Task Force 59: Another Perspective

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12/12/2021

By Robbin Laird

The recent formation of Task Force 59 by the U.S. Navy launches a significant way ahead in working a path for the introduction of maritime unmanned or autonomous systems.

And the main storyline or narrative to date has been just that.

This narrative was the main element of a story written by MC1 Roland Franklin and published on September 9, 2021 by the U.S. Navy:

U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) established a new task force, Sept. 9, to rapidly integrate unmanned systems and artificial intelligence with maritime operations in the 5th Fleet area of operations.

Task Force 59 is the first U.S. Navy task force of its kind.

The U.S. 5th Fleet region’s unique geography, climate, and strategic importance offer an ideal environment for innovation.

“The bottom line on why we’re doing this is so that we can develop and integrate unmanned systems and AI as a means to do two things,” said Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of NAVCENT, U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces. “One, enhance our maritime domain awareness, and two, increase deterrence.”

Cooper also stated the task force would rely heavily on regional and coalition partnerships.

“The launch of Task Force 59 really invigorates our partnerships around this region as we expand our common operating picture.”  

Cooper appointed Capt. Michael D. Brasseur, an expert in maritime robotics, as Task Force 59’s first commodore during a commissioning ceremony onboard Naval Support Activity Bahrain, Thursday. Brasseur served as a founding member of the NATO Maritime Unmanned Systems Initiative prior to arriving in Bahrain.

“It’s an honor to be named commander of this historic and innovative task force,” said Brasseur. “As we continue to adapt and implement cutting edge technology, I fully expect our talented team will enrich and enhance the 5th Fleet mission.”

Brasseur’s staff includes experienced operators with region-specific expertise, including directors for unmanned systems; unmanned exercises; task force integration; cyber, AI and space; and partnership opportunities.

In the coming weeks, the task force aims to build trust and confidence in human-machine teaming through a series of operations at sea. International Maritime Exercise (IMX) 22, slated for next year, will provide NAVCENT a real-world opportunity to demonstrate the resiliency and scalability of human-machine teaming technologies.

IMX-22 will include more than 60 nations and international organizations and features the extensive use of unmanned systems in various operational scenarios designed to challenge the technology in a dynamic environment and ultimately enhance partner capabilities through manned and unmanned teaming.

The U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations encompasses nearly 2.5 million square miles of water area and includes the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea and parts of the Indian Ocean. The region is comprised of 21 countries and includes three critical choke points at the Strait of Hormuz, the Suez Canal and the Strait of Bab-al-Mandeb at the southern tip of Yemen.

And more recently, a 5th Fleet Public Affairs press release highlighted the completion of their first unmanned integrated exercise at sea.

On Oct. 26, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) completed exercise New Horizon, the first at-sea evolution for its new unmanned task force.

During the two-day training exercise, Task Force 59 integrated and evaluated new MANTAS T-12 unmanned surface vessels (USV) that operated alongside manned U.S. patrol craft and Bahrain Defense Force maritime assets.

This marked the first time NAVCENT integrated USVs with manned assets at sea in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations. New Horizon was also the first time for NAVCENT’s integration of USVs with manned assets at sea alongside partner forces.

“Working with our regional partners on unmanned systems integration is crucial to enhancing collective maritime domain awareness,” said Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of NAVCENT, U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces. “Bahrain, as our first regional partner to collaborate with Task Force 59 during an at-sea exercise, demonstrates the strengthening of our strategic relationship.”

The first phase of New Horizon, conducted Oct. 20, featured operators controlling the USVs aboard patrol coastal ship USS Firebolt (PC 10), while the vessels conducted high-speed maneuvers in formation.

The final phase on Oct. 26 brought together a larger force of manned and unmanned maritime and aerial assets from NAVCENT, the Royal Bahrain Naval Force (RBNF) and Bahrain Coast Guard. Participating units also included patrol boat USCGC Maui (WPB 1304), an SH-60S helicopter, a V-BAT unmanned aerial vehicle and RBNF patrol craft.

Both U.S. and Bahraini forces practiced operating the vessels in formation to strengthen mutual understanding and interoperability.

“This is a significant milestone for our new task force as we accelerate the integration of unmanned systems and artificial intelligence into complex, cross-domain operations at sea,” said Capt. Michael Brasseur, commander of Task Force 59. “Real-world evaluation is essential.”

NAVCENT established the task force Sept. 9. To focus U.S. 5th Fleet efforts on unmanned systems and artificial intelligence integration.

The U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations encompasses about 2.5 million square miles of water area and includes the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea and parts of the Indian Ocean. The expanse is comprised of 21 countries and includes three critical choke points at the Strait of Hormuz, the Suez Canal and the Strait of Bab al Mandeb at the southern tip of Yemen.

Recently, the U.S. Secretary of Defense visited Bahrain to participate in an IISS meeting, and took time to learn about the efforts of Task Force 59 and that visit underscored the new efforts to integrate unmanned or autonomous systems. And without doubt this visit had an impact on his comments made later at the Reagan National Defense Forum this month.

During his engagement at the Forum he underscored that “the Department of Defense wants to be more capable of operating unmanned systems.” And the impact of the visit on his thinking seems obvious from this remark: “I was in Bahrain several weeks ago and saw how the Navy is doing innovative things with autonomous systems.”

He also underscored the importance of partners in shaping a way ahead for U.S. defense in the evolving strategic encironment.

It is at this point that I would like to focus on a different narrative one that in no way de-emphasizes the importance for the U.S. Navy or DOD working more effective ways to use unmanned or autonomous systems.

