The Insider

This Wednesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on a recent Army cruise missile defense intercept test, a Senate hearing that touched on Indo-Pacific security and more.

The Army recently conducted a cruise missile defense intercept test:

IBCS coordinates cruise missile intercepts in key follow-on operational test

The Army notched a key milestone in its air and missile defense modernization push last week when soldiers successfully intercepted two maneuvering cruise missiles using the Integrated Battle Command System, or IBCS, in a contested environment, according to the service.

The Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing this week on the nomination of John Noh to be assistant defense secretary for Indo-Pacific security affairs:

Lawmakers, experts call White House's Taiwan aid policies 'dangerous, destabilizing'

Lawmakers and national security experts expressed concerns Tuesday over the Trump administration's alleged withholding of military aid to Taiwan, amidst fears of a potential Chinese invasion in the coming years.

Lawmakers question nominee for Indo-Pacific security affairs on National Defense Strategy, AUKUS

Lawmakers this week expressed concerns over a potential shift in the prioritization of countering China in the impending National Defense Strategy, which has yet to be released, and raised worries on the implications of the AUKUS review, which was confirmed today to be released this fall.

Document: Senate hearing on Noh, Young, Lane, Beck nominations

The Justice Department has reached a settlement with a defense contractor over the allegedly failed implementation of cybersecurity standards:

Georgia Tech agrees to DOJ settlement over alleged failure of implementing defense cyber standards

The Georgia Tech Research Corp. and the Justice Department have reached an $875,000 settlement to resolve False Claims Act violations, where the defense contractor allegedly submitted a falsified cyber assessment and failed to implement cybersecurity requirements mandated by the Defense Department.

With work ongoing in the Commerce Committee, the full Senate is not positioned to incorporate the SHIPS legislation into its version of the fiscal year 2026 defense policy bill:

SHIPS Act hung up in Senate Commerce Committee, lawmakers say

The bipartisan SHIPS for America Act is working its way through the Senate Commerce Committee, which will require more time to work on the legislation before it can be advanced towards passage, lawmakers said this week.

Textron Systems is developing a Launched Effect system that is equipped with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, and can be launched from the air or ground, the company announced today.

The Damocles LE system has “autonomous tracking capabilities and advanced artificial intelligence,” but also uses a human in the loop for supervision, according to a company announcement.

Damocles uses a “precision unitary munition” to ensure accurate targeting, and has a low signature, according to Textron. Other payloads can be integrated into the system, such as electronic warfare effects, due to the use of a modular opens systems architecture.

Army senior leaders have emphasized in recent months that the service must diversify its Launched Effects portfolio, with efforts to field short-, medium- and long-range Launched Effects -- akin to exploding drones.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s April 30 memo, establishing the Army Transformation Initiative, directs the Army to field a combination of air and ground Launched Effects in every division by the end of 2026. In response, the service has issued a series of solicitations for low-cost Launched Effects and conducted a three-week user demonstration with 20 different systems at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA this summer.

This Monday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on missile defense early warning radars, what the newly confirmed Navy under secretary's priorities will be and more.

A new Missile Defense Agency effort, dubbed Advanced Object Classification (AOC) 1.1, aims to extend improvements already underway with the current AOC 1.0 baseline and reinforce the role of the early warning radars as the backbone of U.S. homeland defense:

Pentagon seeks new radar AOC 1.1 upgrade to bolster missile defense

The Pentagon has a new plan to improve its family of Upgraded Early Warning Radars, asking industry for help advancing software that sharpens the ability to classify objects in flight.

The Navy's new No. 2 civilian has his work cut out for him:

SECNAV outlines personnel-focused duties for new under secretary as chief of staff exits

Navy Secretary John Phelan has outlined a series of responsibilities for newly confirmed Navy Under Secretary Hung Cao, who is tasked with a portfolio of predominantly personnel-focused initiatives as well as overseeing audit improvements and efforts to utilize Guam as a "power projection platform."

