The Insider

Omnibus Request
By John Liang
March 25, 2015 at 3:09 PM

Pentagon Comptroller Michael McCord is calling on the service comptrollers and agency heads to submit their fiscal year 2015 omnibus reprogramming requirements by May 15.

"Your submission must identify sources to offset the requested increases," McCord writes in a March 23 memo, adding: "In order to ensure the full consideration of your requests, your explanations for both increases and decreases need to be informative of the programmatic adjustment, concise and net to zero. Thorough justifications will expedite the review of your proposals by this office and the congressional committees. Each requirement must explain the need for additional funding and the impact to the program if funds are not provided. Each source must explain why funds are available and the impact on the program."

CNA Corp. Names CEO
By Marjorie Censer
March 23, 2015 at 1:49 PM

CNA Corp. has named Katherine McGrady president and chief executive, the board of the nonprofit research organization said today.

McGrady had been serving as acting president of the Center for Naval Analyses, CNA Corp. said, and she replaces Robert Murray. The transition date will be announced later, according to the organization. CNA Corp. also includes the Institute for Public Research.

McGrady joined CNA Corp. as an analyst in 1988 and was named its first chief operating officer in 2009.

Northrop Sustainment Deal
By James Drew
March 20, 2015 at 11:33 AM

Northrop Grumman has become the third major defense contractor to sign an enterprise-level, public-private partnership agreement with the Air Force Sustainment Center after Lockheed Martin in 2014 and Boeing the year before.

The sustainment center is comprised of air logistics complexes at Tinker Air Force Base, OK, Hill Air Force Base, UT, and Robins Air Force Base, GA, that maintain and support the service's aircraft fleets and weapons. The partnership sets pre-negotiated terms and conditions for Northrop support at all three installations.

The deals with Northrop, Lockheed and Boeing are a departure from the old way of doing business, where each air logistics complex would negotiate its own contractor terms and conditions.

"This partnership enables us not only to improve efficiency and reduce the cost of operations, but it also allows the Air Force to grow its organic capability, while leveraging capabilities across the industrial complex to provide world-class sustainment support to the warfighter," AFSC Commander Lt. Gen. Bruce Litchfield said in a March 20 Northrop statement.

Northrop Promotes Lytle
By Marjorie Censer
March 20, 2015 at 11:11 AM

Alan Lytle has been named vice president of undersea systems in Northrop Grumman's electronics systems sector, the contractor said today.

Lytle will oversee the unit's program and products, including submarine sensors, unmanned maritime systems, minehunting systems and torpedoes, and will be based in Annapolis, MD.

He came to Northrop in 2010 after working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. He is a Navy submarine officer who served on fast-attack submarines before moving to the Navy Reserve, Northrop said.

Vickers To Retire
By John Liang
March 19, 2015 at 12:29 PM

The Pentagon announced today that Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael Vickers plans to retire next month.

Vickers, whose last day will be April 30, has been the longest-serving under secretary of defense for intelligence in DOD history, according to a department statement.

Before his latest intel stint, Vickers served as DOD's first and only assistant secretary of defense for special operations/low-intensity and interdependent capabilities from July 2007 to March 2011.

In addition to his tenure at DOD, Vickers also previously served in the Army and was a CIA operations officer. He "has decided to retire to take on new challenges, and spend more time with his family," according to DOD.

UTC CFO: 'We Are Not Airbus'
By Marjorie Censer
March 18, 2015 at 3:03 PM

United Technologies Corp. Chief Financial Officer Akhil Johri told analysts today at a Bank of America conference that one of the reasons UTC announced it would review and possibly spin off Sikorsky is the business' role as a platform maker.

"Sikorsky's a platform-based business, it's a manufacturer of aircraft," he said. "We think of ourselves more as a systems and technology provider. We are not Airbus, we're not Boeing."

The news also demonstrates the company's willingness to take a dispassionate assessment of its work, Johri added. The announcement "suggests we are open to looking at each and every business that we have in our portfolio today," he said.

Hale's A Commish (Updated)
By John Liang
March 18, 2015 at 2:44 PM

House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-WA) has appointed former Pentagon Comptroller Robert Hale to the Commission on the Future of the United States Army, according to a statement issued this afternoon from Smith's office.

"Mr. Hale has devoted much of his professional career to defense policy and budget issues," Smith said in the statement. "Many of these issues, including management of wartime budgets and handling the effects of sequestration, led him to work closely with senior Army leaders on issues of great significance to the service. This experience, along with his broad knowledge of national security and resource issues, makes him a perfect fit for the Commission. I am pleased that he accepted my invitation to serve."

The Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act mandated the establishment of the commission, which "is tasked with a comprehensive study of the structure of the Army," Smith's statement reads. The commission is tasked with submitting recommendations regarding the Army's structure by Feb. 1, 2016.

Out of a total eight commissioners, four are appointed by Congress and four by the president.

UPDATE 4:55 p.m.: Senate Armed Services Committee leaders John McCain (R-AZ) and Jack Reed (D-RI) picked retired Army Gen. James Thurman and retired Sergeant Major of the Army Raymond Chandler III, respectively, to serve on the panel.

The White House choices, announced this afternoon, are retired Army Gen. Larry Ellis, Kathleen Hicks of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Thomas Lamont, and former Army Reserve chief retired Lt. Gen. Jack Stultz.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-TX) announced he was appointing retired Army Gen. Carter Ham, the former head of U.S. Africa Command.

Salient To Open Pensacola Office
By Marjorie Censer
March 17, 2015 at 11:56 AM

Salient Federal Solutions will open a new office in Pensacola, FL to work with local customers, including the Navy, the contractor said today.

The new office is meant to support work as far north as Huntsville, AL, as far west as New Orleans and the Stennis Space Center, MS, and as far east as Tyndall Air Force Base, according to Salient.

