The Insider

The Army aims to field up to four multifunction precision radar prototypes “integrated onto a government furnished property wheeled-vehicle platform” by late fiscal year 2027, according to a new request for white papers issued Monday.

The MFPR is part of the Army’s planned Multi-Domain Artillery Cannon System (MDACS) effort -- a new-start for FY-25 that is intended to beef up the joint force’s air and missile defense infrastructure for fixed and semi-fixed sites. It is meant to defend against cruise missiles, unmanned aircraft systems, fixed-wing aircraft, rotary wing aircraft and “other advanced air and missile threats,” according to the Army.

MDACS would consist of the radar, multidomain artillery cannon, multifunction precision radar, multidomain battle manager, hypervelocity projectiles and ammo handler vehicle.

The Army had included $67 million for research, development, test and evaluation in its FY-25 budget request for MDACS, according to justification documents. However, because of the continuing resolution the Pentagon is operating under that runs through Dec. 20, no new-start programs can be funded.

MDACS has also come under scrutiny from Senate appropriators, who did not include the $67 million for the effort in their version of the FY-25 defense spending bill, citing a flawed acquisition strategy.

The Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) stated in Monday’s notice that it intends to award one or more other transaction agreements for prototype and is limiting the field to American companies that can process and store secret information and hardware.

RCCTO will be holding an industry day Dec. 10-11 at Redstone Arsenal, AL for vendors interested in the MFPR prototyping effort.

White papers are due Jan. 8.

Defense contractor AeroVironment is set to acquire startup BlueHalo in an agreement with an “enterprise value of approximately $4.1 billion,” the companies announced Tuesday.

AeroVironment produces the Switchblade-600 loitering munition, the only system identified under the classified Replicator drone program’s first tranche.

BlueHalo produces technologies enabling a layered approach to countering uncrewed aerial systems -- including radio frequency-based detection and defeat, directed-energy lasers and modular missile capabilities.

The transaction has been unanimously approved by AeroVironment and BlueHalo’s boards of directors or managers and is expected to close in the first half of calendar year 2025, according to the release.

The agreement will create “a more diversified global leader in all-domain defense technologies,” the companies said in the announcement.

The deal will also see AeroVironment Chairman, President and CEO Wahid Nawabi serve as the chair, president and CEO of the combined company. BlueHalo CEO Jonathan Moneymaker will serve as a strategic advisor to Nawabi, according to the release.

“By uniting with AV, we are building an organization equipped to meet emerging defense priorities and deliver purpose-driven, state-of-the-art solutions with unmatched speed. Together, we remain committed to protecting those who defend us while driving the next generation of transformational advancements in defense technology,” Moneymaker said in a statement accompanying the announcement.

This Monday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on a recently released Army white paper on electronic warfare, plus the Pentagon's efforts to achieve a "clean" financial audit and more.

A new Army Science Board white paper is based on eight months of study beginning in September 2023, during which Army and Pentagon officials, as well as industry leaders "provided a clear picture" of where electronic warfare is headed, emerging threats and the pace of technology maturation by 2030:

Army Science Board calls on service to heavily invest in EW capabilities

The Army has "significantly underinvested" in electronic warfare operations up to this point, a recently released Army Science Board white paper found.

Document: ASB white paper on EW

"Momentum is on our side" for the Defense Department to achieve a "clean" financial audit by 2028, the Pentagon's comptroller said recently:

DOD touts progress as it seeks elusive 'clean' audit

The Defense Department has failed to achieve a "clean" financial audit for the seventh consecutive year, though outgoing Comptroller Mike McCord highlighted progress that has been made in accounting for the funds of all the military services.

Congress approved a request to shift funds originally appropriated for other purposes into fiscal year 2024 accounts to allow the Army to begin financing the Infantry Brigade Combat Team Short Range Rocket System (I-SRRS), a need service leaders validated in an August 2023 directed requirement:

Army plans new ground-launched rocket project to give infantry improved suppression fire

The Army is planning to equip infantry teams with enhanced firepower to quickly neutralize enemy threats, repurposing air-launched Hydra missiles for ground-launch missions as part of a broader effort to incorporate new insights from the war in Ukraine into modern combat strategies.

