Faster weapon buys: try evolutionary innovation. (Breaking Defense) Elaine McCusker and Dan Patt recommend: “First, it needs stable lines of funding that can accommodate the open-ended nature of an evolutionary development… Second, it needs business systems that can track metrics for information-age military capability to keep up with the speed of continuous development and enable effective oversight… Third, it needs congressional support to modernize the Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution (PPBE) process to match acquisition reforms made over the last decade.”
Elon Musk calls rocket launch regulations ‘broken’ after aircraft delays SpaceX launch. (CNBC) “There is simply no way that humanity can become a spacefaring civilization without major regulatory reform. The current regulatory system is broken,” Musk wrote… “Their rules are meant for a handful of expendable launches per year from a few government facilities. Under those rules, humanity will never get to Mars.”
Elon Musk says SpaceX competitor ULA would be ‘dead as a doornail’ without Pentagon help. (CNBC) “Musk has previously referenced ULA receiving “a billion dollar annual subsidy” from the Pentagon, and last year called the competitor “a complete waste of taxpayer money.” Bruno, for his part, has repeatedly called the idea that ULA receives government subsidies “an absurd myth.”
Commercial item contracting scams continues. (POGO) “The GAO found the running around that government officials had to do to obtain the other information resulted in delays. But these delays were likely intentional efforts by contractors to get the department to agree to pay higher prices… For example, efforts by the Defense Logistics Agency to assess a $157.7 million engine parts contract resulted in it taking 459 days to issue the contract. The delay was worth it in the end, since the final price was 25% less than what the contractor initially proposed… There are two root causes of these overcharges. The first is that Congress has created a definition of commercial that is antithetical to free market principles… The second root cause is that the department is restricted from requesting certified cost or pricing data for transactions under $2 million.”
US Air Force funds shipping container 3D printing facilities secured by blockchain. (3D Print) “… the project’s ultimate goal is to leverage AM [adv. manufacturing] so the Air Force can design and produce parts in days rather than months, respond faster to combat equipment needs on bases and overseas battlefields. It will also help backfill parts for aging but still serviceable planes for which there are no commercially available replacement parts.” Blockchain “ensures data integrity and protects against tampering intellectual property and communications.”
Skyborg AI flies second drone; demos ‘portability.’ (Breaking Defense) “Flying the Skyborg ACS on platforms from two different manufacturers [Kratos UTAP-22 and General Atomics’ MQ-20] demonstrates the portability of the Government-owned autonomy core… designed by Leidos, serving as Skyborg System Design Agent.” There are three airframe competitors that must integrate with the autonomy core system [ACS]: Boeing; General Atomics; and Kratos.
US Navy sees better LCS maintenance from sailors in ongoing Tulsa, Charleston deployments. (Defense News) “”… we are steadily increasing maintenance execution teams, so active-duty sailors who are doing the maintenance.”… The Navy originally designed the LCS program around the idea that ships would be minimally manned, and contractor teams would perform the bulk of the ship maintenance… Additionally, the Navy is getting its first operational experience with pieces of the LCS’s mine countermeasures mission package”
Nothin left in the tank: The state of the Pentagon’s supply chain. (Defense News) “Some degree of inefficiency must be allowable for the U.S. government to maintain idling plants, accept early technology failure from commercial suppliers and refine contracting practices. Placing a policy premium on surge capacity will drive these reforms. Failing to do so maintains the status quo, where we are stuck with fewer and fewer exquisite platforms that can’t maintain readiness or quickly be replaced.”
House appropriators want more cargo helos for US Army in FY22. (Defense News) “The U.S. Army continued its years long tradition of not funding the procurement of the latest variant of the CH-47F Chinook cargo helicopter in favor of future programs in its fiscal 2022 budget request, but House appropriators… bill includes a $170 million plus-up for a second set of five CH-47F Block II aircraft and additional funding for a third set of five… House appropriators are also adding $211.5 million above the Army’s request for 33 more UH-60M Black Hawk utility helicopters.”
How do SpaceX Starlink satellites actually work? (Discover) “Originally, SpaceX planned to connect every satellite to its neighbors using lasers that would let the spacecraft communicate with one another. But the first batch of Starlink satellites launched without this ability. So for now, service relies on a system of ground stations called gateways… a user’s home antenna connects to a Starlink satellite as it passes overhead, which in turn links them into the nearest gateway. As a result, in addition to their own antenna, users need to have a ground station within roughly 500 miles of their location to get service.”
Katie Arrington placed on leave amid probe into suspected disclosure of classified information. (FedScoop) “Arrington is CISO for Acquisition and Sustainment at the Department of Defense… She was brought to the Pentagon in 2019 under the category of “highly qualified expert,”… former U.S. Air Force officer and long-time cybersecurity specialist John Garstka had taken up the role of acting CISO.”
3D printer Relativity Space is expanding, with giant new facility to build reuseable rockets. (CNBC) “The company, which raised nearly $1.2 billion in capital over the past eight months, expects to begin construction on the new facility this summer and the move in come January 2022. At more than 1 million square feet, the former Boeing C-17 aircraft manufacturing plant “is an absolutely monstrous building,” Ellis said.”… The company is focused on using 3D-printing to build rockets, a process that Relativity says requires thousands less parts and can be done in less than 60 days due to a simplified supply chain.”
