The Insider

The White House released a National Spectrum Strategy today, aiming to structure the future of U.S. innovation and national security requirements in advanced wireless technologies.

“My administration’s goal is to accelerate United States leadership in wireless communications and other spectrum-based technologies and to unlock innovations that benefit the American people, while ensuring necessary access to spectrum for agencies and private-sector users, such as for scientific, public safety, critical infrastructure, and national security uses, now and into the future,” President Biden wrote in a Presidential memorandum released today.

The White House outlined “four pillars” for advancing this goal in the National Spectrum Strategy released today.

The first pillar calls for “a spectrum pipeline to ensure U.S. leadership in advanced and emerging technologies.” This includes a two-year-long study of 2,786 megahertz of spectrum for potential repurposing and the creation of guiding principles from stakeholders and data analysts on near-term allocation.

The second pillar advocates for collaboration across private stakeholders and government agencies to deliver a long-term plan that will aid developing spectrum needs.

The third pillar cites the need for innovative spectrum technologies and techniques, like spectrum sharing, to be used in technology management and development. Through this, the White House plans to establish spectrum testbeds, create a National Spectrum Research and Development plan and support private sector R&D over the next 12-18 months.

The fourth pillar plans to broaden national spectrum awareness and focuses on implementing a national spectrum workforce plan and educating the public and policymakers to widen spectrum knowledge.

The memo also directs the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to work with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Interagency Spectrum Advisory Council, which the memo also established for agency heads to communicate, to create a strategy that is a “roadmap to make spectrum resources available,” has data-driven processes, spectrum management optimization plans, emerging technological advancements in spectrum management plans and recommendations for developing a managed shared spectrum across the federal government.

The memo gives the NTIA 90 days to publish a charter for the Council and the commerce secretary until 120 days after submission of the strategy to create and publish an implementation plan for the strategy.

“The policy of my administration is to ensure that spectrum management, usage, and allocation decisions are coordinated, consistent, and reflect the needs and diverse missions of agencies and non-federal users,” Biden wrote in the memo.

Senior Pentagon officials are scheduled to speak at several events this week. Meanwhile, if Congress doesn't act, the federal government is slated to shut down upon the expiration of a stopgap continuing resolution that runs through Friday.

Monday

The Mitchell Institute hosts a discussion with the 16th Air Force's commander for cyber.

The Center for a New American Security hosts a discussion with Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall.

Tuesday

The Politico Defense Summit is held in Washington.

The Intel Public Sector Summit takes place in Washington.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies hosts a discussion with the director of the Joint Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office.

Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the Biden administration's Afghanistan policy since the U.S. withdrawal.

Wednesday

The Mitchell Institute hosts a discussion with the acting chief of Air Force Futures.

The Atlantic Council hosts a discussion with Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman.

Friday

The federal government will shut down at midnight if Congress doesn't pass another temporary funding measure.

The Army has released a request for information with the goal of soliciting feedback from industry on the fulfillment of future joint fires trainer (JFT) and use of force (UoF) capabilities.

JFT and UoF are capabilities that are part of the Soldier Virtual Trainer system, the RFI notes. The Soldier Virtual Trainer System “will increase the quality and quantity of realistic training task repetitions, accelerate and sustaining soldier skill target acquisition and increase soldier lethality and unit readiness.” Awards for the SVT “core,” which is the centralized hardware and software that supports the capabilities, have already been issued, the RFI notes.

The JFT capability will replace the Army’s legacy training device, Call for Fire Trainer III, which is almost at the end of its life cycle. The JFT capability will use “advanced technology while maximizing soldier participation and throughput in joint fires training.”

The UoF capability is needed because the Army Military Police currently do not have a program of record for training the force, the RFI states. The Army is asking for a solution that “is portable and utilizes leading technology to train the soldier in use of force.”

For both capabilities, the service is interested in using both commercial- and government-off-the-shelf products that will include hardware and software solutions, it states.

The Army is asking interested vendors to submit white papers by Nov. 20. The service expects to eventually release a request for solutions that will result in other transaction authority agreement prototype awards, the RFI states.

This Thursday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the AUKUS program, the Pentagon's counter-drone efforts, delays to two Space Force programs and more.

