The biggest stories across the Department and the defense industry this week:

• SECWAR Establishes the Autonomous Warfare Command, Future of Warfare Commission, and Fortress America.

• Drone Dominance and JIATF-401 announce winners and competitions

• Army establishes new autonomous command and PAE autonomy.

• Navy awards major contracts for F/A-XX, MUSVs, and MCMs

• Air Force demonstrates limits of VC funds with CR for CCA production

• Space Force retires DSP but launches 21 more data transport SVs

• Golden Dome pressed for details on what will / won’t be protected

• Ukraine launches ballistic missile and launches robotic Manhattan Project

Project Agincourt: Pathway to the Autonomous Warfare Command

BLUF: SECWAR directed the Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Unmanned Systems (DRPM-UxS) to lead Project Agincourt to establish the Autonomous Warfare Command.

• AUTOWARCOM will be a 4-star functional combatant command that will lead the Joint Force in unmanned and autonomous warfare.

• The command will posses dedicated manpower, budget, acquisition authorities, and create dedicated military career pathways for Officers and Enlisted personnel.

• Target establishment date of Oct 1, 2027 pending Congressional legislation.

• Execute the existing DRPM-UxS mission while prototyping a new acquisition model for unmanned and autonomous systems.

• Teaming operators with innovators and competitive manufacturers, DRPM-UxS will push decisions and dollars to the edge of our operational forces.

• Owen West and Max Strasiser will serve as the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer, respectively, of the DRPM-UxS. DRPM-UxS.

• Within 30 days of this memorandum, DRPM-UxS, with the support of the CJCS, will submit a plan of action and milestones (POAM).

Related: Vision for New Autonomous Warfare Command Laid Out by Pentagon and Hegseth Unveils New Autonomous Warfare Command in State of the Force Address and Hegseth Announces New Four-Star Command for Autonomous Warfare and Hegseth Announces Plans for New 4-Star Drone Command, Among Other Initiatives

Commissioning of Project Meridian: The Future of Warfare

BLUF: SECWAR signed a memo directing the DoW's Chief Technology Officer, Emil Michael, to commission Project Meridian: The Future of Warfare, through a partner organization.

• Project Meridian will be co-led by Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey, and Newt Gingrich.

• Project Meridian will study the battlefields of the future, identify which weapons and technologies warfighters will need to harness to dominate in these environments, and propose actionable solutions to start developing, testing and fielding these capabilities such that America will have overmatch for the 21st century and beyond.

• The Joint Staff and all services should be prepared to connect their future warfare efforts and research to Project Meridian. Project Meridian will leverage critical perspectives from outside the Pentagon, drawing upon a group of top technologists, innovators, business leaders, policy makers, and national security experts.

• Project Meridian's primary function will be to map the trajectory of future warfare, identify critical capability gaps, and propose actionable solutions in furtherance of the identified goals in the 2026 National Security S&T Strategy.

• Project Meridian's finalized findings and recommendations shall be submitted no later than 120 days after its announcement, or on January 28, 2027

Establishment of FORTRESS America as a DoW Program for the Defense of the American Homeland

BLUF: SECWAR memo establishing FORTRESS America that reinforces the U.S. military’s unmatched ability to fight and win under any conditions by securing sustained access to the critical capabilities, infrastructure, and resources on which it depends.

• The program aligns basing and infrastructure projects to ensure they are collectively advancing toward greater independence.

• Organized around five pillars: energy independence; supply-chain and defense-industrial base resilience; a strategic defense reserve; installation hardening and cyber resilience; and resilience in space and spectrum.

• Together these pillars guarantee assured access to the materials, energy, industrial capacity, and secure infrastructure on which American military power depends.

• USW(A&S) is directed to stand up the FORTRESS America Program Office within 30 days. The Program Office shall report directly to the USW(A&S) who will appoint a member of the SES to lead the day-to-day operations, assisted by a two-star Military Advisor, and shall begin as a lean core cell that scales to full operating capability within months - delivering results in weeks, not years.

Update on Implementation of the National Defense Strategy

Elbridge Colby

Following the SASC hearing, a written status update on the NDS. Focused mostly around the four LOEs. The 4th LOE, Supercharge the U.S. Defense Industrial Base is the focus of summary below.

• The DoW is supercharging the DIB by reviving production, reshoring strategic industries, accelerating tech adoption, and revamping procurement processes.

• Deputy Secretary Feinberg has revamped the Department’s processes through requirement and PPBE reform, acquisition transformation, and key organizations including the OSC, BOND, and EDU.

• Stood up the Munitions Acceleration Council in FY2026 to increase production and expand magazine depth and established MYP agreements with industry to expand production capacity for more than a dozen critical munitions

• Invested in strategic industries from critical minerals including rare earths production, batteries, energetics, semiconductors, and naval shipbuilding.

• To accelerate submarine construction, the DRPM Submarines has spearheaded a multi-billion-dollar Submarine Industrial Base (SIB) recovery initiative aimed at expanding domestic supplier capacity and modernizing production.

• MYP and longer-term agreements provide predictable demand signal to build factories, hire workers, acquire specialized equipment, and establish supply chains.

• Stimulate domestic critical mineral production of rare earths, tungsten, cobalt, aluminum, copper, antimony, and germanium. Production of critical military components such as space solar cell glass, chemical batteries, solid-state amplifier electronics, and solid rocket motors have also been primed for expansion.

• Reducing barriers for nontraditional companies to enter the defense market.

• Alternatives to the historic requirements, budgeting, and acquisition processes to develop and procure capabilities much faster than the previous decadal cycles.

• Simplifying the critical technology areas to AI, directed energy, quantum technology, hypersonics, biomanufacturing, and contested logistics.

Related: Pentagon Doubles Down on Pacific Area Denial, Need for High-end Munitions

Pentagon to Announce Additional Cuts in Senior Officer Positions

BLUF: SECWAR announced a 20% cut in the number of positions for generals and admirals. This is an increase from the minimum 10% cut from last year. Rather than firing people, the rank of some future jobs would change while billets for others would be cancelled.

Nominations and Leadership Changes

• Lt Gen David Miller to be Commander of US Space Command

• VADM John “Brad” Skillman to be Vice CNO

• DIU COO Travis Metz will be new Acting DIU Director as Owen West kickstarts Project Agincourt and Autonomous Warfare Command.

Convening in the Capital: Autonomy at Scale

Hosted by the Vanderbilt Institute of National Security | November 18 | Washington, D.C.

Drones and autonomous systems are changing the character of warfare. Join leaders from government, the military, industry and academia to explore what the United States must do to decide faster, defeat cheaper and deliver at scale.

The day features a keynote conversation with former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, KBE; a fireside chat with General David H. Petraeus, U.S. Army (Ret.); remarks from Oleksandr Kamyshin, former Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine; expert-led panels; technology presentations; and the launch of a formal research challenge.

Secure Your Invitation Today

Neros, Perennial Autonomy lead in Pentagon’s drone competition

BLUF: Neros Technologies and Perennial Autonomy took top spots in the latest phase of the Drone Dominance competition. Neros scored highest in the confined-environment category while Perennial Autonomy claimed the top spot in the deep strike category.

• In total, the department ordered 14,000 drones from Neros which also ranked third in deep-strike testing and 8,000 from Perennial.

• The Pentagon has completed one-and-a-half gauntlets along with three operational tests. Neros has ranked second, third and first in those competitions, earning the company roughly $100M in orders.

• Earlier this year, the DoW awarded Perennial a $500M contract through JIATF-401, which is responsible for researching, testing and procuring counter-drone technology for the department.

Drone Dominance Phase III – Deep Strike and Close-Quarters Battle

BLUF: The Phase III RFS continues two one-way attack mission areas: Deep Strike and Close-Quarters Battle, including urban and subterranean environments.

• The RFS describes more complex mission scenarios and requirements for integrating commercial and Government-provided lethality solutions.

• It sets out a standard path beginning with a pitch deck and live flight evaluation, and a separate path for eligible Gauntlet II winners.

• Vendors advancing to the production sprint must deliver systems for Gauntlet III.

Related: Pentagon Opens $450M Attack-Drone Round with a 400-Drone Deadline

Drone Dominance Recruiting FPV Pilots

DoW Accelerates Counter-UAS Employment to Defend American Airspace Sovereignty

BLUF: SECWAR issued a memo on Accelerating Employment of Counter UAS to Protect American Airspace Sovereignty.

• It seeks to accelerate the lawful, safe, and effective employment of c-UAS across the Department.

• It directs the DoW to eliminate unnecessary barriers that delay c-UAS capabilities for forces, installations, and assets.

• The memorandum targets four barriers that have delayed fielding of c-UAS capabilities:

  • Authorities to operate: CDAO and CIO establish single DoW-wide processes to reduce approval timelines for tested and validated systems to days or weeks.

  • Spectrum certification and frequency: The CIO will review the c-UAS spectrum-request process and recommend ways to accelerate approvals.

  • Weapons safety: JIATF-401 will synchronize c-UAS weapons safety reviews with the DRPM UxS.

  • Legal reviews: Required reviews for c-UAS weapons and weapon systems will be expedited, generally within 10 days after receipt of necessary information.

How AI Agents are Informing JIATF-401’s Procurement Plans After Falcon Peak

BLUF: Under BG Matt Ross’ leadership, JIATF 401 is cautiously applying AI to review heaps of data the military captured on commercial counter-drone products demonstrated at the recent, month-long Falcon Peak exercise.

• JIATF 401 is turning to agentic AI to speed up and support procurement decisions following Falcon Peak 26.2.

• This Army-led task force serves as a synchronizer and enabler for the department to conduct wide-scale technology tests, streamline safety standards and enhance its counter-unmanned aerial systems arsenal.

• One of the elements of this Falcon Peak exercise that Ross is most excited about is the fact that we do have the codified test standards now across the entire DOW.

• JIATF 401 established a tech arsenal and put all the data into a central repository, and then using agentic AI to be able to sort through that mass of data, to provide better results and relative comparison between systems that have been evaluated at different instances during Falcon Peak 26.2.

• An example search: I’m looking for an active radar that can sense Group 1 and Group 2 UAS between one and four kilometers, and my price point is $15,000, and I can’t go above that. What have we tested in the last 10 years? Please provide me an output in a table that prioritizes or that rank orders by performance

JIATF 401 Launches C-UAS Mobile Training Teams

BLUF: JIATF 401 awarded OWT Global the Joint Counter-small UAS Mobile Training Team (MTT) Services contract with an estimated ceiling of $38.2M to support C-sUAS training requirements across the enterprise.

• This contract will provide mobile training teams, develop curriculum, deliver instruction, and assist in synchronizing training of the Joint Services.

• This contract accelerates JIATF 401’s effort to strengthen C-UAS protection for warfighters, installations, critical infrastructure, and Americans at home and abroad by providing training that applies the lessons learned from combat zones tailored to the warfighter’s specific operating environment.

Echodyne Lands IDIQ Contract for US Domestic Shield Programme

BLUF: Echodyne won an IDIQ worth up to $250M over a 36-month ordering period to supply MESA radars for JIATF-401’s Domestic Shield counter-drone mission, with the radars listed on the JIATF-401 C-UAS Marketplace for US and allied forces.

NNSA, Counter-Drone Task Force Create Framework for Data Sharing

BLUF: National Nuclear Security Administration expanded its partnership with DOD’s JIATF 401 to reduce duplicative testing and speed up drone defense deployments.

• As part of the deal, the two entities created a framework for sharing counter-UAS test data and research in an effort to better understand evolving threats, reduce duplicative efforts and accelerate the deployment of drone defense capabilities.

“Protecting NNSA’s laboratories, plants, and sites from evolving threats is critical to our national security mission. This agreement strengthens our partnership with JIATF-401 and helps ensure we are moving quickly to put the best capabilities in the field.” - Brandon Williams, NNSA, Administrator

DOW CTO Partners With In-Q-Tel to Accelerate Technology From Non-Traditional Performers to the Warfighter

BLUF: OUSW(R&E)/ASW(CT) partnered with In-Q-Tel to give the Department's research and engineering enterprise structured access to IQT's global technology-scouting platform and its portfolio of early-stage companies, with the explicit objective of compressing the timeline to transition and rapidly field mature commercial solutions from non-traditional performers to the warfighter.

• Under the agreement, IQT will conduct technology scouting and technical due diligence across all six CTAs, as well as across enabling technology areas, while the DoW identifies transition sponsors and pathways for validated technologies.

• The integration leverages In-Q-Tel's proven venture capital methodology to vet early-stage commercial solutions that align directly with the Department's urgent mission requirements.

"In a contested global threat environment, technological superiority will not be determined by who invents a capability first, but by who delivers it to the warfighter fastest. The Department is fundamentally shifting its posture: we are moving from acting solely as a long-cycle technology developer to operating as an agile, credible, and rapid customer for America's most innovative non-traditional performers. Over the next 12 months, our benchmark for success is simple and unambiguous: moving validated commercial prototypes out of the lab and into active operational field evaluations with our combatant commands." Michael Dodd, ASW(CT)

Related: Pentagon partners with CIA’s In-Q-Tel for ‘technology scouting’

The Coming Wave of High-Powered Microwaves

Tin Pak

BLUF: High Powered Microwave (HPM) weapons will play a central role in the anti-drone operations of militaries in the coming years as they are deployed onto battlefields. Its ability to bypass electromagnetic hardening methods and its practically unlimited magazine capacity makes it a key asymmetric weapon to counter the swarms of drones that modern militaries are beginning to field.

• HPMs have emerged as the primary EMP weapon nations are pursuing to counter drones due to their effectiveness and practically infinite magazine capacity.

• Once these systems enter the battlefield, HPMs have the potential to become the most capable and cost-effective anti-drone system in the near future.

• High Powered Microwave weapons which are devices that convert electricity into concentrated beams of electromagnetic energy through a device called a vircator to induce electrical surges that can disable or destroy electronics.

• HPMs are difficult to defend against.

• The high cost of HPMs is reflective of the precision equipment and expertise required to produce such exquisite weapons. Therefore, the mass procurement and the broad deployment of HPMs to all areas of the battlefield are unlikely in the near future.

• HPMs can disable or destroy large quantities of drones in single strikes, making it much more suited towards countering dense swarms of drone formations which will become more prevalent with the advent of AI-enabled drone swarms.

• In a 2025 live-fire demonstration, Epirus’s Leonidas HPM system disabled 49 drones in one single EMP strike.

• The ability to target a drone’s electronic components, of which are irreplaceable or difficult to defend, makes HPMs a long-term defense measure to the coming waves of ever more complex drone formations.

• Its practically unlimited magazine capacity will reverse the asymmetric advantage drones have held over defending militaries, by dramatically lowering the costs of sustained anti-drone operations.

The Drone Wars Are Coming Update

Jason Oxman

BLUF: Mach Industries raised $600M this month in an extended Series C funding round that takes the company’s valuation to $3.7B. This sizable investment is a follow-up to the $300M round that made this fledgling startup a mil-tech unicorn in June.

• Now armed with a fresh infusion of cash, Mach Industries plans to leverage solid rocket motor propulsion to take the company to new heights.

• Ethan Thornton was just 19 years old when he quit MIT to create the defense engineering startup of his dreams.

• In July, Mach Industries participated in a live international exercise know as MILEX VANGUARD 2026, where the company demonstrated the Viper’s capabilities for representatives of the Lithuanian and Estonian Armed Forces.

• The Glide operates on a similar principle to the Viper, albeit in reverse. As Sun Tzu once said, “he who is skilled in attack flashes forth from the topmost heights of heaven,” and that is exactly the kind of tactical advantage the Glide provides.

• The Stratos is a high-altitude “pseudo-satellite” that looks more like a hot air balloon than a weapon of war.

• Mach Industries is also hard at work on Forge, a project that aspires to create a decentralized network of drone factories that will be faster, cheaper, and harder to disrupt than their centralized counterparts.

• Mach Industries made its first corporate acquisition in May, when the company procured the rocket motor startup Exquadrum for $50M.

• Mil-tech startups like Mach aren’t just building drones anymore, they’re advancing the art of rocket propulsion in the name of military defense.

Anduril Snaps Up Popoto Modem

BLUF: Anduril acquired Popoto Modem to accelerate their efforts to develop, produce, and deploy a fleet of autonomous underwater systems.

• They have worked together for several years and have integrated the company’s acoustic modems into a variety of products across Anduril’s family of maritime systems, including their Copperhead UUV.

• Popoto changes how a modem (the little device that converts data into signals that can be transmitted and received over a communications link) processes stuff.

• Their modem automatically adapts how it sends data based on underwater conditions, trading speed for reliability when the acoustic channel gets worse.

• It also deliberately sends redundant information. At lower data rates, it repeats/codes bits so that even if parts of the acoustic transmission get mangled, the receiver can reconstruct the message. That’s called forward error correction.

• Now that Popoto is under the Anduril umbrella, the plan is to take that capability and scale it all the way up.

“Unlike drones that operate in the air domain or on the ground, or even space systems, we don’t have the luxury of using RF communications. That just simply doesn’t work subsea. The only way to communicate with systems subsea is through acoustic communications, and it’s a challenging physics problem.” Andrew Nuss, Anduril’s Managing Director for Maritime

Swarmbotics Unveils Its Fifth-Gen Mini Autonomous Ground Vehicle

BLUF: Swarmbotics AI unveiled the fifth-generation FireAnt, a sub-100-pound autonomous ground vehicle with new suspension, hardened weatherproofing and more onboard AI compute, after winning the Army’s xTech Overwatch competition and riding on Bradleys in a 1st Cavalry Division exercise.

Destruction on a Budget

Bill Sweetman

BLUF: The key to UAS navigation and guidance is electro-optical navigation – comparing visual images of the terrain with map databases. Once an exotic superpower monopoly, this can now be done with consumer-grade sensors, ubiquitous terrain data and overhead imagery.

• Ukraine was using slow, noisy but long-range FirePoint FP-1 propeller missiles to attack sprawling targets that could usually survive conventional missile attacks through size and redundancy.

• Small and deep in ground clutter, the missiles ambled hundreds of miles to their targets overnight, visually identified critical aimpoints, using simple cameras and commercial satellite imagery.

• Then they struck in high-angle Stuka dives, their extreme precision multiplying the effects of their small warheads.

• In FY27 the Pentagon is funding the Family of Affordable Mass Munitions (FAMM), intended to deliver 28,000 guided weapons of 400 to 800 km range by 2033 (six funding years) at an average unit cost of around $20K

• Contracts in FY27 for the Low-Cost Containerized Missile (LCCM) went to four companies, one traditional Leidos, and three non-traditional Anduril, CoAspire, and Zone 5.

• Each come with novel designs, production, and employment techniques.

• If we can cut guided-weapon cost by an order of magnitude, using machinery that can be accelerated into three-shift production overnight, the line of missile cost gets much flatter. Which changes everything.

“We’ve implemented map-matching on an inexpensive night-vision camera” - Denys Shtilierman, FirePoint, Chief Engineer

Boeing 777 Boosts Hypersonic Testing Capacity by 35% for US Defense Programs

BLUF: Stratolaunch is adding a Boeing 777-200ER to its Roc and Spirit of Mojave carriers, raising flight capacity 35 percent once modifications finish in 2027, after 10 successful Talon-A hypersonic flights and a $90.8 million contract under the DoW Test Resource Management Center’s MACH-TB program.

“As demand for hypersonic technologies continues to grow, we’re building the operational scale to make routine hypersonic testing a reality.” - Zachary Krevor, Stratolaunch, President and CEO

Quantum Technology Could Transform the Way We Detect Radio Signals With More Sensitive RF Sensors

BLUF: SwRI and Adelaide University signed a three-year MOU on superconducting quantum RF sensing and signal interpretation, covering kilohertz to terahertz with devices whose size does not grow as frequency drops.

“Unlike conventional antennas that get bulkier in size as frequencies get lower, quantum RF device size is independent of frequency.” - Michael Quinn, SwRI Staff Engineer

Other Defense Tech News:

Heavily Damaged Sub USS Connecticut Now Won’t Return To Service Until 2027

Shipbuilder Behind Failed Constellation Class Wants Back Into The Navy Frigate Business

YTD Stock Performance of the Big 5 Defense Primes

Our Take: Defense backlogs are at record levels, yet the primes stocks badly trail the market. Operations produced a classic conflict premium, then the market spent the rest of the year marking that premium back down. We see three distinct phases.

1. Operations Rally. Absolute Resolve in January and Epic Fury at the end of February led investors to quickly price in higher demand on interceptors, strike weapons, and sustainment. Lockheed and Northrop led, peaking 35-40% in March while S&P 500 was essentially flat.

