The Army -- in close cooperation with its industry partners who have 60 days to respond to the RFP -- aims to produce competitive prototypes by 2015 and production vehicles within seven years by 2017.

"It is important to note that within the RFP you are not going to see a weight requirement. What you will see and what we are emphasizing is the GCV has to be a versatile vehicle. This will probably be one of the most versatile vehicles that the Army has ever designed. If you look at survivability or armor protection, we are going to have a modular design, meaning we can have scalable armor kits so the commander can decide how protected that vehicle needs to be for the mission," said Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli. "We are giving commanders the capability to tailor survivability for a given situation."

The Army Acquisition Executive, Dean G. Popps, credited the Under Secretary of Defense for ATL, the DoD's Defense Acquisition Executive (DAE), and his team for their assistance in getting the Army to the RFP release date as planned. "Dr. Ash Carter, his staff and OSD key players provided critical insights, guidance, and strategies during the Material Development Decision Defense Acquisition Board (MDD-DAB) process and during RFP peer review. Their efforts and oversight were exceptional," said Popps.

"We have learned from the Future Combat System program -- over 40 technologies -- and we have incorporated that inside of a GCV construct. FCS -- plus what we know today from eight years of war --- has resulted in the release of an RFP for GCV. We could not have done this without industry; this is a partnership between our Army and industry to make sure we do the right things to make sure we put this capability in the hands of the warfighter," said Lt. Gen. Bill Phillips, military deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASA ALT).

Industry proposals will work with the Army to examine potential material solutions for the vehicle's requirements which seek to manufacture an unprecedented blend of protection, mobility and emerging technologies in a single, highly-survivable infantry carrier.

The initial phase of the GCV Program is being executed by the Program Executive Office for Integration, primarily because of the residual expertise inherent in that PEO from the Manned Ground Vehicle research and development era. At an appropriate time, in the coming 12-14 months, the current plan calls for the program to move to PEO-Ground Combat Systems in Warren, Mich. All of the Army's PEOs report to the Army Acquisition Executive (AAE).

The Army plans to award up to three Technology Development contracts by the fourth quarter of this year, marking a roughly 27-month period in which to test and mature sub-components and other material elements of the designs prior to the prototyping phase, in 2015, Army officials said.

"The GCV will address capability gaps we have identified from eight years of war --- such as mobility for our soldiers both inside and outside cities, improved information sharing for both mounted and dismounted soldiers while on-the-move. The GCV will be required to carry an entire infantry squad in one vehicle and protect it with sufficient space and electric power to accept network and other improvements as they occur," said Lt. Gen. Michael Vane, director of Army Capabilities Integration Center, Fort Monroe, Va.

Approaching the vehicle's development in an incremental fashion -- thus allowing for it to adjust to and incorporate technological change -- will increase the Army's ability to innovate and respond to the fast pace of change anticipated on the battlefields of today and tomorrow, Vane said.

Alongside formally releasing the RFP, the Army is also concurrently conducting an Analysis of Alternatives (AOA) in order to ensure that its plans for the GCV represent the best solution for the future, Mehney added.

"We are making sure that the GCV is the right material fit for the requirements we have been given. The Analysis of Alternatives is taking place at the same time as the RFP. It is our intent to complete the AOA by late summer 2010," he said. "This will precede the contract award, so if the analysis of alternatives says you need to do something differently than have a new vehicle program, we can respond to that prior to the contract award."

Army developing new Ground Combat Vehicle is a post from: DefenceTalk | Defense & Military News - Forums - Pictures - Weapons

"Just as physical security measures at forward and stateside bases are constantly being improved to meet current threats, so also are cyber protection measures taken to protect DOD information," said Maj. Gen. Richard Webber, 24th Air Force commander.

The Air Force mission depends on the availability, integrity and confidentiality of information systems interconnected through cyberspace, officials state. Adversaries are constantly seeking to find and exploit potential vulnerabilities of these vital information systems. All Air Force personnel are responsible for safeguarding these systems, and improvements to network security procedures help them to do so.

