CR Enacted. President Donald Trump signed into law Dec. 8 a continuing resolution (CR) that will keep the federal government running until Dec. 22. The two-week CR, which the House and Senate passed the previous day, succeeds the CR that had been in effect since fiscal year 2018 began Oct. 1.

Franks Resigns. Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee and a leading proponent of developing space-based missile defenses, made a surprise announcement Dec. 8 that he is resigning from Congress. He said he recently learned that the House Ethics Committee is investigating his discussions with two female aides about surrogacy, and that he wants to avoid “a sensationalized trial by media.”

B-21 Reviews. The Air Force held an integrated baseline review Nov. 16 to scrutinize how it will measure the performance of its B-21 bomber program, a service spokeswoman says. The program, whose prime contractor is Northrop Grumman, is now gearing up for a critical design review, whose date has not been publicly announced.

Flying Woes. The House Armed Services Committee’s tactical air and land forces panel plans to hold a hearing Dec. 13 on the recent spate of physiological episodes that have plagued fighter, attack and training aircraft. Representatives of the Air Force, Navy and NASA are scheduled to testify.

A Second Look. The Federal Trade Commission has asked for additional information from Northrop Grumman and Orbital ATK as part of its regulatory review of Northrop’ Grumman’s proposed $7.8 billion acquisition of Orbital. The FTC’s request is the second by the regulatory agency. Both companies still expect the deal to close in the first half of 2018, once regulatory approvals are obtained.

Get Help. While the Transportation Security Administration boosted its marketing campaign for its premier trusted traveler campaign, PreCheck, and the contractor the agency hired to open enrollment centers has increased staff and extended hours, applicant approvals have lagged well behind expectations because TSA hasn’t provided adequate backend staff to adjudicate prospects, the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General says in a new report. The report says that TSA has a goal of 25 million PreCheck air travelers by the end of 2019 “that focused on the front-end application phase of enrollment, but did not adequately plan for the anticipated flux of applications to the Adjudication Center at the back end.” TSA agreed with the report’s recommendations to align its adjudication resources with plans for higher enrollments and to automate the caseload management system.

Hexcel Acquisition. Hexcel Corp. says it has agreed to buy the Aerospace & Defense business of Oxford Performance Materials, which produces qualified, high-performance thermoplastic, carbon fiber reinforced 3D printed parts for commercial aerospace, space and defense applications. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Hexcel says that OPM is the first company to “successfully apply and qualify additive manufacturing technology to the high performance polymer PEKK for aerospace, industrial and biomedical applications,” adding that “PEKK can provide a range of new technology solutions to our aerospace and defense customers in printed parts as well as assembled structures and broader design solutions.”

Korea Commander. Navy leadership says Capt. Michael Boyle was selected for promotion to rear admiral (lower half) and as commander of U.S. Naval forces in the Korean region. This includes commander of Navy Region Korea; U.S. Naval Forces Korea; and commander of the Naval Component for U.S. Forces Korea in United Nations Command, Korea. Boyle currently serves as director for international engagement, N52, in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (OCN).

Qatar Patriot. The U.S. Army awarded Raytheon a $150 million foreign military sales (FMS) contract for technical expertise and assistance related to a Qatar Patriot Air Defense Systems sale. The assistance covers training, planning, fielding, deployment, operation, maintenance management, configuration management, logistics support, installation, and sustainment of the Patriot system. Work will occur in Doha, Qatar and is expected to be finished by Nov. 2022.

Virginia Subs. Naval Sea Systems Command awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat a $432 million modification for fiscal year 2018 lead yard services and development studies and design effort for Virginia-class submarines. Services will maintain, update, and support the submarine class design and related data for each separate submarine throughout its construction and post-shakedown availability. GD will also provide all engineering and related lead yard services needed for direct maintenance and support of Virginia-class specifications. Work will mostly occur in Groton, Conn., and is expected to be finished by December 2018.

V-22. The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) awarded the Bell-Boeing Joint Program Office (JPO) an $18 million non-competitive contract for technical analysis, engineering, and integration services to support  the V-22 Osprey. Work will be even split between Fort Worth, Texas and Philadelphia, Pa., with an expected completion date by December 2022. Funds will be obligated on individual task orders when they are issued.