Lockheed’s F-35 topples competition in Swiss fighter context. (Defense News) “Over the course of the program, Switzerland plans to spend up to 6 billion Swiss francs (U.S. $6.5 billion) to buy 36 F-35A conventional-takeoff-and-landing models to replace its aging Hornet fleet [beating out the Eurofighter Typhoon, Dassault Rafale, and Boeing F-18E/F]…. To meet industrial participation requirements, Lockheed proposed a batch of offsets that included domestic production of about 400 F-35 canopies and transparencies, the creation of a maintenance hub in Switzerland that would maintain European F-35 users’ canopies and transparencies, and the creation of a Swiss cyber center of excellence… It also offered to sweeten the pot with an option to conduct the final assembly of four F-35 aircraft at existing Ruag facilities in Emmen. However, company officials acknowledged that would add a “significant cost” to the program.” The F-35 won because of its “comprehensively networked system.”
Navy offers glimpse of its submarine-launched mine capabilities in the Mediterranean. (The Drive) “the Los Angeles class attack submarine USS Montpelier conducting exercises with dummy Mk 67 Submarine Launched Mobile Mines, or SLMMs… The Mk 67 SLMM was first deployed in 1983 and is the only submarine-launched mine currently in U.S. Navy service. The mines have a depth range of up to 600 feet and carry a 330-pound high explosive charge triggered by a combination magnetic/seismic/pressure target detection device.” Navy is also developing two air-dropped mines and the clandestine delivered mine intended for deployment on large UUVs.
Air Force activates first of its kind wing for spectrum. (C4ISRNET) 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing out of Eglin Air Force Base. “The group hopes to enable, equip and optimize the fielding of EMS capabilities… The wing will also provide maintenance, operational and technical expertise for electronic warfare support… “If we lose the fight in the EMS, we will lose the fights in all other domains. We’re here to help make sure that doesn’t happen.””
Navy’s powerful aerial jamming pod moves to next phase. (C4ISRNET) ” Raytheon Technologies said it completed what’s known as Milestone C for the Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band… The jammer is the Navy’s premier aerial electronic attack platform that will replace the ALQ-99 jamming pod and be mounted aboard EA-18 Growler aircraft. It is broken into three pods covering three portions of the electromagnetic spectrum: mid, low and high.”
DoD demonstrates mobile microgrid technology. (DoD) “Integrating power generation directly onto tactical vehicle platforms, VCMs are designed to provide on-the-move power for next-generation warfighting capabilities, such as directed energy and missile defense systems. VCMs also support a rapidly forming and resilient microgrid capability that will power future command, control, communications, computers and intelligence systems.” VCMs generate 100 kilowatts per vehicle. Looks like the project was kick started with funding from MDA’s THAAD program, allowing funds to start moving just 120 days after initial engagement.
Department of Defense to address small business concerns as part of CMMC program review. (FedScoop) “Critics of CMMC say it represents an unfair burden for smaller enterprises because they have less money available to spend on compliance costs than larger federal contractors… An internal review of the CMMC accreditation program was ordered by the deputy secretary of defense in March… The Government Accountability Office is also reviewing the program with an eye toward DOD’s communication with industry and small business impact. That review is expected to last until the fall.”
Panel: Budget priorities prompted Navy cut to forces to prevent hallow fleet. (USNI News) “And then the Navy looked at investments in Columbia, paying the readiness bills to fight tonight, high leverage investments in the future, and we took that $1.8 billion for a destroyer and spread it for readinesss for today, modernization for tomorrow, and investments for the future.”
Raytheon pressing forward on its tech & revenue synergy initiative. (Washington Technology) “What is now a 37,000-employee Intelligence and Space organization was formed by combining the legacy Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services segment with the Space and Airborne Systems segment.”
China’s J-35 carrier fighter appears; steps to ‘most powerful navy’? (Breaking Defense) “The J-15 was not an indigenous Chinese development but a reverse-engineered copy of the Russian Sukhoi Su-33 carrier fighter… A PLA military source who spoke on condition of anonymity said the J-15 is so overweight that, “even the US Navy’s new generation C13-2 steam catapult launch engines that are installed on Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, would struggle to launch the aircraft efficiently.” … This has prompted SAC to pour significant resources into the J-35, which is 22,000 lbs. lighter.” OBTW, PLAN has 400 warships and subs and produces double the tonnage of US shipyards in a year.
Bill would require Pentagon to perform audit or face automatic cuts. (Komo News) “Any office that doesn’t go through an audit would have its budget automatically cut by .5% in the first year, then 1% in the years after… The report found that in 2020 alone, the department made about $11.4 billion in improper payments. The Pentagon also has left billions of appropriated dollars unspent over the last 10 fiscal years.” Cut 1% from what which programs? Wouldn’t DoD just submit a budget 1% higher?
Space Development Agency celebrates launch of its first satellites. (Space News) “These are the agency’s first in-space experiments since it was established in 2019. SDA plans to deploy a network of satellites in low Earth orbit for military communications and for missile defense… “SDA is relying on optical communications terminals to get massive amounts of data off of sensors and into warfighters’ hands faster than has ever been possible,” said Tournear.”
Kratos completes testing on affordable turbine engine for missiles, UAVs. (Janes) “Key goals include increased fuel efficiency, propulsive capability, and increased power and thermal management.”
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