Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Wednesday, March 19, 2025
This Thursday INSIDER Daily Digest has news from a hearing this morning that featured the head of U.S. Northern Command, plus the Space Force's acquisition strategy, the "Iron Dome for America" executive order and more.
Gen. Gregory Guillot, head of the bi-national Northern Aerospace and Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, said during a hearing this morning that significant improvements in domestic air surveillance from orbiting assets are close to bolstering a top requirement to improve domain awareness:
'Single-sensing grid' for 'significant' domestic air surveillance possible within a year
U.S. military space sensors could be stitched together within a year to create a "single-sensing grid" to improve domestic airspace domain awareness in support of a next-generation missile defense system, according to the top U.S. military official responsible for protecting North America.
Document: Senate hearing on SOUTHCOM, NORTHCOM
The Space Force has been working on a shift in acquisition strategy that has been in the works for years, but some efforts remain unwieldy:
Space Force assessing programs for acquisition strategy changes
The Space Force is working to modify some of its development programs to lower costs and cut back risk while creating guidelines to prevent problematic contracts in the future, the service's acting acquisition chief said this week.
On Feb. 11, the Space Development Agency issued a "call for executive summaries . . . to perform 60-day studies on a U.S. 'Iron Dome' architecture and capability":
SDA seeks industry input for space capabilities to support U.S. 'Iron Dome'
The Space Development Agency is calling on industry to help shape the blueprint of a proposed national missile defense system as outlined in the recent "Iron Dome for America" executive order, announcing plans to issue 60-day studies to flesh out potential new dimensions of its Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA).
Document: SDA's request for executive summaries on U.S. 'Iron Dome' architecture
Since last summer, the 3rd Light Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division has been deployed to eastern Europe in support of NATO allies and partners:
Army zeroing in on improved battery technology after exercise in Germany
Following its latest exercise in which soldiers who were forward-deployed to Eastern Europe tested some of the Army's newest technologies in freezing cold temperatures, service leaders are eyeing improved battery technology as an area of focus when it comes to modernizing the force.
Dan Karbler, a retired lieutenant general and former head of Army Space and Missile Defense Command, argued Feb. 10 during a webcast hosted by the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance that the IRONDOME Act legislation lacks the necessary operational architecture, which he described as the foundation for any successful missile defense system:
Retired brass: IRONDOME Act 'a bunch of hardware' without a solid operational design
A retired senior official took aim at the $19.5 billion missile defense investment proposal advanced by Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND), warning the bill risks creating an ineffective missile defense system without first establishing a coherent operational framework.
The House Armed Services Committee held a hearing this week on "Protecting American Interests in a Convergent Global Threat Environment":
House Armed Services Committee ready to focus on acquisition reform
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL) said this week that the panel's top priority in the coming year -- along with increasing defense spending -- will be reforming the Pentagon's notoriously slow and cumbersome acquisition system, a perennial concern on Capitol Hill.
Document: House hearing on global threat environment