The Insider

By Dan Dupont
September 2, 2014 at 3:41 PM

The Congressional Research Service this week completed an updated report on conventional prompt global strike weapons and long-range ballistic missiles, giving lawmakers a typical CRS-style rundown on various issues and posing possible questions for Congress to ask:

When Congress reviews the budget requests for CPGS weapons, it may question DOD's rationale for the mission, reviewing whether the United States might have to attack targets promptly at the start of or during a conflict, when it could not rely on forward-based land or naval forces. It might also review whether this capability would reduce U.S. reliance on nuclear weapons or whether, as some critics have asserted, it might upset stability and possibly increase the risk of a nuclear response to a U.S. attack. This risk derives, in part, from the possibility that nations detecting the launch of a U.S. PGS weapon would not be able to determine whether the weapon carried a nuclear or conventional warhead. Congress has raised concerns about this possibility in the past.

Inside the Pentagon this week took a look at an element of CPGS in the aftermath of a test failure:

The recent termination of the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon test flight shortly after liftoff will be a setback to the faster-than-the-speed-of-sound program designed to strike faraway and fleeting targets, according to experts and officials tracking the program.

The Army Space and Missile Defense Command was unable to evaluate the AHW during its Aug. 25 test because a booster rocket experienced an anomaly after liftoff, and caused authorities to terminate the flight for safety reasons (DefenseAlert, Aug. 25). James Acton, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment, told InsideDefense.com Monday that the test termination "appears to say more about the booster than anything about the glider."

Although the test failure can't be blamed on the AHW itself, the whole program faces a setback, said aerospace consultant Leon McKinney, who tracks hypersonics programs. Because the test was terminated shortly after launch, no test data was able to be recovered.

"While the saying 'you learn something with every flight, even failed flights' is always true, this sort of failure doesn't provide much positive learning related to AHW," McKinney said, suggesting that the only lesson learned relates to more carefully checking the launch vehicle used.

By James Drew
August 29, 2014 at 6:57 PM

Pratt & Whitney believes it is getting closer to solving a mechanical issue that caused an Air Force F-35A fighter jet to catch fire at Eglin Air Force Base, FL, in June.

The mishap incident grounded the Joint Strike Fighter fleet for nearly two weeks in July and caused the Marine Corps F-35B jets to miss their scheduled international debut in England.

This week, a Pratt spokesman confirmed the company is testing a potential solution.

“We have a potential fix that we believe will eliminate the problem and we will conduct engine and rig tests next month to verify that with the services and the [F-35] joint program office,” Pratt spokesman Matthew Bates said in an email. His comments were first reported by Defense News.

Speaking to InsideDefense.com Aug. 29, F-35 joint program office spokesman Joe DellaVedova said Pratt has been working to develop a solution at its facility in West Palm Beach, FL.

“They've been working on ensuring they get the measurements they need and ensuring things will work,” he said. He said testing of the technical solution will continue through September.

DellaVedova confirmed the F-35 fleet, which includes around 100 Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps aircraft, continues to operate under a restricted flight envelope while a root-cause examinations of the mishap engine continues. Those flight rules have been relaxed slightly for the 20 F-35 test aircraft to limit delays to the Marine Corps' schedule for achieving initial operational capability.

Right now, all aircraft are cleared to fly to Mach 1.6 and 3.2G normal acceleration with an angle of attack of 18 degrees. The aircraft require a borescope engine inspection every three hours of flight, whereas the test aircraft can fly for six hours between inspections for weapons testing and aerial refueling missions.

Defense Department officials have said the engine fire was an isolated incident associated with excess rubbing of the fan blades in the hot section of the engine.

By Dan Dupont
August 29, 2014 at 6:09 PM

The Congressional Research Service this week completed an updated report on conventional prompt global strike weapons and long-range ballistic missiles, giving lawmakers a typical CRS-style rundown on various issues and posing possible questions for Congress to ask:

When Congress reviews the budget requests for CPGS weapons, it may question DOD’s rationale for the mission, reviewing whether the United States might have to attack targets promptly at the start of or during a conflict, when it could not rely on forward-based land or naval forces. It might also review whether this capability would reduce U.S. reliance on nuclear weapons or whether, as some critics have asserted, it might upset stability and possibly increase the risk of a nuclear response to a U.S. attack. This risk derives, in part, from the possibility that nations detecting the launch of a U.S. PGS weapon would not be able to determine whether the weapon carried a nuclear or conventional warhead. Congress has raised concerns about this possibility in the past.

