The Insider

This Thursday INSIDER Daily Digest has more news on how the Pentagon is dealing with the federal government shutdown, plus the latest on U.S.-Japan missile defense cooperation efforts and more.

We start off with further coverage of what the Pentagon is doing in the face of the ongoing government shutdown:

Pentagon to continue to draft its FY-27 budget despite lapse in FY-26 appropriations

The Defense Department will carry on with activities to develop the fiscal year 2027 budget request in the background of the federal government shutdown, a Pentagon official told Inside Defense.

Pentagon looks to continue most acquisition activities as shutdown begins

Congress, unable to reach a compromise on spending, triggered a federal shutdown and a massive furlough of government employees last night. The Defense Department, however, is poised to continue many of its contracting and acquisition activities during the shutdown period.

Army officials recently told Inside Defense in an exclusive interview that the service had doubled the contract savings it reported in fiscal year 2024:

Army contract negotiators notch banner year, delivering $1B in additional buying power

Government negotiators drove hard bargains on behalf of the Army in fiscal year 2025, freeing up over $1 billion in just 10 months -- twice the savings achieved in all of FY-24 -- giving Army Contracting Command at Rock Island Arsenal, IL, which spearheaded the drive, time to push savings even higher.

Over the summer, the Air National Guard submitted a rebuttal to an earlier Air Force report on fighter fleet recapitalization:

ANG proposes fighter recapitalization plan through FY-40 that makes no changes to current FYDP

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD -- The Air National Guard says it has a roadmap to modernize its aging fighter fleet without cutting or changing the mission of active-duty units, countering an all-or-nothing approach the Air Force detailed in a recent report to Congress.

Document: ANG rebuttal to fighter aircraft fleet recapitalization report

News on U.S.-Japan missile defense cooperation efforts:

Lockheed, Japan kick off land-based testing in U.S. of SPY-7 for new Aegis ship

Land-based integration testing of U.S.-supplied equipment for Japan's first Aegis System Equipped Vessel (ASEV) kicked off this month in the United States, a milestone the Ministry of Defense said is aimed at ensuring the shipborne ballistic missile defense system will be fully functional once installed.

The Army wants to refine the architecture of the Integrated Battle Command System to a "smaller and more agile" design, according to a new call for solutions released today.

IBCS, a hallmark piece of the service’s integrated air and missile defense modernization efforts, includes an engagement operations center, integrated fire-control network and integration kits.

In its fiscal year 2026 unfunded priorities wish list, the Army included $118 million for IBCS software development and integration.

The current IBCS system architecture “must evolve to leverage new technologies to enhance survivability, adaptability and supportability on the future battlefield,” the Army’s Program Executive Office for Missiles & Space wrote in Wednesday’s notice.

To make the system more survivable, the Army says, “a smaller and more agile design” is needed, because the current system’s “hardware footprint is characterized by medium tentage with supporting light and medium tactical vehicles and a towed power supply.” This construct limits maneuverability and mobility, according to the service.

IBCS also must evolve to “remain survivable and resilient” against detection capabilities of adversaries, the notice states. Additionally, the design and technology baseline must “be restructured” to accommodate future modernization requirements and rapid technology insertions, according to the Army.

PEO Missiles & Space is seeking solutions for IBCS architecture that have:

• Reduced signature and exposure
• The ability to support mission capability in contested environments
• Reduction of emplacement time
• Modular open systems approach to enable rapid technology insertion
• Ability to quickly integrate new capabilities such as sensors and effectors
• Incremental scaling of capability
• Incorporation of AI and Machine Learning to reduce operator workload

The Army plans to award at least one other transaction for prototype project, according to the notice. Responses to the notice are due Dec. 9.

This Wednesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on how the Pentagon is dealing with the federal government shutdown, Army contract negotiators managing to save $1 billion during the past fiscal year and more.

With the onset of the federal government shutdown, here's a look at what the Defense Department is doing to keep the lights on while some workers wind up staying home:

Pentagon looks to continue most acquisition activities as shutdown begins

Congress, unable to reach a compromise on spending, triggered a federal shutdown and a massive furlough of government employees last night. The Defense Department, however, is poised to continue many of its contracting and acquisition activities during the shutdown period.

Army officials recently told Inside Defense in an exclusive interview that the service had doubled the contract savings it reported in FY-24 -- $528 million -- an achievement those involved in the effort said resulted from data-driven negotiations and the converting of undefinitized contract actions (UCAs) into final prices lower than initial proposals:

Army contract negotiators notch banner year, delivering $1B in additional buying power

Government negotiators drove hard bargains on behalf of the Army in fiscal year 2025, freeing up over $1 billion in just 10 months -- twice the savings achieved in all of FY-24 -- giving Army Contracting Command at Rock Island Arsenal, IL, which spearheaded the drive, time to push savings even higher.

Over the summer, the Air National Guard submitted a rebuttal to an earlier Air Force report on fighter fleet recapitalization:

ANG proposes fighter recapitalization plan through FY-40 that makes no changes to current FYDP

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD -- The Air National Guard says it has a roadmap to modernize its aging fighter fleet without cutting or changing the mission of active-duty units, countering an all-or-nothing approach the Air Force detailed in a recent report to Congress.

Document: ANG rebuttal to fighter aircraft fleet recapitalization report

News on U.S.-Japan missile defense cooperation efforts:

Lockheed, Japan kick off land-based testing in U.S. of SPY-7 for new Aegis ship

Land-based integration testing of U.S.-supplied equipment for Japan's first Aegis System Equipped Vessel (ASEV) kicked off this month in the United States, a milestone the Ministry of Defense said is aimed at ensuring the shipborne ballistic missile defense system will be fully functional once installed.

Some Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle news:

BAE links with Forterra on autonomous AMPV, demo planned for 2026

BAE Systems and Forterra plan to show the Army a self-driving Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle next year in an unorthodox prototyping effort designed to quicken development.

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.