The Insider

The INSIDER daily digest -- July 22, 2024
By John Liang
July 22, 2024 at 2:00 PM

This Monday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on Lockheed Martin resuming deliveries of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft, the Army resolving heating and ventilation issues on the M10 Booker combat vehicle and more.

Lockheed Martin has resumed deliveries of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft to the U.S. military:

Pentagon accepts first F-35s enabled with incomplete TR-3 upgrade

Lockheed Martin has delivered the first two F-35 Joint Strike Fighters fit with a truncated version of the Technology Refresh-3 upgrade, officially lifting the Pentagon's year-long pause on accepting new jets despite the software still facing outstanding issues, according to a statement issued by the F-35 Joint Program Office.

During the M10 Booker's initial development and prototyping phase, "issues were identified with the vehicle's cooling system when operated in environments of extreme heat and with unspent particles from gun firing circulating in the crew compartment," according to an Army spokesperson:

Heating and ventilation issues will not affect M10 Booker operational tests

Heating and ventilation issues discovered during the M10 Booker's development and prototyping phase will not affect operational tests scheduled to begin this month, bringing the Army a step closer to fielding its newest tracked combat vehicle by 2030.

The Army intends to use Launched Effects capabilities to facilitate manned-unmanned teaming, which will help identify and locate threats in contested environments:

Army updates requirements document for Launched Effects

The Army last month officially updated its requirements document for the Launched Effects program to better reflect its new approach of incorporating both the air and ground domains.

The Senate Armed Services Committee has included directed report language as part of its draft fiscal year 2025 defense policy bill for the Army secretary to provide a comprehensive assessment of plans for a replacement cannon project:

New Army report to posit effectiveness of current long-range artillery in Ukraine-like fight

Lawmakers have directed the Army to prepare an assessment of how its current long-range cannon capabilities -- specifically those assigned to armor and Stryker organizations -- would theoretically fare in a conflict such as the Russia-Ukraine fight in the wake of the service's decision to terminate the Extended Range Cannon Artillery program.

Senior Saronic executives recently spoke to the media:

Saronic raised $175M in private capital to aid the Navy in autonomous surface vessel demand

Saronic, a company that specializes in maritime defense, secured $175 million in private capital funding, valuing the company at $1 billion and giving way to continued development of autonomous surface vessels.

The week ahead
By John Liang
July 22, 2024 at 5:00 AM

Senior military officials are slated to speak at various defense forums this week.

Monday

Space Training and Readiness Command Commander Maj. Gen. Timothy Sejba speaks at a virtual Shriever Spacepower Series event.

Tuesday

The House Armed Services special forces and readiness subcommittees hold a joint hearing on mobility aircraft relevance and survivability in a contested environment.

Army Space and Missile Defense Command Commander Lt. Gen. Sean Gainey speaks at an Association of the United States Army "Coffee Series" event.

The Wilson Center holds an online discussion on the Pentagon's new Arctic Strategy.

Wednesday

The Hudson Institute hosts SMDC chief Gainey for a discussion on "The Future of Army Space and Missile Defense."

Thursday

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace holds a discussion on "The Future of U.S. Nuclear Arms Control Policy."

The INSIDER daily digest -- July 19, 2024
By John Liang
July 19, 2024 at 2:40 PM

This Friday INSIDER Daily Digest has news from executives at maritime defense company Saronic, plus the Army updating its Launched Effects requirements document and more.

Senior Saronic executives spoke to the media this morning:

Saronic raised $175M in private capital to aid the Navy in autonomous surface vessel demand

Saronic, a company that specializes in maritime defense, secured $175 million in private capital funding, valuing the company at $1 billion and giving way to continued development of autonomous surface vessels.

The Army intends to use Launched Effects capabilities to facilitate manned-unmanned teaming, which will help identify and locate threats in contested environments:

Army updates requirements document for Launched Effects

The Army last month officially updated its requirements document for the Launched Effects program to better reflect its new approach of incorporating both the air and ground domains.

The Senate Armed Services Committee has included directed report language as part of its draft fiscal year 2025 defense policy bill for the Army secretary to provide a comprehensive assessment of plans for a replacement cannon project:

New Army report to posit effectiveness of current long-range artillery in Ukraine-like fight

Lawmakers have directed the Army to prepare an assessment of how its current long-range cannon capabilities -- specifically those assigned to armor and Stryker organizations -- would theoretically fare in a conflict such as the Russia-Ukraine fight in the wake of the service's decision to terminate the Extended Range Cannon Artillery program.

