Robbin Laird, Author at Second Line of Defense

Information Architecture Enabling National Security: MCIS 2019

Posted on February 10, 2020 | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment

02/10/2020

AVM John Blackburn (Retired) and Ian McDonald describe the importance of a national information architecture as a key enabler for the national security apparatus.

John Blackburn and his colleague Ian McDonald have been working on the importance of rethinking the nature of defense strategy within Australia, one which is very relevant to other democracies.

Information upgrades simply to the operating defense forces is really too limited a consideration when discussing the defense of the nation.

It is necessary to focus on the wider national information architecture.

Such a perspective certainly puts in focus the importance of building a 5 G system which takes clear account the need for national security in shaping such a system going forward.

The video is credited to ADBR TV.

See the following articles by Blackburn and McDonald which highlights a way ahead:

https://defense.info/re-shaping-defense-security/2019/11/broadening-the-concept-of-direct-defense-rethinking-the-information-age-and-defense/

https://defense.info/re-shaping-defense-security/2019/04/the-central-role-of-it-and-communications-in-an-australian-national-security-strategy-the-perspective-of-air-vice-marshal-retired-john-blackburn/

https://defense.info/featured-story/2018/11/the-5th-generation-information-management-environment-an-australian-defence-force-enabler-or-a-roadblock/

CMV-22B is on Its Way: Visiting Amarillo

Posted on February 10, 2020 | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment

By Robbin Laird

Last Friday, the US Navy and the Bell-Boeing team hosted an event in which the CMV-22B was rolled out.

The ceremonial delivery was held on February 7, 2020, but the week before the first aircraft had landed at Pax River for its final round of testing before going to the fleet next week.

The first CMV-22B deployment is less than a year from the initial delivery of the aircraft which means that from the 2015 initial funding for design work to the 2018 production contract, the aircraft will be operational within six years from contract to delivery.

Obviously, this means that the Navy has leveraged the many years of experience of the USMC and the USAF in operating, maintaining and upgrading the aircraft, to leverage a common asset, to get a new combat capability.

The aircraft is replacing the venerable C2 aircraft in the carrier onboard delivery role, but from the outset is designed to provide a wider set of roles, including search and rescue and support for Naval Special Warfare.

But this is just the beginning.

In a visit to San Diego the week before the ceremony, I had a chance to sit down with Vice Admiral Miller, the Navy’s Air Boss, to discuss the way ahead with naval aviation.

We will publish that full interview soon, but the Air Boss highlighted a significant shift from a focus on the integrated air wing to the integratable air wing.

The US Navy over the next decade will reshape its carrier air wing with the introduction of a number of new platforms. If one lists the initial operating capabilities of each of these new platforms, and looked at their introduction sequentially, the air wing of the future would be viewed in additive terms – what has been added and what has been subtracted and the sum of these activities would be the carrier air wing of the future.

But such a graphic and such an optic would miss the underlying transformation under way, one which is highly interactive as well with the transformation of its core sister service the USMC or of the multi-domain drive being pursued by the USAF. And one would totally miss the interactivity of the transforming air wing with the transformation of our core allies.

One clearly needs a different optic or perspective than simply taking an additive approach.

And in effect, what is underway is a shift from integrating the air wing around relatively modest and sequential modernization efforts for the core platforms to a robust transformation process in which new assets enter the force and create a swirl of transformation opportunities, challenges and pressures.

How might we take this new asset and expand the reach and effectiveness of the carrier air group?

How might it empower maritime, air and ground forces as we shape a more effective integratable force?

To give an example, the U.S. Navy is replacing the C-2 with the CMV-22 in the resupply role.

But obviously, with what the USAF and USMC have done and are doing with the Osprey, the Navy would be foolish indeed simply to think in terms of strictly C-2 replacement lines and missions.

So how should the Navy operate, modernize and leverage its Ospreys?

For Miller, the initial task is to get the Osprey onboard the carrier and integrated with its initial air wing operations.

But while doing so, it is crucial for the Navy to work the integratable piece, namely, what can an expanded aperture for the Osprey working within the CAG provide for the integratable air wing?

