Thursday, April 25, 2024
Key Issues Optical clocks Prototype funding SPAFORGEN
Senior defense officials are slated to speak at two key events this week. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is traveling to the Middle East.
Monday
The Center for Strategic and International Studies hosts a discussion on hypersonic missile defense.
Wednesday
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee holds a hearing on the future of arms control and deterrence.
U.S. Space Command, which has been at the center of a high-level political controversy for more than a year, has reached full operational capability in Colorado Springs, CO.
Army Gen. James Dickinson, SPACOM’s commander, declared FOC today during a town hall headquarters meeting.
“Since its establishment in 2019, USSPACECOM has been singularly focused on delivering exquisite capability to the joint force to deter conflict, defend our vital interests, and, if necessary, defeat aggression,” he said. “Thanks to the disciplined initiative of our people and the support of our joint, combined and partnered team, I can confidently say we have reached full operational capability.”
The announcement follows the declaration of Initial Operational Capability on Aug. 24, 2021.
“As the command has matured, challenges to a safe, secure, stable and sustainable space domain have significantly increased,” Dickinson said. “Both the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation are fielding counter space capabilities designed to hold U.S., Allied and partner space assets at risk. And North Korea and Iran are in the early stages of developing their space enterprise.”
But Congress, in a controversy that has pitted Republican lawmakers against one another, remains at odds over SPACECOM’s headquarters location.
The newly approved fiscal year 2024 defense authorization bill blocked funding for further SPACECOM headquarters construction until June 30, 2024, pending reviews by the Government Accountability Office and Defense Department inspector general, which have been directed to review the Biden administration’s selection of Colorado Springs over Huntsville, AL.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL) -- and the rest of the Alabama congressional delegation -- has said he wants to further investigate why a Trump administration decision to locate SPACECOM in his home state of Alabama was reversed by President Biden.
Meanwhile, Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO), chairman of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, released a statement praising SPACECOM’s work.
“This achievement continues to show that Colorado Springs is the right location for USSPACECOM for our nation’s readiness,” he said.
Dickinson, in the SPACECOM announcement, thanked the “Colorado Springs community for their continued support of our mission and our service members and their families.”
This Friday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the potential damage a full-year continuing resolution would wreak on major defense acquisition programs, the Pentagon's artificial intelligence efforts, AUKUS provisions in the FY-24 defense policy bill and more.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. C.Q. Brown, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth and Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall each sent separate letters to Senate appropriators this week, warning of the damage a full-year continuing resolution would do to the U.S. military:
Pentagon leaders tally potential devastation from a full-year CR
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and other senior Pentagon leaders have sent Senate appropriators five separate letters detailing the damage that a first-ever, full-year continuing resolution would visit upon thousands of U.S. weapons programs, resulting in a possible 4.1% across-the-board budget cut.
Document: DOD letters to Congress on yearlong CR
Leveraging technology, like generative AI, requires an entire organizational effort, according to a senior Defense Department official:
DOD working on responsibly integrating generative AI across department
A senior Pentagon official in the chief digital and artificial intelligence office detailed what areas of emerging technology the office is focusing on in attempts to leverage AI usage across the Defense Department.
More on AI:
Air Force official: AI isn't going to create 'Robocop'-like systems that make attack decisions
While artificial intelligence systems may carry out lethal missions, humans will still be the decision-makers, according to a top adviser to the Air Force secretary.
The fiscal year 2024 defense policy conference bill, approved by both the House and Senate this week, includes several AUKUS-focused provisions requested by the Pentagon earlier this year:
Courtney: Authorization bill delivers 'core authorities' for AUKUS
The fiscal year 2024 defense authorization bill contains the "core authorities" needed for AUKUS implementation, according to Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT), who highlighted provisions in the bill that would grant Australia and the United Kingdom a partial exemption to export control laws and designate the two nations as "domestic sources" under the Defense Production Act.
