USS Port Royal (CG 73)

19 September 2012 naval-technology.com

The US Navy has awarded a cost-plus-award-fee contract to Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) to support and modernise Ticonderoga-class (CG 47) Aegis-guided missile cruisers.

Under the $83.3m contract, the company will provide lifecycle engineering, modernisation and support services for the frigates.

The latest contract is the first of five options and is expected to rise to $468.2m if all are exercised.

The CG 47-class cruisers modernisation programme aims to enhance the service life and fighting capabilities for the US Navy for another 20 years.

Equipped with the Aegis Combat System, which includes electronic sensors and weapons systems, the Ticonderoga-class ships are integrated with AN/SPY-1 multifunction radar, command and decision system (CDS), Aegis display system (ADS) and weapon control system (WCS).

Capable of engaging anti-ship missile threats, the vessels are armed with two mk41 vertical launch systems (VLS) integrated with eight Boeing/Raytheon Tomahawk cruise missiles each.

In addition to a triple 324mm-tube torpedo launcher, capable of launching the mk46 mod 5 torpedo and mk50 torpedo, the frigates can fire 32kg shells in a maximum target range of 22km using two BAE Systems mk45 127mm/54 guns.

Powered by four General Electric LM 2500 gas turbine engines, the Ticonderoga-class ships also feature Lockheed Martin AN/SPY-1 air search and fire control radar, Cardion surface search radar AN/SPS-55, as well as four Raytheon AN/SPG-62 fire control radars.

Work under the contract will be performed in Pascagoula, while waterfront support will be provided by HII at US Navy ports in Norfolk, Mayport, San Diego, Pearl Harbor, US, and Yokosuka, Japan.

September 19, 2012 Tech. Sgt. Julie Weckerlein / Air Force Public Affairs Agency / AFNS – defpro.com

WASHINGTON | The threat of sequestration continues to overhang "all budget decisions across the federal government," said Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley here Sept. 17.

During his keynote remarks at the 2012 Air Force Association Air and Space Conference and Technology Exposition, Donley conveyed the careful strategic choices made by the service in crafting the service's budget.

Sequestration would kick in extensive spending cuts -- $500 billion from defense spending over 10 years on top of $350 billion in spending reduction already identified over that period -- if Congress fails to take further deficit-reduction action.

"These additional and arbitrarily applied, across-the-board cuts would leave the military without a workable strategy to counter global threats," warned Donley, who pointed out that Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and other Defense Department leaders have broadly communicated their concerns about sequestration's inherent dangers.

The "sequestration" mechanism in the nation's new debt-reduction law is unacceptable given the multitude of threats facing America, Panetta said to reporters in an Aug. 4 press conference at the Pentagon.

Donley echoed those sentiments during his speech.

"We need Congress to de-trigger the Budget Control Act's sequester provisions before the end of the year," he said.

Despite the threat of the sequestration, Donley said Air Force officials still must balance Air Force capabilities against competing needs for force structure, readiness, and modernization.

This means making a conscious choice in the Air Force budget to protect readiness by "trading size for quality," he said.

To this end, the Air Force proposed force structure reductions as part of recent budget requests, including the divestment of 286 aircraft and removing about 9,900 personnel from the ranks within the next five years.

"As you know, our proposals have met resistance in Congress, particularly with regard in reductions in the Air National Guard and Reserve," Donley said. "Simply put, in beginning to program for these reductions, it is impossible to avoid impacts to Airmen, various civilian and contractor workforces, and the communities in which they live."

Although the entire Air Force will get smaller together, plans are in place to strengthen the total force integration, to include supporting the Air National Guard's strategy to rebalance resources and improve readiness in about 39 units, increasing the number of active-air reserve component unit associations from 100 to 115, and the F-16 service life extension program.

"We need to ensure that we remain well-grounded in the foundations of our Air Force," Donley said. "The more uncertainty there is, the more budgetary churn ahead, the more important it is to come back to the basics."

