The Insider

By John Liang
June 23, 2009 at 5:00 AM

Defense secretaries past and present have long complained about the amount of reports Congress requires the Pentagon to submit. This year, for instance, just on missile defense, House authorizers, in their report accompanying the fiscal year 2010 defense authorization bill, want eight reports from DOD to be submitted within the next year. Inside Missile Defense will be tracking the following:

A report on the U.S.-Israeli Arrow-3 program:

The committee understands that the Department of Defense is currently negotiating a project agreement with the Israeli Ministry of Defense for the Arrow-3 program. Given the high-risk nature of Arrow-3, the committee understands that the Arrow-3 project agreement will contain clear knowledge points (i.e., technical benchmarks) and a schedule that will govern the development of the program. Future decisions about the program should be based on the Arrow-3 system’s ability to meet the agreed knowledge points and schedule. Therefore, the committee directs the Secretary of Defense to submit a report to the congressional defense committees by April 15, 2010, that describes the agreed knowledge points and schedule, and assesses whether the Arrow-3 program is meeting the agreed knowledge points and schedule. The committee further directs that the report include a discussion of alternative paths the Department is examining to assist Israel in developing an upper-tier missile defense capability, such as the land-based version of the Standard Missile-3 (SM–3), should the Arrow-3 program fail to meet the agreed knowledge points and schedule.

A report on the recently canceled KEI and MKV programs:

The committee recognizes that the Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI) program and the Multiple Kill Vehicle (MKV) program have completed research and development of certain technologies that could be beneficial to other defense programs. The committee directs the Secretary of Defense to provide a report to the congressional defense committees not later than March 31, 2010, on the feasibility of completing development of certain technologies that were in the process of being developed through the KEI and MKV programs and could have additional useful defense applications.

A report on the planned Precision Tracking Space Sensor (PTSS) constellation:

The committee directs the Secretary of Defense to provide a report to the defense committees not later than March 1, 2010, providing a description of the PTSS long-lead, risk-reduction activities to include: (1) payload design, prototyping and laboratory characterization; (2) continuing work on consolidated ground processing of overhead sensor feeds; and (3) implementation of the C2BMC interface. On the Ground-based Midcourse Defense Sustainment and Modernization Program:

This section would require the Secretary of Defense to establish a sustainment and modernization program to ensure the long-term reliability, availability, maintainability, and supportability of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system to protect the United States against limited ballistic missile attacks, whether accidental, unauthorized, or deliberate. It would also require the Secretary of Defense to submit a report to the congressional defense committees outlining the Department of Defense’s long-term sustainment and modernization plan for that system.

Missile defense in Europe:

This section would prohibit the Department of Defense from acquiring (other than for initial long-lead procurement) or deploying operational missiles of a long-range missile defense system in Europe until the Secretary of Defense, after receiving the views of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, submits to the congressional defense committees a report certifying that the proposed interceptor to be deployed as part of such a missile defense system has demonstrated, through successful, operationally realistic flight testing, a high probability of working in an operationally effective manner and the ability to accomplish the mission.

Ascent phase missile defense:

This section would require the Secretary of Defense to submit a report to the congressional defense committees outlining a strategy for ascent phase missile defense within 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.

Foreign ballistic missile intelligence analysis:

This section would require the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence, to conduct an assessment of foreign ballistic missile intelligence analysis gaps and shortfalls, and prepare a plan to ensure that the appropriate intelligence centers have sufficient analytical capabilities to address such gaps and shortfalls. The committee is aware of certain intelligence gaps and shortfalls in foreign ballistic missile activities, in particular emerging longer-range ballistic missile activities, as noted by the Missile Defense Agency.

This section would also require a report by February 28, 2010, on the results of the assessment, the plan to ensure sufficient analytical capabilities, and a description of the resources required to implement such plan.

A U.S.-Russian joint missile defense data exchange center:

This section would allow the Secretary of Defense, in conjunction with the Government of the Russian Federation, to expand the United States-Russian Federation joint center for the exchange of data from early warning systems for launches of ballistic missiles, as established pursuant to section 1231 of the Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (Public Law 106–398), to include the exchange of data on missile defense-related activities.

This section would also require the Secretary of Defense to submit a report on plans for expansion of the joint data exchange center to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives within 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act.

By Marjorie Censer
June 22, 2009 at 5:00 AM

The House Armed Services Committee is focusing on safety in Army tactical wheeled vehicles, calling for increased egress enhancements and a report on fire suppression systems.

Citing the potential threat of heavy armor doors on vehicles like the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, the report on the committee's fiscal year 2010 defense authorization bill calls for the Army secretary to “pursue mature technologies that provide some level of armor door power-assist, to allow military personnel to quickly egress tactical combat vehicles in emergencies.”

