The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
POTUS To The Docks. President Barack Obama plans to visit the shipyard that builds nuclear-powered aircraft carriers Tuesday to highlight the effect sequestration would have on jobs, the White House says. Obama will visit Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia “to highlight the fact that there will be real-world impacts to the implementation of the sequester if that takes place,” spokesman Jay Carney says. Obama’s visit comes as the White House and congressional Republicans and Democrats have been unable to agree on a budget plan to stave off sequestration, which is set to take effect March 1 and would indiscriminately cut budget accounts across the federal government. It is believed those cuts will translate into job losses throughout the defense industry.
Work’s Work. Navy Undersecretary Robert Work, who previously announced plans to leave the job, will become the next CEO of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), the progressive think tank said last week. CNAS says Work is expected to assume the new role on April 22. “Bob Work is in the very front ranks of those thinking about and working to strengthen our national security,” says Richard Danzig, the board of directors chairman who is also a former secretary of the Navy. “More than a thought leader, he is also a widely admired leader in all dimensions.” Work told a gathering at a symposium in January that he was planning to leave the Navy position he has held since 2009. Work is considered to be one of the Navy’s staunchest and most vocal supporters of the Littoral Combat Ship program, which has at times been mired in controversy and subjected to sharp criticism from the media and congressional lawmakers. Work, a former Marine, served on Obama’s defense transition team in 2008 before becoming undersecretary.
UAE Predators. The United Arab Emirates has agreed to buy an undisclosed number of General Atomics’ Predator unmanned aircraft, the company says. The sale marks the first for the Predator XP version, which General Atomics designed for the international market by using wings without hard points so the aircraft cannot be armed. The Missile Technology Control Regime (MCTR), a 1987 protocol signed by 34 countries including the United States to prevent the proliferation of missiles, only allows General Atomics to sell armable Predators to NATO countries or to close allies Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The company is looking to market the XP aircraft to other Middle Eastern countries and throughout Latin America. The XP version is based on the RQ-1 Predator A airframe.
More Competition. The Department of Homeland Security continues to spend fewer funds on non-competitive contracts, the department’s Office of Inspector General (IG) reports. DHS spent $389 million on non-competitive contracts in FY ’12, down from $929 million in FY ’11 and $3.5 billion in FY ’08, says the report, DHS Contracts Awarded Through Other than Full and Open Competition During Fiscal Year 2012 (OIG-13-36) http://www.oig.dhs.gov/assets/Mgmt/2013/OIG_13-36_Feb13.pdf.
…Compliance Issues. The IG report also says that DHS continues to have difficulties in its acquisition oversight. For example, the report says that in an IG review of 40 non-competitive contracts, “acquisition personnel did not always document their assessment of past performance when determining contractor responsibility prior to contract award.” The IG adds that “These deficiencies occurred because the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer did not ensure that acquisition personnel included required documentation in the contract files to adequately support using other than full and open competition.”
F-16C Mishap Finding. An uncommanded closure of the main fuel shutoff valve causes the July 22 F-16C aircraft crash in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Air Forces says Feb. 19 in a statement. According to the Accident Investigation Board (AIB) report, the F-16 experienced a loss of thrust from the engine that the aircraft’s pilot could not restore. The pilot safely ejected and was recovered without injury. The F-16C was destroyed in the crash, which occurred approximately 750 miles northeast of Misawa Air Base, Japan. The F-16 is developed by Lockheed Martin.
Dassault Hires Orzalli. Dassault Systèmes hires retired Navy Rear Adm. Clarke Orzalli as a senior business development executive in the company’s federal business group, according to a company statement. Orzalli will be responsible for supporting strategic business development. Orzalli brings more than 34 years of experience in resourcing, procuring and sustaining complex weapons systems to his new role at Dassault Systèmes. Before joining Dassault Systèmes, Orzalli served as vice commander of the Naval Sea Systems Command, Fleet Maintenance Officer–U.S. Fleet Forces, Commander Regional Maintenance Centers, and shipyard commander at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, among his many Navy assignments. Dassault Systèmes provides businesses and people with virtual universes to imagine sustainable innovations.
Breedlove to NATO? Numerous publications report President Obama is expected to name Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove as the next head of all NATO forces in Europe. Breedlove is currently commander, U.S. Air Forces in Europe; commander, U.S. Air Forces Africa, commander Air Component Command, Ramstein; and director, Joint Air Power Competence Center, Kalkar, Germany. Breedlove is responsible for Air Force activities, conducted through the 3rd Air Force, in an area of operations covering more than 19 million square miles. Marine Gen. John Allen, Obama’s previous pick for the position, decided to retire. Allen was the commander of allied forces in Afghanistan.
