The Department of Defense's $1 trillion-plus plan to build and deliver multiple versions of the Joint Strike Force (JSF) aircraft to multiple customers is behind schedule, over budget, and upside down, according to a report from the Government Accounting Office (PDF).
Upside down because the military is accelerating procurement of operational aircraft before it has even taken delivery of test units, according to the non-partisan GAO.
(Credit:
Lockheed Martin)
"Procuring large numbers of production jets while still working to deliver test jets and mature manufacturing processes does not seem prudent," the report states.
The JSF program, personified by the F-35 Lighting II, is a joint international venture led by the United States and the United Kingdom. The report calls this the DOD's most complex and ambitious aircraft acquisition and the linchpin of the military's plan to modernize its tactical air forces.
Chronic manufacturing inefficiencies, parts problems, design changes, and a steep learning curve have slowed delivery of test aircraft, according to the watchdog agency, even as DOD wants to ramp up production of line aircraft. Speeding up the delivery of 169 aircraft by 2015 will require billions in additional funding, "magnifying the financial risk to the government" and adding years to the development schedule, according to the GAO.
Contractors say they'll have the problems fixed and all the test aircraft delivered by next year. But by that time, the DOD plans to have already purchased 62 operational aircraft, according to the report. As currently configured, the DOD is at liberty to spend $57 billion on 360 aircraft, even before it completes flight testing. The contractor has extended the manufacturing schedule three times.
In 2007, the DOD decided to cut back on test aircraft and flight tests and rely instead on "state-of-the-art simulation labs, a flying test bed, and desk studies to verify nearly 83 percent of JSF capabilities." Ground testing to this extent is not a proven substitute for actual test flights, the report warns.
The single-seat, single-engine multi-role strike fighter has something for everyone. It does stealth, air-to-air, close air support, tactical bombing, and air defense missions. It can take off and land on conventional runways, do short takeoff and vertical-landing, or land on a carrier. The project features a mixed bag of contractors as well, with Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and BAE Systems leading an international team of suppliers and manufacturers.
(Credit:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory )
Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are using low-cost titanium powders to develop lightweight, corrosion-resistant, bulletproof alloys for military vehicles and what they hope to be other military and commercial applications.
The latest project is a titanium door for the next-generation Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, which is meant to replace the Humvee and other front-line conveyances.
"By using a titanium alloy for the door, BAE Systems was able to reduce the weight of its vehicle yet at the same time decrease the threat of armor-piercing rounds," said Bill Peter, a researcher in ORNL's Materials Science and Technology Division (PDF).
Titanium is the fourth most common structural metal around. There's more of it in the Earth's crust than all the nickel, copper, chromium, lead, tin, and zinc combined. However, the current multistep, high-temperature batch process method for refining the ore into metal is extremely expensive.
There's a push to change that. The new nonmelt processing technique employed by ORNL and partners could cut costs by up to 50 percent, making it feasible to use titanium alloys for brake rotors, artificial joint replacements, and armor and other defense applications, according to ORNL.
One of those partners is International Titanium Powders, a company that wants to use something called the Armstrong Process to produce titanium and titanium alloys at a cost and quantity it believes will radically change the market (PDF).
"Instead of using conventional melt processing to produce products from titanium powder, with the new method, the powders remain in their solid form during the entire procedure," Peter said. "This saves a tremendous amount of energy required for processing, greatly reduces the amount of scrap, and allows for new alloys and engineered composites."
Saving money on bulletproof doors is a start; now maybe they can find a cheaper way to make the Pentagon's gold-plated toilet seats.
(Credit:
Army Research Laboratory)
(Credit:
U.S. Navy)
The U.S. Navy is installing an electro-magnetic laboratory rail gun at its Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Va., bringing it one step closer to developing a ship-mounted version of this futuristic cannon.
The 32-megajoule weapon appears to be the largest rail gun ever built, according to defense contractor BAE Systems. A joule is what's needed to produce one watt of energy for one second.
It uses a magnetic "rail" instead of a chemical propellant like gunpowder to heave projectiles at Mach 7 for what could be up to 220 miles down range--that's 10 times farther than what contemporary naval guns. The projectile hits at Mach 5, destroying the target with kinetic energy instead of conventional explosives.
Ship building and design are expected to benefit should the new gun prove feasible, mainly because new vessels won't be forced to haul tons of explosives. But while the rail gun uses no gunpowder, it can hardly be called energy efficient. A planned 64-megajoule system would suck around 6 million amps.
In addition to developing new onboard capacitors or pulsed alternators to power the weapon, the Navy must come up with new materials to secure the gun, firing it can dislodge the conducting rails--or even rip the gun barrel apart, according to some reports. The Navy, which has already tested smaller versions, as seen in the video, wants a rail gun onboard a ship as early as 2020.
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