3 February 2015 naval-technology.com/

The US Navy has awarded a contract to Northrop Grumman for additional AN/AES-1 airborne laser mine detection systems (ALMDS).

Northrop will also manufacture five ALMDS pod subsystems and provide equipment, spares and technical support services.

Northrop Aerospace Systems electronic attack / maritime systems integration director Doug Shaffer said: "The airborne sensor has the capability to keep our sailors out of the minefield, and we are producing it while reducing the per-pod price over previous buys that helps enable the navy to meet their cost targets."

The helicopter-mounted ALMDS is capable of rapidly locating surface and near-surface moored mines and deactivating them before they cause harm to military or commercial vessels.

Using pulsed laser light and streak tube receivers integrated in an external equipment pod, the system generates 3D images of the complete near-surface volume area of the sea.

Mainly aimed at assisting US and allied ships to counter underwater mines, it will serve as a major component of the littoral combat ship mine countermeasures mission package.

The Northrop ALMDS team consists of Areté Associates, Cutting Edge Optronics, CPI Aerostructures, Curtiss Wright Defense Solutions and Meggitt Defence Systems.

To date, the US Navy has received 12 pods as part of four low-rate initial production lots.

Northrop has also delivered four pods to the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force for integration on EH-101 helicopters.

5 February 2015 naval-technology.com

The US Navy has awarded a contract to Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) for advance planning of the refuelling and complex overhaul (RCOH) work on the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73).

The latest $224m modified contract will finance the planning work for the RCOH and purchase long-lead materials, including pumps, breakers, valves and steel, to support the fabrication of structural units.

Newport News Shipbuilding in-service aircraft carrier programmes vice-president Chris Miner said: "The company has worked closely with our navy partners, performing ship checks and selected planning tasks associated with the defuelling of the ship.

"This contract award allows us to move beyond defuelling and plan all the work associated with a full RCOH, which underscores the navy's continued commitment to ensuring this great national asset remains in the fleet and operational for another 25 years."

Work will be performed at HII's Newport News Shipbuilding unit, which has previously undetaken RCOH work on the initial four Nimitz-class ships.

USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), the fifth vessel, is 60% complete and set for delivery in 2016.

RCOH involves refuelling of the reactors and refurbishing more than 2,300 compartments, 600 tanks and hundreds of distributive systems.

The project also involves an upgrade to the food service areas, aircraft launch and recovery systems, combat systems and its island.

HII started defuelling work on USS George Washington, which is scheduled for completion by July, last year.

USS John Warner during its final outfitting, testing and crew certification phase at Newport News Shipbuilding's submarine pier. Photo: courtesy of Ricky Thompson / HII.

4 February 2015 naval-technology.com

Construction work on the US Navy's latest Virginia-class submarine John Warner (SSN 785) is 96% complete.

The submarine is currently undergoing final outfitting, testing and crew certification phases at Huntington Ingalls Industries' (HII) Newport News Shipbuilding unit.

On schedule for delivery later this year, the submarine will undergo initial sea trials, including a series of operational assessments to demonstrate its capabilities.

Newport News Shipbuilding submarines and fleet support vice-president Jim Hughes said: "This is a special milestone for the shipbuilders and the crew.

"From now on, this ship will take on the personality of her crew as they move aboard. For the shipbuilders, it marks significant progress toward delivery and reminds us that we are not only building a warship, but a home for these sailors as they work to protect our country."

John Warner, which is the 12th Virginia-class submarine, is being constructed in compliance with navy requirements.

The vessel has sophisticated technology to improve firepower, manoeuvrability and stealth.

With a displacement of 7,800t, hull length of 377ft and a diameter of 34ft, Virginia-class submarines are capable of cruising at a maximum speed of more than 25k and can dive more than 800ft deep. They can also stay submerged for approximately three months at a time.

The vessels can be armed with Mark 48 advanced capability torpedoes, Tomahawk land-attack missiles and unmanned underwater vehicles, and can be used for anti-submarine, surface-ship warfare and special operations support.

2 February 2015 naval-technology.com

The US Navy has unveiled a new virtual trainer that will simulate air strikes and train seamen in how to protect vessels against electronic warfare threats.