The Navy’s initial goal of fielding the Conventional Prompt Strike hypersonic missile system on the destroyer Zumwalt within fiscal year 2025 "is not a date that's going to happen," Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe, who oversees the system's development as the Navy's director of strategic programs, acknowledged last week:

Wolfe: CPS testing on Zumwalt to begin in 2027 or 2028, land-based testing issues continue to be limiting factor

The Navy expects to begin testing the Conventional Prompt Strike hypersonic missile system aboard the guided missile destroyer Zumwalt (DDG-1000) in 2027 or 2028 following fielding delays driven by issues in the ongoing land-based testing of the weapon.

Some submarine news:

Navy plans to extend Virginia submarine program to Block VIII before transition to SSN(X)

The Navy plans to build an eighth block of its Virginia-class submarine program before transitioning to the next-generation SSN(X) vessel in the early 2040s, according to Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program Director Adm. William Houston.

Senior defense officials are slated to speak at a variety of events this week.

Tuesday

U.S. Pacific Command chief Adm. Samuel Paparo speaks at a Brookings Institute event.

Space Development Agency Director Derek Tournear speaks at a Schriever Spacepower Series event.

The Professional Services Council holds its annual Vision Federal Market Forecast Conference.

U.S. Strategic Command chief Gen. Anthony Cotton speaks at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event on "Sea, Land, Air, and NC3: Modernizing the Whole Nuclear Enterprise."

CSIS holds its annual ROK-U.S. Strategic Forum.

Wednesday

The Pallas Foundation holds the second annual National Security Innovation Forum.

CSIS holds a Project on Nuclear Issues event, featuring various senior defense officials.

Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Human Capital Katherine Kelley speaks at a Mitchell Institute event.

GovExec hosts its Cybersecurity Futures Forum.

Friday

CSIS hosts a fireside chat on the Biden administration's Indo-Pacific Strategy.

This Thursday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on Navy Virginia-class submarines, defense contractors needing more money to build extra munitions, the Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft program and more.

Rear Adm. Jonathan Rucker, program executive officer for attack submarines, told reporters this week that contract negotiations to build two Virginia-class submarines are “almost done but not quite” but didn't specify how the contract would be structured in the absence of additional funding needed to complete construction:

Navy 'finishing up' contract negotiations for FY-24 Virginia subs despite $1.95B funding shortfall

The Navy is "finishing up contract negotiations" for Block V Virginia-class submarines Baltimore (SSN-812) and Atlanta (SSN-813), service officials said today, despite Congress' refusal to provide an additional $1.95 billion to cover cost growth in the program.

Defense contractors need more money:

LaPlante advises weapons makers to ask what a five-fold boost in production would take

Pentagon acquisition chief Bill LaPlante said the U.S. defense industrial base and that of its allies needs more money to produce weapons at much higher rates if it wants to compete with China and Russia and exit a "vicious circle" of cost cutting and reduced capacity.

Some Collaborative Combat Aircraft news:

Anduril, General Atomics concepts for increment 1 of CCA drones clear critical design reviews

The Collaborative Combat Aircraft designs created by Anduril Industries and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems have completed their critical design reviews, according to a top Air Force official.

The Army is drafting a directed requirement to quickly acquire technology first used by French forces in 1794 during the Battle of Fleurus to spot enemy movements and now set to be adapted for some of the most complex missions envisioned in modern conflict:

Army drafting new requirement for micro-balloons to add resiliency to space operations

The Army is drafting a new requirement for micro balloons that can loft sophisticated sensors after recent experiments validated the potential to add a new dimension of resilience to space-based capabilities -- complicating an adversary's ability to disrupt terrestrial connections to orbiting systems.

