Deterring great power conflict through software development. (US Army) “It’s been an interesting two-and-a-half years of getting this organization stood-up,” said Gen. John M. Murray, AFC’s commanding general. “The software factory is the latest add to the Army Futures Command family. But we are beginning to see the impact of that idea way back then is having on the Army and really across all the services.” … “They weren’t afraid to trust relatively low-ranking officers, and weren’t afraid to be decisive to address some very important issues that need to be trail-blazed.” … The factory expects to matriculate a consistent cohort of 30 soldiers and Department of the Army civilians.”
Navy software factory, The Forge, wants to reshape how ships get upgraded. (USNI News) “The Forge recently stood up in a sleek office space just off the University of Maryland College Park campus… Rear Adm. Seiko Okano, the program executive officer for integrated warfare systems who oversees The Forge, said three factors led the Navy to stand up this new software development and fielding ecosystem: the threat is advancing faster than the Navy’s current processes can keep up with; the service is pursuing a Naval Operational Architecture to net together ships and aircraft that requires a “force-level integrated combat system” that can’t be created affordably through traditional means; and the digital revolution has made things like digital engineering and virtual twins more commonplace… the Aegis system has been virtualized – the capability has been replicated with software and totally separated from the hardware – and the Navy is working on virtualizing SSDS [Ship Self-Defense System] next. Though Raytheon originally built SSDS, Lockheed Martin has since won a contract to manage SSDS and will take its experience virtualizing Aegis and apply it to the second combat system.”
Elon Musk’s SpaceX wins contract to develop spacecraft to land astronauts on the moon. (Washington Post) “In winning the $2.9 billion contract, SpaceX beat out Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin, which had formed what it called a “national team” by partnering with aerospace giants Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Draper. SpaceX also won over Dynetics, a defense contractor based in Huntsville, Ala… According to the document explaining the decision, SpaceX’s bid “was the lowest among the offerors by a wide margin.”” NASA wanted to carry two competitors, but it’s budget couldn’t even support a single contract award. SpaceX updated its payment schedule to fit in NASA’s budget.
Military-wide data requirements document coming soon, Joint Chiefs’ Hyten says. (FedScoop) “The new document will define several technical requirements for networks and data standardization that will be used to implement a common data architecture across the force… with the hope of enabling the type of rapid data-sharing and processing needed to field modern concepts of operations and artificial intelligence-enabled warfare.”
Army must ensure new logistics system operations in varied situations. (MeriTalk) On GCSS-A: ““Soldiers GAO interviewed told GAO that during military operations, they may be in a remote location close to an adversary where they may or may not have internet or satellite access; cyberattacks are possible; and mountains could obstruct connectivity,” the report states. “The Army plans to develop and to field a disconnected operations capability by 2023, but whether it will dedicate the appropriate resources remains uncertain.””
Hadrian is building the factories of the future for rocket ships and advanced manufacturing. (Tech Crunch) “Let me tell you how bad it is at the moment and what’s going to happen over the next 20 years. Right now everyone in space and defense, [including] SpaceX and Lockheed Martin, outsources their parts and manufacturing to small factories across the country. They’re super expensive, they’re unreliable and they’re completely invisible to the customers… If you can imagine a Gantt chart of how to build a rocket, about 60% of that is buffer time… A lot of the delays in launches and stuff like that happen because parts got delivered three months ago.”
Navy’s ‘cheap’ Littoral Combat Ships cost nearly as much to run as guided missile destroyers. (The Drive) “Budget data obtained by the publication reveals that the annual cost of running a single LCS is currently around $70 million, compared to approximately $81 million for an Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer (DDG).” That’s annual cost per ship, I’m sure it’s even worse when you look at the OPTEMP. One reason is lower planned manning for LCS has led to greater contractor maintenance requirements. Another reason is higher materiel defects. The DDGs fully-loaded displacement is nearly 3x that of either LCS variant.
Elbit to display loitering munitions to US military. (Israel Defense) “Israel’s Elbit Systems was invited to an international event being held this week at a missile testing range in the US state of Utah in which various companies from around the world will display capabilities in the field of loitering munitions.”
