The Insider

The Defense and Commerce departments have signed a memorandum of agreement to expand collaboration to strengthen the U.S. semiconductor defense industrial base.

"The agreement will increase information sharing between the departments to facilitate close coordination on the CHIPS for America's incentives program, ensuring that their respective investments position the U.S. to produce semiconductor chips essential to national security and defense programs," a joint statement issued today reads.

"This agreement is an important step forward in increasing the capacity and resiliency of our domestic semiconductor industrial base," Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy Laura Taylor-Kale, who signed the MOA on behalf of DOD, said in the statement. "It is essential for DOD and DOC to consult one another to ensure we are making complementary investments that support a robust semiconductor industrial base. Both departments are working together to expand domestic semiconductor production capacity in a coordinated fashion."

By aligning priorities and decision-making, the MOA "will enable a more synchronized approach to promoting a robust and resilient semiconductor supply chain," according to DOD. "Specific areas of consultation identified in the MOA include sharing information on the semiconductor needs of the Defense Industrial Base, the investment priorities of DOD and each military service, the existing and planned investments to sustain mature and legacy chip capabilities for current defense programs, and funding to support emerging technologies that are critical to future U.S. national security programs."

The Biden administration has nominated Lt. Gen. Christopher Mahoney to serve as the next assistant Marine Corps commandant, according to a Tuesday announcement.

If confirmed, Mahoney, who currently serves as the deputy commandant for programs and resources, would succeed Gen. Eric Smith as the Marine Corps’ No. 2 officer.

Mahoney is a graduate of the Naval Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) and has served as the deputy commander of Marine Forces Pacific, the director of strategy and plans at Headquarters Marine Corps, the deputy commander of United States Forces, Japan and the commanding general of 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, according to his official biography.

In the Senate, Mahoney’s nomination faces a blockade by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) who is holding up all Defense Department nominations and promotions over opposition to the Pentagon’s leave and travel reimbursement policies for servicemembers seeking abortion services.

Following the retirement of the Marine Corps’ previous commandant, Gen. David Berger, Smith is serving as "acting commandant" while his nomination awaits official Senate approval.

On July 18, the Space Force awarded 16 indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contracts for proliferated low earth orbit satellite-based services, Space Systems Command announced yesterday.

Proliferating satellite communication services in LEO is part of an overall DOD strategy to leverage resilience by diversifying orbits, the command noted.

“The face value of this action is $32,000 (a $2000 minimum guarantee to each contractor) funded by no year defense working capital funds, with a total cumulative face value of $900 million,” the announcement reads.

Unlike having a traditional one contract per mission, awarding multiple partners/multiple award contracts model is the “transformational strategy,” according to Clare Hopper, chief of SSC’s commercial satellite communications office.

While this strategy is a first for government SATCOM procurement, it guarantees to deliver capabilities to the warfighter faster at low cost and also enables the government and industry to collaborate easily and take advantage of rapid innovation in the commercial SATCOM sector.

“We continue to see game-changing advances in commercial SATCOM,” Col. Richard Kniseley, senior material leader of SSC’s commercial space office, said.

The contracts awarded by the Defense Information Systems Agency will cover the scope of service capability development based on satellites in LEO, not limited to high-speed broadband, synthetic aperture radar imaging, space domain awareness and alternative positioning, navigation and timing, the command said.

The contracts were awarded by DISA through the Commercial Satellite Communications Office, a central marketplace for SATCOM services operated by SSC, a field command of the U.S. Space Force, according to the announcement.

The command said 25 proposals were received from this full and open competition notified on sam.gov, out of which 16 were selected.

This Tuesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on an upcoming Navy-Marine Corps exercise, upgrades to the Missile Defense Agency's Command and Control, Battle Management and Communications (C2BMC) system and more.

We start off with coverage of a major upcoming Navy-Marine Corps exercise:

Navy, Marine Corps practice global coordination with LSE 2023

The Navy and Marine Corps are gearing up for a large-scale exercise that will test their ability to synchronize global operations, from fleetwide maneuvers down to the individual actions of sailors and Marines, through a mix of live and virtual training.

The Missile Defense Agency is rolling out a new upgrade of the Command and Control, Battle Management and Communications (C2BMC) system:

Select missile defense radars beginning additional new mission: tracking space objects

Next month, the U.S. military will begin bringing online enhanced, dynamic space capabilities that allow select sea- and land-based radars originally designed for ballistic missile defense missions to simultaneously conduct the new task of tracking orbiting objects to help fill gaps in the Space Force's Space Surveillance Network.

