Sucks to be Northrop Right Now

It is highly likely the Air Force will reopen the tanker contract previously won by NGC and subsequently protested by Boeing. At stake is $35 billion. Obviously, the winner today is Boeing's KC-767AT proposal and NGC's KC-45 proposal the loser, but I argue the real losers are the armed services who will have to endure yet another delay before a replacement tanker will come online to replace the aging KC-10 and KC-135 fleet.

I ask you, after the Boeing fiasco where that company was penalized for rigging the first attempt to award the contract, how did the Air Force blow this one? I would have thought all of the t's were crossed and the i's dotted; now it seems the Air Force dotted the former and crossed the later.

Although the KC-45 airframes produced in Alabama, they are EADS designed Airbus A330s, a European product. Boeing 767s are produced and designed in Seattle. Is this a case of parochial protectionism? I would argue we need to overlook such concepts, for it is far better to procure best-of-breed products, we would be endangering our servicemen and women to do otherwise. Of course, where products involve sensitive or classified information, I argue to keep it all onshore. The tanker, though, is an airframe, not communications encryption.

One might also suspect a deep conspiracy--with defense dollars dwindling for new development because of ongoing war commitments--this could be a ploy by the brass to further delay committing money to this project on the contractor's dime until a new fiscal year comes about.

In the end, we taxpayers can only watch the DoD as it compounds newer and more ingenious ways to budgetary disaster.

Thursday Update

US military shoots down separating missile in test

And they said it couldn't be done. Good job America. Yes we need it unless you want to trust our survival on the kindness and rational behavior of North Korea or Iran.

Another increase in Federal spending. Only $845 billion over 13 years or $65 billion per year or $197,000 per person in the US per year for additional foreign aid to be spent by the United Nations. I don't know about you, but don't we have things we could do with this money at home or better yet, not spend and let our kids have a lighter debt load?

F-35B First Flight

sdd_f35testb_012
Originally uploaded by kawfeadikt

A long time coming, and much anticipated. The F-35B (BF-1) lifted off for its maiden flight yesterday, flown by British pilot, Graham Tomlinson--a nod to our allies who are in line to purchase the B variant along with our own Marines.

This aircraft cannot come soon enough, replacing an aged Harrier fleet and providing expanded capabilities to the USMC. Next up in the program for Lockheed-Northrop-BAE will be the C variant, the replacement for the Navy's F/A-18.

Even now, as the B variant begins its test program, AA-1 continues its flight testing, there are A and B test articles in production, the first C variant (CF-1) has probably begun assembly, and LRIP is beginning for all variants as well.

The ONLY downside to my current job is missing being on the "inside" of the JSF program. Not only were there great amounts of satisfaction from participating in the aircraft's development, but observing everything coming together in an intricate dance to produce each variant was wondrous. Heady times for the engineers there!

Something to do this weekend

Stolen shamelessly from Castle Argghhh!

Good morning, everyone! Just wanted to drop you a note to update you on the status of our Operation Love From Home 2008 4th of July card drive for the troops. Sadly, we are still far, far short of our 5,000-card goal... we have in our possession slightly less than 1,500 cards. We've extended the deadline until JUNE 14, 2008. Please do all you can to help get the word out, and send in a card or two! :) Every single card/letter helps tremendously, and truly makes a very real difference! An empty P.O. Box means less 4th of July Thank You cards & letters going to our troops. :-(

So what is "Operation Love From Home?" - 4TH OF JULY CARD DRIVE FOR DEPLOYED TROOPS

The Mission: To collect at least 5,000 "thank you" cards for troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The majority of the cards collected will go to a unit currently stationed in an extremely harsh and remote area of Afghanistan.

The Reason: Being away from home and living in harsh conditions with combat & constant danger is difficult ~ our troops need to know we have not forgotten them!!! Mail from home helps to keep our troops' morale strong, making a very real difference in their lives. It keeps them motivated and focused when they know we care about them!

The Address: Send your signed, unsealed thank-you cards to the following address:
Mrs. Kathy Orr OPERATION: LOVE FROM HOME P.O. Box 1660 Loganville, Georgia, 30052
ALL CARDS MUST BE RECEIVED NO LATER THAN SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 2008.

The Guidelines:
The cards can be handmade or store-bought (letters are just fine, too). This is a great pportunity to get your Scout troop, school, church and other civic organizations involved in doing something to show support for our troops. Please do not write the date on your cards Please, no glitter on the cards. Because of the intended destination of the cards, nothing "shiny" should be sent for safety & security reasons.

