The Insider

Oshkosh Corp.'s chief financial officer didn't rule out stock buybacks and dividends today during a panel discussion at Citi's 2026 Global Industrial Tech and Mobility Conference.

“We’ve steadily increased the dividend for 12 years,” Mathew Field, Oshkosh’s CFO, said, adding the company bought back $278 million in shares last year, which he said amounted to its third largest share repurchasing move in the last 10 to 15 years.

He said Oshkosh will likely continue that strategy going forward.

“Based on our performance this year, our multiple still is below where we think it would be, so share repurchases are still on the table,” he said.

That comes after President Trump inked an executive order last month requiring the Pentagon to review and potentially punish poor-performing defense contractors that are investing their capital into stock buybacks or issuing dividends instead of improving production capacity.

The EO applied to defense firms during underperformance periods and gave the Defense Department 30 days to put together its “naughty list” of companies; the Pentagon earlier this month, however, announced it needed more time amid certain contractors coming forward to negotiate faster production deals.

Oshkosh’s defense business takes up about half of the company’s transport segment, which also includes the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV) for the United States Postal Service. The transport segment is the smallest of Oshkosh’s three segments, bringing in 21% of total revenue in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Even so, it’s “a big driver” behind the company’s plan to boost its overall operating income margin to 12-14% by 2028, Field said today. To do that, he wants to bolster the transport segment’s margin from 4% in 2026 to 10% two years later through a full-rate production ramp up of NGDVs and ongoing work with DOD on heavy and medium tactical vehicle contracts.

He pointed to the Remotely Operated Ground Unit for Expeditionary Fires (ROGUE-Fires) program during the panel, an autonomous, missile-firing Joint Light Tactical Vehicle manufactured for the Marine Corps, to note his confidence in the future of robots.

“We’re really excited about that line of products and the equivalents,” he said, as he gave a nod to Oshkosh’s A2 variant of the Palletized Load System, which is an “autonomous-ready” heavy tactical vehicle.

“I think autonomy in that space is going to be a really great future,” he said. 

This Wednesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the Navy tapping Fincantieri as one of the shipbuilders tasked with constructing the Landing Ship Medium, plus coverage of the Golden Dome program and more.

The Navy revealed its selection of Fincantieri as a Landing Ship Medium builder today while announcing the release of a request for proposals for an LSM vessel construction manager:

Fincantieri to build four LSMs; Navy seeks VCM to oversee program

Fincantieri Marinette Marine will join Bollinger Shipyards in building initial vessels under the Navy and Marine Corps Landing Ship Medium program, securing construction work for four LSMs after months of uncertainty that followed the Navy's November cancelation of the Constellation-class frigate program.

Former defense officials recently gave their takes on how the proposed Golden Dome missile defense project should be managed:

Dalton: Golden Dome faces 'four clocks' to establish staying power as an enduring project

A year after President Trump issued an executive order launching what is now the Golden Dome effort to build a next-generation domestic air and missile defense capability, the project faces a more fundamental challenge than technology: proving it is more than a presidential priority and can mature into a lasting national program.

The Air Force's new bomber has been performing better than expected in modeling:

Air Force, Northrop nearing agreement to speed B-21 production

The Air Force and prime contractor Northrop Grumman are nearing an agreement to accelerate production of the B-21 Raider bomber program, company CEO Kathy Warden said today.

The latest CMMC news from our colleagues at Inside Cybersecurity:

AIA launches CMMC marketplace to showcase services for helping companies reach compliance

The Aerospace Industries Association is starting a marketplace to help companies in the defense industrial base prepare for the Pentagon’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program.

In a recent memo, Pentagon acquisition chief Michael Duffey seeks industry input on major changes to federal acquisition rules:

DOD seeks industry input on regulation overhaul to put acquisition on 'wartime footing'

The Defense Department is seeking industry and stakeholder input on sweeping changes to the Federal Acquisition Regulation and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement as part of what officials describe as a "revolutionary overhaul" of defense procurement rules.

Document: DOD memo on FARS, DFARS changes

The Army is shifting its focus from building an in-house robotic vehicle to bringing on teams of companies that can solve specific gaps fast and cheap:

Army points to two main use cases for ground robots as it surveys industry for capability

The Army's new autonomy acquisition shop identifies breaching and resupply as two prioritized use cases for ground robotics as it looks to industry to help shape its strategy to quickly field systems through commercial teaming, according to a new notice.

The LGM-35A intercontinental ballistic missile program will aim to secure its new milestone B decision by the end of the year and deliver initial operational capability early next decade:

Sentinel rebaseline expected by end of year

The Air Force expects to finish rebaselining the Sentinel program by the end of the year, the service announced today, more than two years after the projected cost growth for the nuclear missile system broke financial thresholds.

The Defense Department, General Services Administration and NASA are updating their policy proposal aimed at banning executive agencies from buying certain semiconductor products.

The proposed rule -- which would take effect starting December 23, 2027 -- prohibits federal agencies from procuring electronic products or services that include covered semiconductor products or services, a Federal Register notice published today on the drafted policy states.

The updated notice comes nearly two years after DOD, GSA and NASA -- collectively known as the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council -- asked for initial feedback on the proposed procurement ban, which comes from a provision included in the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act.

The revised proposal adds a new section intended to provide clearer guidance for acquisition officials implementing the rule.

Under the draft, companies responding to federal solicitations would be required to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” to determine whether their offered products or services contain covered semiconductor components.

The FAR Council suggests vendors conduct full reviews of the electronic products and services they would offer the federal agencies in advance, rather than undergoing case-by-case reviews.

If hopeful vendors find their offered solution would include products or services that don’t comply with the prohibition, they must tell the government. In doing so, they should include manufacturer information, risks associated with the noncompliant component and whether there are alternatives available.

