Latest news with #DOT&E
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
New Details On F/A-18 Super Hornet's Troubled IRST Pod
More details have emerged about the problems the U.S. Navy is facing with its ill-starred podded Infrared Search And Track system, or IRST, an important capability planned for its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighters. The latest issues to be highlighted come after TWZ previously reported on delays caused by production quality problems with the system and a Pentagon assessment of 'significant reliability problems during operational testing,' which emerged earlier this year. The latest status update on the ASG-34A(V)1 IRST pod is provided in the Weapon Systems Annual Assessment that was published today by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The centerline-mounted IRST pod is intended to provide the F/A-18E/F with a long-wave infrared sensor — the Lockheed Martin-developed IRST21 — that can search, detect, and track airborne targets. Very importantly, it is an ideal tool for detecting stealthy targets, which are proliferating. The IRST sensor assembly is installed in the front portion of a redesigned FPU-13/A centerline fuel tank. According to the GAO, each pod costs $16.6 million. For the full background on the pod, you can read our interview with the Super Hornet program manager responsible for it, back in 2020, here. The GAO report notes that, although the IRST pod achieved initial capability on schedule in November 2024, including delivery of the first lot of low-rate initial production pods, a full-rate production decision has been delayed. At one point, a determination on full-rate production was planned for January 2025, but this was missed 'due to delays incurred during flight testing.' As a result, the program has now breached its baseline schedule for the second time in three years. 'IRST officials told us that operational tests were delayed by two months due to software defects that caused IRST pods to falsely report overheating,' the GAO notes. Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) officials told the GAO that the problem 'was relatively easy to fix and would likely have been addressed during developmental testing had the program allocated more time for that testing.' Thanks to those operational testing delays, the publication of the DOT&E report that informs the full-rate decision production slipped until March 2025. A corresponding decision is now expected sometime this month. Until then, the program is somewhat in limbo, although it has achieved some good results, notably demonstrating 'capability at tactically significant ranges during operational testing.' This has been tempered, however, by how often the pods failed during that same testing. DOT&E officials told the GAO that the pods were 'extremely unreliable.' While we previously knew of issues with reliability, today's report confirms just how bad these are. Although 'the program improved pod reliability as it made software updates, [it] only managed to achieve 14 hours mean time between operational mission failures — short of the 40 hours required.' Not surprisingly, the DOT&E determined that deploying the IRST pods without improving their reliability would transfer risk to the Navy's fleet. Of course, this is bad news for the Navy, and for the F/A-18E/F community specifically, with IRST sensors — which can detect and track objects from a distance and in environments where radar may be ineffective — is increasingly seen as a vital air combat tool. Seemingly ever since it was first flown on a Super Hornet in late 2019, the IRST pod has faced issues. A previous GAO report, in 2023, noted that 'between 20 and 30 percent of the manufactured components [in the IRST pod] failed to meet performance specifications due to microelectronics issues.' These problems persisted more than four years after limited manufacturing had begun and served to delay the launch of developmental and operational testing. The same 2023 report also described how 'staffing challenges' at a critical software development contractor were leading to holdups in the program. Then came a DOT&E report, which looked at the results of tests involving Infrared Optimized Configuration (IROC) pods, described as 'operationally equivalent' but designated for flight test. IROC pods were used for operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) between April and September 2024. This report noted that 'operational test events were adversely affected by IRST Block II system reliability failures' and concluded that the pod 'demonstrated significant reliability problems.' 'Throughout the test period, IRST Block II suffered from hardware and software deficiencies, which required the aircrew to restart the pod multiple times,' the DOT&E report said. 