Border Awareness. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology branch pursues an “enterprise capability” aimed at providing greater situational awareness across the nation’s borders, including land, coastal, and ports of entry, an agency official says. The Border and Coastal Information System (BACIS) “work includes integrating and federating existing standalone data sources, developing new sensor systems to create new data, developing and integrating decision support tools and analytics to translate data into actionable information, and sharing information with partners,” Anh Duong, director of the agency’s Borders and Maritime Security Division, tells the Senate Homeland Security Committee.
…Work Underway. Duong says work is underway in both the land and maritime environments and will begin for ports of entry in FY ’17. For the land environment, S&T this year initiated the Border Situational Awareness Apex Program, which will include better measurement of illegal border activity, better risk assessments of border security threats, and improved alignment of resources to risk for border security, she says. 
…Pilot Test. For maritime borders, Duong says S&T begin the Integrated Maritime Domain Enterprise and Coastal Surveillance System project, which is being pilot tested with Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations Center in California. The system is intended to enhance maritime domain awareness by integrating and federating “existing federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, and foreign surveillance infrastructure and assets to detect, track, identify, and interdict maritime threats,” she says. The land and maritime efforts will ultimately be integrated with the ports of entry project, called the Air Entry/Exit Reengineering (AEER) Apex Program in FY ’17. The AEER Program is also underway. Security data from all the programs will be integrated into the “BACIS information sharing environment,” she says.
HAC CJS Markup. House Appropriations commerce, justice, science and related agencies (CJS) subcommittee on May 14 approves its portion of a proposed fiscal year 2016 spending bill that provides $243 million less for Commercial Crew than NASA requested. The bill also provides $2.3 billion for the Space Launch System (SLS), $957 million more than requested. The full House Appropriations Committee (HAC) will markup its version of the bill the week of May 18.
Ultralight Trucks. The deadline for industry to submit information on their offerings for the Army’s Ultralight Combat Vehicle (ULCV) arrives on May 12. The service is seeking an off-road vehicle that can carry nine loaded-out soldiers and be inserted by air on a C-17 or C-130 and carried either inside or slung underneath a CH-47 Chinook and externally by a UH-60 Black Hawk.
… Competitors. Six companies express early interest in the program, though the contracting agent did not confirm how many submissions were received. Polaris is definitely offering its DAGOR ATV and General Dynamics is pitching its Flyer, which Special Operations Command bought for its Ground Mobility Vehicle 1.1. Neither Lockheed Martin nor Navistar, both of which submitted bids for GMV 1.1, are going after ULCV. Also likely to compete are the Vyper Adamas’ Vyper and the Boeing Phantom Badger, both of which attended an earlier demonstration at Ft. Bragg, N.C.
New CNO. Following the May 13 appointment of Adm. John Richardson to succeed Adm. Jonathan Greenert as chief of naval operations came the realization that he would be the second career submariner to hold the Navy’s top office. The next day, Vice Adm. Michael Connor, chief of submarine forces, laid any reservations to rest that Richardson promotion was a coup for the silent service. “I think some people might read the selection of Adm. Richardson for CNO as a submarine force victory,” Connor said. “It’s a victory for the Navy, period. He is not parochial. He has spent the last three years working on submarines and aircraft carriers he spends time working on the overall effectiveness of the Navy mission. … He is not going to neglect the surface forces. He will not neglect aviation or mine warfare. He will do his best to strike the right balance based on warfare effectiveness, not based on warfare community.”
GPS OCX Delivery. Raytheon completes a key milestone by delivering the first operational hardware for the Global Positioning System’s Next-Generation Operational Control System (GPS OCX), according to a company statement. The May delivery is the first hardware shipment in support of the beleaguered ground control stations, which have struggled with development difficulties. The next step is for the team to install and audit the equipment, as well as perform information assurance testing. This delivery will also enable certification and testing of hardware ahead of the next milestone in the program–formal customer acceptance of the launch and checkout system–in early 2016. The launch and checkout system is a subset of the fuller OCX ground system and establishes the cyber-hardened infrastructure to which additional mission applications will be added.
Launch Competition. The Air Force on May 13 releases a draft request for proposal (RFP) for GPS III launch services, according to a service statement, the first competed national security space launch in over a decade. The launch service includes launch vehicle production, mission integration and launch operations. This is the first of nine space launch missions that the Air Force plans to compete in the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) Phase 1A strategy.
GE Army Contract. The Army awards General Electric a $2 billion firm-fixed-price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) foreign military sales (FMS) contract (Taiwan) for the T700/701D/401C engine in support of Army, Navy, Air Force, FMS and other government agency program requirements, according to a company statement. Work has an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2020. One bid was solicited with one received.
SLS CDR Begins. NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) program kicks off its critical design review May 11 at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., according to an agency statement. The CDR is targeted to conclude in late July. The CDR, if successful, demonstrates that the SLS design meets all system requirements with acceptable risk and accomplishes it within cost and schedule constraints. It would also prove that the rocket should continue with full-scale production, assembly, integration and testing a SLS CDR Start. nd that the program is ready to begin the next major review covering design certification.
Navy Professional Training. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announces on May 13 a new initiative that would allow commanders to send high performing officers to work at Fortune 500 companies. The sailors and Marines who go through the “Secretary of the Navy Industry Tour” will boost their professional experience and bring those new skills back into the services, Mabus said. The initiative will kick off sometime this year, according to Navy materials.
China Report. Chinese military modernization increasingly emphasizes projecting power throughout the Asia Pacific and beyond, found the Defense Department’s 2015 report on Chinese military developments released last week. The report notes that hackers affiliated with the Chinese government penetrated U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) computers about 20 times in a single year. “These intrusions were focused on accessing networks and exfiltrating information” that could be used benefit Chinese defense or technology companies or to build a picture of U.S. military logistics strategy, the report said.
…Navy Expansion. China wants its navy to be able to conduct high-intensity operations over a period of several months throughout the Asia-Pacific region, but “logistics and intelligence support remain key obstacles, particularly in the Indian Ocean.” However, the navy seems to be making headway in this area, conducting three deployments in the “far seas” during 2014, including it’s first in the Indian Ocean. It also conducted its first two submarine deployments to the Indian Ocean.
…Air Power. China also continues to pursue stealth technology for both its fighters and unmanned aerial systems, the report said. The third and fourth Chengdu J20 stealth fighters completed their first flights last year, and a fifth one could fly as early as 2015. Its first stealthy flying wing UAS flew in 2013, the report said.
…Space. “China possesses the most rapidly maturing space program in the world,” the report said. By the end of 2014, China had launched 16 spacecraft either through the government or a commercial provider. Most of those are for intelligence gathering or communications purposes, but is also testing technologies for a later spacecraft that will be tasked with retrieving lunar matter. China has also invested in technologies, such as satellite jammers and directed energy weapons, to limit adversaries’ use of space assets.