2. The Fade. As the high-intensity conflict eased, so did stock prices. By May the primes had given back most of the first-quarter gain, and several were in the red for the year. The Pentagon later sought billions to replace expended munitions. Investors treated that as a future production problem, not a current earnings surprise.

3. False Spike: The Pentagon had the Summer of Love for the Defense Primes, awarding them many mega $20-70B contracts for major weapon systems helping drive a second surge in August. The January EO and DoW’s policies put limits on defense stock buybacks, dividends, and CEO compensation to focus investments on CapEx. DEPSECWAR issued a memo seeking greater cost and pricing transparency and the Pentagon establishment of fair and reasonable margins. Since that memo, each prime saw a consistent decline, while the S&P 500 is up 11.8%. Lockheed Martin is the only name still clearly positive. Northrop Grumman and Boeing are 27 and 26 percentage points behind the index. FY27 opens under yet another continuing resolution.

The big-5 primes have massive defense backlogs of hundreds of billions equating to 2-3 years of revenue. LMCO $230B | RTX $119B | NG $105B | GD $113B | Boeing $85B.

Investors want to see defense primes convert their backlog into higher production, margins, and free cash flow. Washington is constraining all three: a CR limits new starts, the margins memo pressures pricing, and the EO restricts cash returns to shareholders.

The State of Investment in Defense: Unlocking Growth

Michael Sion and Colin Leslie

BLUF: The gap between US defense requirements and budgets is accelerating, and demand for both conventional systems and new lower-cost capabilities is surging. Current acquisition, business, and investment models are increasingly out of step with security requirements. Private sector investment is central to solving these challenges. Expanding production and driving rapid innovation require sustained investment, but key pockets of the defense sector struggle to attract it. It’s not an overall shortage of capital, but a shortage of investable opportunities.

• Defense is becoming more attractive for private investment. Strengthened demand signals, the need to replenish stockpiles, and the potential for acquisition reforms have spurred growing capital inflows and higher defense-company valuations and capital expenditures.

• Government defense spending, adjusted for inflation, has been flat since 2008.

• Profit margins for defense companies are among the lowest of US large capital goods industries, reinvestment ratios for public defense companies trail commercial counterparts, and rapid scaling of new technologies remains difficult.

• As a result, earnings multiples for mature defense companies are similar to utilities: low risk, stable cash flows, and capped upside.

• Overcoming enterprise challenges requires consistently higher levels of company at-risk investment and commensurate rewards to offset that risk.

• But alternative procurement approaches designed to do those things remain a tiny fraction of defense spending.

• How to encourage private investment

  • Back clear priorities with funding; link risk and reward; reduce buying and selling friction; grow market volumes; develop flexible sources of capital; and improve performance.

• Market valuation of Aerospace and Defense Companies in 2025:

  • Public market $1.6T | Venture Capital $198B | Private Equity $150B

“Previous investment and business models must adapt for the new environment. Investment growth of all kinds is required to address capacity and innovation constraints—and that growth will occur when all stakeholders work in tandem.” Michael Sion, A&D Partner, Bain & Co.

“Across the defense industrial base, companies are investing billions in new facilities, production capacity, workforce development, and innovation to meet the nation’s security needs and deliver capabilities to the warfighter. Continued investment at that scale depends on a healthy capital environment, predictable demand, and policies that give businesses the confidence to invest for the long term.” Eric Fanning, AIA President and CEO

Our Take: This is an excellent report by Bain and AIA. We highly recommend reading their Exec Summary and Full Report as our summary above only scratched the surface. They reinforce that to attract private capital investments in defense, we need to rethink core acquisition models that reward defense tech companies investing in their own development, demonstrating performance, and earning production contracts.

Related: As private investment in defense increases, some bottlenecks in funding

Saronic Breaks Ground on New Port Alpha Shipyard in Texas

BLUF: Saronic broke ground on its Port Alpha shipyard in Texas, starting at roughly 800 acres with room to grow to 4,000 and a goal of about 10,000 direct workers building autonomous and manned vessels.

• In attendance at the groundbreaking was VP JD Vance and Gov Greg Abbott.

• Saronic’s Landing Craft Utility vessels will be built at the new shipyard.

• Deliveries of the vessels, which are designed to shuttle personnel, weapons, and cargo, are expected to start in late 2028.

• Starting January 1st Saronic will have the production capacity to build 20 Marauders per year for the Navy’s MUSV program.

“Port Alpha is designed from the ground up to produce both autonomous and manned vessels at scale, with modularity and throughput shaping the facilities architecture. This is one of the defining engineering challenges of our time, and we are building the team, partnerships, and capital base to meet it. There is a capacity problem in the U.S. Saronic and Port Alpha are solving it” - Dino Mavrookas, Saronic CEO and Co-Founder

The Hidden Bottleneck Behind America’s Missile Production

Will Medick

BLUF: RTX received a $23B contract to ramp production up to 1,000 Tomahawk missiles per year, but RTX Chairman and CEO Christopher Calio needs more suppliers, including casting suppliers.

• Castings are vital to the U.S. missile industry. They are at the very heart of Tomahawk production, and other critical defense munitions.

• But the economics of producing them, especially low-volume and highly specialized castings, can be pretty rough on the casting companies making them.

• Single-source supply chain risk is also prevalent, such as having one foundry for titanium castings. What’s more, the industry relies on old equipment, and it lacks sufficient post-processing capacity for value-added activities such as heat treatment, machining, and coating critical to producing a finished casting.

• Casting is a foundational technology that is the backbone of American manufacturing.

• The aerospace and defense side of the industry is defined by low volume, high product mix, and high specialization.

• Not only are there not enough suppliers of castings, in many cases there is no one to supply them.

The Case for the American Manufacturing Asset Class

Connor Love and Collen Larson

BLUF: To prevail in any large-scale conflict, America must build a durable industrial base capable of turning the past decade’s defense-tech renaissance into an overwhelming arsenal that makes clear a war with the U.S. is not a war worth starting.

• To do this, we must rebuild our industrial base technology-first. We will not debase our Western ethics to chase Chinese labor costs, nor imitate a model that subsidizes uneconomic overcapacity to dominate critical supply chains and weaponize that dependence in a crisis.

• We will win by leveraging frontier technology and the world’s deepest capital markets to build productive capacity that is economically durable on its own.

• That makes this industrial build-out a national security imperative and, at the same time, a massive opportunity for American capital.

• We are entering a new age of manufacturing, one that may be inspired by Silicon Valley, but will be built across Middle America, creating what will become a brand new American manufacturing asset class.

DoW and RTX Accelerate AMRAAM Production Through $20.7B Award

BLUF: DoW announces an award to Raytheon that consists of a five-year multi-year contract with two option years valued up to $20.7B to produce Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM), a critical air defense capability for U.S. and allied forces.

• This contract marks the latest victory in the Department's campaign to expand the munitions industrial base, nearly doubling AMRAAM production.

Ground Broken on Avio USA’s First US Manufacturing Site

BLUF: Avio USA broke ground on a roughly 900,000-square-foot solid rocket motor plant in Hurt, VA, to supply thousands of tactical missile motors a year to primes including Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, with production starting in early 2029.

“Our goal is to be an independent, open-source merchant supplier, able to support multiple customers and programs and provide major defence primes with an additional source for this critical capability.” - James Syring, Avio USA, CEO

Hertha Metals Raises $133.65M Series A

BLUF: Hertha Metals raised a $133.65M Series A, including $65M from the US government through the Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment program, to build a plant making high-purity iron for domestic rare-earth magnet makers ahead of the 2027 ban on Chinese magnets in DoD equipment.

Counter-Drone Startup Fortem Raises $50M Series B

BLUF: Fortem Technologies closed a $50M Series B, including Unusual Machines, following a $25M Lockheed Martin investment in April and recent DHS and Army contract wins.

Aeon Brings Destinus’ Interceptors Stateside

BLUF: Aeon will build Dutch firm Destinus’ Hornet interceptor under license at a new 145,000-sq ft Texas facility, targeting 500 units a month once production starts in 2027.

“The bigger story is onshoring production through this license agreement with Destinus. xTech is a place to demonstrate it.” - Wes Shover, Aeon CGO

Why the Pentagon Just Dropped $450M on Tungsten Mining

BLUF: The DoW announced a $450M investment in The Elmet Group to strengthen the U.S. supply chain for tungsten, a critical mineral used for manufacturing military weapons ranging from bullets to missiles.

• The Elmet Group is the only U.S.-owned, fully integrated producer of tungsten and molybdenum materials and components.

• China dominates the global tungsten supply chain, while the U.S. has not mined tungsten since 2015.

• China controls about 85% of the world’s tungsten supply and 40% of its molybdenum, a similar material that is often mined in the same areas.

“This investment reflects the Department’s commitment to rebuilding critical industrial capacity in the U.S. It will strengthen supply chain resilience, support high-quality manufacturing jobs, and reinforce the production base behind essential defense systems.” Michael Cadenazzi, ASW(IBP)

Defense Firms Plan Big AI Investments Amid Labor Challenges

BLUF: Aerospace and defense manufacturers are looking to make sizable investments in AI in 2027 despite persistent struggles to find skilled operators for automation and AI-enabled technology.

• Half of aerospace and defense manufacturers said AI and automation operators were difficult to hire, and manufacturers across industries ranked them as the hardest-to-fill positions, beating out jobs such as engineers, maintenance technicians and machinists.

• The manufacturing workforce of the future must be “bilingual, where they’re both fluent in shop floor as well as in the software.

• Aerospace and defense companies have the most significant hiring goals among industries, with nearly 80% intending to add workers in 2027.

• 82% of A&D manufacturers plan to allocate more than $500K for AI in 2027.

Xometry 2027 Manufacturing Outlook

Speed to the Warfighter Starts With the Problem, Not the Product

Pete Newell

Ten years ago, Steve Blank and I made a bet. Put a real problem, owned by a real person in uniform, in front of a smart team. Force that team out of the building to talk to a hundred people who live with the problem. You will get a better solution, faster, than the requirements system produces. That bet became Hacking for Defense.

• This summer I watched the strongest teams to come out of that pipeline go through a ten-week commercialization fellowship run by the DIU. They got advisors, a modest prototyping fund, and access.

• What separated the most successful teams was the problem, not the product.

  • The sponsor suffered the problem rather than observed it.

  • The stakes were measured in lives, not efficiency.

  • The team validated its hypotheses in conversation, not in the lab.

• A portfolio executive at headquarters, however empowered, cannot see the distinctions that matter without ground truth from the fight.

• Stand up small, cross-functional problem discovery teams with operational units, scanning every week for how the adversary adapted since the last one.

• Require a dated test with a named customer before a prototype is funded.

• Einstein said that given an hour to save the world, he would spend fifty-five minutes on the problem and five on the solution. For a decade the department has spent its reform energy optimizing the five minutes.

Our Take: Listen to Pete and Steve. Get out of the office and talk to many operators. Understand their problems, their environments, and priorities. Bring the operators potential solutions to test in weeks, not long after they’ve rotated to new assignments.

The Imperative for Acquisition Reform

VADM Robert M. Gaucher

BLUF: Today, the U.S. faces two nuclear-armed peer competitors, and the submarine acquisition enterprise must deliver fast-attack and ballistic-missile submarines at a pace that matches the threat—but it is not. The reason is not a lack of effort. It is how the enterprise is organized, incentivized, and funded.

• The Navy has been buying submarines one supplier proposal at a time, in a system that cannot scale. Fixing that starts with the Navy and industry being honest about what they are trying to produce.

• As the DRPM, Submarines and PAE Undersea, my main objective is achieving the necessary rate of submarine production.

• The first step in any reform is to understand the scale of the problem. My visits to the prime shipbuilders made clear how difficult submarine construction remains.

• The Columbia- and Virginia-class submarines are extraordinarily complex machines. The yards are full of workers and supervisors who are working hard, learning, and innovating in a demanding production environment.

• Today, the demand signal is three times the number of boats and more than five times the submarine tonnage per year compared with 20 years ago.

• As we ramp up production of new submarines, the Navy must also do a better job maintaining the current fleet.

• Current industrial and supply chain weakness makes the challenge harder. Sequence-critical material is a recurring barrier to production and maintenance.

• Three Immediate Levers

  • Workforce growth. This requires strong recruitment and retention. At the same time, selected work is being outsourced and existing labor realigned to increase productive capacity where bottlenecks exist.

  • Productivity. This area provides the biggest near-term opportunity. Productivity improvement must come from coaching, mentoring, deckplate improvement, and incorporating new technologies and methods.

  • Industrial base and supply chain. The Navy must improve the delivery of sequence-critical materials, engage lower-tier suppliers early, and remove bottlenecks before they become schedule killers.

• Four Pillars for Long-Term Change

  • Stabilize design. Every change introduces delay, confusion, rework, and cost growth. The objective is efficient, predictable production.

  • Empower shipbuilders to do what only they can do. Every hour a master shipbuilder spends on a commodity part is an hour not spent building a submarine.

  • Align and activate the industrial base. The Navy must provide the right incentives to the supply base by turning demand signals into multiyear contracts and aligning the timing of critical material orders.

  • Design future submarines for producibility and sustainability. The Navy must avoid designs that optimize performance but create barriers to on-time construction or maintenance.

• I want the enterprise to understand the work ahead - not as a burden to be endured, but as the chance to reinvigorate the arsenal that once was.

Logistics: One Byte at a Time

Kevin Wheeler, Hannah Flynn, and Ben Van Horrick

BLUF: An old adage holds: bullets don’t fly without supply. Today, bullets don’t fly without bytes. DoW’s fortification and digitization of its supply chains is a long overdue investment and especially logistics command and control (C2).

• Logisticians still struggle like the Flintstones. Recent offerings from defense technology firms give joint force logisticians powerful tools to move planning from the stone age to the AI age.

• That promise has yet to translate into uniform results as each service pursues its own Logistics C2, leaving the joint force without a coherent logistics picture.

• Recent events in the Middle East, including the difficulty of resupplying aircraft carriers and gaps in the movement of wounded service members, bring this shortfall to the forefront.

• The system must be service-agnostic, capable of integrating across Joint and Combined forces, and delivered to the tactical edge.

• Today that demand signal resides on spreadsheets, PowerPoints, and siloed databases. These methods prevent cross-enterprise visibility, and slow resupply and decision making when speed proves decisive.

• Building on the model of the U.S. Army’s Operation Jailbreak, every logistical data system should be required to prove its ability to integrate with the joint force, not just at the service level.

DCAA Audit Guidance on Conformance of CAS to GAAP

H/T: Moshe Schwartz

BLUF: The Cost Accounting Standards Board (CASB) published a Final Rule, effective October 1, 2026, to remove and reserve CAS 407 to conform to GAAP.

• CAS 407 no longer applies to any contract or subcontract. However, any noncompliance that occurred prior to the effective date must still be resolved.

• The CASB transferred six unique requirements from CAS 407 to CAS 418 Allocation of Direct and Indirect Costs.

The Strategic Technology Incubation Model

Sue Ghosh Stricklett

BLUF: AI exposes a structural flaw in how the U.S. turns technological innovation into national capability. A technology becomes strategically significant when its deployment makes failure, unauthorized use, or operation outside its intended boundaries a matter of national security.

• America’s private sector builds the technology; government typically enters later as a buyer, attempting to append national security requirements to commercial systems that have already matured.

• That sequence fails for dual-use technologies that can shift rapidly from commercial software into cyber capabilities, intelligence platforms, autonomous systems, and critical military infrastructure.

• Strategic Technology Incubation Model: Government defines the mission, security parameters, and operational boundaries from the outset. Industry builds up to those requirements. Independent testing then verifies compliance before government adopts the system as a mission-critical dependency.

• As AI embeds into high-consequence systems, the architecture must ensure operators can verify what the system was authorized to do.

• The private sector should remain the engine of AI innovation, with government intervention sharpening only as the potential consequences of deployment escalate.

• Five Stages

  • Government defines operational mission and security requirements.

  • Industry engineers work against those defined requirements.

  • Independent testing and verification occur prior to adoption.

  • Government acquires and deploys the validated capability.

  • Continuous verification tracks system updates and state changes.

• America does not have an innovation problem. It has a technology-to-capability problem. Moving security upstream is how it closes that gap.

NPS Acquisition Research Symposium Call for Papers and Panels

BLUF: The Naval Postgraduate School invites paper and panel proposals for the 24th Annual Acquisition Research Symposium & Innovation Summit, to be held May 12–13, 2027 in Monterey, CA. Proposals are due Nov 17, 2026.

• Centered on the theme Delivering Warfighting Capability, this year’s event will examine how the defense acquisition ecosystem can improve readiness, deter adversaries, and deliver operationally relevant capability at the speed and scale required to maintain warfighting advantage.

• Topics include revitalizing the defense industrial base, reforming acquisition processes, accelerating the transition of emerging technologies, and increasing the capacity to field and sustain solutions that meet warfighter needs.

Our Take: NPS remains a valuable forum for sharing acquisition research and connecting with others committed to advancing the profession. We encourage researchers with novel ideas and rigorous methods to submit proposals, particularly work that acquisition professionals and executives can act on.

The most useful contributions translate findings into recommendations that practitioners can take back to their organizations. Applied research that stays grounded in operational acquisition problems, draws on data sufficient to support its conclusions, and offers clear implications for policy, process, or practice does the most to move the field forward. Proposals framed primarily as extensions of specialized academic inquiry, or that conclude mainly that more research is needed, are less likely to deliver that value.

Streamlining Access to Government Services Through America.gov

BLUF: The President directed GSA and OMB to establish and operate America.gov as the single point of entry for Americans to access covered services online and integrate Login.gov with America.gov as the authentication service for America.gov.

America.gov

Army Announces Futures and Autonomous Systems Command

BLUF: Acting SecArmy Adam Telle memo SECARMY Army Autonomous Initiatives directing the establishment of Army Futures and Autonomous Systems Command (FASCOM) and changes to Army force structure, acquisition, and personnel.

• The Army is moving quickly to implement SECWAR’s direction to expand autonomous and robotic capabilities across the Joint Force.

• The Army will integrate autonomous capabilities into at least six formation areas, including aviation, armor, fires, sustainment, engineer and training formations.

• Designate a PAE for Autonomy and prioritize the acquisition and fielding of autonomous fires, combat vehicles, watercraft resupply, breaching, reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition capabilities, as well as collaborative teaming between crewed and uncrewed platforms.

• Soldiers and technical experts required to employ these systems. The Army will expand authorizations for 15X Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems Specialists and 390A Robotics Technicians across applicable units, increasing trained autonomy professionals closer to tactical formations.

"The Army is rapidly advancing to maintain our lethal edge. We are forging the U.S. Army FASCOM to get cutting-edge technology into the hands of Soldiers, while prioritizing autonomy in our formations, our acquisitions, and our training to dominate the future of warfare. This is about combat readiness to destroy the enemy and ensure our Army never enters a fair fight." Adam Telle, Acting Army Secretary

Our Take: We could not be happier to see the Army move out on establishing a PAE for Autonomy. This executes the recommendations we made in June 2025 on Establishing Dedicated Unmanned PEOs. Similarly a new command focused on employing autonomous systems can fuel future warfighting solutions, but it must be staffed with innovators. There must be friendly competitions and challenges for FASCOM to disrupt traditional Army operations through autonomous systems.

Related: Army to establish new autonomy command, acquisition executive

Task Force, Army Announce Billions in Counter-Drone Tech Awards

BLUF: DoW awarded 10 C-UAS contracts with a collective ceiling of $4.15B and fall under an IDIQ vehicle that officials expect to reach $7B by the end of next month. So far, however, <1% ($50M) of the new awards have been obligated.

• $150-$500M awardees include Allen Control Systems | Digital Force Technologies | DroneShield | Echodyne Corp. | Napatree Technology | PVP Advanced EO Systems | RADA Technologies | SmartShooter | SRC | L3 Harris WESCAM

• JIATF 401 and the Army shepherded the vehicle as part of an effort to identify distinct defense requirements for units and critical assets increasingly vulnerable to drones, hoping to flood money into a market that military and industry officials have said is moving too slowly to meet demand.

• The awards support the DoW’s drone and counter-drone marketplaces.