Due to "diminishing returns" related to modernization and sustainment costs of current mid-range maritime strike weapons, the Navy intends to develop an affordable solution: the Coalition Affordable Maritime Strike (CAMS) weapon system, which will aim to keep unit costs low to facilitate the high production levels that international partners need:

Navy wants to develop new maritime strike weapon for international partners

The Navy is determining industry capability for development of a new short- to mid-range maritime strike weapon on "behalf of potential international partners," according to a notice posted Tuesday, with the service aiming to begin low-rate initial production by fiscal year 2027.

In a recent memo, the Defense Department inspector general's office announces it will "assess the DOD's ability, using existing U.S. weapon systems, to defend against a hypersonic missile attack":

Pentagon IG launching audit of existing counter-hypersonic capabilities

The Pentagon's top auditor is commencing a review of the U.S. military's ability to counter hypersonic weapons, an effort that comes five years into the Defense Department's concerted effort to bolster hypersonic capabilities with disproportionate investments in offensive strike.

Document: DOD IG memo on defending against a hypersonic missile attack

House appropriators seek report on public shipyards' ability to support wartime battle damage
By Nick Wilson
July 19, 2024 at 11:57 AM

House appropriators want an assessment of the ability of public shipyards to support wartime battle damage, according to a provision within the House Appropriations Committee's military construction spending bill directing the Navy to deliver a report on the issue within 180 days of the legislation's passage.

Pointing to the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program -- the Navy’s 20-year, $21 billion effort to modernize the nation’s four public shipyards -- the spending bill instructs Naval Sea Systems Command and Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command to produce a joint report “summarizing the ability of existing shipyard infrastructure to support wartime battle damage requirements.”

This report would also detail “how SIOP is incorporating any shortfalls in meeting battle damage requirements into its long-term infrastructure plan at the naval public shipyards, and any possible benefits of coordinating these efforts with the U.S. Coast Guard’s SIOP,” the legislative language continues.

The Navy requested $513 million for SIOP in fiscal year 2025. During a June industry day, Navy officials said $6 billion has already been committed to various projects under SIOP. The program was launched in 2018 to modernize and upgrade aging shipyard infrastructure and reduce maintenance delays.

Though the Navy has reported some improvement in maintenance performance since then, in early FY-24, then-Naval Submarine Forces Commander Vice Adm. William Houston said maintenance backlogs remain the greatest challenge to submarine fleet readiness.

In the MILCON spending bill, House appropriators also endorse drydock improvement efforts underway in the four yards under SIOP. The spending bill directs an additional report on installing a floating drydock at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility.

This report, to be completed by the assistant Navy secretary for energy, installations and environment within 180 days of the bill’s signing, would detail “potential locations for mooring a floating drydock, (2) a list of the individual major military construction projects needed to support a floating drydock, (3) the earliest a floating drydock could be brought into service given the timelines associated with the required military construction, and (4) how a floating drydock would be used to ensure extra capacity for potential crisis and conflict in the Indo-Pacific.”

Though the legislation doesn’t expressly link these two reports to concerns over a possible armed conflict with China, it states “the committee recognizes the importance of fleet maintenance on the west coast to ensuring mission readiness in the Indo-Pacific region and is aware the Navy is already facing maintenance delays.”

SM-6 successfully intercepts target using Army's missile defense radar
By Abby Shepherd
July 18, 2024 at 5:13 PM

The Navy's Standard Missile-6 successfully intercepted a target during a test that was part of the bi-annual Valiant Shield exercise in the Indo-Pacific, RTX subsidiary Raytheon announced today.

Using tracking data from the Army’s Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor, Raytheon was able to demonstrate a “simulated complex missile engagement,” when pairing the missile defense radar with the Navy’s SM-6 and the Integrated Battle Command System.

The test indicates integrating SM-6 with IBCS and LTAMDS is a “viable option” for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Raytheon’s Land and Air Defense Systems President Tom Laliberty said in a statement.

"LTAMDS matched with SM-6 adds an exceptional capability to defeat increasingly diverse and complex threats with a multi-mission missile that flies as far as the radar can see -- providing for long-range Army and joint integrated air and missile defense,” he said.

The INSIDER daily digest -- July 18, 2024
By John Liang
July 18, 2024 at 2:35 PM

This Thursday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on Air Force base air defenses, the Army's Robotic Combat Vehicle program and more.

