Opinion: Why are US defense prime growth expectations so similar? (Aviation Week) Byron Callan: “First, if everyone is well positioned, no one is well positioned… Second, the consolidation of the 1990s and 2000s has diversified portfolios… Third, large contractors spend similar amounts on research and development… None of the primes appears to have a differentiated business model. They have similar labor costs and management incentives. None is as vertically integrated as SpaceX, and none has struck out with a materially different attitude toward risk and prototyping. “
SECNAV memo: New destroyer, fighter, or sub: you can only pick one; cut nuclear cruise. (USNI News) And there’s this: “… the Chief of Naval Operations is directed to develop a 10-year infrastructure reset strategy, similar to the Marine Corps, to achieve a 1 percent facility footprint reduction measured in square feet per year over 10 years.”
New GBSD will fly in 2023; no margin left for Minuteman. (Air Force Magazine) “The GBSD is expected to achieve initial operational capability in 2029 and full operational capability with 400 missiles seven years later in 2036, Bartolomei said. GBSDs will be deployed to missile silos an average of once a week for nine years, officials said.”
FY22 shipbuilding budget could do more to pave the way for US Navy fleet transformation, experts say. (Defense News) ““Forward-load the things that we can build today, so that maybe on the back end we’re going to buy fewer of those and then buy more of these new classes of ships.”… the Navy’s FY22 request signals it’s more interested in buying near-term operations and maintenance instead of investing in the future.”
GSA set to alter cloud buying landscape with new policy. (Federal News Network) “We hope the policy lays out a clear way to execute the pay by the drink execution strategy using the schedules… We hope to have some sort of language in the schedule contracts by the fall or maybe earlier, hopefully.” … “Of the $6.8 billion agencies spent on cloud services in fiscal 2020, according to Bloomberg Government, about $400 million of that came through the schedules.”
Cost of US Navy’s ship-to-shore connector breaches Nunn-McCurdy law. (Defense News) “the Ship-to-Shore Connector’s original acquisition program baseline (APB) was listed at $53.7 million apiece and $47.2 million apiece in 2011 dollars, depending on whether developmental costs are included… In the recent fiscal 2020 Selected Acquisition Report, those figures had increased to $63.7 million and $56.4 million, respectively…. The Navy plans to buy 72 of these SSCs to replace an aging fleet of LCACs that haul Marines, ground vehicles and equipment to shore from amphibious warships.”
China sends record 28 fighter jets toward Taiwan. (Military.com) “The planes included various types of fighter jets including 14 J-16 and six J-11 planes, as well as bombers, the ministry said.”
CNO Gilday: flat or declining Navy budgets ‘will definitely shrink’ the fleet. (USNI News) “While the Navy has for years been building toward a goal of 355 ships, Gilday said the service only has enough money for 300 vessels with its current budget… “Over the last 20 years, manpower, operations, and maintenance costs – 60 percent of our budget – have grown at 2.4 percent above the rate of inflation. Meanwhile, the buying power of our Navy is less than it was in 2010. Back then, we had 288 ships. Today, we have 296.””
Navy releases long-range shipbuilding plan that drops emphasis on 355 ships, lays out fleet design priorities. (Defense News) “The new document lays out a manned fleet as low as 321 manned ships and potentially as large as 372 manned ships [and] would be supplemented by a yet-to-be-determined number of unmanned surface and underwater vessels – between 77 and 140, according to the document. 
US Navy issues FY22 shipbuilding and decommissioning totals to Congress. (Naval News) “According to the table – coming from the report – the 15 ships that the Navy plans to decommission in FY2022 are 7 cruisers, 4 littoral combat ships, 1 amphibious ship, 2 attack submarines and 1 fleet tug.”
First two B-21 Raider stealth bombers are ready to start testing. (Interesting Engineering) “Acting Acquisition Executive Darlene Costello said the aircraft are not far enough along for acceleration. To her, the priority is “to get through the design, get completed, and not introduce concurrency” in the project… Once the fleet of B-21s is complete, the service looks forward to working with a fleet of 225 heavy bombers, nearly 70 more than its current fleet number of 158.”
