The Insider

The Army will host an industry week on contested logistics next month at Ft. Gregg-Adams, VA, which will be followed by an announcement for a follow-on solicitation, according to a government notice posted this week.

The industry week will feature five panel sessions between industry and government subject matter experts. It will focus on five subject areas, which are:

• Renewable & distributed energy generation and storage
• Advanced manufacturing
• Demand reduction -- water at the point of need
• Autonomous distribution -- human machine integration
• Enhanced explosive ordnance disposal training capability

The meeting, which will take place Sept. 19-20, will be unclassified with the goal of having “fair, even and transparent communications with industry, academia and other non-governmental organizations to inform industry on Army sustainment and logistics-related needs and to determine industry capabilities to meet said needs.”

Last year, the Army stood up a Contested Logistics Cross-Functional Team based out of Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, AL. The CFT was created to fill gaps in areas such as sustainment, autonomy, data-based logistics and fuel efficiency.

At the end of the industry event next month, Combined Arms Support Command intends to “set conditions” when it comes to delivering logistics and sustainment capabilities for the Army of 2030 and 2040, according to the notice.

The notice states that following the industry week, there will be a “follow-on announcement for solicitation” that centers around the five discussion topics of the event.

Oshkosh will continue to build medium tactical trucks for the Army after receiving a $46 million contract, the Defense Department announced Tuesday.

Issued as a modification to an earlier contract, the Wisconsin-based company will build the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles by an estimated completion date of Nov. 30, 2026, with funding and work locations being determined with each order, the Aug. 13 announcement reads.

Performing 55% of the Army’s haul and resupply missions, the FMTV includes cargo, recovery and tractor variants on a six-wheel-drive or four-wheel-drive chassis, according to Army budget documents.

The Defense Department announced a $108.9 million contract to the company in May with a Sept. 30, 2026 completion date.

In January, the Army announced an order of 1,343 FMTV A2s, an upgraded variant with a more powerful engine, and increased armor that can carry heavier payloads when compared to the earlier A1 variant.

Earlier variants of the FMTV can carry the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, which the Army is also testing on the A2 variant, according to service research and development documents.

In its 2023 report, the Director for Operational Test and Evaluation concluded the FMTV is effective and survivable but recommended the Army eliminate secondary hazards after finding that crew members experienced strain, discomfort and blunt-force injuries.

The Army intends to procure 208 trucks in fiscal year 2025 for $134 million and 695 trucks by FY-29 for an approximate $446 million, the budget documents add.

In July, the Senate Armed Services Committee included $134 million for the FMTV program in the FY-25 defense authorization bill.

Oshkosh also produces the Army’s Family of Heavy Tactical Vehicles, which includes the Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck and Palletized Load System as well as the M1070 tank transporter.

The company expects contract extensions for the vehicles following the loss of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle production contract, company executives said during a quarterly earnings call late last month.

This Tuesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the Pentagon's Replicator drone effort, a Defense Science Board report on position, navigation and timing control and more.

Here's the latest on the Defense Department's Replicator drone effort:

DIU, Navy award contracts for small sea drones for Replicator

The Pentagon's innovation hub and the Navy have awarded contracts to prototype small sea drones, in line with the department's Replicator program timeline to field thousands of attritable, unmanned systems by August 2025 to counter China's military mass, the Defense Innovation Unit announced Monday.

More unmanned systems news, specifically on MQ-4C Triton cost increases:

Drastic cost increase of MQ-4C reflects widespread problem, with unique causes

The MQ-4C Triton uncrewed aircraft system recently experienced significant unit cost increases, mirroring what some other Defense Department programs go through every year.

The recently released executive summary of a June 27 Defense Science Board report on Position, Navigation and Timing Control "examined a variety of alternative navigation systems, space-based and otherwise, and considered warfighter needs and future opportunities for meeting them":

DSB recommends military use of commercial PNT systems

A Defense Science Board task force is recommending the Pentagon try to leverage commercial markets to rapidly scale and lower the cost of position, navigation and timing systems for military use, according to an executive summary of the advisory panel’s latest report.

Document: Executive summary of DSB report on PNT control

Office of Strategic Capital Director Jason Rathje spoke at the National Defense Industrial Association’s emerging technology conference last week:

Strategic capital chief expects loan funds available by year's end, awards in early 2025

The Defense Department office aimed at catalyzing private investment in technology areas deemed critical to national security expects to announce its first available funds by the end of this year, with its eye on awarding the money in early 2025, according to its director.

