Posts from GovConDaily for 04/04/2018

Iridium Satellites Host Aireon’s Space-Based Air Traffic Surveillance Tech

Iridium Communications‘ fifth set of NEXT satellites that launched Friday includes Aireon-built global air traffic surveillance technology payloads. Aireon said Friday its Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast system is designed to provide aircraft tracking coverage with a 15-minute update interval and help airlines test aircraft tracking systems via space-based ADS-B…

The Defense Department’s cost estimates for the acquisition of major weapons platforms rose from $1.74 trillion to $1.92 trillion in 2017, Defense News reported Tuesday. The figure represents a 10 percent increase from the previous year’s projections, according to the annual Selected Acquisition Reports on 83 major defense procurement initiatives that DoD issued Tuesday…

Air Force Gen. John Hyten, head of the U.S. Strategic Command, has listed three near-term goals that the Defense Department needs to achieve in space programs, Space News reported Tuesday. Hyten, a 2018 Wash100 inductee, told Space News in an interview that DoD needs to bring down launch costs to less than $100 million…

President Donald Trump looks to deploy U.S. troops to help the country’s border with Mexico, DoD News reported Tuesday. “Until we can have a wall and proper security, we’re going to be guarding our border with the military,” he said Tuesday at a meeting with the presidents of the three Baltic countries…

The Defense Department intends to shut down the F-35 program office and have each service branch oversee their own offices for the fighter jet program, Defense News reported Tuesday. Ellen Lord, defense undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment, wrote a letter to Congress outlining nine near-term actions that seek to advance the establishment of F-35 program offices specific to the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, including the appointment of service deputies and development of a plan for the implementation of fleet management offices…

Edward O’Callaghan, principal deputy assistant attorney general of the Justice Department‘s national security division, has been named acting principal associate deputy attorney general at DOJ…

The Interior Department is seeking proposals from small businesses for a multiple three-year contracts to help maintain the U.S. government’s fixed-wing aircraft throughout Alaska. DOI looks for contractors that can support scheduled inspections, unscheduled maintenance, repairs and refurbishment as well as help the department address identified mechanical discrepancies on aircraft, US Federal Contractor Registration said Monday…

The Department of Defense has awarded $53 million in total funds for 175 U.S. university researchers to obtain modern technology platforms that can aid their projects. DoD said Tuesday awardees came from 91 institutions and were selected out of 671 proposers through a joint merit competition of U…

Frequency Electronics has received two contracts worth $37.2 million combined from the U.S. Air Force to build and demonstrate an atomic clock for space systems. The company will help the service branch create an atomic frequency standard for timing applications and test a space-qualified clock through a flight experiment as part of a $19…

The U.S. Air Force is sending five CV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft to a military air base in Tokyo earlier than previously anticipated. U.S. Forces Japan said Tuesday the CV-22 units, built by Bell-Boeing, will arrive at Yokota Air Base later this week as part of the branch’s efforts to help address regional security concerns within the Pacific Command’s area of responsibility and comply with the 2018 National Defense Strategy…

In 2017, San Diego Zoo Global scientists and Northrop Grumman Corporation engineers continued a unique collaboration to advance the understanding of sea ice dynamics and impacts on polar bear behavior…