Archive for the ‘Procurement’ Category
A couple of weeks ago in Linkzookery I pointed out Sikorsky’s Next-Gen Gamble
Here, via CDR Salamander, is some video:
Story on Military.com today: ‘Punisher’ Gives Enemy No Place to Hide
By all accounts, the futuristic XM-25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement System has been quite a rude surprise for the bad guys.
“I don’t know what we’re eventually going to call this product, but it seems to be game changing,” said the commander of the Army’s Program Executive Office Soldier, Brig. Gen. Peter Fuller, during a Feb. 2 briefing with reporters at the Pentagon. “You no longer can shoot at American forces and hide behind something. We’re going to reach out and touch you.”
After years of XM-25 development, last fall the 101st Airborne submitted an urgent request to field the weapon for troops on patrol in Afghanistan. In response the Army took the five weapons it had been testing at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Md., added 1,000 hand-made explosive rounds and shipped them to the war zone in October of 2010.
The claim is that the five prototypes have had no maintenance issues but that one outstanding issue is the rechargeable battery power supply.
The ammo is currently running $1,000 per round (yes, you read that right) but claims are that it could drop to $35 per round if/when mass production starts. The Army wants to buy 36 more XM35s, but it’s uncertain whether they’ll get them and it will take up to a year to get them into the field.
If the thing really works as well as they’re claiming, they’d better find a way to speed that up.
A Soldier aims an XM25 weapon system at Aberdeen Test Center, Md.
5 vertical landings in 8 days for F-35B
A series of five vertical landings over eight days shows that the troubled F-35B Joint Strike Fighter is getting back on track, analysts said.
The tests, performed between Jan. 6 and 13, are among the 42 that must be completed before the aircraft can be tested at sea onboard an amphibious assault ship….
Analysts agreed that this series of vertical landings signals the problematic vertical landing variant is starting to recover from a series of technical glitches that resulted in schedule slips and the redesigns of some ancillary equipment and structural elements of the aircraft.
Can you say “get this shit fixed before they pull the whole damn plug”? Kids on probation are encouraged to straighten up.
For the record, Murdoc would like to see the F-35B work, though not at any cost.
In Aviation Week:
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has put the U.S. Marine Corps’ troubled F-35B short-takeoff-and-vertical landing (Stovl) Joint Strike Fighter on “probation,” while endorsing the U.S. Air Force’s long-coveted new bomber program.
The F-35A and F-35C models emerged unscathed from Gates’ review. However, the F-35B “is experiencing significant testing problems,” Gates said at the Pentagon Jan. 6.
Implying that problems are more serious than previously reported, he adds that “these issues may lead to a redesign of the aircraft’s structure and propulsion — changes that could add yet more weight and more cost to an aircraft that has little capacity to absorb more of either.”
Well, I thought the USAF 2018 strike bomber program would be one of the first casualties. But I doubt anyone is terribly surprised about the F-35B due to the problems its been having.
Defense Tech: Mattis Still Supports Light COIN Plane Air Force Wants Dead
This should have happened years ago. But it didn’t and any optimism I ever had has pretty much evaporated.
Hopefully, UAVs can do the job. Because F-35s won’t.
EADS Confident Its KC-45 Can Compete for USAF Tanker Bid
“EADS North America, as prime contractor, will bid on the KC-X competition,” said EADS North America Chairman Ralph Crosby during a press conference in Washington. “This is a hell of an opportunity for a company in the big airplane business.”
The company said it plans to submit a bid on July 8, taking advantage of the Pentagon’s offer to delay bidding by two months to attract EADS to the contest. In the meantime, the company will continue seeking U.S. partners on the program.
The EADS plane, based on the A330, is larger than the Boeing proposal, based on the 767. All else being equal, I think more smaller planes would be better in a major war than fewer larger planes. Otherwise, fewer larger planes would probably be slightly better.
Whatever the plan, I hope they get on with it.
Meanwhile: Tankers in Unknown Territory
Even if the KC-X acquisition goes ahead according to schedule [insert pause here for riotous laughter break] over 200 KC-135s will be expected to serve into the 2040s. Kids that aren’t born yet will be flying them to fuel our aircraft.
New plan released to replace Pave Hawk
The new plan, released March 23 by the Aeronautical Systems Center, calls for awarding a contract in 2012 and reaching initial operational capability with eight aircraft by September 2015. No date has been set for replacing all HH-60Gs.
Along with the timeline, the HH-60 Personnel Recovery Recapitalization Program lays out the likely performance requirements for the new helicopter. The proposed specifications are similar to those of the Pave Hawk, built by Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.
Next-gen Burkes may push limit of DDG frame
I think next-gen Burkes are probably a much better investment than DD(X), but it’s not a perfect solution, either.
Officials are counting on the SLEP to buy at least 10 more years, and maybe longer, beyond the landing crafts’ initial 20-year service life. The first LCACs entered the fleet in 1987, and the 91st and final craft was delivered in 2001. The Navy, which began the SLEP in 2002, plans to extend 73 LCACs, or most of the existing fleet.
Here are some LCACs in action:
Three landing craft air cushion vehicles assigned to Assault Craft Unit 4 approach the shore after launching from the multi-purpose amphibious assault ship USS Bataan during Bright Star 2009. The biennial, multinational exercise is conducted by U.S. Central Command and involves U.S., Egyptian and other coalition forces. Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Kristopher Wilson
From Boeing’s RealAmericanTankers.com site:
