By Nominations Move Forward. The Senate Armed Services Committee on Oct. 31 favorably reported the nominations of 394 uniformed personnel, as well as several key civilians appointed by the
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president to serve in the Defense Department–Jamie Michael Morin to be Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation; Michael Lumpkin to be Assistant Secretary for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict; and Jo Ann Rooney to be Under Secretary of the Navy. Absent from that list is Deborah Lee James, who was appointed to be Secretary of the Air Force but whose nomination was held up by Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) until recently. The full Senate voted the same day to approve Marcel Lettre II to be a Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense.
Florida Special Elections. Florida officials announced Nov. 1 that a special election to fill the seat of former congressman Bill Young (R-Fla.), the chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee who died Oct. 18, would be held in early 2014. Primary elections will take place Jan. 14, and the general election will be held March 11. Potential candidates don’t have long to decide if they’ll run, however–they must qualify for the elections by Nov. 19. Jessica Ehrlich, who ran against Young in 2012 as the Democratic candidate, has already announced her candidacy in the special election. She is joined by 2010 Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink, as well as Libertarian candidate Lucas Overby, Republican political consultant Nick Zoller, Republican former state representative Larry Crow and more, according to the candidates’ websites. Whoever wins the race will have to run again in the November 2014 midterm elections. Until a new congressman is elected, district and Washington offices will remain open and fully staffed under the supervision of the Clerk of the House.
Lawmakers Remember Skelton. The House Armed Services Committee held a moment of silence Oct. 29 for former committee chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), who died Oct. 28 at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Va., at age 81. HASC Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) called Skelton “a hero, a patriot, and a friend.” The evening before, McKeon released a statement saying “Ike Skelton was a thoughtful legislator who took the care and time to make sure all views were heard and all concerns addressed. As the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee during a particularly contentious time, he never let partisanship get ahead of his primary responsibility: our troops and their families. Professional military education was a particular passion of his, and the exceptional system we have is an important part of his legacy.” Ranking member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said he served on HASC with Skelton for 14 years and said “he was also just an excellent mentor for everybody who served on this committee, Republican and Democrat alike. Mr. McKeon and I are always talking about how this is a bipartisan committee, well it took the dedication on the part of Mr. Skelton to make sure that was the case.”
IFT Delay. Thanks to the government shutdown last month, Customs and Border Protection has delayed award of the contract for fixed surveillance towers along certain parts of the Southwest Border until the second quarter of FY ’14, which is during the first three months of 2014. CBP had previously said the award for the Integrated Fixed Tower (IFT) contract would occur in the first quarter of FY ’14. Industry officials were expecting an award in December at the earliest. Some say they don’t expect an award until late February.
Fusion Centers and Cyber Threats. Given the role of state and local fusion centers in sharing intelligence and threat information, the National Network of Fusion Centers is increasingly addressing cyber threats, Mike Sena, president of the National Fusion Center Association and the director of the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center (NCRIC), tells a House panel. Sena says that while the NCRIC is “actively involved” with cyber threat analysis and sharing related information with federal partners and other stakeholders, most fusion centers around the country do not have a dedicated cyber program.
…Need for More Resources. The number of fusion centers establishing a dedicated cyber program is expected to grow as the threats grow, Sena tells a joint panel of the House Homeland Security Subcommittees on Cybersecurity and Emergency Preparedness. But to do so, he says, requires “additional resources to support the specialized training and personnel to further that mission.” Sena adds that in tackling the cyber mission, fusion centers can’t take away from their existing missions.
…Cyber Security Pilot. The NCRIC, along with its federal, state and local government partners, has designed a cyber security pilot to bolster the ability of fusion center to share information on cyber threats and matters, Sena says. The pilot, which is slated to begin soon, will be funded by the Department of Homeland Security through the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center. Based on stakeholder input, the pilot will address the need for “increasing the timeliness, volume and the quality of information” the federal government shares with its partners, the need to standardize information sharing processes, improving the security of state, local and tribal computer networks, supporting cyber crime investigations and more, he says.
HH-60G Pave Hawk Simulators. The Air Force awards Lockheed Martin a $113 million contract to design, develop, field and sustain aircrew training devices for HH-60G Pave Hawk search and rescue helicopters, according to a company statement. Lockheed Martin will deliver eight HH-60G training simulators, spares and logistics support to the Air Force as part of the Pave Hawk Equivalent Distributive Repeatable Operative Simulators (PEDROS) trainer program. The simulators will be used to prepare aircrews for the full spectrum of personnel recovery, including combat search and rescue missions in multiple environments.
ATK Space Launch System. ATK successfully completes filament winding of a pathfinder advanced booster composite case, a milestone in the company’s NASA research announcement advanced booster risk-reduction program for the Space Launch System (SLS), according to a company statement. Ultimately, this advanced booster NASA research announcement will enable the space agency and ATK to optimize a case design that will be stronger, yet more affordable than traditional steel cases. In turn, this will provide increased payload performance due to reduced weight inherent in composite materials. The next step in the advanced booster NASA research announcement program is to continue development of high-performance and low-cost propellants that meet the lofty payload and affordability goals of NASA’s SLS.
