Rapid Fire March 6, 2013: Software Cost Challenges

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* The US House of Representatives will vote on HR 933 today, a bill which would fund DoD through the end of the current fiscal year. The White House implies [PDF] that it will likely get signed. * The US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee is holding posture hearings with military commanders this week. * Program Management Aviation-272 (PMA-272) conducted competitive prototyping during the Technology Development (TD) phase of its Joint and Allied Threat Awareness System (JATAS–AN/AAR-59) program. Defense AT&L [PDF] looks at how that effort went. In the same issue, an article on how to deliver software affordably, as the software footprint of defense systems is exploding. * The latest Crosstalk [PDF] covers Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM), a growing concern in the age of counterfeit electronics: “DoD embraces globalization and will continue to reap cost and schedule benefits from it every day—but we do need to be more sensitive to the system and/or information security and product and/or data integrity implications, to our systems and ultimately our capabilities, when outsourcing key components and capabilities.” * Lockheed Martin CFO Bruce Tanner told investors that the company’s information systems business was the one most threatened by budget cuts in […]

* The US House of Representatives will vote on HR 933 today, a bill which would fund DoD through the end of the current fiscal year. The White House implies [PDF] that it will likely get signed.

* The US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee is holding posture hearings with military commanders this week.

* Program Management Aviation-272 (PMA-272) conducted competitive prototyping during the Technology Development (TD) phase of its Joint and Allied Threat Awareness System (JATAS–AN/AAR-59) program. Defense AT&L [PDF] looks at how that effort went. In the same issue, an article on how to deliver software affordably, as the software footprint of defense systems is exploding.

* The latest Crosstalk [PDF] covers Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM), a growing concern in the age of counterfeit electronics:

“DoD embraces globalization and will continue to reap cost and schedule benefits from it every day—but we do need to be more sensitive to the system and/or information security and product and/or data integrity implications, to our systems and ultimately our capabilities, when outsourcing key components and capabilities.”

* Lockheed Martin CFO Bruce Tanner told investors that the company’s information systems business was the one most threatened by budget cuts in the short term, given its exposure to same-year awards. Defense aerospace, protected by multi-year backlogs, has already fared better for the past 18 months, at LockMart and its peers.

* Northrop Grumman will move 850 jobs off Long Island, NY, by next year, mostly to Florida. They will also close a facility in Dominguez Hills, CA.

* Rhetoric quickly escalated last month around the investigation of the VVIP Italian/Indian helicopter deal, including somewhat premature talks of an outright contract cancellation by India. In fact execution of the contract is frozen and payments have been put on hold. Today India’s Defence Minister AK Antony clarified that no decision to blacklist Agusta Westland has so far been taken.

* Libya is likely to ask the United Nations to lift the arms embargo that was put in place in September 2011. In the meantime, the US Department of State reminds [PDF] weapons manufacturers how exceptions to the embargo are reviewed.

* German troops manning Patriot batteries recently deployed in Turkey are not happy about their lodging conditions, reports Deutsche Welle.

* Just (reluctantly [PDF]) declassified in Australia: a 2002 memo [redacted PDF] from their Defence Capability and Investment Committee on the country’s possible participation (at the time) in the JSF‘s system development and demonstration phase. It shows how they assessed the pros and cons of joining the program early on while their knowledge of the plane’s capabilities was still very limited.

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