US Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

TerraN_EmpirE

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
V22 may or may not take that role but she is already rewriting the rules and missions for not just the Marines, and Navy but Air Force, US Socom, Foreign interests and the US Army.
the Navy and Marines V22 is already being tested as air to air tankers and Boeing seems to be keeping on the EV22. US Socom is looking at a gunship version. Well the Japanese and Israelis are looking at long range transports. Although the Army seems unlikely to actually buy Ospreys its capabilities are definitely being pushed for the JMR/FVL programs.
 
Jura The idiot

Jura The idiot

General
New Science and Technology Strategic Plan Coming:

Posted on InsideDefense.com: May 16, 2014

The Navy and Marine Corps will release an updated naval science and technology strategic plan this summer, and it will reflect a new focus on cyber development tools and the electromagnetic spectrum, according to a Navy official.

Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder, chief of naval research, told Inside the Navy May 14 after a Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee hearing that the plan is being reviewed by Navy and Marine Corps leadership.

"I would say we will have it signed by the end of the summer," he stated.

Klunder told the subcommittee the strategic plan guides the Navy's investments to ensure there is a long-term focus and near-term objectives are met.

"We fully understand that anti-access and area-denial threats continue to increase," Klunder said. "Cyberwar challenge, my colleagues have noted already, will also increase and become more complex. These are problems that are not easy to solve, but we are making progress."

Klunder told ITN the naval science and technology strategic plan is updated every two years. He stressed affordability will be stressed throughout the entire S&T portfolio.

The most recent strategic plan was released by the Navy in November 2011 and included 13 focus areas. However, after its release the Navy reduced the focus areas down to nine, with the majority of them directed toward anti-access and area-denial threats, ITN reported in February 2012.

When narrowing the focus areas, Klunder said he looked for duplication. The nine focus areas are: assure access to maritime battlespace, autonomy and unmanned systems, expeditionary and irregular warfare, information dominance, platform design and survivability, power and energy, power projection and integrated defense, total ownership cost and warfighter performance.

"These nine areas represent an evolving consolidation developed from naval needs, sized for reasonable scale and magnitude and linked directly to warfighting functions," Klunder wrote in his testimony to Congress.

Klunder told ITN the updated strategic plan will keep most of the nine focus areas.
 
TerraN_EmpirE

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
Jstars-X
USAF reveals notional specifications for JSTARS replacement
By: STEPHEN TRIMBLEWASHINGTON DC Source: Flightglobal.com 10:37 16 May 2014
Replacing the Northrop Grumman E-8C JSTARS fleet could require an aircraft with a 10-13 person crew and a 3.96m-6.1m-long (13-20ft) radar array, according to newly-released US Air Force briefing documents.

The USAF earlier this year announced plans to acquire an E-8C replacement with an aircraft in the business jet class that could achieve an initial operational capability in 2022. A host of potential bidders – including Boeing, Bombardier and Gulfstream – attended an industry day hosted by the service on 8 April.

The contents of the briefings were initially withheld from public view, as the USAF claimed they were pre-decisional. Indeed, the briefings to potential bidders were held before the air force obtained a validated requirement and approval to launch a programme of record.

For unexplained reasons, however, the air force posted the industry day presentations on a federal acquisition web site on 13 May, with each slide stamped “notional”. The documents reveal that the replacement for the air force’s airborne system for detecting ground targets and managing air strikes could require a relatively large platform, compared to most business jets.


Although a 13-strong crew with a 6.1m radar array is a reduction from the 18-member team and 7.3m array on the Boeing 707-based E-8C , the staffing and sensor requirements for the new system could make it challenging to accommodate in a typical business jet.

By comparison, the Raytheon Sentinel R1 delivered to the UK Royal Air Force and based on the Bombardier Global Express business jet – can seat a crew of five.


The capabilities sought by the USAF compare more closely to the cancelled Northrop E-10A multi-sensor command and control aircraft (MC2A), which was the original planned replacement for the E-8C and based on the Boeing 767-400ER. The E-10A included a 16-person aircrew and a 6.1m sensor for wide area surveillance – the Northrop/Raytheon multi-platform radar technology insertion programme (MP-RTIP) sensor.

Boeing has developed a business jet version of the next-generation 737 family. A highly modified variant of the BBJ2, in fact, is the basis for the US Navy’s P-8A Poseidon, which performs a similar role for maritime and littoral targets. Airbus also has adapted the A320 into the Airbus Corporate Jet, but company officials were not listed on the attendance roster for the industry day.

