The Insider

Northrop wins Tern UAV deal
By John Liang
January 5, 2016 at 4:27 PM

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Office of Naval Research have awarded Northrop Grumman a contract for the third phase of the Tern unmanned systems program, according to a Jan. 5 company statement.

"Phase three plans to include final design, fabrication and a full-scale, at-sea demonstration of the system," the statement reads.

Tern seeks to develop an autonomous, unmanned, long-range, global, persistent intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and strike system intended to safely and dependably deploy and recover from small-deck naval vessels with minimal ship modifications, according to Northrop. The system is designed to operate in harsh maritime environments and aims to enable greater mission capability and flexibility for surface combat vessels without the need for establishing fixed land bases or requiring scarce aircraft carrier resources.

"We intend to highly leverage our Unmanned Systems Center of Excellence to develop and demonstrate this type of demanding unmanned systems capability to advance the Navy's mission," Chris Hernandez, vice president for research, technology and advanced design at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, said in the statement. "We believe our unique ship-based unmanned systems experience, expertise, and lessons learned from programs including our MQ-8B/C Fire Scout, MQ-4C Triton, X-47A Pegasus and X-47B UCAS, is critical to the success of the Tern."

The Northrop Grumman Tern team includes its wholly owned subsidiary Scaled Composites, as well as General Electric (GE) Aviation, AVX Aircraft Co. and Moog.

The INSIDER daily digest
By John Liang
January 5, 2016 at 3:53 PM

We start off this Tuesday INSIDER Daily Digest with some big services acquisition policy news.

The Defense Department now has a new roadmap for acquiring services:

Pentagon releases landmark services acquisition policy

The Pentagon has unveiled a new oversight and review structure for the acquisition of services in an effort to better manage the $100 billion-plus it spends annually on such contracts.

Document: DOD instruction on 'defense acquisition of services'

The Navy has released a new strategic guidance document:

CNO: Navy is at risk of falling behind future adversaries, must develop concepts with Marine Corps

The Navy is at risk of falling behind potential adversaries and must develop concepts and capabilities with the Marine Corps to provide more options to national leaders, according to new guidance released by the chief of naval operations.

Document: CNO's guidance on 'a design for maintaining maritime superiority'

Lockheed will be building more THAAD missiles:

Lockheed is tapped to make $528 million worth of THAAD interceptors

Lockheed Martin announced this week a $528 million contract award by the Missile Defense Agency for the production of interceptors for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense antimissile system.

(For more THAAD news, check out our Notification Center, where you can sign up to receive email alerts whenever a related story is posted.)

Keep an eye on the Army's effort to replace its Patriot missile defense radar:

Decision on replacing Patriot radar is high on to-do list for 2016

The Army enters the new year with a series of key investment decisions looming about the way ahead for replacing parts of the aging Patriot system or maintaining the technology at an acceptable level.

The Defense Department wants industry input on an upcoming procurement agreement with Japan:

DOD preparing reciprocal defense procurement pact with Japan, seeks industry feedback

The Pentagon is seeking input from U.S. industry on its experience in public defense procurements executed by Japan's armed forces, feedback that will inform negotiations over a planned "reciprocal defense procurement" pact between the Defense Department and Japan's Ministry of Defense.

The government has changed its mind about a proposed whistleblower rule:

OSC withdraws proposal to allow contractors to file whistleblower disclosures

Citing "substantive issues raised by commenters," the federal Office of Special Counsel has withdrawn a proposed rule that would have allowed government contractors, rather than just government employees, to file whistleblower disclosures with the office.

The week ahead: Keep an eye out for our coverage of the House Armed Services Committee's Thursday hearing on acquisition reform, featuring the Army, Navy and Air Force procurement chiefs.

CSBA welcomes new defense budget analyst
By Tony Bertuca
January 5, 2016 at 10:16 AM

The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments announced today it has a new defense budget analyst.

