Olympic Soldiers. The Army says three soldiers from the World Class Athlete Program earn nominations for the U.S. Olympic Luge Team for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. Team USA luge coach Staff Sgt. Bill Tavares will lead Sgt. Matt Mortensen and Sgt. Preston Griffall, who secured their spot with a ninth-place finish in doubles at the Luge World Cup stop, Dec. 13 at Utah Olympic Park.
…About Half The Team. Five soldiers in the World Class Athlete Program are selected for the U.S. Olympic men’s bobsled team to compete in the Winter Olympics. Capt. Chris Fogt, Sgt. Justin Olsen, Sgt. Nick Cunningham, Sgt. Dallas Robinson and Team USA assistant coach 1st Lt. Michael Kohn will represent the Army in Russia. With the exception of Robinson, everyone in the group has previously competed in the Olympics. They will be joined by former WCAP bobsledder Steven Holcomb, the reigning Olympic champion driver in the four-man event. Thus, the World Class Athlete Program had a hand in helping to produce about half of the U.S. Olympic men’s bobsled squad.
Nuclear Review. Secretary Chuck Hagel announces a review of the Defense Department’s nuclear forces to be completed in 90 days, DoD press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby says during a Jan. 23 press conference. First, in the next few weeks, Hagel and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin Dempsey will convene a meeting of key stakeholders in the nuclear enterprise to raise and address personnel challenges. They will then identify successful personnel management practices within the strategic deterrence enterprise before identifying key gaps and/or problems concerning the growth and development of the personnel within the nuclear enterprise. Hagel also calls for an independent review to conduct a broader examination of the strategic deterrence enterprise. DoD has been dealing with another scandal in its nuclear forces after Air Force warfighters were caught cheating on surety tests.
Award For Panetta. The Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) says it will award the 30th Annual William Oliver Baker Award to Leon Panetta, former Secretary of Defense and CIA Director. Panetta will receive this award in recognition of his distinguished, longstanding career in public service, and the outstanding leadership and commitment he has provided over the years, INSA says. The award will be presented June 6 in Washington, D.C.
New Job. General Dynamics taps Joseph Mejaly as vice president and general manager of AxleTech International, a GD company. AxleTech develops and manufactures axles, brakes and suspension systems for off-highway and specialty vehicles. Michael Wilson, president of General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, says: “Under Joe’s direction, our AxleTech management team will focus on meeting our customers’ market-driven product development needs to ensure that we provide high-quality products capable of delivering superior performance.” Previously, Mejaly served as vice president of Meritor Inc., and president of Meritor’s Aftermarket & Trailer group.
Final Reduction. The U.K. MoD announces the fourth and final numbers for reducing forces in the armed forces reorganization. MoD says a maximum of 1,425 soldiers, 10 navy medical officers and 70 air force medical personnel will be leaving. There will be a package of efforts to help make the transition easier. “Tough decisions had to be made to balance the defense budget and this included restructuring the armed forces to create a more sustainable military,” says Defense Minister Philip Hammond.
Moving Toward Another Review. The Boeing-Sikorsky Team working on the next-generation Joint Multi-Role (JMR) aircraft is aiming toward an Initial Design Risk Reduction review in June, says Pat Donnelly, JMR Program Director at Boeing. JMR is a technology demonstration to help the government determine the future aircraft to replace the AH-64 Apache–built by Boeing–and the Black Hawk–built by Sikorsky. This summer, Donnelly says, they anticipate the government will choose two contractors from the four involved in the work. The JMR demonstrators are expected to fly in 2017, with a 230 knot cruise speed. The design has been validated in a wind tunnel. A concept design review was held at the end of the summer of 2013, with a system requirements review at the end of September. It’s moving at a fast pace, he says. The other JMR competitors are Bell Helicopter Textron, AVX Aircraft and Karem Aircraft.