Sikorsky's vision includes scaling a new family of drones to various sizes, which could eventually be used to fill capability gaps on the battlefield in surveillance and reconnaissance:

Sikorsky developing family of 'Nomad' rotor-blown wing drones

Lockheed Martin subsidiary Sikorsky is developing a future family of rotor-blown wing vertical-takeoff-and-landing drones the company has named Nomad, which previously was known as the rotor-blown wing.

Under a Phase 3 Lane 2 contract, SpaceX will conduct five launches for $714 million, and ULA will conduct two for $428 million, according to Space Systems Command:

Space Force awards $1.14B for FY-26 launches

The Space Force has assigned SpaceX and United Launch Alliance seven National Security Space Launch missions in fiscal year 2026 for a total cost of $1.14 billion, the service announced late last week.

The Air Force recently released a request for information regarding the Advanced Propulsion Acquisition Contract (APAC) Multiple Award Contract (MAC) Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Contract:

Air Force seeks vendor pool to develop advanced engines

The Air Force is looking to strengthen its capability to rapidly develop, produce and eventually mature novel advanced aircraft engine options, according to a recently released request for information.

Document: Air Force AFAC RFI

Aspen Digital’s offensive cyber project will explore putting in place legal protections for the private sector and the creation of an economic statecraft toolkit, as part of an effort to tackle complex issues in a priority area for the Trump administration.

The focus of the project is to think through new contexts of where offensive cyber can “be beneficial, what is permissible legally and where they may be better suited than they have been in the past,” Yameen Huq told Inside Cybersecurity. Huq is Aspen Digital’s director for cybersecurity programs.

Aspen Digital announced the project on Sept. 24, with two blog posts addressing different aspects of offensive cyber. The project came out of Aspen’s U.S. Cybersecurity Group, which has put together an Offensive Cyber Working Group.

Moving to offensive cyber is an area of interest for the Trump administration but finding a path forward to reach consensus on next steps is an evolving topic of conversation.

The first Aspen Digital post, authored by former Acting National Cyber Director Kemba Walden, proposes a taxonomy for understanding offensive cyber activities.

The second blog post emphasizes the need for continuing “cyber fundamentals,” as the focus shifts to offensive cyber. It was written by Sean Joyce, head of global and U.S. cybersecurity at PwC.

Huq said Aspen Digital will be publishing four additional articles as part of the offensive cyber project.

One of the pieces will explore “the legal implications of offensive cyber operations, specifically also the private sector version of what which is often colloquially called hacking back,” Huq said, in terms of “what is permissible, what is constrained and also some implications what might be some policy reforms based on the goals you want for those kinds of efforts.”

“A lot of that will revolve around who the private actors are, what the initial targets might be and how to think about whether or not it is a good policy position to engage on those types of activities depending on that context,” Huq said.

Another post will look at the organizational structure “for a model of what offensive cyber actions could look like,” Huq said. “There is a lot of discussions around building a new uniformed service, a Cyber Force. We want to lay out some ideas on how to think about that. What the purposes of that Force could be and how it ought to be structured and how it could potentially be beneficial for this line of work.”

Aspen Digital will look to broaden the scope of offensive cyber in a third article on “using cyber tools to potentially deter cyber behavior,” Huq said, with a focus “economic tools.”

Huq said, “The economic statecraft toolkit could be deployed for the purposes of deterring or degrading cyber behavior so we want to explore what the other options are in addition to the offensive cyber suite.”

The last article will explore “the inter-operational piece,” Huq said, “looking through the national cyber strategy as it stands and how to better structure policy efforts around offensive actions within the context of that strategy.”

Huq said, “We think it is an operationalized piece looking at the history of how these actions have been conducted and using that to align better with national efforts.”

Aspen Digital is also launching a new project exploring “what would a Bureau of Cyber Statistics look like,” according to Huq. The creation of a bureau is a recommendation from the Cyberspace Solarium Commission’s 2020 landmark report.

Huq said, “There are so many different examples you can draw from in the federal government about building, maintaining and operationalizing data for the purposes of public policy and thinking through some of those case studies and what we can learn from them in terms of implementing a BCS is something that we’ve been talking about.”

