The INSIDER - October 18, 2012

Editor's Note: Updated October 19 at 10:57 a.m. Strike Zone. Latest on JSF: DOD Accelerates Weapons Integration Into Air Force JSF Variant To 'Reduce Program Risk' The Defense Department is accelerating weapons integration on the F-35A and plans to outfit the Block 2B -- previously slated to carry no ordnance -- with precision-guided bombs, a move the Joint Strike Fighter joint program office says is part of a plan to "reduce program risk" and allow the early Air Force variant to be rebranded as an "initial warfighting" configuration. The Air Force's conventional-takeoff-and-landing variant with Block 2B software -- originally slated to a limited flight envelope and to include basic mission systems only -- is now expected to carry Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles, Joint Direct Attack Munitions, and GBU-12 laser-guided bombs and be capable of providing close air support, initial air-to-air engagements and have datalink capabilities, according to Joe Dellavedova, a spokesman for the F-35 joint program office. Up in the Air. Today's front-pagers: Air Force Analyzing 30 High-Cost Areas For Savings Opportunities In an effort to leverage its buying power, the Air Force is conducting a study of its top 30 spending areas to identify lower-cost sourcing options. Air Force Works To Incorporate Cyber Element In Red Flag-Alaska Exercise The Air Force is working toward a future in which it can expand the cyber warfare training of its Red Flag-Nellis exercises to its Red Flag-Alaska exercises. 3DELRR Program Moves Quickly To Set Requirements For Pre-EMD Phase Just two months after issuing three contract awards, the Air Force's Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar program office has already received the results of a wide-ranging trade study meant to help define 3DELRR's requirements, and the program's three prime contractors are working to prepare for a major review late this year. Omnibus Stop. Just posted: DOD's Final Omnibus FY-12 Reprogramming The final version of the Defense Department's June 26, 2012, fiscal year 2012 omnibus reprogramming request -- released Oct. 10, 2012 -- includes the sections which Congress rejected. DOD's Final Omnibus FY-12 Military Intel Reprogramming The final version of the Defense Department's June 26, 2012, fiscal year 2012 omnibus military intelligence reprogramming request -- released Oct. 10, 2012 -- includes the sections which Congress rejected. Radio Report. Our top story today feeds off of a top story from earlier in the week -- a report on the JTRS Manpack radio, in which its maker, General Dynamics C4 Systems, expressed some reservations about testing done on the system at White Sands Missile Range. DOD's director of operational test and evaluation was not amused: DOD's Top Weapons Tester Rebuts GD Official's Manpack Radio Assertions The Pentagon's weapons testing chief is pushing back against assertions made by an Army radio contractor who has claimed his product wasn't properly evaluated at the service's biannual Network Integration Evaluation, according to a memo being circulated on Capitol Hill. J. Michael Gilmore, the Defense Department's director of operational test and evaluation, is disputing claims advanced by Chris Marzilli, the president of General Dynamics C4 Systems, and statements Marzilli made in an Oct. 11 interview with InsideDefense.com after GD's Joint Tactical Radio System Manpack radio received approval for low-rate initial production. Gilmore's office has sent a memo to Capitol Hill addressing Marzilli's specific claims, including an assertion that the spectrum at White Sands Missile Range (where the NIE is conducted) was too "cluttered" to properly measure Manpack's use of the Single Channel Ground Airborne Radio Systems (SINCGARS) legacy waveform during a May 2012 Multiservice Operational Test and Evaluation. Marzilli said this was proved after the Manpack was re-tested at Ft. Huachuca, AZ, and showed better results in a "government developmental test" (GDT). And in a first for us, the official DOD response on the issue is a copy of our story, from Inside the Army, which is marked up and interspersed with point-by-point rebuttals from Gilmore's office. DOCUMENT ALERT: DOT&E Rebuttal To GD Official's Manpack Radio Assertions In an Oct. 15, 2012, memo circulated on Capitol Hill, J. Michael Gilmore, the Defense Department's operational test and evaluation director, disputes claims advanced by Chris Marzilli, the president of General Dynamics C4 Systems, and statements Marzilli made in an Oct. 11 interview with InsideDefense.com after GD's Joint Tactical Radio System Manpack radio received approval for low-rate initial production. The original story, plus the acquisition decision memo: Kendall Clears Manpack Radio For $250 Million Low-Rate Initial Production The Defense Department has approved the two-channel Manpack radio made by General Dynamics C4 Systems for low-rate initial production after validating that previously identified flaws have been fixed, according to an internal Pentagon memo signed by DOD's acquisition chief. DOCUMENT ALERT: JTRS Manpack Radio Acquisition Decision Memo (FOUO) Stay tuned. DAB Delay. Schedule concerns lead to a delay of a key ACV review, Inside the Pentagon reports today: DOD Delays Key Review Of Marine Corps' Amphibious Combat Vehicle A Defense Department review of the Marine Corps' Amphibious Combat Vehicle program that was planned this fall to approve the release of a solicitation to industry has been delayed until the new year, according to Pentagon and program officials. The Defense Acquisition Board meeting, an in-process review that had been scheduled for early November to give the green light on releasing the program's request for proposals, has been postponed until January, ACV program spokesman Manny Pacheco told Inside the Pentagon.. . . A Pentagon source said a related overarching integrated product team meeting scheduled for this month had also been delayed. The source said Navy acquisition executive Sean Stackley's office delayed the meetings due to concerns about the program's schedule being too compressed and ambitious. More to come. Higher Standards. SM-3 IIBs eyed for more