The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
Defense Delay. SASC Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) says the White House misunderstands a detainee-related provision in his committee’s version of the FY ’12 defense authorization bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has not let the policy-setting bill for the fiscal year that started Oct. 1 to be debated in the Senate because of the Obama administration’s concerns. Levin tells reporters Oct. 12 he is “discussing with the administration why it is that what we did was very different from what was characterized by the administration in the bill, trying to figure out a path forward.” He adds if he can’t persuade the administration to drop its objections, he wants to find a way to have the detainee language separated from the rest of the bill and debated as an amendment.
Contracting Contractor Pay. Three lawmakers–Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.)–want the congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to further limit taxpayer reimbursement for contractors’ salaries. Companies’ top executives now can charge the government $693,951 for their salaries, but the trio want a new limit that is “significantly lower.” They also call on the committee in an Oct. 12 letter to extend the lowered cap to all contractor employees. “We do not believe that taxpayers should fund government reimbursements for private contractor salaries that are more than three times higher than the pay earned by cabinet secretaries,” they write. Obama has proposed a $200,000 limit, the pay level for a cabinet secretary, which proponents would save the government $3 billion over 10 years.
…Salary Defenders. The Professional Services Council, the trade group for the government professional and technical services industry, calls the Boxer-Grassley-Tonko salary-limiting scheme “shortsighted and detrimental to the government’s ability to meet its missions.” Council President and CEO Stan Soloway argues in a statement the lawmakers’ proposal “reflects a lack of awareness of both the purpose of the current compensation caps as well as the implications of changing the basis on which they are determined.” He says the executive limits “represent the maximum that can be charged to the government but the actual amount an individual company can charge to the government is tied directly to what the government determines is fair and reasonable for a company of a similar size in a similar market.” He maintains a pay gap exists between the government and private sectors, and the proposals’ compensation cap would make the problem worse.
Panetta Pledge. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says he is requiring the Pentagon’s emerging strategy “make sure we maintain our industrial base.” He tells the HASC Oct. 13 “if we’re going to be able to maintain a strong defense, if we’re going to be able to respond to the crises of the future, I’ve got to have an industrial base that can respond to that. If we have to mobilize quickly, if we have to weaponize quickly, I’ve got to have that industrial base in place. And if we cripple that, we will cripple our national defense.” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin Dempsey says the defense industrial base “is prominent” in the Pentagon’s ongoing roles-and-missions review.
SSBN Scuttle. Dempsey also speaks positively about the costly SSBN ballistic-missile submarine replacement, which the Navy is in the early stages of developing. Dempsey says the Pentagon has “been studying and must continue to study the capability given to us by the” nuclear triad. “Of course, the SSBN fleet is our most survivable leg of the triad, and therefore I consider it to be indispensable,” he tells the HASC. “As we go forward and as we understand the future of nuclear nonproliferation talks, that could change, but for now I think we’re exactly where we need to be.”
Bids Due. Industry bids are due today for an upgraded version of the Army’s Cerberus force protection system that is used to provide sensor-based surveillance for forward operating bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. The pending contract for 83 systems is for a small business, although many of the larger defense contractors with systems integration capabilities are supporting smaller firms that are competing for the work. Current Cerberus systems, which typically include a trailer-based mast equipped with electro-optic/infrared cameras and radar, have their own command station. The upgraded variant calls for a networked solution to allow surveillance imagery to be channeled to a central command post for each forward operating base.
Communication: A Two Way Street. The Department of Homeland Security earlier this month issued a new acquisition alert that provides guidance to department procurement and contracting officials on how to conduct Industry Days. The directive follows a complaint from David Olive, founder of the government relations firm Catalyst Partners, who attended a recent Industry Day on the DHS Office of Health Affairs BioWatch Gen-3 program where government officials “read verbatim” from their slides and took no questions from vendor representatives in the audience. In response to his “Open Letter to Nick Nayak,” who is the chief procurement officer, Olive says that Nayak’s office on Oct. 6 issued DHS Acquisition Alert 12-02 (Guidance on Conducting Industry Days, which requires “dialogue” with attendees.
Defense choices. If Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, was forced to choose between increasing taxes to pay for the military or face more defense cuts, he says he would opt for the former. “But I am going to fight like crazy to make sure that those aren’t the choices,” he says at a breakfast hosted by RealClearPolitics Friday. McKeon says his primary choice would be for deeper cuts to entitlement programs, emphasizing his support for his party’s opposition to any tax hikes. McKeon, a staunch supporter of defense, says he reluctantly accepts the $450 billion reduction in defense spending over the next 10 years, but will not allow further cuts. “That’s as far as we should go,” he says.
