US Army approves order for thousands of Microsoft combat goggles. (Yahoo!) “Microsoft will begin to deliver some of the 5,000 Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) goggle units after “encouraging results from testing in the field.” The order for 5,000 goggles was initially placed in March 2021 but had been put on hold over concerns about their performance… The Army expects to spend around $21.9 billion on the goggles over the next 10 years. A final test on the goggles is not expected until October, but Bush said: “The Army remains confident that the program will succeed.””
US Army is testing AR tech for armored vehicles. (VR Scout) “Last month the United States Army conducted a two-day demonstration of its Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) being used in tandem with its Stryker armored vehicles, offering everyone from the drivers to the passengers 360-degree situational awareness on the battlefield…During the event, a platoon task force accompanied by five Stryker armored vehicles conducted a simulated urban raid mission that involved the transportation of infantry soldiers. Normally, an operation of this scale would require a company-sized force.”
DoD to roll out new online marketplace to speedily buy AI-aligned tech. (Fed Scoop) On Tradewind AI: “The Pentagon’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) is preparing to launch a new one-stop online “marketplace” to solicit, evaluate and curate technologies specifically associated with AI, machine learning, data and analytics — and also enable Defense Department components to rapidly buy those digital capabilities, according to a recently published special notice… The overarching idea is that once video pitches of capabilities pass through a deep assessment to ensure compliance with federal requirements, and they are approved for the marketplace, they will then be made available for funding via Other Transaction agreements or procurement contracts.”
The 5 pillars of a Commercial Solutions Opening. (Tradewind AI) Keith Gibson at the CDAO:
- 10 USC 3458 is your NorthStar. It will guide you, but your path depends on where your journey begins, and with whom you are traveling.
- Lead with technology. Merit-based decision making is the backbone of the CSO. If you don’t understand brute force mathematics or capabilities of accelerated GPU’s, that’s fine; your technical folks do. So, listen to them.
- Enable smart people to do smart things. If smart people are comfortable with the risks, you should be too.
- Ditch the downselects. There aren’t 40 great ideas; there are 1 or 2. Go straight to demonstrations of those great ideas.
- Simple acquisition solves hard problems. Stop preparing for that IP legal battle that may never happen (at least for now).
Funding the Indo-Pacific Pivot. (War on the Rocks) Rep. Whittman: “For the past three years, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command has received between roughly 21-26 percent of annual International Security Cooperation Programs funding, measured against all other Geographic Combatant Commands and related global program support costs… The results of these reports should inform two decisions from lawmakers. First, we should commit to delivering consistent real funding increases for accounts that directly improve the ability of the United States to leverage and deepen relationships with partners and allies around the world. Second, we should ensure that such funding increases are distributed appropriately between theaters and prioritize the Indo-Pacific. “
‘Extremely frustrating’ – Gripen jets succumbing to F-35 stealth fighters due to politics; Saab CEO disappointed over slow sales. (EurAsian Times) The Gripen lost competitions in Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, and Canada recently. ““If it had been a completely level playing field in terms of not talking about security, politics, and other areas, then I think we would have been much better off [in terms of securing sales],” Johansson said. The Gripen E/F fighter jets have not seen success since the last contract they secured with the Brazilian Air Force in 2014… The reason Gripen was able to win the Brazilian contract was because of the country’s long-established practice of acquiring aircraft having low operational and lifetime costs. Saab had offered the Gripen at almost half the price of either the Dassault’s Rafale or Boeing’s F/A-18.
Lockheed Martin says its F-35 sustainment costs have fallen by half — another 35 percent coming. (Air Force Magazine) “The cost decreases do not take into account engine expenses, depot costs, or other maintenance, officials said, as these are contracted and budgeted separately. Lockheed Martin controls “about 40 percent” of the factors affecting maintenance costs on the jet. Thus, the total operating costs have not been reduced by the quoted percentages—only Lockheed Martin’s portion… The most recent all-inclusive cost per tail per year for the F-35—fiscal 2021—was $4.1 million for the A model, which the Air Force uses; $6.8 million for the F-35B short takeoff vertical landing version; and $7.5 million for the carrier-capable F-35C model. The most recent estimate for the F-35A model’s cost per flying hour was $33,000, in 2012 dollars.
Space communications node offers DARPA model for rapid acquisition. (C4ISRNET) ““We intentionally made making a proposal to our Space-BACN solicitations as easy as possible, because we wanted to tap into both established companies and the large pool of innovative, small tech companies, many of which don’t have the time or resources to figure out complicated government contracting processes,” he said in an Aug. 10 statement… That selection followed a year-long process beginning in September 2021 of outreach to industry and academia and a proposal process.”
