Acquisition headlines (8/15 - 8/21/2022)

Upstart Anduril Australia hopes to make 100s of large drone subs, ITAR free, CEO says. (Breaking Defense) “CEO and chairman David Goodrich told Breaking Defense the $100 million USD deal with the Australian navy to build three prototype Extra Large Autonomous Undersea Vehicles (XL-AUVs) in three years is just the beginning of ambitious plans for the company… “We are pursuing major programs of record in four domains,” in Australia he said, and estimated they would be worth “billions” as they come to fruition… One of the most intriguing things about the Anduril sub sale is the manner in which it looks place. Unlike the usually plodding and safe issuance of requirements and RFIs and RFPs, etc., this one took place because a small group of people in the Australian navy were receptive to Anduril’s pitch.“

JADC2 chair: I cringe at reports saying services’ efforts aren’t aligned. (Breaking Defense) “Because at the end of the day, what each one of the services is doing is absolutely part of JADC2. They’re approaching different pieces of the problem that need to be solved. They’re not incompatible. They’re complementary.”… [Rear Adm. Susan BryerJoyner] added DoD needs to figure out a way to “iteratively field things” to manage risk but at the same time understand they won’t be perfect solutions and will continue to improve… “We can’t wait a full year. Look at the way we organize exercises today,” she said. “We have disparate training objectives that may or may not be connected to other training objectives throughout the year. If I want speed and I want agility, I need the ability to pick a thread and pull it through a series of exercises or demonstrations.”

SECAF Kendall outlines service’s pacific priorities. (USNI News) “When it comes to the Indo-Pacific, the Navy and Air Force work together closely, Kendall said… Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. C.Q. Brown met with his fellow service chiefs from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Space Force on June 24 to share advancements and discuss the way forward as the services work together to continue cultivating common ground on Joint All-Domain Command and Control, according to a USAF release.”

Army taps AeroVironment’s Jump 20 to replace Shadow UAS. (Defense News) “The $8 million contract announced Thursday will pay for one system, which includes six air vehicles, ground data terminals and ground control stations, according to the Army. In 2019, the service narrowed the pool to two competitors: Martin UAV and the team of Northrop Grumman and Textron’s AAI. Martin UAV supplied its V-Bat system, while the Northrop-Textron team offered Textron’s Aerosonde HQ. Shortly after, the Army added two more aircraft for evaluation: Arcturus UAV’s Jump 20 system and L3Harris Technologies’ FVR-90… Last year, AeroVironment acquired Arcturus for $405 million… Volansi and Sierra Nevada Corp. also said earlier this year they plan to compete for the second increment.”

General Atomics wins EMALS order for France’s future carriers. (Naval News) “The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) announced on 19 August 2022 that the U.S. Navy has awarded General Atomics an $8,8 million firm-fixed-price order for the development of Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) system for France’s future aircraft carrier known as PA-Ng… The future flagship of the Marine Nationale is intended to replace the existing Charles de Gaulle around 2038.”

Key US navy buys moved to ‘unfunded priorities’ list. (Naval Technology) “The GAO report said that Congress was ‘concerned’ that the US Navy deliberately underfunded certain critical programmes that use multiyear contracting procurement method. In one example, the US Navy had multiyear contracts to purchase two destroyers per year in a five-year period, and in fiscal year 2022 requested funding for only one DDG-51 destroyer, placing the second on the unfunded priorities list… The GAO found that DoD financial management regulations do not require the US Navy to notify the congressional defence committees of its rationale for budget decisions.”

Boeing receives HAAWC full rate-production contract from US Navy. (Naval News) “The U.S. Navy has awarded Boeing a contract for the full-rate production of the High Altitude Anti-Submarine Warfare Weapon Capability, or HAAWC, with work expected to begin in the coming months. HAAWC is an all-weather add-on kit that enables the MK 54 torpedo to be launched near or below the cruising altitude of Boeing’s P-8A Poseidon… The Boeing HAAWC consists of a modular Air Launch Accessory, or ALA, kit that attaches to a Mark 54 torpedo, transforming it into a precision-guided glide weapon. At the ALA separation point, the ALA deploys a stabilizer to enter the water as intended.”

Surface navy looks for ways to more quickly field ships, weapons. (Defense News) “The Competitive Edge document lists the following 10 programs as set for fielding or construction within the next 10 years: