Rare Photo Op. The biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2014 exercise that ended Aug. 1 provided a rare photo op for naval ships under way in the Pacific around the

The People’s Liberation Army (Navy) hospital ship Peace Ark (T-AH 866), the U.S. Navy hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19), the Military Sealift Command fast combat support ship USNS Rainier (T-AOE 7) and the Royal Norwegian Navy frigate HNoMS Fridtjof Nansen (F310)
The People’s Liberation Army (Navy) hospital ship Peace Ark (T-AH 866), the U.S. Navy hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19), the Military Sealift Command fast combat support ship USNS Rainier (T-AOE 7) and the Royal Norwegian Navy frigate HNoMS Fridtjof Nansen (F310)

Hawaiian Islands as USS

Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) led a formation of 42 ships and four subs from 15 international partnership nations. All told, 22 nations, 49 ships and six subs, more than 200 aircraft and 20,000 personnel participated in the exercise. In a first, China participated with four People’s Liberation Army ships and a spy ship outside U.S. territorial waters, which was not an official part of the exercise.

Defense Cooperation. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel heads to India this month to deepen discussions on military exercises, defense trade, co-production and co-development, and research on new technologies for defense, says a joint U.S.-India statement July 31. The two countries are accelerating their partnership in defense and homeland security following the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

New Army Cyber Leader. The Army assigns Maj. Gen. Stephen Fogarty as commanding general, Cyber Center of Excellence and Fort Gordon, Ga. He has been commanding general of the Army Intelligence and Security Command, Fort Belvoir, Va. Maj. Gen. Lawarren Patterson, commanding general of the Cyber Center of Excellence and Fort Gordon is assigned as deputy commanding general for operations/chief of staff, Installation Management Command, Joint Base San Antonio, Texas.

Navy PEO IWS. Rear Adm. Jon Hill has assumed command as the program executive officer for integrated warfare systems at Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA). The PEO IWS oversees the development and acquisition of ship sensor and combat systems, such as Aegis and the new Air Missile Defense Radar slated to go on flight III DDG-51 destroyers in the coming years. Hill replaced Rear Adm., Joseph Horn, who retired from the Navy after a 34-year career. “PEO IWS is the world’s greatest combat systems organization,” said Sean Stackley, the Navy’s acquisition chief. “There is no greater symbol of American power than the symbol of Aegis on the sea.”

Congress Funds Iron Dome. The Senate Friday unanimously approved $225 million in new funds for the Defense Department to assist Israel with procurement of the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system to counter short range rockets. It is part of the Emergency Supplemental Appropriation for fiscal year 2014. The House also passed the measure including Iron Dome funding late Friday night. The Senate funds were added under an amendment by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (R-Nev.),  Senate Democratic Minority leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski. Reid said, ” I am glad that we have been able to respond to Secretary Hagel’s request for $225 million in emergency funding so that Israel can replenish the Iron Dome system said: McConnell said, “By passing this bipartisan measure, we send a message to Hamas that its terrorist tactics and its attempts to terrorize Israel’s populace will not succeed.”

…And More. Mikulski also included $621 million for U.S.-Israel Cooperative Missile Development Programs, an increase of $117 million over FY’14 levels, in the FY2015 DoD spending bill reported from Committee. This includes $351 million to support Iron Dome, doubling the Administration’s FY’15 budget request.

Rocket Firing. Raytheon and MD Helicopters successfully in firing four TALON laser-guided rockets from the MD 530G armed aerial scout during tests at Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz. “This test further demonstrates the maturity of the TALON Laser Guided Rocket weapon system as a complement to MD’s AAS platform,” says Darryl Kreitman, Raytheon TALON program director. “These test shots included four firings showcasing TALON’s versatility over the entire firing envelope with direct hits for all events.”TALON LGR is a low-cost, digital semi-active laser guidance and control kit co-developed with the United Arab Emirates, the companies say. TALON’s guidance section integrates directly to the front of the legacy 2.75-inch Hydra-70 unguided rockets while its unique tail kit replaces the legacy Hydra-70 wraparound tail kit.

JSOW C. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) successfully tests a Joint Standoff Weapon C (JSOW C) against a hardened wall target, according to a Raytheon company statement. JSOW C was launched from an F/A-18 Super Hornet at an operationally-representative standoff range and altitude of 25,000 feet. Raytheon says the test marks the third successful employment of JSOW C this year against one of the most challenging target sets. Previously, two JSOW C air-to-ground weapons also destroyed simulated cave targets in U.S. Navy flight tests. JSOW C is designed to provide fleet forces with robust and flexible capacity against high-value land targets at launch ranges up to 70 nautical miles.