China claims ‘big breakthrough’ in hypersonic flight communication; says can maintain consistent contact with mach 5+ vehicles. (EurAsian Times) “Previous research by a different team of Chinese researchers had claimed that a hypersonic weapon could connect with and pinpoint targets using 6G technology, avoiding some of the blackout problems that arise at five times the speed of sound or faster… The plasma sheath, a thin coating of extremely hot, electrically charged particles that emerge on the vessel’s surface at hypersonic speed, causes the communication blackout. Since ground-based radar cannot identify and lock on to a hypersonic target, the problem is called the “black barrier.”… They discovered that employing GaN in the Ka-band power amplifier could help to resolve the tension between transmission power and power consumption… The researchers said that while the hypersonic flight generated noise and there was a chance of jamming, they had used robust algorithms to ensure that the correct data was transmitted.”
Pentagon seeks commercial tech for hypersonic test vehicle. (C4ISRNET) “Testing infrastructure has been a significant limiting factor in the development process, with most major programs conducting only a few trials each year… the ideal testing cadence for these programs is closer to one flight per week. The goal of HyCAT, he said, is to help push the department toward that target using commercial technology to free up some of that infrastructure and leverage the test aircraft to validate new materials and systems… “I think the fact that they put money towards this and are getting serious about possibly supporting a program of record in this area.””
US Army to launch offensive cyber capabilities office. (C4ISRNET) “The office, dubbed Program Manager Cyber and Space, will fall under the Program Executive Office for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors, which tests and fields equipment such as aerial jamming pods, biometric information systems and battlefield navigation tools.”
CACI wins $5.7 billion award to start privatizing Air Force network management. (Federal News Network) “The Department of the Air Force on Tuesday made a long-awaited contract award to begin its Enterprise IT as a Service (EITaaS) initiative, a project that aims to largely outsource the day-to-day management of its IT infrastructure… In the first wave, the focus will be on devices and manpower. The vendors will be responsible for IT service management, end user devices, and various support services, including operating a centralized helpdesk for the Air Force and Space Force… “It’s also very important that instead of having stovepiped individual networks within our major commands, we’ll have a campus-wide network.””
US Space Command calls for investment in technologies for deep space missions. (Space News) “Tracking that vast region of space will be difficult due to the “tyranny of volume,” said Shaw. The area between the Earth and the moon is “a lot of volume, and that’s a lot of opportunity for us to miss things that are happening that we need to be aware of,” he said… Because of the distances, he said, “we’re going to need platforms that don’t need human operators or even machines necessarily back on Earth to tell them what’s going on and how to behave,” he added. “They’re going to need to do that autonomously.”.. Other technologies that will be critical for deep space are propulsion and logistics support, Shaw said. He gave kudos to DARPA for its nuclear powered spacecraft project known as DRACO.“
Army electronics warfare office seeks to adapt now to future threats. (C4ISRNET) “In the last three or four years, he said, “we’ve gone through three different versions of our dismounted gear. So we’re able to quickly pivot to the next technology and not necessarily go down long-term production of the same solution when the technology is iterating and the threat is iterating.”
The fate of the SBIR program hangs in the balance of the next month. (Federal News Network) “The House will have 14 days in September with votes scheduled to reauthorize the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program when it returns to Washington, D.C. after Labor Day… At the heart of the matter is Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), ranking member of Small Business Committee, concerns about SBIR and how some companies game the system… An analysis by the State Science and Technology Institute (SSTI) showed that from 2009 to 2019, 21% of the awards were made to the mills, which the institute defined as ‘firms who receive more than 40 phase one awards,’” Paul said… Murphy, Blatt and other experts say concerns about SBIR mills are overblown. Yes, there will be some bad actors and they do need to be addressed and potentially removed from participating in the program.”
Brown: Collaborative combat aircraft not just for NGAD. (Air Force Magazine) ““we’re looking at … not to do it solely with NGAD.” He said the service is considering CCAs being directed from F-35s, “from a seat on the E-7 Wedgetail,” which is set to replace the E-3 AWACS, or from a KC-46 tanker, as well as “ground stations,” Brown said… Asked to grade his performance after two years as Chief, Brown said, “I’ll give it a solid ‘C.’ In some areas—I’m a C student, if you look at my GPA from college—but it’s not from a lack of trying.””
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