Photo: U.S. Air Force
Photo: U.S. Air Force

Air Force Secretary Confirmed. Deborah Lee James was confirmed as the next secretary of the Air Force in a 79-6 Senate vote Friday morning, after her nomination was one of about a dozen caught in a battle in the Senate. Democrats changed the rules before Thanksgiving in a controversial move that had been threatened many times before but never actually executed. In the past week, Democrats have confirmed 11 nominees, with more to come next week, possibly including Jeh Johnson, a former Defense Department General Counsel who awaits confirmation as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. The vote Friday morning ended a five-month process for James, who was nominated by President Barack Obama on Aug. 1 and testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Sept. 19.

DoD’s New Voice. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announces Friday that Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby has been named as the new Pentagon spokesman and will replace the departed George Little. Kirby, a one-star, has been serving as the Navy’s chief information officer (CHINFO) since 2012. The new post means Kirby is up for a second star when a special board is held at the end of January . He previously served aside Little as a spokesman for the Office of Secretary of Defense. No date has been set for Kirby’s transition to the new job, but it is expected to take place in the “near future,” a Navy spokesman says. Kirby’s deputy at CHINFO, Capt. Dawn Cutler, will take over on interim basis until a new chief is selected, the spokesman said. The Navy will select Kirby’s replacement, who will be promoted to one-star, in a mid-February board.

Raytheon and DDG-1000. The Navy has awarded Raytheon a contract option for the completion of the remaining hardware and electronics for the first two ships in the Zumwalt class of destroyers. The $75 million award for the DDG-1000 and DDG-1001 includes work on the towed array for the sonar suite; canister electronics and uptake kits for the MK 57 Vertical Launching System; and the advanced procurement of Electronic Modular Enclosure shelters for the third ship, the DDG-1002. Raytheon is the prime mission integrator for the Zumwalt class.

JPATS Devices. Beechcraft and FlightSafety International deliver the last of 131 T-6 aircrew training devices (ATD) produced for the Defense Department’s Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (ATS) ground-based training system, according to a Beechcraft statement. The high-fidelity training devices exactly replicate cockpit layout and aircraft performance and are well-suited for cockpit procedures and emergency handling practice. The two companies began deliveries of JPATS training devices in 2000, delivering T-6A and T-6B devices to Air Force bases, then Navy bases, as the program stood up. Beechcraft and FlightSafety have also partnered to produce and deliver training devices for the pilot training programs of T-6 customers in Greece, Israel, Morocco and Iraq.

Inmarsat-5 Signals. The first Boeing-built Inmarsat-5 satellite sends on-orbit signals, the initial step to establishing Global Xpress, according to a Boeing statement. Global Xpress is to be the world’s first globally-available, high-speed mobile broadband service for government and commercial users. The satellite was launched Dec. 8 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and controllers confirmed the satellite was functioning as expected approximately 16 hours later. After reaching final orbit, Inmarsat-5 will complete several additional maneuvers and tests before officially beginning service for Inmarsat. The satellite will provide comprehensive, global mobile broadband communications for vessels at sea, in-flight connectivity for airline passengers and streaming high-resolution video, among other services.

Weather Sat Follow-On. ATK successfully completes the last major technical milestone in its contract from the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (AFSMC) Defense Weather Systems Directorate, according to a company statement. ATK performed a year-long study, ending in November, of network-centric small satellites as an element of future weather satellite systems. The test culminated with a comprehensive end-to-end and ground-based demonstration of an architecture that could eventually be implemented in a next-generation operational system. The end result of the study could leverage existing commercial satellite infrastructure to reduce operational costs and shorten delays in transmitting data used for military, scientific or disaster recovery exercises. ATK served as the prime contractor for the demonstration with subcontractors Hughes Network Systems LLC and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

NIE Slip. The Army notifies its Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) industry and government stakeholders that the release of the NIE 15.1 Sources Sought and the 15.1 government Call for Mature Solutions solicitation documents has slipped from Dec. 9 into calendar year 2014. The government says “Final decisions have not yet been made on 15.1 Gaps and Objectives.” Now solicitations will be sent out in mid-January.

Research Launched. Representatives from the military, Department of Homeland Security and the private sector met at Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center Dec. 13 to launch a multi-agency research program designed to drive innovation while reducing costs of technology systems used within government unmanned vehicles, industry organizers say is worth some $8.1 billion. There was a demonstration of the Open Source Unmanned Remote and Autonomous Vehicle Systems (OS-URAVS) program, a collaborative, public-private program to be based at Camp Shelby and administered in conjunction with the Army, Navy, Air Force, DHS, Defense Acquisition University and non-government entities, including the Open Source Software Institute.

New Honor. The Army and Lockheed Martin Apache Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-TADS/PNVS) team is honored with a 2013 Secretary of Defense Performance Based Logistics (PBL) Award recognizing outstanding achievements in providing soldiers with exceptional operational support. The team receives the subsystem level PBL award, one of three presented annually to recognize government/industry teams that have demonstrated outstanding achievements. The team was also selected for this award in 2011. Terri Schwierling, chief of the Apache Sustainment Division within the Army Apache Helicopters Project Office, says: “Our PBL support strategy allows Apache to strategically attack reliability, maintainability and obsolescence issues in ways that were not previously possible.”

One More Term. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen will be around a little while longer. On Dec. 11 the North Atlantic Council decided to extend the Secretary General’s tenure of office so he can prepare and preside over the NATO Summit, which will take place in South Wales on Sept. 4-5 2014. The term will run until Sept. 30, 2014. The 12th NATO secretary general, Rasmussen took up the position in August 2009.