Called Strike Group Defender, the multiplayer video game exposes players to a range of anti-ship missile attacks, where sailors need to select whether to react with decoy flares, infrared-tracking systems or firepower.

Claimed to be the navy's first multiplayer, game-based training programme to test and evaluate personnel in surface electronic warfare, the new trainer is built as part of the US Office of Naval Research (ONR) Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Future Naval Capabilities (FNC) portfolio, managed by PMR-51.

ONR programme manager Scott Orosz said: "Strike Group Defender is an affordable, realistic way for personnel to understand and emulate the capabilities being developed in the IAMD FNC and learn how those improvements enhance the means to respond to threats navy ships face around the world.

"But beyond that application, this technology will allow sailors and marines to plan, experiment and train whenever they want, whether they are at sea or in a classroom."

The trainer was built in collaboration with MIT Lincoln Laboratory and games professionals Metateq and PipeWorks Studios, with assistance from the Naval Postgraduate School and ONR's own TechSolutions Programme.

Naval Postgraduate School research associate Perry McDowell said: "While the current content focuses on anti-ship missile defence tactics and training, the larger value of Strike Group Defender is an underlying ecosystem of technologies that we have not yet seen in the navy."

6 Feb 2015 By: Dan Parsons - FG

Washington DC - Northrop Grumman has opted to design a brand new aircraft for the US Air Force’s T-X trainer programme rather than a modified version of the BAE Systems Hawk it had planned to pitch. Northrop has delegated the design work to Scaled Composites subsidiary, which is responsible for revolutionary aerospace innovations like the SpaceShipOne commercial space ship. Development of the new aircraft is apparently well along. Northrop says it will fly by the end of 2015.

Read full article

6 Feb 2015 By: Dan Parsons  - FG

Washington DC - The US Army has launched the bidding phase of a decade-old programme to replace the Lockheed Martin AGM-114 Hellfire missile with a new weapon featuring a dual-mode guidance system. A request for proposals released on 2 February for the joint air-to-ground missile (JAGM) contract gives potential competitors Lockheed and Raytheon up to 60 days to submit bids to the army. The navy also plans to integrate JAGM onto the Marine Corps' Bell AH-1Z attack helicopters. The programme seeks an upgrade to the guidance section of the Lockheed Martin AGM-114 Hellfire missile’s backend, which is comprised of the motor, warhead and associated electronics. Lockheed has committed to offering a dual-mode seeker, while Raytheon has not yet committed to competing for the contract.

Read full article

6 févr. 2015 Lockheed Martin

4 févr. 2015 Lockheed Martin

4 févr. 2015 US Navy

Le ministre canadien de la Défense, Rob Nicholson, et le Secrétaire d’État auprès du Ministre de la Défense français, chargé des Anciens combattants et de la Mémoire, Jean-Marc Todeschini, rendent hommage le 4 février 2015 aux victimes de Charlie Hebdo (ministère français de la Défense)

4 février 2015 par Jacques N. Godbout – 45eNord.ca

La France et le Canada renforcent leur coopération en matière de défense et aujourd’hui à Paris, le ministre de la Défense nationale, Rob Nicholson, et son homologue français, Jean‑Yves Le Drian, signeront une entente technique établissant le Conseil franco‑canadien de coopération en matière de défense garantissant « ainsi la continuité de l’étroite coopération entre les deux pays dans un monde où la situation sur le plan de sécurité évolue constamment ».

« Le Canada et la France coopèrent depuis longtemps dans le domaine de la défense. Je suis honoré d’être ici aujourd’hui pour signer cette entente avec mon homologue français. Nos deux pays ont pu récemment constater à quel point des menaces à la sécurité peuvent toucher le monde entier. En plus de renforcer le dialogue entre nos deux pays sur les grandes questions de défense, cette entente technique cimentera notre coopération en matière de défense et de sécurité sur plusieurs fronts. », a déclaré le ministre Nicholson.