The report notes that, in some cases, the armor door on a tactical combat vehicle can weigh more than 400 pounds, “making it very difficult for the warfighter to rapidly egress the vehicle during emergencies such as vehicle rollovers.”

In a second, the committee praises tactical wheeled vehicle fire suppression systems, which it says “provide a proven capability for force protection against improvised explosive devices that use fire accelerants to increase lethality and injury to the warfighter.”

Yet, the report says, the systems are a required performance specification only for some TWV platforms. Accordingly, the panel directs the defense secretary “to conduct a capability-based performance assessment of fire suppression system technology for TWVs.”

More specifically, the committee dictates, the assessment -- due by March 15, 2010 -- should consider fuel tank, tire, engine and crew compartment fire suppression systems.

“The Secretary should determine the advisability and feasibility of requiring fire suppression systems on all current and future tactical wheeled vehicle platforms and provide relative cost assessments,” the report adds.

By Sebastian Sprenger
June 19, 2009 at 5:00 AM

The House Armed Services Committee's fiscal year 2010 defense authorization bill aims to make some small, but significant, tweaks to the law governing special operations.

The bill modifies the section of Title 10 spelling out what activities fall under the special operations label and are therefore core missions for U.S. Special Operations Command.

The legislation introduces a couple of newcomers: information operations, counterproliferation of weapons of mass destruction, security force assistance and counterinsurgency operations.

Departing the canon of warfighting areas listed in the statute are "direct action," humanitarian assistance and theater search and rescue.

"Strategic reconnaissance" would get reworded to read "special reconnaissance."

Unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, civil affairs operations, counterterrorism and psychological operations remain on the list.

By Sebastian Sprenger
June 19, 2009 at 5:00 AM

The House Armed Services Committee's fiscal year 2010 defense authorization bill, made public today, spells out what committee members have in mind for the National Defense Panel, which would be charged with critiquing the 2009 Quadrennial Defense Review.

As envisioned in the bill, the panel will consist of 12 "recognized experts" in national security matters. The House and Senate Armed Services committee chairmen will each appoint three members; the committees' ranking members each get to pick two. The defense secretary also may appoint two members.

The NDP's first meeting must be no later than 30 days after all the commission members are appointed, according to the legislation. The meeting would still take place if the defense secretary's appointment slots are unfilled at that time, the bill states.

An initial report outlining "findings" is due to Congress and the defense secretary by April 15, 2010, according to the legislation. A final report -- with findings plus recommendations -- is due by Jan. 15, 2011.

One month later that year, the defense secretary and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff must file a report with "comments" on the NDP's final product.

As for data sharing between the Pentagon and the commission, the bill authorizes panel members to "secure directly from ((DOD)) . . . such information as the panel considers necessary to carry out its duties," the legislation reads. Information must be provided "promptly," it adds.

One of the NDP's duties is to dissect the intellectual backdrop against which Pentagon leaders are conducting the QDR, according to the bill. Members also should assess findings, assumptions, strategies and cost implications outlined in the QDR report, paying "particular attention" to the issue of risk.

The panel must critique any force structure proposals included in the QDR report and offer an "independent assessment of a variety of possible force structures." It is unclear from the bill text who would bring these alternatives into play.

Finally, panel members must estimate the cost of any force structure moves -- either those advanced by DOD through the QDR, or any alternatives.

By Christopher J. Castelli
June 19, 2009 at 5:00 AM

Get ready for round two of the V-22 hearing involving the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and Marine Corps officials.

On May 21, the panel's chairman, Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY), accused the Pentagon of stonewalling his request for V-22 documents and vented his displeasure by abruptly ending the hearing after mere minutes, telling a three-star Marine general to return in two weeks. The Pentagon denied the accusation, insisting it was diligently working to provide the information.

It took a month to sort things out. But now the committee has rescheduled its V-22 Osprey hearing for the afternoon of Tuesday, June 23. The agenda, according to lawmakers, is the future of the V-22, including "costs, capabilities, and challenges.” Stay tuned.

By Sebastian Sprenger
June 18, 2009 at 5:00 AM

Kenneth Baer, the Office of Management and Budget's associate director for communications and strategic planning, today corrected information given to us previously by one of his subordinates about the Pentagon's fiscal year 2011 budget plan.

We asked OMB's public affairs folks last Friday whether the Defense Department is exempt from having to prepare a budget estimate assuming a) a freeze at FY-10 levels, and b) a 5 percent cut to the FY-11 figure included in the FY-10 outyear tables.

