Aug. 28, 2013 - By JOHN T. BENNETT – Defense News

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration’s march to war in Syria is exposing a new fissures in the Republican Party, with its members splitting over whether the United States should intervene militarily.

President Barack Obama could order Tomahawk missile strikes on Syrian targets at any moment, but GOP members’ reactions to the simmering conflict have put the party’s isolationists and interventionists on opposite sides.

The factions of the party agree with the White House’s determination that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces used chemical weapons in a deadly Aug. 21 attack. But that’s where members head to different sides of the party’s famed “big tent.”

The Skeptics

In one corner are Republican lawmakers who appear skeptical that an American military mission in Syria is in Washington’s interests. This group also is warning that US action could cause further instability in the always-chaotic Middle East.

“The United States has deep national security interests in Syria and the region,” said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif.

But Royce also warned that “any US military action could bring serious consequences or further escalation.”

Libertarian GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who has become a thorn in the side of both Obama and his party’s hawks, on Monday said the administration “is right that Assad using chemical weapons is an outrage, and it is wrong.”

But Cruz sees something “missing” in the White House’s publicly stated reasons for the expected strikes.

“Unfortunately missing from … the president’s approach so far has been a focus on what the touchstone should be, which is the vital US national security interest of this country,” Cruz said. “The United States armed forces is not, doesn’t exist to be a policeman for the world.

Cruz, a potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate, also is warning that “simply lobbing some cruise missiles in to disagree with Assad’s murderous actions” would not equal “protecting our national security.”

Another libertarian-leaning GOP lawmaker, Michigan’s Justin Amash, opposes a Syrian military intervention on legal grounds.

Amash posted this on his Twitter page Monday: “War Powers Resolution is consistent w/Constitution: Pres can take unilateral action only pursuant to nat’l emergency.”

He has since tweeted quotes from Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden from 2007, when they argued a president can authorize a military strike without congressional approval only if an imminent threat to the US exists. Amash says no such threat is evident with Assad’s forces in Syria.

“Obama ‘07: ‘Pres does not have power ... to unilaterally authorize military attack ... that does not involve stopping actual or imminent threat,’” Amash tweeted this week, followed later by: “Biden ‘07: ‘Founding Fathers vested in Congress, not Pres, power to initiate war, except to repel imminent attack on U.S. or its citizens.’”

War Drummers

In another corner of the GOP tent, members are pounding the drums of war.

John McCain, R-Ariz., a longtime Senate Armed Services Committee leader, took to MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program Wednesday to deliver a full-throated call for strikes that go beyond what the Obama administration reportedly is mulling.

Experts predict the coming missile and air strikes likely will target Assad’s command and control capabilities, chemical-weapons delivery units and platforms, air-defense systems, and other military targets.

The idea is to punish Assad and send a message. But the goal will not be to remove him from office, according to the White House.

“I want to make clear that the options that we are considering are not about regime change,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters Tuesday. “They are about responding to a clear violation of an international standard that prohibits the use of chemical weapons.”

McCain said Wednesday morning that the Obama administration should be preparing war plans for strikes that would drive Assad from office.

The leader of the Senate’s “Three Amigos” pointed to Obama’s repeated declarations that Assad cannot remain in power after leading a civil war that has killed tens of thousands of Syrians and driven others to refugee camps in neighboring countries.

Also in the McCain group are lawmakers such as Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who support strikes but want them limited to Tomahawk missile launches.

“I think you’re [going to] see a surgical, proportional strike against the Assad regime for what they have done,” Corker said this week. “And I support that. … With the use of chemical warfare, I think we have to act. And I think we’ll do so, again, in a very surgical, proportional way.””

This is where Corker breaks with McCain.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member, who has been briefed by the White House, wants a limited response that avoids another protracted ground operation in a Middle Eastern nation where violence from al-Qaida and sectarian conflict could break out — thereby dramatically increasing the amount of blood and treasure America would have to expend.

“I do not want us, though, to move into a situation where we’re moving beyond supporting the moderate, vetted opposition on the ground,” Corker said. “I do think Syrians need to be the ones to deal with this issue.”

Resigned to War

Finally, a third group appears almost resigned to war’s inevitability.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif., on Monday endorsed a US military intervention.

