The Insider

This Thursday INSIDER Daily Digest starts off with some missile defense news, a look at what is causing the cost increases for the Air Force’s Sentinel missile program, financial news from Electric Boat, Army investments in ammunition plants, and more.

Big changes may be coming for the Missile Defense Agency:

New missile defense governance, potential 'integrator' role, to be decided this spring

The Defense Department this spring must re-write its seminal missile defense governance policy to replace a controversial memorandum advanced during the Trump administration that curtailed the Missile Defense Agency's autonomy by elevating approval authority for key activities to senior Pentagon officials.

An Air Force official spoke about the Sentinel program’s cost growth:

Aspects of Sentinel other than the missile drove Nunn-McCurdy breach, official says

It's not the actual missile that's causing the drastic cost increase in the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program but the surrounding civil works components, a top Air Force official said today.

EB discussed its latest financial report this week:

Electric Boat reports improved submarine throughput amid continued supply chain challenges

General Dynamics Electric Boat is seeing throughput improvements within the Columbia- and Virginia-class submarine programs but still needs additional aid from the Navy to stabilize the submarine supply chain, company executives said today.

The Army told us where it is spending big money to improve its infrastructure:

Army spending $4.5B to modernize several ammunition plants

The Army will invest $4.5 billion to modernize its ammunition plants as part of a wide multibillion-dollar, 15-year effort to modernize its industrial base, according to the service.

An industry trade group sees real potential for the CMMC program outside of the defense sector:

AIA sees potential expansion of CMMC program beyond DOD following release of proposed rule

The Aerospace Industries Association is advocating for the Defense Department's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program to be used by civilian agencies, as part of an effort to address "ambiguity" over sensitive information held by contractors and create synergies.

This Wednesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on a Pentagon inspector general's report on the Defense Department's convoluted financial management system, plus the latest on the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program and more.

The Defense Department inspector general issued a new report this week that makes 31 recommendations to reform the Pentagon's labyrinthine financial management system:

IG finds DOD could save $728M by retiring outdated financial systems early

The Defense Department inspector general says the Pentagon is spending too much money on outdated financial systems that will never be compliant with a DOD-wide audit and could potentially save $728 million if it retires the systems early.

Document: DOD IG report on outdated financial management systems

Our colleagues at Inside Cybersecurity recently spoke with an Aerospace Industries Association member about the Pentagon's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program:

AIA sees potential expansion of CMMC program beyond DOD following release of proposed rule

The Aerospace Industries Association is advocating for the Defense Department's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program to be used by civilian agencies, as part of an effort to address "ambiguity" over sensitive information held by contractors and create synergies.

Frank Peterkin, the principal director for directed energy at the Pentagon, said this week that directed-energy weapons offer the Defense Department a unique opportunity to transform integrated air and missile defense and counter asymmetric threats and sensors:

Directed-energy supply chains need to be strengthened, per DOD official

A senior defense official today said the directed-energy supply chain must be bolstered if the United States is to compete with peer adversaries like China and Russia.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who is still recuperating from prostate cancer surgery and a two-week hospitalization, opened a meeting this week on Ukraine with remarks broadcast from his home saying Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to break the will of the Ukrainian people and its allies:

DOD hosts allies in support of Ukraine amid stalled funding

Senior U.S. defense officials met today with an international coalition of more than 50 countries supporting Ukraine, standing up new groups focused on drone warfare and armored vehicles, despite the fact Congress remains in a stalemate over a massive supplemental funding package the Pentagon says is vital to Ukraine's survival against Russia.

Melissa Dalton, the nominee to be Air Force under secretary, faced some withering questions from Republican lawmakers during a Senate hearing this week:

Nominee for Air Force's No. 2 civilian faces fierce GOP criticism over border

Senate Armed Services Committee Republicans today slammed President Biden's nominee for Air Force under secretary over the administration's delayed response in identifying the Chinese surveillance balloon last year and her office's alleged mishandling of stored Southern border wall materials.

Document: Senate hearing on Air Force, DOT&E, S&T nominations

This Tuesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on Lockheed Martin's deliveries of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, the Missile Defense Agency's Next Generation Interceptor program and more.

Lockheed Martin's chief executive discussed his company's quarterly earnings this morning:

F-35s with TR-3 may be delivered even later, Lockheed CEO says

Lockheed Martin may not deliver F-35 Joint Strike Fighters enabled with Technology Refresh 3 until the third quarter of this calendar year, CEO Jim Taiclet said today.

