The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
NDAA Time. The House will debate this week the FY ’13 defense authorization bill the HASC approved May 10. Members must submit proposed amendments to the House Rules Committee by 10 a.m. tomorrow, before the panel meets at 5 p.m. to debate the rule setting parameters for House floor debate. The Rules Committee is scheduled to gather again Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. to receive testimony on proposed amendments and decide how many of them will be weighed on the floor. The White House could potentially issue a veto threat on the $554 billion policy-setting bill this week, because it calls for exceeding spending in the Pentagon’s proposed budget and caps set in the Budget Control Act of 2011. Also this week, the HAC is expected to meet to approve the defense appropriations bill its defense subcommittee approved in closed session May 8. HAC-D Chairman C.W. “Bill” Young (R-Fla.) tells reporters he does not expect the HAC to offer many amendments to the $519.2 billion base budget proposal.
Eastern Defenses. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin Dempsey says he sees no need for implanting missile interceptors on the East Coast of the United States. The HASC’s authorization bill calls for the Missile Defense Agency to create a plan for a site that could be running by the end of 2015. The legislation authorizes $100 million to be available after Congress receives the MDA plan and also requires the Pentagon to produce an environmental-impact statement on possible locations. Dempsey tells Pentagon reporters May 10 that the Pentagon’s budget proposal, which does not include an East Coast site, is mapped to the strategic review the Pentagon conducted last fall that considered ballistic-missile defense needs. “In my military judgment, the program of record for ballistic missile defense for the homeland, as we’ve submitted it, is adequate and sufficient to the task,” he says. “That’s a suite of ground-based and sea-based interceptors. So I don’t see a need beyond what we’ve submitted in the last budget.”
NASA Numbers. The White House is threatening to veto the NASA spending plan the House passed May 10, saying it “strongly opposes” the Commerce, Justice, and Science appropriations bill that fails to heed spending guidelines set in the Budget Control Act of 2011. A White House Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) says it rejects the NASA portion of the multi-agency appropriations bill because it proposes cutting President Barack Obama’s proposal for the effort to help commercial companies develop spacecraft by $330 million, down to $500 million. The administration also rejects “restrictive” report language from the HAC instructing NASA to choose just one main contractor or adopt a leader-follower setup with most monies going to one firm and lesser funding slated for a second one. “This would increase the time the United States will be required to rely solely on foreign providers to transport American astronauts to and from the space station,” the White House says in a May 7 SAP. “While the administration appreciates the overall funding level provided to NASA, the bill provides some NASA programs with unnecessary increases at the expense of other important initiatives.” The House bill would set FY ’13 NASA funding at $17.56 billion, or $150 million less than Obama proposed. The Senate Appropriations Committee, meanwhile, is proposing a $19.4 billion NASA budget, though the size of the bill grew in part because a weather-satellite program was shifted from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s budget to NASA’s.
Spending Alternative. Government-watchdog groups Taxpayers for Common Sense and the Project on Government Oversight say the government could save $668 billion over the next decade through defense cuts including the elimination of two F-35 Joint Strike Fighter variants and Lockheed Martin’s version of the Littoral Combat Ship. In the Spending Even Less, Spending Even Smarter report, released May 8, they also propose a 15 percent reduction in service contracts and a slow-down in nuclear-weapon investments. The weapons cuts they want include: cutting aircraft carriers from 11 to 10 and Navy wings from 10 to 9; reducing plans for the SSBN(X) submarine from 12 to eight vessels; deferring development of a next-generation bomber aircraft; replacing the V-22 Osprey with MH-60 and CH-53 helicopters; freezing development of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system for missile defense; and slashing funding for M1 tanks House lawmakers want to add to the Pentagon’s FY ’13 budget.
F-35s delivered. Two Marine Corps variants of the F-35 were delivered to Eglin AFB, Fla., last week, marking the 24th and 25th deliveries of the aircraft to the Pentagon, Lockheed Martin says. They were assigned to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing’s Marine Fighter/Attack Squadron 501 residing with the host 33d Fighter Wing. The Marine Corps F-35B featuring a short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) capability will be used for pilot and maintenance training. The deliveries took place despite the ongoing labor dispute at Lockheed Martin’s production plant in Ft. Worth, Texas. The work stoppage is another bump in the road for the beleaguered program trying to cope with massive cost overruns and delays along with growing scrutiny on Capitol Hill. Vice Adm. David Venlet, the program manager for the Joint Strike Fighter, says he expects the labor issue to to be minor. “We look forward to a relatively small impact on the program,” he tells reporters last week.
Laying Keel. The keel was laid Friday for what will become the SSN-784 Virginia-class attack submarine. The ceremony for the North Dakota took place at General Dynamics Electric Boat’s facility in Quonset Point, R.I., Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) says. The sub is scheduled to be commissioned in 2014 and will be the second naval vessel named after the state. It is the lead submarine for the Block III version of the Virginia-class (SSN-774) and will be the first to incorporate design changes produced by the cost reduction program for the class. The Navy was forced to re-evaluate the program following the early stages to cost overruns and delays on the initial ships in the class. The main feature of cost reduction was the development of a large aperture bow and payload tubes. “Our Navy/industry shipbuilding team continues to drive down cost and schedule and we expect North Dakota to continue this heritage of delivering quality undersea assets ahead of schedule and ready to execute missions of national importance,” says Rear Adm. David Johnson, program executive officer for submarines.
