Navy Cloud. A Navy official says the service isn’t going after a fully cloud-enabled computing environment–contrary to what many consider as the optimal deployment of cloud. Instead, the service will retrofit some legacy systems and migrate data to the cloud when feasible. “It’s not physically possible given our physical constraints,” especially under a declining budget, Gary Toth, program officer at the Office of Naval Research, says at the C4ISR Networks
conference on May 6. For example, the Navy can still use cloud-based analytics programs to tackle big data, even if the data isn’t stored in the cloud. Toth says a hybrid environment with legacy systems and the cloud is more affordable at present due to transition costs.
…Automation And Human O
perator. Despite increased use of automated systems, the military will not forego people in place of computers. “The human operator is still our best weapon” in complicated battle environments, adds Toth. Autonomy, however, is one of seven emphasis areas for science and technology at the Department of Defense. Automation is set to grow in two ways: training and insider threat detection, according to Alex Rossino, analyst for software provider Deltek. Computer software can generate virtual environments to help train soldiers and sailors when declining operations and maintenance funds cancel training exercises. For cybersecurity purposes, analytics software can automatically assess anomalies on networks and deliver reports on suspicious employee activities.
SpaceX Scrub. Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) scrubs its scheduled May 10 Falcon 9 launch of six ORBCOMM next-generation satellites, according to a SpaceX statement. The company says a static test fire in advance of the launch was scrubbed the morning of May 9 during fueling, but doesn’t explain why and didn’t respond to a request for comment. SpaceX says both the rocket and satellites are in good condition but, because of schedule constraints, the launch is postponed past this weekend, with the next opportunity most likely in late May. ORBCOMM says its OG2 satellites slated for launch are “far more” advanced than its current OG1 satellites and will provide existing customers with significant enhancements, such as faster message delivery, larger message sizes and better coverage at higher latitudes
C-5 Reliability. The Air Force May 8 awards Lockheed Martin a $509 million fixed-price modification contract for the C-5 Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program (RERP), according to a service statement. The contract modification is for incorporation of the C-5 RERP Lot 7 material and fabrication effort. Work is expected to be completed by May 2018. The C-5 is undergoing a two-phase modernization effort: RERP and the Avionics Modernization Program (AMP). AMP adds a new, modern cockpit with a digital, all-weather flight control system and autopilot; a new communications suite, flat-panel displays and enhanced navigation and safety equipment. AMP is the digital backbone to support RERP.
AEHF Production. Production ramps up for the Air Force’s fifth and sixth Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) protected communications satellites due to more than 36,000 integrated circuits provided by Northrop Grumman. The company says it is producing Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits (MMIC) for Lockheed Martin, prime contractor for AEHF. MMICs provide frequency conversion, amplification and switching and are integrated throughout major subsystems that enable real-time mobile, global access. Three AEHF satellites are on-orbit with three more in production.
Ball SAM Project. Ball Aerospace and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) demonstrate new human performance technologies helping a quadriplegic former race car driver safely drive a vehicle, according to a company statement. As part of the SAM, or semi-autonomous motorcar, Project, Ball helps engineer technologies to prevent and lessen future injuries by learning how humans can effectively interact with machines. Ball leads the creation of the human-machine interface and the driver guidance system that are key elements of the SAM Project. The Ball engineering team identifies the driver’s abilities and matches them to what is needed to drive the car. Determining the optimal combination of machine-controlled and human-controlled functions is critical to this process. Arrow Electronics, Schmidt Peterson Motor Sports and Falci Adaptive Motorsports also participate on the SAM Project.
ATK CASA-235. ATK delivers the first modified CASA-235 light gunship aircraft to Jordan, according to a company statement. ATK was awarded a contract by the King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau (KADDB) to modify two of the country’s CASA-235 transport aircraft into highly capable and cost-effective special mission aircraft. ATK began a U.S.-based flight and gun test program in the fall to validate the performance of the gunship and to perform system checkouts. Testing included a full suite of aircraft flying qualities, sensor and weapons testing, with accuracy validation completed in March. ATK provides the system integration and aircraft modifications to turn a CASA-235, originally a cargo plane, into a multi-mission gunship. The CASA-235 is developed by Airbus.
