Monday, March 17, 2025
Monday, March 17, 2025
This Friday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the Pentagon withholding a portion of the payments for F-35 Joint Strike Fighters to Lockheed Martin and more.
While plane-maker Lockheed Martin last month kicked off deliveries of F-35s fitted with a truncated version of the TR-3 upgrade, officially lifting the Pentagon's year-long hold on accepting new jets until it met the sophisticated requirements laid out by the Defense Department, officials aren't paying full price for the aircraft just yet:
Pentagon withholding $5 million per tail as Lockheed delivers incomplete F-35s
The Defense Department is withholding about $5 million for each F-35 Joint Strike Fighter delivered with a truncated version of the Technology Refresh-3 software upgrade, a spokesperson with the F-35 Joint Program Office told Inside Defense.
In case you missed it, here's our deep dive into the Pentagon's Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve program:
DOD officials defend rapid experimentation projects at key tech demo
EDINBURGH, IN -- The Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve may not appear to reflect the first word in its acronym to Senate appropriators who have criticized RDER for failing to transition more weapon systems to the battlefield, but senior Pentagon officials suggest that lawmakers looking to cut the program don't fully appreciate RDER's challenges given the slowness of the traditional acquisition and budgeting cycle.
The Marine Corps' top uniformed officer released his planning guidance this week:
Smith affirms force design trajectory with 39th Commandant's Planning Guidance
Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith released his official 39th Commandant's Planning Guidance Wednesday, confirming the service will continue its Force Design modernization path and focus on building and maintaining warfighting advantages over "pacing challenge" China.
Document: 39th Commandant's Planning Guidance
The new Compass Call aircraft modernizes the Air Force's electromagnetic attack capabilities while denying, degrading or disrupting adversary communications and electronic systems:
ACC receives first Compass Call aircraft
Air Combat Command's first EA-37B Compass Call aircraft touched down at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, AZ last week, allowing aircrews to begin pilot mission planning and training, according to a service news release.
The Navy's upcoming autonomy roadmap will improve and increase air, surface and subsea fleet capabilities:
Navy projects autonomy roadmap completion for late fall
The Navy plans to complete an autonomy roadmap by late fall, which will “capture autonomy-based mission gaps over the next 10 years” to inform the service where to invest, a spokesperson told Inside Defense.