September 19, 2012 defpro.com

Additional Actions Could Help Sustain and Strengthen Efforts

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has made progress in achieving its information-sharing mission, but could take additional steps to improve its efforts. Specifically, DHS has demonstrated leadership commitment by establishing a governance board to serve as the decision-making body for DHS information-sharing issues. The board has enhanced collaboration among DHS components and identified a list of key information-sharing initiatives. The board has also developed and documented a process to prioritize some of the initiatives for additional oversight and support. However, because DHS has not revised its policies and guidance to include processes for identifying information-sharing gaps and the results; analyzing root causes of those gaps; and identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks of removing incomplete initiatives from its list, it does not have an institutional record that would help it replicate and sustain those information-sharing efforts. Overall, DHS’s key information-sharing initiatives have progressed, and most have met interim milestones. However, progress has slowed for half of the 18 key initiatives, in part because of funding constraints. For example, 5 of DHS’s top 8 priority information-sharing initiatives currently face funding shortfalls. The board has not been able to secure additional funds for these initiatives because they ultimately compete for funding within the budgets of individual components, but DHS officials noted that the board’s involvement has kept some initiatives from experiencing funding cuts. DHS is also developing plans that will be important in managing its information-sharing efforts, such as a revised strategy for information sharing and a related implementation plan.

DHS has taken steps to track its information-sharing efforts, but has not yet fully assessed how they have improved sharing. Specifically, DHS is tracking the implementation progress of key information-sharing initiatives, but the department does not maintain completion dates and does not fully assess the impact initiatives are having on sharing. Determining and documenting initiative completion dates and how initiatives affect sharing, where feasible, would help the board better track progress in implementing the initiatives and make any necessary course corrections if completion dates are delayed. Further, DHS has begun to assess the extent to which its technology programs, systems, and initiatives—which include the key information-sharing initiatives—have implemented critical information-sharing capabilities, such as secure user access authorization. However, DHS has not yet determined the specific capabilities each particular program must implement for DHS to conclude that it has improved information sharing enough to achieve its information-sharing vision for 2015. Establishing the level of capabilities programs must implement could help DHS prioritize programs, and track and assess progress toward its vision. In addition, DHS is in the process of implementing customer feedback measures on the usefulness of information provided and has taken steps to assess customers’ information needs. DHS has not yet developed measures that determine the impact of its information-sharing efforts on homeland security, but plans to develop ways to assess information-sharing results toward achieving its 2015 vision. DHS’s time frames for completing this effort are to be included in forthcoming plans currently being developed.

WHY GAO DID THIS STUDY

Recent planned and attempted acts of terrorism on U.S. soil underscore the importance of the need to ensure that terrorism-related information is shared with stakeholders across all levels of government in an effective and timely manner. DHS, through its Office of Intelligence and Analysis, has responsibility for sharing this information and has established an information-sharing vision for 2015—which includes ensuring that the right information gets to the right people at the right time. GAO was asked to examine the extent to which DHS (1) has made progress in achieving its information-sharing mission, and (2) tracks and assesses information-sharing improvements. GAO analyzed relevant DHS documents, such as strategic planning documents and those related to DHS’s governance structure, among others, and interviewed DHS officials.

WHAT GAO RECOMMENDS

GAO recommends that DHS revise its policies and guidance to include processes for identifying information-sharing gaps, analyzing root causes of those gaps, and identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks of removing incomplete initiatives from its list; better track and assess the progress of key information-sharing initiatives; and establish the level of capabilities programs must implement to meet its vision for 2015. DHS agreed with these recommendations and identified actions taken or planned to implement them.


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The full report (GAO-12-809) can be viewed at http://www.gao.gov/assets/650/648475.pdf (PDF 1.39MB, 57 pages)

September 19, 2012 by Zach Rosenberg – FG

Washington DC - Eighteen months into the Boeing KC-46 tanker programme, all is progressing as planned, says Maj Gen John Thompson, the US Air Force (USAF) programme manager.

The programme, meant to produce an aerial tanker to replace the Boeing KC-135, is 21% finished with its development schedule and remains on time and on budget.

The first parts - skin for the tail boom - have been produced, "so if someone tells you this is a paper plane, you can point at them and say, 'liar!'" says Thompson.

"I will have plenty of number two and number three priorities, but my number one priority is to successfully get through the critical design review (CDR) next year."

CDR is scheduled for July, 2013, with a plethora of subsystem PDRs to be completed beforehand. After CDR, the aircraft is built. The first flight of the new 767 variant upon which the KC-46 is based is scheduled for 2014, with a 2015 flight of the actual tanker aircraft.

Budget sequestration, scheduled to take effect in January, 2013 without Congressional intervention, would be "near catastrophic" for the programme, says Thompson.

