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How The LCS Became A Frigate: A Glimpse Into The Process Their days often started off as early as 6 a.m., arriving at a nondescript building in Crystal City not far from the Pentagon. They’d grab some coffee and a little later sit down for a short meeting to review progress and the work ahead, and then go about their business. The business at hand for the 40 or so people assigned to the Small Surface Combatant Task Force was to figure out how to make the much maligned Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) better, to make it more lethal and more capable of surviving in battle. And to do it quickly, as the Navy wanted to see options in a matter of months. The task force was headed up by John Burrow, the executive director of Marine Corps Systems Command. The LCS program, a ship class consisting of two variants with three swappable mission modules for surface, anti-submarine and anti-mine warfare, had been the subject of public criticism. Members of Congress, close observers, and some even within the Navy thought the LCS strayed too far from traditional Navy ships, and did not have the firepower and survivability to deal with today’s threats. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel appeared to agree with those assessments when a year ago he instructed the Navy to come up with something else. The service would still be allowed to build up to 32 LCSs of the Freedom monohull and trimaran Independence variants, but would have to find a better option to fill out the remaining 20 ships needed to meet the small surface combatant requirement. Weeks after Hagel’s announcement, the Navy chartered the Small Surface Combatant Task Force that was told to, in accordance with Hagel’s orders, come up with alternatives that could include using an existing design for a new type of ship, a new design all together, or beefing up the LCS. The task force’s mandate was to come up with possibilities to inform the Navy’s senior leaders toward reaching a final decision—not make it for them. In December the Navy announced it was going with a stronger version of the LCS, one that would add armor Visit us at the SAS Show • April 13-15 • Booth 1801 © 2015 by Access Intelligence, LLC. Federal copyright law prohibits unauthorized reproduction by any means and imposes fines of up to $100,000 for violations. Special Show Issue

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Page 1: Special Show Issue - Defense Daily

How The LCS Became A Frigate: A Glimpse Into The Process

Their days often started off as early as 6 a.m., arriving at a nondescript building in Crystal City not far from the Pentagon. They’d grab some coffee and a little later sit down for a short meeting to review progress and the work ahead, and then go about their business.

The business at hand for the 40 or so people assigned to the Small Surface Combatant Task Force was to figure out how to make the much maligned Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) better, to make it more lethal and more capable of surviving in battle. And to do it quickly, as the Navy wanted to see options in a matter of months. The task force was headed up by John Burrow, the executive director of Marine Corps Systems Command.

The LCS program, a ship class consisting of two variants with three swappable mission modules for surface, anti-submarine and anti-mine warfare, had been the subject of public criticism. Members of Congress, close observers, and some even within the Navy thought the LCS strayed too far from traditional Navy ships, and did not have the firepower and survivability to deal with today’s threats.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel appeared to agree with those assessments when a year ago he instructed the Navy to come up with something else. The service would still be allowed to build up to 32 LCSs of the Freedom monohull and trimaran Independence variants, but would have to find a better option to fill out the remaining 20 ships needed to meet the small surface combatant requirement.

Weeks after Hagel’s announcement, the Navy chartered the Small Surface Combatant Task Force that was told to, in accordance with Hagel’s orders, come up with alternatives that could include using an existing design for a new type of ship, a new design all together, or beefing up the LCS. The task force’s mandate was to come up with possibilities to inform the Navy’s senior leaders toward reaching a final decision—not make it for them.

In December the Navy announced it was going with a stronger version of the LCS, one that would add armor

Visit us at the SAS Show • April 13-15 • Booth 1801© 2015 by Access Intelligence, LLC. Federal copyright law prohibits unauthorized reproduction by any means and imposes fines of up to $100,000 for violations.

Special Show Issue

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2 Defense Daily April 2015

and other technologies to make it more survivable, such as torpedo defense, and capabilities to make it more lethal, such as an over-the-horizon missile system. In January Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said the LCS designation for the new iteration of the ships would be dropped in favor of calling them frigates.

