As SecDef “Esper launches a comprehensive review that promises to cut costs and target legacy programs that drain money from next-generation capabilities, he ought to gird himself for fights with lawmakers, defense industry lobbyists and perhaps the White House.” The article headline called programs on the chopping block “pointless programs,” a strong charge. And more on that.
DARPA looking past Moore’s Law: “One aspirational goal would be new compiler technology providing up to a 10,000-fold improvement in programming productivity for massively parallel systems.” Note that market activity is a massively parallel system, while top-down policy like in the DOD is more akin to a serial processor.
Speculative: Why Aircraft Carriers Are The Most Cost-Effective Way Of Containing China’s Military. Some points: costs less than 1% of federal budget; more survivable than land units; costs less to destroy target than long range missile; sustain high rates of fire for weeks.
The WIRED guide to cyberwar. A slice: “They attacked three Ukrainian regional energy utilities, turning out the lights to about 225,000 civilians, the first known blackout in history ever to be caused by a cyberattack.” Recommended.
U.S. Army expects to receive Future Long Range Assault Aircraft no later than 2030. They are using OTAs to prototype, and still the capability is expected to be more than a decade out?
Joint AI Chief: Start With 50% Solutions ASAP. “The military will use Silicon Valley’s approach to quickly field imperfect products, then rapidly improve them based on user feedback.” Sounds good, but does that not also mean throwing out much of the current acquisition process, which is based on the linear requirements-pull, stage-gate approach?
“… in 2011 the U.S. Navy and Boeing discovered a defective ice detection system on a new P-8 Poseidon aircraft. Engineers traced the defect back to small devices within the system that had been sold as “new” but were in fact recycled.” Link is here.
“The race to acquire AI will be different than the race for the atomic bomb, intercontinental missiles, or precision-guided munitions… rather than a single space race “Sputnik moment,” there will be continuous milestones in the AI race — algorithm updates, software patches, etc.”
The Air Force Software Revolution. Difficult to excerpt, read the whole thing. Here’s one part: “Each software factory is like a startup business. They work through organizational structures, try out different technologies, and experiment with processes until they find what works.” Possibly one of the most important developments in the DOD for decades, though I don’t think it is articulated just how divergent from the traditional weapons systems process this really is.
Dynetics Technical Solutions will be the first to manufacture a set of hypersonic glide body prototypes while Lockheed Martin will serve as the weapon system integrator.
JAS-39 Gripen: The Deadly Fighter Jet That Is Cheap, Easy to Maintain and Can Kill Anything.
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