ITEP Engines. The Army has now accepted the primary two General Electric Aerospace-built T901 helicopter engines, developed under the Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP), the corporate said on October 13. GE Aerospace provided the update after the Army previously announced it had accepted the primary T901 engine on September 28. “We’re thrilled to announce the acceptance of the revolutionary T901 by the U.S. Army,” Amy Gowder, GE Aerospace’s president and CEO for defense and systems, said in a press release. “The performance, power, and reliability of the T901 – combined with GE’s many years of experience powering Army rotorcraft – will ensure our warfighters have a major advantage on the battlefield.” The T901 engine will eventually power the Army’s AH-64 Apache and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters in addition to the longer term Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) platform. The Army has confirmed it should deliver the T901 engines to the FARA competitors Bell and Sikorsky in October, which follows several delays as a result of manufacturing challenges, which sets this system on a path to start out flying prototypes by mid-2024.
CPS on DDG-1002.
The Pentagon’s December 2022 Chosen Acquisition Report, released this month, confirmed the Navy plans to put in the Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) hypersonic weapon on the last Zumwalt-class destroyer throughout the current combat systems availability contract. While the Navy is installing and fielding the CPS on DDGs 1000 and 1001 during availabilities at HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., DDG-1002 is getting the work done before ship delivery. The Navy is replacing the 2 unused Advanced Gun System mounts with the CPS on the front mount area. The report noted the “aft mount will remain open for future capabilities.” DDG-1002 is about to be delivered by Dec. 2026 with and obligation work limiting date of Nov. 2027.
Army CFTs. Gen. James Rainey, head of the Army Futures Command, has cited space-based deep sensing and human-machine integration as potential areas of interest for brand new Cross-Functional Teams (CFT), which bring together officials from different Army organizations to give attention to specific modernization initiatives. Rainey is currently conducting a review of the Army’s CFTs because the service looks to the subsequent steps in its modernization initiative, which has already resulted in standing up the brand new Contested Logistics CFT. “There are some, just like the Long-Range [Precision] Fires and Air and Missile Defense [CFTs], that aren’t going away anytime soon,” Rainey told reporters during an Oct. 9 briefing on the Association of the USA Army’s annual conference in Washington, D.C. For the enduring CFTs, Rainey said the Army will begin considering over the subsequent two years on what recent initiatives could be added to their portfolios.
Counter-Swarm Demo. A Defense Department evaluation planned for the June 2024 timeframe of systems designed to counter small unmanned aircraft systems will include swarms of between 20 and 50 drones, Army Col. Mike Parent, head of acquisition efforts for the Joint Counter-sUAS Office (JCO), said last week on the Association for the U.S. Army conference. The JCO in August began requesting information for the counter-swarm drone demonstration and Parent said that following industry submitted white papers and oral presentations, his office has down-selected to “competent vendors” for extra presentations. In the subsequent few weeks, there shall be one other down-select inviting vendors to take part in the demonstration. He said he doesn’t know yet if the technologies to be tested shall be electronic warfare, high-powered microwave, or kinetic but it should “cover the entire gamut” and the testing will transcend anything the JCO has done before by way of detecting, tracking, identifying and defeating swarms of Group 1 and a couple of UAS.
…Northrop Grumman Gun Truck. Parent also said that the Northrop Grumman Agnostic Gun Truck, which is provided with an XM914 30mm chain gun and is supported by a multi-sensor system is “going through the contracting process” with U.S. Security Assistance to Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funding and “you may probably expect to see it on the bottom very shortly, coming up here in the subsequent quarter or so.” The multi-sensor system is the Mobile-Acquisition, Cueing and Effector (M-ACE) to support the 30mm gun against Group 1 and a couple of drones, that are people who weigh as much as 55 kilos. “It’s a implausible system,” he said. The JCO has found “great promise” with 30mm guns against these small drones, “even reaching out a lit bit further” in what they’ll shoot down, and as a part of a layered counter-UAS approach “you do get great defeat capability,” Parent said. M-ACE includes 3-D radar, radio frequency sensors, electro-optical and infrared cameras, GPS, and secure radio to transmit data over command-and-control networks.