Rather, I would like to focus on where such efforts fit within the reshaping of the ISR enterprise which is being shaped by allies, partners, regional coalitions, and the U.S. joint force.

Too often the emphasis is upon what the United States can do rather than on the reshaping of regional coalitions of partners and allies and what they can do for themselves and how we can plug and play with their systems and find ways for such coalitions to be more effective themselves or how we can benefit from the evolution of those coalitions.

In my book with Murielle Delaporte, I focused on what we see is a key trend, namely, clusterizaiton of defense partnerships. This is how we put it in our book:

“Security threats have unleashed national reactions, with various nations seeking to rebalance their position in the global order and seeking to work with clusters of either like-minded states, or with states capable of providing key needs. Coalition defense in today’s world of defending the interest of “coalitions of the willing” of liberal democratic states is clearly about the exercise of effective operations in a semi-sovereign coalition environment as seen from a national perspective. It is not exactly the return of nationalism, for that has not been absent in any case, but is clearly the return of security and defense concerns as a priority, and these concerns are always led by states seeking allies, partners or friends, or “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” types of partners.”

And in that book, we highlighted a particularly important trend in terms of Nordic defense cooperation and one articulated by Harald Malmgren:

“A new cluster European nations with a common security objective have quietly emerged recently in the form of focused military cooperation and coordination among the Nordic nations, Poland, the Baltic States, and the UK. This cluster is operating in close cooperation with the US military. The Danes, Norwegians, the Swedes and Finns are cooperating closely together on defense matters. Enhanced cooperation is a response to fears of Russian incursions, which are not new, but have roots in centuries of Russian interaction with Northern Europe.”

For such clusters to operate together the key capabilities are shared C2 based on shared information, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems (traditionally known as intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance or ISR). It is here that new maritime autonomous systems can prove especially significance in working with the GCC and with those GCC states working within the framework of the Abraham accords with Israel as well.

How to generate ISR which can be shared? And shared in an environment of trusted information? Sharing common platforms in the unmanned surface vessel world and then shaping ISR and C2 payloads which can be deployed onboard provides an opportunity to then work the webs of information coming off these systems which can be shared.

It must be remembered that the Gulf is a narrow body of water with significant maritime traffic and the challenge in such circumstances is clearly to be able to distill information from noise. And to do so rapidly and among the cluster of states working together to shape common security or defense responses.

Working national systems to deliver effective information and intelligence is hard  enough, doing so among partners in a security or combat cluster even more so. The advantage of shaping a common fleet of USVs is that is not just about 5th Fleet getting better; it is about the coalition of the willing learning to work together more effectively.

And not just for the U.S. or the coalition, but for the nations who are pursuing such USV ISR capabilities as well.

If one were to take the case of Bahrain, the Kingdom is investing significantly in the development scientific and technological capabilities to shape its future. Working in AI, digital systems, and ISR is clearly an area where local expertise and capabilities can be developed significantly to the benefit of Barthian and its partners.

The question then is how Bahrain can best work with like-minded partners to deliver more effectively ISR to the nation and at the same time leverage more effectively relevant capabilities which its partners posses as well.

How best to deliver an ISR cluster which can provide for enhanced security and defense for Bahrain and for the nations with which they work?

In other words, it is not just about developing new platforms, or simply new ways to work with unmanned or autonomous systems; it is about reworking how ISR clusters can be shaped and worked among those states willing to work together.

Featured Photo: A MANTAS T-12 unmanned surface vessel (USV), front, operates alongside U.S. Coast Guard patrol boat USCGC Maui (WPB 1304) during exercise New Horizon in the Arabian Gulf, Oct. 26. Exercise New Horizon was U.S. Naval Forces Central Command Task Force 59’s first at-sea evolution since its establishment Sept. 9. Photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Dawson Roth and credited to 5th Fleet Public Affairs.

For our discussion of the evolution of European direct defense around the clusterizaiton dynamic, see the following:

For a discussion of the Abraham Accords and their impact, see our assessment in the following:

 

 

 

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III speaks wit Cmdr. Tom McAndrew, Deputy Commodore Task Force 59, Unmanned & Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) Integration in Bahrain, Nov. 21, 2021. Secretary Austin is traveling in the Gulf region to deliver remarks at the annual International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Manama Dialogue and will meet with senior government officials to affirm the strength of our defense partnership and discuss joint priorities in the Middle East. In the United Arab Emirates, Secretary Austin will meet with senior government officials to reaffirm the importance of the U.S.- UAE strategic partnership. (DoD photo by Chad J. McNeeley)
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III speaks with Lt. j.g. Jay Faylo from United States Naval Forces Central Command's Task Force 59, Bahrain, Nov. 21, 2021. Secretary Austin is traveling in the Gulf region to deliver remarks at the annual International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Manama Dialogue and will meet with senior government officials to affirm the strength of our defense partnership and discuss joint priorities in the Middle East. In the United Arab Emirates, Secretary Austin will meet with senior government officials to reaffirm the importance of the U.S.- UAE strategic partnership. (DoD photo by Chad J. McNeeley)
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III speaks is given a tour by Capt. Michael D. Brasseur, Commodore, Task Force 59, Commander Unmanned & Artificial Intelligence Integration in Bahrain, Nov. 21, 2021. Secretary Austin is traveling in the Gulf region to deliver remarks at the annual International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Manama Dialogue and will meet with senior government officials to affirm the strength of our defense partnership and discuss joint priorities in the Middle East. In the United Arab Emirates, Secretary Austin will meet with senior government officials to reaffirm the importance of the U.S.- UAE strategic partnership. (DoD photo by Chad J. McNeeley)

Digital Fleet Sustainment

Posted on | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment on Digital Fleet Sustainment

By Australian Defence Business Review

Where once aircraft maintenance was conducted according to time passed and hours flown, the maturing field of digital fleet sustainment is delivering better maintenance with improved aircraft availability at reduced cost.

