’s sensors and handoffs. As part of the GMD system, SBX provided that target information via satellite to GMD’s Colorado-based fire control system, which used the data to simulate a target shootdown with a simulated ground-based interceptor. Boeing. Jan 4/07: Support. Raytheon Company has announced a $32.7 million subcontract to provide sustainment support for the X-Band Radar (XBR) portion of the Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX). The award was made by Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, as SBX is considered to be part of the Ground Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) element of the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS), and Boeing is the prime contractor for that segment. Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) will provide trained personnel for on-platform sustainment and operation of the XBR, along with radar maintenance and development of spares. The contract will run through 2007, and work will be performed at the company’s Missile Defense Center in Woburn, MA; the Integrated Air Defense Center in Andover, MA; and Raytheon Technical Services Company on site at the SBX platform. FY 2003 – 2006 From initial design to development; Done, but not ready for prime time. Building SBX-1 (click to view full) Aug 28/06: Stuck in Hawaii. SBX was supposed to be in Adak by now, but it’s still in Hawaii. The non-governmental Project On Government Oversight looks at the issues and glitches that are keeping it in port, via a link to a Chicago Tribune article and a leaked “For Official Use Only” June 2/06 document entitled “SBX-1 Operational Suitability and Viability Assessment” [PDF]. Most of the issues are typical post-shakedown items re: adequate training, drills & procedures mature enough, certifications required, recreation facilities, etc. Other issues like the crane’s ability to handle at-sea tasks, electrical/propulsion limitations, etc. are more serious. Stuck in Hawaii June 8/05: Support. The Raytheon Co. in Waltham, MA receives an indefinite delivery/ indefinite quantity contract to provide logistics support services to operate and maintain up to 4 forward-based X-Band transportable radars to support the Ballistic Missile Defense System. The maximum potential value of the contract is $260.9 million. Most work will take place at Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems in Woburn, MA from May 26/05 through May 25/10. The Missile Defense Agency issued the contract (HQ0006-05-C-0016). At this point, the platform is expected to arrive in Adak, Alaska on schedule by late December 2005, and may get a full test when it nears Hawaii and a nearby missile range on its voyage north. Integration, testing and certification will evaluation will continue throughout its voyage. Meanwhile, the final touches are being put on the sea-based X-band radar system, which is expected to ship out on a 20,000-mile (32,000-km) trip from Ingleside/Corpus Christi, TX to Adak, AK in the Aleutian Islands. April 5/05: Raytheon announces that it BMDS X-Band Radar has been lifted aboard the SBX-1 platform. Jan 27/03: The Boeing Co. in Anaheim, CA received a $747.5 million cost-plus-award-fee modification to contract HQ0006-01-C-0001, for completion of the development of Sea-Based Test X-Band Radar (SBX) capability. Boeing will continue to develop a Test X-Band Radar (XBR) capability in support of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense Program as a multi-phased acquisition, and this modification is described as: “…necessary to ensure that a Test XBR is ready to be integrated into the Ballistic Missile Defense System Test Bed in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2005. Raytheon Electronic Systems, a major subcontractor, in Bedford, Mass., will primarily perform the effort.” Phase one of the SBX effort was awarded during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2002, and an effort was announced in November 2002 for acquisition of radar long-lead items and associated labor costs. The Missile Defense Agency issued the contract (HQ0006-01-C-0001). Main SBX development contract Nov 21/02: Long-lead. The Boeing Co. in Anaheim, CA received a $30 million cost-plus-award-fee contract modification for acquisition of long-lead items associated with the Test X-Band Radar (XBR) capability in support of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense Program, as well as associated labor costs. Subject to completion of environmental analysis, this modification is necessary to ensure that a Test XBR is ready to be integrated into the Ballistic Missile Defense System Test Bed in the 4th quarter of FY 2005. Raytheon Electronic Systems, a major subcontractor, in Bedford, MA, will primarily perform the effort. None of these funds will be used to acquire the sea-based platform, in accordance with direction contained in the Joint Explanatory Statement accompanying the conference report for H.R. 5010 (P.L. 107-248), the FY 2003 Department of Defense Appropriations Act (HQ0006-01-C-0001). Aug 1/02: Initial Design. The Boeing Co. in Anaheim, CA