More cyber defense coverage from our colleagues at Inside Cybersecurity:

DOD, agencies raise concerns over tailored controls in proposed NIST CUI publication update

The program office behind the Pentagon's cyber certification program and civilian agencies are identifying issues over the use of "organization-defined parameters" in the latest draft update to NIST Special Publication 800-171, a foundational document on the handling of controlled unclassified information.

Lawmakers attempt to add FISMA reform, open-source software measures into defense policy bill

Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Gary Peters (D-MI) and Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) have offered a package of cyber bills for inclusion in the fiscal year 2024 defense authorization bill, including legislation to reform the Federal Information Security Modernization Act and address other cyber priorities, as work continues this week to pass the Senate's version of the major defense policy bill.

PSC seeks closer alignment of NIST CUI publication with other cyber procurement requirements

The Professional Services Council wants the National Institute of Standards and Technology to consider how to align NIST's foundational guidance on handling controlled unclassified information with other cyber procurement requirements, including the Pentagon's cyber certification program.

The Defense Department today announced a $400 million rapid transfer of U.S. weapons to Ukraine.

The package, funded via presidential “drawdown” authority, includes:

• Additional munitions for Patriot air defense systems and National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS);
• Stinger anti-aircraft systems;
• Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS);
• 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds;
• 120mm and 60mm mortar rounds;
• 32 Stryker Armored Personnel Carriers;
• Tube-Launched, Optically Tracked, Wire-Guided (TOW) missiles;
• Javelin and other anti-armor systems and rockets;
• Hornet Unmanned Aerial Systems;
• Hydra-70 aircraft rockets;
• Tactical air navigation systems;
• Demolitions munitions for obstacle clearing;
• Over 28 million rounds of small arms ammunition and grenades;
• Night vision devices and thermal imagery systems; and
• Spare parts, training munitions, and other field equipment.

The action is the 43rd drawdown of U.S. equipment for Ukraine since August 2021.

The weapons shipment comes as Ukraine continues to deploy forces in a counteroffensive against Russia.

The Space Force plans to launch at least 80 missions --30 missions for Lane 1 and 56 missions for Lane 2 -- under space launch acquisitions Phase III from fiscal year 2025 to FY-29, according to a recent industry day briefing.

On July 20-21, the Defense Department hosted an industry day to provide updates on National Security Space Launch’s first draft request for proposals for Lane 1 and Lane 2.

U.S. Space Systems Command stated that the Lane 1 missions would be more risk-tolerant while Lane 2 missions will require full mission assurance, including five Global Positioning System missions and additional National Reconnaissance Office missions.

“[For Lane 2] mission estimate increased from 39 to approx. 58 missions over the FY25-FY29,” the command noted in the briefing.

Further, to increase resiliency and assured access to space, the service has also added a third-launch provider to Lane 2 in the event of a debacle with the Lane 2 provider. The third launch provider will also be awarded seven missions, a move to widen the scope of competition and control cost.

According to the briefing, each launch service provider of Lane 2 will be allotted a cap of $100 million annually for launch service support.

Expanding on the Lane 2 updates to the second draft request for proposals, the briefing noted that from FY-27 DOD will evaluate the system readiness to ensure the NSSL requirements are met.

“Government may find advantageous the use of demonstrated flight data of the proposed system, flight heritage for major subsystems, operationally ready launch facilities and associated infrastructure and other evidence of readiness to meet NSSL requirement,” the briefing states.

Additionally, according to the second draft RFP, Lane 1 would consist of a multiple-award, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract that will have a five-year basic ordering period and a five-year option ordering period.

Adding to it, the command noted that Lane 1 provider can propose multiple launches to meet the 15,000 lbs to low earth orbit minimum requirement and a plan to achieve 1 successful flight within one year of the IDIQ proposal due date.

Inside Defense recently reported that Senate lawmakers have approved an amendment to establish Lane 2A, an additional lane two years into Phase III to increase the competition within the field.

Explaining the advantages of introducing Lane 2A in the briefing, the service said it will provide annual on-ramp opportunities, ensure capability for hard missions and provide additional resiliency through new launch systems.

Space Systems Command is expecting to award a contract for Lane 1 and 2 in the fourth quarter of FY-23.