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Air Force’s Matthew Donovan: Long-Term CR Could Impact B-21 Program’s EMD Phase
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Air Force’s Matthew Donovan: Long-Term CR Could Impact B-21 Program’s EMD Phase


Air Force’s Matthew Donovan: Long-Term CR Could Impact B-21 Program's EMD Phase
Matthew Donovan

Matthew Donovan, U.S. Air Force undersecretary, has said Congress’ failure to pass a full appropriations bill could potentially delay the B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber program, Military.com reported Thursday.

Donavan, who assumed his post in August 2017, said at an Air Force Association event Thursday in Washington that a long-term continuing resolution that funds programs at current spending levels could impact the B-21 program’s engineering, manufacturing and development phase.

“Our FY 2017 budget is $1.3 billion, but our FY18 request is $2 billion, so if we’re not able to ramp up on our schedule for the acquisition program baseline, then of course it’s going to have an impact on it,” he noted.

His statements came a day after House lawmakers proposed another stopgap measure in an effort to avert a government shutdown and fund federal agencies through Feb. 16.

Northrop Grumman was awarded a contract in October 2015 to develop the B-21 plane.

He said the Air Force expects the first bomber to meet initial operating capability by mid-2020s and cited the need for the service to carry out a “zero-based review” of budget lines, programs and manpower authorizations before it drafts the budget request for fiscal 2020.

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GAO: Aggressive Schedules, Programmatic Risks Could Delay ISS Crew Transportation Certification
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GAO: Aggressive Schedules, Programmatic Risks Could Delay ISS Crew Transportation Certification


GAO: Aggressive Schedules, Programmatic Risks Could Delay ISS Crew Transportation CertificationThe Government Accountability Office has said the contractors that NASA tapped to carry out human spaceflight missions to the International Space Station have made progress when it comes to their spacecraft development efforts but continue to face schedule delays under the Commercial Crew Program.

GAO said in a report published Wednesday that there are three risks that could further hold up efforts of Boeing and SpaceX to meet NASA’s certification requirements for their crew transportation platforms.

Those include the aggressive schedule plans set by the two companies; safety and programmatic risks; and challenges faced by program officials with regard to the completion of phased safety assessments and the need to verify whether the contractors meet NASA’s human spaceflight standards.

The report noted the uncertainty in final certification dates and schedule delays raise concerns on whether the U.S. can develop a capability to send astronauts to and from the ISS once its crew transportation contract for Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft expires in 2019.

Boeing and SpaceX won contracts worth approximately $6.8 billion combined in 2014 to build their respective CST-100 and Dragon crew capsules for the NASA program.

The report came nearly a year after GAO called on NASA to create a contingency plan to ensure continued access to the orbiting laboratory beyond 2018.

 

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USAF Acquisition Nominee Will Roper Eyes F-35 Sustainment Cost Reduction
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USAF Acquisition Nominee Will Roper Eyes F-35 Sustainment Cost Reduction


USAF Acquisition Nominee Will Roper Eyes F-35 Sustainment Cost Reduction
Will Roper

Will Roper, the Trump administration’s nominee for the U.S. Air Force assistant secretary for acquisition role, has said he plans to find ways on how to reduce the F-35 aircraft’s sustainment costs once confirmed, Defense News reported Thursday.

“If I get confirmed, one of the first things I want to look at is the sustainment plan to make sure that there are not optimistic assumptions for this confluence of events that all happen together to get the price down,” Roper told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing Thursday.

He noted that failure to manage sustainment costs could result in a “bow wave” that could potentially prompt the service branch to block F-35 upgrades, look at force structure or expand inventory through procurement of more fighter jets.

Roper, who currently serves as director of the Defense Department’s strategic capabilities office, said he intends to subject the F-35 program to an in-depth analysis that seeks to identify emerging technology platforms and industry practices that could help reduce the aircraft’s sustainment costs, the report added.

 

 

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House OKs Bill to Reinstate State Dept Cyber Office
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House OKs Bill to Reinstate State Dept Cyber Office


House OKs Bill to Reinstate State Dept Cyber OfficeThe House on Wednesday passed by a voice vote a bill that would put back a State Department office that works to facilitate negotiations on international cybersecurity policies, The Hill reported Wednesday.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-California) and Rep. Eliot Engel (D-New York), the House panel’s ranking member, introduced in September the Cyber Diplomacy Act that seeks to create a new office of cyber issues that would advance collaboration with other countries to address cyber threats.

The office’s chief would be confirmed by the Senate and would serve as an ambassador on cybersecurity issues.

Nextgov also reported the proposed measure would establish international cyber norms in a push to prevent cyber attacks on energy plants and other critical infrastructure.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson informed Congress in August 2017 of his plans to shut down the department’s cyber coordinator office led by White House veteran Chris Painter and transfer its functions to the agency’s economics bureau as part of a reorganization effort.

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NASA, Navy to Conduct Orion Spacecraft Recovery Test
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NASA, Navy to Conduct Orion Spacecraft Recovery Test


NASA, Navy to Conduct Orion Spacecraft Recovery TestThe U.S. Navy deployed a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock Wednesday to support a NASA spacecraft recovery test off the coast of Southern California.

USS Anchorage (LPD 23) departed from San Diego Naval Base for the Underway Recovery Test 6 that will train personnel to recover the Orion crew module after the spacecraft completes Exploration Mission-1 slated to occur in late 2019, the service branch said Wednesday.

URT will also evaluate open ocean recovery processes, procedures, hardware and personnel tasked to retrieve Orion upon return to Earth.

