Changes U.S. Army Acquisition Strategy for Ground Combat Vehicle To Maintain An Affordable Program

From U.S. Army public affairs:

The Ground Combat Vehicle, or GCV acquisition strategy was modified, in January 17, to further Top Reduce Risk and Maintain an affordable program.

The decision by the Department of Defense technology extends the current development stage of the program by six months to allow industry time to refine Greater vehicle designs.

Changes Army U.S. Army Acquisition Strategy for Ground Combat Vehicle To Maintain An Affordable Program

These efforts will mount a full and open competition at Milestone B in 2014, the next major decision point in the program. The revised strategy calls for selection of a single vendor for the engineering and manufacturing development and manufacture phases of the program.

The six month extension to the technology development phase of contractors Will Provide opportunity year to mature vehicle designs, while the Army finalizes GCV Requirements, Prior to the upcoming milestone B decision. This milestone marks the spot Where the GCV program will initiate critical design and testing activities in anticipation of vehicle production.

The Army's strategy Prior Called competition for vendors Among falling on two phases of the thesis GCV program. Citing Budgetary Pressures projected over the 2014-2018 fiscal period, the department's decision to revise the strategy development Ensures That an affordable program meets the Army's critical needs for a new infantry fighting vehicle.

London and Washington to send troops to exclude the Maghreb

British and American Ministers of Defence said they were determined to fight Saturday against the actions of Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb during a press conference devoted to the hostage crisis in Algeria, but they excluded send troops in the region.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and his British counterpart Philip Hammond have refused to criticize the management of the Algiers hostage on the site of gas In Aménas. It ended Saturday in the blood after a new intervention Algerian forces against the kidnappers, members of a group close to Al-Qaeda

Algerians "are in the area, they understand the terrorist threat certainly better than many other countries. I think it is important to continue to work with them to develop a regional approach," said U.S. Secretary of Defense , visiting London as part of a European tour.

This loss of life during the taking of hostages "are appalling and it must be clear that it is the terrorists who bear full responsibility," commented Philip Hammond for his part, stressed that "each country had different approaches. "

"We are determined to defeat terrorism and to be alongside the Algerian government," he added.

He launched a warning to "those behind the attack and must be fully convinced that the power of the United States, the United Kingdom and their allies will befall them and they will no place to hide. "

White House, Pentagon 'disagree over Mali'

LOS ANGELES — The White House and the US Defense Department are at odds over the danger posed by radical Islamic groups that have taken control of parts of Mali and are stirring up trouble in other parts of West Africa, The Los Angeles Times reported.

Citing unnamed US officials, the newspaper said the events in Mali and neighboring Algeria have prompted sharp debate within President Barack Obama's administration over whether these radicals present enough of a risk to warrant a military response.

Islamist militants associated with Al-Qaeda have seized control of a significant part of northern Mali, prompting France to launch a military operation there a week ago to prevent the rebels from capturing Bamako, the capital.

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Friday that Paris had increased its troop numbers by 400 in a single day, from 1,400 Thursday to 1,800, "and the progress on our presence on the ground continues."

France plans to deploy 2,500 soldiers in the country.

As they watch these events unfold, some top Pentagon officials and military officers warn that without more aggressive US action, Mali could become a haven for extremists, akin to Afghanistan before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the report said.

F-35B Flights Suspended Following Fueldraulic Failure

The DoD Office in charge of the Joint Strike Fighter flight operations suspended on the F-35B (STOVL) variant Friday for precautionary Reasons Effective Discovered was a problem with the system fueldraulic in the jet, officials Confirmed for Defense News.

All STOVL variant aircraft operating at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., Marine Air Station Yuma, Ariz.., And Lockheed's production factory in Fort Worth, Texas, while grounded Have Been engineer teams review data on the jet.

The office made the decision Effective at 10:00 am CST at Eglin test flight was aborted by the pilot falling on a conventional takeoff roll. There Were No injuries to the pilot or the crew.

The abort occurred Because of a failure to a propulsion fueldraulic line, Which Enables movement in the actuators for the STOVL's exhaust system.

The F-35A (conventional) and F-35C (carrier) variants are unaffected.

"Implementing a precautionary suspension of flight operations is a prudent response Until F-35B engineering, technical and system safety teams fully Understand the causes of the failure," wrote JPO spokesman Joe DellaVedova year in emailed statement.