19.09.2012 ARA - army-guide.com

Two of ARA`s unmanned ground vehicles, Robotic Ranger and Pointman, performed well in the 2012 Robotics Rodeo`s Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) Robot Endurance Challenge held at the Maneuver Battle Lab at Fort Benning, GA in June.

The Robotics Rodeo is an opportunity for scientists and engineers to demonstrate new and innovative unmanned ground systems to the US Army.

ARA’s compact, portable Pointman LRV 2000 took first place in the Endurance Challenge and the Pointman LRV 1000 finished second in the Reconnaissance Challenge by finding hidden objects in a multi-story building. Pointman is a 20 lb. tactical robot used for reconnaissance with a unique feature — the Pointman is capable of climbing stairs. For UGVs stairs are often the most difficult obstacle inside buildings. Many other robots might be damaged if tumbled down steps, but Pointman is able to maneuver stairs with ease. ARA recently delivered eight Pointman robots to law enforcement SWAT teams throughout Pennsylvania due in large part to its extraordinarily easy operations, light-weight mobility, rugged reliability, and low cost.

ARA’s Robotic Ranger placed second in the Large Robotic Vehicle Class completing the Endurance Challenge with a speed of 11.74 km/hr. The Robotic Ranger used its advanced photogrammetric software to detect changes on the outdoor course from one lap to the next while creating an accurate 3D model of the terrain that could be used for subsequent three-dimensional simulation and mission planning. This automatic change detection capability helps soldiers discover improvised explosive devices (IED) on frequently used travel routes.

ARA President and CEO Dr. Robert Sues put ARA’s participation in the competition into perspective. “The 2012 Robot Rodeo demonstrated that ARA’s nearly twenty-year history making rugged unmanned equipment for the US military’s humanitarian demining and unexploded ordnance range clearance operations can be leveraged for counter-IED operations that will help save lives. Nothing is more important.”

Sep. 18, 2012 - By ARAM ROSTON Defense news

The U.S. government believes that cyber attacks can amount to armed attacks, and are subject to international humanitarian law and rules of war, the top State Department lawyer said Sept. 18.

Harold Koh, the State Department’s chief legal adviser, unveiled the U.S. government’s position on the rules of cyberwar at a conference hosted by U.S. Cyber Command at Fort Meade, Md.

Koh announced that it was U.S. government policy that certain cyber attacks may constitute a “use of force,” a legal term defined by the UN Charter. Functionally, such cyber attacks are only legal if a military engagement is authorized by the United Nations, or if the attacks are launched in self defense.

Koh also introduced a series of 10 legal principles about cyberwar. The first is the general rule that international law does indeed “apply to activities in cyberspace.”

Some cyber attacks, Koh said, can “amount to an armed attack or imminent threat thereof” and could trigger a nation’s right of self-defense. Presumably, that means that if a country is attacked with a cyber weapon, it can fight back, either with conventional military force or a cyber weapon in return.

Koh said that to constitute a “use of force” under international law, a cyber attack would probably have to “proximately result in death, injury or significant destruction.”

Cyberwar was until just years ago little more then futuristic fantasy, but capabilities have developed so quickly that deploying cyber weapons now requires legal oversight. Koh’s announcement is an important development because the DOD has been grappling with the issue.

Indeed, shortly before Koh spoke, the CYBERCOM chief of staff Rear Adm. Margaret Klein had complained that there was “a lack of clear legal guidance” about what laws applied to the use of cyber as a weapon.

CYBERCOM oversees the Defense Department’s offensive and defensive cyber operations, and is led by Gen. Keith Alexander, who also runs the National Security Agency.

Koh emphasized that in using any cyber weapon, a country had to “distinguish military objectives from civilian objectives,” and had to avoid targeting civilian infrastructure.

Michael Schmitt, head of the international law department at the Naval War College, said the announcement came at an important time.

“The problem,” he said, is that people were wringing their hands in despair: ‘Oh my God, does international law apply?’ Non-lawyers seemed captivated by the idea that these weapons operated in a legal void.”

“It is significant,” he said, “that the legal advisor comes out and says unambiguously that international law applies.”

Schmitt headed a group of experts sponsored by the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Tallinn, Estonia, which prepared a draft manual on international law in cyberwar.

The United States is one of the few governments believed to have engaged in cyberwarfare, in particular the Stuxnet attack against Iran’s nuclear centrifuge infrastructure. Koh’s announcement of a legal doctrine on cyberwar comes just months after new reports surfaced about the Obama administration’s alleged central role in deploying the Stuxnet worm.

