The Insider

Navy seeks to accelerate deployment of medium unmanned surface vessels
By Abby Shepherd
June 18, 2024 at 2:45 PM

The Navy plans to deploy several medium unmanned surface vessels in an accelerated time frame, and is conducting market research to identify existing resources to support this mission.

The Navy’s Unmanned Maritime System program office is “interested in vessels less than 200 feet in length and under 500 tons of displacement” that can meet certain payload requirements, according to a request for information posted Monday. The RFI comes amid continued Navy investments in developing unmanned technology, with the notice calling for an accelerated schedule.

“PMS 406 is contemplating an accelerated approach with industry to leverage existing, manned or unmanned surface ship designs that can be modified to enable rapid delivery of an unmanned or optionally unmanned surface ship capability,” the notice states.

This “accelerated schedule” means using existing ship designs and making minor modifications or converting existing vessels. The Navy wants the first vessel to be delivered within 12 months of a contract award, with delivery of all other vessels by 24 months.

Through this RFI, the Navy wants to know if industry can meet specific requirements within the accelerated timeline and is seeking details on “technical and manufacturing capabilities, technical quality of solutions, knowledge, experience level, and qualifications of industry to meet the government’s needs to build or convert up to seven MUSVs,” according to the notice.

This notice follows other steps aimed at expanding the Navy’s unmanned portfolio, with Navy leadership committing to increasing unmanned technology capacity.

In February, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti signaled a hybrid manned-unmanned fleet could be operational by fiscal year 2029.

“I think unmanned systems have an enormous potential to multiply our combat power by complementing our existing fleet of ships, submarines and aircraft through manned-unmanned teaming, especially in areas like maritime surveillance and reconnaissance, mine countermeasures operations seabed exploration and carrier airwing support,” Franchetti said at this year’s West 2024 conference.

The INSIDER daily digest -- June 18, 2024
By Thomas Duffy
June 18, 2024 at 12:27 PM

Today’s INSIDER Daily Digest looks at the Government Accountability’s Office annual weapons assessment report, the Navy is making moves with its nuclear cruise missile program, more from the Senate Armed Services Committee, and more.

The GAO calls into question the Defense Department’s acquisition process:

DOD agrees with GAO’s recommendations to improve outdated acquisition system

The Defense Department concurred with recommendations outlined in a Government Accountability Office report released today that found the Pentagon’s acquisition process is not set up to deliver innovative systems to the warfighter at speed and scale.

A contract award is coming for a Navy nuclear effort:

Navy advances SLCM-N program with contract award

The Navy continues to take steps to implement its nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile program, with plans to award a research and development contract next month.

The Army has renamed a major air defense weapon system:

With new name, Army aims to have initial M-SHORAD air defense battalions fielded by FY-26

The Army is targeting the second quarter of fiscal year 2026 to complete fielding of the initial Maneuver Short Range Air Defense (M-SHORAD) systems to four air defense battalions, service officials said this week.

A Senate bill would pare back Air Force aircraft divestment plans:

Air Force would retain F-22, F-15EX fleet under Senate authorization bill

The Air Force’s legacy fleet may see fewer cuts than the service anticipated next year, according to an executive summary of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s defense authorization bill released today. But legislators would still support service officials' requests to boost dollars for modernization efforts.

A Senate committee wants to see a second attack submarine built in 2025:

Senate policy bill supports second Virginia sub and third destroyer, fences frigate and LSM funding

The Senate Armed Services Committee supports the purchase of a second Virginia-class submarine and a third Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in fiscal year 2025 while restricting funding for two of the Navy’s surface ship programs, according to an executive summary of the committee’s defense authorization bill.

Navy awards tech company contract for Project Overmatch software
By Abby Shepherd
June 18, 2024 at 12:11 PM

Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific has awarded a follow-on contract to software company EpiSci to advance the Navy’s Project Overmatch initiative.

The contract is estimated at approximately $2.7 million with a “period of performance” from April 25, 2024, to May 1, 2025, according to a Navy spokesperson.

