NATO Task Force Seeks Joint Strategies as Budgets Fall

NATO has created a task force that will identify ways the alliance can bolster its capabilities and purchasing power in a time of shrinking defense budgets, according to a top general.
The group will deliver ideas and proposals for "innovative, multinational approaches to capability development" by September, French Air Force Gen. Stéphane Abrial, NATO supreme allied commander, transformation, said during a briefing in Washington.

Defense ministers from NATO nations agreed to organize the task force during meetings in Brussels last week. U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Carol Pottenger, deputy chief of staff for capability and development at NATO's Norfolk, Va.-based Allied Transformation Command (ACT), is overseeing the effort. The team is made up of officials from NATO headquarters, ACT and member nations.
"We need to be able to do better with less in the future," Abrial said, noting the 28 NATO member governments do not want the financial crisis to turn into a security crisis. "Therefore we have to redouble our efforts to see how we can be more effective and more efficient."
ACT is responsible for preparing NATO troops for near-term and future conflicts and identifying capability gaps.
The task force is exploring the nations' capabilities for all types of conflicts and looking for innovative solutions and multinational approaches. At the same time, ACT and the European Defense Agency are working together to avoid duplication in numerous areas, including countering improvised explosive devices, medical support and network-centric operations, Abrial said.
"This means that the nations have embarked in a more multinational vision of capability development," he said, noting this includes doctrine, organization, training and equipment.
The task force is looking at smaller cooperation agreements within NATO that could ease procurement issues, according to Abrial. This means all 28 member nations would not have to contribute to every initiative.
"If you try to procure at 28, then it might take quite awhile to get an agreement and in order to get to the agreement, you will have to make compromises and to include some parts of ambiguity, which you will pay at the end in terms of time and cost," he said.

Impact of U.S. Joint Forces Command Closure

Abrial expects ACT to continue working closely with the Pentagon even after U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) closes. ACT and JFCOM are co-located in Norfolk, Va. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced plans to close JFCOM in April 2010.
"My understanding is that there will be a good portion of JFCOM which will stay in the Norfolk-Suffolk area, specifically which is dealing with modeling and simulation," Abrial said.
The French general expects to work more closely with the Joint Staff, which will assume the JFCOM headquarters-type roles. The rest of the responsibilities will be "distributed somehow across the different institutions in the U.S., and we have started to look at how we will re-plug into this much more distributed system," Abrial said, noting he is still awaiting U.S. decisions on JFCOM's eventual shut down.
"Working in a distributed environment will not be totally new for us because we have been working already with other entities from JFCOM," he said. "We have close contact with Cyber Command" and the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Disposal Organization, he said.
Abrial said DoD will rely on ACT more than in the past to complete some functions they once jointly tackled with JFCOM.
"My impression is that with the disestablishment of JFCOM, the work between the U.S. defense institution and ACT will even increase as compared to the past," he said.

GAO: F-35 Software 'Significantly Behind Schedule'

Software development continues to bedevil Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), according to government auditors and U.S. Air Force and program officials.
In testimony submitted to Congress, Michael Sullivan, an auditor at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), said the stealth aircraft's software development "is significantly behind schedule as it enters its most challenging phase."

Sullivan said in his report that officials had underestimated the time and effort required to develop and integrate the F-35's software, which is an order of magnitude more complicated than code found on board the Air Force's F-22 Raptor or the U.S. Navy's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.
"Delays in developing, integrating, and releasing software to the test program have cascading effects hampering flight tests, training and lab accreditation. While progress is being made, a substantial amount of software work remains before the program can demonstrate full war-fighting capability," Sullivan said March 15 in testimony to the House Armed Services Committee (HASC).
The GAO is predicting that the remaining software will be more than three years late compared with the F-35 program's 2006 plan.
The agency's statement reflects concerns voiced earlier this month by Gen. Norton Schwartz, the Air Force chief of staff, that the software might become "the pacing item in terms of the development schedule."
In joint testimony submitted to the HASC, Air Force procurement chief David Van Buren and F-35 program executive officer David Venlet said that software development concurrency is one of the program's top four concerns.
"The four highest development risks on the program risk management board are software development concurrency. [technical baseline review] replan has assessed and extended the schedule, and early code writing and lab integration testing performance measures are being closely monitored," the joint testimony read.
However, Van Buren and Venlet also stated that the F-35's software development is conforming to a recently readjusted schedule.
"The development of F-35 Mission Systems software, a component of the Air System Software, is proceeding according to a schedule adjusted as an outcome of the" aircraft's technical baseline review, Venlet and Van Buren said.
The testimony reflects earlier comments by Venlet's deputy, Air Force Maj. Gen. C.D. Moore, who stated that the program office added more time and resources to the software development effort.
"The schedule and resourcing has been adjusted to address the risks that we saw associated with those next steps," he said.

