The INSIDER daily digest -- May 6, 2024

This Monday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the Pentagon's Replicator initiative, the Navy seeking solutions to resolve a sealift capacity shortage and more.

The Pentagon today announced it is beginning to invest in the first tranche of Replicator capabilities, which centers around UAS, USVs and C-UAS of multiple sizes and different payloads:

DOD announces Replicator tranche 1 focus areas and first official selected capability

Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks announced today that the first tranche of Replicator capabilities includes uncrewed aerial systems like AeroVironment's Switchblade-600 loitering munition, uncrewed surface vehicles and counter-uncrewed aerial systems.

The Navy is seeking solutions to resolve a shortage in sealift capacity:

Legislative proposal may allow Navy to buy foreign, used ships to support sealift

A legislative proposal brought forward by the Navy will potentially allow the service to acquire foreign, used vessels to bolster sealift capacity.

On May 2, Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles, Japanese Minister of Defense Kihara Minoru and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin held a Trilateral Defense Ministerial Meeting in Hawaii:

Japan, Australia, U.S. announce plans for 'inaugural' regional missile defense event

Japan, Australia and the United States announced plans for a trilateral air and missile defense live-fire exercise -- an "inaugural" event -- that will be folded into the 2027 Talisman Sabre exercise that simulates a highly contested combat scenario in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Marine Corps Amphibious Combat Vehicle program office began soliciting industry for a training system to improve driver proficiency in the spring of 2023 following multiple accidents in which ACVs rolled over in the water -- incidents the service attributed largely to inadequate operator training:

Marine Corps fielding ACV driver simulators, preparing for wider vehicle deployment

The Marine Corps has fielded the first unit of a new mixed-reality training system intended to improve the performance of Amphibious Combat Vehicle operators. It expects to receive 80 more of these driver simulators by the end of fiscal year 2024.

Army acquisition chief Doug Bush spoke during a roundtable with reporters at the Pentagon last week:

Army to hold howitzer demonstrations this summer to replace some Paladins

The Army will use approximately $55 million in leftover funds to host howitzer demonstrations in August before setting capability requirements for replacing its Paladin artillery system, according to the service's acquisition executive.