“These vehicles we awarded yesterday span a range of counter-UAS capabilities, from sensors to effectors to C2 systems. We want to bring better technology forward every day, and we don’t want to be locked into a single vendor as that threat evolves.” - Brent Ingraham, ASA/ALT

“What we’re trying to do through the marketplace is to connect those producers with customers so they can see that true demand across the United States, then also with our partners and allies. A large IDIQ contract will allow companies to raise additional capital to build up their inventory because they have a reasonable expectation that we’re going to continue to partner with them.” - BG Matt Ross, JIATF-401, Director

Related: Army Awards Up to $7B in Sprawling Counter-Drone IDIQ
Related: JIATF-401 Advances Domestic Shield With Counter-UAS Contract Awards

Capacity, Partners and the Courage to Act

Brent Ingraham

BLUF: We must move faster. We’ve changed structures, authorities, processes and organizations to give ourselves more room to move. The question now is whether we’ll use that room differently.

• We need to understand the operational problem, bring the right expertise to it early, make the risks visible and decide when the evidence is sufficient to move.

• That requires us to accept informed acquisition risk now to reduce operational risk later. It doesn’t mean lowering standards, and it certainly doesn’t mean compromising safety.

• We can develop the best technology in the world and still fail our Soldiers if we can’t build enough of it, repair it, replenish it or keep it operating under stress.

• We need to understand supplier depth, producibility, sustainment, personnel, tooling, technical data and critical materials before our options narrow.

• The Pathway for Innovation and Technology (PIT) can help us reach firms that may not have worked with us before.

• Operation Jailbreak showed companies that had never worked together integrate systems in a matter of days because Soldiers, engineers, acquisition professionals and industry were working the same operational problem together.

• Foreign Military Sales (FMS) can’t remain something we account for after U.S. requirements, production quantities and configurations are already set.

• Under the Portfolio Acquisition Executive construct, bringing contracting, testing, sustainment, programming and other functions closer to portfolio decisions creates value only if we use that proximity to resolve issues sooner and make decisions at the right level.

Army Dives Headfirst into New Strategic Capital Initiative

BLUF: A new Army Strategic Capital Initiative inviting industry to co-invest in modernization projects that could provide both commercial and warfighting benefits has resulted in several partnership agreements, but work remains to ensure the effort makes a lasting impact.

• The goal of the initiative is to supplement traditional funding with strategic capital, creating commercially viable and self-sustaining ventures that ensure long-term success without relying on the Army as the sole source of ROI.

• The program comprises six strategic pillars:

  • Energy resilience and dominance

  • Modernizing the organic industrial base

  • Strengthening logistics and supply chains

  • Advanced manufacturing and technology adoption

  • Real assets and facilities utilization

  • Critical minerals and resource development.

• The Army wanted to prioritize ventures that require a significant financial outlay up front where the service could utilize private capital so it doesn’t have to appropriate $1-$2B every year for these projects.

Five Defense Companies Selected to Develop Precision Strike Missile Increment 4 Prototypes

BLUF: The Army awarded OT agreements for PrSM Increment 4 to Anduril, Castelion, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Mach Industries, and RTX.

• Each company will develop prototype missiles capable of launching from the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and striking moving maritime and relocatable land targets at ranges of 1,000 kilometers or greater.

• FY27: Initial prototype development will culminate in a competitive fly-off and down-select.

• FY28: Vendors demonstrating mature, successful designs will be eligible for follow-on agreements and a final competitive fly-off.

Related: Army Selects Five Companies for PrSM Development and Army Taps 5 Companies for PrSM Inc 4 Prototypes

Army Hopes Reorganizing Fires Office Solves Long-Standing Problems

BLUF: The Army’s PAE Fires is rebuilding its entire enterprise to change not only how it buys weapons but what weapons it buys.

• As part of SECWAR’s Acquisition Transformation Strategy replacing PEOs with PAEs, PAE FIREs implemented a fundamental shift in how it operates.

• The goal is an organization that works together more seamlessly across its entire portfolio to offer more options to commanders faster.

• LTG Frank Lozano, PAE Fires, in February activated the first three program management executives, at the time called capability program executives — offensive fires, defensive fires and integrated fires.

• Each area is led by an acquisition executive with expertise in fires and represents a centralized approach to managing the Army’s fires portfolio.

• The expansive fires portfolio includes 62 programs, both offensive and defensive. But the sheer number is why it also needs an eye on integration.

• It has several ongoing competitions to create options, lower costs and help avoid dependence on a single provider.

• Among its ongoing competitions are the Common Autonomous Multi-Domain Launcher, Indirect Fire Protection Capability Increment 2, Next Generation Short Range Interceptor, Low-Cost Containerized Munitions and Precision Strike Missile Increment 4.

• Each addresses a different part of the battlefield — more autonomy, more affordability, greater range, greater capacity and greater mobility — to give commanders more options.

• While the portfolio’s FY27 budget request jumped from $18B in FY26 to $47B, money alone does not solve its hardest problems. Energetics and propulsion currently require complex manufacturing and have limited capacity and constrained resources.

• Everything is now viewed through a portfolio lens, and everyone is starting to ask questions and assess themselves as a portfolio, not through a soda straw of one product at a time.

“The value of this construct is that leadership can make decisions across the fires portfolio. We can look at the entire kill web, we can identify common requirements and we can align better across our sensors and shooters.” BG Robert Mikesh, PME for Offensive Fires.

Army Launches Night Court Review of Weapons Systems

BLUF: The Army has begun Sustainment Night Courts and will continue over the next two months as Army leaders seek to secure a greater right to repair, prizing intellectual property protections away from manufacturers so soldiers can reset their own gear near the point of need.

• The Army is looking at the logistics support plans and the source of repair for key weapon systems.

• They are looking for opportunities to pivot certain systems from contracted logistics support to organic repair capabilities as well as shift source of repair decisions to the left.

“The holistic review of weapons systems will determine if we are postured appropriately, in terms of organic capability, and who has responsibility for our weapons systems and platforms. We talked about having multiple nodes distributing where we’re accumulating our materiel, so we’re not providing large targets for our adversaries, who have the means to disrupt our operations through long-range precision fire.” LTG Gavin Lawrence, Army Materiel Command Deputy

Robotics Competition Winners Advance Military Exploration of Humanoid Capabilities

BLUF: The Army named five companies as winners of its xTechHumanoid competition, capping an effort to assess how emerging commercial humanoid technologies could contribute to future military operations.

• ACES Group: An integrated power system designed to address energy needs across humanoid robotic systems with scalable energy storage technologies.

• IHMC Robotics: Alex, a humanoid robot featuring impact-resilient actuators, ballistic protection and hybrid autonomy combining AI and human control.

• Hydroplane Limited: A lightweight, compact mobile power-generation system designed to provide long-duration power in contested logistics environments.

• Ras Labs: Highly sensitive fingertip tactile sensors designed to enable robotic systems to detect force, object form, slip and other physical interactions.

• Velocity Explorations: Software that builds on the company's C2 technology to translate information and command intent into discrete actions for robots.

“We are identifying the problems, mission needs, and opportunities to enable our formations with the right mix of tools. xTech is our method of surveying the industry landscape and fast-tracking promising technology rather than falling victim to years-long studies.” - Dr. Alex Miller, Army CTO

The Army’s Most Dangerous Logistics Problem Is Hiding Behind Motor Pools

Capt. Scottie Huggins

BLUF: The Army is quietly losing visibility of its own equipment due to disconnected property systems and fragmented asset management.

• Errors in LINs, NSNs, and BOMs, plus excess and Found on Installation gear, trap serviceable equipment outside maintenance, redistribution, readiness planning.

• CSDP enforces compliance, but no company-level leader owns end-to-end asset synchronization, so administrative accountability holds while ops visibility erodes.

• Equipment that cannot be identified, tracked, or reintegrated is wasted readiness, not combat power, and will cost operational reach in large-scale combat.

• A company Asset Management Chief, distinct from the PBO, should validate GCSS-Army data, recover FOI equipment, and synchronize the supply chain.

Army Acquisition Hall of Fame Welcomes Four New Inductees in 2026

Other Army News:

• MG Michelle Link now PME Combat Sustainment within PAE Agile Sustainment

• BG Ryan Howell now PME Acquisition Support within PAE Maneuver Ground

• Army Looking to Separate Software from Hardware

• GDIT Secures $510M US Army Task Order for Global C5ISR-M Support

• Northrop Wins US Army Contract for XRC Ramjet Propulsion

Boeing Wins F/A-XX Next Generation Navy Stealth Fighter Contract

BLUF: Navy has finally announced Boeing as the winner of its F/A-XX next-generation carrier-based fighter competition.

• F/A-XX has become one of the most hotly anticipated U.S. defense procurement decisions in recent memory after the Pentagon tried to shelve the program indefinitely last year.

• Congress subsequently intervened to keep the F/A-XX program running, but its future had remained very murky until earlier this year.

• The company will be able to leverage design work it has already been doing in relation to the F-47 program, as well as relevant production experience and supply chains.

• We still have yet to learn just how closely related the two designs are.

“The F/A-XX is a critical pillar in our commitment to maintaining peace through strength. F/A-XX will dominate contested airspace, extend operational reach, and deliver a decisive combat advantage for the warfighter.” Michael Duffey, USW(A&S)

“Delivering two advanced fighters in parallel was always our plan, and we invested accordingly. We are ready and able to build multiple concurrent future combat aircraft franchise programs.” Steve Parker, Boeing Defense, Space & Security, President and CEO

Related: DoW Press Release, Boeing Wins Navy Next-Gen Fighter F/A-XX Competition, F-47 Maker Boeing Tapped for Navy’s F/A-XX Sixth-Gen Fighter, Navy Selects Boeing to Build Next-Generation F/A-XX Fighter, and Boeing Lands US Navy Contract for 6th-Gen F/A-XX Fighter

In April 2025, our subscribers predicted Northrop Grumman would win the contract.

What Boeing’s F/A-XX Win Means for the Company and What Challenges Come Next

BLUF: While the more than $20B win gives Boeing a stranglehold on America’s sixth-generation fighter fleets, the challenge now is making sure the company can execute.

• Today’s win cements a major turnaround for Boeing’s defense arm. After years of struggling with major aircraft programs, including executing on the KC-46 tanker and T-7 trainer, Boeing’s March 2025 award of the Air Force’s F-47 fighter marked an earlier turning point for the company.

• Winning F/A-XX represents a complete pendulum swing for Boeing, going from thinking that they’re going to be closing their fighter lines to having both of the big contracts for sixth-generation fighters.

• If the two designs have a lot in common or were actually co-developed, we could see an F/A-XX fly a lot sooner than one might expect.

• Ensuring that the early program workforce demand signal is adequately balanced between F-47 and FA-XX will have to be proactively managed.

• Northrop Grumman, who was seeking to become a prime on a fighter jet for the first time since the venerable F-14 Tomcat.

Navy to Procure 30 MUSVs Following Completion of Phase I At-Sea Testing

BLUF: Galliano Marine Services, HII, and Saronic Technologies each received Production OT agreements for 10 MUSVs at an average procurement cost of $40M.

• Saronic and HII submitted their Marauder and Romulus designs, respectively, to the MUSV Phase I competition. Galliano Marine Services, which does business as Edison Chouest, does not appear to have announced its entrant publicly.

• At a unit cost of $40M, the total price tag for 30 MUSVs, regardless of type, would be $1.2B.

• Production will begin immediately at shipyards in Loreauville, Houma, and Franklin, LA, with deliveries starting as early as the 4QFY27.

• Threshold MUSV program requirements the service put out in March included a range of at least 2500 nm at 25 knots while carrying a 25 MT load on the payload deck in NATO STANAG Sea State 4.

• Leidos, PAC MAR, and Sea Machines were determined to complete the project provided for in their prototype OT agreement and will receive a $15M award. Galliano, HII, and Saronic will also receive $15M awards and be included in the marketplace.

• Birdon did not complete the required testing.

“What we learned from Phase I is that as you increase the speed requirements and some of these other things, it does present certain challenges for industry. So I’m trying to actually find the sweet spot in the market where there is healthy competition, and there’s opportunities, and we can have more things that potentially are dual use, both military and civilian. Proposals will be assessed on a continually rolling basis over the next five years.” - Chris Miller, Acting DRPM for Robotic and Autonomous Systems

“Our warfighters don't have time to wait on bureaucracy while our adversaries pace forward. Our message to the defense industrial base is simple: build fast, deliver on time, and match the urgency of the threat. This MUSV award is a prime example of how we are streamlining acquisitions to ensure our Sailors and Marines have the capabilities they need to fight, win, and come home safe." Hung Cao, Acting SECNAV

Related: Navy Orders 30 Drone Ships to Finally Advance Its Medium Uncrewed Vessel Ambitions and Navy to Purchase 30 MUSVs Following At-Sea Testing and Navy Taps 3 Firms to Build MUSVs for Around $40M per Vessel and Navy Launches Phase II for Medium Robo-Ship Project, Seeks Innovative Solutions and Saronic Wins Roughly $400M Production OTA for Marauder and HII Wins U.S. Navy Contract for 10 ROMULUS USVs and Saronic Awarded Production Contract for Marauder Under U.S. Navy’s MUSV Marketplace and Navy Plans 30 New MUSVs and US industry urged to ‘build fast, build on time’ after MUSV award

DIU and Navy Accelerate Mine Countermeasure Modernization Through Prize Challenge

BLUF: DRPM RAS and DIU announced prizes to BeeX, BlackSea Technologies, and Vatn Systems following their successful demonstrations in DIU’s Mine Countermeasure (MCM) Modernization Prize Challenge.

• The timeline from the prize challenge announcement to an active Navy contract was just 92 days.

• DIU received 80 submissions, selected 11 vendors to compete, and scored performers using a rapid assessment framework developed with multiple DoN organizations.

• Commercial shippers rely on uninterrupted freedom of navigation. The prize challenge demonstrated the ability to quickly locate, identify and neutralize diverse underwater mine threats.

• Winning systems demonstrated in the prize challenge will be integrated into the Fleet’s autonomous MCM kits, keeping warfighters out of harm’s way.

“Through the partnership with DIU, in less than four months we were able to quickly move from open call to on-water testing, to contracting options and initial operational planning.” George Saroch, PM for Mine Warfare.

“Fleet involvement was integral throughout the process. By accelerating the transition of commercial technologies into operational use, DIU and the Navy are helping deliver a new generation of MCM capabilities aligned to current fleet needs.” Dr. Jarred Conley, DIU Portfolio Director for Autonomous Warfare.

Related: Navy selects 3 companies to develop mine countermeasure technology

William Mahan to Perform the Duties of Under Secretary of the Navy

William Mahan, currently PTDO ASN/RDA will move up to be PTDO of UNSECNAV.

VADM Seiko Okano will be filling in the roles and responsibilities of ASN/RDA.

DoN Rapid Capabilities Office, Industry Advance Next-Gen Technologies at September Disruptor Days

BLUF: The Department of the Navy Rapid Capabilities Office (DONRCO) put cutting-edge passive decoy and EO/IR technologies to the test during the office’s first two Disruptor Day events, held simultaneously at NSWC Crane, IN, and NAWC Aircraft Division, MD, from Sept. 21-24.

• In coordination with the Fleet, the PAE for Mission Systems, and teams at Patuxent River and Crane, the DONRCO hosted about 20 vendors who demonstrated next-generation, rapidly deployable technologies that address Navy operational needs.

• Disruptor Days unite innovators (including traditional and non-traditional partners) with Navy experts to solve critical operational challenges through real-world evaluation of emerging technologies.

• The EO/IR Disruptor Day examined technologies capable of detecting a specific target against a backdrop of multiple other targets.

“Disruptor Days give us a front-row look at what these technologies can do. These events let vendors put skin in the game to prove they can tackle the challenges of the moment. Speed is not about being efficient, it is about being relevant in combat. Disruptor Days shake up the status quo to find innovative operational solutions that pace the threat.” VADM Seiko Okano, DON RCO Director

Navy AI Hackathon

DoN is calling on interested participants to engage in the second iteration of the DON AI Hackathon Series, FleetHacker, scheduled for November 4-6 in Norfolk, VA.

This event will focus on topics spanning efficient agentic AI, human-machine teaming, and workflow automation. Participation from across the Navy and Marine Corps is encouraged regardless of technical skills. Additional information is provided in the memo below, signed by Justin Fanelli and Dr. Ciro Lopez.

Norfolk AI Hackathon

C-NOte #12: Navy Expeditionary Forces

On October 1, Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC) will be redesignated as Commander, Navy Expeditionary Forces (CNEF). The new name formally recognizes the command’s established role as the Navy’s expeditionary Type Command (TYCOM) and more accurately reflects the breadth of forces and capabilities required for the Navy to operate, sustain, secure, and fight from austere maritime environments.

Navy, RTX Strengthen Munitions Production Through SM-6 Award

BLUF: Navy awarded Raytheon a five-year contract, with two additional option years, valued at up to $24.4B to accelerate production of the Department’s critical anti-air and anti-surface warfare munition, Standard Missile-6.

• The SM-6 contract establishes a multi-year procurement commitment that provides industry with the stability and predictability needed to expand production capacity while delivering cost savings through a negotiated, long-term agreement.

• The investment will support increased manufacturing throughput and strengthen the industrial base supporting this critical capability.

“This award demonstrates what is possible when the Department leverages innovative acquisition approaches to deliver capability at the speed of relevance. Through PAE Munitions, we are bringing together the authorities, resources, and partnerships needed to accelerate production, reduce costs, and strengthen the industrial base that supports our warfighters.” Ms. Van Hendrey, PAE for Munitions.

US Navy Signs Off on Preliminary Acceptance of Aircraft Carrier USS John F. Kennedy

BLUF: The Navy took preliminary acceptance of the future USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), about 99% complete, so the crew can operate at sea while Newport News Shipbuilding finishes final systems testing, including four remaining Advanced Weapons Elevators, ahead of formal delivery in Spring 2027.

“Achieving preliminary acceptance marks a new phase for the ship and her crew, allowing them to get more water under the keel as they test and train underway.” - CAPT Mark Johnson, PM for Gerald R. Ford-Class New Construction

HII Snaps Up $5.1B Deal for USS Harry S. Truman Overhaul

BLUF: HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding received a $5.1B contract (up to $5.2B with options) for the refueling and complex overhaul of USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), the eighth Nimitz-class RCOH at the yard.

“Our team has been diligently working to get ahead on this critical engineering and construction project that will prepare USS Harry S. Truman for the second half of her service life.” - Bryan Caccavale, Newport News VP of Program Management

Related: USS Harry S. Truman Starts Major Mid-Life Overhaul at HII

Related: Aircraft Carrier USS Harry S. Truman to Undergo $5.1B Mid-Life Overhaul

The Maritime Dominance Fantasy

Jack Bharucha

BLUF: The American shipbuilding industrial base has reached an inflection point. The U.S. must pursue a realistic, concrete, and historical baseline: 5% market share in global commercial shipping tonnage. The U.S. should utilize construction-differential subsidies, payments to offset the additional cost of building a ship in the U.S.

• The Liberty and Victory ships of World War II were built quickly and in great numbers, but this resulted from massive government investment, not market forces.

• After the war, the US share of commercial shipbuilding fell rapidly. Indeed, from the advent of steel ships, American shipbuilding has never thrived without federal intervention.

• China’s dominance in this industry lets it funnel massive commercial efficiencies and international profits directly into military expansion.

• A strong commercial maritime industrial base is essential for national security because without it, shipyards become entirely dependent on fluctuating defense budgets, creating a non-competitive monopoly that kills innovation, inflates costs, and leaves the nation unable to scale up production in an emergency.

• As of 2026, it costs around $330M to build a 3,600 TEU containership at Hanwa’s Philadelphia Shipyard. A comparable Chinese vessel would cost only $60M. To make an American-made ship cost competitive, the government would, at first, have to offer $270M in subsidies per vessel. Some argue the cost is too high, especially given the deficit. However, the benefits far outweigh the price tag.

• The benefits include learning by doing and restoring market accountability to the shipbuilding sector. Industrial strategy is always a long game.

• This will be expensive, but if the U.S. does not pay the price for maritime readiness today, it will surely pay a far steeper price tomorrow.

Other Navy News:

• RADM Benjamin Nicholson to VADM to be Military Sealift Command

• RADM Benjamin Reynolds to VADM as Deputy CNO N8

• GAO Report on the Navy’s Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program

• RTX $511M US Navy Contract SPY-6

• Navy Advances First New Nuclear Warhead Programme In Nearly 4 Decades

• Build New or Replace? How MOSA Answers the Question

• Serco Secures US Navy Surface Ship Support Contract

• M-Code GPS Navy Carrier Landings

The Great US Marine Corps Reboot Has Arrived

BLUF: Six years after Force Design 2030 began stripping out its tanks, the Marine Corps is looking even further ahead.

• Its Ground Combat Element 2040 roadmap, released this summer, keeps the Corps built around light, dispersed units capable of threatening Chinese ships from islands and coastlines.