…C-sUAS-as-a-Service Update. “I’m an enormous fan of counter-UAS-as-a-service,” JCO Director Army Maj. Gen. Sean Gainey said on the conference. A 12 months ago, following an indication event, the JCO advisable C-sUAS-as-a-Service (CaaS) offerings from Anduril Industries, Black Sage Technologies, CACI International, Rafael Systems Global Sustainment, and Science Applications International Corp. to the military services and combatant commands (COCOMs). Since then, a number of the COCOMS have “moved out forward with counter-UAS-as-a-service,” the Army can be using it at sites “as their proof-of-principle assessment” for potential fixed-site uses, and the Air Force can be using it for a few of their sites within the Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility, Gainey said.
…Contractor Responsibilities. Currently, there should be a uniformed service member to “pull the trigger” on the CaaS equipment, even for non-kinetic defeat of drones, Gainey said. The JCO is attempting to get to where contractors can “complete the cycle” of the counter-UAS equipment, he said.
Cheaper Satellite Buses. Florida-based Terran Orbital said that it has opened two recent advanced Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA) lines in Irvine, Calif. where the corporate in September opened a brand new 60,000 square foot plant to bring the whole size of its manufacturing complex to 98,000 square feet. Terran Orbital has been constructing satellite buses for Lockheed Martin as a part of the U.S. Space Force Space Development Agency’s (SDA) Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. The latter includes Terran Orbital buses for 10 SDA Tranche 0, Transport Layer satellites that went into orbit on Sept. 2. “Along with its two recent state-of-the-art PCBA Surface Mount Technology (SMT) lines, the corporate also added capabilities for post-SMT processes, fully automated inspection, three-dimensional X-ray testing, Automated Optical Inspection, and flying probe technologies that give it the whole ability to supply, inspect, and test a broad spectrum of PCBAs in its facility,” Terran Orbital said on Oct. 13.
…Responsive Space. PCBA quality control “will decrease supply chain issues and increase parts availability and yield, allowing Terran Orbital to supply module and bus products more timely and cost-efficiently,” Terran Orbital said. “By owning our own facility, we are able to produce higher quality boards faster, furthering our goal of Responsive Space.” Last month, the corporate announced a “recent lineup of seven standard satellite bus platforms” and a Responsive Space initiative to supply satellite buses to buyers rapidly. “I’m an enormous believer that for those who control your supply chain, you control your destiny,” Terran Orbital CEO Marc Bell said. “Our two recent PCBA lines bring us one step closer to our goal of being 100% vertically integrated.”
AWACS Retirement. Because the U.S. Air Force replaces no less than 15 of its E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) with the Boeing E-7A Wedgetail for airborne moving goal indication, the service has moved the 12th AWACS to the “boneyard” at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz. Congress approved 13 AWACS retirements from the unique 31 aircraft fleet last 12 months and should approve one other two in fiscal 2024. The 13th AWACS approved for retirement last 12 months is to be a static display at Tinker AFB, Okla., Air Force Materiel Command said. AFMC said that Aircraft 83-0009, the last within the 2023 approved retirements destined for the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, flew from Tinker AFB. to Davis-Monthan on Sept. 21. The primary AWACS arrived at Tinker in 1977, AFMC said. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin has said maintaining readiness while moving on from legacy platforms to a more modernized intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance approach is one in every of the “more vexing” problems facing the Air Force and he has pledged to work with lawmakers on a “responsible transition” process.
SSN-795 Delivered. General Dynamics Electric Boat delivered the longer term USS Hyman G. Rickover (SSN-795) Virginia-class attack submarine, the corporate announced on Oct. 11. SSN-795 shall be the twenty second Virginia-class boat. That is the second submarine named after Adm. Hyman Rickover, who directed the beginning of naval nuclear propulsion and is often called the daddy of the nuclear Navy. SSN-795 can even be the fourth of 10 boats in Block IV of the Virginia-class submarines.
