The Insider

This Wednesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the SECDEF's annual "heartburn letter" to lawmakers about the defense policy bill, the Navy CNO's efforts to drive down ship maintenance delays and more.

In a recent missive to lawmakers, known as a "heartburn letter," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin highlights "topics of significant concern for the Department" regarding the fiscal year 2025 defense authorization bill, which "if left unaddressed . . . will substantially impact the Department's ability to accomplish our strategic goals":

Austin says buying second VA submarine would cut into next-gen fighter program

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the Pentagon is opposed to legislation that would require the Navy to purchase a second Virginia-class submarine in fiscal year 2025, along with numerous other provisions that could become part of the upcoming defense authorization bill.

Document: Austin's FY-25 'heartburn' letter

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti said today that ensuring ships and other platforms can expediently complete maintenance is paramount to this effort and will be a priority in future budgets:

Franchetti: Platform maintenance, readiness are leading budget priorities in Navy push to avoid war in 2027

With the Navy's focus placed squarely on deterring conflict with China in 2027, the service’s top officer will prioritize investments aimed at driving down maintenance delays and improving the readiness of existing ships, submarines and aircraft as she formulates fiscal year 2026 and 2027 budgets.

Lockheed Martin has nabbed a multibillion-dollar missile contract:

Air Force moves ahead with $3.2 billion multiyear award for LRASM and JASSM

The Pentagon last week awarded Lockheed Martin a $3.2 billion multiyear procurement contract to boost production of its Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles and Long-Range Anti-Ship Missiles through July 2032 in a bid to replenish the nation's dwindling munitions stockpile.

In a broad agency announcement released this week, the Army's Energetics Basic Research Center "seeks to increase the Army's intellectual capital in energetic materials (EM) and improve its ability to address future challenges":

Army Research Office looking to develop new, synthetic explosives for future fights

The Army is worried it won't keep up its dominance in range and lethality on future battlefields due to inadequate energetics and limitations with current weapon systems and is starting to explore developing synthetic energetics, according to a broad agency announcement posted by the Energetics Basic Research Center (EBRC) Tuesday.

Document: Army energetics BAA

A new Government Accountability Office report on the Columbia-class submarine program recommends "the Navy require the shipbuilder to revise its estimated cost at completion and include thorough analysis in its reporting; and that the program identify information it needs to determine whether investments in the supplier base support Columbia-class construction goals":

GAO: Navy must revise cost estimates, determine true impact of industrial base funding for Columbia class

The Navy needs to revise cost estimates for its Columbia-class submarine construction and develop a consistent method of identifying whether supplier development funding (SDF) is helping the program correct its schedule, the Government Accountability Office reported Monday.

Document: GAO report on the Columbia-class sub program

This Tuesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on a "strategic partnership" between a pair of space defense contractors, the Army buying 30D printers to build small counter-UAS systems and more.

Satellite bus supplier Apex is teaming up with Anduril Industries:

Anduril, Apex announce partnership to accelerate space systems

Startup defense contractor Anduril Industries announced a "strategic partnership" with California-based satellite bus supplier Apex to deliver capabilities fulfilling the space domain's "deep mission need," the company announced today.

Lawmakers last week approved an Army proposal to reprogram funds for a 3-D printer project that sought $16.2 million for the Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems program, a sum that would raise fiscal year 2024 allocation for the budget line from $30.7 million to $47 million, a 30% increase:

Army cleared to buy 3-D printers for small units to experiment with UAS fabrication, repair

Congress has approved an Army request to immediately launch a project to provide 3-D printers to small units to experiment with manufacturing spare parts for -- and even building from scratch -- rucksack-portable, uncrewed aircraft systems, allowing on-demand repair and customization.