The following configuration changes will be implemented within the month of March:

• a) Users no longer will have the capability to send or receive text messages with attached photos or videos. Text-only messaging will remain enabled.
• b) If a device is being synched and its software is out-of-date, a "Force Load" message will appear. The user will have only one opportunity to decline updating the software. Any subsequent syncing attempts will render the device inoperative until the software is updated.
• c) Users will not be able to download additional applications to their devices over the Internet.
• d) Most Bluetooth functionality will be disabled. The only Bluetooth feature that will continue to function will be linking the device to the smart-card reader cradle.
• e) Users no longer will be able to connect their smart-card reader cradle to their computers.

Air Force people who have questions about these changes can contact their local client support administrators. People who notice abnormal operations of any communications devices or equipment are encouraged to contact their local information assurance officer or CSA.

"Mission assurance is the goal for which all changes are enacted to our network and the services provided with it: to protect the Air Force, its people, and its capabilities," General Webber said.

Air Force to implement handheld device changes is a post from: DefenceTalk | Defense & Military News - Forums - Pictures - Weapons

The formal launch of the new organization is awaiting congressional approval of its commander, Air Force Gen. Kevin P. Chilton, the commander of U.S. Strategic Command, said in a written statement submitted to the House Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee on strategic forces.

Army Lt. Gen. Keith B. Alexander, currently the director of the National Security Agency at Fort Meade, Md., has been nominated to command U.S. Cyber Command, pending Congressional approval. Alexander would, if confirmed, command both the NSA and Cyber Command and be promoted to full general.

“We look forward to continuing to work with Congress and our agency partners as we move forward to establish U.S. CYBERCOM,” Chilton said.

In June 2009, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates approved the establishment of cyber command to assume responsibility for operating and defending the Defense Department’s information networks as a unified sub-division of strategic command.

Gates charged U.S. Strategic Command –- that’s based at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha, Neb., and responsible for the United States’ nuclear arsenal and global deterrence, as well as space and information operations -- to stand up the new sub-command. Cyber Command will be constituted by adjoining strategic command’s joint task force for global network operations under the operational control of the joint functional component command for network warfare, which had previously separated offensive and defensive cyberspace activities.

“This segregation detracts from natural synergies and ignores our experience in organizing to operate in the air, land, sea, and space domains,” Chilton said. “The establishment of U.S. CYBERCOM will remedy this problem in the cyber domain.”

The Defense Department operates more than 15,000 computer networks across 4,000 military installations in 88 countries. Command and control, military intelligence and logistics, and the development and fielding of weapons technology, all depend on ready access to information networks, James N. Miller, principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy, said in prepared remarks to the subcommittee.

“Modern armed forces simply cannot conduct high-tempo, effective operations without resilient, reliable information and communication networks and assured access to cyberspace,” Miller said.

In anticipation of the joint cyber entity, and to better ease the integration of its operations, all four service branches consolidated their individual cyber forces and created new unified commands in the past year. The department also has begun training and equipping cyber security experts and expects to develop a readily available workforce of cyber specialists, Miller said.

Chilton highlighted the necessity of standing up Cyber Command as soon as possible, addressing ongoing vulnerabilities in the department’s information networks. He cited, without elaborating, a “serious intrusion” into the Defense Department’s networks last year.

Though corrective action was taken, “cyberspace is our least mature line of operation and it is likely to remain so for some time,” he said.

Yet, Chilton remains confident that the United States will be able to master this new realm of 21st century warfighting.

“When people first took to the skies, some wondered why we would ever need to fly,” he said. “But no one today can imagine life without air travel or national security without air forces …. Just as the U.S. mastered the air domain, we will continue to strive to preserve our freedom of action in cyberspace.”

US Cyber Command Preparations Under Way, General Says is a post from: DefenceTalk | Defense & Military News - Forums - Pictures - Weapons

The allegations, which first appeared in The New York Times, are that Defense Department employee Michael Furlong gathered intelligence on the whereabouts of suspected militants and the information was then sent to military units and intelligence officials for possible lethal action. But outsourcing intelligence operations to contractors is controversial.

Journalist Tim Shorrock, author of the book Spies for Hire, says the military and the CIA have increasingly turned to outside help for secret operations. "The use of private contractors for top-secret intelligence operations is fairly common. There is a line in the story pretty high up that says 'it is generally considered illegal for military to hire contractors to act as covert spies.' Well, I do not know what the New York Times is talking about because the Defense Intelligence Agency, which carries out covert operations as military units, military intelligence units, is highly contracted," he said.

