The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
Hale’s Fees. Pentagon Comptroller Robert Hale tells the HASC Sept. 20 he does not see the Pentagon facing exorbitant contract-termination fees from defense companies if so-called sequestration budget cuts kick in next January. Rep. Todd Young (R-Ind.) raises concerns about the first year of decade-long reductions not costing the Pentagon the projected $55 billion, but instead $70 billion because of fees for adjusting contracts. Hale reiterated that if the Pentagon has already signed a contract and obligated the money the contract will not be altered much. “So I would not anticipate that a contract signed before Jan. 2 (is) going to be significantly affected,” he says. “They won’t be canceled so we won’t encounter fees in that regard. Now, we’d be forced not to pick up options, we would be forced to change contracts that were planned to be signed after Jan. 2. We would be forced into some personnel actions in the civilian area.” He adds: “I don’t see those sorts of large cancellation fees. There could be some, but I don’t see them occurring. And I think that we’ll just have to find ways to avoid the severance costs, because we won’t be able to afford them.”
McCain on Romney. SASC members John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) tour Veterans of Foreign War posts in New Hampshire Sept. 17, touting GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s foreign-policy stances and calling for an end to sequestration budget cuts that could start next January. McCain reportedly says Republicans are “willing to put everything on the table for the sake of our national security.” McCain has been calling on President Barack Obama to invite congressional Democrats and Republicans to the White House to work out a compromise to avert the cuts, which could trim $500 billion from planning defense spending over a decade. “We’ll compromise,” McCain reportedly says. “We’ll prevent a devastating effect on our ability to defend this nation.”
Sequestration Sickness. Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael Mullen, a retired Navy admiral, both blast Democrats and Republicans in Congress for failing to agree on an alternate budget-cutting plan to replace sequestration. At a Sept. 17 Center for Strategic and International Studies event, Gates says Congress is becoming dominated by partisan members. “Too many of our politicians seem more concerned with winning elections and scoring ideological points than with saving the country,” Gates reportedly says. “My hope is that following the presidential election whatever adults remain in the two political parties will make the compromises necessary to put this country back in order.” Mullen says he would not point fingers at people who are to blame for the sequestration imbroglio, “for I don’t have enough fingers to point.” The former Joint Chiefs chairman says he is “worried sick” about sequestration.
Name Change. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) expects to rename its Acquisition Review Board, which is its top decision making body that reviews major acquisition programs at key milestones, to the Investment Review Board. Department officials are already using the two names interchangeably. DHS “is enhancing efforts to integrate the management of strategic investment and resource decisions,” a department official tells Defense Daily. “As part of this effort, it is anticipated that the ARB will be renamed the IRB to reflect the broader investment impacts related to our acquisitions.”
…Progress in DHS Acquisition. DHS is making progress in its effort to see across the acquisition programs of its various components, a Government Accountability Official (GAO) tells a House panel. The department has elevated its Office of Program Accountability and Risk Management, which is responsible for DHS’ overall acquisition governance process, by having it report directly to the Under Secretary of Management, John Hutton, director of Acquisition and Sourcing Management at GAO, tells the House Homeland Security Oversight Subcommittee. Hutton says the PARM, working with the Component Acquisition Executives of the buying agencies within DHS, provides a link between the “department level governance process and the component level to work together to ensure that the department’s requirements are being met.” GAO issued a report last week saying that although DHS has established sound acquisition management policies, it hasn’t done a good job adhering to those policies.
Air Force Contracting. The Air Force’s share of Defense Department contract obligations has been declining since the late 1990s and significantly so during most of the 2000s, according to a report issued last week by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Beginning in FY ’08, the Air Force’s contract obligations fell below those of any other service since at least 1990, which is how far back CSIS presents data in report on DoD contract spending. Fiscal Year 2008 also marked the first time the “Other DoD” contract obligations category began outspending the Air Force. This shows “a pretty significant shift in the basic structure of DoD and in the contracting and customer arrangements going forward,” says David Berteau, a CSIS analyst and co-author of the report. “It really shows a pretty dramatic shift and one we actually don’t see changing a whole lot going forward.”
USS Fort Worth. The Navy was set to commission the third Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Saturday in Galveston, Tex. The LCS-3 was to become the USS Fort Worth and is the second of the Freedom variant of the ship class under prime contractor Lockheed Martin with partner Marinette Marine. The LCS-3 left the Great Lakes region in early August on its maiden voyage, with stops along the eastern seaboard before arriving in Galveston early last week. LCS is designed to provide the Navy with an enhanced capability for close-to-shore operations. The modular design of the ship is intended to allow it to swap in three different mission packages consisting of anti-submarine warfare, mine clearing and anti-surface warfare.