U.S. Army Puts Brakes on All Non-War Related Spending, Projects Huge Cuts

Like the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force before it, the U.S. Army chief of staff and the secretary of the Army on January 16 feels a memo to Their Subordinates Outlining drastic cost-saving Measures that Significantly curtail Any work not Directly related to the war in Afghanistan - Including the reset and refit of domestic equipment at Army depots.

While some of the steps outline They are immediate, others will come to pass if Congress continued to fund the Pentagon through the resolutions though Continuing end of the year, and sequestration goes into effect.

Related reading:

• U.S. Navy Secretary: CR Means Another $ 4B Readiness Shortfall (Jan. 14)

• U.S. Air Force Looks to Trim Budget Ahead of Possible Sequestration (Jan. 16)

• U.S. Army memo (PDF)

• U.S. Air Force memo (PDF)

• U.S. Navy memo (PDF)

Significantly, it Appears That Any unit may not preparing to deploy Have to wait to undertake most, if not all, training events. The memo instructs Army leadership to "curtail training, Including training events not related to Maintaining readiness for Operation Enduring Freedom, the forward-Korean Deployed units, Homeland Defense and the Division Ready Brigade. Additional exceptions may be made for other mission-critical activities. "

Army Secretary John McHugh and Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno aussi Wrote That "risk Shall be taken in all Areas of training are not related to That thesis protected missions. To the extent That year Action Reducing unit readiness is irreversible, it must be delayed Until schedule is complete and detailed guidance is Provided further Top. "

USAF and LM Deliver Nation's Next Infrared Surveillance Satellite

The U.S. Air Force and Lockheed Martin have delivered the second Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO-2) Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) spacecraft to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., where it will be prepared for a March liftoff aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

Featuring a mix of satellites in geosynchronous orbit, hosted payloads in highly elliptical earth (HEO) orbit, and ground hardware and software, the SBIRS program delivers resilient and improved missile warning capabilities for the nation while also providing significant contributions to the military's missile defense, technical intelligence and battlespace awareness mission areas.

On January 11, GEO-2 was safely transported from Lockheed Martin’s Sunnyvale, Calif., facility to nearby Moffet Air Field. The 60th Air Mobility Wing of Travis Air Force Base, Calif., then loaded the satellite aboard a C-5 aircraft and successfully shipped the spacecraft to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

"We performed a disciplined integration and test campaign for GEO-2 and are now looking forward to successfully launching this spacecraft to ultimately help protect our nation and allies with unprecedented global, persistent infrared surveillance capabilities,” said Jeff Smith, vice president of Lockheed Martin’s Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) mission area. “As we continue to produce SBIRS assets, we expect to drive even greater efficiency into our operations to reduce costs for the government while still ensuring mission success.”

Prior to launch, engineers will complete post shipment testing, fuel the satellite’s propulsion system and encapsulate the spacecraft inside the launch vehicle’s payload fairing.  The fairing will then be mated on top of the Atlas V launch vehicle for final integrated testing and closeout preparations for launch. Approximately 24 hours before launch, the Atlas V/SBIRS GEO-2 vehicle will roll to the launch pad for lift off.

A Senator's Lonely Crusade to Learn the CIA's Secrets

Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, has sent an extraordinary letter to top White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, President Obama's choice to lead the CIA. The letter poses questions about executive power, like "How much evidence does the President need to determine that a particular American can be lawfully killed?" and "Does the President have to provide individual Americans with the opportunity to surrender before killing them?" We're used to such questions from organizations like the ACLU, journalists like Charlie Savage, and various concerned citizens. And though rules that confer death should always be transparent, the fact that they're being kept even from Wyden is especially indefensible.

The body he sits on, the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, is charged with providing "vigilant legislative oversight over the intelligence activities of the United States," to ensure "that they conform with the Constitution and U.S. law." There is no one in America more justified in demanding to know the official legal rationale behind actions like targeted killings. Obama isn't just keeping this information from the American people. He isn't just hiding his legal reasoning from the U.S. Congress. He is stonewalling one of 15 senators that federal law establishes as the most important check on secret abuses by the CIA.  

Understand that the CIA's capacity to commit abuses is anything but theoretical. As Obama well knows, its history is rife with examples of its personnel using the cover of secrecy to do things that the American people and their elected representatives would have never willingly permitted. CIA abuses inspired the creation of the very same Select Committee on Intelligence in 1976. It began after the Church Committee discovered and revealed abuses as varied as secretly opening the mail of American citizens, attempting to assassinate foreign leaders, trying to monitor private citizens who opposed the Vietnam War, and illegal wiretapping.