For Vice Admiral Miller, he is looking for the first five-year period in operating the CMV-22 for the Navy to think through the role of the Osprey as a transformative force, rather than simply being a new member of the carrier air wing.

Hence, one can look at the CMV-22 innovation cluster in the following manner:

Such an approach is embedded in the rethink from operating and training an integrated air wing to an integratable air wing.

The aircraft itself is modified from the Marine Corp and Air Force versions with an enhanced fuel capacity which required some wing modifications as well to deal with the enhanced weight. The photo below shows off the fuel blister that provides this variant extra range and endurance.

There is another key aspect as well.

The CMV-22 unlike the C-2 can carry an F-35C engine onboard a carrier.

And in 2015, I was onboard the USS Wasp when the Osprey brought an engine onboard the ship to support F-35B operations onboard the ship.

This experiment done in 2015 was obviously successful, and not by chance, the US Navy signed its first contract to launch the CMV-22 program the same year.

F-35 engine brought onboard the USS WASP by an Osprey. Credit Photo: Second Line of Defense, 2015

And perhaps not by chance, a cutting-edge F-35B pilot is now head of the Osprey program at Pax River.

I Interviewed Colonel Matthew “Squirt” Kelly in his office at Pax River last Fall. In that interview we talked about the state of play for the “Osprey Nation,” and the impact of the broadening set of users of the aircraft.

“There is no other air platform that has the breadth of aircraft laydown across the world than does the V-22.

“And now that breadth is expanding with the inclusion of the carrier fleet and the Japanese.

“We currently have a sustainment system which works but we need to make it better in terms of supporting global operations.

“With the US Navy onboard to operate the Osprey as well, we will see greater momentum to improve the supply chain.”

Then Lt. Col. Kelly after landing onboard the USS Wasp with his F-35B. Credit Photo: Second Line of Defense

And during my visit to Amarillo, a key point about the reach of Osprey Nation and the nature of the community supporting it was driven home to me.

During the visit to the Final Assembly line, Japanese Ospreys were being prepared for delivery to the Japanese military.

In 2015 when the Japanese Ministry of Defence was preparing for the transformation of its defense force to deal with the new challenges in the region, they released a video in which they showed how Japan would enhance its capability to defend its perimeter.

Yet the Japanese had not yet committed to buying Osprey.

And underlying that final assembly line where I saw the Japanese Ospreys being built for delivery was the highly skilled worked force working in that Bell factory.

As one navy speaker noted at the ceremony: “I would like to first acknowledge the artisans that put this fine machine together. I visited the Bell factory on Wednesday and had a brief walk through of this factory yesterday. This is an incredibly complex machine that you have built and I am in awe of your precise talent and even more inspired by the magic that makes it fly.”

By chance, the Mayor of Amarillo, Ginger Nelson, sat next to me at the ceremony and graciously agreed to meet with me later that afternoon at her office.

I asked her directly: “Why Amarillo?”

She answered that we are community committed to excellence and to training workers both responsible to deliver quality and to train those workers.

She noted that the local government and community colleges were working to shape training opportunities for local residents to be able to support the Bell operation as well as the agricultural industry in the area.

“Our values and are commitments to excellence are at the heart of what the Amarillo community is all about,” she said.

Going from the delivery to Japan for its latest aircraft to Amarillo, that is what I would call deterrence in depth.

And for the Chinese government, I would warn you to not mess with Texas.

For an abbreviated version of this article published by Breaking Defense on February 10, 2020, see the following:

Navy Gets First Bell-Boeing CMV-22B: What It Means

C17 Maintenance

Posted on February 10, 2020 | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment

Joint Base Charleston C-17 Globemaster IIIs perform several missions throughout the world to include combat and presidential support, training and humanitarian missions. As time goes on, aircraft need to be inspected and repaired for structural integrity, internal cracks, painting and exterior damage. The 437th Maintenance Squadron, Fabrication Flight is responsible for fixing and identifying such issues to ensure mission readiness.

The fabrication flight has three main sections: corrosion control and structural repair, metals technology and nondestructive inspection with over 80 civilian and military personnel supporting the various disciplines. The flight completes approximately 5,900 C-17 repairs.

