Welcome to today's Defense Business Briefing, your weekly roundup of the latest defense industry news.
GM plans to root autonomy in its ISVs
WARREN, MI -- GM Defense hopes to offer the Army an Infantry Squad Vehicle engrained with drive-by-wire technology by the end of the year as the company sees a desire from the service to pull soldiers from the driver's seat.
Air Force says buying more KC-46s will help service focus on accelerating NGAS
The Air Force wants to field its Next Generation Air-Refueling System by 2036, leaving Boeing's KC-46A Pegasus tanker as the only platform within reach that can meet the service's modern tanking capability requirements in the near-term, according to a document released Oct. 2.
Army contract negotiators notch banner year, delivering $1B in additional buying power
Government negotiators drove hard bargains on behalf of the Army in fiscal year 2025, freeing up over $1 billion in just 10 months -- twice the savings achieved in all of FY-24 -- giving Army Contracting Command at Rock Island Arsenal, IL, which spearheaded the drive, time to push savings even higher.
Industry group tapped to support public shipyards with $1.1B award
Engineering and manufacturing firm GSE Dynamics and a group of other defense companies today received a Navy contract worth up to $1.9 billion to support attack submarine maintenance and modernization availabilities at the four public shipyards, according to a Pentagon announcement.
Space Force awards $1.14B for FY-26 launches
The Space Force has assigned SpaceX and United Launch Alliance seven National Security Space Launch missions in fiscal year 2026 for a total cost of $1.14 billion, the service announced last week.
Alaska company wins more than $43M to produce antimony compound
The Defense Department is awarding Alaska Range Resources (ARR) $43.4 million to extract, process and purify extracted stibnite to produce "military grade" antimony trisulfide, according to a DOD announcement published last week.
The week ahead
The federal government is still shut down. House lawmakers are on a "district work period." Several Senate hearings take place this week.
SECNAV outlines personnel-focused duties for new under secretary as chief of staff exits
Navy Secretary John Phelan has outlined a series of responsibilities for newly confirmed Navy Under Secretary Hung Cao, who is tasked with a portfolio of predominantly personnel-focused initiatives as well as overseeing audit improvements and efforts to utilize Guam as a "power projection platform."
Pentagon to continue to draft its FY-27 budget despite lapse in FY-26 appropriations
The Defense Department will carry on with activities to develop the fiscal year 2027 budget request in the background of the federal government shutdown, a Pentagon official told Inside Defense.
Pentagon looks to continue most acquisition activities as shutdown begins
Congress, unable to reach a compromise on spending, triggered a federal shutdown and a massive furlough of government employees last night.