Justifying Big M&A. Lockheed Martin Chief Marillyn Hewson says that there is “no evidence to support” recent assertions by Pentagon Acquisition Executive Frank Kendall that large scale mergers and acquisitions have led the defense industry to be anti-innovative. Hewson tells analysts on the company’s third quarter earnings call that “There’s no evidence to support that with our Sikorsky acquisition that we reduce competition or inhibit innovation in any way.” She says Lockheed Martin has “consistently delivered the best and most sophisticated defense capabilities in the world” adding that “It’s not about the size of the company. It’s about performance.” Hewson says that large companies offer economies of scale for research and development investment, keeping suppliers afloat between contract negotiations.
R&D Focus. Raytheon Chief Thomas Kennedy says on his company’s earnings call that its major focus areas for research and development include high energy lasers, where “there’s a lot of demand signal from multiple services,” hypersonics, the undersea area—particularly around anti-access area-denial—advanced electronic warfare to counter evolving threats, and C5ISR solutions, especially in the Middle East. Regarding hypersonics, Kennedy says as threats become more sophisticated, it takes more “speed and agility to be able to get to the threat and hypersonics are becoming a big part of that.”
Need for Info Sharing. The Edison Electric Institute, an association that represents all United States investor-owned electric companies, says that the current level of sharing of cyber threat indicators between the private sector and the federal government “is not anywhere close to where it needs to be in order to keep pace with our adversaries. The sharing of information needs to be faster, more actionable, and more efficient.” The association on its blog says the CISA legislation will help companies obtain more “structure and legal certainty” regarding the sharing of cyber threat indicators and protecting personal information and their networks.
NASA ARRM RFP… NASA issues a request for proposals (RFP) for its Asteroid Redireect Robotic Mission (ARRM) program, according to an agency notice posted on Federal Business Opportunities (FBO). ARRM is in early formulation as part of NASA’s plan for using cis-lunar space as a proving ground for future human spaceflight beyond low earth orbit (LEO). NASA wants to perform a number of demonstrations including using a 20-fold improvement in deep space solar electric propulsion (SEP) to move and maneuver large payloads; retrieving a multi-ton (more than 20-ton) boulder from an asteroid and redirecting it to a crew accessible orbit around the moon and being part of integrated crewed and robotic vehicle operations in deep space.
…More ARRM. NASA’s formulation plan includes procurement of the SEP-based ARRM spacecraft bus through a two-phase procurement. The first phase is design work accomplished through studies by U.S. industry toward mission preliminary design. The second phase includes development of the flight spacecraft bus. This RFP is for phase one, described as conceptual studies for the ARRM spacecraft. NASA intends to provide funding toward these phase one study contracts in the January timeframe, after congressional appropriations are received.
NASA SLS CDR. NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket completes its critical design review (CDR) in July, according to an agency statement. The CDR provides a final look at the design and development of the integrated launch vehicle before full-scale fabrication begins. This review is the last of four reviews that examine concepts and designs. The next step is design certification, which will take place in 2017 after manufacturing, integration and testing is complete. The design certification will compare the actual final product to the rocket’s design. The final review, the flight readiness review, will take place just prior to the 2018 flight readiness date.
KSC Land Use. NASA declines to select a partner to develop additional commercial vertical launch capabilities at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., according to an agency statement. NASA wants to transform KSC into a multi-user spaceport under a 20-year master plan. KSC releases an announcement for proposals (AFP) in June to alert the public to a potential opportunity to develop commercial vertical launch capabilities at two KSC launch sites as part of that plan. NASA says a review of the proposals and the current commercial market demand indicates the market isn’t sufficiently mature to make the commitment the agency sought when it issued the announcement. NASA says it will look to make the sites available for commercial partnerships in the future.
