Acquisition headlines (12/26/2022 - 1/1/2023)

Fairly accounting for weapons in Ukraine. (The Hill) “… that $50 billion [provided to Ukraine] will be under politically motivated investigation by a Republican House with a strong bent toward isolationism… Still, understanding all the political machinations, it is still a reasonable expectation for Congress to investigate any war spending.”

The United States may have a great, pinpoint accounting system for our weapons purchases and sales, but it is doubtful the users of the weapons do. So, anticipate that you aren’t exactly going to have an Amazon supply chain verification. And don’t expect a lot of receipts… It will be nearly impossible to determine who used what and where.
Don’t be surprised if some enterprising locals — in and out of the Ukrainian military — made money selling our weapons to others beside Ukrainians [including China, Russia, Iran].

Navy requested 2 DDG-51 destroyers, Congress added a third
DDG(X) could cost $3.1B to $3.4B per hull
Navy sought to end LPD production line, Marines put LPD-33 at top of unfunded priorities
Marines want 35 Light Amphib Warships, Navy calling for 18
GD laid keel of Columbia-class
Navy asked for $114M for SSN(X) — estimated cost $5.6B to $7.2B per hull
CVN-79 in final stages of construction, CVN-80 in early stages
Navy asked to end F/A-18E/F production line, Congress denied it
Navy NGAD fighter budget is classified three years in a row
Navy Seahawk helicopter replacement still in requirements (manned & unmanned)
Future of Medium USV uncertain, USV Mariner launched
30-year shipbuilding plan has 316 ships on low end, 367 on high end

Congress passes funding bill with major cash infusion for Pentagon. (C4ISRNET) “President Joe Biden is expected to sign the legislation, which includes $817 billion for the FY23 Pentagon budget as well as another $27.9 billion for the Defense Department to continue its effort to support Ukraine.”

The bill brings the total amount of emergency cash Congress has given the Pentagon to help Ukraine fend off Russia’s invasion to $61.4 billion.
The agreement contains $8 billion specifically allocated to help the Pentagon cope with the impact of inflation, including $1 billion in acquisition-related costs and $3.7 billion for fuel.
The omnibus also provides $8.5 billion to procure 61 F-35 fighter jets and restore another 19. That’s on top of another $2.1 billion to continue modernizing the F-35 program.

Sneak Peek: DIU’s FY2022 year-in-review. (DIU)

How DIU is supporting cyber command. (Defense Scoop) “We don’t deal with hard and fast requirements, like the traditional acquisition processes does. We deal in pretty human readable, easily readable, like one paragraph problem statements, so that we’re not prescribing, “We need something that runs on this type of hardware or this type of software and is painted this color.””

Then that’s when we run our solicitation and we do the nuts and bolts of that — the CSO, the commercial solutions opening… It’s just the process of how we go from problem curation to open solicitation and then funnel usually in our portfolio like 40 to 50 companies that respond down to two or three at the end of that, that we’re going to award a prototype contract to.
Then the unique thing at the end of that process is if you declare success on that prototyping period… there’s an opportunity for that vendor to go directly to production so they can be the sole provider and the sole solution for that problem area for the DOD without having to go back and re-compete.

US Navy approves full-rate production for Sikorsky CH-53K helicopter. (Sea Power) “The Marine Corps’ approved acquisition objective is 200 aircraft. ”

The CH-53K can carry a 27,000-pound external load over 110 nautical miles in high/hot conditions, which is more than triple the external load carrying capacity of the legacy CH-53E aircraft.
The U.S. Marine Corps declared Initial Operational Capability (IOC) for the CH-53K helicopter in April 2022.
…an increase production to more than 20 helicopters annually in the coming years.
This full-rate production decision instills confidence in the diverse network of more than 200 CH‑53K suppliers across 34 states.

Navy successfully demonstrated unmanned cargo delivery systems for ship at sea. (Sea Power) “The demo… employed unmanned vehicles to transport cargo weighing less than 50 pounds, which accounts for 90% of Navy logistics deliveries… industry partners Skyways Air Transportation, Inc., and Martin UAV operated their unmanned systems through long-range flights from ship-to-ship, ship-to-shore, and shore-to-ship situations, carrying a variety of objects to mimic critical supplies. Both systems successfully delivered cargo over 200 nautical miles onto a moving ship underway.”

Video of the demo is here.

Pentagon grounds some F-35s after ejection on Texas runway. (Defense News) “[Lockheed] had not yet transferred this new F-35B to the U.S. government when the crash occurred… The U.S. Air Force pilot, who was performing quality checks on the F-35B for the Defense Contract Management Agency, can be seen hovering the fighter not far above the ground in the crash video.”

A propulsion system issue led to the Dec. 15 crash of the hovering F-35B, which has now led to broader groundings in the fleet.
The JPO also told the services that jets with fewer than 40 hours of flying are affected.

Fincantieri CEO talks US frigates, vision for Europe’s naval sector. (Defense News) “We aim to use more preconstruction on land at Marinette, which means building modules before adding them to the vessel, meaning less work in the dock and more work on land — which is much more efficient.”

“We’ve invested more than $300 million in our Wisconsin shipyards to meet the Navy’s requirement of two frigates a year.”
“The key point is the availability of skilled staff, which is the bottleneck to maximize production.”… At Marinette alone, the firm aims to increase the head count by 700 in the next three to four years, from 1,900 to 2,600.
Fincantieri’s unusual blend of work on defense platforms — which accounted for 29% of its 2021 — and cruise ships has produced synergies.

Navy $5 billion boost for Electric Boat Columbia submarine construction to bring jobs. (Stars and Stripes) “The $5.1 billion announced by the Pentagon this week enables EB to acquire parts, material and other long lead-time items for the next five boats in the class.” [Eric: $5 billion had been reprogrammed out of Columbia in prior fiscal years, perhaps it was “early to need”.]

One of EB’s challenges is finding and training qualified shipbuilders. It now employs about 19,000 in Connecticut and Rhode Island.
At 560 feet long and displacing 21,000 tons, ships in the Columbia class, named for the lead boat, will be the biggest submarines ever built by the United States.
They will be fitted with nuclear reactors that, it has been reported, produce less noise than a 20 watt light bulb and have 42-year service life.
Beginning in 2027, Ohio class boats are scheduled to be taken out of service at a rate of one a year.