The Insider

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reiterated concerns about the blanket hold on more than 300 military nominees in the Senate Friday, during a sendoff for outgoing Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville.

McConville relinquished the position he has held for the past four years Friday during an official “relinquishment of responsibility” ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, VA.

Gen. Randy George, most recently the service’s vice chief, has been nominated by President Biden to be the Army’s next chief of staff and will serve in an acting capacity until confirmed.

George’s nomination along with that of Gen. Eric Smith, the nominee to be the next commandant of the Marine Corps, and 301 nominations for general and flag officers are being held up by Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-AL) blockade, stemming from his opposition to the Pentagon’s leave and travel reimbursement policies for servicemembers seeking abortion services.

Austin said during Friday’s ceremony that “orderly and prompt transitions” of military leaders are needed to ensure U.S. security.

“The failure to confirm our superbly qualified senior uniformed leaders undermines our military readiness. It undermines our retention of some of our very best officers. And it is upending the lives of far too many of their spouses, children and loved ones,” he said.

Austin praised McConville for his leadership in modernizing the Army with capabilities that have included long-range precision fires, next-generation combat vehicles and missile defense.

“The Army also has brought its doctrine into the 21st century. And you’ve created new organizations that can provide more and better capabilities to combatant commanders, and strengthen our partnerships around the world, and sustain the fight wherever and whenever needed,” he said.

The Army awarded a $500 million contract to Lockheed Martin to manufacture an air-to-ground missile system as part of a foreign sale, according to a Defense Department announcement.

Lockheed Martin will manufacture the air-to-ground missile system in Orlando, FL, for all the services as well as Australia, France, India and the Netherlands, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2026, the announcement says.

The contract follows earlier announcements that the Army approved Lockheed's Joint-Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) for full-rate production.

The JAGM has a multipurpose warhead designed to simultaneously acquire multiple targets, including those that are stationary, moving, seaborne and airborne. It can be launched from the MQ-1C UAV, the Army’s Apache helicopters and the Marine Corps’ Viper helicopters.

The missile is a successor to the military’s Hellfire family of missiles.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL), angered by President Biden's recent decision to keep U.S. Space Command headquartered in politically blue Colorado instead of moving it to deep-red Alabama, is demanding that senior Pentagon officials comply with his requests for documents and interviews as he launches an investigation into the matter.

Rogers, in a new letter to Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall and SPACECOM chief Gen. James Dickinson, alleges that both officials have failed to adequately respond to his previous oversight requests involving the SPACECOM decision.

“Your refusal to abide by the committee’s repeated requests for responsive documents and transcribed interviews can only be considered obfuscation and purposeful delay, highlighted by the fact that the basing decision was decided while the committee’s requests are outstanding,” he wrote. “This is unacceptable.”

Rogers said it “now appears you have something to hide, otherwise a forthright response to the committee’s patient and numerous requests would have already come.”

The chairman tells the senior DOD officials if they don't comply with his request for documents and transcribed interviews, he will seek a subpoena -- and their appearance before the committee -- to compel their cooperation.

The Pentagon did immediately respond to a request for comment.

In the letter, Rogers says the documents DOD has provided thus far are unsatisfactory.

“Regrettably, this most recent document production remains unresponsive to the committee’s multiple requests,” he wrote. “This is now the fifth request for documents related to USSPACECOM’s mission or headquarters requirements.”

Rogers says Kendall and Dickinson have also failed to respond to the committee’s request to schedule transcribed interviews of them by August 18. He asks the officials to provide a timeline by which they will deliver “responsive documents” and schedule their transcribed interviews by Aug. 9.

The Pentagon announced Monday that SPACECOM would remain headquartered in Colorado Springs, CO, reversing an earlier decision made in the final days of the Trump administration that would have based it in Huntsville, AL.

The command, which is on track to reach full operational capability later this year, is anticipated to bring in 1,400 troops and their families, along with civilian employees and contractors -- nearly 65% of which are currently in Colorado.

Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Defense Department’s chief spokesman, released a statement after the news broke saying the decision was made after “a thorough and deliberate evaluation process.”

But Rogers and other lawmakers from GOP-dominated Alabama have alleged that “far-left” politics are at play involving abortion policy and the previous presidential contest in which Colorado’s electoral college votes went to Biden.

However, Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO), along with Colorado lawmakers, felt differently about the announcement that would keep SPACECOM based in his home state.

“I commend the Biden administration for prioritizing national security above political interests and keeping USSPACECOM in its rightful home at Peterson Air Force Base,” he said in a statement. “This decision aligns with the best military advice of countless senior military leaders who all agree that Peterson Space Force Base is the most viable option for USSPACECOM to reach full operational capability the fastest and is the best permanent home for its long-term operations.”

The service lifespan of four Arleigh Burke-class destroyers -- two homeported in Virginia and two in Japan -- will be extended, after a review showed the vessels are “well-maintained and in good material condition,” the office of the chief of naval operations, Surface Warfare division, announced today.

Approvals follow a March decision to grant the first-of-its-class destroyer Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) five more years of extra service life beyond its scheduled retirement of fiscal year 2026. Currently, the Navy has 73 active Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.

All five ships have received Aegis baseline upgrades through the DDG modernization program, which updates technology and other systems.