A June 11 memo from OMB Director Peter Orszag suggested some agencies are not affected by the requirement.

(We posed the same question in an e-mail to DOD spokesman Geoff Morrell, but never heard back.)

An OMB spokeswoman, who asked to remain anonymous, sent us an e-mail late Friday replying simply "Yes" to our question.

Turns out that was only half true.

"DoD has been exempted from considering a 5% cut to the FY-11 budget figure listed in the outyear tables accompanying the FY-10 request," Baer told us today. "However, DoD has not been exempted from the nominal freeze alternative," he added.

The Pentagon's budget submission, including the "freeze" alternative, is due to OMB by Sept. 14.

So, how would the two different scenarios compare anyway, you ask?

"((A)) freeze would be higher than a 5% cut, in principle," Gordon Adams, a former OMB official, tells us. "The question is a freeze with or without inflation. Either way, it is below what I am sure DOD wants to come back with in the fall," he wrote in an e-mail.

Our updated story is here.

By John Liang
June 18, 2009 at 5:00 AM

The Senate Armed Services Committee today confirmed the following nominations in a roll call vote, en bloc, according to a panel statement:

Gordon S. Heddell to be Inspector General, Department of Defense;

Zachary J. Lemnios to be Director of Defense Research and Engineering; and

Jamie M. Morin to be Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management and Comptroller, as well as 1,543 pending military nominations in the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. All nominations were immediately reported to the floor following the committee’s action.

By Kate Brannen
June 17, 2009 at 5:00 AM

The House Armed Services Committee's just completed fiscal year 2010 defense authorization bill calls for an additional 30,000 increase in active-duty end strength for the Army in FY-11 and F-12.

In the meantime, with the Senate’s mark-up of the FY-10 budget request a week away, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), chairman of the Senate Armed Services airland subcommittee, told Army generals yesterday that he planned on mounting “a serious effort” to increase the service's active force end strength by 30,000 service members.

“There may be a requirement for us to have a temporary authorization of additional soldiers to fill some of the holes we have in our formations and to take the stress off the force in what is going to be a critical 12- to 18-month period," Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli told the subcommittee.

This may signal a change in the Army's tune. Just last month, Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey said a further increase in troops wasn't necessary.

Though he did not reject outright the idea of a temporary increase, Casey said what he's “not ready to sign up for just yet is whether we need to increase the active Army beyond 547,000,” he said.

“It comes down to it's about a billion dollars to have that increase, and that's a lot of money,” Casey said.

By Sebastian Sprenger
June 17, 2009 at 5:00 AM

Members of the House Armed Services Committee apparently found many of the Defense Department's legislative ideas from the past two months convincing. The summary of the panel's fiscal year 2010 defense authorization contains a number of provisions that will sound familiar to those following our coverage.

For example, panelists gave a thumbs-up to the DOD idea of training private-sector information technology specialists at the Defense Cyber Investigation Training Academy (DCITA), operated by the DOD Cyber Crime Center in Maryland.

Also considered in the bill is a Pentagon request to authorize the provision of senior-level civilian U.S. defense advisers to the defense ministries of Iraq and Afghanistan.

A DOD request to expand a program for paying tipsters who provide counterterrorism-related information directly to US. officials or through foreign intermediaries made it into the bill, too.

Lawmakers OK'ed a Pentagon request to make permanent a pilot program for sharing space situational awareness data with private companies and foreign organizations.

They included a DOD proposal in their bill that would make it possible for the Pentagon to do business with countries eyed to host segments of what U.S. officials call the Northern Distribution Network of supply routes to Afghanistan.

However, committee members adopted the latter proposal with caveats. A panel spokeswoman would only say the bill language is “much more limited” than what DOD officials wanted.

The final bill text, which should include details on the limitations, will be available to the public after committee staffers file the legislation with the House Rules Committee later this week, the spokeswoman said.

By Thomas Duffy
June 16, 2009 at 5:00 AM

The House Armed Services Committee today held a lengthy, and at times entertaining, debate over how many interceptor missiles the United States should have to defend against ballistic missile attacks. The committee settled on 30 -- the number supported by the Obama administration -- during its mark-up of the fiscal year 2010 defense budget. The Bush administration was funding a plan to put 44 in the ground in Alaska and California (40 up north, four down south).

The back-and-forth between committee Democrats (who supported 30 interceptors) and Republicans (who wanted to restore the 44 interceptors) highlighted a rather curious fact -- neither number is backed up by any hard Pentagon analysis.

