The Insider

The Defense Department is requesting $29.3 billion for its classified Military Intelligence Program in fiscal year 2024.

“The department determined that releasing this top line figure does not jeopardize any classified activities within the MIP,” DOD said. “No other MIP budget figures or program details will be released, as they remain classified for national security reasons.”

The department requested $26.3 billion for MIP in FY-23, while Congress enacted $24 billion for FY-22.

Leaders of four Air Force Scientific Advisory Board studies will report on their progress during meetings set for later this month.

The studies are focused on “Developmental and Operational Testing,” “Assessing Advanced Aerospace Mobility Concepts,” “Scalable Approaches to Resilient Air Operations” and “Air and Surface Moving Target Indication,” according to the meeting notice, set to take place March 30-31.

The four studies make up the board’s assessment of the Air Force's modernization efforts. The panel will make recommendations related to the service’s Advanced Battle Management System, Agile Combat Employment and E-3 and E-8 aircraft, among other initiatives.

The meeting Is closed to the public, according to the notice.

Details surrounding the Pentagon's fiscal year 2024 budget request dominate this Monday INSIDER Daily Digest.

We start off with the overall Defense Department budget request:

Pentagon budget request eyes key munitions investments for bulk buys

The Pentagon is requesting $170 billion for procurement in fiscal year 2024, with $30.6 billion slated for missiles and munitions, focusing on weapon systems with industrial base shortfalls highlighted by the ongoing war in Ukraine and also on those that could deter China from acting militarily against Taiwan.

Document: OSD's FY-24 budget overview

Document: DOD's FY-24 program acquisition cost by weapon system

Navy:

Navy FY-24 topline increasing while shipbuilding plans remain flat

The Navy plans to procure nine ships and decommission eight in its fiscal year 2024 budget request, investing in submarines, destroyers and frigates but likely teeing up a fight in Congress over amphibious warship requirements and a fleet size projected to remain flat over the next five years.

Document: Navy's FY-24 budget overview briefing slides

Army:

Army FY-24 budget request includes increases for PAC-3, Precision Strike Missile

The Army’s fiscal year 2024 budget request includes increases for the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 and Precision Strike Missile, among its major weapon systems, according to documents from the Defense Department.

Document: Army's FY-24 budget overview, highlights

Air Force:

Air Force not seeking AETP competition, Kendall announces with $215.1B budget request

The Air Force will not move forward with the Adaptive Engine Technology Program that would have refitted F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft with a new engine and will instead pursue an engine core upgrade for the platform, Secretary Frank Kendall said.

Document: Air Force's FY-24 budget overview

Missile Defense Agency:

DOD seeks $29.8 billion for FY-24 missile defense and defeat, including $10.9B for MDA

The Biden administration is proposing nearly $30 billion in fiscal year 2024 to counter missiles, a request that includes $10.9 billion for the Missile Defense Agency, funds improved space-based sensors, seeks $1.5 billion to defend Guam against Chinese ballistic, cruise and hypersonic threats and bolsters the U.S. military's all-domain missile defense backbone.

Document: MDA's FY-24 budget overview

In non-budget news, a big hypersonic weapon test scheduled for last week was postponed:

DOD scrubs key hypersonic weapons test, adding risk to Army FY-23 fielding plans

The Pentagon last week scrubbed a long-delayed, high-stakes hypersonic weapon flight test after discovering a faulty component during a pre-flight check of the joint Army-Navy program to develop an ultra-fast, maneuvering, intermediate-range offensive capability, setting in motion a review to resolve the root cause of the problem.

(Correction: The NSIB Summit will be held Tuesday not Wednesday as previously reported.)

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute has released a "National Security Innovation Base Report Card," giving the Pentagon poor grades when it comes to providing "clarity" to defense contractors and for failing to expand its pipeline for technological talent.

The report card, crafted in partnership with McKinsey & Co., states there is “broad consensus” that the Pentagon’s acquisition process must “go faster and be bolder” if it is to meet its stated goal of keeping pace with China.

“Major Defense Acquisition Program (MDAP) cycle times remain close to their 20-year averages, record venture funding has not sufficiently addressed the ‘valley of death’ for startups, and the talent gap is the widest in a generation -- and growing,” the report card states. “The metabolic rate of change will need to increase substantially, given the negative trendlines noted for many of the key outputs.”

The group is releasing the report card ahead of a Washington conference it plans to host Tuesday.

In terms of “customer clarity,” the group gave the Pentagon a “D,” the lowest grade on the report card, indicating “ongoing major vulnerabilities that are significantly undermining health of the NSIB.”

“There is a noticeable gap in late-stage [research and development], prototyping and procurement funds available for NSIB actors,” the report states. “Recent efforts such as the Accelerate the Procurement for Fielding of Innovative Technology (APFIT) program seek to address this gap but should be increased to $1 billion and minimum award size increased to $30 million.”

The report card notes the failure of lawmakers to submit and pass on-time budgets and appropriations further complicates the issue.

Additionally, the group notes there is “no clearly articulated pathway to a program of record for a majority of the priority NSIB technologies outlined by the U.S. Government.”

The lack of a path is “particularly notable in ‘fast follower,’ commercially led technology areas (e.g., [artificial intelligence], microelectronics, biotech) where the DOD does not have the same level of market power that it commanded from industry during the Cold War,” the report states.

The report card also gives the U.S. government a "D+" regarding the management of its innovation talent base.

“The United States will need to foster a diverse global talent pipeline that not only attracts the world’s top talent but provides a mechanism to remain in the country upon graduation. Interventions under discussion have included H1-B reform and Congress establishing a National Security Innovation Base Visa program,” the report states.

The group, however, gave the government an “A-” for “innovation leadership,” the highest grade on the report card.

