The Latest On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
Poor Cyber Preparedness. On a scale of one to 10, the preparedness of critical infrastructure in the United States is a three, Army Gen. Keith Alexander, commander of U.S. Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency, tells a Senate panel. “There are variations in preparedness across sectors, but all are susceptible to the vulnerabilities of the weakest,” Alexander says in his prepared remarks provided to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
…Need for Joint Ranges. On the subject of the various cyber test ranges throughout the armed forces, Alexander says there is a need for them to come together to create a joint approach. He says that bringing the ranges together ensures that network defenders are “operating at the right level as a joint team.”
Federal, State Cyber. There is plenty of room at the federal, state and local levels for law enforcement authorities to work together on Internet fraud crime, an FBI official tells the Senate Appropriations Committee. The FBI and Secret Service “should not bear all responsibility” for fighting Internet fraud, says Richard McFeely, executive assistant director of the Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch. There is a “huge space for our state and local partners to join us in this fight,” he says. To this end, the FBI, the International Chiefs of Police and other law enforcement organizations have developed a pilot program to “enhance the Internet fraud targeting packages that the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, currently provides to state and local law enforcement for investigation and potential prosecution,” he says.
Cloud Security. Following through on its role to help the federal government accelerate the adoption of cloud computing, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has published a draft document on security for cloud computing. The NIST Cloud Computing Security Reference Architecture provides s comprehensive security model and supplements its Cloud Computing Reference Architecture published in 2011. “The document’s objective is to demystify the process of selecting cloud-based services that best address and agency’s requirements in the most secure and efficient manner,” says Michaela Iorga, NIST Cloud Computing Security Working Group chair. The public may comment on the draft through July 12.
More Defense Savings. U.K. Treasury Minister Danny Alexander says the MoD has room for more spending cuts, because it has “more horses than tanks.” That’s a problem the U.S. military doesn’t have, though it also faces major defense spending cuts. Widely quoted in British publications, Alexander says the MoD should stop opposing spending cuts, though Defense Secretary Philip Hammond warns major cuts would affect the U.K.’s military capabilities. Parliament’s latest figures show MoD has more than 500 horses, 417 on ceremonial duty, 82 held for rest, treatment or to be sent to a new home. The Parachute Regiment, meanwhile, has two ponies as mascots. On the tank side, after the Strategic Defense and Security Review, the Army has 227 Challenger 2 tanks.
Saving Money. The DoD Inspector General puts online its semiannual report to Congress covering the period Oct. 1, 2012 through March 31, 2013. The office reports issuing 64 reports, identifying $1.3 billion in potential monetary benefits. DCIS investigations led to 56 arrests, 102 criminal charges, 989 criminal convictions, 98 suspensions and 95 debarments. As well, $1.6 billion was returned to the government. The DoD hotline fielded 16,615 contacts from the public and DoD community.
New Exec. DRS Technologies CEO William Lynn appoints Michael Coulter as senior vice president for International Strategy and Business Development. Coulter will report to Steve Cortese, executive vice president, Washington Operations. “DRS and our valued customers will benefit from Michael’s global industry perspective, outlook and keen understanding of today’s business challenges,” Lynn says. Previously, Coulter led several international efforts at General Dynamics, which he joined after a career in the U.S. government.
Enhanced Polar. Northrop Grumman delivers the second of two payloads that will be hosted on government-owned satellites to bring next-generation protected, Extremely High Frequency (EHF) communications to users in the north polar region, according to a company statement. Developed for the Air Force’s Enhanced Polar System (EPS), the payload efficiently leverages hardware and software designs Northrop Grumman originally developed for Advanced EHF, or AEHF, protected military communications satellites. Both EPS payloads feature an onboard processing unit similar to those on AEHF satellites, but scaled down to meet reduced mission capacity requirements. The Air Force plans final operational capability for EPS in 2018.
Lambert Resigns. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy Brett Lambert resigns his position, according to DoD spokesman Mark Wright. Wright says though Lambert’s last full day is June 14, he’ll continue to honor prior commitments and will be in the Pentagon periodically through the end of August. Lambert joined DoD in 2009 in his latest position, serving as principal adviser to the under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics (AT&L) on all matters relating to the defense industrial base, including industrial capabilities and assessments; defense industry mergers, acquisitions and consolidation; preservation of essential industries and technologies and other related matters.
AFSMC SpaceX. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (AFSMC) signs a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) as part of the company’s effort to certify its upgraded Falcon 9v1.1 launch system for national security space missions, according to an AFSMC statement. This cooperative agreement facilitates data exchanges and protects proprietary and export-controlled data and will remain in effect until all certification activities are complete. AFSMC says it anticipates entering into additional CRADAs with SpaceX, to evaluate its Falcon Heavy rocket, and with Orbital Sciences, for its Antares launch vehicle. Both companies are gunning for future Air Force Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) contracts.
