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AMDR
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Update: AMDR designated to AN/SPY-6
SPY-6 Designation Assigned to Raytheon’s AMDR
SEAPOWER Magazine Online
By RICHARD R. BURGESS, Managing Editor
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy has assigned a military designation to the next-generation shipboard Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR).
Speaking Jan. 15 to an audience at the Surface Navy Association National Symposium, RDML Jon A. Hill, the Navy’s program executive officer for integrated warfare systems, used the designation SPY-6 to refer to the Raytheon-built AMDR that will be installed on Flight III Arleigh Burke guided-missile destroyers.
The SPY-6 features an S-band and an X-band radar, as well as a Radar Suite Controller. Raytheon officials said the new radar is 30 times more sensitive than the current SPY-1, which was built by Lockheed Martin. The SPY-6 will enable greater detection capabilities against aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, and can handle 30 times as many targets simultaneously as the SPY-1.
Hill said that the AMDR testing was going well, with “live hardware up and transmitting.”
LRASM Completes Third Test Flight
SEAPOWER Magazine Online
POINT MUGU SEA TEST RANGE, Calif. — The Navy, Air Force and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) completed a successful test of the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) Feb. 4, marking a significant step in maturing key technologies for the future operational weapon system, the Navy’s program executive officer for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons announced in a Feb. 9 release.
The joint-service team, known as the LRASM Deployment Office (LDO), conducted the test to evaluate LRASM’s low-altitude performance and obstacle avoidance as part of the program’s accelerated development effort.
“We are very pleased with how LRASM performed today and we are looking forward to continuing integration efforts on the Air Force B-1, followed by our Navy F/A-18, over the next few years,” said CAPT Jaime Engdahl, the LDO’s Navy program manager. “We have a clear mission, to deliver game-changing capability to our warfighters in theater as quickly as possible.”
During the flight from the Sea Test Range in Point Mugu, the B-1 bomber released the LRASM, which navigated a series of preplanned waypoints to verify aerodynamic performance. In the final portion of the flight the missile detected, tracked and avoided an object that was deliberately placed in the flight pattern to demonstrate its obstacle avoidance algorithms.
Since completing two successful test flights in 2013, LRASM has rapidly transitioned from a DARPA demonstration to a formal, U.S. Navy program of record, with fielding set for 2018. The program reflects initiatives from Department of Defense’s Better Buying Power 3.0, which encourages rapid prototyping and other forms of innovative acquisition to keep a technological edge and achieve greater efficiency and productivity in defense spending.
“We’ve shown that by taking advantage of the Defense Department’s evolving acquisition policy, it is possible to significantly accelerate the fielding of a high-payoff technical system for the warfighter,” said Artie Mabbett, LDO director.
The LDO and industry partner Lockheed Martin are developing LRASM as an air-launched offensive anti-surface warfare weapon to counter the growing maritime threats in an anti-access/area-denial environment. When operational, LRASM will play a significant role in ensuring military access to operate in open ocean/blue waters and the littorals due to its enhanced ability to discriminate and conduct tactical engagements from
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SPY-6 Designation Assigned to Raytheon’s AMDR
SEAPOWER Magazine Online
By RICHARD R. BURGESS, Managing Editor
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy has assigned a military designation to the next-generation shipboard Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR).
Speaking Jan. 15 to an audience at the Surface Navy Association National Symposium, RDML Jon A. Hill, the Navy’s program executive officer for integrated warfare systems, used the designation SPY-6 to refer to the Raytheon-built AMDR that will be installed on Flight III Arleigh Burke guided-missile destroyers.
The SPY-6 features an S-band and an X-band radar, as well as a Radar Suite Controller. Raytheon officials said the new radar is 30 times more sensitive than the current SPY-1, which was built by Lockheed Martin. The SPY-6 will enable greater detection capabilities against aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, and can handle 30 times as many targets simultaneously as the SPY-1.
Hill said that the AMDR testing was going well, with “live hardware up and transmitting.”
LRASM Completes Third Test Flight
SEAPOWER Magazine Online
POINT MUGU SEA TEST RANGE, Calif. — The Navy, Air Force and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) completed a successful test of the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) Feb. 4, marking a significant step in maturing key technologies for the future operational weapon system, the Navy’s program executive officer for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons announced in a Feb. 9 release.
The joint-service team, known as the LRASM Deployment Office (LDO), conducted the test to evaluate LRASM’s low-altitude performance and obstacle avoidance as part of the program’s accelerated development effort.
“We are very pleased with how LRASM performed today and we are looking forward to continuing integration efforts on the Air Force B-1, followed by our Navy F/A-18, over the next few years,” said CAPT Jaime Engdahl, the LDO’s Navy program manager. “We have a clear mission, to deliver game-changing capability to our warfighters in theater as quickly as possible.”
During the flight from the Sea Test Range in Point Mugu, the B-1 bomber released the LRASM, which navigated a series of preplanned waypoints to verify aerodynamic performance. In the final portion of the flight the missile detected, tracked and avoided an object that was deliberately placed in the flight pattern to demonstrate its obstacle avoidance algorithms.
Since completing two successful test flights in 2013, LRASM has rapidly transitioned from a DARPA demonstration to a formal, U.S. Navy program of record, with fielding set for 2018. The program reflects initiatives from Department of Defense’s Better Buying Power 3.0, which encourages rapid prototyping and other forms of innovative acquisition to keep a technological edge and achieve greater efficiency and productivity in defense spending.
“We’ve shown that by taking advantage of the Defense Department’s evolving acquisition policy, it is possible to significantly accelerate the fielding of a high-payoff technical system for the warfighter,” said Artie Mabbett, LDO director.
The LDO and industry partner Lockheed Martin are developing LRASM as an air-launched offensive anti-surface warfare weapon to counter the growing maritime threats in an anti-access/area-denial environment. When operational, LRASM will play a significant role in ensuring military access to operate in open ocean/blue waters and the littorals due to its enhanced ability to discriminate and conduct tactical engagements from
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F-22Raptor
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Excellent news about the LRASM test. LRASM is one of the most important naval programs over the next few years. It's a capability we needed yesterday.
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Navy Wants 28 More Tomahawks on Virginia-Class Submarines
Navy Wants 28 More Tomahawks on Virginia-Class Submarines | DoD Buzz
The Navy is evaluating whether it can add 28 more Tomahawk missiles to each Virginia-class submarine sooner than expected, service leaders said.
