Category: Defense Procurement

KC-X Tanker Contest Canceled

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Looks like SecDef Bob Gates is dumping this one on the next administration.

I can’t say I blame him. The Airbus is a better aircraft, more modern and with greater fuel offload capacity, and it’s already flying, whereas the Boeing Frankenplane, cobbled together out of 3 different 767 models, has stronger pork barrel congressional support.

A delay might move Boeing to submit a shortened 777 as a bid, which would be more competitive, but the 787 is out, if just because they are so far behind schedule that they would not be able to begin deliveries until some time around 2020.

It might also have something to do with the strike, which obviously makes Boeing hitting any delivery, for any customers, which would give the delegation from Washington State more of an opportunity to whine.

Another Indictment of the LSI Concept

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Here is a good short article on the problems with the Lead System Integrator (LSI) concept from Bettina Chavanne , and I agree with his categorization of this as, “A Fox in the Henhouse”.

She raises the concern that she is , “not sure the military can run its own acquisition programs any better than private LSIs,” though, and I think that she is completely wrong here.

There is far greater accountability in the military, no golden parachutes, and the organizational imperatives are directed more towards military needs than to profits.

The real problem is that the entire defense procurement process is completely broken.

Turkey to Buy Russian SAMs

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It appears ht they will be plunking down about $100 million for, “ SA 10 Grumble, SA-12b Giant and SA-15 Gauntlet missiles from Belarus and Ukraine, so that they can practice counter measures against the Russian double digit SAMs.

This is separate from the $4 billion bid they have out for long range SAMs for use by the military in operations, which has the US Patriot competing with the Chinese HQ-9, Israeli Arrow, and Russian S-400.

I love this quote from the article:

The United States has raised concerns that if NATO-member Turkey were to purchase Russian missiles it would create an inter-operability problem with NATO.

Because, I guess, US operators using Patriot missiles are more than capable of shooting down an RAF Tornado during the invasion of Iraq.

While all militaries support their national defense industries, the degree to which the US does is particularly whorish.

Navy Already Shifting Away from Shallow Waters? | Danger Room from Wired.com

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It appears that the US Navy will be shifting strategy away from littoral (coastal) operations.

The article makes some grandiose statements about how a new networked battlespace will require naval ships to operate further offshore, but I think that this is bunk. Rather there are two imperatives driving this decision:

  • Having a ship run aground ends a career in the Navy, even if it was really unavoidable, and littoral operations, because they are in shallower water, increase the possibility of a ground by at least an order of magnitude.
  • Because of the US history of separation from enemies by oceans, there is a myopic focus on a blue water navy

Boeing Drags Its Heels on Air Force Bid – Seeking Alpha

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Well, it’s now clear that Boeing wants a 6 monthextension on the bidding process. It’s clear to them that a simplw resubmit would put them at a disadvantage, so they are looking at making significant modificiation, something like moving to the 767-400, or 777.

Usurprisingly, Northrop-Grumman thinks that any extension is a bad idea.

The request puts the USAF between a rock and a hard place, as it would push the program into the next administration, which is likely to make significant cuts in military procurement.

Meanwhile, Stephen Trimble notes that a delay might have some real benefits for Northrop Grumman too. The KC-30 bid was based on the Airbus A330-200 passenger airliner, but since the bid was made, airbus has flown an A330-200 freighter, which would be a bit better airframe for the role.

Additionally, it looks like that A330-200F would be able to use the GE GEnx-2B engine, which promises double digit percentage increase in fuel economy.

Northrop declines to rule out platform switch for new KC-X bid

Tanker questions: GEnx upgrade for KC-30? KC-747 vs KC-A380? – The DEW Line

Rule Number 1 of US Defense Procurement

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Is that if it’s a joint program with the Europeans, then the Department of Defense will screw around with it, and try to kill it. (paid subscription required)

Case in point is MEADS, which packages an improved Patriot PAC-3 missile with extensive European involvement, and now the Pentagon wants to reorganize the program. (paid subscription required)

I kind of knew the program was doomed when I worked a (very little) bit on in in 1998. Jointness is the kiss of death for the Pentagon.

Boeing Goes a la Carte on C-17B

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Boeing has proposed a whole series of upgrades to create a C-17B, in a desperate attempt to keep the line open, and they are going to offer them on an individual basis.