But he did not do so without questioning Obama’s logic. Essentially, McKeon is asking: Why did Obama issue his now-infamous “red line” warning to Assad over the use of chemical arms if he did not already know how he would enforce it?

Once that kind of line was set, this group said this week, Obama might have made war inevitable.

“Now that American credibility is on the line,” McKeon said, “the president cannot fail to act decisively.”

Sounding a similar tone this week is former House Homeland Security Committee chairman Peter King, R-N.Y.

“Once that red line has been crossed and once chemical weapons have been used,” King said, “I believe the president has to take action.”

27 August 2013 airforce-technology.com

Kaman's Aerospace segment has secured a contract modification for the supply of additional joint programmable fuses (JPF) to the US Air Force (USAF).

Valued at $8.6m, the contract represents a follow-on award under Option 10 of the company's JPF contract with the air force and brings the total contract value to approximately $78.6m.

Kaman Aerospace Group president Greg Steiner said the contract further strengthens the company's largest single programme by increasing JPF backlog to more than $150m and extending it into 2015.

''The order demonstrates the USAF's fuzing requirements and commitment to the programme," Steiner said.

"The contract represents a follow-on award under Option 10 of the company's JPF contract with the air force and brings the total contract value to approximately $78.6m."

Awarded by USAF earlier this month, the $70m Option 10 contract also features one more option, which, if exercised, will raise the total value and also extend the performance period through the middle of 2017.

Claimed to be the USAF's current bomb fuze of choice, JPF is an electro-mechanical bomb safing and arming device designed to allow the settings of a weapon to be programmed in flight.

The fuse is currently used with an array of weapons, including general purpose bombs and guided bombs that use joint direct attack munitions (JDAM), or Paveway kits, as well as several USAF aircraft, such as the F-15 Silent Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-22 Raptor, A-10 Thunderbolt, B-1 Lancer, B-2 Spirit, B-52 Stratofortress and the MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

Other international aircraft using the fuze, which is manufactured at Kaman's facilities in Florida and Connecticut, US, include the Mirage 3 and JAS 39 Gripen multi-role fighter aircraft.

Contract deliveries are expected to start in 2015.

Besides serving as the JPF's sole provider to the USAF since 2002, Kaman also provides the bomb fuse to 23 other countries worldwide.

August 28, 2013: Strategy Page

The U.S. Army recently received the first 66 prototypes of the JLTV (Joint Light Tactical Vehicle), which will eventually replace the current HMMWV vehicles. Three manufacturers (Lockheed, Oshkosh and AM General) each provided 22 versions of their interpretation of the design specification. The three JTLV designs all look like improvements on the HMMWV, which is basically what they are. AM General was behind the original HMMWV. The winner of the JLTV contract will be decided after two years of testing the 66 prototypes. These cost $2.73 million each but the production models will cost about a tenth of that, depending on options added. One of these designs will be the JLTV that will enter mass production with the army initially planning to obtain 20,000 vehicles initially and the marines 5,000. The army originally planned to buy at least 38,000 of the JLTV (Joint Light Tactical Vehicle), while the marines were going to buy about 14,000. That has been scaled back by budget cuts and changes in thinking about how common the “Iraq model” would be for future wars.

If and when the JLTV enters production it will be the end of an era. The HMMWV (“hum-V” or “hummer”) was an iconic and revolutionary vehicle, and the most innovative military transport to show up since World War II. About half the annual sales of HMMWV vehicles went to the U.S. Army, with the rest going to other branches of the American military, and foreign customers. Over 200,000 hummers have been produced so far, in dozens of variants and versions. The army will continue to use the hummer for a decade or more after the JLTV enters service, but the unique vehicle design is now beginning to fade away.

The seven ton JLTV, which replaces the 2.4 ton HMMWV and the weight difference is the result of the JLTV being more robust and better protected. The hummer had itself replaced the 1.1 ton jeep and the 3 ton M37 "3/4 ton" truck in the 1980s. The JLTV marks a notable design direction for tactical vehicles. The JLTV is designed to absorb combat damage, and be quickly equipped with two different armor kits. In effect, the World War II concept of the unarmored light vehicle for moving men and material around the battlefield has been radically changed.

