Capitol Hill Week Ahead. The Senate joins the House back at Capitol Hill. A day after President Barack Obama gives the state of the union address, HASC Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) plans to lay out his own national security agenda during a Wednesday speech at the National Press Club.
Name Change. This Thursday Raytheon/Websense will unveil its new brand, which will include a new name. Raytheon acquired Websense last year for $1.9 billion and along with minority owner Vista Equity Partners established a joint venture called Raytheon/Websense. Back in November Raytheon/Websense said it would come out with a new name and brand, saying it wants to “make a big splash with our customers, partners and the cybersecurity industry at large.” Websense is mainly focused on providing information security to commercial customers. 
More Detail Please. The Transportation Security Administration’s release last summer of a five-year technology investment plan was a step forward in industry engagement but security manufacturers need “a more precise roadmap to know where and when to invest,” T.J. Shulz, director of the Security Manufacturers Coalition, tells a House Homeland Security panel. The Strategic Five-Year Investment Plan for Aviation Security does lay out general plans for equipment recapitalization, for example saying how many Advanced Technology X-ray systems the agency plans to buy each year through FY ’20. Shulz also says the plan needs more detail on the agency’s plans for investing in “new innovative technology” in addition to the recapitalization of existing systems.
Cutter Delivery. The Coast Guard in late December accepted delivery of its 16th Fast Response Cutter from shipbuilder Bollinger Shipyards, marking the half-way point in the company’s contract to provide the service with 32 of the patrol boats. The Winslow Griesser will be commissioned in March and be stationed in Puerto Rico. The Coast Guard plans to buy 58 FRCs and is hosting a competition to acquire the remaining 26 vessels.
Counter Terror Bill. The House Foreign Affairs Committee last Thursday unanimously approved the Counter Terrorism Screening and Assistance Act of 2016 (H.R. 4314), which among other things accelerates the transfer of certain border security systems to foreign partner governments. These systems include “appropriate versions” of Customs and Border Protection’s Automated Targeting System-Global, and the State Department’s Personal Identification Secure Comparison and Evaluation System. The bill also directs U.S. security assistance to go to places based on risk, helps foreign countries enhance counter-terrorism screening, and directs government agencies to coordinate their global efforts to crack down on terrorist and foreign fighter travel.
Iron Dome. The fiscal year 2016 omnibus spending bill signed into law before the holidays provides $55 million for DoD to provide Israel for Iron Dome procurement. The $55 million comes from $488 million already earmarked for Israel from DoD’s defense-wide research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) account. In addition to the $55 million for Iron Dome, the spending bill provides $287 million for the Short Range Ballistic Missile Defense (SRBMD) program, of which $150 million is for production of SRBMD missiles in the U.S.
Intelsat General Protest. Segovia Inc., doing business as Inmarsat Government, formally asks the Government Accountability Office (GAO) Jan. 4 to reconsider its sustainment of Intelsat General’s bid protest of a Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) contract award to Segovia (HC1013-14-R-0004) in September. A decision is due April 13. DISA on Sept. 8 awards Segovia a single award, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ), firm-fixed-price contract worth as much as $450 million, with $150,000 guaranteed, for services including satellite capacity in C-, Ku-, Ka- and X-band for mobile and fixed satellite transceivers on maritime, airborne and ground platforms. GAO’s bid protest sustainment document is under a protective order. An email to DISA was not returned by press time.
T-38C Contract. The Air Force awards Boeing a contract worth as much as $855 million for T-38C avionics component integration and contractor logistics support, according to a Pentagon statement. DoD expects work to be complete by Jan. 3, 2016. This contract is the result of a competitive acquisition and two offers were received. The T-38 Talon is a twin-engine, high-altitude, supersonic jet trainer developed by Northrop Grumman and first deployed in 1961. A Northrop Grumman spokeswoman says the company did not bid for this contract.
C-130J Contract. The Air Force awards Lockheed Martin a contract modification worth $1.1 billion for 32 C-130Js, according to a DoD statement. The contract provides 13 C-130J-30s, five HC-130Js, 11 MC-130Js, two KC-130Js and one Coast Guard HC-130J aircraft. Work is expected to complete by April 30, 2020.
