Wednesday, June 26, 2024
Wednesday, June 26, 2024
This Wednesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the Pentagon taking another stab at developing an airborne laser, the Missile Defense Agency looking into creating a deputy director position and more.
The Defense Department is taking another stab at developing an airborne laser:
Pentagon eyes next-generation airborne laser for missile defense in FY-26
The Pentagon believes the time has come to revisit the potential for very-high-flying lasers to shoot down long-range ballistic missiles early in flight, and is programming funding in fiscal year 2026 to explore putting directed-energy technology -- in the "upper hundreds" of kilowatts -- above the clouds to explore a next-generation airborne laser.
Missile Defense Agency Director Lt. Gen. Heath Collins said his agency is working to meet a mandate in the Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act to create a new deputy director position:
MDA moving to meet requirement for two-star deputy director billet
The Missile Defense Agency is taking steps to re-establish a deputy director position occupied by a two-star general or flag officer, a new statutory requirement for the organization that oversees 9,000 government and contractor personnel as well as a $10 billion annual budget.
The Navy is searching for a commercial Long Operation Combatant-Naval Energy Storage System (LOC-NESS), which is a “large-scale” industry solution to stronger energy resiliency at an affordable cost, while the Army is also looking for a commercial solution to solve energy resiliency challenges:
DIU leading Navy and Army search for commercial energy resiliency solutions
The Defense Innovation Unit posted two solicitations this week seeking commercial solutions to address Navy and Army energy resiliency needs.
Through an effort dubbed HALO, the Space Development Agency wants to "put in place a flexible and fast contracting mechanism to compete and award Tranche 2 Demonstration and Experimentation System (T2DES) and other SDA demonstration projects":
SDA creating pool of non-traditional vendors for demonstration satellites
The Space Development Agency released a solicitation to build a pool of non-traditional vendors to compete for its Hybrid Acquisition for Proliferated Low-Earth Orbit effort, dubbed HALO, according to an agency release issued last week.
The Air Force is looking at two possible locations to support an F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter formal training unit beddown and T-7A Red Hawk recapitalization, respectively:
Air Force to test environmental impacts of introducing T-7A and F-35 at new bases
The Air Force on Tuesday indicated it is planning to prepare environmental impact statements to bring two major aircraft programs to Kingsley Field Air National Guard Base, OR, and Vance Air Force Base, OK.