The Democrats offered up the support of Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. James Cartwright and Missile Defense Agency Director Lt. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly, all of whom have testified to Congress that 30 ground-based interceptors are adequate to meet the threat posed by North Korea and Iran.

Republicans argued for restoring the plan for 44 interceptors because, well, 44 is more than 30. Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) even threw China and Russia onto the table, arguing that both countries have sizable ICBM arsenals -- and contending that if they ever launched a few toward the United States, 14 more interceptors would come in handy. In the early days of the Bush administration's push for a deployed national missile defense system, though, Pentagon officials consistently told Congress the system would have no capability against China's missile arsenal.

In a statement issued just moments after the committee approved an amendment by Rep. Rob Andrews (D-NJ) to stay with the 30 interceptor plan, the committee's majority staff said in the next few years North Korea “could launch, at most, one or two long-range ballistic missiles at the United States at any one time, and Iran has not yet tested a missile capable of reaching the United States.” Nether of those situations are expected to change over the next five years, according to the statement. “The 30 ((ground-based midcourse defense)) interceptors deployed under the president's plan are more than enough to counter this threat," the statement reads.

So what about the numbers? The Missile Defense Agency tells us that the decision to put 44 interceptors in the ground “was made in the 2001-2002 time frame based upon analysis of the expected threat. During that time frame ((the)) decision was also made to deploy up to four GBIs at Vandenberg ((Air Force Base in California)) in addition to GBIs at Ft. Greely ((in Alaska)).”

Earlier this year the Missile Defense Executive Board made the recommendation to go to 30 interceptors, MDA tells us. That position was accepted by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, putting in motion the events that played out during the House committee's meeting this morning.

By Sebastian Sprenger
June 16, 2009 at 5:00 AM

Defense Department officials are eying a new kind of assistance for Iraq and Afghanistan beyond instructing the countries' security forces in tactical warfighting matters.

According to a legislative proposal sent to Congress last week, Pentagon officials want to be able to send a total of 38 civilian advisers to Baghdad and Kabul to aid in the development of more strategic-level thinking among defense ministry officials when it comes to stabilization and irregular warfare operations.

The cost would be $13.1 million for fiscal year 2010, according to the legislative proposal.

By Christopher J. Castelli
June 15, 2009 at 5:00 AM

Today's news that foreign hostages in Yemen have been killed comes as U.S. officials are growing alarmed about violent extremism in that country, where a suicide attack hit the U.S. destroyer Cole (DDG-67) in 2000.

To wit:

  • In a speech last Thursday at the Willard Hotel, U.S. Central Command chief Gen. David Petraeus said of Yemen, "We're very concerned about the challenges that have emerged there."
  • In a background briefing the next day at the Pentagon, a senior defense official told reporters al Qaeda remains a global network with significant links across a number of continents and to various groups, including the Horn of Africa and Yemen.
  • "I am very worried about growing safe havens in both Somalia and Yemen, specifically, because we've seen al Qaeda leadership -- some leaders start to flow to Yemen," Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen said in a May 18 speech at the Brookings Institution.
  • Somalia and Yemen are potential safe havens for al Qaeda in the future, CIA chief Leon Panetta warned in a speech the same day to the Pacific Council on International Policy.

Also: The New York Times reports today that violence has been rising in Yemen throughout the last year.

By Sebastian Sprenger
June 15, 2009 at 5:00 AM

Lawmakers last week included language in the fiscal year 2010 defense authorization bill that could turn out to be a technical obstacle to realizing Bush-era basing plans for a European missile defense system in the near term.

In a statement, House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee Chairwoman Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) said her committee had contributed a provision to the bill that would "make permanent" an existing statutory requirement that interceptors intended for the European site first be considered operationally effective before moving ahead with the plan.

The FY-09 National Defense Authorization Act already contains language to that effect.

Section 233 of the act prohibits the Pentagon from using FY-09 money for acquisitions related to the European site, or the deployment of operational missiles there, until the defense secretary, with advice from the director of operational test an evaluation, certifies the interceptors as having a "high probability of working in an operationally effective manner."

The Missile Defense Agency has yet to begin test flights of the interceptors eyed for the European system.

Meanwhile, the No. 1 Republican on Tauscher's panel, Michael Turner (D-OH), has introduced legislation that would guarantee MDA $500 million over fiscal years 2011 and 2012 to do exactly what the NDAA language seeks to forbid.

The "NATO First Act" would enable MDA to spend the money on "research, development, test, and evaluation, procurement, site activation, construction, preparation of, equipment for, or deployment of" the envisioned sites in Poland and the Czech Republic.