18 septembre 2012 par Jacques N. Godbout - .45enord.ca

Le programme du F-35 de a été durement attaqué en septembre et son constructeur, Lockheed Martin, en a « pris pour son rhume.»

Le nouveau responsable au ministère américain de la Défense du programme du chasseur F-35, le major-général Christopher Bogdan, a déclaré que la relation de son bureau avec le constructeur de l’avion est « la pire que j’ai jamais vu. », la décrivant comme une relation pourrie et « un partenariat dans la mauvaise gestion du programme d’armement le plus coûteux du Pentagone »

Et Boeing en a remis une couche, avec le président de Boeing Military Aircraft qui raille les nombreux retards dans le programme de son concurrent, tout en soulignant qu’en cette période de restrictions budgétaires, la furtivité n’est pas tout.

Le major-général Bogdan, responsable du programme au Pentagone

Le nouveau chef du programme Joint Strike Fighter au Pentagone a fait part de sa frustration le 17 septembre à la conférence annuelle de l‘Air Force Association à National Harbor, dans le Maryland, une organisation à but non lucratif qui fait la promotion de l’éducation en aéronautique civile. Le major-général s’adressait à un public de plusieurs centaines de personnes, dont des représentants des partenaires étrangers, des alliés, des représentants de l’industrie et des militaires.

« Aujourd’hui, je vais gérer ce programme comme s’il n’y avait pas plus de temps et plus d’argent. » a-t-il déclaré à cette occasion.

Les deux maillons faibles, le casque et les logiciels

Pour Christopher Bogdan, les deux maillons les plus faibles du programme — en dehors de la relation pourrie entre le Pentagone et Lockheed — sont clairement le casque du pilote et les « 10 millions de lignes de logiciel. »

Le major-général a appelé le F-35 un « logiciel volant » : « Nous avons un très grand nombre de logiciels dans ce programme. Cela me fait peur. », a-t-il dit, ajoutant que le développement de logiciels est en retard de 90 à 120 jours et pourra augmenter au fur et à mesure que la complexité s’accroît. « Le logiciel est un risque énorme, et nous devons faire des affaires un peu différemment », a-t-il conclu.

En outre, « Vous ne pouvez pas faire voler cet avion sans casque ». « Vous ne pouvez pas aller à la guerre, sauf si vous avez un casque qui fonctionne … Aujourd’hui, nous avons un casque qui fonctionne d’une manière rudimentaire. », a déclaré Bogdan.

Et les Marines, qui visent la capacité opérationnelle initiale en 2015, auraient du mal à voler avec le casque actuel. «À long terme, je pense que nous allons y arriver avec le casque », a-t-il ajouté, mais il a indiqué clairement que les Marines peuvent rencontrer des difficultés de vol avec l’actuel.

BAE travaille sur un casque de rechange. « Nous sommes encore à évaluer la rapidité avec laquelle on peut obtenir le casque de rechange », a-t-il affirmé, ajoutant qu’ils auraient une réponse dans les 90 à 120 jours.

Bogdan a déclaré finalement qu’il souhaitait voir s’améliorer le calendrier et la qualité du produit qui sort de la chaîne de montage.

Boeing attaque

Pendant ce temps, Boeing a repris sa campagne de dénigrement du F-35 de son concurrent Lockheed Martin et la promotion de ses F-18 combattants d’aujourd’hui, tout en notant la baisse des budgets de défense et à l’étranger.

« Le F-35 continue de retarder, et retarder, et retarder … », a déclaré Christopher Chadwick, président de Boeing Military Aircraft devant un groupe de journalistes au siège de Boeing Défense et sécurité à St-Louis la semaine du 15 septembre, ajoutant que la furtivité n’est pas tout.

Chadwick a situé sa critique du F-35 Joint Strike Fighter dans un contexte plus large: «Il y a un rééquilibrage que nous voyons de l’équilibre entre les besoins sociaux et la défense. Et cela signifie, tout simplement, la baisse des budgets de défense, tant aux États-Unis et en Europe.»

