DoD Reform. As part of a Trump administration effort to streamline the federal government, the White House Office of Management and Budget has posted an online survey asking the public what departments and agencies they would like to see eliminated or reformed, and why. For the Department of Defense, choices include the full department, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the Air Force, Army and Navy departments. Respondents can also write in specific programs they want scrapped. Ideas must be submitted online by June 12.
F-35 To Europe. The Air Force deployed F-35A Lightning II aircraft this weekend on a lo
ng-planned training deployment to Europe. The aircraft are scheduled to conduct training with other U.S. and NATO aircraft based in Europe for several weeks as part of the European Reassurance Initiative. “This training deployment signifies an important milestone and natural progression of the F-35 program, allowing the Air Force to further demonstrate the operational capabilities of the fifth-generation fighter aircraft,” the Pentagon says. “It also assists in refining requirements for eventually basing the F-35A in Europe, which is scheduled to receive the aircraft in the early 2020s.” Once the aircraft arrive in Europe, U.S. Air Forces in Europe and European Command will release additional information as it becomes available about the F-35A’s training deployment.
…F-35 Contract. The Navy on April 10 awarded Lockheed Martin a $373 million contract modification for F-35 work, Pentagon says. This modification provides the procurement of F-35A and B variant aircraft, including deficiency corrections for non-U.S. DoD participants. Work is expected to be completed in March 2020. The modification is to the previously awarded low rate initial production Lot 10 contract.
Sub Maintenance. The USS Providence (SSN-719), a Los Angeles-class attack submarine, has returned to the Navy fleet after undergoing 16 months of maintenance work at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine. The April 7 delivery took place 23 days ahead of schedule, according to Naval Sea Systems Command.
LCS-20 Construction. The Navy has formally kicked off construction of the future USS Cincinnati, an Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-20). The service marked the milestone by holding a keel laying ceremony April 10 at Austal USA’s shipyard in Mobile, Ala. “While keel laying traditionally represents the formal start of a ship’s construction, advanced modular shipbuilding allows fabrication of the ship to begin months in advance,” Naval Sea Systems Command explains. “Today, keel laying continues to symbolically recognize the joining of the ship’s components and the ceremonial beginning of the ship.”
Reusable Rocket Certification. The Air Force is exploring how the launch vehicle certification process would need to be adapted to ensure that previously flown rockets meet its stringent reliability requirements for national security space launch services, according to a key service official. Claire Leon, director of the launch enterprise directorate at Air Force Space and Mission Systems Center, says April 12 via a spokesman that the traditional rocket certification process still applies to previously-flown hardware. However, she says, the certification process will need to be adapted to account for the additional flight time and additional stresses on the hardware due to its previous use. SpaceX, a certified provider of national security launches with its Falcon 9 rocket, flew a used rocket for the first time recently on a commercial satellite mission. It wants to eventually fly a used rocket for DoD missions.
Leonardo on OPC. Leonardo DRS says it has been awarded a $10.7 million contract from Eastern Shipbuilding, to provide hybrid electric drive systems for the Coast Guard’s new fleet of medium-endurance Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPC). The contract covers the first nine OPCs, which Eastern Shipbuilding is in the process of completing the design work in preparation for constructing the first vessel. Under the contract, Leonardo DRS says it will provide its permanent magnet motor-based Auxiliary Propulsion System, that allow the ship to operate more efficiently at slower speeds, and also increase mission duration capability, reduces emissions, and provides emergency take-home capability in case the main propulsion diesel engines fail.
New FRC Commissioned. The Coast Guard last week commissioned the Fast Response Cutter CGC John McCormick in Ketchikan, Alaska, the first of six Sentinel-class vessels that will be homeported in Alaska and the first to be homeported on the Pacific Ocean. The 154-foot vessels support a range of missions, including maritime law enforcement, port, waterways and coastal security, fishery patrols, search and rescue, and national defense. The McCormick is the 21st FRC built by Bollinger Shipyards.
Raytheon Tsunami. Raytheon lost $1 million on a $2.6 million firm-fixed-price subcontract from a NOAA program to create a tsunami warning system for Alaska and Hawaii, according to a civil complaint filed April 11 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The program called on Raytheon and prime contractor Earth Resource Technology (ERT) to use the already-existing Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) architecture used to forecast other serious weather warnings elsewhere in the country. Raytheon estimated around February 2016 that it would not be able to exit its contract until June 2016 and that it would be at a loss of about $630,000, plus a write-off of previous profit it had recognized. Raytheon declined to comment Friday. The case, Smith v. Raytheon, 1:17-cv-00438-CMH-IDD, is a whistleblower suit.