The service life extensions for the additional ships will be four or five years beyond their estimated working lifespan. They are as follows:

• Mitscher (DDG-57), Norfolk, VA, set to retire in FY-30, will operate to FY-34. The ship was constructed in 1988 and commissioned in 1994.
• Ramage (DDG-61) Norfolk, VA, set to retire in FY-30, will operate to FY-35. It was constructed in 1993 and commissioned two years later.
• Milius (DDG-69), Yokosuka, Japan, set to retire in FY-31, will operate to FY-35. It was built in 1995 and commissioned in 1996.
• Benfold (DDG-65), Yokosuka, Japan, set to retire in FY-31, will operate to FY-36. The ship was built in 1993 and commissioned in 1996.

“Adding 23 years of service life cumulatively over the last six months is a significant investment in surface warfare,” Rear Adm. Fred Pyle, director of Surface Warfare (N96) said, offering capability and capacity “in an affordable manner.”

BAE Systems President and CEO Tom Arseneault says after a positive first half of 2023 in the combat vehicles area, the company expects part of the business to remain profitable.

Order intake in BAE’s platforms & services sector, which includes combat vehicles, weapons and munitions, was $5.1 billion in the first half of 2023, compared with $2 billion in the first half of 2022, according to a company earnings statement. Sales in the sector were $2.3 billion in the first half of 2023, compared to $2.1 billion in the first half of 2022.

According to the company, much of the order intake has been driven by the awards of the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle to the U.S. Army, as well as awards of the CV90 fighting vehicle in Europe and the BvS10 to multiple European nations and the United States.

Arseneault said Wednesday during a company earnings call that the company was disappointed in the Army’s decision not to move forward with BAE in the down select of the XM30 Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle -- the eventual successor to the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. Instead, the company plans to focus on “what’s been a buildup and backlog for the combat vehicles business,” he said.

“That business has been on a good margin expansion journey. We expect that to continue,” he said.

Arseneault also touted the Army’s recent decision to move the AMPV program to full-rate production, and said BAE expects a contract in the second half of the year.

This Wednesday INSIDER Daily Digest has more details on the weapons contracts awarded to supply Ukraine in its fight against Russia's invasion, the Marine Corps looking at a U.S. facility to produce an Israeli interceptor missile and more.

An information graphic released by the office of the Pentagon's acquisition chief this week details $9.7 billion in Ukraine weapons replacement obligations:

DOD releases new details on replenishment contracts for weapons sent to Ukraine

The Defense Department has released a new compendium of information on $9.7 billion in contracts to replenish U.S. weapons that have been transferred to Ukraine.

R2S -- a partnership between RTX and Rafael -- initially announced plans for U.S.-based Tamir production in August 2020, indicating a site location would be finalized by year’s end. Today, R2S still has not announced a production facility location:

Marine Corps eyes Arkansas site for domestic Tamir interceptor production

Marine Corps representatives visited a location in Camden, AR, and met with U.S. defense contractor RTX and Israeli company Rafael to "discuss the possibility" of domestically producing the Tamir interceptor missile, according to a Tuesday service announcement.

In a July 27 memo, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Heidi Shyu designated Navy Rear Adm. Douglas Williams to head the Missile Defense Agency while Air Force Maj. Gen. Heath Collins' appointment to lead MDA is held up over Sen. Tommy Tuberville's (R-AL) objection to DOD's women's health policy:

Tuberville blockade forces DOD to appoint newly promoted one-star to run MDA

The Pentagon's top technology development official has designated a one-star admiral to head the Missile Defense Agency until the nomination for a new director to fill the three-star billet -- one of many senior officer promotions being blocked by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) -- is confirmed by the Senate.

Document: Shyu memo on new acting MDA director

The Army's decision to move the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle program into full-rate production comes in spite of concerns about the production rate for the vehicles noted by Congress last week:

AMPV moving to full-rate production

The Army has decided to transition the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle program into full-rate production, according to service acquisition chief Doug Bush -- a major milestone for the program that will eventually replace the M113 armored personnel carrier.

Last but by no means least, the latest cyber defense news from out colleagues at Inside Cybersecurity:

Defense ISAC sees challenge in contractor compliance with NIST proposed tailoring parameters for CUI

The use of "organization-defined parameters" in the National Institute of Standards and Technology's proposed update to its foundational controlled unclassified information publication could lead to a decline in the number of contractors in the defense industrial base, according to the leading info-sharing group for the defense sector.

The Defense Business Board will meet in closed session on Wednesday and Thursday, according to a Pentagon notice.

The meetings will include classified briefings from:

• Space Force modernization and Joint Force integration from Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. David Thompson;
• Assessing innovation through the defense authorization bill from Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks;
• DOD current affairs from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin;
• Artificial intelligence/machine learning "scaffolding" from Joe Larson, deputy director of the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office for Algorithmic Warfare;
• The Globally Integrated Wargame and recommendations from Air Force Lt. Gen. Dagvin Anderson, director for Joint Force development;
• Joint Force Capabilities Integration from Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday;
• The state of the National Guard from National Guard Bureau Chief Gen. Daniel Hokanson.
• A classified update on the DBB Improving IT User Experience Study from DOD Chief Information Officer John Sherman;
• The U.S. economic outlook and recent NATO Summit from White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients; and
• National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.