“The most rewarding part of this job is the people I work with,” said Lieutenant Brian Jung, 437th Fabrication Flight officer in charge. The pride and hard work people display on a daily basis to generate missions inspires me to come to work every day and serve them the best way I can. Every person has a story and I love spending time with the people in my flight to get to learn their story. Moreover, I enjoy highlighting the work of others so that they can achieve personal recognition for their hard work.”

Each member must be trained in 212 job skill tasks in order for them to be proficient at their craft, and they spend one – two months training on the particular skills in that area. It takes about four to six months before they are upgraded to five-level Journeyman.

“I enjoy spraying the aircraft during the paint process,” said Tech. Sgt. Richard Bazen, 437th MXS NCO in charge. I think it’s a good skill that can be utilized outside of the military.”

Bazen oversees the entire process which includes pre-masking, sanding, de-masking and painting. Around 12 aircraft go through the corrosion control repair section annually, it takes approximately two weeks complete each C-17.

The Nondestructive section uses noninvasive methods to inspect the insides of metal objects to identify possible defects in systems and equipment before problems before they occur using electrical, magnetic, X-ray and fluorescent technologies.

11.08.2019

Video by James Bowman

Joint Base Charleston Public Affairs

French Minister Sees German Approval Soon for Fighter Jet Project

Posted on February 9, 2020 | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment

02/09/2020

By Pierre Tran

Paris

French armed forces minister Florence Parly recently highlighted the decisive role of the German Bundestag parliament in launching a Franco-German project for a technology demonstrator for a next-generation fighter.

Their votes for the project would be, in her view, a sign of political support for European defense.

“Parliamentarians of the Bundestag, your vote in the next few days on the FCAS demonstrator will have decisive importance and send a strong political signal on the determination of our two countries to build European defense,” she told French and German members of parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France.

That fighter will be a key element in the Future Combat Air System, a project which brings Spain into the European FCAS club with France and Germany.

Meanwhile, in a Feb. 7 keynote speech on French nuclear weapons policy, president Emmanuel Macron said Brexit “hasn’t changed anything” in terms of cooperation between Paris and London.

The head of state was speaking at the War College, one week after the departure of Britain from the European Union.

Berlin requires that Bundestag approval to a long-awaited contract for a study of the next-generation fighter, with each of the two partner nations paying €77.5 million ($85 million), German daily Handelsbatt reported.

The overall budget for the demonstrator could be €8 billion, with further contracts signed late next year or in 2022, after German elections, the daily reported.

On the British side of the Channel, London is leading the Tempest project, with Sweden and Italy signed up to work on a concept and partnership model for an unmanned combat air vehicle, and other platforms. systems or capabilities which can be leveraged from the Eurofighter-F-35 foundation being built in the RAF and Royal Navy.

How the RAF sees Tempest. Slide from presentation by Air Commodore Storr at the International Fighter Conference 2019.

Parly spoke of the political commitment of France and Germany to pursue European defense alongside NATO membership, with her German counterpart, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, at her side. The two ministers were attending the third Franco-German parliamentary assembly of 100 MPs, with 50 from from each nation.

French industry had hoped for the demonstrator project to be launched last June, with the signing of the studies contract slipping to end of 2019, and then to the end of January.

That contract hangs on the timetable of the Bundestag budget committee, which reflects the importance of German parliamentary oversight over central government and industrial policy.

“There is an awareness in Germany for the need for defense industrial policy,” said Gaëlle Winter, associate researcher at think tank Fondation de Recherche Stratégique, based in Paris.

That policy will partly be based on stricter supervision by the Bundestag, with the budgetary committee reviewing military acquisition contracts worth more than €25 million.

This close parliamentary approval dates back to September 1981, due to overspending on the “cooperative” Tornado fighter jet program that sparked grave concern in Germany, she said.

Britain, Germany, Italy pursued the costly Tornado program.

That need for parliamentary approval means arms acquisition is based on “co-decision” principles between federal government and the Bundestag, she said.

Some 44 parliamentarians sit on the budget committee, which has taken special interest in arms programs rather than simply fiscal oversight.

That close parliamentary scrutiny also reflects electoral interests of MPs, some of whom sit in constituencies with strong industry presence, she said. There is a move of the German state, including the länder regions, toward a greater “interventionist” approach, she said.

