The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
Budget Bonanza. The HASC will get the first crack this year at the Pentagon’s fiscal year 2014 budget request, which military leaders will unveil to reporters on Wednesday. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin Dempsey will appear before the House panel led by Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.) Thursday at 10 a.m. The SASC previously had planned to hold its annual budget hearing with the military leaders the same day, but canceled it for scheduling reasons. The HASC’s Tactical Air and Land Forces subcommittee also will hold a hearing Thursday on acquisition and modernization strategies, and the full committee will reconvene Friday to scrutinize the Air Force’s FY ‘14 budget request. The SASC is planning an oversight hearing Tuesday on U.S. Pacific Command and U.S. Forces Korea, and on the same day its Emerging Threats and Capabilities subcommittee will receive testimony on Pentagon programs and policies related to emerging counterterrorism threats. The HAC and SAC, as of press time, have no open defense budget hearings scheduled for this week. The HAC, though, is planning a closed oversight hearing on Korea for Wednesday.
TWIC Meetings. The Coast Guard will host several public meetings in the coming weeks to receive comments on its recently issued Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the card reader requirements of the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program. The service released the NPRM last month, saying it has created three risk groups for maritime vessels and ports. The highest risk group will be required to deploy electronic card readers while the other two groups would follow existing regulatory requirements for visual inspections of TWIC cards. The meetings will be held in Northern Virginia, Houston, Seattle and Chicago on separate days in April and May.
Border Data. In the wake of media reports last week citing internal Border Patrol reports that more illegal aliens have made their way into the U.S. than reported in certain areas, two key Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee are seeking additional data from the Department of Homeland Security that the nation’s border is more secure than ever. So far this year, the “Homeland Security Committee’s oversight has revealed that while the [Obama] Administration touts its success, it has been unable to answer the fundamental question: How effective are we at keeping illegal immigrants, drug smugglers and potential terrorist out of our country given this enormous investment?” ask Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the committee’s chairman, and Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Border Security. Customs and Border Protection officials recently told Miller’s panel that it has not developed new metrics for better measuring border security.
Water Security. The water and wastewater infrastructure in the United States is fairly well secure from cyber attacks, and attacks against its information technology and industrial control systems “have been exceptionally rare,” Michael Arceneaux, managing director of the Water Information Sharing and Analysis Center, says at a government sponsored forum. There is no single point of failure in water system, he says, adding that he’s “not sure that a cyber attack could do worse than Hurricane Sandy or other natural disasters. Following Sandy last fall, a lot of water systems in New York and New Jersey were up and running again within “a couple of days” although some of the harder hit ones took longer to get going again, he tells a Commerce Department workshop exploring cyber standards for the nation’s critical infrastructures. Arceneaux points out that there are alternatives to safe water.
…Believing in the Threat. Despite the relative security of the water sector, Arceneaux says a challenge within the sector is believing that an attack could be damaging. “I know that may sound strange to this crowd but if this isn’t your industry, and you’re busy running your business, it can be hard to really fathom that there is someone out there that might actually infiltrate your system and cause disruptions,” he says.
Aerojet SM-3. Aerojet recently completes Standard Missile-3 Block IB Throttling Divert and Attitude Control System (TDACS) qualification testing with an altitude hot fire test, according to a company statement. A total of five TDACS were subjected to rigorous qualification requirements through exposure to environmental extremes and various operational duty cycles. The success of these tests validates that the SM-3 Block IB TDACS design with Aerojet’s unique throttling solid propulsion technology can operate in all expected environments. The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and Raytheon manage the SM-3 program.
Antares Rollout. NASA was planning to roll out Orbital Sciences’ Antares launch vehicle over the weekend at the agency’s Wallops Flight Facility at Wallops Island, Va., in preparation for a test flight later this month, according to a NASA statement. Orbital is testing the Antares rocket and Cygnus cargo logistics spacecraft under NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. A demonstration flight of Antares and Cygnus to the International Space Station (ISS) is planned for later this year. The launch window for Antares’ test flight is April 17-19.
F-22 Flight Restrictions. The Air Force lifts flight restrictions for the F-22 that kept the aircraft within a 30-minute flying distance from an airfield suitable for landing, according to the service. The service enacted the flight restrictions while it was modifying life-support equipment, including the upper pressure garment and related hoses, valves and connectors in response to pilot concerns over hypoxia-like symptoms during flight. F-22 crews also resumed their aerospace control alert mission in Alaska after the Automatic Back-Up Oxygen System (ABOS) was installed in Elmendorf AFB, Alaska-based aircraft. Altitude restrictions have also been incrementally removed for F-22s that received the ABOS modification. Altitude restrictions for training flights remain for non-ABOS equipped F-22s, though those restrictions will be lifted as each aircraft is modified.
Cyber Collaboration. Despite being fierce rivals, contractors recognize the importance of working together on their firms’ cybersecurity. “This is not an area where we’re necessarily competing,” says Michael Papay, vice president for Information Security and Cyber Initiatives and the chief information security officer at Northrop Grumman. Speaking at the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Cybersecurity Framework Workshop last week, Papay says the firms should increase sharing information about threats and attacks, as many face the same hackers.
Largest Military Solar Farm. The Army reveals it has the green light to start work with its partner El Paso Energy to build the largest solar energy farm in the military at Fort Bliss, Texas. Eventually, the 20-megawatt solar farm should power all of the 1st Armored Div. headquarters and most of East Fort Bliss, the service says. The Army Corps of Engineers authorized the project. In a statement, the Army says it believes the solar power project will reduce Ft. Bliss’ carbon footprint, contribute to the service’s energy conservation and security goals of using 25 percent renewable energy by 2025.
More Vehicles. Prime contractor General Dynamics Land Systems-Force Protection Europe gives U.K. company Ricardo an order to assemble 76 more Foxhound vehicles for the U.K. Ministry of Defense. That order brings to 376 the number of Foxhounds ordered to date by the ministry. Many are on duty in Afghanistan used by British forces. An agile and protected vehicle in its weight class, all Foxhounds vehicles are assembled by Ricardo at the purpose-designed production line commissioned in 2011. “The Foxhound is exactly the right vehicle for British forces, providing what commanders on the ground in Afghanistan are describing as ‘an enormous leap forward’ in capability,” says Ricardo CEO Dave Shemmans.
New Commander. Army Gen. David Rodriguez is now at the helm of U.S. Africa Command, installed Friday at a ceremony led by with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin Dempsey. Rodriguez succeeds Army Gen. Carter Ham who plans to retire after 39 years in the service. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel sent a letter, read during the ceremony, that thanked Ham for his service and welcomed Rodriguez, saying that “by your actions you have gained the trust and confidence of the president and this department’s leadership to carry forward this command’s important mission.”
Travel Approval. The Army has approved travel for some personnel to attend the annual Army Aviation Association of America Annual Professional Forum and Exposition that opens Wednesday and runs through April 13 in Fort Worth, Texas. To save money, the services have greatly restricted conference and event attendance. The AAAA posted a notice on their website it received an April 2 memo from the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army: “I approve attendance at this conference for 12 Army participants at an estimated cost of $13,356.” There are 11 authorized personnel from the office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics and Technology,) office, and one from the office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-8. Approved personnel are “keynote speakers, panel members or essential program managers and have been assessed as mission critical by their respective principal official,” the memo says. Others may attend by taking personal leave, or otherwise, at no government expense.