Dans un « appel du pied » aux partisans de F-18 dans la Marine, Chadwick a lancé cette flèche: «Avec le F-35 qui continue d’avoir des difficultés techniques et continue à glisser vers la droite, ils doivent s’assurer qu’ils ont la bonne solution pour les hommes et les femmes qui affronteront le danger.  »

Lockheed répond

« Nous sommes d’accord avec le major général Bogdan qu’il faut que chacun soit pleinement engagés à réussir», a déclaré Michael Rein, un porte-parole du programme du F-35 de Lockheed Martin. « Nous restons déterminés à poursuivre notre travail pour relever les défis du programme et profiter de l’élan et du succès que nous avons obtenu au cours des deux dernières années. »

Le programme de 395,7 milliards de dollars US d’acquisition des F-35 a été l’objet de vives critiques depuis des années pour ses hausses de coûts. L’estimation de 395,7 milliards de dollars US a connu une augmentation de 70 pour cent par rapport au 233 milliards projetés à la fin 2001, lorsque le développement a commencé, après ajustement pour l’inflation et, ici au Canada, le vérificateur général Michael Ferguson avait accusé le gouvernement Harper d’avoir trompé la population et d’avoir sous-estimé les coûts d’acquisition du chasseur.

 À lire aussi:

F-35: la furtivité une illusion, le commandant de la US Navy s’interroge >>

Le F-35 : les limites de la furtivité selon les concurrents de Lockheed >>

18 septembre 2012 Par Elodie Vallerey – USINE NOUVELLE

La branche aviation du conglomérat General Electric (GE) vient d'être choisie par l'armée de l'air américaine pour imaginer la motorisation du futur, ce que l'US Air Force a appelé le programme Adaptive Engine Technology Development (AETD).

Bien placé pour remporter les futurs marchés par la suite, GE a pour objectif de concevoir pour l'armée américaine un moteur pour avion de combat de nouvelle génération, plus économe en carburant, d'ici 2020.

Le programme AETD du laboratoire de recherche de l'US Air Force va financer le prototype de ce nouveau moteur de GE, l'Advent, prévu pour être testé dès 2017, indique un communiqué du groupe.

Le secret de l'Advent ? D'après le site spécialisé FlightGlobal, l'ajout en option d'un troisième flux d'air qui contourne les sections de compression et de combustion dans le noyau du moteur. Ce troisième flux peut être fermé pendant le décollage et en altitude afin de préserver des niveaux de poussée au maximum. Mais il peut être ouvert à la vitesse de croisière normale pour améliorer l'efficacité énergétique en permettant à l'air de dérivation de générer plus de poussée, à la place du processus normal de combustion consommatrices de carburant.

WASHINGTON, 18 septembre - RIA Novosti

Les autorités américaines seraient impliquées dans la conception de trois nouveaux virus informatiques destinés à l'espionnage et aux cyberguerres, indique un rapport établi par les éditeurs de logiciels de sécurité informatique Symantec et Kaspersky Lab.

Une recherche menée par ces groupes a révélé que le gouvernement américain se servait plus intensivement qu'avant des technologies informatiques, y compris pour promouvoir ses intérêts au Proche-Orient.

Selon les données fournies par les auteurs du rapport, les Etats-Unis seraient liés au développement du ver informatique Stuxnet, utilisé en 2010 pour saboter le programme nucléaire iranien, ainsi qu'à la conception du cyber-virus espion Flame, les codes des deux logiciels malveillants comportant des ressemblances.

Le rapport indique par ailleurs que les créateurs de Flame ont développé trois nouveaux virus qui doivent encore être identifiés. Pour l'instant, Symantec et Kaspersky Lab ignorent la nature de ces nouveaux logiciels ainsi que les buts dans lesquels ces derniers ont été conçus, mais affirment que l'un des d'entre eux est déjà en action au Proche-Orient.

Sept. 18, 2012 defense-unmanned.com

(Source: US Department of Defense; issued Sept. 17, 2012)

Raytheon, McKinney, Texas (FA8620-06-G-4041, DO 001211), is being awarded a $44,032,247 contract modification for the Reaper/Predator Program.

This contract modification is for Multi-spectral Targeting System, Target Location Accuracy, High-Definition Video and Targeting Improvements.

The location of the performance is McKinney, Texas. Work is expected to be completed by July 17, 2015.

The contracting activity is AFLCMC/WIIK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

17 septembre 2012 La Presse Canadienne

Ottawa - Des procédures entreprises auprès de la Cour fédérale pour empêcher le vérificateur général du Canada, Michael Ferguson, de dévoiler un échange de courriels entre son bureau et un comité de la Chambre des communes, ont été interrompues, lundi.

Les députés ont voté la levée du privilège parlementaire de protection sur les enregistrements.