NG Micro-NMRG. Northrop Grumman develops and demonstrates a new micro-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Gyro (micro-NMRG) prototype for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), providing precision navigation for size- and power-constrained applications, according to a company statement. The company’s micro-NMRG technology uses the spin of atomic nuclei to detect and measure rotation, providing comparable performance to a navigation-grade fiber-optic gyro in a small, lightweight, low-power package. The development of a hermetically-sealed micro-NMRG that meets precision navigation requirements along with a successful prototype demonstration marks the fourth and final phase of DARPA’s Navigation-Grade Integrated Micro Gyroscopes (NGIMG) program.
NG Defense Travel System. The General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Systems Integration and Management Center awards Northrop Grumman a follow-on task order with the potential value of $143 million to provide hosting, operations, sustainment and development of new capabilities for the Defense Travel System (DTS), according to a company statement. DTS, an enterprise program under the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), is a Defense Department-wide travel management system that was designed and developed by Northrop Grumman in 1998 to re-engineer defense travel into a seamless, paperless and automated system. This new task order is awarded under the GSA Alliant indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) contract, which is a five-year competitive contract award including one base-year and four one-year options.
SpaceX Crew Abort Test. NASA partner Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) lays out its plan to demonstrate its Dragon space capsule’s ability to carry astronauts to safety in the event of an in-flight emergency, according to NASA. This review of the in-flight abort test plan provides an assessment of Dragon’s SuperDraco engines, the software that would issue the abort command and the interface between the Dragon spacecraft and the Falcon 9 rocket on which the spacecraft will be launched. The review took place Sept. 17 at SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif. NASA spokeswoman Stephanie Covey says the company is targeting Summer 2014 for its launch abort test from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
Exelis GPS III Software. Exelis successfully completes factory acceptance testing for the Global Positioning System (GPS) III navigation payload simulator software, according to a company statement. Developed by Exelis, the software will simulate the behavior of GPS signals in space, which will be used for testing the Air Force’s next-generation GPS ground station known as the operational control systems (OCX). The simulator will be integrated into the Raytheon-developed GPS system simulator within OCX. Exelis is on contract to provide critical software elements in the navigation processing subsystem to enable GPS constellation controllers to better understand the satellites’ exact position. GPS III is developed by Lockheed Martin.
NG AEHF Payloads. Honeywell and BAE Systems deliver more than 800 application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC) on time or ahead of schedule, allowing Northrop Grumman to begin payload work on schedule for the fifth and sixth Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) protected communication satellites, according to Northrop Grumman spokesman Bob Bishop. These ASICs bolster the building of electronic units that operate customized functions unique to AEHF payloads, which include onboard signal processing and a highly-sophisticated suite of 14 antennas that provide users with millions options for countering adversaries’ electronic, cyber and physical threats. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for AEHF.
Electronic First. The Navy’s first priority in engaging the enemy should be in the electromagnetic and cyber spectrum, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert says Oct. 29 in a speech at a conference hosted by the Association of Old Crows focused on electronic warfare. Greenert says electromagnetic engagement also yields benefits compared to conventional munitions. “We’re using the electromagnetic spectrum as a domain and as a means, and we understand and grasp it," Greenert says. "We have to figure out how we can beat things electronically first. Why do we spend all this money kinetically if we can jam, spoof or do otherwise?"
Groundbreaking. NATO Deputy Secretary General Amb. Alexander Vershbow Oct. 28 participated in a groundbreaking ceremony of the missile defense facility at the Deveselu airbase in Romania. “This facility will be an important part of NATO’s overall missile defenses in Europe,” he says. Vershbow says the groundbreaking marked an important moment for the alliance and for the construction of the second phase of the United States’ phased adaptive approach to missile defense in Europe. “This facility will not threaten anyone, but bring better protection for the people, the forces and the territory of the Allied countries in Europe,” he says.
Exec Honored. Jean Chamberlin, Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS) vice president of Program Management, is honored by Women in Aerospace for her “outstanding career and lifelong commitment to furthering the advancement of women’s opportunities in aerospace.” “This speaks to the power of diversity as Boeing’s calling card to the world,” Chamberlin says as she accepted the group’s 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award on Oct. 29. “Our success is defined by the respect and value we have for different perspectives and everyone’s contributions. Throughout my career, I have witnessed diversity fuel the innovation that drives us to do what others dream.” Women in Aerospace annually recognizes women who have made significant contributions to the aerospace community. Chamberlin has held leadership roles on several high-profile aerospace efforts, including the B-2 Spirit bomber, the C-17 Globemaster III airlifter, the H-47 Chinook helicopter, the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor, and the KC-46 tanker.
New Statue. On Nov. 7, at the U.S. Army Women’s Museum at Fort Lee, Va., Brig. Gen. John O’Neill, the 52nd Quartermaster General, hosts the unveiling of a new statue of the modern Army female warrior. The full-size statue is a first for the Army–it is the only statue located on an Army post recognizing the service of Army women. She is named Lt. FAWMA, an acronym for the Friends of the Army Women’s Museum Association, the nonprofit organization which supports the museum through contributions. The statue was designed to represent the women who have served in the Army for the past 10-20 years. She wears all the equipment, including a weapon, that soldiers use while in a field training environment or while deployed and represents both the active duty and citizen soldiers of the National Guard and Army Reserve. Over 200 personalized bricks, honoring the service of Army women and military organizations, will surround the base of the outdoor statue. Kodiak Studios Inc., of Brooklyn, N.Y., created the historically accurate statue.