The U.S., U.K. and Australia aim to begin delivering the new submarines in the late 2030s, following the transfer of at least three Virginia-class submarines to Australia:

Canberra to announce SSN-AUKUS 'shipbuilding partner' within the next year

Within the next year, the Australian government will announce the "shipbuilding partner" that will build the future SSN-AUKUS submarine and help to develop the vessel's requirements, an Australian Navy official said today at the Naval Submarine League Symposium.

A demonstration will take place in New Mexico next June and will involve pitting anywhere from 20 to 50 small UAS, which are meant to simulate enemy aircraft, against candidate counter-drone technologies:

Counter-swarm demonstration next year will incorporate AI, ML

The Pentagon's Joint Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft System Office plans to incorporate artificial intelligence and machine learning into a demonstration planned for next summer focusing on UAS swarms.

The Next Generational Operational Control System for Global Positioning System satellites is now expected to be operational by early summer next year, while the Advanced Tracking and Launch Analysis System, which was expected to be operational by the end of this year, has been delayed until August next year:

Space Force's OCX and ATLAS programs face schedule delays

A top Space Force official has announced new timelines for two of the service's major programs that have been delayed by several months.

The X-37B Mission 7 is a collaboration between the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office and the Space Force that will launch on the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center, FL:

X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle to launch next month to expand space domain awareness

The Space Force announced yesterday that the seventh mission of the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle will lift off on Dec. 7 to advance the service's knowledge of the space environment.

Since the beginning of the year, the Army has been increasing its production of 155mm rounds, due initially to the Ukraine war. Service acquisition chief Doug Bush told reporters during a roundtable at the Pentagon this week that as it stands, Congress has given the Army “a path” to produce 75,000 to 80,000 rounds per month:

Bush: Without supplemental funding, U.S. won't reach artillery ramp-up goal

Army acquisition chief Doug Bush said Tuesday that the more than $3 billion designated for increased 155mm artillery production and modernization of production facilities will be required if the service is to meet its goal of producing 100,000 rounds per month by late 2025.

This Wednesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on production of 155mm artillery rounds, the Navy planning a service life extension for its Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines and more.

Since the beginning of the year, the Army has been increasing its production of 155mm rounds, due initially to the Ukraine war. Service acquisition chief Doug Bush told reporters during a roundtable at the Pentagon Tuesday that as it stands, Congress has given the Army “a path” to produce 75,000 to 80,000 rounds per month:

Bush: Without supplemental funding, U.S. won't reach artillery ramp-up goal

Army acquisition chief Doug Bush said Tuesday that the more than $3 billion designated for increased 155mm artillery production and modernization of production facilities will be required if the service is to meet its goal of producing 100,000 rounds per month by late 2025.

In September, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti said the Navy is prepared to lengthen the lifespan of select Ohio vessels to prevent capability gaps if the Columbia program experiences delivery delays. That appears to be happening now:

Navy planning Ohio service life extension to mitigate risk as Columbia construction continues

The Navy plans to extend the service life of the ballistic missile submarine Alaska (SSBN-732), the first of five Ohio-class boats that could receive life extensions to reduce the risk of gaps appearing in the fleet as next-generation Columbia-class submarines come online.

The Oct. 24 launch of a Standard Missile-6 from a containerized launcher on the deck of the Littoral Combat Ship Savannah (LCS-28) in the Eastern Pacific implied potential for fitting a Tomahawk missile on such a vessel:

Navy thinking about Tomahawk-armed LCS after experimental SM-6 launch success

The Navy is entertaining the idea of increasing the offensive strike capability for Littoral Combat Ships after indirectly demonstrating the ability last month to fire a Tomahawk from the ship class -- a move that would add new punch and relevance for LCS, originally designed for shore-hugging missions, in a fight against a near-peer adversary.

How long will Sen. Tommy Tuberville's (R-AL) hold on all military nominations last?

Tuberville now holding 452 defense nominations

Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks called on the Senate today to work quickly to override Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-AL) monthslong military nomination blockade, which is now impacting 452 nominees.

Defense contractor groups are pointing out problems with the Pentagon's controlled unclassified information rules and how they relate to the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program:

Defense groups raise concerns to ONCD over CUI in push for regulatory harmonization

Industry groups representing the defense industrial base are highlighting inconsistencies across the federal government over regulations addressing the handling of controlled unclassified information and potential impacts from the Pentagon's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program, in filings to the Office of the National Cyber Director.