Scorpene Delivery to India Delayed 3 Years

NEW DELHI - Delivery of the first French Scorpene submarine being license-built in India has been delayed by three years, until the latter part of 2015, Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony told the Indian Parliament in a written statement March 14.
According to the $3.9 billion contract signed in 2005 between India and France, construction of the first three submarines would begin in December 2006, December 2007 and August 2008. As per the contract signed with Mazagon Docks Ltd. (MDL), the first submarine is scheduled to be delivered in December 2012, and one each year until December 2017, Antony said.

Antony, however, told Parliament that the first Scorpene delivery will be delivered in 2015.
"As per the contract, the first submarine was scheduled to be delivered in December 2012 and thereafter, one each every year till December 2017. There have been delays due to initial teething problems, absorption of complex technology, augmentation of MDL infrastructure and procurement" of material. The first submarine is now scheduled to be delivered in the second half of 2015, Antony said.
India is already facing a shortfall in submarines. Currently, the Navy has 14 submarines and, by 2012, there will be nine, a senior Navy official said.
The news of the delay in the Scorpene delivery comes at a time when the Chinese Navy is building several nuclear submarines. China has about 30 modern submarines and few dozen older ones. The Scorpenes are being built under Indian Navy's Project 75, which was approved in 1997.
The Scorpene is a conventional submarine with diesel propulsion. It is 219 feet long and has a speed of more than 20 knots with a displacement of 1,700 tons. With 31 men onboard, it can remain at sea for about 50 days and can dive to a depth of more than 1,000 feet.

Japan Sends Reservists For Quake Relief

TOKYO - Japan's defense ministry said March 16 it will send military reservists to help relief efforts in the northeast, where thousands remain missing amid massive earthquake and tsunami damage.
About 6,400 reservists will join the 70,000 troops already in the field in the region battered by the 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami on March 11, a ministry official said.

The country plans to send a total of 100,000 regular troops, about 40 percent of its military, which is known as the Self Defence Forces.
In the latest official figures, the death toll mounted to 3,676, and 7,558 people were missing. About 556,000 had been evacuated and more than a million buildings and households remain without running water or electricity.
The police chief of hardest-hit Miyagi has said he fears 10,000 dead in that prefecture alone.

U.S. Drones Track Drug Lords Over Mexico: Report

WASHINGTON - The United States has begun sending unarmed drones deep into Mexico to gather intelligence about powerful drug cartels in order to assist local authorities, the New York Times reported on March 16.
The newspaper said U.S. President Barack Obama and his Mexican counterpart Felipe Calderon formally agreed to the high-altitude missions in a meeting on March 3 but have kept it secret because of possible political and legal constraints.

It cited unnamed U.S. officials as saying that the drones gathered vital information leading to Mexico's arrest of several suspects in last month's killing of U.S. immigration and customs agent Jaime Zapata, 32.
Such a program would suggest rising concerns about the Mexican government's ability to bring the cartels to heel through a massive military crackdown launched by Calderon in 2006.
Since then more than 34,600 people have been killed in drug-related violence that has engulfed the country, especially areas along the U.S. border where rival gangs battle over lucrative trade routes to the north.
"It wasn't that long ago when there was no way the DEA could conduct the kinds of activities they are doing now," Mike Vigil, a retired chief of international operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration, told the Times.
"And the only way they're going to be able to keep doing them is by allowing Mexico to have plausible deniability."
The Times quoted a senior U.S. official as saying that all "counternarcotics activities were conducted at the request and direction of the Mexican government."
It quoted both Mexican and U.S. officials as saying that Mexico has been turning a blind eye to U.S. wiretapping of the telephones of drug suspects and to US agents carrying weapons in violation of longstanding Mexican restrictions.
Mexican and U.S. officials said that their joint efforts had led to the capture or killing of at least 20 high-level drug traffickers, including 12 in the last year alone, the Times reported.
However, past high-profile arrests have had little impact on the ground.
On March 15 a six-truck convoy of gunmen pursuing a marked man fatally shot six people, including two children ages 2 and 6, during a rampage through the Mexican beach resort of Acapulco, state officials said.
And in northeastern Mexico a car bomb exploded outside a police station and a children's playground, wounding a woman and a police officer.