Inside the Pentagon this week took a look at an element of CPGS in the aftermath of a test failure:

The recent termination of the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon test flight shortly after liftoff will be a setback to the faster-than-the-speed-of-sound program designed to strike faraway and fleeting targets, according to experts and officials tracking the program.

The Army Space and Missile Defense Command was unable to evaluate the AHW during its Aug. 25 test because a booster rocket experienced an anomaly after liftoff, and caused authorities to terminate the flight for safety reasons (DefenseAlert, Aug. 25). James Acton, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment, told InsideDefense.com Monday that the test termination "appears to say more about the booster than anything about the glider."

Although the test failure can't be blamed on the AHW itself, the whole program faces a setback, said aerospace consultant Leon McKinney, who tracks hypersonics programs. Because the test was terminated shortly after launch, no test data was able to be recovered.

"While the saying 'you learn something with every flight, even failed flights' is always true, this sort of failure doesn't provide much positive learning related to AHW," McKinney said, suggesting that the only lesson learned relates to more carefully checking the launch vehicle used.

By Jason Sherman
August 29, 2014 at 4:23 PM

U.S. military operations in Iraq have cost an average of $7.5 million a day since June 16, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby told reporters today.

That would put the total tab over the last 10 weeks at nearly $525 million. These activities have been funded from the Defense Department's fiscal year 2014 overseas contingency operations budget, he said, an $85 billion appropriation.

By Jason Sherman
August 27, 2014 at 3:16 PM

The Navy yesterday released a request for proposals launching a new competition for the Remote Multi-Mission Vehicle (RMMV), a centerpiece of the service's $1.4 billion Remote Minehunting System program.

A decision on who will build the vehicle, designed to be a mission package intrinsic to Littoral Combat Ship operations in contested waters, is expected next spring.

More on the program from our story last week:

The Navy is deferring key actions on the Remote Minehunting System until the third quarter of fiscal year 2015 following the delay of a crucial Office of the Secretary of Defense review that was scheduled for May 2014.

That review is needed to validate four years of remedial engineering work and win back approval for low-rate production, which was rescinded in 2010 in a bid to halt mushrooming cost growth.

Naval Sea Systems Command spokesman Dale Eng said in an email statement to InsideDefense.com that the May Defense Acquisition Board milestone C review of the RMS program did not happen as the Navy had previously planned and has not yet been rescheduled. On July 1, though, the panel conducted an "in-process review" of the RMS program, Eng added; the Navy is "waiting for OSD direction" following that event.

By Tony Bertuca
August 26, 2014 at 7:44 PM

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced today that seven nations have signed up for a U.S.-led effort to supply Kurdish forces in Iraq combating the Islamic State of Iraq in the Levant.

"Two weeks ago, I commissioned a U.S.-led working group to accelerate resupply efforts to the embattled Kurdish forces in northern Iraq,” Hagel said in a statement. “In addition to support from the U.S., and the central government of Iraq in Baghdad, seven additional nations -- Albania, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Italy, France, and the United Kingdom -- have committed to helping provide Kurdish forces urgently needed arms and equipment. This multinational effort, which is being coordinated with the Government of Iraq in Baghdad, will greatly assist Kurdish forces in repelling the brutal terrorist threat they face from ISIL.”

Hagel said resupply operations have already begun and “will accelerate in the coming days,” noting that other nations are expected to join the effort.

"The determination of the Iraqi people and the international community to counter the threat posed by ISIL is only growing, and the United States looks forward to working with our friends from around the world to assist this effort," he said.

Hagel recently noted that the Pentagon may have to reconsider its fiscal year 2015 budget posture to pay for ongoing operations in Iraq:

"We are pursuing a long-term strategy against ISIL because ISIL clearly poses a long-term threat," he said Aug. 22 during a Pentagon press conference. "They're beyond just a terrorist group. They marry ideology; a sophistication of strategic and tactical military prowess; they are tremendously well funded. This is beyond anything that we've seen."

When asked if the long-term strategy against ISIL would cause the Pentagon to reconsider its budget plans, Hagel said: "Maybe."

He added that the Pentagon is "constantly shaping a budget to assure the resources match the mission and the mission and the resources match the threat," noting that "we've had to move assets for the last couple of months obviously to accomplish the mission in Iraq. That costs money; that takes certain monies out of certain funds; it's a constant, fluid process."

By Tony Bertuca
August 26, 2014 at 2:53 PM

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel released a statement this morning marking the change of command between Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford and Army Gen. John Campbell at the International Security Assistant Force in Afghanistan.

Dunford is leaving to become commandant of the Marine Corps.