This concept isn’t new, but the greater accumulation of data, coupled with a growing use of machine learning and artificial intelligence, is making this the go-to tool for looking after expensive military aircraft.

Boeing Defence Australia Director of Sustainment Operations Amy List said this was genuinely game-changing, allowing for innovation in the sustainment of aircraft under their stewardship, increasing availability and reducing cost of ownership.

“I get really excited when we have new and innovative ways to make the fleets more available, more reliable and safer, and while we are doing that reducing the total cost of ownership,” she told a media briefing. “That’s really what digital sustainment is all about.”

Boeing Digital Engineering Manager Stephen Craig added, “Digital sustainment is really the intelligent use of data, automation and digital analysis techniques to optimise sustainment outcomes.”

A former RAAF aeronautical engineer, List said she had specialised in fleet sustainment since joining the Air Force back in the early 2000s.

“We have always had some access to data. What’s really changed is our ability to analyse,” she told ADBR. “We have so much more data on our fleets. We are able to process all of that data, get really strong predictive metrics on when we think aircraft might fail, or when aircraft components get ahead of that curve.”

Digital sustainment has been around a while and remains a capability yet to see its full potential, but it is rapidly becoming the new normal. In November last year, Defence Industry Minister Melissa Price released the Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority Implementation Plan for aerospace platform deeper maintenance and structural integrity. That plan places a high priority on industry to look after defence platforms.

“Australia needs involvement from all aspects of the industry value chain to deliver this critical ADF capability,” Minister Price said in the foreword to the plan. “This involvement incudes developing Australian industry capability, innovation and partnerships to make the most of new and emerging technologies.”

List said just about every aircraft component could be monitored. “Basically everything you can think of in an aircraft, from strain gauges on wings, to how heavy landings are, to how much the equipment gets used,” she said.

That also includes engines, with health monitoring right down to specific bleed air valves. “Clever people within our team have come up with their own ideas here,” List said. “As an example, we’ve noticed that when the bleed air gets to a particular temperature, we start to see problems. We build that into our systems.”

Boeing supports a diverse range of ADF platforms – the RAAF’s eight Boeing C-17A Globemaster transport aircraft, 24 Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornets, 11 Boeing EA-18G Growlers, the Army’s 12 Boeing CH-47F Chinook helicopters, and the 15 Airbus EC-135T2 helicopters used for initial flight training for Army and Navy aircrew.

That will extend to the Army’s 29 Boeing AH-64E Apache attack helicopters which will replace the Airbus Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopters from 2025. Then there are RAAF aircraft based on Boeing civil platforms – six E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft and the eventual fleet of 15 P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft.

But List says the RAAF’s P-8As are operated very differently to their civil counterparts, the widely used Boeing 737NG civil airliner, whose crew do most of their training in simulators.

“(Commercial 737s) take off and they land ever so gently and they just do that over and over again, whereas our aircraft work hard,” she said. “The P-8s are doing low level maritime surveillance and that buffets the airframe around in way a civilian aircraft would never see. The pilots also do a lot more training in aircraft. They bang the aircraft in. They land on shorter airfields.”

Similarly, the RAAF’s C-17As and other transport aircraft are operated very differently to large civil aircraft, often operating from rough remote airfields. “We operate them really differently to a civilian fleet so it is really important that we are able to gather our data and make it really applicable to our uniquely Australian configuration, role and environment,” List said.

The potential of digital sustainment has been long recognised, though in some cases – as with any complex IT system – ambitions seem to have exceeded initial capabilities. That appears to have been the situation with F-35. From the outset of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program it was envisaged that this fifth generation fighter would be supported by way of a computerised maintenance management system called ALIS – Autonomic Logistics Information System.

The underlying objective of ALIS was to increase aircraft reliability and availability while streamlining maintenance and reducing costs. It was intended that one system of systems would manage support for every F-35 in every national fleet around the world. This vast and complex system acquires aircraft performance data in fight, reporting to maintenance personnel in near-real-time, predicting component failures and indicating when parts need to be replaced.

ALIS schedules and tracks aircraft maintenance, and manages the supply chain and parts inventory. ALIS’s operations system plans and debriefs missions, and its training system tracks pilot and maintainer training records.

It’s well-known that the JSF program has experienced many challenges, and getting ALIS to work properly has been among the most challenging. In its latest report released in July 2020, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) detailed visits to five US bases hosting the growing fleet of F-35 aircraft, talking to pilots, maintainers and contractors.

Their verdict was that ALIS was actually performing much better than it was five years ago. But many issues remained, particularly relating to inaccurate or missing data which led ALIS to recommend some F-35s be grounded when the maintainers knew they were fit to fly.

Lockheed Martin and the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) in the Pentagon now plan to abandon ALIS and replace it with a cloud-based system called ODIN – Operational Data Integrated Network – which they say will be ready by December 2022.

The F-35 will eventually feature a fully effective, integrated digital sustainment system. There is simply no going back to the days of paper-based manuals. It’s such an alluring capability that it is increasingly being applied to platforms everywhere, and not just by the big players.