The Navy's top civilian spoke this week at the National Defense Industrial Association's Naval Nuclear Submarine and Aircraft Carrier Suppliers Conference:
Del Toro: 'Imperative' to retake top maritime power spot from China
The Navy must take decisive action to lessen China's domination over maritime power, according to Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro.
The compromise version of the fiscal year 2024 defense policy bill authorizes $433 million for MDA’s Hypersonic Defense, in what has become a ritual for the project where the Pentagon proposes a nominal amount for the project and then seeks a substantial increase -- which Congress supports -- in an unfunded priority list:
Congress doubles hypersonic defense funding, directs six-year acceleration
Lawmakers have more than doubled authorized spending for hypersonic defense in fiscal year 2024, fully funding the Missile Defense Agency's off-budget wish to add $225 million to the Pentagon's $208 million formal request and directing an accelerated development and fielding plan for the Glide Phase Interceptor.
Gen. James Rainey, the commanding general of Army Futures Command, spoke this week at a breakfast hosted by the Association of the United States Army:
Futures Command head says rifle squads should be more mobile, survivable and lethal
Army infantry rifle squads need to become more mobile, lethal and survivable on the battlefield, according to a top general.
A Marine was killed after an Amphibious Combat Vehicle rolled over during land-based training at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, CA, on Tuesday evening, according to a service announcement.
Fourteen other embarked Marines -- all members of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit -- were taken to hospitals for evaluation and treatment following the accident. As of Thursday evening, one Marine was still in the hospital but was in “good condition,” according to an update from I Marine Expeditionary Force.
The accident, which occurred as the vehicle was “making a ground movement,” is under investigation, the announcements state.
A series of past ACV accidents that occurred during waterborne training prompted the Marine Corps to suspend all exercises involving surf zone transit in October 2022. But unlike these prior incidents, this week’s ACV rollover occurred on land rather than in the water.
In April 2023, the service announced it would establish a new training program within its Assault Amphibian School to retrain and recertify ACV operators, citing operational differences between the legacy Assault Amphibious Vehicle and the newer ACV.
The Marine Corps’ fiscal year 2024 budget request includes $557.5 million for 80 more ACVs and forecasts that procurement will climb to over 100 vehicles in FY-25.
The initial ACV mission role variant, a personnel carrier that can transport 13 embarked Marines, achieved initial operational capability in FY-20. A second ACV variant, designed for command and control, is expected to achieve IOC in the second quarter of FY-24.
(Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect that the Army expects to procure 85 Stryker vehicles during fiscal year 2024.)
The Army is looking to continue production of the latest Stryker vehicle variants, according to a public announcement.
The request for information seeks manufacturers to produce the Stryker DVH A1 armored personnel carrier, which will incorporate “powerpack improvements, chassis modifications to optimize the driveline matched to the upgraded powerpack, electrical power upgrades and in-vehicle network updates,” the announcement reads.
The upgrades sought were previously included when the Army began converting Strykers from the flat-hull to the double-v hull variant, the announcement adds.
Designed in the 2010s, the double-v hull is meant to protect the vehicle from improvised explosive devices and roadside mines, which affected the vehicle during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In November, the Army sought information on integrating hybrid-electric engines into the Stryker. Other requested capabilities included silent watch, exportable power along with heating and cooling systems to reduce fuel consumption.
In October, General Dynamics unveiled the Stryker QB which includes a hybrid-electric engine along with an active protection system, silent watch capabilities and an all-round situational awareness system dubbed “see-though armor.”
Fielded in 2002, the Stryker is the Army’s primary wheeled combat vehicle and can be deployed by aircraft. The vehicle has 18 variants that include an infantry carrier, reconnaissance vehicle, mortar carrier and numerous others.
The Army previously procured the Stryker Mobile Gun System, a variant fitted with a 105mm gun, but performance and engineering issues prompted the service to divest from the vehicle. The vehicle will eventually be replaced by the M10 Booker.
General Dynamics currently holds the production contract for the vehicle through June 9, 2025, the announcement adds.
The Army expects to procure 85 Stryker vehicles during fiscal year 2024, according to Defense Department budget documents.
