Capitol Hill Week Ahead. The fiscal year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act may be moving to President Barack Obama’s desk for the second time this upcoming week. The Senate is expected to take up the bill and, now that objections have been settled, will likely pass it overwhelmingly. Meanwhile, the House is in recess next week, and the Senate Armed Services Committee will take a look at the Goldwater-Nichols Act on Tuesday.
Italy F-35. Italian pilots make their first F-35 flights on Nov. 5 when two Italian pilots complete their initial training flight at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., according to a Lockheed Martin statement. One Italian pilot flies his mission in an Australian F-35 conventional variant with an Air Force Reserve ground instructor on the headset. In addition, the maintenance team was comprised of Lockheed Martin contractors and an Australian maintenance liaison officer. Two instructor pilots from the 61st Fighter Squadron flies alongside the Italians, guiding them through their first flight. Two U.S. student pilots take their first flight as well, one guided by a U.S. instructor pilot and the other by an Australian. Lockheed Martin develops the F-35 along with subcontractors BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman.
Rocket Booster Award. The Air Force takes a step toward getting off the RD-180 by awarding Johns Hopkins University a $546,000 contract for technology maturation and risk reduction for rocket propulsion system development, according to a service statement.The award is specifically for “additively manufactured liquid rocket engine cooling channels.” The contract is part of the Booster Propulsion Technology Maturation broad area announcement (BAA). This and subsequent awards are part of step one of a comprehensive Air Force plan to transition away from the Russian-developed RD-180 engine used in the Atlas V rocket. The service expects subsequent BAA awards to occur over the course of three months, totaling $35 million. United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing, develops the Atlas V.
NASA SACOM Contract. NASA awards Syncom Space Services LLC (S3) a performance-based hybrid contract worth as much as $1.2 billion to support the Synergy Achieving Consolidated Operations and Maintenance (SACOM) program, according to a company statement. S3 is a joint venture of PAE Applied Technologies LLC and BWXT Nuclear Operations Group. The contract has a one-year base period and seven option periods totaling nine years and five months. The SACOM award consolidates contracts at two NASA facilities: Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Michoud Assembly Facility, La.
Honeywell COM DEV. Honeywell signs a definitive agreement to acquire Canada’s COM DEV International for an aggregate purchase price of nearly $345 million, net of cash and debt, according to a Honeywell statement. Honeywell acquires COM DEV’s electrical and optical components and subsystems equipment businesses. COM DEV will simultaneously spin off its exactEarth subsidiary to current shareholders prior to closing.
CBP Surveillance Award. Customs and Border Protection awards the small business Tactical Micro Inc. a potential $49.9 million to provide a mobile surveillance system for border security under the Mobile Video Surveillance System program. The contract was originally awarded to Mistral more than a year ago but after a protest, CBP withdrew the award and re-did the competition, eventually deciding on Tactical Micro. The initial award is for $596,000 and covers delivery of two MVSS units, along with a year of contractor maintenance and logistics support. The MVSS consists of day and night camera systems on telescopic poles mounted on Border Patrol 4 x 4 vehicles.
Ship Repair Acquisition. The private equity firm Stellex Capital Management acquires the ship repair company Marine Hydraulics International, LLC, which provides major rapine repair and conversion services to the Navy and commercial ship owners and operators. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. MHI, which has nearly 500 employees and is based in Norfolk, Va., says the deal is in the best interests of its employee shareholders.
Aviation Security Help. Out of concern that a Russian passenger jet that crashed in Egypt on Oct. 31 may have been brought down by a bomb, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and Transportation Security Administration Chief Peter Neffenger institute interim enhancements to aviation security for U.S. bound commercial flights from certain airports in the region. Specific measures are not being disclosed but the two officials say the new measures add another layer of security and “will be undertaken in consultation with relevant foreign governments and relevant passenger and cargo airlines.” The enhancements include expanded screening for items on aircraft, airport assessments, offers of assistance to foreign airports and security officials, and other measures “seen and unseen.”
…Screening at Speed. Meanwhile, Neffenger tells the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee that he sees a future where airline passengers will be able to pass through aviation security checkpoints “at the speed of life” due to more integrated screening technologies that bring together “metal detection, non-metallic anomaly detection, shoe X-Ray, and explosive vapor detection.” He also says that technology advances may enable passengers to be their own boarding pass by using biometrics to verify identities linked to the Secure Flight watchlist. “By increasing the number of fully-vetted passengers and enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of physical screening, I am fully committed to refining and advancing our risk-based security strategy,” Neffenger says.
Presidential Helicopter. Sikorsky makes progress in developing the next presidential helicopter, the VH-92A, which is scheduled to begin fielding in 2020. The company is using its commercial S-92 helicopter as the basis for the aircraft and is adding government-specific mission systems. In August, the company completes its preliminary design review, and in September, it accepts the second S-92 aircraft and begins modifying it to the VH-92A configuration, the company says in a news release. The first of the test aircraft, Engineering Development Model 0, has conducted more than 80 hours of ground and flight testing and completes mission communications system testing in August.