Queensland engineering firm TAE Aerospace has developed an innovative tank engine monitoring system for the Army’s M1A1 Abrams tank fleet.  With just 59 tanks, Australia is the world’s smallest Abrams operator. But TAE believes its technology would be of interest to the world’s biggest Abrams operator – the US military – with its more than 3,000 tanks.

While the US military operates many of the same platforms as the ADF but in much larger numbers, the US experience isn’t always applicable to Australia. One example is the Super Hornet and Growler. List said the worldwide fleet of Super Hornets numbers more than 400, most of which are operated by the US Navy.

“In our structural life analysis, we are finding different results from the way we operate our Super Hornets to the global fleet,” she said. “The US Navy flies their Supers off aircraft carriers and really slams them onto the deck. We obviously fly longer distances and refuel a lot more.”

The COVID-induced downturn in defence activities demonstrated another useful application, beyond looking after individual platforms. List said no-fly periods during COVID didn’t mean there was no maintenance liability. Some maintenance is time related, so aircraft just sitting on the ramp still needed some servicing. “When you are not flying aircraft the maintenance activities start to pile up,” she said.

But the Government still requires the RAAF to be able to deliver a certain number of aircraft available for operations – which might not be achievable because of accumulating maintenance.

“Through COVID we were able to do this analysis on all our fleets and work with our capability managers to say ‘you can keep your pilots home for about, for example, three months, but then you really going to have to start flying again’,” List said. “Otherwise you are going to face a huge capability issue maybe 12 months, maybe two years down the track. Because we understood exactly how the fleet worked, we were able to do all this prediction.”

COVID has spurred other advances in digital sustainment. The US had never entrusted Australians to perform a particular very specialised C-17 maintenance task involving explosives.

When the work fell due, they would fly the specialists out from the US but, with COVID restrictions, fly-in fly-out maintenance wasn’t possible. The alternative was for RAAF technicians to don Microsoft HoloLens augmented reality glasses and perform the task, guided by the US personnel who could see – in real-time – exactly what the Aussies were seeing. When completed, the US experts could then certify it had been done to their satisfaction.

“That is just a huge increase in our ability to make the aircraft available. It also saves an awful lot of money for the Air Force,” List said. “They are really excited about that. Since then we have done some other trials, taking the glasses when we have deployed to the Pacific Islands. We don’t want to fly a whole bunch of technicians out there, we just want to fly a few and then we can use the glasses to do the task.”

Despite advances such as these, the RAAF isn’t yet inclined to see all C-17 maintenance performed in Australia. “All the deeper maintenance is done in San Antonio for the whole global fleet (of about 275 aircraft), and there are some real benefits achieved by that,” she said.

Digital technology is also delivering new abilities to deal with issues of aircraft structural integrity. Data from airframe strain gauges and inspections is all logged in what’s called the Boeing Maintenance Workflow Analytics (BMWA) tool, and that’s delivering a picture of the airframe structure modelled in 3D, showing hotspots requiring attention.

“Cracks are easy because you can see them,” List explained. “What’s troubling is where you have some sort of sub-surface degradation that you could normally only tell by using non-destructive examination such as X-rays.

“It can be really difficult to get into the structure to do that,” she added. “By monitoring it, we can be really focused on when we do need to strip down an aircraft to have a look at that. We are looking at tying that in with the autonomous inspection.”

This article was published by ADBR on November 5, 2021 and was written by Max Blenkin.

Featured Photo: The RAAF has pioneered the use of the Hololens during COVID to conduct complex maintenance on its C-17s that would have otherwise been conducted by specialists from Boeing. (ADF)

Finland Joins the F-35 Global Enterprise

Posted on | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment on Finland Joins the F-35 Global Enterprise
12/10/2021

According to a press release on December 10, 2021 by the Finnish government, “the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II is Finland’s next multi-role fighter.”

The Government of Finland has 10 December 2021 authorised the Finnish Defence Forces Logistics Command to sign a procurement contract with the Government of the United States on Finland’s next multi-role fighter. The fighter replacing the Hornet fleet’s capability is the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II.

The procurement contains 64 F-35A Block 4 multi-role fighters, substantial and versatile weaponry tailored for the operating circumstances, required training and sustainment solutions, other related systems as well as sustainment and maintenance services until the end of 2030.

In the HX Fighter Programme evaluation of the tenderers’ offers, the F-35 fulfilled the security of supply, industrial participation and affordability requirements of the decision-making areas. In the military capability assessment, the F-35 comprehensive system was the best. The F-35 combat, reconnaissance and survival capabilities were the best suited of the HX candidates.

The F-35 operating and sustainment costs fit the allocated cost frame, and the aircraft development during the life cycle will be feasible with the normal resources of the Finnish Defence Forces. Within the procurement process, several essential security of supply requirements and signif-icant industrial participation have been agreed upon. The essential security of supply require-ments relate specifically to independent ability to operate in exceptional circumstances.

The F-35 programme is multinational and its user community large. The system is in service in many European nations including Norway and Denmark.

The current Hornet fleet will be phased out as planned from the year 2025. The first Finnish F-35 fighters will begin service with the Finnish Air Force in 2025 as part of the training of Finnish personnel in the United States. The first F-35s will be delivered to Finland in 2026.  In Finland the F-35 system will replace the Hornet fleet in the fighter wings between 2028 and 2030.

HX Programme Bidding Competition

The HX programme replacing the Hornet capability was launched in 2015 by the decision of the Minister of Defence and subsequent Request for Information (RFI) phase. The HX bidding competition began in 2018 with the initial Requests for Quotation (RFQ) sent to the governments of France, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. The aim of the competitive bidding was to build with each tenderer a comprehensive solution fulfilling the requirements and producing the best possible capability to replace the Hornet fleet for the Finnish defence system in the operational environment of the 2030s as well as within the HX system’s lifespan.

