U.S. Navy plans for new intelligence-gathering aircraft suffer an abrupt reversal as an Army program implodes

By GLENN W. GOODMAN Jr., Special Correspondent

The Navy’s plans to replace its aging land-based maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft appeared last year to be on solid footing. Recently, however, the floor has crumbled beneath the service’s feet due to the demise of an Army aircraft development contract.

The Navy had a two-stage approach to attain new aircraft for patrol and reconnaissance. First, the Navy, in June 2004, selected a modified Boeing 737 commercial passenger jet as the P-8A Multimission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) to replace its venerable P-3C Orion sub-hunting patrol planes. Second, it joined the Army’s Aerial Common Sensor (ACS) development program to acquire a replacement for its EP-3E Aires II signals-intelligence electronic-eavesdropping aircraft, which intercepts radar, radio and telephone transmissions.

The ACS also was to be a twin-engine commercial jet. In August 2004, Lockheed Martin won the ACS competition with a modified Brazilian Embraer ERJ-145 regional passenger jet. The Army had planned to purchase 38 aircraft; the Navy wanted up to 19.

Such modern off-the-shelf jets are tailor-made for the Navy’s “Human Capital Strategy,” which aims to reduce its manpower and shore-based infrastructure by outsourcing logistical support to industry contractors. The P-8A and ACS contractors will take advantage of existing global maintenance and spare parts infrastructures for the commercial jets, which fly faster and higher and have more reliable avionics and engines than the turboprop P-3Cs and EP-3Es.

The P-8A MMA program is proceeding smoothly toward its first flight tests in 2009 and initial deployment in fiscal year 2013. But the Army’s ACS program fell apart last year after it became clear the Embraer ERJ-145 was too small to accommodate the power, weight and cooling requirements of the planned ACS sensor payload.

The latter comprised signals intelligence eavesdropping sensors, as well as electro-optical/infrared, ground-moving-target-indication/synthetic aperture radar and hyper-spectral imagery-intelligence sensors. The diverse sensors could cue each other, making ACS a highly desirable multipurpose surveillance platform.

The Army terminated Lockheed Martin’s $879 million ACS contract in mid-January and, together with the Navy and the Air Force, is studying alternatives within the broader context of joint airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities and requirements. One likely outcome of the study, due to be completed by Aug. 1, is that unmanned aerial vehicles will take on some portion of the missions once earmarked for the ACS platform.

The ACS itself will almost certainly remain a commercial jet derivative, either of similar size to the ERJ-145 or larger and more expensive. The Army tentatively plans to recompete the ACS contract by early 2009, which could slip the initial deployment to 2016.

Before the Army program imploded, first deployments of the Navy aircraft were planned for fiscal 2012. Navy officials are awaiting the results of the joint ISR study to guide their decision on how best to replace the EP-3Es, which were scheduled for retirement in 2014-2017, and whether to remain partners with the Army on ACS.

The Navy’s original decision to join the Army ACS program represented a major change in operational concept. The EP-3E, a modified P-3C airframe, carries an eight-person flight crew, including navigation and communications personnel, and 16 mission operators, who process most of its signals intelligence intercepted aboard the plane, which may include data from communications, electronics and even laser devices of a potential adversary. The Navy ACS was to have only six operator workstations, and would send most signals intercept data to a shore station or aircraft carrier for exploitation.

After the demise of Lockheed Martin’s ACS contract, Boeing quickly offered a derivative of its 737 P-8A as an ACS alternative. Tim Norgart, the company’s director of P-8A business development, told reporters Jan. 24 that the 737 aircraft would be an affordable ACS option because it would leverage the Navy’s investment in the P-8A. It also would capitalize on the P-8A’s hot production line, commercialized contractor support infrastructure and open mission systems architecture, meaning it can accommodate a variety of software applications.

Boeing’s initial crew design for the 737 increases the P-8A’s four mission workstations to 14, with room for 10 more.