The contract award will specifically go toward Project Overmatch’s Mission Autonomy Proving Grounds. Project Overmatch is the Navy’s role in the Pentagon-wide Joint All-Domain Command and Control initiative, which seeks to unite sensors from across the military into one network that uses artificial intelligence.

The award will allow EpiSci to continue to develop autonomous applications, and the company’s software will “enable heterogenous, multi-domain swarms to work together and carry out missions for Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs),” a company news release states.

“Our teams have integrated and operated TacticalAI-enabled autonomy products on 12 uncrewed airborne and maritime platform types in only six months,” EpiSci CEO Bo Ryu said in a statement. “We are proud to be partnering with NIWC PAC and look forward to meeting their needs with trusted, scalable autonomy capabilities. This effort will broaden the application of our software into maritime environments and ensure they have access to our critical technology solutions.”

Pentagon awards GE $1.1B contract for T700 turbine engines
By Dan Schere
June 17, 2024 at 4:34 PM

The Defense Department awarded GE Aerospace a $1.1 billion multiyear contract last week for the procurement of T700 turbine engines, which will be used in Army helicopters, as well as for other services.

The contract was awarded June 12 and has an estimated completion date of June 13, 2029, according to a Pentagon notice.

The contract is for the procurement of up to 950 of the engines, as well as “up to 300 containers, and associated technical data and publications,” according to a statement from the Army’s Program Executive Office for Aviation provided to Inside Defense last week.

The contract will ensure the continued procurement of the T700s, which will be used in the Army’s Apache and Black Hawk helicopters, according to a spokesperson for the office. The engines will also be used by the Navy, Air Force and foreign military sales partners.

The first delivery order in the contract is for 20 engines, which will go to the production line for the Army’s UH-60M helicopter -- the latest version of the Black Hawk -- according to the Army.

The Army committed to multiyear procurement of the new Black Hawk variant as part of the aviation rebalance that was announced this past winter.

To date, GE has delivered more than 24,000 of the engines to 50 countries and 130 customers, according to a statement from the company. These engines will be produced at GE’s Lynn, MA facility.

The INSIDER daily digest -- June 17, 2024
By Thomas Duffy
June 17, 2024 at 3:16 PM

Today’s INSIDER Daily Digests looks at congressional action on artificial intelligence, unmanned air systems, the transfer of Guard units to the space force, the Biden administration’s views on the Senate defense authorization bill action, and more.

Senate authorizers want DOD to set up two AI pilot programs:

Senate defense bill calls for two AI pilot programs, bolsters c-UAS technologies

The Senate Armed Services Committee’s fiscal year 2025 defense authorization bill requires the Defense Department to establish two artificial intelligence pilot programs and implement a slew of requirements aimed at advancing technology used to counter uncrewed aircraft systems.

The Army may get some flexibility in its unmanned systems program funding:

Senate authorizers want proposal from Army on flexible small UAS funding

The Senate Armed Services Committee’s version of the fiscal year 2025 defense authorization bill would require the Army to submit a proposal for consolidating funding lines for small unmanned systems, according to a summary of the legislation released today.

The transfer of Guard units to the Space Force may not need a governor’s OK:

Senate authorizers wouldn’t require governor approval to transfer Guard units to Space Force

Senate authorizers voted yesterday to allow the Space Force to absorb certain Air National Guard units without authority from governors of the states overseeing those units.

Senators see the need to add billions to the defense budget:

Senate Armed Services Committee moves to break defense spending cap by $25B

The Democrat-led Senate Armed Services Committee has approved a fiscal year 2025 defense authorization bill that would break the cap mandated by the Fiscal Responsibility Act by more than $25 billion, setting the stage for a months-long confrontation with the House’s GOP majority.

A missile defense sensor showed promise in a recent test:

MDA: HBTSS sensors ‘successfully’ track launch, hypersonic flight in calibration test

The Pentagon this week executed the first of two planned flight tests to calibrate new space-based sensors recently placed in orbit as part of the U.S. military’s latest efforts to assemble a suite of new technologies to counter long-range hypersonic glide vehicles.

The Air Force will do some thinking regarding the service’s next fighter aircraft:

Allvin declines to commit to fielding NGAD as planned

The future of the Next Generation Air Dominance aircraft is hanging in the balance after Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin today appeared non-committal to the sixth-generation Lfighter program.