received a cost-plus-award fee contract modification for development of a Sea-Based Test X-band Radar capability in support of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense Program. This effort will be accomplished in a phased approach. At this time, only Phase 1 is being executed, for the reservation of the sea-based platform and preliminary design effort in the amount of $31 million. The principal place of performance will be Bedford, MA (HQ0006-01-C-0001). Preliminary design Additional Readings and Sources Background: SBX US MDA – Sea-Based X-Band Radar [PDF]. Claremont Institute, MissileThreat.com – Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX). GlobalSecurity.org – Sea-Based X-Band radar. Raytheon – Sea-Based X-Band Radar for Missile Defense [PDF]. Background: Related Systems HowStuffworks.com – How Missile Defense Systems Will Work. Boeing – Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) System. DID – CEC: Cooperative Engagement for Fleet Defense. Foxtrot Alpha – These Are The Wild Radar Ships That Make Missile Defense Possible. SBX is included, along with the Cobra King system, SS Pacific Tracker, and several others. June 24/14 article. News & Views US National Research Council (September 2012) – Making Sense of Ballistic Missile Defense: An Assessment of Concepts and Systems for U.S. Boost-Phase Missile Defense in Comparison to Other Alternatives It goes far beyond that, with well-researched recommendations across the entire BMD array. MostlyMissileDefense (Aug 28/12) – Ballistic Missile Defense: Why the Current GMD System’s Radars Can’t Discriminate. And why X-Band is better. Report to the US Missile Defense Agency (June 2/06) – SBX-1 Operational Suitability and Viability Assessment [PDF]. Submitted by L-3 Communications subsidiary SY Coleman. Reuters (June 7/05) – Missile defense radar nearing completion in Texas. SpaceWar.com (May 23/05) – Radome Successfully Installed on Sea-Based X-Band Radar. View the full article

We are joined this month by The Honorable Steven Honigman, Geoffrey Beaumont, the son of artist Arthur Beaumont, and Navy Art curator, Gale Munro. Join us as we discuss the important work of Navy painter Arthur Beaumont. The post Blog first appeared on Naval Historical Foundation. View the full article

There is no FbF today. This is no time for such things. This is a weekend to think of other things. 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=0okd9FN63u8:dNaj1DChDSM:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=0okd9FN63u8:dNaj1DChDSM:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=0okd9FN63u8:dNaj1DChDSM:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=0okd9FN63u8:dNaj1DChDSM:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/0okd9FN63u8View the full article

Americas Textron Systems won an $11.3 million deal for the logistics and repair support of MV-22B, CMV-22 (Navy) and CV-22 (Air Force) Osprey components in support of the Joint Service Electronic Combat Systems Tester system. The V-22 Osprey is a joint-service, medium-lift, multimission tilt-rotor aircraft developed by Boeing and Bell Helicopters. Work will take place in Maryland. Estimated completion will be by August 2026. An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile equipped with a test re-entry vehicle was launched by Airmen from the Global Strike Command on August 11. During this launch, a Hi Fidelity Joint Test Assembly re-entry vehicle that detonated conventional explosives prior to hitting the surface of the water was used. The vehicle landed downrange near Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Middle East & Africa According to Defense News, Canadian company Lortie Aviation is entering negotiations to buy five of Lebanon’s Hawker Hunter fighter jets after the Ministry of National Defense held three auctions for the aircraft. The ministry authorized the Lebanese Armed Forces to issue an agreement of consent with the Canadian firm for the sale of the five Hawker Hunters and spare parts. Europe According to the UK Royal Navy, a new robotic vessel has begun trials with the Royal Navy. The Otter Pro has been put through its paces at the Defense Diving School, on Horsea Island, Portsmouth. The next stage of the trials will see the Otter Pro, from RS Aqua Ltd, tested in a more complex environment and its near-real time data processing will be refined Unlike global trends where attack drones are equipped primarily with guided weapons, Russia is developing a series of unguided rockets and bombs for use on the aircraft. The project to develop the weapons has received the green light from the Russian Ministry of Defense, Izvestia reported. Asia-Pacific Japan reportedly plans to deploy missile units next year on an island that is merely 300 kilometres off the coast of Taiwan. The move is aimed at countering Beijing’s increasing naval presence in an area that carries a history of military disputes, reported Japanese media, adding that the nukes will also help defend against a potential Chinese attack Today’s Video Watch: US Army Test a ScanEagle Unmanned Aerial System Capabilities View the full article