For those of you that have been deployed you can attest to the power that receiving mail from home can do for one's moral, it really does mean a lot to them to receive mail.

David M

Five-Sided Memorial

Most days I go to work, come home, and think no more of work until the next day. Clock in. Clock out. Today was a little different as my company participated in a meeting at the Pentagon (yes, THAT Pentagon). It was kind of cool as we navigated through the building's rings to our meeting room. Most of the day was spent in the meeting, then into the center courtyard for lunch at the cafe there. It was an interesting day, to be sure. After the meeting, one of the guys working there escorted us through the building and down to the west side.

The west side, where Flight 77 plowed into the facade September 11, 2001.

I saw the chapel there. I looked through the yellowed windows towards the sky in the direction the jet crashed from. I read the names of those killed--many of them held rank; many of them did not. The six of us wandered in silence, in contrast to the bustle and buzz of the rest of the building. Flowers, some of them dried by age, left by others. New Testaments, bound in camouflage, left by the Gideons.

Never forget.

Memorial Day Gratitude

May 17th, 2008
Originally uploaded by kawfeadikt

A heartfelt thanks to all the men and women to have gone before us to preserve our nation and to even extend the hope of freedom to others.

(Taken at the Torrance 2008 Armed Forces Day parade.)

V22 issues

The article doesn't say why, but apparently the engines are wearing out faster then the manufacturer said they would. Not good news but at least they found the problem before any aircraft were lost.

Sweeden a Cold War Ally?

Sweden may start competing with the US in the area of fighter sales to Norway and other potential JSF customers. Will the US allow that, given much of the technology in the Swedish fighters comes from the US? And if the US doesn't allow Sweden to sell its airplanes against the JSF, what will that do for US-Sweden relations?

Economics can have an important impact on defense policy.

Say it isn't so . . . . the end of the F-117

The Air Force will retire the last of the F-117s in Nevada next month.

The plane first flew in 1981 and entered service in 1983. The plane is young compared to our F-15s, F-16s, A-10s, B-52s, AWACs, KC-135 and a contemporary of the KC-10, B-1 and FA-18.

The F-22 is supposed to replace the F-117, but I do not think it can carry the same bomb load.

The AF is retiring the plane early to free up money for more F-22s, F-35s and new tankers.

Now I know I'm getting old when airplanes that were the cutting edge when fielded (I was a Jr in High School in 83) are being retired.

Tanker Deal

Article in the Seattle Times saying the reason Boeing lost the tanker deal is their proposal was inferior to Airbus in all aspects. If Boeing expected to be handed the contract, well they have been given a rude awakening. While I would rather Boeing win then Airbus, I really do want the best contract to win and so far it looks like Airbus' was the best contract.

Tanker deal

The WSJ (subscription required) has just announced that Northrop and Airbus have won the $40 billion contract to build new tankers for the Air Force.

The tanker will be based on the Airbus A330 airplane. The Boeing plane would have been based on the 767 airplane.

While I would rather have had Boeing win, they deserved to lose because of their actions back in 2001. And because of their actions, the cost of the program has almost doubled, the planes still haven't been designed or built and the Air Force is still flying 40 to 50 year old KC-135s.

PRC Submarines

China is building up its submarine fleet.

Senior Chinese officers have said the buildup is strictly defensive.

This statement about the build up, I believe, is completely true. If China wants to invade Taiwan, they will need to prevent the US fleet from coming to the rescue. So having submarines can deny the sea to the US Navy and will protect China from US carrier attacks. They do not need or want to attack sea born commerce, China is dependent upon it. However they can deny the US Navy the ability to support Taiwan, so the PRC sub build up can be said to be defensive, protect China from the US when it attacks Taiwan.

Just Lost 5% of Our Stealth Bombers

Okay, more accurately, 4.76%. One of the 21 B-2's in the Air Force inventory crashed on Guam. Kind of makes you wonder what happens in the future as continued attrition reduces their numbers and the B-1s and B-52s retire. I sure hope that we aren't sitting around getting the Long Range Strike requirement fulfilled because as wonderful as the B-2 is, it isn't worth anything if there aren't any to execute missions.

SDI

Hitting a bullet with a bullet. Well the US proved it could do it this week. Will all those who said it couldn't be done now apologize?