Katherine Blakeley has joined CSBA as a research fellow focused on defense budgeting and resourcing.

The announcement comes six months after Todd Harrison, a prominent defense budget analyst, left CSBA for the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“Katherine could not have joined CSBA at a better time,” Jim Thomas, CSBA's vice president and director of studies, said in the announcement. “One of our core competencies is evaluating the Department of Defense’s current and future programming decisions for this country’s policy makers. Katherine’s experience and expertise will ensure our appraisals during the upcoming 2017 federal budget season are relevant and well-timed.”

Prior to joining CSBA, Blakeley worked as a defense policy analyst at the Congressional Research Service and the Center for American Progress. She is completing her Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she also received her M.A, according to CSBA.

Finmeccanica reorganizes
By Marjorie Censer
January 5, 2016 at 10:03 AM

Finmeccanica announced late last month it has reorganized into a single entity with four sectors and seven divisions.

The new structure replaces the previous model of a holding company with separately controlled businesses, the company announced.

The four sectors are helicopters; aeronautics; electronics, defence & security systems; and space. The seven divisions are helicopters; aircraft; aero-structures; airborne & space systems; land & naval defence electronics; defence systems; and security & information systems.

“The change in governance involves the centralisation of the management and control systems, while the divisions will be responsible for business delivery and will be given the powers to ensure complete end-to-end management of its scope of activity, with full responsibility for financial performance,” the company said. “The sectors will be responsible for strategic coordination.”

The company now operates only in aerospace, defense and security, Finmeccanica said, after completing the divestiture of unrelated businesses in 2015.

Deloitte report forecasts 2016 rebound
By Marjorie Censer
January 5, 2016 at 9:00 AM

A new Deloitte report says 2016 will likely be a year of growth for global aerospace and defense revenues.

The document, slated for release Tuesday morning, notes there have been several years of revenue expansion for the sector, but that the growth rate has been shrinking.

In 2016, "stable growth in global gross domestic product (GDP), lower commodity prices especially crude oil, and strong passenger travel demand portend continued growth in the commercial aerospace subsector," the report states. "Moreover, the resurgence of global security threats and growth in defense budgets in many countries are all likely to promote global defense subsector revenue growth over the next few years."

The Deloitte report forecasts total global A&D sector revenue growth of 3 percent in 2016.

The assessment contends that defense spending has bottomed out and will "enter a new growth cycle starting in 2016."

"International demand for defense and military products is increasing as uncertainties brought on by regional tensions in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, North Korea, and the East and South China Seas may lead to increases in defense budgets," the report adds. "Specifically, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, India, South Korea, Japan, India, China, Russia, and other affected governments are already starting to increase purchases of next generation military equipment."

The INSIDER daily digest
By John Liang
January 4, 2016 at 2:41 PM

Kicking off the first INSIDER Daily Digest of 2016 with the news we posted during the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve.

Keep an eye out for a Navy industry day this month on an anti-torpedo defense system:

Navy will host industry day in January for an anti-torpedo defense system

The Navy will host an industry day conference in January for an anti-torpedo defense system that is used aboard submarines, according to the service.

A new DOD joint concept is getting close to being finalized:

Draft DOD joint concept nearing completion, getting input from services, COCOMs

The Defense Department's Joint Concept for Access and Maneuver in the Global Commons is nearing completion, as the military services and combatant commands are currently reviewing the draft document, according to an official involved in the concept's development.

DARPA plans to hold a proposers' day on an advanced clock:

DARPA seeks to develop clock with enhanced stability

The Pentagon's advanced research arm intends to hold a proposers' day early this year for a new program that aims to develop a clock to help with synchronization in case GPS goes down.

Looks like Critical Stack Inc. and Parsons Corp. will be working on a DOD cybersecurity contract:

Army awards two contracts as part of new Cyber Innovation Challenge

The Army has awarded two companies contracts to deliver next-generation, defensive cybersecurity prototype kits, the result of the service's first-ever Cyber Innovation Challenge.