B/E Part of Rockwell Collins. Rockwell Collins has completed its $8.6 billion acquisition of B/E Aerospace, adding a wide range of cabin interior products for commercial aircraft and business jets to its portfolio. The deal puts Rockwell Collins annual sales over $8 billion based on 2016 results. Rockwell Collins says the deal is expected to generate $125 million in annual after-tax cost savings and boost per share earnings by double-digit percentages in FY ’18.
Cyber Assignments. Brig. Gen. Mary O’Brien is moving from the director of intelligence at U.S. Cyber Command Headquarters in Fort Meade, Md. to commander of the 25th Air Force at Air Combat Command Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, according to a general officer assignment announcement. O’Brien is also being selected to the grade of major general. O’Brien is being succeeded in the position of director of intelligence at Cyber Command Headquarters by Brig. Gen. Timothy D. Haugh. Haugh is currently deputy commander of Joint Task Force ARES at U.S. Cyber Command Headquarters.
Tanium COO/CFO. Tanium appointed Fazal Merchant as the company’s new Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer. Fazal previously served as an advisor to WndrCo and earlier as Chief Financial Officer of DreamWorks Animation before it was sold to Comcast.
Vencore Hire. Vencore appointed Kevin Boyle as senior vice president and general counsel. There he will lead all legal and ethics functions for Vencore in addition to management of the company’s contracts, procurement, and property management organizations. Previously Boyle served as senior vice president, general counsel, and secretary at Alion Science and Technology Corporation. Earlier he held general counsel roles at MCR, Vangent, and General Dynamics.
root9B CEO. Cyber security company root9B Holdings, Inc.’s board of directors appointed Eric Hipkins as CEO effective May 25. Hipkins is the founder of the company’s wholly-owned cyber security division, root9B. Hipkins has served as the subsidiary’s CEO since 2011 and has been a member of the board since 2016 Hipkins is succeeding Joseph Grano, who will remain with the larger company as non-executive chairman of the board. Dan Wachtler will remain the company’s president and chief operating officer. Hipkins is also a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council’s cyber security subcommittee.
Cyber Mission Platform. The U.S. Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a nearly $9.5 million labor-hour and cost contract for the cyber mission platform. Under the contract, the company will provide for continued development, integration, fielding and sustainment for the cyber mission platform. The award comes from a competitive acquisition with five offers received. Funds of almost $1.5 million were obligated at award time. Work will be performed at San Antonio, Texas with an expected completion date of April 11, 2018.
Mitigate Car Hacking. Israel’s Argus Cyber Security disclosed the identification of security vulnerabilities in a Drivelog Connector dongle to Bosch, a supplier of technology and services. After the disclosure, Bosch’s product security incident response team (PSIRT) tooks immediate action to address the issue. The vulnerabilities allow Argus researchers to remotely take over safety-critical vehicle systems through the Bosch Drivelog Connector dongle installed in a vehicle. A vulnerability in the authentication process between the dongle and Drivelog Connect smartphone applications allow researchers to take control of the car via Bluetooth.
Financial Cyber. Global valuation and corporate financial advisor Duff & Phelps released a survey of 200 financial service professionals relating to cyber security priorities. Of the respondents, 86 percent of financial services firms intend to increase the time and resources they spend on cyber security in the next year, compared to 60 percent saying the same a year ago. It says 31 percent of respondents expect cyber security to be the top priority for regulations in 2017, an increase over 19 percent saying the same in 2016. And 21 percent also believe anti-money laundering and “Know Your Customer: consideration,” which overlap with cyber issues, will be the top government regulatory focus.
Cyber Competition. CSRA wins the three-day Palmetto Cyber Defense Competition for the second year in a row. The competition in Charleston, SC has a company team compete against cyber professionals from SAIC, SRC, Parsons, SCANA, Sentar, the South Carolina National Guard, and the Navy Cyber Defense Operations Command.The competition is co-hosted by the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command Atlantic and South Carolina’s Low Country Chapter of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association.
Sidewinder Contract. The Air Force awarded Orbital ATK an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract that could be worth as much as $67 million for AIM-9P Sidewinder missile rocket motors, according to a company statement. The order adds to the more than 30,000 Sidewinder motors the company has produced. The AIM-9 Sidewinder is produced by Raytheon.