Our colleagues at Inside Cybersecurity have the latest on the Pentagon's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program:

Second proposed rule for Pentagon's CMMC program clears OMB regulatory review process

The second rulemaking to implement version 2.0 of the Pentagon's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program has cleared the interagency regulatory review process at the Office of Management and Budget, setting up the potential for the closely watched initiative to be put into place by the end of the year.

This Monday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on MQ-4C Triton cost increases, the Air Force's multibillion-dollar, next-generation AWACS aircraft and more.

Prompted by the Navy, the Joint Requirements Oversight Council -- the organization charged with assessing and evaluating joint military requirements -- decided in 2022 to reduce MQ-4C procurement numbers from 70 to 27 aircraft, due to increasing costs:

Drastic cost increase of MQ-4C reflects widespread problem, with unique causes

The MQ-4C Triton uncrewed aircraft system recently experienced significant unit cost increases, mirroring what some other Defense Department programs go through every year.

In other unmanned systems news, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Heidi Shyu, who spoke at the National Defense Industrial Association's recent emerging technology conference, pointed to the increasingly widespread availability of commercial UAS products:

Shyu says counter-drone warfare 'never going to die'; Anduril touts new production facility

The global proliferation of unmanned aerial systems and the technologies to counter them has the Pentagon's technology chief predicting continued "explosive growth."

Boeing and the Air Force have put the finishing touches on a multibillion-dollar contract for the next-generation AWACS aircraft:

Air Force, Boeing finalize E-7A Wedgetail contract for $2.6 billion

The Air Force and Boeing finalized the E-7A Wedgetail contract, inking the deal for $2.56 billion for the rapid prototype program, according to a service announcement.

Missile Defense Agency Director Lt. Gen. Heath Collins said a prototype integrated air and missile defense architecture developed by his agency called the Joint Track Management Capability (JTMC) Bridge will be the starting point for tying together different air and missile systems originally developed by the military services as stand-alone capabilities:

'Bridge' to link Army-Navy sensor tracks on Guam not ready to handle 'advanced' threats

The U.S. military is planning to roll out a Defense of Guam capability that effectively identifies from Army and Navy radar a single track for air-breathing threats but not yet adversary ballistic and hypersonic missiles, even as top brass assess that incoming raids in a conflict with China could be in the "hundreds" or "thousands."

The services have received several systems under the Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve program:

DOD highlights successful prototype transitions to defend RDER funding

The Pentagon has released project details for several systems that have successfully transitioned to the military services via the Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve program, which senior officials have been defending amid recent congressional criticism.

The Office of Naval Research is seeking information on technology that will assist in subsea and seabed warfare and plans to use this knowledge for technology operational experimentation event (TOEE) 25.2 -- part of a series of experiments that take place in operationally relevant conditions.

Three focus areas for TOEE 25.2 include autonomous undersea navigation and collaborative autonomy, sensors and automated target recognition and command and control tools as well as decision aids for planning and mission coordination, according to a request for information posted today.

“TOEEs is a series of events designed to provide decision-quality information to Naval Research & Development Establishment (ND&RE) leadership informing future Science and Technology (S&T) investments (further development, transition, or divestiture) through live force experimentation executed in operationally relevant scenarios and environments,” today’s notice reads. “Past events have focused on Expeditionary Sustainment, Maritime Reconnaissance and Counter-Reconnaissance, and Small Boat Payloads in support of Littoral Maneuver.”

The Navy is interested in technologies with a technology readiness level of five or greater and that can conduct live experimentation in fiscal year 2025.

After an initial demonstration, successful technologies will be allowed to join in a limited objective experiment, currently scheduled for January to February 2025. If the technology is successful here, it may participate in an advanced capability experiment, which will tentatively take place in September 2025, according to today’s notice.

An industry day will also occur from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. CST on Aug. 28 virtually on Microsoft Teams. Responses to today’s RFI are due by Sept. 27.

The Defense Department has announced a $125 million transfer of U.S. weapons to Ukraine, including air defense capabilities, multimission radars and anti-tank weapons.

The aid package being provided via Presidential Drawdown Authority contains:

• Stinger missiles;
• Ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS);
• 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition;
• Multimission radars;
• Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided (TOW) missiles;
• Javelin and AT-4 anti-armor systems;
• Humvee ambulances;
• Small arms ammunition;
• Demolitions equipment and munitions;
• Equipment to protect critical national infrastructure; and
• Spare parts, ancillary equipment, services, training and transportation.

“This announcement is the Biden administration's sixty-third tranche of equipment to be provided from DOD inventories for Ukraine since August 2021,” DOD said.

The aid announcement comes as Ukraine has launched a surprising cross-border attack on Russia's Kursk region.