Kiwi Port Calls. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta traveled to New Zealand last week–the first Pentagon chief to do so in three decade–in an effort to reverse years of estranged military ties between the two countries. The visit came as the Obama administration looks to rebalance the U.S. military’s global posture by intensifying focus on the Asia-Pacific. In a key gesture, Panetta announced that the United States was lifting a ban that has been in place for more than two dozen years prohibiting the Royal New Zealand Navy from port calls at U.S. naval bases. The ban was put in place after New Zealand declared itself a nuclear free zone in 1984, barring nuclear powered or weaponized ships from its waters. The move has strained ties with Washington ever since and limited military-to-military relations between the two countries. Panetta’s announcement, however, was not reciprocated by Wellington. According to the Washington Post, New Zealand Defense Minister Jonathan Coleman said his country’s nuclear free policy would remain in place and was clear.
SpaceX Cargo Resupply. NASA and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) set Oct. 7 for the launch of the first contracted cargo resupply flight to the International Space Station (ISS) under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services contract, NASA says in a statement. Launch is scheduled for 8:34 p.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. A backup launch opportunity is available Oct. 8. A Falcon 9 rocket and the ISS’ Dragon cargo spacecraft will be used for the mission. The launch of the Dragon spacecraft will be the first of 12 contracted flights by SpaceX to resupply the space station.
Embraer Excellence Centers. Brazilian manufacturer Embraer celebrates opening its two new Portugal-based Centers of Excellence in the city of Évora, according to a company statement. The two facilities, called Embraer Metálicas and Embraer Compósitos, will manufacture complex airframe structures and components in their specific areas of expertise: metallic materials and composite materials. Embraer Metálicas represents an investment of approximately $130 million and Embraer Compósitos represents approximately $100 million. Embraer is a developer of commercial, executive, defense and agricultural aircraft.
Harris Radio Deal. A unnamed Middle Eastern nation awards Harris a $7.2 million order to supply it with Harris’ Falcon III RF-7800S Secure personal radios and Falcon II high-frequency manpack radios, according to a company statement. The radios provide high-performance line-of-sight and beyond-line-of-sight tactical communications. The Falcon III RF-7800S is a lightweight, body-worn tactical radio that provides full-duplex voice and data communication over two kilometers (km). The Falcon II RF-5800H-MP provides continuous coverage in the 1.6 to 60 MHz (megahertz) frequency band, enabling the warfighter to stay connected when line-of-sight communications are not an option.
Multi-Con Is Coming. Tomorrow through Thursday, the Modeling and Simulation Multi-Con event will be held in Suffolk, Va., at the Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center (VMASC). Tomorrow, MODSIM WORLD will look at the scope of the industry. On Wednesday, the National Modeling and Simulation Coalition will meet to discuss progress in implementing its agenda of furthering modeling and simulation as a national imperative. Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell (R) is the keynote speaker. Thursday, The Joint Staff J7/Joint and Coalition Warfighting will discuss what Cloud technologies or techniques are available to assist in delivering to multiple (currently 51) worldwide operational locations. A second event will be an open house and technology review hosted by the VMASC. A variety of modeling and simulation activities will take place aimed at building awareness of the variety of modeling and simulation research taking place in the Hampton Roads, Va., area.
New Director. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute appoints Tilman Brück as its new Director. Brück will assume his post on Jan. 1, 2013. Tilman Brück is a development economist and an internationally renowned expert on the economics of peace, security and post-war reconstruction. He is currently Professor of Development Economics at Humboldt-University of Berlin and Head of the Department of Development and Security at the German Institute for Economic Research. Brück has published widely on the role of conflict and insecurity as barriers to development. He is also been instrumental in focusing attention in academia and the policy community on the importance of studying the part played by individuals in war, peace and security. He will become the eighth and youngest director at age 42 since the Institute’s founding in 1966. He replaces Bates Gill, SIPRI Director since 2007.
Fit For A King. Spain’s King Juan Carlos I took flight in Madrid in the Spanish variant of the Eurocopter NH90 helicopter, which is being fitted out and tested. The first deliveries of this aircraft to the Spanish army airmobile force (FAMET) are scheduled for next year. Juan Carlos is an experienced pilot with 3,740 helicopter flight hours. Most of these flights have been in aircraft built by Eurocopter, including the Tiger attack helicopter. In December 2006, the Spanish Ministry of Defense and Eurocopter España signed a contract for the purchase of 45 NH90 Tactical Transport Helicopters for the Spanish armed forces. This marked the start of the program to revamp the Ministry of Defense’s medium-class helicopter fleet. The Spanish variant of the NH90 has next-generation General Electric CT7 8F5 engines assembled in Spain, a personalized communications system and an Indra-developed electronic warfare system The Spanish NH90 also incorporates avionics software developed by Eurocopter España’s Design Office.