The offered solutions in the HX programme were set up around the following fighter aircraft systems: Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon, Lockheed Martin F-35 and Saab Gripen.

Evaluation of Offers

The Defence Forces Logistics Command received the final and binding offers from all five HX tenderers by the end of April 2021 deadline. The offers were assessed in accordance with the HX Request for Quotation, decision-making model and Evaluation Handbook to reach the procurement proposal.

The tendering was based on four decision-making areas: Military Capability, Security of Supply, Industrial Participation and Affordability. When a tenderer passed the Security of Supply, Industrial Participation and Affordability considerations, it proceeded to the final phase of the Military Capability evaluation in which the offered solutions were placed in order.

The Defence Forces evaluated the offered comprehensive solutions’ capability in three phases based on performance demonstrated in testing events. In the final phase, the military capability effectiveness of each candidate’s HX system was evaluated via a thorough and long-run war game supported by simulation. The Defence Forces’ proposal for the system to be selected was based on the results of the war games and estimated future development potential.

Success of F-35 System

In the HX bidding competition, the F-35 passed the security of supply, industrial participation and affordability decision-making areas. The F-35 solution achieved the highest operational effectiveness and future growth potential in the capability assessment.

Security of Supply

The F-35 solution fulfills the national security of supply requirements of Finland. The sustainment of the system is based on the F-35 global sustainment solution tailored to meet the domestic security of supply requirements. The critical maintenance capacity will be created in the Defence Forces and domestic industrial organisations. The solution encompasses the maintenance capabilities to be built in Finland as well as spare components and replaceable assemblies for exceptional circumstances that are under the sole national control of Finland as well as participation in the multinational maintenance network.

Affordability

The F-35 solution fitted to the allocated funding frame was the most cost-effective. The F-35 had the lowest procurement cost when considering all aspects of the offer. The operating and sustainment costs of the system will fall below the 254 million euro yearly budget.  F-35 operations and lifespan development will be feasible with the Defence Forces’ resources.

No offer was significantly less expensive than others in operating and sustainment costs.

Industrial Participation

The F-35 industrial participation offer met the requirements in quality and content. The main focus of the offered industrial participation is in direct industrial cooperation that will create significant independent maintenance capabilities. The industrial participation solution will develop credible knowhow in the domestic industry from the security of supply perspective and become significant in the national economy.

The key industrial participation projects include large-scale production of the F-35 front fuselage in Finland also for other users, production of structural components as well as equipment testing and maintenance capability. In addition, Finland has been offered an engine final assembly pro-ject for the Air Force aircraft.

The industrial participation’s domestic employment impact will be 4500 and indirect impact 1500 person-workyears.

The industrial participation contract will be signed by the Ministry of Defence as well as Lockheed Martin and the engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney.

Military Capability

The F-35 system’s capability was best suited for the Finnish operating environment and HX requirements. The comprehensive system and aircraft’s capabilities in combat, reconnaissance and survival are unsurpassed. The F-35 came first in the assessment or shared the top score in all mission areas and achieved the highest total score. The proposed F-35 package will meet the defined tasks with sufficient efficacy in respect to the requirements of the future operating environment.  The quantity of aircraft and weaponry included in the quotation had an impact in the result. The Finnish F-35 fleet can achieve operational capability within the scheduled timeframe.

The F-35 solution will produce a significant addition to the entire defence system and enhance preventive capability of defence. The F-35A is capable of initiating action in counter-air operations as well as generating and sharing the necessary situational awareness and target data, enabling the F-35 to best support land and maritime operations. The F-35 multi-domain effectiveness across air, land and sea received the highest rating in the assessment.  The stealth and other unique features, such as sensors and networks, support the F-35’s survival in combat. The F-35 multi-role fighter has the highest internal fuel capacity and all sensors incorporated negating the need for an external targeting system or fuel tank.

The F-35 system’s technological solution is sustainable and its future growth potential the best of the offered solutions. The development has been guaranteed for the entire life cycle until the 2060s.

Procurement Package

The procurement object is 64 F-35A multi-role fighters in the newest, Block 4 -configuration. The procurement encompasses multi-role fighter weaponry. The offered F-35 package includes the following weapon types: AMRAAM, Sidewinder, SDB I and II, JDAM-family weaponry, JSM and JASSM-ER. The weaponry is to be procured within the programme funding availability by the end of the year 2035. The weapons package will be optimised during the procurement process, taking into account availability of the newest weapon types and changes in the operating environment. With optimised weapons procurement, the system’s capability will be maximised in the Finnish operating environment and the F-35 system’s life-cycle guaranteed for the longest feasible time.

A remarkable number of additional products and services to be acquired concurrently are related to the procurement of the fighter system and its use. These comprise the sustainment system including test equipment, tools, replaceable assembly and spare part services, as well as information systems, training systems and services, mission support systems and related services as well as the US Government Foreign Military Sales (FMS) procurement process related administrative services to be used. The procurement package also includes the fleet sustainment costs for the years 2025-2030.

Procurement Funding

The funding for the HX programme totals 10 billion euros. The Parliament has granted the fighter programme a procurement authorisation of 9.4 billion euro for the acquisition of the Hornet replacement system and 579 million euros of a five-year transferable allocation. The transferable allocation is to ensure that the procured entity will be obtained into service as part of the Finnish defence system. Twenty-one million euros have thus far been spent in preparing for the procurement.

