The Insider

Defense start-up Epirus announced the delivery of a new counter-drone capability to Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren today -- a system meant to support the Marine Corps.

The Expeditionary Directed Energy Counter-Swarm (ExDECS) system is a derivative of Epirus’s Leonidas Expeditionary system and uses high-power microwaves (HPM) to counter drones.

ExDECS will allow the Marine Corps to “evaluate the benefits of HPM to the Low Altitude Air Defense (LAAD) mission and enhance Ground Based Air Defense (GBAD) capabilities,” according to a company news release.

The system uses the HPM technology platform, which is scalable, and is designed to be able to integrate with light tactical vehicles to bolster air defense capabilities for the expeditionary short range, according to Epirus.

Compared to other counter-drone methods, the technology from Epirus doesn’t hurt the drone, CEO Andy Lowery told Inside Defense. Rather, it “puts such a loud, noisy electromagnetic environment in the atmosphere that the circuits start picking up all of that energy, and they are unable to kind of connect with each other and talk to each other,” he said.

Lowery compared the Epirus technology to the Phalanx Close-In Weapon System -- which detects and destroys incoming missiles and aircraft -- calling it an electromagnetic version with an unlimited magazine.

With one system already delivered to the Office of Naval Research and the Marine Corps, Lowery said Epirus is looking ahead to the next year and the potential purchase of a second system. This system would contain “generation two technology,” which provides about two and a half times the current range for the same package size, he said.

Lowery said ExDECS and other developments from Epirus mark a shift in warfare.

“We have entered into a kind of new phase of warfare, and we have new phases of technology that are emerging, and this is one of them,” he said. “This is truly like a consumer electronic force field, where all kinds of critical assets could be kind of applied to this type of defense that, again, will be known to be one to many.”

We start this Monday INSIDER Daily Digest with a congressional move to inject another $150 billion into Pentagon spending, budget questions are holding up a Space Development Agency program, there’s new missile defense guidance out, and the cost of the U.S. nuclear effort has increased by $190 billion.

Republicans are rolling out a multibillion-dollar budget reconciliation package:

Republicans unveil bill to lift defense by $150B

Congressional Republicans have released a budget reconciliation bill that would increase defense spending in the coming years by $150 billion, updating a previous draft proposal with new investment amounts.

The bill, which will be considered by the House Armed Services Committee, would provide:

• $33.7 billion for shipbuilding
• 24.7B for the Golden Dome missile defense system
• $20.4 billion for munitions
• $13.5 billion for “innovation”
• $12.9 billion for nuclear deterrence
• $11.5 billion for military readiness
• $11.1 billion for Pacific deterrence
• $8.5 billion for military quality of life
• $7.2 billion for aircraft
• $5 billion for border security
• $2 billion for military intelligence
• $380 million for the Pentagon audit

Uncertainty over budget guidance has paused an SDA project:

SDA pauses Tranche 3 solicitation amid budget uncertainty

The Space Development Agency won’t release the solicitation for its Tranche 3 Transport Layer Upsilon variant this month as planned, the agency announced Friday, delaying the program “until SDA receives further budgetary guidance.”

The Missile Defense Agency has been given new guidance:

New missile defense directive rolls back 2020 guidance, introduces tech 'off ramps'

The Pentagon has issued a sweeping update to its missile defense acquisition governance, restoring core authorities to the Missile Defense Agency and formally rescinding a 2020 policy that many criticized as slowing innovation.

The Congressional Budget Office takes a look at nuclear program spending:

CBO: 10-year nuclear enterprise costs grow to nearly $950 billion -- up 25% from last report

The U.S. nuclear enterprise will cost $946 billion over the next 10 years, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate released yesterday, an increase of 25% or $190 billion over the previous report issued two years ago.

Congressional Republicans have released a budget reconciliation bill that would increase defense spending in the coming years by $150 billion, updating a previous draft proposal with new investment amounts.

The bill, which will be considered by the House Armed Services Committee, would provide:

• $33.7 billion for shipbuilding
• $24.7 billion for the Golden Dome missile defense system
• $20.4 billion for munitions
• $13.5 billion for “innovation”
• $12.9 billion for nuclear deterrence
• $11.5 billion for military readiness
• $11.1 billion for Pacific deterrence
• $8.5 billion for military quality of life
• $7.2 billion for aircraft
• $5 billion for border security
• $2 billion for military intelligence
• $380 million for the Pentagon audit

The numbers differ from a draft version of the bill shared with reporters last week, with the most significant changes coming to shipbuilding, with a $4.7 billion increase, and Golden Dome, seeing a $2.3 billion decrease.