All intelligence agencies are using contractors to fill personnel gaps in areas like analysis and logistics. But the use of contractors for secret intelligence operations is a controversial area. U.S. law forbids employment of mercenaries, but the circumstances under which private contractors can be employed for secret paramilitary operations is a gray area.

A defense intelligence official told VOA the Defense Intelligence Agency has the legal authority for clandestine activities, but does not contract them out.

Normally hunting down suspected militants would be a job for Special Operations troops, working in conjunction with the Central Intelligence Agency's paramilitary operatives.

But former Army intelligence officer Tony Shaffer says that starting in 2001, then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld decided to hoard Special Operations forces for his department and was reluctant to loan them out to the CIA. Shaffer, who was chief of operations for the Defense Intelligence Agency in Afghanistan in 2003 and 2004, says that forced the CIA to start using more contractors in operations.

"The decision was that DOD [Department of Defense], which owned the resource, would be getting the resource over CIA. And this resulted, I think, in CIA in almost an act of desperation trying to find a way to continue to augment and expand its paramilitary operations during the period," he said.

Contractors were originally used in Afghanistan and Iraq to provide physical security for bases and convoys. But Shaffer, now with the nongovernmental Center for Advanced Defense Studies, says contractors like Blackwater are being used in roles for which they were not originally envisioned. "I can tell you first hand that, from my experience, the Blackwater contractors in Afghanistan were being used as mercenaries, augmenting the mission of CIA to conduct things. And the idea was this allowed them [CIA] to ramp up rapidly in an area where they did not have a great deal of ability to perform - in this case, paramilitary operations," he said.

Shaffer says he personally dealt with two contractor casualties, Blackwater operatives killed while on a mission for the CIA. "I actually had to handle these guys who were killed. And they were Blackwater contractors who were performing a combat search-and-destroy mission with paramilitary individuals at the time they were killed. So clearly they were not there just to provide security. They were actually on an active mission," he said.

Many of the contractors are former government intelligence officers, lured away by the enticement of as much as twice their government salary for doing the same job for an outside company.

Tim Shorrock says increasing use of contractors for intelligence work, particularly operations, makes oversight difficult. "Contracting does operate differently than government-run, 100-percent government-run, operations. There is not that much accountability in CIA and covert operations anyway. Only a few people know about. But when it is contractors there is even less accountability and transparency, because you can hide contracts in all kinds of ways and bury the information, and the whole lines of authority who they report to, and all that is sometimes quite obscure," he said.

Laws governing the liability of intelligence contractors who commit misdeeds while on government business are still unsettled.

Shaffer says until that is resolved, problems with contractors will continue. "This is not a decided area of law. But as a taxpayer you have got to ask yourself the question, if I am funding this, do I want these things done in my name? Because any taxpayer, who pays taxes, that money is appropriated for whatever purposes the law says. So until there is some better definition of what a contractor can and cannot do, I think we are going to have this sort of problem popping up indefinitely," he said.

Two members of Congress, Democrat Jan Schakowsky and Independent Bernie Sanders, proposed legislation last month that would phase out the use of private security contractors in war zones.

US Spy Operations Become More Reliant on Contractors is a post from: DefenceTalk | Defense & Military News - Forums - Pictures - Weapons

In his last address to parliament before his five-year term ends in April, Reinhold Robbe, Germany's parliamentary commissioner for the armed forces, criticized the country's support of its soldiers, saying the Bundeswehr lacked the most basic necessities for its missions abroad.

The armed forces need more training, and more vehicles and weapons, he said in his report for 2009, adding that there was a shortage of 600 military doctors. Due to a lack of armored vehicles, most training takes place onsite abroad, he said, meaning troops arrive unprepared.

"The military leadership hasn't yet arrived at the realities of an army in combat," he told the politicians, "and continues to fail the troops in providing everything that's needed for them to fulfill their missions."

In 2009 the military treated 466 cases of post-traumatic stress syndrome, double the number in 2008. Almost 90 percent of those treated had served in NATO's International Security Assistance Force mission in Afghanistan, where Robbe said soldiers faced war-like conditions.

Despite the challenges facing them, Robbe said the individual soldiers were doing an excellent job.

