The Insider

By Nick Wilson
March 25, 2025 at 9:44 AM

The Senate has confirmed financier John Phelan to serve as the 79th Navy secretary in a 62-30 vote that drew support from some Democrats who joined with Republicans to advance President Trump's pick.

Phelan is a businessman who founded private investment firm Rugger Management LLC. Though Phelan has no prior Navy or Pentagon experience, Trump highlighted his business credentials when announcing the nomination in November.

During a relatively smooth confirmation hearing in February, Phelan emphasized solving shipbuilding and maintenance challenges as a top priority and told lawmakers he would personally review all existing Navy contracts.

The Monday vote makes Phelan the second of Trump’s service chief picks to be confirmed, following Army Secretary Dan Driscoll.

Meanwhile, the Navy is still operating without a chief of naval operations. Vice CNO Adm. Jim Kilby has been performing the duties of the role after Adm. Lisa Franchetti was fired without explanation last month.

By Tony Bertuca
March 24, 2025 at 5:42 PM

Senior Trump administration officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, are under fire today for allegedly disclosing highly classified U.S. plans to launch airstrikes against Yemen's Houthi militants on an encrypted commercial messaging service text chain that included a journalist.

Jeffrey Goldberg, editor of The Atlantic magazine, reported today that he was accidentally added to a text chain which spanned several days on the Signal encrypted messaging service that, along with Hegseth, appears to have included Vice President JD Vance, national security adviser Mike Waltz, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

According to Goldberg, the text chain included classified operational information about airstrikes launched against Houthi militants last week, including targets, timing and weapon systems. Atlantic has not published the information, which Goldberg said came from an account attributed Hegseth, who is out of the country this week traveling to Asia.

The bombshell story was confirmed by the White House, though President Trump, when asked about it during a press conference, said a reporter’s question was first he’d heard of it.

“At this time, the message thread that was reported appears to be authentic, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain,” Brian Hughes, spokesman for the National Security Council, said in an email.

Hughes, who pointed to the apparent success of the Houthi operation as an indication that “there were no threats to our servicemembers or our national security” as a result of the disclosure, asserted that the text chain is “a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials.”

Lawmakers, however, felt differently.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) told CNN the matter “sounds like a huge screw up.”

Democrats also seized the moment to criticize the Trump administration and call for accountability, especially as the Pentagon has sought to crack down on alleged leakers and hold military officials accountable for the violent and chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, called for an investigation.

“If senior advisers to President Trump in fact used non-secure, non-government systems to discuss and convey detailed war plans, it’s a shocking breach of the standards for sharing classified information that could have put American servicemembers at risk,” he said. “There needs to be an oversight hearing and accountability for these actions.”

Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the story, if true, “represents one of the most egregious failures of operational security and common sense I have ever seen.”

“Military operations need to be handled with utmost discretion, using approved, secure lines of communication, because American lives are on the line,” he said. “The carelessness shown by President Trump’s cabinet is stunning and dangerous. I will be seeking answers from the administration immediately.”

Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, released a statement on X criticizing the Trump administration for selecting senior officials based on personal loyalty to the president, rather than experience serving at the highest levels of national security.

“When you hire based on sycophancy and loyalty f* ups are going to happen,” he wrote. “This endangerment of national security is an unbelievable disaster. We need to put pressure on the Trump administration to get back to focusing on competency, get back to focusing on serving the American people instead of just focusing on going after Donald Trump’s enemies and sucking up to Donald Trump. We need competent government. The Trump administration is not giving that to us.”

Critics of the administration also pointed out that senior government officials like Hegseth and Waltz have access to classified communications systems, rather than Signal, a commercially available app developed by a non-profit group.

Sen. Rueben Gallego (D-AZ) wrote on X that the incident could be summed up as “amateur hour.”

“If I handled classified and sensitive information in this way when I was in the Marines . . . oh boy . . .,” Gallego wrote.

By John Liang
March 24, 2025 at 1:26 PM

This Monday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on layered counter-drone systems, plus a six-wheeled combat vehicle topped with a maneuver short-range air defense system and more.

Science Applications International Corp. is still trying to find a contract opportunity with the Army for its layered counter-drone system:

SAIC pitches Army on 'interoperable' CUAS solution amid budget squeeze

Almost three years ago, the Pentagon's Joint Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office (JCO) recommended Science Applications International Corp.'s layered counter-drone system as one of three vendor-provided solutions that the services and combatant commands looked at when considering the deployment of counter-UAS-as-a-service at an installation.

