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The Defense Department is awarding Alaska Range Resources (ARR) $43.4 million to extract, process and purify extracted stibnite to produce "military grade" antimony trisulfide, according to a DOD announcement published yesterday.

The Defense Production Act Title III award includes funds from the Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2022, the Pentagon said.

Antimony trisulfide is a compound consisting of sulfur and antimony -- the latter being one of three minerals with numerous military applications that the Chinese Commerce Ministry banned from export to the United States in December.

“Antimony metal and antimony trisulfide have critical applications in munitions, especially low and medium caliber, where it is used in primer production and case hardening,” Mike Cadenazzi, assistant secretary of defense for industrial base policy, said.

China is the world’s leading producer of antimony, and accounts for 63% of U.S. antimony imports, according to a 2024 report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The funding will support ARR’s efforts to complete environmental studies to finalize permitting, geological surveys and tests to enhance and target its drilling activities. It will also allow the company to start extracting stibnite, finish its metallurgical study and construct its concentration plant and refinery, DOD said.

“Establishing domestic sources for critical metals and minerals like antimony and its compounds enhances the long-term resilience of our supply chains,” Jeffrey Frankston, acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for industrial base resilience, said.

The department also noted in the announcement, made on the last day of fiscal year 2025, that the ARR award was the latest of 17 the DPA Purchases Office made in FY-25, totaling $856.2 million. Recipient cost shares during the same period came out to $88 million, DOD said.

The Army plans to drop self-propelled howitzers into its transforming in contact brigades for temporary testing after spending eight months chewing on the modernization program's existence.

The service decided a long “comprehensive analysis” following the Army Transformation Initiative has justified the need for a 155mm self-propelled artillery “system of systems,” according to a request for information published Tuesday.

“Consequently, the U.S. Army is considering opportunities to rapidly conduct soldier experimentation,” the RFI says.

The RFI refers to the Army’s Mobile Tactical Cannon (MTC) requirement, which is budgeted for $108 million in the Army’s fiscal year 2026 research and development justification books.

The Army last February had planned on releasing a request for proposals for a 2026 competition for MTC, but it never surfaced, leaving some program leaders in May to lament a “day-to-day slip.”

“The U.S. Army acknowledges that several RFIs and engagements have been issued under this topic in the past year,” the RFI says. “As we work to shape the future contract strategy, it is imperative that the U.S. Army consider all capabilities and industry partners to obtain the best available and most affordable solution for the U.S. Army.”

While the TiC details are actively getting worked out, the Army published four “assumptions” for the experiment for industry to mull over:

• The Army will need safety releases from contractors on their systems
• The Army will use logistics from the contractors during the experiment
• The focus will be on using 155mm ammunition from the United States
• The experiment will involve a digital fire message relayed by the Fire Direction Center

The RFI goes on to ask industry to submit overviews of their self-propelled howitzer systems, their domestic production capabilities and types of ammunition -- which asks companies for their ability to deliver 1,000 high explosive 155mm rounds.

It also requests fires network information and availability of materiel, including a question that asks for the time it would take to deliver the Army six howitzers and six rearm systems produced in the United States.

Responses are due Oct. 10, according to the notice.

The Navy has awarded $10 billion to seven companies to deliver logistics support, supplies and services for geographic combatant commands, coalition partners and U.S. federal agencies, according to a Pentagon announcement.

The contract’s base period will run from October 2025 to December 2029, with a five-year option period that could extend work to December 2034. The total value could reach $20 billion if this option is exercised.

Work will include “reception, staging, onward-movement, and integration support; sustainment; theater distribution; and stability operations and Defense Support of Civil Authorities support,” the notice states. Locations for the work “cannot be currently provided,” it adds.

Announced on the final day of fiscal year 2025, the award is part of Naval Supply Systems Command’s “Worldwide Expeditionary Multiple Award Contract (WEXMAC)” initiative.

The program was launched in 2021 to provide fast and flexible contracting support to expeditionary forces by pre-selecting a group of companies and eliminating the need for repetitive ad-hoc contract requests.

Earlier this month, the Navy announced another WEXMAC award to 59 different contractors worth a cumulative $20 billion.

This Tuesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on what the upcoming National Defense Strategy might focus on, plus a long-delayed quantum science program and more.

We start off with a deep dive into what the upcoming National Defense Strategy might focus on:

Impending National Defense Strategy release raises questions about China, Taiwan and the 'Davidson window'

As the U.S. approaches the looming 2027 deadline when some predict China may be capable of invading Taiwan, military leaders and lawmakers appear united in countering this potential threat -- with the White House proposing a roughly $1 trillion defense budget.

A new, multibillion-dollar F-35 Joint Strike Fighter contract was issued this week:

Lockheed awarded contract for F-35 Lots 18 and 19

Lockheed Martin and the Pentagon have inked a more-than-$12.5 billion contract for F-35 Lots 18 and 19, according to a Defense Department announcement.

