The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense

Bridge Goes Nowhere. The House-approved $50 billion bill to fund four months of Iraq war operations tanked last week in a 53-45 Senate vote; 60 yeses were required for passage. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said because Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Army and the Marine Corps should be “just fine” until next February, “everyone should rest with a good conscience.” Reid added that another vote on additional war funding might have to wait until after the start of the next year. Sen. Jon Kyl (R- Ariz.) disputed Reid’s assertion that the Pentagon would be fine, saying that Gates “has made it clear that as of the early to mid-December time frame, there are serious consequences to not having this money for the troops.” A day earlier, Gates told reporters that without additional funding, layoff notices for certain union employees may start rolling out by the middle of next month.

CSAR-X. The Air Force issued the final version of the amended request for proposals for its future combat search and rescue helicopter, the CSAR-X, on Nov. 15. Proposals are due on Jan. 7, 2008, the service says. Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky are competing to build 141 new helicopters under the multi-billion-dollar recapitalization program. Boeing won out in November 2006, but Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky won two rounds of protests with the Government Accountability Office over the Air Force’s handling of the competition. Accordingly, the service is allowing them to submit new cost and non-cost data on their respective designs this time around. Originally the Air Force wanted to field the first squadron of the new rescue platforms in September 2012. That date may now slip up to 21 months, the service acknowledges.

Another Run. Despite a raft of Republicans in the House announcing their retirement at the end of this congressional session, Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), the ranking member of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, announced last week he will run for a sixth term in office. “I look forward to working with the other members of our delegation in Washington to keep our country strong and safe and economically sound, and to ensure that our state’s interests are well served by the federal government.”

Strategy Session. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), the chairman of SASC, said last week he is considering holding a hearing next month about Iraq strategy. During a SASC hearing last week, Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) suggested the committee bring in the defense secretary and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to discuss the strategy in light of comments made recently by Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the commander of Multinational Corps-Iraq, about the need for more political progress in Iraq. Levin said he might convene two panels–one with top military and civilian leaders.

Demanding Supply. Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Michele Flournoy, president of the Center for a New American Security, told reporters last week that the signs of strain on the military because of extended deployments in Iraq are growing. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey last week allowed that the active duty Army might need to grow beyond the current projection of 547,000. But Reed and Flournoy said the service is likely to have difficulty doing so. Flournoy pointed to the relaxation of Army recruiting and retention standards, a trend among West Point grads to leave the service sooner than in the past and an expansion in recruiting and retention incentives. “We’re seeing some canaries in the coal mine. You know, we’re seeing those early warning signals, the indicators that some serious long-term damage to the all-volunteer force is starting to happen,” she said. “And so I think that there really is a sense of urgency to address the larger drivers of this situation, which is the demands in Iraq.”

Berkson Bows Out. Brad Berkson, the Pentagon’s director of Program Analysis and Evaluation, has withdrawn himself from consideration for the No. 2 Army job, according to sources. For months, he had been the leading contender for the slot. Berkson, who has been at the helm of PA&E since June 2005, may be heading for the private sector, the sources added. Nelson Ford, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Financial Management and Comptroller, has emerged as the new front runner for the under secretary of the Army job. Before coming to the Bush Pentagon in 2002, Ford held senior management positions in the health and medical industry, according to his biography.

Taking It On The Chin. ICx Technologies, the detection and surveillance firm that went public earlier this month with its stock priced at $16 per share, has since been watching its stock price suffer. Last Friday, the company’s shares were trading near $9 per share, a decline of over 40 percent, marking a disastrous start in the public equity market for a company many industry officials and observers were buzzing about when it announced plans to go public over the summer. ICx’ poor initial showing may have led to Cross Match Technologies shelving its initial public offering plans (IPO) yet again. Last Monday Cross Match said it has postponed its pending IPO due to volatile market conditions. While federal homeland security spending continues to grow, it’s been difficult to say which, if any, security firms have generated increasing year-over-year sales from the Department of Homeland Security. Many analysts and industry officials continue to describe the various segments of the security market as “lumpy.”

Rad Monitor Reprogramming. Due to the ongoing delays in completing testing and ultimately fielding next-generation radiation monitoring systems used to detect potentially illicit nuclear and dirty-bomb making materials in container shipments, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is asking Congress for permission to reprogram funds from the Advanced Spectroscopic Portal (ASP) program to accelerate deployments of current generation radiation portal monitors. The reprogramming request will come from a portion of the $178 million funded for systems acquisition by the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office in FY ’07. Earlier this month, DHS, at the behest of its Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency, decided to postpone until sometime next year a decision on whether to certify that the ASP provides substantially more capability than current detection portals to justify the additional cost. Most of the accelerated purchases of radiation portal monitors would be for deployment on the Northern Border of the United States to complete coverage there sooner than the planned 2011 timeframe.Container Security.