DoD implementing new enterprise ICAM tool to support zero trust. (FedScoop) “The Department of Defense is working to implement a new identity, credentialing and access management (ICAM) tool… The first users who will be offered use of the tool are in DOD’s financial management divisions and will be given access on a fee-for-service basis, DOD CISO David McKeown told senators… ICAM is critical to zero trust because the model relies on being able to track user identities across the network and ensure data access is limited only to those who can verify they need it. In the current model of cybersecurity, defenses are placed at login points — or at the perimeter — but if an attacker can get past those first defenses, they have free reign on sensitive data.” Why not skip this baggage and go right to blockchain?
US Army finalized requirements for future attack reconnaissance aircraft. (Defense News) “The council met April 9 and greenlighted the requirements in the form of an Abbreviated Capabilities Development Document (A-CDD) that validates the designs developed by two companies competing to build the aircraft… Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky and Bell are in a head-to-head competition to build prototypes and fly them beginning in November 2022.”
DoD’s innovation ecosystem is growing, but strict compliance is a barrier, DARPA director says. (FedScoop) “While she did not name specific compliance regimes that are hampering growth of the innovation base, new requirements for contractors have been added in recent years, including the need to rid their networks of specific Chinese-made technology and to ensure their cybersecurity meets basic DOD standards… Lauren Knausenberger, CIO of the Air Force, said she had “mixed feelings” on the [CMMC] program and worried some of the requirements were too strict.”
New ICBM costs can, must come down, Hyten says. (Defense One) “In 2019 the Congressional Budget Office assessed that the cost of the ICBM replacement — a program called the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent, or GBSD — would run $61 billion over 10 years, or $18 billion more than what the office was projecting in just 2017… I think that program can come in significantly cheaper. It’s designed correctly. It’s a digital engineering process that should be able to build things quickly and much more effectively.”
GSA, DHS making big push to address shortcomings in contractor assessments. (Federal News Network) “We think there is a clear appetite for Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS), but contracting officers and industry also know the current CPARS process is broken. I think OFPP hears it from contracting officers that it’s burdensome, and they hear from contractors that it’s not resulting in fair and accurate ratings” … DHS is trying to address these shortcomings by applying artificial intelligence tools to the CPARS process.”
Space Development Agency issues new request for information from satellite vendors. (Space News) ” The agency intends to buy 150 satellites [for Tranche 1] to be launched in late 2024. The plan is to award multiple contracts as SDA wants to create an open marketplace where vendors can compete for orders. The concern, however, is to make sure that satellites from different manufacturers can talk to each other… A critical requirement for SDA satellites are optical crosslinks.”
DARPA awards 3 companies contracts for nuclear spacecraft by 2025. (The Hill) “General Atomics will work on Track A, which is designing an NTP reactor and concept for a propulsion system. Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin will work in Track B, developing an Operational System spacecraft concept and designing a Demonstration System concept… General Atomics’s contract is worth $22 million, Blue Origin’s is worth $2.5 million and Lockheed Martin’s will be worth $2.9 million, a DARPA spokesperson confirmed to The Hill.”
Update: JSM successfully released from F-35A. (Janes) Norway and DoD “conducted two initial in-flight test releases of a Joint Strike Missile (JSM) from the F-35A CTOL.” The JSM is a fifth generation, long-range, precision-guided, sand-off missile system designed by Kongsberg Defence Systems.
Unleashing the potential of the US Space Force. (Air Force Magazine) “Despite the positives with MDA and SDA, overall, the architecting problem is getting worse… Good “mission area” architectures are effectively strategic plans. If done correctly, they help us to understand where we can and cannot afford risk; where we can make resource, performance, and requirements trades BETWEEN programs within a mission area; and where we can fill gaps by buying services or relying on partners.”
Honorable Robert O Work, Vice Chair NSCAI, and Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Michael S Groen, Director, JAIC, Hold a Press Briefing on Artificial Intelligence. (DoD) “we recommend standing up an AI development team at every single COCOM (Combatant Commands), with forward deployable elements and a leveraged, technological knowledge to develop innovative operational concepts and essentially establish a pull for AI-enabled applications that will help them accomplish their missions… We think the department should establish a dedicated AI fund, under the control of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (R&E), and that fund would allow the Undersecretary to get small, innovative AI companies across the Valley of Death.”
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