An Air Force pilot will battle AI in a virtual F-16 dogfight next week. You can watch it live. “We envision a future in which AI handles the split-second maneuvering during within-visual-range dogfights.”
What the rest of government should watch when the defense authorization bill goes to conference. Includes: FedRAMP reconstruction and modernization; from phones to drones, more bans on China-based tech; Solarium commission wants a national cyber director, public-private partnerships, and more; 5G virtualization and whistleblower rights; Industries of the future; new rules for acquisition.
DARPA’s ‘ocean of things’ is an all-seeing eye on the high seas. “Floating sensors, known as floats, can gather far more detailed information, and can remain at sea for months at a time. There is a network of almost 4,000 Argo science floats around the world.”
Pentagon requests 30-day extension for re-awarding JEDI. “The department was supposed to re-award the contract by Aug. 17 after receiving a 120-day stay to take corrective action on the contract.”
ComNavOps: The 2020 National Defense Authorization – Senior Technical Authority. “… mandates that the Navy provide a ‘Senior Technical Authority’ (STA) for each new naval vessel class undergoing acquisition and prohibits the Navy from funding lead vessels until the class has been certified the by the STA as described in.”
Strengthening industrial base decision-making for precision-guided munitions. “… individual munitions program managers do not systematically provide information to a central office in the Pentagon that can compare current and planned usage with the capacities of system integrators and component producers.”
Belly of the beast: Illicit photos from insight the Soviet Ekranoplan. “… a formerly top-secret Soviet naval vessel that could skim just above the waves at jet-plane speeds, evading radar and anti-ship mines.” Had nuclear missile launchers.
Space Force: New service’s future coming into focus. ““We’re not talking about, ‘How do I move a billion dollars … five years from now?’” he said. “We’re talking about within a year of execution, how can we move money within a portfolio to be able to take care of problems that were unforeseen?”
Our industrial base can’t meet our defense needs. Here’s how we can fix that. “The current system does not prioritize the best available technology. Instead, it favors cost accounting, regulatory compliance, and administrative ease. Budgets are programmed years in advance with little ability for companies to realize profits in current fiscal years.”
GAO recommends actions for US Army for NGCV programmes. Oych, “Since the effort prioritises rapid development of technology and designs, the army did not completely take into account all potential cost uncertainties, according to GAO.”
SpaceX is manufacturing 120 starlink internet satellites per month. “rival satellite internet startup OneWeb was building satellites at a rate of about 30 per month before it went bankrupt — and Quilty highlighted that OneWeb’s production line was designed and built in collaboration with Airbus, another European aerospace giant.”
Army Futures Command experiments with putting robots in combat. “Right now, we don’t have the sensors to tell us if a puddle is something we can drive through.”
Peter Thiel’s former chief of staff now has a $60 billion Pentagon Budget. “Kratsios is a relative tenderfoot to government work.”
On rare earths, the Pentagon is make the same mistake twice. “The Pentagon’s decision in to back the Molycorp project in 2010, resulting in a spectacular bankruptcy in 2015, poisoned the investment well for this sector… A decade later, and the Pentagon is setting up the dominos for a re-make of this fiasco.”
New color of money for DOD software gaining traction. “This is a WAY bigger deal than it sounds like,” Jennifer Pahlka… previously tweeted about the change.
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