Defense Watch

Defense Daily, June 2, 2008

The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense

For Your Consideration. General Dynamics Friday submitted its bid for the Navy's LCS competition. That should put to rest any question as to whether GD or Lockheed Martin would skip bidding on this round of LCS. Rumors had surfaced over the past few weeks that one or both of the two industry teams would pass on the competition due to the $460 million cost cap imposed by Congress and the Navy's call for the new LCS contracts to become fixed price incentive-fee. Now it's up to the Navy to determine who will build one LCS in FY '08 and two in FY '09.

Preparing For The Worst. The U.S. along with 13 other nations are taking part in a two-week long submarine escape and rescue exercise called Bold Monarch in the Baltic Sea. During the exercise submarines from the Netherlands, Norway and Poland will be bottomed to simulate sinking. Support personnel and equipment from Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, The Russian Federation, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom and the U.S. will work together to solve complex rescue and medical problems in a variety of demanding scenarios, NATO says. The exercise also marks the first time Russia will have participated in such an event. Bold Monarch will culminate with a large scale coordinate rescue and evacuation of survivors from a disabled submarine, NATO adds.

Continuing On. Raytheon's JSOW-C1 variant moved a step closer to free- flight April 1 following successful captive flight tests of the weapon's new infrared camera seeker system, the company says. The tests demonstrating the seeker's capability to track moving maritime targets were conducted by attaching the seeker to the outside of a Raytheon-owned Convair aircraft, which then flew through the same mission profiles the JSOW-C1 might experience during an operation. The tests subjected the seeker to the same stressors--wind, vibration, and altitude--the JSOW-C1 would face during an operational mission, Raytheon adds. "These tests are the first step in the JSOW-C1 hardware integration process," says Commander Andrew Kessler, JSOW deputy program manager for NAVAIR's Precision Strike Weapons program. "The fact that C1 hardware and software technology is mature enough to even conduct these flights at this point in the JSOW program is an indication of how high the performance bar has been set."

Connector Work. In early May, ONR awarded Alion Science and Technology a $10.2 million task order to develop and deliver a detailed design package for the Sea Base Connector Transformable-Craft (T-Craft) program, the company says. Under Phase II of the T-Craft contract, which was awarded in November 2007, Alion will develop, design and build full and partial scale models of new technologies to demonstrate their viability, the company adds. These technologies supporting the T-Craft mission include skirt and lift system development, an innovative overland propulsion power distribution system and vehicle transfer technologies. The second phase also requires Alion to finalize a design suitable to support detail design and construction of the full-scale demonstrator, Alion says. The Alion team includes CDI Marine, Raytheon, Nichols Brothers Boat Builders and Marintek in Norway. ONR did not state if any other teams were provided contracts, as of late Friday.

Hanging Out. Team LM successfully fired its Fire Shadow Loitering Munition last month, completing a rapid development demonstrator program lasting just 15 months, MBDA says. Led by MBDA, Team LM, which includes Blue Bear Systems Research, Cranfield Aerospace, Cranfield University, Lockheed Martin UK INSYS, Marshalls SV, Meggitt, QinetiQ, Roxel, Selex SAS, Thales UK, Ultra Electronics and VEGA, began design work on the new Fire Shadow weapon system in January 2007. The weapon is being presented as a solution for the U.K. ground forces' requirement for a low cost, all-weather, 24-hour capability to carry out precision attacks against surface targets that may be difficult to engage and time sensitive, MBDA adds. The firing demonstrated launch, separation, flight and terminal maneuver of the innovative design concept incorporating a forward swept wing. Following the boosted launch and problem-free separation, the munition climbed to altitude and flew a pre-planned flight path. After completing this sequence, the munition then executed a terminal dive incorporating a high-g maneuver to represent a simulated target engagement. Throughout the flight trial, onboard video imagery and position data was transmitted from the munition via a datalink and successfully received and displayed in the ground station at the Aberporth range, MBDA says.

...Innovative Approach. Fire Shadow has been the focus of an intense Industry/MoD funded rapid development program executed by Team LM in response to some of the specific challenges set out within the U.K. MoD's Defence Industrial Strategy. To achieve this first successful firing of a completely new design in such a short timeframe, the team pioneered a new approach incorporating considerable re-use of proven technology integrated with new innovative technology, without compromising technical integrity and safety, MBDA adds.