McCain’s Ships. SASC Ranking Member John McCain (R-Ariz.) wants to invest in Navy ships and help Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) nations with their naval capabilities, he says June 20 at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Conference on Maritime Security in the South China Sea. “The United States must continue to make the necessary investments in our defense capabilities, especially naval forces, in order to remain the world’s leading military power,” he says at the Washington event. While he believes some defense cuts are necessary, he argues they must be guided by strategy. He also calls for the nation “help our ASEAN partners to build up their maritime defense and detection capabilities–to develop and deploy basic systems such as early warning radar and coastal security vessels.” He adds: “Remedying this lack of capacity, and enhancing our joint exercises, would provide for a more common operational picture in the South China Sea and a better ability to respond to threats.”
SASC Secrets. The SASC casts seven roll call votes during its closed markup of the FY ’12 defense authorization bill last week. The successful measures include one approved unanimously, and highlighted by SASC Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.), that would make Lockheed Martin’s lot 5 F-35 contract fixed priced and require the company pay all cost overruns. Another successful motion, passed by a 17-9 vote, calls for full committee markups to remain closed to the public. Motions that failed in the SASC markup include one from McCain, unveiled last week, to place the F-35 on probation and terminate it at the end of 2012 if costs are 10 percent over the target amount; it was defeated in a 13-13 vote. The senators who voted with McCain in favor of his unsuccessful measure are SASC Airland subcommittee Ranking Member Scott Brown (D-Mass.) and Seapower subcommittee Ranking Member Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), along with Sens. Jim Webb (D-Va.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and David Vitter (R-La.)
Alternate Language. The SASC’s version of the FY ’12 defense authorization bill is now available and says the following regarding the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter alternate engine, the F136, which it does not support: “None of the amounts authorized to be appropriated by this Act may be obligated or expended for research, development, test, or evaluation on the F136 engine….No research, development, test, or evaluation on the F136 engine that is conducted and funded by the contractor may be considered an allowable charge on any future government contract, whether as a direct or indirect cost.” The language was championed by Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I/D-Conn.), chairman of the SASC’s Airland subcommittee.
Insourcing Heartburn. Small companies tell the House Small Business Committee June 23 that insourcing of jobs to government positions has harmed them. Bonnie Carroll says her company, Information International Associates, lost 15 percent of its employees to insourcing activities by the Air Force over the past eight months. She says in a statement the contract performance of the company, which performs training and support services for the Pentagon and other parts of the government, “has been outstanding as evidenced by our annual evaluations…our contract prices have been shown to save over 33 percent of previous government in-house costs estimated.” Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), chairman of the panel’s Contracting and Workforce subcommittee, reportedly wants the Obama administration to curb insourcing activities.
Development Lobby. More than 50 international-development companies have formed the Coalition of International Development Companies (CIDC), which says it will “inform and educate policymakers and the public about the critical role we play in delivering accountable and transparent development projects that support U.S. national security, economic, and humanitarian goals.” The international-development companies say June 22 that together they will “better shape policy debates” regarding foreign aid. The CIDC says it “operates in partnership with” the Professional Services Council and its International Development Task Force.
Launched. For the first time, the Navy completed a successful launch of a Remote Multi-Mission Vehicle from the decks of a Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), according Naval Sea Systems Command notice. Deployment and recovery missions for the RMMV were conducted off the USS Independence (LCS-2) near the command’s facility in Panama City, Fla., according to the statement. The RMMV is a key component for the ship’s Remote Minehunting System (RMS), which is part of the mine countermeasure mission module for LCS. Testing for the RMS, which is the RMMV paired with an AN/AQS 24A towed-body, sonar sensor, is scheduled for this summer, the notice states.