XCOR Names Gibson CEO
By Marjorie Censer
March 16, 2015 at 11:56 AM

XCOR Aerospace has named Jay Gibson chief executive and president.

Gibson, a former assistant Air Force secretary and and deputy under secretary of defense, joins XCOR from Beechcraft Corp., where he was senior vice president for global mission support.

Unisys Selects New Augusta Location
By Marjorie Censer
March 16, 2015 at 11:10 AM

Unisys plans to open a new service center at Discovery Plaza in Augusta, GA, to provide IT support services to the Army.

The service selected Unisys to manage the Army Enterprise Service Desk, meant to act as a single contact for Army personnel who need help desk or IT support services.

The Georgia governor's office has said the new facility could create up to 700 jobs. The company is expected to hire about 250 employees within the first year.

IR Search & Track
By James Drew
March 13, 2015 at 5:34 PM

The Air Force Research Laboratory is looking for the next leap in airborne infrared search-and-track technology after posting a broad agency announcement on March 12 for innovative ideas that might lead to the development of an "advanced, staring" IRST capability for air superiority.

The new program is separate to the Air Force's pursuit of an IRST pod for the F-15C Eagle, and instead focuses on future designs.

AFRL is particularly interested in new technologies to create a smaller and more capable aircraft-mounted device with a wide field of view to detect and track airborne threats in a highly contested, anti-access, area-denied environment.

"By leveraging advancements in the development of large-format, two-dimensional focal plane arrays, much benefit can be realized from successful implementation of Wide Field-of-View concepts for an offensive staring IRST system," the statement of work attached to the BAA states. "It is anticipated that this type of sensor will yield higher performance in a more compact, lighter-weight design with greater aircraft installation flexibility and beneficially augment existing fire control capabilities."

Today's systems spot infrared radiation emitting from enemy aircraft and missiles, but have difficulty in some operating environments and poor weather conditions, according to the BAA.

Tomorrow's system, though, could be capable of detecting and tracking along "clear atmospheric paths and in cluttered environments," the BAA states. The "staring" sensor would be a fixed unit like the Active Electronically Scanned Array radars mounted on modern fighter jets -- doing away with existing gimbaled optics.

AFRL expects program tasks to include trade studies, preliminary designs, prototyping, algorithm development and validation of the long-range infrared sensing capability, according to the BAA.

Cyber Bill
By John Liang
March 12, 2015 at 5:41 PM

Inside Cybersecurity reported today that the Senate Intelligence Committee has approved a cybersecurity information-sharing bill on a 14-1 vote, after revising the language to emphasize liability protection for sharing threat indicators through a Department of Homeland Security portal:

In a markup that lasted less than 90 minutes, the bill earned the support of every committee member except Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR). Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) and ranking member Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said the final version of the bill reflects input from leaders of both the Homeland Security and Judiciary committees.

"I think the other committees are very comfortable with this bill," Burr told reporters after the markup.

Burr and Feinstein said they had also talked to White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough on Wednesday and expressed hope that the Obama administration would support the bill.

"Now the White House will take a look at it," Feinstein said.

"We've bent over backwards to provide things in this bill that were important. The only way to get this first step done is in a bipartisan way," Feinstein said.

Burr joked, "The vice chair has stretched me so much I feel like I've had cosmetic surgery."

UTC Weighing Sikorsky Spinoff
By Marjorie Censer
March 12, 2015 at 10:42 AM

United Technologies said yesterday it is reviewing "strategic alternatives" for its Sikorsky Aircraft business, including a potential spinoff.

In the announcement, the company said it is assessing whether Sikorsky's business would be better positioned as a stand-alone company. The review, United Technologies added, is slated to be complete before the end of the year.

"However, no specific timetable has been set, and there can be no assurance that a spinoff or any other transaction will take place," United Technologies said. "Likewise, no decision has been made on the timing or terms of any such transaction if one were to occur."

Aircraft Self-Defense
By James Drew
March 10, 2015 at 5:09 PM

The Air Force Research Laboratory is exploring the technologies that would be required to develop an affordable, miniature self-defense munition to protect aircraft from incoming missiles and other threats.

Today's countermeasure systems use flares and electronic systems to disrupt and distract incoming missiles, whereas the laboratory says it is interested in an air-to-air munition.

AFRL's weapons branch at Eglin Air Force Base, FL, posted two broad agency announcements related to the Miniature Self-Defense Munition program in February and updated those posts on March 9.

One BAA calls for contractor support to produce a technology roadmap for a future air-to-air munition and another looks at possible seeker designs.

"The objective of this program is to develop a conceptual design of an affordable air-to-air seeker front end (optics/algorithms) for the aircraft self-defense role," the seeker design BAA states.

Responses to both BAAs are due by March 30.

Aeros Files Suit Against Navy
By Marjorie Censer
March 10, 2015 at 4:32 PM

Aeros Aeronautical Systems Corp. this week filed a lawsuit against the Navy seeking damages of about $65 million.

The suit, filed in federal district court in Los Angeles, seeks damages for the alleged destruction of an Aeros blimp while in a Navy-owned hangar. On October 7, 2013, the suit alleges, a section of the hangar roof -- about 50 feet by 70 feet -- fell on the aircraft, "rendering it a complete loss."

The suit alleges that the Navy had been aware of defects in the hangar since 1997, when it commissioned a structural evaluation of the hangar. "However, between the 1997 structural evaluation and the 2013 roof collapse, the Navy performed no maintenance or repair work on the roof of the hangar," the suit states.

Aeros filed a claim with the Navy last year, but the Navy denied it, the suit adds. The company is seeking $65 million in damages as well as "additional sums" related to the loss of a $3 billion capital financing campaign that was not able to move forward, according to the document.