…All Secure. DHS continues to debate requirements for a Container Security Device (CSD) that would be mounted inside a cargo container and alert if an authorized breach has occurred, Ralph Basham, CBP commissioner, tells reporters. Those requirements were expected to be out earlier this year. Basham says they may still be out later this year. “Quite frankly we’re anxious to get them out there,” he says. “We’re anxious to see exactly what the private sector can develop and let’s go out and test it let’s see if it works.” Once CSDs are available that meet DHS requirements, the additional layer of security could mean speedier processing times at ports of entry for commerce entering the United States. Basham says that the U.S. is having a hard time facilitating travel and commerce at U.S. land ports. “Technology is the key,” he says.

Aloha. The USS Hawaii (SSN-776), the third ship of the Virginia-class, successfully completed the first phase of its OPEVAL earlier this month off the Florida coast, the Navy says. Over the next 12 months, each of the submarine’s mission areas will be thoroughly exercised to validate its design and performance, the service adds. Hawaii‘s successful completion of this OPEVAL phase validated the crew’s ability to carry out complicated Lock-out Trunk (LOT) operations and demonstrated the platform’s capability to support real-world operations required to win the Global War on Terrorism, the Navy says. USS Virginia (SSN 774), USS Texas (SSN 775) and Hawaii are commissioned and the OPEVAL will be completed on Virginia and Texas in 2008.

A Presidential Effort. Lockheed Martin has established a Systems Integration Lab (SIL) in the Navy’s Presidential Helicopter Support Facility at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., in preparation for the arrival of the first aircraft built for the VH-71 program, the company reports. Test Vehicle 2 (TV-2) is scheduled to arrive at Pax River this month to commence a comprehensive testing program that will validate VH-71’s complex systems, Lockheed Martin adds. The new SIL at Pax River and a larger facility at Lockheed Martin Systems Integration in Owego, N.Y., will allow engineers to test VH-71 avionics and mission systems prior to installation aboard the aircraft, the company says.

Take Four. General Dynamics’ NASSCO, shipyard has delivered the fourth T-AKE-class cargo ship, the USNS Richard E. Byrd (T-AKE 4), to the Navy. The ship is the third T-AKE-class ship delivered by the San Diego shipyard this year, the company says. Byrd is the fourth in an expected class of 14 dry cargo-ammunition ships for the Navy. The previously-delivered ships by NASSCO in 2007 are USNS Sacagawea (T-AKE 2) in February and USNS Alan Shepard (T-AKE 3) in June. USNS Lewis and Clark (T-AKE 1) was delivered in June 2006. The fifth through eighth ships of the class are currently under construction for deliveries through the third quarter of 2009.

Unmanned Recovery. Last month, the Navy successfully demonstrated the first-ever complete end-to-end submerged operation of two unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs) from launch through recovery during at-sea testing aboard the fast attack submarine USS Hartford (SSN-768), the Navy says. The test demonstrated repeatable end-to-end at-sea operation of launch through retrieval with fully autonomous vehicle operation. The testing demonstrated several important capabilities of a submarine-launched UUV system including the ability of a submarine to prepare and then launch an autonomous UUV from her torpedo tubes, control the UUV with an underwater acoustic communication system, and the ability of the submarine to rendezvous with an autonomous UUV followed by recovery of the UUV back into the submarine, the Navy adds.

…Demonstration. The two UUVs used in the testing are part of the AN/BLQ-11 Long-term Mine Reconnaissance System, which was designed to enable submarines to conduct clandestine undersea surveys to locate mines. Autonomous recovery was demonstrated on two separate days using different vehicles, with different watch sections, in different environmental conditions, with the host positioning for range constraints vice on a pre-programmed track, the Navy says.

