National Security Space Launch

The United States Space Force’s National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program, formerly known as the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program, was first established in 1994 by President William J. Clinton’s National Space Transportation Policy. The policy assigned the responsibility for expendable launch vehicles to the Department of Defense (DoD), with the goals of lowering launch costs and ensuring national security access to space. As such, the United States Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) started the EELV program to acquire more affordable and reliable launch capability for valuable U.S. military satellites, such as national reconnaissance satellites that cost billions per satellite. In March 2019, the program name was changed from EELV to NSSL, which reflected several important features: 1.) The emphasis on “assured access to space,” 2.) transition from the Russian-made RD-180 rocket engine used on the Atlas V to a US-sourced engine (now scheduled to be complete by 2022), 3.) adaptation to manifest changes (such as enabling satellite swaps and return of manifest to normal operations both within 12 months of a need or an anomaly), and 4.) potential use of reusable launch vehicles. As of August 2019, Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems, SpaceX, and United Launch Alliance (ULA) have all submitted proposals. From these, the U.S. Air Force will be selecting two companies to fulfill approximately 34 launches over a period of five years, beginning in 2022. This paper will therefore first examine the objectives for the NSSL as presented in the 2017 National Security Strategy, Fiscal Year 2019, Fiscal Year 2020, and Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAA), and National Presidential Directive No. 40. The paper will then identify areas of potential weakness and gaps that exist in space launch programs as a whole and explore the security implications that impact the NSSL specifically. Finally, the paper will examine how the trajectory of the NSSL program could be adjusted in order to facilitate a smooth transition into new launch vehicles, while maintaining mission success, minimizing national security vulnerabilities, and clarifying the defense acquisition process.No embargoAcademic Major: EnglishAcademic Major: International Studie

Meeting the Challenge of Cyberterrorism: Defining the Military Role in a Democracy

Denna forskningskonsumtion strävar efter att utifrån två frågeställningar undersöka dels var det deliberativa samtalets möjligheter och begränsningar ligger, dels undersöka hur det deliberativa samtalet påverkar lärarrollen i klassrummet. Detta sker genom en systematisk litteraturstudie som behandlar ett urval av relevanta svenska författare och även ett par internationella engelskspråkiga författare. Det deliberativa samtalet är en kommunikativ metod där samförståelse, konsensus och demokrati står i fokus. Tomas Englund, en av de mest uppmärksammade förespråkare av metoden beskriver det deliberativa samtalet med en rad punkter. Dessa punkter beskriver samtalet som att det ska ge olika argument utrymme, samtalet ska vara tolerant, samtalet ska ha inslag av kollektiv viljebildning, traditionella uppfattningar ska ifrågaställas och samtalet ska helst utesluta lärarledning. Det deliberativa samtalet har av bl.a. Skolverket lyfts fram som en  metod som ska gynna värdegrundsarbetet i skolan. Runt millenieskiftet hade det deliberativa samtalet samt värdegrundsarbetet fått en allt mer central del i skolan där Tomas Englund var en av de mest framträdande förespråkarna av metoden. Ytterligare styrkor i samtalet kunde även förstås som dess potential i att kunna implementeras i andra kommunikativa situationer inom flertalet ämnen. Trots att förespråkarna av det deliberativa samtalet kan lyfta många styrkor hos metoden finns fortfarande flera invändningar. De främsta styrkorna som lyfts ur det deliberativa samtalet är värdegrundsarbetet och samtalets tillämpningsbarhet, men de mer kritiska författarna vill gärna uppmärksamma hur det tämligen strukturerade samtalet kan påverka klassrummet och dess dynamik mellan lärare och elever. Hur ska exempelvis läraren förena sin position som betygsättande maktfigur med att hålla samtalet så öppet och tolererande som möjligt, oavsett åsikter som tas upp? Hur ska retoriska färdigheter hos eleverna behandlas när samtalet ska vara öppet och inkluderande? Forskningskonsumtionen lyfter även hur sociala och kulturella faktorer spelar in på elevers förmåga att deltaga i samtalet och lyfter genom författarna fram en diskussion om samtalets lämplighet i klassrummet, främst genom dess deltagare som utgångspunkt. Slutsatsen härleds till att lämpligheten hos det deliberativa samtalet i klassrummet kan kondenseras ned till frågan om förutsättningarna i klassrummet. Det deliberativa samtalet är ingen universallösning för värdegrundsarbete, men har samtidigt en rad andra styrkor som är värda att lyfta fram. Författarna saknar även en enhällig lösning över vilken roll läraren ska ha i samtalet och saknar även en riktig diskussion om hur det deliberativa samtalet ska behandla konflikter när samtalet drivs till sin spets