Hazing abuse 'unacceptable'

Robbe also touched on the recent accounts of hazing rituals within the Bundeswehr. Robbe said he did not believe the problem was widespread. However, he said such incidents as the forced eating of liver and drinking of alcohol to the point of vomiting that, according to soldier complaints, took place at a mountain infantry troop camp in Bavaria, were not acceptable.

He also said the Bundeswehr had an image problem that needed to be addressed.

"Those who risk their health and lives for the good of Germany expect the same degree of solidarity and respect from society that is common in other countries," he said. "We haven't been able to achieve this so it's about time that official politics starts actively promoting this goal."

An advocate for soldiers

Robbe is a member of the Social Democrats, a party no longer part of the government since elections last fall. He is set to be replaced by Helmut Koenigshaus from the Free Democratic Party.

The parliamentary commissioner for the armed forces acts as an advocate for the armed forces and reports to the parliament on the situation within the military.

Bundeswehr Advocate Says Armed Forces are ‘Unprepared’ for Combat is a post from: DefenceTalk | Defense & Military News - Forums - Pictures - Weapons

The Symphony systems are U.S. Government-approved for sale through the Foreign Military Sales program to allied, coalition and partner nations for operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and other nations.

"Symphony is mounted on convoy vehicles and has been proven in combat against Radio-Controlled IEDs," said Carl Bannar, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin's Radar Systems business. "The system was engineered and built to provide continuous electronic force protection against RC-IEDs in the most rugged, tactical and extreme environments."

Symphony is programmable and designed for easy installation, operation and maintenance on a diverse set of platforms used by security forces worldwide. It is compatible and interoperable with other communications systems and jamming devices.

Lockheed Martin performs Symphony system production, vehicle system integration, depot and logistic support and engineering work at facilities in Florida and Virginia, as well as in theater. Lockheed Martin has produced Symphony since 2006, has delivered more than 1,000 systems and, prior to the latest contract, had received orders totaling $126 million.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation reported 2009 sales of $45.2 billion.

Lockheed to Continue Production of Symphony IED Jammer Systems is a post from: DefenceTalk | Defense & Military News - Forums - Pictures - Weapons

The 1,000 missiles include Scuds, Rodongs and IRBMs (intermediate-range ballistic missiles), a ministry spokeswoman told AFP. Two years ago, the ministry estimated the total at around 800.

Many of the missiles are deployed near the inter-Korean border and targeted at Seoul or other locations in the South, officials have said.

Yonhap news agency said last week the North has set up a new military division to operate IRBMs with a range of more than 3,000 kilometres (1,860 miles), capable of hitting US bases in Japan and Guam.

It is also known to have test-launched three intercontinental Taepodong missiles, which in theory could reach Alaska.

Kim, reiterating earlier estimates, said the North has produced 30-40 kilograms (66-88 pounds) of weapons-grade plutonium from its plutonium programme. Experts say this is enough to build six or seven bombs.

It is not known whether the North yet has the technical capability to create a nuclear warhead.

Pyongyang conducted two underground nuclear tests in October 2006 and May 2009. Recanting its earlier denials, last September it also announced it is running an experimental highly enriched uranium programme.

The North is under diplomatic pressure to return to six-nation nuclear disarmament talks which it quit last April.

As conditions for resuming dialogue, it insists on a lifting of UN sanctions and a US commitment to start talks about a permanent peace treaty.

N.Korea now possesses 1,000 missiles: S.Korea Minister is a post from: DefenceTalk | Defense & Military News - Forums - Pictures - Weapons

The advanced mission computer is the nerve center of the Super Hornet, providing situational awareness and combat systems control to the flight crew. A ruggedized, high-performance/high-reliability mission and display-processing system, the AMC relies on a Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS), open systems architecture. It performs general purpose, input/output, video, voice and graphics processing and is designed to operate reliably in the extreme environmental conditions of today's high-performance fighter aircraft. The AMC is able to process the high-speed data flows from the latest in sensor technology.

"General Dynamics is committed to continuing its legacy of providing advanced warfighting capability to the F/A-18 program," said Lou Von Thaer, president of General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems. "Our open architecture approach allows for technology refreshes and new generations to avoid obsolescence and provide improved performance for the Navy."

General Dynamics has been delivering AMCs for the F/A-18 since 2002. Since then, the nature of the work on this program has expanded from production for newly produced aircraft to include supplying Navy efforts to retrofit operational aircraft. This contract will primarily be performed at the General Dynamics facility in Bloomington, Minn., and will be completed by the end of 2011.

