AIR & SPACE SECTOR

• DID covered the U.S. Defense Department's Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Planning Task Force's "Unmanned Systems Roadmap 2005-2030" back in August 2005. It has been followed by "The U.S. Air Force Remotely Piloted Aircraft and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Strategic Vision" [USAF release | PDF format], which is not directive in nature. Instead, it lays out a broad vision and provides recommendations for how one would manage the operation, integration, and purchase of a wide variety of UAVs.

• You want drones? How about a swarm of 600? Meet Boeing's Air Dominator and the Just In Time Strike Augmentation (JITSA) concept.

• The WALRUS program was a DARPA effort to produce a hybrid blimp/aircraft. The 2008 demonstrator vehicle would lift aim to 30 tons (50% more than a C-130 Hercules) and need little runway. The final version would lift 500-1000 tons, or 1-2 million pounds, and could change warfare if it worked. Yet Congress removed funding for the early-stage R&D project, without ever giving a reason why. DID is puzzled by this decision, given recent combat complaints about the lack of suply options for short runways, and fuel cost concerns that are supposedly rising at the Pentagon.

• NATO recently updated a lease agreement for 6 Russian AN-124 'Ruslan' aircraft, whose 150 tonne (330,000 pound) capacity exceeds even the US C-5 Galaxy's. DID describes the arrangement, the plane, and the potential for further buys of the C-5 Galaxy's commercially successful competitor.

• The F-14 Tomcat fades into naval aviation history, though there is one last hurrah planned. Ironically, this means Iran will be the last nation flying it. (And they're apparently in the market for spare parts.) Do the lessons of Iranian Tomcat operations during the First Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s bear relevance to today's debates about the F-22 Raptor?

• Speaking of the F-14, why build swing-wings when you can build morphing airframes? Talk about "variable geometry".

• Last month, we covered the "Hellfire Jr." laser guidance add-on kit for the smaller, more widely used, and less-expensive Hydra-70 rocket. DID covers the APKWS II ("Hellfire Jr.") competition and looks how the long-standing Hydra rocket program went from "headed for cutbacks" to a resurgent program that could be a big factor in future wars.

• The inaugural flight of SpaceX's two-stage Falcon-1 rocket ended in failure on March 24, 2006, as the rocket and its satellite payload was lost just after liftoff. DID explains what went wrong (with photos), and notes that Falcon-1 has implications for the US military's "Operationally Responsive Space" concept.

• NASA hopes to spark innovation and invention with its Centennial Challenges.

C4SI DIMENSION

• After buying about 10,000 PRR radios from the British for use in Iraq, the US Marine Corps is buying $76M worth of hand-held "Intra-Squad Radios" from Motorola. They're similar to the two-way radios that troops were buying on their own at the mall, but have encrypted transmission and more range. DID notes that the USMC's "Urban Warrior 98" article should have told them this much earlier.

• Forget "intelligence", the US military now wants "omniscience". Or at least omnipresence. They hope to get a bit from a system of cigarette pack-sized gadgets called Camouflaged Long Endurance Nano-Sensors (CLENS).

• Many in the FBI don't have email or internet access. Let's hope they have flush toilets available to help them fight the War on Terror. Or is that in next year's budget?

• Non-Traditional Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (NTISR): Fighter jocks covering ground pounders with electronics, not guns, bombs, and missiles.

• JK on NTISR: That's great as an incidental dual-tasking, but jet operating costs are very high, airframes have lives measured in flying hours, and replacing America's fighter fleet is a serious budgetary challenge. Last I checked, al-Qaeda didn't have fighter planes. You could put the same pods et. al. under Cessnas (who played this role in Vietnam) or silent Twin Condor aircraft, and get more coverage, for much less money, with video sharing via ROVER to fighters or troops if needed, and much more transferability to allies like the Iraqis. Smart can become stupid in a hurry if capability extensions become an endpoint, instead of a waypoint to further thought about forces, capabilities, and budgets.