“America’s overall innovation leadership across a range of emerging technology areas remains a competitive advantage, but one that cannot remain static,” the report states. “Strategic competitors are investing heavily to catch up.”

The group, however, gave the government a “C” for “defense modernization.”

“While DOD use of prototype Other Transaction Authorities (OTAs) is on the rise, the increase is slowing. The key is to award follow-on production OTAs to field new capabilities,” the report states. “There is an opportunity to expand the Software and Digital Technology Pilot Program to a greater number of programs, as requested by the Secretary of Defense in both FY-22 and FY-23. In order to justify growth of the pilot program, the DOD must provide the requested data to allow for a thorough evaluation of the programs impact.”

The report also recommends increasing the “number and scope of bilateral and multilateral technology alliances to better compete against growing Chinese investments.”

This Thursday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the White House's release of the fiscal year 2024 budget request, a new Air Force helicopter program reaching a major milestone, the Army's recruiting woes and more.

The Biden administration has released the preliminary details of its multibillion-dollar fiscal year 2024 budget request:

White House seeks 3.2% Pentagon budget increase for FY-24

The White House has submitted a fiscal year 2024 budget to Congress requesting $886.4 billion in total national defense spending, with $842 billion specifically for the Defense Department, or an increase of slightly more than 3% above what lawmakers enacted for FY-23, according to the Office of Management and Budget.

In case you missed it, here's yesterday's reaction from analysts to leaked details of the defense budget request:

Analysts react to leaked DOD investment numbers ahead of White House rollout

Leaked budget numbers indicate the White House intends to send a fiscal year 2024 request to Congress that would increase the Pentagon's modernization investments by about 4% above what lawmakers enacted for FY-23, but some analysts say that represents flat growth, or even a small cut when adjusted for inflation.

The Air Force's new helicopter designed to patrol ballistic missile fields has reached a major development milestone:

MH-139A enters LRIP after Air Force and Boeing set plan for technical data

DENVER -- The MH-139A Grey Wolf helicopter program reached milestone C and will enter low-rate initial production after the Air Force successfully negotiated data rights, service acquisition chief Andrew Hunter told reporters Monday.

More from this week's AFA Warfare symposium:

Saltzman details 'Competitive Endurance' theory for Space Force

DENVER -- Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman expanded upon his three lines of effort for "Competitive Endurance" at the Air and Space Forces Association Warfare Symposium on Tuesday.

View Inside Defense's complete AFA Warfare Symposium coverage.

The Army's top civilian official this week characterized getting and keeping new soldiers as "the most challenging recruiting landscape in decades":

Wormuth: Emphasis on Army's recruiting campaign could be reflected in budgets for next few years

A new marketing campaign rolled out this week aimed at helping the Army solve its recent recruiting problems could mean there will be additional emphasis in that area of the budget for the next few years, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said Wednesday.

Gen. Glen VanHerck, head of U.S. Northern Command, told the House Armed Services Committee this week that while he has confidence in the ability of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system to counter North Korean threats today, he's less sure about the ability of the nation's main homeland ballistic missile defense capability to be effective in the future:

NORTHCOM 'concerned' about future U.S. ability to defeat North Korean ICBM strike

The top U.S. military official responsible for defending the nation against a North Korean nuclear strike said he is "concerned" about the Pentagon's ability in the future to defend the nation against a limited attack.

The Marine Corps will procure 16 additional units of a ground-based radar system, with plans to award Northrop Grumman a contract modification in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023.

The company currently holds a full-rate production contract for 30 Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar (G/ATOR) systems -- a multirole, expeditionary 3D radar capability the Marine Corps sees as critical in its force design efforts.

According to a Thursday service announcement, Northrop is the only company capable of producing and certifying the additional units due to its possession of the system’s comprehensive technical data package.

The release explains that Northrop has “asserted restrictions to much of this data,” and as a result, the Marine Corps’ Program Executive Officer Land Systems (PEO LS) cannot provide the information needed to manufacture these G/ATOR units to other prospective contractors.

The production, testing and delivery of the new units is projected to span approximately 72 months from the time of award, the announcement states.

G/ATOR will provide situational awareness to the Marine Corps’ newly announced Marine Littoral Regiments and is a component of the prototype Medium Range Intercept Capability, an air defense system intended to protect ground forces from cruise missiles and other airborne threats.

DENVER -- Boeing and Shield AI have signed an agreement to collaborate on autonomous capability development and artificial intelligence on defense programs, the companies announced Wednesday at the Air and Space Forces Association Warfare Symposium.

Boeing’s Phantom Works division will work with the software company -- which created an AI pilot called Hivemind -- according to a news release from Boeing.

“Boeing continues to leverage talent from across the enterprise to make great strides in autonomous capabilities and programs in recent years,” Steve Nordlund, vice president and general manager for Boeing’s Air Dominance organization, said in the news release. “Collaborating with Shield AI, the leader in AI pilots, will accelerate our ability to deliver these capabilities to the warfighter.”

Shield AI ran an in-flight test of Hivemind on a modified F-16 in December, according to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

During a panel discussion at the symposium Wednesday on the Collaborative Combat Aircraft concept, Shield AI director of product Mike Benitez talked about the importance of developing capable AI if the Air Force is going to move forward toward its early estimate of 1,000 CCAs.

Uncrewed aircraft today require about four times as many people to operate than their crewed counterparts, Benitez said.

“The unmanned, remotely piloted fleet that we have today is certainly manpower intensive,” Benitez said. “It has not delivered on the promise that the past two-and-a-half generations have promised that we’re going to take the man out of the cockpit, we’re going to save on manpower.”

AI needs to be leveraged to cut down on manpower, Benitez said, if the service is going to successfully scale an autonomous fleet that can team with crewed aircraft under the CCA plan.