WEAPONRY AND EQUIPMENT: USAF Picks Northrop Grumman Bid for New Long Range Bomber

Next Generation Bomber.

Northrop Grumman has won the competition to build the next Long Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) for the U.S. Air Force, officials announced Tuesday (October 27) at the Pentagon.

Pentagon officials announce winner of Long Range Strike Bomber competition. Left to right: Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh
(U.S. Air Force photo by Scott M. Ash)

The contract award —  calls for Northrop Grumman to produce 21 aircraft costing up to $550 million apiece(in 2010 dollars) — which translates to $606 million in today’s dollars. The Air Force plans to buy 100 aircraft in all, but later aircraft are expected to cost less under a as full rate production gets underway. The Air Force picked Northrop Grumman’s offering over one by a team consisting of Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

B-52 Stratofortress
(U.S. Air Force photo via wikipedia)

The LRS-B is designed to replace two of the Air Force’s aging bomber fleets — the Cold War era B-52 Stratofortresses, which are all over 50 years old and the supersonic B-1 Lancer bombers now over 30 years old. The B-2 Spirit stealthy bomber will still be flying into mid century.

According to the Air Force, the LRS-B provides the strategic agility to launch from the United States and strike any target, any time around the globe. The Air Force has said the aircraft could be optionally manned and the Air Force Chief of Staff, General Mark Welsh, called it a “dual capable bomber.”

The Air Force hopes to begin deploying the new bombers in the mid-2020s, the military newspaper Stars and Stripes, said. Originally, the Air Force thought it would have deployable bombers by 2018 but then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates halted the program in 2009 because of skyrocketing costs driven by new and unproven technology, according to Defense One.

B-1B Lancer bomber
(U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Brett Clashman)

 

“A bid protest [by the losing team] seems inevitable,” says Defense News “given that LRS-B is the first major military aircraft acquisition program since the JSF [Joint Strike Fighter] award in 2001, and likely the last until the sixth-generation fighter [in the] next decade.” A lengthy protest period could delay the program’s start.

No Photos

“As the company that developed and delivered the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, we look forward to providing the Air Force with a highly-capable and affordable next-generation Long-Range Strike Bomber,” said Wes Bush, chairman, chief executive officer and president, Northrop Grumman.

Meanwhile, the Air Force is playing it close to the vest  when it comes to disclosing details — how big, how much payload will it carry, how fast does it fly, even little ones like what the new aircraft is going to be called — besides the B-3. Officials did not release any photos of what the new bomber looks like — or may look like.

Back in 2012, Smithsonian Air & Space magazine asked your 4GWAR editor to imagine what the new aircraft might look like for a stand-alone, special edition. You can see what we — along with some aviation experts and illustrator Paul DiMare — envisioned the bomber of the future might look like.

You can see that image by clicking here.

Who knows, maybe in a year or so we might be seeing the LRSB itself and have a chance to see what we got wrong — or right.

ARMY: New Combat Ground Vehicles Debut at AUSA Expo [UPDATE]

First Look.

Northrop Grumman’s Hellhound Light Reconnaissance Vehicle prototype draws a crowd at AUSA exhibit hall.
(4GWAR photo by John M. Doyle)

UPDATE adds additional Hellhound photo and information about the Oshkosh Defense M-ATV 6 X 6

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Six hundred companies exhibited their wares this week at the annual Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) conference and trade show and, as usual, several new platforms — from ground combat vehicles to helicopters — were on display.

Northrop Grumman introduced the world to the Hellhound, a light reconnaissance vehicle prototype. The glossy black 4 by 4 vehicle at the show seats sixscouts (two in the front and four in the back) from a reconnaissance platoon and comes with an ATK M230LF 30mm gun on the roof that can be folded down for easier air transport. The gun is operated remotely by a gunner sitting inside the vehicle.

The Hellhound, named for Grumman’s F6F Hellcat, a World War II carrier-based fighter plane, is the company’s offering for the Army’s upcoming light reconnaissance vehicle acquisition program. Designed with the crew and mission in mind, the Hellhound is designed for off-road operation. It can be transported by a CH-47 Chinook helicopter either under the helo with an outside sling or — after hydraulic system lowers the vehicle’s height to fit inside the aircraft.

It also has 120 kilowatt generator manufactured by a German company, Jenoptik, that can produce 100 kW more than the vehicle needs to operate. That extra power can run sensors, radios, electronic warfare equipment or turn the Hellhound into a remote command center. With its 250 horsepower Cummins engine, the Hellhound can travel at speeds up to 70 miles an hour and has a range of 400 miles.

 

Another look at Northrop Grumman’s Hellound LRV prototype.
(4GWAR photo by John M. Doyle)

Attendees at AUSA also got a first look at Oshkosh Defense’s bigger, badder mine-resistant all terrain vehicle: the MRAP All-Terrain Vehicle 6 X 6 technology demonstrator. MRAP stands for mine resistant ambush protected. The heavy armored vehicles were developed in response to roadside bombs and other improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that were killing and maiming U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan who were riding in lightly armored vehicles like the Humvee.

