The INSIDER daily digest -- Aug. 2, 2019

By John Liang / August 2, 2019 at 2:37 PM

This Friday INSIDER Daily Digest features interviews with the head of the Army's Rotary Wing Flight School, a senior Air Force Research Lab directed-energy official and the Navy's deputy commander for ship design, integration and engineering, plus news on the Pentagon's latest Selected Acquisition Reports and more.

Inside Defense this morning interviewed Maj. Gen. David Francis, commandant of the Rotary Wing Flight School for Army Aviation and Ft. Rucker, AL:

Reprogramming delay could impact Army aviation readiness

If Congress does not approve a reprogramming request sent by the Army, the service's aviation training could suffer, according to an official.

The Navy received a letter on July 17 authorizing a $79 million funding increase for the Marine Corps' CH-53K King Stallion:

Congress approves remaining $79 million reprogramming for CH-53K

Congressional defense committees recently approved the second half of a reprogramming request for the Marine Corps' new heavy-lift helicopter program.

The Pentagon's latest Selected Acquisition Report shows billions of dollars in cost growth for the F-35 program:

New F-35 SAR reports $25 billion cost growth

F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program costs grew in the first quarter of fiscal year 2019, according to a new Selected Acquisition Report, which reflects a $25 billion increase in base year 2012 dollars, driven largely by a refined Block 4 cost estimate and new sustainment cost projections.

We have a look ahead to the Navy's next Advanced Naval Technology Exercise in Rhode Island:

ANTX 2019 to feature 70 new underwater technologies, incubate collaboration

NEWPORT, RI -- The Navy plans to observe more than 70 new technologies that aim to bolster undersea security at naval ports and ranges as part of the 2019 Advanced Naval Technology Exercise, a rolling event that began earlier this year and will culminate this month with a two-day exercise designed to both showcase technologies as well as incubate collaboration and innovation among industry, academia and the U.S. military.

. . . along with the most recent ANTX at Camp Lejeune, NC:

Geurts: Autonomous systems can reduce cost for distributed operations

The Navy can lower the cost of conducting distributed operations by utilizing autonomous systems for logistics, according to the service's acquisition chief.

Inside Defense recently interviewed Kelly Hammett, chief of the Air Force Research Lab's directed-energy directorate:

AFRL's directed-energy team looks to grow AI, warfighter training capabilities

The official overseeing directed-energy research for the Air Force has a new effort to step up artificial intelligence applications and develop virtual reality capabilities for warfighter training.

And don't miss this related Army directed-energy news:

Army awards contract for M-SHORAD

The Army has awarded a contract to Kord Technologies of Huntsville, AL, teamed with competing subcontractors Northrop Grumman and Raytheon, to build a directed-energy prototype for the Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense project, the service announced today.

Rear Adm. Lorin Selby, deputy commander for ship design, integration and engineering, recently chatted with Inside Defense at Washington Navy Yard:

Navy preparing to solicit industry for app development to monitor surface fleet vessels

The Navy's chief engineer is preparing to solicit industry for a wide range of applications it can develop to monitor shipboard components, one effort that is part of a broader six-year, programmatic rollout to replace the service's legacy shipboard monitoring system.

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