Startups map out strategies to augment or backup GPS. (Space News) “GPS-level accuracy of 4.9 meters for a smartphone operating under clear skies won’t be good enough. Before autonomous cars can speed down highways, they will need to know their location within around 10 centimeters with roughly one error every billion miles… Both TrustPoint and Xona intend to establish small satellite constellations in low Earth orbit to offer global positioning, navigation and timing services independent of existing GNSS constellations… “Iridium satellites are 25 times closer to the earth than GPS satellites and their beams are much more focused,” O’Connor said. “The net impact is that the signal received on the ground is about 1,000 times stronger than GPS.””
Air Force chief software officer to resign. (FCW) “”We are the largest software organization on the planet, and we have almost no shared repositories and little to no collaboration across DOD Services,” Chaillan wrote in a resignation memo obtained by FCW. “At this point, I am just tired of continuously chasing support and money to do my job. My office still has no billet and no funding, this year and the next.””
Marine Corps commandant defense equipment divestment, end strength cuts. (National Defense Magazine) “Commandant Gen. David Berger said prioritizing next-generation capabilities and cutting troop numbers by nearly 3,000 Marines this year are part of a strategy to prepare for the future… “Those are decisions that are hard to make because it would be great to hold onto everything and all of your structure, and … protect it all,” he said. However, “in my estimation, that force was not going to be a good match for what we need to do in the future.”… Going forward, the Corps is interested in deploying more unmanned capabilities, to include manned-unmanned teaming, Berger noted.”
Combatant commands worry about service JADC2 stovepipes. (Breaking Defense) ““One of the challenges that I see with JADC2 is: is it really joint? Or is it SADC2 — in other words, is it really just a service all domain command and control?” quipped George Ka’iliwai, director of requirements and resources (J8), at Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) headquarters… To that end, he noted that INDOPACOM has been working closely with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to create a tool called Assault Breaker II, or ABII, that is designed to create “the common data layer and the integration that we need across the services in order to do the command and control that we need.””
House panel approves $25B boost for defense budget. (The Hill) “The bulk of the funding in the amendment, $9.8 billion, would go toward procurement, including $4.7 billion more for shipbuilding, $1.7 billion for aircraft and $878 million for combat vehicles… Republicans argued that when accounting for inflation, the proposal would actually be a cut compared with last year. Instead, they have been pushing for a 3 to 5 percent increase above inflation… The NDAA is a policy bill, not a spending bill, meaning even if the final product has a top line of $778 billion, a separate appropriations bill with a matching dollar figure would also have to pass for the increase to become a reality.”
HASC adopts amendment that would authorize 4 more battleforce ships, increase DoD topline to $23.9B. (USNI News) “… authorizes funding for a third Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, one America-class amphibious assault ship, one Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) ship, and another T-AO-205 John Lewis-class fleet oiler… [Note, the HASC added a second DDG-51 destroyer, while the third destroyer was authorized with $130M for FY23.] The amendment also authorizes funding for two more V-22 Osprey aircraft, two more P-8A Poseidon aircraft, and two more KC-130Js, and authorizes more funding for the Navy’s F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet and E-2D Advanced Hawkeye programs.”
Bipartisan group of lawmakers presses DoD to back Lockheed-Aerojet merger. (Space News) “The Aug. 31 letter to Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks was signed by nine Republican and four Democratic House members from Arkansas, Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas, California and Colorado — states where Lockheed Martin and Aerojet Rocketdyne currently operate… “Aerojet Rocketdyne is the last standalone rocket propulsion manufacturer of any appreciable size,” the lawmakers point out.”
Air Force software chief provides update on DoD’s enterprise DevSecOps initiative. (Nextgov) “We can’t be left behind. China, Russia and North Korea are massively adopting DevOps,” Nicolas Chaillan said Tuesday during an ATARC summit… “So some of the key numbers that we’ve seen, obviously faster mission delivery—106 times faster lead time from” development to production, the software chief noted. Officials also estimate that code deployments are more than 200 times more frequent, and that 22% less time is being spent on unplanned work and rework. They’ve also calculated that 50% less time is being put toward dealing with cybersecurity issues. Further, while the department encourages failing fast, Chaillan and team have seen recovery rates that are more than 2,600 times faster than before, which he deemed “mind-boggling.” On average, development costs have been reduced by 40%, and there’s about 44% more time now being focused on building new capabilities instead of maintaining legacy code. Morale is apparently improved by the work too, as employees involved in associated pursuits are said to be 2.2 times more likely to recommend their organization.”
Recompete of Joint Light Tactical Vehicle will test whether the Army can keep its eye on the ball. (Forbes) “To date the company [Oshkosh] has delivered 13,000 of the vehicles, and the Army expects to keep buying them through 2042… Navistar, AM General and General Motors Defense all seem to think they have a shot at displacing Oshkosh and winning a follow-on production contract for JLTV that could be worth $12 billion… when the Army releases its draft request for proposals in October, it’s a safe bet there will be plenty of comment from industry.” [There’s talk of competitors trying to shape RFP to allow electric drive and surround-view cameras, not part of the original design.]