Now that the task force is done, the Navy invited a handful of reporters into the task force’s “war room” to offer insight into how the process played out over nine months of 12-to 13-hour workdays to review thousands of options under a tight deadline to get the work done.

It involved compiling and analyzing hull and combat system data, assessing cost, risk and operational analysis, and integrating input from the fleet. The task force also received dozens of proposals from industry through two requests for information last year, one for hulls and another for combat systems.

“It was extremely intense,” said a Navy official who described the process to reporters on the condition of anonymity.

The midsized room’s walls were covered with pinned up papers, documents, and complicated charts, all lending to the lengthy and exhaustive process undertaken by the task force. The official referred to all of the information as a “density of options.” Some of the walls had blank areas where classified documents had been removed ahead of the media visit.

The task force started off by identifying what it called “concept capabilities” that would lead to the new missions to be added to the small surface combatant. An initial 192 concept capabilities were eventually whittled down to the eight that would form the basis of making the ship more defensible while adding more lethal, longer range strike

capability and boosting surface and anti-submarine warfare.“We started to walk through and methodically tried to come down

to something that was manageable,” said the official. The official said outlining the concept capabilities first represented a “set-based design approach” to examine all possible options, rather than simply defining a requirement and getting a system to match it.

“You don’t eliminate everything from the beginning and you walk your way down to a representative set,” the official said.

Most of the 192 concept capabilities fell off the table because they too closely encroached on missions already being carried out by the

Navy’s fleet, such as air warfare and defense conducted by Aegis cruisers and destroyers.In total the task force reviewed more than 500,000 different possible combinations and configurations aimed at

meeting the concept capabilities, the official said. The team looked at 23 existing ship designs and more than 2,300 different ways of configuring combat systems, the official said. More than 200 cost estimates were produced.

Ideas poured in from many companies and a handful of countries, including Lockheed Martin [LMT], the prime contractor for the Freedom variant, and Austal USA, the builder of the Independence version.

Eighteen of the existing ship designs other than the LCS that were reviewed were domestic offerings, while the task force also looked at numerous foreign designs, including five formally submitted under the RFI.

Huntington Ingalls Industries [HII] was the only company that made its proposal public, and it consisted of modifying the National Security Cutters it’s building for the Coast Guard into a frigate for the Navy.

The Navy did not want to discuss other companies or countries involved because their proposals had not been made public. Some of the foreign designs involved frigates or small destroyers. Of the designs reviewed, 10 aligned as viable choices, and only one of those was domestic. A Navy official refused to say whether that was Huntington Ingalls Industries’ offering.

As the task force was establishing concept capabilities, a parallel track to assess needs was set up using focus groups, half representing the Pacific fleet and the others representing the Atlantic fleet.

They were asked to game out the most desired capabilities by placing poker chips on a chart outlining multiple options. As the rounds went on, they were given fewer chips, effectively shrinking their budget to nudge them into prioritizing.

The Navy official said the discussion within the focus groups resulted in “very passionate and heated debates,” but “they would eventually get down to the point that they understood the value.”

The focus groups arrived at a conclusion that prioritized surface and submarine warfare, an outcome similar to the individuals working the concept capabilities, the official said.

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One capability the working groups desired was air warfare, but as tradeoffs tightened, they ended up placing a greater emphasis on surface and submarine attack, said another official.

Some had anticipated that the Navy would add more air capability to the ship by adding a vertical launch system for missiles and by using a scaled down version of the Aegis Combat System. But the service decided against it, citing cost and space considerations.

In the end, the newly upgraded, multi-mission version of the small surface combatant, or frigate, features an over-the-horizon missile, adds a multi-function towed array for anti-submarine warfare, 25mm guns, and torpedo defense. It replaces the Rolling Airframe Missile Guided Weapon System (RAM) on LCS with the more capable SeaRAM. There will be increased electronic warfare capabilities, better air radar and decoy systems as well as steps to decrease the ship’s detectability.

