The Insider

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.

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.”

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.

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.

The Army Science Board will present its findings and recommendations for multiple studies at its summer voting session in Irvine, CA next month, including a study on "Future Human Machine Integration in the Army," according to a Federal Register notice posted today.

Human-machine integration is among the major initiatives of Army modernization top officials, including Army Futures Command Commanding Gen. James Rainey, have championed in recent years.

On July 12, the ASB will review, deliberate and vote on the fiscal year 2024 study, which is unclassified and will be presented in open session.

The board will also review and deliberate an FY-24 study on “Transformation of Intelligence Processing, Exploitation, Dissemination” that focuses on Army warfighting requirements. That study is classified and will be presented in closed session, according to the notice.

Also at the meeting, the ASB will discuss an unclassified FY-24 study on “Enhancing Beneficial Use of Dredged Materials via US Army Corps of Engineers Programs and Projects.”

This Tuesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on a major labor union lobbying for two Virginia-class submarines per year, plus OMB's latest statement of administration policy on the FY-25 defense authorization bill and more.

In a recent letter to the chairmen and ranking members of the House Appropriations Committee and defense subcommittee, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers argues that steady two-per-year Virginia submarine procurement is needed to support the Navy's fleet and industrial base companies and workers:

Defense union calls on House appropriators to fund two Virginia subs ahead of committee mark-up

A large defense labor union is calling on Congress to fund two Virginia-class submarines in its fiscal year 2025 spending legislation in a June 4 letter addressed to the leadership of the House Appropriations Committee, which is set to mark up its version of the bill Thursday.

Document: IAMAW letter to appropriators on Virginia-class funding

In a statement of administration policy sent to Congress today, the Office of Management and Budget opposes certain provisions in the House Armed Services Committee's fiscal year 2024 defense authorization bill but not to the level of threatening a presidential veto:

Biden administration backs House committee's defense policy bill with some objections

The White House "strongly supports" the House Armed Services Committee's version of the fiscal year 2025 defense authorization bill but notes opposition to several provisions related to shipbuilding, missile defense, contractor pricing data and other areas, according to a new statement of administration policy released by the Office of Management and Budget.

Document: OMB statement of administration policy on House's FY-25 defense authorization bill

RTX has received a multimillion-dollar SPY-6 radar contract:

RTX secures $678 million option for seven more SPY-6 radars, bringing total contract up to 38 units

The Navy has awarded RTX a $678 million option for SPY-6 radar production, covering the procurement of seven additional AN/SPY-6(V) units and bringing the total contract value up to 38 of the radars.

The Defense Department's research and engineering chief joined several former Pentagon officials at a recent Center for a New American Security event:

Senior Pentagon official calls on Congress to grant DOD more flexible funding

A senior Pentagon official is calling for more flexibility in the Defense Department's budget so threats can be tackled as they emerge, comments coming a week before the House Armed Services Committee is expected to vote on the fiscal year 2025 defense spending bill.

We have news on the latest tranche of military equipment sent to Ukraine:

DOD announces $225M military package for Ukraine

The Defense Department announced a $225 million weapons package for Ukraine today, including air defense interceptors, artillery systems and munitions, armored vehicles and anti-tank weapons.

This Monday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the latest weapons package sent to Ukraine plus a senior Pentagon official speaking at the Center for a New American Security event, the Air Force Research Laboratory's work on artificial intelligence and more.

The latest U.S. shipment of weapons to Ukraine will transfer weapons directly from U.S. stocks and is the 59th such action since August 2021:

DOD announces $225M military package for Ukraine

The Defense Department announced a $225 million weapons package for Ukraine today, including air defense interceptors, artillery systems and munitions, armored vehicles and anti-tank weapons.

Defense Under Secretary for Research and Engineering Heidi Shyu spoke at a recent Center for a New American Security event:

Senior Pentagon official calls on Congress to grant DOD more flexible funding

A senior Pentagon official today called for more flexibility in the Defense Department's budget so threats can be tackled as they emerge, comments coming a week before the House Armed Services Committee is expected to vote on the fiscal year 2025 defense spending bill.

The AI algorithms the Air Force Research Laboratory is developing can scour data points "way faster than any human can" to identify the types of errors or at least flag potential errors for a human to then check and correct, according to AFRL architecture lead for cyber and AI Roselyn Richardson:

AFRL using AI to clean up data sets, tag data as it comes in

The Air Force Research Laboratory is running experiments to bring artificial intelligence into the field and bring data to the warfighter, but first it’s using AI to clean up the existing mounds of data.

The Pentagon wants to take another crack at developing an airborne laser:

MDA plans 'tracking,' 'characterization' projects in initial exploration of new airborne laser

The Missile Defense Agency plans to begin work on tracking technology as a first step in a potential project that could build the case for arming uncrewed aircraft with a next-generation airborne laser powerful enough to defeat long-range ballistic missiles, according to a senior official.

The Navy is looking to develop a long-endurance small, unmanned surface vessel that would ideally be operational for seven days at a minimum and able to maintain a cruising speed of 1 knot:

Navy seeks industry input on small, long-endurance USVs

The Navy is seeking to expand its unmanned surface vessel portfolio -- specifically small, long-endurance vessels -- according to a request for information posted Thursday.