The INSIDER - September 9, 2010

Editor's Note: Updated September 10 at 1:40 p.m. Air Force Friday. Big news from today's Inside the Air Force: NORTHCOM Commander Contemplating Light-Attack Aircraft Requirement The top Pentagon official overseeing the defense of the United States believes light-attack aircraft could play a beneficial role in the homeland defense mission. Air Force Planning To Standardize MC-12W Project Liberty Aircraft Fleet LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, VA -- The Air Force plans to standardize its fleet of MC-12W Project Liberty planes so that used turboprop aircraft purchased at the program's onset include the same systems and capabilities as newer planes, according to service officials. Breedlove Named New Air Force Vice Chief In Major Leadership Shakeup The White House has nominated Lt. Gen. Phillip Breedlove to become the Air Force's vice chief of staff, according to an internal service announcement. U.S., Israel To Ink Terms On Joint Strike Fighter Partnership Within Weeks Defense officials from the United States and Israel are finalizing terms of a new agreement on the Joint Strike Fighter, which would make the country the ninth partner nation in the largest defense program in Pentagon history, a senior F-35 program official said this week. DOD Conducting Sustainment 'War Games' For Joint Strike Fighter Program Officials from the Joint Strike Fighter program office have wrapped up the first phase of a three-phase war game focusing on sustainment requirements for the next-generation aircraft and plan to begin the next evolution of the exercise within months, a senior program official said this week. F-15 Operational Flight Program Upgrades Only Funded Through FY-12 Operational flight program updates for the F-15 fighter are only funded through fiscal year 2012, according to Air Force officials. Without those future upgrades, there may be problems with utilizing the full weapons capabilities on the aircraft. Ground Combat. The Joint Strike Fighter program is in the news again: F-35B Tests Remain Under Strict Operating Limits Including Wind, Rain, Lightning The test flight program for the Marine Corps' Joint Strike Fighter variant faces challenges in getting back on schedule as officials contend with operating limitations that require grounding the aircraft in common weather conditions including steady wind, wet tarmacs and nearby lightning, according to Pentagon officials and documents. As it does for all new aircraft beginning flight tests, the Pentagon has imposed strict limitations on the range of maneuvers for the short-takeoff-and-landing variant of the Joint Strike Fighter until initial flights -- which are closely monitored by test engineers -- demonstrate that it is safe to expand the flight envelope. But nearly 11 months after JSF prime contractor Lockheed Martin delivered the first F-35B test aircraft to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, MD, almost all of the “air operating limitations” (AOLs) imposed at the beginning remain in place, sources say. Those limitations must be lifted before important aspects of flight testing -- such as the validating of the aircraft's structural integrity -- can be fully assessed. Aircraft Alert. If fixed-wing aircraft are what you're about, check out our Aircraft Alert -- every week, we e-mail you all of our coverage of fighters, bombers, cargo aircraft and much more. Sign up for a free trial today. Networking Plans. Next up from today's Inside the Pentagon is further word on what Defense Secretary Gates plans to do with two of the organizations he singled out in his initial declaration of a war on inefficiencies: Key Networking Functions To Transfer To DISA, Cyber Command Defense Secretary Robert Gates intends to disestablish the major Pentagon offices that handle computer networks by transferring many of their functions to the Defense Information Systems Agency and other organizations, according to a recent memo issued as part of Gates' Pentagon efficiency initiative. The Sept. 1 memo tasks the vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and the director of the cost assessment and program evaluation (CAPE) shop with leading the working group that develops the implementation plan to disestablish the assistant secretary of defense for networks and information integration (NII) and the Joint Staff's J6 function, both of which deal with enterprise information technology and hardware issues. "The implementation plan should retain only those NII and J6 functions and programs which remain relevant to current DOD missions and provide management value, and discontinue all others," the memo states. "NII and J6 functions identified for retention and transfer should be scrubbed and streamlined in a manner that constrains the growth of unnecessary overhead in receiving organizations." DOCUMENT ALERT: OSD Memo On ASD NII Disestablishment Working Group The Sept. 1, 2010, memo provides guidance regarding the disestablishment of the Pentagon's networks and information integration office. Carter Administration. While we're on the subject of efficiencies and such: Carter Will Announce Efficiency Measures At Closed-Door Meeting Pentagon acquisition chief Ashton Carter is slated to hold a closed-door meeting next week to announce a series of measures designed to improve efficiencies and reduce contracting costs, according to an internal bulletin reviewed by Inside the Pentagon. Carter will speak to senior acquisition officials, program executive officers, program manager and contracting officers at the O-6/GS-15 