Some missile defense news:

New law extends mandated oversight reporting of NGI program through production phase

The Missile Defense Agency must extend a statutory accountability checklist for the Next Generation Interceptor program that was originally designed to end with the technology development phase after Congress lengthened the mandated reporting regime through production.

Initial reports on new integrated air and missile defense for INDOPACOM due soon

The Pentagon has a new missile defense assignment: craft a comprehensive strategy for developing, acquiring and operationally establishing an integrated air and missile defense architecture for select locations across U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, a 100-million-square-mile region that constitutes more than 50% of the earth's surface.

In case you missed it, here's our deep dive into shipbuilders awaiting news on how much money Congress is going to appropriate for amphibious vessels:

Amphibious warship industrial base is 'underutilized' as LPD procurement pause drags on

With little certainty in the Pentagon's amphibious warship procurement plans, the builders and suppliers that produce these ships are holding their breath as they wait for Congress to complete fiscal year 2024 spending legislation and the Navy to provide a clear shipbuilding forecast.

The Air Force could be on track to finalize the KC-26A full critical design review by the end of the first quarter of this calendar year, or March:

Boeing sends KC-46A's RVS 2.0 critical design review to FAA for airworthiness approval

Boeing has completed the final step for the KC-46A's Remote Vision System 2.0 critical design review, sending the application over to the Federal Aviation Administration, a Boeing spokesperson told Inside Defense.

Both the Navy and Marine Corps are seeking industry support to tackle a problem that is plaguing both services: countering unmanned aerial systems.

The Navy is seeking industry input on countering UAS -- specifically systems ranging from below 1,320 pounds to above 1,320 pounds -- according to a request for information posted Thursday.

The Program Executive Office for Integrated Warfare Systems 11.0 -- under Naval Sea Systems Command -- is looking for details such as key system performance parameters, operator and training requirements, current production rates and unit cost projections.

Specific requirements include, “mature systems that are in production and can be deployed in 1-6 months (preferred), or 6-12 months at the latest,” demonstrated performance against Group 3-5 UASs, and “minimal integration requirements with Naval combat systems; with independent, self-contained capability highly desirable,” according to the notice.

NAVSEA is asking interested parties to submit responses by Feb. 2.

In another posting, the Marine Corps plans to develop a modernized installation counter small unmanned aerial system (I-CsUAS) capability and is currently in the pre-solicitation phase for this technology.

“To address this capability gap, the Marine Corps intends to use advanced technologies incorporated throughout the full ‘kill chain’ to successfully detect, track, identify and defeat sUAS,” according to the posting. “This ‘kill chain’ will encompass integrated and networked sensor nodes along with the ability to protect the defended asset both non-kinetically and kinetically as laws and policy allow.”

A request for proposals will be released before the end of March, according to the posting.

“It is the intent of the government to process this procurement under [federal acquisition regulation 15], Contracting by Negotiation, and to ultimately award a single, hybrid, Firm Fixed Price/Cost Plus Fixed Fee, Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract as a result of the forthcoming RFP,” the announcement continued. “This procurement will be conducted as a full and open competition.”

The upcoming RFP follows the issuance of an RFI, and an industry day held in July 2023. In August, Barbara Hamby -- spokesperson at the program executive office for land systems -- told Inside Defense that five I-CsUAS systems are currently deployed in the continental United States.

“The Marine Corps is undergoing the process of upgrading and replacing these systems, in addition to supporting other sites requiring CsUAS capabilities,” Hamby said.

The Air Force on Thursday awarded Lockheed Martin a roughly $65 million contract to produce three more of its Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar units, according to the Defense Department.

This move is part of a series of modifications to the original contract, which was awarded in March 2022 and included options for 35 total radars. It brings the cumulative value of the contract to $260.6 million.

Work under the new contract is expected to be completed by the end of 2026 and will be performed in Liverpool, New York. The Air Force previously said initial operational capability, for 6 radars, would be achieved in fiscal year 2024.

The first two 3DELRR initial production units were procured through the original contract in 2022, and another four in January 2023.

Last August, the DOD inspector general found the Air Force did not properly use the rapid middle tier of acquisition (MTA) pathway for the program and that it moved on from prototyping to fielding too quickly. The report recommended that the Air Force request a waiver to extend the five-year timeline for rapid fielding to “return the time lost by transitioning to the rapid fielding path early.”

This Friday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the Sentinel ICBM program suffering a cost breach, defense officials visiting the Microelectronics Commons Hubs across the country and more.

