The Latest On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
Cyber Levin. SASC Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) urges President Barack Obama to tell Chinese President Xi Jinping when they meet this week that the United States “will indeed impose real costs on China should they continue to steal our intellectual property.” The Washington Post reports May 28 that more than two dozen weapons programs have been compromised through “cyber exploitation” by Chinese hackers, according to a confidential version of a Defense Science Board report and military and industry sources. In a May 29 letter to Obama, Levin cites the Deter Cyber Theft Act, which he has introduced with senators including Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). The bill calls for the creation of a watch list of countries that conduct economic or industrial espionage in cyberspace against the United States.
NATO News. NATO will hold a summit next year on the war in Afghanistan and the Afghans’ plans to take the lead for security after combat troops leave in the end of 2014, President Barack Obama says May 31 at the White House. At the 2014 summit “not only will we be able to underscore this final chapter in our Afghan operations, but also to paint a picture of a future whereby we’re partnering with the Afghan government on behalf of the Afghan people and on behalf of world security,” Obama says after a bilateral meeting with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. NATO now is preparing a training mission for Afghans in 2015, Rasmussen says. “It will be a very different mission–a non-combat mission with a significantly lower number of troops and trainers.” He says NATO is “prepared for an enduring partnership with the Afghan people.”
HAC-D, HASC. Wednesday will be a big day on Capitol Hill, as both the HAC-D and HASC will mark up their versions of fiscal year 2014 defense budget legislation, though in very different settings. The powerful HAC-D will hold a closed markup session of the budget-setting defense appropriations bill at 11 a.m. in the first floor of the Capitol building, it announces May 31. The HASC, meanwhile, will hold is marathon markup session of the policy-setting defense authorization bill, which often runs past midnight, starting at 10 a.m. that day in the Rayburn House Office building. The SASC subcommittees will start marking up their versions of that authorization bill on June 11, followed by the full SASC markup starting June 12. Most of the Senate panel’s sessions will be closed to the public.
U.S., Canada Border Cooperation. The United States and Canada last week released the first ever plan for joint border infrastructure investments, outlining an approach to coordinate plans for physical infrastructure upgrades at small and remote ports of entry between the two countries. “The Border Infrastructure Investment Plan offers enhanced security along our shared U.S.-Canadian border, while reducing wait times at major border crossings, increasing the flow of traffic across the border while ensuring safe and secure trade and travel,” says U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. The plan provides a mutual understanding of recent, ongoing and potential border infrastructure investments.
NASA Global Hawks. Northrop Grumman and NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center continue sharing the company’s Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for science missions and flight demonstrations, including hurricane surveillance, atmospheric research and exploration of new capabilities under an extended Space Act Agreement, according to a company statement. The agreement continues through April 30, 2018, and allows for joint use and shared cost of the NASA Global Hawks. The initial Space Act Agreement, signed in 2008, returned two preproduction Global Hawks to flight status. Under the partnership, a permanent ground control station was built at Dryden, which is located at Edwards AFB, Calif.
NG CEESIM. The General Services Administration (GSA) awards Northrop Grumman a task order to provide its enhanced Combat Electromagnetic Environment Simulator (CEESIM) to the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, according to a company statement. The CEESIM is an advanced technology simulator that generates complex dynamic electromagnetic environments to simulate true-to-war conditions. The new system includes an updated user interface that makes programming of complex emitters more intuitive while allowing the operator to customize the interface to suit specific needs. It also includes latest-generation digital hardware that is optimized to produce greater pulse density for advanced threats. The Warner Robins ALC is located at Robins AFB, Ga.
ATK WGS-5. ATK propulsion and composite technologies support the successful May 24 launch of the fifth Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) satellite aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV rocket, according to a company statement. The Delta IV rocket featured four ATK 60-inch diameter graphite epoxy motors (GEM-60), mounted in pairs on opposing sides of the rocket, with one fixed and one vectorable nozzle per side. The engines burned for 90 seconds and provided more than 1.1 million pounds of thrust. The nozzle for Delta IV’s RS-68 engine was designed and manufactured at ATK’s Utah facility. ATK also designed and produced the nozzle’s thermal protection material, which is capable of shielding the nozzle from the extreme heat of launch when external temperatures can exceed 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
MSV Gate Review. A Northrop Grumman-led team recently completes the third gate review of its first Modular Space Vehicle (MSV) bus assembly, integration and test, marking completion of functional testing, according to a company statement. The team will next conduct comprehensive “day in the life” testing for the Operationally Responsive Space-2 (ORS-2) bus, leading to hardware acceptance by the Air Force’s ORS program office. The ORS office held an open house May 9 at Applied Technology Associates in Albuquerque, N.M., where hardware integration and testing were performed to mark the occasion. Northrop Grumman’s MSV spacecraft design is the first to implement a modular, rapidly reconfigurable architecture using open standards developed by an industry consortium in conjunction with the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Air Force’s ORS office at Kirtland AFB, N.M.
Boeing CCP. Boeing and United Launch Alliance successfully complete the first wind tunnel test for connected scale models of the Crew Space Transportation-100 (CST-100) capsule, launch vehicle adaptor and Atlas V rocket, according to a Boeing statement. The team also completed a thrust test of the Centaur rocket stage. The CST-100 will be able to transport seven people, or a mix of people and cargo, to low Earth orbit (LEO) destinations such as the International Space Station. The successful completion of the events bring the United States one step closer to regaining its capability to return humans to space.
Donovan Award. The OSS Society will present the 2013 William J. Donovan Award to Adm. William McRaven, commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, Oct. 26 in Washington. The non-profit OSS Society celebrates the historic accomplishments of the OSS during World War II and its successor organizations. In 1947, OSS founder Gen. William “Wild Bill” Donovan founded the Veterans of OSS, the predecessor to The OSS Society.
Sign Here. Today national representatives at the United Nations will sign the new Arms Trade Treaty that for the first time creates common international standards that must be met before states authorize transfers of conventional weapons or export ammunition and weapons parts and components. “The United States played a key role in shaping this historic global Arms Trade Treaty. Now, President Obama can help build support for the treaty and move it closer toward entry into force by agreeing to be among the first world leaders to sign the pact,” says Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association in a recent commentary on its blog: www.armscontrolnow.org. The Barack Obama administration has yet to reveal if the United States will be among the first countries to sign the treaty.
New National Chair. Retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Mock is Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s choice as the national chair for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, a DoD operational committee that seeks to foster a culture in which all employers support and value the employment and military service of members of the National Guard and Reserve. ESGR’s national chair is an official Defense Department volunteer position. The position carries a three-year term and the protocol status of a four-star flag or general officer. A retired lieutenant with the Los Angeles Police Department, Mock also has extensive experience serving military members and their families through work with AUSA, the Fisher House Foundation and the Military Child Education Coalition. He will lead a team of more than 4,900 volunteers spanning all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
New CFO. Bell Helicopter says Al Vetere is now Chief Financial Officer, as former CFO Tony Viotto plans to retire at the end of the year. “I am confident Al will build on the solid foundation already set and take our finance team to the next level,” says John Garrison, Bell Helicopter president and CEO. Working closely with the leadership team, Vetere helped Bell Helicopter secure two multi-year contracts on the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey program and he has been a driving force behind business process improvements across the military programs, the company says.