The Defense Space Council will be meeting soon:

Air Force secretary to develop DOD-wide enterprise ground architecture roadmap

Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James will brief the Defense Space Council in early 2016 on the status of efforts to develop a Defense Department-wide satellite ground architecture.

News on defense contractors' plans to enter the drone-control market:

Defense contractors market drone defense technology

As drones become increasingly popular and prevalent, some defense contractors are finding new opportunities to sell technology related to controlling them.

(For more unmanned systems news, check out our Notification Center, where you can sign up to receive email alerts whenever a related story is posted.)

The defunct Task Force for Business and Stability Operations will face continued congressional scrutiny this year:

Senate panel to examine former DOD task force

The Senate Armed Services readiness and management support subcommittee will hold a Jan. 20 hearing on the Pentagon's defunct Task Force for Business and Stability Operations, which is the subject of multiple inquiries.

A bunch of acquisition initiatives that were scheduled for 2015 have been moved back to the new year:

Pentagon punts key acquisition initiatives into 2016

Defense contractors will have to wait until the new year to see a variety of expected Pentagon acquisition initiatives, including the release of a new guidebook for program managers meant to incentivize vendor performance, as well as the establishment of a new oversight and review structure for services acquisitions.

BAE to deliver C-130J EW suite
By Courtney Albon
January 4, 2016 at 12:38 PM

BAE Systems has been awarded an initial $20 million contract to develop an electronic warfare suite for U.S. Special Operations Command's C-130Js.

The contract funds the first of a multiphased effort to boost the platform's survivability -- an effort that could be worth as much as $400 million, according to a Jan. 4 press release from BAE. The suite is designed to be integrated on the MC-130J and AC-130J variants, which support SOCOM.

"The advanced system will significantly enhance the electronic threat protection capability of the C-130J, increasing the aircraft's ability to detect and defeat both surface and airborne threats in signal-dense and highly contested environments," the release states.

Inside the Army highlights
By Sebastian Sprenger
January 4, 2016 at 11:08 AM

Some top stories from the final 2015 issue of Inside the Army.

1. The Army is seeking new technologies that could help drivers of a planned next generation of infantry fighting vehicles visualize their immediate surroundings.

Full Story: New sensing technologies envisioned for next-gen infantry fighting vehicle

2. The Army has released a request for proposals for the second increment of the Distributed Common Ground System-Army, a potential $206 million contract to refashion the system into an open-architecture application interoperable with other intelligence systems.

Full Story: Army unveils final solicitation for next iteration of controversial intel app

3. The Army will continue in fiscal year 2016 to use available operation and maintenance dollars to finance three planned Pacific Pathways deployments as officials work to carve out more predictable funding in the years ahead.

Full Story: Army to use O&M dollars to foot bill for FY-16 'Pacific Pathways' drills

Inside the Navy highlights
By Lee Hudson
January 4, 2016 at 10:27 AM

In case you missed it, some must-reads from the final 2015 issue of Inside the Navy.

1. The Navy is working toward its goal of having sailors operate the Joint Strike Fighter's Autonomic Logistics Information System 100 percent of the time and not rely on Lockheed Martin personnel by 2021.

Full story: Navy working toward 100 percent organic manpower goal for ALIS

2. The Navy will likely make multiple awards as part of its Next-Generation Enterprise Network follow-on competition, rather than dealing the work to one prime contractor.

Full story: Official: Navy will likely split up enterprise network re-compete award

3. The Navy plans to compete the depot maintenance for the P-8 aircraft's airframe and engine separately and has recently released a draft request for proposals as well as an industry day announcement for the effort.

Full story: Navy plans to compete P-8 airframe, engine depot maintenance separately

Inside the Air Force highlights
By John Liang
January 4, 2016 at 10:25 AM

The top stories from the last 2015 issue of Inside the Air Force.

1. The Air Force expects to release a request for proposals in early January for future next-generation Global Positioning System production, according to a Dec. 22 notice.

