LRASM Flight Test. Lockheed Martin’s Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) achieves another successful flight test, with the missile scoring a direct hit on a moving maritime target, according to a company statement. Flying
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| LRASM Photo: Lockheed Martin |
over the sea range at Point Mugu, Calif., an Air Force B-1B bomber released the LRASM, which navigated through all planned waypoints, receiving in-flight targeting updates from the weapon data link. After transitioning to autonomous guidance, LRASM identified the target using inputs from the onboard sensors. The missile then descended for final approach, verified and impacted the target. Lockheed Martin spokeswoman Melissa Hilliard said the company is under contract to conduct another air launch flight test and two more surface launch flight tests, all though increasing complexity, through the end of 2014. The test was conducted in support of a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Office of Naval Research (ONR) program.
STRATCOM Change. Air Force Gen. Robert Kehler relinquishes command of U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) to Navy Adm. Cecil Haney Friday at a change of command ceremony at Offutt AFB, Neb., according to a STRATCOM statement. Kehler, who will retire after more than 38 years of service, assumed command in January 2011. He has commanded at the squadron, group and wing levels and previously served at STRATCOM, first as missile operations staff officer and then as deputy commander. Haney, who comes to STRATCOM as serving as the head of U.S. Pacific Fleet, has also previously served as STRATCOM’s deputy commander.
Inmarsat-5. Boeing ships its first Inmarsat-5 Global Xpress satellite to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for tests, fueling and final integration before launch later this year, according to a company statement. Once in service, the satellite will support Inmarsat’s Global Xpress network, the world’s first high-speed mobile broadband service providing data connectivity for commercial and government users. Inmarsat contracted Boeing to build four 702 high power model Ka-band satellites and partnered with Boeing Commercial Satellite Services to sell commercial bandwidth to U.S. government users. Two additional Inmarsat-5 satellites are currently in production and Boeing recently received authorization from Inmarsat to build a fourth Inmarsat-5 satellite.
Norway LITENING G4. Northrop Grumman delivers LITENING G4 advanced targeting systems to the Royal Danish Air Force for its F-16 aircraft, according to a company statement. The acceptance of the system follows a two-week flight test evaluation of 25 sorties that verified the pod’s performance against stringent requirements. At the conclusion of the test program, Norway issued a certificate of acceptance for the initial delivery of six LITENING G4 pods, spares, support equipment, training and site activation, with additional systems to follow over the next two months. The LITENING G4 advanced targeting pod delivers advancements in sensor, laser imaging and data link technology.
NOAA Series 3.5. The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issues Rolls-Royce a contract for the company’s T56 Series 3.5 engine enhancement package, according to a company statement. The two-year, firm-fixed price contract covers standard overhauls plus technology insertion in 10 engines for two aircraft and spares. Rolls-Royce will contract with Lockheed Martin, manufacturer of the WP-3D “Hurricane Hunter” aircraft, to plan and conduct flight testing of the new enhancement packages, as well as complete engine qualification. The first NOAA WP-3D aircraft with the Series 3.5 enhancements are expected to re-enter service beginning in early 2015.
New R-R Facility. Rolls-Royce opens an advance production facility in Indiana to manufacture components, according to a company statement. The $42 million facility in Indianapolis is designed specifically to manufacture engine compressor parts, including banded stators, which guide and regulate air flow within the compressors of jet engines. It will become fully operational in 2014.
ORS-3 Launch. NASA prepares for Tuesday’s launch of a Minotaur I rocket from the agency’s flight facility at Wallops Island, Va., according to a statement. The Minotaur, manufactured by Orbital Sciences, will launch the Air Force’s Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) office’s ORS-3 mission, which features the deployment of 29 satellites in space. The launch window is 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. EST. The ORS-3 mission, also known as an enabler mission, will demonstrate and validate launch and range improvements for NASA and the Defense Department. These include automated trajectory targeting, range-safety planning and flight termination systems. The launch will also be part of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) certification process for the Minotaur rocket.
NASA Maven. NASA preps for the agency’s next mission to Mars. NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft is scheduled to launch Monday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., at 1:28 p.m. EST on a one-month journey to the red planet. MAVEN is the first spacecraft devoted to exploring and understanding the Martian upper atmosphere. It will take critical measurements of the Martian upper atmosphere to help scientists understand climate change over the planet’s history. Launch will take place on one of United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Atlas V rockets.
GridEx II. The North American Electric Reliability Corp., a non-profit standards development and enforcement entity that ensures the reliability of the bulk-power system in North America, completes its second major cyber and physical security exercise involving the electric utility industry. The two-day GridEx II exercise gave the more than 200 participating industry and government organizations the opportunity to check the readiness of their crisis action plans through a simulated security exercise against certain automated systems to self assess response and recovery capabilities while communicating with each other through private and public information sharing organizations. A report on the finding and recommendations from GridEx II is due in the first quarter of 2014. The first GridEx exercise occurred in 2011.
