Disrupted by SpaceX, ULA was in ‘serious trouble.’ Now its on the road back. (Washington Post) “After years of delays, [ULA] says it is close to flying a next-generation [Vulcan] rocket with a new, American-made engine built by Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin… Unlike SpaceX, which flies its rockets back to Earth so they can be reflown, ULA is still planning to drop the engines out of the rocket’s first stage and catch them, Bruno has said… But with more than 40 launches booked to fly Amazon’s Kuiper satellite constellation to orbit, the company’s flight rate is set to significantly increase. Typically, ULA flies about 10 missions a year. The Amazon deal would increase that flight rate to 20 to 25 flights, Bruno said…. He moved to remake the company with the sole purpose of battling SpaceX. He laid off 30 percent of ULA’s staff, and took steps to unite what he said were two companies — one that worked on the company’s Atlas V, the other that worked on its Delta rockets — with “separate lines in the factory, and of course separate launchpads,” he said. “But also separate teams and separate management structure and to a large extent even separate accounts.””
Army’s autonomous HIMARS moving forward, will be at project Convergence. (Breaking Defense) “The Army doesn’t currently have a program of record for the launcher, a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) modified with software to be controlled remotely and driven autonomously. US Indo-Pacific Command has a particularly keen interest in the system, due to its mobility and range that could provide effective shots against enemy anti-access/area denial capabilities… Last year, the service released a video showing C-130s landing on an island, unloading a manned HIMARS and unmanned AML, which drove as part of a manned-unmanned team. They both fired at enemy threats and returned to the C-130s, which quickly departed. The video showed the launcher firing Precision Strike Missiles, one of the Army’s new long-range fires capabilities.” [HIMARS carries one pod with either six GMLRS rockets, or two PrSM missiles, or one ATACMS missile]
New head of Space Force acquisition looks to get back to basics. (Space News) ” “We need to make sure we have really good acquisition and contracting strategies upfront. We have to execute and deliver on time,” Calvelli said in an interview with SpaceNews… “A big push for me is going to be how do we set a program baseline right upfront so that we can actually achieve it,” he said. A number of Space Force programs are years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget, issues that Calvelli believes could be avoided by developing realistic cost estimates and timelines, staying with the plan and holding contractors accountable… The House Appropriations Committee in a report accompanying the fiscal year 2023 defense appropriations bill directs the Space Force to conduct a “rigorous technical analysis matched with executable plans resourced by realistic budgets.”
Air Force thinking of new ways to handle black swan events in acquisition. (Federal News Network) General Cameron Holt: ““I think the budgeting process definitely needs to change. I’m really proud of the House Armed Services Committee and the Senate Armed Services Committee for recognizing that,” he said. “I think the appropriators need to be involved in that discussion as well…“I’m actually more urgently interested in the oversight inside of execution year,” Holt said. “I do understand these arguments…I do think that we as a nation have got to start thinking about how do we allow for some judgment and some decision making at the point of attack at the point of execution. Where we can avoid holes in maybe dozens of acquisition programs that we did not anticipate? Can we rapidly move money to an emerging technology we had no idea existed a year ago?”
Lockheed Martin blends AI decision aide, virtual Aegis combat system in drill near Guam. (Defense News) “In one scenario, DIAMONDShield’s artificial intelligence technology “analyzed operational command-and-control data in real-time during dynamic fires, and provided commanders with decision aids” that recommended which ship, aircraft or ground vehicle should respond to which incoming threats. Once a human operator chose a course of action, the Virtual Aegis system routed relevant targeting data to the rocket launchers….As the Aegis combat system capability becomes more portable through the VAWS effort, which packs the cruiser- and destroyer-based combat system into portable cases, Aegis in the future could be used to fire missiles from unmanned surface vessels or from ground-based systems for joint operations.”
Navy to begin key competition for unmanned, autonomy efforts. (Breaking Defense) “A five year-contract for the selected company is scheduled to be awarded in summer 2023… the service is developing a myriad of unmanned vessels and needs to streamline the process of making sure each drone will be capable of working in conjunction with one another. At the center of those efforts is the Rapid Autonomy Integration Lab (RAIL), a software factory around which much of the ground-level work to do the work will revolve. “
House seeks to establish critical munitions reserve in defense authorization. (Defense News) “It sounds like a nod in the right direction, but it’s not clear what the direct effect would be,” Mark Cancian told Defense News. “There are a couple of manufacturers that basically provide components for many different munitions, and you can get more components for munitions X, but that means fewer for Y.” … The House bill would also limit the Air Force’s desired retirements of E-3 Sentry, or Airborne Warning and Control System, aircraft. The service originally asked for permission to retire 15 AWACS from Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma in 2023; this would be about half of the service’s current fleet of 31 E-3s…. The proposed House bill would only allow 10 E-3 retirements until the Air Force delivers a report on its airborne warning and control capabilities and requirements…. The House bill would also block the Air Force’s request to cut 33 Block 20 F-22A Raptor fighters.”
