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.

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.”

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).

22 August 2013 army-technology.com

TeleCommunication Systems (TCS) has secured incremental funding for the delivery of secret internet protocol router and non-secure internet protocol router access point (SNAP) tactical transportable TROPO (3T) deployable communications systems to the US Army.

The $2.8m funding is being provided by the US Army project manager for the warfighter information network-tactical (PM WIN-T) commercial satellite terminal programme, through the army's $5bn worldwide satellite systems (WWSS) contract vehicle.

TCS government solutions group-president, Michael Bristol, said the presence of cost-effective, easily deployable and reliable communications systems is vital to successful completion of the US military operations.

''TCS' JF-12 certified 3T fits these requirements, is a viable alternative to expensive satellite bandwidth, and its approved frequency assignment allows rapid access to global communication networks," Bristol said.

"The presence of cost-effective, easily deployable and reliable communications systems is vital to the US military operations."

3T is a high capacity, modular communications system designed to provide high bandwidth, low latency, non-satellite beyond line of sight (BLOS) network transport for both current and future bandwidth intensive command, control, communications, computers, combat systems, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C5ISR) platforms at distances of up to 150m.

Featuring the company's combat proven SNAP VSAT system and Comtech Systems' modem, the JF-12 certified system can offer long haul communications even in absence of bandwidth and over-the-horizon communications, in the regions where line-of-sight (LOS) is obstructed.

In addition, the Quad Diversity capable system establishes connectivity at greater data rates than typical satellite links, delivering greater speed for bandwidth-intensive applications, including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) video distribution, without recurring satellite airtime costs.

Available on the TCS' SNAP 2.0M antenna, 3T also supports backwards compatibility with multiple US Department of Defense's (DoD) existing TROPO systems, such as AN/TRC-170 (V)2 and (V)3 systems.

The number of units ordered under the contract and delivery schedule has not been disclosed.

25 July 2013 army-technology.com

The Raytheon-built joint land attack cruise missile defence elevated sensor (JLENS) system has successfully completed the US Army's early user testing (EUT), at an undisclosed location.

The six-week-long EUT evaluated the JLENS' ability to operate in a multitude of complex scenarios, simulated an operational environment.

In addition, the system demonstrated its long endurance through a 20 day continuous operation during testing, which paves the way for operational evaluation at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, US.

US Army JLENS product manager Dean Barten said the EUT completion confirmed JLENS' maturity and its readiness to be deployed according to soldier's requirements.

"With EUT under our belts, we are well on our way to deploying the system to Aberdeen Proving Ground for an operational evaluation, and ultimately, putting JLENS in the hands of the soldier," Barten said.

Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems business Global Integrated Sensors vice-president Dave Gulla said the completion follows a series of JLENS achievements, including detection of a ballistic-missile surrogate and enabling the intercept of cruise missile targets with the patriot and standard missile six.

"JLENS is essential to national security because it provides a proven capability against threats that no other system in the world offers," Gulla added.

Equipped with a powerful integrated radar system, JLENS is an affordable elevated, persistent over-the-horizon sensor system designed to detect, track and engage a broad range of distantly located threats in the battlefield.

The system primarily helps combatant commanders defeat a variety of threats including hostile cruise missiles, low-flying manned and unmanned aircraft, as well as moving surface vehicles, such as swarming boats, mobile missile launchers, automobiles and tanks.

Featuring two tethered, 74m aerostats that are networked to mobile mooring stations, and a communications and processing group, the system provides 24/7 surveillance coverage for 30 days, in addition to enabling ascent phase detection of tactical ballistic missiles and large-calibre rockets.

Jul 11, 2013 ASDNews Source : iRobot Corporation

    Initial order valued at $3 million

As previously announced by the Army, iRobot Corp. (NASDAQ: IRBT), a leader in delivering robotic technology-based solutions, has been awarded a $30 million indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract by the U.S. Army’s Robotic Systems Joint Program Office (RSJPO). The four-year contract, which replaces an expiring IDIQ, allows for the delivery of iRobot PackBot FasTac robotic systems and associated spares.

An initial $3 million order under the contract for spares has also been placed. Deliveries under this order will be completed by the end of Q4 2013.

