The Insider

This Friday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the Pentagon seeking more funding flexibility, plus the latest on an effort to develop a next-generation airborne laser and more.

Heidi Shyu, defense under secretary for research and engineering, said this week that DOD lacks the amount of funding needed and the ability to maneuver that funding to deal with emergent threats as they appear:

Senior Pentagon official calls on Congress to grant DOD more flexible funding

A senior Pentagon official is calling for more flexibility in the Defense Department's budget so threats can be tackled as they emerge, comments coming a week before the House Armed Services Committee is expected to vote on the fiscal year 2025 defense spending bill.

Missile Defense Agency Director Lt. Gen. Heath Collins added new details to the agency’s plan for a new directed-energy project -- first reported earlier this week -- during remarks at a June 6 event hosted by a Washington think tank:

MDA plans 'tracking,' 'characterization' projects in initial exploration of new airborne laser

The Missile Defense Agency plans to begin work on tracking technology as a first step in a potential project that could build the case for arming uncrewed aircraft with a next-generation airborne laser powerful enough to defeat long-range ballistic missiles, according to a senior official.

Unmanned systems news from the Navy and Army:

Navy seeks industry input on small, long-endurance USVs

The Navy is seeking to expand its unmanned surface vessel portfolio -- specifically small, long-endurance vessels -- according to a request for information posted Thursday.

Army issues notice with intent to field larger, multipurpose drones

The Army is formulating a plan to field larger classes of unmanned systems that can perform a variety of mission roles such as surveillance, reconnaissance, security, attack, precision strike, intelligence collection and command and control.

Last but by no means least, some artificial intelligence news:

AFRL using AI to clean up data sets, tag data as it comes in

The Air Force Research Laboratory is running experiments to bring artificial intelligence into the field and bring data to the warfighter, but first it’s using AI to clean up the existing mounds of data.

General Dynamics announced today that Elizabeth Schmid has been promoted to be the company's senior vice president for government relations and communications.

Schmid joined General Dynamics in 2015 and has served as vice president for government relations since 2018, according to a company press release.

She previously served as vice president for national security and acquisition policy at the Aerospace Industries Association, as a professional staff member and staff director for the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee and as a Presidential Management Fellow in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

(Editor's Note: This post has been updated to reflect additional information received from a Skunk Works spokesperson.)

Skunk Works, a subset of defense prime Lockheed Martin, has “successfully” demonstrated artificial intelligence in air-to-air tactical intercept scenarios, the company said Wednesday.

In partnership with the University of Iowa’s Operator Performance Laboratory, Skunk Works sought to integrate its autonomy software into one of OPL’s L-29 Delfin jets that were produced between 1963 and 1974. The AI-enabled aircraft was then flown in several simulated scenarios to test machine learning algorithms, “from standard head-to-head flights to off-aspect encounters, missile support and missile defense scenarios,” according to a Lockheed Martin news release.

“The team executed simulated-to-real transfer test objectives against a virtual adversary in offensive and defensive risk postures,” the company said, noting it was “encouraged to see clean sim-to-real transfer of learned behaviors and that the AI agent appeared intentional and decisive in its actions.”

The exercises were conducted at the University of Iowa OPL airspace in Iowa City, Iowa on May 22, a Skunk Works spokesperson told Inside Defense. There were two, single-L-29 sorties, they said, and eight test cases were conducted per flight, the news release stated.

“This was the first live exercise of the new flight interface; it's thrilling to see the separate components successfully integrate on the L-29 to demonstrate new capabilities. The complete system performed even better in live flight than in simulation," Tom Schnell, OPL professor at Iowa Technology Institute, said in a statement.

The demonstration comes as the Air Force for ways to quickly and affordably develop and field innovative capabilities crucial for a future fight with a near peer adversary like China or Russia.

As part of the service’s recently announced “Reoptimization for Great Power Competition” concept, the Air Force is trying to change the way it solicits weapon systems, from a long-term sustainment structure to the more iterative and agile model planned for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, or drone wingmen meant to tag along manned fifth- and sixth-generation fighters.

“We want to incentivize industry in a way that will allow us to move at the speed of technological advancements,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin said in May. If the Pentagon can’t take advantage of “fleeting and frequent” technological advances due to the terms of a contract, “that’s where you fall behind as an institution,” he added.

Additional flight tests under the advanced automation program are planned for the remainder of this year, Skunk Works said, in which the team will create more complex scenarios by introducing several aircraft into counter air and battle management situations.

"We’ve developed our AI with an open systems architecture, enabling us to deploy to compatible platforms," the Skunk Works spokesperson said. "This test evaluated AI in isolation against a single, virtual adversary. Additional flight tests this year will increase in complexity, culminating in a collaborative multi-ship crewed-uncrewed teaming air-to-air scenario."

Last month, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall flew on board an AI-enabled X-62A VISTA in part using Skunk Works software. The modified F-16 Fighting Falcon engaged in a high-intensity dogfight with a manned F-16, allowing the platform’s algorithm to perform tasks, react to new conditions and make decisions based on safety and weapons effectiveness -- all while Kendall watched.

"Our work on the X62-A VISTA for the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot school is an example of the hardware modification required for transfer to an existing system," the Skunk Works spokesperson added. 

The Army will explore how to streamline operations and decision making by incorporating data in its command-and-control systems, according to a public notice.

Issued as a request for information on May 17, the Army Science Board is conducting a study titled, “Data-Centric Command and Control (C2)” to explore how to best acquire command and control technologies to meet the future needs of multi-domain operations.

