SSC Modifications Planned. The Marine Corps has requested modifications to the Ship-to-Shore Connector to enable the Amphibious Combat Vehicle to launch off the connector while in the water, Brig. Gen. William Mullen, director of the Marine Corps’ Capabilities Development Directorate, says at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event. He says the Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) proved the same capability with the slow-moving Assault Amphibious Vehicle around 1988, but the SSCs will need some alterations to do the same in-stream launch with the future ACVs. “We don’t want to change any design, we’re not trying to impact that program, but we asked them where possible can we make modifications, engineering modifications that will enable us to launch off of those things?” Contractor Textron is working on the eighth vessel now, Mullen says, so the in-stream launch capability likely won’t be included until the 10th connector.
… USMC Has Connector Gap
. The Marine Corps says it’s facing a gap in the number and type of connectors it has to bring Marines, vehicles and weapons from ship to shore, and it’s existing and planned fleets of LCACs, Landing Craft Utilities (LCU) and their replacements will not be enough to meet the service’s needs in the coming years. “The sky’s the limit as far as I’m concerned–we’re willing to look at anything, especially in RDT&E dollars,” Mullen tells reporters after his CSIS presentation. “Now the hard part is, when something proves itself out, finding the money to transition to a program of record. That’s where things get difficult.” He mentioned a half-scale Ultra Heavy-lift Amphibious Connector, as well as high-speed sleds, as ideas that have already come to the Marines’ attention. 
A lesson In Defense Budgets. House Armed Services readiness subcommittee chairman Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) hosted about 50 congressional staffers last week at a briefing about the Overseas Contingency Operations fund, hoping to help non-HASC members understand the effect sequestration is having on the military budget. He says he hosted about 90 members for classified briefings on military readiness last year as lawmakers sought an alternative to sequestration, and with at least 56 new members joining the House in January, he plans to host a new round of briefings then too. “We are making sure that our members get the information about what’s going on and they understand proportionally, too, where defense falls in line with total efforts to address the deficit,” he tells reporters at a Defense Writers Group breakfast.
CMC-Select Supports 12th LPD. Gen. Joseph Dunford, selected to take over as commandant of the Marine Corps later this year, says during his Senate confirmation hearing that he would “support anything that would allow us to maintain an effective amphibious ship inventory,” given that the Marines only have 31 ships when the goal is 38 and the fiscally constrained goal is 33. The Senate Armed Services Committee asks Dunford in pre-hearing questions if the upcoming reduction in Marine Corps end strength meant that a 12th LPD-class amphibious transport dock–which the Navy did not ask for but Congress is likely to fund in fiscal year 2015–would be unnecessary. He responds no, that the 12th LPD “is critical” in meeting forward presence requirements.
Building Bridges. Acrow Bridge, a leading international bridge engineering and supply company, says four prefabricated modular steel bridges have been provided by the U.S. Army Security Assistance Command (USASAC) to Nepal as part of its program to help regions around the world respond quickly to national emergencies. Acrow bridges are assembled from steel bridge components that can be quickly transported, assembled and reused where needed. The bridges for Nepal will be stored along the country’s major highways to keep a main supply route open in the event of a disaster. The bridges are over 76 meters long and 5 meters wide, with a load capacity of up to 120 tons. They can be assembled within 12 hours to different lengths and widths, using minimal equipment. Bill Killeen, Acrow president and CEO, says, “We are proud to provide a solution that works well in a variety of situations and delivers immediate benefits to surrounding communities.” Nepalese army personnel recently completed a training course and will be trainers to help the Nepalese Army provide emergency response and humanitarian relief when needed.
A Decade of Partnership. Boeing and Corpus Christi Army Depot (CCAD) celebrate 10 years of partnering on the repair and overhaul of Army AH-64 Apache and CH-47 Chinook helicopters. “Our relationship with CCAD is a true partnership where we share best practices that create significant improvements in cost, repair turnaround time and surplus inventory,” says Tim Sassenrath, vice president and program manager for Boeing Rotorcraft Support. “We bring the breadth of Boeing’s resources to ensure the partnership meets the customer’s needs, and we look forward to continuing our successful legacy of supporting the warfighter.” The partnership, begun in 2004. During the past 10 years, surplus inventory has decreased from $90 million to less than $30 million and throughput at the depot has improved by 50 percent. “Being on site with our customer provides Boeing the agility and flexibility to adjust to emerging requirements from supporting routine maintenance to the unscheduled repairs of battle-damaged aircraft,” says Lisa Stuart, program manager and Boeing site lead at CCAD. “We both benefit from the partnership.”
The Next Generation Line. The Transportation Security Administration is offering a not-so-whopping $15,000 total under its Next Generation Checkpoint Queue Design and Model challenge, inviting anyone to apply a scientific and simulation modeling approach to designing its check point security lines for trusted travelers, standard travelers, premier fliers, employees and flight crews. The agency says queue layouts at airports with the PreCheck trusted traveler lanes need to adapt to support the expanding PreCheck population. The “Ideation Challenge” guarantees at least one award for a submitted solution. The president also nominated Joseph Nimmich as deputy administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Filling Slots. President Obama on Friday says he planned to nominate Chip Fulghum as the next chief financial officer of the Department of Homeland Security, moving to fill one of several still vacant senior leadership positions at the department. Fulghum is the DHS budget director and has been serving as the acting CFO since 2013 as well. Fulghum retired from the Air Force in 2012 with the rank of Colonel, having held a number of budget and financial positions, most recently director of Air Force budget programs. Obama also nominates Joseph Nimmich to be deputy administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Nimmich is currently the associate administrator for the Office of Response and Recovery at the agency.