“iRobot is proud to provide robotic capabilities that help our warfighters accomplish their mission,” said Frank Wilson, senior vice president and general manager of iRobot’s Defense & Security business unit. “The Army recognizes the value of the PackBot FasTac robotic system on the battlefield, and we look forward to continuing our work with RSJPO to ensure the Army is well equipped to maintain its fleet of PackBot FasTac robots in the years ahead.”

The iRobot PackBot allows military and public safety personnel to investigate dangerous objects and environments from a safe distance. The robot is used in a wide variety of operations, including neutralizing roadside bombs and other improvised explosive devices, screening vehicles, and searching buildings, bunkers, caves and tunnels.

Jul 9, 2013 ASDNews Source : U.S. Army

The U.S. Army has transferred to France technical test data on a rocket-propelled grenade defense system that is vital to its military operations in Mali, officials announced.

The U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, known as RDECOM, through its International Technology Center-France, helped to facilitate the exchange between the allies, said Lt. Col. Robert Willis, who led the project for RDECOM.

"The French Army wants the best thing out there," said Willis, commander of ITC-France under RDECOM Forward Element Command-Atlantic. "They are a professional and highly capable Army, and they want to protect their troops. They are determined to rapidly acquire the best technology, based purely on technical performance of the system."

The French Army had purchased an early version of a rocket-propelled grenade, or RPG, defense system, Q-Nets, from QinetiQ North America, known as QNA, a U.S. company. Fighting in Mali spurred the need for increased capabilities to protect French soldiers.

When the company developed an improved version, Q-Nets II, the French Ministry of Defense wanted to review the test data from the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command before making a procurement decision. However, QNA could not release the data to France because the exchange must be made under an international agreement from one government entity to another government, Willis said.

Willis and his colleagues at the U.S. European Command's Office of Defense Cooperation in Paris stepped in to expedite the data transfer under an established agreement, "Survivability Technologies for Land Combat Systems." RDECOM's Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center, known as TARDEC, at Detroit Arsenal, Mich., provides technical oversight for the agreement.

TARDEC's technical project officer for the agreement then verified that the detailed test data could be transferred from the U.S. Army to the French MoD.

Without the international agreement in place, this transfer of data would not have been authorized, Willis said.

Willis is accredited as an attaché of defense cooperation for these types of exchanges, and he presented the data to the French MoD, June 10. He used his fluency in French and background in Army test and evaluation to explain the technical and statistical nuances of the report.

In addition to assisting a NATO ally in an area of operations where the United States has national interests but not a desire to intervene with ground troops, the U.S. Department of Commerce had officially granted advocacy to QNA in an otherwise European-only competition, Willis said.

Col. Collier Slade, chief of the ODC in Paris, said the advocacy process allows the U.S. government to promote an American vendor in its efforts in a foreign country. In this case, QNA was the only U.S. company in competition to provide an RPG defense system to the French Army.

"The effectiveness of our advocacy policy in this case was ensured by the unique skill sets and reach-back that the RDECOM international team provided," Slade said.

RDECOM maintains a robust international footprint to promote cooperation between the United States and foreign partners to advance science, engineering and technical capabilities in areas important to the U.S. Army, Willis said.

RFEC-Atlantic in the United Kingdom has ITCs in France and Germany, RFEC-Pacific in Japan has ITCs in Australia and Singapore, and RFEC-Americas in Chile has ITCs in Canada and Argentina.

"Our NATO partners, including France and others in Europe, are long-standing allies," Willis said. "They possess the state-of-the-art in many technologies that we do not."

Maintaining these international relationships allows RDECOM to accelerate requests such as the transfer of RPG test data to France, Willis said. He is responsible for 16 European countries and concentrates primarily on France, Italy and Spain.

"We maintain cognizance of the expertise areas in our countries," Willis said. "We maintain contacts with the critical government, industry and academia that develop these technologies that we can share."

"We transfer technologies in both directions," he continued. "In this case, it was U.S. to France in support of an urgent operational requirement. In many other cases, it is shared foreign know-how that alleviates the need for large technology investments and development on our own."

