Good sentences on acquisition: “Maintaining America’s military advantage is not just about acquiring the latest technology. It is about the people, organizations, and cultures that enable the technology.” That was from an OpEd at Foreign Policy, America’s Military Is Choking on Old Technology.
“Marines have used a specialized 3D concrete printer to print a 500-square-foot barracks room in just 40 hours. The innovative project created the world’s first continuous 3D-printed concrete barracks, according to the Marine Corps.” Sounds at the link.
“Lockheed Martin Corp. delivered 91 of its F-35 jets in 2018 as promised, but only 54 were “on-time” based on monthly contract targets — and 19 of those were reclassified from “late” in a settlement of production issues with the Pentagon.” Here’s more.
“The losses bring the total pre-tax cost of the program to $3.6 billion, or $2.4 billion after taxes, Boeing said.” That’s on the KC-46.
“The complaint alleges Lockheed paid more than $1 million to Mission Support Alliance executives in order to win a $232 million subcontract for providing management and technology support at the Hanford, Washington site from 2010 through the middle of 2016 at inflated rates.”
“But there is a danger that the SDA [Space Development Agency] could quickly become another DoD bureaucracy that builds Battlestar Galacticas, she cautioned.” Here’s some of my thoughts of the Space Force. Also, I wonder whether SDA/Space Force will take control over all ground terminals and user equipment. In either case, what’s the integration plan between space, land, sea, and air forces? The more agencies we create to do specialized things, the more important “management from the top” becomes, unless there is explicit duplication and overlap between the services (which there should be, perhaps).
“SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says the company’s Raptor engine, meant to power Starship and Super Heavy, has surpassed a rocketry record held by Russian scientists and engineers for more than two decades.” Good analysis at the link — Here’s Musk’s Tweet: “Raptor reached 268.9 bar today, exceeding prior record held by the awesome Russian RD-180.” That’s pretty amazing actually, and this innovation is not coming from ULA or other legacy contractors. SpaceX might be a good example where to push the limits, sometimes you got to blow things up and be willing to fail big-time. ULA hasn’t lost a payload yet, I’m told. Maybe that’s a bad thing?
Hack alert 2: The U.S. Army’s New Up-Gunned Stryker Armored Vehicles Have Been Hacked.
The Marine Corps’ Super-Hyped M27 Rifle Has Some Major Problems. Not surprising after what happened with the Army’s handgun.
Airbus vs Boeing – Which Plane Manufacturer Is Best?
David Berteau talks about changes to lowest-price, technically acceptable.
Leave a Reply