This began in Iraq, where it was demonstrated that you can fight your way through a hostile population on a regular basis and defeat a guerilla force constantly attacking your tactical and logistical vehicles. This has never worked before but it worked this time, in part because U.S. troops promptly armored their hummers and trucks, and quickly developed "road warrior" tactics that defeated roadside and suicide bombs. Even though these bombs created a lot of American casualties, the American casualty rate was a third of what it was in Vietnam and World War II. This was in large part because of the armored hummers and trucks. Few people outside the military noted this event, a watershed moment in military history. But it was recognized within the military, and produced this sharp shift in design philosophy for tactical trucks, and the result is the JLTV.

The U.S. Army began replacing the World War II era vehicles with the HMMWV (humvee or "hummer") in 1985. This was the first new unarmored combat vehicle design since World War II (when the jeep and ¾ ton truck was introduced), and was expected to last for three decades or more. But that plan changed once Iraq was invaded. As expected, hummers wore out a lot more quickly (in five years) in combat, than during peacetime use (14 years). So the army and marines began developing, ahead of schedule, a new vehicle to supplement the hummer in combat zones.

In addition to being built to better survive mines and roadside bombs, the JLTV will be able to generate 30 kw of electricity (for operating all the new electronic gear, and recharging batteries), have an automatic fire extinguishing system and jam-resistant doors. Like the hummer, JLTV will be easy to reconfigure, for everything from a four seat, armed scout vehicle, to an ambulance, command vehicle or cargo or troop transport.

The hummer will continue to be used outside of the combat zone, where most troops spend most of their time. But the JLTV will be built to better handle the beating vehicles take in the combat zone, including a design that enables troops to quickly slide in armor and Kevlar panels to make the vehicles bullet and blast proof.

Aug. 27, 2013 - By AARON MEHTA – Defense News

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has reached an agreement in principle with Pratt & Whitney on the sixth batch of jet engines for the F-35 joint strike fighter, and the company hopes to submit a proposal for its next batch within 30 days.

The contract will cover the production of 36 F135 engines, along with two spares. Official cost details are still being worked out, but it will likely be similar to the $1 billion agreement for the fifth low-rate initial production (LRIP-5) lot reached in May.

“In general, the unit prices for the 32 common configuration engines, which are used to power both the conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) aircraft and the aircraft-carrier variant (CV) aircraft, [were] reduced in LRIP 6 by roughly 2.5 percent compared to the previous LRIP 5 contract for 35 engines,” wrote officials from the Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) in a statement. “The unit prices for the 6 short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft engines [were] reduced in LRIP 6 by roughly 9.6 percent compared to the previous LRIP 5 contract for 3 STOVL engines.”

“This agreement represents a fair deal for Government and Pratt & Whitney,” US Air Force Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, the F-35 program executive officer, said in an official statement. “Driving down cost is critical to the success of this program and we are working together – in each successive contract – to lower costs for the propulsion system.”

The agreement closes negotiations on low-rate initial production (LRIP) lot six of engines.

Lockheed Martin, the F-35’s prime contractor, announced an agreement July 30 for the production of lots six and seven of the single-engine stealth warplane, although a Lockheed spokeswoman confirmed the agreement has yet to be finalized. The two buys cover the production of 71 new jets, including the first models built for Italy, Australia and Norway.

LRIP-6 procures 18 F-35A conventional takeoff models for the US Air Force, six F-35B jump-jet variants for the US Marine Corps and seven F-35C carrier models for the US Navy, as well as three F-35As for Italy and two F-35As for Australia. Deliveries of this block would begin in mid-2014.

With the LRIP-6 engine agreement in place, Pratt is hoping to build on the momentum to complete a joint package of LRIP-7 and LRIP-8 engines early next year.

“We’re focused on getting a proposal delivered to the JPO here in the next 30 days, certainly by the end of September, and hopefully we’ll have an agreement in the first quarter of 2014,” Chris Flynn, Pratt’s vice president of F135 engine program, said. He added that after LRIP-8, he hopes to reach an agreement on engine sales annually.

According to Flynn, costs have dropped 16 percent since LRIP-3 was agreed to, and 40 percent overall since the first production engine.

“When we’re able to deliver those types of results, I believe it helps the negotiations go a lot quicker,” he said.

The improved relationship between Pratt and the F-35 Joint Program Office — rocky throughout the early part of the year — has helped the deal move along.