ATK EFT-1 Motor. ATK delivers a launch abort motor to Kennedy Space Center, Fla., for Exploration Flight Test (EFT-1) of NASA’s Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, according to a company statement. Since the EFT-1 mission will have no crew on board, the test flight abort motor is configured with inert propellant, but it otherwise replicates the launch abort system that will ensure astronaut safety on future crewed Orion exploration missions using the new Space Launch System (SLS). Orion is scheduled to launch next year.
LAS Decision? The Air Force could make a decision on its $355 million Light Air Support for Afghanistan competition as early as Wednesday, Sierra Nevada Defense Corp. (SNC) Vice President Taco Gilbert tells Defense Daily. The decision was expected to take place Feb. 15, which was then delayed until Friday before being pushed back a third time. Air Force spokesman Ed Gulick declines to say if the Wednesday would be the award date. SNC and Brazilian jet manufacturer Embraer are teaming to offer Embraer’s A-29 Super Tucano while Beechcraft is bidding its AT-6 light attack aircraft. The competition is to provide 20 light attack aircraft to Afghanistan’s nascent air force. SNC had originally won the competition before the Air Force canceled the award and re-opened the competition after discovering supposed bias towards SNC in the source selection process.
Nuclear Triad. Defense Department officials advocate for appropriate funding for the nation’s nuclear triad in light of possible sequestration and Continuing Resolution (CR)-related budget shortages. At the Fifth Annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit in Arlington, Va., Air Force Assistant Chief of Staff for Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration Lt. Gen. William Chambers last week argued land-based ICBMs are the most reliable and inexpensive system to maintain while the bomber capability is just 2.1 percent of the overall Air Force budget. “No other program can produce the same strategic effect per dollar than what we have invested in our nuclear systems,” Chambers says. U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) Joint Functional Component Commander for Global Strike and Air Forces Strategic chief Maj. Gen. Stephen Wilson said Friday the current size and diversity of the nuclear triad—air, land and sea-based nuclear weapons—provides risk management options for adversary growth in nuclear force structure. “In short, it’s a credible warfighting capability,” Wilson said.
Rolls-Royce T56. Rolls-Royce and the Air Force complete the final element of testing for the T56 engine’s Series 3.5 enhancement, leading to Air Force qualification and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification later this year, according to a company statement. Accelerated Mission Testing (AMT) was successfully completed ahead of schedule last month and proved the durability of the new blades, vanes and other parts of the T56 engine over a period of 400 hours and 1,000 cycles. The Series 3.5 engine enhancement will enable the Air Force to continue to operate its C-130H fleet until 2040.
More Certifiations. General Dynamics C4 Systems says two new encryptors in the ProtecD@R product family have been certified by the National Security Agency (NSA) to secure information to the Top Secret level and below. The KG-540A (for aircraft) and KG-540B (for ground-based operations) secure extremely large video files, terrestrial maps and other classified information as it moves through government networks and into computer servers designed to store ‘big data.’ The KG-540A works aboard large surveillance and intelligence aircraft, encrypting classified information collected during a mission for storage on unclassified disks. The KG-540B protects data stored in ground-based ‘super-computing’ facilities.
Agreeing On Goals. NATO Defense Ministers meeting in Brussels last week agree on goals for more ambitious training and exercises to maintain interoperability. “Over the last decade, in Afghanistan, Kosovo and other operations, our servicemen and -women have learned to work together more closely than ever before. The challenge we will face over the coming decade is to preserve and pass on those skills, as our biggest operation comes closer to completion,” says Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. “We will answer that challenge with what we call the Connected Forces Initiative: expanding our education and training, and enhancing our exercises,” he adds. As part of the initiative, ministers agreed that the Alliance should hold a major live exercise in 2015, and draw up a comprehensive program of training and exercises for 2015-2020.
…NRF Center of Initiative. Ministers also agree the NATO Response Force (NRF) will be at the core of the initiative. The rapid-reaction corps, which is prepared and validated through an annual cycle of training and exercises. “We will build on its exercises, to make sure each new group of forces is up to the task. And we will build on those exercises–for example, by including the battalion which the United States government has pledged to rotate through Europe for precisely this purpose, and by building in more contributions from other Allies and partners,” Rasmussen says.
Working For SOCOM. Insitu Inc. says U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) has awarded the company a Mid-Endurance Unmanned Aircraft Systems (MEUAS) Intelligence Gathering, Target Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) Services contract for 26 months through Feb. 28, 2015. Insitu Senior Vice President of ScanEagle Programs Curt Chesnutt says:. “For the past three and a half years we have provided SOCOM agile and responsive and uninterrupted services with our ScanEagle system and we look forward to continuing our valued relationship.” Under the contract, Insitu will introduce several technologies to significantly increase warfighter capability.