The upgrades are:

  • Upgraded engines.
  • Doubled slotted flaps.
  • Additional tires on the main landing gear.
  • A central tire inflation system.
  • Improved avionics.
  • An electronic warefare system.

They are offering them individually for two reasons, some of them could also be sold as simple upgrades to the existing fleet, and because all together, they might be considered a new development program, which means that the groundlings at the Pentagon would have to spend a few years writing up specifications.

At its core, of course, this effort is really about keeping the line open as quietly as possible.

Russia Accuses US of Illegal Arms Trading

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Interestingly, we are not talking about arms control treaties or UN resolutions here.

We are talking about violations of Russian licenses on their designs, which I find interesting because it dovetails into two of my geek areas of interest, defense procurement, and IP law.

It appears that licenses granted by the Soviets, and later the Russians on things like AK’s and RPG’s were for domestic production only, and did not include the right to sell internationally, so the US is breaking the law by selling the weapons to the security apparatus of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Somehow, I imaging that the US trade rep will not address this as strongly as they would bootleg albums from She Who Must Not Be Named being sold by Chinese street vendors.

Lockheed Martin Loses BAMS Protest

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This means that Northrop-Grumman can resume work on the Naval drone contract, based on the Global Hawk airframe.

If you go to the full article, you see that the number of protests is skyrocketing, almost doubling over the past 4 years, which is raising costs, and pushing back schedules, on the projects involved.

The problem is that a contract award protest is risk free at this point, so throwing the dice for another bite at the apple is a good move from a business perspective.

Japan’s C-X Delayed

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The CX is Japan’s indigenously designed replacement for their Kawasaki C-1 and Lockheed Martin C-130H transports, and it appears to be in serious trouble.

Normally, when a Japanese program is delayed, it’s politics and budget, but the CX prototype has significant technical problems, weakness in the horizontal stabilizer and cracks in the landing gear, in addition to a bribery scandal with regards to the engine selection.

Boeing Looking to Significantly Modify Tanker Bid

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Well, this is a breath of unexpected common sense.

Basically, they are currently looking at replacing their original bid with a 777 derivative, or replacing their current bid, a 767-200ERX, with a 767-400 derivative.

The latter would be less involved, but it would also have tail strike issues, and so would likely have less rotation angle and require a longer takeoff run.

If Boeing asks for more time for this, and my guess is that they would, it is likely that they would get the time requested, which means that the final decision would be pushed into the next administration.

Business as Usual, Ship it Broke, and Pay for the Fix

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Galrahn at Information Dissemination has review the Navy budget, and found a nugget, that the Navy is intending to upgrade the DDG-1000 Zumwalt class ships to be able to launch the Standard SM-2 missile.

The lack of this capability was given as one reason to can the entire class, and Galrhan is angry that the Navy, upon canceling the program, did not tell Congress about the upgrade proposal.

Me, I’m upset that the navy was willing to accept delivery of a ship that was incapable of defending itself. I’m even more upset that they did so knowingly.

More F-35 Problems

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Well, we have more schedule slips in the F-325 Progam.

We have, ailures of the engine bay cooling fans, though this may be unique to AA-1, which is not production standard, and Failures in the engine and transmission for the STOVL variant, which are delaying the build down tests to vertical landing, and there are still doubts as to whether the aircraft will overheat on hot days on the ground, which was also a problem in the F-22 program.

It looks like those build down flights will be delayed from Q1 2009 to Q2, at best, which will delay shipment to the first customers, the US Marines.

Late and Overbudget, LCS No. 1 Underway

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So the first first littoral combat ship got underway at the end of last month, more than a year behind schedule, and at twice the forecast cost.

The ships, the size of a large corvette or small frigate, are intended to work in coastal waters.

Interestingly enough, the Israelis are considering the conventionally hulled LCS as the basis of a ship for their navy, but they are ditching the modular weapons system, because they feel that it leaves the ship too lightly armored.

On Time, On Budget, On Schedule

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The guy who came up with this will, of course, be drummed out of the service, because there is no defense contractor profit in it.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Ray Stetler using, “a soldering iron and six feet of cable”, created a Voice Over Secure Internet Protocol communications system for the MQ-1 Predator drone.

It plugs into the radio from the helmet, and they can talk to base, as opposed to, for example, typing in text messages asking for permission to fire.