"As commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, President Obama and I have relied on Joe's extraordinary ability and judgment as America responsibly transitions out of our longest war,” Hagel's statement reads. “We will continue to count on Joe's distinguished leadership as he assumes his new role as 36th Commandant of the United States Marine Corps. The American people are grateful to Joe and his wife Ellyn for their continued service to our country.”

Before taking command in Afghanistan, Campbell was the Army's vice chief of staff.

“As General John Campbell assumes command of ISAF -- John's third tour of duty in Afghanistan -- I want to thank him and his wife Anne for their service as well,” Hagel statement reads. “John's leadership comes at a defining moment, as Afghanistan undertakes a historic political transition, and the United States and our coalition partners transition from combat to training and support for Afghan forces. President Obama and I have the highest confidence in John, and we look forward to working closely with him in the months ahead."

By Dan Dupont
August 26, 2014 at 1:01 PM

Yesterday we brought you word of a memo from Frank Kendall, the Pentagon's top acquisition official, on new plans to increase competition:

The Defense Department has announced a series of steps designed to bolster competition for contracts, a top acquisition official says in a new memorandum.

The memo, signed by Frank Kendall, the under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, notes that the Pentagon has not been meeting its competition goals for four years. "In fact, we have experienced a declining competition rate, and we must take action to reverse this trend," it states.

The memo announces the creation of guidelines that address best practices for developmental programs, weapon system production, commodities contracts and service acquisitions.

"These guidelines are intended to provoke thought about the various approaches that may be used to competitively fulfill DOD requirements," the memo states. "The techniques and examples should be considered in developing acquisition strategies."

Turns out Kendall's office also released this yesterday, which goes along with the memo:

Pentagon Guidelines On Maintaining A 'Competitive Environment'

The August 2014 document, issued by the Pentagon acquisition directorate, outline new steps for "creating and maintaining a competitive environment for supplies and services in the Department of Defense."

By James Drew
August 25, 2014 at 6:57 PM

The Air Force has selected Moody Air Force Base in Georgia to host an A-29 Super Tucano aircraft schoolhouse for Afghan Air Force personnel, the service said on Aug. 22.

The decision comes after a draft environmental analysis, published in July, found that light-attack aircraft training at Moody AFB would have no significant adverse impact.

The training beddown supports the Pentagon's $427 million acquisition of 20 Super Tucano light-attack aircraft for the Afghan Air Force.

Air Education and Training Command considered three possible locations -- Moody, Mountain Home in Idaho and South Carolina's Shaw base. In June, the service announced Moody as the preferred alternative because of airfield, airspace and facility availability.

“Additionally, the overall cost to complete the beddown in the time frame required to initiate the training program made Moody [AFB] the best choice,” Timothy Bridges, the Air Force's deputy assistant secretary for installations, said in an Aug. 22 statement.

With the selection process complete, the Air Force can begin preparing for the arrival of the first aircraft and Afghan students.

In July, service spokeswoman Ann Stefanek told InsideDefense.com that A-29 prime contractor Sierra Nevada Corp. was on track to deliver the first Afghan Super Tucano aircraft in September.

According to a summary of the July draft environmental assessment (EA) document, the schoolhouse would provide training for about30 Afghan pilots and 90 Afghan maintainers through 2018. Once that initial requirement is met, an organic training program will be established in Afghanistan and the training unit at Moody AFB will be inactivated.

Training is due to commence in February 2015. The schoolhouse is expected to eventually support up to 45 students at a time, the EA states. Training will involve simulator and flight training as well as the use of practice ordnance, rockets and .50-caliber practice rounds.

“The AAF needs the A-29 aircraft and trained pilots because the current fleet of AAF air-to-ground aircraft reaches the end of its service life in January 2016,” the document states, referring to the country's Russian Mi-35 helicopter gunships.

In July, the head of Air Force operations in Afghanistan and Afghan Minister-Counsellor Mirwais Nab, who handles military affairs at the Afghan Embassy in Washington, told InsideDefense.com that the Super Tucano program is important because it equips the AAF with a close-air-support capability as Operation Enduring Freedom ends.

By Lara Seligman
August 25, 2014 at 6:31 PM

The Navy on Friday awarded Bath Iron Works a contract worth up to $100 million for modernization work on both variants of the Littoral Combat Ship.

The contract officially makes Bath Iron Works, owned by General Dynamics and headquartered in Bath, Maine, the single planning yard for LCS. Under the terms of the contract, Bath Iron Works will provide engineering, planning, ship configuration, material and logistics support to maintain and modernize both variants of the class.

The $9.8 million cost-plus-award-fee contract includes options that, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of the contract to $100.4 million.

Work will be performed in Bath and is expected to be completed by August 2015.

