Friday, April 19, 2024
Friday, April 19, 2024
The Littoral Combat Ship, prototypes in DOD contracting, the Air Force's Compass Call program and much more highlight this Friday INSIDER Daily Digest.
The Littoral Combat Ship is now mine countermeasures-capable:
Navy completes COBRA operational testing aboard the Coronado
The Navy has completed operational testing of the AN-DVS-1 Coastal Battlefield Reconnaissance Analysis system, a key component of the Littoral Combat Ship mine countermeasures mission package.
The Pentagon is charting a new way forward when it comes to prototypes:
Pentagon acquisition chief moves to streamline rapid prototyping
The Defense Department, in response to a two-year-old congressional directive, is moving to establish a "new pathway" to streamline rapid prototyping for "middle tier" capabilities that could be fielded within five years or use proven technologies to upgrade existing systems, according to a recent memo from Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord.
News from this week's Inside the Air Force:
Compass Call recap schedule threatened by Pentagon reporting delay
The EC-130H recapitalization program faces delays as Congress awaits the Pentagon's assurance that the Air Force properly chose the next Compass Call aircraft, the service's military deputy for acquisition told Inside the Air Force this week.
Air Force sensor suppliers look to next generation of ISR capabilities
Two of the Air Force's main sensor providers are focusing on autonomy, on-board processing, wide-area imagery and more as the service lays out its vision of a distributed data-collection environment where capability matters more than which aircraft a sensor flies on.
Playing catch: Dynetics wins contract to demo UAV recovery on C-130
Dynetics will prove whether it can launch and recover four small unmanned aerial vehicles from a C-130 in 30 minutes during phase three of the Pentagon's Gremlins program, beating out General Atomics for a $32.5 million contract this week.
Experts: New nukes need same threat protections as conventional missiles
As the Air Force continues development of the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent and Long-Range Standoff Weapon, a new report from the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments questions whether the next-generation nuclear missiles will be able to stand up to rapidly evolving threats of the 21st century.
Senior Army generals were on Capitol Hill this week testifying about military ground vehicles:
Generals address Ground Mobility Vehicle cost
The Army's deputy chief of staff (G-8) said April 18 the Army's decision to leverage an existing U.S. Special Operations Command contract for Ground Mobility Vehicles was made to save the service time rather than money.
Awarding defense contracts to companies with ties to China can be problematic:
SECNAV: Pentagon must develop algorithm to scrub contracts to deter adversaries
The Pentagon needs to develop an institutional algorithm for scrubbing contracts so that U.S. adversaries do not have access to sensitive information, according to the Navy secretary.