The Insider

The bulk of this Monday INSIDER Daily Digest has coverage of the Pentagon's fiscal year 2025 budget request.

We start off with DOD's request for modernization as well as research and development funding:

DOD's modernization investments cut in FY-25 budget request

The Pentagon, which had to absorb a $10 billion cut to its previously projected topline thanks to a two-year congressional budget deal, is cutting its requested modernization investment for fiscal year 2025 -- which includes its procurement and research and development accounts -- by $4.3 billion below what it sought in FY-24.

Pentagon R&D budget cut by almost $2B

The Defense Department is seeking $2 billion less in its research and development account for fiscal year 2025 than what it sought for FY-24, according to a defense budget overview released today.

Document: DOD's FY-25 Budget Overview Book

Document: DOD's FY-25 program acquisition cost by weapon system budget book

. . . followed by the Navy:

Navy proposes modest budget request with limited procurement under FY-25 spending caps

The Navy is seeking $257.6 billion in fiscal year 2025 funding -- a modest 0.7% increase over the previous year's request -- in a budget that sees the service procuring fewer new ships and aircraft than expected and pushing the development of next-generation platforms further into the future in order to prioritize near-term readiness.

Document: Navy's FY-25 budget highlights book

. . . and the Army:

Army aircraft, missile procurement up in FY-25 request

Army aircraft and missile procurement both will see slight bumps in the service’s fiscal year 2025 budget request, unveiled Monday afternoon in Pentagon budget materials.

Document: Army's FY-25 budget overview

. . . as well as the Air and Space Force:

Air Force reveals 'constrained' but 'adequate' FY-25 budget, service leaders say

The Air Force is cutting total procurement of F-15EX Eagle II fighter jets by six, from 104 aircraft to 98, according to the service’s fiscal year 2025 proposed budget.

Space Force budget will shrink to meet congressional spending caps

The Space Force did not request an increase in funding for fiscal year 2025 and instead reduced its budget by 2%, even as Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said he thinks the service needs to move faster.

Document: Air Force's FY-25 budget overview

. . . plus the Missile Defense Agency:

MDA seeking $10.4 billion in FY-25; project that aims to counter North Korea clipped

The Missile Defense Agency is seeking $10.4 billion in fiscal year 2025, a nearly 8% reduction compared to the $11.3 billion the Biden administration planned before House GOP fiscal hawks last year demanded reduced federal spending, with the program to defend against North Korean nuclear missiles taking a $300 million cut.

The Defense Department has established a new “warfighter senior integration group” to focus on the “urgent and growing threat posed by uncrewed weapon systems,” according to chief Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder.

Ryder told reporters at a press briefing today that the new group will “bring together the department’s senior-most leaders to drive solutions that support our warfighters throughout our combatant commands.”

Establishing the group, Ryder said, will focus the “cross-department attention and speed the threat now demands.” The SIG, he said, intends to “identify needed capabilities and associated solution” to focus on near-term threats posed by drones.

The Pentagon intends to provide additional details about the group’s work in the coming months.

Pentagon acquisition chief Bill LaPlante said Thursday that he predicts a massive surge in counter-drone investments in the coming years, noting that he wants to move about half of the department's approximately 40 counter-drone prototypes into production as soon as possible.

The bulk of this Friday INSIDER Daily Digest has news from the annual McAleese and Associates conference in Washington.

Let's start off with what the deputy defense secretary, Pentagon acquisition chief and comptroller had to say:

Hicks touts data quality to drive AI countering China's influence

Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks is touting the superiority of the Defense Department's data to power the artificial intelligence that will counter China's efforts for global dominance, while stressing the Pentagon's commitment to human control of emerging AI uses.

DOD acquisition chief predicts surge in counter-drone production; investment protected in FY-25

Pentagon acquisition chief Bill LaPlante said today that he wants to move about half of the department's approximately 40 counter-drone prototypes into production, noting that the programs have been protected from scheduled fiscal year 2025 procurement cuts.

DOD comptroller says FY-25 will emphasize 'innovation,' notes inflation is easing

Pentagon Comptroller Mike McCord said today that the fiscal year 2025 defense budget request slated to be rolled out on Monday will emphasize innovation by continuing the Defense Department's focus on investments in emerging technologies, despite a 1% topline cut driven by a congressional spending agreement reached last year.

Moving on to Air Force leaders' remarks:

Allvin: Air Force FY-25 request likely to be 'unsatisfying'

The Air Force's fiscal year 2025 budget request that will be announced Monday will be "unsatisfying," Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin said today, as the service looks to modernize for what it calls "great power competition" amid congressional calls for fiscal moderation.

Air Force leaders preview FY-25 fighter force mix, again eye F-22 divestment

As the Air Force envisions a future fighter fleet, it wants to divest aging Block 20 F-22 Raptor jets to instead fund the modernization of more recent F-22 configurations, according to top service officials.

. . . and Army:

Army is 'OK' with non-standard buys

The Army is willing to buy "non-standard equipment" and let units experiment with new technologies, according to a senior Army official.

. . . Then Navy:

Del Toro: U.S. shipbuilding stands to benefit from foreign investment

The United States shipbuilding industry could benefit from foreign investment, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said today, indicating a "cash infusion" from an international shipbuilder could boost production capacity, drive down prices and inject competition into the domestic market.

. . . And last but not by no means least there was missile defense:

U.S., Japan finalizing co-development agreement for hypersonic-killing missile interceptor

The governments of the United States and Japan are finalizing a formal agreement to co-develop a next-generation, ship-launched guided-missile interceptor designed to defeat long-range, hypersonic weapons during the glide phase, according to a senior U.S. military official.

