Acquisition Headlines

Defense stock rebound: “Lockheed Martin saw first-quarter earnings of $5.99 a share, an increase of 49% from a year earlier.” That led to an overnight stock price jump of 7% on April 22.

Is this good news or bad news? DISA to take on 1,200 new employees, nearly $1B workload in 2020. Here’s what that implies: “… the initiative calls for the fourth estate agencies to turn all of their “commodity” IT functions over to DISA starting next year, and the plan defines “commodity” fairly broadly: it will encompass all of the agencies’ network infrastructure and operations, IT management tools, service desks, IT asset management, productivity capabilities and cybersecurity functions. The Defense agencies will still, however, be allowed to continue to manage systems they deem “mission-critical” or “non-severable,” or that are only used for research and development.”

Our first interagency squabble between the USAF Space and Missile Command and the new Space Development Agency? A slice: “The DARPA program, meant to demonstrate how the military can use commercially-derived technology for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellations, is slated to make the transition out of the DARPA-run tech demo phase and into an actual acquisition program in 2022. But who will get to run it?”

“We determined that Mr. Shanahan [Acting SecDef] fully complied with his ethics agreements and his ethical obligations regarding Boeing and its competitors.”

DARPA update 1: “But when “smart” contact lenses will actually hit Pentagon armories, like most futuristic DARPA efforts, remains to be seen.”

DARPA update 2: on drone swarming system-of-systems: “I probably cannot create a … sensor, plus warhead, plus this, plus that, all on one platform — that gets expensive,” Zablocky said. “I’m going to have to have a heterogeneous mix of platforms out there, and because of that they will need to coordinate and carry out a particular effect.”  

Esper: The ultimate size of the Army is a moving target.

“Lockheed Martin hosted a ceremony to celebrate its new F-16 production line in Greenville, South Carolina. F-16 tooling and equipment previously in Fort Worth, Texas, has since been installed in a newly-refurbished hangar in Greenville, where the company will begin manufacturing F-16 Block 70 aircraft later this year. ” … “This is a great day for Greenville and South Carolina,” said U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

Electric Boat 97% Done with Columbia Submarine’s Detail Design, Ahead of Construction Start Next Year. Let’s not pop the champagne yet, construction drawings are only 43% complete, let alone construction itself. We’ll see whether something called “rework” occurs, but sounds like good news.

“Establishing Army Futures Command is the most significant institutional re-organization of the Army in decades.”

“When Secretary of War Henry Woodring departed the War Department in 1938, he warned President Franklin D. Roosevelt that “we are not prepared for a major conflict. Billions appropriated today cannot be converted into preparedness for tomorrow.” Link is here.

Pacific Commander Davidson Asks Congress to Fund ‘Regain the Advantage’ Plan Aimed at China. Not clear to me that we can simply reuse what worked in the past and outspend China into oblivion. A slice: “Davidson’s letter joins several other unfunded requests from U.S. combatant commands that ask Congress for support for special initiatives that aren’t covered in the Pentagon’s $750 billion budget request.”

Related: Indo-Pacom Commander Says Only Half Of Sub Requests Are Met.

Here’s An Idea: The Air Force Builds 200 B-21 Stealth Bombers.