The INSIDER daily digest -- April 16, 2018

U.S. and British air force officials speaking at an industry event this morning, plus news on the Army's Rapid Capabilities Office and the Next Generation Combat Vehicle family are among the highlights in this Monday INSIDER Daily Digest.

Senior U.S. and British air force officials appeared together this morning at an Air Force Association event outside Washington:

U.S., U.K. air chiefs push joint message of multidomain network interoperability

The top uniformed officials of the American and British air forces this week reiterated their commitment to pursuing next-generation command-and-control improvements that allow interoperability between the partner militaries.

The Army's Rapid Capabilities Office has joined with two of the eight cross-functional teams tasked with pursuing senior leaders' modernization priorities:

RCO moving into AI, preparing to address Korea requirements

The Army Rapid Capabilities Office is making steady progress on its initial objectives -- electronic warfare and position, navigation and timing for forces in Europe -- and preparing to expand its mission to include artificial intelligence and address requirements on the Korean peninsula, according to its outgoing director.

The Army envisions a full inventory of vehicles under the Next Generation Combat Vehicle family:

Milley: Every future vehicle will be optionally manned

The Army's next-generation family of vehicles will include non-combat variants and be optionally manned, according to the chief of staff.

Inside the Army recently chatted with the service's assistant secretary for acquisition, logistics and technology:

Jette: Process and cultural changes needed to gain efficiency in acquisition

Efforts to improve acquisition require changes not only to processes, but to "the overall culture" of the community, according to the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology.

Navy acquisition chief Hondo Geurts recently told lawmakers the cost of FFG(X) follow-on ships is estimated at $850 million:

Geurts: Guided-missile frigate lead ship pegged at $1.2 billion

The Navy has placed a $1.2 billion cost estimate for the guided-missile frigate replacement lead ship with expectations the figure will drop with follow-on vessels, according to the service's acquisition executive.

The study, conducted by consulting firm Whitney, Bradley and Brown, analyzed the existing joint program office structure as well as three possible alternatives:

F-35 alternative management study says Pentagon could eliminate JPO by 2035

A new Pentagon study recommends a notional implementation plan to transition the F-35 program from its current joint program office management structure to one with two program management offices that report to separate service acquisition executives by 2035 -- an attempt to improve the program's performance and efficiency as it moves to the post-development phase.

Document: F-35 joint program office alternative management structure study

Micheal Griffin, under secretary of defense for research and engineering, disclosed a key finding of an ongoing review into the Jan. 31 flight test failure of the SM-3 Block IIA:

DOD: Source of SM-3 Block IIA failure isolated, potential implications for other weapons

The Pentagon is investigating whether a component that is believed to be the source of a Standard Missile-3 Block IIA flight test failure in January -- forcing a $130 million do-over -- could also cause other weapon systems that rely on the same component to also fail, according to a senior Defense Department official.

Michael Griffin, the under secretary of defense for research and engineering, says his organization is considering how to structure the new center:

Pentagon to establish Joint Artificial Intelligence Center

The Pentagon is setting up a Joint Artificial Intelligence Center to coordinate the AI development efforts of both the military and the intelligence community, according to the Defense Department's technology chief.

A major point of focus for the Navy is installing a new oxygen concentrator, dubbed the GGU-25, into all T-45C Goshawk aircraft:

Grosklags: Navy working on two efforts to combat physiological episodes

The Navy continues to battle the occurrence of physiological episodes in its trainer, fighter and attack aircraft and is working two parallel efforts to solve the problem, according to a service official.

As of April 1, the Air Force and contractor Raytheon have pivoted from a more static "waterfall" method of software development on the OCX program to a more agile framework:

Pentagon acquisition chief prepping for 'agile' software development shift

Ellen Lord, the Pentagon's acquisition chief, said Friday the Defense Department has restructured one of its most troubled programs into a new pathfinder effort for agile software development.