RDECOM is a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Materiel Command. AMC is the Army's premier provider of materiel readiness -- technology, acquisition support, materiel development, logistics power projection, and sustainment -- to the total force, across the spectrum of joint military operations. If a Soldier shoots it, drives it, flies it, wears it, eats it or communicates with it, AMC delivers it.

July 9, 2013 Source: Center for Strategic and International Studies

Two weeks ago, Army Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno announced significant Army force structure reductions. The impending reorganization helps meet an Army obligation and an Army desire. First, the obligation—it allows the Army to satisfy the fiscal demands required by 2011’s Budget Control Act (BCA). Second, the desire—as the Army eliminates brigade headquarters from its structure to meet budget requirements, it can at the same time increase the fighting potential of its brigade combat teams (BCTs). Specifically, the elimination of BCT headquarters frees up an additional maneuver battalion for each of the Army’s infantry and armored BCTs.

The reduction and reorganization of Army forces is not insignificant. As in the case of rebalancing all U.S. forces toward the Asia-Pacific region, Army force reductions are a visible acknowledgment that the Department of Defense (DoD) is entering a new postwar era. It roughly returns active Army force structure to its pre-9/11 configuration, leaving 33 deployable BCTs in the inventory, after having achieved a wartime high of 45 BCTs. There are clearly important, unanswered questions on the table with respect to the Army.

Q1: How should we look at the postwar Army and its contributions to joint operations?

A1: The U.S. Army remains the nation’s principal ground force. It makes two important contingency contributions to joint operations. First, Army forces—active and reserve—provide U.S. decision-makers with the capability for sustained ground operations abroad and potentially in U.S. homeland security contingencies. In reality, Army forces—often reinforced by the U.S. Marine Corps—are tangible demonstrations of American resolve. To paraphrase a senior Marine Corps officer interviewed during the course of a recent CSIS study, when the U.S. Army arrives on scene, it is an unmistakable indication that America means business.

Indeed, the United States’ continued ability to project large numbers of ground forces overseas for sustained operations is a key metric of its remaining the world’s dominant military power. Second and often less appreciated, Army enabling capabilities—logistics, communications, intelligence, engineers, air and missile defense, etc.—“set” foreign theaters and support deployed forces from the other services and foreign partners. This latter function provides a solid backbone for sustained military campaigns of all types under a variety of circumstances. (end of excerpt)


Click here for the full item (HTML format) on the CSIS website.

09/07/2013 par Nicolas Laffont – 45eNord.ca

Dans le cadre d’un plan à long terme du Département américain de la Défense, l’US Army a produit une vidéo pour attirer des soumissionnaires et les inciter à repousser les limites de la technologie dans le développement d’un hélicoptère de nouvelle génération et de ses flottes utilisant les rotors basculants.

«J’ai besoin de visionnaires de l’aviation», lance ainsi Bill Lewis, directeur de la Direction du développement de l’aviation de l’armée de terre, dans la vidéo de 7 minutes. «Le seul facteur limitant est votre imagination.»

En réponse à la vidéo, la société Hurst, basée au Texas (et faisant partie de Bell), a produit sa propre vidéo mettant en vedette des acteurs qui défoncent rapidement des portes et «accomplissent leur mission» avec l’aide du V-280 Valor, la version du rotor basculant de Bell pour un avion conjoint multi-rôle.

La production de Bell, mettant en valeur le Valor, commence avec deux enfants jetant leurs cartables pour voir la vidéo. «Chouette appareil du futur» , dit un gamin. «J’ai bien hâte de voler avec ce bad boy.»

Dans les deux vidéos, le thème semble être le pouvoir de transformation de la technologie pour façonner les futures guerres en des jeux de clic de souris dans lesquels les gentils ne meurent jamais, et avec encore moins de sang.

Bell Helicopter, AVX Aircraft Co. et une coentreprise de Boeing Co. et Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. ont d’ores et déjà soumis leur concept à l’armée américaine d’un Démonstrateur de technologie conjoint multi-rôle.

L’armée envisage de prendre une décision initiale sur le démonstrateur en septembre, avec un prototype volant prêt pour 2017.

