Senior HAC Staff Announced. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) announced that Rob Blair will take over as clerk of the defense subcommittee. Blair joined the committee staff in 2003 after working for the State Department, and he most recently served as clerk of the energy and water subcommittee, which includes nuclear activities within the Defense Department. Maureen Holohan, who served as a staffer on the defense subcommittee, will leave to take over as clerk of the military construction/veterans affairs subcommittee.
Aviation Security Review. Following revelations last month of a gun smuggling operation involving current and former employees of Delta Air Lines operating between Atlanta and New York, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson has ordered a comprehensive security review of the sterile areas at airports nationwide to identify ways for his department to address potential vulnerabilities. The review will be done by the Aviation Security Advisory Committee (ASAC), which consists of private sectors representatives of the aviation community.
…Review II. Concurrently with the review by the ASAC, the Transportation Security Administration will be implementing or considering a number of related security measures, says the Department of Homeland Security. These measures include additional screening requirements for airport and airline employees, additional random security countermeausres at employee access points, and more security patrols by TSA to address these concerns. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) last week called on TSA to require airport and airline employees to go through metal detectors before entering the secure areas of airports. 
Defense Sales. Defense industry revenues should hit bottom this year and remain flat in 2016 before growing again in 2017, J.P. Morgan aerospace and defense analyst Joseph Nadol says in a Jan. 8 note to clients. Growth will be in the low single digits, says Nadol, who also expects “operating income should be stable to slightly up starting in 2017.”
Cooley Promotion. President Barack Obama nominates Air Force Col. William Cooley for appointment to the rank of brigadier general, according to a Defense Department statement. Cooley serves as senior materiel leader and director of Air Force Space Command’s (AFSPC) Global Positioning System (GPS) directorate. Cooley has been involved in the Air Force’s oversight of the GPS III satellite navigation payload issues with prime contractor Lockheed Martin.
Army ATACMS. The Army awards Lockheed Martin a $78 million contract for upgrades to the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), according to a company statement. The program will take hardware from early-production ATACMS Block 1 missiles and develop an enhanced weapon system capable of eliminating targets without the risk of unexploded ordnance, which meets the Army’s long-range precision strike requirements. The program’s first phase will include flight tests, followed by production beginning in 2016. Lockheed Martin says ATACMS is the Army’s only tactical long-range precision strike surface-to-surface weapon.
Boeing Electric Sats. Boeing completes production of what it calls the world’s first all-electric propulsion satellites as preparations continue to launch the satellites as a vertically-stacked pair next month. Boeing says in a statement the ABS-3A satellite for Bermuda-based ABS and the Eutelsat 115 West B satellite are scheduled to be launched together on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in February. Boeing executive Mark Spiwak says in a statement the company completed the first 702SPs (small platform) less than three years after contract award.
SNA Kicking Off. The Surface Navy Association will hold its annual symposium starting in earnest on Tuesday, showcasing more than 100 contractors and a host of Navy and Marine Corps speakers. The event that runs through Thursday takes place at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, Va. Among the speakers this year are Navy Secretary Ray Mabus; Navy acquisition chief Sean Stackley; Naval Sea Systems Command chief Vice Adm. William Hilarides; Vice Adm. Thomas Rowden, the commander of Naval Surface Forces and Naval Surface Force Pacific Fleet; Rear Adm. Peter Fanta, the director of surface warfare (N96); and Maj. Gen. Robert Walsh, the director of expeditionary warfare (N95). NAVSEA will conduct separate briefing at its booth on topics like the Arleigh Burke-class (DDG-51) and Zumwalt-class (DDG-1000) destroyer programs and the Littoral Combat Ship.
F-35 Basing in U.K. The Pentagon has said it will permanently station Air Force F-35 Joint Strike Fighters in the United Kingdom even as it unveiled a plan to shrink the U.S. military presence on the British Isles. Derek Chollet, the assistant secretary of defense for international affairs tells reporters Thursday that RAF Lakenheath has been chosen as the site to host two F-35 squadrons. The Air Force version of the Lockheed Martin-built stealth fighter, the conventional takeoff and landing F-35A, is set for initial operational capability in 2016. The F-35s would arrive in the U.K. in the 2018-2021 timeframe, says John Conger, who is acting as the assistant secretary who oversees installations. Conger says that 1,200 support personnel will accompany the aircraft, which will help offset the decision to abandon RAF Mildenhall and return it to the British as part of the overall consolidation and divestiture plan for the U.S. presence in Europe. The Mildenhall departure will force the relocation of 3,200 U.S. personnel. The overall plan will relocate about 6,000 American personnel and could impact as many as 2,600 European jobs provided by the U.S. military, Conger says. He says the changes are expected to save about $500 million annually.