This Thursday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on space-based missile defense, Navy munition stocks, the potential for a Space National Guard and more.
The compromise version of the fiscal year 2024 defense policy bill calls for the Missile Defense Agency director to commission an “Independent Analysis of Space-Based Missile Defense Capability,” directing the Institute for Defense Analyses to update a 2011 study on the subject:
Space-based interceptors set for new 'independent' assessment; IDA to update 2011 study
The potential for space-based missile defense capabilities -- including orbiting interceptors -- will get another serious assessment in 2024, more than 40 years after President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative and nearly six years after the Pentagon last explored the matter, this time at Congress' direction.
After the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act included new language directing the Navy to engage in “the peacetime promotion of the national security interests and prosperity of the United States" in addition to preparing for future conflict, the Navy tasked the Center for Naval Analyses with formulating recommendations to better prepare the service for this strategic competition:
CNA: Navy must prioritize munition stocks, arm surface fleet for strategic competition
A new report from the Center for Naval Analyses advises the Navy to increase its munition stocks and arm its existing surface fleet with more weapons, sensors and other technology to more effectively contend with China in an era of heightened strategic competition.
The fiscal year 2024 defense policy bill, approved by the House and Senate this week and on its way to the White House for presidential signature, would call on the defense secretary to make a recommendation on whether to establish a National Guard component of the Space Force:
Congress would order studies on Air Force force design and Space National Guard
Congress is set to order the Air Force to come up with a force design detailing what both the Air and Space Forces will look like through 2050.
The Air Force Scientific Advisory Board will be conducting studies slated for 2024 on "Enhancing Operational Security," "Protecting Critical Technology," "Winning Strategic Competitions" and "War Winning Weapons":
AFSAB to study weapons quality and quantity ahead of potential near-peer conflict
The Air Force Scientific Advisory Board will assess whether the service has the quality and quantity of weapons needed to win in a conflict with a near-peer adversary.
Document: AFSAB terms or reference for 2024 studies
A new Defense Innovation Unit project attempts to strengthen DOD's energy supply chains, solve source dependency challenges and improve lithium battery life cycle through partnerships across the DOD and service branches that will implement commercial technology into DOD soldier-portable systems, ground vehicles and aviation:
DIU awards companies to prototype 'standard aviation batteries' in line with DOD's lithium battery strengthening initiative
The Defense Innovation Unit awarded contracts to five companies to prototype standard aviation batteries to combat energy source needs through the Defense Department's Family of Advanced Standard Batteries (FAStBat) project, which integrates commercially available lithium battery technologies across the Pentagon.
The House voted 310-118 to pass the fiscal year 2024 defense authorization bill, sending it to President Biden to be signed into law for the 63rd consecutive year.
The 3,000-page bill, which authorizes $886 billion in total national defense spending, contains numerous provisions related to the military, as well as the extension of a controversial federal surveillance law until April that stirred opposition among many lawmakers.
Democrats provided 163 votes to pass the bill, while Republicans cast 147 in favor of it. But the GOP also cast 73 votes against the bill, while 45 Democrats voted in opposition.
The Senate voted to pass the bill last night 87-13.
Though the bill authorizes funding, Congress is set to adjourn for the remainder of the year without having passed a final package that would actually appropriate funds for the Defense Department or other government agencies.
The Senate voted 87-13 today to approve the compromise version of the fiscal year 2024 defense authorization bill.
The House is expected to pass the bill tomorrow, sending it to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law.
The annual bill, among numerous other things, authorizes $886 billion in total defense spending for FY-24. Congress, however, must still pass a final spending bill to appropriate the funds.
Nickolas Guertin, who was first nominated in September 2022, has been confirmed as Navy assistant secretary for research, development and acquisition.
Guertin, who previously served as director of operational test and evaluation, was one of more than 400 nominations that had been blocked by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL).
This Wednesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on a Defense Innovation Unit project to develop prototype batteries, the Army's Unified Network Operations (UNO) plan, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program and more.