• It then layers on counter-drone defenses shaped by the war in Ukraine, uncrewed systems, and AI-enabled command networks by the late 2030s.

• The idea is a force that can hide, survive, and strike when called upon, rather than one that simply looks formidable on paper.

Beyond the Rear Area: Integrating Supply Chain, Infrastructure, and Military Logistics Under Adversarial Threat

Lt Col Matthew Phelps

BLUF: The commercial supply chain is now contested terrain. Logistics has always been contested at the tactical level but the reach of modern weapons extends well beyond what planners once called the rear area.

• Kinetic and non-kinetic means alike, from drone-delivered munitions to offensive cyber capabilities, can now touch the civilian systems that underpin military capability: raw material production, domestic manufacturing, and the transportation networks that move goods to the force.

• Yet there are no tools designed for this environment that are available to military planners.

• Three Connected Failures: No multi-layer integration; no adversarial intent; and no cross-layer cascade tracing.

• The Contested Sustainment Analysis Framework (CSAF) is a requirements specification defining the architecture a contested sustainment planning capability must satisfy.

  • Multi-layer integration; adversarial decision modeling; cascading effect propagation; operational output metrics; adaptability and speed.

• Great power competition, lessons from Ukraine, and adversaries’ demonstrated willingness to target civilian infrastructure have effectively eliminated the rear area.

• The consequence is not merely tactical, it is analytical. Planners lack tools designed for this environment, and the tools they have are structurally incompatible with it.

From Force Design to Force Drift: The Challenge Facing the 40th Commandant

Jerry McAbee

BLUF: The inadequate approach of the Campaign of Learning will not fix the underlying problems of force drift, which will soon fall to the 40^th Commandant.

• Among other exigencies, he will face the overriding challenge of organizing, training, and equipping the Marine Corps for the sureness of an uncertain and increasingly dangerous future.

• To meet this Title X, United States Code mandate, he must: develop an operating concept that better defines the role of the Marine Corps in national security than Force Design and build a combat development process capable of translating that concept into needed capabilities.

• Failing to do both will risk committing the Marine Corps to four more years of rudderless drift.

Marines to Support NATO Security Initiative in Baltic Sea

BLUF: A specialized team of Marines deployed to Europe will be redirected to the Baltic Sea region to support the NATO-led enhanced vigilance activity Baltic Sentry.

• Approximately four dozen Marines assigned to the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group, based at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, will operate alongside Finland's Coastal Brigade to provide advanced expeditionary surveillance and tactical reconnaissance capabilities.

• The activity is designed to enhance maritime domain awareness to protect critical undersea infrastructure and support overall security in the region.

Air Force Names 7 to Vie for New MMA Drone Program

BLUF: The Air Force and DIU picked seven companies to compete for the low-cost, semi-autonomous Massed Modular Aircraft meant to replace the MQ-9, with a goal of 500 fielded by 2032.

• Winners included Anduril, Chaos Industries, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Grid Aero, Otto Aerospace, Shield AI, and Swarm Aero.

• The solicitation followed the loss of dozens of MQ-9s in operations against Iran earlier this year.

• The military’s reliance on aircraft that cost $30M or more per tail has become unsustainable against adversaries utilizing layered defenses,

• DoW expects to pay about $10M per MMA airframe, plus whatever sensors or other capabilities are added to it.

• The Pentagon wants to see a prototype within a year of issuing a contract, and field it at scale as soon as 2029.

“The Air Force’s partnership with the Defense Innovation Unit is accelerating requirements development and rapid prototyping by leveraging commercial innovation and reducing timelines. We continue to work with industry to inform requirements and assess potential solutions as we shape the future MMA capability.” AF Spokesman

Pentagon Hands Out $20.7B Contract for AMRAAM Missiles to RTX

BLUF: The Pentagon announced a contract worth $20.7B for RTX to build AMRAAM missiles used by Navy and Air Force aircraft and for ground-based interceptors.

• The latest contract award does not make clear whether the $20.7 billion is funding for the framework agreement or a separate deal.

• The level of acceleration or increased quantities was not articulated.

• Apart from air-to-air combat, the AMRAAM is used as part of the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, a midrange air defense system built jointly by Raytheon and Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace.

• Ukraine has more than 10 NASAMS in operation.

Related Articles: Raytheon Nets Potential $20.7 Billion AMRAAM Deal and Raytheon Receives Up to $20.7 Billion AMRAAM Production Contract

DAF Awards F-15EX Lot 7 Contract for 22 Aircraft

BLUF: The Air Force awarded Boeing a contract for 22 F-15EX Eagle II aircraft under Lot 7. Through focused, complex negotiations, the F-15 Program Office and Boeing reached an agreement that maintains all 22 Lot 7 aircraft within available funding.

Our Take: Reading through the lines here, there must have been some risk that with inflation and other pressures, the Air Force might not have been able to afford all 22 aircraft as anticipated.

Related Article: Air Force Awards $2.38B Contract to Boeing for 22 F-15EX and Boeing Nabs $2.4 Billion Deal for More F-15EX Fighters

Full F-47 Production Line Not Too Far Away

BLUF: Work is underway for a full production line for the F-47 with Boeing in the midst of a nearly $2B expansion to its facilities in St. Louis, Missouri.

• The F-47 program otherwise continues to progress along an aggressive schedule, with a first flight still being targeted for 2028 and the goal of production jets entering operational service in the early 2030s.

• Phase 1 includes the construction of:

  • an 880,000 sq ft aircraft assembly building

  • an 185,000 sq ft hangar

  • an 80,000 sq ft radar cross-section test facility

  • + open aircraft shelters, hush house, maintenance building, fuel calibration building and fire house totaling 90,000 sq ft

CCAs and Autonomy Gain Momentum as Focus of Future Force

BLUF: For the past four years, the idea of autonomous drone warfare like CCA has been discussed as a future concept, rather than near-term reality. Now that promised vision appears imminent, with the Air Force promising at least 1,000 a/c by 2032.

• The Experimental Operations Unit at Creech Air Force Base, Nev is operating CCAs “multiple times a week” as it develops and applies new thinking.

• CCAs will be the Air Force’s first dip of the toe in an actual force integration.

• EOU members have been “pleasantly surprised” by the ease of maintenance of the CCAs, and what a comparatively small footprint they require to a manned jet.

• In a series of recent Agile Combat Employment exercises, there was a one-to-one maintainer-to-airplane ratio, which is small fraction of what a manned fighter jet typically requires.

“That will, in [my] mind, be the first time that we will ever do some CCA end-to-end kill chain live. That’s the first time we’ll ever be integrated in a fourth- and fifth-gen combined [offensive counter-air] push. It’ll be small, but those type of building blocks are where, I think, you get the intangibles like trust in the CCA.” EOU commander Lt. Col. Lyndon Bartlett

Air Force Prepares to Put Its CCAs to the Test

BLUF: Air Force is preparing to wring out its two collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) as part of the Emerald Flag exercise at Eglin AFB, Florida later this year, putting the uncrewed systems to the test in an operationally relevant scenario as it charts its path forward on creating a common autonomy software for the systems.

Related Article: USAF Plans Participation of Early CCA Production Aircraft In Emerald Flag

Air Force, Industry Fear Continuing Resolution Could Hinder CCA Production

BLUF: The Air Force’s emerging Collaborative Combat Aircraft program would suffer delays if Congress fails to pass a budget before the end of this calendar year.

“You can’t go do production without production funding. So that does provide limitations on what we can execute.” Brig. Gen. Timothy Helfrich

“We will not have a cold start to [launch] production in ’27. We will have assets rolling through. That said, even a company like ours can only do so much without procurement dollars.” Erin Simpson, Anduril’s vice president of strategy execution for air dominance and strike

Our Take: It appears that GA-ASI will self-fund the first few production aircraft but unclear how far that will extend if the CR is not resolved soon. Anduril has already bet the bank on its facility build and advanced parts buys, so it seems likely to stick to its guns here.

Anduril and the Limits of Build First, Buy Later

Justin Mc

BLUF: This week, Anduril announced that they were no longer able to work at risk on the FQ-44. This is one of the clearest examples those inside the bubble are starting to realize the limits of private capital.

• Private capital can finance prototypes, facilities, and even some low level production at risk, but it is not a indefinite substitute for Pentagon appropriations.

• Anduril helped lead the neo-prime assault on the primes’ old ways. Much like Palantir, they deployed engineers, built systems based on observed needs, then took those systems to the Pentagon as prototype solutions.

• They contributed to a growing belief that the Pentagon would soon be able to simply buy future weapons off the shelf.

• Except there is no shelf. The Pentagon is directly responsible for designing future warfare and building the plans for contingency operations. The emergence of the neo-primes did not change the need to fill those requirements.

• The right model for defense acquisitions is not the way the U.S. has procured things in the past, that is cleary true.

• Flipping this exactly 180 degrees and moving away from requirements to a build-then-buy mentality does not fix the core issues. This is what Anduril is seeing now.

• As capital becomes more expensive the risk associated with carrying government procurement risk becomes less attractive.

• Anduril, and much of defense tech, neo-prime or not, are now beholden to a set of forces that they cannot control.

• These forces, the long procurement times, rising interest rates, and budget challenges in a split congress, are the reason being in defense tech is hard.

• The Pentagon cannot expect the industry to act like a commercial market when all of the incentives are still aligned to a centralized management approach.

Our Take: Very well said!

Hunt For MQ-9 Reaper Successor Surprisingly Includes Exotic Aircraft Manufacturer Otto Aerospace

BLUF: the inclusion of Otto Aerospace in the MMA selectees is particularly unexpected and interesting to examine. Otto has made bold, but still unrealized pronouncements about disrupting the aviation industry with potentially revolutionary high-efficiency designs that could have civilian and military applications.

• The company’s core design philosophy centers around what is called laminar flow. Broadly speaking, this refers to liquid or gaseous “fluids,” including air, flowing in smooth, regular layers across a surface with little to no mixing between them.

• With this in mind, all of the designs that Otto has shown to date, starting with the Celera 500L, have been based around teardrop-shaped fuselages to maximize laminar flow benefits.

• A relevant patent held by Otto also describes a novel exhaust system with a heat exchanger that provides an additional boost in thrust.

• It is also worth noting here that Otto has already developed a drone with a “highly laminar-flow efficient airframe” for DARPA.

• DARPA plans to use that drone to demonstrate laser-based power beaming technology that could be used to relay electricity to forward operating locations.

Our Take: The ability to burn a third of the fuel of other aircraft is going to be particularly attractive to the Air Force given the realities of resupply in a contested theater. Expect Otto to get a serious look.

Air Force Pushes Open Architectures Across Fighter Fleet

BLUF: The Air Force would like to see the EW/SATCOM/Radar upgrades being brought to individual fighters applied in a more horizontal way across platforms to onboard new functionality quickly as soon as it develops.

• To ensure horizontal development, the Air Force is working across integrated capability teams targeting electronic warfare, infrared, line-of-sight and beyond-line-of-sight communications, compute and software, and exportability.

• This helps ensure that new functionality isn’t siloed into a single fighter program.

• Underpinning these efforts is a push to adopt open compute that will allow the Air Force to effectively plug and play new capabilities once they are developed.

Our Take: This makes a lot of sense if the software baselines of these legacy aircraft can be architecturally updated to support that vision within a reasonable timeframe and cost. It still seems unclear how widely employed some of these legacy systems will be in a conflict even if they received every upgrade available. If they are really only going to be used in low-level engagements (like counter drone and homeland defense), then it might be a questionable investment.

Why the Air Force Needs to Invest in Electronic Warfare

Lance Landrum

BLUF: U.S. air forces are engaged in combat operations today, and not all the aircraft are modern stealthy platforms like the B-2, F-22, or F-35. The F-16 will be in service for two more decades, yet combat operations in Operation Urgent Fury prove it needs electromagnetic warfare (EW) upgrades to survive in modern threat environments.

• To survive and accomplish combat missions, F-16 pilots need to detect enemy threat systems, like surface-to-air missiles or air-to-air radars, via a Radar Warning Receiver (RWR) and then counter the threat with Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) that manipulate radio signals to jam or deceive guidance systems.

• International partners have invested over $1B in procuring Viper Shield systems for their F-16s over the past seven years. The Air Force could add EW pods and leverage foreign investment to save taxpayer money.

Our Take: Sounds like a reasonable idea. I’m sure it just hasn’t made the cutline in an extensive rack and stack of priorities.

F-15EX May Finally Get Missile Warning System the USAF Originally Skimped on Buying

BLUF: The Air Force is looking at adding a missile warning system (MWS) to its new F-15EX Eagle II fighters. This will give the aircraft a way to optically detect incoming missile threats, especially passively guided ones like heat-seeking infrared-guided missiles, which they currently lack.

• The omission has been glaring for years now, especially given that the aircraft has all the provisions for such a system, including blanked-over spots for the sensors.

• The Eagle II does already have an extremely powerful self-protection suite, including the Eagle Passive/Active Warning Survivability System (EPAWSS).

• However, it is heavily geared toward defending against radar-based threats that pump out signals that can be detected and jammed. Infrared-homing anti-air missiles zero in on their targets passively.

Lessons Learned from Getting an SR-71 in the Air Again May Be as Valuable as Its Flight Test Data

BLUF: There is serious discussion of bringing back the SR-71 Blackbird to flight status given its potential to inform high-speed aircraft flight and the system for launching effectors from high altitudes at high speed.

B-52s Get Prototype System for Beyond-Line-of-Sight Communications

BLUF: Air Force Global Strike Command has fielded a new prototype system for beyond-line-of-sight communications on the B-52H Stratofortress in a step forward for modernizing the Cold War-era heavy bomber.

• IRIS, a communications system developed by Outerlink Global Solutions, integrates a satellite communication terminal with other components both on the bomber itself and on the ground.

• While IRIS is fielded operationally, it remains a prototype, and more testing and evaluation will come as the system matures.

“The ability to communicate reliably across vast distances is foundational to our global operations. Fielding IRIS gives our crews a modern tool to stay connected, share information, and execute the mission in dynamic and contested environments.” Maj. Gen. Ty Neuman, commander of the 8th Air Force and the Joint-Global Strike Operations Center

Other Air Force News:

• X

DIU, Space Force Team Up to Kick-Start Buys of Commercial Sats for Monitoring GEO

BLUF: DIU and the Space Force have joined forces to more rapidly develop and field next-generation, commercially developed satellites to monitor GEO.

• DIU’s Geosynchronous High-Resolution Optical Space-Based Tactical Reconnaissance (GHOST-R) project is now going to serve as a feeder for the Space Force’s nascent RG-XX program to replace the venerable Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) satellites.

• Two companies have been chosen to develop and fly GHOST-R prototypes by 2028, the release said: Northrop Grumman and True Anomaly.

• DIU announced its GHOST-R effort in February, while SSC stood up the RG-XX effort in April as part of a wider GEO monitoring effort called Andromeda, setting up a pool of 14 vendors to compete for $1.84 billion over the next decade.

“This approach burns down technical risk, drives down lifecycle costs, and gets vital capability to the warfighter faster to ensure a more resilient architecture. Successful prototypes will have a direct path to transition into the program of record,” Col. Bryon McClain, acting PAE for Space Combat Power

Our Take: This is good to see as it never really made sense to have both efforts going simultaneously. The key will be to keep other vendors engaged through this process so that they can contribute to the constellation that Northrop and True Anomaly initially builds out.

Related Article: Space Force Picks Two Companies to Build New Space-to-Space Satellites by 2028

Drowning in Data: New Report Says Space Force Needs Lasers Comms to Beat the Bottleneck

BLUF: The Space Force is preparing to launch hundreds of satellites with countless sensors into orbit over the next few years that will generate vast troves of data.

• The long-standing method for communicating data down from space via radio frequencies has the potential to create deadly data bottlenecks that could slow and stymie future operations.

• A report, to be rolled out Oct. 1 by AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, makes the case for combining RF with optical communications technology, or laser comms, for a “hybrid” system.

• Her findings show that the military’s space-based sensors and communications systems are generating 200X more data than the force had two decades ago.

• Laser comms can transport data 10 to 40 times faster using a beam nearly 1,000 times narrower. But that precision comes with reliability tradeoffs as even small vibrations can disrupt the signal. This is why RF needs to still play a role.

• Additional efforts needed are around edge processing and self-healing networks.

• USSF’s work building the Space Data Network aims to standardize optical intersatellite links and edge routing.

Our Take: There is a lot of truth in this report, and it seems the Space Force has a path towards fielding solutions that address many of these challenges as slow as it may be in some areas.

Space Force Sunsets 1970s-Era Missile Warning Satellite Constellation

BLUF: More than 50 years after the U.S. military launched its first Defense Support Program satellite, the Space Force has officially decommissioned the missile warning constellation as it prepares to start fielding its next-generation architecture.

• In early September, after helping Space Force demonstrate dynamic maneuvers across multiple orbits, the satellites were decommissioned into a supersynchronous—or graveyard—orbit.

• The first DSP satellite was launched in 1970 to geosynchronous orbit, providing key ballistic missile warning capabilities amid Cold War tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

• The constellation grew to 23 satellites, the last of which launched in 2007.

• DSP’s immediate successor, the Space-Based Infrared System, is on orbit today and consists of six satellites in GEO as well as four in a highly elliptical orbit.

• The Space Force is launching the first of two Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared satellites in the coming months which will augment the SBIRS constellation with improved, more sensitive sensors to detect dimmer threats.

Our Take: Farewell to an incredibly reliable and important constellation that served the nation well.

SDA to Launch 21 More Data Transport Satellites Next Week

BLUF: SDA is set to launch 21 Tranche 1 data transport satellites on Oct. 5—its fourth Tranche 1 mission since last fall and the first to carry Northrop Grumman satellites.

• Once in orbit, the 21 spacecraft will join 63 Tranche 1 satellites built by York Space Systems and Lockheed Martin.

• Following the Oct. 5 launch, SDA is eyeing its first Tranche 1 tracking layer mission either in December or early next year. Beyond that flight, it’s hoping to finish the last four launches and have all Tranche 1 satellites in orbit by late spring 2027.

Other Space Force News:

• X

What Will Golden Dome Actually Defend? Senators Press for Answers

BLUF: CBO analysts have finally been briefed on the Pentagon’s classified Golden Dome architecture, six months after producing a $1.2T estimate that has become a flashpoint in the debate over the missile-defense program.

• The Pentagon has put the cost of Golden Dome’s objective architecture at about $185B over the coming decade.

• That is intended to deliver an initial capability in 2028, followed by a transition to an objective architecture in 2035 that is designed for homeland defense.

• A broader problem that dominated much of Tuesday’s hearing is that lawmakers are still struggling to establish what Golden Dome will defend, how much protection it will provide and how much it will ultimately cost.

• Some argue that the Pentagon can protect classified operational details while explaining enough about Golden Dome’s purpose and limitations to build congressional and public understanding.

• One expert argued that Congress could eventually merge the Golden Dome organization with the Missile Defense Agency, arguing that the current structure is temporary and the program will need a durable institutional home.

Our Take: There are no clear answers to what exactly will be protected and what they will be protected against because the options are infinite and will likely come down to a controversial prioritization schema. Large ports, command centers, strategic sites military bases and critical industrial elements will likely receive first billing. There will likely be border capabilities to defend against long-range cruise missiles being launched from different vectors. Space-Based interceptors combined with GBI/NGI interceptors will protect against most ICBMs and new capabilities like the Glide Phase Interceptor will provide some protection against hypersonic threats. However, when it comes to threats that can be launched within the homeland or drone attacks from ships, there will be a lot more variability. That is the long-term challenge and the likely tipping point that could drive the GD4A bill closer to the $1T mark.

Related Article: Golden Dome Secrecy Fuels Debate Over Cost, Effectiveness of System

Rewiring the Arsenal of Democracy

Dan Driscoll

BLUF: The effectiveness of Ukrainian hobby-shop technology to destroy Russian strategic bombers worth billions demonstrated the radical change needed in the U.S. defense ecosystem. Less appreciated, however, is how this new era is also changing the currencies of international statecraft.

• Since the end of World War II, the United States’ greatest deterrence factor has been unified alliances whose combined military might is preeminent. But this allied might is only as dominant as the sum of the parts.

• The U.S. strength depends on strong alliances, with a shared defense industrial base that can aggregate capabilities for a new era of warfare.

• To get there, Washington must encourage a free-market, international defense ecosystem defined by open architecture and industrial, software, and hardware compatibility.

• The primary factor in the U.S. ability to win on the modern battlefield this next century will be its collective allied industrial capacity and military interoperability.

• The model generally involves U.S. defense companies creating small batches of exquisite equipment that is operated with proprietary, siloed software.