Republican chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees praised the defense portion of the reconciliation bill, which will be incorporated into a larger legislative package that does not need Democratic votes to pass.

“This legislation is a historic investment of $150 billion to restore America’s military capabilities and strengthen our national defense,” House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL) said.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) said the bill is a “generational upgrade” in military capability.

“This is about building the future of American defense, achieving peace through strength, and ultimately deterring war,” he said.

Meanwhile, Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), said he does not support the bill -- despite many areas of bipartisan agreement -- because the GOP’s overall reconciliation package will attempt to pay for tax cuts and defense investments by cutting important social programs.

“This legislation would increase defense spending by $150 billion through a partisan budget reconciliation gimmick," he said. "It will be paid for by devastating cuts that can only come from critical programs like Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and student loan and grant programs at the Department of Education. And to add insult to injury, this will all be part of a legislative package that provides $4.5 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthy but does nothing to lower costs for American families.”

The House committee is scheduled to convene Tuesday morning to consider the bill.

Meanwhile, shipbuilding highlights include:

• $5.4 billion for two DDG-51 destroyers
• $4.6 billion for a second Virginia-class submarine in fiscal year 2027
• $3.7 billion for the Landing Helicopter Assault (LHA) type amphibious assault ship program
• $2.7 billion for the T-AO oiler
• $2.1 billion for the the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock program.

Key aircraft program investments include:

• $3.15 billion for the F-15EX
• $678 million for Collaborative Combat Aircraft
• $500 million to accelerate the F/A-XX
• $474 million for EA-37Bs
• $400 million for C-130Js
• $400 million for the F-47
• $100 million got the MQ-25.

Golden Dome investments include:

• $7.2 billion for space-based sensors
• $5.6 billion for space-based intercept technology
• $2.4 billion for “non-kinetic” missile defense
• $2.2 billion for hypersonic missile defense
• $2 billion for air moving target indicator satellites
• $1.9 billion for ground-based
• $800 million for next-generation ICBM defense.

Other key investments include:

• $11.1 billion for the unfunded priorities list of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command
• $4.5 billion for the B-21 bomber
• $2 billion for the Defense Innovation Unit to scale commercial technology for military use
• $2 billion for a nuclear sea-launched cruise missile
• $1.5 billion for the Sentinel ICBM replacement program.

This Friday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the proposed reconciliation bill purportedly due out later today that will include billions in extra defense spending, plus coverage of the Navy canceling $300 million worth of information technology contracts it deems unnecessary and more.

Keep an eye out later today for the draft text of the proposed reconciliation bill that will include billions in extra spending for the Defense Department:

GOP begins work on $150B defense package for reconciliation bill

Republicans on the House and Senate Armed Services committees working on the defense section of the GOP's upcoming reconciliation bill are set to unveil a $150 billion multiyear spending package that injects money into about a dozen different areas, including shipbuilding, Golden Dome missile defense, aircraft and more.

The Navy is canceling "IT contracts that are ineffective and over-budget" as well as "45 grants and awards funding non-essential activities like studying the 'population consequences of the disturbance of humpback whales in the context of climate change'":

Navy cancels DOGE-selected IT contracts and other awards, claiming $300 million cost savings

The Navy is canceling almost $300 million worth of grants, awards and IT contracts identified as wasteful by the "Department of Government Efficiency," Navy Secretary John Phelan announced via X on Thursday night, marking the first publicly announced DOGE-related cuts within the sea service.

Senior L3Harris executives spoke about the company's quarterly earnings this week:

CEO: L3Harris could have global MW/MT coverage for Golden Dome within Trump's term

L3Harris could provide the U.S. with global missile warning/missile tracking coverage for President Trump's proposed Golden Dome initiative within four years, CEO Chris Kubasik said today, if the Defense Department moves quickly on contracting.

Air Force Maj. Gen. Joseph Kunkel spoke this week at an Air and Space Forces Association event:

DOD budget reprioritization will be 'good for the Air Force,' two-star general says

While the Air Force submitted its proposed 8% of cuts for the Defense Department to reprioritize, the service's director of force design, integration and wargaming today said that funding shifts would likely benefit the Air Force.

Keep an eye out for an upcoming hypersonic flight test sometime before the end of the calendar year:

Rocket Lab tapped for project to accelerate pace of hypersonic flight testing

Rocket Lab will launch the first full-scale hypersonic flight test under the Pentagon's $1.45 billion program to upgrade test infrastructure, a major move to expand the Defense Department's limited hypersonic testing capacity.