'Troubleshooting and repair often exceeded the abilities of Navy maintenance crews and required assistance from Lockheed Martin.' In the meantime, however, earlier iterations of the pod have already been deployed on operations, carried by Super Hornets in the Middle East, with photos emerging of this appearing in late 2020. As the Navy awaits the decision on whether or not to pursue full-rate production, there's no doubt about the utility of an IRST pod — provided that it works. The specific advantages of the IRST pod are something we have discussed before, including with the Super Hornet program manager: 'Very importantly, the IRST pod provides an entirely passive capability, relying exclusively on the infrared spectrum to detect and track airborne targets, including those at far beyond visual range. With no radio-frequency emissions, the target won't be alerted to the fact that they've been detected and are being tracked. At the same time, the IRST does not give away the location and presence of the host platform. This kind of sensor also provides a vital companion to the Super Hornet's AN/APG-79 radar, functions of which may well be compromised in a heavy electronic attack or radar-denied environment.' Meanwhile, similar kinds of sensors have been found on fighters operated by potential adversaries for decades. China and Russia operate tactical fighters such as the Su-35 and Su-30 Flanker series that incorporate IRST sensors as standard. In Western Europe, the Eurofighter Typhoon and Saab Gripen E, for example, also offer them. Closer to home, the U.S. Air Force has already put equivalent sensors on its F-15Cs and F-16Cs, making the delays to the Navy's program all the more puzzling. On the other hand, we don't know exactly how reliable the Air Force's IRST pods are, and we do know that there are substantial differences between the Air Force and Navy versions, although they both use IRST21 as a base the fact that a functioning IRST capability can be integrated on even older platforms without too much difficulty is also evidenced in the contractor-operated adversary community, which is increasingly flying fast jets with IRST sensors to better replicate potential threat aircraft. On the other hand, it should be recalled that not all IRST sensors offer the same level of capabilities, with significant differences also in terms of depth of integration and fusion between different types and aircraft, especially over time. This applies especially to the higher-end IRST pod for the Super Hornet and some of the cheaper off-the-shelf options that are now available. Threat aircraft with IRST capabilities continue to proliferate, but so do the kinds of threat platforms for which a sensor of this kind would be most useful to counter. China, especially, is making rapid developments in stealth technology and advanced electronic warfare, two areas that make the introduction of an IRST sensor all the more compelling. These kinds of infrared sensors are immune to radar-evading stealth technology and are not affected by electromagnetic jamming and other electronic attacks. For Navy Super Hornets, a fully functional ISRT pod would help to detect and target advanced Chinese platforms in a future conflict in the Pacific theater. At the same time, these pods can significantly boost the flight crew's situational air-to-air 'picture' in conjunction with more traditional sensors. As noted previously, there has been some good news with the latest iteration of the IRST pod, specifically the fact that it has, in a test environment, demonstrated that it can detect targets at long ranges. Furthermore, it can translate this data into stable system tracks that would be suitable for weapons employment. With its clear potential, it's certainly alarming for the Navy that it is still being kept waiting for the vital capabilities promised by the IRST pod. Contact the author: thomas@
CBS News
06-06-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Layoffs loom at Pentagon-funded think tank after Hegseth slashes weapons-testing office
Washington — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's recent personnel cuts in the Pentagon office responsible for weapons testing has halted all work and cleared the way for potential layoffs at the Pentagon-funded think tank that supports it, the Institute for Defense Analyses, or IDA. In a letter obtained by CBS News, the institute's president, retired Air Force Gen. Norton "Norty" Schwartz, told staff he'd received a notice on Monday "terminating all IDA tasks" for the Pentagon's Office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation — known inside the Pentagon as DOT&E. "Leadership is working to assess the full range of implications of these contract actions," Schwartz wrote, adding that the loss of funding "impacts all of IDA." He continued, "With the loss of funding, we cannot sustain our current staffing levels as an organization … All of this is devastating for us as individuals and for the amazing work we have had the privilege to perform for so many years." Congress established DOT&E in 1983 out of growing concern that the Pentagon lacked a clear and independent view of how its weapons systems performed under real-world conditions. Lawmakers at the time had grown frustrated with the quality of oversight, believing both Congress and the Defense Department were being left in the dark about the true effectiveness of the military's most expensive investments. IDA provides technical expertise and analysis to support the weapons testing office. DOT&E, along with IDA, took up the mantle of testing and evaluating all Pentagon weapon systems. By law, no weapon system can proceed to full production without the office's signoff. But late last month, Hegseth made deep cuts to the weapons testing office, which has caused a ripple effect at IDA. In his memo, Hegseth called much of the office's work "redundant" and "nonessential" and said it had functions that "do not support operational agility or resource efficiency." The directive made a sweeping reduction to the office's civilian workforce, cutting the civilian employee count from 118 to 30, with and 15 uniformed personnel, and one person in the Senior Executive Service position to lead the office. The memo also ended all contractor support to the