The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
Death Knell. If the explosive devices that were detonated at the finish line of the Boston Marathon earlier this month had been dirty bombs, they could have seriously impacted the economic life of the city for a long time, Richard Daddario, deputy commissioner for Counterterrorism at the New York City Police Department, tells a House panel. Daddario says that depending on how much radiological material might be used in an explosive device and depending on where such a bomb would go off, “it would shut down all economic activity in that area, chase residents out of the area for substantial periods of time until there could be a clean up,” Daddario tells the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism. “There would be mass panic.” He adds that cities around the country understand if a dirty bomb were to be detonated, “it could mean the death knell really for a major urban area.”
…Securing the Cities. The New York City region is the first in the United States to employ the wide-scale use of radiological detection equipment as one of the last layers of defense against a terrorist group setting off a nuclear or dirty bomb in the city. The region has over 8,500 pieces of radiological detection equipment as part of the Department of Homeland Security-sponsored Securing the Cities program. That program is now in the process of being established in Los Angeles. Daddario says the threat of a dirty bomb in New York is what makes the program so important and why other urban areas would want similar detection capabilities.
Border Bill. The House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security last week approved by voice vote a bill that directs the Department of Homeland Security to devise a variety of metrics to enable a better understanding of how secure the nation’s land borders are. The Border Security Results Act of 2013 also directs the department to develop a technology plan to justify which technologies should be deployed at different areas of the border and wants military technologies to be considered for border security.
Fixed Price Correction? Northrop Grumman Chief Wes Bush tells analysts that the Pentagon is beginning to realize that the move toward fixed-price contracting “might have gone a little bit too far” and that now there is a “little bit of a correction” away from that type of contracting. There are some contracts that the Defense Department realizes it wants to be cost-plus or fixed-price incentive fee rather than straight up fixed-price, he says on the company’s first quarter earnings call. These swings are part of a “natural pendulum cycle” that occurs in the budget process, he says.
HASC Markups. HASC Chairman Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.) releases next month’s markup schedule for the FY 2014 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). All the markups will be streamed live online. The NDAA home page on the Armed Services Committee website will be the online hub for all resources related to the FY14 NDAA. On May 22, the following subcommittees will hold markups: Strategic Forces; Intelligence, Emerging Threats and Capabilities; Seapower and Projection Forces; and Military Personnel. On May 23, the subcommittees on Tactical Air and Land Forces and Readiness will hold their markups. On June 5, the full committee will mark up the bill.
Wanted: More Power. The Navy’s decision to deploy a laser on a ship bound for operations in the Persian Gulf next year highlights the need to develop more efficient and powerful shipboard systems to generate the energy needed for lasers. The Office of Naval Research (ONR), which developed the laser weapon system (LaWS) that will deploy on the USS Ponce, says it hosted a conference in Washington last week intended to address the challenge. “The work being done in this area is vital,” Thomas Killion, who heads ONR’s Office of Transition, says. “As the upcoming deployment of a shipboard laser weapon reminds us, we need power generation and power management systems with greater-than-ever capabilities, but from devices that are smaller than ever.
Air Force 2-Star Dies In Small Plane Crash. Air Force Maj. Gen. Joseph Brown dies April 19 when the Cessna 210 he was piloting crashes in Williamsburg, Va., according to the Air Force. Brown had been the commandant of the Dwight Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy in Washington since October 2010. Brown’s wife Sue also died in the crash. Brown had served in the Air Force since 1980 and, during his 33 years of service, flew more than 4,300 hours in B-1 and B-2 aircraft. Brown also commanded a bombardment squadron at Dyess AFB, Texas, and both a group and wing at Ellsworth AFB, S.D. Before his assignment to the National Defense University, Brown was the deputy director for nuclear operations with U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) at Offutt AFB, Neb.
NASA/Lockheed Martin. NASA exercises a contract option with Lockheed Martin to provide continued mission control system services, development, maintenance and operations support as part of the Facilities Development and Operations Contract, according to a NASA statement. Lockheed Martin will provide support for the hardware, software, data and display systems used to train for, and execute, all human spaceflight missions supported by the Mission Operations Directorate at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The option has a total estimated value of $167 million and extends the period of performance through September 2014. The option also increases the total contract value to $1 billion.
Orbital TESS. NASA selects Orbital Sciences to design, manufacture, integrate and test a new astrophysics satellite that will perform a full-sky search for exoplanets around nearby stars, according to a NASA statement. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) program, which will be based on Orbital’s LEOStar-2 spacecraft platform, will be executed at Orbital’s satellite production and testing facility in Dulles, Va. The four-year contract is worth approximately $75 million. The mission of the TESS spacecraft is to provide prime exoplanet candidates for further characterization by the James Webb Space Telescope as well as other large ground-based and space-based telescopes in the future. The planned launch of the TESS spacecraft is scheduled for mid-2017.
James Retiring. Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Lt. Gen. Larry James is retiring effective Aug. 1, according to the service. James entered the Air Force in 1978 as a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Academy where he earned his bachelor of science degree in astronautical engineering. James also earned a master’s degree in astronautical engineering in 1983 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Prior to his current assignment, James was commander of the 14th Air Force (Air Force Strategic), Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) and Joint Functional Component Command for Space chief for STRATCOM.