Despite still lacking a validated requirement, the briefing documents show that the USAF plans to complete the acquisition process quickly, with a contract award scheduled in less than three years; at the end of fiscal year 2016.

The pace of the acquisition process is driven partly by fears of budgetary poaching by other programmes, according to briefing slides attributed to Col Scott Owens, of the theatre battle control division at the air force lifecycle management centre.

The air force was forced to eliminate one JSTARS 'orbit' to comply with budget cuts imposed by sequestration, and now the service must acquire a replacement before future funding for the lost orbit is “used by other programmes”, the Owens presentation reads.

Replacing the ageing E-8C with a new aircraft avoids a nearly $11 billion operations and sustainment bill needed to keep the aircraft relevant and airworthy, Owens says.
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Cobra upgrade
Elbit to support USMC Cobra upgrade
By: ARIE EGOZITEL AVIV Source: Flightglobal.com 11 hours ago
Elbit Systems of America has been awarded contracts worth a combined $20.1 million to support the upgrade of Bell AH-1W Cobra attack helicopters for the US Marine Corps.

Under a deal valued at $11.6 million, the company will provide helmet display tracker system kits for the aircraft. Elbit says the equipment "significantly improves flight safety, by providing crew members with greater situational awareness and enhanced night vision, weapons sighting and weapons control". The contract will be performed over a two-year period.

Asset Image
US Department of Defense

Worth $8.5 million, the Elbit Systems subsidiary's second contract will also add a tactical video data link capability, which it says will enable crews to detect, identify and quickly respond to threats. Information can be received via on-board sensors or from external sources, such as ground troops or other aircraft. The contract will be performed over a duration of 15 months.
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Jura The idiot

Jura The idiot

General
On GPS:

Posted on InsideDefense.com: May 18, 2014

The Air Force's sixth Global Positioning System IIF satellite was boosted into orbit on Friday night and should be operational within about 30 days, according to service officials.

The satellite was launched after a day-long delay due to weather from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL, aboard a Delta IV rocket booster provided by the United Launch Alliance, or ULA. The Delta IV is not the vehicle that has attracted such significant attention in recent weeks because of its ties to Russian industry -- that is the Atlas V. However, the Air Force did have performance issues with a Delta IV launching a GPS IIF payload in October 2012. This launch appears to have gone off as expected.

The GPS IIF constellation of 12 satellites was built by Boeing. The Air Force and ULA had already launched one GPS IIF space vehicle this year, back in February, and have similar launches planned in July and late October, according to Walt Lauderdale, the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center's GPS IIF-6 mission director. Those upcoming events will both use Atlas V rockets, as did the February event.

Lauderdale and other service and industry representatives spoke to reporters in a May 8 pre-launch call.

GPS IIF-6 will replace an earlier-generation GPS IIA space vehicle that dates back to 1993 and is the worst-performing satellite in the constellation, Col. Steve Steiner, the GPS Space Systems Division Chief at SMC, said last week. That aging satellite will not be totally deactivated but rather put in reserve status in case of operational failures across the constellation.

Quality of performance is measured by the accuracy of the satellite's position, navigation and timing readings, the frequency of necessary software updates and the functionality of key subsystems and their redundant backup systems, Steiner said.

GPS IIF-6 had been in storage for roughly 18 months before it was transported to Florida for pre-launch preparation, Boeing's GPS IIF Program Manager Munzir Badawi said during the call. The company completed production of the 12th and final satellite in the constellation in December, and the remaining six are scheduled for launch by the end of 2016. The unit cost of the vehicles is estimated at around $245 million and they will remain in storage until several months before their confirmed launch dates.

Since October 2012, the Air Force and ULA have been studying the flawed performance of a Delta IV rocket's upper-stage engine, which could have delivered GPS IIF-4 to the wrong orbital slot or led to various other problematic scenarios. Ron Fortson, ULA's director of mission management, told reporters the investigation associated with that issue had been completed as of last week and that all parties were confident in moving ahead with a Delta IV launch.

The Air Force has a requirement for 24 satellites to enable the GPS constellation to provide full worldwide coverage, but the service has 30 space vehicles fully operating and several more in reserve. Steiner said the reason for keeping that many satellites online is to guard against the disruption caused by any unexpected problem that is common across many of them.