The week ahead
By Tony Bertuca
June 17, 2024 at 5:00 AM

Senior defense officials are scheduled to speak at several events around Washington this week.

Tuesday

DefenseOne hosts its Tech Summit in Arlington, VA.

The Air and Space Forces Association hosts a discussion with the Air Force’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations.

The Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee holds a hearing on the National Guard and Reserve forces budget.

The Center for a New American Security hosts a discussion on winning and deterring protracted conflict.

Wednesday

Federal government closed for Juneteenth National Independence Day.

Thursday

The Center for Strategic and International Studies hosts a discussion with Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) about nuclear weapons and foreign policy.

Friday

The Center for a New American Security hosts a discussion on the trinational AUKUS pact.

Space Force preparing $5.6 billion for National Security Space Launch
By Shelley K. Mesch
June 14, 2024 at 2:12 PM

Blue Origin will join United Launch Alliance and SpaceX in competing for National Security Space Launch contracts, which will total up to $5.6 billion over the next five years.

Space Systems Command announced last night the indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity awards for the NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 services. Each of the businesses received task orders to conduct initial capabilities assessments and provide explanations for their approaches to tailored mission assurance.

Blue Origin, ULA and SpaceX will now compete for firm, fixed-price Launch Service Task Orders for specific missions.

These are the first contracts awarded under the two-lane model adopted for NSSL. Lane 1 includes missions that could accept some risk while Lane 2 includes missions that need full assurance, such as GPS or National Reconnaissance Office missions.

“As the Space Force continues to streamline processes and increase resiliency, the NSSL Phase 3 Launch Service Procurement contracts provide the opportunity to include the most current domestic commercial innovation into our launch program as soon it becomes available,” Space Force acquisition chief Frank Calvelli said in a statement released last evening. “Today marks the beginning of this innovative, dual-lane approach to launch service acquisition, whereby Lane 1 serves our commercial-like missions that can accept more risk and Lane 2 provides our traditional, full mission assurance for the most stressing heavy-lift launches of our most risk-averse missions.”

The service expects to launch 30 Lane 1 missions and 56 Lane 2 missions in the next five years, officials said last year at an industry day briefing.

The service had said in the request for proposals issued last year that the Lane 1 contract vehicle will reopen every year to allow new entrants into the program.

“As we anticipated, the pool of awardees is small this year because many companies are still maturing their launch capabilities,” said Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen, program executive officer for Assured Access to Space. “Our strategy accounted for this by allowing on-ramp opportunities every year, and we expect increasing competition and diversity as new providers and systems complete development.”

Lane 2 contracts are expected this fall, according to SSC.

The INSIDER daily digest -- June 14, 2024
By Thomas Duffy
June 14, 2024 at 12:32 PM

This Friday INSIDER Daily Digest starts off with Democrat’s objections to sections of the House defense appropriations bill, new cost figures for the Air Force B-52 engine program, a new schedule for getting the V-22 flying again, and more.

House Democrats don’t like many of the provisions in the defense appropriations bill:

House defense spending bill advances, Dems decry ‘poison pill’ riders

The GOP-led House Appropriations Committee voted to advance its version of the fiscal year 2025 defense spending bill along party lines today, with Democrats standing in opposition to what they said were “poison pill” policy riders that target abortion services, climate change mitigation and diversity initiatives.

The Air Force has a new price tag to re-engine the B-52 bomber:

B-52 new engine procurement costs jump by $1 billion; 12.5% hike not yet cost growth

The Air Force is ratcheting up the estimated cost to put new commercial engines on the legacy B-52 bomber fleet, publicly disclosing for the first time a nearly $1 billion increase in the procurement cost for the B-52 Commercial Engine Replacement Program.

The Air Force is ratcheting up the estimated cost to put new commercial engines on the legacy B-52 bomber fleet, publicly disclosing for the first time a nearly $1 billion increase in the procurement cost for the B-52 Commercial Engine Replacement Program.

