Maker of switchblade loitering munitions ready to produce “thousands” for Ukraine if Washington acts. (Forbes) “Loitering munitions, sometimes called kamikaze drones, can be launched from long range without needing to locate a target first. Loitering munitions like the Switchblade 600 can find and destroy a tank from 25 miles away, giving a huge asymmetrical advantage to the defenders… …They were developed for use against ‘high value targets,’ Pentagon jargon for insurgent leadership. A larger version, the Switchblade 600, was rolled out in 2020… Switchblades have been purchased under a U.S. Army program known as Lethal Miniature Aerial Munition System (LMAMS), but have never become what is termed a “program of record.”… the budget plans for purchasing just 525 of them in the current financial year, even less than last year’s 900 due to “due to reduced replenishment requirement.” This view has no doubt been revised in recent weeks… But while the U.S. has sent over 5,000 Javelin anti-tank missiles and vast number of other weapons, it has only sent a few hundred loitering munitions… AeroVironment has already purchased materials to ensure that orders can be filled, but what is needed now is a higher priority government contract.”
Defense Innovation Unit chief to resign in September. (Defense News) “Michael Brown, head of the Defense Innovation Unit, informed the department on April 27 he would resign when his term ends Sept. 2. Brown has served as DIU director since 2018, pushing changes to DoD’s budgeting process and advocating for greater adoption of commercial technology.”
Anduril Industries in talks with Australia on autonomous undersea vehicle. (C4ISRNET) “Anduril Industries said it’s negotiating a $100 million deal to design, develop and manufacture autonomous undersea vehicles for the Australian Defence Force. The California-based company disclosed the talks May 4, saying a three-year development program for Extra Large Autonomous Undersea Vehicles, or XL-AUV, “has an incredibly ambitious delivery schedule” that will require “capability assessment and prototyping in record time.” “There is a clear need for an XL-AUV built in Australia, for Australia,” said Palmer Luckey, the Anduril founder. Anduril on Feb. 2 announced its acquisition of Boston startup Dive Technologies, which specializes in autonomous underwater vehicles.”
Boeing to move headquarters from Chicago to Arlington, Va. (CBS News) “The aerospace giant already has an office in Arlington’s Crystal City district, where employees support a variety of corporate functions and work on advanced airplane development and autonomous systems. Boeing also plans to develop a research and technology hub in the draw engineering and technical talent… Gov. Ryan was instrumental in bringing Boeing to Chicago. The airplane manufacturer was offered a controversial $60 million tax break package over about a 20-year span. But as noted by the Pritzker’s office, those incentives have now expired.”
Rightsizing the fleet: Why the Navy’s new shipbuilding plan is not enough. (CIMSEC) Rep. Elaine Luria — “I have repeatedly criticized the Navy for not having a strategy and I look forward to hearing how producing three separate shipbuilding plans aligns with their “strategy.” It does not seem to align with former Navy Secretary John Lehman’s idea of the budget process: “first strategy, then requirements, then the POM [Program Objective Memoranda], then budget.”” .. The current budget proposal to decommission five cruisers, along with last year’s budget proposal to decommission seven cruisers, will result in a loss of 756 VLS cells by the end of 2023. In the 2021-2027 timeframe, the “Davidson Window,” the Navy will lose 1,668 VLS cells.”
In new directive, US Army reins in Army Futures Command. (Defense News) “The directive rescinds the language of previous directives from 2018 and 2020 that establishes Army Futures Command as “leading the modernization enterprise.” It also says the Army’s science and technology arm will fall under the control of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics and Technology),or ASAALT, as opposed to under Army Futures Command… Critics have argued the command [AFC] has had too much control over modernization, including a high level of power over the acquisition enterprise. he previous directives also “created ambiguity regarding the primacy of acquisition authorities vested in the Army Secretariat that preserve civilian oversight and control in acquisition matters,” [SecArmy] Wormuth said. “AFC clearly still develops requirements and concepts, but now has a much more limited role in the acquisition of capabilities,” [Tom Spoehr] he added.”
Hackers find more than 400 vulnerabilities in DoD’s industrial base companies. (Federal News Network) “Over one year, the hackers probed 41 companies and found more than 400 vulnerabilities that needed mitigation. The companies voluntarily joined the bug bounty-like program and agreed to have HackerOne, an organization of ethical hackers, look for holes. The first vulnerability report arrived seven minutes after the contest started, and 1,410 pro and amateur hackers from 44 states wound up making 1,189 reports of security problems during the three-week program… “DoD Cyber Crime Center’s DoD Vulnerability Disclosure Program has long since recognized the benefits of utilizing crowdsourced ethical hackers to add defense-in-depth protection to the DoD Information Networks.””
New Marine Corps aviation plan makes ‘digital interoperability’ a top priority. (Breaking Defense) “The aviation plan describes the “MAGTF Agile Network Gateway Link,” dubbed MANGL, as the foundation of the service’s efforts to digitally connect its aircraft. The service’s plan uses a “hubs” and “spokes” analogy to describe MANGL. “Hubs have a comprehensive gateway and spectrum agile radio to handle the message translation and network management of present and future tactical data links (TDL),” according to the document. “Spokes have the same interfaces, but less capable gateways and legacy radios.” The service anticipates that by fiscal 2024 that every Marine Corps aviation platform will have “a way to transmit and receive multiple standardized links” to meet the service’s missions.”