LM SBIRS GEO-4. Lockheed Martin moves to satellite assembly, integration and testing for the fourth Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO-4) space vehicle after completing the propulsion module, according to a company statement. Final assembly and test of the GEO-4 satellite’s propulsion module occurred earlier this year. The propulsion module maneuvers the satellite during transfer orbit to its final location and conducts on-orbit repositioning maneuvers throughout its mission life. The completed propulsion module will be shipped to the company’s Sunnyvale, Calif., facility, where the satellite power and avionics boxes will be added before installing the mission payload that will be delivered by Northrop Grumman later this year. SBIRS provides missile warning and infrared surveillance information. The GEO-3 satellite is preparing for acoustic and thermal vacuum testing and is on schedule for delivery to the Air Force by the end of 2014.
Harris MUOS. Harris completes one of a series of interoperability test for its Falcon III AN/PRC-117G multiband manpack radio hosting Lockheed Martin’s Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) waveform, according to a Harris statement. The tests took place at Lockheed Martin’s MUOS test radio access facility in Sunnyvale, Calif., which is operated on behalf of the federal government by Lockheed Martin. The test facility includes a ground station, satellite payload and simulators to emulate various environmental scenarios, such as operations in the rain, under forest canopy and within buildings. Lockheed Martin says radios that are not program of record like manpack have the ability to use the facility to quickly vet their system with MUOS and apply for certification. The Navy’s MUOS is a next-generation narrowband tactical satellite communications system designed to significantly improve ground communication for U.S. forces on the move.
Details Wanted. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) files a civil action, a Freedom of Information Act action, calling for the Army to release records on the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Elevated Netted Sensor (JLENS) system. EPIC says the service failed to disclose technical and policy information it requested in November. EPIC wants the court to release the info as it has exhausted other administrative remedies. The Army, meanwhile, plans to deploy the surveillance system JLENS in the Washington, D.C., area over the next three years. The system consists of two tethered 74 meter aerostats, mobile mooring stations and communications and processing. One aerostat carries surveillance radar, the other fire control radar. JLENS also can carry other surveillance equipment such as Raytheon’s MTS-B Multi-Spectral Targeting System.
Protected Vehicle. Before SOFEX 2014 in Jordan was rained out and closed down, Oshkosh Defense displayed its Light Combat tactical All-Terrain Vehicle (L-ATV). Oshkosh designed the L-ATV to meet a global need for a new level of protected mobility for a light vehicle and to replace decades-old light vehicle fleets that lack protection capabilities against today’s most significant threats, including IEDs and RPGs. The Oshkosh L-ATV was selected for the U.S. Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program’s current development phase and it is undergoing rigorous government testing.
Combat Roles? U.K. Defense Secretary Philip Hammond says a review starts immediately into whether women can serve in combat roles. The review will wrap up by the end of 2014. Women already serve in the majority of armed forces roles. Says the Chief of the General Staff, Gen. Sir Peter Wall: “Our experience in Afghanistan has highlighted the increasingly important contribution women are making to operations. It is now sensible to review the army’s approach to the employment of female soldiers in the combat arms of the army: the Royal Armored Corps and the infantry. The key factor informing this judgment will be the delivery of operational effectiveness.” Women recently have moved into previously closed roles such as clearance diver in 2010, and as of December 2011 can serve on submarines. The first three female submariners recently qualified.
B-61 Questioned. Reps. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) and Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) brought up but then withdrew B61 bomb-related amendments during the May 7 HASC markup of the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act. Garamendi proposed two, one that would require a comptroller general report on the nuclear triad and whether there are any redundancies or excess infrastructure that could lead to savings. His second would require a briefing on whether B61s in the United States could provide deterrence for European allies rather than forward-deploying the assets. Sanchez took a different approach to make a similar point, and her amendment would withhold 10 percent of the B61 life extension program funding until the defense and energy secretaries report on the cost-sharing arrangements of nuclear weapons between the U.S. and NATO partners and certify that those arrangements are being met. Garamendi says “the question of whether this will ever be deployed in Europe is an open question,” and Sanchez adds that if the U.S. was paying for the whole life extension program, it ought to question the size of that arsenal.
