Archive for the ‘Procurement’ Category

Army says no to more tanks, but Congress insists

It’s the inverse of the federal budget world these days, in which automatic spending cuts are leaving sought-after pet programs struggling or unpaid altogether. Republicans and Democrats for years have fought so bitterly that lawmaking in Washington ground to a near-halt.

Yet in the case of the Abrams tank, there’s a bipartisan push to spend an extra $436 million on a weapon the experts explicitly say is not needed.

“If we had our choice, we would use that money in a different way,” Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army’s chief of staff, told The Associated Press this past week.

$7.5 million for each upgraded M1A2SEPv2. Murdoc’s usually in favor of more better equipment, but pumping dollars into the good old military industrial complex while simultaneously cutting budgets to the point where the Army is planning to cut 8 brigades is a bit much.

Abrams Main Battle Tank platoons position themselves on the battlefield in order to lay suppressive fire during Hammer Strike, a brigade level live-fire exercise conducted by the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, at the Udairi Range Complex near Camp Buehring, Kuwait, Wednesday. During the mission, the brigade combined ground maneuver, field artillery, attack aviation and Air Force assets to engage and destroy targets, displaying its lethal firepower to the many Kuwait military counterparts on hand. Hammer Strike was a culmination of the training the Sledgehammer Brigade and their Kuwaiti counterparts have been conducting for the past four months.

An F-35A Lightning II joint strike fighter, top, from the 33rd Fighter Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and an F-22A Raptor from the 325th Fighter Wing at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., soar over the Emerald Coast on Sept. 19, 2012. This was the first time the two fifth-generation fighters have flown together for the Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Jeremy T. Lock)

More photos below:
Read the rest of this entry »

Lockheed: No Sequestration Layoff Notices This Year
Violating the law in order to not issue layoff notices before the election at the request of the White House.

McCain promises to block WARN Act payments
McCain says he’ll block the payments the White House has promised defense companies warning companies they have a choice whether to follow OMB’s guidance or follow the law.

A Phalanx close-in weapons system (CIWS) aboard the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Cowpens (CG 63) fires at a missile decoy towed by a jet on a long cable. Cowpens is part of the George Washington Carrier Strike Group based out of Yokosuka, Japan, and is conducting a patrol of the western Pacific Ocean. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Paul Kelly/Released)

Does anyone know if all of the Phalanxes in the active fleet have been upgraded to Block 1B? Based on earlier purchase schedules, Murdoc would guess that there are still quite a few waiting to be upgraded.

More info on the Phalanx CIWS here.

Murdoc hasn’t posted much about the Littoral Combat Ships lately, so here’s a link to a good post over at CDR Salamander: LCS: A Global Force for Confusion

Money quote:

We all know that LCS is just a speed-fetish’s version of a large corvette. A slightly armed, sub-optimal corvette at that.

Murdoc was a fan when the LCS was a cheap low manpower multipurpose modular ship that could operate well close to shore. That was a long time ago.

And they make a pretty big target considering their relative lack of punch.

Here’s more from a while back on MO: Critical of the LCS

A Decade Late, but We’ll Take Them

Light Air Support turboprops for the Afghans. Keeping fingers crossed that we end up with a couple.

If the USAF won’t buy any, the Army should start pushing for the chance to field a few squadrons. Make noise and either get the rules changed or convince the AF to play ball.

Last F-22 Raptor Rolls Off Assembly Line

The final F-22 Raptor fighter jet rolled off the assembly line during a ceremony at the Lockheed Martin aircraft plant at Dobbins Air Reserve Base. The U.S. military is turning to the less costly F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to complement its operational fleet of 187 Raptors, amid concerns in Washington that the $153 million F-22 is too costly and too high-tech for its own good.

187 is not enough.

AT-6 Is Out of the Light Air Support Contest, Award Imminent

The AT-6B was competing with Embraer’s Super Tucano for a U.S. Air Force contract to supply up to 20 light air support — or counterinsurgency planes — to the fledgling Afghan air force. A couple of months ago we reported that the service was supposed to decide this month on which plane it would supply the Afghans with.

Murdoc’s railed on about this topic over the years. He’d sure like to see some fixed-wing Light Air Support in the USAF or US Army. Maybe single-engine prop planes like the AT-6 or Super Tucano (or A-1 Skyraider, for that matter…). Maybe a twin-engine prop plane. Maybe even a jet along the lines of the A-37.

Not likely, though. Not expensive enough for the US military.