The V-22 fleet won’t be fully back in business until next year:

Osprey fleet will not be fully mission-capable until at least 2025, official tells Congress

A return to full mission capability for the V-22 Osprey fleet is not expected until mid-2025, a senior naval official told members of Congress today.

Officials gathered today for a House Oversight and Accountability national security, the border and foreign affairs subcommittee hearing on safety concerns within the V-22 fleet, which has faced scrutiny over the years following several deadly accidents and was recently grounded for three months following a crash off the coast of Japan in November 2023, when eight service members were killed.

The Biden administration has a problem with language in the House defense authorization bill:

White House objects to draft legislation that would block THAAD-IBCS integration

The Biden administration says a proposed funding cut by a House committee would impede combatant commanders' ability to counter sophisticated air and missile threats by blocking the Army from integrating the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system with the service's new Integrated Battle Command System.

A House committee wants to shift money around in DOD’s budget:

House appropriators look to rescind $1.2B in defense spending

The House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to consider a bill tomorrow that would rescind more than $1.2 billion in defense spending, according to a draft report accompanying the bill.

The report, obtained by Inside Defense, states that appropriators intend to rescind most of the funds from fiscal year 2024 appropriations, though FY-23 would see cuts of nearly $50 million to MQ-25 procurement and more than $200 million from F-22 Raptor procurement.

House passes defense policy bill
By Tony Bertuca
June 14, 2024 at 11:40 AM

The House voted 217-199 to pass the fiscal year 2025 defense authorization bill.

The vast majority of Democrats voted against the bill, though six did support it. Meanwhile, all but three Republicans voted to support the bill.

“Our adversaries will only be deterred through strength and the FY25 NDAA ensures our military will continue to project that strength,” House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL) said in a statement.

Meanwhile, House Democrats said they opposed the bill, which passed out of committee 57-1, on the grounds that new “poison pill” amendments have been added to the legislation that target abortion services, climate change mitigation and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

The House bill is aligned with the $895 billion defense cap mandated by the Fiscal Responsibility Act, though the Senate Armed Services Committee’s newly released version of the bill, which would break the cap by authorizing $923 billion for defense, setting up a significant conference committee issue to be addressed in the coming months.

Navy unable to leverage all warship sensor data due to limited storage
By Nick Wilson
June 13, 2024 at 4:14 PM

The Navy has learned a lot in the eight months since it began intercepting missiles in the Red Sea, but the service is only able to leverage a fraction of the sensor data its warships are collecting due to limitations in shipboard data storage.

According to Lt. Artem Sherbinin, the chief technology officer for the Navy’s Task Force Hopper -- which was established in 2021 to integrate artificial intelligence and machine learning across the surface fleet -- each Navy warship produces about 150 terabytes of raw sensor data each day.

Across a fleet of 258 ships and 11 aircraft carriers, “that is more data than any vessel or any physical piece of hardware in the Department of Defense,” Sherbinin said today at the Nexus 2024 symposium in Washington.

“We are capturing miniscule percentages of that data, which means we're not able to apply that to train any sort of model,” he said.

Though the Navy is investing in expanding shipboard storage, it has a long way to go, Sherbinin continued, saying it is difficult to convince the Pentagon to spend large sums of money on storage and computing for ships.

However, the Navy has learned to extract this data faster since its ships began engaging anti-ship cruise missiles launched by Houthi rebels in October.

At the time, it took weeks or even months to extract sensor data from vessels, Sherbinin said. Now, the service has significantly reduced this timespan and is pushing to collect the data in as little as 24 hours, he continued.

Sherbinin also said software is the Navy’s best bet for improving fleet capabilities before 2027 -- the year by which the Defense Department believes it must be prepared to defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion.

If this countdown is accurate, “that means the cycle time we have to deploy software technology is much shorter and we also know that new hardware isn’t coming,” he said. “Ships take years to make. Sensors for those ships take years to make. Software is all we have.”

EpiSci and PhysicsAI win first DARPA air autonomy program contract
By Vanessa Montalbano
June 13, 2024 at 3:36 PM

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has selected software company EpiSci in partnership with PhysicsAI to develop the first version of “tactical artificial intelligence algorithms for missionized, team-based air combat,” the company announced on Wednesday.