ATK CubeSat. ATK contributes $10,000 to St. Thomas More Cathedral School in Arlington, Va., for its Mission Possible program, according to a school statement. St. Thomas More is aiming to be the first K-8 program to have a student-built satellite launched into orbit by 2014. With the assistance of teacher Melissa Pore and school parent and NASA mission manager Joe Pellegrino, students will help build a cubesat satellite and then use the data the satellite collects for school research purposes.
SpaceX CCiCap. Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) plans for a detailed safety review with NASA and aerospace industry experts to ensure the company’s integrated human space transportation system is progressing to meet mission safety requirements, according to a NASA statement. Teams will look closely at SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, Dragon spacecraft and flight operations plans for crewed missions to low-Earth orbit (LEO) during this ninth Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) performance milestone. Through CCiCap, NASA is accelerating the development of systems that can be used by government or commercial customers.
Lockheed OTEC. Lockheed Martin is working with Reignwood Group to develop an Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) pilot power plant off the coast of southern China, according to a Lockheed Martin statement. The 10 megawatt offshore plant, to be designed by Lockheed Martin, will be the largest OTEC project developed to date, supplying 100 percent of the power needed for a green resort to be built by Reignwood Group. OTEC takes the natural temperature difference found in the ocean in tropical regions and uses it to create power, technology well-suited to island and coastal communities where energy transportation costs typically make other sources of power very expensive.
NASA X-48C. NASA’s remotely piloted X-48C hybrid-wing-body subscale aircraft completes an eight-month flight research campaign April 9, according to a NASA statement. X-48C demonstrates technology concepts for cleaner and quieter commercial air travel. The scale model aircraft, shaped like a manta ray, was designed by Boeing, built by Cranfield Aerospace Limited of the United Kingdom and flown in partnership with NASA. The X-48C is a version of NASA’s X-48B blended wing body aircraft modified to evaluate the low-speed stability and control of a low-noise version of a notional hybrid-wing-body design. This design features a flattened fuselage with no tail and engines mounted on top of the fuselage at the rear of the plane.
USCG NDGPS. The Coast Guard and the Research and Innovative Technology Administration are analyzing the current and future user needs and requirements of the Nationwide Differential Global Positioning System (NDGPS), according to an April 16 notice in the Federal Register. The NDGPS is designed to broadcast signals to improve the accuracy and integrity of GPS derived from positions for surface transportation, as well as other civil, commercial, scientific and homeland security applications. This analysis will be used to support future NDGPS investment decisions by DHS and the Transportation Department beyond fiscal year 2016. For more information, contact NDGPS Program Manager Coast Guard Lt. Luke Byrd at 202-372-1547 or [email protected].
New DRS DC Boss. Steve Cortese is tapped as Executive Vice President of Washington Operations for DRS Technologies, succeeding the retiring Phillip Balisle, a retired Navy vice admiral. Cortese will be responsible for a range of DRS activities, including government affairs, strategic planning and business development. DRS is a unit of Finmeccanica. Before joining DRS, Cortese served as senior vice president, Government Relations and Corporate Communications, at ATK. Cortese also worked at Lockheed Martin after a long career as a staffer on the Senate Appropriations Committee.
New Tech Leader. QinetiQ North America says Andrew Rogers is the new Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Technology Solutions (TS) business unit. Rogers will have management responsibility for the TS portfolios, including survivability, unmanned systems, power management, sensors and control systems. Prior to this appointment, Rogers served as the senior vice president for the TS survivability product line. Rogers joined QNA with the acquisition of Planning Systems Inc (PSI) in 2005. During his tenure with PSI, he served in a number of leadership positions culminating in his role as the director, integrated defense systems. Prior to PSI, Rogers was a senior scientist with the Woods Hole Group.
New AUSA Program Leader. Kenneth Preston, the retired 13th Sergeant Major of the Army, May 1 succeeds Command Sgt. Major Jimmie Spencer as AUSA director of noncommissioned officer and soldier programs. Spencer is retiring after 20 years with the association after retiring from the Army as the command sergeant major of Army Special Operations Command. Spencer says, “The only thing that enticed me to retire from the Army was the chance to join the AUSA team…AUSA is the voice for the Army. AUSA tells the soldier’s story and the Association ensures that Americans and our sons and daughters never lose site of the fact that our soldiers deserve nothing less than the very best leadership, training, arms, equipment and quality of life for themselves and their families.”
Welcome History. Mike Burke, Director, Business Development, at Boeing Attack Aircraft says the Welcome Home ceremony the company holds for returning deployed helicopter units–Apache and Chinook— has some history. At the end of Desert Storm, Boeing personnel went to all the units and presented every pilot an Apache combat pin. In 2003, the ceremony was resurrected and instead of just pins to honor pilots, “every single soldier in the outfit gets a pin, and the spouses.” Only two aircraft, Apache and Chinook, hold such ceremonies, Burke says.
…Modernizing Projects. Apache Attack Helicopter Project Manager Col. Jeff Hager says modernization plans include adding color to the day-TV sensor, and further down the road the Improved Turbine Engine, expected to buy back capability and power. The new engine could potentially be cut into the production line somewhere around FY’18, Hager says, though that’s not certain. Burke says, “soldiers aren’t shy about telling us what’s right and what’s wrong with the aircraft.”