Sequestration Fears. The potential for severe federal budget cuts to hit again beginning in FY ‘16 through sequestration remains a concern for Lockheed Martin, its customers and the Congress, says Marillyn Hewson, the company’s chairman, president and CEO. She says the company continues to “make our voice heard” on concerns about sequestration happening again, telling reporters at a Lockheed Martin media day that the threat “has not subsided and [it is a] real concern for our customers.”
Scrapping the Constellation.
The Navy has awarded a $3 million contract for the dismantling and scrapping of the Constellation, which is 300 million times more than what it paid for the recent scrapping of two much older aircraft carriers. The Constellation left service in 2003 and has since awaited dismantling in Naval Base Kitsap, Wash. It is the third competitively awarded contract in the last eight months for the dismantling and recycling of an old carrier, but for the previous two the Navy only paid one cent. In those cases, the companies covered the cost of towing and dismantling the ship while making the profit by recycling the material. Those two ships were based on the East Coast. Because the Constellation is on the West Coast, it has to be towed around South America to make it to Brownsville, Tex., where International Shipbreaking Limited will carry out the work. A spokesman for Naval Sea Systems Command, Chris Johnson, says the Navy paid the company $3 million to help cover the cost of the much longer towing journey.
Cyber Thieves As Losers. Companies that are receiving stolen data as a result of cyber crime will slowly get better at “figuring out how to use it effectively,” but in the long run these organizations will hurt their own capabilities, says Stewart Baker, one of the authors of a new report on the global costs of cyber crime. These companies “that receive stolen IP will never learn to innovate, so when they run out of other people’s IP they too are going to hit a stall.” Companies that are the victim of cyber crime and have their intellectual property stolen will see their return on innovation suffer and eventually be less likely to invest in new technologies, he says in a briefing hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies releasing a new cyber report. “And so it’s going to be bad for everyone in the long run.”
Cyber Business. About 10 percent of sales at Lockheed Martin’s Information Systems & Global Solutions segment are “pure” cyber work for its customers, Chandra McMahon, vice president of Commercial Markets at IS&GS, tells reporters at a cyber security briefing during the company’s annual media day. That would put the company’s cyber security work at about $800 million, given that IS&GS did $8.4 billion in sales last year. McMahon says the segment’s cyber work for commercial entities is around $50 million to $100 million annually.
SM-3 To Pick Up Pace. The Missile Defense Agency will pick up the pace on its Standard Missile-3 Block IB program and hopefully move to a multiyear procurement contract next year, MDA Director Vice Adm. James Syring tells the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee. Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) asked whether the lower procurement number in fiscal year 2015 was lower than FY ’14 due to budget pressures. Syring responded that the program had fallen behind in final testing to support operational fielding last year. “We were late in terms of the original plan. So in terms of putting missiles on contract, in August of last year we put 33 under contract, and then getting ready to award this month another 52. And then, as you know, another 30 next year. So really in a period of about 18 months we’ll have awarded 115 missiles–that’s a lot of work. And then I think you’ll see us get back to 52 in the request next year, hopefully under multiyear authority, because I think we’ve got it right.”
McCord Confirmed. The Senate confirmed Michael McCord to be the new Defense Department comptroller on June 12, allowing him to take over for retiring Bob Hale. McCord was nominated on Jan. 30 and testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Feb. 25. But since SASC voted to approve his nomination on March 26, he’s been waiting for action from the full Senate. McCord takes over as comptroller as the Pentagon awaits any indication from Congress as to whether lawmakers will be able to stop sequestration from returning next year.
Monitoring Experiment. NATO’s Science and Technology Organization Center for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE) leads sea trials June 6-26 in the Sardinian Sea. The REP14-MED sea trials include 21 partners from six nations
Photo: CMRE
working on the future of ocean monitoring and seabed characterization. The NATO Research Vessel Alliance, operated by CMRE, and Research Vessel Planet, operated by the German Research Center WTD71 and other sites, have scientists and engineers testing and developing new systems, technologies and solutions for ocean monitoring and seabed characterization to enhance current environmental and operational effectiveness capabilities. Autonomous underwater gliders from the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, France and CMRE are collecting data to improve ocean forecast models to improve collaborative research to increase automation and effectiveness of coordinated geographical, meteorological and oceanographic support for NATO nations.
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”-ed out requester, The rate for a basic Royal Marine Commando for financial year 2014-2015 will be about $51,103.71, including pay, national insurance and pension contributions. The rate does not include unit costs or career training costs, MoD says in its June 2 response.
First Timer. Iridium Communications, Inc., says for the first time, it is participating in the Army’s Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) process with a demonstration of a Position Location Information (PLI)-based tracking device, Enhanced Mobile Satellite System (EMSS) Beacon made by NAL Research. The EMSS Beacons will be outfitted on a maneuver platoon to demonstrate the operational value and utility of near real-time position and location tracking of personnel and assets. “We’re proposing to close a beyond-line-of-sight gap in the communications network by providing soldiers with a proven, affordable technology that will help keep them safe anywhere on the planet,” says Ken Flowers, vice president, government solutions, Iridium. “Iridium’s longstanding relationship with the U.S. Department of Defense makes the integration of this device extremely cost-effective, providing unlimited airtime to all users under our current EMSS contract’s unlimited service terms.” Ngoc Hoang, President of NAL Research, says, “The EMSS Beacon is designed to meet the size, weight and power requirements for the dismounted soldier and fills a need that has been around for more than 10 years.”
AEHF Partners. All four partner nations are using the Air Force’s Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) communications satellite constellation after a successful call by the United Kingdom in February, according to prime contractor Lockheed Martin. The United States, U.K., Canada and the Netherlands have all connected to AEHF. Canada’s first successful call was in May 2013 and the Netherlands connected two months after. U.K. armed forces used two terminal variants to communicate with AEHF-5: one made for connections on land and other designed for users at sea. Lockheed Martin is under contract to deliver six AEHF satellites and the mission control segment.
Minuteman III Contract. The Air Force awards Lockheed Martin a contract with an initial value of $109 million for sustainment of the reentry subsystem for the Minuteman III ICBM, according to a company statement. The company’s work will include repair, modification and testing of hardware and software components in the reentry system-reentry vehicle (RS-RV) subsystem, as well as related support equipment. The contract is part of the Air Force’s Future ICBM Sustainment and Acquisition Construct, which is designed to ensure a safe, secure and reliable Minuteman III weapon system through 2030. The base period of performance for the contract is one year, and with government options for an additional four years, the total value is potentially $452 million.
Bender Information. The president nominates Air Force Maj. Gen. William Bender for rank of lieutenant general and as the Air Force’s chief information officer (CIO), according to a DoD statement. Bender is currently a major general and deputy chief in the Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq. Prior to OSC, Bender was commander of the Air Force Expeditionary Center.