Four-Star Global Strike. Air Force Secretary Deborah James recommends elevating Global Strike Command (AFGSC) leadership to a four-star general from the current three-star rank, according to a service statement. The move comes after a scandal in the ICBM force where missileers were found to be cheating on exams. The Air Force will also increase the assistant chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration from a two-star to a three-star billet. The service will, additionally, increase nuclear manning levels by adding two majors to each missile squadron to serve as assistant operations officers. James says the Air Force redirects $50 million in fiscal year 2014 to address urgent, near-term nuclear sustainment shortfalls by internally reallocating all of the sustainment funds that AFGSC can execute (in FY ’14) as well as $350 million over the future years defense program (FYDP). Elevating AFGSC leadership from three- to four-stars requires congressional approval.
Aerojet Correll.
Aerojet Rocketdyne says allegations of a “revolving door” arrangement with former DoD procurement official Scott Correll are “completely without merit.” Company spokesman Glenn Mahone says Aerojet Rocketdyne is confident of the process followed in hiring Correll and that he received the “necessary clearances and approvals” from the Pentagon. “His duties and actions on behalf of Aerojet Rocketdyne are consistent with those clearances and approvals,” Mahone says. Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), which is suing the Air Force to compete its sole-source block buy of launch cores to United Launch Alliance (ULA), amended its complaint to include a story from the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) accusing Correll of improperly awarding ULA the deal before taking a job with Aerojet Rocketdyne, which NLPC says benefits from the sole source to ULA. Aerojet Rocketdyne is a division of GenCorp. ULA is a division of Boeing and Lockheed Martin. 
SpaceX SuperDraco. SpaceX completes qualification testing for its SuperDraco thruster, an engine that will power the Dragon spacecraft’s launch escape system and enable the vehicle to land propulsively on earth or another planet with accuracy. The program includes testing across a variety of conditions, including multiple starts, extended firing durations and extreme off-nominal propellant flow and temperatures, according to a company statement. The SuperDraco is an advanced version of the Draco engines currently used by SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft to maneuver in orbit and during re-entry. Each SuperDraco produces 16,000 pounds of thrust and can be restarted multiple times if necessary. There will be eight SuperDracos on one Dragon spacecraft. The first flight demonstration of the SuperDraco will be part of the upcoming pad abort test under NASA’s Commercial Crew Integrated Capabilities (CCiCap) initiative. The pad abort will be the first test of SpaceX’s new launch escape system and is expected to take place later this year.
Launch to ISS. A Soyuz rocket containing U.S., German and Russian astronauts launches toward the International Space Station (ISS) May 28. NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Soyuz Commander Maxim Suraev of Russia and Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency (ESA) will conduct hundreds of scientific investigations and technology demonstrations during their six-month sojourn on ISS, according to NASA. These include earth remote sensing, an assessment of human behavior and performance and studies of bone and muscle physiology.
Clever With Cruisers. The chief of Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) tells reporters this week that he believes the Navy has a “very clever” idea for the future of its cruisers and is confident that in time Congress will see it that way too. As part of its fiscal 2015 budget proposal, the Navy outlined a plan to sideline 11 of its 22 cruisers for long term modernization to save money in the near term. Those ships would be gradually returned to the fleet as the other cruisers went into retirement starting in the mid-2020s. That plan hit a snag on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are either trying to scale it back or block it all together. NAVSEA chief Vice Adm. William Hilarides says the Navy’s plan would keep cruisers in service longer and notes that with a new ballistic missile submarine construction program beginning in the 2020s, the Navy probably won’t have the cash to build a new class of cruisers. “If we stay true to the plan that we put forth, I think that Congress will see that it a good plan,” he says.
NG Amplifiers. Northrop Grumman develops two high performance Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) broadband ultra-low-noise amplifiers (LNA) that are in production for immediate delivery, according to a company statement. The indium phosphide (InP) high electron mobility transistor LNAs are for use in E-band and W-band commercial, civil and military applications such as communication links, sensors, millimeter-wave imaging, radars and digital microwave radios. The compact die design of each LNA considerably reduces footprint size and exhibits ultra-low-noise performance and high gain.
NG UAS Achievement. Northrop Grumman’s High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) unmanned aerial system (UAS) series, which includes the Air Force’s RQ-4 Global Hawk, sets a record for mission hours flown in one week, according to a company statement. Northrop Grumman logs 665 hours flying operational and exercise missions during the week ending Feb. 23. In 2013, Global Hawk flew an average of 433.8 hours per week. The weekly record of 665 hours set in February is 53 percent above last year’s average. That is the equivalent of almost four Global Hawks in the air around the clock for an entire week, the company says.