Full story: Air Force plans to issue RFP for future GPS III satellites in early January

2. The Air Force next month plans to conduct in-depth technical discussions with industry on the requirement to modernize the silo-based intercontinental ballistic missile fleet, a meeting that comes in anticipation of an early 2016 decision to acquire the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent program, a projected $62 billion project.

Full story: Air Force to brief industry on draft solicitation for new ICBM program

3. The Afghan Air Force may be cobbling together parts for its Russian-made helicopters from Eastern European allies, but the service's greater struggle lies in cultivating a sustainable workforce.

Full story: Lagging aircrew development and sustainment plagues Afghan Air Force

Kratos promotes two executives
By Marjorie Censer
January 4, 2016 at 10:06 AM

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions said Monday it has promoted two of its executives.

Rich Gary, who joined Kratos in 2012 as director of IT infrastructure, has been named chief information officer. He previously served as acting CIO and has also worked at General Dynamics, Computer Sciences Corp. and BAE Systems.

Kratos also named Marie Mendoza vice president and general counsel. She recently served as acting general counsel and was previously Kratos' senior corporate attorney. Before joining the contractor, she was a partner at the law firm Burke, Williams & Sorensen.

CSRA names two new executives
By Marjorie Censer
January 4, 2016 at 9:59 AM

CSRA, the new company created by combining Computer Sciences Corp.'s U.S. public sector work with SRA International, said Monday it has named two new executives to its leadership team.

Christian Marrone, who reported to Secretary Jeh Johnson as chief of staff of the Department of Homeland Security, will head CSRA's government relations efforts.

Leigh Palmer, who most recently served as vice president of national information technology mission solutions at BAE Systems, has been named vice president of CSRA's intelligence group.

The high-profile appointments follow CSRA's formation in late November. The company, which is now the largest government services contractor with about $5.5 billion in annual sales, is seeking to establish itself as a government-focused business with commercial practices.

Business board meeting
By John Liang
January 4, 2016 at 8:00 AM

The Defense Business Board will hold a meeting on Jan. 21 at the Pentagon to discuss the findings and recommendations of a pair of task groups looking into virtual consultancies and business management, according to a recent Federal Register notice.

The meeting's purpose will be to "review the findings and recommendations from the Task Groups on 'Creating Virtual Consultancies: Engaging Talent (Innovative Culture Part II)' and 'Evaluation of Position of Under Secretary of Defense for Business Management and Information,'" the notice states.

In late July of last year, Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work called for a DBB task force to "study and provide recommendations on how the department can establish 'virtual consultancies' that engage our internal talent." Check out Work's terms of reference memo here.

The following month, Work tasked the DBB with looking into the advantages and disadvantages of converting and elevating the position of deputy chief management officer to the newly created under secretary of defense for business management and information post. As Inside the Pentagon reported at the time:

The Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act created the business management and information post, which would consolidate and elevate the Pentagon's DCMO and chief information officer roles. This position will serve as the Pentagon's performance improvement officer and its CIO, and will take precedence in the department behind the deputy defense secretary.

In an Aug. 10 terms of reference, Work calls for the Defense Business Board to provide recommendations on whether the DCMO post should be consolidated and elevated.

"I am establishing a task group under the DBB to study and provide recommendations on whether the position should be consolidated and elevated, assess the advantages and disadvantages of doing so, and such other matters as the DBB determines relevant," Work wrote, noting that the conversion will be effective on Feb. 1, 2017.

The INSIDER daily digest
By John Liang
December 24, 2015 at 12:41 PM

Starting off the final INSIDER Daily Digest of the year with coverage of the Army's JAGM program, a new Air Force ICBM effort and more.