As threats facing U.S air bases across the globe are growing in severity, Air Combat Command boss Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach is again calling on the Army to "put some more resources into weapons that can defend our bases":

ACC head Wilsbach asks Army to put more resources into air base defense

In 1984, when the Army formally agreed to take on the responsibility of providing ground-based air defenses for air bases, Air Force officials made clear their concerns about the capabilities of near-peer adversaries and the need to fill gaps in then-current measures to protect installations.

Intended to operate alongside manned units, the Army's Robotic Combat Vehicle will be designed to function as scouts or escorts along the flanks and provide increased situational awareness:

Army to award $119M contracts for Robotic Combat Vehicle Phase II prototypes

The Army will award contracts worth $118.9 million for the second phase Robotic Combat Vehicle prototypes in a multiyear effort to possibly field the first remotely controlled combat vehicle by fiscal year 2027, according to a service spokesperson.

The Marine Corps wants to determine whether "more than one vendor" can produce a "four-passenger, off-road, wheeled tactical utility vehicle that can be mission configurable to support casualty evacuation (CASEVAC), logistics, command and control, electronic warfare missions and employment of medium crew served weapons":

Marine Corps considering additional producer of Ultra-Light Tactical Vehicles

The Marine Corps is exploring the possibility of bringing an additional contractor into the Ultra-Light Tactical Vehicle program, according to a July 15 request for information seeking companies capable of developing, building and delivering a vehicle satisfying ULTV program requirements.

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment Christopher Lowman told reporters this week that the Regional Sustainment Framework (RSF), which was first announced in May, intends for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command to be the first "priority theater," which will then be followed by U.S. European Command and U.S. Central Command in fiscal year 2025, with U.S. Southern Command and U.S. Africa Command to come later:

DOD crafting new 'Regional Sustainment Framework' with five Indo-Pacific allies

The Defense Department is working with five unnamed Indo-Pacific nations to establish a new "Regional Sustainment Framework" to maintain, repair and overhaul U.S. military equipment without sending it back to U.S. shipyards or depots, according to a senior Pentagon official.

Deloitte Consulting is now the Navy's "Enterprise Integration Partner (EIP)," charged with delivering "systemic, holistic solutions to regional and broader submarine industrial workforce and industrial base challenges,” according to a service announcement:

Deloitte Consulting awarded $2.4 billion to orchestrate submarine production revival

The Defense Department has awarded Deloitte Consulting a contract worth as much as $2.4 billion over five years to bolster the submarine industrial base and improve production to a sustained rate of one Columbia- and two Virginia-class boats per year, according to a Monday notice.

Army releases RFI for hybrid-electric VTOL S&T effort
By Dan Schere
July 18, 2024 at 11:48 AM

The Army has laid out a plan to initiate a science and technology demonstration effort for hybrid-electric, vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft systems, according to a request for information posted this week.

The RFI will inform a request for proposals for a demonstration effort that will be funded under research, development, test and evaluation budget activity 6.3 -- an account that deals with advanced technology development efforts. This budget account involves the development and integration of “subsystems or components into system prototypes for field experiments and tests in order to demonstrate technological feasibility and assess operability and producibility,” according to the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.

With the RFI, the Army intends to analyze various electric and hybrid propulsion aircraft technologies from both traditional defense contractors and others that are not affiliated with the Defense Department.

“For the Army, many questions remain about the viability of these systems for military missions. Internal analysis based on best available knowledge has shown specific power and energy limitations may present mission performance challenges,” the notice states.

For example, systems that only use battery power limit mission flexibility and require additional ground charging equipment and time, the RFI notes. However, a hybrid system could be advantageous, but the Army notes that a “high level of expertise is required to properly optimize a system that shows mission benefits.”

The Army is asking that industry technologies align with one of these mission descriptions:

  • A militarized, autonomous hybrid-electric VTOL or vertical-short-takeoff-and-landing (VSTOL) aircraft capable of frequent and routine logistics movement of supplies with a payload capacity of 1,200 to 2,000 pounds.
  • A small helicopter weighing between 4,000 and 5,000 pounds that is capable of extended, precision hover and can carry a payload of more than 1,200 pounds 200 nautical miles at 180 knots.
  • A medium-lift rotorcraft with improved range/payload capacity, operating and sustainment cost, fuel quantity use or safety.
  • Group 3 (less than 1,320 pounds) or 4 (more than 1,320 pounds) unmanned air vehicles using hybrid-electric technology to extend range and endurance, or provide good flight performance characteristics “in multiple flight regimes.”

