The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
Conway’s Ships. Outgoing Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway tells the Congressional Shipbuilding Caucus he still wants to see the Marine Corps have 38 ships to fulfill its mission. According to a press summary on the June 16 event, Conway says “that budgetary constraints force the Marines to reduce requirements to 33 ships and that any fewer would become ‘untenable’ as the risk to the Marine Corps and America’s security interests would be too great.” Conway “stressed that the ‘value of the amphibious fleet cannot be questioned,'” the summary says. Conway, it says, believes “America’s naval capability is often ‘taken for granted’ and that it is a struggle for the Navy to ensure adequate funding for all its platforms.” Funding for aircraft carriers, submarines, and surface ships are higher on the Navy’s priority list than amphibious ships, he tells the congressional gathering.
Amos In Waiting. Assistant Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos is waiting to hear if he will succeed Conway as the service’s top officer, after meeting June 17 with President Barack Obama. Many observers believe the future of General Dynamics’ Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) factored into Pentagon brass’ decision to tap Amos. While Conway was an unabashed booster of the long-delayed effort to develop an amphibious-landing vehicle, speculation is rampant that Gates may again try to terminate the EFV program and wants a commandant who would support him. Amos would need to be confirmed by the Senate before taking over for Conway, whose stint ends this fall.
Military States. States with high levels of defense spending have lower poverty rates, less income inequality, lower unemployment, and higher median family income, according to a new study led by University of Alabama at Birmingham sociology Professor Casey Borch. “Politicians always have assumed that military spending helps the economy, but there have been very few studies to prove that it’s true,” he says in a statement. “No studies have examined the effects of military spending on as many measures of economic well- being at the state level as our study.” His team examined data for 49 states from 1977 to 2004 to assess the role of military spending in a peacetime economy. They found an increase in a state’s dependence on military spending, from 5 to 10 percent of its total gross state product, increased employment about 1 percent and per-household median family income by $14,000.
Navigation Design. Northrop Grumman has been selected to continue development of a miniature navigation grade gyro for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) that will provide precision navigation for size and power constrained applications, the company says. Northrop Grumman will develop the final configuration for a stand-alone micro-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Gyro (micro-NMRG) for DARPA’s Micro-Technology for Positioning, Navigation and Timing (Micro-PNT) program. The company began the first phase of this effort in October 2005 and was awarded the latest development contract based on past performance, including the successful completion of design, fabrication, and testing of the device, which has met or exceeded the performance goals of each phase. The micro-NMRG technology uses the spins of atomic nuclei to detect the rotation of the gyro and will provide comparable performance to a navigation grade fiber-optic gyro in a small size, low power package. The technology could be used in any application requiring small size and low power precision navigation, including personal and unmanned vehicle navigation in GPS-denied or GPS-challenged locations.
Under New Management. Lawrence Thomas has been appointed manager of NASA’s Constellation program, which manages the effort to take humans beyond low-Earth orbit and develop a next generation launch vehicle and spacecraft. Charles Stegemoeller has been appointed as deputy program manager. The two will be based at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Thomas most recently served as the deputy program manager of the Constellation Program at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. Stegemoeller most recently served as director of the program planning and control office for Constellation. He joined NASA in 1985 and served in several leadership positions within the Space Station Freedom and NASA/Mir Programs at Johnson.
Sticking Around. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, who has been tasked by President Obama with developing a long-term Gulf Coast Restoration Plan as soon as possible, will remain as Secretary of the Navy while taking on this new challenge, according to a service spokeswoman.
Scanning The Skies. Boeing was awarded a $59.5 million contract to provide 3,300 flight hours of persistent ISR. “The contract modification awarded to Boeing is for the Navy and Marine Corps ISR Services contract, for which the incumbent is the Scan Eagle system,” Capt. J.R. Brown, STUAS program manager, tells Defense Daily. “The Navy has issued a presolicitation notice for a follow-on UAS ISR services contract. NAVAIR [conducted] an Industry Day information session June 16 as posted on
…What About STUAS? Since April ’09, NAVAIR has been running a competition to find a mature, capable UAS it could provide to sailors and Marines. After holding flight demonstrations last year, NAVAIR was expected to select a platform that would reach IOC in FY ’12. But, to date, NAVAIR has yet to make a decision. “To ensure the best value for the government and good stewardship of the taxpayers dollars, discussions have been, and continue to be, required to understand and clarify industry’s proposed solutions to meet the warfighter’s requirements,” Brown adds. “STUAS contract award is anticipated in summer 2010. We will continue to provide the warfighter interim solutions such as ISR services which will be replaced over time with STUAS.”
Highly Efficient. Navy ships realized 386,000 barrels of fuel avoidance during the first half of FY ’10 as part of the Incentivized Energy Conservation (i-ENCON) initiative, NAVSEA says. The i-ENCON program encourages ships to operate in the most efficient manner while conducting their mission and support the Secretary of the Navy’s efforts to reduce total energy consumption on naval ships. “These efforts increase Fleet readiness by enabling Sailors at sea to train or deploy longer while spending the same amount of money on fuel,” says Hasan Pehlivan, i-ENCON program manager. “Type commanders (TYCOM) could deploy ships for an additional 22,000 underway steaming hours.” There are seven different incentives under the iENCON program: Fleet TYCOM cash awards; SECNAV annual energy awards given to eight ships (four large-hull category; and four small-hull category); Department of Energy awards presented to two ships (one large-hull category; and one small-hull category); top five performing ships (posted quarterly on the iENCON Web site); top 25 performing ships (posted quarterly on the iENCON Web site); recognition of iENCON achievements in annual fitness reports; and the opportunity to be good stewards of Navy resources, NAVSEA adds.
