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By COMBINED FORCES COMMAND – AFGHANISTAN, COALITION PRESS INFORMATION CENTER, KABUL, AFGHANISTAN

Aug 30, 2006

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — Combined Joint Task Force – 76 received the first of several new combat vehicles Aug. 29 designed to increase the defense against improvised explosive devices.

Troops in Afghanistan received three new Armored Security Vehicles, known as ASV-150s and will receive several more later this week.

“We’re very excited about this new capability to protect our troops and perform operations,” said Lt. Col. Jeff Perkins, force management officer for CJTF-76. “If everything goes well, we’ll receive the remainder of the new ASV-150s later this year.”

The platform of the ASV-150 sits much higher than the military’s staple troop carrier, the HUMMV, and all four sides of the new vehicle are angled to better deflect explosions from the ground.

The ASV-150 weights about 30,000 pounds, has an 8.3 liter, six cylinder turbo automatic Cummins engine capable of 828 foot pounds of torque, and a six speed Allison transmission. The ASV seats a crew of four.

Basic armaments for the new vehicle include mounts for the MK 19 automatic grenade launcher and a modified version of the M2 50 caliber machine gun.

ASV-150 (M1117) Capabilities

Weight – 29,500 pounds (fully uploaded)

Dimensions: length – 237 inches

Curb weight – 26,200 pounds

Width – 101 inches

Height – 102 inches

Ground clearance – 18 inches

Performance: Speed – 63 mph

Acceleration – 0 to 20 in 7 seconds

Range @ 40 mph – 440 miles

Turning diameter – 55 feet

Gradient – 60 percent

Side slope – 30 percent

Vertical wall – 24 inches

Fording – 60 inches

Power Train: Engine – Cummins 260 hp/828 lb-ft

Transmission – Allison MD 3560, 6 speed, 1 rev

Transfer case – single speed

Axles – Rockwell R-611, independent

Tires – 14.00 R20XZL, Run flat inserts

Suspension – fully independent with coil springs

Armaments – MK 19, M-2

Air Transport – C-130 roll-on/roll-off, C-17 carries 6, CH-53 sling load

Photo available at http://www.cfc-a.centcom.mil/ .

AWACS awaits essential upgrades

FILE PHOTO -- An E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft from Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., flies a mission. The E-3 Sentry is modified Boeing 707/320 commercial airframe with a rotating radar dome. The dome is 30 feet in diameter, 6 feet thick and is held 11 feet above the fuselage by two struts. It contains a radar subsystem that permits surveillance from the Earth's surface up into the stratosphere, over land or water. The radar has a range of more than 200 miles for low-flying targets and farther for aerospace vehicles flying at medium to high altitudes. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. John K. McDowell)

By Staff Sgt. Amy Robinson - Air Combat Command Public Affairs

Aug 29, 2006

LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. -- "The U.S. Air Force JOVIAL Program Office has closed due to lack of funding."

To some, the announcement posted on the Web site may have little or no significance, but for those familiar with the E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control system, the closure could mean problems for the future of command and control.

The Air Force's E-3 Sentry, commonly referred to as AWACS, is a modified Boeing 707/320 that provides surveillance, command and control to U.S., NATO and allied commanders.

In order to gather both broad and detailed battle information in real time, the AWACS computing system relies on software containing more than 350,000 lines of JOVIAL code - a code in need of an upgrade.

"While state-of-the-art in 1977, the software design now represents the single largest bottleneck in systems development," said Maj. Brady Ries, Air Combat Command E-3 program element monitor. "Finding JOVIAL programmers is a task in itself; however, even if enough JOVIAL programmers could be found to rewrite large blocks of code, the system architecture design doesn't lend itself to changes and is very difficult to upgrade."

The E-3 was scheduled to be replaced by Northrop Grumman's E-10 MC2A, however, due to budget restrictions, there's no longer a funded replacement.

"It's the only self-contained system with look-down radar, low-level coverage and the mobile Battle Management and Command and Control capability to support 'kick-down-the-door' type operations," said Major Ries.

Without a projected replacement, an upgrade to the E-3's computing system is necessary, and, is currently in the works.

The upgrade, known as the Block 40/45 Modification Program, is the largest upgrade in the 20-year history of AWACS. Not only will Block 40/45 allow programmers to upgrade hardware and software regularly, the program's upgrades will also establish a network for wide-band communications and even enable AWACS to integrate information from the Air and Space Operations Center, Major Ries said.

Although the program is currently in the testing phase, the amount of time it will take to update the entire fleet will significantly impact the cost of the program.

"Right now, 40/45 is a funded program, but the profile drags it out so long, that it's a very cumbersome program," said John Shelton, Air Combat Command E-3 assistant program element monitor.

Though the Block 40/45 upgrade is entering the test phase now, it enters limited-rate production in 2009 and full-rate production in 2012, Mr. Shelton estimates it will be another nine to 10 years before the upgrades are complete.

"That's a long time to drag out an upgrade," Mr. Shelton said. "Again - it's funded now, but it's definitely not an ideal time frame."

The time frame Mr. Shelton estimates is not ideal because as the program continues, costs rise.

"If you install all your airplanes before 2015, then your program costs stop there," he said. "If you keep it out to (2019), everything that you're doing to install, to produce, to manage the program, is extended for four more years."

In addition to overhead costs to run the program, Mr. Shelton said the price of parts also increases as the number of parts purchased decreases. For example, if a company produces 25 parts a year, that part will be less expensive than if that same company only produces 10 parts per year.

Another concern with the duration of Block 40/45 is "vanishing vendors," where at some point and time, suppliers stop supporting old equipment because there isn't enough demand for it.

Right now, Master Sgt. Greg Wilson, E-3 airframe manager, is working on replacing one of the aircraft's low-power filters, which will become obsolete within the next seven to eight years. To combat this problem, Sergeant Wilson is preparing to process a modification to test a similar filter into the airframe so there won't be a shortage in 2014.

"We really have to project a way ahead on parts we're going to have problems with down the road," Sergeant Wilson said.

Although aircraft cannibalization may offer cheaper replacement parts for some airframes such as the F-15, the E-3 does not have a similar alternative. Because every AWACS in the Air Force is operational and is scheduled to remain operational through 2035, aircraft cannibalization is not an option.

"The bottom line is: if we can't maintain and we don't upgrade the systems capabilities of the E-3 AWACS, we've created a gap in Air Force combat capability," Major Ries said.