March Madness. Congressional defense panels will dive into the Pentagon’s fiscal year 2019 budget request and other matters the week of March 5-9 by holding about a dozen hearings in three days. Topics will include the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Navy and Marine Corps, acquisition reform, worldwide threats and U.S. Africa, European, Strategic and Transportation Commands.

Strike Leader. President Trump has nominated Lt. Gen. Timothy Ray to be the next commander of Air Force Global Strike Command. If confirmed by the Senate, Ray will replace Gen. Robin Rand, who is retiring. Ray is currently deputy commander of U.S. European Command. Trump has also nominated Maj. Gen. David Thompson to be vice commander of Air Force Space Command. Thompson is now special assistant to Space Command’s commander.

More ISR, Please. Asked at a Feb. 27 congressional hearing whether he has enough intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) assets, Army Gen. Joseph Votel, head of U.S. Central Command, replied that “I don’t think you’re going to find any commander that’s going to say he has enough ISR.” To ease its own shortfall, Central Command is working with other military agencies “to acquire contract ISR solutions, incorporate non-traditional ISR (such as that collected from strike assets), and improve efficiency and asset de-confliction,” Votel said in written testimony.

GOES-S Goes Up. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S) satellite, which Lockheed Martin built for NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), lifted off on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket March 1 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Once GOES-S becomes operational, it will improve weather forecasts for the western United States, Alaska and Hawaii, NOAA said. GOES-S is the second in a series of four advanced geostationary weather satellites.

New Peraton Exec. Peraton has named John Coleman as the president of its Homeland Security sector, effective March, 5, completing the top executive appointments at its four operating sectors. He will oversee the company’s work with the Departments of Homeland Security, State, the Defense Department’s Defense Health Agency, and other select federal civilian agencies. Coleman previously was president of the OMNISEC International Investigations, which provides background investigation services for the intelligence community and federal civilian agencies, and is part of OMNIPLEX World Services. Coleman had 2,000 cleared employees and contractors working for him at OMNISEC. Coleman has also worked with PAE’s Mission Solutions business.

Board and Exec Appointments. Retired U.S. Navy Adm. Cecil Haney has joined the board of Systems Planning and Analysis, Inc., which provides engineering and professional services to various Defense Department customers as well as NASA and the Department of Homeland Security. Haney spent nearly 40 years in the Navy, with his last assignment as commander, U.S. Strategic Command. Greg Jones, the former head of Business Development & International Programs at Orbital ATK, is now senior vice president of Strategy & Business Development at Aerojet Rocketdyne, reporting to President and CEO Eileen Drake. Kevin Fagan has been appointed general manager of ManTech International’s Federal Civilian and Health IT business unit. Finally, CSS, Inc., which provides scientific and technical services to federal government, has named Joseph Craver as its new CEO. Craver worked for SAIC for 24 years and joined CSS two years ago and is also the president of the $30 million company.

Icebreaker. The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard’s Integrated Program Office (IPO) released its anticipated Request for Proposals (RFP) for a new heavy polar icebreaker (HPIB), the first in decades. This RFP for the HPIB program covers Advance Planning and Engineering Efforts with options to fund the Detail Design and Construction (DD&C) of up to three HPIB cutters. The Coast Guard and Navy are also soliciting voluntary input from prime offerors on the benefits of a congressional authorization for block buy and/or economic order quantity for all three or just the second and third cutters. RFP responses are due by May 11.

GA ABQ Expansion. General Atomics said its Electromagnetic Systems segment has opened a new facility in Albuquerque, N.M., to increase collaboration with federal laboratories, contractors and entrepreneurs in the area. The expansion is part of the Univ. of New Mexico’s Innovate ABQ initiative, which is aimed at “connecting the local research community and private and government resources to create a center of innovation and economic development designed to foster job growth and entrepreneurship within the community,” GA said.

