The INSIDER daily digest -- Nov. 18, 2024

This Monday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on a recently released Army white paper on electronic warfare, plus the Pentagon's efforts to achieve a "clean" financial audit and more.

A new Army Science Board white paper is based on eight months of study beginning in September 2023, during which Army and Pentagon officials, as well as industry leaders "provided a clear picture" of where electronic warfare is headed, emerging threats and the pace of technology maturation by 2030:

Army Science Board calls on service to heavily invest in EW capabilities

The Army has "significantly underinvested" in electronic warfare operations up to this point, a recently released Army Science Board white paper found.

Document: ASB white paper on EW

"Momentum is on our side" for the Defense Department to achieve a "clean" financial audit by 2028, the Pentagon's comptroller said recently:

DOD touts progress as it seeks elusive 'clean' audit

The Defense Department has failed to achieve a "clean" financial audit for the seventh consecutive year, though outgoing Comptroller Mike McCord highlighted progress that has been made in accounting for the funds of all the military services.

Congress approved a request to shift funds originally appropriated for other purposes into fiscal year 2024 accounts to allow the Army to begin financing the Infantry Brigade Combat Team Short Range Rocket System (I-SRRS), a need service leaders validated in an August 2023 directed requirement:

Army plans new ground-launched rocket project to give infantry improved suppression fire

The Army is planning to equip infantry teams with enhanced firepower to quickly neutralize enemy threats, repurposing air-launched Hydra missiles for ground-launch missions as part of a broader effort to incorporate new insights from the war in Ukraine into modern combat strategies.

The Navy’s initial goal of fielding the Conventional Prompt Strike hypersonic missile system on the destroyer Zumwalt within fiscal year 2025 "is not a date that's going to happen," Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe, who oversees the system's development as the Navy's director of strategic programs, acknowledged last week:

Wolfe: CPS testing on Zumwalt to begin in 2027 or 2028, land-based testing issues continue to be limiting factor

The Navy expects to begin testing the Conventional Prompt Strike hypersonic missile system aboard the guided missile destroyer Zumwalt (DDG-1000) in 2027 or 2028 following fielding delays driven by issues in the ongoing land-based testing of the weapon.

Some submarine news:

Navy plans to extend Virginia submarine program to Block VIII before transition to SSN(X)

The Navy plans to build an eighth block of its Virginia-class submarine program before transitioning to the next-generation SSN(X) vessel in the early 2040s, according to Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program Director Adm. William Houston.