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The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
Sequester Success. President Barack Obama will sign into law a bill that forces his own administration to provide more information to Congress on potential Pentagon budget cuts, his spokesman says July 26. The Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012 calls for Obama to report to Congress within 30 days of the legislation’s enactment on how $1.2 trillion in defense and non-defense reductions would be applied if lawmakers can’t agree on a plan to stop the decade-long cuts from starting next year. The politically unpopular cuts, of $500 billion to the Pentagon, are intended to trim the same percentage from every applicable defense program, project, and activity. The Senate approved the bill July 25 via unanimous consent after the House passed it via a 414-2 vote on July 18.
… Details. “The President will sign the bill,” White House spokesman Jay Carney tells reporters. “Up to this point, (White House Office of Management and Budget) OMB staff has been conducting the analysis needed to move. And should it get to the point where it appears that Congress will not do its job and the sequester may take effect, OMB, (the Department of Defense) DoD, and the entire administration will be prepared.” Carney calls for Congress to agree on an alternate budget-cutting plan to sequestration, slamming congressional Republicans for wanting to keep tax cuts for wealthy Americans. “As the president himself has said, there’s no reason why these (sequestration) cuts should happen, and Congress ought to be able to come together and agree on a balanced approach that reduces the deficit and keeps our military strong.” Acting OMB Director Jeffrey Zients and Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter are slated to testify about sequestration before the HASC this Wednesday.
Asia Analysis. SASC Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Ranking Member John McCain (R-Ariz.), and member Jim Webb (D-Va.) say a think tank report on U.S. military posture in the Pacific “raises a number of issues.” The Center for Strategic and International Studies report says the Pentagon “has not adequately articulated the strategy behind its force posture planning nor aligned the strategy with resources in a way that reflects current budget realities.” The senators say they agree the Pentagon needs to “articulate the strategy behind its force-posture planning more clearly.” They add, in a July 27 statement: “Congress must also be confident that the DoD force planning and realignment proposals are realistic, workable, and affordable.” Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s response to the report says “our efforts to strengthen alliances and partnerships in the Asia-Pacific to advance a common security vision for the future” is essential to the U.S. strategy to rebalance toward the region.
Israeli Support. Obama signs the United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012 into law July 27. “I have made it a top priority for my administration to deepen cooperation with Israel across the whole spectrum of security issues–intelligence, military, technology,” he says at the Oval Office. Bill author Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) says it “reaffirms in the strongest terms the special relationship between the United States and Israel while also ensuring that Israel has the tools it needs to defend itself.” The measure authorizes an increase in the United States’ stockpile of military equipment in Israel and extends loan guarantees to the nation, among other things. Obama also says the United States will spend an additional $70 million for the Iron Dome missile-defense program in Israel, noting it already has prevented missile strikes. Panetta plans to travel to Israel this week, following a planned weekend visit by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Cyber Climb. Cyber attacks against U.S. infrastructure providers have increased 17 times from 2009 to 2011, Army Gen. Keith Alexander, head of Cyber Command and the National Security Agency, tells the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado on July 26. “Since 2009, we’ve seen roughly, I’m calculating, a 17-time increase between 2009 and 2011,” he says. Asked if the uptick in attacks can be connected to Stuxnet, a computer worm believed to have been created by the U.S. government to attack Iranian facilities, Alexander replies: “I don’t see the correlation there at all.” He says an increasing number of cyber attacks on the United State are aimed at critical infrastructure. Sens. Joe Lieberman (I/D-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) say Alexander’s comments underscore the need for Congress to pass legislation that protects infrastructure providers’ computer systems. They co-sponsor the Cybersecurity Act of 2012, which the Senate is debating this week.
Closing out ASP. The Department of Homeland Security officially terminated its Advanced Spectroscopic Portal (ASP) program earlier this month, one year after it canceled the last of its contracts with the three companies it had hired six years ago to develop and then produce the next-generation radiation portal monitors. The July 16, 2012 termination was just the official closing of the program, Huban Gowadia, the acting director of the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, tells a House Homeland Security panel. No money has been spent on the earlier contracts in the past year, she says.
…But not Quite. Just because the ASP program has been terminated doesn’t mean DNDO isn’t still trying to learn from the program, which was canceled after the original design specifications no longer met Customs and Border Protection’s operational requirements (Defense Daily, July 27, 2011). DNDO is about to send one of the 13 ASP units built to New Mexico for the state’s use, Gowadia says. While CBP needed the ASP to be able to scan trucks and their containers at speeds of at least five miles per hour in secondary inspection, New Mexico’s requirements are less stringent, she says. The systems were designed to scan trucks passing through an inspection lane at two miles per hour. DNDO is also looking to provide the systems to additional states and will use these deployments to continue to collect data on the ASPs, she says. The program also had a troubled development that took longer than expected and also never completed its various levels of testing. Canberra Industries, Raytheon and Thermo Fisher Scientific each had development contracts.
