Seapower scramble. HASC Seapower subcommittee Ranking Member Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.) may not know for some time if he will return to Congress next year. McIntyre’s Republican challenger, North Carolina state Sen. David Rouzer, calls on Nov. 20 for a recount of votes cast during the Nov. 6 election. Rouzer trails McIntyre by 655 votes, or 0.2 percent of the ballots cast, and under North Carolina law candidates can compel recounts if they are within 0.5 percent, according to the Associated Press. “Considering this is the closest congressional race in the country and in light of the irregularity previously found in Bladen County, which significantly reduced the vote margin at that time, I have decided to request a mandatory recount of the votes cast in the 7th Congressional District as allowed by law,” Rouzer says in a Nov. 20 statement. “In a race this close, accidental human error could easily change the outcome. It is important to ensure that every legal vote cast is properly and accurately counted.”
…Westward. Fellow HASC member Allen West (R-Fla.), following partial vote recounts, concedes on Nov. 20 that he lost the Nov. 6 election to Democrat Patrick Murphy. West, a one-term congressman and favorite of the Tea Party, says in a statement: “While many questions remain unanswered, today I am announcing that I will take no further action to contest the outcome of this election.” He adds: “While a contest of the election results might have changed the vote totals, we do not have evidence that the outcome would change.” West, a retired Army officer who served in Iraq, has been an outspoken supporter of military spending. He has pushed legislation to force President Barack Obama to create a plan to stop so-called sequestration cuts to defense spending in a way that Republicans favor.
McCain Hearts F-35. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a frequent critic of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, says Nov. 20 he is “encouraged that the overall program is moving in the right direction.” He talks at an event to welcome the first operational F-35 units to the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz. “After several major restructuring efforts over the last two years, initiated by then-Secretary of Defense Gates, the Government Accountability Office recently found for the first time in the program’s history that the program is finally set up to produce more achievable and predictable outcomes,” McCain says in prepared remarks. “With the JSF program still early in flight testing, much work remains to ensure that these aircraft are truly operational at the end of the day and that the JSF program can be called a success,” he adds. He says the program’s success depends on the collaboration of varied Pentagon stakeholders with each other and their F-35 industry partners. McCain lauds Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos and Lockheed Martin CEO Bob Stevens for their work on the F-35 program, calling them “two Marines who have shown what the Corps can do when directing its focus and energy to overcome a daunting challenge.”
New Market. The Pentagon has launched an experimental website dubbed the Defense Innovation Marketplace
(http://www.defenseinnovationmarketplace.mil/) that it describes as “a centralized online resource to better connect industry with government customers to invigorate innovation.” Part of the Pentagon’s Better Buying Initiative, the site says it is intended to be the place for industry to “learn about Department of Defense investment priorities and capability needs, and comply with the new Defense Federal Acquisition Supplement (DFARs) rule.” The marketplace could eliminate the need for some conferences, Jack Blackhurst, director of the Human Effectiveness Directorate at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, tells American Forces Press Service. “There’s a wealth of information that doesn’t exist anywhere else,” he says. The site was created to address communication issues between industry and the Pentagon, Ron Kurjanowicz, senior adviser to the secretary of defense for research and engineering, tells AFPS. “Industry needs to know where DoD is making its changes, so they can align their investments with the capabilities of the future,” he says. The site is updated nearly every day.
Sub Missiles. The Navy has awarded General Dynamics’ Electric Boat division a $61.7 million contract modification for the continued development of the Common Missile Compartment that will be employed on the next generation of U.S. and U.K ballistic missiles submarines. General Dynamics says. The extension covers the procurement, manufacture and test prototype material and equipment to be used in the production of the missile compartment. The modification stems from a 2008 contract for engineering, technical services, concept studies and design of a missile compartment for the next-generation nuclear ballistic missile submarines being developed for the Royal Navy and the U.S. Navy. The total contract value could reach $776 million. The U.S. Navy, facing a budget squeeze, earlier this year delayed construction on the new class by two years to 2021. Twelve next generation subs are slated to begin succeeding the current fleet of 14 Ohio-class boomers starting at the end of the next decade.