…Another C-130J contract. The Air Force on Dec. 30 also awards Lockheed Martin a $62 million contract definitization modification for C-130J fiscal years 2013 and 2014 congressional-add protection aircraft, according to a DoD statement. Lockheed Martin will provide one C-130J-30, three HC-130Js, two MC-130Js, three KC-130Js and two Coast Guard HC-130Js. Work is expected to complete by Jan. 31, 2018.
NMT Contract. The Navy sole sources Raytheon a $103 million firm-fixed-price contract to produce, test and deliver fully integrated Navy Multiband Terminals (NMT), according to a DoD statement. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of the contract to an estimated $467 million. NMT is a multiband-capable satellite communications terminal that provides both protected and wideband communications.
More Booster Contracts… The Air Force awards three additional contracts as part of the service’s Booster Propulsion Technology Maturation broad agency announcement (BAA) solicitation, according to an Air Force announcement made on Federal Business Opportunities (FBO). The Air Force awards $3.1 million to Orbital ATK, $6 million to Aerojet Rocketdyne and $5.5 million to Northrop Grumman. The contracts are for material manufacturing and development and advanced technologies. The contracts are part of the Air Force’s effort to get off the Russian-developed RD-180 rocket engine by 2019.
…Booster Contracts. Orbital ATK’s contract is for “segmented composite case advanced technology” to focus on reducing weight of solid rocket motor case joints and improving reliability. Aerojet Rocketdyne’s contract is for “additive manufacturing qualification process for reduced booster propulsion life cycle cost” to develop a qualification process for additively manufactured engine parts that does not currently exist. Northrop Grumman’s contract is for “turbopump assembly additive manufacturing” to improve technological readiness of an additively manufactured liquid oxygen/methane booster TPA for insertion into a rocket propulsion system.’
Israel Cyber. The Israeli Cabinet unanimously approves the appointment of Buki Carmeli as head of the National Cyber Defense Authority. Carmeli previously serves as head of the technological unit of the Defense Ministry Office of the Director for Security for the Defense Establishment, leading cyber defense for security services. “This is a main milestone in implementing the national deployment that was approved by the Cabinet last year in the face of the growing threats in the cyber field. I have no doubt that Buki Carmeli’s rich experience in both the security establishment and the private sector, especially in the cyber defense field, will allow him to establish the authority over time as a technological-operative leader on a global level,” Eviatar Matania, Israel National Cyber Bureau head, says in a statement.
Kaspersky. Cynthia James is appointed general manager of Kaspersky Government Security Solutions (KGSS), a subsidiary of Kaspersky Lab North America. James will be responsible for developing the strategic business vision for KGSS and exploring tactical partnerships that would provide the company’s cybersecurity services to the U.S. government, government contractors, and national critical infrastructure sectors. Earlier, James served as the global director of business development for Kaspersky Lab and has over 25 years of technology management and cybersecurity experience.
GDS Board. Timothy Murphy, former deputy director of the FBI, joins the Global Data Sentinel (GDS) advisory board. As a board member, Murphy is to provide high-level cyber expertise to the cybersecurity firm. At the FBI Murphy was an expert in online security. He recently was appointed president of Thompson Reuters Special Services and Vice President for MacAndrews and Forbes in New York. Firm founders John-Philip Galinski and Nigel Walker say the appointment is “further evidence of the company’s commitment to delivering the highest possible levels of security solutions.”
Langevin. Rep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.), co-chair of the House Cybersecurity Caucus, announces he will bring the president and CEO of IT services firm Atrion, Tim Herbert, as his guest to President Obama’s final State of the Union address. “Cybersecurity is an issue of economic and national security, and given the complex threat landscape we face as a nation, I hope that the President will address the need for strong cyber defenses in his speech,” Langevin says in his announcement. Atrion is based in Warwick, R.I. and provides cybersecurity offerings in perimeter security, compliance, and information protection.
Chopper Audit. The Defense Department Inspector General announces it will take a look at the department’s maintenance of the H-60 Black Hawk helicopter in all of its configurations. A memo to Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Frank Kendall, the comptroller of the Air Force, the director of the Defense Logistics Agency, the Naval Inspector General and the Auditor General of the Army, says the audit will begin this month. “Our objective is to determine whether DoD is effectively managing the procurement of H-60 Helicopter spare parts,” the IG says.