Cummings Aerospace's Hellhound S3, 3-D built and powered by a turbojet, can fly at speeds upwards of 375 miles per hour:

Cummings Aerospace envisions multiple uses for turbojet-powered loitering drone

Cummings Aerospace has been in the process of testing its Hellhound S3 loitering munition unmanned aerial system, and company officials say the system could be used for multiple efforts, among which are the Army's Low Altitude Stalking and Strike Ordnance and Launched Effects programs.

The Pandur SHORAD is on the floor of the Association of the United States Army's annual Global Force Symposium this week in Huntsville, AL:

GDLS debuts Pandur SHORAD in response to Army RFI

General Dynamics Land Systems is unveiling a new, six-wheeled combat vehicle topped with a maneuver short-range air defense system this week, which the Army plans to test out at its Maneuver Fires Integrated Experiment this summer.

More coverage of Boeing's recent win of the Next Generation Air Dominance penetrating platform contract:

New NGAD investment could squeeze Air Force budget under yearlong CR

The Trump administration's decision to push forward with the F-47 Next Generation Air Dominance platform raises questions about how the major new aircraft program will be paid for, especially following Congress' recent passage of a yearlong stopgap spending bill that erodes the Pentagon's buying power.

Boeing wins multibillion-dollar bid for the Air Force's next-generation fighter

The Trump administration today announced Boeing has been selected to produce the Air Force's multibillion-dollar Next Generation Air Dominance penetrating platform, beating out Lockheed Martin in the contest after months of uncertainty.

By Dan Schere
March 24, 2025 at 10:56 AM

The Army's Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) has chosen HII's Mission Technologies division to develop an open architecture high-energy laser, the company announced this morning.

HII will develop and test a prototype that will track and destroy groups 1 through 3 unmanned systems, which are those weighing less than 1,320 pounds. The high-energy laser system will be capable of fixed-site defense and integration onto Army vehicles, according to HII.

HII will provide the data that supports that Army’s “objectives for interoperability, affordability, scalability, supply chain resilience and rapid innovation,” according to the company.

The HII award follows a RCCTO solicitation released last July that called on companies to submit white papers describing solutions capable of delivering lethal effects against groups 1 through 3 UAS. That solicitation also said the system should be capable of fixed-site defense or be capable of integrating onto an existing Army platform.

The HII award is in the form of an other transaction agreement, and the eventual goal is for it to transition to the service’s Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space, after it undergoes testing and demonstrations.

Grant Hagen, president of Mission Technologies’ warfare systems group, said today the company is “proud to provide a critical enabler for the Army, delivering an effective, interoperable, sustainable and scalable system that will meet force protection requirements and support U.S. strategic objectives.”

By Tony Bertuca
March 24, 2025 at 5:00 AM

The Association of the United States Army hosts its annual conference in Huntsville, AL, this week. Meanwhile, senior defense officials are scheduled to speak at several events around Washington.

Monday

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is travelling this week to Hawaii, Guam, the Philippines and Japan.

Tuesday

The Association of the United States Army holds its Global Force Symposium and Exposition in Huntsville, AL. The event runs through Thursday.

The Senate Armed Services seapower subcommittee holds a hearing on Navy shipbuilding.

The Senate Armed Services cyber subcommittee holds a hearing on artificial intelligence.

The House Armed Services readiness and seapower and projection forces subcommittees hold a joint hearing with the chief of U.S. Transportation Command.

The Senate Select Intelligence Committee holds a hearing on worldwide threats.

Wednesday

The Senate Armed Services Committee holds a hearing with the chiefs of U.S. Strategic Command and U.S. Space Command.

The House Armed Services intelligence and special operations subcommittee holds a hearing on U.S. special forces.

The Mitchell Institute hosts a discussion with Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman.

The House Permanent Select Intelligence Committee holds a hearing on worldwide threats.

Thursday

The Senate Armed Services Committee holds a hearing to consider the nominations of Troy Meink to be Air Force secretary, Michael Duffey to be under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, Emil Michael to be under secretary of defense for research and engineering, and Keith Bass to be assistant secretary of defense for health affairs.

DefenseOne hosts a discussion on the state of the Army.

By Tony Bertuca
March 21, 2025 at 2:43 PM

The Senate Armed Services Committee is slated to hold a hearing next week to consider nominees for several top Pentagon jobs.

The committee is scheduled to meet on Thursday to consider the nominations of Troy Meink to be Air Force secretary, Michael Duffey to be under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, Emil Michael to be under secretary of defense for research and engineering, and Keith Bass to be assistant secretary of defense for health affairs.

