Minuteman Test Launches. The Air Force performs a pair of unarmed Minuteman III ICBM test launches from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., the week of March 23. The first test launch takes place March 23 at 6:36 a.m. EDT. The second takes place March 27 at 6:53 a.m. EDT and lands in a pre-established test area in the Pacific Ocean near Guam approximately 40 minutes after launch, according to Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). The Air Force says in a statement the two launches in close proximity adds an extra amount of realism to the operational test mission.
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Engineering, IT Acquistion. The Air Force awards an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) contract with a total potential value of $851 million to 10 companies for engineering and technology acquisition support services, according to a Defense Department statement. Gemini Industries, PE Systems, SpectrumS4, Windmill International, Odyssey Systems Consulting Group, Quantech Services, P3I, Creative Computing Solutions, Abacus Technology and Oasis Systems all receive awards. The Air Force expects work to complete by March 26, 2018. This award is the result of a competitive small business set-aside acquisition with 10 offers received.
Satellite Market Estimate. The Teal Group consultancy firm estimates the value of space payloads proposed to be built and launched to earth or deep space orbits through 2034 to be at more than $240 billion with the fastest growth in Asia and the Pacific Rim, according to a company statement. The payload count through 2034–4,607–reflects a 29 percent increase compared to the 3,280 identified last year for the period 2014-2033 and 31 percent more than the 3,164 payloads identified in 2013 for the period 2013-2032. Teal Group senior space analyst Marco Cáceres says in a statement Asia and the Pacific Rim, especially China and India, represent the fastest growing region because of their extremely ambitious national space programs and overall general consumer demand for satellite services.
MALD-J. The Army on March 18 awards Raytheon a nearly $92 million contract modification to previously awarded contract FA8682-14-C-0004 for Lot 8 of the Miniature Air Launched Decoy Jammer (MALD-J) missile, according to a DoD statement. Raytheon provides 250 MALD-J missiles as part of the deal and the Army expects work to complete by June 30, 2017. MALD is an air-launched programmable craft that duplicates flight profiles and signatures of U.S. and allied aircraft. MALD-J is the jammer variant.
Tunisia UH-60M. The Army awards Sikorsky a $93 million contract modification to contract W58RGZ-12-C-0008 for eight “green” configured UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters for Tunisia, according to a DoD statement. Estimated completion date is the end of 2016. Sikorsky spokesman Frans Jurgens says a “green” UH-60M is the baseline aircraft right off the production line without further modifications to accept special equipment. Sikorsky is a division of United Technologies Corp.
Air Force GPS III. The Air Force envisions 32 total satellites for its next-generation GPS III constellation, though the service cautions it has not determined how many space vehicles will be in the next GPS III procurement. An Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (AFSMC) spokesperson says in an email a feasibility study is planned to start in fiscal year 2016, which will help formulate the production requirements and associated business case for the next GPS III procurement. If approved, the spokesperson says, the request for proposal (RFP) release for the GPS III procurement competition is expected in FY ’17, with an award in FY ’18. The Air Force wants competition for future GPS III satellites starting with space vehicle 11. Lockheed Martin is prime contractor for GPS III for potentially the first 10 satellites.
Spend Wisely. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) will go after wasteful spending at DoD as one of his priorities as Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) chairman, something he’s railed against in Pork List after Pork List. He made the point at CSIS March 26, with examples. “Even in the teeth of sequestration, there is still waste,” he says. For example, no bomb-sniffing elephants have been fielded. Another example is instead of buying local produce in Asia, “DoD spends more than $48 million a year to ship $25 million worth of fresh fruits and vegetables to commissaries in the Pacific.” Another effort got his attention: at the end of last year, the National Guard said it ran out of money and would suspend training for units around the country “and yet the guard still managed to spend $2.4 million last year to advertise with professional sports, including professional snowmobiling.”
Sweet Spot. The Army forges ahead with the JLTV program. Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno says it provides the mobility, protection and system integration the service wants for the modern and future battlefield. “It gives us that sweet spot,” he tells the House Appropriations defense subcommittee (HAC-D). The new vehicle will be fielded across the total force, with the majority going to the active units, then over time to the National Guard and Reserves. The service will also get rid of older Humvees over several years. The Marines will get about 5,500 JLTVs, the Army about 50,000. However, Army Secretary John McHugh says the JLTV would replace “only about one-third of the Humvee fleet.” JLTV competitors AM General, Lockheed Martin-BAE Systems and Oshkosh submitted bids for low-rate production in February.