Army decides not to buy Israel’s iron dome interceptor system. (Jerusalem Post) “… the US Army chose Leidos-owned Dynetics’ launcher after a shoot-off between the two systems last month at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico…. The Dynetics system, called Enduring Shield, has 360-degree detection and can fire at multiple threats simultaneously [and can integrate with IAMD]… According to a report in Calcalist, though, the average price of an Iron Dome system is around NIS 27 million ($8,400,000)… IAI, which manufactures the radars for Iron Dome, made a record $4.2 billion in 2020 in international sales from the multi-mission radar.”
The evolving geography of the US defense industrial base. (War on the Rocks) “In recent years, the geography of U.S. defense spending has been undergoing a subtle shift… Overall, defense contracts have grown more concentrated among fewer locations in the United States… The increased concentration of defense technologies and companies in geographic “clusters” could also exacerbate an already troubling divide between the U.S. military and the broader civilian population… Over three-quarters of the value of Pentagon prime contracts awarded within the United States go to firms in just 15 states.,.. About 7.7 percent of Connecticut’s economy in 2020 was driven by defense prime contracts, the highest share of any state.”
Japanese rocket engine explodes: continuously and on purpose. (Hackaday) “… the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has recently completed a successful test of a different type of rocket, known as a rotating detonation engine…. This is where the combustion creates a shock wave that travels faster than the speed of sound that rapidly propagates the detonation reaction further, and comes with a huge pressure increase to boot. [However,] It can be difficult to sustain a continuous detonation reaction. Additionally, large spikes in temperature and pressure from the detonation process and the associated shockwaves can easily damage or destroy parts made of even very tough materials… Unlike the experiment by the University of Central Florida, the Japanese effort involved launching an actual rocket.”
US Air Force chooses C-17A, C-130 instead of C-5M for Kabul evacuation. (Janes) “Air Mobility Command preferred to floor load roughly 400 passengers per C-17A to maximise the number of evacuees it airlifted… In some cases, other aircraft such as the McDonnell Douglas KC-10A Extender and the C-5M were used to transport evacuees from intermediate staging bases to the United States.”
Let’s take our first look at Kratos’ airwolf tactical drone. (The Drive) “Beyond the mention of the [target] drone’s “artificial intelligence/autonomy system,” Kratos’ press release offers few details about Air Wolf’s general specifications or its capabilities.” [In 2015, Kratos had zero tactical drones. In 2020, it has four: Xq-58A Valkyrie, UTAP-22 Mako, X-61A Gremlin, and the Airwolf. Airwolf is a descendent of the Kratos’ MQM-178 Firejet aerial target system. Gremlins, btw, are manufactured by Kratos but the prime developer is Dynetics.]
Army issues big RFP for IT to bolster network modernization. (Breaking Defense) “The RFP comes as the Army is undertaking a major, multi-year network modernization initiative being led by Maj. Gen. Peter Gallagher at Futures Command. The goal is to achieve what Gallagher has called “decision dominance.”
Unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launched from Vandenberg space force base. (SciTech Daily) “The purpose of the ICBM test launch program is to validate and verify the safety, security, effectiveness, and readiness of the weapon system… The LLNL Independent Diagnostic Scoring System (LIDSS) was used to collect the downrange data following the launch. The assets used to collect the data included autonomous rafts, camera boxes, and drones.”
New US-Europe partnership to advance USV applications for defence & marine survey sectors. (Naval News) “The partnership unites Florida-headquartered MARTAC’s extensive USV portfolio for defence, commercial and scientific applications with Subsea Europe Services’ hydroacoustic sensors, platforms and solutions expertise… The initial focus is on MARTAC’s new fully electric MANTAS T12, a 3.6 metre ‘X-Class’ vessel, mobilised with Subsea Europe Service’s integrated Hydroacoustic Survey System (iHSS). The combination unlocks unprecedented speed, agility and operational capabilities that can transform the marine survey workflow to improve data quality and reduce costs.”
Air Force needs to cut $3.7 million in costs per aircraft to make F-35s affordable. (NWF Daily News) “The Air Force alone needs to reduce its estimated costs for maintenance and training, along with equipment needed to support F-35 operations, by $3.7 million per aircraft during the next 15 years, “or it will incur $4.4 billion in costs beyond what it currently projects it could afford” by 2036, according to the GAO… As of November 2020, more than 525 F-35s had been fielded in the United States and other locations across the world…. “F-35 squadrons removed engines for unscheduled maintenance more often than expected, primarily to repair the power module — a key component of the engine that generates thrust for the aircraft to fly.””
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