Meanwhile, future ties between Rheinmetall and KNDS continue to “poison the well” on FCAS, she said.

Rheinmetall’s efforts to ensure a share of work on the Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) has stalled work on the project to build a new tank and connected manned and unmanned vehicles.

KNDS is a Franco-German joint venture between Krauss-Maffei Wegmann of Germany and Nexter of France.

In France, there is a view the German authorization process is complex, which slows down the procurement of equipment.

“Cooperation with Germany is complicated on the operational level,” Army Gen. François Lecointre, joint chief of staff, told Nov. 6 the foreign affairs committee of the lower house National Assembly.

“I have discovered that the German decision-making system is more bound by the silos approach than ours, making it difficult for heads of central administration and ministerial representatives to reach agreement,” he said.

There is the importance of the Bundestag, he said, referring to a French MP’s question, while cooperation is marked by German industry’s determination to hold on to its work.

Britain’s departure from the European Union will break up the “E3” group, namely France, Germany and the UK, in which the former had a strong operational partner with the latter, while there was a “strong industrial partner” with Germany, he said.

On industrial cooperation, “the departure of the British will not be good for them, even if the One MBDA initiative remains, which will allow the pursuit of interesting cooperative projects,” he said.

The complexity of German procedure left France in a “complicated situation” in two major arms projects, he said.

The great technological leap — and the operational superiority that delivers — of the FCAS project is based on the “connectivity” of all the platforms.

“That will lead to, even if that will take time, first operational capability by 2038, which is to say tomorrow morning,” he said.

On the second major project, MGCS land system, he said, “I am rather worried about cooperation on the future tank, a Franco-German project which is moving too slowly.”

Parly told the French and German MPs an architecture study for MGCS was expected to be launched “very soon this year.”

While there was no choice but to pursue industrial and technological cooperation with Germany, Lecointre evoked an “existentialist crisis” in the light of Brexit, as “we have no choice but to absolutely maintain our operational cooperation with the United Kingdom….”

Both the British and French armies shared “the same intervention culture,” he said.

Parly said there would be a fair share in industrial cooperation on FCAS and the future tank.

“These are industrial projects worth billions of euros, tens of thousands of jobs, with export prospects,” she said.

“But these are first and foremost political projects: and we have collectively a responsibility, which is to build this European defense, which our two countries call for.”

The meeting of French and German MPs was the third formal assembly of the 100 parliamentarians since Macron and chancellor Angela Merkel signed a treaty of cooperation at Aachen in January 2019, seeking to bind Berlin and Paris close in economic, foreign and defense policy.

In France, that city is known as Aix-la-Chapelle.

Maiden Landing of Indian LCA Aircraft onboard Indian Aircraft Carrier

Posted on February 9, 2020 | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment

By India Strategic

New Delhi.

After completing extensive trials on the Shore Based Test Facility (SBTF), Naval version of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) did asuccessful arrested landing onboard INS Vikramaditya at 1002 hrs on January 11, 2020.

Commodore Jaideep Maolankar conducted the maiden landing. Captain Dahiya was the Landing Safety Officer (LSO) and Cdr Vivek Pandey Test Director on ship whereas Gr. Capt. Kabadwal and Cdr Ankur Jain were monitoring the aircraft through telemetry from SBTF.

LCA Navy has been developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

This article was published by India Strategic on January 13, 2020.

JADM Training: USMC F-35s

Posted on February 7, 2020 | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment

02/07/2020

Aircraft with Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 drop two 1000lb Joint Direct Attack Munitions at Townsend Bombing Range (TBR), Georgia, on December 30, 2019.

As part of their training in the F-35 program, pilots use TBR to drop ordinance on specific targets to train them about being combat capable and network enabled fighters.

12.30.2019

Video by Cpl. Rene Lucerobonilla and Lance Cpl. Aidan Parker

Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort

Preparing the CH-53K for USMC Operations: A New Capability for a New Strategic Environment

Posted on February 6, 2020 | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment

02/06/2020

By Robbin Laird

A recent news story highlighted progress in the preparation of the new heavy lift helicopter, the CH-53 K, for the USMC.