"We have a lot of satellites up there currently, which is why you'll hear the phrase, 'The constellation is robust at times,'" he said. "However, what may be seemingly conflicting to you for a message is the fact that we launched a whole bunch of these in order to get the constellation up and running in the early days, so you have large numbers of satellites that are all about the same age that are all susceptible to old age, if you will. There's always the possibility that you could have large numbers of failures in that age group at one time."

GPS IIF's 12 satellites will eventually be augmented by the developmental GPS III space vehicles, the first of which is now due to be available for launch in 2016 after a delay of around a year.
 
Jeff Head

Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
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​

World Maritime News said:
The guided-missile frigate of the U.S. Navy USS Rentz (FFG 46) was decommissioned during a ceremony at Naval Base San Diego, on May 9 after thirty years of service.

As Rentz Sailors manned the rails, retired Vice Adm. Martine Jules Mayer, the ship’s first commanding officer and the ceremony’s guest speaker, detailed the ship’s history, service record, and included some of his favorite sea stories from his time onboard.

“I have nothing but fond memories and I hope all who served on her feel the same way,” said Mayer. “It was a privilege and an honor to be her first commanding officer.”

Rentz, commissioned on June 30, 1984 was named after Chaplain George Snavely Rentz, who gave his life at the Battle of Coral Sea. Rentz gave his lifejacket to a fellow Sailor after his ship, USS Houston (CA 30), was hit by enemy torpedoes and sunk.

Rentz conducted Counter-Transnational Organized Crime Operations in the U.S. Southern Command Area of Responsibility during its final deployment, and was responsible for the interdiction or disruption of approximately 5,000 kilograms of narcotics worth $116 million through nine drug trafficking cases.

Nearly 20 of Rentz’s plankowners were in attendance at the ceremony along with Mayer, and helped serve as a reminder of the ship’s great history.

“There is a requirement for every CO, XO, and CMC that comes into a ship to do the absolute best by the ship and by the crew that they can,” said Cmdr. Lance Lantier, Rentz’s current and final commanding officer. “You owe that to them and to the legacy of those who’ve come before you, and we have an excellent legacy.”

The ceremony concluded with the retirement of the colors and the debarkation of Rentz’s crew.
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Of the 55 vessels commissioned into the US Navy between 1977 and 1989, now eleven are left in active service.

Two more will be decommissioned this year, and two more in 2015.
 
Jura The idiot

Jura The idiot

General
Jeff Head said:
...

Two more will be decommissioned this year, and two more in 2015.
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Jeff, will they (or some of them) be transferred to another Navy? (I happen to know two Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates are now the biggest Polish warships ... and some time ago I didn't recognize one Turkish, exercising with the Italians, you told me, remember? :)

Here's the Wiki list of current operators:
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TerraN_EmpirE

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
Guys remember a few months back I posted a story about the US Army testing Trackingpoint Scopes on modified M2010 Sniper rifles?
This Video is form Rated RR, A Youtube channel showing a full Trackingpoint made Rifle chambered in .338 Lupua magnum being used against a HTC one M8 at a range of one Kilometer.
[video=youtube_share;QVLmf_CBHKM]http://youtu.be/QVLmf_CBHKM[/video]
Now the HTC one M8 is 146.3 mm (5.76 in) in hight
70.6 mm (2.78 in) in With
9.4 mm (0.37 in) in depth.
The shooter is hitting a target smaller then a Human head at a thousand meters. in fact he then turns it side on and hits the target that means he's dealing with a target maybe the size of your eye. that's scary accurate.
GAO: More transparency needed for F-22 modernization spending
May. 19, 2014 - 06:15PM |

Two F-22A Raptors taxi down the runway at Langley Air Force Base, Va. (Tech. Sgt. Ben Bloker / Air Force)

By Brian Everstine
Staff writer AirForce Times
FILED UNDER
News
Congress & DOD
The Defense Department disagrees with a recommendation to increase transparency to Congress on the costs of F-22 modernization, according to DoD’s response to a Government Accountability Office report calling for more oversight of the program.

The Air Force’s cost estimate for upgrading and sustaining the F-22 is about $11.3 billion as of January 2014, and that includes a 10-year, multibillion contract for modernization efforts that last through 2023. A GAO report, released on May 16, recommends to the Defense Department that the Air Force provide to Congress comprehensive cost and schedule baselines for continued upgrades, much like other major defense acquisition programs.