GEOINT Contract. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) awards BAE Systems a $335 million contract to assist in transforming the collection, maintenance and utilization of geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) data and products, according to a company statement. The award supports NGA’s “Map of the World” project, which is giving U.S. military leaders clearer on-the-ground intelligence pictures to enhance situational awareness and mission planning. According to Web-based geospatial capabilities provider Thermopylae Sciences and Technology, NGA wants Map of the World to be a digital platform for geospatial intelligence that is both dynamic and ubiquitous, a common exchange integrating many networks into a single set built to be user friendly.

ORS-5. Air Force Space and Missile Command’s (AFSMC) Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) office is developing a new mission to answer a U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) need for space situational awareness (SSA) of the geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) belt, according to a SMC statement. Known as ORS-5, the program will task Massachusetts Institute of Technology- (MIT) Lincoln Laboratory to design and build an operational demonstration of the SensorSat satellite, which continuously scans the GEO belt from low earth orbit (LEO). ORS-5 will demonstrate a low-cost small satellite launch capability and aspects of autonomous operations via the existing multi-mission space operations center ground architecture. ORS-5 will start in 2016 with expected launch in 2017.

SNC CCiCap. Sierra Nevada (SNC) says it successfully passes Milestone 9, the risk reduction and technology readiness level (TRL) advancement testing milestone, for several critical Dream Chaser space vehicle milestones under NASA’s Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) agreement. Milestone 9 culminates in a major comprehensive review of various hardware systems. These tests include design qualification testing, stress tests on the primary structure, human-in-the-loop tests and internal and external active thermal control testing. SNC, to date, has received 92 percent of the total award value of the CCiCap agreement.

Boeing ALCM. The Air Force awards Boeing a $7.3 million contract to remanufacture warhead arming devices for the Air-Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM), according to a company statement. The deal is a two-year contract that includes an option for six additional years at an estimated value of $50 million. Boeing says it has worked on ALCM since its conception. ALCM is a long-range subsonic, self-guided missile that can be launched far from hostile territory and still reach its target.

Kaman JPF. The Air Force awards Kaman Corp. an $8.5 million contract modification for the procurement of Joint Programmable Fuzes (JPF), according to a company statement. The award is a follow-on order, raising the total under Option 11 of Kaman’s JPF contract with the Air Force to approximately $50.4 million. Delivery of fuzes is anticipated for 2015 and 2016. JPF allows the settings of a weapon to be programmed on wing in flight and is the current bomb fuze choice of the Air Force. JPF is also used with a number of weapons including general purpose bombs and guided bombs that use Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) or Paveway kits.

Cyber Security. A SANS Institute survey released in July says that a cyber security monitoring program for the federal government that is overseen by the Department of Homeland Security is suffering from a low adoption rate.  According to the limited survey results published by SANS so far about adoption of the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program, “Despite extensive outreach by DHS, the ‘trickle down’ of information to security administrators, analysts and operations staff has been limited.” It says only 49 percent of chief information officers and chief security officers “had levels of awareness significantly higher than that of security or IT administrators,” who came in at 36 percent and 21 percent respectively. “This lack of overall information about the program hinders its adoption,” SANS says.

IBM Acquisition. To bolster its information security offerings, IBM has acquired Italy’s CrossIdeas, which provides security software that governs user access to applications and data across on-premise and cloud environments. The company says CrossIdea’s software manages identities and application access, helping to mitigate access risks and segregation of duty violations. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Small Biz Goals Met. The Small Business Administration (SBA) says that in 2013 the federal government awarded 23.4 percent, or $83.1 billion, in federal contracts to small businesses, marking the first time in eight years the government has reached its small business contracting goal. “When we hit our small business procurement target, it’s a win,” states Maria Contreras-Sweet, the SBA Administrator. Small businesses get the revenue they need to grow and create jobs, and the federal government gets the chance to work with some of the most responsive, innovative and nimble companies in the U.S. while the economy grows.”

…Department Breakout. The Defense Department weighed down the overall small business contracting results, awarded 21.1 percent, or $48.3 billion, of prime contracting dollars to small businesses. The department’s goal for the year was 22.5 percent of awards to small businesses. Still, DoD beat its 2012 level of 20.4 percent. The Department of Homeland Security also missed its 2013 goal of 32 percent but still managed to award 30.9 percent, or $3.9 billion, in prime contracts to small businesses. That percentage was up from 30.7 percent in 2012. Overachieving in 2013 was NASA, which awarded 21.7 percent, or $2.8 billion, of prime contracts to small businesses. The agency’s target was 17.2 percent. In 2012 NASA awarded 19 percent of prime contracts to small companies.