capabilities: Navy Expands Design Options For SM-3 IIB Missile The Navy wants the Standard Missile-3 Block IIB missile to be much more capable than previous variants and is willing to expand the design options to include modifications to existing missile-launching systems and the use of liquid propellants, the service has told the Missile Defense Agency. In an Oct. 4 memo, Vice Adm. William Burke, deputy chief of naval operations for warfare systems, provides the agency with operational planning considerations needed for the development of the SM-3 IIB missile, a "new and important capability." . . . Noting the Navy's fleet must operate "forward across the globe to provide the nation with offshore options in an era of uncertainty," Burke's memo stresses the service requires a capability that will provide geographic combatant and maritime component commanders with the "ability to defend the fleet and critical assets ashore against advanced, very long range, precisely targeted ballistic missiles." DOCUMENT ALERT: Navy Memo To MDA On The SM-3 IIB Missile System In an Oct. 4, 2012, memo, Vice Adm. William Burke, deputy chief of naval operations for warfare systems, provides the Missile Defense Agency with operational planning considerations needed for the development of the SM-3 IIB missile. Bird Watching. Waiting and seeing on the Osprey: V-22 Program Awaits Tests Before Deciding On Wake-Turbulence Guidance The V-22 Osprey program will await the results of tests and analysis planned for next year before deciding whether to heed the advice of an official report on a fatal Osprey crash and issue pilots guidance on how to recover after flying into another tiltrotor's wake. The Air Force's Accident Investigation Board report concerning a June 13 CV-22 crash in Florida includes a section on "additional areas of concern" that cites a "lack of corrective procedures" for entry into Osprey wake turbulence. Without formal guidance, pilots are "left to adapt recovery procedures for entry into Vortex Ring State (which occurs when a CV-22 descends with power into its own wake) to recover from CV-22 wake entry, which may or may not be the optimal emergency action(s)," the Aug. 4 report warns. . . . "We were already studying and better defining the wake characteristics of the V-22 before this incident," said Air Force spokeswoman Lt. Col. Max Despain. "This research could potentially result in changes to our regulations and training, but we have to wait for the outcome of the work to determine if we will make changes. We are continuing that research and will keep improving our understanding and training with regard to V-22 wake turbulence." Civilian Security. State Department advisers want fewer soldiers involved in security assistance: Greater Role Urged For Civilian Personnel In U.S. Security Assistance Given that the presence of American troops "can be controversial" within countries receiving U.S. security assistance, a draft State Department report urges using fewer military personnel and more career diplomats and civil servants from other agencies to accomplish the missions. The International Security Advisory Board's draft assessment argues that controversies caused by an American military presence abroad could be reduced by making U.S. security assistance "more civilian in nature." Inside the Pentagon obtained a copy of the draft report, dated Oct. 15. "This could be accomplished through greater use of career Foreign Service Officers or members of the civil service (from the Departments of State, Agriculture, Commerce, etc. and USAID) rather than the use of U.S. military personnel to implement security assistance in-country," the document states in a passage not included in an earlier draft from May. DOCUMENT ALERT: Draft ISAB Report On Security Capacity Building The draft Oct. 15, 2012, International Security Assistance Board report urges using fewer military personnel and more career diplomats and civil servants from other agencies to accomplish security assistance missions. Project Pelican. Inside the Pentagon goes up in the air: Upcoming Airship Demo To Test System That Manages Vehicle Buoyancy The Pentagon is poised to demonstrate a rigid-hull, variable-buoyancy hybrid air vehicle next month amid efforts to develop a concept of operations for the technology. The Defense Department plans to hold the Project Pelican demonstration nearly a year earlier than anticipated, said DOD spokeswoman Lt. Col. Melinda Morgan. The Pelican is designed to vertically land and takeoff at maximum gross weight. Unlike existing airships and other hybrid airships in development, it will be a heavier-than-air vehicle during ground operations, according to the Pentagon's fiscal year 2013 budget request. . . . The event in November will demonstrate the control of static heaviness, or COSH, system that allows direct management of the vehicle's buoyancy, Morgan said. When the airship is on the ground, this system will pump helium into helium pressurization envelopes. "Ambient air will fill portions of the internal structure of the airship and the vehicle will become heavier than air," Morgan said in an email. "This will allow the offload of cargo without having to onload ballast (weight) to keep the airship on the ground." Grab Bag. More news of note: General: Army Must Mull Rapid Acquisition After War Funding Decreases The Army must figure out how it can continue to deliver capability quickly once funding for overseas contingency operations, which allows for rapid acquisition, decreases as the war winds down in Afghanistan, according to the G-8 force development director. Air Force Combats Fuel Budget Woes By Controlling Consumption, Efficiency The Air Force is continuing its efforts to mitigate the impact of volatile fuel prices by reducing flying hours and pursuing more energy-efficient operations, according to the service's energy chief. Airborne-Sense-And-Avoid Acquisition Transition Delayed Until 2013 An effort to transition an airborne-sense-and-avoid system for drones from science and technology to the acquisition and production phase has been delayed until the winter because technology maturity has been "slower than predicted," according to a service source. -- Dan Dupont