The Insider

Joby Aviation flew its autonomous hybrid electric vertical takeoff and landing demonstrator for the first time last week, the company announced today, completing the feat roughly three months after it initially revealed the aircraft’s concept.

The unmanned platform will be produced by Joby primarily for commercial applications, but a militarized version -- equipped for contested logistics, teaming operations with manned aircraft and low-altitude support -- will also be available through an agreement with L3Harris. The two firms are planning to begin government mission flight demonstrations using the hybrid VTOL aircraft in 2026, Joby said in a news release.

“It’s imperative that we find ways to deliver new technology into the hands of American troops more quickly and cost-efficiently than we have in the past,” JoeBen Bevirt, Joby founder and CEO, said in a statement. “Our vertical integration puts us in a unique position to deliver on this goal, moving from concept to demonstration -- and from demonstration to deployment -- at a pace that is unprecedented in today’s aerospace and defense industry.”

The demonstrator first flew on Nov. 7 at Joby’s Marina, CA facility using the company’s autonomy stack, dubbed SuperPilot. It also integrates a gas turbine powertrain into Joby’s all-electric air taxi platform. These add-on capabilities allow the demonstrator aircraft to fly with a greater range and payload capacity, Joby said in the news release.

Joby previously collaborated with the Air Force via the AFWERX Agility Prime program on its fully electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft for autonomous cargo missions. Most recently, Joby in July participated in the Air Force’s large-scale REFORPAC exercise in the Indo-Pacific, logging more than 7,000 miles of unmanned missions across over 40 flight hours, according to the news release.

The Marine Corps has selected AI company Virtualitics to improve predictive maintenance for its MV-22 Osprey squadron, according to a company announcement today.

Virtualitics will provide its Integrated Readiness Optimization AI application for the Marine Corps’ 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, which includes Ospreys. The IRO-Mx product can help maintain performance of critical assets and delivers asset risk assessments and operational planning resource analysis, according to the company. By using predictive technology to accelerate maintenance, aircraft availability could be further sustained.

“At Virtualitics, our mission is to empower commanders with AI insights they can trust,” CEO Michael Amori stated. “This partnership with 2D MAW shows how explainable AI solutions are transforming aviation sustainment, helping the Marine Corps maintain fleet readiness, reduce downtime, and strengthen mission success at speed and scale.”

This is not the first time Virtualitics has partnered with the Defense Department. In 2022, Air Force Global Strike Command worked with the company on predictive maintenance for bombers and missile weapon systems.

The integration of predictive maintenance technology for the MV-22 Osprey squadron comes as the aircraft has experienced a series of crashes in recent years and subsequent groundings. In April, V-22 joint program office manager Col. Robert Hurst said the fleet will have unrestricted flight operations by the end of next year.

“Supporting the Osprey community is an incredible honor,” Virtualitics Chief Revenue Officer Rob Bocek said. “The MV-22 is one of the most versatile and critical utility assets in modern warfare, and helping its crews sustain operational readiness with trusted AI is exactly what our mission is about. By delivering AI to the warfighter, at the edge, where decisions matter most, we’re advancing how the Department of War prepares, responds, and maintains superiority in every domain.”

The Army is surveying vendors interested in refurbishing earlier models of its Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) vehicles to turn them into upgraded M270A2s, according to a recently posted notice.

The service is targeting companies that can recapitalize less capable M270A0 and M270A1 variants into M270A2 MLRS launchers over a six-year period, starting in fiscal year 2027 and ending in FY-32.

The Army wants companies that have the resources and planning to successfully scale “under a performance-based service acquisition contract,” the notice says.

The enhancements include an improved armored cab and common fire control system, as well as an upgraded M993A2 carrier vehicle, according to the Army.

Upgrades to MLRS launcher vehicles first kicked off in 2017 when the Army began recapitalizing 160 obsolete M270A0s to the M270A2 versions; following that, the service put out a requirement to refurbish 184 M270A1s to the M270A2, according to FY-26 budget books.

The service has requested $243.5 million for MLRS modifications in FY-26 which would yield 23 upgraded MLRS launcher vehicles, the budget books say. The Army has an end goal of 344 upgraded launchers.

Lockheed Martin has been in charge of overhauling the M270s in a partnership with Red River Army Depot, TX, according to the company. It is also refurbishing M270s for the United Kingdom and Italy.

“The modernization effort includes both cooperative and foreign military sales partners who are actively upgrading their M270 MLRS launcher capabilities to the M270A2 configuration to achieve operational and production synergy alongside the U.S. Army,” the sources sought notice says.

Companies are asked to reply to questions detailing their previous experience, technical expertise and ability to hit the service’s requirements. Questions sent to the Army were not returned at the time of publication.

Replies to the sources sought notice are due Nov. 20.

This midweek INSIDER Daily Digest starts with a look at the Army’s plan to purchase one million drones, the Air Force wants to improve its ability to hit targets deep underground, a Defense Department official came out and talked about DOD’s new acquisition plan, and a new counter-air program is in the works.