Hull sharing. A former deputy command of the Marine Corps, retired general Robert Magnus, recently wrote in the Washington Times that the Navy and Marines should use the hull from the San Antonio-class (LPD-17) amphibious transport dock ship program for the envisioned LX(R) amphibious ship. Adapting the LPD-17 hull for the LX(R) program would save the Pentagon money by leveraging the existing technology and a ship that is currently in production, Magnus says. “The hull from the current LPD-17 class, for example, could serve as the foundation for the next generation of amphibious transports,” he wrote in Thursday’s edition of the newspaper. “This would reduce costs, risks and the time needed from the past practice of designing and building a first-in-class ship. Adapting common equipment and infrastructure also cuts down production and maintenance expenses. It also trims training costs and timelines, as sailors and Marines already have the requisite knowledge to operate the new vessels.” The Navy’s top leadership has explored that possibility and last year conducted an alternative of analysis study for the planned LC(R)-class. Huntington Ingalls Industries builds the LPD-17s, and that production line will be ending in the next couple years. General Dynamics, however, could also offer a proposal for the new class.
Raytheon Korea. Raytheon signs a contract with BAE Systems in support of upgrading South Korea’s fleet of more than 130 KF-16C/D Block 52 aircraft, according to a Raytheon statement. Raytheon will provide a solution that includes its Raytheon Advanced Combat Radar (RACR), ALR-69A all-digital radar warning receiver, advanced mission computing technology and weapon system integration. South Korea in late 2013 finalized an agreement with the U.S. for BAE to perform the upgrades and systems integration for its fleet of F-16s.
Webb Telescope. Northrop Grumman successfully passes the spacecraft critical design review (CDR) for the James Webb Space Telescope, the last significant design milestone, five months ahead of schedule. The spacecraft provides the power and communications for the whole observatory and is responsible for pointing the telescope and image stabilization, according to a company statement. Northrop Grumman is under contract to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., for the design and development of the Webb Telescope’s optics, sunshield and spacecraft. The Webb Telescope is made up of three major components: the telescope, the tennis court-sized sunshield and the spacecraft. It will be the most powerful telescope ever built, capable of observing the most distant objects in the universe.
TDRS-L Launch. NASA successfully launches its 12th Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, known as TDRS-L, the evening of Jan. 23 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The launch takes place on one of United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Atlas V rockets. The satellite, part of a network providing high-data-rate communications to the International Space Station (ISS), Hubble Space Telescope and other spacecraft, is in good health at the start of a three-month checkout by its manufacturer, Boeing, according to a NASA statement. The TDRS-L spacecraft is identical to TDRS-K launched last year. Of the 11 TDRS spacecraft placed in service to date, eight are still operational. TDRS-M, the next spacecraft in the series, is on track to be ready for launch in late 2015. ULA is a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
Dream Chaser. Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) confirms Nov. 1, 2016, as the date for its first orbital flight of its Dream Chaser space system, according to a company statement. Dream Chaser will be brought into orbit on a United Launch Alliance Delta V rocket. Mark Sirangelo, corporate vice president and head of Sierra Nevada Space Systems, says SNC will start the United States’ return to orbital human spaceflight and the restart of spaceflight operations from Florida’s “Space Coast,” home of Cape Canaveral.
China Missile. China tests an ICBM with enough range to reach the U.S., Agence France Presse reports the week of Jan. 20. Photos of Chinese soldiers test-firing a Dongfeng-31 missile, which is said by experts to be able to carry nuclear warheads 4,960 miles, appeared in the People’s Liberation Army Daily newspaper on Jan. 21, according to Agence France Presse.
Northrop Grumman’s New Cloud Offering. Northrop Grumman has partnered with CA Technologies to expand its cloud offerings in identity access and management (IAM). Northrop Grumman will now be able to license CA CloudMinder to its clients. The software as a service leverages cloud to provide single sign-on portals that make it easier for enterprises to authenticate users attempting to log onto their networks. CloudMinder can also distribute secure token logins for two-factor authentication. Northrop Grumman says the software will be available to its clients in health care, civil government and state and local markets. To provide cloud services to federal agencies, providers must meet the FedRAMP requirements mandated through the General Services Agency (GSA) by June of this year. Northrop Grumman is not currently FedRAMP accredited, but the company says through a spokesperson that it “is still evaluating the timing of our FedRAMP authorization based on discussion with customers about their needs.”