A major effort to modernize the F-22, called the Reliability and Maintainability Maturation Program, is not managed with its own cost and schedule baseline, which “limits transparency of cost and schedule progress,” the GAO wrote.

“Without a comprehensive baseline cost and schedule estimate for reliability efforts that encompasses the life of the aircraft across all types of funding, it is difficult to consistently track cost and schedule progress on projects that, to date, have cost almost $1 billion,” the report states.

The Defense Department, in a response to the GAO, stated that it should not need to provide these baselines in its annual report to Congress. “t cannot be baselined like [a major acquisition program] because there will be fluctuations in the cost based on life-cycle issues that arise as the weapon system ages.”

The RAMMP program is intended to increase the availability of the F-22 by improving the aircraft’s reliability and reducing the time spent on maintaining the aircraft. The service has spent about $900 million on the program through the end of fiscal 2013, and there has been “some positive effect” on reliability.

“However, the Air Force has never been able to meet the F-22’s aircraft availability requirement and does not expect to meet that requirement within the next four years,” the report states.

The Air Force originally set a requirement that the average amount of flying time between maintenance would be 3.0 hours. The service could not meet that requirement, and instead raised the mark for overall aircraft availability at 70.6 percent in fiscal 2015, from a requirement of 61.2 percent in 2011. As of fiscal 2013, the fleet still has not surpassed 60 percent materiel availability, according to GAO statistics.

“The Air Force has consistently fallen short of its availability requirements,” the GAO wrote. “Program projections indicate it will not achieve 70.6 availability by fiscal year 2018.”

The Air Force is also planning to spend about $9.4 billion to modernize the F-22’s weapons systems, across four increments. The current fleet has been upgraded to Increment 2, which includes the resolutions of problems left over from the original development program and basic air-to-ground capabilities, including the joint direct attack munition.

The service is currently fielding Increment 3.1, which includes enhanced air-to-ground attack capabilities, to include the small diameter bomb, along with enhanced radar capabilities. This increment started development in 2006 and is expected to be completely fielded in 2017.

Increment 3.2A is a software-only modification of the previous upgrade, to included enhanced electronic protection. Development began in 2011, with complete fielding in Oct. 2017.

Lastly, the Air Force last year began development on Increment 3.2B, with complete fielding expected in Aug. 2020. This will include full integration of advanced air-to-air missiles, the AIM-9X and AIM-120D, along with upgraded geolocation and electronic protection.

In addition to all this work, the Air Force is in the middle of a Structural Repair Program on the fleet, which began in 2006 and will be completed in 2019. This is needed to install structural improvements to help the aircraft achieve its originally expected 8,000 flight hour service life, according to the GAO.

Of the total $11.3 billion the service plans to spend on the F-22, $9.36 billion is planned for modernization of the fleet, which first reached initial operating capability nine years ago.
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All Ahead Helmsman set course for Rimpac
Navy changes course, sends LCS to Hawaii for RIMPAC
May. 19, 2014 - 10:14PM |

By Christopher P. Cavas
Staff writer Navy times
FILED UNDER
News
Previous story:
LCS Will Miss World’s Largest Naval Exercise
WASHINGTON — Turns out a littoral combat ship will be headed to Hawaii this summer after all.

Adm. Jon Greenert, chief of naval operations, told an audience in Washington Monday that the Independence will operate off Hawaii as part of the huge Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercises to take place in June and July.

The move reverses an earlier decision that kept the Independence, along with the other three littoral combat ships in service, in southern California, carrying out tests and various exercises.

The recently commissioned Coronado, sister ship of the Independence, is participating in RIMPAC, but only in the waters off San Diego.

A spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor confirmed the Independence will take part in the seagoing phase of the exercises, scheduled to run July 6 through July 25.

“From the beginning of the RIMPAC 2014 planning process, we have looked for opportunities to involve our littoral combat ships. USS Coronado (LCS 4) has always been scheduled for the mine warfare and dive training portion off Southern California, that will also include USS Champion, USS Scout, a Canadian minesweeper and forces from seven other countries,” Capt. Darryn James said.

“In addition to USS Coronado’s RIMPAC participation, we recently modified the operational schedule of USS Independence (LCS 2) so that it will take part in the exercise portion off Hawaii. We remain confident both ships will continue to achieve future milestones and certifications.”