The Army really wants to improve how it obtains drones:

Flexible procurement models eyed for Army's push to buy 1 million drones

The Army is preparing to tap a mix of flexible procurement authorities in an effort to generate a "predictable demand signal" and fully leverage the capacity of the U.S. industrial base as it pursues an ambitious plan to buy 1 million drones over the next two to three years, according to a service official.

The Air Force wants to up its bunker-busting game:

Air Force looking into new bunker-buster bomb tailkit

The Air Force is looking to develop a new bunker buster bomb tailkit, according to a recent request for information.

A senior DOD official discussed the department’s new acquisition reform plan:

DOD acquisition shake-up prizes speed, raising questions for defense industry

The Defense Department is overhauling its acquisition system to prioritize speed and transform its relationship with defense contractors, particularly the largest ones. But questions over cost, competition and government leverage are likely to shadow the effort as policies roll out in the coming months.

The Air Force has a new plan to defeat airborne missiles:

Air Force looking to develop Counter-Air Missile Program

The Air Force is looking to build a system to defeat airborne missiles, starting with ground-to-air capabilities that could later expand to air-to-air capabilities, according to a recent notice.

The Air Force is looking to build a system to defeat airborne missiles, starting with ground-to-air capabilities that could later expand to air-to-air capabilities, according to a recent notice.

The Counter-Air Missile Program aims to develop and demonstrate “an affordable, open system, modular, and highly producible ground-launched capability,” the request for white papers states. “Ground-launch efforts will serve as a risk reduction effort expediting missile design maturation and evaluation for future affordable air-to-air missile capabilities.”

The program is starting with money from the $150 billion reconciliation package passed over the summer, as the government has “identified a need” for such capabilities as a future part of the Affordable Mass Munitions portfolio.

The CAMP prototype should use systems with high technology readiness levels to be able to complete a first flight test within nine months to demonstrate vehicle ground-launch, range and speed, according to the post.

The Air Force is prioritizing “affordability and producibility” over exquisite capabilities and wants deliveries of 1,000 to 3,500 all-up rounds per year for less than $500,000 each in full-rate production.

The air-to-air system will be part of CAMP’s phase 2, but the Air Force is currently requesting white papers relating to the phase 1 ground-to-air system. Submissions are due Dec. 2.

The Defense Innovation Unit is looking for responsive manufacturing technology prototypes that can churn out dual-use space systems on demand at commercial scale, citing an existing domestic space supply chain likely incapable of meeting wartime demand.

That technology should use adaptive production methods including but not limited to AI, 3D printing, software-defined manufacturing, automated molding, computer numerical control and design for manufacturing to yield hundreds of systems per month or thousands per year, DIU said in a commercial solutions opening published last week.

The CSO calls for companies across several roles to apply:

• Defense contractors with experience successfully executing Defense Department contracts for system-level production units.
• Companies with experience in scaling design-to-production output, such as smart factories and agile supply chains.
• Entities that have developed “disruptive technologies” or manufacturing capabilities -- like robotics or AI algorithms -- supporting economies of scale.

DIU said it will form teams among the companies down-selected to best meet its goal to create a resilient, responsive domestic space supply chain capable of on-demand production at scale.

Submissions are due by Nov. 21, the CSO states.

Companies must have an established production capability to meet the hundreds-per-month or thousands-per-year production rates, collaborate digitally through all prototype phases and be able to source components rapidly.

Ideal solutions should be designed for autonomous operation, cost-effective at scale and commercially viable independent of the DIU solicitation’s use case.

Companies awarded with a prototype Other Transaction (OT) agreement from the solicitation may also receive a direct award for a follow-on production contract. That follow-on could be larger than the OT agreement and may be subject to use by multiple DOD components, DIU said.

The Defense Department last night unveiled a new model for how the military builds specialized cyber forces, focusing on a more targeted approach.

When the Pentagon built its initial 133-team cyber mission force in 2018, each military service’s cyber component took a set number of personnel to form teams that would go through standardized training, preparing them to serve as part of U.S. Cyber Command’s “action arm.”

The department said that approach isn’t setting CMF up for success, though.

“While appropriate for other warfighting domains, these traditional models have not met the unique requirements necessary to fight and win in the cyber domain,” DOD said.

A 2019 Government Accountability Office report found that to be the case, as well. GAO concluded Pentagon leaders prioritized building up CMF at the cost of sufficient training and readiness.

The new model -- driven by seven core attributes and three supporting department components -- would integrate CYBERCOM with the military departments to build the cyber force it needs.

“This model fundamentally changes the department’s approach to generating cyber forces, enabling increased lethality in our cyber forces and establishing a warrior ethos built on domain mastery, specialized skills and mission agility,” said Katie Sutton, assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy.

Sutton also said the new model would be well-positioned to help the department achieve its near and long-term goals in the cyber domain.