NASA Funding. The $1.3-trillion fiscal year 2018 omnibus appropriations bill, which President Donald Trump signed into law March 23, contains $20.7 billion for NASA, a $1.1 billion increase from FY 2017. To support deep-space exploration, the omnibus includes $2.15 billion to continue developing the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and $1.35 billion to continue developing the Orion crew vehicle. The measure also includes $760 million for space technology, including $130 million for the Restore-L robotic satellite-servicing program; $533.7 million for the James Webb Space Telescope; and $150 million for the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST).
… Kennedy Boost. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) says the omnibus will provide $895 million to modernize launch facilities at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, more than double what the center received the previous year. “This is fantastic news,” Nelson says. “Not only could [the funding] create hundreds of jobs at the center but it will also enable us to begin work on a second mobile launch structure. Bottom line, this will get us down the path to Mars sooner and safer.”
Praise for Trade Actions. The White House on Friday issued a “What They Are Saying” press release on support from political and industry officials for President Donald Trump’s actions last Thursday against China’s trade abuses. The release includes quotes from a number of defense and security industry officials, including Phebe Novakovic, chairman and CEO of General Dynamics, who provided a statement at the request of the White House, saying, “In the aerospace and defense industry, our technological innovations drive our ability to deliver superior platforms and systems. Theft of these innovations poses a threat to our industrial base and to our national security. We support the Administration’s commitment to addressing the issue of state-sponsored intellectual property theft.”
…And More. Marillyn Hewson, chairman, president and CEO of Lockheed Martin, joined Trump on the dais last Thursday when the president signed a memorandum initiating actions to punish China for stealing U.S. intellectual property. She also welcomed the president’s actions. In addition to Hewson and Novakovic, Northrop Grumman Chief Wes Bush, Raytheon Chief Thomas Kennedy, Leidos Chief Roger Krone, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems President David Alexander, IronNet Cybersecurity Chief and former National Security Agency Director Keith Alexander, National Defense Industrial Association Chief Gen. (Ret.) Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle, and Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA Chairman and former Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair all provided statements in support of Trump’s trade actions.
Tech, People Top Wall. The Democratic staff on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee last Thursday issued a report saying that technology and personnel are the top priorities for border security versus physical barriers. The minority staff report’s analysis is based on data the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency collected from their front line Border Patrol agents. “This report reinforces what I’ve heard from frontline border agents and CBP leaders alike, that the top priorities for addressing vulnerabilities along our border are additional personnel and better technology,” says Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), the ranking member on the committee. The 13-page report says that “Border Patrol agents have rarely recommended building a wall to address the most commonly identified vulnerabilities—“or capability gaps”—identified along the southwest border.”
Deals. Israel’s Elbit Systems has it has received regulatory approvals to acquire Arizona-based Universal Avionics Systems Corporation through an asset acquisition agreement. Terms of the deal, which is expected to close in the coming weeks, were not disclosed. Universal Avionics has 450 employees and provides integrated display and navigation products for commercial and military aircraft. Separately, TransDigm Group Inc. has agreed to buy Extant Components Group Holdings for $525 million in cash in a deal that would give it aftermarket products and repair and overhaul services in support of military and commercial aircraft. Extant, which is a portfolio company of Warburg Pincus, has more than 170 employees and is expected to have $85 million in sales for its fiscal year that ends Sept. 2018. Most sales come from the military end market.
Lakota Deal. Airbus Helicopters received an $116.9 million modification to contract for the procurement of 16 UH-72A Lakota utility and training aircraft. Work will be performed in Columbus, Miss., with an estimated completion date of Sept. 20, 2023. It is the second such contract since the Army was cleared to purchase the aircraft after a lawsuit by Leonardo Helicopters claiming the Army did not recompete the work was thrown out of court earlier this year. The previous deal is worth $273 million for 35 of the light utility helicopters the Army uses to train rotorcraft pilots for other non-combat utility roles. The aircraft in that deal include 17 UH-72As for initial-entry rotary wing training at Fort Rucker, Ala., and 18 of the same variant for observation and control overflight at the Army’s combat training centers.
