The Insider

The Space Force yesterday awarded Northrop Grumman another $1.8 billion for the two early warning satellites it will now carry through build to launch to transition to operations, bringing the total for the program to $4.16 billion.

The Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared Polar will consist of two satellites in highly elliptical orbit to watch for various missile types that could pass over the North Pole, which Space Systems Command says is the fastest path for most missiles that could threaten the homeland.

The initial launch date for Next Gen OPIR Polar is scheduled for fiscal year 2028 with the second satellite launching in FY-30. It is set to replace the Space-Based Infrared System and be more resilient to counter-space capabilities while offering better missile defense capabilities and battlespace awareness.

The program passed critical design review in the summer along with Northrop’s Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution ground station.

This Thursday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on defense contractors' quarterly earnings as well as a Defense Intelligence Agency report on the nuclear programs of Russia, China, North Korea and Iran.

We start off with coverage of Northrop Grumman, Boeing and General Dynamics quarterly earnings:

Northrop expecting second lot contract for B-21 by end of year

Northrop Grumman expects to be awarded a contract for the second low-rate initial production lot for the B-21 Raider bomber by the end of the year, CEO Kathy Warden said today.

Boeing CEO says company must fundamentally change as defense unit logs $2 billion charge

Defense manufacturing giant Boeing is again hemorrhaging money, but CEO Kelly Ortberg says the company can pivot back to prior success via better discipline in its "tough contracts" and a focus on risk management in future ones.

Boeing adds $217 million loss on MQ-25 Stingray

Boeing has added a loss of $217 million for the MQ-25 Stingray program, according to company earnings released this week.

GD execs: Submarine supply chain not improving fast enough, program costs rising

The submarine supply chain is not improving fast enough, according to General Dynamics executives, who today said the company is slowing construction work to match the sluggish pace of component deliveries.

A new Defense Intelligence Agency report "provides an updated, unclassified overview of the nuclear programs of Russia, China, North Korea and Iran":

DIA: China on track to have more than 1,000 operational nukes by 2030, faster than expected

China is growing its nuclear force at a faster rate than previously forecast and will have more than 1,000 operational warheads fielded by 2030 on delivery systems capable of striking the United States, according to a new Defense Intelligence Agency report on the growing nuclear capabilities of strategic competitors and regional rivals.

Document: DIA report on nuclear challenges

The Defense Department is set to fund a research project to develop infrared seekers for hypersonic weapons for use across military services in the amount of $45 million over three years, the department announced Wednesday.

The Hypersonic Infrared Target Sensing (HITS) joint-service project will be conducted by the Naval Research Laboratory, Air Force Research Laboratory and the Missile Defense Agency -- all led by the Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory. The cooperation of these teams will facilitate the collaboration of more than 50 federal scientists and engineers across military service labs.

The project comes from a proposal submitted for the department’s annual Applied Research for the Advancement of Science and Technology Priorities (ARAP) program award competition. Eligible submissions were required to include funding proposals for applied research “addressing specific technology or capability gaps while enhancing collaboration across the military services and DOD agencies,” and proposals had to “demonstrate a clear pathway from research to product fielding,” according to the Pentagon’s announcement.

The HITS project will specifically address challenges developing infrared seekers for hypersonic weapons -- including “locating targets throughout hypersonic flight, advancing gimbal-free target discrimination in extreme hypersonic turbulence, developing high-temperature infrared materials and addressing thermal distortion through the seeker window,” the release said.

“Investments into our military labs and facilities are imperative for the DOD to invest in technological solutions that attract and retain the future workforce,” Aprille Ericsson, assistant secretary of defense for science and technology, said during a check-presentation ceremony at the Pentagon with the project team, according to the release.

The Army has awarded Teledyne FLIR Defense a $91 million, five-year contract for its Black Hornet 4 personal reconnaissance drones, the company recently announced.

The Black Hornet 4 can be easily carried and launched by soldiers, and the drone then sends video and pictures back to the operator, the company said Tuesday. It is meant to “provide soldiers with situational awareness more safely from a protected position,” and to enable squad and small unit surveillance and reconnaissance.

The Army began acquiring Black Hornet 3 drones for the Soldier Borne Sensor program in 2018 and have placed orders worth more than $215 million altogether in the years since, according to Teledyne.

The Soldier Borne Sensor program “provides units with near-real-time video, increased situational awareness and reduced risk of detection, while allowing units to detect personnel and targets,” according to the Army.

In 2023, the Army awarded Teledyne a contract for 8,000 of the Black Hornet 3 variant of the drone, Inside Defense reported.

For the recent contract for Black Hornet 4, Teledyne has already received $25 million in initial orders to cover delivery of the first tranche of the drones, along with controllers, spare parts and training, according to the company.

Naval Sea Systems Command has selected General Dynamics to design and build an unmanned maritime minelaying system, awarding the company a contract worth up to $58 million, according to a Monday notice.

Under the award, General Dynamics Mission Systems will build a tactical prototype system of the Mining Expendable Delivery Unmanned Submarine Asset (MEDUSA), an expendable uncrewed undersea vehicle that will launch from submarine torpedo tubes to lay mines.