• Contrast this dynamic with private technology companies, which are racing toward minimally viable products, tighter innovation cycles, and ever-evolving and improving offerings with open data architectures.

• Digital compatibility would allow for real-time artificial intelligence fusion of sensor data and link battlefield lessons back to the factory floor.

• Because the systems are compatible by design, adaptations can occur in days and be diffused throughout the alliance network rather than waiting for a prime contractor to push a proprietary update.

Russia Raises 2027 Military Spending by 27%, Budget Documents Show

BLUF: Russia plans to spend 17.1T roubles ($202.58B) on defence in 2027, around 27% more than the ​13.5T roubles originally budgeted and the highest figure since the ‌start of the war in Ukraine in 2022.

• The documents showed that in 2026 the government will increase its net borrowing plan ​by 26% to ​5 trillion roubles ⁠and spend 459 billion roubles - about 11% of the liquid part of its National Wealth Fund.

Historic First as Royal Navy Launches Torpedo From Uncrewed Submarine, XV Excalibur

BLUF: XV Excalibur, an Extra-Large Uncrewed Underwater Vessel was adapted with a specialist management system to successfully fire and control US Navy Mk48 Mod 4 Heavyweight Torpedo at the British Underwater Test and Evaluation Centre.

• The trial became a reality in just six months and was completed as part of work under the AUKUS agreement between Australia, the UK and USA that is aimed at developing advanced military capabilities together.

• This launch is the first in a series of trials initiated by the United States that will increase in scope and complexity – ultimately aiming to get torpedo-launching uncrewed vessels on to operations around the world.

Diggers and Leathernecks

Col Paul GIllikin

BLUF: Beijing’s military expansion, the growing reach of its surveillance and strike systems, and its ability to disrupt allied logistics are forcing the U.S. and Australia to prepare to fight side by side as allies along the First Island Chain.

• For the U.S. and Australia, achieving that level of survivability and lethality cannot depend on separate, parallel national logistics chains but rather an integrated sustainment architecture built around industrial advantage and mutual support.

• The modern battlespace requires a move from mere allied interoperability to enduring operational interchangeability: the ability to draw upon one another’s ammunition, maintenance, medical support, and sustainment across the combined force under fire.

• Requirements cooperation creates the opportunity to align investments and deliberately build complementary capabilities rather than discover incompatibilities after systems are fielded.

• Policy and law should enable what strategy demands. AUKUS has already made meaningful progress.

• Export control is only one layer to consider. The larger challenge is whether allied personnel can actually access the classified information and technical data rights required to sustain one another’s systems.

• If the countries have to fight together in the Pacific – we must learn how to develop, manufacture, operate, and sustain together closely enough that we are able to keep one another in the fight.

Ukraine’s Former Defense Minister Launches Manhattan Project for Killer Robots

BLUF: Ukraine needs a “new Manhattan Project,” according to former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov for an Army of Robots, a force of two-legged upright and other ground robots that would take over many of the front line’s most dangerous but necessary jobs from soldiers.

• To get there, Fedorov is calling on specialists in robotics, AI, sensors and autonomous systems to pool their talent in the kind of concentrated wartime push he says will one day replace Ukraine’s infantry.

• He aims for the group to have its first confirmed battlefield result from a humanoid-like robot within six months and, within a year, an assault in which robots take on the most dangerous parts of a mission with no human infantry.

• To make the deadline, he will begin by investing in companies with weapons that have already been tested and shown some market viability.

• Under Fedorov’s plan, members of the Army of Robots will identify a battlefield problem, find a technical solution and a team, provide resources for development, test the product with troops in real conditions and scale what works.

Ukraine’s F-16 Fleet Is in a Readiness Crisis

BLUF: Ukraine’s F-16 fleet is facing growing pressure from the demands of the air war, with a shortage of air-to-air missiles now compounded by what appears to be a serious bottleneck in the critical maintenance system supporting the aging aircraft.

• Ukraine is struggling to maintain adequate stocks of air-to-air missiles for its fighters. AIM-9 Sidewinders and AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) have been heavily used against Russian cruise missiles and drones, and Ukrainian F-16 pilots have reportedly had to ration their missile shots.

• As the aircraft accumulate hours, they reach scheduled inspection and maintenance intervals, increasing demand on a maintenance network that is already supporting a fleet operating under wartime conditions.

• Regeneration is done by a Belgian contractor and while a typical phase-inspection that would normally take approximately two to six weeks in the United States is reportedly taking as long as 40 weeks in Belgium.

Ukraine Deploys FP-7 Tactical Ballistic Missile in Combat for First Time

BLUF: Ukraine has deployed its FP-7 ballistic missile in combat for the first time which is described as a short-range missile with a range of about 200 km (125 miles).

Restoring Shipbuilding Quickly Requires Allies

BLUF: The Trump administration is seeking to expand military shipbuilding capacity to bolster maritime security, but doing so in a timely fashion will require leaning on and learning from allies according to Russ Vought.

• Last year, a partnership was struck with Finland aimed at equipping the Coast Guard with 11 medium-sized icebreaking vessels.

• The deals with foreign firms will result in ships delivered before President Donald Trump’s term is through, whereas adding another contract on top of backlogged U.S. shipyards would have only increased backlogs.

• There are also plans to implement similar cooperative agreements with Japan and South Korea.

China Opens Training Center with Laos, Marking Third Overseas Military Base

BLUF: China has announced the opening of a new airbase in Laos, described as a joint training center but marking its third overseas military base, and the second in Southeast Asia.

• The new facility, located at Ban Keun some 25 miles north of the Laotian capital Vientiane, would be jointly operated and maintained by both countries and used to train Laotian pilots.

Other International News:

• U.S. to Transfer Surveillance Aircraft to the Philippine Coast Guard

• Metal Shark Awarded Contract for 13 Patrol Boats for Vietnam

The Department begins FY27 once again under a continuing resolution, with Congress extending funding through December 11 after the midterm elections. The President requested roughly $1.5T for defense (~$1.15T in base funding + $350B in reconciliation) alongside a supplemental package to offset war costs and replenish critical systems. House appropriators, advanced a $1.072T defense bill.

Instead, the CR holds the Department near the FY26 enacted level of $838.5B on an annualized basis, with roughly $165.4B available on a prorated basis through December 11. The greatest pressure under a CR typically falls on new starts, production increases, and emerging capabilities. These are the very investments intended to accelerate modernization, creating additional risk of delays, reduced quantities, and deferred fielding.

See our NDAA and budget posts for the latest insights and analysis.

Revitalizing the Shipbuilding Industrial Base | OMB Director Russell Vought
Hudson Institute

Sustaining Forces Through Acquisition and Innovation | Gen Dale White, Dr. Eric Hernandez-Baquero, William Bailey, and Rob Wavra
2026 Air, Space & Cyber Conference

Air Force Fighter Acquisition Portfolio | BGen Timothy Helfrich
Mitchell Institute

Minute with the CNO: Nuclear Power | ADM Daryl Caudle
CNO

Weapons in Space, AI Predictions, and F-35 Readiness Gains
Mitchell Institute

Boeing F/A-XX: The Navy’s Next-Generation Fighter
Sandboxx

Capital Markets and the Future of the Defense Industrial Base | Frank Fanelli
NDIA Emerging Tech Institute

Manned-Unmanned Teaming in Epic Fury
2026 Air, Space & Cyber Conference

Resilience Conference
Oct 5-6 • London

Land Forces
Oct 6-8 • Perth • Western Australia

DEFCON
Stanford • Oct 7 • Silicon Valley, CA

Apex Europe
Oct 7-8 • London

AUSA Army Annual Meeting and Expo
Oct 12-14 • Washington DC

Scaling Our Industrial Foundation
Wharton Aerospace Ventures • Oct 12-14 • Washington DC

Mission Engineering and Integration Activity TEM
USW(R&E) • Oct 15 • TBD

Counter UAS Indo-Pacific
SAE Media • Oct 19-20 • Honolulu, HI

Unmanned Technologies for Earth and Space (UTES 2026)
Oct 26-27 • Sweden

Silicon Valley Space Week
Oct 27-29 • Mountain View, CA

TechNet Indo-pacific
AFCEA • Oct 27-29 • Honolulu, HI

Ironclad Maritime Summit
Oct 27 • Norfolk, VA

Defense Conference
PSC • Oct 30 • Crystal City, VA or Virtual

See our Events Page for all the other events over the next year.

We’ve called for killing JCIDS for years. Congress in the FY24 NDAA Section 811 required the Department to modernize the requirements process and the Department in response published the 811 Report. Bill and Dan’s report provided the death blow.

In November 2025, SECWAR signed a memo on the same day as the Acquisition Transformation Strategy focused on Reforming the Joint Requirements Process to Accelerate Fielding of Warfighting Capabilities. It directed the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs to disestablish JCIDS and the Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) to stop validating Service requirements documents to the maximum extent possible. The Joint Staff and OSW published the new charter and manual for a new Joint Force Requirements Process (JFRP).

SECWAR’s memo also required:

“Within 90 days, launch reviews of Military Service requirements processes, identifying reforms to expedite outcomes, strengthen force design, enhance industry engagement, and enable experimentation-led approaches.”

That’s where it stalled. The Service requirements organizations may have initiatives ongoing, but we haven’t seen them take bold steps toward a new model. They’re running Zombie JCIDS with the same documents, boards, and processes.

We’ve seen this before. We supported OUSD(A&S) in implementing the Middle Tier of Acquisition pathway. Congress specifically required in the FY16 NDAA Section 804 that “programs using [the MTA] pathway are not subject to JCIDS.” So what did the Services do? They built a JCIDS-lite process for rapid acquisition. Want to rapidly prototype new, innovative technology to demonstrate a military capability? No problem, you just need your 4-star Service Chief to approve your rapid requirements document. So much for wasting your “Get out of JCIDS Jail Free” card.

The answer isn’t another streamlined document or faster staffing process. The Services need to stop treating requirements as documents and start managing them as digital inputs into a portfolio process that connects missions, operators, threats, technology, experimentation, acquisition, and resources.

Service Chiefs and Secretaries should empower small teams to build a requirements system from first principles, not simply streamline legacy processes. Requirements, acquisition, and budget transformations must be aligned as one modern enterprise engine. Advancing one without the others is a recipe for failure.

Start From First Principles

• Work closely with operational forces to understand their current and future needs.

• Assess adversary threats and the operational environments, today and projected.

• Engage industry to learn what they’re developing and producing and incorporate into requirements planning.

• Establish a process and tools for Identifying which capabilities have the greatest mission impact for the cost.

• Focus operators, acquirers, and developers on mission outcomes, not documents.

Think Portfolios, Not Programs

Acquisition pivoted from Program Executive Officers overseeing programs to Portfolio Acquisition Executives acquiring integrated suites of capabilities. Requirements should make the same move. Sunset most program requirements documents and shift to a dynamic portfolio environment.

Manage requirements as a dynamic repository of capability needs. Load the legacy ICDs, CDDs, and all their variants in your favorite LLM on GenAI.mil. Extract the small-r requirements into a comprehensive list, grouped and tagged by like elements. The requirement should be the data, not the document. Then map each requirement:

• Satisfied by capabilities fielded or in production.

• Addressed by capabilities prototyped or in development.

• Unaddressed.

• Mapped to mission threads and their operational impact.

• Prioritized with and acceptable trade space defined.

Work with the operational commands to prioritize requirements within broader portfolio and sub-portfolio groupings. One outcome may be that current funded requirements are ranked lower than ones that deserve a lot more attention and acceleration. A ruthless rack-and-stack, owned by operational leaders with portfolio acquisition executives forces the investment decisions and acquisition roadmaps that the legacy system avoided.

With that in place, the acquisition and budget communities can finally have clear direction. They can find the smallest set of capabilities that addresses each need and get them delivered to the portfolio.

Work with Industry

Requirements written in isolation are inherently limited and overly influenced by technology and solutions already in the pipeline. Industry has a better pulse on what’s possible knows what’s possible before the requirements community does.

Share the capability needs, at the appropriate classification level, by portfolio. Frame them as problems, not specifications, so companies can propose approaches the government didn’t think of. Commercial Solutions Openings and OTAs are built for this. Run portfolio-level industry engagements on a regular rhythm rather than one-off industry days tied to a single program.

Make it a two-way street. When industry or experimentation demonstrate a better way to achieve the mission outcome, the requirement should change. A repository that updates only on a document cycle can’t keep up.

Let Experimentation Drive Requirements

SECWAR’s memo calls for experimentation-led approaches, and this is where Services can move fastest. Put prototypes in operators’ hands, learn what matters, and refine the requirement from what happens in the field. That beats a staff officer’s best guess years before anything exists. Whenever possible, validate requirements through operational evidence rather than staff review.

Way Ahead

JCIDS is dead. Anyone in the Services clinging to it is an anchor dragging on the Department’s push for greater speed, agility, and innovation. Service Secretaries and Chiefs must hold their requirements leaders accountable to purge the Pentagon of the JCIDS Zombies and empower a team to chart the future course. Start with three questions:

1. How long does it take to go from an identified need to something acquisition and industry can act on?

2. How quickly are requirements keeping pace with operations, threats, and technologies changes?

3. Can we see at the portfolio level the priority capability needs and how each are or will be addressed and which investments will have the greatest mission impact?

If the answers are years, we can’t, and we don’t know, you have some zombies to hunt.

The biggest stories across the Department and the defense industry this week:

• Unmanned Systems Get a New Center to Codify Insights from Operations

• The Department and Industry Focus on Scaling Production

• The Army Improves How it Acquires Munitions and Ammo

• The Navy advances many unmanned systems and Phase II of MUSVs

• Air Force continues to make progress on integrating CCAs in operations

• Space Force advances space logistics and selects 2 companies for GHOST-R

• Golden Dome sets two-stage path to full deployment and capability

• Foreign investments needs better governance and Saildrone goes International

CENTCOM Has Become a Battle Lab for Unmanned Systems

BLUF: A Task Force-59 Corsair recovered two U.S. personnel in June; a month later three Corsairs struck Bandar Abbas in the first U.S. combat use of sea drones. The fight is now teaching the Navy command, sustainment, and how much risk to accept on uncrewed platforms.

• Real-world use of uncrewed systems gives the Navy an unrivaled opportunity to learn how to command and deploy robotic systems and refine their deployment, employment and sustainment.

• The Navy’s February 2026 Fighting Instructions lay out specific roles for unmanned platforms.

• Combat puts additional demands on unmanned systems, including maintaining communications, operating for extended periods, navigating contested waters and remaining useful when an adversary is actively trying to interfere with them.

• there is an unanswered question of how much risk the military should accept when deploying uncrewed systems, including how to determine when a system has delivered enough value to justify its loss.

• Many unmanned systems are cheaper than crewed platforms, but not cheap.

Our Take: Combat use is the easy part to celebrate and the hard part to institutionalize. The success stories do not prove the Department can command, sustain, and restock them as a portfolio. The Department must progress past demonstration and turn TF-59 and CENTCOM employment data into production quantities, open interfaces, spare pipelines, and trade space for DRPMs and PAEs to acquire capabilities.

DEPSECWAR Establishes Force Agility and Streamlining Team

BLUF: Deputy Feinberg establishes the Force Agility and Streamlining Team (FAST) within the DoD Comptroller office as a permanent cut-waste shop, with a director and a mandate to kill or realign programs that do not serve warfighting.

• The FAST will serve as the foundation of an enduring institutional mechanism to advance this imperative across the Department.

• The FAST shall be led by a Director who reports directly to the USW(C), who shall provide direction, oversight, and administrative support for the FAST.

• The Director, FAST, in coordination with many Department leaders, shall promote a culture of cost awareness and fiscal responsibility; recommend elimination, realignment, or modification of wasteful, inefficient, and duplicative programs and processes; and ensure Department resources are aligned to warfighting priorities.

Our Take: This institutionalizes last year’s cost-savings push by parking a standing cut-waste team inside the office that already manages the books. DoD has no shortage of inefficient, duplicative, and non-warfighting spending; those dollars would be better used on combat power. If FAST applies commercial discipline and deal-making rigor instead of adding another process layer, it could improve how the Department allocates scarce resources.

More Than 100K Personnel Use Maven Smart System

BLUF: The DoW is growing the user base for Palantir’s Maven Smart System amid the Iran conflict and other demands for the AI-powered platform.

• The MSS tool can fuse disparate systems, data streams and intelligence information for commanders and greatly speed up the U.S. military’s processes for targeting adversaries.

• The Maven capability helped the U.S. military strike 13,000 targets in just 38 days during Epic Fury.

• While the DoW is good at the tactical use cases, it is not good at understanding the entire data architecture, being able to actually integrate supply chain workflows, integrate logistics all the way back to procurement, all the way back to early supply chain to better understand what we should be doing today to prepare for the 90-day fight, the 120-day fight, the 180-day fight.

“In January of this year, we had about 50,000 people using Maven. Then Operation Epic Fury kicks off, and now we’re up to over 100,000. We’re proliferating it out to all the commands. Everybody wants this because once they see the power of it, they want to sign up as quickly as they can to get across classification models.” James Mazol, DUSD(R&E)

“That’s data-centric warfare. That’s using AI at scale. We’re developing those algorithms, we’re pushing them out, and we’re actually integrating those quite effectively into a technology-centric solution. Part of the deal, though, is that our operational community then takes the process and they reconstruct it to improve things. What this turns into is magic on the battlefield.” Cameron Stanley, CDAO

Drone Dominance Phase 2.5 Qualifier Invitees Announced

BLUF: The Drone Dominance Program has challenged 17 companies to prove their systems capabilities in the Phase 2.5 Bomber Qualifier at Camp Grayling, MI in October 2026.

• This event will test 17 unique drones in three missions across two stages: a vendor-operated bomber qualifier and a military-operated bomber Gauntlet to identify the most capable systems.

• Each industry contestant must have at least 6 complete systems for testing, as this Phase will be the most demanding and expedited testing of the DDP.

• Congratulations to the following organizations who have been invited to compete

What’s Unique About NORTHCOM’s Falcon Peak 26.2 Counter-Drone Exercise

BLUF: NORTHCOM’s fourth Falcon Peak exercise is designed to demonstrate, refine and connect capabilities that counter small, hostile drones in desert terrains, and for the first time, those threatening America along the southern border.

• The organized trials cover three lanes: drone-on-drone interceptors, kinetic or ballistic mitigation using shotgun-based systems, and capabilities that sense and detect enemy UASs.

• Pentagon counter-UAS exercises have been known to focus often on tactical, expeditionary warfare and impacts on forces abroad.

• But this year, Falcon Peak 26.2 is directly targeting NORTHCOM’s mission to defend against drone threats that have been emerging across U.S. airspace, critical infrastructure, and incursions escalating around the southern border.

• Beyond being the first Falcon Peak exercise to emulate border combat and unfold on the military’s sprawling Yuma Proving Ground, 26.2 also marks the first iteration that the command deployed Anduril’s autonomous C2 software platform Lattice as a digital backbone and baseline standard against which all commercial sensor-to-shooter counter-UAS assets are measured.

• Commercial participants must feed their sensor data, radar tracks and targeting data directly into the Lattice system during this exercise. At least 20 vendors have been involved, with anywhere between 15 and 30 opportunities to do intercepts.

Related: NORTHCOM’s Next Counter-Drone Demo Will be its First in an Urban Area

Company 3D Prints Ship Parts, Drones at Sea

BLUF: Firestorm Labs 3D printed drones and new ship parts aboard a Navy vessel.

• Firestorm Labs’ xCell manufacturing system is the size of a large motorcycle that is placed inside two 20-foot-long shipping containers that allow it to function efficiently in harsh environments.

• In July, the company deployed the technology aboard the USS Essex amphibious assault ship on its way to the Navy’s RIMPAC exercise in Hawaii.

• For 12 days, sailors and Marines learned to use the system and printed over 1,000 unique parts and 12 of the company’s Squall first-person view drones.

• The manufacturing cell can print tens of thousands of unique parts, including items where the supply chain either is no longer there or is way too slow and would take the Navy months to obtain.

“The DoD is clamoring for the ability to modify stuff in the field and not have another human help support them. We wanted to rethink how you build drones from the ground up, using things like advanced manufacturing. We have this incredible tool that the end users have never had access to before, which is industrial 3D printing that a non-technical person could learn how to use in a couple hours. Say you wanted to invent a product, and you understood basic computer-aided design, you could do that.” Dan Magy, Firestorm Labs CEO

Pentagon Cyber Chief: The Demand Far Exceeds Supply

BLUF: The single priority of the top cyber policy official is expanding the cyber options available to the president and the defense secretary, describing a gap between what commanders are asking for and what the force can deliver.