By Marcus Weisgerber
June 15, 2009 at 5:00 AM

The Paris Air Show is under way in rainy Le Bourget, France. While the international media is busy coming up with conspiracy theories about why the Air Force did not bring the F-22A Raptor to the show, the staff of Inside the Air Force brings you some highlights from today's industry briefings and announcements.

Boeing Renames Tanker Program

Boeing announced it has changed the name of its KC-X tanker competition proposal from the KC-767 to the KC-7A7. While the “A” does not does not stand for anything in particular, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems President and CEO James Albaugh said it symbolizes the company's option to offer a 767- or a 777-based aircraft. “Our capture teams have been actively working both of these options,” Albaugh said during a morning briefing with reporters.

. . . And Unveils New UAS Division

Boeing also announced the formation of an unmanned aerial system division within its defense and space business unit. The UAS division will assume program management responsibility for the A160T Hummingbird, Unmanned Little Bird, SolarEagle (Vulture), ScanEagle and Integrator programs. The sector also will oversee the X-45 Phanton Ray and Hale programs. The division Director Vic Sweberg will report to Boeing Military Aircraft President Chris Chadwick.

Using Your Head

Lockheed Martin awarded Vision Systems International $54.1 million to deliver 52 F-35 Gen II helmet-mounted displays and 30 aircraft shipsets in support of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Helmet Mounted Display System program, according to a company statement. VSI will provide system hardware and production tooling for the first three lots of low-rate initial production. The system enables the pilot to accurately cue on-board weapons and sensors by looking at enemy aircraft and ground targets with the helmet display.

Moving Forward

Lockheed announced it has delivered the final block of new flight software architecture that will provide “highly reliable” spacecraft command and control operations for the Space-Based Infrared System Geosynchronous Orbit (SBIRS GEO) satellite constellation. The software will enable robust command and data handling, fault management and safe-hold capabilities on the GEO satellites, according to a company statement. The delivery of the final block of software comes roughly a year and a half after arcane issues were found in the original design.

Lockheed also announced today that the Global Positioning System III program has entered the critical design review stage on schedule. Over the next year, Lockheed and its industry partners will conduct 70 individual CDRs for critical GPS III spacecraft subsystems, assemblies and elements, according to a separate statement. “The phase will culminate in the fall of 2010 with a final Space Vehicle CDR that will validate the detailed GPS III design to ensure it meets warfighter and civil requirements,” the statement reads.

Saudi Snipers

Lockheed Martin announced that it is set to deliver Sniper advanced targeting pods to the Royal Saudi Air Force. This marks the first step in a $100 million program aimed at upgrading the precision targeting equipment on the Saudi air service's fleet of F-15Ss, which are nearly identical to U.S. F-15E Strike Eagles. The Saudi jets have been using Lockheed's LANTIRN targeting pods since the planes were delivered to the kingdom in the mid-1990s, according to a company statement.

Airborne Intelligence

Lockheed Martin unveiled its newest intelligence product as it announced the creation of a flying intelligence collection tech lab known as the Airborne Multi-INT Laboratory. The lab is centered on a Gulfstream III business jet and will serve as a flying testbed for a number of intelligence collection tools that can be swapped in and out of the jet, according to a company statement. More interesting is the fact that Lockheed claims the plane will be available for “participation in government and coalition exercises,” according to release. “Using the AML as a multirole cooperative research platform testbed, the team will work with operational commands to develop innovative ways to bring ((intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance)) to the edge,” the statement reads.

By Christopher J. Castelli
June 12, 2009 at 5:00 AM

The Marines are looking for a few good men -- with curly red hair, glasses and pocket protectors, according to the Marine Corps commandant.

Gen. James Conway was asked yesterday at the National Press Club what the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization should be doing more of. And he said:

You know, that’s a tough one. And I don't have a good answer for that question, quite frankly. I visited. They’ve got some wonderfully intelligent people over there that wear uniforms and that don’t wear uniforms. They realize the importance of what they’re doing. They’re looking at every aspect of it that you can imagine, and I would offer, more

And that's when it got a little weird. Conway said he still hopes for a groundbreaking high-tech solution that would help troops spot and eradicate improvised bombs at a safe distance.

He followed that with this:

You know, I still hold out hope that some day some guy with curly red hair and glasses and a pocket holder is going to come running out of his garage saying, 'I got it! I got it!' and we’re going to have a device that will detect and destroy at distance. But we’re not there yet. That magic device has not occurred.

Conway added, however, that he does not fault JIEDDO for anything it is doing.

“They’re making progress,” he said. “They’re putting things in the field as rapidly as they can for experimentation. And so I think they’re doing a very good job. We just hope someday that they find that answer, and the weapon becomes obsolete.”