The Insider

Army Brig. Gen. Jeff Colt, the head of the Joint Unmanned Aircraft Systems Center of Excellence (JUAS COE), recently led a UAS demonstration called "Blue Knight 2010" that tested U.S. manned and unmanned joint force capabilities against airborne unmanned systems. The U.S. Joint Forces Command website has a Q&A with Colt on the exercise. Here's an excerpt:

Q: What is the next step in the continuing evolution of counter UAS?

Colt: As technology evolves, threat capabilities will, too.  In UAS that may be even smaller and faster platforms—or it may include swarm (multiple) adversary UAS.

The next steps in counter UAS include going to a more comprehensive modeling and simulation.  I think we will see this more widely introduced into operational level exercises and at the combat training centers to expand baseline awareness for the tactical to operational decision makers.

I feel closer integration of exercise objectives between what has been done here and the Joint Integrated Air and Missile Defense Organization's Black Dart exercises are necessary -- the Black Dart exercises focus more on future technologies -- we don't need a whole series of systems, but examining some emerging technologies may allow us to deal with the evolution of future UAS threats more effectively.  But the long-term solution lies in a balance between procedures and technology.

More than 50 nations now are employing UAS.  As the technology continues to proliferate, I think the sophistication in how those applications are employed is going to increase in the future.  I think it would be naïve not to believe that an intelligent and learning threat will try to use these systems to gain some local advantage or make a wider statement.

With that said, we really don't have either the time or financial resources to go out and develop a single perfect solution or capability to deal with all the potential threats.  As a result of that, we must adapt the systems that already exist and array them in a manner combined with validated procedures so we can detect, track, identify and then take action. We need to educate the joint force about what is available.

I am confident, given fundamental joint procedures and a better understanding of our existing joint capabilities, our joint warfighters are capable of taking the output of this exercise, and exercises similar to it, to devise even more relevant applications.

Ever read through a government report or memo -- especially one coming out of the Pentagon -- and felt you needed a road map just to find your way to the end? The Obama administration is trying to do something about that by issuing preliminary rules yesterday for the Plain Writing Act of 2010.

President Obama signed the legislation into law back in mid-October with an eye toward promoting "clear government communication that the public can understand and use," according to an Office of Management and Budget memo released yesterday. The law requires OMB to "develop and issue guidance on implementing the requirements" of the act by April 13, 2011. In the memo, OMB says that final guidance will be developed by the deadline but until then the preliminary rules will give federal agencies some much needed direction.

OMB explains the purpose behind the law this way:

Plain writing is concise, simple, meaningful, and well-organized. It avoids jargon, redundancy, ambiguity, and obscurity. It does not contain unnecessary complexity.

This is not the first time a sitting administration has tried to untangle government syntax and retire certain jargon. OMB provides several examples of how plain writing can save the taxpayer a few dollars:

• reduce questions from the public to agency staff;
• improve compliance with regulations;
• reduce resources spent on enforcement;
• reduce errors on forms and applications; and
• reduce time spent addressing errors.

NATO leaders agreed over the weekend in Lisbon, Portugal, to a new strategic concept -- designed in part to guide the alliance over the next decade -- that makes missile defense a mission for the 28-member states.

The new concept commits the alliance to:

develop the capability to defend our populations and territories against ballistic missile attack as a core element of our collective defence, which contributes to the indivisible security of the Alliance. We will actively seek cooperation on missile defence with Russia and other Euro-Atlantic partners.

The gathering was also hailed by participants as an opportunity for NATO and Russia to reset relations. The alliance, in the strategic concept, committed to:

enhance the political consultations and practical cooperation with Russia in areas of shared interests, including missile defence, counter-terrorism, counter-narcotics, counter-piracy and the promotion of wider international security; use the full potential of the NATO-Russia Council for dialogue and joint action with Russia.

With the Marine Corps' variant of the Joint Strike Fighter set next Monday to face the judgement of Pentagon leaders, we hear from a reader -- a seasoned Washington hand and retired Marine -- who believes the outcome of the Nov. 22 JSF milestone review carries implications far beyond the F-35 program.

Senior Pentagon leaders, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates, have questioned the fundamental need for the F-35B to the nation in recent weeks following a technical review that determined the Marine Corps' variant will require another substantial infusion of cash in the fiscal year 2012 budget and additional time to develop in order to address new technical challenges. Could this line of questioning be prelude to dramatic changes to Marine Corps, which potentially are now in play?

Our reader opines:

I think I understand why Bob Gates picked Jim Amos as Commandant and it makes me an even greater admirer of Gates. Only by having a Marine Aviator as Commandant, and a fixed-wing jet pilot at that, could Gates have the Marines start down a path towards doing away with their fixed-wing jet assets. When Amos says, after the new year, that “middleweight forces” do not need to possess organic fixed-wing assets no one in Marine Aviation will argue with him. Only Gates would have thought of using that sort of velvet knife to surgically remove “another Air Force” from DoD’s balance sheet.  Once Amos shows he has the “mettle” to give up on fixed-wing aviation, the concept of ship-to-objective maneuver (STOM) via EFVs will be next package to be unceremoniously heaved overboard.

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters today the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program will go before the Defense Acquisition Board on Monday for an assessment of the program's ongoing technical baseline review.

That "soup-to-nuts" review, being led by JSF Program Executive Officer Vice Adm. David Venlet, is near completion and has discovered additional issues that are of concern, Morrell said. For example, the aircraft needs more lines of software code than previously expected, he said.

Morrell added that no decisions are expected to be made during the DAB meeting. He declined to comment on what recommendations might come out of it, noting that any big decisions on JSF would be made by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, probably in the fiscal year 2012 budget process. He stressed the department is not wavering on the program, which remains of "vital importance."

The Air Force has yet to make contact with an F-22A Raptor fighter lost last night somewhere in the skies above Alaska, according to a service announcement released today. Air traffic control personnel at Joint Base Elemendorf-Richardson, AK, lost contact with the fifth-generation fighter during a routine training mission, according to the statement. Contact between the fighter and base personnel was lost around 7:40 p.m. Alaska Standard Time -- 11:40 EST -- last night, base spokesman Corrina Jones told The News Tribune in Tacoma, WA.

Members of the Alaska Air National Guard Rescue Coordination Center have deployed HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters and an HC-130 King aircraft to an area northeast of Cantwell, which was the last known location of the aircraft, according to the statement. The aircraft was attached to the 3rd Wing stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

The leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee have announced their line-ups for the 111th Congress, issuing a slate of subcommittee assignments today that includes a few changes.

The changes reflect the appointments to the Committee of Senator Joe Manchin III (D-West Virginia) and Senator Christopher A. Coons (D-Delaware) on November 15, 2010.

A complete listing of all subcommittee members was also sent out, so we pass it along here:

Subcommittee on AirLand

Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities

Subcommittee on Personnel

Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support

Subcommittee on Seapower

Subcommittee on Strategic Forces