DoD releases industrial capabilities report. (DoD) Top 10 largest DoD suppliers $743B in market cap, compared to $778B for Facebook. 17,000 companies ceased being prime vendors out of a total supplier base of perhaps 100,000 domestic and another 60,000 foreign. China, by the way, constructs 1/3rd of global ships.
Recommended. Roper hints NGAD could replace F-35; Why? Lifecycle costs. (Breaking Defense) “I think the F-35 program is a long way from being at a sustainment point that we need. I think it’s a long way from being an affordable fighter that we can buy in bulk.” Sounds like a good way to get pressured out the door, Roper comments on his future. Here’s Lockheed: “We are currently delivering F-35s at or below the cost of less capable fourth generation aircraft, while also lowering the sustainment costs by 40% over the past five years.”
US Navy commissions $1.5M blockchain system for tracking critical weaponry. (Coindesk) “Blockchain is well suited to solve complex supply chain pain points as it enables a decentralized mechanism for the recording of non-repudiable transactions, making data both immutable and auditable, and lastly, tamper-proof once written,” said SIMBA Chain CEO Joel Neidig.
Chief of US Army Futures Command: The service is experiencing a technological evolution. (Defense News) “The Army Modernization Strategy revolves heavily around what we call the 3+2 model, (artificial intelligence, robotics and autonomy, along with networks and data)”
SpaceX wins contracts for lunar lander, environmental satellite launches. (Space News) “… launches of a commercial lunar lander mission backed by NASA.” It’s just interesting to hear the word “commercial” associated with lunar lander. Is it commercial if the commercial buyer is still speculative?
The Gripen aims to be the iPhone of fighter aircraft. (Air & Space) Interesting throughout. . “If you look at Typhoon,” he says, “four countries each make a bit of the radar; the engines are made by Eurojet.” Politics are involved: “ ‘I need jobs for Lancashire, I need jobs for central Italy’—Saab can be a lot leaner and more agile and [they] don’t have to try to keep everyone happy.” … “all the components are, not physically separated, but logically separated—as with the iPhone, the software “apps” can be removed, replaced, or upgraded without affecting the others.”
Black flag rises: new super bowl of test exercises pushes USAF’s top weapons to their limit. (The Drive) “Black Flag is ultimately a deep-end testing arena to create and discover capabilities utilizing existing and emerging materiel,” says Lt Col Mike “Pako” Benitez… “As we move to rapid test and rapid integration with agile software in the aircraft and Black Flag uncovering new ways to use it, rewriting a paper manual every couple of years is going to lag behind the fight.”
Pentagon’s $2 billion cybersecurity project slowed by flaws. (Bloomberg) “… test assessments since 2016 have continually shown it’s “unable to help network defenders protect DoD component networks against operationally realistic cyber attacks.”
Pentagon launches online marketplace to pair small firms with ‘trusted’ investors. (Federal News Network) “We were able to change the game on supply chain using commercially available tools, and one of them for the trusted capital program is called Exiger DDIQ. We run the companies through, and we can look at their financials for anything on the company, from who is working on the board, to where their financing has come from, legal issues, etcetera,”
General Atomics’ stealthy avenger drone flies with infrared search and track pod. (The Drive) “These Avengers will then be used as part of various experimentation events in 2021 and 2022, which will enable manned aircraft to control Avengers while in flight and relay specific information between the manned and unmanned aircraft.”
Despite hard times, the F-35 program demonstrated stellar performance in 2020. (Real Clear Defense) “In the face of COVID-19 slamming their supply chains on the home front, the F-35 industrial team still managed to produce a near-record 123 fighters. 2020 also saw the roll-out of the first version of the Operational Data Integrated Network (ODIN), the new logistics support program.”
For the US Navy, the future of shipbuilding (and warfare) is in the power plant. (Defense News) “Weapons systems of the future such as high-powered electronic warfare systems, laser weapons, and high-powered radars and sensors will put an uneven and sometimes even unpredictable load on a ship’s power system.”
White House launches central hub for artificial intelligence research and policymaking. (NextGov) “… it also sprung from the National AI Initiative Act, which was recently enacted as a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2021.”
Do-or-die JADC2 summit to crunch common data standards. (Breaking Defense) “… in order to rapidly field new capabilities, he added, DoD will be using “everything from mid-year reprogramming to end-of-year money, where it makes sense. We’ll be looking at near-term, midterm and long-term.”
Can Biden solve the Space Force’s public relations crisis? (Defense News) “By the end of 2021, the size of the Space Force will have tripled from about 2,400 active-duty members to about 6,400 people, Raymond said in December.”
Uncle Sam needs AI, ASAP: DoD artificial intelligence chief. (Breaking Defense) “It also provides the Joint Common Foundation that will soon underpin DEVSECOPS for users across the Defense Department. The JAIC drives ‘enterprise’ outcomes through a broad-based Executive Steering Group representing all elements of Department AI capability. Finally, JAIC helps senior Department leadership track AI readiness and exercise accountability for AI investments and outcomes.”
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