The Marine Corps is looking for precision-landing technology to help manned and unmanned aircraft safely land in adverse weather conditions, according to request for information indicating this landing support is needed for expeditionary advanced base operations.

Published by Naval Air Systems Command, the notice seeks information from industry and other sources -- including research laboratories and non-profits -- on existing products capable of meeting requirements for an Expeditionary Precision Approach Landing Capability (EPALC).

The desired capability will assist aircraft including the MV-22 Osprey, C-130 Hercules, CH-53E Super Stallion and CH-53K King Stallion during landings occurring in “instrument meteorological conditions,” meaning low-visibility weather that require pilots to fly using their flight instruments rather than visual reference.

In addition to these manned platforms, the system should support all type model series within Navy and Marine Corps aviation, including unmanned platforms. NAVAIR wants the system to be transported and set up by a four-person team, with a set-up time of no more than 90 minutes.

Expeditionary advanced base operations, or EABO, is an operating concept recently adopted by the Marine Corps with an eye towards the Indo-Pacific. EABO involves the use of mobile and stealthy units deployed to forward and potentially contested locations and tasked with sea control and fleet sustainment missions.

According to the notice, the desired landing solution must provide precision-approach guidance to a “minimum of 200-foot ceiling and 0.5 statute miles (SM) of visibility.” It should have a capable range of 20 nautical miles, support continuous autonomous operations for 72 hours and support multiple landing points simultaneously, the notice states.

NAVAIR also wants a system “environmentally hardened and ruggedized for field operation” that can function in a wide temperature and humidity range, the notice adds.

Responses are due Nov. 30 and should be unclassified.

The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division is seeking information on the design, engineering, fabrication and testing of components and systems for Defense Department vehicles and mobility platforms including ground mobility vehicles and Joint Light Tactical Vehicles -- according to a recent government notice.

Market research related to infantry squad vehicles, mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles, light all-terrain vehicles, non-standard commercial vehicles, 6-wheeled assault platforms and trailers and auxiliary power systems is also desired, the notice adds. Specifically, the Navy is seeking assistance with powertrain performance prototyping, advanced chassis, body and mobility handling prototyping, mobility testing services and general prototype fabrication and integration.

The solicitation for information is part of NSWC Crane’s Mobility Systems Engineering Branch’s mission to provide “project oversight, engineering and logistics for the DOD, [Program Management - Family of Special Operations Vehicles] and U.S. Marine Corps mobility platforms,” and includes integrated prototyping, engineering development models, testing and low-rate initial production, according to the posting.

“To continually adapt to evolving warfare landscapes and mission scenarios, the government is in the process of providing the best material solutions for new and legacy ground mobility vehicles utilized by various DOD components and Special Operation Forces,” the notice states.

As a part of this effort, NSWC Crane plans to award multiple indefinite delivery, indefinite quality firm-fixed price contracts.

Responses to the request for information are due no later than Oct. 16.

The Senate confirmed former Virginia Senate candidate and retired Navy Capt. Hung Cao as Navy under secretary today, by a 52-45 vote.

President Trump nominated the U.S. Naval Academy graduate in February, calling him the “embodiment of the American dream,” in a Truth Social post.

Yet, Navy Secretary John Phelan may attempt to limit Cao in his new role in order to centralize his own authority, Politico reported in July. Two top aides who would have helped Cao once confirmed were reassigned, and Phelan and his chief of staff, Jon Harrison, plan to interview all potential military assistants for Cao themselves, according to the publication.

In his June Senate confirmation hearing, Cao vowed in a written statement to deliver “the most lethal Navy and Marine Corps the world has ever seen” to combatant commanders and wrote of his experience programming the Navy’s budget from within the Pentagon.

“I saw firsthand the breakdown of our acquisition process which precludes us from outpacing our enemies,” Cao wrote.

Cao ran against incumbent Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) for the Virginia Senate seat in 2024, and ran for Virginia’s 10th congressional district in 2022, losing both races.