Les propositions de Bell, AVX et Boeing-Sikorsky pour le Démonstrateur de technologie conjoint multi-rôle ne sont qu’un premier pas dans le plan global du Pentagone annoncé en 2011 d’avoir l’armée prendre l’initiative des prototypes pour remplacer la flotte vieillissante de plus de 4000 hélicoptères dans toutes les armes.

«L’avion de nouvelle génération devra être un ensemble beaucoup moins coûteux à exploiter que la flotte actuelle» et être prêt à entrer sur la ligne de front dans les années 2020, a déclaré le major-général William Crosby, responsable du programme de l’aviation pour l’armée.

«Même avec tout l’excellent travail que nous faisons pour la mise à niveau et le soutien de la flotte actuelle, il est maintenant temps d’investir dans la science et la technologie nécessaires pour développer la future flotte», a dit William Crosby.

«Nous avons encore des plates-formes élévatrices verticales de troisième génération conçues pendant la période de la guerre du Vietnam, il y a près de 50 ans», a-t-il dit. «Notre flotte actuelle ne durera pas éternellement et il y a des limites à notre capacité d’améliorer les modèles actuels pour répondre aux besoins futurs.»

6/28/2013 Strategy Page

Paratroopers from 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division conduct an airfield seizure during Operation Fury Thunder June 21, at Fort Bragg. Fury Thunder was an operation designed to prepare and train Paratroopers to seize and project combat power in a denied environment. More than 1,500 Paratroopers performed static line jumps with follow on missions as they assembled on the ground. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Juan F. Jimenez

6/21/2013 Strategy Page

Here is what happened. One tank broke down and the other towed it. M1s have turbine engines which run hot. When towing an M1 with another M1 the crews are supposed to employ a blast deflector. They did not. This occurred in Iraq and the ambient temp was over 120 degrees F.

1 July 2013 army-technology.com

Mercom has awarded a contract to Parvus for supply of tactical computer subsystems for installation onboard the US Army's OH-58D Kiowa Warrior military helicopters.

The $3.3m deal forms part of a $7.2m firm-fixed-price contract awarded by the Army Contracting Command (ACC) to Mercom for acquisition of DuraCOR 810 tactical computers last month.

Under the new contract, Mercom, a Eurotech subsidiary, will supply unspecified units of its DuraCOR 810-Duo tactical computers for integration onto the Kiowa Warrior helicopters.

Fitted with sealed MIL-38999 connectors, integrated EMI/EMC filtering, and MIL-qualified power supply, DuraCOR 810-Duo is a rugged multi-core mission processor subsystem designed for high-reliability applications needing MIL-STD-810G environmental compliance with extreme temperatures, shock/vibration, and ingress.

The computer is based on a modular, open architecture commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) design with an Intel Core2 Duo CPU, solid state disk, as well as MIL-704/1275 power supply and conduction cooled chassis.

"OH-58D Kiowa Warrior is a single engine helicopter primarily designed to conduct armed reconnaissance in support of air cavalry troops and light attack crews."

Ideally suited for harsh mobile military and homeland security command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) deployments, the computer is also designed to address and qualified to MIL-STD-810G and MIL-STD-461F regulations for installation into size, weight, and power (SWaP) constrained aircraft, ground vehicle and maritime platform modernisation programmes.

Manufactured by Bell Helicopter, OH-58D Kiowa Warrior is a single engine helicopter primarily designed to conduct armed reconnaissance in support of air cavalry troops and light attack crews.

In regular use with the US Army since 1969, the helicopter can also perform joint air attack (JAAT) operations, air combat, limited attack operations, and artillery target designation missions.

Exported to Austria, Canada, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, and the Dominican Republic, the helicopter has been manufactured under license in Australia.

Performance period and delivery schedule has not been disclosed by the company.

6/26/2013 Strategy  Page

Sgt. Zach Smola, rear door gunner on a CH-47, keeps watch on the mountains in Uruzgan province, Afghanistan, May 12, 2013. The Chinooks, operated by members of Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 104th Aviation Regiment from the Connecticut and Pennsylvania Army National Guard, have played a vital part in the mission in Afghanistan since their arrival in December 2012 by performing resupply, retrograde, and planned missions. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jessi Ann McCormick)