Tuesday, April 16, 2024
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
This Wednesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on more unfunded priorities lists making their way to Congress, the Pentagon's new biomanufacturing strategy, the final flight test of a prototype hypersonic weapon and more.
More unfunded priorities lists have made their way to Congress:
Combatant commands begin submitting unmet needs lists to Congress
Three combatant commands have sent Congress unfunded priorities lists, identifying items that were unable to be included in the fiscal year 2024 budget, according to documents obtained by Inside Defense.
Document: COCOMs' FY-24 UPLs
The Pentagon says biomanufacturing, which leverages biological organisms in the manufacturing process, is "rapidly advancing" for the production of fuels, chemicals and some construction materials:
DOD releases new Biomanufacturing Strategy to 'seed opportunities'
The Defense Department today released a new Biomanufacturing Strategy intended to "guide research efforts, industry partnerships and relationships with allies" as DOD considers investments in the emerging field.
Document: DOD's biomanufacturing strategy
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has sponsored a program that aims to develop a novel ground-launched system that can be hauled by truck on a standard military trailer to employ hypersonic boost-glide weapons to penetrate modern enemy air defenses and rapidly and precisely strike critical, time-sensitive targets:
DOD plans final flight test, intends to shelve prototype ground-launch hypersonic weapon
The Pentagon is planning the final flight test of a prototype ground-launched, medium-range hypersonic weapon this spring before shelving the design, a culminating event for the OpFires program launched in 2018 that promised a new strike capability to hit targets at varying ranges -- but could not find long-term sponsors in the Army or Marine Corps.
An aircraft carrier industry group is lobbying for advanced funding for future flattops:
Coalition advocates for advance funds for nuclear-powered aircraft carriers
Rick Giannini, who leads the Aircraft Carrier Industrial Base Coalition (ACIBC), is meeting with congressional leaders this week to advocate for the advance funding of two nuclear-powered aircraft carriers that would be built over the next eight years.
The Army's top uniformed officer spoke this week at an event hosted by the Brookings Institution in Washington:
Army chief emphasizes patience and persistence on IVAS, despite program delays
Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville said Tuesday that despite the multiyear delays with the service's Integrated Visual Augmentation System, he remains confident in the ability of the 1.2 variant to be transformative on the battlefield.