The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense

Authorizing Action. The SASC will hold its behind-closed-doors markups of the FY ’11 defense authorization bill this week, and hopes to emerge with a final product before Memorial Day recess starts on Saturday. The bill-writing sessions will start with the Airland, Readiness and Management Support, Emerging Threats and Capabilities, Strategic Forces, and Personnel subcommittees on Tuesday, followed on Wednesday morning by the Seapower panel. The full SASC plans to start its secret markups Wednesday at 2:30 p.m., and continue them into Thursday and possibly Friday.

… Engine Friction. Ample debate is expected in the private meetings on authorizing the second engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s alternate engine program. Airland subcommittee Chairman Joseph Lieberman (D/I-Conn.) opposes it, as does SASC Ranking Member John McCain (R-Ariz.). SASC Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) is a supporter, though it’s not clear if the engine program will be included it the SASC’s final bill. The House is expected to take up its version of the bill, which authorized the alternate engine, on Thursday.

Extended Amphib Stay. The defense authorization bill before the House would prohibit the Navy from retiring LHA-4 (USS Nassau) and LHA-5 (USS Peleliu), thanks to a successful amendment posed by Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) to the bill when the HASC marked it up last week. The bill states the two amphibious ships can be decommissioned after LHA-6 and LHA-7 are delivered to the Navy. Coffman’s measure is backed by HASC Seapower and Expeditionary Forces subcommittee Chairman Gene Taylor (D-Miss.), who also succeeded in adding language to the bill saying the Navy would be limited to retiring just two ships for every three new vessels it brings into the fleet.

Airlift Relook. Some HASC members aren’t happy with the Pentagon’s Mobility Capabilities Study 2016, which was released in March and says the Defense Department has sufficient inter-theater and intra-theater airlift capability. Reps. Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam), Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.), and Jim Marshall (D-Ga.) successfully amended the defense bill before the HASC to require the Air Force secretary to brief House and Senate defense authorizers on the department’s tactical airlift force structure and requirements. Their amendment says the mobility study “recommends a tactical airlift force structure without consideration for the direct support mission needs of the Department of the Army and without express consideration of airlift force structure and basing requirements to meet the National Guard’s title 32, United State Code, responsibilities.”

Huron Here. The Marine Corps has the first UC-12W Huron operational-support airlift (OSA) aircraft from Hawker Beechcraft Corp. The Wichita company will build at least six of the aircraft, which replace the Corps’ existing UC-12s. The service says the OSA aircraft serve as the “connective tissue” of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force, and “saves the Marine Corps time, money, and resources.” It adds: “The low operating costs of the UC-12W and its capability to conduct logistical missions or move key personnel free up other Marine Aviation tactical platforms to conduct their primary missions….The UC-12W represents a turning point in the growing ability of Marine Aviation to provide relevant and sustainable operational support airlift to the forward-deployed Marine Air-Ground Task Force.”

In The Cyber Now. In October, the Army will stand up its Forces Cyber Command (ARFORCYBER) Headquarters within the National Capital Region, the service says. ARFORCYBER, the Army’s component to U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM), capitalizes on existing Army cyber resources, and achieves efficiencies by pulling cyber resources under a single command, the Army adds. The U.S. Army Network Enterprise Technology Command/9th Signal Command (Army) and portions of the 1st Information Operations Command (Land) will be subordinate units to ARFORCYBER. Additionally, the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command will be under the operational control of ARFORCYBER for cyber-related actions, the service says. The total command strength will exceed 21,000 soldiers and civilians, and there will be no new growth or impact to Army end strength. The cost to establish ARFORCYBER will be funded from within existing fiscal resources. The Army achieved initial operating capability for ARFORCYBER in October 2009, the Army says.

A Super Event. The future USS Jason Dunham (DDG-109), the 58th ship of the Arleigh Burke-class, successfully completes a combined builder’s and acceptance “super trial” May 20, after spending four days at sea operating in the Atlantic Ocean, the Navy reports. Because of the maturity of the class, the Navy holds only a one round “super trial” on each ship prior to delivery, instead of separate builder’s and acceptance trials. This “super trial” requires less time, fuel and manpower than the typical method, the Navy says. “The success of these trials illustrates the cost and schedule advantages realized with a program well into serial production,” says Capt. Pete Lyle, DDG-51 class program manager for PEO Ships.

Heading North. USS Freedom (LCS-1) departs from San Diego-based NASSCO shipyard after spending more than five business days in dry-dock for repairs, the Navy says. The ship spent longer in dry-dock than originally anticipated to repair her starboard boost water jet, Lt. Cmdr. Chris Servello, a Navy spokesman, tells Defense Daily. As of late last week Freedom was peirside ready to get underway for testing before heading north to participate in the Canadian Fleet Review.

The Navy Needs IT. Navy Cyber Forces wants to fill more than 250 Information Technology (IT)-related government positions in the Norfolk-Virginia Beach, Va. area; San Diego; and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the service says. The jobs are open for immediate hiring of well-qualified candidates who may be recent college graduates or experienced professionals, says CYBERFOR Manpower Director Katie Petrillo. Desired experience includes Network Operations (NetOps), Information Technology Service Management (ITSM), and knowledge of industry best practices such as Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) processes and methodology. For more information or to submit a resume e-mail: http://www.cyberfor.navy.mil/ or [email protected].