By Dominic Minadeo
March 21, 2025 at 2:10 PM

The Defense Logistics Agency is working to rehire the workers it let go at the beginning of the month after a federal judge ordered government agencies to backtrack last week, a DLA spokesperson told Inside Defense this morning.

“We have notified all of those affected that they are being brought back on board along with their supervisors, and we’re making every effort to get them back on with minimal disruption if they want to come back,” the spokesperson said.

DLA did not provide a precise figure, but it let go “fewer than 100” workers of its total 24,500-person workforce. It’s not clear what roles those employees had other than that they were probationary.

The firings, first reported by Defense One, cut “probationary employees consistent with the Department of Defense’s broader efforts to ensure resources are aligned with the department’s strategic objectives,” according to a DLA statement provided to reporters at the time.

But those efforts are being curtailed by San Francisco U.S. District Judge William Alsup, DLA confirmed, who found last week that the Office of Personnel Management’s ordered firings did not follow the law and ruled that the terminated employees must be reinstated.

A federal judge in Maryland also temporarily ruled against the probationary firings; the Trump administration is appealing both decisions, Inside Defense reported. The Defense Department pledged to keep working toward its goal of cutting between 5% and 8% of its civilian workforce, which amounts to 40,000 to 64,000 jobs.

By John Liang
March 21, 2025 at 1:42 PM

This Friday INSIDER Daily Digest has big news on the Air Force's multibillion-dollar Next Generation Air Dominance effort, plus coverage of the nascent Golden Dome missile defense program and more.

Lockheed Martin has lost its bid to build the Air Force's multibillion-dollar next-generation fighter aircraft:

Boeing wins multibillion-dollar bid for the Air Force's next-generation fighter

The Trump administration today announced Boeing has been selected to produce the Air Force's multibillion-dollar Next Generation Air Dominance penetrating platform, beating out Lockheed Martin in the contest after months of uncertainty.

Michael Griffin, former under secretary of defense for research and engineering, and Lisa Porter, former deputy under secretary of defense for research and engineering, contend the Missile Defense Agency, while technically proficient, is not structured to lead the Golden Dome program:

Former Trump DOD officials: Don't put MDA in charge of Golden Dome

As the Pentagon readies to present a proposal next week to President Trump for a new national missile defense system, two former top defense officials are warning against handing the job to the Missile Defense Agency, arguing the effort requires a fresh, integrated approach that transcends existing bureaucracies.

The venerable KC-135 Stratotanker may wind up being in service for more than a century:

AMC: KC-135 Stratotankers may be giving gas well past 2050

As Air Mobility Command gradually recapitalizes its fleet of 60-year-old KC-135 Stratotankers, it "may need to look at a service life extension" to keep the refuelers in the air beyond their stated 2050 retirement date and fill in capability gaps, AMC Commander Gen. John Lamontagne said recently.

Funding tables sent by House Appropriations Committee Chairman Ken Calvert (R-CA) and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Mitch McConnell (R-KY) express congressional "intent" only as Congress did not pass an FY-25 defense appropriations bill:

Appropriators look to guide DOD spending during uncharted yearlong CR

Republican chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations committees have sent a blueprint to the Defense Department for how they would like to see funding spent in fiscal year 2025, though the Pentagon, which is operating under a yearlong continuing resolution, is in uncharted territory, according to documents obtained by Inside Defense.

Document: Appropriators' FY-25 DOD funding tables

Inside Defense recently interviewed the provisional head of the Air Force's nascent Integrated Capabilities Command:

ICC building trust with Air Force major commands while working on POM

The Air Force's major command chiefs are still hesitant about handing over their requirements-writing duties to the service's nascent Integrated Capabilities Command, a senior Air Force official told Inside Defense.

By Shelley K. Mesch
March 20, 2025 at 4:28 PM

The defense industry will play a major role in delivering space-based interceptors for President Trump's Golden Dome initiative, particularly for countering missiles as far from the homeland as possible, Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman said.

The Space Force wants not just space-based ways to counter missiles, he said in an interview with Defense One that aired today, but ways to counter missiles that are still in boost phase.

“We want them to achieve their effects as far from the homeland as possible,” Saltzman said. “They’ve got to be fast, they’ve got to be accurate, and there are some challenges there, but we’ve got a pretty amazing space industrial base, and I’m pretty sure they’re going to solve most of those technical problems.”

The Defense Department will need to consider how fast it wants and needs those capabilities developed and fielded, Saltzman said, which will require either a funding boost or reprioritization.

The Space Force expects to play a central role in creating and operating Golden Dome, he told reporters in a previous interview, which would be a comprehensive homeland defense system spanning every domain.