The service plans to begin production of what’s called Virginia Payload Modules, or VPM, onto Block V submarines by 2019 — a move which would add a new section of missile tubes to the ship and increase its ability to fire Tomahawk missiles from 12 up to 40, said Navy Capt. David Goggins, Virginia-class submarine program manager.
An evaluation is currently underway to assess the feasibility of adding VPM ahead of the current schedule and engineering them onto Block IV Virginia-class submarines being built earlier than 2019. A decision is expected by next month or May, Goggins said.
Speaking to lawmakers during Congressional Navy budget hearings, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert have both indicated that deliberations about possibly accelerating VPM production were currently underway.
Navy engineers have been working on requirements and early designs for a new, 70-foot module for the Virginia-class submarines engineered to house an additional 28 Tomahawk missiles. While designed primarily to hold Tomahawks, the VPM missile tubes are engineered such that they could accommodate a new payload, new missile or even a large unmanned underwater vehicle, Navy officials said.
In 2020, the Navy plans to start retiring four large Ohio-class guided-missile submarines able to fire up to 154 Tomahawk missiles each. This will result in the Navy losing a massive amount of undersea fire power capability, Goggins explained.
From 2002 to 2008 the Navy modified four of its oldest nuclear-armed Ohio-class submarines by turning them into ships armed with only conventional missiles – the USS Ohio, USS Michigan, USS Florida and USS Georgia. They are called SSGNs, with the “G” designation for “guided missile.”
“When the SSGNs retire in the 2020s – if no action is taken the Navy will lose about 60-percent of its undersea strike launchers. When we design and build VPM and start construction in 2019, that 60-percent shortfall will become a 40-percent shortfall in the 2028 timeframe. Over time as you build VPM you will eliminate the loss of firepower. The rationale for accelerating VPM is to potentially mitigate that 40-percent to a lower number,” Goggins explained.
Virginia-class submarines, engineered to replace the 1980s-era Los Angeles-class attack submarines, are being built in block increments. Blocks I and II, totaling 10 ships, have already been delivered to the Navy. Block III boats are currently under construction. In fact the first Block III boat, the USS North Dakota, was delivered ahead of schedule in August of last year.
The first several Block IV Virginia-class submarines are under construction as well — the USS Vermont and the USS Oregon. Last April, the Navy awarded General Dynamics’ Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding a $17.6 billion deal to build 10 Block IV subs with the final boat procured in 2023.
Also, design changes to the ship, including a change in the materials used for the submarines’ propulsor, will enable Block IV boats to serve for as long as 96-months between depots visits or scheduled maintenance availabilities, Goggins explained.
As a result, the operations and maintenance costs of Block IV Virginia-class submarines will be much lower and the ships will be able to complete an additional deployment throughout their service live. This will bring the number of operational deployments for Virginia-class submarines from 14 up to 15, Goggins explained.
Blocks I and II, totaling 10 ships, have already been delivered to the Navy. All eight Block III boats are being built under a $14 billion Navy deal with General Dynamics’ Electric Boat from December of 2008.
The Block III Virginia-class subs are built with new so-called Virginia Payload Tubes designed to lower costs and increase missile-firing payload possibilities, Navy officials explained.
Instead of building what most existing Virginia-class submarines have — 12 individual 21-inch in diameter vertical launch tubes able to fire Tomahawk missiles — the Block III submarines are being built with two-larger 87-inch diameter tubes able to house six Tomahawk missiles each.
“With the Virginia Payload Modules, we’re adding a body section that will house four additional Virginia Payload Tubes. That will allow you to go from 12 to 40 Tomahawks – that is the main driver or requirement for this new module,” Goggins said.
Goggins added that Navy engineers are also working on various hydraulic pumps needed to support the additional weapons and strike capability. The new Virginia Payload Modules are being engineered to fire the Tomahawk missile and also accommodate future weapons as they emerge, he added.
“We will have the flexibility to house a range of weapons that were too big to fit in our existing VLS tubes. We have inherent flexibility. As new payloads become available and as the demand and threat environment change – we will have the flexibility to adapt future payloads,” he said.
Ultimately, the Navy plans to build as many as 20-ships with VPM, a plan that will bring production of Virginia-class submarines out through 2033 and bring the overall fleet size up to 51 ships, Goggins explained. The soon to be released 2016 Navy 30-year Shipbuilding Plan will specify the timelines for this, he added.
Since the expected service life of a Virginia-class submarine is 33 years, the ships will be expected serve well beyond 2060.
All Virginia-class submarines are also engineered with a computerized fly-by-wire touchscreen control system wherein boat operators use a joystick to navigate, unlike the mechanical hydraulic controls used on prior models.
Also, the Block III boats and beyond will also have a Large Aperture Bow array which places a conformal sonar system in the bow of the boat, Navy officials said.
“The LAB array provides improved passive listening capabilities over traditional spherical arrays employed on earlier submarines,” Rear Adm. Joseph Tofalo, director of undersea warfare, said in a written statement last year. “The LAB array includes a medium-frequency active array. The hydrophones used to determine a bearing of either incoming passive sounds or active reflected sounds are taken directly from previous design and technology advancements.”
Navy Wants 28 More Tomahawks on Virginia-Class Submarines | DoD Buzz
The Navy is evaluating whether it can add 28 more Tomahawk missiles to each Virginia-class submarine sooner than expected, service leaders said.
The service plans to begin production of what’s called Virginia Payload Modules, or VPM, onto Block V submarines by 2019 — a move which would add a new section of missile tubes to the ship and increase its ability to fire Tomahawk missiles from 12 up to 40, said Navy Capt. David Goggins, Virginia-class submarine program manager.
An evaluation is currently underway to assess the feasibility of adding VPM ahead of the current schedule and engineering them onto Block IV Virginia-class submarines being built earlier than 2019. A decision is expected by next month or May, Goggins said.
Speaking to lawmakers during Congressional Navy budget hearings, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert have both indicated that deliberations about possibly accelerating VPM production were currently underway.
Navy engineers have been working on requirements and early designs for a new, 70-foot module for the Virginia-class submarines engineered to house an additional 28 Tomahawk missiles. While designed primarily to hold Tomahawks, the VPM missile tubes are engineered such that they could accommodate a new payload, new missile or even a large unmanned underwater vehicle, Navy officials said.
In 2020, the Navy plans to start retiring four large Ohio-class guided-missile submarines able to fire up to 154 Tomahawk missiles each. This will result in the Navy losing a massive amount of undersea fire power capability, Goggins explained.
From 2002 to 2008 the Navy modified four of its oldest nuclear-armed Ohio-class submarines by turning them into ships armed with only conventional missiles – the USS Ohio, USS Michigan, USS Florida and USS Georgia. They are called SSGNs, with the “G” designation for “guided missile.”
