The INSIDER daily digest -- April 17, 2023

This Monday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on planned upgrades to the Standard Missile-3 fleet, the Defense Department seeking greater prototyping authority and more.

The Missile Defense Agency has published a request for information seeking feedback on notional proposals by the government for three batches of capability enhancements to the most-advanced Aegis guided-missiles interceptors in the Navy fleet:

MDA preparing 10-year upgrade program for SM-3 fleet; three different capability areas

The Missile Defense Agency is laying the foundation for a 10-year program to upgrade the Standard Missile-3 family of guided missile interceptors -- seeking feedback from industry on a range of notional improvement to the Block IB and Block IIA variants -- in a project that aims to begin as soon as fiscal year 2024.

On April 12, the Defense Department sent Congress its third package of fiscal year 2024 legislative proposals:

DOD seeks greater rapid prototyping authority from Congress

The Pentagon, citing the need to maintain technology overmatch with China, wants to empower military service secretaries to initiate their own weapons development programs without wading through the traditional budget and acquisition oversight process, according to a new legislative proposal sent to Congress.

Document: DOD's third FY-24 legislative proposal package

The Space Development Agency's NExT program will demonstrate warfighter utility of emerging mission partner payloads prior to potential incorporation in future tranches:

Ball Aerospace, Microsoft and Loft Federal team up for SDA's NExT program

Ball Aerospace announced its collaboration with Loft Federal and Microsoft on Tuesday to work on the Space Development Agency's experimental testbed program, called NExT, that will carry 10 satellites with experimental payloads into orbit.

Senior Defense Department leaders offered their strategic visions for advancing critical technologies last week:

Navy research chief emphasizes accelerating warfighting capabilities

The Navy seeks to bring more urgency to moving innovative technologies in the lab to warfighting capabilities in the field, Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm. Lorin Selby said Thursday at a National Defense Industrial Association conference.

In case you missed it, the Government Accountability Office released more details on the reasoning for its dismissal of Sikorsky's protest of a multibillion-dollar helicopter replacement contract:

GAO: Army found engineering design and development of Sikorsky FLRAA bid 'unacceptable'

A newly released Government Accountability Office ruling denying a bid protest by Sikorsky of the Army's Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft states the government found the engineering design and development "unacceptable," due to a lack of detail in the proposal.

Document: GAO decision on Sikorsky's FLRAA protest