… Also Withdrawn: Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) proposed an amendment to ask the Navy for a briefing on its plan for a next-generation ice breaker ship, which he withdrew after seapower and projection forces subcommittee chairman Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) noted that the Navy’s shipbuilding budget had enough problems in the coming years without the added fiscal stress of an ice breaker program. And HASC ranking member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) proposed two amendments he withdrew and will offer again during the House floor debate–one to authorize a round of Base Realignment and Closure to help the military keep its operations costs down, and one to allow illegal aliens brought to the United States as children to join the military. When Smith offered the BRAC amendment and acknowledged it wouldn’t pass on the floor, HASC chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) simply said, “I commend him for his courage.”
High Risk De-List. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been on the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) High-Risk list for problems with a number of core management functions and major acquisition programs since its inception but may be able to get off the list in the “relatively short-term” if it continues to make progress, Gene Dodaro, the comptroller general of the United States, tells the House Homeland Security Committee. The department has met GAO’s criteria for removing two of five areas from the high-risk list but needs to show another year of a clean financial audit opinion, demonstrate that some of its acquisitions can come in on budget, on time and still meet requirements, among other things, Dodaro says. He adds that it’s still “going to take a while to actually produce these results.”
…Johnson Making An Effort. New Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson in April issued a department-wide memo “Strengthening Departmental Unity of Effort” aimed in part at creating “better traceability between strategic objectives, budgeting, acquisition decisions, operational planning, and mission execution, in order to improve both departmental cohesiveness and operational effectiveness.” Some of the new initiatives planned by Johnson are more frequent senior leadership meetings, improved management processes that include an update to the acquisition management framework, a focused headquarters effort to better support department-wide decision-making and operations, and an enhanced effort for joint operations.
Loaned Executives. Under its Loaned Executives Program, the Department of Homeland Security has six positions open under the Transportation Security Administration and Customs and Border Protection to support efforts to promote travel and tourism. The unpaid positions, which are for six months with the option for six-month renewal, include a senior adviser for metrics to help CBP on issues related to the development and deployment of enterprise level self-service technologies. The two agencies are also seeking senior advisers for customer service, line and crowd management, logistics, metrics, and staffing models. The six-year old program allows private sector executives and experts to share their expertise with the department.
Watching French Mistrals. As the feud with Russia over the crisis in Ukraine continues to simmer, many observers are keeping an eye on whether France will stick with plans to provide Moscow with amphibious assault ships. The first of the two Mistral-class ships is to be delivered this October under a $1.2 billion agreement in 2011, with the second one set to arrive in 2015. Several of France’s NATO partners have raised concerns about the arms sale, including the United States. Victoria Nuland, the U.S. assistant secretary of state of Europe, tells lawmakers Thursday, days ahead of a visit by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius to Washington, that U.S. officials will continue to press the issue. “We have regularly and consistently expressed our concerns about this sale even before we had the latest Russian actions and we will continue to do so,” Nuland tells the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. France has said it will not make a final decision on the transfer until October, around the time of the first delivery.
Scrapping An Aircraft Carrier. The Navy has awarded ESCO Marine of Brownsville, Texas a contract to tow, dismantle and recycle the decommissioned aircraft carrier Saratoga, which was removed from service in 1994 after 38 years in the fleet. The Navy is paying ESCO Marine $0.01 for the work, while the company retains the profits from the sales of the scrap metal. The contract is the second of three the Navy has planned to award for the scrapping of old carriers. In October, the Navy contracted All Star Metals of Brownsville, Texas to dispose of the Forrestal under the same terms. A third contract is pending to International Shipbreaking Ltd., also of Brownsville, to dismantle and scrap the Constellation.