April 8, 2024 | International, C4ISR
CISO Perspectives on Complying with Cybersecurity Regulations
Navigating cybersecurity compliance just got easier. Our latest blog taps into the wisdom of CISOs to share strategies for managing data security requ
March 26, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
Latest emergency coronavirus funding package includes tens of billions for defense, VA
Leo Shane III
The Department of Defense is poised to get another $10.5 billion in emergency funding and the Department of Veterans Affairs another $19.6 billion as part of a $2 trillion package designed to blunt the economic impact of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak throughout America.
The money includes $1.4 billion in direct funding for National Guard deployments to help state governments respond to emerging health needs, $1.5 billion for the expansion of military hospitals and mobile medical centers if needed, and $1 billion for the Defense Department to help with production of medical supplies running short because of the pandemic.
The measure — which if passed would be the third major coronavirus response by Congress this month — also includes provisions to deliver billions of dollars to hospitals, new state and local government support, expanded unemployment compensation and massive business loans, all designed to help stabilize the economy amid unprecedented social shut-downs to curb the virus spread.
Senate lawmakers are expected to vote on the measure sometime Wednesday afternoon. The House could take it up soon afterwards.
Nationally, more than 54,000 individuals have tested positive for COVID-19, the strain of coronavirus causing worldwide disruptions and panic. More than 730 deaths have been connected to the illness in the United States alone, all in the last month.
"Combating this disease has forced our country to put huge parts of our national life on pause and triggered layoffs at a breath-taking pace,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said after the deal was reached Wednesday morning. “This strange new reality has forced our nation on to something like war-time footing. A fight has arrived on our shores.”
Lawmakers who worked on the agreement said the Defense Department funding is targeted “primarily for the protection of members of the Armed Forces, their families, and military retirees.”
None of the funds can be transferred to accounts connected with the construction of a southern border wall, a sticking point between Democrats and President Donald Trump in past appropriations fights.
Of the $10.5 billion total, $1 billion will be set aside for use with the Defense Production Act, allowing department officials to “invest in manufacturing capabilities that are key to increasing the production rate of personal protective equipment and medical equipment.”
Those items have been in short supply in recent weeks. Trump invoked the act earlier this week but has yet to order any civilian production of the scare items.
Veterans Affairs
Within VA, the majority of the money — nearly $15.9 billion — will be used for direct care specifically in response to veterans health needs.
“This covers treatment of veterans nationwide for coronavirus within VA hospitals as well as in community urgent care clinics and emergency rooms,” a bill summary stated. “These funds allow VA to cover overtime for their clinical staff, the purchase of personal protective equipment, test kits, and other necessary equipment to manage the impacts of this pandemic among the veteran population.”
Another $3.1 billion will be set aside for new telemedicine efforts within VA, including staffing and equipping mobile treatment sites and “remodeling to VA facilities and state run veterans homes to address the needs of veterans being treated for coronavirus.”
Nearly 300 veterans have already been diagnosed with the coronavirus strain, and four deaths of VA patients connected to the illness.
The bill also includes a number of expanded authorities for VA officials to respond to the threat, including extended overtime pay rules for medical providers, new agreements with broadband internet suppliers to increase telemedicine options for veterans, and waiving some rules regarding income-level eligibility for department benefits.
Lawmakers also included $360 million for the Department of Labor to invest in programs providing training and supportive services for dislocated workers, to specifically include homeless veterans.
White House officials have indicated Trump will sign the measure into law if it passes Congress. Earlier this week, Trump called on lawmakers to quickly pass some deal, saying that the economic impact of the illness on the country could be more devastating than the health complications.
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June 30, 2020 | International, Aerospace
Army Helo Market Pegged at $10 Billion
By Jon Harper Market opportunities for the Army's helicopter fleet will average about $10 billion per year over the next decade as the service modernizes its rotary-wing assets, according to analysts. The current inventory includes UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopters, AH-46 Apache attack helicopters, CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters and UH-72 Lakota light utility helicopters. All but the Lakota are still in production today. Meanwhile, future vertical lift is one of the Army's top three modernization priorities, and it is pursuing two new aircraft: an armed scout platform known as the future attack reconnaissance aircraft, or FARA, and the future long-range assault aircraft, or FLRAA. “The Army's effort to develop and field the next generation of vertical lift aircraft ... will have significant implications for the industrial base,” defense analysts Andrew Hunter and Rhys McCormick wrote in a recent report for the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Projections show that although there will be a drop-off in the procurement of legacy aircraft in the mid-2020s as FARA and FLRAA full-rate production starts to ramp up, there is still a roughly $8 billion to $10 billion annual addressable Army vertical lift market over the next decade,” they said in the report titled, “Assessing the Industrial Base Implications of the Army's Future Vertical Lift Plans.” FLRAA has an estimated program value of $40 billion, while FARA could be worth about $20 billion. In March, the Army announced it had selected Bell and a Sikorsky-Boeing team for the FLRAA competitive demonstration and risk reduction effort. The winner of that phase is expected to be selected in fiscal year 2022. The service also picked Bell and Sikorsky to continue on in the competition for the future attack reconnaissance aircraft. A “flyoff” for the FARA competition is scheduled for fiscal year 2023, with a production decision expected in fiscal year 2024. Both the FARA and FLRAA platforms are slated to enter production later this decade. Meanwhile, operation and sustainment costs will remain the largest source of Army vertical lift spending over the next 10 years, according to the CSIS report. “There's going to be opportunity [for industry] in kind of the aftermarket side because even as you start to produce the new aircraft, there will still be the enduring platforms that are out” operating as next-generation helicopters come online, said Patrick Mason, head of Army program executive office aviation. “We will still need spares and certain things done within the aftermarket side as this transition would occur,” he added during a recent press briefing. “That drives so much of the supply chain.” Some observers have questioned whether the Army will have enough money to buy high-ticket FARA and FLRAA platforms at the same time given future budget projections. There is also the risk that the programs might go off the rails. “FVL isn't the only game in town, but it is by far the biggest,” Loren Thompson, a defense industry consultant and chief operating officer of the Lexington Institute think tank, wrote in a recent op-ed for Forbes. “If production of legacy rotorcraft ceases to make room for new ones and then FVL fails to deliver, industry might not have enough cash flow to sustain essential skills and suppliers.” Hunter said problems with the future vertical lift initiatives would upend the CSIS market projections. “If you were to take one of those programs out of the equation, that changes the addressable market in two significant ways,” he said. “One is, it shrinks it obviously by pulling out ... multiple billion dollars of investment throughout the 10-year window that we looked at. The other effect that it has is it reduces the competitive opportunity for industry. Right now, you know you've got multiple companies gunning for two aircraft. And even if you went down to one [program] and you were still competing, that's much less opportunity for industry to win in that scenario.” https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2020/6/29/army-helo-market-pegged-at-$10-billion
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December 12, 2022 | International, Naval
HII boss sees mission tech business growing faster than shipbuilding
HIIâs mission technologies business, expanded through acquisitions, now makes up about 25% of the company's sales.