Baldrige Award. Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control is the sole manufacturing category recipient for the 2012 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipients. Winners are honored for their achievements in leadership, strategic planning, customer relations, measurement and analysis, workforce and operations focus, and results. “Receiving the Malcolm Baldrige Award is a tremendous honor for Missiles and Fire Control,” says James Berry, president of Lockheed Martin’s Missiles and Fire Control business. “It represents the culmination of a 15-year journey focused on performance excellence, which has been ingrained in all we do. It is a testament to our employees’ dedication to excel in every aspect of our business and deliver unmatched value to our customers.”
Ground Guidance. Primordial says it received a $2.8 Natick Soldier Research, Development, and Engineering Center (NSRDEC) Rapid Innovation Fund (RIF) contract to integrate and transition its Ground Guidance off-road navigation software into FalconView, Nett Warrior, Tactical Ground Reporting System (TIGR), and Joint Battle Command Platform (JBC-P). Under the same contract, NSRDEC acquired government purpose rights (GPR) for Ground Guidance so any U.S. government agency or contractor may freely use Ground Guidance in government applications. NSRDEC will orchestrate the integration effort. The contract has an 18-month period of performance.
Compliments. Chief of the Army Reserve Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Talley says other nations contact him who have challenges similar to the United States–how to mitigate the risk to their nation’s national security as they need to draw down their active forces. “It’s a compliment to us that they say ‘we want to model our reserve and grow it bigger and make it like the (U.S.) Army Reserve,” he says at a Defense Writer’s group breakfast. “We’re seen as a success story.” Nations taking a look include Israel, the United Kingdom, and South Korea.
…New equipment. While Talley says the Army Reserve doesn’t need much, they could use some simulations for some basic skills such as marksmanship. It’s difficult for reservists to get to firing ranges, he notes. Also, it would help train individual and crew served weapons. Other simulations could promote safety as well as proficiency, in areas such as operating heavy equipment, and learning how to respond to an enemy attack on a convoy.
F-35Bs Delivered. Lockheed Martin delivers F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) fighter jets to the Marine Corps during ceremonies at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz., last week according to a company statement. These three aircraft increase the number of STOVL aircraft delivered to the Marine Corps to 16 and raises the total number of F-35s delivered in 2012 to 20. Lockheed Martin is developing the F-35 with partners Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems.
Third X-37B Try. The Air Force schedules the next X-37B launch for Dec. 11, according to service spokesman Maj. Eric Badger. X-37B, also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle, is the Air Force’s secretive reusable unmanned space vehicle program. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), the Air Force, in April 2010, launched the first of two prototype space planes, which stayed in orbit for seven months. The service launched the second prototype in March 2011 and it stayed in orbit for more than a year. This launch marks the first prototype’s return to space.
ILS Joins HPA. International Launch Services (ILS) joins the Hosted Payload Alliance (HPA) as an associate member, according to a HPA statement. HPA is a nonprofit satellite industry association established to serve as a bridge between government and private industry to foster open communication between potential users and providers of hosted payload capabilities. HPA, established in 2010, represents satellite operators, satellite manufacturers, system integrators and launch service providers, as well as other interested parties, and focuses on education, awareness and developing solutions to common challenges.
Lockheed Martin MILSATCOM Study. The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (AFSMC) awards Lockheed Martin a 10-month contract to demonstrate concepts that allow data to seamlessly flow among existing military satellite communications (MILSATCOM) legacy systems and future protected communications systems, according to a company statement. The study, called “Protected MILSATCOM Design for Affordability Risk Reduction Demonstration Study,” is to develop a flexible and agile system that focuses largely on serving MILSATCOM tactical users, whose need for protected communications continue to grow.