Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
This pre-Thanksgiving INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the F-22 Raptor, Air Foce MDC2 technologies, Navy next-generation jammers and more.
Inside Defense chatted with F-22 System Program Office Director Col. Darien Hammett last week:
F-22 program develops recovery plan, gets funding boost to support 80 percent readiness target
The F-22 program office has developed a "recovery plan" to meet Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' mandate that the fifth-generation fighter achieve an 80 percent mission-capable rate by the end of fiscal year 2019.
Hammett and his deputy, Andreas Walsh, also offered new details on how the effort has been restructured:
F-22 program office using section 804 to restructure software upgrade effort
The F-22 program's use of Section 804 rapid prototyping authority has led the program office to restructure two key upgrade efforts into an iterative, two-phased software delivery plan aimed at fielding more capability at a faster pace.
The Air Force recently issued a request for information seeking airborne systems that autonomously process command-and-control data:
Air Force seeks airborne, autonomous MDC2 data-processing technology
A recent Air Force notice requests airborne systems that autonomously process command-and-control data, a new example of the service's nascent search for material solutions that enable fast, complementary air, space and cyber combat planning.
The office of the Program Executive Officer Tactical Aircraft (PEO-T) and EA-6B and Airborne Electronic Attack Office (PMA-234) at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, MD, recently published a notice detailing the schedule milestones for a multibillion-dollar next-generation jammer:
Navy plans to develop, acquire NGJ-LB using rapid acquisition authorities
The Navy plans to use rapid prototyping and fielding acquisition authorities to develop and deliver a Next Generation Jammer-Low Band system, setting a 2024 target for the first operational pod on an EA-18G Growler -- a goal that requires setting a program baseline in July.
The Marine Corps recently posted a request for information to industry about a potential replacement for its Utility Task Vehicle:
Marine Corps begins research for Utility Task Vehicle replacement
The Marine Corps has started research on an Ultra-Light Tactical Vehicle for a possible fiscal year 2022 full-rate production decision.
Army acquisition executive Bruce Jette recently sent a report to the congressional defense committees on active protection systems for the Stryker vehicle:
Army to field new Stryker APS in FY-21
The Army is testing two non-developmental active protection systems on the Stryker vehicle and expects to begin fielding one of them in the third quarter of fiscal year 2021, according to a report sent last month to the congressional defense committees.
(Editor's Note: The next INSIDER will publish on Monday, Nov. 26. Happy Thanksgiving!)