The demonstration projects could start as early as fiscal year 2026 and “should complete no later than the end of FY-30,” according to the Army. The service anticipates a funding effort of $5 million to $7 million per year, according to the notice.

“While available funding is significant, it may be insufficient to solely fund the design, fabrication and test of a new-build aircraft. The Government is open to cost sharing/teaming opportunities with industry for technology demonstrations provided goals and schedules align, and data rights arrangements are suitable. The Government, however, does not intend to fund new test facilities under any future arrangements,” the notice states.

Responses to the RFI are due Aug. 30.

Bell revenues up $93M in second quarter due to FLRAA progress
By Dan Schere
July 18, 2024 at 10:06 AM

Bell Textron’s revenues were up $93 million in the second quarter of calendar year 2024 compared with the second quarter of 2023, executives said in the company’s quarterly earnings call today.

The increase was due to higher military volume, which was primarily related to progress on the Army’s Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft program. It was partially offset by lower volume on the V-22 program, according to the company.

Textron President and CEO Scott Donnelly noted that Bell recently completed its preliminary design review for FLRAA, and it continues to place orders for long-lead materials as the program continues to ramp up.

Donnelly also pointed to other successes, such as the company being down selected for Phase 1B of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Speed and Runway Independent Technologies X-Plane program, and the Army’s selection of Textron for options 3 and 4 of the Future Tactical UAS program.

Donnelly expressed optimism overall for Bell’s military business outside of FLRAA and said there are opportunities for upgrades on the V-22 Osprey and H-1 helicopter programs.

“I do think that while the production unit volumes, obviously, will continue to ramp down, we will see some good flow of upgrade and modernization efforts on both the H-1 and V-22 lines. It will help to keep that solid as we start to ramp and really move towards a production mode of the FLRAA program,” he said.

During the call, an investor asked Donnelly about the impact of the Army’s decision in February to phase out the Shadow UAS platform. He said “from a modeling standpoint” Shadow is a $50 million business, but that he expects the impact of the program termination to be offset by revenue growth in other areas of the business.

“We’ve already obviously worked our way through what the revenue is going to be this year as we wound down from Q1 to Q2, so I’d say it’s fairly de minimis as we go through the balance of the year,” he said.

Navy to hold industry day for submarine-launched UAVs
By Abby Shepherd
July 17, 2024 at 5:05 PM

The Navy plans to hold an industry day next month centered around the Submarine Launched Unmanned Aerial System and will present an overview of the program's fiscal year 2025 procurement strategy and other key updates.

The event -- to be held in Washington -- will give industry members a chance for one-on-one discussions with the Navy, according to a notice posted Tuesday. An overview of the SLUAS All-Up-Round support and handling system and life cycle support functions will be provided as well.

The SLUAS provides intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance as well as surface warfare targeting capabilities. The program was formed in 2012 through the Joint Capability Technology Development initiative and reached middle-tiered acquisition in 2019.

The industry day follows a Navy announcement in June seeking manufacturing sources. The notice stated the Navy is not currently requesting proposals, yet added the program would ideally reach full-rate production within 12 months of a contract award.

In the posting, the Navy clarified that government purpose rights are desired, and any interested parties should “provide details of any limitations on technical data rights for the system.”

The upcoming industry day’s registration deadline is July 29.

The INSIDER daily digest -- July 17, 2024
By John Liang
July 17, 2024 at 2:38 PM

This Wednesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the Defense Innovation Board, Deloitte Consulting getting a multibillion-dollar Navy contract and more.

The Defense Innovation Board met today:

DIB advises DOD to recombine acquisition and sustainment and research and engineering offices

The Defense Innovation Board said it will launch two new studies focused on expanding Defense Department partnerships with non-traditional companies and the effective development of small, cheap drones for Ukraine as it also provided final recommendations for two past studies, including combining the Office of Acquisition and Sustainment and Office of Research and Engineering into one office, reversing a 2018 congressional decision.