The upgrades are estimated to add $75 million to the cost of each ship over the current LCSs.There have been questions as to the significance of the changes, whether the new capabilities make the ship more

of a frigate, “frigate like,” or whether it represents just a new flight of the LCS.One of the Navy officials in the war room brushed off the debate, saying that whatever it’s called, the new ship is

a significant improvement over its predecessor.“The capabilities on this ship in terms of improved lethality, multi-mission capability, and the survivability

improvements that we’ve had, it’s not an LCS that is out there today,” the official said. “The ship is capable, it’s survivable, and it has features that we have proven out in analysis that the operational community not only values, but loves.” n

Navy Seeking More Super Hornets, F-35sThe Navy has sent a special funding request to Congress seeking $2. 2 billion for buying 12 Boeing [BA] F/A-18

Super Hornets and eight Lockheed Martin [LMT] F-35C Joint Strike Fighters in the 2016 budget year.The wishlist, requested separately from the fiscal 2016 budget request, said the additional fighters are needed

to fill a potential capability gap that could arise at the end of this decade because existing fighters, namely F/A-18 Hornets, are wearing out.

“Our legacy strike fighters … are reaching end of life faster than planned due to use and wear,” Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert said in a March 13 letter to Congress.

The Navy has said that extending the lives of the Hornets has been complicated by the level of corrosion in the aircraft, as well as budget cuts that slowed work at maintenance depots.

Further, current orders for F/A-18 Super Hornets and sister airframe EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft will only carry Boeing’s production line through 2017, putting it at risk of closure and loss of the capacity.

The Navy had requested zero Super Hornets and Growlers in its formal budget request in February, and sought four F-35Cs, which is the aircraft carrier variant of the jet. Eight F-35Bs were requested for the Marine Corps.

The decision to seek more Super Hornets has been driven by problems the service has encountered trying to extend the lives of the aging F/A-18C Hornets and because of the lengthy delays for the carrier variant of the F-35C.

Greenert has been telling Congress and reporters over the past month that the service may have a shortfall in the number of strike fighters around the mid-2020s equivalent to two or three squadrons---or about 24 to 36 aircraft.

Greenert said extending the lives of the legacy Hornets has proven more difficult than expected, in part due to large levels of corrosion that weren’t discovered until the planes were opened up. Budget sequestration has deepened

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4 Defense Daily April 2015

the problem, he said. Moreover, keeping the Hornets out of service longer than anticipated has forced the service to log more hours on the Super Hornets to meet mission demands, meaning they will wear out faster than planned, he said.

The challenge has been compounded by multiple delays and restructurings over the last decade of the Joint Strike Fighter program, which has a long history of developmental problems and cost overruns that have required the Navy and Marine Corps--as well as the Air Force--to revise their plans for procuring the fifth- generation stealth fighter jets. The Navy’s F-35C variant won’t reach initial operational capability until August 2018, when it will still be at a low production rate.

Rear Adm. Mike Manazir, the Navy’s director for air warfare (OPNAV N98), has provided further details about the challenge the Navy is facing at meeting strike fighter requirements.

Manazir said over the last five years the Navy has been logging 330 hours annually on its fighters, about 30 more than planned for each aircraft. With the ongoing fight against the Islamic State, the burden has not eased, he said.

To keep pace with the wear and tear on the jets, the service would need to be buying 35-39 new fighters annually, a number the service is well below, Manazir said. That results in a gap of about 100 aircraft, he said. By adjusting readiness levels of 65 aircraft at any given time, the Navy can partially cope with it, but it still leaves a shortfall of about 35 planes, Manazir said. That number aligns with the shortage Greenert has discussed.

Once the last of the Super Hornets come off Boeing’s St. Louis production line the Navy will have nearly 600 of them. The total number of legacy F/A-18C Hornets in the fleet is in the mid-500s, the Navy says.