office, such as the work done by IDA. Hegseth's memo said the cuts would save the Pentagon over $300 million per year. The cost to operate the office was roughly $377 million, according to Fiscal Year 2025 Pentagon budget documents. The IDA letter sent to staffers on Tuesday and marked "For Internal IDA Use Only," said the agency had faced a sense of uncertainty for months but that IDA had viewed such an outcome as an "unlikely event." CBS News was unable to determine how many IDA staffers will be impacted or what programs IDA was working on that were halted. The Fiscal Year 2025 Defense Department budget documents show DOT&E provides operational and live-fire testing and evaluation oversight for every major defense acquisition program. It's currently evaluating over 230 weapons systems that are at various stages of procurement. Contacted on Friday, Herman Phillips, the chief communications officer for IDA, confirmed to CBS News that IDA leadership has made the "difficult decision to reduce the size of the workforce. However, IDA has not currently dismissed any staff," as they continue to evaluate the impact from Hegseth's directive. Robert Behler, a longtime test pilot who led DOT&E during the first Trump administration, told USNI News Monday that the cuts will prevent the office from fulfilling its congressional obligations, and ending funding for contractor support will hinder DOT&E's ability to carry out its oversight duties. "I don't think they will have the resources to be able to accomplish all those tasks with only … a couple handfuls of people, 30 people. It's an enormous job, especially the annual report," Behler told USNI News. He was referring to a report, required by federal law, that summarizes the Defense Department's weapons testing and evaluation each year. The report for 2024 was 498 pages. During a roundtable discussion with reporters hosted by the Defense Writers Group on Wednesday, GOP Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, was asked about Hegseth's cuts to the DOT&E. "I have questions not only for the secretary and his team, and to an extent the National Security Council is involved in this, but also with stakeholders and experts around town as to the advisability of this, which would amount to a reversal of congressional policy," said Wicker. contributed to this report.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hegseth gutted Pentagon office that said it would oversee testing of Golden Dome missile defense system
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the gutting of a Pentagon office shortly after it disclosed that it would be overseeing the testing of President Donald Trump's Golden Dome missile defense system and the programs associated with the massive, multi-billion dollar project, multiple officials familiar with the matter told CNN. At the end of April, the little known Office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation drafted and disseminated a memo to the Office of the Secretary of Defense and other DoD offices that put Golden Dome on its oversight list, in line with DoD instructions and laws requiring that a major defense acquisition program be tested before being fielded, the officials said. Days later, Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency asked the office for a meeting. Musk's company, SpaceX, is among the companies vying for a role in developing Golden Dome. DOGE representatives asked DOT&E officials more about what they did and their plans for this year, officials said, and seemed surprised that much of the office's work was required by law. But there were no outward signs that the office was on the chopping block. On Wednesday, though, DOT&E employees were abruptly summoned to a meeting at the Pentagon and told that the office would be cut to just 30 people, down from over 100, the officials told CNN. Contractors would also no longer be assigned to support the office, per the new guidance. A defense official told CNN that they believe the administration was concerned about DOT&E conducting independent oversight of Golden Dome, and the problems it might uncover in the process. 'This administration only wants wins. They don't want bad news and they're getting bad news on all sorts of fronts,' the official said. 'DOT&E is an honest broker of information. We report the truth and that's all we do.' Democratic Sen. Jack Reed, the Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement on Thursday that he is concerned that the move to gut the office 'appears retaliatory, driven by Mr. Hegseth's opposition to some of DOT&E's recent, legally required oversight decisions.' 'With staffing reduced to a skeleton crew and limited contractor backing, DOT&E may be unable to provide adequate oversight for critical military programs, risking operational readiness and taxpayer dollars,' Reed said, calling the decision 'politically motivated interference.' Asked for comment, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told CNN, 'The Department's reorganization of the Office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation will return DOT&E to its statutory intent as an oversight body and eliminate duplicative efforts. This decision has nothing to do with Golden Dome and everything to do with rooting out redundancies.' But officials CNN spoke to argued that DOT&E is not redundant—rather, it has a unique position as an independent auditor of equipment and systems used by all of the services across the military. It also does not have an enforcement mechanism and is not legally able to