Foreign Interference. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence last Friday issued a new statement assessing unclassified foreign threats to the 2020 U.S. election that analyze the interests of China, Russian and Iran in the outcomes. No surprise, Russia still favors President Trump. “We assess that Russia is using a range of measures to primarily denigrate former Vice President Biden and what it sees as an anti-Russia ‘establishment,” said William Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center. In addition, “Some Kremlin-linked actors are also seeking to boost President Trump’s candidacy on social media and Russian television,” he said.
…Help for Biden.
While the focus of foreign interference in the 2016 presidential election was on Russia’s support for Trump, this time around the playing field has increased and the plot has thickened. Both China and Iran would prefer Biden over Trump. “We assess that China prefers that President Trump—whom Beijing sees as unpredictable—does not win reelection,” Evanina said. He also said that “Iran seeks to undermine U.S. democratic institutions, President Trump, and to divide the country in advance of the 2020 elections. Iran’s efforts along these lines probably will focus on on-line influence, such as spreading disinformation on social media and recirculating anti-U.S. content.” He also said that Iran is concerned that Trump, if he wins another term, will focus on continuing to press for regime change in the country.
Slight OPC Delay. The Request for Proposals for the follow-on Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) detailed design and construction contract is expected to be released in early 2021, a Coast Guard spokesman told Defense Daily. That’s at least several months later than the originally targeted October 2020 release that was included in a notional program schedule in January. The service last week published its first technical library for the OPC follow-on procurement. Eastern Shipbuilding Group is building the first four OPCs, but the Coast Guard last year decided to recompete the program beginning with the fifth vessel after the Florida-based shipbuilder ran into problems from a major hurricane that slammed into the state in October 2018.
18 of 60. The administration’s decision to name Ret. Army Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata to perform the duties of the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Policy after the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) canceled his nomination hearing as Undersecretary of Defense for Policy on July 31 is indicative of broader problems, according to Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), a SASC member. The administration action appointing Tata in an acting role “really makes a mockery of the oversight responsibilities of this committee and of the Senate,” Shaheen said on Aug. 4. “Right now, we have 18 of 60 Senate-confirmed positions that are in acting capacity in the Department of Defense. That’s almost a third of the positions that require this committee’s oversight.”
Bureaucratic Inertia. While the Pentagon has undertaken a number of artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives over the last several years, including the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC), “bureaucratic inertia, stemming in part from deep-rooted institutional and cultural resistance, has hampered DoD’s ability to rapidly develop, acquire, and deploy AI capabilities at scale,” according to a new paper from the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). The authors, Megan Lamberth and Martijn Rasser, also write that the “Defense Department has struggled to translate written policy into concrete action” and that “the obstacles to adopting and deploying AI technologies in the DoD are numerous and complex.” The authors recommend a number of actions, including mandating AI literacy training “for all officers, enlisted personnel, and civilian employees, with special emphasis on acquisition specialists.” Outside of CNAS, Lamberth and Rasser said that they are advising the Biden campaign.
Space Force Promotion. On Aug. 7, Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced the nomination of Air Force Lt. Gen. David Thompson, the vice commander of U.S. Space Force, for appointment to the rank of general to serve as the vice chief of space operations for the Space Force. A 1985 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Thompson, in his role at Space Force, has been responsible for carrying out space missions and resolving space issues for the Department of the Air Force.
SATCOM. SOCOM has awarded Cubic’s GATR Technologies subsidiary a $172 million deal for inflatable SATCOM systems. Work under the deal is expected to be completed August 2025. GATR will deliver both the 1.2-meter and 2.4-meter variants of its inflatable satellite terminals. The Army has previously awarded GATR a $522 million deal to supply its Inflatable Satellite Antenna systems as part of its battlefield network upgrade effort.
Rocket Fuel. Adranos, a Purdue University-affiliated start-up company, has received $1.1 million contracts from the Army’s Aviation and Missile Center and the Pentagon’s Rapid Reaction Technology Office to test its high-performance solid rocket fuel. Adranos’ ALITEC fuel could be used for missile and space launch systems, according to the company. “These tests will determine ALITEC’s functionality within a hypersonic propulsion system referred to as a solid-fuel ramjet. A solid-fuel ramjet is among the simplest of air-breathing rockets that can substantially increase firing range over traditional solid rocket motors,” Chris Stoker, Adranos’ CEO, said in a statement.
Drone Exports. A bipartisan group of senators have proposed legislation to block the sale of weaponized drones to certain countries, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, following the White House’s recent move to loosen restrictions on UAS exports. The bill would amend the Arms Export Control ACT to prohibit the sale of Category 1 drones, defined by the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) as those with ranges greater than 300 kilometers or payloads above 500 kilograms, with exceptions made for NATO members, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan and Israel. “Selling weaponized drones into the Middle East could come with disastrous consequences. The MTCR has worked for decades to stop the sale of deadly missiles and drones to countries like Iran and North Korea, and the president is willing to blow it up in order to continue the blank check approach he has taken with Saudi Arabia and the UAE,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said in a statement. The bill’s co-sponsors include Murphy along with Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.).