So, PERS-41, the Director of Surface Officer Assignments, is coming to give everyone a brief. Great! For you career minded folks who want to see what is expected of you, there is no better source. So, what's on the agenda? Of course, you can almost feel the oxygen leave the room. Of course. This is 2021, and as you have not had the Diversity Industry talking points thrown at you every 15-seconds, after the, "Why I am Interesting" introduction, PERS-41 will lead with that. Of course. Before we get to those slides, I want you to remember something for me. As this is 2021, at the very highest levels the mask has slipped - like we saw last week. Welcome this fact. It makes it all so clear. Recall through the years we've discussed how you were being patronized and lied to? Remember how they tried to disguise what they were doing by telling you they were interested in "diversity" because they wanted diversity of thought, ideas, perspectives on how do complete the mission? Remember? Well, we were right, and the others are wrong. They are not measuring anything here remotely adjacent to something intellectual. Nope. As always it is self-identified race and ethnicity. Those are the metrics, that is all they care about. As we've pointed out before, perhaps they think that someone's self-identified race and ethnicity is determinative on how they think? If so, then as we've come to understand, their view of race and ethnicity is really not that far removed from the KKK and the worst of the early 20th Century eugenicists. They lied to you then. They knew it, and except for the most gullible and self-delusional, you knew it too. At least it is out in the open now for even the last of the optimists to see. Also notice, in line with CNO's Kendi-flavored guidance, you can see there is one thing that is identified as a problem. Something bad. Something to be avoided; white males. Bask in the actual systemic racism in the system. Is that harsh? I don't think so. How else would you describe something that first looks at the qualities of a person based on something as useless as the color of their skin or what self-identified tribal identification they want them in? What else identifies a group as a collective undesirable simply because their DNA comes from a certain part of the world? If you'd like to see the full brief, you can get it here or review the embed below. 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=YuFVoha9-w0:bG0dcaM89sI:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=YuFVoha9-w0:bG0dcaM89sI:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=YuFVoha9-w0:bG0dcaM89sI:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=YuFVoha9-w0:bG0dcaM89sI:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/YuFVoha9-w0View the full article

Americas $1 million in funding from the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center (AvMC) has been awarded to RE2 Robotics to develop a robotic system that can autonomously refuel AH-64 Apache helicopters in the field. Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center in Port Hueneme, California, is managing the project entitled Remote Robotic Refueling for Extended Missions (R3EM), which is part of the Autonomous and Robotic Remote Refueling Point (AR3P) program. Lockheed Martin won a $11 million unpriced letter contract for long-lead material and the labor, planning, and scheduling necessary to support the fiscal 2022 Trident II (D5) missile production schedule. This unpriced letter contract will be definitized on or about October 1, 2021, as a fixed-price-incentive contract. The Trident II D5 fleet ballistic missile is a three-stage, solid-propellant, inertial-guided ballistic missile developed by Lockheed Martin. Work will take place in Florida. Estimated completion date is September 30, 2026. Middle East & Africa According to Jane’s, Emirati company Milanion Group has signed a memorandum of understanding with Ukrainian Armor to give the latter distribution rights of unmanned ground vehicle Agema. Agema is designed to support a range of missions, including national and civil defense and security; fire and rescue; logistical support; fire support; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; anti-tank support; medevac; and route inspection and clearance. The platform can also provide encrypted communications. Europe Rheinmetall and Escribano Mechanical & Engineering (EM&E) demonstrated new modules carrying EM&E sensors and weapons systems for the Mission Master SP Autonomous Unmanned Ground Vehicles (A-UGVs). The demonstrations that took place at EM&E’s new facilities in San Juan del Viso in Spain involved two Mission Master A-UGVs. According to a news release, the defense Science and Technology Laboratory has awarded a $13.1 million contract to In-Space Missions Ltd for the build of the Titania satellite, which will undertake research on the next-generation of communications technology Asia-Pacific The Australian government has selected Lockheed Martin Australia and Northrop Grumman Australia to progress to the next round of its fifth-generation Joint Air Battle Management System (JBAMs) competition, to be delivered under the $2 billion Air 6500 Phase 1 project. Today’s Video Watch: Rheinmetall demonstrates new Mission Master SP modules developed in collaboration with Escribano View the full article

