KC-46 Beddown Decision. The Air Force has chosen Travis AFB, California, and Joint-Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, to each house 24 KC-46A tanker aircraft. The service signed the record of decision on Aug. 29, according to a notice released Sept. 12 by the Federal Register. Fairchild AFB in Washington and Grand Forks AFB in North Dakota were also being considered as alternative locations for the KC-46.
Air Force Going Digital. The Air Force plans to rebrand what is currently PEO Battle Management to PEO Digital, director Steven Wert told reporters Thursday at the service’s Life Cycle Industry Days conference in Dayton, Ohio. The change in name comes as the service works to speed up its development cycles with more agile and digital processes. The memo has been signed, but the organizational process will likely take months to complete, he added. More details about PEO Digital are expected to be revealed at AFA’s annual conference, to be held Sept. 17-19 in National Harbor, Maryland.
Air Force One Changing Directorates. The Air Force’s VC-25 presidential transport aircraft will soon be moving out of the PEO Mobility portfolio and into the newly installed PEO Presidential Airlift Recapitalization directorate. Lynda Rutledge, PEO Mobility director, said Sept. 13 in Dayton that the change is effective Oct. 1. The Air Force installed Maj. Gen. Duke Richardson as the program executive officer to oversee the presidential aircraft recapitalization program in 2017. Boeing is the manufacturer for Air Force One aircraft and is developing its replacement, the VC-25B.
Third SBIRS satellite operational. The Air Force’s SBIRS satellite GEO-3 successfully achieved operational acceptance and is sending data to the mission control station operated by the 460th Space Wing at Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado. The satellite, built by Lockheed Martin, launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station this past January, marking the fourth launch of a geosynchronous satellite. The SBIRS platforms provide missile warning and infrared surveillance information to U.S. commanders as the Air Force replaces its legacy Defense Support Program missile warning and missile detection satellites.
Army JAGM. Lockheed Martin has received a $50 million deal from the Army to deliver Joint Air-to-Ground Missiles, the Pentagon said Sept. 11. The deal follows a June milestone C decision to move JAGMs into low-rate initial production. The multi-sensor air-to-surface JAGM is the Army’s Hellfire missile replacement, and the latest contract follows an initial $66 million development award in 2015 to Lockheed Martin. JAGM has also been selected to replace the Navy’s Maverick missiles.
T-45. The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) awarded L-3 Communications a $203 million modification to exercise an option for organizational, intermediate, and depot-level maintenance, logistics, and engineering support for T-45 Goshawk aircraft and related support equipment for flight as well as test and evaluation operations. T-45s are used to train Navy and Marine Corps pilots. The aircraft were previously plagued by problems with the oxygen system and physiological episodes. This work will be split among Naval Air Station (NAS) Kingsville, Texas (45.7 percent), NAS Meridian, Miss. (41.7 percent), NAS Pensacola, Fla. (10.1 percent), and NAS Patuxent River, Md. (2.5 percent). Work is expected to be finished by September 2019. No funds are obligated at award time, but will be obligated as individual orders are issued.
Tomahawk Down. The FY ’19 defense appropriations conference report rescinds $116 million of FY ’18 Navy funds from the Tomahawk missile program because appropriators are concerned about the service’s management of the program. The report noted the FY ’18 appropriations bill added $102 million over the administration’s request to procure additional munitions pursuant to the Navy’s FY ’18 enhancement request. Appropriators noted the Navy was requesting fewer missiles than needed to maintain a minimum sustainment rate while using them in the Central Command area of operations. However, while the Navy requested this and Congress directed additional munitions, the appropriators said the Navy instead proposed repurposing the funds for other activities.
…And Review. The appropriators also directed the Secretary of the Navy to conduct a review of the Tomahawk program covering inventory requirements, stockpiled levels of munitions, an analysis of the viability of new production in FY ’20, an analysis of the capacity for concurrent new production and recertification activities within existing facilities, a detailed review of the execution of the fiscal year 2017 and 2018 new production congressional adds, and an analysis of surface and sub-surface launched land attack weapons inventory and requirements projections through the Next Generation Land Attack Weapon initial operational capability date The report noted the FY ’19 request did not include new funding for new production of all up rounds, “reflecting the Navy’s strategy to transition from new production to recertification and modernization activities.”
Counter UAS Opposition. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a non-profit group that defends digital privacy, free speech and innovation, as its says on its website, opposes legislation in the Senate that would give the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice limited authorities to bring down unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) near certain facilities in the U.S. “When government agencies hide their activities from the public, private drones can be a crucial tool for transparency and oversight,” the EFF says.
NSC Keel Authenticated. Shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries has initiated construction of the Coast Guard’s ninth National Security Cutter with the authentication of the keel at its Ingalls Shipbuilding division in Mississippi. The Coast Guard in August 2016 awarded HII a long-lead materials contract for the Stone (WMSL 758), which is scheduled for delivery in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2020. Delivery of the eighth NSC is slated for 2019. Earlier this year, the Coast Guard awarded the long-lead material contract for the 10th NSC.
Appointments. Harris Corp. has named Dana Mehnert president of its $1.9 billion Communications Segment, succeeding Chris Young, who is retiring after a 36-year career with Harris, Exelis and ITT. The segment’s portfolio includes tactical and airborne radios, night vision technology, and defense and public safety networks. Mehnert has been with Harris 33 years. The FBI has named Jay Tabb as executive assistant director of the National Security Branch, overseeing all national security investigative and intelligence operations. Tabb was most recently special agent in charge of the Seattle Division.