shut anything down if it uncovers problems when testing and evaluating various systems. Trump formally announced the plans for the project last week, and $25 billion has already been carved out in next year's defense budget for Golden Dome. But the Congressional Budget Office has estimated the US may have to spend more than $500 billion – over the course of 20 years – to develop a layered missile defense system of the size and scale Trump has demanded. The system will likely encompass over 100 separate programs and require establishing a large, interconnected network of government agencies and private contractors. Defense officials and industry executives largely agree that it will take years before a system like Golden Dome is fully operational, CNN has reported. But the Trump administration is already on the clock to prove that the concept can work in order to justify the future funding for the project. In a video posted to X on Wednesday, Hegseth said the office was restructured to allow the services to 'go faster with the capabilities that they need.' Another defense official said DOT&E had no intention of slowing down the project. But they did want to ensure it worked properly, and that it would be survivable and lethal against realistic threats. 'It's much cheaper and faster to find out problems quickly and get data as early as possible so we can determine whether the program is going to be effective,' the official said. The first official said that the massive reduction in staff and the fact that contractors will no longer be assigned to DOT&E will lead to some programs dropping off the office's radar and getting no scrutiny at all. 'It's concerning that there will be certain programs out there with potentially a lot of money being spent,' this official said. 'And we'll have no idea if it's being tested properly.' CNN's Zachary Cohen contributed to this report.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Behemoth Golden Dome may face lackluster scrutiny in Trump's Pentagon
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's decision this week to cut more than half of the Pentagon's test and evaluation office personnel was driven, in part, by concerns over the office's plans to provide testing oversight for the Trump administration's $175 billion Golden Dome missile defense project, multiple sources told Defense News. In a memo released Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced plans to restructure the Office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, known as DOT&E, and reduce its 94-person staff to 46 — a mix of civilians, military personnel and one senior executive. The memo also put an end to all contractor support to the office. The decision sparked concerns from some congressional Democrats, including Senate Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Jack Reed, D-RI, who called the move 'reckless and damaging.' 'With staffing reduced to a skeleton crew and limited contractor backing, DOT&E may be unable to provide adequate oversight for critical military programs, risking operational readiness and taxpayer dollars,' Reed said in a statement. 'This kind of politically motivated interference undermines independent oversight and leaves warfighters and the public more vulnerable to untested, potentially flawed systems.' Hegseth said the reorganization is tied to the Pentagon's 'America First' strategy and was backed by an internal review that identified 'redundant, non-statutory functions' within the office. The analysis, he said, found that reducing personnel could save more than $300 million per year. But multiple sources familiar with the decision and granted anonymity to speak freely told Defense News the circumstances are more complicated than the scenario the secretary described in his memo. They pointed to perennial tensions between the military services and the office, stoked in recent months by an atmosphere of touting quick, programmatic successes that is antithetical to the exacting mission of verifying performance claims over time and under varying conditions. The sources also cited senior leadership's frustration with DOT&E's recent decision to add Golden Dome to its 'oversight list' as being the final provocation. 'It's a perfect storm,' one source said. The DOT&E office was created by Congress to provide independent oversight of major defense acquisition programs. Its leaders are required by law to approve testing plans and report results for all Defense Department programs whose total research and development cost exceeds $525 million —in 2020 dollars — or whose procurement is expected to cost more than $3 billion. The list of efforts under DOT&E oversight currently features over 250 programs, including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Army's Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon and the Navy's Aegis modernization program. The office's role as an overseer means its recommendations are sometimes unpopular with military service leaders and major defense contractors alike. But the aim of its rigorous, and often arduous, validation is to prevent the department from fielding faulty systems that could put service members in harm's way. Golden Dome's cost — estimated at $175 billion over the next three years — and its complexity make it a clear candidate for DOT&E oversight, the sources said. The process for initiating DOT&E oversight of a program is fairly straightforward, but when DOT&E's Acting Director Raymond O'Toole notified senior leaders in a recent memo that he planned to add Golden Dome