The contract will span 18 months and is worth $6 million, according to a news release from EpiSci.

Under DARPA’s Artificial Intelligence Reinforcements program, the team will be tasked with creating sophisticated multi-agent unmanned products that can be used in contested environments and during “beyond visual range air combat missions.”

The combat drones will undergo the same training and evaluation tests as human pilots, the company said, in an effort to build operator trust within the systems, expand the abilities of airmen and free service members up to focus on higher-level responsibilities.

“Autonomy solutions will initially be developed and demonstrated on human-on-the-loop F-16 testbeds and then transferred to an uncrewed combat aerial vehicle,” the company added.

Software from EpiSci was also used in DARPA's AlphaDogfight Trials and the Air Combat Evolution program, which recently modified an F-16 Fighting Falcon with combat coded machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities. In May, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall flew aboard the platform, dubbed X-62A VISTA, as the aircraft maneuvered through a series of warfighting scenarios against a manned F-16.

EpiSci on Thursday also said the company has agreed to the terms of a future merger with Merlin, which develops AI flight technology for fixed-wing aircraft.

“With the acquisition of EpiSci, we are uniquely positioned to lead the charge in autonomous aviation, which demands adaptable solutions that work across multiple platforms,” Matt George, Merlin CEO, said in a statement. “We look forward to the final steps in this acquisition so that we can begin the real work of combining our efforts towards a versatile, trusted autonomy solution that unlocks human potential and delivers unparalleled value to our customers and stakeholders.”

The INSIDER daily digest -- June 13, 2024
By Thomas Duffy
June 13, 2024 at 2:32 PM

This Thursday INSIDER Daily Digest is all about the House Appropriations Committee’s fiscal year 2025 defense spending bill. Our coverage looks at Air Force spending, Army trucks, the Defense Department’s Replicator program, and more.

House appropriators want more information on DOD’s plans for the Replicator effort:

House appropriators want Replicator tranche 2 investment plans, push DIU funding

House appropriators are seeking a detailed plan of Replicator's tranche 2 requirements and want to funnel millions into the Defense Innovation Unit to better transition developmental technology into the field, according to a document obtained by Inside Defense.

We took a look at how House lawmakers have reviewed the Air Force’s FY-25 budget request:

Air Force sees small hits in House appropriators' draft spending bill report

The Air Force may be allowed to pursue planned divestments of legacy aircraft to boost funds for innovation, but the service should "better balance near-term readiness with modernization for the future" in upcoming budget requests through at least 2028, according to a draft version of the fiscal year 2025 defense spending bill from the House Appropriations defense subcommittee.

House appropriators see the need for more Black Hawk helicopters for the Army National Guard:

House appropriators propose increasing Black Hawk procurement for Army National Guard

The House Appropriations defense subcommittee, in the report accompanying its draft defense spending bill, has included an additional $60 million for the UH-60 M model Black Hawk helicopter above the Army's fiscal year 2025 request.

The Space Force’s plan for a new GPS constellation is being questioned by House lawmakers:

House appropriators question Resilient GPS quick-start program

The House Appropriations defense subcommittee is skeptical of the Space Force's decision to pursue a constellation of GPS satellites as a means for maintaining positioning, navigation and timing, according to a draft report accompanying the fiscal year 2025 defense spending bill.

The subcommittee’s report would deny the service’s request -- which was not part of the official budget request -- to realign $77 million for Resilient GPS, a program that would place 20 small GPS satellites on orbit.

And House appropriators are scrutinizing the Army’s plan for buying heavy tactical trucks:

Appropriators concerned Army tactical truck program could reduce competition and increase costs

House appropriators want the Army to analyze its heavy tactical truck program after expressing concern the current acquisition approach could reduce competition and increase costs.

In the report accompanying the fiscal year 2025 defense appropriations bill obtained by Inside Defense Wednesday, the House Appropriations defense subcommittee requests the Army acquisition secretary to submit an analysis of alternatives to the Common Tactical Truck (CTT) within 120 days following enactment of the bill.

Modification to HIMARS contract will procure up to 215 additional launchers
By Dan Schere
June 13, 2024 at 12:19 PM

A modification to a contract for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System will procure up to 215 additional launchers through fiscal year 2028, according to the Army.