Freedom, the first LCS, took part in the 2010 RIMPAC exercises, and Navy leaders have frequently cited that experience as a significant event in getting the new type of ship to sea.

But no LCS showed up in 2012 for the biannual exercises — said to be the largest naval exercises in the world — and planners had not scheduled any of the four ships to visit Pearl Harbor. More than two dozen foreign ships are expected to voyage to Hawaii to join a similar number of Navy ships in the exercises.

A highlight of this year’s events will be the first-time seagoing participation of the Chinese Navy. A four-ship squadron is coming to Pearl — a destroyer, frigate, replenishment ship and hospital ship — and will undoubtedly garner a major share of media attention.

With an LCS now headed for Hawaii, the American ship is also likely to attract a bright media spotlight.
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Army inducts self-propelled howitzer into low-rate initial production
May 19, 2014

By Sam Tricomo, PEO Ground Combat Systems Public Affairs
ANNISTON, Ala. (May 19, 2014) -- Air and sea power are critical strategic military assets, but land power is undeniable in its ability to compel and deter adversaries. The Army's capability to project land power grew this week with the induction of the M109A7 self-propelled howitzer and its companion M992A3 carrier ammunition tracked vehicle into low-rate initial production.

The M109A7 and M992A3, formerly known as the Army's Paladin Integrated Management, known as PIM, program, were both inducted during a ceremony at Anniston Army Depot where Congressman Mike Rogers, Alabama's third congressional district representative, described what the systems bring to the Army.

"If we have to fight, we want to make sure it's not a fair fight. These systems ensure that it won't be a fair fight," Rogers said.

This summer M109A6 Paladin vehicles and M992A2 Field Artillery Ammunition Support Vehicles will be shipped to Anniston Army Depot where they will be disassembled to provide cab structures, overhauled gun and cannon assemblies, and other vehicle components to industry. The entirely new chassis, built at BAE Systems' facility in York, Pa., will marry with the reworked Anniston components at the new BAE Systems production facility in Eglin, Okla., for final assembly.

Anniston Army Depot Commander Col. Brent Bolander welcomed the systems and pointed to his depot's skilled workforce as providing a valuable service to the Army.

"The work you will do on these systems will provide our warfighters with a centerpiece of Army readiness," Bolander said.

The M109A7 and M992A3 entered Milestone C in October 2013, under the PIM program. They were first fielded, in 1963. For the past 50 years the platform has provided the Army with a highly mobile, armored combat support weapon capable of performing a role in nearly every function: move and maneuver, fires, protection and mission command. In short, artillery systems like the M109A7 and M992A3 represent an in-theater capability that delivers a volume of explosive destruction that otherwise only bombers and precision weapons costing considerably more would be able to deliver. But decades of upgrades to the platform show that it has reached its limit especially in terms of space, weight and power-cooling, or SWaP-C.

"This modernization effort represents a significant upgrade which includes buying back space, weight and power-cooling, to ensure the system remains relevant with room to add new capabilities in the future," said Lt. Col. Michael Zahuranic, the Army's product manager for self-propelled howitzer systems.

While the vehicle's cannon will remain unchanged, the M109A7 will sport a brand new chassis, engine, transmission, suspension, steering system. These components are also found on the Army's Bradley Fighting Vehicles, thus increasing commonality and reducing logistical footprints and cost. Improved survivability is also a main line of effort in the upgrade program.

The vehicle will also feature a new 600-volt on-board power system, which is designed to accommodate emerging technologies and future requirements, as well as current requirements like the Battlefield Network. The electronic gun drive system, which was developed for the cancelled Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon, NLOS-C, provides significant improvement to firing operations. Also, the on-board power system ensures the platform will have enough SWaP-C growth potential to last until 2050.

"This [M109A7 Paladin program] is really an example of acquisition done right," said Brig. Gen. David G. Bassett, the Army's program executive officer for Ground Combat Systems. "I want everyone here at Anniston to know that they are essential in delivering critical capabilities to our warfighters."

BAE Systems Vice President and General Manager, Mark Signorelli, commanded a M109A3 when he was in the Army and said he took exceptional pride in being part of the system's upgrade.