The Navy received three bids for the contracts and awarded General Dynamics an initial $15.9 million contract on Sept. 27. Work under this award is expected to conclude in September 2026 but could stretch until 2032 and climb to $58 million if additional options are exercised, the announcement states.

A draft request for proposals was published in September 2023, describing MEDUSA as a “tactical clandestine mining system.” According to budget documents, the system “features torpedo tube launch capability, long range, high payload placement accuracy and can handle heavy payloads.”

The Navy requested approximately $9.3 million for the program in fiscal year 2025 following a $32.5 million request the previous year. Budget documents attribute this decrease to the completion of technical risk-reduction efforts in FY-24 and the transition to contractor design efforts in FY-25.

Industry-led risk-reduction efforts are expected to continue in FY-25, budget documents indicate, along with “submarine integration, system safety engineering activities, mine payload development, and mission planning and submarine control system integration efforts.” A preliminary design review is expected in the final quarter of FY-25.

This Tuesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the Army scrapping plans to base the Mid-Range Capability on Guam, the Indirect Fires Protection Capability (IFPC) Increment 2 project, the developmental Launched Effects initiative, the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle program and F-35 operations and maintenance problems.

On Sept. 11, Pentagon Comptroller Mike McCord finalized a budget action to reprogram funds appropriated in fiscal years 2023 and 2024 from lower- to higher-priority projects, identifying $34.7 million previously allocated for the Strategic Mid-Range Capability now available to finance other pressing needs:

Army scraps plans for MRC on Guam; 'adversaries took notice' of inaugural deployment

The Army is scrapping plans to base its new Chinese ship-killing unit on Guam, removing the Mid-Range Capability (MRC) from the planned architecture for the Western Pacific U.S. territory -- an aspect of Defense Department designs for the region not previously made public.

Document: DOD's September 2024 reprogramming request

More coverage from last week's AUSA conference:

IFPC Inc. 2 notches 'very successful' developmental test, begins operational testing

The Indirect Fires Protection Capability (IFPC) Increment 2 project -- the Army effort to develop a new cruise missile defense system -- is pivoting to operational testing this fall after knocking down a trio of targets in a "very successful" live-fire event, a milestone that keeps the project on track for a production review in early 2025.

With FARA cancelled, Army charts way forward on Launched Effects

With the Army's decision to end its Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft program earlier this year, officials touted the developmental Launched Effects initiative last week at the Association of the United States Army's annual trade show in Washington.

BAE Systems set to speed up AMPV pace with new production line and 'Virtual Proving Ground'

As the Army prepares a pivot to full-rate production for the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle, the prime contractor, BAE Systems, announced it will open a second production line, and, going forward, take advantage of its advanced digital modeling system, dubbed the Virtual Proving Ground.

Read our full AUSA coverage.

A new Government Accountability Office report "provides information on how the Air Force and Navy (which includes the Marine Corps) develop their [operations and maintenance] funding requirements for active-duty tactical aircraft; the amount of O&M funds used during fiscal years 2018 through 2023; and any association of trends in O&M funding with mission capable rates":

GAO: All F-35 variants fall short of minimum readiness goals for sixth consecutive year

The Pentagon's costliest weapon system has yet again fallen below Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps mission-capable rate goals, due partly to ongoing challenges with depot and organizational maintenance, according to the government's top watchdog.

Document: GAO report on tactical aircraft O&M

This Monday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the Air Force's new Global Enterprise Network for Universal Sustainment, the Army's Armored Multipurpose Vehicle and more.

We start off with an Air Force effort that makes up the service's portion of the Pentagon's Regional Sustainment Framework announced in May to maintain, repair and overhaul weapon systems in the Indo-Pacific region without needing to send bad equipment all the way back to U.S.-based depots:

Meet GENUS: Air Force's offering for Regional Sustainment Framework in the Indo-Pacific

Since January, a contingent of Air Force Sustainment Center officials have traveled to Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines to forge early partnerships for the service's new Global Enterprise Network for Universal Sustainment, Inside Defense has learned.

More coverage from last week's AUSA conference:

Army makes move to define new AMPV configuration, seeks concept study for engineers

The Army is laying the groundwork for a sixth configuration of the Armored Multipurpose Vehicle -- the first addition to the original fleet of five variants since the AMPV requirement was codified in 2013 -- to give combat and mechanized engineers a modern, tracked system to support front-line forces.

Integration and autonomy: Army wants to hear from industry on robotics

The Army will work closely in a "back-and-forth process" with the user community to develop robotic vehicle capabilities, starting next month when it hosts industry days to hear how companies might help smooth over issues it’s having, officials announced Wednesday.

Read our full AUSA coverage.

Last but by no means least, here's the latest CMMC coverage from our colleagues at Inside Cybersecurity:

Cyber AB sees opportunity to grow assessment ecosystem following release of final CMMC program rule

The accreditation body behind the Pentagon's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program is expecting an increase in the number of assessment firms and certified assessors who want to participate in the Defense Department initiative, as work gets underway to stand up a formal ecosystem under the final programmatic rule.

NDIA, AIA propose providing prime contractors with access to CMMC assessments on Pentagon system

Two major defense associations are proposing to allow prime contractors access to an online system where companies who are part of the defense industrial base will provide the results of their Cybersecurity Model Certification assessments to the Pentagon.