3-D Printing in Space…Still Early. The National Academy of Sciences says in a new report that 3-D printing could play a positive role in space missions but that it remains unclear what benefits this technology will ultimately bring. “Many of the claims made in the popular press about this technology have been exaggerated,” states Robert Latiff, chair of the committee that wrote the report. “For in-space use, the technology may provide new capabilities, but it will serve as one more tool in the toolbox, not a magic solution to tough space operations and manufacturing problems.” The report recommends that NASA sponsor a space-based 3-D printing workshop and develop a technology roadmap for 3-D printing.
Network Complexity Challenge. Federal agencies with progressively more complex networks are three times more likely to experience network downtime, with 94 percent reporting such disruptions, according to a new study from MeriTalk. Despite the finding, half of the 200 network managers surveyed reported that their networks had increased in complexity over the past year. If network complexity were cut in half, managers think they could save 18 percent of their respective IT budgets, or $14.8 billion per annum government-wide. The main drivers of complicated networks include growing number of users, virtualization, cloud and mobile. Respondents felt that open standards, adding bandwidth and moving toward software-defined networking in place of hardwire switches could help remedy the current problems.
Alcoa-Pratt Deal. Alcoa signs a 10-year, $1.1 billion agreement with Pratt & Whitney for state-of-the-art jet engine components, according to an Alcoa statement. Alcoa will supply key parts for Pratt & Whitney’s engines, including the forging for the first ever aluminum fan blade for jet engines. The forging was developed for Pratt & Whitney’s PurePower PW1000G, V2500, GP7000 and several other engines, using an advanced aluminum alloy and a proprietary manufacturing process. Alcoa is also developing a fan blade forging using its most advanced aluminium-lithium alloy for Pratt’s PurePower engines.
Raytheon MAGR2K. The Air Force demonstrates successful operation of its next-generation military-code Global Positioning System (GPS) signal in a jamming environment using Raytheon’s Miniature Airborne GPS Receiver 2000 (MAGR2K), according to a company statement. MAGR2K, in a recent test, maintained GPS satellite tracking and provided accurate navigation at jamming levels exceeding technical requirements. MAGR2K was integrated with the Raytheon Advanced Digital Antenna Production (ADAP) system and equipped with a specialized military-code receiver card.
NASA Answers. Three lawmakers ask NASA to publically release all anomalies and mishap information involving Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) and NASA missions. In a July 15 letter, Reps. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) and Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) specifically request NASA Administrator Charles Bolden provide information on various aspects of risk and reliability from these programs, including contractual, management, technical, manufacturing, cost, schedule and safety. The lawmakers claim NASA has vaguely cooperated with previous requests and that they support Air Force certification processes and object to any effort to bypass or loosen the service’s standards. National security space launch rival United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing, do business in Colorado and Alabama. SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
NETCENTS-2. The Air Force awards 10 companies part of a $960 million indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) contract for Network-Centric Solutions-2 (NETCENTS-2), according to a July 14 DoD statement. Lockheed Martin, Jacobs Technology, SRA International, L-3 National Security Solutions, Raytheon, InfoReliance Corp., CACI-ISS, Northrop Grumman Information Systems, General Dynamics IT and International Business Machines Corp. were all recipients. This contract vehicle will provide services such as sustainment, migration, integration, training, help desk support, testing and operational support. The contract was competitively awarded and 21 offers received. NETCENTS-2 is a set of five categories of contract capabilities spanning netcentric products, network operations and infrastructure solutions, application services, enterprise integration and service management and IT professional services.
USAF Promotions. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel nominates Air Force Gen. Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle to become the next commander of Air Combat Command (ACC) and Lt. Gen. Lori Robinson for the rank of general and commander of Pacific Air Forces, according to a DoD statement. Robinson is currently vice commander of ACC. The promotions are subject to Senate confirmation. Hearings have not been scheduled.
SpaceX EELV. The Air Force formally declares SpaceX’s Dec. 3 and Jan. 6 flights will count toward the company’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) certification. Under an agreement signed with the Air Force, SpaceX must fly three flights under a common launch vehicle configuration to be certified to compete for national security space launches. SpaceX is suing the Air Force to force it to compete its block buy contract award of 36 launch cores to United Launch Alliance (ULA).
Air Force ISR 25th. The Air Force is turning its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) agency into the 25th Air Force, according to a service statement. The new 25th Air Force will remain headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, but will fall under Air Combat Command (ACC), based at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va. Maj. Gen. John Shanahan will become the commander this September when the move takes place. The 25th Air Force will continue to operationally execute multi-discipline ISR missions.
Commercial Space Legislation. Reps. Bill Posey (R-Fla.) and Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.) introduce legislation July 10 to establish and protect property rights for commercial space exploration and unitization of asteroid resources. The bill would: clarify that resources mined from an asteroid are the property of the entity that obtained them, ensure U.S. companies can conduct their operation without harmful interference and would direct the president to facilitate commercial development of asteroid resources. The bill is titled the American Space Technology for Exploring Research Opportunities in Deep Space (ASTEROIDS) Act of 2014.