HASC Markup Schedule. HASC Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) releases the fiscal year 2016 National Defense Authorization markup schedule slated for later this month. On April 22, the subcommittee on Emerging Threats & Capabilities meets at 2:30 in room 2118, and the subcommittee on Readiness will hold its markup at 4 p.m. in room 2212. On 
April 23, the subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces will markup at 8:30 a.m. in room 2118. At 9:30 a.m. the subcommittee on Military Personnel will markup in room 2212, at 10:30 a.m. the subcommittee on Seapower & Projection Forces will markup in room 2118, and at noon, the subcommittee on Strategic Forces meets in room 2212. The full committee markup will be April 29 at 10:00 a.m. in room 2118. HASC will host an FY ’16 NDAA resources area on its website.
HAC-D Plans Members Day. The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense has scheduled April 15 for a hearing to take member’s testimony on the FY ’16 Defense Appropriations bill. The hearing will begin at 9 a.m. in H-140, the Capitol. Each Member will have five minutes for oral remarks. HAC-D plans to release further details and the order of members’ appearance before the hearing.
Patriot Upgrades. Raytheon will improve Patriot Air and Missile Defense System’s capability and readiness under a $212 million Army contract. The improvements are funded by the U.S. and the 12 other Patriot partner nations through a shared engineering services agreement. Under the contract issued by the Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., Raytheon will provide software development, systems analysis, testing and logistics support, and other country-specific system requirements. Ralph Acaba, vice president of Integrated Air and Missile Defense at Raytheon’s Integrated Defense Systems business, says, “This latest contract builds on those previous investments and helps ensure that fielded systems in the inventories of the 13-nation Patriot partnership are prepared to perform whenever and wherever they are called upon.”
New Rating. The Coast Guard now has a new career field: diving. On April 1, 48 Coast Guard members began their journey toward proficiency by becoming the first Coast Guard men and women to be formally recognized by the Coast Guard’s 22nd rating. Each new Coast Guard diver has undergone a 45-week training program to ensure they are well prepared for the challenging and dangerous missions ahead. The diving rating, which will be known as DV for enlisted members and DIV for chief warrant officers, was implemented following years of research, analysis and training by the Diver Career Management Working Group following a diving accident that occurred aboard Coast Guard Cutter Healy in 2006. Divers will support all 11 Coast Guard missions from aids to navigation, ports, waterways and coastal security.
DRS Teams on CBRN Filtration. DRS Technologies, a provider of environmental control systems to forward deployed United States military forces and international customers, has teamed with Israel’s Beth-El Industries to offer its U.S. customers chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) filtration products as part of its environmental control solutions. Beth-El provides CBRN collective protection filtration systems to customers in at least 68 countries. “We look forward to expanding our protection systems for the warfighter and giving them an extra peace of mind as we leverage the world’s best filtration technology and combine it with our world-class environmental systems,” says Roger Sexauer, president of DRS Maritime & Combat Support Systems group.
DHS Biometric Outreach. The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology (S&T) branch this Thursday will host a webinar for biometric solutions providers and industry officials to discuss technical topics including biometric exit and improving the international arrivals process at airports in the United States. The webinar will be held under the auspices of S&T’s Apex Air Entry Exit Re-engineering (AEER) Program, which includes significant participation by Customs and Border Protection. The webinar will allow S&T to brief the vendor community on progress of the AEER program and to receive feedback from industry.
…Tech Transfer. Meanwhile, S&T is transitioning incident command system technology developed by MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory to the commercial market where it is being adopted by a California non-profit public benefit corporation, Worldwide Incident Command Services Corporation (WICS). WICS will provide hosting, support, enhancements, emergency planner and first responder access to the Next-Generation Incident Command System (NICS) as a low cost service. NICS is a mobile, web-based system that facilitates collaboration and enhances situational awareness across all levels of response agencies, government and the private sector during emergency incidents. The transition is scheduled for late this spring.
CRS Cyber Report Released. The Federation of American Scientists released a March 27 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report, Cyberwarfare and Cyberterrorism: In Brief, explaining various cyber attack issues. The report explains the various cyber threat actors, issues in determining types of cyber attacks, attempts to build norm in cyberspace attacks, legal analyses of what can constitute cyberterrorism, and the use of offensive cyberspace operations through the military.
100th Apache. The Army accepts delivery of its 100th AH-64E Apache attack helicopter from Boeing on March 20, according to a service statement. As the Army’s only attack helicopter, the Apache is fully digitized with new technologies including a new, improved drive system, composite rotor blades and level four manned-unmanned teaming (MUMT). The Army says with Level 4 MUMT, Apache pilots now have control of the flight path and payloads of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) such as the Gray Eagle. The next step in modernization is the completion of the version 6 capability set, which will focus on improving the aircraft’s sensor suite to include the fire control radar, maritime targeting mode, multi-mode laser and upgrading the interactive maintenance support system ground analysis software. The Army’s acquisition objective remains at 690 aircraft, which is scheduled to be completed by 2025.
ULA Taps Sabathier. United Launch Alliance (ULA) names Robbie Sabathier the company’s vice president of Washington operations, according to a statement. Before coming to ULA, Sabathier was president of a law office she founded in Washington, where she represented the European launch company Arianespace. She also co-founded a startup telecommunication company specializing in designing, deploying and operating low-cost, high-speed internet networks to service rural communities. Sabathier holds a bachelor’s degree in international business from San Diego State University and a juris doctorate from American University’s Washington College of Law.
NASA OSIRIS-REx. Prime contractor Lockheed Martin begins assembling the NASA spacecraft OSIRIS-REx that will collect samples of an asteroid for scientific study, according to a company statement. Working toward a September 2016 launch, OSIRIS-REx will be the first U.S. mission to return samples from an asteroid back to Earth. OSIRIS-REx, which stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identfication, Security, Regolith Explorer, is going to Bennu, a carbon-rich asteroid that could hold clue to the origin of the solar system and host organic molecules that may have seeded life on Earth. The current assembly, test and launch operations (ATLO) phase is a critical stage of the program because it is when the spacecraft physically comes together. The program officially receives authorization March 30 to transition into the next phase of the mission, Phase D, after completing a series of independent reviews verifying that the program’s technical, schedule and cost elements are all on course.