In January, the Marine Corps’ F-35B variant was grounded following an engine problem during a test flight. The source of that problem was later identified as an improperly crimped line in the fueldraulic system. Nine days after the jump-jet variants were cleared to resume flights, the entire JSF fleet was grounded when a crack was discovered in one of the blades in the Pratt-designed engine.

The following week, Bogdan heavily criticized Pratt and Lockheed for “trying to squeeze every nickel” out of the F-35 program.

“We continue to improve the relationship from where I sit today,” Flynn said. “We have regular meetings with General Bogdan. He’s a demanding customer, but our intent is to deliver on our commitment. I think based on the improvements in our negotiations, the relationship continues to improve.”

Deliveries of LRIP-6 engines are set to begin in the fourth quarter of this year. Overall, Pratt has delivered 107 production engines.

MCLEAN, Va., Aug. 27 (UPI)

U.S. Marine Corps Logistics Command has given a prime contract to Science Applications International Corp. for logistics services in support of operations and program management.

The contract is a multiple-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a base performance period of one year, with four one-year options.

SAIC, which will compete for task orders from the Marines' LOGCOM, is one of 19 companies given the prime contract. The contract carries an overall value is $854 million if all options are exercised.

Under the contract, SAIC will provide logistics support in several task areas. Among them are program management and operations; information/technology specialized support; training support; program support; transportation/supply support; and maintenance and logistics technical data.

"The logistics services SAIC and our team offer through this contract vehicle will improve LOGCOM's ability to meet the emerging needs of the Marines ...," said SAIC Senior Vice President and Group General Manager Larry Hill.

August 28th, 2013 By Army News Service - defencetalk.com

In combat and tactical vehicles, Soldiers can access communications systems that display a complete picture of the battlefield. However, these high-tech situational awareness features are viewed through different computer systems, over separate monitors and with little room to spare.

Now the Army is looking to replace that “swivel chair” approach to situational awareness by introducing a standardized family of tactical computers that are scalable and tailorable to the mission and vehicle. With a modular “build-your-own-system” computer, users will be able to access and operate several different software applications over a single piece of computer hardware.

Known as the Mounted Family of Computer Systems, or MFoCS, the new capability will bring interoperability to tactical computers and improve the Soldier experience by allowing them to better plan, monitor and execute missions.

“By offering basic through advanced computing and display capabilities, we can satisfy the needs of several mission command applications while eliminating the burden of operating different computers in the same vehicle,” said Dominic Satili, deputy product manager for Blue Force Tracking, assigned to Project Manager Joint Battle Command-Platform, or PM JBC-P. “The Soldier only has to learn how to operate one computer.”

In June, PM JBC-P, assigned to the Program Executive Office for Command, Control and Communications-Tactical, awarded a three-year, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract for production and development of MFoCS to Florida-based DRS Tactical Systems Inc.

The building block approach introduces three MFoCS models: the basic, intermediate and advanced. The basic configuration is a tablet, while the intermediate model adds a processing unit with a 12, 15 or 17 inch display. The advanced model includes not only the tablet but also two intermediate units for a total of three work stations, making the three MFoCS models interchangeable and easily customized to fit any mission. The tablets are ruggedized and operate on a 25-foot cable so Soldiers inside a vehicle can pass the display around or even detach it and take it outside.

“The vision here is to have a single tactical computer for Army vehicles that will run multiple applications,” Satili said. “This standardizes the type of computer and at the same time creates a family of different sizes that adjusts to the mission.”

Designed to run JBC-P, the Army’s primary situational awareness capability, the system will also support other command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance applications and provide mounted computing solutions for the Marine Corps.

By allowing multiple software programs to utilize a single hardware solution inside the vehicle – rather than requiring individual hardware — it also reduces size, weight and power demands. MFoCS not only brings interoperability to tactical computers, it also reduces the cost of the basic configuration computer by as much as 36 percent and boosts its performance by more than 350 percent.

Development of M-FoCS dates back to a 2011 Army Directed Requirement for a common computing hardware solution with the goal of converging separate computing environments onto a single architecture.