“When the SSGNs retire in the 2020s – if no action is taken the Navy will lose about 60-percent of its undersea strike launchers. When we design and build VPM and start construction in 2019, that 60-percent shortfall will become a 40-percent shortfall in the 2028 timeframe. Over time as you build VPM you will eliminate the loss of firepower. The rationale for accelerating VPM is to potentially mitigate that 40-percent to a lower number,” Goggins explained.
Virginia-class submarines, engineered to replace the 1980s-era Los Angeles-class attack submarines, are being built in block increments. Blocks I and II, totaling 10 ships, have already been delivered to the Navy. Block III boats are currently under construction. In fact the first Block III boat, the USS North Dakota, was delivered ahead of schedule in August of last year.
The first several Block IV Virginia-class submarines are under construction as well — the USS Vermont and the USS Oregon. Last April, the Navy awarded General Dynamics’ Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding a $17.6 billion deal to build 10 Block IV subs with the final boat procured in 2023.
Also, design changes to the ship, including a change in the materials used for the submarines’ propulsor, will enable Block IV boats to serve for as long as 96-months between depots visits or scheduled maintenance availabilities, Goggins explained.
As a result, the operations and maintenance costs of Block IV Virginia-class submarines will be much lower and the ships will be able to complete an additional deployment throughout their service live. This will bring the number of operational deployments for Virginia-class submarines from 14 up to 15, Goggins explained.
Blocks I and II, totaling 10 ships, have already been delivered to the Navy. All eight Block III boats are being built under a $14 billion Navy deal with General Dynamics’ Electric Boat from December of 2008.
The Block III Virginia-class subs are built with new so-called Virginia Payload Tubes designed to lower costs and increase missile-firing payload possibilities, Navy officials explained.
Instead of building what most existing Virginia-class submarines have — 12 individual 21-inch in diameter vertical launch tubes able to fire Tomahawk missiles — the Block III submarines are being built with two-larger 87-inch diameter tubes able to house six Tomahawk missiles each.
“With the Virginia Payload Modules, we’re adding a body section that will house four additional Virginia Payload Tubes. That will allow you to go from 12 to 40 Tomahawks – that is the main driver or requirement for this new module,” Goggins said.
Goggins added that Navy engineers are also working on various hydraulic pumps needed to support the additional weapons and strike capability. The new Virginia Payload Modules are being engineered to fire the Tomahawk missile and also accommodate future weapons as they emerge, he added.
“We will have the flexibility to house a range of weapons that were too big to fit in our existing VLS tubes. We have inherent flexibility. As new payloads become available and as the demand and threat environment change – we will have the flexibility to adapt future payloads,” he said.
Ultimately, the Navy plans to build as many as 20-ships with VPM, a plan that will bring production of Virginia-class submarines out through 2033 and bring the overall fleet size up to 51 ships, Goggins explained. The soon to be released 2016 Navy 30-year Shipbuilding Plan will specify the timelines for this, he added.
Since the expected service life of a Virginia-class submarine is 33 years, the ships will be expected serve well beyond 2060.
All Virginia-class submarines are also engineered with a computerized fly-by-wire touchscreen control system wherein boat operators use a joystick to navigate, unlike the mechanical hydraulic controls used on prior models.
Also, the Block III boats and beyond will also have a Large Aperture Bow array which places a conformal sonar system in the bow of the boat, Navy officials said.
“The LAB array provides improved passive listening capabilities over traditional spherical arrays employed on earlier submarines,” Rear Adm. Joseph Tofalo, director of undersea warfare, said in a written statement last year. “The LAB array includes a medium-frequency active array. The hydrophones used to determine a bearing of either incoming passive sounds or active reflected sounds are taken directly from previous design and technology advancements.”
AMDR
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PEO Carriers: CVN-79 Will Have a New Radar, Save $180M Compared to Dual Band Radar
PEO Carriers: CVN-79 Will Have a New Radar, Save $180M Compared to Dual Band Radar - USNI News
Aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) sits pier side in the erly morning light at Newport News Shipbuilding in 2014. US Navy Photo
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) will have a different radar than the USS Gerald R. Ford(CVN-78), bringing the new Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar (EASR) into the carrier fleet one ship earlier than planned and saving the program about $180 million, according to the Navy.
Program Executive Officer for Aircraft Carriers Rear Adm. Tom Moore said the new EASR was meant to enter the fleet in the amphibious assault ship LHA-8 and in USS Enterprise (CVN-80), but a series of events made the early introduction possible.
Ford has the Dual Band Radar (DBR) originally built for the truncated Zumwalt (DDG-1000) class of guided missile destroyer. When the Navy planned to build 27 destroyers, the cost of the DBR would have dropped sufficiently to make it a good fit for the carriers. But without that economy of scale, the carrier program had decided to seek a new radar for CVN-80 and beyond.
“I already have to procure a new radar for 80,” Moore told USNI News after a presentation at the Credit Suisse/McAleese 2016 Defense Programs Conference.
“80 is delivering in 2027. CVN-79, which really is not going to become operational until Nimitz (CVN-68) leaves in 2025, is such a short gap, so I went back to the warfare systems guys and said, hey, the radar that we’re looking at for 80 … is there an opportunity to pull that back a little bit to the left and make it available for CVN-79? As it turned out, LHA-8 needed a radar anyway, and the Pentagon had an ongoing effort called basically the Common Affordable Radar – if you want it to be affordable it’s got to be common – so both N98 and N95 and N96, the three resource sponsors, got together with the [Navy acquisition chief Sean Stackley’s] office and said, hey, let’s put a series of requirements together for a radar that would meet the needs of both the aircraft carrier and the big deck amphib.
“We had this working group, they came back to us probably late last summer and said it’s possible,” he continued.
“There are off-the-shelf systems, it’s not developmental, that will meet these requirements.”
Moore said the Program Executive Office for Integrated Warfare Systems would release a request for proposals (RfP) around May, with bids due back in late summer.
“We already know there are radars out there that meet the technical specs that we need, so introducing some competition here will drive cost down,” Moore said.
Whatever radar PEO IWS selects will be less capable than the DBR, which Moore said is fine – “a $500 million radar on an aircraft carrier is overkill at this point,” he said of DBR.
The radar selected for the carriers and amphibs will likely only have volume search capability and need a fire control complement to go with it. Moore said the Navy may use a SPQ-9 fire control system or something comparable.