Marine Power. The Marine Corps asks industry for an “advanced battery charger” to provide juice to the power cells that run Marines’ increasingly electronic tactical equipment. A pre-solicitation for the charger was published Dec. 30 on the government’s contracting website. Marine Corps Systems Command describes the device it seeks as lightweight, transportable by a single Marine and rugged. It should charge communication electronics and other weapon system batteries, the solicitation says. The charger must be compatible with the Marine Corps’ current inventory of military and commercial batteries and should accept upgrades to charge new battery chemistries and designs. It also should be capable of being powered from both AC and DC input power without causing any degradation to the battery or shortening the life of the battery. The Marine Corps plans to release the formal solicitation within 60 days.
Drug Dealings. U.S. Southern Command chief Marine Corps Gen. John F. Kelly, during a farewell press conference at the Pentagon on Friday, says partnerships with South American nations have allowed for the seizure of enormous quantities of illegal drugs without the use of any U.S. ships or aircraft. Kelly said 2015 was a “tremendous” year in terms of interdiction of cocaine “with what amounts to no U.S. military assets to speak of. The way we have partnered with other nations has allowed us to interdict nearly 200 tons, 191 metric tons, of cocaine and that’s after it left Latin America,” he says. Colombia, the U.S. military’s closest partner in the war on narcotics, captured another 200 tons of coke before it left the continent, he says.
… Change of Command. Kelly will retire as SOUTHCOM chief at the end of the month. He was given the assignment after commanding in various positions during the Iraq War, where he did three tours. He is the highest ranking military officer to have lost a child in combat, his youngest son, also a Marine, was killed in Afghanistan in 2010. The elder Kelly said Friday he chose SOUTHCOM as his final command because he was “tired of the war.” Kelly will be succeeded by Vice Adm. Kurt Tidd, whose fourth star was approved by the Senate in December.
DoD Funds for Puppies. SASC Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) releases his fourth report on wasteful government spending, including than $59 million from the Defense Department. The report calls out a $2.3 million Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) project for jazz-playing robots that test whether a computer can improvise along with human musicians based on previous information it has gathered. McCain also blasts a $1 million “puppy project” that studies dog brains to draw conclusions on how to train more effective service dogs. McCain also used the report to throw a grenade at the Defense Department’s program to train and arm Syrian rebels. The Pentagon planned on moving 5,000 fighters through, but today only five Syrian refugees are fit for battle after $41 million spent, the report states.
North Korea Response. After North Korea claims to have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb, the chairmen of the congressional armed services committees called for greater cooperation with South Korea on missile defense, including the potential deployment of Lockheed Martin’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) to the region. “The U.S. must work with our South Korean allies to deploy missile defense systems, including THAAD, on the peninsula and work at home to strengthen our homeland missile defenses,” says HASC Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas). His counterpart in the Senate, John McCain (R-Ariz.) says deployment of THAAD on the Korean peninsula is in the best interests of the United States and South Korea. THAAD interceptors are able to destroy short to medium-range ballistic missiles in the terminal phase.
Rail Gun Testing. General Atomics successfully tests projectiles with prototype components for a “Control and Actuation System.” During demonstrations at U.S. Army’s Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, four projectiles were fired from the company’s 3 megajoule Blitzer electromagnetic railgun. The projectiles performed as expected, communicating component performance to ground station through a telemetry link, the company says. They also survived magnetic fields of various strengths, temperatures ranging from 20 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit and wind conditions from 10 to 50 knots.
Rolling Airframe Missile. Raytheon picks up a $66 million firm-fixed-price contract for fiscal 2016 Navy Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) Block 2 guided missile round pack requirements. The contract pays for the procurement of material, fabrication of parts, assembly, test and delivery of the missile round packs. Options include foreign military sales to Japan that, if exercised, would bring the contract to almost $143 million. The RAM missile system provides anti-ship missile defense.
REAL ID Extension. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson on Friday delayed final implementation of REAL ID Act until Jan. 22, 2018, giving states that haven’t complied yet requirements for standards for driver’s licenses and other identity documents more time to do so. Once implemented, REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses or other identity documents such as U.S. passports will be needed for commercial domestic flights and be used by federal agencies for official purposes. So far, 23 states and the District of Columbia are in compliance while a number of other states and territories originally had been granted extensions until Oct. 10, 2016. Johnson says that DHS immediately will begin an outreach campaign to educate the traveling public about the timeline for REAL ID compliance.