Even after Congress committed to more vigilant oversight of the CIA, it continued to operate with far less transparency than other federal agencies. Little wonder that it continued to commit abuses. During the Reagan Administration, for example, the executive branch approved a CIA plan to secretly mine the most important harbor in Nicaragua. Members of the Senate committee claimed that they weren't sufficiently notified and won a promise of greater cooperation.

The Army Wants A Massive New Complex For Its Fleet Of Drones Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/armys-unmanned-aerial-vehicle-complex-2013-1#ixzz2I96HB9VF

So the Army is taking bids on parts of its new 'Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Complex' — slated to cost between $20 and 25 million.
Mark Thompson of Time's Battleland blog jokes that this can't possibly fit into the argument that drones are cheaper than their human counterparts, because:
– Anything labeled a “complex” is not cheap.
– Anything labeled using capital letters is not a bargain.
The plans include everything one might think a drone would need — runways, taxiways, storage, security systems, etc. Here are a few of the other notables from the Army's bid request (which, notable in and of itself, is pretty much classified):
Supporting facilities include extensive phasing of the site development with on-going contractor for the FY12 Phase IUAS Hangar Complex, utilities and connections, lighting, paving, parking, walks, curbs and gutters, storm drainage, information systems, landscaping and signage. Heating and air conditioning will be provided by self-contained systems.

The Charles de Gaulle technical stop until the summer

The aircraft carrier of the Navy began to Toulon unavailability for maintenance through (IEI). This technical stop, which will last until July, is intended to give potential to the building, which will enjoy a tour of its various facilities, including propulsion, as well as the treatment of certain obsolescence. While preparations for the IEI began Dec. 20, when Charles de Gaulle left the dock to moor Milhaud six basins near Vauban, the drydock is slightly delayed. Fire, presumably from accidents, has in fact destroyed on 30 December the control panel of the pumping station of the form in which the carrier must enter. If the pumps to drain and dry the basin have not been damaged, the control panel must be repaired and the entire installation inspected, especially since it is hosting a building nuclear powered, which implies drastic security measures. The drydocking of Charles de Gaulle would ultimately intervene late January, about two weeks later than originally planned.

US Army fields first AH-64E unit, but more improvements to come

Washington DC - Even as the US Army moves forward with fielding its first unit of Boeing AH-64E Block III attack helicopters, the service is planning to add further improvements to the Apache gunship.

"Right now, we are currently fielding the first unit equipped, our FUE [first unit equipped] unit, with Echo-models, and we're on track to meet that fielding schedule," says Col Jeff Hager, the army's Apache programme manager.

Hager adds that Boeing has delivered 28 of 51 low-rate initial production AH-64Es that it is contracted to build. This year, the company will start producing full-rate production aircraft for an eventual total of 634 helicopters.

But even as the AH-64E transitions into full-rate production, some systems engineering work remains, Hager says. The changes, which will come in production Lots 4 through 6, include better embedded diagnostics for improved maintenance. The Apache will also gain the Link-16 data-link, which is typically found on fixed-wing combat aircraft. It will also be afforded improvements to its mast-mounted Northrop Grumman APG-78 Longbow fire control radar, which will improve range and add overwater capability.

Hager says that the army has not quite decided how the overwater capability would be used, but he says the Longbow radar in concert with the Lockheed Martin AGM-114 Hellfire missile could be used to attack landing craft or small warships. In the future, active electronically scanned array radar could be added to the aircraft.

US Army to Evaluate Tactical Routers for Combat Vehicles

The U.S. Army, through the System of Systems Integration (SoSI) Directorate, plans to evaluate the use of tactical routers on vehicles. Such routers will enable multiple users and systems on board and nearby combat vehicles to access vehicular networks and distributed IP based services while maintaining high level of security. The systems will be tested as part of the upcoming Network Integration Experiment (NIE 14.1) scheduled for October 2013 at Fort Bliss, Texas and White Sands Missile Range, N.M.

This marks the first RFP to support the NIE events. The Army has defined the tactical vehicular router as a capability gaps. SoSI also relies on Sources Sought notifications to target vendor solutions for broad capability gaps. “By executing two NIEs per year, the Army will conduct the first evaluation to assess broad industry capability gap solutions, and then use feedback to validate and refine requirements prior to additional targeted gap industry solicitation for participation in the second NIE,” said Colonel Robert Carpenter, director SoSI.