House Passes DHS Bills. The House last week passed eight authorization bills related to the Department of Homeland Security, including the DHS Cyber Incident Response Teams Act of 2018 that codifies existing incident response teams at the department and enables private sector cyber security experts to operate on the teams. Other bills direct that risk-based strategies be used in allocating Federal Air Marshals on flights, require the department to develop a strategy for fusion center engagement and enhance technical assistance to centers, direct DHS to examine the threat of vehicular terrorism, call for the Transportation Security Administration study and pilot the used of computed tomography and other emerging technology for air cargo security, strengthen DHS help to fusion centers for surface transportation security, and require the Government Accountability Office to review the national strategy for transportation security.
PEO Name Change. James Geurts, assistant secretary of the Navy for research development and acquisition (RD&A) ordered Program Executive Office Littoral Combat Ship (PEO LCS) to be renamed PEO Unmanned and Small Combatants (PEO USC) in a memo. Geurts changed the name because the PEO has since grown beyond focusing on only LCS to add various mission modules, the future frigate (FFG(X)), and multimission surface combatant (MMSC). MMSC is an LCS variant for international customers. Rear Adm. John Neagley, PEO USC says in a statement that “this name change codifies the true expanse of our responsibility for accelerating, innovating, and delivering a lethal force to meet the Navy’s growing operational demands.”
Mine Recon Module. The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Mission Modules (MM) program successfully finished developmental testing (DT) of the Coastal Mine Reconnaissance (CMR) missile module on the USS Coronado (LCS-4). Testing occurred off the cost of Southern California in late Feb. The CMR consists of the MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicles with its mission control system, the AN/DVS-1 Coastal Battlespace Reconnaissance and Analysis (COBRA) system with an airborne payload sub-system and post-mission analysis sub-system, and supporting software and support containers. The module is supported by the MINEnet Tactical web-based command and control solution. COBRA is integrated into the MQ-8B for daytime detection of surface-laid mines, mine fields, and beach zone obstacles. “This DT marks the last critical step in demonstrating the CMR mission module capability on the LCS Independence variant prior to fleet introduction,” Capt. Theodore Zobel, LCS Mission Modules program manager, says in a statement.
DDG-114. The U.S. Navy plans to commission the latest Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, the future USS Ralph Johnson (DDG-114) during a ceremony on March 24 in Charleston, S.C. Gen. Robert Neller, commandant of the Marine Corps, will deliver the event’s principal address. The ship is named after a Marine Corps Medal of Honor awardee killed during the Vietnam War. DDG-114 is the 65th ship of its class and will include integrated air and missile defense capabilities.
U.S.-India Navies. U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson hosted Indian Navy chief Adm. Sunil Lanba at the Pentagon on March 21. They met with Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer and discussed how to improve interoperability through additional exercises and staff talks. Richardson says the relationship between the navies is strong and “we are exploring every way to expand that partnership even further based on our shared interests.”
ONR Sleep Research. The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is sponsoring new research to understand the brain and mind with a focus on attention, memory, and sleep at the Monash Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neurosciences (MICCN) in Australia. The research is being conducted by Prof. Sean Drummond, who is the first to evaluate how sleep deprivation affects decision-making capabilities within social and group settings. The funding is meant to help the Navy figure out how to best deal with sleep loss that disrupts circadian rhythms, erodes mental and physical performance, and dull decision-making abilities. ONR Global Commanding Officer Capt. Kevin Quarderer explains Drummond’s research “will play a key role in understanding and enhancing” the endurance and combat effectiveness for sailors on extended watch on ships, on long-duration flights, or Marines in theater.
New GBIs. At a Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing Missile Defense Agency Director Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves tells Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) that it is hard to build additional Ground-Based Interceptors (GBI) and silos at Fort Greely, Alaska, faster than the planned five to six years. He favorably compares this schedule to when the Bush administration first deployed the initial GBIs in the 2000s. Those interceptors are criticized for having low effectiveness and reliability because they were pushed out so quickly. “We learned some significant lessons,” from that first deployment and in contrast “We are taking a series of steps to ensure that what we are designing is successful on delivery, are more reliable, more maintainable and in the long term more sustainable.”
CVN-72 F-35 Qualified. The USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) completed fleet carrier qualifications for the F-35C while underway in March. Pilots assigned to two squadrons completed day and night qualifications with 140 traps before the expected F-35C operational testing later in 2018. The Navy expects carrier wings to consist of F-35Cs, F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, E-2D Hawkeyes, and MH-60R/S helicopters by 2025.