level and above on Tuesday, Sept. 14 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the National Defense University's Baruch Auditorium. And from yesterday: Carter To Unveil Specifics On AT&L Efficiency Initiatives Pentagon acquisition chief Ashton Carter will soon identify a slate of initiatives designed to save billions within the Pentagon's procurement shop, according to a senior defense official. The initiatives, set to be announced next month, will focus on key efficiency goals outlined by Carter earlier this summer, according to Frank Kendall, principal deputy under secretary of defense for acquisition and procurement. He spoke today during an international defense cooperation symposium in Washington. While declining to comment on the specifics behind those pending initiatives, Kendall said the efforts would be oriented toward trimming the procurement shop's bottom line. Issues like increased emphasis on affordability in new procurement programs, tighter control over the department's contracting mechanisms and more stringent scrutiny of cost estimates for new programs would likely drive those new initiatives, according to Kendall. Threat Reduction. More from Inside the Pentagon: DOD Shifts Millions For Cooperative Threat Reduction In Russia, Ukraine The Pentagon has alerted Congress that millions of dollars in the Cooperative Threat Reduction program must be shifted to guard nuclear arms, destroy chemical weapons and eliminate strategic systems behind the former Iron Curtain. Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Integration Peter Verga informed Congress this summer that it is "necessary in the national interest" to redirect $46 million toward three efforts: securing Russian nuclear arms, destroying Russian chemical weapons and eliminating Ukrainian strategic rocket motors. To fund these emerging priorities in the program's fiscal year 2010 budget, the Defense Department plans to slash the same amount from three efforts to eliminate Russia's strategic offensive arms, provide nuclear weapons transportation security in Russia and prevent weapons of mass destruction proliferation in the former Soviet Union -- all areas where "delays in scheduled requirements have reduced the immediate need" for FY-10 funds, according to Verga's July 30 letter. DOCUMENT ALERT: DOD Letter on CTR for Russia and Ukraine In a July 30, 2010, letter, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Integration Peter Verga describes Cooperative Threat Reduction plans. Paper Trail. New and noteworthy documents: McHugh Memo On FY-10 Statement Of Assurance On Internal Controls In an Aug. 24, 2010, memo, Army Secretary John McHugh discusses the fiscal year 2010 Statement of Assurance on Internal Controls as required under the Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act of 1982. DOD Report To Congress On 'Measuring Stability, Security In Iraq' The June 2010 Defense Department report to Congress "includes specific performance indicators and measures of progress toward political, economic, and security stability in Iraq." CRS Report On The Cost Of Global War On Terror Operations Since 9/11 The Sept. 2, 2010, Congressional Research Service report updates the total cost of Iraq, Afghanistan and other global war on terror operations since Sept. 11, 2001. Mabus Remarks On Costs And Dangers Of Fossils Fuels On Aug. 16, 2010, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus discussed the costs and dangers of fossil fuels and the promise of cleaner and more secure energy supplies. In Case You Missed It . . . . . . earlier this week: Army Eying Cost Targets As Means Of Dialing Up Scrutiny Of GCV Progress Army leaders could soon take the unprecedented step of telling companies entering the race for the revamped Ground Combat Vehicle competition how much taxpayer money the new vehicles should cost, according to defense officials. Navy Considering Version Of BAMS UAS As Officials Mull EPX Options The Increment 3 version of the Navy's Broad Aerial Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) unmanned aircraft is one of the options for the service's currently undefined EPX spy plane capability, BAMS program manager Capt. Bob Dishman told Inside the Navy Sept. 3. DOD To Deploy Cargo UAS To Theater As Part Of Army/Marine Corps JCTD The Defense Department plans to deploy a cargo-delivering unmanned aerial system as part of a joint capability technology demonstration run by the Army's Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center and the Marine Corps, according to service officials. Army To Require Armed Aerial Scout Helicopter Manned-Unmanned Mix The Army has begun the second phase of an analysis of alternatives to the Armed Aerial Scout helicopter effort following a decision to proceed with a manned-unmanned capability requirement, according to service officials. Deployed V-22 Availability Hovers At 70 Percent; Fleet-Wide In The 50s The prioritization of deployed V-22s in Afghanistan has improved availability rates to the point that it is generally near around 70 percent, but resulting low availability for non-deployed V-22s brings the entire fleet down into the 50th percentile range, according to Col. Greg Masiello, V-22 program manager. And this key document on the "Reno" study: Army Processes And Organizations Study Summary The July 2010 Army document provides an overview of the recommendations made by retired Lt. Gen. William Reno to improve the performance of Army processes and organizations. It also details the status of the Army's implementation of the study's suggestions. -- Dan Dupont