According to Megan Eckstein of USNI News in a story published on December 17, 2019:

“The Marine Corps and Sikorsky have resolved the engine integration issues that slowed down the CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift helicopter program, the service announced today.

“The helicopter’s test program was overhauled in the spring after falling behind due to testing inefficiencies and challenges with the engine, including exhaust gas re-ingestion (EGR).

“In April, the Marine Corps signed a $1.13-billion contract with Sikorsky for Lots 2 and 3, though the contract was somewhat scaled back compared to previous plans due to cost growth and testing delays.

“Today’s announcement that the engine problems have been resolved makes more realistic the government/industry team’s plans to take the helicopter on sea trials in the spring and ultimately conduct a first deployment by 2023 or 2024.”

I had an opportunity in January 2020, to follow up on this story. I went to Pax River in January 2020, to discuss the progress of the program with Colonel Jack Perrin Program Manager, PMA-261 H53 Heavy Lift Helicopters, US Naval Air Systems Command at Pax River Naval Air Station.

We started our discussion with the news story.

We discussed the importance of not only solving the problem but the importance of the way the problem was solved to enhance collaboration between industry and government to achieve further progress in the program.

We then went on to discuss why the program was critical to the shifts in Marine Corps operations outlined in the Commandant’s Guidance.

From my perspective, the question of the impact of a new heavy lift helicopter capability was not adequately understood, for this new capability was coming into the force at a key turning point in terms of building the force necessary for the new strategic environment.

And then we discussed briefly, the question of the nature of strategic lift necessary to support what I have coined the integrated distributed force or what might be called the distributed integratable force.

Resolving the Engine Integration Issue

Col. Perrin underscored that after significant numbers of flight tests and working with the mature aircraft, a problem was identified which was considered a key choke point to moving forward more rapidly to achieve initial operating capacity of the aircraft.

The engine is working very well and the airframe and aircraft over all have performed well. The problem identified after hours of flight testing was that the integration between the engine and the aircraft needed to be improved.

According to Perrin, a problem facing three engine helicopters is exhaust gas coming into the aircraft.

Exhaust gas re-ingestion (EGR). EGR occurs when the hot engine gasses are ingested back into the system and can cause increased life-cycle costs, poor engine performance and degradation, as well as time-on-wing decreases, engine overheating and even stalls.

EGR is an issue for all three-engine helicopters, to include the CH-53E Super Stallion. The program office was determined to find a production solution for the CH-53K, as was done for the CH-53E.

What needed to be fixed was to find a way to eliminate this problem on the CH-53K.

Obviously, this is a problem for flight operations, but also, exhaust gases were affecting the airframe as well.

According to Colonel Perrin, “The CH-53E is only about 13% composites; the CH-53K is about 70%, and exhaust gases affecting the air frame would create maintenance problems over time.”

He underscored that to fix the problem and to be better able to bring the aircraft to IOC, they used an unprecedented coming-together of highly skilled engineers with a variety of expertise to mitigate an ongoing engine issue for the CH-53K King Stallion, including industry, the Marines and government.

They used advanced computer modelling to come up with a range of solutions and then narrowed down to a particular solution which was then implemented.

And after testing, this solution was successful which allowed putting the aircraft back on track for the projected IOC date.

The fix is important; but also, the way in which it has been done – integrating Marines, with government and industry.

The way the solution has been reached provides a solid foundation for completing the way ahead to IOC.

The Launch of the CH-53K is Not Like the Osprey

I had the opportunity to see the USMC introduce the Osprey and to watch its evolution since that time. It has had a significant impact on Marine Corps operations and has laid the foundation for the next generation distributed integratable operations.

But when it was launched, it was a time of pioneering with digital maintenance and finding ways to maintaining the new tiltrotor technology. It is very different for the CH-53K, because much of the preparation for IOC has been a focus upon the maintainability of the aircraft.

I have visited the log demo for the CH-53K team located at New River Marine Corps Air Station and have seen the key role which VMX-1 located there is having in shaping a credible approach to maintaining the aircraft before it is coming into Marine Corps operations.