Brown: NGAD will be a multirole fighter. (Air Force Magazine) “The NGAD is described as a “family of systems” that allows the Air Force to control the sky at times and places of its choosing, but its centerpiece will be a fighter aircraft. Other parts of the system are likely to be unmanned escort aircraft to carry extra munitions and perform other missions.”
Air Force releases bridge tanker sources sought announcement. (Air Force Life Cycle) “The Air Force is seeking companies that have the capability to deliver commercial derivative tanker aircraft to supplement the Air Force tanker aircraft fleet at the end of KC-46A Pegasus production. The new aircraft will bridge the gap to the next Advanced Air Refueling Tanker recapitalization phase, previously referred to as “KC-Z.””
Air Force Starts KC-Y Tanker Search As Lawmakers Slam KC-46. (Breaking Defense) “I would strongly urge you to look at re-competing,” the Boeing contract [said Rep. Wittman]. Air Force leaders have said a re-compete would probably cost more than completing the current fixed-cost contract. “The Air Force is seeking companies that have the capability to deliver approximately 140-160 Commercial Derivative Tanker Aircraft.””
Lawmakers question Space Force technology investments. (Space News) “The Biden administration is seeking $17.4 billion for the Space Force in fiscal year 2022 — more than a $2 billion increase compared to 2021… “While it is encouraging to see an increase in research and development across the portfolio, much of the request is for systems that have been called ‘big juicy targets,’” Smith said.
Army orders 2 prototype sensor suites for next-generation surveillance plane. (C4ISRNET) With the phase 1 awards, each company will develop, build and integrate a suite of electronic intelligence and communications intelligence sensors for the airborne ISR platform called High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System, or HADES. While the Army has not settled on what platform will host the sensor system, it is currently envisioned as a manned fixed-wing jet that can operate “at altitudes and ranges beyond those of existing platforms.”
Ex-Facebook VR exec says he’ll turn US troops into ‘invincible technomancers,’ just raised $450 million. (CBNC) “The company is now valued at $4.6 billion… Anduril provides “sensor networks, towers, drones, and powerful software that ties it all together — whose potential uses include protecting our troops on base, defending our energy infrastructure, combating wildfires, stopping human traffickers, creating a “virtual border.””
B-52 re-engining cost up 9% due to fresh data, ‘industrial realities.’ (Air Force Magazine) “The total program cost of re-engining the B-52H fleet of 76 airplanes will be about $11 billion… the CERP could produce a disproportionate reduction in the need for tanker support of the B-52; as much as a 50 percent drop “depending on the scenario.””
New T-7 Red Hawk Trainer Faces Delays over Parts Shortages, Testing. (Military.com) “Advance timetables show the Red Hawk is being delayed roughly 15 months from the original “Milestone C” decision date. The Air Force on Friday cited parts shortages — due to COVID-19’s effect on the global supply chain — initial design delays, and additional required testing for the setback. The decision is now expected in late 2023… The additional testing, the service said, has to do with the aircraft’s wing rock, meaning the aircraft has the potential to enter an uncontrollable roll while flying at certain angles of attack. The Air Force said the issue was discovered during the testing phase”
The age of autonomous supply chains. (CoinDesk) “In the place of top-down inventory planning and forecasting, smart contracts could be used to allow decentralized operations… Crowdsourced services like ride sharing already do something like that. None of them directly tells drivers when to drive.”
Open Position: Policy Director for S&T, Project Manager, Defense Budget in the 21st Century. (Day One Project) “The Project Manager will lead a project to advance strategic thinking and coalition building around a “Defense Budget for the 21st Century.” This initiative will examine the resource allocation mechanisms for applying taxpayer funding to national security outcomes. It will seek to build innovative ideas to achieve national security efficiently, responsively, and responsibly given the complex problem space and many stakeholders in the Administration, Congress, and industry.”
Why DoD needs an arsenal of innovation. (The Cipher) “The challenge for DoD now, is to figure out how to move away from its command-economy approach in favor of dealing with industry and learning how to better acquire and adapt commercial technologies to meet its needs.”
Space Force: Opportunity Awaits. (Strategic Institute) ” The reason is that the reforms have all taken place in the context of modifications to a highly regulated purchasing system. Real reform and improvement require abandoning a system that is focused on only one relationship, the buyer-seller relationship.”
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