Procurement Costs

The acquisition equals approximately 8.378 billion euros. The cost of multi-role fighters is 4.703 billion euros and air-to-air missiles AMRAAM and Sidewinder 754,6 million euros. Service equipment, spare and exchange parts, training and sustainment solutions, other related systems as well as sustainment and maintenance services until the end of 2030 cost 2,920 billion euros.

Operational facilities, aircraft hangars and storages as well as runway structures and infrastructure for the procured system will be constructed in Finland.  This is based on national and international safety and security requirements. Construction costs, costs of industrial participation, personnel costs and other project costs amount to 777 million euros.

Additionally 823,8 million euros is reserved for the final optimised weapons package and to control future contract amendments. Part of the weaponry will be obtained at a later date as per the aircraft delivery schedule.

HX Programme Implementation

The defence system research in the Defence Forces strategic planning has concluded that multi-role fighters have a key role and responsibility in the defence system of the 2030s’ operating environment. The HX programme was established to find a replacement for the current multi-role fighters and since 2015 it has been working to obtain the best HX solution for Finland.

In various phases of the HX programme, preparation and evaluation work has involved the best national and international expertise of 100-200 personnel with wide skills profiles.

The Defence Command oversees the progress and quality control of the development programme projects. The HX procurement process’ quality has been assured with an internal and external quality verification. The external quality verification provider was Deloitte Inc. The task of the external quality verification was to gain confirmation for the impartial, systematical and trace-able procurement process from an independent provider outside defence administration. Moreover, the National Audit Office of Finland has assessed the programme in accordance with its auditing plan and presented the necessary recommendations.


The video is from August 15, 2018 and shows United States Air Force F-22 Raptors from the 325th Fighter Wing, Tyndal Air Force Base, Florida and Royal Norwegian Air Force F-35 Lightning IIs landed in Norway on Aug. 15, 2018.

The featured photo: Two B1B Lancers from the 28th Bomb Wing, Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, integrated with four Norwegian F-35s over Norway during a long range, long duration Bomber Task Force mission May 20, 2020. (Courtesy photo by the Royal Norwegian Air Force)

Editor’s Note: At the heart of this decision is greater Nordic integration and the emergence of the Nordic to Polish defense arc which we discuss in our book on European defense, including a specific discussion of Finland and defense. 

French Arms Sales: A 2021 Update

Posted on | by Robbin Laird | 1 Comment on French Arms Sales: A 2021 Update
12/09/2021

By Pierre Tran

Paris – France expects to win arms export orders worth more than €30 billion ($34 billion) spread over this year and 2022, mainly due to sales of the Rafale fighter jet, Thierry Carlier, head of the international development department of the Direction Générale de l’Armement procurement office, said Dec. 9.

The estimate for 2021/22 “will be more than 30 billion,” he told the weekly press conference of the armed forces ministry. That forecast was based on contracts already signed and deals seen as “more or else certain.”

Such a forecast spread over two years is highly unusual for the DGA, which seeks to coordinate sales of French weapons with the services and industry. The appearance of Carlier, appointed four years ago, at the weekly briefing was unusual, the ministry spokesman, Hervé Grandjean, said.

That forecast 30 billion compared to orders worth €4.9 billion booked in 2020, and €9.1 billion in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic led to the sharp drop in orders last year, as the health crisis hit government spending.

Aeronautics will account for the largest foreign orders, Carlier said, followed by the naval sector, and then land weapons.

The largest foreign arms deal was the United Arab Emirates’ order worth €14 billion for 80 Dassault Aviation Rafale fighter jets, which included service and training, he said. That fighter jet deal was accompanied by an order worth €2 billion of missiles, and an estimated €700 million for 12 Caracal helicopters. The UAE can also fit their own weapons to the Rafale.

The French authorities announced that large UAE arms deal Dec. 3.

For the first time in an export deal, the UAE has ordered a version still under development for the Rafale fighter, he said. That F4 version will mean the UAE will operate the same Rafale version as the French air force.

The F4 will be capable of carrying a new air-to-air missile, namely the Mica next generation, and a new guided AASM 1,000 kg bomb. Other capabilities will be the Spectra defensive aid, an upgraded Talios laser designation targeting pod, and boosted cybersecurity.

That F4 version will be on the pathway to the future combat air system, he said.

Negotiations on the UAE order started towards the end of last year, with the aim of closing the deal in time for the Dubai air show, which ran Nov. 12-16. Talks for a technical agreement ran from November 2020 to June 2021, leaving relatively little time for commercial negotiations, which were ran June to October 2021.

The Rafale deal was announced when French president Emmanuel Macron visited the UAE rather than at the air show.

That order from Abu Dhabi reflected a strategic partnership at the highest level between France and the UAE, rather simply a commercial deal, Carlier said. A bilateral intergovernmental agreement was signed in 2009, and interoperability stemmed from French forces sharing with the services of the partner nation their experience in handling “combat proven” weapons.

That combat proven tag is seen as essential in winning any arms deal.

Among major weapons competitions, Finland is expected to decide “in the next few weeks,” he said.

The Finnish defense forces have reportedly recommended the government pick the Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter in a competition which has attracted rival offers of the Boeing F-18, Eurofighter Typhoon, Rafale, and Saab Gripen.

Greece has opted for the Belharra frigate, and “negotiations are in the process of being closed,” he said.

There are sale prospects in India and Indonesia, he said. Submarines are viewed with interest – offering potential deals for the French company Naval Group. There are potential deals around the world for land weapons.

