SBIRS and Next-Gen OPIR Support. Northrop Grumman said that it has finished a Critical Design Review (CDR) for Relay Ground Station-Asia (RGS-A) under a U.S. Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific contract to support the U.S. Space Force Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) and future Next- Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next-Gen OPIR) satellites for missile warning. Lockheed Martin built SBIRS and is the contractor for Next-Gen OPIR geosynchronous Earth orbit satellites while Northrop Grumman is the prime for the Next-Gen OPIR polar satellites. “The [RGS-A] CDR confirms Northrop Grumman’s ability to transform the existing missile-warning system for a 2025 installation date, 18 months prior to the end of the contract,” Northrop Grumman said. “RGS-A is a critical component of the nation’s missile warning system that will enable the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command to transform the existing missile-warning system with the Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution (FORGE) system.” The FORGE architecture is to include relay ground stations able to integrate SBIRS and Next-Gen OPIR and to adapt to bandwidth and availability changes.
Replicator Thoughts.
Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, told a House Armed Services Committee panel on October 19 he believes the Pentagon’s Replicator initiative, which aims to field thousands of attritable autonomous systems over the next two years, “can’t just rely on mass alone” to achieve its objectives. “The idea of using mass alone to be able to counter China’s mass is probably not the right solution for the U.S. [With] China, as the resident major power, we’re going to be operating in their backyard. They can generate targets at a lower cost and more easily than we can generate successful shots on targets. So if we are going to try to match mass for mass, we’ve probably picked the wrong adversary, the wrong scenario — if we’re thinking of a Taiwan invasion scenario. So what we need to do is think of not just using mass, but using our more innovative, creative operational capabilities,” Clark said during the Cyber, Innovative Technologies, and Information Systems subcommittee hearing.
…Focus Here. Clark added Replicator should include a focus on “enabling operational innovation” and urged DoD to look at “integrating unmanned systems together in ways that are going to enable them to communicate with one another, be managed by a command and control system, and then operated in a way that creates creative operational concepts.”
DDG-64 Intercepts. The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG-64) shot on three land-attack cruise missiles and “several drones” launched by Houthi forces in Yemen on Oct. 19, Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters last Thursday. The ship was operating in the northern Red Sea when it shot down the missiles and drones. At the time, Ryder said information on the engagements was still being processed, but the weapons were launched north, potentially toward Israel. The Carney is one of four destroyers homeported at Naval Station Rota, Spain as part of forward-deployed forces to Europe that are capable of ballistic missile defense. DDG-18 transited the Suez Canal on Oct. 18 as it is deployed in the 5th Fleet area of operations “help ensure maritime security and stability in the Middle East region,” 5th Fleet said in a statement. The website for Commander of Naval Surface Force Atlantic says the ship is armed with Standard Missile-2 weapons, which can target missiles and aircraft.
12th MLR. The 12th Marine Regiment will be redesignated the 12 Marine Littoral Regiment (MLR) on Nov. 15, the Marine Corps announced on Oct. 17. This is in line with a Joint Statement of the Security Consultative Committee (“2+2”) that previously said the 12th Marines would stay in Okinawa, Japan and designate the 13th MLR by 2025. That statement noted the MLR will bolster deterrence and act as a stand in-force to help defend Japan. This redesignation will add no new units. The regiment is currently participating in the Resolute Dragon 23.2 exercise lasting from Oct. 14-31 across Japan. The Marine Corps intends for MLRs to ultimately be transported aboard Landing Ship Medium vessels, with nine vessels per MLR.
Cyber Range. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD had a ribbon-cutting ceremony opening a new National Cyber Range at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., on Oct. 16. The Navy said this will be a cybersecurity training and test asset for all of DoD, defense partners and other agencies. Cyber ranges are virtual environments that help developers test cyber attack vulnerabilities in their systems. This is the fourth range in the National Cyber Range Complex after Eglin, Fla., for the Air Force, Charleston, S.C., for Navy ships and submarines, and Orlando for the DoD’s operational mission force training. The Navy said this network of ranges use a common core architecture and toolset and supports tests across all classification levels.
SSNs 814 and 815. The Navy awarded General Dynamics’ Electric Boat (EB) an undefinitized contract on Oct. 13 worth up to $216.5 million for long-lead time material devoted to the future Virginia-class submarines SSN-814 and SSN-815. The work will be split into various U.S. locations and is expected to be finished by September 2034. This was a sole source award to EB. The attack submarines are jointly built by EB and HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding, with each company building certain parts of each vessel and the companies taking turns building the reactor compartments and final assembly. According to the Navy’s FY ‘24 budget request documents, it plans to award the contracts for full procurement of these boats in May 2025, with delivery set for March and Sept. 2034, respectively.