• One particular instance of that limelight are previous reports from an operation in Venezuela to apprehend the country’s former president Nicolás Maduro. Power outages during the operation were claimed to be the result of a cyberattack. Cyber ops may have been involved, but the visible physical attacks that were also part of the operation alone could plausibly explain the outages.

• Cyber is used not just to counter other malicious cyber actors as a cyber-on-cyber tool, but actually as an integrated tool of cyber warfare.

• Data is fundamental to every battle that we fight going forward. Being able to use our cyber tools to deny that to our adversaries as we go into a kinetic fight will ensure our mission success and provide greater safety for our troops.

“I’m focused on one single priority, and that is building a more robust set of capabilities for the secretary and the president. The demand far exceeds the supply we have.” Katie Sutton, ASW for Cyber Policy

Other Defense Tech News:

DARPA Pushes Industry to Build Lighter Drones to Carry Heavy Loads

The Pentagon Struggles with the Ghost of Rickover

William Greenwalt

BLUF: America’s greatest national security advantage is the breadth and vitality of its free-market economy. The Pentagon should be drawing on all of it: established manufacturers, commercial technology companies, a rebuilt middle tier, and disruptive entrepreneurs competing to deliver better weapons faster and more affordably.

• I warned that the Pentagon’s supplier-transparency memo could become the most damaging defense acquisition policy in 50 years. I stand by that criticism.

• A Fostering One Strong Industrial Base, memo signed by Deputy Secretary Steve Feinberg could be a significant step toward repairing the divide between defense and the vibrant commercial economy.

• Admiral Hyman Rickover’s career captures how that chasm was created. He went from mythical innovator in submarines to a bean-counting apparatchik once it was decided the navy no longer needed to innovate or for industry to compete for new solutions.

• Rickover’s transition to chief cost bureaucrat came about because he confronted a real problem when producing submarines at scale. His solution to keep prices low was to demand uniform cost-accounting data as a means to cap profits, measured as a percentage of government-approved costs.

• His cure just didn’t fit the real American economy.

• CAS helped split the industrial base in two by making the boundary between defense and commercial too expensive to cross.

• The August 18 memo has not been rescinded and will continue to do harm and send mixed signals to industry until it is.

• The Pentagon needs to choose. It should emulate the innovative 1950s Rickover and exorcise the ghost of the 1960s one.

Related: They Overreached: Amid Industry Worry, New Feinberg Memo Tweaks Accounting Regime

America’s Attrition Trap

Nadia Shadlow

BLUF: Attrition is the defining feature of today’s conflicts. The wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have become grinding contests over which side can exhaust the other’s military capacity, economic resources, and political will.

• Gaps illustrate why states increasingly choose strategies of attrition or find themselves trapped in them.

  • Between military capacity and power to deploy and sustain.

  • Between traditional principles of warfare and a modern battlefield which technology makes decisive breakthroughs increasingly difficult.

  • Between military means and political ends.

• As American leaders increasingly seek short, decisive military operations, the U.S. may increasingly confront adversaries that see advantages in prolonging conflicts.

• The U.S. and NATO have far greater economic and military power than Russia does. Yet a war of attrition measures power differently. GDP cannot be fired from artillery tubes.

• What is changing is the speed at which innovative tactics and operations can be rendered ineffective.

• Technology is also changing how traditional principles of war are applied in the Middle East. Both sides can persistently generate concentrated effects without concentrating forces, destroying the enemy’s ability to keep fighting becomes harder.

• The Pentagon has planned for short, decisive military operations, yet adversaries today have the means and incentives to prolong conflicts in the hope that they can regenerate capacity, impose costs, and outlast American political will.

• The U.S. has built a military that relies heavily on relatively small numbers of sophisticated and expensive weapons systems, an industrial base that cannot rapidly replace many of these systems, and strategies that too often leave the political conditions required for victory unresolved.

• U.S. military leaders must build forces and concepts around the assumption that future wars are unlikely to be resolved quickly, while political leaders must be more realistic about whether the objectives they set can be achieved by military force alone and in a short time frame

The Defense Readiness Gap

Doug Berenson, Kelleigh Bilms, and Tim Garnett

BLUF: The DoW readiness challenges is an enterprise that compensates through manual coordination, fragmented workflows, and individual heroics rather than integrated visibility, predictive planning, and dynamic execution.

• The Enterprise Readiness Gap emerges across both industrial readiness to surge — the ability to translate validated demand into delivered capability at speed and scale — and readiness to project power — the ability to deliver and sustain mission-ready capability when and where it is needed.

• It takes years longer to field capabilities, with many delays, lower production volumes, declining readiness rates, and increased maintenance delays.

• The DoW manages an operational arsenal with an asset base >$1.4T.

• DoW invests nearly $700M daily to maintain and recapitalize the arsenal.

• Adding 30 days of ready forces in the arsenal is a $20M value annually.

• Recommendations:

  • Redefine readiness and how current metrics are reported.

  • Develop a common operating picture that promotes accurate readiness planning, metrics tracking, and governance.

  • Build the cost of inaction into readiness modernization business cases.

  • Modernize the systems and workflows that create recurring readiness friction.

Officials Tell Industry to Take Risks to Solve Supply Chain Issues

BLUF: The DoW is looking to bolster domestic supply chains and ensure production at speed and scale in preparation for potential future conflicts, and industry needs to take more risks to expand and strengthen these processes.

• The domestic supply chain is simply not where it needs to be to field new defense capabilities and sustain existing legacy platforms.

• There is a lot of discourse about what the government and armed services can do to bolster domestic production, and a lot of it comes down to creating a healthier supply base that is willing to take on risk and co-invest in production capabilities.

• The hard part is figuring out how to work collectively at the interagency level and then partnering with industry to make the necessary investments to move the supply chain and domestic production into a more stable position.

• The department and armed services are investing a lot in bolstering domestic supply chains, but a lot of the program offices are still in the early days of shifting their attitude around risk taking, and while there’s some friction, changes are starting to happen.

“When you look at technology moving on, industry generally is chasing the next thing, but we really need to keep legacy production going to keep those systems fielded. On the other side of the equation, when we think about new systems, it's about how do we gain scale quickly? How do we address qualifications in order to do so?” Andy Magliochetti, DASN Defense Industrial Base

Our Take: As the Department shifts from individual programs to PAE portfolios, industry engagement has to move with it. Production and supply-chain decisions can no longer be made program by program. They need to be optimized across a full set of related capabilities to sustain legacy systems while scaling new ones quickly. That starts with shared data and visibility into capacity, bottlenecks, and risk, then converting those insights into portfolio-level investment strategies that industry is willing to co-fund.

The Pentagon Asked Industry How Fast it Could Make More Weapons. The Numbers Remain Private.

BLUF: Twenty-six days after the Pentagon’s deadline for defense companies to propose faster weapons production, the DoW has not publicly disclosed how many companies responded or what production timelines they offered.

• Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg gave industry leaders until Aug. 26 to submit plans for “significantly faster, more aggressive delivery schedules and/or increased production for critical capabilities,” according to his Aug. 5 memo.

• Feinberg directed companies to identify ways to accelerate production and delivery, propose capital investments and facility expansions and explain how the Pentagon could enable higher production.

• The memo identified 16 critical programs under consideration for accelerated production or increased procurement. The responses were intended to inform the department’s FY28 budget request.

HII Boosts UUV Site by 25% Amid Rising Navy Tech Demand

BLUF: HII has expanded its uncrewed systems production facility in Pocasset, MA, by 25%, responding to heightened global requirements for autonomous maritime technology.

• The additional 10,000ft² increases the manufacturing campus to 50,000ft^2.

• The expanded Pocasset facility enhances HII’s ability to deliver advanced systems such as the REMUS family of UUVs, the ROMULUS USV, and the Lionfish SUUV for the Navy.

• Derived from HII’s REMUS 300 commercial platform, Lionfish production is currently underway, supported by a recently awarded option-year contract from the Navy.

• Production of the REMUS 620 UUV will also take place at the enhanced site.

• New infrastructure at the campus supports greater integration of HII’s Odyssey Autonomous Control Solutions (ACS) software, which underpins maritime autonomy and simulation capabilities across multiple vehicles and mission types.

Army Lays Out Plan to Buy Munitions Differently

BLUF: Project Strike is the Army’s strategic plan to buy munitions differently. The Army’s initiative is aimed at expanding its missile industrial ecosystem by bringing in nontraditional vendors and providing industry a more consistent demand signal.

• The plan addresses the Army’s authority to shift funding priorities, expand the market space with nontraditional partners and enable persistent competition through consistent demand signaling.

• Industry repeatedly tells the government that predictability matters.

• Manufacturing capacity requires investment in facilities, machines, workers, suppliers, training and capital, he said. Parts can have long lead times, and investments are easier to make when demand is credible and sustained.

• Traditional primes are needed because they bring experience, capability and scale. However, nontraditional companies are also needed, along with commercial technologies and smaller firms.

• Companies can bring fresh approaches to existing problems like expensive and complex propulsion, along with new manufacturing techniques, software and materials and business models.

• Mikesh asked industry to embrace nontraditional teaming, rather than viewing smaller firms with transformative technology as competition.

• Project Strike is therefore about more than just buying missiles. It’s about building an industrial ecosystem required to sustain U.S. and allied combat power.

“Project Strike is also about expanding the missile market, space and production capacity. It’s about giving the Army greater flexibility to move resources toward priorities. It’s about bringing nontraditional partners into the ecosystem. We want to create persistent competition through consistent demand signaling.” BG Robert Mikesh, PME for Offensive Fires

Our Take: Fully agree. A comprehensive strategy with clear and sustained demand signaling, active industry engagement, persistent competition, and partnerships between traditional primes and nontraditional firms is essential to strengthen and rebuild the munitions industrial base and accelerate deliveries.

BAE Systems Delivers AMPV-Based Prototypes to Army for Trials

BLUF: BAE Systems handed over two prototype Infantry Fighting Vehicles to the Army aiming to speed up delivery of advanced ground combat solutions as part of Transformation in Contact (TiC) 2.0.

• Both AMPV 30s feature the Kongsberg Medium Caliber Turret and counter-drone technology for battlefield protection.

• The new vehicles, developed at a cost of $17m from BAE Systems’ own research and development budget, use the chassis of the Armoured Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) as their foundation.

• They were delivered in April this year, following a six-month development cycle.

• Since then, the Army’s TiC unit has subjected the AMPV 30s, to comprehensive field trials, including live-fire exercises, to evaluate their potential on a modern battlefield.

• The platform’s modular design is highlighted as enabling compatibility with more than 30 turret systems and facilitating the addition of new technologies.

• Beyond enhanced firepower, the AMPV 30 prototypes also incorporate protection and situational awareness systems.

How the Army Can Build a Faster Learning Force

Howard Romans and Richard McConnell

BLUF: To maintain advantage, the Army must change how it fights, trains, organizes, and buys equipment.

• Army Transformation and acquisition reform call for a faster learning organization.

• If officers struggle to embrace mild discomfort in a classroom, what happens when the battlefield demands rapid, unconventional thinking?

• Whether officers can tolerate ambiguity, experimentation, and temporary embarrassment are traits essential to warfighting. PME already recognizes the need for creative and critical thinking, but recognition is not the same as practice.

• Proposed Army Learning Innovation Architecture

  • Capture. Make local innovation visible.

  • Screen. Sort ideas without killing them prematurely.

  • Test. Connect innovators with validators.

  • Share. Make useful adaptations searchable.

  • Institutionalize. Route successful ideas to the right owner.

• A PME course on innovation should produce a usable artifact: a problem statement, prototype description, and recommendation for who should receive the idea next.

• Ukraine’s Brave1 shows what becomes possible when a military stops fearing unorthodoxy and treats creativity as a core competency. The Army cannot afford to treat innovation as a side project. In a world where change accelerates, advantage belongs to the force that experiments boldly and adapts without hesitation.

Soldier Feedback Drives Transformation

BLUF: Soldier feedback continues to be a central part of the Army’s ongoing effort to connect the battlefield to the acquisition process as the service works to get new capabilities into troops’ hands.

• The Army looks at operational gaps and determines what capabilities need to be developed, and hearing what soldiers have to say after experimenting with new capabilities is an important part of the development process.

• The process is part of the Pentagon’s acquisition transformation, which is moving the Army away from viewing acquisition as a collection of individual programs and more toward managing capabilities as part of an integrated portfolio.

• Standing up the PAEs has resulted in faster solutions to challenging issues, and soldiers “are central to the capability integration process.

“We listen to soldiers, we experiment, test and observe what is happening in real-world operations while also paying attention to industry innovation,. We work hard to develop desired characteristics and requirements for materiel solutions, and then we work to integrate force structure and support for the weapons systems that ultimately provide our force with an integrated capability.”

“We want soldiers operating emerging technologies early so that their feedback can influence engineering and acquisition decisions, not after we've already locked in a design. The measure of success is whether we deliver meaningful combat capability to soldiers at the speed required by the operational environment. ” LTG Frank Lozano, PAE Fires

Army Awards Palantir $48M to Modernize Ammo Management

BLUF: Army awarded Palantir Technologies a $48.1M contract to develop software designed to improve how it tracks and manages ammunition.

• The new software will streamline ammunition management by consolidating nine separate legacy platforms.

• This system is one element to modernize overall ammunition systems, retire legacy systems and improve audit readiness.

• The software will use commercial low-code, no-code technology and give soldiers the ability to track munitions throughout their lifecycle.

• The legacy systems also operate independently, meaning changes to training schedules may not be reflected across the ammunition management process in real time.

• Palantir will develop the new software over the next 12 months and provide support for an additional five years.

Continuous Transformation Needs a Clear End State

Matt Russell and Michael Carvelli

BLUF: The Army’s Transformation Initiative (ATI) applies an enduring approach through specific reorganizations, program cuts, equipment deliveries, and personnel moves. ATI assigns deadlines to several major capabilities, but many directed actions lack completion dates. The lack of a defined end state creates problems.

• Without an end state, continuous transformation can blur the line between progress and activity. Leadership turnover compounds this problem.

• Constant adaptation requires clear decisions. Each ATI phase needs defined criteria that allow leaders to close completed work, expand successful changes, revise weak approaches, or stop efforts that fail to deliver before committing resources to the next phase.

• ATI requires leaders to manage three connected lines of effort: fielding battlefield capabilities, reorganizing the force, and ending outdated programs or spending. These lines of effort define the scope leaders must assess during each ATI phase.

• ATI can measure organization, resources, readiness, and performance separately. Each phase would end after leaders review those measures and determine whether the Army achieved the intended result.

• Each major ATI phase should define the capability being delivered, the units affected, the expected operational result, the planned cost, and the projected savings. Validation should occur before leaders close each phase.

Other Army News:

Leidos wins $127M contract extension for Army’s ARTEMIS ISR mission

Army awards $4.7M contract to integrate AI weapon sensors into live training

U.S. Tests Infantry Squad Vehicle-Mounted AMP-HEL High-Energy Laser for Southern Border Counter-Drone Operations

Navy Establishes Robotic and Autonomous Systems Warfighting Development Center

BLUF: SECNAV and CNO established the Robotic and Autonomous Systems Warfighting Development Center (RASWDC) under RADM Melvin Smith as the Fleet owner for unmanned tactics, training, and employment, paired with DRPM RAS on the buy side. The test is whether experiments become deployable combat power.

• Headquartered at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, RASWDC is a warfighting development center operating under U.S. Fleet Forces Command.

• The command will serve as the Navy’s dedicated, Fleet-facing operational integration point for robotic and autonomous capabilities.

• The establishment of RASWDC operates in tandem with the recently announced DRPM RAS. While DRPM RAS provides single accountable portfolio authority for RAS acquisition, requirements implementation, budgeting, technical standards, and fielding, RASWDC focuses entirely on operational employment.

• Together, these organizations create a rapid, direct feedback loop between the acquisition enterprise and operational forces.

• The CNO designated RADM Melvin Smith as the inaugural Commander of RASWDC and the supported commander for the establishment of the new organization.

"To maintain our decisive maritime advantage, we must rapidly integrate robotic and autonomous systems into how we operate, train, and deploy. The establishment of RASWDC ensures our Sailors are equipped with the tactical edge, advanced training, and specialized doctrine required to win the high-end fight. By forging a direct feedback loop, we are accelerating the delivery of unmanned capabilities from the foundry directly to the Fleet, ensuring our forces are postured to meet any challenge." ADM Daryl Caudle, CNO

Our Take: Navy leadership’s decision to stand up RASWDC is the right organizational move. Acquisition reform alone will not put RAS into the fight; the Fleet still needs a single operational owner for tactics, training, doctrine, and employment. Isolated UxS successes have shown what is possible, but they have not yet broken the pattern of slow adoption and uneven integration across communities. RASWDC’s value will be measured by whether it can convert those experiments into repeatable CONOPS, certified crews, and deployable combat power. The DRPM RAS feedback loop must shorten the path from prototype to Fleet use. If it does, RASWDC will not just accelerate unmanned systems. It will help define how the future Navy fights.

Related: Navy launches Robotics and Autonomous Systems Warfighting Development Center and Navy stands up hub to prepare unmanned systems for combat

Navy Prepares to Add New Sea Drones and Vendors to Online Marketplace

BLUF: The Navy’s DRPM / PAE RAS issued a solicitation via a CSO to onboard Phase II MUSVs. It steams ahead with plans to add new sea drone technologies to the military’s online marketplace and build up its uncrewed systems arsenal.

• MUSV uses modular design principles to create adaptable and resilient solutions that can effectively counter evolving threats.

• We invite interested parties with expertise in innovative solutions to complex problems, vessel construction, autonomy, perception systems, and general maritime experience to participate in this opportunity.

• Vendors will be evaluated on platform maturity, open-architecture autonomy compatibility, endurance, payload integration capacity, and rapid-production scalability.

• This open call will allow new entrants to compete and existing vendors to submit updated product blocks and modular payload configurations.

• Approved platforms will be added to the maritime marketplace hosted on the drones.mil website, which was launched to streamline the acquisition process for unmanned systems.

• The Navy unveiled its plans for an MUSV marketplace earlier this year as part of a broader shakeup of its approach for buying autonomous watercraft.

• Uncrewed and autonomous systems enabled by AI are a key element of CNO ADM Daryl Caudle’s Hedge Strategy that he introduced earlier this year. He noted that medium USVs could be deployed for scouting, screening, and striking.

Related: Navy Launches Phase II for Medium Robo-Ship project, seeks ‘innovative solutions’

U.S. Destroyer Practices Underway Refueling with Seahawk USV

BLUF: U.S. destroyer USS Chafee refueled a Seahawk USV in the Pacific at RIMPAC as part of the Navy’s latest development effort to hone at-sea drone sustainment.

• The astern refueling method was previously tested between Seahawk and oiler USNS Guadalupe (T-AO 200) in April.

• Seahawk deployed alongside the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group.

• The 145-ton trimaran drone vessel is one of two built by Leidos for DARPA and ONR. The MDUSVs were transferred to the Navy in 2021.

• Alongside its sistership Sea Hunter, the drone boats have since been used for testing across the Indo-Pacific.

• Compared to the Navy’s traditional warships, the unmanned vessels cannot be refueled through traditional underway replenishment methods.

Navy Tests CCA Operations With MQ-20

BLUF: The Navy recently tested how it will operate CCA using a General Atomics ASI MQ-20 Avenger to evaluate mission planning and execution.

• The Collaborative Autonomy Mission Planning (CAMP) test took place during the Gray Flag 2026 exercise at Point Mugu Sea Range, CA.

• The Navy’s Strike Planning & Execution Systems (PMX-281) developed a mission plan and sent it to the Avenger for execution, though the announcement did not elaborate on the type of mission the aircraft conducted.

• The Navy says the test will help it integrate autonomous aircraft into its future operations, regardless of the specific system being flown.

• While this squadron learning and preparation is ongoing, the Navy will be contracting with industry to provide USN CCA Increment 1 prototype development and demonstration of an affordable, highly capable, risk tolerant, carrier-capable, weaponized, extended range, autonomous unmanned air vehicle that can be deployed from and recovered to aircraft carriers.

“CAMP is about making autonomy more usable by integrating into mission environments with both manned and unmanned platforms.” CAPT Todd Keith, PMX-281 Program Manager.

Blackbeard Hypersonic Missile Seen Flying On F/A-18 Super Hornet For The First Time

BLUF: The Navy is pushing to get Blackbeard, a lower-cost and fast-to-produce standoff weapon, into operational service by 2028 at the latest.