…New Implementation Plan. DHS this spring delivered to Congress the implementation plan for its two-year old Global Nuclear Detection Architecture, which describes how technology, policies and programs will be used as part of a layered architecture to prevent a radiological or nuclear attack. The implementation plan calls for spending $1 billion over the next five years on systems to detect and identify radiological and nuclear materials that are being smuggled in to the United States. Gowadia says that DNDO is looking for ways to extend the life and improve the performance of existing radiation portal monitors rather than just replace them one for one as they near the end of their expected service life. She also says that DNDO is looking at surging the deployment of detection and identification systems as needed and taking a more flexible and agile approach to deployments.
Cobra Judy Ship Ready For Testing. The U.S. Navy ship geared to host the Cobra Judy Replacement system for gathering data about ballistic missile launches by countries around the world readies for at-sea testing. The Navy says the USNS Howard O. Lorenzen (T-AGM 25) arrived in Cape Canaveral, Fla., this month to begin at-sea testing as part of its yearlong integration and test phase. Lorenzen will replace USNS Observation Island (T-AGM 23) in 2014, whose mission is to provide worldwide, high quality, dual-band radar data in support of ballistic missile treaty verification. The Raytheon-built Cobra Judy Replacement (CJR) system is the first fully integrated, dual band, ship-based active phased array radar system. The data collection system consists of X-Band and S-Band phased array sensors, a common radar suite controller, and other related mission equipment. Northrop Grumman delivers the S-Band sensor.
LPD Christening. The Navy was to christen the ninth ship in the San Antonio-class (LPD-17) of amphibious transport dock ships on Saturday during a ceremony at Huntington Ingalls Industries shipyard in Avondale, La. The would-be USS Somerset (LPD-25) was to be named in honor of the passengers and crew of United Airlines flight 93, which crashed in a field in the Pennsylvania county of Somerset during the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The key address will be given by Patrick White, the president of the Families of Flight 93.
ONR Registration. The Office of Naval Research (ONR) opens online registration July 24 for its biennial Naval Science and Technology Partnership Conference scheduled to take place in October. “It provides an ideal forum to bring forth ideas–the necessary basis for advancing all naval warfighting capabilities,” says Walter Jones, ONR’s executive director. The conference takes place Oct. 22-24 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, Va. Approximately 1,500 members of ONR’s science and technology (S&T) provider network, as well as Navy and Marine Corps customers, are expected to attend, ONR says. The theme for this years is “Innovative Technology for Today’s and Tomorrow’s Warfighter.”
LAS Firing. Departing Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz says at least one person was fired over the documentation mishap that lead to the Air Force canceling its $350 million Afghanistan Light Air Support contract with Sierra Nevada Corp. During his final Defense Department briefing on July 24, Schwartz declined to explain what exactly happened with the documentation, citing the ongoing source selection process. But when asked if anyone was fired over it, he replied “indeed.” Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek says in an e-mail members of the original LAS acquisition team have been re-assigned to other duties and are not involved in the new LAS effort. Stefanek also says there is an ongoing review process of the LAS documentation mishap and “there remains the potential for management action to be taken against some employees…A new source selection team was assembled for the re-acquisition of the LAS in order to ensure the program had a fresh start without preconceptions or appearance of bias.”
…Bomber By 2020s. Schwartz says rolling out the next-generation Long Range Bomber by the mid-2020s is a realistic time frame. “We’ve talked about beginning to field the platform in the mid-’20s,” Schwartz tells reporters July 24. “There are requirements. We’re going to pursue this program in a very disciplined fashion and do it in a way that capitalizes on already proven technologies in aircraft manufacturing, in sensors (and) in avionics integration.”
…Modernizing ICBM. Schwartz believes there will be sufficient funding available in the coming decades to modernize the land-based ICBM arsenal. “I do believe that the land-based ICBM is an important component of our nuclear deterrent posture,” Schwartz says. “I would envision that future chiefs will see it that way, as well.” Schwartz adds that the nuclear triad, both sea- and land-based ICBMs along with a next-generation bomber, is a useful capability for the United States to maintain over time. “So, yes, I do see a future ICBM in the cards.”
Tucano U.S. Debut. Embraer’s A-29 Super Tucano turboprop aircraft makes its U.S. debut last week at the Oshkosh Air Show in Wisconsin, Sierra Nevada Corp. says in a statement. Sierra Nevada and Embraer are partnering to offer the Super Tucano in the Air Force’s Afghanistan Light Air Support competition. Rival biddor Hawker Beechcraft Defense Company is bidding its AT-6.
