Written by / Compiled by KMI Media Group staff

MLF 2010 Volume: 4 Issue: 2 (March)

 

Lockheed Martin Corporation and Kaman Aerospace Corporation, a subsidiary of Kaman Corporation have successfully demonstrated to the U.S. Marine Corps the capability of the unmanned K-Max helicopter to resupply troops by unmanned helicopter at forward operating bases in Afghanistan.

During a series of flights last week in subfreezing temperatures at the U.S. Army’s Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, the unmanned system demonstrated autonomous and remote control flight over both line-of-sight and satellite-based beyond line-of-sight data link.

“We met or exceeded the requirements within the scheduled three-day timeframe of the demonstration,” said Dan Spoor, aviation systems vice president at Lockheed Martin’s Mission Systems & Sensors facility in Owego, N.Y.

Performance attributes demonstrated included hovering at 12,000 feet with a 1,500-pound sling load; delivering 3,000 pounds of cargo well within the six-hour required timeframe to a forward operating base (two 150 nautical mile round-trip flights); remotely controlling flight and a precision load delivery by a ground-based operator in both day and night conditions; and uploading a new mission plan to the aircraft’s mission management system during flight.

As an optional demonstration, Team K-Max showcased the helicopter’s four-hook carousel, which enables multi-load deliveries in a single flight. Lifting a total cargo of 3,450 pounds, the aircraft flew to three preprogrammed delivery coordinates, autonomously releasing a sling load at each location. At the customer’s request, the fourth load delivery was performed under manual control by the ground operator.

“The unmanned system performed operationally representative cargo resupply scenarios, and each time the system delivered as promised,” said Sal Bordonaro, president, Kaman Helicopters, a division of Kaman Aerospace Corporation.

Fire Scout

Northrop Grumman Corporation has also successfully demonstrated that its MQ-8B vertical unmanned aerial system (VUAS) can resupply U.S. or coalition troops deployed on a combat mission.

The company conducted the autonomous proof-of-principle resupply capability during the current Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiment (AEWE) at Fort Benning, Ga. AEWE gives soldiers a firsthand look at emerging technologies and concepts.

“Fire Scout’s ability to deliver supplies autonomously demonstrates its readiness to support troops in the field,” said Al Nikolaus, program director of land-based Fire Scout at Northrop Grumman’s Aerospace Systems sector. “It also highlights one of the many advantages of a vertical unmanned aerial system. We have matured this capability and we’re eager to support our warfighters in theater with the resupply of small-unit logistics that is so vitally needed.”

For the AEWE mission, Fire Scout had two ruggedized containers attached to external pylons and flew autonomously from take-off to the cargo drop to landing. The VUAS also used its electro-optical/infrared optical payload during the mission to practice reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition (RSTA) techniques. The ability to conduct simultaneous RSTA and logistics missions is another unique capability.

Fire Scout is equipped with a payload interface unit, which allows it to release the cargo pod without the presence of a soldier. The system observed the landing area to confirm the area was free of obstacles and personnel prior to landing. Upon landing, skid sensors detected contact with the ground. At touchdown, the autonomous mission was preplanned for release of the cargo pod and seconds later, the aircraft took off again to continue its RSTA mission.

More Trucks

Oshkosh Defense, a division of Oshkosh Corporation, has been awarded a delivery order valued at more than $5 million from the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command Life Cycle Management Command to produce more than 15 next-generation Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks. The order was issued under the Army’s Family of Heavy Tactical Vehicles III contract.

The variants included in the order are M985A4 guided missile transporters (GMT), as well as M977A4 electrical power plant (EPP) and large repair parts transporter (LRPT) cargo trucks. Production is expected to begin in July 2010 and be completed in September 2010. The GMT variant is designed to deliver and load four guided missiles to the launcher using an integrated crane. The EPP cargo truck includes a chassis-mounted electrical power plant, and the LRPT cargo truck is used to store or transport heavy repair parts.

Multinational Logistics Initiatives

During a 2008 NATO summit in Riga, Latvia, senior military representatives endorsed development of multinational logistics initiatives. One of the major challenges facing logisticians is that multinational logistics are often uncoordinated, and to address this, the Czech Republic socialized the idea of creating a multinational logistics coordination center (MLCC).

On October 28, 2009, senior logisticians from Greece, Hungary, Slovakia, United States and the Czech Republic formalized their support to cooperate with the establishment of MLCC to enhance multinational logistics cooperation through the signing of a letter of intent.

The center officially opened February 1, 2010 with a ribbon cutting ceremony. In addition, the virtual MLCC application that the EUCOM J4 Logistics Support division has been developing was unveiled. The application is hosted by HarmonieWeb and uses Microsoft Office SharePoint technology.

MLCC provides real-time visibility of logistics events to other countries; reduces cost of coordination of events between countries through virtual environment capabilities; and provides a central repository of logistics events data readily available to all countries.

With the virtual tool and the physical facility both in place, nations can submit logistics requirements for education, training events and exercises in one central location. MLCC will serve as a permanent contact place for our allies to get and manage necessary information and test tools for information exchange in a virtual environment.

Maintenance Services

The U.S. Army Contracting Command has awarded a task order under the Field and Installation Readiness Support Team contract vehicle to ITT Corporation for maintenance staff services for the U.S. Army Central Command (USARCENT) Special Troops Battalion (STB). Under this task order, ITT will provide support to the USARCENT STB in conducting maintenance, repair and other services for vehicles, generators and environmental control units in the Central Command area of operations.

The task order is for a one-year base period and includes options for four additional one-year periods, which if exercised will bring the total value of the project to approximately $6 million.

FMTV Decision

The Department of the Army confirmed that it has re-evaluated the contract award decision for its Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles, originally made on August 26, 2009. This change was based on Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) recommendations. Accordingly, Oshkosh Corp. has been awarded a competitive, five-year requirements contract for production of up to 12,415 trucks, 10,926 trailers and associated support and engineering services. The total estimated contract value at award was $3.023 billion.

The Army originally awarded the contract to Oshkosh, but BAE Systems, Tactical Vehicles LP and Navistar, LLC filed GAO protests against the contract award to Oshkosh.

GAO sustained portions of the Navistar and BAE protests on December 14, 2009. The GAO recommended that the Army re-evaluate the offerors’ proposals under the Key Tooling and Equipment Element and conduct a new evaluation of Navistar’s past performance that adequately documented the agency’s judgments, and make a new source selection decision. ♦

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