• The first look at Blackbeard hypersonic strike missiles under the wings of F/A-18E/F Super Hornets during actual flight testing.

• The Navy is hoping to have Blackbeard in at least limited service no later than 2028, giving its carrier air wings an all-new fast-flying standoff weapon, particularly for engaging enemy ships.

• The missile is also being designed to be relatively cheap and quick to manufacture.

• PAE Aviation released a video montage of Blackbeard undergoing flight testing.

• Castelion has received several multi-million-dollar contracts from the Navy just this year explicitly to support integration of the weapon onto the Super Hornet, as well as otherwise accelerating its development.

• The new flight testing footage also underscores the relatively small size of Blackbeard overall. While the Super Hornet is set to be the first operational launch platform, it is very likely to be integrated on other aircraft quickly thereafter.

A New Arms Race is Unfolding on the Ocean Floor

BLUF: Companies and governments are increasingly waking up to the fact that the future of warfare isn’t just in the skies, but also on the ocean floor.

• Critical underwater infrastructure that underpins the global economy is becoming increasingly vulnerable, and governments are starting to assess how they can be protected.

• Nations and corporations alike are devoting attention as well as piles of cash to new technologies designed for underwater use, as concerns grow about the vulnerability of critical infrastructure like connectivity cables and energy pipelines traversing the seabed.

• Defense and tech companies are now seeking a role in the emerging market for operating beneath the ocean surface.

• More than 1.5 million kilometers of submarine communications cables are in service globally as of early 2026.

• Rather than guarding every mile of cable with warships, a future with fleets of autonomous vehicles could continuously patrol strategic areas of the seabed and converging when one detects something unusual.

• Navies will increasingly combine crewed and autonomous systems, making interoperability between them increasingly important.

“It’s the changing threat environment that’s brought this to the fore.” Katja Bego, Senior Research Fellow at Chatham House

Navy’s Sub Tsar Unveils Four-Pillar Plan to Accelerate Submarine Deliveries

BLUF: VADM Rob Gaucher, Director Submarine Programs has set out a four-pillar strategy for accelerating the navy’s submarine-building output.

• This process is designed to reflect and underpin the CNO’s testimony that a raised production rate will be in place by 2032.

• The raised rate would deliver two Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs) and one Columbia-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) off the production line each year.

• The USN’s latest shipbuilding plan, released on 11 May, said “The navy’s requirement to increase the submarine production rate to at least one Columbia-class and two Virginia-class submarines per year remains the top industrial base priority.”

• There are also some closer-in, more specific delivery targets that are part of meeting this requirement, including delivering the lead Columbia SSBN in 2028, and then establishing the rhythm of delivering one Columbia boat per year by 2030 and two Virginias per year by 2031.

• 12 Columbias are to be built, and 44 more Virginias are in build or planned within in total class of 70 boats. Thus, an integrated construction program is critical.

“You can’t look at Virginia and Columbia in a vacuum because you’re sharing workforce, it’s the same shipyard, you’re sharing footprint.” VADM Rob Gaucher, Director Submarine Programs

Navy W93 Mk7 Program Enters New Phase of Development

BLUF: Navy’s PAE Strategic Systems Programs’ (SSP) W93 Mk7 program has entered into the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase after achieving Milestone B.

• The W93 warhead and the Mk7 reentry body assembly are the first U.S. nuclear warhead and reentry system program initiated in nearly four decades and will provide a modern warhead to the U.S. submarine launched ballistic missile fleet.

• PAE SSP is actively modernizing the sea-based leg of the nuclear triad through the development of the D5LE2 strategic weapon system and pioneering regional strike capabilities of the future through development of SLCM-N and the non-nuclear hypersonic conventional prompt strike system.

“W93/Mk7 will provide flexibility and adaptability to meet future Warfighter needs and ensure an uninterrupted at sea deterrent for the sea-based leg of the nuclear triad. We were able to accelerate our entry into this next phase because of the dedicated partnership between PAE SSP, National Nuclear Security Administration, and our industry base. This is what working at hyper-speed looks like.” VADM Douglas Williams, PAE SSP

The Surface Navy in an AI World: Rethinking the FFX

James Wirtz

BLUF: No one disagrees that the Navy has not had much luck constructing warships this century. Instead of hoping for different results from the same approach to force design by balancing competing requirements and ship construction, it is time to return to first principles to ask what unique qualities the Future Frigate (FFX) brings to the Navy in a future increasingly shaped by AI.

• The Navy continues to face significant challenges when building the next small surface combatant, the FFX. It is becoming increasingly difficult to pack meaningful warfighting capability into a ship that is smaller and cheaper to build and operate than today’s Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.

• What is needed is not a better ship based on traditional thinking, but new thinking about how a frigate can contribute to future combat effectiveness and national security.

• It is time for the U.S. Navy to build its first ship designed intentionally to exploit the synthetic reality created by AI and operate with USVs and UUVs that can exceed frigates in terms of endurance and carrying capacities.

• So, what would the FFX look like?

  • Remove piloted aircraft from the FFX and instead equip it with recoverable reconnaissance and one-way strike UAV capable to kill a similar platform.

  • Incorporate a spiral development philosophy; that is, it should be deliberately built to accommodate future technologies iteratively.

  • Build the ship to accommodate a separate battle staff and significant C3 capabilities not usually found on frigates.

  • Incorporate excess capacity, which means ample space, cooling, electricity, and whatever the best guess is about the additional resources that are likely to be required in the future.

• Rethinking what a frigate contributes to the human-machine team allows us to see a small surface combatant in a new light.

We Absolutely Need to Change, Says New Navy Maintenance Head

BLUF: A submariner turned head of the Navy’s vast maintenance operation promised his office would create a more nimble organization that would better balance risk to speed ships back to the fleet.

• PAE IO is now in charge of the Navy’s major maintenance efforts including the 38,000 civilian maintainers across the four public shipyards and contracting with private repair yards for surface ship maintenance.

• The Navy’s public yards are largely responsible for fixing nuclear submarines and carriers while the surface Navy’s amphibious warships, cruisers and destroyers are maintained and modernized in a network of private yards across the country.

• Maintenance trends have not been positive. Over the last decade, the Navy has seen increasing delays in the maintenance of its destroyers and amphibious warships by 20-100% depending on the ship.

• Private shipyards responsible for the Navy’s surface work have long complained the service is not delivering a steady supply of work, is slow to issue contracts and change orders and often fails to deliver government furnished equipment for availabilities on time.

• NAVSEA historically oversaw the Navy’s maintenance effort, yet was reorganized as part of the PAE establishment. Part of the effort will be to be more comfortable with risk rather than the Navy’s traditional mindset of overanalysis.

• The PAE IO trimmed four months off a public yard availability for a submarine through direct conversations over the risk of curtailing some of the repairs.

“We absolutely need to change, and we’re not getting it done. We just aren’t. We’ve got to be better than we are and we have got to focus on what is it going to take to deliver the ship, the submarine, the aircraft carrier out of maintenance.” RADM Todd Weeks, PAE Industrial Operations

Navy Wants More Offensive, Expeditionary Cyber Capabilities

BLUF: The Navy’s cyber advisor is looking for more tools from industry to conduct offensive cyber operations at the tactical edge, demonstrating a significant development and maturation of the application of cyber capabilities.

• The Navy is focused on integrating multi-domain capabilities to support tactical and operational commanders in contested environments.

• These efforts are designed to deliver timely, relevant effects in support of maritime operations, enhancing the agility and self-sufficiency of forward-deployed Sailors and Marines. They are are working in close coordination with CYBERCOM.

• Some cyber capabilities are going to have to be employed at tactical edge by the different servicemembers in different combatant commands at different times.

• Hacking on the tactical edge requires different equipment, as battlefield targets are less likely to be connected to the traditional internet.

• Often that means hitting targets using the electromagnetic spectrum via radio waves, an authority battlefield commanders have much more leeway over than traditional cyber or hacking.

“What I would offer to industry, if you are interested in talking about expeditionary cyber, cyber at the tactical edge, particularly offensive or capabilities that support offense, please come talk to me. I would love to hear more from industry about expeditionary cyber capabilities.” Anne Marie Schumann, DoN Principal Cyber Advisor

Other Navy News:

Birdon starts construction of MUSVs

Navy’s massive shipyard overhaul lacks oversight

Navy appears to be sticking with electromagnetics on carriers

Investing in Connectivity Key to Continued Maritime Dominance

NIWC Atlantic Welcomes Greg Lancaster as the New Executive Director

Joint Navy-Marine Corps Osprey Test Advances Future Fleet Anti-Submarine Capability

BLUF: A joint test team successfully executed the first lot acceptance test of sonobuoys from an MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft off the coast of San Clemente Island, CA.

• The Air Anti-Submarine Warfare Systems Program Office, the Osprey Joint Program Office and Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron 1 conducted the milestone test.

• The demonstration validated the Osprey as an alternative platform for the Navy's sonobuoy quality assurance program, boosting operational readiness and laying the groundwork for expanded tactical employment across the fleet.

• By utilizing the Osprey for this type of mission, we are reinforcing our supply chain and ensuring front line aircrews have the mission-ready stores they need to detect and track undersea threats

Marines Rushing To Equip Amphibious Combat Vehicles With New Anti-Drone Jammers

BLUF: The Marine Corps is buying Anduril Pulsar-L electronic warfare jammers to meet an urgent operational need to better protect its 8×8 wheeled Amphibious Combat Vehicles (ACV) from drones.

• This is part of broader efforts the Marines are pursuing to boost the ACV’s defenses against uncrewed aerial attackers, as well as incoming anti-tank guided missiles and other threats.

• Drone threats are real now and have notably sidelined even the most advanced heavy armor in Ukraine.

• MARCORSYSCOM announced it had awarded a sole-source deal to Anduril, valued at $15M, for an unspecified number of Pulsar-Ls.

• Anduril first unveiled Pulsar-L, a lightweight addition to its larger Pulsar family of electronic warfare systems, in April 2025.

CCA Builders Start Revving Production Rates, as They Await 2027 Funding

BLUF: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. and Anduril Industries both say they’re ready to produce Collaborative Combat Aircraft in volume.

• General Atomics announced it has the capacity to produce its FQ-42A Vengeance drones at a rate of six aircraft per month.

• Anduril, which started production of its FQ-44A Fury at its new Arsenal-1 facility in Ohio in March, aims to build 150 aircraft annually.

• The Air Force’s FY27 budget request includes $996.5M to acquire CCAs, plus another $150M in advance procurement funds for 2028.

• General Atomics said in a statement that it is self-funding FQ-42 production today as it awaits Congressional fiscal 2027 appropriations.

• Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said they aim to field at least 500 CCAs by 2032.

“The CCA program’s rate of progress has been incredible. Every week, the Air Force is pushing forward with new and more impressive accomplishments using Vengeance. It’s amazing to think of how far this program has come in such a short amount of time.” Mike Atwood, VP of advanced programs at GA-ASI

General Atomics FQ-42A Vengeance CCA Now Flying Together with USAF Fighters

BLUF: The Air Force is continuing to expand crewed-uncrewed teaming and other testing of GA’s FQ-42, as well as Anduril’s FQ-44 Fury with F-35s and F-15Es.

• The Air Force’s F-22s also look set to be the first operational airborne controllers for USAF CCAs.

• Both CCAs are set to make their first appearance at a large-force employment (LFE) exercise in December, offering a valuable new opportunity for deeper and more realistic integration with crewed fighters.

• The service is also focused on figuring out how the drones will be deployed, launched, recovered, supported, and otherwise operated on a day-to-day basis.

• GA-ASI announced a new demo of semi-autonomous air-to-air combat capability involving crewed F-5AT Advanced Tiger jets from a private contractor.

“The live exercise proved that a CCA and a manned fighter can collaborate to fuse sensor data from AMS-GRA-compliant sensors to track, engage, and eliminate an airborne target while using a Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) data link to accomplish seamless coordination between the two aircraft.” GA-ASI statement.

Related Article: Collaborative Combat Aircraft arrive at Creech AFB, advancing operational integration

Our Take: This is a big deal that operational tactics are advancing apace with CCAs. While we remain skeptical of manned-unmanned teaming with this particular variant of CCA, having industry and dedicated operators thinking through this is

Anduril Wins Deal to Help Design Future Aircraft

BLUF: The Air Force has awarded Anduril Industries a contract worth up to $85M to develop computer-based design tools for future aircraft, part of a push to design and test new systems digitally before building physical hardware.

• The Air Force has funded the first task order, worth $50K with additional funding expected to follow as later task orders are issued.

• AFRL made the award under a program called VOLARE, short for Digital System-Level Mission-Driven Integrated Design Methods for Aerospace Systems.

• The program covers two related goals:

  • building a software product that can model an aircraft’s overall vehicle systems

  • developing methods for designing thermal management systems (to keep an aircraft’s engines, electronics and sensors from overheating).

Air Force Certifies Anduril Barracuda Cruise Missile for Open System

BLUF: The Anduril-built Barracuda cruise missile received certification as the Air Force’s first large-scale production munition compliant with open systems architecture.

• Anduril is slated to deliver its first Barracuda missiles in early 2027.

• AFRL’s Munition Open Architecture Test and Evaluation Laboratory, or MOATEL, oversees the Weapon Open System Architecture certification process.

• The lab’s engineers spent four days at Anduril’s California headquarters verifying compliance with open system architecture, known as WOSA.

• The MOATEL verification tested 14 WOSA domains: Mission Autonomy, Seeker, Inertial Measurement Unit, GPS, Air-Data Sensor, Propulsion, Airframe Control, Target State Estimator, Altimeter Aiding Navigation, Clock, Autopilot, Guidance, Navigation, and Munitions Data Bus.

• Anduril has integrated four different turbojet engines into the Barracuda 500, giving the company flexibility in providing engines as it seeks to churn out missiles in the coming years.

• The MOATEL assessment’s certification also clears the way to use the Barracuda with current and future communication systems.

“Barracuda’s open software architecture means that it can be equipped with a variety of different datalinks and communications modalities, unlocking integrations with a vast spectrum of different aircraft and other communications nodes.” Anduril spokesperson

“This is showing that open architecture can scale beyond prototypes. Without that independent path from S&T to MOATEL, the industrial base cannot deliver new technology to the warfighter at the speed the fight requires.” Jonathan Shaver, PM and creator of WOSA at AFRL’s Air Warfare Directorate

Related Article: Anduril Industries says Barracuda is first mass-produced weapon to clear independent Air Force WOSA verification ahead of 2027 deliveries

Sentinel ICBM Achieves Vertical Stacking Ahead of 2027 Initial Flight Testing

BLUF: The Air Force Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program completed vertical stacking of the inert missile, confirming that all subsystems are on track for initial flight testing in 2027.

• The campaign verified the viability of all missile stages, propulsion elements, shroud and subcomponents to be assembled into a single configuration test pad.

• Sentinel is on track to field initial capability in the early 2030s as a ground-based deterrent for decades.

• According to officials, the program is still on track for Milestone B, which allows the project to enter the engineering and manufacturing development phase.

• The program office is parsing through a large amount of data, and have integrated AFCAA and CAPE but are still unsure of the cost.

“Sentinel is no longer conceptual or designs for what the nation’s next-generation ICBM looks like; it’s a physical, fully integrated system that is one major step closer to being ready for flight testing.” Gen. Dale White, DRPM Critical Major Weapon Systems

Air Force Injects $87M into IVEWS F-16 Electronic Warfare Upgrades

BLUF: The Air Force funds $87.4M for initial production of an F-16 EW capability, bolstering the fighter’s self-protection against increasingly advanced threats.

• Bringing the total program value to $1.92B, this is expected to jump-start fielding and integration of the AN/ALQ-257 Integrated Viper Electronic Warfare Suite, or IVEWS into the fighter’s airframe.

• The F-16 has seen a lot of action in Operation Epic Fury and has handled Iranian air defenses and electronic warfare capabilities.

• However, peer adversaries such as the Chinese military have more sophisticated means to foil the jet fighter’s aims.

• Full-rate production of the suites for the full 450-aircraft fleet is scheduled to follow this initial batch.

Air Force Bids Adieu to EC-130H Electronic Attack Plane

BLUF: The Air Force has formally retired the EC-130H Compass Call, capping over 40 years of operations for the electronic attack aircraft.

• The EC-130H — a C-130 turboprop modified with electronic attack equipment — entered service in 1983 to disrupt enemy communications and jam radars.

• The Air Force is replacing the EC-130H with the EA-37B, which will also be dubbed the Compass Call. The new electronic attack aircraft is based on a Gulfstream G550 business jet, and will similarly wield tech from BAE integrated by L3Harris.

• The modern Compass Call will fly at twice the altitude and double the speed of its predecessor and operate more powerful systems against adversaries.

Our Take: This was a desperately needed upgrade and this aircraft has demonstrated its value many times over.

Newest AIM-9X Missiles Not Meeting Operational Availability Goal

BLUF: One of the Air Force and Navy’s most common air-to-air missiles is falling short of a key readiness metric, and the services are ramping up stocks of a vital air-to-ground missile.

• The AIM-9X Sidewinder Block II is facing operational availability shortages.

• Operational availability is defined as “the degree to which one can expect a piece of equipment or weapon system to work properly when it is required.”

• The Air Force is at 58% operational availability for the latest version of the Sidewinder, and the Navy is at 78% —the requirement is 86%.

• That shortage is forcing squadrons to face lower training asset availability, preventing fighter pilots from having the requisite number of training sorties.

• Pilots use regular training sorties to practice locking onto targets, tracking high off-boresight angles, and simulating missile shots.

• But reliability problems with integrating a new circuit processor into the latest configuration, the AIM-9X-4, have “impacted missile reliability and halted testing.”

• The Air Force and Navy plan to buy more than 11,000 AIM-9X Block II missiles, which are infrared-guided, short-range, supersonic air-to-air weapons.

Air & Space Forces Association Videos

• CJCS Gen. Dan Caine

• The State of the Air Force: Gen Ken Wilsbach

• The State of the Space Force: Gen Douglas Schiess

• The Future Air Force: How Do We Get There?

• Space Force and Intelligence Community Integration

• Roles and Limits of Commercial Space in National Security

• Counter-Drone Defenses

SPACECOM Boss Wants Better Domain Awareness to Target Threats on Orbit

BLUF: The head of U.S. Space Command said the U.S. still has “a long way to go” in improving its ability to detect and target threats in the domain.

• Space domain awareness, which is the military’s term for being able to see and understand what’s happening in the environment, is foundational for military operations on orbit.

• Whiting highlighted three examples of areas for improvement:

  • better integration of commercial and allied data

  • stronger linkages between sensors, command-and-and control systems, and effectors, including space weapons

  • expanded ground- and space-based surveillance capabilities

• While data quality from both commercial industry and U.S. allies has improved significantly in recent years, integration issues and unstable funding have made it hard to take full advantage of those improvements.

“Do I have all the track quality that I need at all times? No. And that is why, in my current list of gaps that we every year go through a process to analyze, in my top five, we have a need for improved space domain awareness for space engagements.” SPACECOM Commander Gen. Stephen Whiting

Space Academy is Critical Step in the Future of Warfare

Matt Cookson

BLUF: If the U.S. is to win this next space race, it must create a service academy for the Space Force.

• The U.S. needs to maintain its technological edge over people, but without quality leadership, these weapons will be of limited use.

• A major factor behind the U.S. military’s dominance is the quality of its officers, as the other academies demonstrate.

• To make this happen, it needs Congressional backing and funding.

• If we don’t take the lead in space, it is only a matter of time before China and Russia will take the edge. That threatens U.S. security and empowers our enemies. We simply can’t afford to fall behind in space warfare.

Space Force to Put Commercial Satellite Servicing to the Test in 2027

BLUF: The Space Force is preparing two commercial satellite servicing missions for 2027 that will test ways of giving military spacecraft more freedom to maneuver after launch.

• One mission, led by Astroscale U.S., will attempt to refuel a military satellite in GEO and then replenish the servicing spacecraft from an orbiting fuel depot.

• The other, led by Starfish Space, will use a commercial space tug to dock with and move multiple national security satellites.

• The missions will test more than whether spacecraft can rendezvous and dock. Space Systems Command wants to learn:

  • how the military can buy servicing from commercial operators

  • how much infrastructure would be needed to make those services routinely available

  • whether refueling or life extension could in some cases be more economical than replacing satellites.

• After reaching orbit, Astroscale’s Provisioner spacecraft will rendezvous with a military satellite equipped to receive fuel and transfer hydrazine to the client spacecraft.

• Starfish Space’s Otter will rendezvous and dock with another spacecraft, and use its own propulsion to move the combined vehicles.