The RFP will result in a NIE support contract award. After supporting the initial NIE cycle, the RFP is designed to allow Army Program Managers, through an Indefinite Delivery-Indefinite Quantity (ID-IQ) arrangement, to have opportunities to acquire additional capability, for both product and technical support from the supplier.

Industry who respond to the RFP will provide Vehicle Tactical Routers and engineering/field service support for laboratory network integration and Laboratory Based Risk Reduction for the NIE activity. The RFP is anticipated to be a multiple (ID-IQ) task order contract with a base order with potential for future orders for production and related support.
In addition to this specific RFP, the Army plans to issue a broad Sources Sought notice in early January 2013 to supplement NIE 14.1 assessments of: Brigade and Battalion Command Post Mobility, Operational Energy, Integrated Trouble Ticketing, Small Unit In-garrison Training, Aerial Layer Network Extension, Air Ground Network Architecture and Enterprise Wide Trouble Ticket Improvements

How The Military Squanders Its Management Talent

Tim Kane thinks the U.S. military produces great leaders but then paralyzes them with its bureaucracy.
A product of the military system himself, Kane graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy and worked as an air force intelligence officer during two tours of duty in Asia. He also earned a Ph.D. in economics at U.C. San Diego and is now the chief economist at the conservative Hudson Institute. In his new book, Bleeding Talent: How the U.S. Military Mismanages Great Leaders and Why it’s Time for a Revolution, he argues that the military should get rid of its inefficient, lockstep promotion bureaucracy and replace it with a more entrepreneurial structure. Under the current system, some of the most talented officers resign in frustration because, he writes, “the military personnel system—every aspect of it—is nearly blind to merit.”

The root of the problem, he says, is a 1980 law called the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act, or DOPMA, which lays out exactly how leaders in all the services should be promoted. The law includes a progression track with strict rules and timetables. Compensation has nothing to do with merit, assignments have little to do with officers’ abilities and evaluations fail to give useful feedback or skills assessments. He describes officers always being promoted from second to first lieutenant and from lieutenant to captain, and often to major, no questions asked. “One would have to commit a felony or two to hinder his or her chances for promotion,” he writes.
There are also strict seniority rules for promotion to higher office like colonel or general, which require 20 years and 22 years, respectively. Then after just two years at the rank of general, an officer can retire with a full pension. The military never allows “lateral entry” from outside its forces, even among former officers who have taken time away from the service. If enlistees show extraordinary leadership potential, they must still abide by the lockstep timetable.
Kane believes this system stifles and ultimately chases away the most talented. Officially there are performance evaluations within the military, but in practice they tend to give high marks to mediocre performers, he writes. It’s also very tough to specialize within the system, since officers are matched with open positions using those empty performance evaluations, from a central human resources office in Fort Knox, Kentucky.
Kane wants to chuck this entire bureaucracy and replace it with a system that is much closer to the civilian world of promotions and assignments. The military should get rid of its strict seniority rules, making it possible for talented young officers to apply for challenging senior posts. There is nothing wrong, he says, with a colonel of 31 supervising a major who is 42.
The service should also open the officer ranks to lateral hires, including enlistees who show talent and former officers who may have done a stint in the private sector. He favors greater specialization and the option to remain a captain or a major for a longer period than the lockstep system allows. Many officers leave the service because they don’t want to give up commanding troops to hold a higher rank. Commanders, instead of the military’s central HR office, should have the power and authority to fill open slots, he says. The military should also make it easier to lay off officers who are performing poorly. He wants evaluations to be more meaningful and to weed out poor performers.

