Ukraine Aid. Reps. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) and Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chairs of the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees, respectively, and Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho), the top Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee and Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent a letter to President Biden on March 21 urging the White House to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions, such as dual purpose improved conventional munitions (DPICM). “We remain deeply disappointed in your administration’s reluctance to provide Ukraine with the right type and amount of long-range fires and maneuver capability to create and exploit operational breakthroughs against the Russians,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter. “Sadly, the immediate consequences of denying DPICM and other items in a timely manner to the Ukrainian Armed Forces are playing out on the battlefield in Bakhmut and elsewhere in Ukraine today.” The Republicans lawmakers write that providing Kyiv with DPICMs will allow Ukraine’s forces “to concentrate their use of unitary warheads against higher-value Russian targets.”
IVAS. Gen. James McConville, the Army chief of staff, said on March 21 he is “confident in the team” developing the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) headset, which has faced testing challenges and is now going through development of an upgraded version. “People just have to be persistent and consistent and stay with it. And it’s clunky right now, but what [IVAS] is going to do is transform the way our leaders and soldiers can operate on the battlefield. We have to be patient but we have to get it done,” McConville said during a Brookings Institution discussion. “I’ve seen major progress. I guess when I look out there and I see how far they’ve come, if you can envision what it’ll do in the future it is really going to make a difference.” The Army awarded Microsoft a $125 million deal in early January to work on the improved 1.2 version of IVAS, with an aim to start testing later this year and begin production in late FY ‘24.
GMLRS. Aerojet Rocketdyne on March 23 detailed efforts to continue improving its manufacturing processes for the advanced solid rocket motors it builds for Lockheed Martin’s GMLRS rockets. The company said its work includes continued upgrades to manufacturing facilities, purchasing new equipment and automating processes “to meet expected increased capacity needs.” Aerojet Rocketdyne specifically noted it’s incorporating automated X-ray technology “to improve production efficiency and increase capacity.” The U.S. has been delivering GMLRS rockets to be fired from the HIMARS launchers provided to Ukraine. “Aerojet Rocketdyne has powered Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems for decades, delivering more than 35,000 solid rocket motors to support U.S. and allied warfighters in multiple conflicts,” Eileen P. Drake, Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO, said in a statement. Aerojet Rocketdyne is one of two suppliers of rocket motors for GMLRS along with Northrop Grumman.
GDIT Award. The Army on March 23 awarded General Dynamics Information Technology a $1.8 billion contract for flight simulation training services. Work on the deal is expected to be completed by the end of March 2035. GDIT was the only firm to submit a bid for the work.
Counter-Drone Support. The Federal Aviation Administration, on behalf of Customs and Border Protection, is surveying the market for logistics support for the planning, deployment, event support and redeployment of various counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) assets for between three and six Special Event Assessment Rating (SEAR) events annually. SEAR events are things like the Super Bowl, Indianapolis 500 and the Kentucky Derby. The C-UAS that a contractor might support include systems provided by CACI International, Droneshield, D-Fend, BlueHalo, Aerial Armor, Israel’s VORPAL, as well as the VaDER and NINJA systems.
New Cyber Advisers. An advisory committee to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Committee held its first quarterly meeting of the year last week with 13 new members, including recently retired Reps. John Katko (R-N.Y.) and Jim Langevin (D-R.I.). Other new appointees on the Cybersecurity Advisory Committee include Chris Inglis, who recently resigned as National Security Director, Cathy Lanier, chief security officer of the National Football League, Dave DeWalt, CEO of NightDragon, Brian Gragnolati, CEO of Atlantic Health System, Royal Hansen, head of privacy, safety and security engineering at Google, Rahul Jalali, chief information officer of Union Pacific, Doug Levin, national director of K12 Security Information eXchange, Ciaran Martin, former CEO of the U.K.’s National Cyber Security Centre, Robert Scott, commissioner of the New Hampshire Dept. of Environmental Services, Kevin Tierney, chief cybersecurity officer at General Motors, and Alex Tosheff, chief security officer of VMware. CISA Director Jen Easterly said the new members were chosen for “their deep expertise in critical infrastructure, cybersecurity, and governance.”
FLNG Shadow UAS. In response to surge of illegal migrants attempting to enter southern Florida, the Florida National Guard (FLNG) has activated a dozen aircraft to help with interdiction efforts and wants to use its RQ-7B Shadow tactical unmanned aircraft system (UAS) as well, Brig. Gen. Sean Boyette of the FLNG said last week. He told a House Homeland Security panel that the FLNG is seeking approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly the UAS in civilian airspace. Boyette said use of the RQ-7B would help reduce costs while sustaining presence. The system would be launched and recovered from Key West Naval Air Station.
Another MEA for CBP. Customs and Border Protection this month took delivery of its 29th multi-role enforcement aircraft (MEA), the final plane in the maritime and air interdiction configuration. The MEA is supplied by Sierra Nevada Corp. A new variant of the MEA for land interdiction is in the design phase. The medium-range, twin turboprop MEA’s entered the fleet of CBP’s Office of Air and Marine Operations in 2011. The aircraft fly with two pilots and two sensor operators. The MEA is replacing CBP’s Piper PA-42, King Air C-12C and B-200 aircraft.
