Defense Business Briefing -- Sept. 17, 2024

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

This week's top story

Boeing labor stoppage to add strain to defense unit, pause KC-46 and P-8 production

Boeing machinists in the Seattle region on Friday rejected a contract proposal from the company and voted to strike, temporarily pausing production of the KC-46 Pegasus tanker and P-8 Poseidon aircraft and furthering the fiscal restraints Boeing's defense unit has felt in recent years.

News & notes

Northrop not counting itself out of a reimagined NGAD competition

As the Air Force rewrites requirements for the Next Generation Air Dominance platform, Northrop Grumman is "monitoring" the program and may jump back into the competition, according to the company's chief executive.

Air Force taps 'strategic funding' program to help goTenna across 'valley of death'

The Air Force's Strategic Funding Increase program provides a uniquely dependable source of cash for small businesses seeking contracts with the Pentagon via its multiyear awards -- which allow the program to avoid clashes with stopgap resolutions that typically plague small innovators attempting to "bridge the valley of death," according to one STRATFI recipient.

DOD seeks to adopt NISP process to better assess foreign ownership risks

The Pentagon is seeking to adopt a process used across the federal government to collect information on the foreign ownership of entities seeking government contracts, arguing the move would create more consistency in efforts to evaluate foreign interest-related risks, according to a Federal Register notice.

Senators urge Pentagon to recruit outgoing servicemembers for defense industrial base workforce

A bipartisan group of 12 senators is calling on the Pentagon to better leverage "transition programs" to recruit retiring servicemembers into the defense industrial base to fill workforce gaps that have hit submarine and shipbuilding programs especially hard.

Navy solicits electromagnetic warfare proposals for Silent Swarm 2025

The Navy is asking industry to submit technology proposals for participation in Silent Swarm 2025, the fourth iteration of the annual experimentation series that looks to outfit attritable, unmanned systems with early development electromagnetic warfare capabilities.

DIU awards three prototypes for uncrewed Navy platform operations

The Defense Innovation Unit announced three prototype agreements were awarded to vendors earlier this year for commercial technology meant to enable a database that allows uncrewed Navy systems to "operate effectively in disconnected, denied intermittent and/or limited bandwidth environments."

BlueForge awarded $951 million for continued submarine industrial base work

The Navy has awarded Texas-based non-profit BlueForge Alliance a $951 million contract for submarine industrial base work, according to a Pentagon announcement.

Army SBIR contracting for FY-24 expected to surpass previous year's total, acquisition chief says

Army acquisition chief Doug Bush said he expects the Army will have awarded $350 million in contracts under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program by the end of fiscal year 2024, surpassing last year's total.

What's happening

The week ahead

Senior defense officials are scheduled to speak at several events around Washington this week, including at a major Air and Space Forces Association conference.

For Inside Defense subscribers

Kendall: Next vision of NGAD should cost about as much as an F-35

The Next Generation Air Dominance platform may be the last “traditionally crewed” aircraft in the Air Force's fleet -- and it might cost about as much or even less than a F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, according to Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall.

SECNAV opposes six-month CR in letter to Congress

Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro is publicly opposing the six-month continuing resolution proposed by House Republicans in a letter to lawmakers, warning the stopgap spending measure would further delay Columbia- and Virginia-class submarine production and cause various other problems for the sea service.