Body Camera Testing. As interest grows across the country in the in the use of body-worn cameras by local law enforcement officers, Customs and Border Protection is field testing the devices with its officers as a way to help resolve use of force incidents, says agency Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske. “We have an agency-wide working group to evaluate the feasibility of incorporating body-worn cameras into law enforcement operations into each of our CBP environments: air; land; sea; and between our ports of entry,” he says an event hosted by the Brookings Institution. The agency is also equipping its agents with more less-than lethal devices like Tasers to provide more options in use of force incidents.
Radar for C-27s. The Naval Air Systems Command, in support of the Coast Guard, has issued a Request for Information, on contractor interest in providing a multi-mode radar for the service’s incoming fleet of 14 C-27 aircraft, which are being transferred from the Air Force. The C-27s will become part of the Coast Guard’s medium range surveillance aircraft fleet and will be used for maritime patrol, drug and migrant interdiction, disaster response, and search and rescue missions. The radar will support all mission requirements. 
SpaceX CRS-6. Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) prepares for its sixth Cargo Resupply Services (CRS-6) mission for NASA. The launch, on a Falcon 9 rocket, will take place April 13 around 4:33 p.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The Air Force’s 45th Weather Squadron, as of April 10, predicts mostly cloudy weather with up to a 40 percent chance of precipitation in the afternoon. CRS is NASA’s effort to deliver cargo and services to the International Space Station (ISS). SpaceX is under contract for 12 total CRS missions. The company also responds to NASA’s request for proposal for CRS-2, which has a maximum value of $14 billion.
Airbus’ Emerson. Airbus Group appoints Chris Emerson as president and chief executive of Airbus Helicopters, effective June 1. Emerson will also serve as the head of Airbus Helicopters North American Region, which includes oversight of both the U.S. subsidiary and Airbus Helicopters Canada, according to a company statement. Emerson replaces Marc Paganini, who accepts a new assignment with Airbus Group as head of special projects. Emerson is currently senior vice president, head of marketing with Airbus in Toulouse, France. Previously he was head of Airbus Future Programmes and Product Strategy.
F-35 Contract. The Navy awards Lockheed Martin a $151 million fixed-price-incentive (firm target) contract to provide an integrated reprogramming capability to build, test, modify and field F-35 mission data files for Australia and the United Kingdom, according to a Defense Department statement. Work is expected to complete in December 2018. International partner funds of $151 million are being obligated on this award. This contract combines purchases for Australia (55 percent) and the U.K. (45 percent).
Camarillo Nominated. President Barack Obama announces his intent to nominate Gabriel Camarillo as assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs, according to a White House statement. Camarillo is currently principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology (AL&T), a position he’s held since 2012. From 2010 to 2012, Camarillo serves as special assistant to the assistant secretary of the Army for AL&T.
Army Contract. The Army awards Rockwell Collins a $495 million order dependent contract for software and system development and integration onto the CH-47, MH-47, MH-6, MH/UH/HH/VH-60, VH-3, MH-65 and all their variants, including potential foreign military sales requirements. Work has an estimated completion date of April 2020. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received, according to a DoD statement.
JPSS Protest. Ball Aerospace protests with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) NASA’s Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) March contract award to Orbital ATK, Ball spokeswoman Roz Brown says in a statement. Ball says the decision did not adequately take into account past performance and the appropriate pricing allocations. Brown says Orbital ATK’s proposal was selected because the total price for JPSS-2, plus the options for JPSS-3 and JPSS-4, were lower. However, Brown says, Ball’s JPSS-2 proposal was more than $25 million less expensive than Orbital ATK’s. “If you add in the option for JPSS-3, our overall price was still lower,” Brown says. If all options are exercised, the total value of the delivery order will be $470 million, according to NOAA.
Officer Fired. The Air Force takes administrative action against Air Combat Command’s (ACC) vice commander on April 9 after the two-star general tells airmen it would be “treasonous” to counter the decision of senior leadership to divest the A-10, according to a service statement. Gen. Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle issues a letter of reprimand and moves Maj. Gen. James Post from his position as vice commander. An Air Force inspector general investigation surmised that Post’s “choice of words had the effect of attempting to prevent some members from lawfully communicating with Congress,” which is a violation of federal law and DoD directives, whether it was his intention or not.