The Navy has moved to extend the service lives of both aircraft from 6,000 flight hours to at least 9,000, and in some cases to as many as 10,000. But when workers started getting into the Hornets, they found “a whole bunch” of corrosion that resulted in “unplanned work,” Manazir said.

That, coupled with sequestered budgets and an insufficiently sized workforce to deal with the greater scope of the job, has extended the depot period from

about 400 days by at least 50 percent to more than 600 days, Manazir said.“What we didn’t plan for, because we could not forecast it, was the amount of corrosion we found inside each

airframe,” Manazir.▶ Continued on page 9

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The Navy has entered the full production phase that will install CANES on all platforms in its inventory objective, which includes ships, submarines and land sites. Navy photo of the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) Carrier Strike Group.

An Open Systems C4I Networks DesignThe Navy’s newly deployed afloat information technology system called CANES is a cyber-secure solution that consolidates key legacy C4I networks by employing flexible open architecture to generate long-term savings and bring operational agility to the warfighter.

25770_DD_Canes_Supplement.indd 1 4/3/15 2:17 PM

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CANES: An Open Systems C4I Networks DesignCANES: An Open Systems C4I Networks Design

CANES, or Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise

Services, is based on a Northrop Grumman design that

leverages the company’s vast expertise in cyber and

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Northrop Grumman applied its Modular Open Systems

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design to bring the lifecycle benefits of open-systems

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lasting solutions that improve interoperability and lower

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“By maximizing commonality and using our MOSA-C

to drive down material costs, Northrop Grumman has

delivered dozens of affordable, highly capable shipsets

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says Sam Abbate, vice president and general manager for

the command and control division at Northrop Grumman.

Since winning the contract for a limited-production

run for CANES in early 2012, Northrop Grumman has

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sailors and Marines.

With CANES, the Navy is making sea-based C4I

networks easier to operate, creating a common computing

environment, reducing costs associated with maintaining

legacy systems, and allowing for rapid upgrades to get the

most capable technology to the warfighter while quickly

meeting emerging threats.

“CANES is designed to maximize commonality across

the fleet. Its open architecture allows for rapid deployment

of new and existing apps,” says Catherine Meyn, Northrop

Grumman’s program manager for CANES. “And we

integrated information assurance into the product right

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Assured CybersecurityWhen the CANES program was initiated years ago, the

world was in the early stages of recognizing the harm

potential adversaries or hackers could inflict in the cyber

CANES units bound for installation aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) are loaded and tested in the SPAWAR Network Integration and Engineering Facility prior to delivery. Photo: U.S. Navy

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CANES: An Open Systems C4I Networks DesignCANES: An Open Systems C4I Networks Design

domain. In the time since, the threat has become palpable, and

countering it has grown into an urgent national security priority.

“The CANES shipsets we are producing today are

information-assured cyber-robust systems,” Meyn says.

Northrop Grumman was among the earliest in the defense

industry to grasp cyber’s importance and leverage it into

the design and development of CANES. Northrop Grumman’s

broad approach accounted for a host of issues, ranging

from the physical protection of the system to system-wide

monitoring, as well as identification and protection against

potential threats, says Meyn.

“We’re applying our 30-plus years of cyber expertise

to ensure customer missions are protected,” Meyn says.

“To defend against an increasingly sophisticated threat,

cybersecurity has got to be part of the plan. Building it in

upfront makes it affordable and allows you to operate in a

trusted environment.”

As the Navy proceeds with CANES, Northrop Grumman will

continue to offer cyber solutions to guard against tomorrow’s

threats, and has already developed new technology,

leveraging expertise from its Advanced Cyber Technology

Center (ACTC), to allow end-users to safely interact with

CANES using portable devices like smartphones and tablets.

The ACTC, which launched last year, harnesses cyber

innovation from across the company to bolster resiliency for

customers worldwide.

The open architecture standards designed into CANES allow

for the introduction of new, emerging technologies like iPhones

and Android devices before they were household items.

