TSA Investment Plan. The Transportation Security Agency’s Office of Security Capabilities in late May released a Strategic Capability Plan
, which outlines $2.2 billion in potential investments over the next five years, mainly for aviation security. The agency says that its vision for the checkpoint of the future and checked baggage screening remains a “work in progress” but that investments in the plan will provide the “flexibility and interoperability” that open up new “possibilities for the future of screening and transportation security.”
…Priority Areas. TSA outlines five strategic priority areas for investment, including aviation threat detection, real time threat assessment, integration and flexibility, systems engineering and governance, and intermodal threat detection. Within each area the plan describes investment plans, needs and how the needs fit within its investment areas. About 70 percent of investments are deemed core and are expected to provide capabilities within two years. Adjacent capabilities will get 20 percent of the funds and generate results in two to four years while transformational capabilities will get 10 percent of the investments and “seed innovation broadly,” the plan says.
Coronado’s Final Contract Trials. The Littoral Combat Ship USS Coronado (LCS-4) completes final contract trials on Friday consisting of post-delivery testing of the ship and its major systems. The four days of trials included combat systems, air-and-surface detect and engages scenarios, 57mm gun exercises, main propulsion powering and maneuvering. The ships 11-meter rigid bull boat was also deployed and recovered. The LCS program manager at PEO LCS, Capt. Tom Anderson, said changes built into the Coronado from lessons learned from its first predecessor, the USS Independence (LCS-2), have shown improvements. “It is clear that the changes incorporated into Coronado, based on lessons learned from the construction and operation of USS Independence, have contributed not only to her affordability, but to her operational capability,” Anderson says. The Coronado will go into a post shakedown availability this fall.
RAND Satellite Anomalies. A new study from the RAND Corporation examines the nature and causes of satellite anomalies and explores the potential benefits of a shared and centralized satellite anomaly database. Currently, t
here is no centralized, up-to-date, detailed and broadly available database of anomalies covering many different satellites. Such a database could inform future design and orbital regimes, and could help identify solutions to prolong the lifetime for spacecraft that experience problems. However, one of the biggest hurdles to implementing such a database is the privacy considerations of the satellite operators: Releasing anomaly information to the entire space community would give a competitor an unfair advantage. The study proposes a way to take advantage of the benefits from building an anomaly database while also protecting the privacy of the satellite operators.
It Costs How Much? The U.K. Ministry of Defense responds to a Freedom of Information request on the unit cost per year for employing and maintaining a Royal marine Commando. The one-page response to an “X’d” out requester: ‘The capitation rate for a basic Royal Marine Commando for Financial year 2014-2015 will be ($51,103.71 million), this includes pay, National Insurance and pension contributions. The capitation rate does not include unit costs or career training costs,” MoD says June 2.
Mini-IMU. Northrop Grumman will develop a miniaturized navigation-grade inertial system for DARPA. The $648,000 initial contract from the Army Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center potentially could rise to a value of $13.4 million with multiple options after the initial 12-month base contract. Northrop Grumman will develop a miniaturized inertial measurement unit for DARPA’s Chip Scale Combinatorial Atomic Navigator (C-SCAN) program. “This microsystem has the potential to significantly reduce the size, weight, power requirement and cost of precision navigation systems,” says Charles Volk, vice president, Advanced Navigation Systems business unit, Northrop Grumman. “Additionally, the system will reduce dependence on GPS and other external signals, ensuring uncompromised navigation and guidance for warfighters.”
F-35 Fuselage. Northrop Grumman delivers its 150th center fuselage to F-35 prime contractor Lockheed Martin, according to a Northrop Grumman statement. The center fuselage is the core structure around which the aircraft is built. Designated AF-68, the center fuselage was delivered June 2. It is the 50th such unit Northrop Grumman has delivered in the past 15 months. The company’s first 100 center fuselages took approximately 8.5 years from program start to completion. AF-68 will be integrated into a conventional variant F-35A at Lockheed Martin’s final assembly facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The F-35 is developed by Lockheed Martin along with Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems.
A Navy First. Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) announces on Thursday that it has planned out and detailed the modernization and maintenance availabilities for all of the surface ships scheduled to receive them in fiscal 2015. The service says the extensive planning to achieve the “right-sizing” of availability durations for the 44 shipyard availabilities next year will save time and make the process more efficient. “This marks the first time the Navy has collectively assessed and integrated all advance planning efforts for a full year of surface ship availabilities, the result of which will be a reduction in lost operational days,” NAVSEA says. “This effort was an incredibly rigorous planning initiative,” says Capt. Michael Malone, commanding officer of SEA 21’s Surface Maintenance Engineering Planning Program (SURFMEPP) in Norfolk, Va. “By understanding specific planned maintenance and modernization work required for each ship in advance, we can give fleet commanders a realistic analysis of how long availabilities will last. Doing so really limits the potential for surface navy schedule shifts and lost operational days.” NAVSEA says that previously it “did not have a formal process to treat surface maintenance and modernization as an integrated, lifecycle business, which meant schedules were, at best, notional.”
Sub Illinois’s Keel. The Navy holds a keel laying ceremony for the future Virginia-class attack submarine the Illinois (SSN-786) on June 2 at General Dynamics Electric Boat. The sub’s sponsor is Michelle Obama and her initials were welded on to a steel plate that will be attached to the hull. The first lady is a Chicago native. “The event marks the first major construction milestone for the submarine and helps forge a special bond between Mrs. Obama, her submarine and her crew that will last for years to come,” says Capt. David Goggins, the Virginia-class program manager. Construction on Illinois began in March 2011.
Social CIA. The CIA on Friday expanded its social media presence by adding accounts on Facebook and Twitter, adding to the channels it plans to disseminate unclassified information. The spy agency already had accounts with Google-plus and Pinterest. “By expanding these platforms, CIA will be able to more directly engage with the public and provide information on CIA’s mission, history, and other developments,” states CIA Director John Brennan. “We have important insights to share, and we want to be make sure that unclassified information about the agency is more accessible to the American public that we serve, consistent with our national security mission.” The agency’s first tweet: “We can neither confirm nor deny that this is our first tweet.”
Risk Based Rad Monitoring. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials tell a Senate committee that the department’s most recent analysis of radiological and nuclear weapon threats to the United States shows they are best thwarted by taking a broader and risk-based approach to protect the “The most recent analysis concluded that detection efforts focused on a single pathway, such as containerized maritime cargo, would not substantially reduce the overall risk of radiological/nuclear terrorism,” the officials say in a joint statement to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The risk-based, “multi-faceted” approach that DHS is taking to mitigating threat of a nuclear device being smuggled into the U.S. includes refining targeting algorithms to better identify high-risk containers overseas and increasing the percentage of containers scanned abroad, they say.