L’entente technique visant à établir un conseil franco-canadien de coopération en matière de défense renforcera, dit la Défense canadienne, le dialogue entre les deux pays sur les grandes questions de défense « en plus de cimenter leur coopération en matière de sécurité et de défense » en s’attaquant à différentes questions prioritaires dont :

•  l’entretien des relations de longue date essentielles à la sécurité des deux pays et à la continuité de leur engagement envers l’OTAN;
•  l’intensification du dialogue sur les questions stratégiques et opérationnelles entre tous les services armés, ce qui comprend la revitalisation du Comité coopératif militaire franco‑canadien;
• la poursuite de la coopération en matière de développement des capacités afin d’augmenter l’interopérabilité nécessaire à la conduite des opérations multinationales et, dans la mesure du possible, des opérations interarmées;
•  l’établissement de liens concrets et durables en ce qui concerne le soutien opérationnel mutuel;
•  perfectionner le matériel de défense et renforcer les liens dans le domaine de la recherche et du développement afin de profiter d’une coopération dans les sphères gouvernementale, industrielle et universitaire.

Cette entente, explique le communiqué,  permettra plus particulièrement d’établir une structure flexible pour un dialogue stratégique entre le le ministère de la Défense canadien et les Forces armées canadiennes, d’une part, et le ministère français de la Défense, d’autre part,  sur les questions relatives aux politiques, au domaine militaire, au matériel de défense à la recherche et au développement.

Cette entente technique permet la mise en œuvre du dialogue stratégique cadrant dans le Programme de coopération renforcée Canada-France annoncé par le premier ministre Harper et le président français Hollande en novembre 2014, indique Ottawa.

De plus, un protocole d’entente (PE) entre les Forces armées françaises et canadiennes qui facilitera un échange réciproque d’officiers militaires supérieurs au Collège des Forces canadiennes à Toronto et l’École de guerre et le Centre des hautes études militaires à Paris a été signé.

Suite de l'article

February 3, 2015 David Pugliese

The U.S. Navy plans to fund a total of 48 ships through fiscal 2020, according to the 2016 budget sent to Congress, writes my Defense News colleague Christopher P. Cavas.

Those ships include 10 new Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and 10 Virginia-class submarines from 2016 through 2020, he noted in his article.

More of what Chris Cavas writes:

Advanced procurement for the SSBN(X) strategic missile submarine begins in 2017, with the first ship to be ordered in 2021. The cost to build a class of 12 submarines is expected to dominate service shipbuilding budgets through the 2020s.

Last summer, the Navy estimated the procurement cost for the first of 12 planned SSBN(X) subs to cost about $12.4 billion, but is working to get the average cost of each submarine down to about $5 billion.

Full article is here

January 17, 2015: Strategy Page

U.S. SOCOM (Special Operations Command) is arming its V-22 tilt-rotor transports with more weapons, all of them forward firing and, along with temporary armor panels, meant to temporarily turn a V-22 into a gunship as needed. Tests are being performed to see if the V-22 can carry and launch guided missiles. SOCOM has already obtained a GAU-2B machine-gun fitted to the bottom of a V-22 as part of the Universal Turret System (UTS) for Helicopters. Plans for arming the V-22 have always been an option and since 2007 the marines and SOCOM have been developing weapons for use on their V-22s. The main purpose for this is to give V-22s just enough firepower to clear the landing zone long enough to land, unload and get away.

The original proposal was for a UTS equipped with a 12.7mm machine-gun, which has a longer range (about 2,000 meters). However, the 7.62mm GAU-17 can lay down more bullets more quickly and usually does so at low speed (1,500 rounds a minute). Experience in Iraq and Afghanistan indicated this would be a more useful defensive measure. Like the similar turret the Marine Corps developed, the SOCOM one is mounted on CV-22s as needed. The armed SOCOM CV-22 provides an option that the other V-22 users can easily adopt. The machine-gun turret was mainly there for protection from local threats, not for turning the V-22 into an assault aircraft. That attitude has now changed.

