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Cost Estimating NewsBrief: May 31, 2024
GAO blames new frigate’s delay on Navy tampering with design, “botched metrics”
(Breaking Defense) The Navy’s reliance on “botched metrics” and “inadequate” review practices are key reasons why its $22 billion next-generation frigate program is plagued with a potential three-year delay right out of the gate, according to government auditors. The new report by the Government Accountability Office, which was requested by lawmakers, assessed the Constellation-class frigate’s design and technical uncertainties around its capabilities. Auditors, who are usually mild-mannered in their criticism of their government counterparts, were unsparing in laying the blame at the Navy’s feet for tinkering with the new ship’s design too much. Read More
Space Force inches closer to classified remote work
(NextGov/FCW) Some guardians could soon do their classified work from home thanks to a new prototype. GDIT calls it the Enigma Project: a digital environment that allows users from government, academia, industry, and others to access classified and unclassified information from a single device. “We did the initial operational capability of our Commercial Solutions for Classified,” or CSFC, which is a “single device, laptop, that someone can have [Non-Classified Internet Protocol Router Network and Secret Internet Protocol Router Network] on it at the same time…So someone doesn’t have to physically go in and out of a secure spot,” said Travis Dawson, Enigma’s director. Read More
Legal Framework for Military Space Operations Detailed in New Manual
(Space War) Humans have always been explorers, making space the next frontier. But what laws govern outer space? Is it a lawless expanse? Duncan Blake, a lecturer at UNSW Canberra, emphasizes that space is not without rules. The Woomera Manual on the International Law of Military Space Activities and Operations (Woomera Manual) aims to clarify the application of existing international laws to military space activities, from benign to hostile. “The Woomera Manual is not about creating new laws but clarifying how existing laws apply in a space context,” Duncan explained. Read More
James Webb Space Telescope finds a dusty skeleton in this starburst galaxy’s closet
(Space.com) The dwarf galaxy NGC 4449 is the star of the show in the James Webb Space Telescope’s latest cosmic portrait. Located 12.5 million light-years away in the constellation of Canes Venatici, the Hunting Dogs, NGC 4449 has much in common with our very own Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), the satellite galaxy orbiting the Milky Way. Both are small and irregular in shape and each has a distinctive bar running through its center. However, whereas the LMC has one extreme region of star formation, which is the 30 Doradus region famously known as the Tarantula Nebula, NGC 4449 has enhanced star-forming rates across its length and breadth. Read More
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