Counter-Drone Work. The Department of Defense is fielding the first “tranche” of equipment to counter hostile unmanned aircraft, but much work remains to be done to tackle the growing threat, according to Gen. Stephen Wilson, Air Force vice chief of staff. “This is a very complicated threat and we’re learning more every day,” Wilson testified before the House Armed Services Committee March 8. Air Force Gen. John Hyten, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, told the panel that DoD must move more quickly to develop counter-drone tools and the rules for using them. “We’re just going way too slow and we need to accelerate that process across policies, authorities and material solutions,” Hyten says. “Holy cow, the number of lawyers that are involved in this discussion right now are just, well, it’s significant.”
Counter-Drone Radar. The Marine Corps expects that its new air surveillance radar, the AN/TPS-80 Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar (G/ATOR), will improve its ability to monitor the skies for hostile unmanned aircraft systems. “G/ATOR has an inherent capability to detect and track UAS, which will allow the operational forces the ability to use counter-UAS measures to defeat as needed,” a service spokesman says. “As for the defeat part, not certain that I can elaborate other than to say that we are working with various agencies and companies to ensure that as technologies evolve, we rapidly respond to the threat.”
F/A-18C Reactivation. Due to delays in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, the Marine Corps is reactivating 30 Lot 10/11 F/A-18C Hornets and upgrading their avionics to give them a new “C+” status. Two of the Hornets have completed the upgrade and returned to the active fleet inventory, a service spokeswoman says. The remaining 28 jets are slated to be completed by 2020.
Keep DHS in Charge. The Department of Homeland Security should retain the lead role in working with the private sector to help protect their computer networks, cyber security officials from industry tell a House panel. “I’d like to see a clear statement from the [Trump] administration that there will be a civilian lead, continuing [with] DHS, a civilian lead for the civilian cyber effort,” Jeffrey Greene, senior director of Global Government Affairs with Symantec, tells a House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity. “I think it’s important to send a message both to the companies that have developed relationships with DHS to know those are going to continue and also around the globe.” Other industry representatives echo Greene during the hearing.
Coast Guard Backing. Amid media reports that the White House Office of Management and Budget is proposing cuts to the Coast Guard’s budget in FY ’18 to help pay for increases in land border security and immigration enforcement spending, the Navy League of the United States says it “strongly opposes the proposed gutting” of the service’s budget. The statement points out that President Trump has promised to strengthen the military, which includes the Coast Guard. “If the Trump administration is looking to strengthen border security, invest in our military and safeguard American lives, the right choice would be to invest more in the Coast Guard, not less,” the Navy League says.
Protest Denied. The Government Accountability Office denies a protest by L3 Technologies Brashear that was filed over Raytheon’s win of a contract for Army optical tracking systems. L3 challenged the agency’s evaluation of proposals and best-value determination, and alleged that the agency failed to meaningfully consider evidence of the awardee’s unbalanced pricing. The Army contract is for the design, development, integration, test, manufacture and delivery of an optical tracking system called the Advanced Range Tracking and Imaging System (ARTIS) with a five-year period of performance, and a five-year option period. “In our view, the agency has satisfied … requirements regarding Raytheon’s pricing variances by reasonably determining that the risks posed to the government were not significant enough to render its proposal unacceptable,” GAO says.
New Glenn Customers. Blue Origin adds OneWeb as a customer for its New Glenn orbital rocket. Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos announces on Twitter that the initial agreement is for five launches. Earlier in the week at the Satellite 2017 convention in Washington, Bezos announces Eutelsat will be New Glenn’s first customer. New Glenn is expected to debut in 2020 while the Eutelsat launch is slated for 2021-22. It was not known when OneWeb’s launches were scheduled to take place. The company did not return a request for comment by press time.
Orion Engine Test. Aerojet Rocketdyne completes hot-fire acceptance testing of eight auxiliary engines that will be used on the first flight of NASA’s Orion spacecraft, the company says. Orion’s European Service Module (ESM), which remains connected to the spacecraft throughout the mission until just prior to Orion’s re-entry to earth’s atmosphere, provides propulsion, power, temperature control, air and water for crew members. Aerojet Rocketdyne is responsible for the ESM’s eight auxiliary engines and is assisting Lockheed Martin in the refurbishment of the Orbital Maneuvering Subsystem engine that Aerojet Rocketdyne originally manufactured for the Space Shuttle and will now be used as the main propulsion for ESM.
…Orion Parachute Test. Engineers successfully test the parachutes for Orion on March 8 at Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., according to a NASA statement. This is the second test in a series of eight that will certify Orion’s parachutes for human spaceflight. The test, which drops an Orion engineering model from a C-17 aircraft at 25,000 feet, simulates the descent astronauts might experience if they have to abort a mission after liftoff.
SLS… The first integrated piece of flight hardware for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket arrives at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on March 8, according to an agency statement. The interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) was shipped from the United Launch Alliance facility in Decatur, Ala., aboard the Mariner barge. The ICPS is the in-space stage that is located toward the top of the rocket, between the launch vehicle stage adapter and the Orion spacecraft adapter, and will provide some of the in-space propulsion. Its single RL-10 engine will generate 24,750 pounds of thrust to propel Orion out of earth’s orbit during exploration mission-1 (EM-1), the debut–uncrewed–flight for SLS.
…SLS Crew. NASA is conducting a study to see whether it is feasible to add crew to EM-1, which is slated for a late 2018 launch, according to agency spokeswoman Kathryn Hambleton. She says NASA is still assessing the damage from a recent tornado that hit Michoud Assembly Facility, La.
