How Lockheed Martin Ventures manages its early-stage $200M fund. Was established in 2007, returning $80M on the first $100M invested. A slice: “We started realizing that what we wanted to do was focus more on commercial tech, with a dual-use capability for aerospace, then that made us think that we should probably be looking at much earlier stage companies.”
In break from typical contract process, Air Force awards more than $20 million from hotel ballroom. More familiar to us paying attention as Space Pitch Day. Companies have a high batting average. Of 30 companies invited, all received $750K contracts, with eight selected to compete for funding up to $3M. Eventually, however, the Air Force is going to need to put real money into selected companies rather than spreading it around. $3M just won’t cut it. Bezos pulls in about $1 billion a year for Blue Origin.
Boeing expects KC-46A delivery pace to begin slowing in mid-2020. The current delivery pace is 3-4 aircraft a month, slowing to 1-2 next year due to concerns about foreign object debris (probably among others). The question is whether the KC-46 will roll along without a full rate production decision for many years while still delivering aircraft.
Ford Aircraft Carriers Not Ready For F-35s, So Aging Vinson Gets The Call. This is the astonishing part: “The plane couldn’t have been included in the designs for the first two of four planned Ford carriers, one Navy official told me, because the F-35C’s final form was still a work in progress when the final design for the Fords was wrapping up.” And yet, the 36-year old USS Vinson carrier with its steam catapult CAN launch the F-35C. Worth a followup post.
Army Futures Command is leading a cultural shift, much to the delight of industry. Download the PDF report from Defense News. This reminds me of how Adm. Hyman Rickover would dress in civilian clothes: “Decked out in a dark blazer, jeans and black cowboy boots, and foregoing his four stars for an understated U.S. Army lapel pin, Gen. Mike Murray, the head of Army Futures Command, asked a packed room of small business owners and entrepreneurs how many have seen a four-star general before.”
DoD releases new IP strategy that is more flexible with industry, provides update on CMMC. All this Intellectual Property talk and I still have no idea how they plan to price it… in advance of development!
The 1 Reason DARPA Thinks That Planes Can’t Get Any Stealthier. Didn’t actually learn what that reason is, besides “physical limits.” Solve for the equilibrium: stealth is hitting diminishing returns, and infra-red search/track is expected to become more effective.
The Air Force (Finally) Agrees to Buy Textron’s Attack Aircraft. Congress wants ~300, the Air Force put out an RFP for “two or three” planes from Textron and Sierra/Embraer. ComNavOps has a useful view on the subject: “By the way, with the cost of a decade or so of ‘studying’ we could have already purchased all the light attack aircraft we need and had plenty of money left over.”
How big production increases caused Lockheed Martin F-35 problems. Production increased from 66 in 2017/Lot 9 to 141 in 2019/Lot 11. “… the F-35 programme was held back by problems with just a handful of parts.” So much for the efficiencies of high production rates giving you bulk buy discounts.
Fewer airmen, fewer bombs and delayed F-15s: Goldfein outlines effects of continuing resolution.
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