Up to $984 million in fiscal year 2024 defense funds will be available for Office of Strategic Capital direct loans ranging from $10 million to $150 million, "to approximately ten successful applicants," according to a recent notice:

Pentagon announces $984M inaugural OSC loan program

The Defense Department's Office of Strategic Capital has announced the availability of nearly $1 billion for its inaugural loan program aimed at spurring investments in emerging technologies, according to a recent Federal Register notice.

In a recent memo, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin determines that "Replicator 2 will tackle the warfighter priority of countering the threat posed by small uncrewed aerial systems (C-sUAS) to our most critical installations and force concentrations":

Austin reveals Replicator 2 will focus on counter-sUAS

The second iteration of the Pentagon's Replicator initiative will focus on countering small uncrewed aerial systems, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a memo released Monday.

Document: Austin memo on Replicator 2 direction and execution

The Air Force wants the Army to do more on helping to defend air bases:

Army, Air Force draw lines over air base defense while questions about funding loom

As the Air Force envisions a future in which a network of small bases in austere locations allows airmen to swiftly plug in and out of operations, service officials are calling on the Army to bulk up its portion of air base defense.

RTX's Pratt and Whitney has received a $1.3 billion Navy contract for continued work on the F135 engine core upgrade for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, according to a Monday Pentagon announcement.

The award will “provide for the design, analysis, rig testing, engine test preparation, developmental hardware, test asset assembly, air system integration, airworthiness evaluation, and product support planning in support of the continued maturation” of the engine, the announcement states, indicating work is expected to conclude in March 2028.

In a statement shared with Inside Defense, Pratt & Whitney’s Military Engines business President Jill Albertelli said the contract is “critical to continuing our positive forward momentum on this program.”

“It allows us to continue work in the risk-reduction phase with a fully staffed team focused on design maturation, aircraft integration and mobilizing the supply base to prepare for production,” Albertelli added.

The company’s F135 engine completed a preliminary design review for the F-35 engine core upgrade in July, putting the program on pace to field by 2029. Last year, the Air Force officially decided to modernize the F-35’s existing engine rather than develop a new one, making Pratt the sole vendor for the project.

The Air Force has awarded Boeing up to $6.9 billion to produce and deliver its Small Diameter Bomb Increment I precision munitions for the next decade, according to a contract notice posted today.

The firm fixed-price and indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity contract includes Lots 20 through 29 with work expected to be complete at the end of 2035. Only the Lot 20 award is guaranteed at this point.

When broken down, $147,207 worth of fiscal year 2022 missile procurement funds are being allotted for this award, followed by $2.4 million from FY-23 and $34.3 million from FY-24.

This contract also includes $396.4 million in foreign military sales to Japan, Bulgaria and Ukraine.

The munition, which was first operationally delivered to the service in 2005, has been mostly used to hit stationary targets at an extended range.

“SDB increases aircraft loadout, decreases the logistical footprint, decreases collateral damage, and improves aircraft sortie generation times,” the service wrote in an explanatory document about the weapon. “Its small size allows increased aircraft loadout to achieve multiple kills per sortie and inherently reduces the probability of collateral damage.”

The contract comes as President Biden last week announced nearly $8 billion in military aid for Ukraine to help defend against Russian strikes. He called on the Pentagon to provide Ukraine with additional missiles.

This Monday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the Army and Air Force debating funding for air base defense and more.

Air base defense against ballistic and cruise missile as well as drone attacks has historically been an Army mission, but under the current financial outlook, service officials are hesitant to take on the expensive and complex role in its entirety:

Army, Air Force draw lines over air base defense while questions about funding loom

As the Air Force envisions a future in which a network of small bases in austere locations allows airmen to swiftly plug in and out of operations, service officials are calling on the Army to bulk up its portion of air base defense.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies recently held an event with Army acquisition chief Doug Bush and Gen. James Rainey, commanding general of Army Futures Command, that covered the service's experience with unmanned aerial systems, insights gleaned from the Russia-Ukraine war and the Replicator and Launched Effects programs:

CR won't slow down specific Army projects but could become long-term issue

The three-month continuing resolution Congress passed last week might not slow down specific Army projects, Army acquisition czar Doug Bush said at a roundtable Friday, but it does slow down the system as a whole.