House Armed Services bill proposes $75 million for rapid space launch activities. (Space News) ““tactically responsive space” — a catchphrase for rapid access to commercial launch vehicles that can be rapidly integrated with payloads and launched during a conflict or a crisis to replace a damaged satellite or augment existing constellations. The Space Force last year demonstrated a tactically responsive launch mission called TacRL-2. A satellite launch that normally would have taken two to five years to plan and executive was accomplished in 11 months… A group of lawmakers is pushing to increase funding to $150 million in 2023.A HASC staff member suggested $150 million would be excessive as DoD is “still working through some of that money” that was added last year. “
France requests Switchblade loitering munition to fill urgent capability gap. (Defense News) “The [French Army] is looking to add AeroVironment’s Switchblade to its inventory within the next six months… The service is looking for a capability “that is different” than a mortar or an artillery shell, he said. “If it is the same price of a mortar round that goes about 3 kilometers away and flies for 15 minutes, then it’s interesting.” But if it’s 10 times more expensive than a mortar and has the same range, Goujon said he is less interested. However, if the weapon can fly 30 or 50 kilometers (19 or 31 miles) away and has an endurance of two to four hours, “suddenly, I can task it on a recovering mission … then it’s a different animal,” Goujon said.”
Paul to oppose small business program Pentagon uses to spur innovation. (Defense News) “Opposition to renewal [of the $3.3 billion Small Business Innovation Research program] comes chiefly from Sen. Rand Paul, the top Republican on the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee. The Kentucky lawmaker will not support reauthorizing the programs as-is, arguing they lack protections against ties between the SBIR program awardees and China, according to a spokesperson. Paul opposes companies whose business model is to generate SBIR-funded research but not to ever spin-off any small businesses from it, the spokesperson said…Shyu and LaPlante said they have been “fortifying security control to ensure that SBIR/STTR-funded technology is not transferred to adversary nations.””
House lawmakers eye 70% funding boost for Pentagon’s commercial innovation hub. (C4ISRNET) “The House Armed Services Committee on Monday released its version of the fiscal 2023 defense policy bill, which recommends $113.4 million for DIU. That’s about $46 million more than what the Defense Department requested… The proposal follows calls from committee members for greater investment in commercial technology. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., urged a 10-fold increase in DIU funding… The committee’s recommended increase for DIU would add $15 million for national security innovation capital, $10 million for joint programs, $5.6 million for hybrid space architecture work, $5 million for electric propulsion and $2.5 million for artificial intelligence. It also proposes $8 million for DIU prototype projects.”
Defense unfunded priority lists expose a strategy and resourcing mismatch. (AEI) “Procurement of current weapon systems accounts for 53 percent of total unfunded priorities, illustrating the trade-offs resulting from the Defense Department’s continued emphasis on future systems at the expense of spending on current requirements. Shortfalls in infrastructure and readiness also persist, while unfunded needs in the Pacific and cyber indicate a potential mismatch between strategy and resourcing.”
House lawmakers ask Army: Who’s in charge of massive modernization program? (Breaking Defense) “The May 3 directive signed by Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, first reported by Breaking Defense, gave primary oversight of the Army’s research, development and acquisition efforts to the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology (ASA(ALT)) — a decision viewed by some lawmakers as downgrading Army Futures Command, the office seen as leading the service’s broad modernization effort…. lawmakers added an amendment to the House Armed Services Committee’s fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act asking for additional insight into the roles within the Army’s acquisition enterprise, while threatening to nullify the recent directive if the Army doesn’t produce answers.”
Let the Commandant lead the Marine Cops. (War on the Rocks) “From a resourcing standpoint, Congress has also shown a willingness to support and fund Force Design 2030. And not all Marine veterans agree with the harsh appraisals of service-wide reform. In a late May Wall Street Journal opinion piece co-signed by their fellow marines in Congress, Rep. Seth Moulton and Rep. Michael Gallagher directly challenged critics by arguing that Gen. Berger’s plan “restores the Marines to their original and most sacred mission: the maritime defense of America and its allies. And it ensures that even in a new era of warfare the Marines are still the first to fight.””
New IAI sensor detects air, ground, and artillery targets. (The Defense Post) “The Green Lotus features a “unique” array of active and passive sensors to enhance the situational awareness and countermeasures efficiency of stationary and mobile troops… The radar’s sensors are grouped “on a uniquely designed structure,” sharing “power, communication buses, and cooling,” to provide 360-degree coverage. Moreover, the radar’s modular architecture allows for customer-specific configuration.”
Pentagon should consider ‘national hypersonic initiative’ to speed development, lawmakers say. (Defense News) “The department is expected to spend $15 billion between 2015 and 2024 to advance the technology… Lawmakers also want the department to conduct a review of its hypersonic programs and priorities in light of shortfalls in testing infrastructure. Industry executives told Pentagon leaders in February that a gap in testing resources, particularly the wind tunnels used to test flight characteristics for hypersonic vehicles, is one of the primary impediments to fielding those systems.”
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