A new Defense Innovation Unit project attempts to strengthen DOD's energy supply chains, solve source dependency challenges and improve lithium battery life cycle through partnerships across the DOD and service branches that will implement commercial technology into DOD soldier-portable systems, ground vehicles and aviation:
DIU awards companies to prototype 'standard aviation batteries' in line with DOD's lithium battery strengthening initiative
The Defense Innovation Unit awarded contracts to five companies to prototype standard aviation batteries to combat energy source needs through the Defense Department's Family of Advanced Standard Batteries (FAStBat) project, which integrates commercially available lithium battery technologies across the Pentagon.
Inside Defense is covering the Army's Technical Exchange Meeting 11 in Savannah, GA that focuses on the service's network design efforts:
Army gears up for competitive prototyping in Unified Network Operations
SAVANNAH, GA -- Fiscal year 2024 figures to be an eventful year for the Army's Unified Network Operations (UNO) plan, as it moves into the competitive prototyping phase and eventually toward a downselect.
Senior DOD officials testified on Capitol Hill this week on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program:
F-35 engine upgrade program would run out of funds in February under CR
Funding for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Engine Core Upgrade program will run out after February 2024 if Congress doesn't pass a budget with the funding requested to ramp up the program, Program Executive Officer Lt. Gen. Michael Schmidt told lawmakers Tuesday.
Document: House hearing on the F-35 program
The Missile Defense Agency plans a preliminary design review of Northrop Grumman's Next Generation Interceptor proposal -- the company is partnered with Raytheon for the estimated $17 billion contest -- in January:
Major MDA technical review of Northrop-Raytheon NGI design set for January
The Defense Department plans next month to conduct the second of two major technical reviews for the Next Generation Interceptor competition, assessing Northrop Grumman's design and select components for a homeland defense guided-missile prototype after completing a similar review in October of the same for Lockheed Martin.
Space Systems Command this week issued a request for information on refueling and mobility for dynamic space operations:
SSC seeks industry inputs to advance Combat Space Mobility concepts
Space Systems Command is seeking industry assistance to identify potential capabilities and technologies to advance Combat Space Mobility, according to a notice posted yesterday that aligns with operational imperatives introduced by Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall.
The Defense Department has announced a $200 million aid package to Ukraine, coinciding with a Washington visit from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The capabilities in the package, funded via presidential drawdown authority, include:
DOD says it has around $4.5 billion in transfer authority remaining from Congress but only $1 billion to replenish U.S. weapons being sent to Ukraine.
Meanwhile, a $106 billion national security supplemental spending package remains stalled as Congress prepares to adjourn until January.
The Marine Corps is preparing to publish a new information doctrine that will provide an implementation strategy to elevate information as a warfighting function, according to Deputy Commandant for Information Lt. Gen. Matthew Glavy.
The service is in the “final stages” of assembling the new document, Doctrinal Publication 8-10, and will release it in approximately 30 days, Glavy said Monday at the Association of Old Crows annual symposium.
In June 2022, the Marine Corps published Doctrinal Publication 8, Information, produced as part of the Force Design 2030 effort and informed by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The document outlined multiple forms of information advantage -- including technological overmatch and force resiliency -- that Marines can achieve by applying information as a warfighting function.
While this original doctrine delivered a high-level discussion of the topic, the forthcoming follow-up will provide a more concrete implementation game plan, Glavy explained.
“MCDP-8 was a cognitive discussion, more of a discussion than educational,” he said. “So, 8-10 gets into the practical application.”
“We’re in the final stages -- 30 days,” he added. “The reviews and publications always take a little longer than expected, but 30 days.”
This Tuesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on nuclear command, control and communications provisions in the fiscal year 2024 defense policy conference bill, an Air Force investigation into the leaks of classified information on the Discord social media platform and more.
In the section of the fiscal year 2024 defense authorization conference bill that would establish nuclear command, control and communications as a major force program, Congress would also require the Defense Department to submit budget materials on the program each year, including comparisons to the prior year and assessments of significant changes, priorities and risks:
Congress would designate NC3 as major force program
Congress would order the Defense Department to make nuclear command, control and communications a major force program and establish a team for cyber defenses of that program, according to the defense policy conference bill text released last week.