SGI Deal. The Defense Department awards SGI a $27.8 million contract to provide its ICE X high-performance computing system as part of its High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP) to provide computing resources for the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) DoD Supercomputing Research Center (DSRC), according to a company statement. The agreement also includes storage and four years of support, according to a statement.
L-3 In Jordan. L-3 WESTCAM signs an agreement to open an authorized service center in Jordan. The company says it enters a deal with King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau to open a WESCAM Authorized Service Center in the country. KADDB is a Jordanian independent government entity that designs and develops defense products and security solutions in the Middle East, according to a company statement. The new service center is expected to open by December, according to a company statement. L-3 WESCAM designs and manufactures stabilized, multi-spectral airborne imaging systems, according to a company statement.
IC3 2011 Report. The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) releases its 2011 Internet Crime Report, an overview of the latest data and trends of online criminal activity, according to an FBI statement. 2011 marked the third year in a row that the IC3 received more than 300,000 complaints, it added. The 314,246 complaints represent a 3.4 percent increase over 2010 and the reported dollar loss was $485.3 million. IC3 receives, develops, and refers criminal complaints of cybercrime and gives victims a convenient and easy-to-use reporting mechanism that alerts authorities of suspected criminal or civil violations, according to a statement.
JDAM Contract. The Air Force awards McDonnell Douglas a $24 million cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price contract for indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) for technical support for the Joint Direct Attack Munition weapon system to include non-warranty induction and repair, annual software updates, mission planning support, studies and analysis, according to a Defense Department statement. The location of the performance is St. Louis, Mo., and work is to be completed by Dec. 31, 2013, according to the Pentagon.
WGS 7 Award. The Air Force awards Boeing a $21 million firm-fixed-price contract for the Wideband Global SATCOM 7 & Beyond contract issued to purchase parts for SV 10, according to a DoD statement. The locations of the performance are Palm Bay, Fla., and El Segundo, Calif., and work is to be completed by June, according to a statement.
What’s It All Mean? The U.K. Parliamentary Defence Committee holds a new inquiry into the defence implications of possible Scottish Independence. The first oral evidence session for this inquiry is expected before the end of July and more such sessions are expected to take place periodically during the present session. It will all lead to a report in 2013. The terms of reference will be published at a later date, at which stage the Committee will invite submissions of written evidence. The Scottish government has said it intends to hold an independence referendum toward the end of 2014.
DAGR On Track. Lockheed Martin says its Direct Attack Guided Rocket (DAGR) recently successfully tracked and engaged a moving target at Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz.” DAGR hit a moving target from 3.5 kilometers,” says Hady Mourad, DAGR program director in Lockheed Martin’s Missiles and Fire Control business. “Defeating high-value targets on the move is a critical capability, and demonstrating this ability is a significant milestone for the precision-strike DAGR.” Test pilots launched an inert DAGR round in high winds from an AH-64D Apache, designating the target using the helicopter’s lock-on-before-launch mode. The target was a truck moving at 25 miles per hour. The demonstration, which consisted of four flight tests, also showed other DAGR capabilities including use of lock-on-after-launch mode, a long-range 5 kilometer flight and launch from a 5-degree offset. The DAGR round hit within one meter of the laser spot in all four tests.
New Bridges. Army Contracting Command awards General Dynamics a $26 million contract to build two Joint Assault Bridge (JAB) prototypes. The JAB is a multi-service initiative to replace the existing Armored Vehicle Launched Bridge (AVLB) system that is currently available to U.S. forces. The JAB system will be a fully tracked armored engineering vehicle specifically designed to provide Mobility Augmentation Companies with bridging capabilities allowing military vehicles to cross ravines or gorges in combat. It will provide crew with protection and vehicle survivability equal to the M1A1 Abrams tank fleet and have the speed and mobility to keep pace with the maneuver force. The JAB system will launch and recover the Army’s hydraulically actuated Military Load Class Scissor Bridge. Test support packages (TSP) will be delivered along with two JAB prototypes to the Army’s Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. The contract has an estimated completion date of August 2014.
Components For Training. Cobham says three of its business units will provide critical components for six MD530F training helicopters bound for Shindand Air Base in Afghanistan this year. Via their partner, EDMO Distributors, Cobham Aerospace Communications will supply four N301A audio controllers, Cobham Antenna Systems will provide VHF Communications, VOR/LOC/GS V-Dipole, DME, and Navigation Splitter Antennas, and Cobham Commercial Systems will supply an Artex C406-2HM Emergency Locator Transmitter for each MD530F. John Payne, General Manager, Cobham Aerospace Communications, says, “Cobham is proud to be on board the MD530F. Our ruggedized, lightweight, high-performance components will deliver superior communication and navigation functionality, resulting in significantly enhanced safety in the high altitude/high temperature environment of Afghanistan.” It’s anticipated that up to 50 MD530F helicopters will be produced over the next three years.
Social Mil. DoD claims the 200,000th unique user on milSuite, the military’s secure collaborative platform where users can register through their Common Access Card. MilSuite is a DoD enterprise-wide suite of collaboration tools that mirror existing social media platforms such as YouTube, Wikipedia, Facebook and Twitter. The milSuite user community includes more than 200 flag officers across the DoD, including eight Army four-star generals, as well as nearly 20,000 field officers. Currently milSuite has four tools: milWiki, a living knowledge bank with more than 14,000 military encyclopedia entries; milBook, a professional networking tool and collaborative space which hosts more than 2,500 working groups; milBlog, a place to share and comment on internal news and events; and milTube, a video-sharing capability.