MFoCS fits in the same hardware footprint and uses the same installation kit as the existing Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below/Blue Force Tracking and Joint Capabilities Release systems. These technologies are the situational awareness predecessors to JBC-P and have been integrated on more than 120,000 platforms, reside in each tactical operations center and are fielded to every brigade combat team in the Army.

Moving forward, MFoCS will support PM JBC-P’s Mounted Computing Environment, or MCE, one of six computing environments that are part of the Army-wide Common Operating Environment, or COE. The COE strategy embraces a commercially-based set of standards that enable secure and interoperable applications to be rapidly developed and executed across the computing environments.

“The Army is streamlining product development with COE,” said John Gillette, PM JBC-P team lead for MCE. “MCE will be the standard for systems inside tactical vehicles, while MFoCS will serve as the hardware solution for the Army’s MCE.”

Once established, the COE will allow the Army to develop, test, certify and deploy software capabilities efficiently with reduced development costs, while also encouraging competition.

The first delivery of MFoCS computers, which will be used for integration and testing, is expected within 20 weeks of the contract date.

The quick turnaround reflects PM JBC-P’s initial request for proposal requirement that vendors submit a prototype basic tablet and intermediate computer for evaluation as part of the full and open contract competition.

“We didn’t want them to tell us about it in writing; we wanted them to prove it also,” Satili said. “Our acquisition strategy resulted in an MFoCS vendor able to deliver mature production representative computers which meet the original directed requirement from the Army G-3/5/7.”

27 August 2013 By David McDonough – Pacific Sentinel

This article first appeared on the ASPI "The Strategist" Blog

Aug. 23, 2013 defense-unmanned.com

(Source: US Department of Defense; issued Aug. 22, 2013)

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., Poway, Calif., was awarded a cost-plus-incentive fee, option eligible, multi-year contract with a cumulative maximum value of $30,481,905 for one MQ-1C Gray Eagle Composite Maintenance System Trainer (CMST) suite of equipment with an option for Interim Contractor Support (ICS) for one CMST suite of equipment.

Performance location will be Fort Huachuca, Ariz., with funding from fiscal 2013 Other Procurement accounts.

The U.S. Army Contracting Command Redstone Arsenal (Aviation), Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-13-C-0127).

Aug 27, 2013 ASDNews Source : Lockheed Martin Corporation

The U.S. Army awarded Lockheed Martin $206 million in additional orders for the AN/TPQ-53 (Q-53), a long-range counterfire radar that provides soldiers with enhanced 360-degree protection from indirect fire.

This contract is for 19 Q-53 systems, formerly designated as EQ-36. To date Lockheed Martin has delivered 32 initial production systems to the U.S. Army and is currently producing an additional 33 systems, which were awarded in March 2012. This latest contract builds on those 33 systems currently in production.

“The Q-53 radar is helping to save the lives of U.S. forces through its exceptional performance in theater” said Lee Flake, program director for counterfire target acquisition radar programs at Lockheed Martin’s Mission Systems & Training business. “Deployed since 2010, we have listened to feedback from our soldiers to ensure the system meets operational demands and is evolving to stay ahead of global threats.”

Mounted on a five-ton truck, the Q-53 can be rapidly deployed, automatically leveled and remotely operated with a laptop computer or from a fully equipped climate-controlled command vehicle.

Lockheed Martin won the competitive development contract for the Q-53 radar – then known as EQ-36 – in 2007. Responding to urgent need statements from theater and following early program successes, the Army awarded the company an accelerated contract for 12 initial production systems in July 2008 and a contract with options for an additional 20 systems in April 2010. The Army began deploying Q-53 systems to combat in Iraq and Afghanistan in fall 2010. The March 2012 contract for 33 systems was a combination of low-rate initial production orders one and two.

Work on the Q-53 radar contract will be performed at Lockheed Martin facilities in Syracuse, N.Y., Moorestown, N.J., Akron, Ohio, and Clearwater, Fla.

August 27, 2013 defense-aerospace.com

(Source: U.S Air Force; issued August 23, 2013)

AF Releases Nuclear Enterprise’s Future Plan

WASHINGTON --- The Air Force recently announced a long-term vision for the service’s nuclear enterprise.

The plan, signed by the chief of staff and secretary of the Air Force and approved by the 4-star-level Nuclear Oversight Board, provides a framework for advancing and monitoring the overall health of the Air Force nuclear enterprise, supporting infrastructure and processes.