The Air Force inspector general this week released a report on the leaks of classified information on the Discord social media site:
Air Force IG: Inconsistent guidance on information security contributed to Discord leaks
If proper security reporting protocol had been followed, the Air National Guardsman charged with allegedly leaking classified documents could have been stopped months before his arrest in April, the Air Force inspector general found.
Document: Air Force IG report on Discord leaks
"Non-kinetic" effects are forces and capabilities used in warfare that do not need physical force to operate, like cyberspace operations and information strategies:
DOD updates non-kinetic force development goals laid out in the 2023 NDAA
The Defense Department is making progress on a congressional request to integrate "non-kinetic" forces into military situations, as requested by the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, as the year wraps up and House and Senate lawmakers agree to an FY-24 defense policy bill.
The Missile Defense Agency conducted a successful Ground-based Midcourse Defense system intercept test this week:
New '2-/3-stage GBI' intercepts target, breaking nearly 5-year 'strategic pause' in GMD testing
A new variant of the Ground-based Interceptor successfully stopped an intermediate-range ballistic missile today over the Pacific Ocean using a booster that utilized only two of three available rocket stages -- demonstrating the ability to release the kill vehicle earlier, significantly expanding both the engagement area and time available to counter inbound threats.
Our colleagues at Inside Cybersecurity this week chatted with the head of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies on the cyber provisions in the FY-24 conference bill:
FDD's Montgomery evaluates cyber provisions in compromise defense policy bill package
Mark Montgomery of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies struck a positive tone on the House-Senate compromise version of the fiscal year 2024 defense authorization bill, while noting that some cyber provisions didn’t make the final cut.
The Marine Corps is planning a virtual industry day for its Advanced Reconnaissance Vehicle as the program continues progressing through a prototype assessment phase, according to a Tuesday announcement.
The industry day is scheduled for Feb. 29 and will take place via a virtual platform, the notice states, adding that more information on the event will be posted to SAM.gov “on or about” Jan. 19.
The notice was released by Army Contracting Command, which is serving as the ARV contracting authority on behalf of the Marine Corps’ program manager for Light Armored Vehicles.
Since early fiscal year 2023, the Marine Corps has been testing ARV prototypes produced by contractors General Dynamics Land Systems, Textron Systems and BAE Systems in a competitive prototype assessment phase that is now expected to stretch into FY-26.
The service plans to add an additional ARV mission role variant -- equipped with a 30mm gun and turret -- to this assessment. Only two contracts for ARV-30 prototypes will be awarded, according to a service spokesperson, who said this approach “supports the Marine Corps decision to pursue a purpose-built ARV solution.”
The program office plans to publish a request for proposals in the second quarter of FY-25 to advance the program into the engineering and manufacturing development phase, with a contract award anticipated in the second quarter of FY-26.
The Marine Corps’ FY-24 budget request includes $63.6 million in research and development funding for the program.
Army Special Operations Aviation Command has awarded Boeing a $271 million contract to produce six remanufactured MH-47G Block II Chinook helicopters, the company announced today. The contract is part of the Army's modernization push, according to Boeing.
The contract was awarded through a “noncompetitive modification to an existing delivery order,” according to a Dec. 8 Pentagon notice. Work is expected to be completed by May 2027.
Boeing’s Block II fleet have redesigned fuel tanks, a stronger fuselage and an improved drivetrain, according to the company. Boeing delivered the first MH-47G Block II to SOCOM in September 2020.
Heather McBryan, Boeing’s vice president and program manager for cargo programs, said in a statement Monday that “with the new and improved MH-47G Block II aircraft, USASOAC is not only receiving the most capable Chinook helicopter, they are also provided the flexibility to add additional upgrades as their needs evolve over time.”
The Army is also scheduled to decide on a CH-47F Block II procurement strategy by the end of this calendar year. As of Monday there were no updates, according to the service’s Program Executive Office for Aviation.