Following Trump’s Jan. 27 executive order calling for such a system -- then called Iron Dome for America -- Saltzman convened a technical integrated planning team to assess which Space Force programs and capabilities can be integrated into Golden Dome.

Two former Trump officials said yesterday that they don’t believe boost-phase interceptors are worth the investment it would take to field them.

By Nick Wilson
March 20, 2025 at 3:52 PM

CHARLESTON, SC -- On a spring day in South Carolina, shipyard workers at HII's newly acquired facility here were laying the groundwork for submarine modules and putting the finishing touches on an initial aircraft carrier "structural unit" that will soon become part of future Ford-class aircraft carrier Doris Miller (CVN-81).

Fewer than 60 days have passed since HII took over this 480,000 square foot metal fabrication facility from previous owner W International, and the team has just finished building this first carrier unit, which was loaded onto a truck on Friday and driven some 400 miles to HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia for installation on CVN-81.

Read the full story, now available to all.

By John Liang
March 20, 2025 at 2:44 PM

This Thursday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the yearlong continuing resolution, plus the Golden Dome missile defense initiative and more.

We start off with House and Senate appropriators giving the Pentagon their thoughts on how fiscal year 2025 funding should be spent:

Appropriators look to guide DOD spending during uncharted yearlong CR

Republican chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations committees have sent a blueprint to the Defense Department for how they would like to see funding spent in fiscal year 2025, though the Pentagon, which is operating under a yearlong continuing resolution, is in uncharted territory, according to documents obtained by Inside Defense.

Document: Appropriators' FY-25 DOD funding tables

Some missile defense news:

Boost-phase intercept 'not worth' investment, former Trump top weapons officials warn

Top Pentagon weapons technology development officials from the first Trump administration are pouring cold water on renewed calls for a space-based, boost-phase intercept capability as part of the second Trump administration's Golden Dome missile defense vision.

Senior DOD official highlights 'monster' challenges with Golden Dome

The Defense Department is just beginning to wrestle with the challenges associated with the "Golden Dome" missile defense initiative ordered by President Trump, including who will lead it, according to a senior Pentagon official.

The latest on the Pentagon's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program from our colleagues at Inside Cybersecurity:

Pentagon posts CMMC presentation slides on alignment with NIST standards, FedRAMP equivalency

The Defense Department is providing new details on elements of its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program through presentation slides on alignment with National Institute of Standards and Technology standards and a 2023 memo on equivalency with the General Services Administration’s FedRAMP program.

Senior executives from defense contractors L3Harris, ShieldAI, Sierra Nevada, Palantir, Anduril and Kratos all think a major Pentagon acquisition program will face the axe before the end of this year:

Defense tech execs predict at least one $1B+ program will be killed by year's end

Defense industry executives expect the Trump administration's cost-cutting advisory team will come for at least one billion-dollar Pentagon program by the end of 2025, with a former congressman saying it shouldn't stop there.

By Shelley K. Mesch
March 20, 2025 at 1:10 PM

The Space Force on Wednesday published its Data & Artificial Intelligence Fiscal Year 2025 Strategic Action Plan that aims to give the young, digitally focused service a roadmap for integrating existing and new technologies.

The service needs to “emphasize AI literacy” to effectively use such capabilities as a deterrent against Chinese or Russian aggression, acting Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Cyber and Data Col. Nathan Iven wrote in the strategy’s introduction.

“In this contested and congested domain,” he wrote, “superiority will be defined by our capability to integrate with interagency, allies and commercial partners to advance data capabilities, real-time analytics and emerging AI technology to outpace adversaries and maintain operational superiority.”

The strategy consists of four lines of effort:

  • Mature enterprise-wide data and AI governance.
  • Advance a data-driven and AI-enabled culture.
  • Rapidly adopt data, advanced analytics and AI technologies.
  • Strengthen government, industry and international partnerships.

The first line of effort will primarily work to create the bureaucracy to manage data and AI capabilities, uses and investments.

The second stresses the need to boost awareness and understanding among Space Force guardians of the data and AI available as well as how to use it. The effort also orders a framework for collaboration and competition for data and AI technologies and uses.

The third focuses on acquisition, evaluation and management of data and the technologies that exploit data.

Advancing the Unified Data Library -- the data-repository intended to consolidate a variety of information streams -- is a key component of this effort. The strategy calls for the Space Force to transition UDL into a program of record and identify new data sets and collection sensors to integrate.

The fourth line of effort sets up plans for working with partners -- including other services, the intelligence community and allies -- on addressing common needs, integrating data and sharing AI capabilities.

