The INSIDER daily digest -- Jan. 25, 2022

This Tuesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the effect of the omicron variant on General Dynamics Electric Boat's workforce, Raytheon's quarterly earnings and more.

The omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus has really hit General Dynamics Electric Boat's workforce:

Omicron variant causing Electric Boat's highest daily case rates

General Dynamics Electric Boat has experienced 40% of its total coronavirus cases in the last eight weeks fueled by the virus' omicron variant, Electric Boat president Kevin Graney told reporters Monday.

Raytheon Technologies CEO Greg Hayes expects the Air Force will move forward with both boost-glide and cruise missile weapons capabilities:

Raytheon anticipates opportunities for Air Force hypersonics work

Raytheon Technologies' chief executive told analysts during a quarterly earnings call today that he hopes the company will "have some interesting opportunities" to partner with the Air Force this year on defensive systems against hypersonics.

Waypoint 2028, which was the midpoint of the service's plan to fully modernize for multidomain operations by 2035, has turned into Army 2030:

Waypoint 2028 becomes Army 2030

The Army will implement most of its planned force structure changes, such as the return of the division as the center of tactical action, by 2030, a service official told Inside Defense in a Jan. 20 interview.

Inside Defense recently interviewed Paul Reese, director of the Army Combined Arms Center’s fielded force integration directorate:

Army penetration divisions will field ERCA as fourth howitzer battalion

The Army plans to provide an Extended Range Cannon Artillery battalion as a supplement to existing artillery units in its heaviest divisions, which have three armored brigades, according to an official at the Combined Arms Center.

The Navy admiral in charge of aircraft carrier development said recently that during testing last year, the service was able to exceed the Gerald Ford's (CVN-78) sortie generation rate of 160 sorties per day:

Downey confident Ford can meet sortie-generation rate requirement

The Navy believes the aircraft carrier Gerald Ford (CVN-78), the first carrier of its class, will be able to meet its sortie generation rate requirement following testing last summer, Rear Adm. James Downey, the program executive officer for aircraft carriers, told reporters Friday.

The Army issued a notice this week seeking graphic novels based on research into information warfare and weapons of mass destruction:

Army to use science fiction to envision information warfare, WMD threats

The Army Cyber Institute is turning to an unusual source to help leaders anticipate future threats: graphic novels.