New Congressional Caucus. Rep. Susan Brooks (R-Ind.) and Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) are co-chairing a new bipartisan Congressional Biodefense Caucus that will work to “educate Members and staff on the very real threats our nation faces from a CBRN attack or pandemic outbreak and identifying the existing gaps in our preparedness and response,” says the group’s mission statement. The caucus includes 27 members of Congress. “There is an assumption that we have stockpiles of vaccines readily available to combat the next anthrax attack,” Brooks said. “This is not an issue of fear but is one that requires knowledge, and we can work to educate members and the public on the importance of these issues.”

Drone Market. The Aerospace Industries Association and Avascent Analytics released a study projecting explosive growth in the global market for large unmanned aerial systems (UAS) over the next two decades. The report found large UAS will become a cornerstone of future aviation, changing the nature of travel, technology and transport, and the economies surrounding those markets. Spending on large UAS is expected to rise from the low hundreds of millions today to $30 billion annually by 2036, driven by manufacturing and services for long-haul cargo and passenger aircraft. The report also showed that spending will sustain up to 60,000 research, manufacturing and service jobs annually by the end of that timeframe. “We have got to think bigger when it comes to the future of unmanned aviation,” AIA President and CEO Eric Fanning said. “The future unmanned systems market will change the way we travel and transport products. We could see entirely new economic centers where they don’t exist today. It’s an incredible opportunity, if government and industry start now on the regulations and technology to realize that potential.”

Intelligence Budget. The Department of Defense released the annual Military Intelligence Program (MIP) top line budget request for Fiscal Year 2019. The total, which includes both the base budget and Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding, is $21.2 billion.  As it does every year, the department determined that releasing this top line figure does not jeopardize any classified activities within the MIP. All other MIP budget figures and program details remain classified for national security reasons.

Soldier Helmets. The Army has awarded Ceradyne, a 3M company, a $34 million contract to continue supplying Integrated Head Protection Systems (IHPS). The futuristic helmet uses advanced materials, an ultramodern design and add-on accessories to give soldiers greater comfort and advanced protection for modern missions, the company said. The award raises Ceradyne’s total IHPS contract value to more than $52 million. The Army created the IHPS to give soldiers a lighter-weight ballistic helmet with passive hearing protection and increased blunt-impact performance. It is a component of the Army’s next-generation Soldier Protection System (SPS) program, which seeks to optimize soldier protection while reducing total equipment weight.

Network Upgrades. LGS Innovations was awarded the five-year, $81.5 million Army Network Modernization (NETMOD) data project by the Enterprise Information Systems program office’s (PEO EIS) Power Projection Enablers (P2E) team at Fort Belvoir, Va. The NETMOD Pacific (NETMOD-P) data project seeks to create a single, secure standards-based network. NETMOD will touch over 100 sites across the entire Asia-Pacific theater in several U.S. states and territories, reducing the number of entry and exit points to enhance network security. LGS Innovations will provide engineering, furnish-and-install, securing, and testing non-classified Internet Protocol (IP) router network (NIPRnet) switching equipment and ancillary components under the NETMOD-P project for all Army bases, camps, posts, and installations throughout the Pacific Command. 

DoD Nominee. The Trump administration nominated Executive Vice President and Director of In-Q-Tel Labs (IQT) Lisa Porter of Virginia to be deputy undersecretary of defense for research and engineering. Before joining IQT, Porter was the president of Teledyne Scientific & Imaging. She is a former Director of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Porter served as the associate administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and before that served as a program manager and senior scientist at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). 

F/A-18 Extended. The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) awarded Boeing a $73 million contract for service life modifications (SLM) on four F/A-18E/F aircraft to extend their service life from 6,000 to 9,000 flight hours. These modifications are part of the effort to transition to Block II F/A-18s, which will also feature new conformal fuel tanks, newer datalinks and networking capabilities, a new cockpit display, and communications upgrades. This flight hour extension is expected to be finished by April 2020. Mark Sears, Boeing’s SLM program director, said the program will expand to include Block III conversion, systems grooming and reset and O-level maintenance tasks designed to deliver a more maintainable aircraft. “Each of these jets will fly another 10 to 15 years, so making them next-generation aircraft is critical,” he said in a statement.

