Deactivating the USS Miami Los Angeles-class attack submarine could cause ripples — some good and others challenging — through the rest of the U.S. Navy’s sub fleet force structure. In announcing the Navy’s decision to forego fixing the Miami — whose innards were recently scorched in an arsonist-set fire — Rear Adm. Rick Breckenridge, director of Undersea Warfare, acknowledged in an Aug. 7 media briefing that the service hopes to shift some of the money slated for Miami repair work to other subs.
Two Lockheed Martin F-35Bs are heading to the USS Wasp amphibious assault ship for the second round of developmental testing (DT) trials associated with the aircraft’s unique ability to conduct vertical landings and short takeoffs in support of the U.S. Marine Corps. The trials are slated to take three weeks and will begin Aug. 12 on the Wasp, according to a defense official. In addition to the two primary aircraft assigned to the testing, one will serve as a backup.
Recent technological and programmatic improvements have greatly expanded China’s ability to potentially deploy ballistic missiles on a regional and global basis — including submarine-launched missiles capable of hitting mainland U.S. targets, a recent U.S. government report says.
American air power continues to dominate joint counterterrorism operations against Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which capitalized on 2011 Arab Spring uprisings that culminated in the internationally supported transfer of power from longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh to his deputy Abd Rabu Mansur Hadi in February 2012.
A Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet equipped with prototype conformal fuel tanks (CFTs) made its first flight from St. Louis on Aug. 5. Boeing did not announce the event officially, but it was observed by a local photographer. The aircraft, a late production version, will be used for a series of tests this month to validate the aerodynamics and radar cross-section of the aircraft with the CFTs and the centerline weapons pod, both proposed for the Advanced Super Hornet configuration of the aircraft.
Sailors and Marines aboard amphibious assault ship LHD-4 USS Boxer are slated to become the first West Coast crew to deploy with the MV-22 Osprey this fall. Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 166 is embarked on Boxer as a part of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), and will deploy with 12 Ospreys, the U.S. Navy says. The Osprey is intended to replace the CH-46E Sea Knight, the platform the Marine Corps has used since the Vietnam War. The Osprey can carry more combat troops and has a farther flight range than the Sea Knight.
Scientists launched small UAVs from a research vessel during a July 13-18 experiment to help boost the Navy’s radar and communications performance at sea. Sailing off Virginia Beach, Va., the Office of Naval Research’s (ONR) research vessel Knorr explored ocean and atmospheric weather variations that can change the angle that radar and radio waves bend, making it more difficult for ships to remain undetected and hindering their ability to communicate or locate adversaries, Navy officials say.
FURLOUGHS SHORTENED: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has reduced furloughs for civilian Defense Department employees from 11 days to six, but that may come at the expense of weapons systems as the Pentagon continues to wrestle with budget cuts. “Hoping to be able to reduce furloughs, we submitted a large reprogramming proposal to Congress in May, asking them to let us move funds from acquisition accounts into day-to-day operating accounts,” Hagel said in announcing the changes to anticipated furloughs.
The U.S. Navy has opted for a steel deckhouse for its next DDG-1000 Zumwalt-class destroyer, after years of touting composite deckhouses as a way to keep the ship lighter and stealthier. The Navy inked a $212 million contract earlier this month with General Dynamics – Bath Iron Works (BIW) to design and build a steel deckhouse for DDG-1002, the USS Lyndon B. Johnson. The deckhouse shuffle represents more rough seas for the Zumwalt program.
U.S. military airlift providers, already facing the long-expected demand decline tied to drawdowns in Iraq and Afghanistan, are also coping with a huge reduction in one-way commercial charters, Atlas Air executives report. “With the decline in military cargo demand, we’re also seeing a very dramatic decline in one-way requests from the military,” Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings President William Flynn explained during an earnings report call on Aug. 1.
Click here to view the pdf U.S. Army Procurement Funding Shifts:2013 Plan for Fiscal 2014 Compared to Actual 2014 Request (Losers) (Then-year dollars in millions) U.S.
The Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) wants a further review of the Pentagon’s Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) to guarantee competition and ensure the military makes the best overall acquisition decision. The SAC’s concerns come in the wake of the July 18 protest by BAE Systems of the $279.4 million NGJ contract that the U.S. Navy awarded Raytheon to develop the pod to replace the ALQ-99 tactical jamming system now carried by the Boeing EA-18G Growler aircraft.
Belgium has taken delivery of its first NH90 in the NATO Frigate Helicopter (NFH) configuration. The country becomes the fifth nation to take delivery of the naval version of the twin-engine utility helicopter, which is produced by NHIndustries, a consortium of Eurocopter, AgustaWestland and Fokker.
The Senate fiscal 2014 defense spending bill makes a modest increase to an account that usually doesn’t attract much attention, adding $725,386 to the “Classified programs” line in the Air Force’s “Other procurement” account. It’s a modest 5% increase to the $15.2 million for U.S. Air Force “Other Procurement” line 999, summarizing multiple programs. The committee report on the bill (S.1429) explains the increase as “Classified adjustment.” The full Senate Appropriations Committee marked up the bill Aug. 1.
WGS WINDOW: The U.S. Air Force is anticipating a launch window for its sixth Boeing Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) spacecraft of 49 min. starting at 8:29 a.m. EDT Aug. 7. The satellite, which will provide high-bandwidth data and voice communications for U.S. and Australian forces, will be lofted by a United Launch Alliance Delta IV with four solid-rocket motors and a 5-meter fairing, from Cape Canaveral.WGS-6 is the final “Block 2” standard satellite, which includes a bypass to allow for quick transfer of video data collected by unmanned aircraft.
OSHKOSH — The “sweet spot” cost for widespread law-enforcement and public safety deployment of small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) is probably around $50,000 — about the cost of a fully equipped squad car — suggests Alan Frazier, assistant professor in the University of North Dakota aviation department and a 33-year law-enforcement veteran working on research to integrate sUAS into public-safety use.
ARMY Lockheed Martin – Missiles and Fire Control, Orlando, Fla., was awarded a firm-fixed-price, Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contract with a maximum value of $223,310,000 for the procurement of Modernized-Target Acquisition Designations Sight pilot night vision sensors and related services. This FMS contract is in support of Korea. Fiscal 2013 Procurement funds are being obligated on this award. Three bids were solicited, with three bids received. The Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-13-C-0104).
A testbed for future fuel-efficient civil transport and unmanned aircraft with slender, flexible wings has made its first flight at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB, Calif. The X-56A Multi-Utility Technology Testbed (MUTT) has been built by Lockheed Martin Skunk Works for the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and NASA to test active aeroelastic control technologies for flutter suppression and gust-load alleviation.
NEW DELHI — India is exploring the possibility of building a 65,000-ton nuclear-powered carrier as it gains confidence in its warship-making capability. The Indian navy is undertaking a detailed study on the size, type of aircraft, aircraft launch and recovery systems, and propulsion. “All options are being considered, including nuclear propulsion ... However, no final decision has been taken,” Navy Vice-Chief Adm. R.K. Dhowan says.