All this began back in 2011 when the U.S. Marine Corps ordered a dozen DWS (Interim Defensive Weapons System) turret gun kits for its hundred MV-22 tilt-rotor transports. Each kit cost about a million dollars. MV-22 crews were trained to use these new weapons which are quickly installed underneath the V-22. The remote control turret used a three-barrel 7.62mm GAU-17 machine-gun. This system has a rate of fire of up to 1,500-3,000 rounds per minute (25-50 per second) and max range of 1,500 meters. The system weighs under 100 kg (220 pounds) and includes 4,000 rounds of ammo. A member of the crew uses a video game like interface to operate the gun. Before the DWS arrived there was some experimentation mounting a heavy machine-gun on the rear ramp. But this did not prove nearly as effective as the turret.

The DSW is only mounted on a V-22 if a mission might be in need of some firepower. The DWS can swivel completely (360 degrees) around (useful when mounted underneath). It was apparently this weapon that was carried by an MV-22 sent to pick up the pilot and weapons operator who had to bail out of a disabled F-15E in Libya in 2011. The DWS was tested in Afghanistan in 2010 and by 2012 production models were being delivered. All MV-22 squadrons were given the opportunity to mount a turret on some of their aircraft and try out the weapon using live ammo.

The V-22s often have to fly into hostile territory to land their cargo. The V-22 can carry 24 troops 700 kilometers (vertical take-off on a ship, level flight, landing, and return) at 400 kilometers an hour and sometimes has to land in areas where the locals are firing at them. The marine MV-22 is replacing the CH-46E helicopter, which can carry 12 troops 350 kilometers at a speed of 200 kilometers an hour. The MV-22 can carry a 10,000-pound external sling load 135 kilometers, while the CH-46E can carry 3,000 pounds only 90 kilometers.

The U.S. Air Force component of SOCOM uses the CV-22 to replace the current MH-53J special operations helicopters. Unlike the U.S. Marine Corps version, the SOCOM CV-22B has a lot more expensive electronics on board. This will help the CV-22 when traveling into hostile territory, especially at night or in bad weather. The CV-22 carries a terrain avoidance radar, an additional 3,600 liters (900 gallons) of fuel, and more gadgets in general. The 25 ton CV-22 is a major improvement on the MH-53J, with three times the range, and a higher cruising speed (at 410 kilometers an hour, twice that of the helicopter). The CV-22 can travel about a thousand kilometers, in any weather, and land or pick up 18 fully equipped commandoes. The SOCOM CV-22s have been in action since 2008 but SOCOM will never have more than fifty of them.

The V-22 is the first application of the tilt-rotor technology in active service. The air force is already working on improvements (to make the V-22 more reliable and easier to maintain). The MV-22 gives the marines and SOCOM a lot more capability but, as it often the case, this is a lot more expensive. The initial production models of the CV-22 cost over $60 million each. SOCOM insists on a high degree of reliability for its aircraft. Commando operations cannot tolerate too many mistakes without getting fatally derailed.

Feb. 2, 2015 defense-aerospace.com

(Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.; issued Feb. 2, 2015)

BETHPAGE, N.Y. --- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC) has received a $21.6 million contract from the U.S. Navy for two additional Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) mission packages. As the mission package integrator, the company will deliver one mission package for surface warfare and one for mine countermeasures.

The capabilities contained in the various mission modules directly support the three LCS primary missions – surface warfare, mine countermeasures and antisubmarine warfare. Mission modules facilitate efficient modular mission package embarkation, mission package operations at-sea, and debarkation / logistics support.

"As the mission package integrator for LCS we are committed to meeting the demanding requirements of our warfighters, while providing supplier base stability and reducing cost to the Navy," said Doug Shaffer, director, electronic attack/maritime systems integration programs, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. "As more Littoral Combat Ships enter service, the U.S. Navy/Northrop Grumman team has stepped up to make sure the mission modules are available when needed to achieve initial operational capability (IOC)."

Northrop Grumman has delivered three mine countermeasures and three surface warfare mission modules for LCS. A fourth mine countermeasures mission module is in production and scheduled for delivery in 2015. The fourth and fifth surface warfare mission modules are also in production and scheduled for delivery in early 2015. Northrop Grumman performs the final integration work and completes delivery at the Mission Package Support Facility located at Naval Base Ventura County, Port Hueneme, Calif.

Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in unmanned systems, cyber, C4ISR, and logistics and modernization to government and commercial customers worldwide.