“Even back then we were looking beyond a Blackberry,

to think about how this new technology would transition,

and we assumed there would be movement toward other

devices,” Meyn says.

Northrop Grumman’s ACTC developed an advancement

in trusted mobility called TEMPO that the company will

demonstrate to the government. TEMPO complies with access

validation through a Common Access Card (CAC) approach and

would allow sailors to securely use smartphones or tablets

with CANES. TEMPO ensures proper user identity and checks

apps on the devices to ensure they are safe, Meyn says.

“We are using our internal research and development to

identify even more ways that we can improve cyber on CANES

and carry it to the deck plate and beyond,” Meyn says.

Reaching for the CloudThe Navy is planning to use CANES as the backbone

for an expansion to the Tactical Cloud to quickly and cost

effectively access, deploy and store Big Data.

While the Cloud was not on the horizon when CANES was

designed, the Navy is able to take advantage of its open

architecture design to adapt the system for Cloud operations.

“CANES is a tremendous capability,” Meyn says. “When we

started, there was no Cloud. But as with all new technology,

once you get it you find it’s used in ways that you never

imagined when it was being designed.”

CANES would allow sailors to access data on the Cloud

while underway without having to store it all on the ship,

limiting the need for massive amounts of onboard storage

space. End-users could acquire the requisite data and send

it back to the Cloud once the mission is complete. They

could also share new data with others by uploading it to

the Cloud.

“The point of Cloud computing is having the right

information at the right time in the right place,” Meyn says.

“The Cloud allows you to collect and contain enormous

amounts of data and disseminate it to the right location in

the right format.”

CANES is simplifying the IT infrastructure on Navy ships.

CANES is consolidating multiple legacy ship information technology networks. U.S. Navy image.

ADNS

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CANES: An Open Systems C4I Networks DesignCANES: An Open Systems C4I Networks Design

Open CompetitionThe Navy has entered the full production phase that will

install CANES on all platforms in its inventory objective,

which includes ships, submarines and land sites. The

Northrop Grumman design owned by the Navy will serve as

the basis for full production units that will be awarded in

small numbers at a time to competing companies.

The acquisition strategy is intended to promote continuous

competition to get the right price, a key tenet of the open

architecture business model increasingly critical in an era of

constrained budgets.

Northrop Grumman was quick to harness the potential

of open architecture solutions, and to recognize the value

of sharing data rights with the government, minimizing

sustainment and lifecycle costs while promoting a

collaborative and competitive environment.

“We know that we will always be looking into the future

and innovating,” Meyn says, outlining why Northrop Grumman

was comfortable handing over the data rights in partnership

with the Navy.

“We know that technology is fleeting, and people are

always moving to the next technology,” she adds. “We

can leverage that technology. So can the government. And

together we can come up with something that is better than

the sum of its parts.”

Northrop Grumman’s Modular Open Systems Approach-Competitive (MOSA-C) model allows CANES to minimize lifecycle costs and bring agility to the warfighter. Image: Northrop Grumman

The USS McCampbell (DDG 85) was the first Navy ship to become operational with CANES. Photo: U.S. Navy

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The F-35C is slated to replace the remaining legacy Hornets, which would begin retirement in the early to mid-2020s, when the Navy plans to integrate carrier strike air wings consisting of the F-35Cs and Super Hornets. More F/A-18E/Fs could help alleviate gaps projected to arise, he said.

“I reduce my risk if I procure more Super Hornets,” Manazir said, emphasizing that the decision to pursue that option lies with Greenert. Manazir said no new Super Hornet orders means he would have to be sure he’d be able to extend the lives of all 563 Hornets despite the challenges in the depot.

“That is not a trivial act,” he said.The Navy is lengthening the service lives of the Hornets to compensate for the delays on the F-35C and the

budget constraints that have slowed buys. Over the last three budget cycles--fiscals 2014, 2015, 2016--the Department of the Navy has removed a combined 159 Marine F-35Bs and Navy F-35Cs from the five-year plan, most of those being the Navy variant, Manazir said.

