Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
This Tuesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on German company Rheinmetall looking to get into the U.S. tactical wheeled vehicle market, the Space Warfighting Analysis Center's latest force design and more.
Inside Defense interviewed the head of Rheinmetall's U.S. subsidiary, covering tactical wheeled vehicles and more:
Rheinmetall 'looking forward' to Common Tactical Truck prototyping process, competition
Rheinmetall is participating with the Army in its acquisition process for the service's next-generation heavy tactical vehicles, according to Matthew Warnick, managing director at American Rheinmetall Vehicles.
A Ronald Reagan Institute task force has issued a new report on China:
Report: U.S. must revitalize manufacturing to compete with China
In order to revitalize its manufacturing competitiveness to compete with China, the United States must scale up workforce training, modernize the Defense Production Act and establish new partnerships with allies, according to a new report from a Ronald Reagan Institute task force.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies this week issued a report on Marine Corps unmanned systems:
CSIS: Marine Corps lagging in unmanned aerial vehicles
As the Marine Corps continues a major restructuring, analysts say the service has a long way to go before it fields enough unmanned aerial systems.
The Army's Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office recently awarded Dynetics a $478 million contract "for the development of Hypersonic Thermal Protection System prototypes, support materials research, and novel inspection and acceptance criteria":
DOD stands up new industrial capacity critical to hypersonic weapon production
The Defense Department last week took a major step toward fostering an industrial base needed to produce hypersonic strike weapons, capping a five-way, private-sector contest to develop one of the most sensitive technologies required to develop a long-range hypersonic glide vehicle: thermal protection systems.
Inside Defense recently interviewed Col. Robert Davis, senior materiel leader in Space Systems Command's strategic systems division:
Evolved Strategic SATCOM program embracing competition for space and ground segment
As the Space Force’s Evolved Strategic Satellite Communications program moves through the prototyping phase of its space segment and finalizes the ground segment acquisition strategy, Space Systems Command officials say they are leaning forward in their use of competition to drive innovation and reduce cost.
The Space Warfighting Analysis Center recently unveiled a new force design:
New SWAC force design could drive near-term shifts in missile warning, tracking space architecture
The Space Force's new analysis and force design center last month gave industry an early look at its draft recommendation for the service's future missile warning and tracking architecture, revealing possible near-term shifts across the portfolio and seeking feedback from companies on how to best address current and anticipated threats.
The Army's Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office next fiscal year will pass the baton to the service's traditional acquisition professionals to run a follow-on contest for production beginning in FY-25 of Directed Energy Maneuver Short-Range Air Defense system:
Army plans M-SHORAD laser competition in FY-23 for post-prototype production
The Army plans to launch a second competition for Stryker-mounted, 50-kilowatt lasers, giving Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman in fiscal year 2023 a chance at procurement planned beyond initial prototype systems that Raytheon currently owns under a rapid-development and fielding agreement.
Last but by no means least, some Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program news from our colleagues at Inside Cybersecurity:
DCMA pauses audits for CMMC assessment organizations to address program changes
Cyber certification audits for certified third-party assessment organizations are currently on hold at the Pentagon while the Defense Department works through changes to its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program, according to a DOD official.
Ross: NIST plans to update publication for handling controlled unclassified information
The National Institute of Standards and Technology in 2022 will update its publication guiding agencies and industry on how to secure controlled unclassified information, a key component of the Pentagon's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program, according to lead author Ron Ross.