For this decade, the US Navy has to be ready to match any military challenge by the People’s Republic of China with the fleet we roughly have now. Any clear-eyed look at budgets, priorities, or plans makes that clear. If so, how do we best keep an aggressive China at risk with the forces we realistically have? What can we do to best deter war, and if that fails, transition to war best positioned to win? Today we turn over the conversation to Bryan Clark and Bryan McGrath. Gentlemen, over to you.Naval leaders, civilian and military, face difficult choices when confronting the threat posed by China. The fleet must be kept in readiness for combat, it must be modernized and upgraded, and new ships and technologies must be planned, designed, and acquired. Each of these requirements is resourced in the budget, and the resulting balance among the near, mid, and long term objectives is the goal of every Secretary of the Navy and Chief of Naval Operations. Unbalance the budget, and some part of the portfolio suffers. This balance became harder in recent months after outgoing Indo-Pacific Commander ADM Phil Davidson warned that China’s military could seek to forcibly unify Taiwan with the mainland within the next six years. Now known as the “Davidson Window,” the INDOPACOM assessment caused influential members of Congress to characterize the Navy’s recent budget submission as unresponsive to the growing near-term threat. Some argued the Navy should consider alternative fleet employment schemes to shore up its overseas presence. There is a growing concern among Congressmembers and analysts that the Navy’s force generation model, the Optimized Fleet Response Plan (ORFP), is insufficient to meet the requirements of day-to-day competition with China in the Indo-Pacific. This is fair criticism, as to the extent that OFRP is “optimized”, it is focused on affordably producing full-up aircraft carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups on a regular, but infrequent, schedule. And while OFRP accomplishes what it is designed for, this predictable model of force generation eases China’s operational planning while reducing the Navy’s overseas posture. The Navy has been extracting more presence from OFRP during the last few years by deploying carriers and surface combatants multiple times during each 3-year cycle. OFRP was designed to provide this flexibility—but not for every cycle. Without more maintenance between deployments, the fleet incurs a readiness debt that needs to be repaid with longer overhauls down the road. The money to pay for a more operations and maintenance could come from the Navy’s procurement or research and development accounts, unbalancing the Navy’s approach in favor of more near-term investment. It appears this choice will be unnecessary, as the Senate Armed Services Committee recently proposed adding $8 to Navy accounts in the defense authorization bill. While we agree with the need for additional resources, continuing to wring a more robust posture from the OFRP is unsustainable, as evidenced by the Navy’s ongoing readiness shortfalls. The Navy should make a more fundamental change in the way the Pacific Fleet is employed and postured to achieve a more effective near-term conventional deterrent, while protecting investments in mid and long-range priorities. To that end, we recommend that the Pacific Fleet and the Navy Staff resurrect the 2017 CSBA Fleet Architecture Study “Restoring American Seapower: A New Fleet Architecture for the United States Navy” and begin to implement its hybrid fleet employment scheme that features a “Deterrence Force” and a “Maneuver Force”. The animating principle of the CSBA fleet architecture was to support a posture of conventional deterrence by denial, in which proximate naval forces could dissuade Chinese aggression by creating uncertainty regarding the likelihood of Chinese success. This emphasis on conventional deterrence by denial anticipated the Trump Administration’s National Security Strategy of 2017 which made this approach a central tenet. To enable a posture that can create uncertainty for Chinese leaders, the CSBA architecture breaks deployed naval units into two separate forces, each relying on a different existing force generation model. The first is the Deterrence Force, in this instance comprised of most Pacific Fleet surface combatants and amphibious ships, as well as Guam-based submarines. The Deterrence Force would adopt the higher-tempo readiness cycle currently employed by Forward Deployed Naval Forces based in Guam, Japan, and Spain, consisting of about 4 months per year of maintenance and training and 8 months of operational time. Because they operate more frequently and are focused on the Indo-Pacific theater, Deterrence Force units would better understand the threats, opportunities, and