B-1 IBS Award. The Air Force awards Boeing a $65.8 million Lot 2 follow-on contract for nine B-1 Lancer bomber Integrated Battle Station (IBS) modification kits, spares, training, support equipment and engineering support, the company says in a statement. IBS integrates three major aircraft modifications–an upgraded front and aft cockpit, a new diagnostics system and a new Link 16 data link–which all enhance situational awareness and communications for the flight crew. The initial Lot 1 contract was awarded in June 2011 and installation of those four kits will begin this fall. Lot 2 orders begin immediately and the entire fleet will be upgraded by the end of 2019.
Air Force Virtual Training. The Air Force should designate an entity to integrate its virtual training efforts, develop a strategy to align virtual training initiatives and goals and develop a methodology to collect virtual training cost data, GAO says in the report Actions Needed to Better Manage and Determine Costs of Virtual Training Efforts (GAO-12-727). GAO finds the Air Force has taken steps to manage its virtual training efforts, but its approach lacks some key elements of an overarching organizational framework needed to fully integrate efforts address challenges. As a result, major commands have developed their own investment plans and standards for acquiring and fielding virtual training systems, which are often not interoperable and require costly, time-consuming “work-arounds” to allow personnel to train together with joint and coalition partners. GAO finds decision makers need visibility over financial data to meet agency goals and effectively use resources.
The Show Goes On. The Army is clear–it continues to support the AUSA Annual Meeting and Exposition, Oct. 22-24. However, it is reducing the number of exhibits. Still participating are: The Army Exhibit; ASA(ALT); AMC; TRADOC; MEDCOM; ASA(IE&E)/ACSIM/IMCOM; National Guard; and the Army Reserve. AUSA late last week let sustaining members know the service believes the annual meeting “is a valuable platform for communicating Army strategic themes and messages and is a unique professional development opportunity” for soldiers and Army civilians. The service plans to authorize attendees from outside the region. The theme for this year’s annual meeting is: “America’s Army- Service to the Nation, Strength for the Future.”
Work Between The Lines. Retired Adm. Eric Olson, former commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, says there’s a broad area between anti-terrorism and counter-terrorism that “we have not adequately invested ourselves in”–an area where the United States can work to set conditions that are inhospitable to terrorists and terrorist activities. The special operations community and other entities can make a difference to make ungoverned areas or those less well protected areas inhospitable to terrorist forces. Projecting force to those areas is something “ripe” for DoD focus, he says at the Aspen Security Forum July 26.
There’s Good News. Everyone’s talking about cyber, says Michael Sheehan, assistant secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflicts, at the Aspen Security Forum July 26. “The good news, cyber is harder to do than a lot of people think,” he says during a panel. Sheehan’s concerns are with sophisticated governments’ cyber efforts, for example, using surrogates to conduct cyber attacks to provide deniability for governments. But cyber attacks are hard, he says. “A couple of terrorists sitting somewhere would have a hard time taking down a national grid.” If it was easy, he points out, “they would have done it.”
Go For Gold Army. The Army sends 14 soldier athletes, four coaches and two Army spouses to represent the United States at the London Olympic and Paralympic games. Among the athletes, several participated in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Sgt. Glenn Eller and Sgt. Vincent Hancock, who won gold medals and set Olympic records in double trap and men’s skeet respectively. Both are in the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) at Ft. Benning, Ga. Sgt. 1st Class Josh Olson became the first active-duty soldier wounded in combat to be named to the 2012 Paralympic Games. Six months after receiving the Purple Heart from then-President George W. Bush in 2004, Olson became the first athlete with a physical disability assigned to the World Class Athlete Program. Olson is assigned to USAMU’s Paralympic/instructor training group, which includes Wounded Warriors who continue to serve their nation. Olson will compete in two rifle events at the Games. WCAP Spc. Dennis Bowsher is Team USA’s lone competitor in the men’s modern pentathlon. It was 100 years ago that Gen. George S. Patton competed in the event as a lieutenant at the Stockholm 1912 Olympic Games. He finished fifth behind American gold medal winner Jim Thorpe.
MMPV Conversion. BAE Systems Land & Armaments receives a $7 million firm-fixed-price contract modification to convert 121 Medium Mine Protected vehicles (MMPV) to explosive ordinance disposal (EOD) variant vehicles. The conversion takes existing Engineer variant MMPV vehicles, disassembles, modifies/reconfigures the capsule and reassembles the vehicle into an EOD variant MMPV vehicle. The EOD Vehicle Conversion process differs from standard MMPV vehicle production in that it is similar to a vehicle Remanufacture/Upgrade than a new vehicle build. The EOD Conversion process delivers a low-cost solution tailored to meet the unique requirements of the customer and the mission specific needs of the war fighter. The work will be done in York, Pa., with an estimated completion date of March 31, 2013.