HII says through internal reporting, the company found some welders "knowingly circumvented certain welding procedures," though there was no indication of malicious intent in the initial investigation:

HII: No indication of malicious intent behind faulty welds; lawmakers vow to investigate

Shipbuilder HII says there is no indication of malicious intent behind suspected faulty welds on Navy submarines and aircraft carriers at Newport News Shipbuilding, after the Justice Department received notification that they may have been intentionally placed on non-critical components.

Originally called the Mobile Protected Firepower System, the M10 Booker's IOT&E testing, which began in July, will wrap up in February:

M10 Booker operational testing halfway done

The Army is about midway through the initial operational testing and evaluation phase for the M10 Booker, which is designed to provide combat power to the service's Infantry Brigade Combat Teams.

Textron's RIPSAW M3 robotic combat vehicle is made to keep soldiers out of danger and take on missions such as reconnaissance and surveillance across all sorts of terrain:

Textron teams up with Kodiak Robotics on self-driving system for RIPSAW M3

Textron Systems has added a self-driving system from Kodiak Robotics to its RIPSAW M3 robotic combat vehicle, the company has announced.

This Friday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on unmanned systems, the Marine Corps operating under a continuing resolution and more.

Textron's RIPSAW M3 robotic combat vehicle is made to keep soldiers out of danger and take on missions such as reconnaissance and surveillance across all sorts of terrain:

Textron teams up with Kodiak Robotics on self-driving system for RIPSAW M3

Textron Systems has added a self-driving system from Kodiak Robotics to its RIPSAW M3 robotic combat vehicle, the company announced last Tuesday.

The Marine Corps has approximately $1 billion in new program starts that it will be unable to begin under a continuing resolution, according to a service spokesman:

Marine Corps: Three-month CR 'manageable' but not ideal

Now that Congress has passed a three-month continuing resolution to fund the government through Dec. 20, the threat posed by the earlier six-month CR proposal is temporarily averted, yet defense officials still have a sense of urgency for Congress to pass a fiscal year 2025 budget.

Anduril and General Atomics were selected in April for continued funding to develop their CCA airframe designs, beating out industry bigwigs Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Boeing in the contest:

CCA prototypes take center stage as Air Force reveals new details about first increment

The Air Force Research Laboratory last week debuted two mock-ups of the first increment of Collaborative Combat Aircraft, built by Anduril Industries and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, providing a rare glimpse into how the service is narrowing its expectations for the autonomous platforms that will eventually accompany advanced fighters in battle.

The Air Force is inviting industry to develop command and control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and battle management fielded systems:

Air Force bringing industry into C3BM/ABMS experiments

The Air Force is bringing industry into command, control, communications and battle management experiments to help current or potential contractors understand the warfighter's operational needs.

Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), a former CIA analyst and Pentagon official, introduced legislation in May that would give the Commerce Department the power to "limit or ban the introduction of [connected] vehicles from U.S. markets if they pose a threat to national security":

Congress pushing bills that would give Commerce and Defense departments power to quash threat electric vehicles pose

The Commerce Department proposed a rule Monday that would ban importing or selling certain electric cars in the United States with ties to the Chinese Communist Party and Russia.

Appearing in London alongside U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles and British Defense Secretary John Healey framed a prospective new, bilateral treaty as an extension of AUKUS that will focus specifically on the relationship between Australia and the U.K. as they develop the future SSN-AUKUS submarine:

Australia, U.K. to begin negotiating bilateral treaty for SSN-AUKUS development

Australia and the United Kingdom will soon begin negotiations to establish a new bilateral defense treaty to "bind our AUKUS collaborations into law," defense officials said today, while also announcing the addition of Sting Ray torpedoes to Australian, U.K. and United States P-8 aircraft fleets.