Trump Troops. President Trump, who recently ordered the Department of Defense to deploy the National Guard to help secure the southern U.S. border, told reporters aboard Air Force One on April 5 that the number of Guard troops under consideration is from 2,000 to 4,000. Trump also said he wants to continue the deployment until his proposed border wall is built.
Mattis Testimony. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are scheduled to appear before the House Armed Services Committee April 12 to discuss the Pentagon’s fiscal year 2019 budget request. Also during that week, congressional defense panels will hold hearings on a host of other topics, including the Army posture, combat aviation, cybersecurity, the industrial base, the Missile Defense Agency, Navy shipbuilding, nuclear weapons, special operations and U.S. Transportation Command.
Cobra Dane Protest. BAE Systems is formally challenging the Air Force’s recent seven-year, $511 million contract award to Raytheon to service the Cobra Dane missile-tracking radar in Alaska. BAE, which filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office (GAO), says it gave the Air Force “a very strong proposal, offering the best value, to address the operations, maintenance and sustainment needs outlined” in the request for proposals. The GAO is expected to weigh in on the protest by July.
T-1A Upgrades. Field Aerospace has received a $155.7 million contract to upgrade the avionics on the Air Force’s T-1A Jayhawk trainer fleet. The work includes installation of a Rockwell Collins glass cockpit and is slated to be finished by 2025. The T-1A fleet, which consists of 178 aircraft and 30 training devices, is used to train pilots to fly tanker and transport aircraft.
Army Transparency. Secretary of the Army Mark Esper, in his few months on the jobs, has made a habit of appearing in public and speaking with the media. While some services are restricting officials from speaking to the press, Esper says public engagement is important, as long as the right balance is struck between transparency and security. “One might say we swung too far in one direction in terms of speaking about vulnerabilities or shortcomings or weaknesses, but I think prudence tells us we should communicate to the degree that we find that right balance and, certainly with members of Congress it’s very important to be fully transparent with them, but that we do so in the proper setting,” Esper said at the Heritage Foundation on April 5. “What we don’t want to do is to say something or signal something that might change the miscalculation of a potential adversary. … With Congress, as the people’s representatives, we can go into closed session and really talk in detail about some of the challenges we face here and there, and we can talk to them about authorities we may need, or extra budget. That’s the balance we’re trying to strike. In the meantime, we will continue to engage with the media and outside groups and forums like this.”
SATCOM Training. The Army opened its interactive training system developed by Northrop Grumman [NOC] that supports the Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) Satellite Communications program. The WGS constellation of military satellites delivers secure, reliable, resilient communications worldwide for the United States and partner nations. Soldiers training to manage and monitor WGS satellite communications (SATCOM) will use the Wideband Training and Certification System (WTCS) to apply classroom learning to simulations generated from real-world events.
… Ranger Training. Northrop Grumman also provided simulated training at its Distributed Training Center (DTC) to Army Rangers from the 2nd Ranger Battalion at Langley AFB, Va., that simulated actual battle scenarios for deployment locations. The virtual training is given to Rangers with Joint Terminal Air Controller (JTAC) certification. The DTC, along with Joint Base Lewis McCord’s 5th Air Support Operations Squadron, created specific scenarios requested by the Army Rangers. The Ranger training used Combat Air Force and Close Air Support (CAS) assets on the Distributed Mission Operations Network (DMON) via the DTC, which ensures that the training is comprehensive, immersive and robust.
Cyber Storm. The Department of Homeland Security this week hosts its sixth major biennial cyber security exercise that brings together partners from the private and public sectors and international community to face challenges related to preparing, protecting and responding to cyber-attacks. The three-day Cyber Storm VI will include more than one thousand participants and will build on lessons learned from previous global cyber incidents. DHS says the exercise is part of its “efforts to assess and strengthen cyber preparedness and response processes, and enhance information sharing among federal, state, international, and private sector partners.”
Manufacturing Spotified. Digitalization is coming to manufacturing processes in new ways that will enable a “transformation” in how products are conceived, designed and built, according to Barbara Humpton, the head of Siemens U.S. government business. From “concept trough design to manufacturing, etcetera, I predict what we’re going to see is a real shift in who has the intellectual property rights [and] how are they exploited,” she said at an Atlantic Council event last week. “What if I can tell you we’re inventing the Spotify of additive manufacturing, where people can download their designs and do manufacturing anywhere in the world. Well, that’s a game changer.” Additive manufacturing is often called 3D printing.
DHS CMO. President Trump has nominated Duane Caneva, who is currently on the White House National Security Council, to be the new chief medical officer for the Department of Homeland Security. Caneva is a retired Navy officer and emergency medicine physician who has previously also served in DHS and the State Department. At the NSC, Caneva led policy and implementation efforts around healthcare, biodefense, and public health preparedness and response. If confirmed, Caneva will report to Jim McDonnell, who leads the new DHS Office of Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, and help lead national efforts around the preparation, response and recovery from chemical and biological attacks. David Wade is currently acting as the DHS CMO.
F/A-18 India. During a press visit last week to Boeing’s F/A-18 production line in St. Louis, the VP of F/A-18 and EA-18G programs, Dan Gillian, said the DoD’s FY ’18 and FY ’19 budget commitment to acquiring more Super Hornets helps add confidence to international customers interested in the aircraft. Gillian noted the Super Hornet would be a “great choice” for India and Finland fighter competitions, in particular. He said Boeing already has a strong supply chain in India, which has a “Make in India” national policy. Boeing has spoken with the Indian government about potentially adding a new Super Hornet factory there to build F/A-18s and next generation Indian aircraft if the company wins the competition. He noted Indian suppliers currently make some of the paneling and wiring for F/A-18s assembled in St. Louis. Any Indian contract would not involve moving production lines, only adding new ones, he said. India plans to buy 57 aircraft for its naval air forces.
Boeing’s MQ-25 Advantage? Boeing’s Phantom Work-designed MQ-25 advantage over competitors is that its prototype is “that it’s built” and demonstrated functionality of the deck handling software, mission computer, vehicle management system, and Rolls-Royce engine, Don Gaddis, Boeing’s Phantom Works MQ-25 Program Director, said during the press visit. “We’ve already demonstrated a lot of this stuff. We’ve done almost everything short of flying, which we will do shortly after award,” he added. Gaddis said Boeing feels confident its MQ-25 with all its previous tests and installed engine “pushed a lot of this risk way, way to the left” and the “scope to go” to complete the final program is much less in its offering compared to competitors.
…And GA Firewall. Gaddis confirmed he is “firewalled off” from the Boeing partnership with General Atomics on GA’s MQ-25 bid. In February, GA said Boeing will help provide a facility for final assembly, integration, and checkout as well as final work assisting in design development and fielding of the MQ-25 and using its experience in carrier suitability, test, and evaluation. Gaddis said any similarities between the final GA and Boeing offerings “will be a complete coincidence. I don’t know anything, my team doesn’t know anything, it’s a legal firewall between us.” He added, “so the GA thing is nothing more than a mere distraction to us.”