The INSIDER daily digest -- Feb. 22, 2023

By John Liang / February 22, 2023 at 1:58 PM

This Wednesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the Pentagon's Rapid Innovation Fund, a bunch of upcoming Air Force Scientific Advisory Board studies and more.

Historically funded through congressional adds, the Rapid Innovation Fund was established in the FY-11 National Defense Authorization Act to accelerate the fielding of innovative technologies into military systems:

DOD small business chief to restart Rapid Innovation Fund

The Pentagon is planning to bring back the Rapid Innovation Fund -- a pot of money initially created to help small technology companies bridge "the valley of death" that hasn't been funded for several years.

A slew of upcoming Air Force Scientific Advisory Board studies aim to deliver comprehensive assessments of topics that encompass top priorities for the Air Force, like developing the Advanced Battle Management System, and are largely driven by scenarios relevant in a conflict with China:

AFSAB launches broad reviews of top Air Force capabilities

The Air Force Science Advisory Board is examining four key, next-generation concepts central to ongoing modernization efforts with the goal of publishing reports on each by the end of the calendar year, according to an AFSAB notice.

Document: AFSAB terms of reference for target indication, mobility concepts, operational testing, resiliency studies

The Army's full-rate production review of the service's Integrated Air and Missile Defense program is due out next month:

Army readies IBCS for full-rate production review next month

The Defense Department next month will conduct a full-rate production review of the Army Integrated Air and Missile Defense (AIAMD) program, a final milestone in the program's 14-year development that aims to unlock a planned $2.2 billion production run through 2027 and pave the way for both fielding to U.S. forces as well as potential foreign customer sales.

The Heritage Foundation and American Enterprise Institute are co-hosting a defense budget meeting this week:

Washington insiders invited to huddle on Pentagon budget 'reprioritization' -- just don't call it a 'cut'

A group of influential Washington analysts is inviting Pentagon and Capitol Hill insiders to convene at the right-leaning Heritage Foundation next week to discuss ways to "reprioritize" the nation's $858 billion defense budget ahead of what promises to be a bruising congressional debate likely to again pit defense hawks against deficit hawks.

The Space Force has released requests for proposals for the third phase of its National Security Space Launch effort:

Space Force releases draft RFPs for NSSL Phase 3

The Space Force is using a new, "dual-lane" approach to open up competition for future National Security Space Launches, according to a draft request for proposals posted by the service Feb. 16.

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