Upgrades For Desert Ship. NSWC Port Hueneme Division, White Sands Detachment Desert Ship completed formal certification testing and review of its upgraded combat and weapon system test equipment earlier this month, the Navy says. Formal panel certification of the upgrades is expected to take place Nov. 28. The Desert Ship upgrade includes Aegis Open Architecture Fire Control System software operating in a commercial off-the-shelf hardware environment. The upgrade also encompasses a MK 41 Vertical Launching System, MK 74 Radar and Aegis Missile Communication System located two miles from the Desert Ship. This remote launching capability meets shore facility explosive safety requirements but is technically important in being the only land-based location providing point defense scenario capability. The upgrade capabilities will be demonstrated later this calendar year by firing a SM-2 Block IIIB against a BQM-74 airborne target.

Sub Honor. Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition and Technology) James Finley presented the SSGN program office with the David Packard Excellence in Acquisition Award during at a Nov. 7 ceremony at Fort Belvoir, the Navy says. The award is given to individuals and groups within the DoD that exhibit significant innovation in the acquisition process. The SSGN program office received the award for a number of acquisition successes during 2006, including delivery of the USS Florida (SSGN-728) in April and USS Michigan (SSGN-727) one month early in November; conducting three modernization periods, including one on the first converted SSGN, USS Ohio (SSGN 726); and for devising and implementing an innovative and flexible testing strategy and schedule that helped to bring the SSGNs into deployable service, the Navy adds.

Afghanistan Still On Top. Top NATO military leaders still consider security in Afghanistan a top priority. “We have seen modest progress on force generation. In pure numerical terms, the number of troops deployed has risen by more than 8,500 in a year, but there are still shortfalls, and we discussed the strategic risks and consequences associated with continued under-resourcing of the minimum military requirement,” says Gen. Ray Henault, chairman of NATO’s Military Committee, and NATO’s top military officer. Shortfalls, such as helicopter support, still exist, he says. A key priority is to field more training and liaison teams for the Afghan National Army, he said Nov. 14. The meetings also saw the election of Italy’s Adm. Giampaolo Di Paola as Henault’s successor. The changeover is likely in June when Henault retires after a 40-year military career culminating in three years as NATO’s top military officer.

Superior Secrecy. The Defense Security Service gives Superior ratings–the highest–to MEADS International (MI) for the third consecutive year, the company says. The annual DSS audit rates the multiple classified program areas that support the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) program. MEADS will replace the Patriot air and missile defense systems in the United States and Germany, and the Nike Hercules system in Italy. DSS has responsibility for approximately 12,000 cleared contractor facilities. Of them, fewer than five percent demonstrate Superior performance. MI President Jim Cravens said, “Our unique international organization has a special mission to develop a system that will protect Warfighters from Germany, Italy and the United States against future air and missile defense threats. All MEADS employees know how important it is to protect vital information that will make certain MEADS cannot be compromised and will improve protection for our soldiers and airmen in the years ahead.” In June, DSS announced that MI was among 30 companies selected to receive the 2007 James S. Cogswell Outstanding Industrial Security Achievement Award. The award is the most prestigious honor DSS bestows on a cleared facility and is presented annually. It was the second time MI received the award.

New Two Arriving. The first two Multi-Role Helicopters in Australia’s AIR 9000 Program are on the ground and ready for testing. The Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) program helicopters arrived at the Australian Aerospace facility in Brisbane inside a leased Antonov aircraft Nov. 14. The MRH90 aircraft will be prepped and tested before delivery. The AIR 9000 MRH Program will provide the Australian Defence Force (ADF) with an additional squadron of troop lift helicopters and replace existing Black Hawk and Sea King helicopter fleets. AIR 9000 is a multi-phased program to consolidate and reduce the number of helicopter fleets operated by the ADF. The first four MRH90 aircraft were assembled at the Eurocopter facility in France. The remaining 42 helicopters are being assembled in Brisbane by Australian Aerospace.

Maturity Verified. Lockheed Martin Simulation, Training & Support achieves a Maturity Level 4 rating during its recent Capability Maturity Model Integration r (CMMIr) appraisal under the newest, most rigorous version of the model and appraisal method, version 1.2, the company says. Established by Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute, CMMI–the standard for independent benchmarking–gauges how effectively an organization implements engineering and management processes used in performing work on programs. “This is a great achievement for our company,” says Simulation, Training & Support President Dale Bennett. “This award demonstrates our commitment to providing our customers with the highest quality solutions for their training and logistics challenges through process improvement.” During the appraisal, major programs assessed included the Aircrew Training and Rehearsal Support (ATARS), the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS), DDG-Modernization and Close Combat Tactical Trainer (CCTT). The independent firm Systems and Software Consortium, Inc., led the appraisal. The assessment encompassed multiple sites, program management, and systems, hardware and software engineering disciplines.