NSC 10 Delivered. The Coast Guard last Friday took delivery of its 10th 418-foot national security cutter (NSC), the (WMSL 759). The ship was delivered by prime contractor HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division at its shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. HII is under contract for another of the -class cutters, the , which is slated for delivery in 2024. The high-endurance NSCs are the Coast Guard’s largest and most technologically sophisticated cutters, operating on the high seas and conducting a spread of missions, including drug interdiction and freedom of navigation operations in support of U.S. national security interests.
ThayerMahan Sensing. The Office of Naval Research (ONR) on Oct. 12 awarded ThayerMahan Inc a $19 million contract to develop various autonomous maritime sensor technologies. The announcement called this “autonomous mobile maritime systems for tactical surveillance, undersea warfare, and subsea and seabed warfare.” More specifically, it covers the corporate developing specialized long endurance autonomous platforms, sensors, autonomous behaviors, signal processors, artificial intelligence, machine learning techniques and improved endurance. Work will occur at the corporate’s Groton, Conn. location and is predicted to complete by Oct. 2027.
…Courtney Support. Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn) welcomed the contract to an organization inside his district. “This federal contract will help strengthen the Navy’s and Marine Corps’ eyes and ears undersea through advanced and revolutionary autonomous maritime systems, which shall be a critical capability within the twenty first Century,” he said in an Oct. 12 statement. He said his office has long advocated for ThayerMahan to receive contracts like this because “there’s no doubt that ThayerMahan is a frontrunner on this work.” ThayerMahan CEO Mike Connor said they appreciate the arrogance from ONR and are “thankful for the critical role played by Congressman Joe Courtney and his staff.”
No Cyber Fallout. There have been no serious cyber-attacks against Israel related to Hamas’ recent brutal attacks against Israel, just low-level denial of service and website defacements, Brandon Wales, executive director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, said last week. CISA has been “working in partnership” with the Israeli National Cyber Directorate and sharing information to assist protect their systems but current level of cyber activity is “fairly common for less sophisticated actors,” Wales said at an event hosted by The Washington Post. CISA also has not seen any step up in cyber activity from Iran related to the Hamas attacks, he said.
Dividend Boost. Lockheed Martin earlier this month said it should increase its quarterly dividend by 5 percent to $3.15 per share from the present $3 per share payable on Dec. 29. A 12 months ago, the corporate boosted its quarterly dividend by 20 cents, or 7 percent. Lockheed Martin has increased its dividend 21 straight years. The corporate’s board also authorized the repurchase of as much as a further $6 billion of common stock, bringing the present stock buyback program to $13 billion.
Latest Finance Chief. Dan Sallet has been named senior vp for finance of BAE Systems, Inc., the U.S.-based subsidiary of Britain’s BAE Systems. Sallet has been with BAE for 35 years, most recently as vp of finance for the Electronic Systems sector. He succeeds Guy Montminy, who will retire in 2024. Salet reports to Tom Arsenault, president and CEO of BAE Systems, Inc.
K2-Parsons Nab DHS Award. After waiting greater than two years, an industry team led by K2 Construction Consultants and Parsons Corp. has received a five-year $252.5 million contract from the Department of Homeland Security Counter Weapons of Mass Destruction Office to deploy radiation portal monitors (RPMs) at land ports of entry on the southern and northern borders of the U.S. The RPMs are supplied by one other vendor. The K2-Parsons team won the contract in the summertime of 2021 but protests dragged out award of the contract until recently. Culmen International can be on the industry team.
LPD-32 Named. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro announced the longer term Flight II San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock shall be named USS Philadelphia (LPD-32). Del Toro made the announcement at Independence Hall on Oct. 12 throughout the Philadelphia Navy and Marine Corps Week. This follows the tradition of naming LPDs after U.S. cities. LPD-32 shall be the seventh Navy vessel named after Philadelphia because the first Continental Navy gunboat was launched in 1776. The Navy awarded shipbuilder HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding a $1.3 billion modification for the detail design and construction of LPD-32 in 2021.