This Thursday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the Pentagon's plan to reform its budget planning and execution process, coverage from today's McAleese conference and more.

Within hours of the Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution Reform Commission releasing its final report, the Defense Department has issued an implementation plan of its own:

Pentagon moves to implement 'near-term' budget planning system overhaul

The Pentagon, in response to "near-term" recommendations released today by a bipartisan congressional commission, has formulated a new implementation plan to enact more than a dozen structural reforms to its decades-old budget planning and execution process.

Document: DOD's PPBE reform implementation plan

Senior service officials spoke this morning at the annual McAleese and Associates conference. Here's our preliminary coverage:

Army preparing to stand up deep sensing cross functional team

The Army is getting ready to stand up a cross functional team devoted to deep sensing, Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George said today.

Air Force to make KC-46A follow-on decision this summer

The Air Force will reveal this summer how it plans to fill the gap period between the end of production for current KC-46A tankers in 2028 and the planned delivery of the Next Generation Air Refueling System in the late 2030s, a senior service official said today.

Last ARRW test to inform Air Force hypersonic strategy

The Air Force is waiting on the last test of the all-but-killed Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon, and data from the program will help inform the mix of hypersonic capabilities the service looks for, acquisition chief Andrew Hunter said today.

Senior Army officials were on Capitol Hill this week, talking about their helicopter development efforts:

Money spent on FARA was not a 'waste,' Army officials tell lawmakers

Despite spending more than $2 billion on development of the now-canceled Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft program, Army officials told Congress during a hearing today that the effort was not all for naught due to key takeaways that will help inform the service's pivot in its aviation modernization strategy.

For the first time in over two decades, the Missile Defense Agency won't be doing its traditional briefing on its upcoming budget request:

FY-25 rollout sidelines Missile Defense Agency, 'de-emphasizing' budget day

The Missile Defense Agency is not slated to publicly explain its expected $11 billion fiscal year 2025 request next week, breaking an annual practice that reaches back uninterrupted to at least 2000 that provides Pentagon reporters a once-a-year, carte blanche opportunity to ask agency leaders about program status, policies and more.

Keep an eye out for the Air Force's installation infrastructure action plan:

Air Force to release installation infrastructure action plan this spring

In the coming days, the Air Force will release an installation infrastructure action plan to bolster bases against energy-related vulnerabilities, such as cyberattacks and extreme weather events, a senior service official said today.

Drone company Saildrone today announced it has launched the first aluminum Surveyor unmanned surface vehicle from shipbuilder Austal USA's production line, marking a step forward for a strategic partnership between the two contractors that aims to meet growing demand for uncrewed systems.

The companies formed this partnership in 2022 to scale up production of autonomous USVs like Surveyor -- a 65-foot medium USV designed for ocean mapping and maritime domain awareness. Now, Austal is producing one Surveyor every six weeks and has “the ability to scale up production as demand requires,” the Saildrone announcement states.

“These first Surveyors are contracted to the U.S. Navy for the initial testing and evaluation of Surveyor-class vehicles in multiple environments,” the notice adds, indicating Navy applications include surface and undersea intelligence for mission sets including anti-submarine warfare.

Earlier this week, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti and Assistant Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Christopher Mahoney visited the shipyard to view Surveyor production in addition to Austal’s newly constructed steel line and the future Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship Kingsville (LCS-36), according to a separate Navy release.

“Using unmanned assets helps put more players on the field by freeing up manned assets for more specific and important tasks,” Franchetti said in a statement included in the Navy release. “It’s good to see high-tech industry partnering with the traditional shipbuilding industrial base to rapidly deliver cutting-edge products at scale.”

Last month, the CNO said the Navy is making progress in experimentation and prototyping efforts for unmanned systems and is on pace to begin the widespread integration and operationalizing of unmanned platforms as early as fiscal year 2029.

The United Arab Emirates Armed Forces conducted off-road tests to determine if the Infantry Squad Vehicle meets their technical and tactical needs, GM Defense announced Wednesday.

"GM Defense's ISV completed phases of the Summer Trials, which included traveling nearly 2,000 kilometers across highways, sand dunes, soft sand tracks and rocky walls,” according to a company press release.

Called the 2023 UAE Armed Forces Summer Trials, the tests included continuous driving with maximum payload capacities and are designed to test vehicle capability in rugged combat conditions, including extreme climate and diverse terrain, the release adds.

The ISV also went through two days of field repairs testing as well as maintenance and recovery evaluation “to help potential customers assess ease of repairs and sustainability.”

“This was GM Defense’s first time sending a vehicle to UAE Summer Trials, and our successful completion is a testament to the strength of our ISV and to the expertise and dedication of our team,” Steve duMont, GM Defense president, said in the release.

Designed to motorize infantry squads, the ISV is a four-wheeled open vehicle that transports soldiers and their equipment around the battlefield.

The vehicle entered full-rate production in 2023 and the Army intends to procure 143 vehicles in fiscal year 2024, according to service budget documents.

According to the 2021 Director for Operational Test and Evaluation report, the ISV was “not operationally effective for employment in combat and engagement, security cooperation and deterrence missions against a near-peer threat.”

The 2022 and 2023 DOT&E reports concluded the vehicle “demonstrated a significant improvement.”

As demand for munitions surges amid heightened global tensions, the Navy has launched a multibillion-dollar plan to fill critical industrial base gaps by revitalizing the government-run production of solid-rocket motors and other key energetics at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division.

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