Welcome to today's Defense Business Briefing, your weekly roundup of the latest defense industry news.

DOD plans to unveil National Defense Industrial Strategy next month

The Defense Department is planning to release its first-ever National Defense Industrial Strategy in January, a pre-decisional draft of which was obtained by Inside Defense earlier this month that calls for "generational change."

DOD announces new Microelectronics Commons 'call for projects'

The Defense Department released the Microelectronics Commons "call for projects" today for fiscal year 2024, with project awards scheduled for the third quarter.

DIU awards companies to prototype 'standard aviation batteries' in line with DOD's lithium battery strengthening initiative

The Defense Innovation Unit awarded contracts to five companies to prototype standard aviation batteries to combat energy source needs through the Defense Department's Family of Advanced Standard Batteries (FAStBat) project, which integrates commercially available lithium battery technologies across the Pentagon.

Major MDA technical review of Northrop-Raytheon NGI design set for January

The Defense Department plans next month to conduct the second of two major technical reviews for the Next Generation Interceptor competition, assessing Northrop Grumman's design and select components for a homeland defense guided-missile prototype after completing a similar review in October of the same for Lockheed Martin.

Army issues notice of intent to award Raytheon C-UAS, KuRFS contract

The Army intends to award RTX (formerly Raytheon Technologies) a contract for the Coyote counter-drone system and the Ku-Band Radio Frequency System, which will support a production requirement during the five-year period of fiscal year 2025 to FY-29, according to a sole-source notice posted this week.

Army looking to continue Stryker vehicle production

The Army is looking to continue production of the latest Stryker vehicle variants, according to a public announcement.

The week ahead

Senior defense officials are slated to speak at two key events this week. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is traveling to the Middle East.

Pentagon leaders tally potential devastation from a full-year CR

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and other senior Pentagon leaders have sent Senate appropriators five separate letters detailing the damage that a first-ever, full-year continuing resolution would visit upon thousands of U.S. weapons programs, resulting in a possible 4.1% across-the-board budget cut.

DOD working on responsibly integrating generative AI across department

A senior Pentagon official in the chief digital and artificial intelligence office detailed what areas of emerging technology the office is focusing on in attempts to leverage AI usage across the Defense Department.

Defense Business Briefing would like to wish our readers a safe and happy Holiday Season and a prosperous New Year. The next DBB will be issued on Jan. 2, 2024.