The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
F-35 Caucus. The newly formed Joint Strike Fighter Caucus in the House attracted 48 members in its first month, Co-chairwoman Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) says. “Like the Joint Strike Fighter program, the JSF Caucus is about partnerships,” she says Nov. 9. The caucus has 37 Republicans and 11 Democrats as of last week. “The F-35 program has reached a critical stage in its development as the most advanced multi-role fighter in the world,” says caucus Co-chair Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.), the ranking member on the House Appropriations Committee and its Defense subcommittee. “It will be important in the years ahead for this broad coalition in the House of Representatives to support an efficient production schedule to assure that America and our international partners bring the aircraft into service as quickly as possible.”
Foreign Selling. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) increased by roughly 9 percent since last year, Andrew Shapiro, assistant secretary of state in the bureau of political-military affairs, says Nov. 9. “Despite the tough global economy, demand for U.S. defense sales abroad remains robust,” he says. For four consecutive years, FMS have exceeded $30 billion, he tells the Defense Trade Advisory Group at a Washington gathering. The other component of U.S. arms sales, Direct Commercial Sales (DCS), also is increasing. “Based on the first three quarters of this year, we anticipate that by the end of the year, the State Department will have received and reviewed over 85,000 DCS cases, the largest ever,” he says. The total value of authorized DCS per year is now roughly $145 billion, or about 1 percent of U.S. gross-domestic product. “When countries buy our defense systems they are not only buying the most advanced and highest quality systems, they are also buying American products, which supports jobs here at home and helps the American economy,” he says.
2nd Engine Meeting. General Electric officials met with Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter Oct. 31 about topics including the company’s proposal to spend its own money to continue developing the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s alternate engine, the F136, with Rolls-Royce. The Pentagon terminated the program in April shortly after Congress killed FY ‘11 funding for it, yet it still has support in Congress. General Electric Aviation CEO David Joyce and other company officials discussed “the GE/Rolls-Royce desire to seek congressional approval to self-fund the F136 development in 2012,” General Electric spokesman Rick Kennedy says, noting the proposal is supported in the House-passed FY ’12 defense authorization bill. Kennedy says “no resolutions were reached,” in the meeting. “Our position is that it is as important as ever to advocate for the House DoD authorization bill provision that preserves the F136 engine and associated equipment, while authorizing GE and Rolls Royce to self-fund the engine in 2012,” he says.
New Members. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) last week announced the appointment of 24 new members to the Aviation Security Advisory Committee (ASAC), a 32-year old panel that provides recommendations for improving aviation security methods, equipment and procedures. TSA re-started the ASAC in July after a five-year period in which no meetings had been held. TSA Administrator John Pistole says it has been one of his priorities to strengthen the agency’s relationship with aviation security stakeholders. The first meeting of the re-born committee is tentatively slated for sometime in December, TSA says.
PreCheck Expansion. Just over a month into its risk-based, intelligence-driven pilot project for passenger checkpoint screening at airports, the Transportation Security Administration is expanding PreCheck to three more airports, raising to seven the number of participating airports. PreCheck enables select frequent fliers, many of whom have gone through background checks as part of other trusted traveler programs, to use a separate screening lane at airport security checkpoints and not have to divest their light coats, shoes, laptops and bagged liquids. PreCheck members are still subject to random screening measures and are not guaranteed entry into the separate lane. The new airports are Los Angeles International, Las Vegas-McCarran International, and Minneapolis-Saint Paul International.
LCS Mine Neutralization Systems Completes First Live Fire Test. The Littoral Combat Ship’s (LCS) program executive office (PEO) completed the first live-fire test of a new system designed to take out mines, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) says. The Airborne Mine Neutralization System (AMNS) demonstrated an ability to fire an Archerfish destructor against an inert target during an Oct. 28 test in Panama City, Fla., NAVSEA says. The system is carried on the MH-60S Seahawk helicopter. Five low-rate initial production (LRIP) systems have been delivered to the Navy with the sixth system scheduled to be delivered in January 2012, NAVSEA says. “Mine neutralization is currently a significant gap both in terms of capability and capacity and this event demonstrates that the littoral combat ship is bringing a new, viable neutralization capability to the fleet as part of the mine countermeasures mission package,” Rear Adm. Jim Murdoch, the program executive officer for LCS, says.