Headquartered in Fairfax, Va., General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems is a provider of end-to-end mission solutions in systems integration, development and operations support to customers in the defense, intelligence and homeland security communities. With a focus on cyber, maritime and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance solutions, the company integrates land, air, sea, space and cyber assets to support the strategy and execution of customer missions.

General Dynamics, headquartered in Falls Church, Va., employs approximately 91,700 people worldwide. The company is a market leader in business aviation; land and expeditionary combat systems, armaments and munitions; shipbuilding and marine systems; and information systems and technologies.

Type-3 advanced mission computers for the F/A-18 is a post from: DefenceTalk | Defense & Military News - Forums - Pictures - Weapons

The document outlines the U.S. policies in the sphere of nuclear deterrent for the next decade and includes an assessment of current and future nuclear threats to the country.

"The Nuclear Posture Review will be a foundational document for this administration... It's intended to be a practical work plan for the agenda laid out by President Barack Obama," Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy James Miller told U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday.

Miller said that the document was originally scheduled to be released in March, but defense officials took additional time "needed to address the range of issues under consideration in the report."

U.S. President Barack Obama said last year that as long as a nuclear threat existed, the U.S. would retain its nuclear capability, although it would work to reduce its arsenal. He has also outlined his vision of the future nuclear-free world.

Miller said on Wednesday that the draft nuclear doctrine outlines concrete steps toward the achievement of these goals and lists measures aimed to increase the effectiveness and security of the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
"It is essential that the U.S. continues to invest in its nuclear arsenal and infrastructure while pursuing a nuclear-free world. Guaranteeing the safety, security and effectiveness of our stockpile, coupled with broader research and development efforts, will allow us to pursue nuclear reductions without compromising our security," he said.

Miller also said that the document has been developed with regard to a new strategic arms reduction pact between the United States and Russia, which has been in the works since April last year.

"U.S. and Russian negotiators are now meeting in Geneva to complete an agreement that will reduce operationally deployed strategic nuclear weapons to their lowest levels in decades," the official said.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to coordinate the final details of the replacement to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START 1), which expired in December last year, during her visit to Moscow on March 18-19.

Washington to unveil new US nuclear doctrine is a post from: DefenceTalk | Defense & Military News - Forums - Pictures - Weapons

“Today’s warfighters require both high survivability protection and off-road mobility to complete their missions safely,” said Archie Massicotte, president, Navistar Defense. “The addition of the DXM suspension helps bridge both those capabilities on the MaxxPro Dash while the suspension’s design also allows for quick vehicle integration and rapid delivery.”

MaxxPro Dash vehicles will be retrofitted in theater with the DXM solution provided by Hendrickson Truck Suspension Systems and AxleTech International. Under the contract, retrofits are scheduled to begin by the end of April with work to be completed by the end of March 2011. Navistar is coordinating the installation of the DXM retrofits with the Joint Program Office. Currently, the company has more than 275 field service representatives (FSRs) in Iraq and Afghanistan to provide in-theater vehicle support for the MaxxPro fleet.

“Our continued efforts to improve performance paired with our manufacturing capability allow us to deliver the most advanced equipment to those who need it most - when they need it,” said Bob Walsh, vice president, Navistar Defense. “Navistar is also prepared to retrofit the remaining MaxxPro fleet, as well as the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police vehicle fleets with DXM kits and rolling chassis if needed.”

The award follows the company’s contract announced February 16 to provide 1,050 enhanced MaxxPro Dash vehicles. To date, the company’s total MaxxPro MRAP orders equate to 7,494 vehicles. Approximately 2,272 vehicles in the MaxxPro fleet will be enhanced with the DXM independent suspension solution. Additionally, Navistar has provided more than 8,100 International 7000 Series vehicles to the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police.

Navistar International Corporation is a holding company whose subsidiaries and affiliates produce International brand commercial and military trucks, MaxxForce brand diesel engines, IC Bus brand school and commercial buses, Monaco RV brands of recreational vehicles, and Workhorse brand chassis for motor homes and step vans.

DXM Independent Suspension for MRAPs is a post from: DefenceTalk | Defense & Military News - Forums - Pictures - Weapons