Missile hits a satellite

A missile launched from a Navy cruiser soared 130 miles above the Pacific and smashed a dying and potentially deadly U.S. spy satellite Wednesday, the Pentagon said. Two defense officials said it apparently achieved the main aim of destroying an onboard tank of toxic fuel.

Should I be waiting for Ted Kennedy and all the others who said this could NEVER work back in 1983 to apologize??? No, hell would have to freeze over first. Thank you Regan, Bush, Clinton and Bush for giving us a basic BMD system that can also protect us from rogue satellites. Yes thank Clinton because he didn't kill the program like he promised to do.

Harry Humphries someone you should know

Harry Humphries passed away in January of this year. Who was he?
He

was the adjutant of No 617 Squadron, The Dambusters, when it formed in the spring of 1943 and remained with the unit until a few weeks before the end of the Second World War.

A true British hero who answered his country's call when war broke out, served in a support role that allowed the unit to carry the fight to the enemy and after the war returned to civilian life and picked up where he had left if.

He will be missed.

Milbloggers

Greyhawk over at Mudville Gazette shares a creation from Iraq. Click on the YouTube.

Hat tip John at Castle Argghhhh!!! scroll down

Profiling the Chinese

Great, more Chinese nationals and naturalized citizens getting arrested for espionage. Just great. Just effin' fab-u-lous.

I've worked for big aerospace companies and, as a passing piece of trivia I'm Chinese, so it's no stretch for me to find issues here. Frankly, I'm not happy that even as "racially blind" America purports to be (or should be) I can't tell if all Chinese, even those whose families have been American since the 1800's, are going to be lumped together with these yahoos. The problem is, you can't get around the racial profiling opportunities. You have to be self-delusional to overlook the reality that these guys are immigrants from an economic and political competitor (and potentially a military competitor) and they do pose an increased security risk. Sure, it's probably about as severe as Jewish folks spying for Israel (which has happened), but it still doesn't take the sting out. Frustrating is what it is.

If this keeps up, the little fear-monger inside says it's going to be harder for Chinese-Americans to obtain security clearances and jobs, especially if those Chinese-Americans have relatives "somewhere other than America". Hell, if this keeps up, they're going to start putting us folks into concentration camps or something--not that I'm standing in line for that or anything.

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No Training for You!

Nothing exciting today, just the usual disrespect of the US Marines by the government they protect. It seems to be in vogue as of late with the mayor of Toledo deciding to bar a reserve unit, A Co, 1/24th from conducting "urban patrol exercises" in downtown Toledo as well as using a vacant building there. The police knew, but apparently the mayor did not who then promptly threw the Marines out on their ear in a hissy fit.

"The mayor asked them to leave because they frighten people," said Brian Schwartz, the mayor's spokesman.

"He did not want them practicing and drilling in a highly visible area."

This despite the fact these activities have been performed in years past and announced by local media. According to the Mayor (who apparently acted unilaterally), that's too bad, even in the face of one Iraq vet's experiences:

Lance Cpl. Brandon Bukrey-McCarty, 22, recalled taking part in the company's 2006 urban patrol exercise in downtown Toledo.

He said he learned skills during that exercise that proved useful during the unit's deployment to Fallujah, Iraq, in 2006-2007.

"It was extremely helpful," Corporal Bukrey-McCarty said.

The training "got me used to looking up on rooftops, looking around every alley, every open door."

Good thing he's hearing about it. Citizen Brian Thompson summarizes (emphasis mine):

"My perception now is that Carty feels it is OK for Marines to die in Iraq, but just don't come to Toledo," said the 13-year Marine Corps veteran. "The better trained the men and women are, the better chances that they'll come home alive."

To wit, the mayor has an axe to grind against this nation's foreign policy, perhaps even motivated by partisan politics (Finkbeiner is a Dem). Tragically, Mayor Finkbeiner is far too willing to sacrifice readiness for a political statement, a statement that will be paid not by him, but by the blood of the reservists.

Simply unacceptable.

(hat tip: Blackfive who has the scoop from the Instapundit)

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Training Accident

Gunfire hit SEAL through vest gap.

The headline says it all. Training accidents happen. That fact does not make it easier for the family, friends and teammates of the deceased when accidents happen. To Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class (SEAL) Shapoor Alexander Ghane Jr., may you RIP and thank you for your service.