It Works. Behavioral screening of individuals at airports by trained Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents is a “critical” component risk-based security and helps identify individuals who may be deemed high risk, agency Administrator John Pistole tells a House Homeland Security panel. He says that the agency’s Behavior Detection Officers “have demonstrated that these techniques are an effective means of identifying people engaged in deceptive and or illegal activity, and those who harbor a fear of discovery, all consistent with behaviors that might appear in individuals planning to do harm on board an aircraft.”
…That’s Questionable. However, Stephen Lord, the managing director of the Government Accountability Office’s Forensic Audits and Investigative Service, tells the panel that research doesn’t “support whether non-verbal behavioral indicators can be sued to reliable identify deception.” Commenting on GAO report issued last week about the TSA behavior detection program, Lord says the analyses “we reviewed collectively found that the ability of human observers to accurately identify deceptive behavior based on behavioral cues is the same as or slightly better than chance, 54 percent.”
DHS releases first CDM task orders. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released on Nov. 13 the first task orders for its Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program, according to an official. The first orders will see the 17 companies under the blanket purchase agreement (BPA) compete for tools and sensors for civilian agencies. Responses are due Nov. 22. In partnership with the General Services Administration, DHS drew up the $6 billion BPA in August. CDM is intended to move government agencies from scheduled network checks to constant observation and response in order to keep pace with evolving cyber threats.
DHS responds to audit criticism. A Government Accountability Office report (GAO-13-561) from September criticized the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for not achieving a clean audit of its annual finances, meaning that it cannot account for the entirety of its assets and liabilities. On Friday, officials testified to the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight and Management Efficiency that the department expects to have a clean audit for Fiscal Year 2013. FY12 was the first year that DHS was able to achieve a qualified audit on all of its financial statements. Acting DHS Chief Financial Officer Charles Fulghum testified that DHS was able to account for 90 percent of its $82.7 billion in assets and liabilities in FY12–an increase from only 63 percent in FY09. “This means that the Department has systems in place to responsibly account for its resources,” he said. Fulghum explained that when DHS was founded in 2003 its component parts brought along 100 financial management systems, which the department has been working to consolidate. DHS has undertaken a Financial Systems Modernization initiative, but GAO criticized that the department lacked an adequate picture of the end state it hopes to achieve. DHS is one of only two federal agencies that has not received a clean audit, the other being the Department of Defense.
NATO Dates. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says the next NATO Summit will be Sept. 4-5 2014, and will be in the United Kingdom. “This Summit will be an important opportunity for NATO,” he says. “We will mark the conclusion, at the end of 2014, of our ISAF mission, as well as a new phase of our engagement in Afghanistan. We will take further steps to modernize our alliance so that it remains strong, flexible and ready to face any security challenge. And we will reaffirm the bond between Europe and North America that is the source of our strength, our security and our success.”
Rocket Dog. ATK supports the Marshall Legacy Institute (MLI) that donates highly trained landmine detection dogs to mine-affected countries and trains local handlers. It also provides prostheses and rehabilitative care to by landmines, and vocational training to restore dignity and hope. Guy Bourn, ATK’s vice president of Defense Systems, and a retired Army Maj. Gen., is on the MLI Board of Directors. ATK’s newly sponsored dog, MDD Rocket, completed his training at the Mine Detection Dog Center in Bosnia, Herzegovina, and deployed to Azerbaijan where he was paired with his new handler at the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action. MDD Rocket will carry on the legacy of the retired MDD Duco, sponsored by ATK in 2005, who searched more than 1.5 million square meters of mine-contaminated land in Azerbaijan, allowing people to return to their homes, grow crops, herd animals, go to school, and live, work and play on the land without fear.
New Award. General Dynamics C4 Systems receives the DoD 2013 Nunn-Perry Award, Office of Small Business programs in recognition of its commitment and performance as a mentor to nFocus Solutions, a woman-owned small business headquartered in Phoenix. The Nunn-Perry award recognizes superior performance in the areas of quality, technical assistance, return on investment and protégé development. General Dynamics C4 Systems and nFocus Solutions began the mentor-protégé partnership in 2006 continuing through 2012. nFocus Solutions is now a major subcontractor on Army’s Digital Training Management System, which provides the detailed training status of more than two million soldiers and civilians worldwide.
New Joint Venture. The Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis (INEGMA) opens INEGMA-EU, a Joint Venture based in Brussels, Belgium. The new JV marks an important expansion for INEGMA and will support its long-term growth with European partners operating across the financial, energy, and defense sectors. INEGMA is a strategy and security consultancy, a research house, and a leading conference organizer in defense, security, and risk areas. It is headquartered in Dubai, UAE, with offices in Washington D.C., and Beirut, Lebanon. INEGMA-EU will be led by Cyril Widdershoven and Heinrich Matthew, who bring international experience and expertise in investment and risk management across numerous sectors, including oil and gas, energy, and security.