He also noted that the Nimitz-class carriers’ AN/SPS-48 and AN-SPS-49 radars were becoming obsolete and could be replaced by the new EASR, meaning the new radar would fill three ship class’s requirements.
“From what PEO IWS tells me, it’s a very low technical-risk solution,” Moore said.
“I suspect it will be a robust competition”
The ability to bring in this new radar one ship early – creating a one-time savings of about $180 million, Moore said – was primarily due to the Navy’s decision to switch Kennedy’s construction schedule to a two-phased delivery.
“That gave me a little extra time. If I had to deliver CVN-79 in 2022 when it was originally designed, it wouldn’t have had the radar on it,” Moore said.
“The two-phased strategy gives me the lowest possible cost for the ship, and the radar is a big piece of that.”
PEO Carriers: CVN-79 Will Have a New Radar, Save $180M Compared to Dual Band Radar - USNI News
Aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) sits pier side in the erly morning light at Newport News Shipbuilding in 2014. US Navy Photo
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) will have a different radar than the USS Gerald R. Ford(CVN-78), bringing the new Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar (EASR) into the carrier fleet one ship earlier than planned and saving the program about $180 million, according to the Navy.
Program Executive Officer for Aircraft Carriers Rear Adm. Tom Moore said the new EASR was meant to enter the fleet in the amphibious assault ship LHA-8 and in USS Enterprise (CVN-80), but a series of events made the early introduction possible.
Ford has the Dual Band Radar (DBR) originally built for the truncated Zumwalt (DDG-1000) class of guided missile destroyer. When the Navy planned to build 27 destroyers, the cost of the DBR would have dropped sufficiently to make it a good fit for the carriers. But without that economy of scale, the carrier program had decided to seek a new radar for CVN-80 and beyond.
“I already have to procure a new radar for 80,” Moore told USNI News after a presentation at the Credit Suisse/McAleese 2016 Defense Programs Conference.
“80 is delivering in 2027. CVN-79, which really is not going to become operational until Nimitz (CVN-68) leaves in 2025, is such a short gap, so I went back to the warfare systems guys and said, hey, the radar that we’re looking at for 80 … is there an opportunity to pull that back a little bit to the left and make it available for CVN-79? As it turned out, LHA-8 needed a radar anyway, and the Pentagon had an ongoing effort called basically the Common Affordable Radar – if you want it to be affordable it’s got to be common – so both N98 and N95 and N96, the three resource sponsors, got together with the [Navy acquisition chief Sean Stackley’s] office and said, hey, let’s put a series of requirements together for a radar that would meet the needs of both the aircraft carrier and the big deck amphib.
“We had this working group, they came back to us probably late last summer and said it’s possible,” he continued.
“There are off-the-shelf systems, it’s not developmental, that will meet these requirements.”
Moore said the Program Executive Office for Integrated Warfare Systems would release a request for proposals (RfP) around May, with bids due back in late summer.
“We already know there are radars out there that meet the technical specs that we need, so introducing some competition here will drive cost down,” Moore said.
Whatever radar PEO IWS selects will be less capable than the DBR, which Moore said is fine – “a $500 million radar on an aircraft carrier is overkill at this point,” he said of DBR.
The radar selected for the carriers and amphibs will likely only have volume search capability and need a fire control complement to go with it. Moore said the Navy may use a SPQ-9 fire control system or something comparable.
He also noted that the Nimitz-class carriers’ AN/SPS-48 and AN-SPS-49 radars were becoming obsolete and could be replaced by the new EASR, meaning the new radar would fill three ship class’s requirements.
“From what PEO IWS tells me, it’s a very low technical-risk solution,” Moore said.
“I suspect it will be a robust competition”
The ability to bring in this new radar one ship early – creating a one-time savings of about $180 million, Moore said – was primarily due to the Navy’s decision to switch Kennedy’s construction schedule to a two-phased delivery.
“That gave me a little extra time. If I had to deliver CVN-79 in 2022 when it was originally designed, it wouldn’t have had the radar on it,” Moore said.
“The two-phased strategy gives me the lowest possible cost for the ship, and the radar is a big piece of that.”
AMDR
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US Navy readies for UCLASS competition, emphasising ISR payloads
US Navy readies for UCLASS competition, emphasising ISR payloads - IHS Jane's 360
Key Points
Rear Admiral Mark Darrah, the US Navy's (USN's) Program Executive Officer for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons, on 17 March described UCLASS as primarily an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) platform.
"The leading payloads are ISR payloads, but there will also be strike," Rear Adm Durrah said during the Precision Strike Association's annual conference in Springfield, Virginia.
Boeing To Select F-15 EW Upgrade Contractor In May
Boeing To Select F-15 EW Upgrade Contractor In May | Defense content from Aviation Week
Boeing is expected to announce the winner of a multibillion-dollar program to modernize the F-15’s electronic self defenses in May.
The $7.6 billion Eagle Passive/Active Warning and Survivability System (Epawss) is part of a larger effort to finally upgrade the F-15 fleet as it is expected to remain in service to 2040, longer than planned due to the slow introduction of F-35s into the fleet and fewer-than-expected F-22s being procured for the air superiority mission. For more than a decade, Air Force leaders vowed to spend as little as possible upgrading legacy fourth-generation fighters in hopes of a swift shift to an all-stealth, fifth-generation fleet. Poor program management and high cost, however, has forced the service to rethink its plans.
The service will upgrade up to 413 F-15Cs and F-15Es with the Epawss system, according to Air Combat Command (ACC) officials. Air Force acquisition officials say the life-cycle cost of the upgrade is $7.6 billion, a hearty sum given the service’s earlier plans to stifle resources for legacy fighters.
Epawss is needed to replace the aging Tactical Electronic Warfare System (TEWS), which is based on 1970s technology. ACC officials say repair costs for TEWS have spiked 259% in the last decade, underscoring the need for a new system.
With Boeing, the F-15 manufacturer, as prime contractor and integrator, the Epawss system is expected to include a new digital internal radar warning receiver, upgraded chaff-and-flare dispenser and a new fiber-optic towed decoy. The new system will also address "capability gaps as threats evolve," ACC officials say. "The threat environment is becoming congested and contested [and] F-15s need a modern EW system to remain viable in the future operational environment."
The emergence of Digital Radio Frequency Memory technologies also has frustrated allied EW technology, driving a need for upgrades. Using DRFM, an adversary can swiftly replicate signals, allowing for fast and accurate jamming in the air battle.