According to Col. Perrin, the VMX-1 team comes regularly to Pax River to work on preparing for the operational launch of the aircraft and the working relationship between the test, maintenance and industrial teams is providing a solid foundation for the introduction of a much more mature aircraft in the case of the CH-53K than was able to be done at the time of the launch of the Osprey.

This is certainly good news, but this also creates a problem.

The CH-53K which will enter service in the next couple of years is not at the equivalent point of maturity as when the Osprey entered the service. It is significantly advanced in terms of its maturation, but the challenge will be for this to be recognized so that numbers of the aircraft can be ramped up and introduced more rapidly into the force than the Osprey experience.

A New Capability for a New Strategic Environment

The Commandant’s Guidance highlighted the nature of the new strategic environment and the importance of distributed operations leveraging both sea-basing and expeditionary or mobile basing.

It is clear that heavy lift is a key enabler of such a concept of operations.

As Col. Perrin noted in our conversation: “The USMC has done many studies of distributed operations and throughout the analyses it is clear that heavy lift is an essential piece of the ability to do such operations.”

And not just any heavy lift – but heavy lift built around a digital architecture.

Clearly, the CH-53E being more than 30 years old is not built in such a manner; but the CH-53K is.

What this means is that the CH-53K “can operate and fight on the digital battlefield.”

And because the flight crew are enabled by the digital systems onboard, they can focus on the mission rather than focusing primarily on the mechanics of flying the aircraft. This will be crucial as the Marines shift to using unmanned systems more broadly than they do now.

For example, it is clearly a conceivable future that CH-53Ks would be flying a heavy lift operation with unmanned “mules” accompanying them. Such manned-unmanned teaming requires a lot of digital capability and bandwidth, a capability built into the CH-53K.

If one envisages the operational environment in distributed terms, this means that various types of sea bases, ranging from large deck carriers to various types of Maritime Sealift Command ships, along with expeditionary bases, or FARPs or FOBS, will need to be connected into a combined combat force.

To establish expeditionary bases, it is crucial to be able to set them up, operate and to leave such a base rapidly or in an expeditionary manner (sorry for the pun).

This will be virtually impossible to do without heavy lift, and vertical heavy lift, specifically.

Put in other terms, the new strategic environment requires new operating concepts; and in those operating concepts, the CH-53K provides significant requisite capabilities.

And this Marine Corps-Navy capability is suggestive of a broader set of considerations for the Army and the Air Force.

If Expeditionary Basing is crucial, certainly the CH-53K could provide capabilities for the Army and the Air Force, to compliment fixed wing lift aircraft.

And in many cases, only a vertical lift support capability will be able to do the job.

Remember the USAF flies the CV-22s and if they are part of the distributed fight and requiring expeditionary basing, it may be the case that such a base can be set up and sustained only by vertical heavy lift.

Both considerations, how to cross-operate across the seabase and the expeditionary base, and the question of whether vertical heavy lift is now becoming a strategic asset, will be dealt with in later pieces.

But for now, the core point is simple – the K needs to come into the USMC-Navy team as soon as possible to enable the shift in concepts of operations required to deal with the new strategic environment.

And if the CH-53K became part of the joint team, the question of cost is very manageable.

By producing more aircraft, the cost curve comes down. And shaping a more effective cost curve is a significant challenge which the program is addressing.

Colonel Jack D. Perrin is the United States Marine Corps, Program Manager, PMA-261, H-53 Heavy Lift Helicopters

Featured photo: USMC

For our archive of CH-53K stories, see the following:

https://defense.info/system-type/rotor-and-tiltrotor-systems/ch-53k/

1st MEF and New ACV

Posted on February 5, 2020 | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment

02/05/2020

U.S. Marines with Amphibious Vehicle Test Branch, Marine Corps Tactical Systems Support Activity, operate new Amphibious Combat Vehicles along the beach aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, Dec. 18, 2019.

The ACV is a modernized platform providing increased lethality, survivability and protected mobility to Marines and will enhance I Marine Expeditionary Force’s ship-to-shore operations. 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 1st Marine Division, will be the first to receive the ACV.

CAMP PENDLETON, CA, UNITED STATES

12.20.2019

Video by Lance Cpl. Garrett Kiger

I Marine Expeditionary Force