On May 8 the Army awarded Lockheed Martin an $861 million firm-fixed-price contract for 96 HIMARS launcher. That contract represented the “authorized base year funding value” for FY-24, according to Lockheed.

The Army awarded Lockheed a $1.9 billion modification on June 3 for additional HIMARS systems with a completion date of May 31, 2028 according to a Pentagon notice.

With the contract modification, the government’s “approved contract ceiling” of $2.79 billion for FY-24 through FY-28 procures a total of up to 311 HIMARS, according to a statement from the Army provided to Inside Defense June 12. That total consists of the 96 systems from the May 8 award, and the remaining $1.93 billion, which procures up to 215 additional systems from FY-25 through FY-28.

“The current and planned contract awards support US and international customer requirements,” the Army said in the statement.

HIMARS are among the weapon systems the United States has been sending to Ukraine as part of the security assistance packages to aid the country in its conflict with Russia. A $225 million weapons package announced by the Defense Department on June 7 included HIMARS ammunition.

HIMARS quantities awarded under the recent contract “will be based on future demand over the coming years,” according to a statement from Lockheed. The procurement “expands the U.S. Army’s fleet of launchers and will fulfill orders for global partners.”

The INSIDER daily digest -- June 12, 2024
By John Liang
June 12, 2024 at 4:19 PM

This Wednesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the fiscal year 2025 defense authorization and appropriations bills.

The House Rules Committee has sent the fiscal year 2025 defense authorization bill to the full chamber:

House Rules Committee sends defense policy bill to the floor with new amendments

The House Rules Committee voted 9-4 to advance the fiscal year 2025 defense authorization bill, with 350 amendments slated to receive votes on the House floor.

Coverage of the House Appropriations Committee's FY-25 defense spending bill:

House appropriators poised to cut procurement, boost R&D

The House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to consider a defense spending bill on Thursday that would cut procurement in fiscal year 2025 by about $1.4 billion below the Pentagon's request but would increase research and development funding by about $2.8 billion, according to a document obtained by Inside Defense.

House appropriators cut shipbuilding, citing delays and design issues

House appropriators' decision to fund only one Virginia-class submarine while slashing procurement in two surface ship programs was driven by concern over production delays and design maturity issues within the programs, according to a draft House Appropriations Committee report on its fiscal year 2025 defense spending bill obtained by Inside Defense.

The Navy now has a new solid-rocket motor supplier:

Anduril wins $19M SM-6 rocket motor contract, launches $75 million investment to boost SRM output

Anduril Industries has secured a $19 million Navy contract to design, build and test solid-rocket motors for the Standard Missile-6 in an award that closely follows the company's announcement of a new $75 million investment plan intended to dramatically increase rocket motor output at its McHenry, MS facility.

The Missile Defense Agency is in discussions with other U.S. defense agencies and industry to identify candidate technologies that were not originally designed to defeat maneuvering hypersonic targets but could potentially -- with modifications -- be effective against the new class of threats:

MDA exploring repurposing existing U.S. weapons for near-term hypersonic defense

The Missile Defense Agency is exploring options to re-tool existing weapons in the U.S. inventory to counter ultra-fast maneuvering threats as an interim hypersonic defense capability in the next five years while developing an objective weapon system -- the Glide Phase Interceptor -- that will not be ready before 2035 at the soonest.

New office to coordinate DOD and academia cyber efforts
By Georgina DiNardo
June 12, 2024 at 3:22 PM

The Pentagon established the Cyber Academic Engagement Office (CAEO) today to function as the "consolidated focal point" for cyber-related activities between the Defense Department and academia.

The Office of the Chief Information Officer established CAEO today in compliance with a mandate in the Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act.

Mark Gorak, the principal director for resources and analysis, was appointed as CAEO director on top of his current duties.

“Mark's responsibilities will include coordinating and funding academic engagement programs for the Department, conducting ongoing analysis of the performance for cyber-related educational efforts, establishing requirements, policies, and procedures to collect date on and evaluating the performance of covered academic engagement programs,” DOD said.