Construction of Fast Attack Craft starts for Pakistan Navy

On Tuesday, China formally started the manufacturing of two state-of-the-art fast attack missile crafts for the Pakistan Navy. These crafts are an addition to a couple of naval frigates which are being built for the strategic partner.
The ceremony of the Fast Attack Craft FAC(M) of Pakistan Navy was held at Xinggang Shipyard. The Pakistan navy has signed a contract with Offshore International Company Limited (CSOC) & China Shipbuilding for the construction of the two modern missile crafts which will be geared with the latest sensors and weapons.
The Vice Admiral Tanveer Faiz Ahmed of the Pakistan Navy attended the ceremony. The arrangement states that one of the crafts will be built in Tianjin while the other one will be manufactured in Pakistan’s Karachi docks. The first craft was expected to be inducted in the force last October. At the moment there is no information about the financial agreements on this deal.
China is a major weapons system supplier to Pakistan and it is deeply involved in a series of defence projects with its ally. This includes the joint development of the JF-17 Thunder fighter jet which will be manufactured by both countries with engines supplied by Russia.
A couple of naval frigates for the Pakistan Navy are also being constructed in china and at the moment three of them have been inducted into service. The fourth one is still being manufactured in the Karachi Shipyard.

U.S. Navy Details JSF Buy

The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps strike fighter picture will become clearer under an updated interservice agreement set to be signed March 14, according to a senior defense official.

The agreement reaffirms that Marine F-35Cs will rotate in and out of deploying carrier air wings. All F-35Bs will be ground-based. (U.S. Navy)

The Tactical Air memorandum of understanding ratifies the Navy Department's plan to buy 680 F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighters (JSF), and details the exact mix of variants and who will fly them. Of the total, 260 will be Navy F-35C carrier-based aircraft, 80 will be Marine F-35Cs, and 340 will be Marine F-35B short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing (STOVL) planes.

The agreement also reaffirms that Marine F-35Bs and F-35Cs will continue to rotate in and out of deploying carrier air wings, sharing commitments with Navy F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets and F-35Cs. The Marines will raise the number of carrier-capable squadrons from three to five.
The agreement formalizes an earlier decision not to deploy F-35Bs from carriers, but rather to have all Marine squadrons deploying on carriers flying the same C version as their Navy compatriots. The STOVLs will operate from land bases and amphibious ships.
The first Navy F-35C carrier squadron is set to stand up in December 2015, with the first Marine F-35C squadron following a year later.
By the mid-2020s, according to Navy planners, each carrier air wing will include two Super Hornet squadrons and two Lightning II squadrons. Every fourth F-35C squadron will be a Marine unit.
The Navy continues to plan for a fleet of 10 carrier air wings, with 44 strike fighters per wing, organized into 10- and 12-plane squadrons. The Navy will field 35 strike fighter squadrons composed of Super Hornets or F-35Cs, and the Marines will field five F-35C squadrons.
Ultimately, the Lightnings will serve alongside a fleet of 556 F/A-18 Es and Fs.
There is no intention to field an all-F-35 strike fighter force with any carrier air wing, a senior Navy official said. A new, sixth-generation aircraft will be developed as a follow-on to the F-35, and those aircraft will replace the Super Hornets, the official said. Characteristics of the new aircraft - including whether it will be manned, unmanned or optionally manned - have yet to be determined, the official said.

STOVL Issues

Carrier planners have long wrestled with the issue of integrating the F-35B STOVL onto flight decks. The aircraft are not designed for catapult launch, and would require specific launch-and-recovery operations apart from other aircraft types flown from the ships, the senior Navy official said. They also have different range and ordnance-carrying capabilities than the carrier version.
Development of the STOVL version has hit a number of engineering snags, including weight, power and heat issues, and the program is currently on a two-year Pentagon "probation" to solve those issues.
Gen. James Amos, the Marine Corps commandant, said he believes those issues can be solved before that time, and that the Corps remains committed to the STOVL version.
The Marine F-35s will replace all aircraft in 19 strike fighter squadrons - 12 squadrons flying 261 F/A-18 Hornets, and seven squadrons flying 145 AV-8B Harrier jump jets. All of the current aircraft in those squadrons are to be phased out by 2023.
The new agreement also will relieve the Navy of the need to supply a Hornet squadron to meet Marine land-based expeditionary needs. Those aircraft deploy under the Unit Deployment Program to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan. Seven Marine F-35B squadrons will eventually handle those duties.
The updated agreement, a senior Marine official said, also provides for nine F-35B squadrons to work with the seven Marine Expeditionary Units that deploy aboard Navy amphibious ready groups.
Five Reserve squadrons will also fly strike fighters. Three Marine Reserve squadrons will fly the F-35B, one Navy Reserve squadron will operate the F-35C, and one other Navy Reserve squadron will fly single-seat F/A-18E Super Hornets.
Renewal of the Tac-Air agreement, the senior defense official said, allows planners to begin working out more detailed schedules of when individual squadrons will switch to the new aircraft.