The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
HASC Hats. The HASC is expected to meet mid-week to approve a new rules package as well as its Democratic members. New Chairman Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.) wants to reorganize and rename the subcommittees. One of his proposed changes would shift tactical aircraft from what is now the Seapower and Expeditionary Forces subcommittee to the currently titled Air and Land Forces subcommittee. The subpanels, set to be renamed, now are called and chaired by: Air and Land Forces, Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.); Seapower and Expeditionary Forces, Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.); Strategic Forces, Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio); Oversight and Investigations, Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.); Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities, Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas); Military Personnel, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.); and Readiness, Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.).
Hill Takes NASA. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Space and Science subcommittee, and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R- Texas), ranking member of the Commerce committee, continue to push back against a new NASA report saying the agency can’t build a new heavy-lift rocket and crew capsule with the cost and schedule outlined by Congress. In a Jan. 13 letter to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, they say the NASA Authorization Act of 2010 directs the agency to build on past human-spaceflight investments to build the Space Launch System (SLS) and Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV). “The new (NASA) report indicates concerns with the (SLS and MPCV) designs’ affordability, but does not include the required detail regarding procurement and management innovations that the law intended to be a part of the new vehicles’ development,” the senators write. “If the law directed NASA to start with an entirely new development without the use of existing contracts, technologies, and infrastructure, we can see where affordability may come into question, but this conclusion suggests a misunderstanding of the congressional intent.”
NASA Waste. NASA is wasting more than $2 million a year in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program because it does not have adequate financial controls in place to safeguard taxpayer dollars, agency Inspector General Paul Martin finds in a new audit. Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), ranking member of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, want to strengthen the programs’ anti-fraud provisions and fight waste and abuse. They inserted related reforms in the SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act of 2010, though the bill never passed Congress. “I congratulate the NASA Inspector General for taking a clear, hard look at the way NASA awards, administers and tracks SBIR funds,” Rockefeller says Jan. 12. “I urge NASA to quickly implement the Inspector General’s recommendations and put an end to the problems the IG has identified.” The program aims to include small firms in federally funded research and development efforts.
NASA Tech. Michael Gazarik is NASA’s new deputy chief technologist, the agency announces Jan. 12. He is responsible for coordinating, integrating, and tracking technology investments, along with managing NASA’s Space Technology programs. He previously was deputy director for programs in NASA’s engineering directorate in Hampton, Va. Gazarik “has more than 20 years experience in the design, development and operation of spaceflight systems, spanning both science and exploration missions,” NASA Chief Technologist Bobby Braun says. “His technical leadership skills will be a great asset to our team as we implement the agency’s Space Technology Program.”
Forging Ties. With the Navy trying to fill an ever-growing list of warfighting requirements from a constantly shrinking pool of resources, one top service leader is looking to industry for help. Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert says the service needs to forge closer ties to their industry partners to make it through this difficult budget environment. His comments came during a Jan. 12 speech before the Surface Warfare Association. Specifically, industry could provide the Navy with valuable insight into costs, performance and an overall understanding of the trade space for current and future programs, Greenert says. To support that effort, the vice chief says the Navy plans to bolster its acquisition workforce, particularly among the junior officers, and increase accountability within that area.
Australian Connection. The Australian navy is currently working plans to stand up their own cyberwarfare operations center, designed to counter the growing threat of cyber attacks against the fleet, according to a senior foreign military official. Australian Naval Attaché Commodore Steve Woodall says the center would initially be focused on cyber defense and protecting the fleet’s electronic systems, he says. But Woodall notes that Australian military officials hope to integrate offensive capabilities into the center in the near future. His comments came during the Surface Warfare Association’s annual symposium.
Lighten Up. Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos is spearheading an effort to make the service a faster, lighter and ultimately more lethal force. The ‘Lightening MAGTF’ program is focused on streamlining the Marine Air-Ground Task Forces from “everything we wear to everything we buy,” Amos said. The program will also begin to wean the service from its “culture of plenty” attitude, he adds.
SLEP-ing. With the Marine Corps’ variant of the Joint Strike Fighter now on ice, service officials are examining exactly how many tails within its current fighter fleet will have to be revamped to fill the gap now left by the suspended JSF program. Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos says the study is looking at what percentage of the service’s F/A-18 Super Hornets would have to be extended. Defense Secretary Robert Gates put the Marine Corps’ variant of the JSF on two-year probation, as part of a plan to save DoD $100 billion over the next five years.
