The INSIDER daily digest -- May 1, 2024

This Wednesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the Virginia-class submarine program, a Marine Corps air defense system, Navy readiness issues and more.

In a letter to defense appropriators, 120 House lawmakers state U.S. undersea supremacy must be preserved to deter an increasingly emboldened China and Russia:

Courtney rallies 120 bipartisan lawmakers to push appropriators to restore submarine cut

Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT), a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, today released a letter to defense appropriators with 120 signatures from lawmakers seeking the restoration of funding for a Virginia-class submarine in fiscal year 2025.

The Marine Air Defense Integrated System, or MADIS, is "going to [Initial Operational Test and Evaluation] here in the next couple of months, and then that looks like fielding early next fiscal year," a senior Marine Corps official said during the Modern Day Marine conference in Washington this week:

MADIS and L-MADIS air defense systems advance toward FY-25 fielding decisions

Two of the Marine Corps' developing mobile air defense systems are advancing toward fielding decisions, expected before the end of fiscal year 2025, according to Steve Bowdren, program executive officer for land systems.

The House Armed Services readiness subcommittee held a hearing this week on Navy readiness:

Lawmakers question Navy officials, again, on readiness issues

The Navy's and Marine Corps' sealift capacity is not where it needs to be, lawmakers told service officials Tuesday at a House Armed Services readiness subcommittee hearing, which largely revolved around availability delays, recapitalization plans and potential solutions to construction backlogs.

Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Heidi said during a National Defense Industrial Association webinar that four RDER programs were first approved last year:

Pentagon tech chief announces four RDER projects headed into production

Pentagon technology chief Heidi Shyu announced that four Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve projects are headed into production.

The top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee would prefer the congressionally mandated defense spending limit was higher:

Rogers set to mark defense bill to spending cap as lawmakers question DOD modernization plans

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL) today said he intends to honor the defense spending cap mandated by the Fiscal Responsibility Act when he leads the panel in its mark-up of the annual defense authorization bill, though he stressed that he thinks the $895 billion limit is far too low.

The Boeing- and Leonardo-made Grey Wolf helicopter is set to replace the UH-1N Iroquois in its mission to patrol U.S. Global Strike Command nuclear silos:

Grey Wolf helo program cost growth triggers Nunn-McCurdy breach

Costs for the MH-139 Grey Wolf grew enough to trigger a critical Nunn-McCurdy breach, the Air Force notified Congress last week, because of a reduction in the number of helicopters the service plans to buy.

The Space Development Agency this week announced a potential $414 million contract to build eight satellites for launch in 2027 “to accelerate fire-control capability for global detection, warning and precision tracking of advanced missile threats” including maneuvering hypersonic weapons:

Boeing nabs FOO Fighter to build new space-based, missile tracking fire-control 'efforts'

The Defense Department has tapped Boeing's Millennium Space Systems to build eight satellites for the FOO Fighter program -- a project whose exact capability remains classified but is tied to the efforts to rapidly develop a low-earth orbit Resilient Missile Warning and Missile Tracking capability against the most advanced threats.