Boeing’s proposal may appeal to the Navy because it would “neck down” the service’s maritime patrol and signals intelligence aircraft to a single common airframe. However, a 737 might be much larger than necessary for the Navy’s ACS — much less the Army’s — given the sea service’s planned operational concept of processing most signals intelligence offboard the aircraft.

In an effort to resolve its problems with the ACS, Lockheed Martin last November recommended switching to the larger Canadian Bombardier Global Express corporate jet. It offers the advantage of having been modified by Raytheon as an intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance plane for a United Kingdom program called the Airborne Standoff Radar aircraft. Other prospective ACS candidates include the Gulfstream G550, which is used by Israel as a signals-intelligence platform, and the 100-seat Embraer 190. The 737 is about one-third larger than the Global Express and the G550.

Edward Bair, the Army’s program executive officer for intelligence, electronic warfare and sensors at Fort Monmouth, N.J., who oversees the ACS program, now sees different set of options. He told Seapower, “I believe that [unmanned aerial vehicles] must be part of the joint airborne ISR solution in a networked environment and offer alternatives to having the manned ACS platform provide all the required sensor capabilities.”

For example, the use of unmanned vehicles fitted with electro-optic and infrared video cameras, he said, could reduce the performance requirements for the ACS platform, allowing it to carry a smaller, lighter electro-optic and infrared sensor package.

If the weight of the ACS sensor payload can be reduced, the ERJ-145 and G450 jets could again be in contention. Their relatively low operating and support costs compared with larger jets were elementary reasons why they were the top two candidates in the original ACS competition.

“Life-cycle costs, which are typically lower with smaller-size jets, will still be a critical decision element in meeting ACS requirements,” Bair said.

Meanwhile, the P-3C Orions, which entered service in 1969, will remain in the Navy’s inventory another 13 years if the P-8A program stays on track. Due to emerging submarine threats in shallow littoral waters, the Navy has shifted the P-3C’s primary antisubmarine warfare mission from the open ocean to coastal areas.

After service-life assessments three years ago indicated the aircraft had more serious structural fatigue than anticipated, the Navy decided to reduce the number of Orions by more than a third to keep their operation and maintenance costs within budget constraints. The service also initiated a “sustainment” program of inspections and structural repairs.

The Navy is reining in the number of the Orion’s monthly flight hours as well. The maximum for P-3Cs is 83 flight hours per month for those in overseas theaters and 58 for all others, according to Navy Capt. Joe Rixey, program manager for maritime surveillance aircraft at Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md. Previously, some Orions flew well above 83 hours per month in support of regional combatant commands.

Rixey told Seapower the Navy had pared down the number of Orions from 228 to 164, most of which are receiving upgrades, and will retire another 34 by fiscal 2010. The remaining 130 will be phased out as P-8As are fielded.

In 2003, a high-level Navy review panel recommended the manned P-3C and future P-8A MMA focus on providing a persistent antisubmarine warfare capability in littoral waters while long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles perform persistent wide-area surveillance of the open ocean. As a result, the Navy plans to acquire 108 P-8As and 50 off-the-shelf Broad Area Maritime Surveillance unmanned aerial vehicles to replace the capability that has been provided by 228 P-3Cs. (The two anticipated competitors are Northrop Grumman’s Global Hawk and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems’ Mariner, an extended-range version of its Predator B.)

The P-8A program completed its preliminary design review last fall. Its next milestone will be a critical design review in the third quarter of fiscal 2007, Rixey said. Three engineering development model aircraft will be built initially, one to test the P-8A’s flying qualities and two with full mission suites. Four additional aircraft will be built subsequently, along with two dedicated ground test aircraft.

The first test flight is scheduled for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009, he said, and low-rate initial production approval is slated for the third quarter of fiscal 2010.

Asked if the P-8A will feature any advances over the Orion’s antisubmarine warfare capabilities, Rixey said, “Its new acoustic system will include greater channel processing capability, concurrent passive and active processing, and significantly improved automation. We’re balancing our development risk by using ‘best-of-breed’ acoustic software. We’re convinced that we will have a revolutionary new capability.”