The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
Taxing War. HAC Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) is talking tough about his new Afghan war tax bill, which is co-sponsored by powerful Democrats including HAC-D head John Murtha (D-Pa.) and House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson (D-Conn.). Under their legislation unveiled Nov. 19, the president would set a surtax that fully pays the previous year’s war cost, yet he could delay its implementation by a year if the economy is too weak. The tax would range from 1 percent to 5 percent, depending on taxpayers’ incomes, Obey tells ABC News‘ Jonathan Karl in a Nov. 23 interview. Obey argues if President Barack Obama opts to send more troops to Afghanistan, it could “wipe out every initiative we have to rebuild” the U.S. economy. “There ain’t going to be no money for nothing if we pour it all into Afghanistan,” the HAC chairman says. “If they ask for an increased troop commitment in Afghanistan, I am going to ask them to pay for it.”
…Republican Rebukes. House Republicans immediately slammed the war tax notion, and their Senate colleagues have joined in the criticism. After SASC Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) indicates he could support taxing wealthier Americans to fund the war in Afghanistan, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says on CNN’s State of the Union show that he “rules out” such a tax. “I do,” McConnell says Nov. 22. “The Democrats are willing to bust the budget to pass a domestic program that the American people are against, but all of a sudden find it offensive to do something that is absolutely essential to the security of Americans here in the United States, which is to keep on offense in the war on terror.” McConnell notes the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been paid for by borrowing money, not such taxes.
Brazil Backfire. Boeing backer Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) wants the HASC to investigate the validity of reports that the United States and Brazil are negotiating an agreement for the Pentagon to buy 100 or more Super Tucano aircraft made by Brazil-based Embraer. Tiahrt points to the U.S. investment in the development of a competing Light Attack and Armed Reconnaissance (LAAR) aircraft: the AT-6B made by Wichita-based Hawker Beechcraft Corp. Tiahrt cites other arguments in a Nov. 23 letter to HASC Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) and Ranking Member Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.), including that he believes the purchase of Super Tucanos would “harm U.S. companies and workers, as well as weaken the industrial-base and stifle innovation.”
Regrouping. Pentagon acquisition czar Ashton Carter says he and Marine Lt. Gen. John Paxton, the Joint Staff’s operations chief, are just starting work on a six-month counter- IED task force assigned to them earlier this month by Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Carter says their first report on the issue of how the department will fight the problem of roadside bombs in Afghanistan will go to Gates next month. The two plan to travel to Afghanistan to collect information ahead of the report. “The IED problem in Iraq was very different from the one we are now facing in Afghanistan,” Carter tells reporters at the Pentagon last week. Several Pentagon organizations have been working on the issue for years, but the focus has now shifted away from the high-tech methods employed by insurgents in Iraq to the more primitive explosives used in Afghanistan. Carter says he wants to “make the whole better than the sum of the parts” with the new task force.
Eyes in the Sky. Meanwhile, the Pentagon continues to focus its anti-IED efforts with airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. “We’re putting in…50 MC-12s, the first one of which will arrive and be deployed in January,” department spokesman Geoff Morrell says last week. “They will afford the commander the kind of persistent eyes in the sky that he’s looking for.” Morrell stresses the need to build and deploy such platforms cheaply and quickly. “We’ve got a lot of ISR in Afghanistan, and we need more,” he says. “So we’re going to want to dedicate some of these additional airframes to making sure that our routes are clear and making sure that…we are watching these IED emplacers as they go about their business, that we’re mapping and diagramming the networks and ultimately putting ourselves in a position to break them down.”
Going Solar. The Air Force Real Property Agency is preparing for negotiations with Fotowatio Renewable Ventures, a leading global independent solar power producer, to develop 3,288 acres of Air Force property on Edwards AFB, Calif. Once the two groups sign an Enhanced Use Lease, the crystalline photovoltaic solar development will be the largest in both the Defense Department and North America, according to the Air Force. Upon completion, the Edwards development will deliver enough energy to power nearly 89,000 homes. Kathleen Ferguson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations, approved the selection of FRV following a competitive evaluation of proposals. The EUL program is part of AFRPA’s mission to efficiently manage, acquire and dispose of Air Force real property worldwide, according to the service. To date, the agency has more than 30 EUL projects in various stages of development at bases throughout the United States and its territories.