Though ACC officials say TEWS "lacks performance to counter current/future threats," Epawss introduction into service is beyond the future years defense plan, or beyond 2020. Installs for developmental testing aircraft are slated for fiscal 2017, the Air Force acquisition officials say.
The service is also procuring a long-wave infrared search and track (IRST) for the F-15C aircraft, which are primarily dedicated to air superiority missions. This IRST will provide beyond-visual range identification for enemy formations, allowing for operators to distinguish the number and possibly type of aircraft in formation at extended range.
US Navy readies for UCLASS competition, emphasising ISR payloads - IHS Jane's 360
Key Points
- The USN is preparing for a competition for its UCLASS programme
- A senior official described UCLASS as primarily an ISR platform with some strike capability
Rear Admiral Mark Darrah, the US Navy's (USN's) Program Executive Officer for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons, on 17 March described UCLASS as primarily an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) platform.
"The leading payloads are ISR payloads, but there will also be strike," Rear Adm Durrah said during the Precision Strike Association's annual conference in Springfield, Virginia.
Boeing To Select F-15 EW Upgrade Contractor In May
Boeing To Select F-15 EW Upgrade Contractor In May | Defense content from Aviation Week
Boeing is expected to announce the winner of a multibillion-dollar program to modernize the F-15’s electronic self defenses in May.
The $7.6 billion Eagle Passive/Active Warning and Survivability System (Epawss) is part of a larger effort to finally upgrade the F-15 fleet as it is expected to remain in service to 2040, longer than planned due to the slow introduction of F-35s into the fleet and fewer-than-expected F-22s being procured for the air superiority mission. For more than a decade, Air Force leaders vowed to spend as little as possible upgrading legacy fourth-generation fighters in hopes of a swift shift to an all-stealth, fifth-generation fleet. Poor program management and high cost, however, has forced the service to rethink its plans.
The service will upgrade up to 413 F-15Cs and F-15Es with the Epawss system, according to Air Combat Command (ACC) officials. Air Force acquisition officials say the life-cycle cost of the upgrade is $7.6 billion, a hearty sum given the service’s earlier plans to stifle resources for legacy fighters.
Epawss is needed to replace the aging Tactical Electronic Warfare System (TEWS), which is based on 1970s technology. ACC officials say repair costs for TEWS have spiked 259% in the last decade, underscoring the need for a new system.
With Boeing, the F-15 manufacturer, as prime contractor and integrator, the Epawss system is expected to include a new digital internal radar warning receiver, upgraded chaff-and-flare dispenser and a new fiber-optic towed decoy. The new system will also address "capability gaps as threats evolve," ACC officials say. "The threat environment is becoming congested and contested [and] F-15s need a modern EW system to remain viable in the future operational environment."
The emergence of Digital Radio Frequency Memory technologies also has frustrated allied EW technology, driving a need for upgrades. Using DRFM, an adversary can swiftly replicate signals, allowing for fast and accurate jamming in the air battle.
Though ACC officials say TEWS "lacks performance to counter current/future threats," Epawss introduction into service is beyond the future years defense plan, or beyond 2020. Installs for developmental testing aircraft are slated for fiscal 2017, the Air Force acquisition officials say.
The service is also procuring a long-wave infrared search and track (IRST) for the F-15C aircraft, which are primarily dedicated to air superiority missions. This IRST will provide beyond-visual range identification for enemy formations, allowing for operators to distinguish the number and possibly type of aircraft in formation at extended range.
AMDR
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Pentagon to build new variable-cycle engine for F-35 and other aircraft Pentagon to build new variable-cycle engine for F-35 and other aircraft - IHS Jane's 360
Key Points
"There are a number of threshold platforms," Alan Shaffer, the principal deputy assistant secretary of defense, research, and engineering, told IHS Jane's at the Precision Strike Association's annual conference in Springfield, Virginia.
US general: LCMR radars working well for Ukraine
US general: LCMR radars working well for Ukraine - IHS Jane's 360
AN/TPQ-49 Lightweight Counter-Mortar Radars (LCMRs) have been highly effective for the Ukrainian military, according to the top US Army general in Europe.
Ukrainian use of the LCMR "has turned out better than expected", and Ukrainian military units have found "new ways" of using the radar, Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, head of US Army Europe (AREUR), told reporters during a 17 March breakfast meeting.
In late 2014 the US Army began delivering the first of 20 LCMRs to Ukraine, and the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence is understood to have purchased more.
The US Army defines the LCMR as a "day/night mortar, cannon, and rocket locating system".
It can be deployed in 20 minutes and is designed to automatically locate firing positions by the detecting and tracking in-flight shells and back-tracking that data to provide a weapon position, according to IHS Jane's C4ISR and Mission Systems .
Still, Ukraine likely needs to get more capable at counter-jamming missions, Lt Gen Hodges added. Russian-backed separatists have been jamming Ukrainian C4ISR systems and effectively targeting Ukrainian units, which would need to either attack the source of the jamming or 'spoof' the electronic warfare systems being used against them.
Air Force developing new F-16 radars
Air Force developing new F-16 radars
The Air Force has budgeted $25 million to begin development of new radars for its F-16 fleet, a need especially felt by the service's homeland defense mission.
t. Gen. Stanley Clarke, director of the Air National Guard, said the upgrade is needed for surveillance and the ability to detect targets.
"It's a deficit and we need to address this," Clarke told the House Appropriations defense subcommittee Tuesday.
The service earlier this month filed a "sources sought" notice to contractors for information on the development of an active electronically scanned array radar for the F-16.
Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh told lawmakers on Tuesday that the service has budgeted money to begin development, and would like to spend about $75 million "if we can find the funding'' to build the radars for the entire F-16 fleet.
"We need to develop an AESA radar plan for our F-16s who are conducting the homeland defense mission in particular," Welsh told the House Armed Services Committee. "Our entire fleet – active, Guard and Reserve – none of them have been upgraded with that radar."
The service estimates it would spend $3.2 million per aircraft to install an integrated AESA radar.
"We think that's the way to go," Welsh said. "We're looking now at how we can do that as we move forward."
The Air Force originally sought the upgrade in the fiscal 2013 budget request, but it was cut as part of cost reductions imposed in the Budget Control Act.
First Air Force, the numbered Air Force responsible for the homeland protection mission, earlier this month filed an "Urgent Operational Need" request for radar upgrades to its F-16 fleet.
These requests are used to identify needs "during a current conflict or crisis situation that if not satisfied in an expedited manner, will result in unacceptable loss of life or critical mission failure," the Air Force said in a statement.
