Shutdown. The new Democratic-led House passed two measures Thursday evening in an effort to reopen portions of government that have been shut down for two weeks. The first measure, to reopen DHS under a continuing resolution that would maintain FY ’18 funding levels through Feb. 8, passed the House by a tally of 239-192. The second measure, to fund non-DHS agencies affected by the shutdown through the end of FY ’19, passed 241-190. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said he will not bring those bills to a floor vote as President Trump has vowed to veto any bill that does not include $5 billion for border wall protection. Trump said Friday after the latest meeting with congressional leaders that staff members will attend additional meetings over the weekend to develop a solution. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Friday that Trump threatened to keep the government partially shutdown for “months, or even years” if his desired level of funding is not allocated for the wall.
2020 Dems. Washington Governor Jay Inslee is exploring a run for president in 2020, according to a Jan. 2 interview with The Atlantic. A Democrat, he served in the House from 1993 to 1995, and again from 1999 to 2012. He was a critic of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, but voted in favor of authorizing the use of U.S. armed forces in Libya in 2011. He became Washington’s governor in 2013. Inslee joins Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who last week announced she was exploring a bid for the 2020 presidency (Defense Daily, Jan. 3).
Senators vs. NASA. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), a SASC member, is threatening to block NASA Administrator Jim Brindenstine’s invitation for his Russian counterpart, Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin, to visit the United States and speak at Rice University in Houston this year. The invitation, first reported last fall, would require the U.S. government to waive sanctions imposed on Rogozin. “Administrator Bridenstine should withdraw this invitation immediately before Congress is forced to take action,” Shaheen said in a Jan 2 statement. Rogozin is “one of the leading architects of the Kremlin’s campaign of aggression towards its neighbors,” she added, noting the invitation “undercuts our message and undermines the United States’ core national security objectives.” Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), ranking member of the SASC Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee, echoed Shaheen on Friday, stating on Twitter that the invitation “undermines U.S. sanctions and allows Russia to use NASA’s headquarters as a public platform for an extremist Putin ally.”
Space. General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems said Thursday that it has been awarded an IDIQ contract under the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) Hosted Payload Solutions (HoPS) program for NOAA’s Argos Advanced Data Collection System. GA-EMS will launch a 242-pound orbital test bed satellite and integrate the Argos payload, to be provided by the French Space Agency. The IDIQ contract ceiling amount was not made available by General Atomics on Friday, and AFSMC did not respond to requests for comment by Defense Daily’s deadline.
Satellite Operations. Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $52.7 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus, and award-fee type, modification to a previous contract for engineering, development and sustainment services in support of the Air Force Multi-Mission Satellite Operation Center. The increase will support “continuous services to operate experimental and demonstration satellites; act as the focal point and center of expertise for Department of Defense experimental and demonstrations space and missile operations; support space and missile research, development, test and evaluation and initial operational test and evaluation,” according to the Jan. 4 contract award. Work will be performed in Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, and is expected to be completed by Jan. 5, 2019. Fiscal 2019 other procurement funds will fund the contract.
SSN-790. The U.S. Navy said last week the newest Virginia-class submarine, the USS South Dakota (SSN-790), will be commissioned in Groton, Conn., on Feb. 2. SSN-790 is the 17th Virginia-class boat and is in the Block III contract. In Block III vessels, the Navy redesigned about 20 percent of ther submarine to lower acquisition costs. One result is SSN-790 has two large-diameter Virginia Payload Tubes that can each carry six Tomahawk cruise missiles to replace previous models’ 12 individual Vertical Launch Systems Tubes.
DDG-117. The future USS Paul Ignatius (DDG-117) finished its acceptance trials on Dec. 20 after spending two days at sea in the Gulf of Mexico. It was built by Huntington Ingalls Industries in Pascagoula, Miss. The trials had the ship and crew perform a set of demonstrations to be reviewed by the Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV). DDG-117 previously conducted a successful SM-2 shoot during builder’s trials to help demonstrate the readiness of its Aegis weapon system. This ship uses the Aegis Baseline 9 system. The Navy expects DDG-117 to be delivered to the service in early 2019.
Enterprise. The Naval Sea Systems Command awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding a $229 million modification on Dec. 27 to purchase additional long lead time material in support of the future USS Enterprise (CVN-80). NAVSEA said the award is meant to definitize efforts previously stated as an undefinitized contract action and to also increase the scope of the contract for additional long lead time material. This is expected to be finished by January 2023. In total, $133 million in FY 2019 shipbuilding funding was obligated at award time.
Still On? Despite the ongoing funding lapse at the Department of Homeland Security, it appears for now that the Transportation Security Administration continues to work toward a near-term award for computed tomography (CT) scanning systems to screen carry-on bags at U.S. airports, industry and agency officials said. The award for CT systems was expected as early as late 2018 but interested vendors are due to resubmit proposals by Jan. 15. A TSA spokesman told Defense Daily he hasn’t heard of any changes to the CT award plans but cautions that the longer the partial government shutdown lasts the impacts could change.
…Warning. Just before the shutdown of DHS and some other departments and agencies went into effect before Christmas, DHS Chief Procurement Officer Soraya Correa told vendors that if contracts won’t be affected by the funding lapse then the department won’t say anything. However, with the shutdown that began on Dec. 21, she warned that it “may result in a lapse of funds designated to purchase certain supplies and services, as well as a reduction in the Government’s capacity to administer DHS contracts.”
Army OMFV. The Army on Jan. 4 released an updated list of companies interested in prime and subcontracting work for its upcoming Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV) program including BAE Systems, General Dynamics, Raytheon and SAIC. OMFV will serve as the Army’s Bradley vehicle replacement and is the first step in Next-Generation Combat Vehicle modernization effort. At the annual AUSA conference this past October, several companies showcased their potential OMFV offerings, including BAE Systems’ CV90, GD’s Griffin III and Raytheon’s Lynx developed in partnership with Germany’s Rheinmetall. SAIC recently lost out on the Army’s light tank program, Mobile Protected Firepower, to BAE Systems and GD but has indicated an interest in using that vehicle concept as a potential offering for OMFV. Lockheed Martin was also included on the list of interested vendors in the program. An RFP for OMFV is expected to be released in January.
Milley. Gen. Mark Milley, the Army chief of staff, will speak at the AUSA’s breakfast series on Jan. 16 in one of his first public events since the president nominated him to serve as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Milley is nominated to succeed Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford. No successor has yet been named for Milley’s current job.