Japan’s New Ship… The Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force has taken delivery of its biggest war vessel since the end of World War II, a ship it is billing as a helicopter destroyer, but many observers say is more like an aircraft carrier. Reuters and other international media reported that the Japanese military took delivery of the Izumo on March 25. It will operate with a crew of 470 and is 813 feet long. Reuters said Japan designated the ship as a helicopter destroyer rather than an aircraft carrier because its post-World War II constitution allows a military only for defensive purposes. Aircraft carriers are designed to project force and strike at great distances from the homeland.
…New Ship. Japan’s Defense Ministry says the Izumo will be capable of carrying out humanitarian missions but also to combat submarines. The flattop does not have a catapult for launching fixed wing aircraft, but it could accommodate the F-35B version of Lockheed Martin’s Joint Strike Fighter, which is capable of taking off and landing vertically. The ship is seen as part of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s effort to build up the military and seek changes to the constitutional ban on offensive forces. Japan is wary of China’s military buildup and there are rising tensions between the two countries over custody of a chain of islands.
Tomahawk Test. The Navy successfully conducts ground testing of the Tactical Tomahawk land-attack missile for production acceptance, Naval Sea Systems Command says March 26. Naval Air Systems Command procures the Tomahawk, but the test was carried out at Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division in mid-March. The Functional Ground Test was for the RGM-109E Block IV, vertical launch system full-rate production acceptance. “We used a single, representative missile from the full-rate production line to demonstrate the capability of this lot to perform mission requirements,” says Michael Spriggs, senior engineer and FGT test conductor. “The data we collected from the test will be used to verify the manufacturing processes and quality of missiles produced.”
Prepare For The Unexpected. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says it’s a time of transformation and adaptation and “one of our greatest strengths is our ability to adapt.” At the opening of the NATO Transformation seminar in Washington March 25, he says, “today, we do not have the luxury to choose between collective defense and crisis management. For the first time in NATO’s history, we have to do both at the same time.” The biggest reinforcement of collective defense since the end of the Cold War is under way. “We are increasing NATO’s presence in our Eastern Allied countries and the readiness of our forces.” The NATO Response Force will more than double to 30,000 troops, with a Spearhead force of 5,000 troops with lead elements able to move within as little as 48 hours. As well, command units are being set up in six of the Eastern allies. Heading toward the Warsaw Summit next year, NATO faces three issues: hybrid warfare, cyber, and developing an innovation strategy.
New Chief At U.K. DE&S. The U.K. Ministry of Defense appoints Tony Douglas as the Chief Executive of Defense Equipment and Support (DE&S). Douglas, currently CEO at Abu Dhabi Airports, was appointed by the prime minister, in consultation with the deputy prime minister and the defense secretary, under the new arrangements with the Civil Service Commission last October. Bernard Gray continues to lead DE&S in his role of chief of defense materiel until he and Douglas complete their handover toward the end of 2015. Douglas will be responsible for the procurement and maintenance of armed forces equipment and lead DE&S through the transformation needed for it to become a world-class acquisition organization. He will be an accounting officer accountable to Parliament for DE&S’s annual running costs of around $1.9 billion and will report to the DE&S Board, established in 2014.
Tackling Underwater Mines. The international organization OCCAR signs an approximately $25 million contract on behalf of the U.K. and France’s DGA, with a Thales-led consortium including BAE Systems. The project involves designing a Maritime Mine Countermeasures demonstrator, to include an unmanned surface vehicle with sonar and an unmanned underwater vehicle. It will demonstrate systems and equipment to defeat sea-mines using remotely-operated, unmanned marine vehicles and sensors. This would allow the navies to operate further from a minefield. Over an 18-month period, there will be studies, design and definition of the system.
Deluge of Drones. Drone-congested skies may be in the future as the civilian world prepares for a surge of drones for delivery and personal activities. Now, from L.A. comes what developer Trumark Urban calls the “first-ever” drone landing dock being built on a new 25-story condo tower, says the L.A. Times. Such landing docks could also be of use for military drone reconnaissance and surveillance “perching” sites, and other uses. Government and civilian law enforcement are sure to be interested as well.