All of the activities laid out in the strategy are set to be completed by the end of the fiscal year.

By Dan Schere
March 19, 2025 at 4:18 PM

The Army awarded Lockheed Martin a $213 million contract modification for Sentinel radar systems and spares growth kits, according to a March 17 Pentagon contract notice.

According to the contract award modification, the Army is “requesting 12 additional Sentinel Radar Systems,” an Army spokesperson told Inside Defense this week.

The contract is for Sentinel A4 radar systems that are part of low-rate initial production “Lot 3,” and will help support the Army’s air and missile defense efforts, according to a Lockheed statement provided to Inside Defense.

“The Sentinel A4 radar system plays a vital role in detecting and tracking a wide range of threats, including cruise missiles, fixed-wing adversary aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), rockets, artillery and mortar threats. Its ability to precisely calculate the Point of Impact is imperative to protecting critical assets and those on the ground,” the company said.

According to an early February report from the Pentagon’s director of operational test and evaluation, the Sentinel A4 program office is unable to provide funding and test resources needed to execute plans for initial operational test and evaluation, Inside Defense previously reported.

By John Liang
March 19, 2025 at 2:04 PM

The bulk of this Wednesday INSIDER Daily Digest consists of coverage from the McAleese Defense Programs Conference.

The Space Force's No. 2 uniformed officer wants more money from Congress, given China's recent advancements:

Guetlein calls for more Space Force funding as China practices 'dogfighting in space'

Maintaining the military advantage in space is reliant on the United States' commitment to resourcing the Space Force, Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Michael Guetlein warned yesterday, and that commitment is even more pressing as China continues to demonstrate advances in space technology.

Army Lt. Gen. Karl Gingrich, deputy chief of staff G-8, spoke about his service's budget at the McAleese conference this week:

'Replenishment' funds can plug yearlong CR holes, senior Army official says

Army pains from the yearlong continuing resolution may be assuaged by "replenishment funds" from Congress, according to a senior service official.

The Defense Department is seeking to quash a rumor that foreign-owned F-35 Joint Strike Fighters can be disabled with a "kill switch":

Pentagon denies F-35 'kill switch' rumors

The Pentagon this week countered speculation that the U.S. government can remotely disable other nations' F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets, stating in a notice to reporters, "There is no kill switch."

U.S. Strategic Command could use more bombers:

Cotton wants more B-21s than currently planned

Air Force Gen. Anthony Cotton, the head of U.S. Strategic Command, said he wants more next-generation bombers than the Pentagon already has on order.

The second-highest-ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee discussed propellant and explosive materials at the McAleese conference:

DOD 'finally on track' toward modernized energetics, but still behind, Wittman says

The Defense Department has taken steps toward upgrading its propellant and explosive materials after some congressional prodding, but it's still outmatched, according to Rep. Robert Wittman (R-VA), vice chair of the House Armed Services Committee.

The Air Force's top uniformed officer talked about the challenges of maintaining infrastructure the service doesn't need:

'More tooth, less tail': Air Force wants to ditch excess infrastructure to meet Trump administration objectives

At the top of the Air Force's list of solutions to ensure deterrence and protect the homeland -- concepts Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has laid out as central to building lethality and military readiness -- is acknowledging an "unkept secret" about the toll of caring for the service's excess infrastructure, according to Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin.

By Dan Schere
March 18, 2025 at 4:16 PM

The Army must stop buying equipment that is "expensive but not exquisite" and also doesn't "provide a lot of mass," Gen. James Rainey, the head of Army Futures Command said today.

“We have things that are exquisite and expensive, and we have things that are cheap in mass. And those are about 10% on each end. And we’re trying to avoid spending most of our money on the 80% in between the neither exquisite nor cheap,” Rainey told attendees of the McAleese & Associates defense conference.

Rainey gave few specifics of what equipment falls into each spending category but made the comments while speaking about the Army’s need to prioritize cross-domain-level joint fires in the Indo-Pacific. He added the Army should acquire “cheap rockets that we can buy in the hundreds” for air defense.

One example of the 80% “middle” category would be spending $300,000 on two antitank rounds to “kill one thing,” Rainey said.

“It’s neither exquisite nor cheap. And primarily in the air defense and the offensive fires is where that analogy holds the most true,” he said.

Rainey also said when it comes to acquisition, the integrator model is “not good for the Army” because the service “loses too much agency in downstream selection.”

“Where we’re looking . . . is for industry teams to self-organize around problems and requirements, just like you would self-organize if you were solving any other problem,” he said.