Key Points
- The Pentagon's new sixth-generation engine will be built for the F-35 and several other aircraft
- The new engine would be 35% more fuel efficient than existing engines, extending the range of US aircraft significantly
"There are a number of threshold platforms," Alan Shaffer, the principal deputy assistant secretary of defense, research, and engineering, told IHS Jane's at the Precision Strike Association's annual conference in Springfield, Virginia.
US general: LCMR radars working well for Ukraine
US general: LCMR radars working well for Ukraine - IHS Jane's 360
AN/TPQ-49 Lightweight Counter-Mortar Radars (LCMRs) have been highly effective for the Ukrainian military, according to the top US Army general in Europe.
Ukrainian use of the LCMR "has turned out better than expected", and Ukrainian military units have found "new ways" of using the radar, Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, head of US Army Europe (AREUR), told reporters during a 17 March breakfast meeting.
In late 2014 the US Army began delivering the first of 20 LCMRs to Ukraine, and the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence is understood to have purchased more.
The US Army defines the LCMR as a "day/night mortar, cannon, and rocket locating system".
It can be deployed in 20 minutes and is designed to automatically locate firing positions by the detecting and tracking in-flight shells and back-tracking that data to provide a weapon position, according to IHS Jane's C4ISR and Mission Systems .
Still, Ukraine likely needs to get more capable at counter-jamming missions, Lt Gen Hodges added. Russian-backed separatists have been jamming Ukrainian C4ISR systems and effectively targeting Ukrainian units, which would need to either attack the source of the jamming or 'spoof' the electronic warfare systems being used against them.
Air Force developing new F-16 radars
Air Force developing new F-16 radars
The Air Force has budgeted $25 million to begin development of new radars for its F-16 fleet, a need especially felt by the service's homeland defense mission.
t. Gen. Stanley Clarke, director of the Air National Guard, said the upgrade is needed for surveillance and the ability to detect targets.
"It's a deficit and we need to address this," Clarke told the House Appropriations defense subcommittee Tuesday.
The service earlier this month filed a "sources sought" notice to contractors for information on the development of an active electronically scanned array radar for the F-16.
Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh told lawmakers on Tuesday that the service has budgeted money to begin development, and would like to spend about $75 million "if we can find the funding'' to build the radars for the entire F-16 fleet.
"We need to develop an AESA radar plan for our F-16s who are conducting the homeland defense mission in particular," Welsh told the House Armed Services Committee. "Our entire fleet – active, Guard and Reserve – none of them have been upgraded with that radar."
The service estimates it would spend $3.2 million per aircraft to install an integrated AESA radar.
"We think that's the way to go," Welsh said. "We're looking now at how we can do that as we move forward."
The Air Force originally sought the upgrade in the fiscal 2013 budget request, but it was cut as part of cost reductions imposed in the Budget Control Act.
First Air Force, the numbered Air Force responsible for the homeland protection mission, earlier this month filed an "Urgent Operational Need" request for radar upgrades to its F-16 fleet.
These requests are used to identify needs "during a current conflict or crisis situation that if not satisfied in an expedited manner, will result in unacceptable loss of life or critical mission failure," the Air Force said in a statement.
AMDR
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Cyber Firm: The NSA Is Out-Hacking the Chinese and the Russians
Cyber Firm: The NSA Is Out-Hacking the Chinese and the Russians - Defense One
The exposure of an all-star hacker group thought to be affiliated with the National Security Agency is both a feather in the spy agency’s cap and a setback for intelligence-gathering on Islamic extremists, some threat analysts say.
On Sunday, Kaspersky Lab, a research firm headquartered in Moscow, published an analysis implying the “Equation Group” is the same entity behind the so-called Stuxnet worm. That malware is believed to be a joint NSA-Israeli invention that sabotaged Iran’s nuclear centrifuges in 2009 or 2010.
Code developed by the possibly-20-year-old group can reprogram popular hard drives in a way that is virtually impossible for almost any person or machine to see. While surveilling an Islamic Jihadist discussion forum, the team took pains to infect only specific targets by checking their usernames and network addresses, according to the new analysis.
“The person responsible or the team, on the one hand, should be patting themselves on the back,” said Alex McGeorge, head of threat intelligence at security firm Immunity and a former Transportation Department cyber consultant. “I think this is work you can really be proud of from a purely technical standpoint.”
The victims resided in Iran, Russia, Syria, Afghanistan and Belgium, among some 30 other countries, according to Kaspersky. The company’s founder, Eugene Kaspersky, has worked for the Russian military, a sometimes cyber adversary of the United States, but the lab’s research is respected by security experts worldwide.
The Equation group is “the most advanced threat actor we have seen,” researchers at Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team said. Over the past several years, the team has investigated more than 60 advanced attackers.
McGeorge said the group seems to be exercising discretion during its operations.
“No one is really going to come out and say you shouldn’t deploy this stuff against ISIS,” he said. “All you’ve got to do is look at the news and see that ISIS are the worst bad guys since the Nazis.”
To snoop on some targets, the group mailed a spyware-laced CD-ROM of materials from a Houston conference to select attendees, according to Kaspersky.
“Realistically, this is what taxpayers pay the intelligence community to do,” McGeorge said. “This team was deploying this against appropriate people. This is not Procter & Gamble in New Jersey. This is enemies foreign.”
Several Days’ Work Down the Drain
The outing of the group could foil some NSA plans, if the agency is indeed involved, he said. However, the amount of time lost will not be measured in years.
“It’s definitely going to be a setback. It’s definitely going to ruffle a lot of feathers and ruin several days,” McGeorge said, but “I don’t think this is the end of a career or the end of our intelligence gathering capability against ISIS.”
His firm, Immunity, was founded by Dave Aitel, an offensive cyber expert who used to work at NSA.
NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines on Monday declined to comment on any claims raised in the report, but told Nextgov that “broadly speaking, any time these kinds of allegations are made publicly, there is always a risk of harm to our national security.”
The Equation group has breached perhaps tens of thousands of individuals in sectors spanning government, telecommunications, energy, encryption and academia, just to name a few, according to Kaspersky.
Relative to the agency’s massive data sweeps, this NSA effort is somewhat more discreet, but still damaging to the security of the Internet, says Bruce Schneier, a world-renowned technologist. He also happens to be a former NSAemployee, but has eschewed the agency’s alleged practices of weakening encryption and inserting “backdoor” bugs in communications technologies to make eavesdropping easier.
Now Criminals and China Know the Equation, Too
“On one hand, it’s the sort of thing we want the NSA to do,” he said in a Monday post on the Lawfare Blog. “It’s targeted. It’s exploiting existing vulnerabilities. In the overall scheme of things, this is much less disruptive to Internet security than deliberately inserting vulnerabilities that leave everyone insecure.”
