NDAA: HASC Doubles Joint AI Funding, Streamlines Software Buys. (Double to only $166.8 million, and the streamlining involves a “new acquisition pathway” with twice a year reporting to Congress.)
“The Navy is ready to sunset littoral combat ship production and three of four congressional defense committees appear happy to oblige… the Navy has so far been reluctant to send LCS out on deployments. No LCS deployments occurred in FY 2018.”
Fahey criticized those who say security should be a trade-off in an acquisition, which places the criteria on the same plane as cost, schedule and performance. “That’s stupid as shit,” Fahey said. He added, “in our contracts in the future, cyber is going to be a requirement.” — Link is here.
Defense News has been investigating the F-35:
- The Pentagon is battling the clock to fix serious, unreported F-35 problems.
- Supersonic speeds could cause big problems for the F-35′s stealth coating.
- Amid ‘green glow’ concerns, another issue has emerged for pilots flying the F-35 at night.
- When US Navy and Marine F-35 pilots most need performance, the aircraft becomes erratic.
Related: $34B = Biggest Procurement In History As Lockheed, DoD Handshake Deal for 478 F-35s. “Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya said last week F-35 pilots will be re-educated about spatial disorientation and get more training about gravity-induced loss of consciousness (GLOC). The Japanese F-35 fleet remains grounded.”
Why Did the U.S. Military Delay a Key Missile-Defense Test for 13 Years? A slice: “GMD’s prior tests achieved less than 50-percent operational realism whereas Aegis BMD SM-3 averaged over 70 percent, according to Director for Operational Test and Evaluation assessments.”
Politicians, Analysts Sound Off on Proposed Raytheon-UTC Merger. Here’s Trump: “Does that make it less competitive? Because it’s already noncompetitive.”
Retired Russian admiral defends Russian sailors sunbathing during close call with US warship. “There is a time for war, and a time for sunbathing,” Admiral Valentin Selivanov, former chief of staff of the Russian Navy, told a Russian government-funded news outlet.
Should capital cost be included in cost-per-flight hour?
Practical DARPA: DARPA issues BAA for OpFires Phase 3 Integrated Weapon System design
Impractical DARPA: DARPA to Use Shrimp, Plankton to Detect Undersea Threats
Trophy active protection system ‘toothless’ against Russian anti-tank weapons, says source. A slice: “The Trophy system proved its high effectiveness in repelling single launches… However, the active protection system still can’t sustain fighting two or three anti-tank munitions launched at a minimum interval.”
Army Fields Anti-Jam GPS In Germany This Fall. They used OTAs: … the service is “doing much smaller, iterative programs,” Kioutas said, and quickly fielding small amounts of kit.
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