“I am not producing enough strike fighters,” he said.The Navy does not plan to go to initial operational capability on the F-35C until 2018, two to three years later

than the Marine Corps and Air Force versions, because the Navy wants it ready to go with more sophisticated software that allows for the full complement of weapons for the air wing as well as for complete interoperability with the Super Hornets, Manazir said.

The Navy’s annual F-35C procurement plans marginally increase over the next several years, hitting the 20 mark in 2020--still well below the 35-39 annual production level Manazir cited. He said while buying the F-35Cs presents a “far-term challenge,” he dismissed the notion the Navy would prefer to keep flying F/A-18Super Hornets as opposed to the more expensive F-35Cs, calling such assertions a “myth.”

“My real procurement goal is to get more F-35Cs,” he said, adding: “In order for me to win in 2024, I have to have F-35Cs flying with F/A-18 Es and Fs. I have to,” he said.

“If I only had F/A-18 Es and Fs in 2024, I can’t win. It’s fourth generation,” Manazir said.For the last few years Boeing has been trying to persuade the Navy and Congress to support additional Super

Hornet purchases, as well as more buys of the EA-18G Growler electronic attack jets. Both share an airframe. Despite relative success in getting more buys, the company is still faced with the prospect of closing the line at the end of 2017 if there are no new orders. n

Navy To Wrap Up Flight Tests of Carrier-based Unmanned X-47B

The Navy plans to conclude flight tests this spring of the X-47B unmanned plane built to demonstrate aircraft carrier operations as it moves toward a follow-on system planned to be operational in the early 2020s, senior officers said Wednesday.

In written testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee on airpower, Vice Adm. Paul Grosklags, the principal military deputy for the Navy’s top acquisition official, and Rear Adm. Michael Manazir, the director of air warfare, said the final testing will involve autonomous aerial refueling.

The X-47B program, also known as the Unmanned Combat Air System-Demonstrator (UCAS-D), is funded at $36 million for testing in fiscal 2015, but the Navy has not requested funding for fiscal 2016, which begins Oct. 1.

The Navy and Pentagon are still working through the requirements for the follow-on Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) program.

“The X-47B has met demonstration objectives and reduced technical risk by transferring lessons learned to the UCLASS program,” their testimony said. “The X-47B demonstrators have paved the way for the proficient introduction of a sea-based unmanned aircraft system by digitizing the carrier controlled environment, achieving precision landing navigation performance, demonstrating a deck handling solution, and refining the concept of operations.”

With the final refueling testing over the next few months, the X-47B demonstration “will come to a successful

▶ Continued from page 4

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10 Defense Daily April 2015

close,” they said.The Navy made history in 2013

when the X-47B became the first unmanned air vehicle to launch off the carrier’s catapult and perform an arresting gear landing. The Navy has since tested the X-plane with other, manned aircraft to get a feel for air wing integration and operations.

After the initial carrier takeoff and landing tests, the Navy initially planned to mothball the two X-47Bs it developed with lead contractor Northrop Grumman [NOC] and focus on UCLASS. But the Navy secured additional funding to keep

flying the X-47Bs for additional learning, in part at the urging of Congress.The Navy’s planned release last summer of the final request for proposals for UCLASS has been delayed

indefinitely over a requirements debate that his since reached the highest levels of the Pentagon.Boeing [BA], General Atomics, Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Northrop Grumman are the four companies

competing for UCLASS, and are currently under design and early development contracts with Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR). n