On Deck. The Navy finalized a deal with shipbuilding firm Huntington Ingalls Industries for the construction of the next ship in the Arleigh Burke-class line of destroyers, which will be the 63rd ship in the line, according to a service announcement. Construction of the DDG-113 will take place at HII’s shipyards in Pascagoula, Miss., according to service officials. The DDG-133 award will be the last one issued under the service’s current procurement strategy. Beginning with DDG-114, the Navy will now conduct the planned procurement of those ships via a limited competition between the current DDG shipbuilders to generate competitive pricing, the announcement says.
Command Change. Rear Adm.Gretchen Herbert is the new commanding officer for Navy Cyber Forces, officially taking the reins from Rear Adm. Thomas Meek last week during a change of command ceremony held at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Ft. Story. Before taking command of CYBERFOR, Herbert served as the director of the Communications, Networks and Chief Information Officer (CIO) Division, in the Navy’s Information Dominance directorate (N2/N6). Meek is slated to assume the role of director of military support at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
Ice Breakers. The nation, at a minimum, needs at least two heavy ice breakers for its Arctic missions but for now it will have to continue to settle for one in a resource constrained environment, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Bob Papp tells a Senate Commerce panel. One heavy ice breaker, the Polar Sea, is being decommissioned this year because it is too costly to repair its engines while funding is going to reactivate the Polar Star, which hopefully will be around for 10 more years until a long-term solution can be found for the ice breaker fleet, Papp says. The Coast Guard operates a medium ice breaker, the Healy.
…Options Forthcoming. The Obama administration is putting the final touches on the High Latitude Study, which will offer a range of options for carrying out Arctic operations, Papp says. Of course, he says, when a range of options is put forth, “particularly in a constrained budget time, it causes a lot of people to choke.” Papp says he hasn’t seen a study yet that hasn’t called for “more Coast Guard.” He expects the study to be released this summer and show a need for a range of ice breakers. Then it comes down to affordability and who will operate them.
TSOs go With AFGE. The votes are in and the federal Transportation Security Officer corps (TSO) has decided to be represented by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) union to represent them in workforce negotiations with their employer, the Transportation Security Agency (TSA). The vote in favor of the AFGE was 8,903 to 8,447 over the National Treasury Employees Union. In February TSA Chief John Pistole permitted his agency’s workers to move forward with plans for collective bargaining rights, although on a limited basis (Defense Daily, Feb. 8). By limited, Pistole means TSOs are not allowed to strike or participate in work slowdowns, and they are not allowed to bargain on security policies, procedures, the deployment of security personnel or equipment, pay, pensions and any form of compensation, proficiency testing, job qualifications or discipline standards.
…Win for Big Labor. Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, says ultimately the fact that TSOs are now unionized means it’s a win for “big labor.” Mica, who is especially critical of Pistole’s decision earlier this year to halt any expansion of a private sector program from taking over screening operations at airports that want to move away from federal screeners, says sarcastically of the union vote, “The traveling public will be absolutely delighted to learn that big labor has captured the TSA’s army of airport screeners.” He adds that, “While collective bargaining for airport screeners may sound like a solution to a dysfunctional workplace, only a dramatic overhaul of TSA will provide a proper structure for improved employment conditions, employee respect, and the best possible security operations.”
Formal Initiative. Defence Force chiefs from Australia and New Zealand sign a Joint Statement on the ANZAC Ready Response Force (RRF). The statement formalizes an initiative of the Australian and New Zealand governments to leverage their close relationship to plan and exercise for joint emergency responses in the region. The two defense forces will work together to develop and exercise plans under the RRF for a common response to these types of regional contingencies, and the first exercise with an RRF element will be held later this year. An essential component of the agreement has been for New Zealand personnel to embed with Australian planning staff in the Australian Defense Force Deployable Joint Force Headquarters in Brisbane to enable a collaborative approach to planning.