…And More. NAVAIR also awarded the JPO a not-to-exceed $19.7 million modification to an advance acquisition contract to acquire additional long-lead material and associated efforts needed to produce and deliver seven V-22 Lot 23 aircraft for the Navy. Work is expected to be finished by December 2019.

Sub Maintenance. NAVSEA awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat a $46 million contract for non-nuclear maintenance on submarines based at the Naval Submarine Support Facility New London, Conn This is for the New England Maintenance Manpower Initiative. Services include non-nuclear repair work required to support submarine overhauls, maintenance, repair, and modernization upgrades. The contract includes options that, if exercised, would raise the total value to almost $240 million. Work is expected to be finished by Dec. 2022. 

AMDR. NAVSEA awarded Raytheon an $8.2 million modification to exercise options for technical engineering services and other direct costs in support of the Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) program low-rate initial production (LRIP). Raytheon will provide efforts in support of technology insertion, excursion studies and design upgrades, suite and combat integration, and additional government radar characterizations. Work is expected to be finished by September 2018. The AMDR AN/SPY-6 will upgrade detection for air and missile defense on future Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.

C-2A Search. The U.S. Navy plans to deploy a team of deep water salvage experts to search for the C-2A Greyhound aircraft that crashed in the Philippine Sea last month. The Navy knows the aircraft’s last position when it was heading toward the USS Ronald Reagan, but depth in the area is over 16,000 feet down, deeper than salvage assets already in the area. A salvage team from the Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV) is headed from Washington, D.C., and will embark on a contracted salvage vessel in Japan before heading to the crash site. If they can find the aircraft, further deep-water salvage efforts will deploy to recover it.

Canadian Frigate. Alion Science and Technology confirms it submitted a proposal to the Canadian government for the Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) program with a Dutch De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate. The Request for Proposals (RFP) for Canada’s next generation frigate program closed on Nov. 30. The government’s Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) previously rejected a Fincantieri-Naval Group proposal to use the FREMM frigate outside the RFP boundaries. Other bidders include Spain’s Navantia and CEA with a variant of the F-105 frigate and Lockheed Martin working with Britain’s BAE Systems on the Type 26 frigate.

LCS Sensors. Mikros Systems Corp. announced it successfully completed the first ship and shore installation and testing of the ADEPT Distance Support Sensor Suite (ADSSS) on the Littoral Combat Ship USS Independence (LCS-2). The system offers condition-based maintenances for mission-critical complex distributed systems. It uses model-based smart sensors, prognostics, and secure fault-tolerant networking. ADSSS converts large quantities of data into useful information for operations and maintenance, monitoring combat system elements to detect system failures and detect broader maintenance trends across the fleet.

British Queens. The UK commissioned its first of two new aircraft carriers into the Royal Navy, the HMS Queen Elizabeth. Queen Elizabeth II, ship’s sponsor, spoke at a ceremony marking the occasion. The commissioning comes after two stages of sea trials but the ship will still conduct final build activity and prepare for helicopter trials set to occur in 2018 before steaming to the U.S. for initial flight trials in fall 2018. 

CRS Navy. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) completed three new reports on Navy programs on Nov. 30: Background and issues on the future frigate program (FFG(X)), Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), and the Arleigh Burke-class and Zumwalt-class class destroyers. The CRS notes these programs present numerous potential oversight issues for Congress and the legislature’s decisions on the programs could affect Navy capabilities, funding requirements, and the shipbuilding industrial base.

Missile Defense. Northrop Grumman received a contract from the Army’s Lower Tier Program Office (LTPO) to perform risk reduction for radar technology and associated mission capabilities intended to replace the Army’s 50-year-old Patriot radars. Low Tier Air and Missile Defense (LTAMDS) will be the Army’s first net centric radar to be added to the Army’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense enterprise controlled by the Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS), which Northrop also develops. IBCS is the advanced command and control system that integrates air and missile defense sensors and weapons, including Patriot, to generate a real-time comprehensive threat picture and enable any-sensor, best-shooter operations. 

RSA Software. Cyber security company RSA announced its NetWitness Suite has been added to Department of Defense Information Network’s (DoDIN) Approved Product List (APL). The RSA NetWitness Suite is a security information and event management software (SIEM) platform designed to meet all joint interoperability requirements. It is currently the only SIEM suite providing visibility and threat detection for logs and network data within a single unified platform. SIEM solutions included on the DoDIN APL are shortlisted for approved used across the defense agencies.