Une demande en justice a été déposée par les avocats du gouvernement fédéral au début de septembre après que des tentatives pour convaincre M. Ferguson de rejeter une demande d'accès a l'information eut échouée.

Les députés néo-démocrates tentaient d'obtenir une copie de la correspondance avec le comité des comptes publics dans laquelle M. Ferguson témoigne au sujet de son rapport explosif sur l'achat de chasseurs F-35.

La président de la Chambre des communes, Andrew Sheer, a déclaré que les mesures entreprises par les avocats étaient conformes à la pratique habituelle et qu'il avaient seulement demandé au bureau du vérificateur général d'attendre le mois de septembre avant de répondre à la demande d'accès à l'information.

Les actions entreprises auprès du tribunal ont débutées lorsque le personnel de M. Ferguson a décidé de ne pas attendre avant de répondre à la demande. M. Sheer avait alors défendu la décision de se tourner vers les tribunaux comme étant un moyen de sauvegarder les privilèges de la Chambre des communes.

Sep. 17, 2012 - By SAM FELLMAN Defense News

The U.S. Navy has moved one step closer to designing the next generation of submarine chasers: roving drone ships capable of scanning the seas for the quietest diesel subs.

The vision for these trimarans, a project funded by the U.S. Defense Department’s advanced research arm, is to detect and trail foreign subs across thousands of kilometers for months at a time — all largely without human intervention.

While tracking the sub via sonar, the drone ships would be able to safely navigate, avoiding shoals and other ships.

After proving this core concept was feasible, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency awarded $58 million Aug. 16 to military contractor SAIC to design, build and test these autonomous subhunters. But the unmanned vessels will require years of development and testing to consistently accomplish feats challenging for the best human crews.

The biggest engineering challenge will be proving a design that can autonomously drive itself through the ocean and avoid other ships while simultaneously tracking very quiet subs for periods of up to three months, an ability one engineer called “intelligent autonomy.”

“Building a boat is rather easy,” said retired Capt. Rick Simon, director of Spatial Integrated Systems, a contractor working with DARPA to help these vessels navigate through high sea states. “But make that thing smart enough to go out there for 90 days and not have to call home to Mama and ask for help — that’s the hard part.”

If these many technological hurdles are scaled, the Navy could have a relatively cheap way to neutralize the diesel subs, which are used by regimes such as North Korea, China and Iran and represent one of its foremost threats.

“Our goal is to transition an operational game-changer to the Navy,” said Scott Littlefield, a program manager at DARPA, in an Aug. 16 news release. “This should create an asymmetry to our advantage, negating a challenging submarine threat at one-tenth their cost of building subs.”

The next three years will be busy as SAIC and subcontractors design and construct an integrated, autonomous boat capable of detecting diesel subs.

DARPA expects vessel prototypes to start at-sea tests in 2015. Building such complex autonomous vessels will likely lead to technological breakthroughs that affect other parts of the Navy.

But as this system transitions from concept to fleet reality, the Navy will have to resolve larger issues about how to make a gee-whiz design relevant in wartime, one former submarine captain said.

“Is this a peacetime or a wartime capability?” said the retired officer, who asked to remain anonymous to speak candidly about a defense contract. He highlighted the vessels’ vulnerability in wartime, such as against the Chinese navy.

“If this thing is out there, banging away on top of a submarine with active [sonar],” he said, “why wouldn’t the Chinese just kill it?”

Sep. 17, 2012 By MARCUS WEISGERBER Defense News

The U.S. Air Force general nominated to head the F-35 program said Sept. 17 that "it should not take 10, 11 or 12 months to negotiate a contract with someone we've been doing business with for 11 years."

The general tapped to head the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter effort called the relationship between contractor Lockheed Martin and the program office “the worst I have ever seen,” expressing frustration with the company’s continued performance and production woes.

Maj. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, the F-35 deputy program manager, said the Pentagon would no longer funnel cash into the program should development issues continue. Bogdan also expressed frustration that the Pentagon and the company have not been able to ink a deal for the fifth production lot of aircraft after nearly a year.

“It should not take 10, 11 or 12 months to negotiate a contract with someone we’ve been doing business with for 11 years,” he said at a Sept. 17 speech at an Air Force Association-sponsored conference. “There’s something fundamentally wrong with that. We’ve got to fix it.”