IRIS Launch. NASA’s Interface Region Imaging Spectograph (IRIS) mission schedules launch for June 26 from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., on one of Orbital’s Pegasus LX rockets, according to a NASA statement. Launch is targeted for around 10:27 p.m. EST. The drop of the Pegasus from Orbital’s L-1011 carrier aircraft will occur over the Pacific Ocean at an altitude of 39,000 feet, approximately 100 miles northwest of Vandenberg off the central coast of California. IRIS is a NASA small explorer mission to observe how solar material moves, gathers energy and heats up as it travels through a little-understood region in the sun’s lower atmosphere.
C-17 India. Boeing delivers its first C-17 to India, according to a company statement. Boeing says it is on track to deliver four more C-17s to India this year and five in 2014. This first aircraft was transferred June 11 after completion of a flight test program at Edwards AFB, Calif., that began following the Jan. 22 delivery. Boeing will sustain the fleet through the Globemaster III integrated sustainment program (GISP) performance-based logistics contract.
Dream Chaser. Sierra Nevada (SNC) begins the latest phase of hybrid rocket motor qualification testing for its Dream Chaser space flight vehicle, according to a company statement. SNC completes two tests the week of June 3 at its rocket test facility in San Diego, including a motor firing and ignition test that was completed in preparation for upcoming motor tests under the Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) award. SNC will conduct another series of hybrid motor firings to meet the next CCiCap contracted milestone beginning this summer. CCiCap intends to make commercial human spaceflight services available for both government and commercial customers.
LM Red Flag. Lockheed Martin teams disseminate live imagery from manned and unmanned aircraft in near real time to the Distributed Common Ground Station Imagery (DCGS-I) mobile test bed during Red Flag, according to a company statement. DCGS-I is used by DoD to test intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities prior to their introduction into an operational environment. Red Flag is the Air Force’s premiere aerial warfare exercise, using realistic aerial war games to prepare pilots from the U.S., NATO and other allied forces for combat situations. The company says this is the first time that the Air Force brought together not just the platform and supporting sensors, but also the analysis of the collected intelligence data, as well as the communications paths upon which the data travels.
Elbit F-35. Elbit Systems-Cyclone, Northrop Grumman’s supplier in Israel, delivers its first Northrop Grumman-produced advanced composite component for the F-35’s center fuselage, according to a Northrop Grumman statement. The delivery marks a milestone for the F-35 as it is the first composite part manufactured by a country committed to purchasing future F-35s under the U.S. foreign military sales (FMS) agreement. The composite component delivered is one of 16 unique parts to be manufactured by Elbit Systems-Cyclone under a seven year F-35 agreement with Northrop Grumman signed in December 2011.
Raytheon TCS. Raytheon Trusted Computer Solutions (RTCS) begins general availability of its Trusted Mail System cross-domain solution, according to a company statement. This commercial off-the-shelf (COTS), enterprise-class, multi-directional software enables the secure, policy-enforced exchange of emails and attachments between users on different networks, eliminating the need to switch between systems at multiple levels. Trusted Mail System uses the widely deployed, accredited and Unified Cross Domain Management Office Baseline-listed, Trusted Gateway System (TGS) as the Protection Level 4 cross domain guard component, ensuring that malicious data is not transferred from the low side to the high side network and that sensitive data is not inadvertently or intentionally transferred from high to low.
USAF Inactivations. The Air Force schedules September inactivations of the 689th Combat Communications Wing at Robins AFB, Ga., and the 3rd Combat Communications Group at Tinker AFB, Okla., according to a service statement. The inactivations are part of overall service force structure changes tied to a fiscal year 2013 presidential budgetary decision directing inactivation of one Air Force combat communications group.
DRS TERV. The Air Force awards DRS Technologies a $25 million contract for the design, development and delivery of two transporter erector replacement vehicles (TERV) to support the Minuteman III ICBM fleet, according to a company statement. If all options are exercised by the Air Force, the total program value for up to 26 mobile vehicles under this contract could reach over $92 million. The TERV, which is used for transporting, positioning and removing the Minuteman III booster at launch facilities, was first fielded in 1988. DRS Technologies is a division of Finmeccanica.
NG AEHF. Northrop Grumman delivers the first of approximately 20 electronics units for the fourth AEHF satellite payload, according to a company statement. The milestone allows the integration and test phase of production to start. Delivery of the uplink phased array high-efficiency converter (UHEC) means testing of the uplinked phased array subsystem can begin later this year. The UHEC delivery paved the way for payload integration and testing, which began May 1, two months earlier than baseline planning requires. AEHF is the next generation of protected military communications satellites.