Lawmakers can now peruse the Army's Joint Air-to-Ground Munition acquisition plan:

Army sets acquisition baseline program for $3.9B JAGM effort

The Army has provided lawmakers with an acquisition plan for the Joint Air-to-Ground Munition program, detailing for the first time since Lockheed Martin was formally tapped in July as prime contractor the schedule and cost targets for the estimated $3.9 billion anti-armor weapon designed to replace all variants of the air-launched Hellfire and Longbow missiles.

Keep an eye out next month for news on the Air Force's plans to modernize its ICBM fleet:

Air Force to brief industry on draft solicitation for new ICBM program

The Air Force next month plans to conduct in-depth technical discussions with industry on the requirement to modernize the silo-based intercontinental ballistic missile fleet, a meeting that comes in anticipation of an early 2016 decision to acquire the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent program, a projected $62 billion project.

Look for an internal DOD review of the Goldwater-Nichols defense reform law in the coming weeks:

DOD launches internal Goldwater-Nichols review amid congressional scrutiny

The Pentagon, in a bid to shape potential outcomes of an ongoing congressional effort to update the landmark Goldwater-Nichols defense reform law, has launched its own internal review of the 30-year-old legislation and its impact on the organization of the Defense Department, according to officials and sources.

Expect DOD to start work on a report to Congress on trusted foundries soon:

Congress seeks report on impact of losing U.S.-based trusted foundries

Lawmakers want the Defense Department to explain how losing U.S.-based trusted foundries negatively impacts its weapon systems that require trusted microprocessors.

A primer on the Pentagon's efforts to comply with asset visibility requirements:

GAO: Pentagon making strides on asset visibility

The Defense Department has made progress toward compliance with the asset visibility requirements of the Fiscal Year 2014 National Defense Authorization Act, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Document: GAO report on DOD asset visibility

Exactly how much detail DOD is willing to publicly release on its military intel programs is still up for grabs, but Congress wants information on them anyway:

Congress seeks military intelligence program details in budget materials

In an aim to gain more insight into the services' military intelligence programs, lawmakers are calling on the defense secretary to lay out new details on the programs in the annual budget justification books.

A DOD innovation fund just got an influx of cash:

Congress provides unrequested $250 million to DOD innovation fund

Lawmakers have provided hundreds of millions of unrequested dollars for a Pentagon program that seeks to help fund innovative defense technologies.

Happy Holidays from Inside Defense! The next INSIDER Daily Digest will be issued on Monday, Jan. 4, 2016.

Protest spotlight
By Marjorie Censer
December 24, 2015 at 11:01 AM

(This regular feature highlights protests decided by the Government Accountability Office.)

Agency: Navy

Awardee: Engineering Support Personnel

Protester: CORTEK

What GAO found: CORTEK protested the Navy's award of a contract to Engineering Support Personnel for instructor services at the Air Logistics Training Center, arguing the agency "misevaluated proposals, treated offerors disparately, failed to engage in meaningful discussions, and made an unreasonable source selection decision," according to the GAO report.

CORTEK's proposal was priced at $11.7 million, while Engineering Support Personnel's came in at $9.9 million. According to the GAO report, the Navy concluded ESP's proposal "represented the best value to the government based on its lower proposed price, notwithstanding the technical superiority of the CORTEK proposal."

GAO sustained part of the protest, backing CORTEK's argument that the Navy unreasonably gave the ESP proposal an acceptable rating under the management factor.

"CORTEK asserts that [ESP's] approach is not acceptable under the terms of the RFP because the aircraft maintenance instructors are required to have a minimum of 8 years of experience performing maintenance on C-130 or C-9B aircraft, as appropriate," the report states. "CORTEK specifically points out that ESP’s maintenance instructors are described in the ESP proposal as having only 3 years of aircraft maintenance experience."

GAO also agreed with CORTEK's contention that it was "directly prejudiced by the agency’s acceptance of the ESP proposal."

GAO recommended the Navy reevaluate proposals and make a new decision. Additionally, it suggested the Navy reimburse CORTEK the cost of the protest.

The decision: http://www.gao.gov/assets/680/674424.pdf