F-35 Test Milestones. The F-35 program completes three milestones by demonstrating air-to-air combat capability, completing a first flight with the next level software load and accomplishing a landing at the maximum test speed and drop rate, according to a Lockheed Martin statement. An F-35B sequentially engages two aerial targets with two AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) during a weapon delivery accuracy mission. An F-35A also flies a 1.9 hour mission with the first-ever load of Block 3i hardware and software. Block 3i is the next level of capability and is planned to support the Air Force’s F-35A initial operational capability (IOC) in 2016. The Navy’s carrier variant F-35C completes a landing at its maximum sink speed to test the aircraft’s landing gear, airframe and arrestment system. Lockheed Martin develops the F-35 along with subcontractors BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman.
Training Time. The Massachusetts National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 182nd Infantry Regiment and Austrian soldiers kick off Combined Resolve II in Hohenfels, Germany. The exercise is a U.S. Army Europe-directed multinational exercise at the Joint Multi-national Training Command’s Grafenwoehr and Hohenfels Training Areas. The event runs May 15- June 30. It will include more than 4,000 participants and train the U.S. Army’s European Rotational Force with allies and partners from 14 European nations. The goal is to develop technical and tactical interoperability among the forces.
Upgrades Coming. The Army plans to award a sole source contract to Navistar Defense LLC to buy hardware to support upgrading 1,044 Mine-Resistant, Ambush Protected (MRAP) MaxxPro Dash and Long Wheel Base ambulance vehicles at Ft. Bliss, Texas, and other upgrades during reset at Red River Army Depot, Texas, Leghorn Army Depot in Livorno, Italy and West Point, Miss. The firm fixed-price action is against the current basic ordering agreement with Navistar for a single year delivery with no options. Navistar is the only responsible source for this work, the Army says.
New Coast Guard Chief. Adm. Paul Zukunft on Friday was sworn in as the new Coast Guard Commandant, succeeding Adm. Bob Papp, who had been commandant since May 2010. Zukunft, the Coast Guard’s 25th commandant, most recently commanded the Coast Guard’s Pacific Area operations and provided mission support to Defense Department and Combatant Commanders. Two of Zukunft’s biggest challenges will be continuing his service’s ongoing asset recapitalization program to replace aging legacy assets and sustaining its missions in the face of budget headwinds.
…Priorities. Upon assuming command of the Coast Guard, Zukunft released his Commandant’s Direction 2014, which lays out his guidance for the service. His three guiding principles are service to nation, duty to people, and commitment to excellence. Within the principle of service to nation, Zukunft highlights four priorities: align the Coast Guard’s strategies with Department of Homeland Security priorities; continue investment in the 21st century Coast Guard; enhance partnerships with stakeholders in the maritime community; and foster intelligence capabilities and promote cyber security in the maritime domain.
Newscaster. Cyber threat intelligence firm iSIGHT Partners this week released a report about a three-year-old cyber espionage campaign it calls NEWSCASTER that it believes originates from Iran and is aimed at senior United States military and diplomatic personnel, congressional personnel, journalists, defense contractors in the U.S. and Israel, and others in Britain, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. The attacks used fake personas to attempt to capture credentials and malware, which iSIGHT says isn’t very sophisticated but has the capability for data theft. iSIGHT says it is unclear the extent of data loss but says “it is reasonable to assume that a vast amount of social content was compromised in addition to some number of login credentials that can be used to access additional systems and information.”
Operation Overlord. On Thursday, commemorations take place in Normandy, 70 years after 2.8 million allied soldiers from the United States, Canada and Great Britain climbed aboard 10,000 planes and thousands of vessels to invade 50 miles of French coastline. Americans Hit the beaches code-named Omaha and Utah. It was the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany, though no one knew it at the time. Events this year include 70 parachutists dropping in over Arromanches–depending on the weather–exhibition of World War II tanks on the beach, parades, ceremonies, religious ceremonies, veterans and great gatherings of leaders. Expected to attend are: U.S. President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande, and Great Britain’s Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip, and military leaders.
Anniversary. Eighth Army in Korea June 10 celebrates its 70th anniversary. The Eighth Army was activated in World War II and has served in the Asia-Pacific region ever since, based in South Korea since 1953. Today, the Army says the unit is the only operational level formation working and training within range of enemy artillery.