The Army intends to produce up to 19,002 rockets annually for the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System starting in Fiscal Year 2028, and continuing through FY-32, according to a sources-sought notice posted today.

The notice asks for white papers “regarding the capabilities, past similar experience and technical approach” to producing all variants of GMLRS at the rate of 19,002 rockets per year, with deliveries to begin in February 2030. Over the five fiscal years between FY-28 and FY32, the Army would produce a total of up to 95,000 rockets, according to the schedule laid out in the notice.

Variants of GMLRS include the unitary warhead, which “provides precision strike with low collateral damage” as well as the alternative warhead variant that uses “pre-formed penetrators.” The extended-range version of GMLRS can carry either the unitary or alternative warhead variant, and doubles the maximum range from 70 to 150 km.

Responses to the notice are due May 8.

In the FY-23 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress gave the Pentagon multiyear procurement authorities for a host of weapon systems in response to the Ukraine-Russia war, including GMLRS.

Last September, former Army acquisition czar Doug Bush said the current GMLRS contract would convert to a multiyear in calendar year 2025. At that time, Bush said the Army was in the process of getting to a production rate of 14,000 per year.

Textron President and CEO Scott Donnelly says so far, President Trump's tariffs have not had a material impact on the company.

“I think the tariff issue is one everyone is talking about,” Donnelly told investors in a first-quarter earnings call this morning. “I would say when you look at our businesses, our largest businesses in the aviation space, whether it’s fixed-wing or rotorcraft, we are principally a North American manufacturer. The vast majority of that manufacturing is in the United States.”

Textron has operations in Mexico and Canada, but Donnelly said in their case the compliance with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade pact means they don’t have to worry about tariffs as goods cross those nations’ borders.

USMCA-compliant goods will not see a tariff while non-USMCA compliant imports from Canada and Mexico are subject to a 25% tariff, according to an April 2 White House fact sheet.

Textron subsidiary Bell experienced first-quarter revenues that were up $256 million, or 35%, compared with the first quarter of 2024. Donnelly said this was largely due to strong growth in military and commercial product lines, with the military growth being fueled by progress on the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft.

“As we progress through the FLRAA program, the focus this year includes design maturation and deliverables toward subsystem and weapon system critical design review, our next major program milestone,” he said.

In spite of the full-year continuing resolution for fiscal year 2025 that was passed recently, Donnelly said FLRAA came out looking OK, appropriation-wise.

“When you look at this full-year CR, which is obviously a very unusual situation, there were quite a few so-called amendments that provided specific guidance that allowed programs to increase. FLRAA’s a good example. That was in there at the number we always expected in terms of the appropriation process. So that’s why you’re seeing this ramp on the FLRAA side,” he said.

This Wednesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news from Lockheed Martin's and General Dynamics' quarterly earnings, plus an interview with the Army's chief technology officer and more.

Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics executives discussed their first-quarter earnings this week:

Lockheed Martin will not protest NGAD decision, will focus instead on enhancing F-35

Lockheed Martin will not protest the Air Force's recent decision to award Boeing a contract to build the F-47 Next Generation Air Dominance platform, CEO Jim Taiclet told investors.

General Dynamics still waiting for past CR's supplemental shipbuilding funding

General Dynamics has yet to receive supplemental shipbuilding money approved by recent continuing resolutions, while the long-delayed awards for 10 block VI Virginia-class submarines and five build II Columbia-class vessels still appear distant, company executives said during their 2025 first-quarter earnings call.

Inside Defense interviewed the Army's chief technology officer this week:

FY-26 budget relook means potential program cancellations for Army

The Army doesn't plan to shave small slices of funding across its programs to account for the Pentagon's 8% shakeup of the fiscal year 2026 budget; instead, "there’s going to be things that stop," according to Alex Miller, the Army’s chief technology officer.

A new facility, housed in Camden, AR, will address the last step of artillery round production: 155mm shells will get filled with explosive materials, assembled and packed for shipping:

Army to augment 155mm production with new Arkansas facility

The Army has taken another step toward modernizing its industrial base by cutting the ribbon with General Dynamics on a load, assembly and pack facility (LAP) for 155mm rounds, bringing the service closer to its goal of producing 100,000 rounds per month, according to an April 22 press release.

The Army began its "Transforming in Contact" initiative about a year ago as a way to allow soldiers to test out new technology in theater and give real-time feedback:

Army force design update to follow first iteration of 'Transforming in Contact'

The first version of the Army's "Transforming in Contact" initiative will be followed by a force design update that will impact the service's modified table of organization and equipment, or MTOE, according to Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Mingus.