Cyber Official Exits. The State Department’s top cyber official said Aug. 6 he is leaving his post and will join the Information Technology Industry Council as its executive vice president of policy. During his time at the State Department, Rob Strayer led the effort to move the U.S. away from working with Chinese telecommunications firms on 5G projects as well as pushing for increased U.S.-led global partnerships with overseas private sector partners to address burgeoning cyber threats.
Network Industry Day. The Army is holding a virtual industry day on Sept. 2 for its FY ‘23 network modernization capability drop. “The goal of the event is to assist industry partners and interested government organizations in identifying and aligning their efforts with Army tactical network modernization, specifically Capability Set 23, which is the Army’s next integrated kit of tactical network transport, application and command post enhancements,” officials wrote in a notice. CAP SET 23 is expected to include technologies ranging from low- and mid-Earth orbit satellite systems to network transport tools. The industry day is also expected to cover details of the CAP SET 21 critical design review.
LHD-5. The Navy awarded General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. (NASSCO) a $107 million contract to execute USS Bataan (LHD-5) fiscal year 2020 selected restricted availability work at the GD NASSCO Norfolk, Va., facility. This specifically covers maintenance, modernization and repair of the USS Bataan. The contract includes options that, if exercised, would raise the total value to $131 million. The announcement noted this is a “long-term” non-docking availability and NASSCO will provide “facilities and human resources capable of completing, coordinating and integrating multiple areas of ship maintenance, repair and modernization” of LHD-5. Work is expected to be finished by December 2021. The contract was competitively procured but only the one offer was received.
Ford Trials. The USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) completed its 11th independent steaming event (ISE) on Aug. 5, marking more than halfway through its 18-month Post-Delivery Rest and Trials (PDT&T) period. The Navy underscored during ISE 11 CVN-78 qualified 19 pilots assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 106 and 21 pilots assigned to Airborne Command and Control Squadron (VAW) 120, raising the total catapult launches and arrested landings on the carrier to 3,975. The ship also completed a test of the SLQ-32 electronic support system, the Ship’s Signal Exploitation Space successfully completed initial testing during its Cryptologic Simulator Exercise on the Shipboard Electronic Systems Evaluation Facility range (SESEF) Range, VAW-120 finished the first carrier qualifications of the aerial refueling variant of the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, and the ship’s first Air Intercept Control event.
Aegis Ashore. Missile Defense Agency director Vice Adm. Jon Hill this week reiterated a rosy view that the U.S. is still working with Japan to help make the Aegis Ashore work for them after the government canceled the program in June due to technical and cost issues. “We’re still working with the government of Japan to adjust the system in the way they want to go do that, and that’s an important partnership…we value them and we need to support Japan as they make the decision for their homeland defense,” Hill said during the virtual Space and Missile Defense Symposium on Aug. 4. Separately, during the event Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities Victorino Mercado added the U.S. has been having high level and frequent “frank conversations” with Japan to find solutions to the issues.
…Third BMD Site. Hill also said it was too early to say if a third ballistic missile defense site would be needed in the future. “I would say that’s still in the trade space today. Right now, with the system that’s in place up in Ft. Greely, we can meet today’s threat. We can have full coverage of the nation for protection whether its an INDOPACOM threat or a Middle East.” He said DoD is looking at a third site along with Aegis Ashore or THAAD batteries as part of a future layered homeland defense system while also examining how to defend against hypersonic threats too. “So when you look at the complexity of just those moving pieces, it’s too early to say that a third site up on the East Coast or that the future Next Generation Interceptor, is that the right answer…So I think it’s all in the trade space.”
Go Team! The management and operations contract for the two main civilian nuclear-weapons production sites is up for grabs again this year. The draft solicitation should hit the street this month, and one industry source said BWX Technologies and Huntington Ingalls Industries are exploring a partnership to manage the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Pantex Plant and Y-12 Site. BW used to run both DoE-owned sites and is open about its desire to do so again.
COVID-19 Claims Another at NNSA. Hard news again for the DoE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which said it lost another employee to the viral disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The civilian nuclear weapons agency thinks its employee at the remote Nevada National Security Site (the former underground testing site) caught the disease outside of work. This makes two COVID-19 fatalities at NNSA, an agency with north of 50,000 contractors and feds. The first fatal case, in mid-July, was at the Y-12 National Security Site in Oak Ridge, Tenn. That’s where NNSA makes the uranium-powered, explosive secondary stages of nuclear weapons.