LCS-14. The U.S. Navy on Wednesday took delivery of the future USS Manchester (LCS-14) from Austal USA at a ceremony in Mobile, Ala. This marked the last milestone before the ship is commissioned, which is set for Portsmouth, N.H., in May. Manchester is the 12th LCS to be delivered to the Navy and the seventh Independence-variant. The Manchester will be homeported in San Diego.

EPF-10. Austal USA on Thursday launched the U.S. Navy’s latest Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) ship, the future USNS Burlington (EPF-10) at its shipyard n Mobile, Ala. The launching process is the latest in the construction process. First, the ship is built in a modular manufacturing facility, then it is transferred to a docking barge and then to a dry dock where it is submerged in the water and launched. The process takes two days. Austal USA is also building the future USNS Puerto Rico (EPF-11) and Newport (EPF-12).

AQS-24B Minehunter. Northrop Grumman plans to exhibit its AQS-24B high-speed mine hunting system at the 2018 Undersea Defence & Security Conference in Portsmouth, U.K., later in March. The company says it is the sole deployed and “operationally proven” mine hunter of its type. AQS-24B can reach speeds of 18 knots; uses a high-resolution side scan sonar for detection, localization, and classification of mines; and a laser line scanner for optical identification. The model is in use by the U.S. Navy. It is operated from the MH-53E helicopters and the Mine Hunting Unmanned Surface Vessel (MHU) in the Persian Gulf. The AQS-24B successfully completed three operational exercises since joining the Navy Airborne Mine Countermeasures Squadron.

That Escalated Quickly. An official from the Russian embassy in Washington directly questioned a DoD official on the basis for the presumption Russia is considering an escalate to deescalate strategy with first use of lower yield “tactical” nuclear weapons. In the Feb. 26 event at the Heritage Institute, the embassy official said this thinking by the U.S. has no basis in official Russian doctrine. David Trachtenberg, deputy under secretary of defense for policy, said there are a number of open source materials that suggest Russian policy has moved in that direction. He added the government looks at what Russia is doing, what it has done with exercises, and additional classified material. He notes since 2010 and 2012 several statements by senior Russian government and military leaders have given the U.S. “significant pause.”

TRADOC Transition. Gen. Stephen Townsend assumed command on Friday of Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) from Gen. David Perkins during a ceremony on Fort Eustis, Va. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley called it bittersweet day as the command bid farewell to Perkins and welcomed Townsend as TRADOC’s 16th commanding general. Perkins has helmed TRADOC for the past four years, during which time he oversaw development of the Multi-Domain Battle concept. As important as that operational concept will be in future high-end conflicts, Milley says TRADOC’s greatest contribution to the Army is training soldiers. 

… New Commander. In welcoming TRADOC’s incoming chief, Milley said the command is lucky to have Townsend, who commanded the U.S.-led counter-ISIS Combined Joint Task Force – Operatoin Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) in Iraq and Syria from August 2016 to September 2017. “This is a guy who has incredible competence, he’s got tremendous intellect, and he’s got extraordinary experience,” Milley said. “I have no doubt that he is going to take TRADOC to the next level.

DISA/SIPRNet. DISA completed its Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet) Access Migration project intended to improve the way its mission partners connect to its secure network. The project included evolving SIPRNet from a point-to-point network to a virtual network, while also increasing the bandwidth capacity from 1G to 10G. The project gives DoD’s mission partners more opportunities to work with the Secret-Joint Regional Security Stacks (S-JRSS) program to improve information environment standards. “This transition makes mission partners ready for S-JRSS transport. The transport utilizes Advanced Crypto Compliant encryptors, so when mission partners are ready for S-JRSS, they will only need to make router changes,” DISA official Mark Williams said in a statement.

GD IT/J6 C4. General Dynamics Information Technology received a five-year $49 million deal from the Navy to continue providing command and control support services for the Joint Staff J6 C4 assessments division. GD IT will provide technical and analytical research on emerging requirement, as well as engineering support. “General Dynamics IT’s support includes establishing, maintaining and extending the Persistent C4/Cyber Environment for the integration and technical interoperability assessment of current force systems and cyber capabilities for the joint and coalition warfighter,” GD said.