USS Anchorage’s bridge team will monitor the ship as it conducts restricted conditions during URT 6, while boats of Navy divers and NASA recovery teams will rig tending lines and guide a Boiler Plate Test Article.

BTA is designed to have the same size, shape and center of gravity as the Lockheed Martin-built spacecraft.

NASA plans to hold three more URTs prior to the EM-1 launch with daytime and nighttime recovery operations meant to prepare agency and Navy personnel to handle and store the capsule.

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Marine Corps F-35B Fighter Aircraft to Support Patrol Missions Onboard Navy Assault Ship
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Marine Corps F-35B Fighter Aircraft to Support Patrol Missions Onboard Navy Assault Ship


Marine Corps F-35B Fighter Aircraft to Support Patrol Missions Onboard Navy Assault ShipThe U.S. Marine Corps‘ F-35B fighter aircraft will deploy onboard the U.S. Navy‘s USS Wasp amphibious assault ship to support slated regional patrol missions.

The Wasp vessel, which will replace USS Bonhomme Richard as the 7th fleet’s forward-deployed amphibious assault ship, has been equipped with capacities required to land and launch the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter, the Navy said Saturday.

Capt. Colby Howard, commanding officer of USS Wasp, said the ship is ready to perform various military missions that range from crisis response to disaster relief alongside its F-35B companion.

Expeditionary Strike Group 7, which consists of USS Wasp and other amphibious vessels, will team up with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit to serve as an on-call crisis response force in the Pacific region.

Wasp departed from Norfolk, Virginia in August then headed to the Caribbean to aid areas in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Dominica that were struck by Hurrican Irma.

The crew also assisted Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria which was dubbed as the worst natural disaster recorded in the American commonwealth island’s history.

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NIST Creates Equipment Capacity Testing Accessory for Handheld Chemical Detectors
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NIST Creates Equipment Capacity Testing Accessory for Handheld Chemical Detectors


NIST Creates Equipment Capacity Testing Accessory for Handheld Chemical DetectorsThe National Institute of Science and Technology has developed an accessory device for a handheld chemical detector designed to alarm troops of potential nerve and blister agents within an environment.

The Threshold Confidence Checker was made to support the use of and evaluate the sensing capacities of Joint Chemical Agent Detector units before fielding, NIST said Wednesday.

JCADs that fail capacity tests using the TCC will be subjected to additional maintenance or returned to depot for further evaluation.

NIST noted the technology used to create simulants for the TCCs can be replicated for future configurations of sensors and handheld chemical agent detectors.

The agency said TCCs are simpler and cheaper to use than a previously determined equipment testing platform which would utilize a spectrometer to detect chemical signatures and determine vapors.

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DoD’s Natl Security Tech Accelerator, Marine Corps Partner to Form Adaptive Threat Force
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DoD’s Natl Security Tech Accelerator, Marine Corps Partner to Form Adaptive Threat Force


DoD's Natl Security Tech Accelerator, Marine Corps Partner to Form Adaptive Threat ForceThe U.S. Marine Corps‘ Warfighting Laboratory/Futures Directorate has signed a two-year agreement with MD5, the Defense Department‘s technology accelerator for national security, to form group that will serve as adversaries in Marine experiments.

USMC said Wednesday the Adaptive Threat Force will be formed to challenge experimental Marines teams with situations that require adaptive thinking and response.

“Through this agreement, MD5 will create experimental security threats to the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory to test the lab’s readiness when it comes to future security threats,” said MD5 Director Morgan Plummer.

Lt. Col. Dan Schmitt, field testing branch head for the MCWL/FD’s experiment division, said that mimicry of a real potential adversary is required in order to test the performance of future technologies and concepts.

The Pentagon established MD5 to support the establishment of technology-based ventures that will work to help address the government’s national security, economic, security and social goals.

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Will Graves: DoD to Assess 5 Biometric Tech Platforms
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Will Graves: DoD to Assess 5 Biometric Tech Platforms


Will Graves: DoD to Assess 5 Biometric Tech PlatformsWill Graves, deputy project manager and chief engineer for biometrics at the Defense Department, has said that DoD will evaluate five different biometrics technologies this year, Federal News Radio reported Tuesday.

The report noted the department seeks to explore the potential use of contactless, facial recognition, rapid DNA, video analytics and voice recognition platforms in a push to break a biometrics paradigm.

The U.S. military also looks to test facial recognition platforms, which are currently used at airports and buildings from short distances, as well as contactless biometrics systems that can potentially support on-the-move facial, fingerprint and iris recognition at forward operating bases.

Graves told the station that DoD also eyes video analytics technology built to sift through social media and dark web video data as well as develop a system to pick out voices in a crowd with voice recognition tools.

He added the department aims to build access information management systems that can support forward operating bases, materials and other military facilities.

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House Introduces Another Stopgap Bill to Fund Govt Through Feb. 16
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House Introduces Another Stopgap Bill to Fund Govt Through Feb. 16


House Introduces Another Stopgap Bill to Fund Govt Through Feb. 16House lawmakers have proposed another continuing resolution in an effort to avert a government shutdown and fund federal agencies through Feb. 16 as the current CR approaches the Friday deadline, GovExec reported Wednesday.

The report said the stopgap bill would be the fourth short-term funding measure that Congress intends to pass for fiscal 2018.

The four-week CR would propose additional funds for the Defense Department’s missile defense programs and other efforts, delay certain taxes under the Affordable Care Act and include a six-year extension of the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Republican lawmakers said the new stopgap measure was needed to finalize deals over immigration issues and budget caps.

“My hope is that House and Senate leadership and the White House can reach consensus quickly on a budget agreement, so that essential appropriations work on all 12 government funding bills can be completed,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-New Jersey).

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