France actively and proudly pursues arms export deals, which are part of its business model for national sovereignty. Those export contracts help fund the national budget, which partly finances research and development of weapons, seen as needed for a strategic autonomy.

The government publishes an annual report to parliament on arms exports, while some parliamentarians call for a voice in authorizing foreign sales rather than simply reading about them a year later.

France lost out earlier this year when Australia cancelled a plan to build 12 conventional attack submarines with Naval Group, in a deal estimated to be worth some €30 billion. NG had conducted initial design studies in successive tranches, and had expected to sign a €1.4 billion contract for basic design work.

But an Australian decision to seek a nuclear-powered attack submarine with the UK and the U.S. under a trilateral agreement dubbed AUKUS sank that French deal.

The DGA international development department employs some 200 staff, with 180 based here, and 20 as embassy attachés. The staff are specialists in the Rafale, frigates, and submarines, and can also draw on other DGA experts if needed.

The DGA works with the foreign and finance ministries, and the treasury department in the pursuit of export deals.

Featured Photo: LE BOURGET PARIS: June 21, 2019: French Air Force Dassault Rafale fighter jet plane performing at the Paris Air Show airshow.

Photo 154812023 / Rafale Fighter Jet © VanderWolfImages | Dreamstime.com

November and December 2021: A Compendium of Our Articles

Posted on | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment on November and December 2021: A Compendium of Our Articles
12/08/2021

In this report, we have included articles we have published in November and December 2021.

They cover a wide variety of topics and the table of contents for the report is as follows:

For a PDF version of the report, see below:

November-2021-Articles

For an e-book version of the report, see below:

;

Exercise Agile Reaper

Posted on | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment on Exercise Agile Reaper

MQ-9 Reapers from Holloman Air Force Base travelled to Marine Corps Base Hawaii for Exercise Agile Combat Employment Reaper during September through October, 2021.

The two-week, joint exercise was designed to sharpen combat readiness, increase strategic impact and strengthen deterrence efforts by ensuring tactical proficiency of MQ-9 Reaper aircrew.

U.S. Air Force video by Airman 1st Class Adrian Salazar

October 8, 2021

An Update on European Defense Industrial Cooperation: December 2021

Posted on | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment on An Update on European Defense Industrial Cooperation: December 2021
12/07/2021

By Pierre Tran

Paris – Airbus Defence and Space and Dassault Aviation are still in detailed talks for a development contract for a next generation fighter, a key element in a planned European future combat air system, said Michael Schoellhorn, chief executive of the Airbus unit.

“Some points still need to be tackled,” he said Nov. 30 in a virtual briefing for the trade press held by Airbus Defence and Space. “There (are) many things in the detail that need to be sorted out.”

Dassault is prime contractor for the planned European fighter, and the plan is to fly a technology demonstrator in 2027.

“It is a complex coming together of two successful companies for a program which will be significant in the coming decades,” he said. “So we have all agreed to do due diligence and invest the time that it takes to really come to the conclusion that we need.”

Dassault Aviation declined comment.

The head of the French procurement office, Joël Barre, told Oct. 14 parliamentarians that contracts were expected to be signed in the middle of November on the new fighter, with Dassault having held “difficult negotiations” with Airbus German and Spanish units.

“We should manage this difficulty in the next few weeks, to get in mid-November a signing of the DGA (Direction Général pour l’Armement) contract and related contracts for prime contractors and their main partners,” he said.

Airbus DS and Dassault have been negotiating on FCAS all this year, seeking agreement on intellectual property rights and work share on the new fighter.

Airbus units in Spain and Germany stand to win two thirds of the workload, leaving Dassault the remaining third, with the latter claiming leadership of certain key work packages.

Airbus DS has been keen to gain access to valuable “background” information on the Mirage and Rafale, as those Dassault fighter jets would help Airbus engineers understand the “foreground” technology of the new fighter.

Dassault has objected to that access, seen as handing over core knowledge of how to design and build a fighter.

Agreement is needed to sign contracts to launch work for phases 1b and 2 on a  demonstrator to fly in 2027, with a budget reported to be worth some €3.5 billion ($4 billion), funded by partner nations France, Germany and Spain.

The new fighter is due to enter service in 2040, an eventual successor to the Eurofighter flown by the German air force, and Rafale flown by the French air force and navy.

Eurofighter will be a “bridge” to FCAS, Schoellhorn said, and planned upgrades will allow the present combat jet to fly to 2060.

Stable Management Outlook

Schoellhorn pointed up the perceived importance of FCAS for Europe, showing a continuity with his predecessor, Dirk Hoke, who left Airbus DS July 1.

The FCAS was not just a great air force project, Schoellhorn said, adding that it touched on a subject close to his heart, namely European sovereignty. There was the economic impact of tens of thousands of jobs, and an ability not to rely on the supply chain from other parts of the world, he added.

“We have it in our hands to have what Europe needs, going forward,” he said. There was a European ability to determine foreign and security policy, which hinged on projects such as FCAS.

“If we want to protect our ability to defend our way of life — European way of life — the way the free West and allied nations live, we must not take these things for granted,” he said.

“This is why there is such importance given to FCAS.”

Those corporate remarks are in line with the French political pursuit of greater European independence in foreign and military policy, with the French head of state Emmanuel Macron taking up Jan. 1 the rotating six-month presidency of the European Union.

The perceived political and industrial importance of FCAS can be seen in the light of European interest in the Lockheed Martin F-35 joint strike fighter.

The defense forces of Finland have recommended acquisition of the F-35, with a government decision expected in some 10 days’ time, Reuters news agency reported Dec. 6, drawing on Iltalehti, a local media outlet.