The 42,000-pound, six-wheeled vehicle builds on the technology of Oshkosh Defense four-wheeled M-ATVs. The 6 X 6 has two hatches in the rear and on passenger’s side and can seat 15 soldiers. Overall the big rig can carry an additional 12,000 pounds of payload above its own 42,000-pound weight.  It also comes with all-wheel steer to enhance maneuverability.

The 6 X 6 can his a top speed of 70 miles per hour and has a range of 300 miles.

Possible missions  could include troop transport, explosive ordnance disposal or command and control.

Oshkosh Defense M-ATV 6X6 at AUSA 2015
(4GWAR photo by John M. Doyle)

Click on photos to enlarge image.

UNMANNED AIRCRAFT: First-Ever Unmanned Aerial Refueling

Navy Drone Makes History.

X-47B successfully completes the first autonomous aerial refueling demonstration over the Chesapeake bay on April 21.
(Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy)

Aviation history was made over Chesapeake Bay yesterday (April 21) as the Navy and Northrop Grumman completed the first-ever refueling  in flight by an autonomous unmanned aircraft.

Northrop Grumman and the Navy announced the first successful demonstration of aerial refueling by the tailless, bat-shaped X-47B.

We reported last week at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Expo that the aircraft, officially known as the  Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration (UCAS-D) aircraft was expected to test this procedure soon.

It wasn’t the first time the X-47B made history. In 2013 became the first unmanned aircraft to autonomously launch from and recover aboard an aircraft carrier. The X-47B — there are actually two of them — is nearing the end of its program. The Navy is not asking for any additional funding in fiscal 2016.

The next step will be the Navy’s Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) program, to introduce an unmanned carrier-based strike fighter into the fleet.

In addition to Northrop Grumman, several other major defense contractors are competing for the contract including Boeing, Lockheed Martin and General Atomics.

Here’s another photo of the operation.

X-47B prepares to engage with an Omega K-707 tanker drogue and complete the first autonomous aerial refueling demonstration over Chesapeake Bay on April 21. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy)

 

 

SPECIAL OPERATIONS: Quest for New Special Forces Vehicle

Road Kill(er)

Northrop Grumman photo

Northrop Grumman Corp. unveiled – literally – its entry in the competition for a new U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) high mobility ground vehicle Monday (Oct. 22) on the exhibition floor of the huge Association of the U.S. Army conference in Washington.

When officials from Northrop Grumman and partners BAE Systems and Pratt & Miller Engineering pulled away the camouflage cover, reporters and photographers got their first look at the Medium Assault Vehicle-Light, or MAV-L.

Designed from scratch by Northrop Grumman and Pratt & Miller – which designs, builds and races motor sports cars – the MAV-L looks like a combination Humvee and dune buggy with a tubular frame but no doors or solid roof.

The sand-colored, 13,000-pound vehicle (when fully loaded) is designed to travel at speeds over 80 miles per hour over paved roads and 60 mph on cross country trails – although it can take on muddy, rocky, sandy, uneven terrain where there are no trails at all.

It seats six – including a gunner in a sling-like seat in a bare-bones circular gun turret. But it can zoom out of the back a large helicopter or cargo plane for a rapid assault mission – like an airfield seizure — with eight more Special Forces troops hanging onto the vehicle’s sides, says Frank Sturek, Northrop’s MAV-L program manager.

The seats are built wide to accommodate Special Forces troops with all their equipment, weapons and body armor. The MAV-L has a modular design that allows rapid reconfiguration of storage areas and communications and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment. Among the modules is an arctic one, that enables the engine to perform at extreme low temperatures.

One of Special Forces Command’s requirements for a new vehicle to replace its Humvees is that it can be driven on and off a cargo plane or helo, as is. The MAV-L fits on an Air Force C-130 Hercules cargo plane or an Army or Special Operations Aviation CH/MH-47 Chinook helicopter. A hydraulic system allows the vehicle’s 82-inch ride height to scrunch down to 72.6 inches – the way some city buses can “kneel” to allow handicapped passengers to board – and fit on an aircraft, Sturek added.

The MAV-L is one one of several vehicles offered by defense contractors in the U.S. Special Operations Command Ground Mobility Vehicle 1.1 competition. They include General Dynamics Land Systems’ GMV 1.1, the Navistar Defense Special Operations Tactical Vehicle and Humvee-maker AM General’s GMV.

The SOCOM GMV 1.1 program could purchase up to 1,300 vehicles for special operations missions requiring air transportability, weapons capabilities and high-performance ground mobility. No contract has been awarded but when SOCCOM makes its decision, production is expected to begin in 2013.

If the Northrop Grumman team wins, the vehicles will be manufactured at BAE Systems facility in Sealy, Texas.