LAND SECTOR

• If transformation neglects the importance of firepower overmatch on the ground, it will fail. An ethic of learning in and from battle is also critical. The cool-looking "Ahnold ought to have one" M-32 multiple-shot grenade launcher isn't transformational by itself, but it's part of some trends that are.

• A gun that can fire around corners? The British put it to the test along with other innovations, and were surprised: "Cornershot, a novel system to accurately fire a weapon round a corner, was initially considered a gimmick. Putting it to the test in combat scenarios at Copehill Down, however, proved it to be hugely useful, and it is one of the areas that the Department will be looking at closely in the future."

• Sometimes (oftentimes?) real transformation occurs when existing equipment or ideas are tweaked a bit. Or a lot. Such as how the US Army plans to double the number of snipers trained annually. This will have tactical and equipment implications, mark our words. Meanwhile, consider Adopting a Sniper! and helping them out as they serve on the front lines.

• The common thread in these 3 items? The trend toward urban combat, and shifts in systems and doctrine that will help troops cope.

• The Israeli Trophy Active Protection System knocked out an inert RPG fired at a moving Stryker. It's being hyped as a 'Star Trek' Shield For U.S. Troops, and some articles and newscasts have actually called it a "force shield". This is not true - it's a radar + anti-missile system made possible by shrinking electronics size, plus some clever anti-missile technology that creates less hazard to nearby troops et. al. when fired. Talk about exaggerated expectations.

• The US Army in Europe continues to transform. The first soldiers from the 2nd Cavalry Regiment which will become one of the new Stryker Brigades, will arrive at Grafenwöhr, Germany in May. Their Strykers won't leave the US until June. DID covered the Stryker's performance in Iraq, which even its critics acknowledged was surprisingly positive.

MARITIME SECTOR

• Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter's recent address to the annual meeting of the Navy League focused on the problem of US naval shipbuilding costs, which he notes are headed to "prohibitive levels." It's a fascinating speech that takes a hard look at industry issues, Pentagon issues, and where to go from here.

• Paint it black? Bad idea, say the British, especially if you're a submarine. Black is currently the standard color, but the British are testing a new "steely blue" color on their attack submarine HMS Torbay. Read all about the problem, and see "before and after" pictures.

• The shipbuilder and US Navy estimate that the first CVN-21 aircraft carrier will cost $200 million less than an additional Nimitz-class ship and save $5.28 billion over the 50-year life of the ship. The latest budget request calls for one new CVN-21 every four years starting in 2008.

• DID explains exactly where those $5+ billion savings come from, what the CVN-21 supercarrier really costs, and which new technologies and design features to watch.

• DID covers an interesting research contract for "Topic N04-044: "Airdroppable High Speed, Low Signature Craft," notes the growing interest in USVs (unmanned surface vehicles), and rips Iran's ridiculous claims of developing a "stealth flying boat" along the way. DefenseTech has more on that "stealth flying boat."

• The second Littoral Combat Ship will be named USS Independence, the fifth US ship to bear that name. The Independence is a fast, stealty trimaran under construction by the General Dynamics/ Austal team; like all LCS designs, it will carry swappable "mission modules" that will let it reconfigure itself for specialized missions in about 24 hours.

• For missile and anti-air defense, Independence will mount the Raytheon SeaRAM defense system, a Phalanx Block 1B radar set armed with RIM-116B RAM missiles instead of the 20mm gatling gun for greater range.

• Israel may want a few LCS ships, and a preliminary investigation contract has been issued to the competing LCS team led by Lockheed. Rumour has it that the Saudis are interested too.

• The Phalanx Close In Weapons System (CIWS), the Navy's last-ditch defense against anti-ship missiles, has been upgraded to better engage slower aircraft and surface targets. It was also deployed to Iraq last summer as a land-based defense against rockets and mortars, though actual performance has been a closely-guarded secret.