If that recommendation were endorsed, the F-35 will beat competing offers of Boeing F-18, Eurofighter Typhoon, Rafale, and Saab Gripen. Finland has reportedly earmarked €10 billion for its HX fighter program to replace a 64-strong fleet of F/A-18 C/D Hornets.

Macron promotes the concept of European sovereignty, and it was he and the then German chancellor Angela Merkel who announced in 2017 a project for a European new fighter. Spain later joined the project.

That three-nation group stands distinct from the Tempest new fighter jet led by the UK, partnered by Italy and Sweden.

A chaotic evacuation out of Kabul due to a sudden U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan prompted some EU nations to consider a sharper focus on European foreign and defense policy.

However, Hungary and Poland, being closer to Russia, pursue close ties with Washington.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has called on NATO to accept its application to join the transatlantic alliance, amid concern over Russian forces perceived to be massing on the common border.

Russia has denied talk of a planned invasion and called on NATO to refrain from expanding into the East.

NATO has stationed four multinational battalion-sized battle groups to protect Poland and the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Eurofighter as Bridge to FCAS

On a German order last year for 38 Eurofighters, dubbed the Quadriga project, Airbus will keep its production line open into 2030, and will extend its operational life to 2060, Kurt Rossner, head of combat aircraft systems, said.

That extension will call for upgrades in capability, including weapons, and flying in manned and unmanned teams with remote carriers, he said. The German air force flew Eurofighters with two remote carriers, or unmanned aerial vehicles, in the Timber Express 2021 exercise.

Technology for the Quadriga tranche of Eurofighters will be critical to development of FCAS, with a roadmap which includes avionics, onboard  computing power, man/machine interface in the cockpit, and a helmet. There will be Quadriga work on new weapons, aerodynamics, and electronically scanned radar.

The French equivalent of Quadriga for FCAS would be development of the F4 version of the Rafale, effectively a test bed for the new generation fighter.

Asked about reports of Spain showing interest in acquiring the F-35, Rossner said he would be surprised if there were no such interest, adding that the Eurofighter would be the right choice.

Drone Awaits Spanish Approval

On a contract for a planned medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle, industry is waiting for the Spanish parliament to grant approval for the program, Daniela Lohwasser, chief engineer on the drone project, said.

France, Germany and Italy have given the green light and it remains for Spain to complete the “national process,” she said, then it would take a couple of months as the OCCAR joint procurement agency prepared contracts to sign.

Airbus DS declined to confirm whether a budget of some €7 billion has been agreed on the drone project.

After the contract is signed, Airbus DS will announce the engine supplier.

French parliamentarian Jean-Charles Larsonneur said June 15 his colleagues in the French senate had correctly raised concerns on the excessive budget of some €7 billion on the drone and that there was a choice of engine.

The anxiety over the drone engine stems from the search for European sovereignty, as there are those seek a pick of Safran Helicopter Engines, seen as a wholly European supplier, over a rival offer from Italian manufacturer Avio, pitching a motor from a U.S. giant, General Electric.

The push for European sovereignty on the drone, dubbed unofficially as Eurodrone, won some recognition with the July 15 signing of a €100 million grant for work on the UAV from the European Defence Industrial Development Programme, under the European Defence Fund set up by the European Union.

There is a planned total order of 20 UAV systems, with each system comprising three aircraft and two ground stations.

The drone would also fit into the FCAS program, Lohwasser said.

Boost A400M Availability

On the A400M, Airbus DS needed to win trust from customers, with greater availability of the transport aircraft, Schoellhorn said.

The French defense ministry failed to disclose any financial information on the retrofit on early batches of A400M, parliamentarian François Cornut-Gentille said Oct. 8 2020 in a detailed parliamentary report.

“However, availability of the aircraft remains a problem,” he said.

The retrofit was needed because those aircraft failed to meet tactical capabilities in the contract, but had been shipped as Airbus DS was late in delivery.

The parliamentary report shows in 2019 there was availability of 24.5 percent of the then 16-strong fleet of A400M flown by the French air force.

Airbus DS saw the Kabul crisis as a redeeming operational moment, with 25 A400M flown by seven nations to evacuate thousands of refugees, in an event which grabbed front pages and television news around the world.

Air forces from five nations and NATO also flew nine A330 multirole transport and tanker aircraft to airlift civilians out of the strife-ridden capital.

That was the highlight of 2021, said Jean-Brice Dumont, head of military aircraft.

Airbus has teamed with Lockheed Martin to pitch an adapted A330 MRTT in the U.S. tender for an inflight refueling fleet.

A Good Year

Overall, 2021 looked like a good year for Airbus DS, Schoellhorn said, with a “slight uptake” on sales compared to last year. There had been excellent order intake, cost containment, and “it does not too bad looking forward,” he added.

There were still challenges ahead, he said, but the fourth quarter showed major contract wins for transport aircraft from India, Indonesia, and Kazakhstan. There were still “irons in the fire,” he said.

The Kabul evacuation was “a turning point” in a reputation which had previously been tainted due to problems in developing the A-400 M aircraft, he said. There was a milestone in maturity with the aircraft clearing New Standard Operating Clearance 2.5. Airbus DS was pressing ahead on retrofit and availability.

Russia, after the attacks on Ukraine and Crimea, was undertaking massive rearmament, including nuclear weapons, and launching cyber and hybrid attacks, he said. There were streams of refugees on EU borders, and there was  confrontation with China.

Such events had a “huge impact” on business, he said.