Deloitte Consulting is now the Navy's "Enterprise Integration Partner (EIP)," charged with delivering "systemic, holistic solutions to regional and broader submarine industrial workforce and industrial base challenges,” according to a service announcement:

Deloitte Consulting awarded $2.4 billion to orchestrate submarine production revival

The Defense Department has awarded Deloitte Consulting a contract worth as much as $2.4 billion over five years to bolster the submarine industrial base and improve production to a sustained rate of one Columbia- and two Virginia-class boats per year, according to a Monday notice.

The Air Force last year formally decided to modernize the F-35's existing engine rather than develop a completely new engine for the fifth-generation fighter, making Pratt the sole vendor for the project:

Pratt F135 engine upgrade completes preliminary design review

The Pratt & Whitney-made F135 engine has completed a preliminary design review for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter's Engine Core Upgrade, putting the program on track to field by 2029, according to a company announcement.

The Joint Fires Network falls under the Pentagon's broader Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) effort, focusing specifically on prototyping needs to solve urgent combatant command priorities:

Joint Fires Network on track to deliver prototype 1.0 to INDOPACOM by end of year

A senior Pentagon official said today that the Joint Fires Network battle management system is on track to deliver prototype 1.0 to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command by the end of the year.

Task Force Lima, first established by Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks last August to develop recommendations for the safe implementation of generative AI technologies, is led by Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer Radha Plumb:

Task Force Lima report on generative AI nears 'final stages'

Task Force Lima's report on generative artificial intelligence is in the "final stages" with a due date in August, according to a senior Pentagon official.

The INSIDER daily digest -- July 16, 2024
By John Liang
July 16, 2024 at 2:10 PM

This Tuesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the Pentagon's artificial intelligence-centered Task Force Lima, the Navy's next-generation DDG(X) large surface combatant and more.

We start off with the latest on Task Force Lima, first established by Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks last August to develop recommendations for the safe implementation of generative AI technologies:

Task Force Lima report on generative AI nears 'final stages'

Task Force Lima's report on generative artificial intelligence is in the "final stages" with a due date in August, a senior Pentagon official said today.

The Navy is encouraging power and propulsion equipment manufacturers, power systems integrators and academics to share information with the service to further DDG(X) development:

Navy seeks more information on potential DDG(X) power and propulsion system

The Navy is expanding efforts to develop and design the DDG(X) large surface combatant's power and propulsion system, according to a request for information.

In a recent notice, the Marine Corps' Ground Based Air Defense (GBAD) program office is looking for mature, dismounted counter-small unmanned aircraft systems that can be carried by individual Marines or in light tactical vehicles for defense against group 1 and 2 UAS:

Marine Corps seeks input on dismounted counter-drone systems to inform emerging urgent requirement

The Marine Corps is looking for lightweight, "dismounted" air defense systems to detect, track and neutralize small drones, according to a July 15 request for information that indicates industry feedback will inform an emerging urgent requirement.

More coverage from the Senate Armed Services Committee's fiscal year 2025 defense policy bill:

Proposed advisory panel would consider 'clean-sheet' reform for weapon system requirements

The Senate Armed Services Committee wants the Pentagon to establish a new advisory panel that would help reform the requirements process used to procure U.S. weapon systems, including a "clean-sheet approach."

Lawmakers would authorize DOD to forge new air and missile defense ties with Jordan

Draft legislation would authorize the Defense Department to spearhead efforts to cooperate with Jordan on air and missile defense capabilities, a move that comes after the Hashemite Kingdom in April defended its airspace against Iranian threats launched toward Israel.

Connecticut lawmakers, Navy launch maritime workforce campaign to attract submarine builders
By Nick Wilson
July 16, 2024 at 12:22 PM

Two Connecticut House members have launched a new "maritime workforce campaign" in conjunction with the Navy and industry that aims to attract workers to the shipbuilding industry and improve submarine output, according to a Tuesday announcement from House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee Ranking Member Joe Courtney (D-CT).

The initiative, titled “Hire Hartford,” is a collaborative effort between Courtney, fellow House Democrat John Larson (CT), the Navy, Connecticut-based shipbuilder General Dynamics Electric Boat and other workforce partners and suppliers, according to the announcement.

Its purpose is to “build awareness for jobs across the maritime industry and connect workers to job training and employers,” the notice states, emphasizing the need to “meet submarine demand.”

Electric Boat’s Groton, CT shipyard is responsible for building both the Navy’s submarine programs -- Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines and multimission Virginia-class boats -- in collaboration with HII’s Virginia-based Newport News Shipbuilding.