to the list, the decision drew an unusual level of scrutiny. Officials worried the office's involvement would slow the program down and drive up its cost. They eventually elevated their concerns to the White House. That extra attention appears linked to President Donald Trump's interest in the program, one source said, noting the office was told the program 'needed to be successful for Mr. Trump.' Golden Dome became the president's signature defense project early in his second term. In a Jan. 27 memo, he directed the Pentagon to draft a plan for a layered network of ground-and space-based interceptors and sensors to detect, track and defeat a range of missile threats. Initially calling the project 'Iron Dome for America' after Israel's missile defense system of the same name, Trump rebranded it to 'Golden Dome' — a nod to his vision for a 'golden age in America' and perhaps his own penchant for the precious metal. In an Oval Office meeting last week, flanked by Hegseth and a top Space Force general — as well as multiple images depicting a map of the U.S. covered in gold — Trump said the Pentagon would deliver 'the best system ever built' before the end of his term. While there is wide agreement among defense officials and outside experts that the U.S. needs a more focused investment in its missile defense architecture, Trump's schedule and cost projections have raised eyebrows. With actual details on the project still slim, some have questioned whether Golden Dome's biggest technological lifts are feasible and worth the long-term cost. 'I don't think we should read much into the $175 billion figure because no details or caveats were provided,' said Todd Harrison, an analyst at the American Enterprise Institute. 'I want to see something on paper that shows what's included, what's not included, and the time frame of the estimate.' This week's DOT&E cuts likely mean the office will be under-resourced to oversee all of the Defense Department's major programs, let alone Golden Dome. One source familiar with the office speculated the 'drastically reduced' staff could allow the Pentagon to get away with slimming down the office's oversight list. Reduced testing oversight could allow Golden Dome to move faster, but sources said it would be concerning for a program with such high-stakes ambitions to escape scrutiny. 'It would be hundreds of warheads coming in with all kinds of countermeasures, cyber attacks,' another source said. 'That's usually beyond the scope of a program and a service test office to be able to orchestrate all that.'
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hegseth orders Pentagon's testing office staff cut by more than half
The Senate Armed Services Committee's top Democrat is blasting Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over his decision this week to appoint a new director of the Pentagon's operational test enterprise and rapidly cut its staff by more than half. Hegseth said his directed reorganization, which would reduce the staff, budget and resources at the Office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E), supports the Defense Department's 'America First' strategy, according to a Tuesday memo. But Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) said Thursday the move is 'reckless and damaging' to military accountability and oversight. 'For decades, DOT&E has played a vital, legally mandated role in safeguarding the integrity of major defense programs and ensuring military systems are effective before they are put into warfighters' hands,' Reed said in a statement. He said Hegseth has given no logical reasoning for this action, and he is worried the move 'appears retaliatory, driven by Mr. Hegseth's opposition to some of DOT&E's recent, legally required oversight decisions.' The Pentagon chief's change up of the DOT&E will see its staff of 94 personnel — including 82 civilians and 12 service members — axed back in seven days to just 30 civilians, 15 military personnel and one senior leader, the newly appointed acting Director Carroll Quade. Quade, who was up until now the Navy's deputy for test and evaluation, takes over from Raymond O'Toole, who has served as acting director of the office since January and twice as an acting deputy director since January 2021. Hegseth also ordered all contractor personnel support to end within seven days of the memo's release. The Pentagon chief justified the cuts by claiming an internal review 'identified redundant, non-essential, non-statutory functions within ODOT&E that do not support operational agility or resource efficiency, affecting our ability to rapidly and effectively deploy the best systems to the warfighter.' He estimated the changes will save more than $300 million annually. The Defense Department's test and evaluation office is in charge of validating weapons and platforms across the U.S. military, setting policies, providing oversight and publishing annual testing updates on such major weapons programs as the F-35 fighter jet, the Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon and the Columbia-class submarine. But cutting the office back to a skeleton crew with limited contractor backing may prevent it from providing adequate oversight for critical military programs, 'risking operational readiness and taxpayer dollars,' Reed said. 'This kind of politically motivated interference undermines independent oversight and leaves warfighters and the public more vulnerable to untested, potentially flawed systems,' he added. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