Defense Daily (ISSN 0889-0404) is published each business day electronically by Access Intelligence, LLC • Managing Editor: John Robinson, [email protected] • Assistant Managing Editor: Ann Roosevelt, [email protected] • Business: Calvin Biesecker, [email protected] • Congressional Reporter: Megan Eckstein, [email protected] • Navy Reporter: Mike McCarthy, [email protected] • Air Force Reporter: Pat Host, [email protected] • Editor Emeritus: Norman Baker • Director of Marketing: Kristy Keller, [email protected] • Publisher: Thomas A. Sloma-Williams, [email protected] • SVP: Jennifer Schwartz, [email protected] • Divisional President: Heather Farley, [email protected] • SVP Information Technology: Rob Paciorek • President & CEO: Don Pazour • To advertise in Defense Daily contact Daniel Chase at [email protected]. For site licenses and group subscriptions, contact Erica Lengermann, [email protected]. For new orders, contact [email protected] or +1 (301) 354-2101. To advertise contact Daniel Chase at [email protected] or +1-301-354-1673. To subscribe, contact [email protected] or +1 (301) 354-2101.

50 Years of Sea-Air-Space

This April the Navy League will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Sea-Air-Space. This is an amazing milestone considering the change our Sea Services and the trade show business have both gone through in a half-century. In 1965, the “new” Washington Hilton was our first home and we had familiar names back then–Northrup and Grumman, Lockheed and Martin, Boeing, AT&T, IBM, General Dynamics and many others. We also had some companies that we would not consider as targets today, including Coca-Cola and Pepsi!

We’ve changed venues at least twice and we’ve updated our communications and infrastructure, but some things are much the same; images in the 1965 program guide celebrate aircraft carriers, missile defense and ship building–all still major issues today. We still have a professional development program–albeit one that has grown in size, depth and complexity–and the invite list of military commands is very much the same 50 years later but now with greater representation.

Our focus at Sea-Air-Space is to provide the best and most professionally coordinated platform for the Sea Services to connect with industry, media, and Congress on the needs of the Naval forces. As we approach Sea-Air-Space 2015, we are proud to boast that the Exposition is now the largest professional development platform for the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard annually. We are the largest Naval exposition in the U.S., the only exposition that can claim to support over 22 military commands as exhibitors, the only one that can claim to be an international exposition with 15 international delegations attending in 2015 and the only one that can claim to have over 100 Flag, General and SES participants. We are the grand-daddy of them all! Our show is healthy, growing and provides the Navy League with a global platform from which to support the Sea Services and a healthy future.

Please join me in saying happy 50th birthday, Sea-Air-Space!

Kevin TraverStaff Vice President, Corporate AffairsNavy League of the United States

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2015 Page 1 58th Year, Volume 265, No. 34

HDT Global Acquires DHS Technologies By Calvin Biesecker

HDT Global this month said it has acquired expeditionary equipment maker DHS Technologies, LLC, adding to its capabilities for supplying a range of solutions to expeditionary forces.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Ohio-based HDT makes military tent shelters, command and control system packages, energy systems and power generators, CBRN filters, and advanced robotic systems. DHS, which is based in New York, makes the DRASH line of deployable shelter systems and related products.

HDT is a portfolio company of the private equity firm Charlesbank Capital Partners. DHS Technologies was part of the investment firm Kanders & Co. Kanders & Co. will remain a minority shareholder in the combined company.

“This transaction enhances our ability to provide state-of-the-art expeditionary solutions with components that are designed to work as an efficient system throughout the lifecycle, from development through sustainment,” Andy Hove, president and CEO of HDT Global, said in a statement.

Houlihan Lokey served as the financial adviser to HDT and Charlesbank on the acquisition.

Engility Deal For TASC Clears Shareholder Approval By Calvin Biesecker

Engility Holdings [EGL] on Monday said its shareholders have approved the company’s pending $1.1 billion acquisition of TASC, Inc., which is expected to close on Feb. 26.

Engility announced the all-stock transaction for fellow professional and technical services company TASC last October. Once the deal closes, Engility will have about $2.5 billion in annual sales.

“We expect the TASC acquisition to accelerate our growth strategy, which is focused on further diversifying our customer base, adding substantial scale to our business, broadening our capabilities and increasing our addressable market,” Tony Smeraglinolo, Engility president and CEO, said in a statement.

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