The companies are struggling to meet the Navy’s desired production schedules for both vessels due to a variety of factors including workforce and supply chain challenges. Both Electric Boat and HII are working to improve hiring and retention, with HII aiming to hire approximately 6,000 new personnel in 2024.

According to today’s announcement, the new initiative is based on the prior “Project Providence” campaign of 2023, which resulted in the hiring of 155 personnel at Electric Boat’s 2023 and 2024 Rhode Island signing day, compared to just 14 hires during the previous year’s event.

Additionally, Project Providence “more than doubled the number of workers who completed Rhode Island Trades Training, which prepares workers for metal trade jobs across the entire supply chain,” the notice adds.

While the Navy’s fiscal year 2025 budget proposes a five-year, $11.1 billion submarine industrial base investment intended to get Virginia submarine production back on track by FY-28, the service also moved to cut Virginia procurement to only one boat in FY-25 -- a move that prompted a backlash from many lawmakers, including Courtney.

The INSIDER daily digest -- July 15, 2024
By John Liang
July 15, 2024 at 1:34 PM

This Monday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on missile defense in the Middle East, Army munitions supply chain chokepoints and more.

The Senate Armed Services Committee in its proposed fiscal year 2025 defense policy bill includes a provision that is intended to strengthen air and missile defense in the Missile East against Iran and its proxies across the region:

Lawmakers would authorize DOD to forge new air and missile defense ties with Jordan

Draft legislation would authorize the Defense Department to spearhead efforts to cooperate with Jordan on air and missile defense capabilities, a move that comes after the Hashemite Kingdom in April defended its airspace against Iranian threats launched toward Israel.

The committee is also calling on the Army secretary to submit a plan that would provide "options to establish secondary domestic production sources at existing arsenals, depots and ammunition plants of the Army to address munitions supply chain chokepoints":

Senate authorizers want Army to address munitions supply chain chokepoints

Senate authorizers want the Army to provide options to establish secondary domestic production sources within the service's manufacturing base to address chokepoints in the ammunition supply chain.

Ely Ratner, assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, spoke at the Center for Strategic and International Studies: annual South China Sea conference:

U.S. to continue strengthening involvement in Indo-Pacific in coming months, says defense official

The past year was "transformative" for the United States' force posture in the Indo-Pacific, with the Defense Department set to deliver more action in the coming months, a DOD official said this week.

F-35 Program Executive Officer Lt. Gen. Mike Schmidt foresaw in April that the earliest an initial, incomplete yet training-capable variation of TR-3 software for the fifth-generation aircraft may arrive is "July of this summer":

JPO expects first delivery of F-35 enabled with truncated TR-3 software to begin soon

Deliveries of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter enabled with a truncated version of the Technology Refresh-3 software upgrade will soon resume, putting an end to a temporary pause in aircraft deliveries until Lockheed Martin fixed a series of developmental issues, according to a statement issued today by the F-35 Joint Program Office.

A Naval Strike Missile multiyear procurement contract is due out next month:

Navy anticipates NSM multiyear award in August, but is unable to advance similar SM-6 deal

The Navy is preparing to award Kongsberg Defense and Aerospace a five-year, multiyear procurement contract for the Naval Strike Missile in August, after receiving authority and funding from Congress' fiscal year 2024 defense legislation, a Navy spokesperson told Inside Defense.

Oshkosh hires Ambrose as new top lobbyist
By John Liang
July 15, 2024 at 11:13 AM

Oshkosh Corp. announced today that Angela Ambrose has been hired as the company's new vice president of government operations.

Ambrose most recently worked as vice president for government relations and communications at General Motors Defense, according to the Oshkosh announcement. Prior to that, she was the defense portfolio government relations lead within Accenture's federal practice.

Ambrose has also served as the chief congressional strategist for Northrop Grumman's aerospace business.

Additionally, she worked on the senior legislative liaison teams in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and Defense Department's Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization.

The week ahead
By John Liang
July 15, 2024 at 5:00 AM

Senior defense officials are slated to speak at various security conferences this week.

Monday

Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration Lt. Gen. Andrew Gebara speaks at a Mitchell Institute event.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies holds a conversation on "AI Transformation at the DOD."

Wednesday

The Defense Innovation Board holds a public meeting.

Senior defense officials speak at the Aspen Security Forum, which runs through Sunday.

Friday

Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy Vipin Narang speaks at a Center for a New American Security virtual event on "Adapting NATO's Nuclear Posture to Current Threats."