The Missile Defense Agency announced today it has stopped work on an environmental impact statement for the construction and operation of a homeland defense radar based in Hawaii.

In a Federal Register notice issued this morning, MDA said the Defense Department "postponed the Homeland Defense Radar-Hawaii (HDR-H) in 2019, and no funds have been appropriated for the program since fiscal year 2022. The DOD is not moving forward with the HDR-H. As such, the MDA is terminating preparation of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the construction and operation of an HDR-H."

MDA launched the HDR-H project five years ago to increase the ability of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system to protect the archipelago state by helping to better determine threats at extreme distances to guide Ground-based Interceptors to destroy enemy re-entry vehicles with a higher degree of confidence.

The Pentagon’s fiscal year 2024 budget request marks the fourth consecutive year without funding for the Homeland Defense Radar-Hawaii, a project lawmakers have kept alive by reinstating funds annually.

In December 2018, MDA awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to build HDR-H to improve the U.S. military's intercontinental ballistic missile defense architecture by adding a ground-based sensor on Hawaii to better defend it against North Korean long-range rockets. The original $585 million contract called for Lockheed to design, develop and deliver the HDR-H for a yet-to-be-identified site.

Three years ago, however, the office of cost assessment and program evaluation completed a "Homeland Defense Radar-Hawaii Study" that led to a recommendation to stop funding the project and instead divert money toward space-based sensor projects.

Last year, CAPE initiated yet another study taking a broader look at the defense of Hawaii and assessing options to address the evolved threat, according to a Pentagon spokesman.

The House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, in legislation proposed for the FY-24 defense policy bill, would mandate the defense secretary prepare a report within 90 days of the bill's enactment on the integrated air and missile defense architecture for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command with particular focus on the role of Hawaii sensors, Inside Defense reported in June.

If enacted, the provision would require this Defense Department report to identify “investment that should be made to increase the detection of non-ballistic threats and improve the discrimination of ballistic missile threats, particularly with regard to Hawaii.”

In addition, the proposed law would require DOD to outline the costs associated with integrating into the missile defense system any additional sensor to help protect Hawaii.

This Tuesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on an Army prototype directed-energy air-defense system, the newly confirmed Air Force chief of staff's first message to airmen, the Navy's Large Unmanned Surface Vessel program and more.

Epirus, a Los Angeles-based technology company, recently announced delivery of the first of four planned Indirect Fire Protection Capability-High Power Microwave systems to the Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office, marking the completion of government acceptance testing in Nevada:

Army syncs up directed-energy, counter-swarm prototype weapon with key air defense C2

The Army has validated the ability of a prototype speed-of-light weapon to connect with the service's main air defense command and control system, a key development in an effort to deliver a high-power microwave capable of swatting down small drone swarms to operational units as soon as next summer.

The Air Force's recently confirmed chief of staff sent out his first message to airmen:

Allvin: Air Force 'must now follow through' on transformation goals

The Air Force "must now follow through" on the plans set in motion by previous service leaders, newly confirmed Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin told airmen in a letter Monday.

Document: Allvin's letter to airmen

The Navy's Program Executive Office for Unmanned and Small Combatants is looking to industry to assist in the establishment of specific requirements for LUSV detail, design and construction before beginning procurement in fiscal year 2025:

Navy issues RFI for Large Unmanned Surface Vessel

The Navy has released a request for information for the Large Unmanned Surface Vessel, a future platform intended to carry a variety of modular payloads and provide anti-surface warfare capabilities to the fleet.

More cyber defense news from our colleagues at Inside Cybersecurity:

Defense groups raise concerns to ONCD over CUI in push for regulatory harmonization

Industry groups representing the defense industrial base are highlighting inconsistencies across the federal government over regulations addressing the handling of controlled unclassified information and potential impacts from the Pentagon's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program, in filings to the Office of the National Cyber Director.

Defense primes highlight compliance needs, support for suppliers in reaching CMMC requirements

Stakeholders from large defense prime contractors at an industry event last week emphasized the need for their suppliers to reach compliance with requirements under the Pentagon's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program, while also highlighting how they are working together to provide resources.