Big Job Done. Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) completes USS Ronald Reagan‘s (CVN-76) six-month Planned Incremental Availability May 19 at San Diego’s Naval Air Station North Island (NASNI), the Navy says. This project came in under budget and marked both NNSY’s largest off-site availability as well as the largest public sector work package ever performed on an aircraft carrier berthed at NASNI, the Navy adds. During peak manning, approximately 1,400 people worked the project each day.

Dough For TOC. NAVSEA funds nearly $8 million for eight new research projects designed to lower shipbuilding or ship maintenance costs, the service says. The eight research projects selected by the National Shipbuilding Research Program (NSRP), a collaboration of 12 major U.S. shipyards, are valued at approximately $16 million with the inclusion of cost-shares of comparably valued labor, materials and capital resources provided by the industry, the Navy adds. Projects range from Common Parts Catalog Enhancements to Advanced Systems Development of the Remote Climbing Robot, support the NSRP mission of reducing the cost of ships to the Navy.

CWID 2010. NSWC Dahlgren hosts the 2010 Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration (CWID) June 16-24, the Navy says. The annual event engages information sharing and communication technology solutions to enhance military and agency operational effectiveness. NSWC Dahlgren is hosting CWID’s U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army headquarters in addition to co-located forces from Coalition, U.S. Coast Guard, National Guard Bureau, and the U.S. Navy Strike Cell. U.S. and coalition warfighters will evaluate 27 Interoperability Trials (ITs) and a myriad of demonstrations at Dahlgren throughout the Joint Chiefs of Staff-directed event. The demonstration evaluates technologies and capabilities for exchanging information among coalition partners, military services, government agencies, first responders and U.S. combatant commands. Technologies are approved for participation because they address new information sharing capability requirements or because they might improve existing capabilities, the Navy adds.

New R&D Site. The Navy’s newest research and development facility officially opens for business NSWC Dahlgren, Va. The Surface Sensors and Combat Systems Facility features are designed to be an exceptional resource for Navy scientists and engineers and features a state-of-the-art system test-bed to support combat system certifications, the Navy says. One hundred thirty employees will support two primary missions-the Joint Tactical Information Distribution System (JTIDS) and the Integrated Combat Systems Test Facility (ICSTF) in the 56,000 square foot multi-story research, development, acquisition, testing and evaluation consolidation facility.

New Regional Command. The North Atlantic Council gives the final OK to create an additional command for Afghanistan’s ISAF Regional Command South effective later this summer. The new unit will be called Regional Command South-West. It will be responsible for the Helmand and Nimruz provinces and will be placed initially under U.S. command. Regional Command South, which is under the command of British Maj. Gen. Nick Carter, will retain the provinces of Kandahar, Uruzgan, Zabul and Daikundi. The change came on a recommendation by ISAF Commander Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal. It will optimize command and control of a regional command that has grown exponentially.

In Pursuit. Northrop Grumman and EOS Technologies Inc. team to pursue the Army’s Common Remotely Operated Weapons Station 3 (CROWS 3) program. The CROWS vehicle-mounted stations allow soldiers to locate, identify and engage targets with better accuracy and improved range, while the gunner remains safely inside an armored vehicle. Northrop Grumman will be the prime contractor and systems integrator if the team is chosen for the program. An RFP for some 10,000 CROWS 3 is expected late this year.

Ach! Lakotas. The EADS North America-built UH-72A arrives in Europe, with five aircraft at the Joint Multinational Ready Center (JMRC) in Germany for training and support missions. Preparations for the Lakota’s arrival have been ongoing for a year. The UH-72As are replacing an aging fleet of Vietnam-era UH-1s, offering more advanced navigation and communications systems, along with easier maintenance. They will be joined by another five Lakotas that are scheduled for delivery to the JMRC in January 2011.

New Fellow. The Foreign Policy Research Institute appoints Roger Carstens as a Non-Resident Senior Fellow. Carstens is currently serving as a Senior Counterinsurgency Advisor to ISAF in Afghanistan, and is a retired Army Special Forces lieutenant colonel whose last posting was to serve as an adviser to the Iraqi National Counter Terror Force in Baghdad.

Saudi Sniper. Lockheed Martin has signed a $40 million foreign military sales contract to deliver Sniper Advanced Target Pods to the Royal Saudi Air Force, the company says. This is the second Sniper ATP purchase in a multi-year precision sensor modernization program to improve precision targeting, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability of Royal Saudi Air Force F-15S aircraft. The Saudi Air Force first purchased Sniper pods in March 2009. Operational evaluation of the pod on the F-15S concluded in January of this year. The Sniper ATP delivers precise weapon targeting for multiple fixed and moving targets, a datalink for real-time coordination between aircrews and ground troops, and real-time weapon damage estimation radius displays to reduce the potential for collateral damage. The Sniper pod is heavily used as a non-traditional intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance asset for convoy route reconnaissance and battlefield situational awareness.

Rocket Ready. The fifth segment of the Ares I first stage was moved into the test stand at ATK last week, in preparation for a key milestone test this summer, the company says. It will be the second test of the world’s largest human-rated solid rocket. Once the nozzle and aft skirt are installed, technicians will begin instrumenting the first stage in preparation for the ground test on Sept. 2, according to a May 20 ATK press statement. Data from this test, known as Development Motor-2 (DM-2), will be analyzed using last September’s DM-1 ground test and the results from the Ares I-X test launch in October 2009.