SLEP Up. The Air Force is carefully constructing an F-16 service-life extension program (SLEP), its top civilian official says. “As we consider the impacts of a more conservative approach to [F-35] Joint Strike Fighter…we anticipated we would need to take a look at F-16 SLEPs,” says Air Force Secretary Michael Donley. “That question is more ‘how much and when and what kind,’ rather than an if.” He says more detailed plans will be released with the president’s FY ’12 budget request, scheduled for mid-February. According to Donley, the budget will also propose accelerating a plan to outfit aging F-15s with active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars. Donley says the service will complete installation of the radar onto the F-15C one year earlier than expected and the F-15E eight years earlier.
IT Down. Consolidation of information technology hardware and software systems will reduce the Air Force’s costs for such expenditures by 25 percent, or $1.2 billion over five years, according to Donley. “There are significant initiatives underway within the department to consolidate data centers and do our computer networking and cyber work more efficiently,” Donley says. “The Air Force embarked on this a couple of years ago. We recognized the need to get a more centralized approach underway on IT… [W]e think there are some opportunities for some significant savings.” The IT downsizing is part of a $34 billion dollar package of “efficiencies” that the Air Force offered in response to Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ direction to the services to come up with $100 billion of collective savings.
Bases Out. The Air Force also plans to save money by consolidating the Air Operations Centers at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, and Tindal AFB, Fla., into one facility. The centers for European Command and Africa Command would also be combined under the plan. Donley says the Air Force would use its existing strategic basing process to decide which centers would be absorbed into which. Three numbered Air Forces would also be deactivated, with some of their functions absorbed by other commands. Namely, the 19th Air Force at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, the 13th at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and the 17th at Randolph AFB, Texas.
Satellite Block Buys In. The Air Force also plans to save money by procuring satellites–a big-ticket item for the service–more efficiently. The new buying approach involves block buys–even when a block is made up of only two space vehicles.
New Home. The Army’s unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) programs from the E-IBCT have moved to a new office. They are now officially part of the PEO Ground Combat Systems office, transitioning Jan. 5 from the Program Executive Office Integration. Product Manager UGV consists of a government team that works closely with the prime contractors to manage multiple programs, such as the iRobot Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle (XM-1216) and the Lockheed Martin Multifunction and Utility/Logistics Equipment (MULE) UGV, which incorporates the Autonomous Navigation System (ANS).
Completing This Year. Army Col. Shane Openshaw, the AH-64 Apache helicopter project manager, says the service has fielded the 20th battalion of Lockheed Martin Modernized Target Acquisition Designation System to Apaches. The retrofit and fielding will be completed within the first six months of the year, he says at a Boeing aviation lunch last week. Tackling obsolescence and reliability, this year the dayside sensor will be redesigned, Openshaw says. The outcome of that work will be another retrofit, he says.
Long Pole. Getting a satellite launched is the long pole issue for just about everyone, says John London, nanosatellite technology manager for Space and Missile Defense Command’s Technical Center. Researchers can get satellites ready to go, but it’s finding the vehicle and the opportunity to get on the manifest for a launch vehicle that’s hard, he says. For example, the command had eight nanosatellites delivered in a flight ready condition in April 2009. However the first one did not launch until Dec. 8. The SMDC-ONE nano-sat successfully completed about a month on orbit, demonstrating a niche capability for service theater commanders.
…Stay Within Limits. SMDC would like to make some changes on some of the nanosatellites that have yet to fly. There is room. “We can go up to about 5.5 kilograms, right now it’s 4 kilograms, so there’s room for added capacity,” London says. Key is staying within a 10-by-10-by-34-centimeter volume. This standardized volume allows the nanosat to be deployed by a standard deployer developed by Cal Poly called a Poly Picosat Orbital Deployer, or P-POD, he says. All U.S. launch providers are used to the P-POD, which makes it easier to be integrated on a launch vehicle and increases the ability to get a launch opportunity.
Review Next Month. The Army’s MQ-1C Gray Eagle unmanned aerial system faces a Low Rate Initial Production-Two Defense Acquisition Board Review Feb. 22, says Deputy Project Manager UAS Tim Owings. “That DAB will be for two additional systems consisting of 12 air vehicles, five ground control stations and five additional attrition vehicles,” he says at the Association of the United States Army Aviation Symposium and Exhibition.