A recent Defense Department inspector general's "management advisory" report "identifies concerns found during the DOD Office of Inspector General's 'Evaluation of the DOD's Development and Implementation of Quantum Technologies' (Project No. D2025-DEV0SI-0100.001)":

Pentagon plans to start long-delayed quantum science program by year's end

The Defense Department will finally take steps to formally stand up the congressionally mandated DOD Quantum Information Science Program and expects to publish initial guidance directives by the end of 2025.

Document: DOD IG 'management advisory' on quantum tech report

The Navy aims to establish a "consortium or consortia" and execute "multibillion-dollar-projects" under Other Transaction Agreements to accelerate investments in areas including infrastructure modernization and workforce and supplier development:

Navy wants private-sector consortium to manage industrial base investments

The Navy is interested in partnering with companies and other private-sector players to establish one or more affiliated groups that will manage maritime industrial base investments and development projects, according to a new request for information.

More coverage from last week's AFA conference:

SSC taking first look into alternative space launch sites

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD -- Space Systems Command is starting to look into alternative space launch sites as the Space Force's two locations become more crowded with launch needs, according to a top service official.

Space Force to hire deputy acquisition chief before filling Senate-confirmed role

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD -- The Space Force plans to hire a deputy acquisition chief before filling the Senate-confirmed head of acquisitions, a senior service official told reporters.

Read our full AFA coverage.

The Navy has awarded L3Harris Technologies and Collins Aerospace separate contracts, each worth up to $940 million, to produce and sustain Multifunctional Information Distribution System radios, according to a Pentagon contract announcement.

The L3Harris award combines Navy and Air Force purchases of the “Multifunctional Information Distribution System (MIDS) weapon data link small-form-factor weapons attritable radio multimode family 2 radio,” the notice states.

The Collins Aerospace order covers the same equipment but is exclusively for the Air Force. The ordering period for both contracts runs through September 2030.

In June, L3Harris received another award worth nearly $1 billion for production, retrofits, development and sustainment of MIDS joint tactical radio system terminals. In 2022, the company acquired contractor Viasat’s Link 16 tactical data links business for almost $2 billion.

This Monday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the Pentagon's contingency planning in advance of a potential government shutdown this week, plus several major weapons procurement contracts awarded in the waning days of the current fiscal year and more.

The Defense Department has released a document that "provides guidance for identifying those missions and functions of the Department of War (DOW) that may continue to be carried out in the absence of available appropriations":

Pentagon announces 'highest priorities' in event of shutdown

The Defense Department's "highest priorities" in the event of a government shutdown this week are operations to secure the U.S. southern border, Middle East operations, Golden Dome for America, depot maintenance, shipbuilding and critical munitions, according to a new Pentagon document.

Document: DOD's contingency plan guidance for government shutdown

A new procurement contract is expected to yield $1.5 billion in cost savings from 2025 to 2029 and marks the first use of multiyear procurement for the CH-53K -- a critical Marine Corps platform replacing the legacy CH-53E Super Stallion as the Pentagon's only rotary-wing, heavy-lift aircraft:

Sikorsky secures $10.9B multiyear deal for CH-53K production

Lockheed Martin subsidiary Sikorsky has received a five-year multiyear procurement contract worth as much as $10.9 billion for up to 99 CH-53K King Stallion helicopters for the Marine Corps.

The Missile Defense Agency recently disclosed a contract modification to extend Guam missile defense work for up to four months at Lockheed's division in Moorestown, NJ, and on Guam through April 2026:

Pentagon awards new Aegis Guam work, setting stage to tie in joint fires in FY-26

The Pentagon has awarded Lockheed Martin $44.2 million to continue adapting the Aegis missile defense system for Guam, funding work on software development, integration testing and other upgrades aimed at countering advanced ballistic and hypersonic threats.

The Space Force wants RG-XX, the next-generation replacement of the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP), to be delivered faster and with a relatively low cost:

GSSAP replacement RFP coming soon, Space Force official says

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD -- The Space Force may soon request proposals for its next set of "neighborhood watch" satellites for on-orbit space domain awareness, a top official told reporters this week, opening the way for commercial entrants.

The Army will need special licenses to access technical and manufacturing data as well as computer software to allow its own maintainers and third-party contractors to repair the Common Tactical Truck at the depot level:

Army wants technical data rights to mend CTT at depots and in the field

The Army is marching forward on its plan to fold right-to-repair provisions into new contracts after releasing an update to industry that sheds more light on what the future requirement will look like for its Common Tactical Truck program.

Congress returns this week to address a possible government shutdown scheduled for Wednesday.

Tuesday

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has called hundreds of senior officers from around the globe to meet with him in Quantico, VA.

Wednesday

The federal government will shut down at midnight barring the passage of a stopgap continuing resolution.