That said, the Equation group’s “techniques aren’t magically exclusive to the NSA,” with China and cyber spy companies like Gamma Group using similar ploys in Third World governments, Schneier noted. “We need to figure out how to maintain security in the face of these sorts of attacks, because we’re all going to be subjected to the criminal versions of them in three to five years.”
The bag of tricks still could perform well for NSA for a while, McGeorge said.
Depending on the technical sophistication of the adversary, ”the tool chain may continue to be viable against targets that have already been compromised,” he said. The questions that have to be asked are: Do they have the ability to detect, remediate and mitigate this sort of risk? How long is it going to take them to develop that capability?
The moniker Equation group refers to the team’s ”love for encryption algorithms,” the Kaspersky researchers said.
In a statement, NSA officials said they are aware of the recently released report and would not discuss any details.
“The U.S. government calls on our intelligence agencies to protect the United States, its citizens, and its allies from a wide array of serious threats — including terrorist plots from al-Qaeda, ISIL and others,” as well as the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and international crime rings, officials said.
Cyber forensics firms such as Kaspersky, Mandiant and iSight have published a bevy of reports on Chinese and Russian cyber battalions that have waged deep-rooted cyberespionage campaigns.
But “this is way more sophisticated than anything that’s been made public so far and that bodes well,” McGeorge said. “I’m confident that there are other tools that can be brought to bear that will fill the same needs just in different ways.”
Cyber Firm: The NSA Is Out-Hacking the Chinese and the Russians - Defense One
The exposure of an all-star hacker group thought to be affiliated with the National Security Agency is both a feather in the spy agency’s cap and a setback for intelligence-gathering on Islamic extremists, some threat analysts say.
On Sunday, Kaspersky Lab, a research firm headquartered in Moscow, published an analysis implying the “Equation Group” is the same entity behind the so-called Stuxnet worm. That malware is believed to be a joint NSA-Israeli invention that sabotaged Iran’s nuclear centrifuges in 2009 or 2010.
Code developed by the possibly-20-year-old group can reprogram popular hard drives in a way that is virtually impossible for almost any person or machine to see. While surveilling an Islamic Jihadist discussion forum, the team took pains to infect only specific targets by checking their usernames and network addresses, according to the new analysis.
“The person responsible or the team, on the one hand, should be patting themselves on the back,” said Alex McGeorge, head of threat intelligence at security firm Immunity and a former Transportation Department cyber consultant. “I think this is work you can really be proud of from a purely technical standpoint.”
The victims resided in Iran, Russia, Syria, Afghanistan and Belgium, among some 30 other countries, according to Kaspersky. The company’s founder, Eugene Kaspersky, has worked for the Russian military, a sometimes cyber adversary of the United States, but the lab’s research is respected by security experts worldwide.
The Equation group is “the most advanced threat actor we have seen,” researchers at Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team said. Over the past several years, the team has investigated more than 60 advanced attackers.
McGeorge said the group seems to be exercising discretion during its operations.
“No one is really going to come out and say you shouldn’t deploy this stuff against ISIS,” he said. “All you’ve got to do is look at the news and see that ISIS are the worst bad guys since the Nazis.”
To snoop on some targets, the group mailed a spyware-laced CD-ROM of materials from a Houston conference to select attendees, according to Kaspersky.
“Realistically, this is what taxpayers pay the intelligence community to do,” McGeorge said. “This team was deploying this against appropriate people. This is not Procter & Gamble in New Jersey. This is enemies foreign.”
Several Days’ Work Down the Drain
The outing of the group could foil some NSA plans, if the agency is indeed involved, he said. However, the amount of time lost will not be measured in years.
“It’s definitely going to be a setback. It’s definitely going to ruffle a lot of feathers and ruin several days,” McGeorge said, but “I don’t think this is the end of a career or the end of our intelligence gathering capability against ISIS.”
His firm, Immunity, was founded by Dave Aitel, an offensive cyber expert who used to work at NSA.
NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines on Monday declined to comment on any claims raised in the report, but told Nextgov that “broadly speaking, any time these kinds of allegations are made publicly, there is always a risk of harm to our national security.”
The Equation group has breached perhaps tens of thousands of individuals in sectors spanning government, telecommunications, energy, encryption and academia, just to name a few, according to Kaspersky.
Relative to the agency’s massive data sweeps, this NSA effort is somewhat more discreet, but still damaging to the security of the Internet, says Bruce Schneier, a world-renowned technologist. He also happens to be a former NSAemployee, but has eschewed the agency’s alleged practices of weakening encryption and inserting “backdoor” bugs in communications technologies to make eavesdropping easier.
Now Criminals and China Know the Equation, Too
“On one hand, it’s the sort of thing we want the NSA to do,” he said in a Monday post on the Lawfare Blog. “It’s targeted. It’s exploiting existing vulnerabilities. In the overall scheme of things, this is much less disruptive to Internet security than deliberately inserting vulnerabilities that leave everyone insecure.”
That said, the Equation group’s “techniques aren’t magically exclusive to the NSA,” with China and cyber spy companies like Gamma Group using similar ploys in Third World governments, Schneier noted. “We need to figure out how to maintain security in the face of these sorts of attacks, because we’re all going to be subjected to the criminal versions of them in three to five years.”
The bag of tricks still could perform well for NSA for a while, McGeorge said.
Depending on the technical sophistication of the adversary, ”the tool chain may continue to be viable against targets that have already been compromised,” he said. The questions that have to be asked are: Do they have the ability to detect, remediate and mitigate this sort of risk? How long is it going to take them to develop that capability?
The moniker Equation group refers to the team’s ”love for encryption algorithms,” the Kaspersky researchers said.
In a statement, NSA officials said they are aware of the recently released report and would not discuss any details.
“The U.S. government calls on our intelligence agencies to protect the United States, its citizens, and its allies from a wide array of serious threats — including terrorist plots from al-Qaeda, ISIL and others,” as well as the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and international crime rings, officials said.
Cyber forensics firms such as Kaspersky, Mandiant and iSight have published a bevy of reports on Chinese and Russian cyber battalions that have waged deep-rooted cyberespionage campaigns.
But “this is way more sophisticated than anything that’s been made public so far and that bodes well,” McGeorge said. “I’m confident that there are other tools that can be brought to bear that will fill the same needs just in different ways.”