Important Lessons Derived from X.500 Case Studies

X.500 is a new and complex electronic directory technology, whose basic specification was first published as an international standard in 1988, with an enhanced revision in 1993. The technology is still unproven in many organisations. This paper presents case studies of 15 pioneering pilot and operational X.500 based directory services. The paper provides valuable insights into how organisations are coming to understand this new technology, are using X.500 for both traditional and novel directory based services, and consequently are deriving benefits from it. Important lessons that have been learnt by these X.500 pioneers are presented here, so that future organisations can benefit from their experiences. Factors critical to the success of implementing X.500 in an organisation are derived from the studies

A framework for effective management of condition based maintenance programs in the context of industrial development of E-Maintenance strategies

CBM (Condition Based Maintenance) solutions are increasingly present in industrial systems due to two main circumstances: rapid evolution, without precedents, in the capture and analysis of data and significant cost reduction of supporting technologies. CBM programs in industrial systems can become extremely complex, especially when considering the effective introduction of new capabilities provided by PHM (Prognostics and Health Management) and E-maintenance disciplines. In this scenario, any CBM solution involves the management of numerous technical aspects, that the maintenance manager needs to understand, in order to be implemented properly and effectively, according to the company’s strategy. This paper provides a comprehensive representation of the key components of a generic CBM solution, this is presented using a framework or supporting structure for an effective management of the CBM programs. The concept “symptom of failure”, its corresponding analysis techniques (introduced by ISO 13379-1 and linked with RCM/FMEA analysis), and other international standard for CBM open-software application development (for instance, ISO 13374 and OSA-CBM), are used in the paper for the development of the framework. An original template has been developed, adopting the formal structure of RCM analysis templates, to integrate the information of the PHM techniques used to capture the failure mode behaviour and to manage maintenance. Finally, a case study describes the framework using the referred template.Gobierno de Andalucía P11-TEP-7303 M

The Knowledge Application and Utilization Framework Applied to Defense COTS: A Research Synthesis for Outsourced Innovation

Purpose -- Militaries of developing nations face increasing budget pressures, high operations tempo, a blitzing pace of technology, and adversaries that often meet or beat government capabilities using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technologies. The adoption of COTS products into defense acquisitions has been offered to help meet these challenges by essentially outsourcing new product development and innovation. This research summarizes extant research to develop a framework for managing the innovative and knowledge flows. Design/Methodology/Approach – A literature review of 62 sources was conducted with the objectives of identifying antecedents (barriers and facilitators) and consequences of COTS adoption. Findings – The DoD COTS literature predominantly consists of industry case studies, and there’s a strong need for further academically rigorous study. Extant rigorous research implicates the importance of the role of knowledge management to government innovative thinking that relies heavily on commercial suppliers. Research Limitations/Implications – Extant academically rigorous studies tend to depend on measures derived from work in information systems research, relying on user satisfaction as the outcome. Our findings indicate that user satisfaction has no relationship to COTS success; technically complex governmental purchases may be too distant from users or may have socio-economic goals that supersede user satisfaction. The knowledge acquisition and utilization framework worked well to explain the innovative process in COTS. Practical Implications – Where past research in the commercial context found technological knowledge to outweigh market knowledge in terms of importance, our research found the opposite. Managers either in government or marketing to government should be aware of the importance of market knowledge for defense COTS innovation, especially for commercial companies that work as system integrators. Originality/Value – From the literature emerged a framework of COTS product usage and a scale to measure COTS product appropriateness that should help to guide COTS product adoption decisions and to help manage COTS product implementations ex post