It’s People. The Navy has managed a total ownership cost savings of $5 billion for the USS Ford (CVN-78), Rear Adm. Michael McMahon, PEO Carriers, tells reporters. “Half of the whole lifecycle cost [of an aircraft carrier] is people,” he says. “So when we say ‘what do we want to go attack first,’ that’s what you want to go first. So, we focused initially on people. That was a big element of the ownership cost. “Of the $5 billion in cost savings, more than $3 billion is related to manpower savings,” McMahon adds. “We are looking at 1,300–the total number of personnel reductions between the ship and the airwing, he notes. That comes out to approximately a reduction of 800 personnel for the ship and 500 for the airwing, McMahon says.
…Study. In the FY ’10 Defense Authorization Act, lawmakers ask the Navy to conduct a study to see what extending the build rate for carriers, from four to five years, will impact, McMahon says. Back in April, Secretary of Defense Gates noted the shift in the aircraft carrier program would place it “on a more fiscally sustainable path.” The Navy will report to Congress in February on such a shift, McMahon says. “We are working that report. It’s a work in progress.. We are putting it together. The authorization act also provides the Navy temporary authority to drop down to 10 carriers, McMahon notes. “The Navy’s plan is to commence deactivation of [the USS] Enterprise in November 2012 . So [Congress] gave us a temporary end strength waiver from that time to commissioning of the Ford,” he says. The Navy’s plan was always to retire the Enterprise in November 2012, McMahon adds. “But as Ford went through the acquisition process, her IOC date moved. Ford moved out a little bit, so that created that gap. The Navy went to Congress and asked permission to have that lower number for just that period of time,” he adds.
Done. Northrop Grumman completes the development of the detail design phase for the USS Ford (CVN-78) in the 3-dimensional Product Model. The Ford is the Navy’s first aircraft carrier to be completely designed using a 3-dimensional Product Model, Northrop Grumman says. The 3-dimensional Product Model is the key enabler to execute the design/build process for manufacturing, construction, and testing through delivery, and includes definition of the ship’s geometry, and technical definition of the ship’s parts including the procurement, planning and manufacturing data. CVN-78’s product model has over three million parts.
MoU. General Dynamics Canada, and Marport C-Tech Ltd., a leading sonar manufacturer for underwater defence, have signed a MoU setting the stage for the joint development and marketing of a suite of next generation underwater acoustic products to support underwater military ISR missions, General Dynamics says. This partnership will position General Dynamics Canada and Marport to address increasing global market demand for underwater ISR systems as militaries around the world rebuild and retool their fleets, GD adds.
…Award. General Dynamics Canada also awards Marport a multi-year R&D contract for new naval sonar products that leverage Marport’s Software Defined Sonarr (SDS) technology. Initially designed to address commercial fishing needs, SDS is an innovative, cost-effective and flexible sonar platform, offering a technically advanced alternative to traditional hardware-based sonar product development, GD says. The new sonar products developed with Marport’s SDS technology will integrate into General Dynamics Canada’s Open Architecture Acoustics Processing Application Suite to provide advanced processing capabilities on a tailored user interface designed by airborne and naval acoustics operators, GD adds.
Open. Mercury Computer Systems, Inc., announces the availability of its family of OpenVPX(tm) Reference Design Kits. The OpenVPX Reference Design Kits provide customers who are currently engaged with Mercury’s Services and Systems Integration team with an engineering blueprint that significantly reduces customization, cost, and risk in the development of OpenVPX-compliant 3U and 6U payload and switch modules, the company says. The VITA-owned OpenVPX V1.0 System Specification, led by Mercury Computer Systems and co-authored with embedded computing suppliers and defense primes, is a direct response to the edict issued by a broad range of government officials and agencies for performance migration through the use of open source software and the development of open architecture systems, Mercury adds.
…Ingredients. The OpenVPX Reference Design Kits include CAD models, mechanical assembly information, thermal information, bills of material, and expert support from Mercury’s Services and Systems Integration team. With a stable and robust reference for both air- and conduction-cooled 3U and 6U OpenVPX-based board design, board development time is expected to be reduced by approximately three to five months. The likelihood of downstream respin cycles is minimized or eliminated.
Banning Cluster Munitions. The U.K. Parliament proposes legislation to ban the use, production and stockpiling of cluster munitions. If ratified, the bill would implement international obligations under the Convention on Cluster Munitions, paving the way for U.K. ratification. The U.K. signed the convention in December 2008. The U.K.’s last cluster munitions were withdrawn from service in May 2008 and the intention is to destroy all stockpiles by the end of 2013. Foreign Secretary David Miliband says: “It is time to put an end to the civilian suffering and casualties caused by cluster munitions. As I said on signing the Convention on Cluster Munitions, I am utterly convinced that by fulfilling our obligations under the convention we will make the world a safer, better place.”