Unmanned River Surveillance Vessel. The Navy has delivered the first three of an unmanned vessel designed to cruise up rivers or other waterways to detect any potential dangers and provide surveillance before sending in manned forces, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) says. The Littoral Combat Ship’s program executive office (PE0) delivered the vessels to the Navy’s Riverine Group One on Nov. 1, NAVSEA says. The Modular Unmanned Surface Craft Littoral, or MUSCL, can be carried by two people and performs intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions to provide real-time monitoring of suspicious vessels, personnel, and activity along waterways, shorelines, and under bridges and piers, NAVSEA says.
Social Media. The Navy’s video of the F-35B’s first landing on USS Wasp (LHD-1) has registered almost 260,000 hits on Youtube. Lt. Cmdr Chris Servello, the service’s director of emerging media, says the video was released in a “easily-consumed-for-social media” package to capitalize on interest and spur consumption. Servello highlighted use of the video, which was released on Oct. 3, in a recent forum on DoD’s use of social media sponsored by Ogilvy Public Relations, Northrop Grumman, and Defense Daily.
Making Details Public. Australia’s Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare says details of the Australian Industry Capability Plans (AICPs) for all future major Defence acquisition projects will be made public. AICPs set out the plan by defence companies to maximize opportunities for the involvement of Australian industry in major defence capability projects. “It will ensure the commitments made by major Defence companies to Australian industry are public and they are held accountable for them,” Clare says. AICPs are also required for major sustainment contracts. The details of AICPs for major sustainment contracts signed after Jan. 1, 2012 will also be publicly released. The detail published on each acquisition or sustainment AICP will depend on a range of factors including security classifications and commercials restrictions.
Survey Says. IT security expert Avira’s September survey of its users found 38.95 percent of respondents adhere to security policies designed to protect their company, feeling it’s important that the entire company stay vigilant. Almost as many people, 35.42 percent, admitted there are security policies in place at their business but didn’t feel that anyone really cared whether those policies were followed or not. For the rest of those polled, 25.63 percent, security is seen as a system administrator’s responsibility and not an employee concern. “When we see that less than 40 percent of workers take IT security seriously while at work, we know there is more to be done when it comes to educating people about IT security,” says Sorin Mustaca, Data Security expert at Avira.
Here Comes #2. Austal USA held a keel-laying ceremony last week for its second Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV), Choctaw County (JHSV 2), one of seven Austal-designed 103-meter U.S. Navy Joint High Speed Vessels under a DoD contract with options potentially worth $1.6 billion. The keel-laying marks the beginning of final assembly. “We have worked through our first-in-class issues and are moving into serial production,” says Joe Rella, COO and president of Austal USA. “Today, with the fabrication of Choctaw County, we are over 30 percent more efficient at this point than we were with USNS Spearhead.” By building pieces of the ship in a separate facility, fabricators can install and test generators, propulsion equipment, electrical, piping and ventilation systems and other critical components in a controlled, efficient manufacturing environment. Austal USA is teamed with General Dynamics on the project.
Drawing Down. The U.K. MoD says 1,800 troops based in Germany will head back to the U.K. as of January. Additionally, Army units will move from Cyprus while others will switch location within the U.K. earlier than planned. This rebasing follows the Ministry of Defence announcement in October 2010, as part of the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR), of its aim to return half of its personnel currently based in Germany to the U.K. by 2015 and the remainder by 2020. It is estimated that the rebasing of troops from Germany will save the MoD nearly $400 million per year. Bringing those forces currently based in Germany back to the U.K. is also expected to contribute about more than $1 billion per year to the economy, as wages would be spent in the U.K. instead of in Germany.