New Shadow. AAI Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) introduces the Shadow M2 Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (TUAS) at the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) 2011 Annual Meeting & Exposition. Shadow M2 is the next generation of the battle-proven Shadow 200 TUAS, which has amassed nearly 700,000 flight hours with the Army and Marine Corps. With a wingspan of 25 feet, the Shadow M2 aircraft offers greater endurance for longer mission capacity, as well as execution of new mission profiles. Increased payload volume, dual payload bays and external wing hard points provide additional room for avionics, mission equipment, communication solutions and sense-and-avoid equipment. A new heavy fuel engine provided by fellow Textron Systems operating unit Lycoming Engines is designed to manned aircraft specifications to enhance aircraft performance and reliability. The Shadow M2 can launch, fly and laser designate at higher altitudes, and incorporates a larger parachute, simpler equipment access and enhanced landing gear for greater ease of use. AAI UAS Senior Vice President & General Manager Steven Reid says, “For that reason, our current Shadow aircraft can accommodate communications relay, laser designation, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. The Shadow M2 brings even greater mission capability, along with enhanced performance.” Shadow M2 is compatible with all of the Shadow 200 aircraft’s support equipment and infrastructure.
RPG Caused Crash. U.S. Central Command completes its investigation into the Aug. CH-47 crash in Wardak Province, Afghanistan, confirming the primary cause of the accident was an insurgent-fired rocket propelled grenade (RPG) strike to the aft rotor blade as the helicopter approached its combat landing zone. Also, the investigation determines operational planning and execution were consistent with previous missions, and that the forces and capabilities were appropriate given the agility required to maintain pressure on insurgent networks. There was no evidence of a pre-planned ambush. More information is available on the command website: www.centcom.mil.
Updating Austeyr Rifle. The next stage of the project to update the Austeyr rifle Australian soldiers use is moving forward, says Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare. An approximately $8 million investment will produce a qualified rifle design ready for production, he says. A new modular design reduces weight and improves balance, integrates NATO standard (Picatinny) rails for a variety of attachments, and a grenade launcher and sight will be fitted. The upgrade is part of the approximately $459.2 million LAND 125 Phase 3C program.
New Agreement. The United Kingdom and United States Service Personnel Task Force Oct. 12 sign a MOU to continue support to armed forces personnel, families, and veterans. The meeting is the third of the Task Force but the first to be jointly chaired by the two leaders: U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Clifford Stanley, and the U.K. Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans, The Rt Hon Andrew Robathan MP. “Both nations ask a great deal from our Armed Forces and believe they have a right to expect a commitment from us to support them through the challenges of Service life. In the U.K., that commitment is embraced within the Armed Forces Covenant, the principles of which we are writing into law for the first time,” Robathan says.
Stay Engaged. Army Gen. James Thurman, who commands the U.S. and U.N. forces in Korea, says at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington last week it is “essential” to stay engaged in Northeast Asia. With 1.2 million under arms in North Korea, across the DMZ, Thurman says as a military man he sees a threat and doesn’t see drawing down forces. Thurman sees two threats, the rise of China and North Korea’s efforts to build and then disseminate weapons of mass destruction.
New Executive Director. The Reserve Officers Association names Andrew Davis, retired Marine major general, as its new executive director effective Nov. 1. Before joining ROA, Davis served as president and executive director of the American Press Institute from 2003 until his retirement this year. He succeeds Army Maj. Gen. l David Bockel, who stepped down in September. Davis retired from the Marine Corps in October 2008 after 38 years service, including deployments in three wars.
Annual Exercise. NATO’s annual Crisis Management Exercise (CMX) begins Oct. 19 and runs through Oct. 26. The exercise is designed to practice alliance crisis management procedures at the strategic political level and will involve civilian and military staffs in allied capitals, at NATO Headquarters, and in both Strategic Commands. Unlike a live exercise, however, no forces are actually deployed for the purpose of these exercises. Originally planned for March, the exercise was postponed due to the Libyan crisis.
New Facilities. ATK opens two new facilities at its Beltsville, Md., location–ATK Spacecraft Systems & Services. The expansion adds 46 new manufacturing positions and will allow ATK to meet increased demands for its aerospace products and technologies. The new facilities include an expanded manufacturing center at the company’s Integrated Thermal System plant and a new robotic laboratory for potential customers in both the military and civil space communities. The enlarged manufacturing facility will improve production capacity by approximately 20 percent, add more space for work on existing contracts totaling $35 million and create up to 50 new jobs. The other newly opened facility, the Robotic Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (RPO) Lab, allows ATK to demonstrate and verify critical enabling technologies for today’s more complicated space missions.