The plan is organized into three main sections. The first explains the Air Force’s perspective on 21st century deterrence and assurance, and how that differs from the Cold-War era.

The second section outlines five strategic vectors for the nuclear enterprise, and the final segment explains how the plan will be used to monitor and advance progress across the enterprise.

“All Airmen should understand the basics of the deterrence mission and its importance to our Air Force and the nation,” said Maj. Gen. Garrett Harencak, the Air Force’s assistant chief of staff for Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration.

To promote understanding of the mission, the first part of the plan explains how Airmen across the Air Force contribute to national security by providing nuclear capabilities that deter potential adversaries, and assure our allies and partners.

The section concludes by describing the capabilities across the Air Force that contribute to effective deterrence and outlines the Air Force's commitment to sustain and modernize capabilities to meet the changing demands of the 21st century.

Section two of the plan identifies the “five vectors designed to advance and monitor the overall health of the nuclear enterprise and further develop our Airmen, organizations, processes, capabilities and strategic thinking,” Harencak said.

By outlining a vector for each of these areas, the general said the Air Force will be able to implement a continuous improvement process to assess, develop action plans for improvements, and track the progress in each area.

Finally, the plan outlines how the Nuclear Oversight Board and Nuclear Issues Resolution and Integration Board will oversee efforts to meet plan objectives.

Though it is not intended to supplement any programming guidance, nor outline specific force structures, the plan may be used by planners, programmers and others to inform their efforts, Harencak said.

“We encourage commanders and Airmen at all levels to use the flight plan as a starting point for discussion and debate about deterrence in the changing 21st century environment, and the Air Force role in meeting those challenges,” Harencak added.


Click here for the full report (38 PDF pages) on the US Air Force website.

Aug 23, 2013 ASDNews Source : The Boeing Company

Boeing officially began assembling the second KC-46A Tanker this week as workers loaded the aircraft’s wing spar into an Automated Spar Assembly Tool. The on-time milestone brings the program another step closer to delivering the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation aerial refueling tanker.

The event comes less than two months after the KC-46 program began to assemble the first of four Engineering, Manufacturing and Development test aircraft. The wing spar, the main structural component of the wing, is 82 feet 5 inches long and provides critical support for flight loads and the weight of the wings.

“Completing production of the four test aircraft on schedule is our priority as we prepare to enter the flight test phase of the program,” said Maj. Gen. John Thompson, U.S. Air Force Program Executive Officer for Tankers. “The program continues to meet or exceed all contract milestones.”

The first test aircraft is expected to roll out of the factory in January 2014, while the second is scheduled to leave the factory in March. Boeing plans to fly the fully provisioned tanker for the first time in early 2015 and make the first delivery in 2016. The company expects to build and deliver the first 18 KC-46As by 2017 and a total of 179 by 2027 if all options under the contract are exercised.

“We’re exactly where we want to be right now,” said Maureen Dougherty, Boeing vice president and KC-46 Tanker program manager. “One year from now, all four test aircraft will be out of the factory, and the first two will be flying.”

The KC-46A is based on the Boeing 767 commercial jetliner, a proven airframe in service as an airliner, freighter and tanker. Boeing has delivered more than 1,050 767s worldwide.

“Production of the first tanker is going smoothly and remains on schedule,” said Scott Campbell, 767 vice president and general manager, Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

Aug 23, 2013 ASDNews Source : ITT Exelis

Exelis has successfully negotiated an agreement with Lockheed Martin Corp. to deliver carriage and release systems for the F-35 Lightning II. The combined value of the two low-rate initial production (LRIP) awards is approximately $60 million.

Already a supplier of carriage and release systems for the F-35, under the latest LRIP contracts Exelis will provide additional systems, including spare equipment, to all three variants of the aircraft.

The F-35 will be the premier combat aircraft for the coming decades,said Pete Martin, director of defense systems for the Exelis electronic attack & release systems business. Our carriage and release systems provide the aircraft with the high-performance capability it needs to carry its mission payload while maintaining its low-observable profile.

Delivery for the first contract is scheduled to begin in January 2014 and includes systems for 36 aircraft. The second lot is expected to commence in March 2015 with units and additional spares for 37 F-35s. The equipment provided meets all U.S. and international partner requirements.