The Sentinel ICBM program acquisition unit cost has climbed from $118 million in 2020 dollars to about $162 million:

Sentinel ICBMs to cost $162M each, more than 35% above baseline

Costs for the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program grew at least 37% above the 2020 baseline, triggering a critical Nunn-McCurdy law breach, according to the Air Force.

The Microelectronics Commons was created to advance microelectronics production through regional innovation hubs, announcing their hubs in September 2023 and tasking them with conducting all related projects and proposals to bind industry, commercial and government technologies together:

Microelectronics Commons representatives to conduct Hub site visits

Representatives from the Defense Department, the Naval Surface Warfare Center and the National Security Technology Accelerator will conduct site visits from Jan. 22 to Feb. 9 to the various Microelectronics Commons Hubs located across the nation.

House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) wrote to Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro this week, expressing concern about the lack of a clear plan for storing and distributing fuel for U.S. forces operating across the Indo-Pacific:

Fuel storage solution in Indo-Pacific imperative, Gallagher says

A “viable, long-term” solution to fuel bases, ships and aircraft across the Western Pacific is imperative, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) said in a letter to Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro Wednesday.

Document: Gallagher letter to Navy on Indo-Pacific fuel storage

Navy Comptroller Russell Rumbaugh spoke about the effects of the current continuing resolution during a virtual industry event this week:

Navy will be forced to make costly adjustments if spending legislation isn't passed soon, comptroller warns

If Congress doesn't pass fiscal year 2024 spending legislation soon, the Navy will have to "start taking actions" to adjust for funding misalignments that could amount to almost $30 billion if the current continuing resolution stretches to a full year, the service's comptroller warned this week.

The Pentagon's No. 2 civilian signed a classified memo last month that overwrites decades-old policy on classification for space-related efforts:

Hicks addresses space 'overclassification' problem in memo

Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks recently signed a memo removing some classification barriers, which one top official said could help address classification roadblocks that are hindering collaboration on space throughout the department.

The Defense Business Board will hold open and closed meetings on Feb. 6 and Feb. 7 to receive briefings from senior Pentagon officials on a variety of topics.

The DBB, which aims to supply advice to DOD on reaching National Defense goals from an independent perspective, had the meeting notice published in the Federal Register.

The board will kick off its meetings with a closed session on Feb. 6 starting at 9:15 a.m. in which Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks will lead a classified discussion about DOD’s budget.

“The discussion will cover the DOD priorities and considerations that helped to shape its request as part of the President's budget request for fiscal year 2025,” the notice said.

During this closed meeting, the board will also receive a classified discussion from Michael McCord, Pentagon comptroller, about DOD’s audit and incremental progress.

After a lunch break, the board will meet for its only open session from 12:30 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. where Stan Soloway, chair of the business transformation subcommittee, will present the board’s study about creating a digital ecosystem, according to the notice. Then, the subcommittee will brief the board on its findings, observations and suggestions obtained from the study, focusing on harnessing data to help with simulation and advanced computing decision-making and risk analysis to leverage digital ecosystems.

A closed session will happen afterwards where Sgt. Maj. Troy E. Black, senior enlisted adviser to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will lead a classified discussion about the state of the workforce, focusing on recruiting, training and retention issues and solutions.

“Discussion will focus on identifying obstacles such as changing workforce expectations, skill gaps to address future needs per the National Security Strategy and exploring innovative solutions to foster a resilient and high-performing workforce,” the notice said.

After, the board will have a classified discussion with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on DOD current affairs, which is expected to center on today’s global security environment and the how its implications affect business operations now and in the future.

Then Lt. Gen. Douglass Sims II, Army operations director, will provide a classified discussion on current operations relating to crisis action planning and adaptive decision making in dynamic environments.

The final closed session on Feb. 6 will kick off with remarks from Board Chair Deborah James and Hicks. Stefanie Tompkins, director for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, will follow with a classified update on major DARPA updates that support the National Security Strategy.

The board will meet again the next day on Feb. 7 for another closed session, which will include a classified briefing from Richard Verma, deputy secretary of state for management and resources, on State Department business operations and management in support of current efforts.

“This discussion will focus on differences between DOD, DOS and business operations management, and DOD and DOS unity of effort to achieve combined effects both militarily and diplomatically,” the notice said.

Written comments from the public or interested organizations are allowed regarding the agenda or the Board’s mission. Comments must be received by Feb. 2 for Board consideration.