The Navy is asking research and development organizations and academia to submit potential Assured-Positioning, Navigation and Timing technologies that can be integrated onto unmanned surface vessels:

Navy asks industry for A-PNT solutions, amid rise in battlespace GPS disruption

Following lessons learned with GPS disruption in the Ukraine battlespace, the Navy will seek to test capabilities to guard against these interferences on combatant ships and unmanned surface vessels in an exercise planned for March off the shores of Virginia.

The Space Development Agency is preparing for Tranche 3 of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture by seeking comment on its draft request for proposals for program integration posted last week.

The forthcoming contract would conduct systems engineering and integration activities necessary for delivery of the T3 Transport Layer, Tracking Layer and Custody Layer as well as subsequent integration with the PWSA ground system, according to the notice.

The statement of work for the request was not posted publicly, as it was marked as “controlled unclassified information.”

SDA is seeking information on:

• Enterprise architecture analysis.
• Program requirements assessment and management support.
• Program integration and verification management.
• Program configuration management.
• Engineering support.
• Program schedule management.
• Program risk, issue and opportunity management.
• Program trade studies and assessments.
• Technical reviews.

Responses should be sent before Nov. 25.

President-elect Trump announced today he has selected Fox News host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth to be defense secretary.

“Pete is tough, smart and a true believer in America First,” Trump said. “With Pete at the helm, America's enemies are on notice -- our military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down.”

Hegseth, 44, currently co-hosts Fox and Friends Weekend.

Trump, in his announcement, highlighted that Hegseth is a decorated combat veteran of the Army and is the author of the book “War on Warriors.”

“The book reveals the leftwing betrayal of our warriors and how we must return our military to meritocracy, lethality, accountability and excellence,” Trump said.

An Amazon description of the book from the publisher says it “uncovers the deep roots of our dysfunction -- a society that has forgotten the men who take risks, cut through red tape, and get their hands dirty. The only kind of men prepared to face the dan­gers that the Left pretends don’t exist. Unlike issues of education or taxes or crime, this problem doesn’t have a zip code solution. We can’t move away from it. We can’t avoid it. We have only one Pentagon. Either we take it back or surrender it altogether.”

Hegseth, who holds degrees from Princeton and Harvard and served as an infantryman in Iraq and Afghanistan as a member of the Minnesota National Guard, has been a vocal critic of the Biden administration and its approach to diversity, equity and inclusion. He ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in Minnesota in 2012 and was also formerly head of Concerned Veterans for America, a group funded by the Koch brothers that advocates for outsourcing veteran healthcare.

At Fox News, Hegseth lobbied then-President Trump in 2019 to intervene in the war-crimes cases of three U.S. service members, which ultimately led to their pardons.

Though earlier media reports on possible defense secretary picks included the names of several sitting Republican members of Congress, Hegseth’s name was not previously reported and may potentially come as a surprise to those who play the Washington parlor game of guessing who might land plum jobs in an upcoming presidential administration.

Trump has had tumultuous relationships with defense secretaries in the past, with five serving in his first term and leaving office either by resigning, being fired or serving briefly as interim leaders.

Two previous defense secretaries, Jim Mattis and Mark Esper, have publicly rebuked Trump.

Esper told NPR in October that he is worried that Trump would install loyalists at the Pentagon.

“My concern has always been in a second term that Trump and those around him learned the lesson that you have to get the right people in, people who will be loyal to you and what you want to do in your policies, people who aren't necessarily loyal to the Constitution, but to the president,” he said. “And it's a big distinction. It's certainly a significant one when it comes to the oath of office to the Constitution that we all swear, but particularly the military.”

If he is to serve, Hegseth must be confirmed by the Senate, where he is likely to face fierce Democratic opposition. The Senate GOP, however, has won the majority and, if united, could opt to move Trump’s nominees quickly.

Meanwhile, Trump is demanding that the incoming Republican Senate majority allow him to make recess appointments to bypass the confirmation process, allowing him to place nominees in his administration without Senate confirmation.