These were Bogdan’s first public comments since becoming the program’s deputy five weeks ago. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has nominated Bogdan to head the program and replace Vice Adm. David Venlet, who is retiring.

The comments caught Lockheed, the F-35 prime contractor, off guard as program brass sat in the front row during his speech stone-faced. Bogdan called the fractured relationship between the Pentagon and Lockheed “the biggest threat to this program today.”

Bogdan, who previously served as the head of the Air Force’s KC-46 tanker program, is credited with righting that long-troubled program. The service locked in a fixed-price deal with Boeing in 2011.

“We’re going to be on a journey in our program office,” Bogdan said. “And that journey starts off with the recognition … that if we do not improve the way we deal on a day-to-day basis with Lockheed Martin, then we’re not going to get there.”

Bogdan said the Pentagon expects Lockheed to be further along the learning curve, considering it is building its fifth batch of F-35 jets. While the cost of building jets is declining, those numbers are not declining at a fast enough pace, he said.

The Pentagon gave the program “a great gift” earlier this year when it restructured the F-35 program, injected billions of dollars and adding 30 more months of development, Bogdan said. As part of that restructure, the Pentagon removed 179 jets from its procurement schedule over the next five years.

“We will not go back and ask for any more, simple as that,” he said. “This is fundamentally a fixed-price development program.”

“Certainly, we’ve communicated to [Lockheed] that the department is done with major restructures that involve transferring billions of dollars into the F-35 program from someplace else in the defense budget,” Air Force Secretary Michael Donley said during a briefing after Bogdan’s speech. “We’ve done that a couple of times but there’s no further flexibility or tolerance for that approach.”

If more significant problems pop up during development, the Pentagon might reduce its buy of aircraft, the secretary said.

Donley, who has been dual-hatted as the service’s acquisition chief, said the Pentagon and Lockheed will “eventually bridge our differences” during the negotiations for the fifth batch of F-35 aircraft.

Lockheed Martin spokesman Michael Rein said the company agrees with Bogdan “that it takes everyone to be fully engaged to be successful.”

“Lockheed Martin will continue to work with the F-35 Joint Program Office team to successfully deliver the F-35’s 5th Generation fighter capabilities to the war fighter,” Rein said. “We remain committed to continuing our work to solve program challenges and build on the momentum and success we’ve achieved during the past couple of years.”

Bogdan said he sees “a glimmer of hope” that production is improving, however that has not translated into dollar savings.

“If you’re getting better in production, then you ought to be passing that getting-better-off to the taxpayer,” he said. “I’m going to want to see that here really soon from our partners, both on the engine side and the airplane side.

“I believe they’re right on the edge of getting really, really good at this, now I want to see them take that and translate it into lower costs for production on this airplane,” he continued.

The general said the strategy for sustaining the Pentagon’s 2,443 F-35s “is wrong and it needs to be changed.” Estimates peg the lifetime sustainment cost of the F-35 as high as $1.1 trillion.

Bogdan suggested that competition and performing sustainment work within the military might help lower those cost estimates.

“The basic strategy on the way we’re going to sustain this airplane has got to make some fundamental changes,” he said.

Bogdan also said the Pentagon’s restructured F-35 plan “is potentially achievable” and that officials “can see the light at the end of the tunnel.” Still, many problems exist.

Issues with the “Autonomic Logistics Information System” (ALIS) software and helmet still continue to plague the program’s progress.

Over the past two years, software development has fallen 90 to 120 days behind schedule. The company is delivering jets with Block 2A software. They are readying to field Block 2B software. Operational jets will have a “very, very complex” version of software, called Block 3.

The next version of ALIS software, called 103, is expected to be up and running by the end of November, around the same time the Marine Corps plans to start basing aircraft at Yuma.

The Pentagon has not accepted “a bunch of airplanes” at Lockheed’s production facility in Fort Worth, Texas, because the updated logistics system is not in place.

Problems with the helmet, built by VSI, are still causing problems.

“You cannot go to war and you cannot fight with this airplane unless you have a helmet that works,” Bogdan said. “Today, we have a helmet that works in a very rudimentary way.”

The program has a plan in place to correct the issues, however, all of the fixes might not be completed by 2015, when the Marine Corps wants to declare its jets battle ready.

To address these issues, one test aircraft is being dedicated solely to helmet testing. Over the next 60 to 90 days, the program intends to gather a copious amount of helmet information.

The program is still evaluating a second “back-up” helmet built by BAE Systems.