Obama signals the end of military interventions

We will, of course, have to wait for Congress to ratify President Barack Obama's nominees for his new national security team (which is by no means a foregone conclusion), but the very fact that he has nominated people like John Kerry and Chuck Nagel tells you all you need to know about where American foreign policy will be heading during Mr Obama's second term at the White House.
The obvious difference between Mr Obama's nominations for his new security/foreign policy team is that these are Mr Obama's appointments, rather than those he was obliged to make, which was very much the case when he first entered the White House in 2009.
Hillary Clinton was given State because he thought that was the best way of silencing a powerful rival, while Robert Gates – the former Bush administration Defence Secretary – was retained in his post to deflect criticism that Mr Obama was vulnerable on national security issues. General David Petraeus, meanwhile, was sent off to run the CIA in order to silence his criticism of Mr Obama's cut and run policy on Afghanistan.
But having won a thumping victory in November's presidential election contest, Mr Obama now has the freedom to make his own appointments. Senator John Kerry, himself a former presidential candidate, is to be the new Secretary of State while John Brennan, who has spent most of his career on the front-line in the war on terror, is to take charge at Langley. But arguably the most controversial appointment is that of Republican Senator Chuck Hagel as America's new Defence Secretary.
Apart from the fact that Mr Hagel has spent his entire political career fighting the Democrats, he is also known for his pronounced anti-Israeli views, which is the reason his nomination will face a serious challenge when it comes before Congress.

BAE to Provide Software and Systems Engineering Support for US Army

The U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) has selected BAE Systems to provide software and systems engineering services under an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract.

BAE Systems’ global team of experts will offer systems and software engineering support for CECOM’s Software Engineering Center (SEC). The SEC provides essential lifecycle maintenance and support to ensure interoperability and function of the U.S. Army’s Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems. BAE Systems has been selected as one of the prime contractors on the five year, multi-award IDIQ. The total value of all task orders that will be released under the IDIQ is estimated at $7 billion.

“Our team offers C4ISR domain expertise and the global footprint necessary to execute CECOM’s software and systems sustainment mission,” said DeEtte Gray, president of BAE Systems’ Intelligence and Security sector. “From evaluating software capabilities for enterprise cloud computing systems, to integrating mobile cybersecurity

The post-2014 Afghanistan: how many troops should leave behind?

A decision on the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan after the combat mission of NATO in 2014 she intervene at the end of next week's visit of Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Washington? This is unlikely because U.S. officials remain divided on the personnel deployed at the end of the withdrawal.

The United States currently have  66 000 100 000 soldiers of the combat mission in Afghanistan and NATO want to keep bases and troops in the country after 2014. General John Allen, chief of military operations in Afghanistan, has proposed keeping 6,000, 10,000 or 20,000 men in the country after the NATO mission, according to military sources cited by the New York Times. These soldiers should train and support the Afghan army, and perhaps conduct operations "against terrorism.

A report by the Institute for the Study of War needs analysis and concludes that these numbers are expected to reach nearly 30,000 men. The authors have developed two scenarios, some common parameters are:

- Staffs and command structures: 920 h

- Command and control: from 1 900 to 2 150 h

- Support to the Afghan forces from 16 000 to 20 000 h (four security forces, support brigades)

- Operations: 4475 or 7650 (if a combat brigade is deployed in RC East.

United States: big contract with Microsoft for the Department of Defense

Technology: Microsoft has signed a licensing agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense to deploy Windows 8 and Office 2013 software with 75% of employees.

Microsoft announced late last week signed a major contract with the U.S. Department of Defense, which includes the U.S. Army, the U.S. Air Force Defense Information Systems Agency.

75% of employees, more than 300,000 people will be able to use Windows 8 and Office software (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and SharePoint 2013. "This agreement allows us to offer the best technological tools for an incredibly vast military men and women throughout the Department of Defense, and we are eager to implement to support their mission objectives. '

According to GeekWire, the contract amounts to $ 617 million. It was concluded by Insight Enterprises, one of the largest resellers of Microsoft products accounts. (Eureka Press)

Afghanistan: 3000-9000 U.S. soldiers deployed beyond 2014

According to a new plan, the Pentagon plans on keeping in Afghanistan 3000-9000 men after 2014, thousands of American soldiers less than originally planned, we read in the pages of the Saturday Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

Previously, U.S. General John Allen, head of the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, had proposed to keep the country from 6000 to 15,000 soldiers of the United States after the combat mission of NATO.

The WSJ reports that under the plan mentioned, the U.S. maintained military contingent in Afghanistan after 2014 will continue training the Afghan army and participate in the fight against terrorism.

USA: Obama Signs the Pentagon budget for 2013

 

President Barack Obama signed Thursday the Finance Act 2013 for the Pentagon, which amounted to 633 billion dollars, said the press service of the White House.

The document was approved by the U.S. Congress early last December.

The text includes funding for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and the implementation of a new round of sanctions against Iran. The Finance Act also prohibits the Pentagon to conduct transactions with the Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport suspected by U.S. Senators to support the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.