Defining Moment. Cyber security is not the same as information assurance, Dawn Meyerriecks, deputy director of acquisition and technology ODNI, tells attendees at the June 11 Defense Daily Cyber Security Summit. “We as a community talk about those like they’re interchangeable. They are not the same things. We should not talk about them as though they are interchangeable,” she says. “Information assurance is about risk management as it pertains to IT assets in general and it includes the soft as well as the hard components of that. Cyber security is very much focused on computer security and it’s not necessarily about risk management. And I think when we mix those two things, we do a disservice to our community but also to our leadership because then they equate those two things, and they are not the same thing.”
Not The Same Old Supply Chain. The way cyber security supply chain risk management is viewed is different than the way supply chain management is viewed, Don Davidson, supply chain risk management specialist, DoD globalization task force, tells attendees at the June 11 Defense Daily Cyber Security Summit. “It is not about moving items around. It is about trusted sourcing,” he says. “That is an important differentiation.”
BAMS It Services. Northrop Grumman selects Mercury Computer Systems Inc. to deliver scalable multicomputing products and services for the Navy’s BAMS program, Mercury reports. The company will provide PowerStream(R) 7000 multicomputers and a heterogeneous operating system for the BAMS UAS to enable the processing of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images, Mercury says. “We’re pleased to work with Northrop Grumman to provide persistent maritime ISR capability to warfighters,” says Brian Hoerl, Vice President of Worldwide Sales at Mercury. “Mercury’s PowerStream multicomputers, which are deployed on some of the world’s largest radar platforms, combine the power of FPGA processors with massive I/O and real-time reconfiguration, delivering the performance density and reliability necessary for this vitally important application.”
Thinking It Over. Lockheed Martin is considering whether to protest a recent Army agreement with Northrop Grumman to build a state-of-the-art hybrid airship, the Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) technology demonstrator. “At this point it is premature to say whether we will protest,” a company spokesman says. “We had a customer debrief recently and are taking some time to analyze the facts and make a decision about next steps.”
Increasing Capacity. The U.S. Army Pacific and the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) wrap up Garuda Shield 10 tomorrow, the capstone event for the Asia-Pacific Global Peacekeeping Operations Initiative. The goal is to increase peacekeeping training capacity across the region. “Indonesia is a critical player in the security and peacekeeping operations in the Asia-Pacific Theater,” says Lt. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, USARPAC commander. “The exercise underscores the importance of Indonesia in our fight against international aggression and conflict. The strong military and cultural ties between our two countries dramatically improve whenever we participate in Garuda Shield.” Staff officers from the Pacific Command, the Hawaii National Guard, the Pacific Air Force, USARPAC, and TNI will form a brigade to test peace support and stability operations capabilities. Other participating countries are Bangladesh, Nepal, the Philippines, Thailand and Brunei. More than 100 Soldiers and Airmen from Hawaii will participate in Garuda Shield 10.
More Talons. FLIR Systems Inc. says it received a $35.2 million firm-fixed price, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract with an initial delivery order for $20.9 million for its TALON(tm) system from U.S. Special Operations Command. The stabilized, lightweight, multi-sensor systems delivered under this contract will support the Long Range Ground Mobility Visual Augmentation Systems Program by providing ground vehicles with a stabilized, all-weather, day/night, high-resolution, thermal imaging capability. Work will be performed at FLIR’s facility in North Billerica, Mass., and deliveries are expected to be completed within 12 months. Following the completion of this order, FLIR will have more than 260 ground vehicles outfitted under this program.
Soft Soil Man. Michelin introduces the next generation of Michelin XZL2R tires for military and off road commercial applications. Introduced last week at Eurosatory, the XZL2 features a redesigned treat pattern offering greater speed capabilities and improved tread life over a variety of terrain. “Whether you’re driving a tactical military vehicle in Afghanistan or a snow plow in Minnesota, the XZL2 tire will exceed expectations in terms of speed capability and mileage,” says Jim Griese, director of military products for Michelin North America. “This tire incorporates the best features of our popular XZL tire and delivers the enhanced performance that our customers need.”
More Awards. Oshkosh Defense receives two awards valued at $173 million from the Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command (LCMC) for more than 600 new and recapitalized Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks (HEMTT). Under one award, valued at more than $138 million, Oshkosh will produce and deliver more than 480 M983A4 HEMTT Light Equipment Transporters (LET) and one M1120A4 HEMTT Load Handling System (LHS). Production and delivery of these vehicles is expected to begin in October and be completed in August 2011. For the second award, valued at more than $34 million, Oshkosh will recapitalize and deliver 140 HEMTT A4 LHS and cargo truck variants. Work for this award will run June 2010 through March 2011.
Elimination Rounds. Four Australian and eight overseas technology teams are gearing up this month for the elimination round in the international challenge to find the next generation of fully autonomous robots that can carry out defense missions in the battlefield of the future. The grand challenge event will be held in South Australia in November this year with close to $2 million up for grabs in total prize money for the competing Multi-Autonomous Ground-robotics International Challenge (MAGIC) teams. A panel of Australian and U.S. Defense scientists will evaluate the robot prototypes developed by the 12 shortlisted teams in Australia, U.S., Canada, Turkey and Japan for MAGIC. The 12 teams were narrowed down from 23 entries originally received for the competition. The final teams will be announced in Juuly, with four months to refine and develop their concepts. Each finalist receives a research grant of $50,000 to complete their project. MAGIC is jointly organized by Australia’s Defence Science & Technology Organisation and the U.S. Department of Defense.