OSIRIS-REx. Lockheed Martin completes the assembly of NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft, ending the design and assembly stage of the program, according to a company statement. Lockheed Martin now moves on to test the entire flight system over the range of environmental conditions that will be experienced on the journey to near Earth asteroid Bennu and back. The spacecraft, over the next five months, will be subjected to a range of rigorous tests that simulate the vacuum, vibration and extreme temperatures it will experience throughout the life of its mission. OSIRIS-REx is scheduled to ship from Lockheed Martin’s facility to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in May, where it will undergo final preparations for launch, which is scheduled for September. The plan is for OSIRIS-REx to travel to Bennu and bring at least a 60-gram sample back to Earth for study.
Gates Backs Service Secretaries. Former Defense Secretary Gates dropped by the Hill on Oct. 21 for a SASC hearing on acquisition reform and the country’s current military campaigns. When asked whether the Pentagon should retain the role of service secretary, he responded that the position contributes to the civilian leadership and civilian dominance of the military. Congress’ armed service committees have supported giving more acquisition authorities to the service chiefs, and reducing the power of the Pentagon’s under secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics (AT&L). Gates acknowledged the difficulty in balancing between the two parties but says, “It’s clear to me that the balance has shifted too far to AT&L.”
Humvee Upgrades. Sixteen senators on Oct. 16 wrote a letter to Army Secretary John McHugh and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley asking for more information about the future of the service’s tactical wheeled vehicle fleet. More specifically, the senators want to know what it plans to do with its 130,000-vehicle Humvee fleet now that the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle has been awarded, and whether recapitalizations or upgrades might be necessary. “It’s a question about making sure that the inventory is there to handle all contingencies,” says SASC Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), one of the lawmakers who signed the letter.
Littoral Combat Ship. Lockheed Martin delivered its third littoral combat ship— and the sixth overall—during an Oct. 16 ceremony at the Marinette Marine Corp. shipyard in Marinette, Wisconsin. The USS Milwaukee (LCS-5) was transferred to the Navy and is scheduled for a Nov. 21 commissioning. “With each LCS delivered, we have succeeded in driving down costs by incorporating lessons learned to provide the Navy with a highly capable and flexible ship,” LCS program manager Capt. Tom Anderson says in a statement issued by Naval Sea Systems Command. The Milwaukee will conduct full ship shock trials before joining the other LCS homeported in San Diego, says Capt. Warren Buller II, commander of Littoral Combat Ship Squadron One.
Laser Weapons… The Navy awarded a $53 million contract to Northrop Grumman for the Laser Weapon System Demonstrator (LWSD), beating out six competitors. If all options are executed, the company stands to win $91 million. According to a solicitation on FedBizOpps, Northrop Grumman will be responsible for building a Tactical Laser Core Module and integrating it with government-furnished subsystems. The LWSD will then be installed on a Navy surface ship and used in live-fire tests against fast attack craft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and sensor systems used for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR).
…More Lasers. The service famously deployed its Laser Weapon System (LaWS), which was produced by BAE Systems, on the USS Ponce in summer of 2014. The Office of Naval Research considers LWSD the next step for advancing laser weapons, specifically by inmproving laser power, beam quality and beam director architecture. ONR’s broad agency announcement released in 2014 stated that one goal of the LWSD program is to build a system that can achieve a Technology Readiness Level 6 to help the service decide whether to begin a program of record.
Iraqi Navy Support. Swiftships Shipbuilders picked up a $10 million firm, fixed-price delivery order for one year of services to operate and upgrade the Iraqi navy ship repair facility, Umm Qasr Naval Base. The contract covers one year of work, as well as the travel and force protection services needed to support the facility. The funding was awarded through a foreign military sales agreement.
U.S. – Pakistan Cyber. President Obama and Pakistani Prime Minister agree in a joint statement to international cooperation to make cyberspace secure and stable following Sharif’s visit to the White House. Both leaders also endorse the 2015 UN Group of Governmental Experts in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security. “The leaders looked forward to further multilateral engagement, and discussion of cyber issues as part of the U.S.-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue,” the joint statement says.