Terrorists and Cyber. Terrorists understand the economic havoc they could create through cyber attacks but the intelligence community hasn’t seen them develop the “great capability” to do so, Nicholas Rasmussen, deputy director of the National Counterterrorism Center, tells a Senate panel. Over time, Rasmussen says, terrorist groups can be expected to move in this direction.
…Cyber Cooperation.
The federal government gets it when it comes to the need to cooperate in the realm of cyber security, Robert Anderson, executive assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch, tells the Senate Homeland Security Committee. He says “that when it comes to cyber, I’ve probably never seen more cooperation in my entire law enforcement career than I have in the last year or so.” Anderson adds that “we’re trying to figure out how we share real-time information with our private sector partners.”
Tech Transfer. The Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology branch says it has successfully transferred to the commercial market for the first time through its Transition to Practice program technology that it found at Los Alamos National Laboratory for encryption. S&T says after identifying the next-generation encryption technology it introduced the technology to industry in 2013 and in August 2014 it was exclusively licensed by Allied Minds, a science and technology development and commercialization firm. Allied Minds has formed Whitewood Encryption Systems, Inc. to take the encryption technology to market. “Whitewood aims to address one of the most difficult problems in securing modern communications: scalability, meeting the need for low cost, low latency, high security systems that can effectively service increasingly complex data security needs,” says John Serafini, vice president at Allied Minds.
Dempsey, Breedlove, Campbell, Present. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, EUCOM/SACEUR Gen. Philip Breedlove, and ISAF Commander Gen. John
Photo: DoD
Campbell will be among presenters at the NATO Military Conference in Vilnius Lithuania Friday. The meeting will focus on regional security and its challenges, operations, NATO’s current mission in Afghanistan and future RESOLUTE SUPPORT mission. The Chiefs of Defense will also discuss guidance and direction for the decisions made at the NATO Summit in Wales with regard to the Readiness Action Plan and the Spearhead Force. They also will elect the next Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, currently Denmark’s Gen. Knud Bartels.
EU Talks Defense. U.K. Defense Minister Michael Fallon calls on the EU to maintain its momentum on investment and rapid reaction capability. Hard on the heels of the NATO summit a week earlier, Fallon says “We need to maintain the momentum that the 22 EU member states who are also NATO members established in committing to defense investment and a rapid reaction force.” The discussions will support European Council initiatives to strengthen the EU’s common security and defense policy during formal council talks in November.
Boeing-Alcoa Deal. Alcoa signs a $1 billion, multi-year contract with Boeing to supply aluminum sheet and plate products with the aerospace firm, according to an Alcoa company statement. The deal also makes Alcoa Boeing’s sole supplier for wing skins on all of its metallic structure airplanes. Alcoa plate products, used in applications such as wing ribs, wing skins or other structural parts of the aircraft, will also be on every Boeing platform. The agreement also establishes a foundation for continued collaboration on new, high-strength and corrosion-resistant alloys, including aluminum-lithium, that could be used for complex structural applications. Alcoa says earlier this year it signed an agreement to acquire Firth Rixson, a manufacturer of aerospace jet engine components.
Ball-Laser Light. Laser Light Communications selects Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. to be its prime contractor for the first global, all-optical commercial satellite system, according to a Ball company statement. The Ball contract will include a first phase design analysis that will lead to completion of an eight-satellite constellation operating in medium earth orbit (MEO). The complete constellation of up to 12 satellites is expected to deliver six terabytes (TB) of data per second with service speeds of 200 gigabytes (GB) per second, bi-directionally, or nearly 100 times faster than conventional radio downlinks. Ball says as customer demand for bandwidth grows, space-based laser communication provides a new way to move vast amounts of information around the globe efficiently and with greater resiliency.
USAF Promotions. President Obama nominates Air Force Lt. Gen. Tod Wolters to become deputy chief of staff, operations plans and requirements, Headquarters Air Force, according to a DoD statement. Wolters currently serves as commander of 12th Air Force (Air Forces Southern), Air Combat Command (ACC). Obama also nominates Air Force Brig. Gen. VeraLinn Jamieson to become major general. Jamieson currently serves as director of intelligence for Headquarters ACC.
NG DARPA Contract. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awards Northrop Grumman a $12 million contract to develop and demonstrate advanced wideband digital antenna technology for next-generation radio frequency (RF) sensors using active electronically scanned arrays (AESA), according to a company statement. The contract is for phase one of the Arrays on Commercial Timescales (ACT) program, which is to develop the key technologies for affordable, next-generation AESAs by designing a reusable digital common module that contains the critical integrated circuits required. ACT aims to greatly reduce the development and manufacturing cost of future digital arrays through common module reuse, high levels of integration and the application of high-volume commercial Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) integrated circuit technology. Key contractors include Semtech and Systems & Technology Research.
Buck Promotion. Air Force Maj. Gen. David Buck becomes vice commander of Air Force Space Command (AFSPC), according to the service. Buck takes over for Gen. John Hyten, who succeeded Gen. William Shelton as commander of AFSPC. Buck’s previous assignment was director of air, space and cyberspace operations for Headquarters AFSPC.
NASA Awards. NASA selects four companies to integrate and fly technology payloads on commercial suborbital reusable platforms that carry payloads near the boundary of space, according to the civil space agency. Masten Space Systems, Paragon Space Development Corp., Up Aerospace Inc., and Virgin Galactic receive indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) contracts for integration and flight services. The contracts are three-year deals with two-year extension options and a minimum value of $100,000. The selection is part of NASA’s effort to foster a viable market for American commercial reusable suborbital platforms that allow testing of new space technologies within earth’s atmosphere.
SASC Members Face Off. Scott Brown, who formerly served as a senator from Massachusetts, won the Republican primary election for the senate race in New Hampshire. The former Senate Armed Services Committee member will now face current SASC member and readiness subcommittee chairwoman Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) in the general election. Several polls show Shaheen ahead by five percentage points or more, though Brown is certain to ramp up his efforts against her now that the primary election is over.
Sub Work. The Navy has awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat a $234-million contract for support work on the service’s fleet of nuclear submarines. That control could climb t $1.5 billion over five years if all options are exercised. The Ohio-class submarines represent the Navy’s fleet of the nuclear boomers. “Under the terms of this award, Electric Boat will provide design, engineering, material and logistics support, and research and development activities for active U.S. submarines and submersibles,” Electric Boat says. “Electric Boat also will provide information services, planning, scheduling and technical support for submarine maintenance and modernization activities, training and facility support, and affordability and cost reduction support.”
German Navy and the Banner. The German frigate FGS Niedersachsen (F208) sailed into Baltimore Harbor during the last week to as part of the Star Spangled Spectacular festivities celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Star Spangled Banner. The ship plans to remain in Baltimore to Monday, according to the German embassy in Washington. The Niedersachsen is one of eight Bremen-class frigates in the German Navy and were designed for anti-submarine warfare but also carry anti-aircraft and surface warfare capabilities. The class has been in service since the 1990s and will likely be replaced by F125-class frigates in the years ahead.