The INSIDER daily digest -- June 24, 2022

By Thomas Duffy / June 24, 2022 at 11:48 AM

Our end of the week INSIDER Daily Digest starts off with some missile defense news, an update on the Defense Department’s artificial intelligence approach, action by the House Armed Services Committee, and some space sensor news.

A robust plan for a South Korean missile defense program was scaled back:

DOD pared back, spiked most ambitious elements of JEON for South Korean missile defense

The Defense Department quietly scaled back the most ambitious parts of a 2017 plan to improve missile defenses in South Korea, delaying until 2030 plans for full integration of upper- and lower-tier Army programs and completely removing plans to integrate Navy Aegis from the improved architecture.

The Defense Department has a plan for responsibly working with artificial intelligence:

DOD lays out pathway for responsible AI adoption

The Defense Department has released its framework for advancing responsible artificial intelligence throughout the military, outlining a series of action items surrounding implementing test and evaluation requirements for the technology, establishing acquisition tools for related capabilities and bolstering staffing levels to ensure appropriate oversight.

The House Armed Services Committee has weighed in on whether the Air Force should hold a competition for another aerial tanker:

House Armed Services Committee defeats amendment that would mandate KC-Y competition

Shortly after midnight on June 23 during the House Armed Services Committee’s marathon session to fashion the fiscal year 2023 defense policy bill, a bipartisan group of lawmakers voted down an amendment that would prohibit the Air Force from awarding the contract for the KC-Y “bridge tanker” unless the service conducted a competition.

The GAO has taken a look at a Missile Defense Agency space sensor effort:

MDA eyes 10-satellite constellation to assess HBTSS; GAO says duplicates new SDA sensors

The Missile Defense Agency, which has declined to publicly reveal its near-term acquisition plan for the Hypersonic and Ballistic Space Tracking Sensor program, wants to add an additional six satellites by 2025 -- raising the total number in orbit to 10 and after that proceed to a production decision.

215278