Ocean Aero HQ. Unmanned vessel maker Ocean Aero opened a new headquarters and manufacturing facility in Gulfport, Miss., on Oct. 17. The facility boasts 63,000 square feet of production capacity and initially had 60 employees with 15 more to be hired this year. The company said this facility will allow it to produce up to 150 Triton autonomous underwater and surface vehicles. Ocean Aero said options for an annex to the facility would allow it to potentially produce a further 450 Tritons annually.
Saildrone Numbers. Unmanned surface vessel (USV) maker Saildrone announced its total fleet of vessels has sailed more than 1 million nautical miles over more than 32,000 days at sea around the world. “This achievement demonstrates the scale of Saildrone’s operations and the tireless efforts of its team to push the boundaries and capabilities of uncrewed systems,” the company said last week. This announcement is 10 years after the first Saildrone USV sailed from San Francisco to Hawaii in October 2013 in 34 days. The company said its fleet now includes 136 vehicles in three size variants. The primary power in Saildrone vessels is wind and solar energy. The company also said it is averaging building one 33-foot Voyager vessel per week and one 65-foot Surveyor vessel per month.
Air Force Electric Vehicles. Leidos said that the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit has awarded the company an Other Transaction Authorities prototype contract to provide Electric-Vehicle Charging-as-a-Service for more than 49,000 non-tactical vehicles at Department of the Air Force bases in the continental United States. “We look forward to supporting the Air Force’s journey to a clean energy future,” Bill Johnson, Leidos’ senior vice president and operations manager, said last week in a statement. “With this award, Leidos will leverage our expertise decarbonizing complex systems to deliver quick and resilient solutions, with minimal impact expected to the critical missions of the Air Force.” Leidos said that it has chosen ChargePoint to help Leidos deliver the charging services for the Department of the Air Force.
Estonia Agreement. The Pentagon last Friday signed a new bilateral, non-binding Security of Supply Arrangement (SOSA) with Estonia. The department said the agreement “will enable both the U.S. and Estonia to acquire the industrial resources they need to quickly meet defense requirements, resolve unanticipated disruptions that challenge defense capabilities, and promote supply chain resiliency.” Estonia is now the U.S.’ 14th SOSA partner, the Pentagon noted. “This Security of Supply Arrangement is a robust addition to our prolific defense partnership with Estonia,” Bill LaPlante, under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, said in a statement. “This joining together will strengthen our respective national security and supply resiliency for years to come.”
HSIN Quotes to be Sought. The Department of Homeland Security Office of the Chief Information Officer in mid-November expects to issue a Request for Quotes for the modernization of the Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN), an information sharing portal that is the department’s main platform to interoperate with other DHS information sharing portals and to share information with the broader federal, state, local, territorial, private sector, and international homeland security enterprise. DHS has also renamed the modernization project from HSIN Phoenix to HSIN Modernization Platform. The modernization program aims to build a comprehensive information sharing platform using cloud-based technologies to increase speed, mobility, and access to unclassified information.
Space Cybersecurity. The space cybersecurity company SpiderOak last week said it has received a contract from the Space Development Agency to research the integration of the company’s OrbitSecure end-to-end zero-trust software into the Space Force’s Rapid Resilient Command and Control effort for satellite networks. SpiderOak says its software allows data to travel security on networks and infrastructure. “Through our innovative use of variable-trust mechanisms, we secure the efficient transmission of commands and other data, improving the responsiveness of space missions,” said Dave Pearah, CEO of SpiderOak. “These features are needed today when pacing threats like China are already inflicting damage to government networks.”
People News. Capella Space last week said that its founder and CEO Payam Banazadeh is stepping down to be succeeded by Frank Backes effective October 23. Backes previously was senior vice president for federal space and commercial cyber operations at Kratos Defense and Security Solutions. Banazadeh will remain a director. Capella is a provider of commercial satellite synthetic aperture radar imagery. ManTech Chairman Kevin Phillips has joined the private equity firm Bluestone Investment Partners as executive partner. Bluestone invests in defense, intelligence, and federal technology solutions providers. Phillips led ManTech from 2018 until just after the defense and intelligence company was sold to the Carlyle Group in September 2022. HawkEye 360 has hired Craig Searle to be vice president of strategic finance after serving as a board member of the remote frequency sensing satellite company the past four years. Searle was vice president of finance and strategy at the fintech company 21.co before taking on the same job at HawkEye.
Orbital Prime Award. Scientific Systems has received a $1.5 million Small Business Technology Transfer award from the Air Force Research Laboratory SpaceWERX Orbital Prime effort to further develop the company’s Unknown Satellite Realtime Inspection, Pose, Tracking and Identification (US-RIPTIDE) solution that will enable in-space service assembly and manufacturing (ISAM) of interest to the Air Force and Space Force. Scientific Systems says its US-RIPTIDE hardware and software “rapidly integrates into a servicing vehicle to ensure that vehicle approaches a client satellite safely, or the inverse, where that product provide a client vehicle the ability to ensure a satellite approaches it safely.” Orbital Prime is currently focused on boosting the ecosystem for ISAM.