“The U.S. Army is looking for information on a 360-degree counter-drone system capable to detect unmanned aircraft systems weighing less than 20 pounds.” I assume this is a complement to the development of systems that can take drones down electronically…
Speculative: Could artificial intelligence save the Pentagon $15 billion a year?
More on defense firms taking the VC route, this time with BAE Systems: “FAST Labs is not like other legendary innovators in the defense sector, such as Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works of Boeing’s Phantom Works. It does not prototype new weapons or engage in advanced development of systems. Its 850 scientists and engineers are dedicated to fostering commercial innovations with potential military or intelligence applications through the ecosystem of commercial startups and technology accelerators.”
Oops — India Did Major Damage to a New $3 Billion Submarine By Leaving a Hatch Open.
“There are certain things we don’t discuss publicly about our capabilities.” Then came the stinger: “There may come a point where we demonstrate some capabilities so our adversaries understand that they will not be able to deny us the use of space without consequences.” Link is here. (Another possible way of looking at it is that the US doesn’t have impressive capabilities we don’t know about, and the demonstrations will be just that, “for show” demos. Also, if there were successes then certainly someone would want to take credit. Success leaks out. Many people knew about the world’s first atomic reactor and nuclear submarine, the Nautilus, before it was launched, and afterward, they released a tremendous amount of information to the public that may seem exceedingly generous today. See The Rickover Effect.)
“Fragility, rather than stability, is the norm. We need a new approach to research in public administration that accommodates that reality.” Interesting take, and table of “Fragile State Index.”
A view on ballistic missile defense: “Nearly 40 years and $1 trillion or so since Teller projected the idea of Star Wars onto the receptive screen of Reagan’s imagination, the only tests that have “worked” — missiles launched at missiles launched from Kwajalein — were programmed “visualizations” (really, really realistic mock-ups) made to appear to “work” whether they did or not, which of course they didn’t.” Link is here.
Top Appropriator Urges Army To Help Him Pass Their Budget.
Space industry update: Maxar cutting jobs to help stem $1.26 billion loss, stabilize satellite division. Remember when Maxar exited DARPA’s satellite servicing program?
A drop in megaprojects? A slice: “Still, Baranes is bracing for an overall slowdown. “A telling sign for me always is how difficult is it to recruit architects,” he says. “We are seeing more résumés come in than we used to. To me that’s indicative of what’s coming.””
Is this a sound change in requirements? The Army has a plan for China, and it’s bad news for JLTV and the Chinook. Here are the alternatives: “Asked which capabilities he sees as vital to the Pacific, Esper identified long range precision fires as “front and center,” which would be used to “hold at bay” Chinese ships. He then added future vertical lift, air and missile defense, and modernized networks…” I suppose this implies pulling funding from Procurement and O&M into R&D.
A long time coming: Army sees path to accelerate ITEP engine program with GE.
More details revealed in Japanese F-35 crash.
The cost of a new ICBM is going up. Here’s why the US Air Force isn’t concerned. (Hint: the AF is relying on “competition” between Boeing and Northrop to bring prices down. It only takes a moments thought to realize that this is a competition for who can be the most optimistic with speculative savings due to modularity, etc., and when they win and earn the TBTF monopoly, they can raise costs later. The process works for Air Force officials, who won’t have to realize those higher costs for several years, and by then, it’ll be someone else’s responsibility to go before Congress and ask to make the program whole.)
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