• The first DD (X) ship will be USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000). The class of next-generation destroyers is named in honor of former Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Elmo R. “Bud” Zumwalt, Jr.

• While the LCS and DD (X) programs ramp up, the Navy is almost falling over its own feet trying to rid itself of the last two battleships before someone cries 'foul'. USS Wisconsin may be handed over to Norfolk, and sooner than expected. The Iowa, meanwhile, is still at the center of a contorversy in San Fransisco.

STRATEGIC WEAPONS & MISSILE DEFENSE

• As the ongoing development of nuclear weapons by unstable rogue regimes continue to make missile defense more of a global issue, Japan's cooperation with the USA has been obvious, especially in light of a recent joint test. But the Europeans are also quietly moving toward missile defense capabilities.

• One of the systems involved is called MEADS, the Medium Extended Air Defense System. This US-German-Italian program is producing the successor to the Patriot missile systems. Representing next-generation technology and easier deployability, MEADS will be designed to kill enemy aircraft, cruise missiles and UAVs within its reach, while providing next-generation point defense capabilities against ballistic missiles.

• The Project On Government Oversight notes that the Department of Defense Inspector General is having problems auditing the $10 billion a year missile defense program because MDA has been flouting DOD policies on document access.

• Meanwhile, directed energy weapons like lasers and microwave cannons remain on the wish lists of missile defense planners and others. The 747-based Airborne Laser, a long way from actually working, is a flying toxic dump. It's been a long and winding road, but some anti-missile laser pioneers have stuck with it. And, despite the technological hurdles, other programs and pies in the sky lumber on.

SUPPLY AND SUPPORT

• The truth is that no military can't live without fuel, but every gallon of it is both a logistics burden and a financial burden. The U.S. military consumed 144.8 million barrels of fuel in 2004, spending $6.7 billion. In 2005 consumption dropped to 128.3 million barrels, but it spent $8.8 billion. For 2006, the DESC estimates the military will need 130.6 million barrels, and pay more than $10 billion. In the wake of a sobering Army Corps of Engineers report, energy conservation is rapidly moving up the Pentagon's agenda, with a number of initiatives underway. The goal is to reduce energy consumption by 2% each year, while increasing renewable energy use to 7.5% of total demand by 2013 and 25% by 2025.

• The Army lent a prototype hybrid-powered Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT) to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort with great results. Hybrids have additional advantages besides just better mileage.

• The USAF's new Airman Battle Uniform has been finalized and will be available next year. It's part of shift toward "fractal camouflage" patterns by several services and militaries.

• C-130s keep convoys out of the Sunni Triangle by flying in supplies. Sure, it's tough and expensive. Sure, we wouldn't want to always have to do it. But it's the supply convoys that are most vulnerable in Iraq, so effort and expense can be spared. Keeping the old birds in the air is no treat, though.

TRANSFORMATION: POLICY & DOCTRINE

• DID offers quickie roundups re: the state of Pentagon acquisition reform, and some interviews and reviews covering military transformation.

• Algeria is embarked on a transformation program of its own, and recently signed a deal for $7.5 billion in advanced Russian weapons on land, sea, and air. Note that this compares to annual Russian weapons exports to all customers of $5-6 billion per year over the last couple of years. Russia, meanwhile, structured the deal in ways that enhance its natural gas market leverage over the EU.

• Defense Tech notes the Center for Army Lessons Learned (CALL). When a CALL report on the first Stryker brigade deployment (.pdf) was leaked, critics scanned it to jot down a list of shortcomings and totally missed the point that the Army was using that same list to address the issues and incorporate improvements.

• Would an accelerated 'fly-off' approach be a better way to select a new bomber program? That's the way we got the F-16.

• Could Secretary Rumsfeld's greatest success - creating real change in the Us military - become his greatest failure? Greg Scoblete explains, and offers his views.

Contributors to this issue included: Murdoc, Defense Industry Daily, Military.com's DefenseTech, and eDefense Online.

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