Africa ISR. U.S. Africa Command is providing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance airplanes to several countries in the Lake Chad Basin to help them fight terrorists, according to Marine Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, the command’s leader. Niger received two ISR-equipped Cessnas in 2016, and Cameroon and Chad will each receive two such planes this year, Waldhauser told the Senate Armed Services Committee March 9.
Carrier Dismantlement. The former USS Independence (CV-62), the fourth and final Forrestal-class aircraft carrier, will be towed from Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton, Wash., to Brownsville, Texas, to be dismantled by International Shipbreaking Ltd., according to Naval Sea Systems Command. The trip, which will take the ship around South America, is scheduled to begin this month and end this summer. Built at the now-closed Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York, the 1,070 foot-long Independence was commissioned in 1959 and decommissioned in 1998.
Busy with Bills. The House Homeland Security Committee last week marked up by voice vote 14 bills ranging from aviation employee screening and Department of Homeland Security Acquisition to agricultural security and ensuring the needs of children are considered in homeland security planning. On the acquisition front, several bills would codify the Acquisition Review Board to review major programs, specify the acquisition authorities of the under secretary for management and allow that person to designate an individual to manage acquisition innovation efforts within DHS, require congressional notification of breaches in major acquisition programs, require an annually updated multiyear acquisition strategy to guide the direction of all acquisitions, and require additional information be included in the Transportation Security Administration’s five-year technology plans such as completed acquisitions and changes in dollar amounts allocated to technology procurements.
Shareholder Approvals. Shareholders of both Rockwell Collins and B/E Aerospace have voted in favor Rockwell’s acquisition of B/E Aerospace, with the transaction expected to close later this spring. The deal still needs regulatory approvals. For Rockwell Collins the pending acquisition will strengthen its portfolios around commercial aircraft and business jets.
Kimball Christened. The Coast Guard earlier this month christened its seventh National Security Cutter, Kimball, at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. The Kimball is slated for delivery in 2018 and will be the first NSC home ported in Honolulu. So far HII has delivered six NSCs of nine that have been contracted for.
Booz Allen Cyber Contract. The U.S. Air Force awards Booz Allen Hamilton a $10 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for high power electromagnetics (HPEM) and cyber electronic warfare applications. The company will provide study opportunities where HPEM technologies can be used to complement or enhance capabilities of the cyber and EW communities. This includes conducting experiments to enhance the understanding of how HPEM technologies can be used for cyber and EW missions. This was a competitive award with six offers received. Fiscal 2017 research, development, test and evaluation funds funds of over $160,000 are obligated at award time. The contract will be performed at Kirtland Air Force Base, NM with an estimated completion date of June 5, 2020.
Obama Official To Firm. David Newman, a former advisor to then President Barack Obama on counterterrorism and other issues, joins the global law firm Morrison & Foerster as counsel. Newman served as the White House Counsel’s special assistant and associate counsel to the president, as well as several positions on the staff of the Nation Security Council. At Morrison & Foerster Newman will work closely with John Carlin, former assistant attorney general for National Security.
Cylance Hire. Cylance Inc. names Christopher Bray to launch the company’s consumer division as senior vice president and general manager of Consumer. The company sells an AI-based CylancePROTECT product to businesses, universities, and government organizations but plans to sell a consumer version in 2018. Bray previously served as senior vice president of Norton Field Sales and Marketing at Symantec. Earlier he served various executive positions at McAfee Security, ultimately rising to senior vice president and general manager of Consumer PC OEM/ISP/Retail/Mobile. Bray will lead the new division from the company’s Austin, Texas office.
Cyber Competition Starts. Raytheon is sponsoring the country’s largest cyber security competition, the 2017 National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition. The event has college students from over 220 schools showcase their defensive cyber skills. The competition begins with 10 regional contests in March and April and teams will compete to show who is best at protecting computer networks against real-world cyber attacks. Raytheon sponsors the events and provides a set of specialized technical resources, mentors, and employee volunteers to help develop the students’ skills. The regional competitions are set to culminate in a national tournament in San Antonia, Texas on April 13-15.
FACE Meeting. The Open Group Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) Consortium and Infinite Dimensions Integration announce an Air Force FACE Technical Interchange Meeting, scheduled for March 28 at the Crown Plaza Dayton Hotel in Dayton, Ohio. The event follows the launch of the FACE Conformance Program, the subsequent momentum of major organizations achieving FACE conformance, and the recent procurement pull from the Air Force, Army and Navy. It presents another opportunity for FACE Consortium members to showcase their efforts toward developing FACE certified and aligned products and tools that promote reusable war-fighting capabilities for the services. The FACE Consortium formed in June 2010 as a government-industry partnership to define an open avionics environment for all military airborne platforms. Speakers at the meeting include Robert Carl Shofner, deputy director of Strategic Plans, Programs, Requirements, and Analyses at Air Force Materiel Command.
Mattis Statement. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis on March 10 addressed the nude-photo-sharing scandal that rocked the Marine Corps and other military services last week. “The purported actions of civilian and military personnel on social media websites, including some associated with the Marines United group and possibly others, represent egregious violations of the fundamental values we uphold at the Department of Defense,” Mattis says in a statement. “The chain of command is taking all appropriate action to investigate potential misconduct and to maintain good order and discipline throughout our armed forces. Lack of respect for the dignity and humanity of fellow members of the Department of Defense is unacceptable and counter to unit cohesion. We will not excuse or tolerate such behavior if we are to uphold our values and maintain our ability to defeat the enemy on the battlefield.”