Supporting Transition. BAE Systems was awarded a $14.2 million contract to provide field service representatives to support the transition activities of 1,026 refurbished M113A2s and 21 refurbished M88A1s to the Iraqi Army. This work will include maintenance support and training to the crews and units that will operate and maintain this equipment. “We have provided this type of support to U.S. allies and partners for decades, and understand the importance of helping to increase capabilities for the Iraqi Army,” says Robert Houston, vice president of the Readiness and Sustainment business at BAE. “The training and support we are providing will give Iraqi soldiers the knowledge and confidence they need to operate this U.S. equipment.”
More Collaborating. EADS and Skolkovo Innovation Centre sign a new agreement on further collaboration at the Paris Air Show. The Agreement is building on the partnership between EADS and Skolkovo which has been set up in March 2011. The agreement is defining the road map for the implementation of an EADS research center in Skolkovo, which shall be operational in the second half of this year. The new EADS presence in Skolkovo will take the form of an R&D Center. The Center act as an incubator which will take technological and industrial challenges from EADS’s divisions, Airbus, Eurocopter, Cassidian and Astrium and, together with Russian partners, develop solutions through to industrialized results. Possible areas for collaboration are communication systems, UAVs, advanced engines and energy handling. EADS will also attract students and scientific bodies of the Skolkovo Institute of Technology to participate in the research activity conducted by EADS.
Skills Test. Fuerzas Comando 2011, a military skills competition between some of the top military and police Special Operations teams in the Western Hemisphere, was hosted by El Salvador, June 15-23. The event included security forces from 18 countries, including the United States in contests that promote military-to-military relationships, increased interoperability and improved regional security. Special Operations Command South is the lead U.S. military organization for coordinating the U.S. Southern Command-sponsored exercise. Fuerzas Comando 2011 tests the participants’ physical and psychological endurance through obstacles on land and on the water. It had two parts: a multinational special operations skills competition and a senior leader seminar.
Custom Axles. General Dynamics’ AxleTech International receives an award from Textron Marine & Land Systems to produce independent suspension axle systems for the Medium Armored Security Vehicle (MASV) program. The award is for 240 vehicle sets of axles. The system is a customized variant of AxleTech’s 4000 and 5000 Series planetary independent suspension axle systems. The Army awarded the contract to Textron Marine & Land Systems in June, which includes options to produce up to 440 vehicles for the Afghanistan National Army. Nine distinct vehicle configurations were derived from the combat-proven M1117 Armored Security Vehicle (ASV) family of vehicles through the U.S. Army Foreign Military Sales process.
M-ATV Protection. Oshkosh Defense will supply more than 5,100 MRAP All-Terrain Vehicle (M-ATV) protection kits to the military following an order from the Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command (LCMC). The protection kits were designed to address the ever-changing and increasing threats in theater including improvised explosive devices (IED). Under a separate order, Oshkosh was also selected to provide tooling and labor to support installation of the protection kits. “The M-ATVs are specifically designed to offer troops optimal protection and mobility on the battlefield,” says Ken Juergens, vice president and general manager of Joint Programs for Oshkosh Defense. “The advanced Oshkosh design easily accommodates the underbody protection kits, offering added protection without sacrificing payload.”
Heading South. Lockheed Martin’s JLTV program moves to Dallas from Owego, N.Y., Kathryn Hasse, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control Director of JLTV Program says in an interview with Defense Daily. The move is expected to produce the “synergies and efficiencies that can be realized between unmanned and manned programs co-located together,” she says. Thre’s also a test track and the engineering area is located adjacent to the prototype facility all in one facility. The move also meets Defense Secretary Gates expectation that industry would do what it could to drive out unnecessary cost in programs.
ORS-1 Preview. A scheduled June 28 launch of ORS-1 at Los Angeles AFB will mark a significant step in a cooperative project designed to deliver a tactically focused satellite to enhance DoD’ imaging capability in 30 months, the Air Force says. Propelled by a Minotaur I rocket, the ORS-1 will be in orbit for 30 days and then handed off to DoD. Its unique design and communications systems will be compatible with current airborne platforms in CENTCOM and therefore a viable addition, the service says.