Thursday, April 25, 2024
Thursday, April 25, 2024
This Monday INSIDER Daily Digest has news from a briefing this morning with Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord and more.
Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord held a briefing this morning on the Defense Department's efforts to mitigate impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic:
DOD expects three-month COVID-19 delay across all programs; needs 'billions and billions' to reimburse contractors
Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord said today the COVID-19 outbreak will delay all major programs by about three months and require Congress to supplement the Defense Department with "billions and billions" of dollars to reimburse contractors experiencing virus-related challenges.
Document: Lord briefing on COVID-19
The Defense Department and Norwegian Ministry of Defence have announced their intent to continue a bilateral effort to explore advanced solid fuel ramjet technologies through a project called the Tactical High-speed Offensive Ramjet for Extended Range (THOR-ER):
DOD reveals hypersonic collaborative research with Norway, framework for allied cooperation
The Pentagon today unveiled a collaborative research project begun in 2019 with Norway to prototype advanced technologies needed for a hypersonic cruise missile, revealing both the specific project with the Scandinavian partner as well as a previously undisclosed, overarching collaborative framework to work with allied nations on advanced technologies.
Raytheon and Lockheed Martin have been maturing designs for a nuclear cruise missile program under separate agreements -- each worth about $900 million -- that the Air Force awarded in August 2017:
Air Force selects Raytheon as Long-Range Standoff Weapon sole-source contractor
The Air Force has decided to proceed with Raytheon as the sole-source prime contractor for the Long-Range Standoff Weapon, the service announced April 17.
The Navy last summer restructured the schedule it would use for its troubled Advanced Weapons Elevators during the post-delivery test and trials period and now feels confident it will have all 11 elevators built and functioning properly by May 2021:
Navy working toward spring 2021 PDT&T completion for CVN-78 ahead of ship shock trials
After facing delays to the lead ship in its new class of aircraft carriers, the Navy is working through the next stage for the Gerald Ford (CVN-78) before it enters full ship shock trials next summer.
The Air Force recently awarded Boeing an undefinitized contract action for a Lot 24 Joint Direct Attack Munition guidance kit order, and the purchase included JDAMs for the Navy and foreign military sale customers too:
Air Force cuts FY-20 JDAM order by nearly 25% to pay for NDS priorities
The Air Force signed an $800 million deal with Boeing last month for 23,000 upgraded Joint Direct Attack Munition guidance kits -- many fewer than previously planned so the service can instead buy more advanced weapons that support the National Defense Strategy.
Capability Drop 1 of the Army's Distributed Common Ground System is 97% fielded across a total requirement of 402 brigade combat team battalions, but the pandemic has temporarily halted the remainder of the capability set from being fielded:
Distributed Common Ground System capability set fielding temporarily halted by COVID-19
The Army will finish fielding the first capability set of the Distributed Common Ground System after COVID-19 travel restrictions are lifted, presumed to be this summer, according to a service official.
Air Force acquisition executive Will Roper spoke to reporters recently about his service's coronavirus relief efforts:
Air Force AQ chief pitching COVID-19 priorities to Congress in biweekly meetings
Air Force acquisition executive Will Roper said Thursday he is meeting with Congress twice a week to discuss how to support the service's wide-ranging COVID-19 relief efforts -- from transporting personal protective equipment to mitigating industrial base impact to making it easier for officials to work on classified projects from home.