"It's with great pride that I also can see the integration of emerging technologies from our work on earlier developmental artillery programs. I know I speak for everyone at BAE Systems when I tell you how excited we are to begin work on the new M109A7," Signorelli said.
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Jura The idiot

Jura The idiot

General
Increasing Presence in Asia Pacific:

Posted on InsideDefense.com: May 19, 2014

The chief of naval operations on Monday laid out the Navy's plan to increase its force presence in the Asia Pacific region over the next several years, noting that the Navy plans to increase the average number of ships in the area from 58 next year to 67 in 2020.

The Navy averages 51 ships in the region, Adm. Jonathan Greenert said on May 19 at a forum hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC. Next year that number will rise to 58, he said, adding that the Navy's goal is 67 in 2020.

"There will be ramifications with budgetary issues; that's fine, we will do our best," Greenert said, acknowledging recent budget cuts due to sequestration and other fiscal constraints. "But the fact is, ladies and gentlemen, [that number] will go up. It will go up over what it is today."

Greenert went on to detail which vessels the Navy will deploy to the Asia-Pacific region over the next few years. The Navy will send another attack submarine to Guam next year, bringing the total number of boats in the region to four. The service will also send two ballistic missile defense-capable destroyers to Japan, one Joint High Speed Vessel to the western Pacific and, ultimately, four Littoral Combat Ships to Singapore by fiscal year 2017, Greenert said.

The Navy also plans to deploy a Mobile Landing Platform to the area, Greenert said, which will aid the force in theater security cooperation and humanitarian disaster relief efforts.

In aviation, the Navy has already deployed its P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft to the region, where it has made a "huge contribution" to the search for the lost Malaysian airliner, Greenert said. The service also plans to deploy its EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft this decade to the Western Pacific, he added. Finally, the Navy will deploy 17 MQ-C4 Triton maritime unmanned aerial systems to Okinawa, Japan, Greenert said.

Although Greenert acknowledged he is "concerned" about the Navy's lack of amphibious ships, he said he is focused on maintaining an affordable shipbuilding plan that "reconstitutes and re-capitalizes" the amphibious force. He pointed to the MLP and its Afloat Forward Staging Base variant, which he said would "augment" that force.

Ships like the MLP and AFSB will enable the Navy to use a combination of vessels for missions that today are performed by amphibious dock landing ships or landing platform docks, Greenert said, maximizing the overall amphibious force.

His most pressing concern, Greenert said during the forum, is maintaining the industrial base for future shipbuilding.

"I have to have a ready Navy. . . . I have to make sure that I have the proper balance of that readiness, the force structure that we have today and the shipbuilding of the future," he said. "My biggest concern is we need -- we have an industrial base which is not capable of adjusting and adapting to the world of the future and can't build the number of ships that we need. [This] precludes ourselves from having the sea power that we need in the future."
 
Jura The idiot

Jura The idiot

General
On Helicopters:

Posted on InsideDefense.com: May 19, 2014

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) is sponsoring an amendment to the House fiscal year 2015 defense authorization bill that recommends the Army upgrade the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter despite the service's plans to divest the aircraft.

"The secretary of the Army may implement engineering change proposals on OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters," the amendment language states. Those changes include a mast-mounted sight laser pointer, a two-card system processor and a diode pump laser.

According to the amendment, the "manner of modifications" for the helicopters "ensures the safety and survivability of the crews of OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters by expeditiously replacing or integrating, or both, the mast-mounted sight engineering change proposals to the current OH-58D fleet; the safety of the flight and that the minimum requirements of the commanders of the combatant commands are met."

Why a helicopter slated to be retired should be updated, however, remains unclear. A representative from Session's office was not immediately available for comment, though a congressional source stressed that language in the amendment appeared more suggestive than directive.

The Army plans to divest its entire fleet of Kiowa Warriors and instead fly AH-64 Apache helicopters teamed with Shadow unmanned aircraft systems in the armed aerial scout role. Army officials have repeatedly said the faster the service can divest the aircraft the more savings could be generated through cost avoidance. In a briefing obtained by InsideDefense.com in January, the service outlined decision points for its plan to restructure Army aviation and noted that the first move was to divest the aircraft and cancel its cockpit and sensor upgrade program.

The timing on when Kiowas will officially be moved into storage or retired is unknown. However, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno has testified that should the service not be allowed to begin implementing its restructure plan in FY-15 it would lose $1 billion in anticipated savings that year.
 
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