Admiral Gilday explains LCS ASW and MCM module decisions. (Naval News) “The [Constellation-class] frigates would be the gap-filler there with respect to ASW. Those requirements for that ASW package for [the] LCS were developed back in 2008 against a diesel [submarine] threat in the littorals. And then our minds shifted to we’ll be using these things in the deep blue ocean. First of all, the ASW Modules just didn’t pan out; the VDS [Variable Depth Sonar] didn’t work as it should. LCS is as noisy as an aircraft carrier and so there are some big challenges there that we should have pick up on way earlier… The MCM Modules are on track to IOC [Initial Operating Capability] either late this Summer or in the Fall, but within the next year, and so we’re in a better path with the MCM Modules, and the Surface Warfare Module has been around since 2019 with IOC.”
BAE systems, Pentagon question reports of howitzer delays for Taiwan. (Defense News) “The U.S. government has asked Taiwan to accept a delay in the delivery of mobile artillery systems caused by a production backlog, according to Taiwan’s Defense Ministry. But instead, the island nation is considering alternatives that it could quickly introduce into service… “BAE Systems is ready to produce and provide M109 Self Propelled Howitzers for Taiwan once a contract has been finalized by the United States Government.” The U.S. Army is reducing its planned buy of the Paladin over a three-year period, which makes more room for other orders on the howitzer’s production line. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it is considering alternative artillery systems in the wake of the potential delay. These include the truck-mounted M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System made by Lockheed Martin.”
How much did engine delays set back the Future Attack Recon Aircraft program. (Defense News) “The Army’s fiscal 2023 budget justification books reveal the service planned to fly the two prototypes — from Bell and Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky – over the course of FY23, but that timeline has slipped. Now, Bell’s 360 Invictus and Sikorsky’s Raider X will fly over the course of FY24… The service awarded contracts to the two companies to build the prototypes in 2020. The aircraft are roughly 80% assembled, and the competitors are waiting to integrate the ITEP engine once the first one finishes required testing. The Army also won’t enter Milestone B — the technology development phase ..— until the third quarter of FY25″
DoD announces $117 million defense production act Title III agreement with GlobalFoundries to strengthen the domestic microelectronics industrial base. (DoD) “GF will transfer its 45 nanometer (nm) silicon-on-insulator (SOI) semiconductor manufacturing process from its Fab 10 facility in East Fishkill, New York, to its Fab 8 facility in Malta, New York. The effort is a follow-on from an $8 million award issued last year through which GF conducted initial engineering baseline activities for the transfer. This agreement will ensure access to 45nm SOI semiconductors critical to DoD strategic systems.”
Eglin research lab turns fighter jet into submarine as “low cost and more agile solution.” (NWF Daily News) “AFRL — along with the 780th Test Squadron of Eglin Air Force Base’s 96th Test Wing and the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron of Eglin’s 53rd Wing — destroyed a full-size marine vessel with an air-to-surface missile launched from an F-15E Strike Eagle. The missile was used in a new application under development in the AFRL, dubbed QUICKSINK, in which a munition launched from an aircraft is guided into the water to explode under a ship rather than exploding on or within the ship itself… The successful Thursday demonstration was carried out with modified GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM).”
US Army considers Israeli-made Firefly loitering mini-drone. (Breaking Defense) “The drone, which maker Rafael calls a “miniature electro-optical tactical loitering munition,” was among those tested at the Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiment, which wrapped up last month.. Standing about 16 inches tall and weighing less than 5 pounds, the tube-shaped Firefly takes off vertically with coaxial rotor blades and can carry 350 gram warheads. The munition includes an advanced multispectral seeker with both uncooled IR sensor, high-definition CMOS day sensor as well as a proximity sensor allowing the system to detect, identify, track and home on very agile targets, Rafael says.”
Future F-35’s AIM-132 Block 6 missile has new British-built seeker. (Bulgarian Military) “Successful tests of the advanced short-range air-to-air missile [ASRAAM], also known by its United States designation AIM-132, have been carried out and the missile has thus reached its initial operational capability. This means that this year the British Eurofighter Typhoon fighters will be armed with this missile, and within two years the American F-35 as well… AIM-132 is currently in service in only two countries: Britain and India… The rocket is powered by a dual-burn, high-impulse solid rocket motor. The operational range is 25+ km. AIM-132 flies at a speed of Mach 3.”
DHS Contracts: opportunities exist to improve oversight monitoring of urgent noncompetitive awards. (GAO) ” Spending on urgent contracts increased from $75 million in fiscal year 2016 to $1.3 billion in fiscal year 2020 due to contracts awarded in response to COVID-19, hurricanes, and other needs. Fiscal year 2020 saw the largest increase in DHS’s obligations on urgent awards due to the COVID-19 response (see figure). COVID-19 Drove a Large Increase in Urgent Noncompetitive Obligations in Fiscal Year 2020″
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