By James Drew
August 22, 2014 at 8:23 PM

Air Combat Command has loaned a Block 40 RQ-4B Global Hawk to the 412th Test Wing at Edwards Air Force Base, CA, to support testing activities there.

According to an Aug. 22 Air Force statement, the aircraft will be incorporated into the Global Vigilance Combined Test Force's (CVCTF) Global Hawk group. The group already has Block 40 and Block 20 aircraft, and the addition of one Block 40 from ACC will support testing of a diminishing manufacturing source and INMARSAT satellite communications upgrades.

Both upgrades are vital to continued Global Hawk operations as the program moves from development and production to the sustainment phase.

One upgrade deals with parts obsolescence issues and the other supports changes to the INMARSAT system from the existing I-3 system to the more advanced I-4 Aero-M service. Existing INMARSAT users must make equipment and software changes to comply with the new system by late 2016.

“The importance of INMARSAT testing is that in the end of calendar year 2016, if we don't make these modifications across the fleet, our fleet faces potential grounding,” CVCTF Global Hawk Program Manager Teresa Bennett said in the Aug 22 statement.

The 412 Test Wing's existing Block 40 Global Hawk aircraft is supporting NATO's $1.7 billion Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) program. The United States is a member of the 13-nation group procuring the aircraft for surveillance and target-indication operations over Europe.

The group is buying five Global Hawk Block 40 aircraft and activities at Edwards AFB support testing of maritime modes on the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP) sensor, a primary Block 40 payload.

Global Hawk program officials plan to conduct an initial operational test and evaluation of the Block 40 MP-RTIP system in early fiscal year 2015. That test was slated to occur in FY-14 but was pushed back due to development issues.

“There are a lot of projects using our current air vehicle; that's all the more reason why it's so valuable to have another air vehicle to allow deconfliction,” Bennett said.

According to the Air Force statement, the 412th Test Wing did have a Block 30 system but that asset was returned to Air Combat Command to support operational needs.

The Block 20 aircraft feature a Global Hawk RQ-4B airframe but carry a different sensor payload.

The Global Hawk produced by Northrop Grumman. Earlier this month the Air Force awarded Northrop a $241 million production contract for its last order of Block 30 aircraft, due for delivery between 2016 and 2017.

The Air Force has 11 Block 40 Global Hawks in its inventory, but service officials are considering retiring the fleet if there is no relief from sequestration in FY-16.

By John Liang
August 20, 2014 at 12:00 PM

The House Permanent Select Intelligence Committee has refused to grant permission to shift $16 million in RQ-7B unmanned aerial system funding from the Navy's aircraft procurement budget into the service's research and development account for small tactical UAS.

DOD wanted to shift the Military Intelligence Program (MIP) funds out of the Navy's aircraft procurement budget:

Funds are available because of a shift in focus to shipboard operations. The RQ-7B UAS is not shipboard compatible. The RQ-7B UAS will not upgrade 2 of the 13 RQ-7B Shadow Unmanned Air Systems with the Tactical Common Data Link.

The department wanted the funding in the "Small (Level 0) Tactical UAS" line in the Navy's research, development, test and evaluation budget:

Funds are required to integrate a heavy fuel engine onto RQ-21. force rebalancing and the Marine Corps focus on shipboard operations have prioritized the need to accelerate amphibious Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance. Integration of a heavy fuel engine will be the first step in enabling the extension of the current RQ-21 range and will influence a significant area of the battle space and reduce ground control station requirements.

The refusal is highlighted in a two-page, May 30 Defense Department MIP reprogramming request, where the above text was crossed out.

By John Liang
August 19, 2014 at 8:26 PM

Northrop Grumman issued a press release today that it is developing, in conjunction with Scaled Composites and Virgin Galactic, a preliminary design and flight demonstration plan for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Experimental Spaceplane XS-1 competition.

We're not quite sure why it took so long for Northrop to release the statement; Inside the Air Force reported on the competition last month, when DARPA first announced the teaming arrangements:

"We chose performers who could prudently integrate existing and up-and-coming technologies and operations, while making XS-1 as reliable, easy-to-use and cost-effective as possible," DARPA XS-1 Program Manager Jess Sponable said in the July 15 statement. "We're eager to see how their initial designs envision making spaceflight commonplace -- with all the potential military, civilian and commercial benefits that capability would provide."

The program also has applications for military, civilian and commercial users, and will also further the development of hypersonic flight technologies. One of the technical goals of the program is to achieve a hypersonic speed of Mach 10 or greater at least once during the flight.

"These opportunities include both launching small payloads per the program goals as well as others, such as supporting future hypersonic testing and a future space-access aircraft," DARPA said.