New Global Supply Effort. Australia’s Minister for Defence Personnel, Materiel and Science Greg Combet, signs a Global Supply Chain Deed with Thales. “The Deed is part of the Government’s Global Supply Chain (GSC) program, which uses the leverage of the Defence Materiel Organisation’s major equipment acquisitions to extend opportunities for Australian companies to access the international market place,” Combet says. “The Deed actively facilitates opportunities for Australian industry to compete in Thales’ global supply chains and those of the company’s major supply partners. This will greatly benefit Australian defense industry, especially small and medium sized enterprises.”
A First. The Army now has its first female program executive officer (PEO), Brig. Gen. N. Lee S. Price. Price became leader of PEO Command, Control and Communications-Tactical during a Change of Charter Ceremony at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., Nov. 20, presided over by the Army Acquisition Executive, Dean Popps, the principal deputy assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology who leads 13 PEOs. Price now leads a workforce of more than 1,900 employees stationed across the world and an annual budget that exceeded $6 billion in 2009. She rejoins an Army Team C4ISR community, which she says seems to “always make the impossible happen.” She will lead eight program offices and continue efforts to rapidly field Army Team C4ISR capabilities in alignment with the Army Force Generation process; integrate multiple stand-alone systems within platforms and Tactical Operations Centers into singular, standardized architectures and create shared efficiencies between the acquisitions and Science and Technology communities as technologies are transitioned between them.
New Deed. Boeing Defence Australia, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Company, signs a Deed of Standing Offer to provide Electromagnetic Environmental Effects (E3) testing and design services for Australian Defence Force (ADF) aircraft and systems, the company says. The deed will allow any ADF operational unit to contract with the Boeing E3 team to test for electromagnetic interference and its detrimental environmental effects on military platforms and equipment, as well as provide design advice to correct any E3 susceptibilities or problems identified for a platform. Certain electromagnetic frequencies can affect flight- and mission-critical systems within an aircraft. “As the first company in the Southern Hemisphere to receive National Association of Testing Authority certification to conduct E3 tests on military and commercial aircraft, Boeing has the resources and skills to help the ADF maximize the performance and safety of its platforms and equipment,” John Duddy, vice president and managing director of Boeing Defence Australia, says in a Nov. 25 statement.
NATO Launches Project. A NATO-sponsored project is to be launched Nov. 26 in Uzbekistan for the safe destruction of 1,100 tons of m�lange. Stocks of this highly toxic substance, which was used during the Soviet era as rocket fuel oxidizer, is being kept in deteriorating storage conditions, posing a potential risk to the environment and local population. The clean-up process is expected to take one year, using a NATO mobile plant that has already been used successfully in Azerbaijan. The NATO Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Programme will cover the operational costs. The NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA) will operate the plant in Uzbekistan together with local experts specially trained for this purpose. The government of Uzbekistan will support the project by supplying the necessary chemicals, infrastructure and logistic support. The mobile plant was built three years ago, with the financial support of the NATO SPS Program and under the operational oversight of NAMSA.
Cooperating with Canada. The United States and Canada last week strengthened their cooperative measures in several areas of homeland security, including trade, immigration and law enforcement. Following meetings between U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Public Safety Canada Minister Peter Van Loan, the two announced that both countries will work to align their respective trusted shipper programs–called Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism in the U.S. and Partners in Protection in Canada–that are aimed at improving the security of supply chains. Canada has also agreed to join in recognizing U.S. trusted traveler programs, NEXUS and Free and Secure Trade, as valid identification documents at all land and sea border points of entry.
…Immigration Sharing. The U.S. has agreed to joint a biometric data sharing initiative related to immigration systems and security that involves Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. “Previous trials show that biometric information sharing works,” says Canadian Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Jason Kenney. “For example, when the fingerprints of some asylum claimants in Canada were checked against the U.S. database, more than a third matched and 12 percent of these individuals presented a different identity in the United States. The data sharing helps uncover details about refugee claimants such as identity, nationality, criminality, travel and immigration history, all of which can prove relevant to the claim.” New Zealand is also expected to join the initiative.
…Other plans. Also out of the Napolitano and Van Loan meetings, the two countries have created a Maritime Annex to an existing framework for moving people and goods after emergencies. The new annex helps guide communication and coordination during incidents where shared waterways and ports are affected. The two countries are also working toward data sharing related to currency seized at the border, ways to better collaborate on combatting human trafficking, the exchange of best practices on critical infrastructure protection and countering violent extremism. Napolitano and Van Loan will meet again in about six months to continue their work on security and improving travel and trade.