A recent University of Michigan study found that poor families often pay higher prices for necessities because they lack enough cash on hand to make bulk purchases at lower unit prices. This “poverty penalty” could soon apply in defense acquisition. A potential case in point: The V-22 Osprey tiltrotor transport. After years of hesitation, the…
By Richard WhittleHow to unlock innovation and savings for DoD: “commercial,” not COTS
Overmatch is fleeting and while traditional acquisitions can’t always keep up with new threats, a different and approved practice can.
CORRECTED: 280 knots equals 322 mph, not 245. Spring has sprung and at the Bell Helicopter factory in Amarillo, Texas, it’s mating season, of a sort. If all goes well, by September of next year a bird of a different feather will take flight – the V-280 Valor, a medium-lift tiltrotor transport whose wing and…
By Richard Whittle
A London Daily Mail report that the V-22 is “the SAS’s deadly new weapon in the war against Islamic State terrorists threatening to bring murder and bloodshed to the streets of Britain” has Pentagon and Osprey fleet insiders giggling and Bell-Boeing executives doing some wishful thinking. The Daily Mail told us that the SAS (Special Air Service) was…
By Richard Whittle
WASHINGTON: Sen. Kelly Ayotte, take note. The head of Air Combat Command told reporters this morning that the A-10 Warthog’s retirement will probably slide two to three years thanks to the increased threats faced by the Air Force. Gen. Hawk Carlisle, speaking at a Defense Writers Group breakfast, made it clear the decision hasn’t been…
By Colin Clark
PENTAGON: The head of Marine aviation is talking with Boeing about costs and ways to upgrade more than half of the service’s 239 V-22 Ospreys to improve readiness. The basic plan would be to improve all 131 of the A and B models of the V-22 to the C level, Lt. Gen. Jon Davis, told me in an interview…
By Colin Clark The V-22 Osprey will reach the eight-year mark in its operational deployment history this September. The Osprey-enabled assault force is redefining ways to think about the insertion and withdrawal of force and new ways to engage, prevail and disengage. The program has reached a critical turning point – can the Osprey be purchased by allies, and be…
By Robbin Laird
Military innovation and savings: Go commercial
DoD uses FAR Part 12 acquisitions to save hundreds of millions of dollars in “of a type” systems like civil landing systems with applicability to military aircraft.
WASHINGTON: Roman senator Cato the Elder ended every single one of his senate speeches with the declaration that “Carthage must be destroyed.” Eventually, Carthage was. Rep. Walter B. Jones is just as relentless in his pursuit of increased official recognition of the Marine Corps. If he can just outlast fellow Republican Sen. John McCain in…
By Richard Whittle
WASHINGTON: The Air Force is considering buying V-22s for search and rescue work, but Gen. Hawk Carlisle, head of Air Combat Command, made it pretty clear this morning that an Osprey buy has to come after the service buys the first 112 of the Sikorsky-built Combat Rescue Helicopters. Gen. Mark Welsh, Air Force Chief of Staff,…
By Colin Clark
ABOARD USS WASP: When the Marines decided to bring the press aboard the USS Wasp for the F-35B’s first set of operational tests — takeoffs, landings and flights designed to nearly simulate combat conditions — they provided the world with a glimpse of how they will fight using amphibious ships, F-35Bs and V-22 Ospreys. We…
By Colin Clark
BALLSTON, Va: Since early November, three Marine Corps MV-22B Ospreys and 26 marines have been on alert at Al Jaber Air Base in Kuwait, on 30-minute alert to fly in and rescue a U.S. or coalition pilot downed while bombing or shooting at the Islamic State in Iraq or Syria. On 29 occasions between Nov. 1 and…
By Richard Whittle
Sen. John McCain recently went after the Jones Act again. In an amendment to bill S.2012, the “Energy Modernization Act of 2015, McCain argues that the Jones Act is an “antiquated law” that hinders free trade and raises prices for American consumers. What the senator ignores is the impact of the legislation on Military Sealift Command. The…
By Robbin Laird, Ed Timperlake and Murielle Delaporte