The rule would take effect Dec. 23, 2027, though commercial products and services without alternative sources would be granted an extension until the corresponding date in 2028.

“These procedures will assist the Federal Government in identifying and mitigating risks to semiconductor hardware, firmware, and software,” the notice states, “in turn making the supply chain more resilient, while taking into consideration the availability of alternative sources, the impact on small entities, and the identification and processing of any waivers that may be necessary.”

The proposed rule is open for public comment until April 20.

Shipbuilder HII and Ohio-based manufacturer Path Robotics plan to partner and integrate physical artificial intelligence into shipyards, the companies announced today -- a move toward automation that could accelerate throughput and help meet the Navy’s shipbuilding goals.

The two companies said they will pursue autonomous shipbuilding capability development, train HII’s workforce on automation, and establish an intellectual property framework for welding systems powered by physical AI.

As HII plans to increase its shipbuilding throughput by 15% in 2026, the company will invest a significant amount of its own money to achieve this goal -- funding the partnership’s efforts with independent research and development money, Eric Chewning, executive vice president for maritime systems and corporate strategy, told reporters today.

HII has already sent 40,000 pounds of steel to Path Robotics in Columbus, OH, Chewning said today. The robotics company will use this steel to work on non-Controlled Unclassified Information designs provided by HII, and work toward becoming certified around a specific U.S. Navy weld standard, he added. From there, Path Robotics will work on additional weld types.

Path Robotics plans to process “all 40,000 pounds” of steel, Andy Lonsberry, CEO of Path Robotics, said today.

“So, we are cutting this metal up, we're making objects, and we're welding them,” he said. “Then we are destroying them, cutting them, we're etching them. We're going through a very rigorous test bed but also a very rigorous data collection process.”

Once they meet the Navy standard, the companies plan to implement a workforce development program for the use of physical AI in manufacturing, Chewning told Inside Defense.

“We’re in the process of developing that as we speak,” he said.

While HII already uses robotics throughout its manufacturing process, this new partnership with Path Robotics will be an additive solution to quicken the shipbuilding process, Chewning added.

“There's a certain set of technologies that are really good at doing one task 10,000 times,” he said. “We've made investments in those technologies that are currently deployed in the shipyard today. What we need to do is open the aperture of how we're using new technologies. Part of that is the use of physical AI, which will enable us to get at those use cases where I need 10,000 things done just once as part of the build process.”

Australia will invest $3.9 AUD -- about $2.8 billion U.S. dollars -- to begin developing a domestic submarine construction yard to build a future fleet of nuclear-powered, conventionally armed vessels under the trilateral AUKUS security pact.

Located in Osborne, Australia, the yard will be jointly operated with the United Kingdom to construct the “SSN-AUKUS” submarine class. The initial investment represents a “down payment” on a project expected to cost over $20 billion USD over the coming decades, according to a weekend announcement from Canberra.

Both Australia and the U.K. plan to build and deploy SSN-AUKUS vessels under the third and final stage of AUKUS. The U.K. expects to field its first domestically produced SSN-AUKUS in the late 2030s while Australia aims to deliver its first boat in the early 2040s.

SSN-AUKUS will incorporate technology from all three nations with a design based on the U.K.’s next-generation submarine, currently under development with BAE Systems. Australian company ASC Pty Ltd and BAE are serving as the program’s prime contractors.

In the interim, the U.S. has agreed to sell at least three Virginia-class submarines to Australia beginning in the 2030s as the later nation builds experience operating and maintaining its own nuclear-powered submarine fleet. President Trump has endorsed the Biden-era deal and indicated these sales are on track.

U.S. shipbuilders, however, are not yet producing submarines at the rate needed to meet both domestic and AUKUS demand. Current production is at about 1.3 Virginia boats per year compared to the U.S. Navy’s desired rate of 2.3 vessels.

Defense-related conferences are being held this week. Congress is out.

Monday

President’s Day.

Tuesday

Executives from Lockheed Martin, RTX, Northrop Grumman, Leidos and other companies speak at the Citi 2026 Global Industrial Tech and Mobility conference.

Wednesday

The Microelectronics Commons hosts its annual meeting.

Thursday

The CyberTalks 2026 conference is held in Washington.

The Army is looking to industry for hard-kill, counter-unmanned aerial systems capable of defeating group 1 through 3 drones (those weighing less than 1,320 pounds). The counter-drone systems would be used in two exercises this summer, one of which will be held in the continental United States and the other in Saudi Arabia.

The CONUS exercise, scheduled for July, is known as Operation Hard Kill and will involve using systems such as directed energy and kinetic interceptors to neutralize drone threats, according to a government notice posted this week.

Operation Hard Kill is meant to simulate “real-world conditions and environments where drone threats are prevalent” in a “controlled yet operationally relevant venue,” the notice states.

Red Sands, which will be held in Saudi Arabia in August, is designed to “mimic real-world conditions in operationally limited, contested and denied environments” with the goal of assessing detection, tracking and engagement capabilities, according to the notice.

The hard-kill counter drone systems must be able to integrate into a network and deliver kinetic-defeat capabilities against both fixed and rotary-wing threats, according to the Army.

These exercises will specifically home in on the need for an “integrated kinetic kill web,” which is a network of interconnected counter-drone systems that can connect sensors, effectors and command and control systems, the notice states.

“This challenge aims to assess systems that not only achieve Hard Kill effects independently but also communicate and coordinate with other assets to increase situational awareness, target precision, offensive, and defensive resilience,” it states.

For Red Sands, systems must be at a technology readiness level of 5 or above, meaning system component validation has occurred in a relevant environment.

Responses to the Army are due Feb. 20.