Secret SSBN. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a restricted report titled “Columbia Class Submarine: Construction Schedule Is Not Reliable.” GAO describes this kind of category as “determined to contain either classified information or controlled unclassified information by the Executive Branch audited agencies and therefore cannot be publicly released.” Previously, a public January 2023 GAO report auditing the Columbia-class nuclear-armed submarine program argued it needs an updated risk analysis to assess the feasibility of the current schedule. The Navy planned to have the first submarine delivered within 78 months, six months faster than the original contracted time of 84 months to add extra margin, but Navy officials have previously admitted the vast majority of the extra margin has already been spent.
U.S.-Indo Carrier Cooperation. Earlier this month, the sixth meeting of the U.S. – Indo Joint Working Group on Aircraft Carrier Technology Cooperation (JWGACTC) finished a five-day meeting on March 3 in India. The meeting was co-chaired by Rear Adm. James Downey, program executive officer for aircraft carriers, and Rear Adm. Sandeep Mehta, Assistant Controller Carrier Projects for the Indian Navy. This annual working group meeting is an outgrowth of the 2015 U.S.-India Defense Technology and Trade Initiative and focuses on exchanging information and best practices in ship construction and maintenance. “Our technology is diverse, while our goal is linked foundationally—to accelerate our respective missions of building and maintaining these extremely capable ships and systems that deliver readiness to our fleets,” Downey said in a statement. The Navy said the JWGACTC representatives discussed technology areas like topside aircraft carrier systems and aircraft / ship integration, with participants giving updates and opportunities for the navies to expand cooperation. The seventh meeting is scheduled to be held in the U.S. in 2024.
OTH Missiles. The Navy awarded Raytheon Technologies a $234 million modification on March 22 to a previously awarded May 2018 contract to exercise options for the Over-the-Horizon (OTH) weapon system. The OTH consists of a Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile (NSM) along with a launching system. The Navy is procuring these weapons to be used in Littoral Combat Ships, the upcoming Constellation-class guided-missile frigate and San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ships (LPDs). The Marine Corps is also using the NSM by placing it on an unmanned variant of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle to threaten enemy naval vessels in the Navy/Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System(NMESIS). The original 2018 contract announcement said it includes options that, if exercised, raise the total value to $848 million. This latest award splits the work among Kongsberg, Norway (69 percent), Tucson, Ariz. (12 percent), and various other domestic and international locations. The work is expected to be finished by March 2027.
LSD-48. The USS Ashland (LSD-48) Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship left Sasebo, Japan on March 22 to start heading to its new homeport of San Diego. The change of homeport is in line with a previous defense authorization act that restricts ships from being forward deployed to Japan for no longer than 10 years. LSD-48 has served in that capacity since August 2013 under Expeditionary Strike Group 7. The Ashland is expected to arrive in San Diego later this spring.
P&W Sustainment Investment. Raytheon Technologies’ Pratt & Whitney said on March 24 that it will invest $255 million through 2028 for a new 845,000 square foot sustainment plant in Oklahoma City to serve as a hub for depot maintenance on all P&W’s military engines, including those for the F-35, C-17, F-22, F-15, F-16, B-52, and E-3 AWACS. Jill Albertelli, president of Pratt & Whitney military engines, said in a statement that in 2022 the company “achieved record output for the F117, F119, and F135 Heavy Maintenance Centers” and that the new plant “will further expand our capabilities and reaffirm our commitment to our customer for years to come.” Pratt & Whitney said that the new plant will increase the maintenance, repair and overhaul capacity for the F135 engine, which equips the Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter. Pratt & Whitney’s Oklahoma City F135 Heavy Maintenance Center, established in 2014, built 73 F135 power modules last year, 13 more than the requirement and 43 percent more than in 2021, the company said.
ARRW Test. U.S. Air Force Materiel Command said on March 24 that a B-52H bomber released the second All-Up-Round (AUR) AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) by Lockheed Martin off the southern California coast on March 13. The test marks the second launch of a full prototype ARRW and focused on the end-to-end performance of the future, planned hypersonic missile. “The test met several of the objectives and the ARRW team engineers and testers are collecting data for further analysis, AFMC said. The 412th Test Wing at Edwards AFB, Calif., conducted the test. ARRW is designed to hold high-value, time-sensitive targets at risk in contested environments. The prototype of ARRW, a hypersonic glide vehicle, scored its first AUR test flight success last Dec. 9 and had two booster flights last year after three aborted attempts in 2021.
MLV Engine Test. Firefly Aerospace last week said it has completed risk reduction testing for components of its Miranda rocket engine, which will go through its first hot-fire test this summer. The 230,000-pound thrust Miranda will power the Medium Launch Vehicle (MLV) that Firefly is co-developing with Northrop Grumman. The components recently tested include the main fuel valve and throttle valve hot seal design. Miranda is a scaled-up version of Firefly’s Reaver engine used in its Alpha small launch vehicle. “We are making significant progress in the development of our Miranda engines that started less than a year ago,” Bill Weber, CEO of Firefly, said in a statement.