geography of the region, improving their ability to cooperate with partners and allies in peacetime. When armed confrontations arise, everyday power projection needs would be provided by airpower resident in the Navy’s amphibious assault ships (LHD, LHA). Submarines and surface forces would operate independently or in task-oriented groups to support strike, anti-surface warfare, and anti-submarine warfare. Deterrence Forces would not be tied to CVN readiness and maintenance cycles, nor would they be required to achieve the same level of integrated certification as Carrier Strike Groups. Freeing most surface combatants from the rigid timetables imposed by OFRP would create a larger force of available ships to be employed forward, resulting in a more powerful conventional deterrence posture. What then, is to become of the large, nuclear powered aircraft carriers the Navy currently builds its force around? They would be lynchpins of the Maneuver Force and would remain in something like an OFRP cycle due to the requirements of carrier maintenance. West Coast carriers and an appropriate number of surface combatants would be removed from the everyday business of forward deployed presence and deterrence to create a large formation of two CVNs plus their escorts operating across the Indo-Pacific. The Maneuver Force would perfect truly integrated multi-carrier operations and conduct large scale exercises with allied navies. Operating within 48 hours of aircraft launch points reaching the East and South China Seas, the Maneuver Force would focus on high-end military operations, including the peacetime demonstrations and battle problems needed to deter aggression and reassure allies. The fleet architecture in Restoring American Seapower and a subsequent 2020 Hudson Institute study suggested a force structure for the Navy aligned to its objectives. Both efforts clearly influenced the DoD’s 2020 Future Naval Force Study, and we believe much of their analysis remains valid. That said, the critical requirements of deterring Chinese aggression demand revised thinking about how the Navy’s existing force structure might be more effectively and efficiently employed, and we believe the new deployment schemes proposed by this architecture provide a reasonable and testable option. Such a revision would not be easy, and further analysis would be necessary to determine the benefits of the approach and the difficult challenges to implementing it. Among these challenges would be the degree to which required maintenance could be accommodated by the Pacific shipyard repair base, as the reduced cycle applied to the Deterrence Force would likely create shorter, and more frequent, maintenance windows. Also, additional forces may need to be transferred from the Atlantic Fleet to the Pacific Fleet to comprise the Maneuver Force. The blow here could be softened by working closely with our UK and French allies to coordinate carrier deployments and ensure coverage of the North Atlantic and Mediterranean. Additional strain would be placed on the surface combatant training force, as it would have to accommodate the requirements of both Deterrence Force and Maneuver Force readiness. The development of the 2017 architecture was a six-month undertaking employing the talents of several dedicated thinkers and was briefed to the senior leadership of the Navy at the time to significant interest and praise. Current Pacific Fleet and Navy leadership should apply an analytical “Tiger Team” to an excursion from that plan using today’s fleet. We believe the opportunity exists to improve the combat power and flexibility of the force facing the Chinese daily, while husbanding and refining the war-fighting combat punch of the carrier force for high-end conflict. Bryan Clark is a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute and leads its Center for Defense Concepts and Technologies. Bryan McGrath is the Managing Director of the FerryBridge Group LLC. No client views are represented here. 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=rkGHaR325XE:6T_vHhX5t78:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=rkGHaR325XE:6T_vHhX5t78:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=rkGHaR325XE:6T_vHhX5t78:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=rkGHaR325XE:6T_vHhX5t78:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/rkGHaR325XEView the full article

Do you get a little worried when people seem to be a bit overexcited at the prospects of such a large percentage of our fleet being unmanned in the near future? Are you worried that too few hard questions are being asked and answered? Me too. Head on over to USNIBlog and help ask more hard questions. 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=OZhvXGLvdIc:OGIWOlg6xDM:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=OZhvXGLvdIc:OGIWOlg6xDM:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=OZhvXGLvdIc:OGIWOlg6xDM:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=OZhvXGLvdIc:OGIWOlg6xDM:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/OZhvXGLvdIcView the full article