Littoral Combat Ship. Lockheed Martin on Nov. 2 lays the keel for the future USS Bilings (LCS 15) at Marinette Marine’s shipyard in Marinette, Wisconsin. Billings is the eighth ship of Lockheed’s Freedom-class LCS variant. Austal is building the Independence-class, and there are 12 ships of both variants currently under construction. Lockheed’s USS Milwaukee (LCS 5) will be commissioned in its namesake city on Nov. 21.
Cyber War. During the past 15 years of war against technologically inferior foes in Afghanistan and Iraq, potential near-peer competitors have been studying the U.S. military’s electronic warfare capabilities, says Richard Wittstruck, associate director of field-based experimentation and integration at the Army’s Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center. “While we’ve been busy fighting and winning wars over the last 15 years, our potential adversaries have been learning,” Wittstruck tells Defense Daily’s annual Open Architecture Summit on Nov. 4. “They have been watching what we and the allies have put out and they have been learning where we are strong and where we are weak in both geospatial and electromagnetic operations. They have been practicing the integration of cyber and EW and kinetics heartily, and that’s the next fight. Whether it’s a regional peer or it’s a hybrid environment of a regional peer coupled with a non-traditional formation … that’s going to be the next fight, and we have to get ready for it.”
… Wired warriors. To fight in that sort of war, Wittstruck says combat brigades will have to view cyber and EW capabilities in the same way they view ground assaults and artillery: as one option in a continuum of kinetic and non-kinetic weapons that can be used against a threat or enemy. The Army especially will need to establish a framework for “converged tactical operations centers” from which both indirect fire and offensive and defensive capabilities in the electromagnetic and cyber realms can be directed, Wittstruck says.
F-35 Increase. Lockheed Martin on Nov. 3 secures an undefinitized contract inflating the previously awarded low-rate initial production Lot 9 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter advance acquisition contract by $5.3 billion. The modification pays for an additional 41 F-35A aircraft, including 26 F-35As for the Air Force, six F-35As for Norway, seven F-35As for Israel, two F-35As for Japan; 12 F-35Bs, including six for the Marine Corps and six for the British Royal Navy; and two F-35Cs for the Navy.
Warthogs v. ISIL. The reopening of the Incirlik air base in Turkey to U.S. fighter aircraft has allowed for a “thickening” of airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman Col. Steve Warren says. The A-10 Warthogs and F-15s that have been stationed there now are flying much shorter ferry flights to target sites in both countries, which allows for longer loiter time on station and faster sortie turnaround time, he said during a Wednesday teleconference from Baghdad. U.S. aircraft and Turkish F-16s flew in support of a recent offensive by Syria Democratic Forces that recaptured around 225 square kilometers of territory from ISIL, Warren said. Coalition aircraft supported the advance with 17 air strikes, destroying ISIL vehicles, fighting positions, weapons systems and killing 79 enemy fighters, he said. A-10s and a AC-130 Specter gunship also participated in a successful frontal assault on ISIL positions in Iraq, he said.
… Closer Encounters. The movement of U.S. aircraft to bases in Turkey bring airpower dramatically closer to the battlefield in both countries. “Now that we’ve got the ability to fly out of Turkey … our flight legs are shorter,” Warren says. “Our loiter time is longer. Our response time is shorter. … Because of the Turks allowing us this access, what we’ve done is be able to have more air presence in the battle space when we need it.”
Recon Aircraft. The Army on Nov. 5 awards Leidos a $661.8 million indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract for the design, architecture engineering, configuration management, systems integration, aircraft integration, testing, technical and logistical support of the airborne reconnaissance low-enhanced (ARL-E) aircraft. Three bids were received prior to the award to Leidos and work is expected to be complete by Nov. 3, 2020.
… Recon Replacement. Nine ARL-Es will replace the current fleet of nine ARL-multifunction aircraft, which are four-engine DeHavilland Canada Dash-7 turboprop aircraft, according to the Army. The ARL-E mission will be performed by twin-engine Bombardier Dash-8 planes, another retrofitted business-class turboprop. The enhanced ARL aircraft will feature several sensor upgrades to its predecessor including light-detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensors, wide-area surveillance capabilities, hyper-spectral imaging and interoperability with the Army’s version of the distributed common ground system. Published requirements for ARL-E specify an open mission systems architecture that allows for payload modules to be rapidly interchanged between sorties so battlefield commanders can tailor the reconnaissance capabilities of the aircraft to their specific needs.
Farkas Leaves DoD. Evelyn Farkas resigns Oct. 30 as the Pentagon’s deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia/Ukraine/Eurasia. Farkas cites, as accomplishments in her tenure, providing $266 million of “real” assistance to Ukraine, including equipment and training. She says this assistance has improved Ukraine’s readiness as a military and its ability to provide for its territorial defense. Farkas also cites “significant support” to Georgia and Moldova in addition to the European Resource Initiative to help deter Russia from NATO allies and NATO territory. “We’ve done a lot to signal and actually support our allies and partners, and I think, overall, we can claim thusfar we’ve achieved a lot,” Farkas tells a Defense Writers Group breakfast in Washington on Nov. 4.