Boeing and Northrop were awarded $4 million contracts and Masten will receive $3 million, according to the respective contracting announcements. Phase 2 contracts are due to be awarded in fiscal year 2015 and a demonstration is scheduled for FY-18, depending on the success of earlier phases, according to the BAA.

By John Liang
August 19, 2014 at 12:00 PM

A new Congressional Research Service report lays out a number of issues with the U.S. military's plans to decrease its numbers of personnel in Okinawa.

"Although the U.S.-Japan alliance is often labeled as 'the cornerstone' of security in the Asia Pacific region, local concerns about the U.S. military presence on the Japanese island of Okinawa have challenged the management of the alliance for decades," the Aug. 14 report -- originally obtained by Secrecy News -- notes, adding:

The Japanese archipelago serves as the most significant forward-operating platform for the U.S. military in the region; approximately 53,000 military personnel (39,000 onshore and 14,000 afloat in nearby waters), 43,000 dependents, and 5,000 Department of Defense civilian employees live in Japan. With the United States pledging to rebalance its defense posture towards Asia, the uncertainty surrounding the medium and long-term presence of American forces on Okinawa remains a critical concern for national security decision-makers.

In May, the chief of naval operations laid out the Navy's plan to increase its force presence in the Asia Pacific region over the next several years, noting that the service will increase the average number of ships in the area from 58 next year to 67 in 2020. But ships weren't the only assets that would be moved to the region, Inside the Navy reported that month:

In aviation, the Navy has already deployed its P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft to the region, where it has made a "huge contribution" to the search for the lost Malaysian airliner, Greenert said. The service also plans to deploy its EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft this decade to the Western Pacific, he added. Finally, the Navy will deploy 17 MQ-4C Triton maritime unmanned aerial systems to Okinawa, Japan, Greenert said.

The recent CRS report also notes the opposition by Okinawans of a joint U.S.-Japanese plan to move Marines out of that service's base at Futenma to a new location:

Most Okinawans oppose the construction of a new U.S. base for a mix of political, environmental, and quality-of-life reasons. Okinawan anti-base civic groups may take extreme measures to prevent construction of the facility at Henoko. Any heavy-handed actions by Tokyo or Washington could lead to stridently anti-base politicians making gains in Okinawa, particularly in the gubernatorial election scheduled for November 2014. Meanwhile, the Futenma base remains in operation, raising fears that an accident might further inflame Okinawan opposition.

Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee have had problems with the Marine Corps' plans to realign itself to the Asia Pacific, specifically as they pertain to Okinawa. As ITN reported in June:

The committee claimed the Marine Corps' $12.1 billion estimate to realign the service in the Asia Pacific as "conservative and programmatic" and the estimate does not include potential costs for strategic lift or for the relocation of Marines to Australia. Therefore, Senate authorizers are withholding funds for construction activities to implement the realignment of the Marine Corps from Okinawa, Japan.

Senate authorizers are requesting "high-confidence estimates of construction costs and schedules" before initiating construction of new facilities in support of the realignment.

By John Liang
August 18, 2014 at 8:50 PM

Inside U.S. Trade reported last week about a recent U.S. appellate court ruling in favor of a Chinese company suing the president and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) because it was ordered to divest from an Oregon wind farm project that was near Navy airspace.

The ruling will not have a meaningful impact on the outcome of the case and is likely do little to boost the transparency of the CFIUS review process, Inside U.S. Trade reports, adding:

One of the main arguments being pursued by the Ralls Corporation was that, under the constitutional right to due process, it should have access to the unclassified material CFIUS and the president considered before ordering Ralls to divest from an Oregon wind farm project that was near U.S. Navy airspace.

Ralls was not seeking to actually overturn the presidential decision, due to the fact that the Foreign Investment and National Security Act of 2007 expressly prohibits any judicial review of such orders.

The appellate court reversed the lower court's decision that Ralls did not have a right to this information, and in theory, Ralls could now at least try to rebut some of the facts presented. But experts familiar with CFIUS procedures doubted that any of the unclassified information given to Ralls -- or any other company put in a similar situation in the future -- would be substantive.

"There isn't a lot of non-deliberative information that's not classified or not derived from classified material that can be shared," said Nova Daly, former head of CFIUS at the Treasury Department. According to Daly, CFIUS conducts a threat assessment and, for mitigations, a risk assessment. The threat assessment is classified. The risk assessment identifies national security vulnerabilities, which can also be classified.

Scott Flicker, an attorney who handles CFIUS cases, also questioned the ability of a party to rebut a presidential order with limited information. "What are they going to do with unclassified information based on a partial record?" he said. "There might not be much that can be done."