Orbital ATK Contract. NASA awards Orbital ATK a $253 million contract for the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS)-2 spacecraft, according to a NASA statement. The firm fixed-price, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract has a period of performance from March 30 to July 31, 2020. An option for a JPSS-3 spacecraft is worth $130 million, which would extend the performance through July 31, 2024. The second option value, for JPSS-4, would be $87 million and would extend the performance period to July 31, 2028. If all options are exercised, the total value of the delivery order would be $470 million total.
Letitia Long To Raytheon. Raytheon elects Letitia Long, former director of the National Geospational-Intelligence Agency from 2010-2014, to its board of directors on March 20. Long also served as the deputy director of the Defense Intelligence Agency from 2006 to 2010 and as deputy undersecretary of defense (intelligence) for policy, requirements and resources from 2003 to 2006. “Tish’s leadership background and extensive experience related to intelligence and security matters will be of great value to our Board and our Company,” Thomas Kennedy, chairman and CEO of Raytheon, says in a statement.
Appropriations Membership. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee (HAC), announces an updated roster for Republican members of the commerce, justice, science, and related agencies subcommittee on March 24. This was spurred by a new member joining the full committee, Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.). Republican members of the subcommittee are now Chairman John Culberson (Tex.), Robert Aderholt (Ala.), John Cater (Tex.), Jaime Herrera Beutler (Wash.), Martha Roby (Alab.), David Jolly (Flor.), and Palazzo, who is chairman of the House Science space subcommittee.
NASA Details Asteroid Mission. NASA announces further details for its Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM), a plan to test new capabilities needed for future human travel in deep space in the mid-2020s. A specific asteroid will be selected for the mission by 2019, with spacecraft launch about a year later, according to an agency statement. It will take about six years for the robotic ARM spacecraft to move a boulder from the asteroid into orbit around the moon. In the mid-2020s NASA’s manned Orion spacecraft is set to launch to rendezvous with, and explore, the asteroid mass. The crewed mission concept is a two-astronaut 24-25 day mission. The agency also increased the detection of near-Earth asteroids by 65% since launching the asteroid initiative three years ago.
Raytheon Team To Maryland. Raytheon moves its 70-person team that sustains NASA and NOAA’s Joint Polar Satellite System Common Ground System (JPSS CGS) to Riverdale, Md. The team was moved from Aurora, Colo., to support a major upgrade of the JPSS CGS system scheduled to be delivered at the end of 2015 and to provide efficiencies for future missions. “The move ensures we are sustaining the program in close proximity to our customer,” Mark Sargent, the JPSS CGS program director, says in a statement. NOAA’s satellite operations facility is in Suitland, Md., and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center is in Greenbelt, Md.
DHS Savings Bills. New Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee on March 27 issue six bills designed to curb waste, fraud, abuse and to increase transparency at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The bills would require DHS to make improvements to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, reduce duplication of information technology systems, improve management and oversight of border security technology projects, improve tracking and reporting of employees’ paid administrative leave days, produce annual reports on the activities and accomplishments of the department’s federally funded research and development centers, and improve management of the ongoing headquarters consolidation project. Sponsors of the bills are Reps. Buddy Carter (Ga.), Will Hurd (Texas), Barry Loudermilk (Ga.), Martha McSally (Ariz.), John Ratcliffe (Texas) and Mark Walker (N.C.).
Hiring Challenges at DHS… Operational components at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are well behind in achieving full staff levels, which creates national security and public safety concerns, says Rep. John Carter (R-Texas), chairman of the House Appropriations homeland security subcommittee. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has only hired 700 of 2,000 new officers funded in FY ’14, Immigration and Customs Enforcement hiring can’t keep up with attrition, the National Protection and Programs Directorate is nearly 20 percent below funded personnel levels for cyber security and infrastructure protection personnel and the Secret Service is lacking in staff. “I’m worried that operational components are spread too thin, putting the department’s critical mission at risk,” Carter says.
…Lie Detectors and Cyber Intrusion. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson tells Carter that the problem at CBP is a lack of personnel to conduct lie detector tests and a cyber hack last year resulted in a “huge backlog” at USIS, which conducts background checks for DHS and other federal agencies. Johnson says that he and his senior leadership is focused on overcoming the staffing issues throughout the department and are moving “aggressively” to fill these vacancies.
…New TSA Chief Soon? Johnson also tells the subcommittee that the White House has selected someone to be the next administrator of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which has been without a politically-appointed leader since former agency chief John Pistole resigned late last year. Johnson says that the selected individual is currently being vetted and the nominee will be “announced soon.”