“The Army is dedicated to advancing and incorporating cutting-edge technology to enhance military capabilities and to streamline operations in battlefield applications,” the announcement reads.

The study will examine the main challenges in implementing data-centric decision-making capabilities, address unexpected challenges and provide recommendations to faster data-centric decisions.

Respondents are also asked to provide information on how they apply integrated, cross-functional planning and execution as well as how they coordinate operations, data sharing, and analytics across multiple entities.

“Based on information submitted in response to this request, the Board may conduct additional market research,” the announcement adds.

Gen. James Rainey, commander of Army Futures Command, requested the study, Karen Kurtz, a spokesperson for the Army Science Board, wrote in an email to Inside Defense.

“The Terms of Reference are being staffed among Army Senior Leaders, and we do not expect completion until July 2025,” Kurtz added.

Kelly Magsamen, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's chief of staff, plans to leave her job at the end of the month, according to a statement from Austin.

Austin said Magsamen, who was criticized by lawmakers amid the controversy and secrecy surrounding the defense secretary’s unannounced medical absence earlier this year, has “proved instrumental in navigating difficult international challenges, from Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine to the devastating Israel-Hamas war after the October 7th Hamas atrocities, from evacuations of embassies under extraordinary pressure to standing up to bullying and coercion by the People’s Republic of China in the South China Sea.”

“I am deeply grateful for her tremendous service over three and a half pivotal years to me, the Department, and the country as the Chief of Staff,” he said. “From day one of this administration, Kelly’s leadership, counsel, and selfless service made our nation safer, made the lives of our people better and more rewarding, and rendered the heavy burden of this office of mine a good bit lighter. At every stage, she provided a steady hand guiding our staff and the Department. I am -- and will remain -- in her debt.”

The House Appropriations defense subcommittee has included $240 million for procurement of MQ-1C Gray Eagle 25M unmanned aircraft systems in its draft defense spending legislation for fiscal year 2025.

The aircraft would be used in the Army National Guard, according to a bill summary released with the bill text Tuesday morning.

The GE25M is a modernized version of the Gray Eagle that maker General Atomics states is built for multidomain operations capability and can be used in active duty and National Guard units. It features a multimode radar and electro-optical/infrared sensors and can “host a wide range of additional kinetic and non-kinetic payloads,” according to the company.

In recent years, the Army has not included funding in its base budgets for procurement of additional Gray Eagles due to having already met its acquisition goal of 204 aircraft by the end of 2019. However, in the years since, Congress has continued to provide funding to procure additional aircraft beyond that total. In FY-23, Congress included $350 million in its defense spending legislation for the procurement of 12 Gray Eagles for the Guard.

Separately, General Atomics announced May 31 that the Army had ordered 12 of the new GE 25M aircraft that are being paid for with FY-23 congressional funding. Leaders in the Guard asked for the aircraft in order to ensure its divisions “mirror the active component in being Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) capable, deployable and better able to team with newly formed Division Artillery Brigades,” according to General Atomics. The aircraft can also support homeland defense, disaster response and other domestic missions.

Adding the new Gray Eagles to the Guard will give its divisions “divisional reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition for the first time.”

Patrick Shortsleeve, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems’ vice president of DOD Strategic Development, said in a statement last week that the Gray Eagle platform has a “proven record of performance with over a million hours of safe operations, including automatic takeoff and landing capability.”

“The aircraft excels as an enabler for fires, maneuver, network and intelligence operations. It is also an integral part of the Army aviation team, working closely with manned rotary-wing systems to achieve overmatch against pacing threats,” he said in the statement.

This Tuesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the House Appropriations defense subcommittee's military spending bill and more.

Here's our preliminary coverage of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee's fiscal year 2025 spending bill:

House defense appropriators draft bill without additional sub and would increase F-35 buys

The House Appropriations defense subcommittee has released a draft version of the fiscal year 2025 defense spending bill that differs in several ways from their colleagues on the House Armed Services Committee, specifically by forgoing funds for an additional Virginia-class submarine and increasing procurement for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

House appropriators break with authorizers on shipbuilding, cutting frigate, LSM and second VA sub

A draft defense spending bill released today by House appropriators would fund only four battle force ships and only one Virginia-class submarine in fiscal year 2025, marking a significant break from both the Navy's budget request and from House authorizers' defense policy bill.

Gen. James Rainey, the head of Army Futures Command, spoke this week at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event:

Rainey: It is too early to set up a drone branch for the Army

The Army's top modernization officer says it is too early to set up a drone branch for the service, becoming the latest service official to oppose a congressional proposal supporting the idea.

The U.S. ambassador to NATO spoke to the media this week at a Defense Writers Group breakfast:

NATO looks to give global arms industry clearer demand signals by sharing defense plans

U.S. NATO Ambassador Julianne Smith said today the alliance intends to make new defense production announcements at a key summit in July that could give arms manufacturers insight into NATO's defense planning guidance in the hopes the information will serve as a multiyear "demand signal" to spur new investments in munitions capacity.

The Defense Innovation Unit and Air Force Armament Directorate are working on a new autonomous vehicle program:

DIU, Air Force Armament Directorate announce four companies selected for enterprise test vehicle project

The Defense Innovation Unit and the Air Force Armament Directorate (EB) announced today that the partnership selected four companies that will support their Enterprise Test Vehicle (ETV) project.