IrbiS
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USAF Issues T-X Requirements
By Aaron Mehta12:09 p.m. EDT March 20, 2015
WASHINGTON — The US Air Force has released the long-awaited requirements for its next-generation trainer program, known as T-X.
The requirements, posted on a federal website Wednesday, will drive the decisions of the five competing companies who hope to win the rights to build 350 advanced flight trainers and the associated systems to replace the legacy T-38 trainer. Interested parties must respond to the service by May 10.
The program is the first to issue requirements under the "Bending the Cost Curve" initiative, a major staple in Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James' plans for acquisition reform.
There are over 100 requirements included in the documents, but an Air Force news release said the emphasis is on three key components: sustained G, simulator visual acuity and performance, and aircraft sustainment.
Other capabilities include the need for in-flight refueling, a 10 percent reduction in fuel usage from the T-38, and a minimum of being able to take off at an 8000' runway length, 7400' density altitude and 10 knot tailwind.
Notably, there is no requirement for a "Red Air" aggressor aircraft. While such a program was included in the out years of the fiscal 2016 budget request submitted by the service, Air Force officials have characterized that more as study money for future upgrades.
DEFENSE NEWS
USAF Downplays T-X 'Red Air' Option
Which doesn't mean the service isn't looking at future capabilities for the T-X. Included in a series of questions posited to industry are "to what degree is your current design open/flexible to accommodation of future capability modifications" and another asking whether there are"limiting factors in your current design that would preclude future system modification" of wing pylons, radar systems, datalinks and defensive systems.
In February, Gen. Robin Rand, the head of Air Education and Training Command, said he was concerned about building in growth potential for the next trainer.
"We don't want buyer's remorse. It's a 50-year-plus aircraft," Rand said. "We think our requirements will allow the airplane to absolutely do those things. ... Will it have that capability [to upgrade in the future]? We think it will, but it's got to be done affordably."
There are five competitors aiming for the right to replace the aging T-38 fleet used by the service. The two clean-sheet designs are being put forth by a Boeing/Saab team and a Northrop Grumman-led coalition that includes BAE Systems and L-3.
The new designs will go up against a pair of legacy trainers in the form of Lockheed Martin's offering of Korean Aerospace Industries' T-50, and the T-100, a collaboration between General Dynamics and Italy's Alenia Aermacchi based on the latter's M-346 design.
The wildcard in the competition comes from Textron AirLand's Scorpion, a new aircraft designed for ISR and light-attack missions. Officials for the Scorpion program have said they plan to develop a trainer variant of their aircraft to compete in T-X.
DEFENSE NEWS
Northrop Developing New Design for T-X
The service marked $11.4 million for research-and-development funding for the T-X in fiscal 2016. That number rises to $12.2 million in fiscal 2017, then jumps to $107.2 million in 2018, $262.8 million in 2019 and $275.9 million in 2020.
A contract award is planned for fall of 2017.
USAF Issues T-X Requirements
@[URL='https://defence.pk/members/v%C3%AD%C3%B0arr.167120/']Víðarr[/URL] You really got a nose for military stuff or just mingling?
By Aaron Mehta12:09 p.m. EDT March 20, 2015
WASHINGTON — The US Air Force has released the long-awaited requirements for its next-generation trainer program, known as T-X.
The requirements, posted on a federal website Wednesday, will drive the decisions of the five competing companies who hope to win the rights to build 350 advanced flight trainers and the associated systems to replace the legacy T-38 trainer. Interested parties must respond to the service by May 10.
The program is the first to issue requirements under the "Bending the Cost Curve" initiative, a major staple in Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James' plans for acquisition reform.
There are over 100 requirements included in the documents, but an Air Force news release said the emphasis is on three key components: sustained G, simulator visual acuity and performance, and aircraft sustainment.
Other capabilities include the need for in-flight refueling, a 10 percent reduction in fuel usage from the T-38, and a minimum of being able to take off at an 8000' runway length, 7400' density altitude and 10 knot tailwind.
Notably, there is no requirement for a "Red Air" aggressor aircraft. While such a program was included in the out years of the fiscal 2016 budget request submitted by the service, Air Force officials have characterized that more as study money for future upgrades.
DEFENSE NEWS
USAF Downplays T-X 'Red Air' Option
Which doesn't mean the service isn't looking at future capabilities for the T-X. Included in a series of questions posited to industry are "to what degree is your current design open/flexible to accommodation of future capability modifications" and another asking whether there are"limiting factors in your current design that would preclude future system modification" of wing pylons, radar systems, datalinks and defensive systems.
In February, Gen. Robin Rand, the head of Air Education and Training Command, said he was concerned about building in growth potential for the next trainer.
"We don't want buyer's remorse. It's a 50-year-plus aircraft," Rand said. "We think our requirements will allow the airplane to absolutely do those things. ... Will it have that capability [to upgrade in the future]? We think it will, but it's got to be done affordably."
There are five competitors aiming for the right to replace the aging T-38 fleet used by the service. The two clean-sheet designs are being put forth by a Boeing/Saab team and a Northrop Grumman-led coalition that includes BAE Systems and L-3.
The new designs will go up against a pair of legacy trainers in the form of Lockheed Martin's offering of Korean Aerospace Industries' T-50, and the T-100, a collaboration between General Dynamics and Italy's Alenia Aermacchi based on the latter's M-346 design.
The wildcard in the competition comes from Textron AirLand's Scorpion, a new aircraft designed for ISR and light-attack missions. Officials for the Scorpion program have said they plan to develop a trainer variant of their aircraft to compete in T-X.
DEFENSE NEWS
Northrop Developing New Design for T-X
The service marked $11.4 million for research-and-development funding for the T-X in fiscal 2016. That number rises to $12.2 million in fiscal 2017, then jumps to $107.2 million in 2018, $262.8 million in 2019 and $275.9 million in 2020.
A contract award is planned for fall of 2017.
USAF Issues T-X Requirements
@[URL='https://defence.pk/members/v%C3%AD%C3%B0arr.167120/']Víðarr[/URL] You really got a nose for military stuff or just mingling?
Víðarr
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I loooovvveee the military
. I'm active US Navy, but in a non-combat role. 
I actually did read all of the articles/posts I liked before liking them, just so were clear
. I read first, like latter.
IrbiS
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Sorry I forgot the USN PartI loooovvveee the military
Ever served abroad?
Víðarr
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Sorry I forgot the USN Part
Yes, I've been deployed to European and Asian bases as well as sea-assets, but I can't disclose my actual deployment arrangements. I'm on a rotating deployment scheduled.
Getting ready to deploy again in several months
.