• It could take over station keeping for a satellite running short of fuel, reposition a spacecraft or move it into a disposal orbit.

• The Space Systems Command is examining the potential use of refueling for RG-XX, a planned constellation of maneuverable satellites that will conduct surveillance and reconnaissance in geosynchronous orbit.

“If we have a refueling capability in space, if we have the ability to service those vehicles, it changes the dynamic, it allows us to operate in space like we never have before.” Col. Scott Carstetter, director of servicing, mobility and logistics at Space Systems Command

Space Force Challenge Seeks to Strengthen Orbital Resilience

BLUF: SpaceWERX, recently hosted a challenge workshop to bring in industry’s best and brightest to help extend the Defense Department’s Joint Logistics Enterprise into space.

• The Joint Logistics Enterprise is a collaboration between the Joint Staff’s logistics directorate, the Defense Logistics Agency and U.S. Transportation Command formed in 2010 to create a globally integrated logistics network.

• The end state is an integrated network of orbital warehousing, transport vehicles and refueling capabilities, connected by the mission planning, operational data and autonomy needed to manage a distributed enterprise in real time.

• The challenge is led by SSC in partnership with SpaceWERX and focuses on six major areas necessary to building out a resilient in-space logistics network:

  • propellant management

  • orbital transfer vehicles

  • network mechanics

  • orbital warehousing

  • repair, reuse and refuel

  • logistics health monitoring

• Together, these capabilities will enable the continuous operation of satellites and other space assets rather than being limited by finite onboard fuel or supplies.

Air, Space Forces Pick Up Research Pace for Orbital Cargo Delivery

BLUF: The Air and Space Forces over the past year have been picking up the pace of their multi-tiered research initiative aimed at rapidly delivering cargo into global hot zones by launching it through space.

• The bi-service effort to leverage commercial capabilities for point-to-point delivery via space is somewhat confusing because it encompasses multiple funding sources — jointly and through service-specific spending.

• It started with AFRL’s Vanguard program called Rocket Cargo, which began in June 2021 and focused on launching rockets filled with 30 tons of logistical supplies from the U.S. into space, and down on far-flung bases and battlefields.

• The focus towards reentry capsules provides several promising advantages:

  • the logistics of rapidly unloading cargo at the delivery site,

  • the ability to deliver cargo to a more diverse range of austere sites and terrain,

  • the ability to deploy multiple reentry capsules in a single launch to deliver cargo to the point of need at several different locations, and

  • potential for broad vendor diversity, both in the reentry capsule systems and options to deliver reentry capsules from multiple launch providers.

• There are three primary efforts focused on cargo delivery through orbit, each with its own technological focus and budgets.

  • The development of reentry capsules now is undertaken by AFRL called the Payload Delivery System (PDS) funded jointly by the Air and Space Forces.

  • Space Force’s Servicing, Mobility, and Logistics (SML) program managed by System Delta 80 is responsible for the Point-to-Point Delivery (P2D) program.

  • AFRL’s Rocket Experimentation for Global Agile Logistics (REGAL) focused on funding P2D-related tech and demonstrations.

    • AFRL awarded Blue Origin $1.3M and Anduril $1M under REGAL in September 2025.

    • In July, the lab added $11.7M to Blue Origin’s contract bringing the total up to $13M.

Related Article: Space Cargo Unlimited Locks Up a Third of SpaceX’s Starfall Return Capacity

Pentagon Taps Northrop Grumman, True Anomaly for Recon Satellites That Can Monitor Other Space Systems

BLUF: SSC and DIU awarded prototype contracts to Northrop Grumman and True Anomaly to build next-generation reconnaissance satellites that can keep an eye on other objects in orbit.

• The awards will support the Geosynchronous High-Resolution Optical Space-Based Tactical Reconnaissance (GHOST-R) initiative, part of the Space Force’s RG-XX program.

• Officials involved in the GHOST-R effort want to use commercially developed space vehicles, buses, and electro-optical payloads to deliver “high-resolution space-to-space imagery for characterizing resident space objects” in GEO.

• Under the deal, True Anomaly will provide its Jackal platform, Mosaic command-and-control system, and “rendezvous and proximity operations” sensor suite.

• Northrop Grumman plans to deliver the company’s ESPASat-L satellite — which the contractor says is the size of a “small suitcase” — and incorporate optical payloads provided by TRL11, a maker of video solutions for space.

“We are leveraging rapid prototyping to push the envelope of what commercial tech can deliver to the RG-XX program. This approach burns down technical risk, drives down lifecycle costs, and gets vital capability to the warfighter faster to ensure a more resilient architecture. Successful prototypes will have a direct path to transition into the program of record.” Col. Bryon McClain, acting PAE for Space Combat Power

Related Article: GHOST-R: The Pentagon Buys Satellites That Can Chase and DIU and SSC Announce Joint GHOST-R Mission

Katalyst Selected for Pentagon Program to Demonstrate Space-Based Power Beaming

BLUF: Katalyst was chosen by the Operational Energy Capability Improvement Fund (OECIF), which issues awards focused on maturing first-of-its-kind energy technologies for future warfighting platforms.

• Quantum Space also recently received an OECIF award.

• In the ASGARD mission, a Katalyst Nexus spacecraft will use robotic arms to assemble the tiles on orbit.

• Once assembled, the tiles will harness solar energy, convert it to radio frequency microwave energy, and transmit that energy down to Earth.

• The NRL is developing modular tiles that will form the large-format power beaming system.

Pentagon Sets Two-Stage Path for Golden Dome Missile Shield, Full Defense by 2035

BLUF: The first stage stitches together systems the military already operates to stand up an early shield. The second stage transitions to a more affordable architecture designed specifically for homeland defense.

• Under the plan outlined by Guetlein, the initial capability arrives in 2028, drawing on existing systems rather than new development.

• The subsequent architecture, intended to be more affordable and tailored to homeland defense, is targeted for 2035.

• Guetlein framed the second phase as a deliberate move toward a system built for its specific mission rather than assembled from available components.

The Golden Dome Czar Must Get Control of All US Missile Defense Programs

Thane Clare

BLUF: The U.S. is largely defenseless against Russian and Chinese aerial attacks. This is a major strategic problem in today’s era of massed drone and missile warfare—and no one is clearly in charge of solving it.

• DoW took a first step toward assigning responsibility for a U.S. air and missile defense architecture by standing up the Golden Dome office.

• But critical elements of a defensive shield remain outside its control: the air and missile defense systems that have proven in Ukraine and the Middle East.

• The Aegis system, for example, is a U.S. Navy program—though its ballistic missile defense component is funded by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). Patriot interceptors, in turn, belong to the Army.

• Theater High Altitude Aerial Defense (THAAD) batteries and the Ground Based Midcourse Defense System (GMDS) are developed by the MDA but operated and maintained by the Army.

• U.S. Northern Command is responsible for U.S. air surveillance but relies heavily on radars belonging to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

• Diffusion of responsibility is a recipe for failure.

• Rickover in his efforts to build the nuclear Navy had control over all elements of the program including in civil authority organizations.

• For Golden Dome, this will entail taking the requisite authorities from their normal stewards and re-delegating them to the Golden Dome director.

Washington’s Foreign Equity Bets Need Better Governance

Stephen Rodriguez

BLUF: The Government has funded efforts overseas, but this was not subject to the corporate governance standards required of American companies: an independent board, an independent audit committee, and audited disclosure to shareholders.

• The government currently invests in more than a dozen foreign projects, totaling billions in equity and debt investment.

• There are strong national and economic security justifications for the recent push to use equity strategically to build secure American supply chains.

• When public money flows to a foreign company not listed on a U.S. exchange, the American taxpayer receives fewer protections and fewer still when it flows to a privately held company, foreign or domestic.

• Washington should compile a standard set of existing U.S. corporate governance terms and apply them as a baseline when negotiating equity investments in unlisted foreign companies.

• It should condition its support on compliance with a short list of fundamental governance principles:

  • a majority independent board, meaning independent of management

  • an independent audit committee that selects and oversees the auditor

  • audited financial statements

  • a consent right if the company falls out of compliance.

• This proposal provides a level playing field using existing authority to protect American taxpayer dollars and American companies without sacrificing national security objectives.

Our Take: This just makes sense especially with the potential for corruption in many oversea domiciles.

Saildrone Registers First USVs Under National Flag

BLUF: Saildrone, a developer of autonomous unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) for maritime operations, has registered its first four Saildrone Voyager USVs in Denmark, allowing them to operate under the Danish flag.

Bayraktar Drone Launches Sonobuoys During Turkish Naval Exercise

BLUF: Baykar Technologies’ Bayraktar TB3 unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) has demonstrated a new anti-submarine warfare capability by launching two sonobuoys during Turkey’s Seawolf-I/2026 exercise.

UK Launches First Space Squadron to ‘Degrade and Deny’ Enemies

BLUF: The UK Chief of the Air Staff announced that Britain will stand up a new space squadron focused on countering enemy threats and defending local “interests.”

• For the UK, No. 3 SES is an addition to the:

  • No. 1 Space Ops Squadron that teams with the National Space Operations Centre to track hazardous objects

  • No. 2 Space Warning Squadron, established to provide missile warning and space tracking capabilities.

• From 2030 to 2035, the UK plans on spending a minimum of £9 billion on “new capabilities” for the space domain.

Other International News:

• Terma partners with Japanese firm to supply naval decoy systems

• Embedded Across Europe: U.S. Exchange Officers Gather to Sharpen Allied Interoperability

• Preparation Becomes Tomorrow’s Shield as Orient Shield 26 Closes

Golden Dome
SASC • Sep 29 • HON David Trachtenberg, Dr. Thomas Karako, David Mosher

See our NDAA and budget posts for the latest insights and analysis.

Why Acquisition Reform Needs More Than New Policy | Arnold Punaro
FedGovToday

Resilient Command and Control | Stephen Winchell, DARPA

Modular, Resilient Systems | M. Barry Tanner, Navy CIO

Biomanufacturing and National Security | Maille O’Donnell
NDIA ETI Horizons

GPS-Denied Autonomy, Synthetic GPS, VICTUS | Jessie Hamel
The Startup Defense

NDIA ETI Conference

GEN Christopher Mahoney, VCJCS

HON. Emil Michael, USW(R&E)

CDAO Summit | Cameron Stanley

Discussion with BGen Tim Helfrich, PAE F&AA
Aerospace Nation • Sep 28 • Webinar

Disruptor Day: Multi-Sensor Data Fusion for Maritime Domain Awareness Q&A
DoN Rapid Capability Office • Oct 1 • Webinar

Resilience Conference
Oct 5-6 • London

Land Forces
Oct 6-8 • Perth • Western Australia

DEFCON
Stanford • Oct 7 • Silicon Valley, CA

Apex Europe
Oct 7-8 • London

AUSA Army Annual Meeting and Expo
Oct 12-14 • Washington DC

Scaling Our Industrial Foundation
Wharton Aerospace Ventures • Oct 12-14 • Washington DC

Mission Engineering and Integration Activity TEM
USW(R&E) • Oct 15 • TBD

Counter UAS Indo-Pacific
SAE Media • Oct 19-20 • Honolulu, HI

Silicon Valley Space Week
Oct 27-29 • Mountain View, CA

TechNet Indo-pacific
AFCEA • Oct 27-29 • Honolulu, HI

Ironclad Maritime Summit
Oct 27 • Nortfolk, VA

Defense Conference
PSC • Oct 30 • Crystal City, VA or Virtual

See our Events Page for all the other events over the next year.

We are sorry for the delayed delivery this week as we helped host the Creative Disruptor’s by the Lakes event with honorary co-hosts Rep. Ken Calvert, Rep. Betty McCollum, HON Emil Michael USW(R&E), and HON Michael Duffey USW(A&S).

There were insightful discussions on the future of national security investments and plug-and-play composable warfighting with Department, Congressional, and Industry leaders, many of whom are valued subscribers.

There are many stories across the Department and the defense industry this week.

DEPSECWAR Directs Actions to Foster One Strong Industrial Base

BLUF: Deputy Secretary Steve Feinberg issued a memo, Fostering One Strong Industrial Base, directing the DoW to remove the accounting, audit, and compliance barriers that have separated the companies serving the warfighter from the rest of the American economy.

Three objectives drive the change:

• Compete continuously for speed and volume.

• Attach rules to contracts, not companies.

• Audit only what matters, only when risk exists, and never twice.

Key elements from the memo include:

• DoW will move from government unique Cost Accounting Standards to GAAP.

• EO 14402 makes fixed-price contract default and reserves cost-based contracts for basic research and development of major systems.

• The Supplier Cost and Pricing Transparency memo reinforces the option for contracting officers to see through the prime to suppliers when needed to ensure companies at every tier are treated fairly.

• We will accept GAAP-based accounting across all contracts to the maximum extent the law permits.

Implementation actions:

• VCJCS will review requirements reform.

• USW(A&S) will accelerate acquisition transformation; contain CAS within existing authority; make rapid commerciality determinations (within 15 business days); extend use of OTs; modernize profit policy; require a basis for requirements and suspend any uncited (not tied to safety, security, classification) unless the CAE reaffirms it within 30 days; modernize forward-pricing support; and implement supplier cost and pricing transparency.

• Comptroller will advance CAS coverage reform; ensure risk based audits.

• A&S and Comptroller will consolidate contractor business systems; simplify business systems review; publish efficiency assurance; and measure results.

• Military Departments/Acquisition executives will implement Portfolio Acquisition Executive authorities.

• DIU Director will scale advanced market commitments.

• All above plus DCAA and DCMA will align the contract oversight enterprise.

"Selling to the DoW should be a line of business, not a corporate identity. Our nation's greatest strength is its private sector, and our defense industry must harness and mimic it – unleashing industry first, and protecting taxpayers by confining our most burdensome oversight tools to the narrow set of work that genuinely demands them. Transparency and partnership runs both ways: the DoW opens its buying to market forces, pays fair prices with honest margins, and in exchange industry shares, when asked, the cost and pricing information it already keeps." Steve Feinberg, Deputy Secretary of War

Fostering One Strong Industrial Base

Our Take: This memo does not repeal the previous cost/price transparency direction but seeks to reconcile the push for greater visibility with reducing the compliance burdens of doing business with the Department. Moving from CAS to GAAP could be one of the most consequential changes as CAS has long been a major barrier to commercial and nontraditional participation and should have been retired years ago. Rapid commercial determinations are also welcome, provided the workforce takes a more forward-leaning approach rather than simply stamping NO on the paperwork faster.

The harder challenge is reconciling three potentially competing ideas: full cost/price transparency, broader CAS exemptions, and fixed-price contracting as the default. The memo’s assurance that “no new accounting systems or special data formats will be required“ offers some relief, but much less if existing commercial data is still routinely demanded and used to negotiate every available penny out of fixed-price deals. We worry the DoW will continue seeking substantial cost visibility from NDCs and commercial companies on larger defense contracts. So where it draws the line is key.

A relatively narrow set of programs genuinely warrants intensive cost visibility and oversight, while a much larger universe should operate using commercial practices, competitive pressure, and market pricing. The policy provides a clearer framework for making that distinction, but considerable gray area remains. Success will ultimately depend less on the Pentagon implementation memos than on how these principles are translated into regulations, training, incentives, and day-to-day decisions across contracting commands, PAE portfolios, contracting officers, and programs.

U.S. Forces Must Prepare to Be Hunted by Autonomous Systems

“We have to assume from now on that our formations will be hunted by autonomous systems, jammed across the spectrum, and tracked in real time.” - Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff

• American forces need to be ready to operate in that type of conflict environment.

• Advancements in AI and cyber capabilities are the top factor in accelerating changes in warfare.

• In the future fight, advantage will go to the side who can see first, who can understand first, decide first, and act first, and along the way be a learning organization

“In Ukraine, FPV drones operating in heavily contested environments using AI-enabled computer vision to continue to drive towards targets even without GPS. That gives small units affordable precision and shows how quickly software and autonomy are changing what is possible at the tactical edge. In certain locations on the front line of troops right now, the life expectancy of a new Russian recruit arriving on the front lines is as little as 20-30 minutes.”

Related: Caine: US Must Prepare for Forces to Be Tracked in Real Time

Pentagon Unveils Top Performers in Latest Gauntlet for Drone Dominance Program

BLUF: DoW announced the winners of the second Gauntlet competition under its Drone Dominance Program, the Pentagon’s signature effort to ramp up the U.S. military’s arsenal of small UAS.

• Gauntlet 2, led by DIU, was the Drone Dominance Program’s most demanding test to date and included two “mission areas”: deep strike and close quarters battle.

• Operators pushed participants to their limits, flying 1,858 sorties across 23 platforms from 19 companies. V

• Each of the 11 platforms evaluated at long distance made it to 15 km. (In Gauntlet 1, only 24% of drones managed to reach 10 km).

• The DoW plans to acquire 60,000 drones from that pool of vendors.

• Compared to Gauntlet 1, these drones are cheaper, more capable, and sourced from a supply chain more closely tied to the American industrial base.

Pratt Licenses Hermeus to Build F100 Fighter Jet Engine

BLUF: Pratt & Whitney is licensing aircraft startup Hermeus to produce Pratt’s F100 fighter jet engine, the first such license for a fellow American firm.

• The agreement seeks to boost the industrial base in the face of growing powerplant demand for existing aircraft and for in-development programs like the Air Force’s CCA program.

• The agreement covers the production of the F100-PW-229 turbofan, which entered service in 1992 and is used to power some versions of the F-15 and F-16.

• Hermeus has a particular interest in the F100: it powers the company’s high-speed Quarterhorse drone.

“The deal means the company would additionally be the first vertically integrated aircraft manufacturer under the Quarterhorse program.” Zach Shore, Hermeus CEO

Everything We Just Learned About The Vectis CCA From Skunk Works

BLUF: Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works shared new information about its stealthy CCA type drone named Vectis.

• One of the most intriguing details is the true nature of its air inlet configuration, pointing to the premium on survivability the Skunk Works has placed on its CCA.

• Vectis has a far more exotic, deeply recessed “submerged” top-mounted air intake than was originally disclosed when Vectis first came out of the shadows.

• It is designed to be both survivable and affordable and flexible across the range of missions that our customers need.

• The design is expected to be capable of both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions.

• Vectis has a traditional electro-optical/infrared sensor turret behind a stealthy faceted enclosure under the nose.

• Vectis is designed with an eye toward modularity and open-architecture systems.

• Their advanced yet simple design and manufacturing processes offer advantages to accelerate development and prototype, and for reducing costs and positioning Vectis to enter full-scale production.

• First flight is planned by the end of 2027.

Related: Lockheed Plans to Fly Vectis CCA by End of 2027, Already Working on More Aircraft and Lockheed to Build 4 More Vectis Drones, 2027 First Flight Remains on Target and Lockheed boosts bet on Skunk Works’ Vectis stealth drone

Drone Maker Unveils Low-cost Alternative to MQ-9 Reaper

BLUF: Swarm Aero on Monday unveiled a new low-cost UAS Gamera capable of carrying a payload of more than 2,800 pounds.

• This comes as the Air Force searches for risk-tolerant aircraft that can be produced cheaply and in large numbers as part of its new Massed Modular Aircraft (MMA) program.

• Gamera is the first UAS designed to carry bomber-class strike munitions such as the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) and Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range (JASSM-ER) as well as other cruise and hypersonic missiles.

• Although Swarm did not give a specific price point, the company said comparable strike effects would cost 10 times less than existing platforms.

“Low cost isn’t something that you kind of sprinkle on an existing design, an existing engineering system, even an existing organization. You have to design the aircraft, design the company around that.” - Peter Kalogiannis, Swarm Aero, CEO

Related: Cheaper Reaper? Swarm Aero Unveils Gamera

Textron, Merlin Unmanned Cessna Skycourier for Pacific island Resupply

BLUF: Textron and Merlin Labs unveiled a new unmanned aircraft concept to kickstart conversation about Pacific logistics.

• The companies’ proposal would take Textron’s Cessna Skycourier and remove the cockpit altogether, replacing it with a flip-up nose for easier automated loading and a Merlin Pilot AI to fly the plane.

• The Skycourier’s capabilities includes three tons of payload, a thousand miles of range and ability to operate from austere airstrips only half a mile long.

• This makes it an ideal low-cost complement to the much larger cargo aircraft in the Air Force’s current fleet, especially for supplying scattered island outposts in the Pacific.

• The unmanned aircraft would also allow the Air Force to preserve its human pilots for the long-haul missions.

Pentagon Taps USNDA To Head Its Top Drone Competitions

BLUF: OUSD(R&E) is partnering with the US National Drone Association to run its Top Drone program, teeing up events that will pit remote pilots against each other.

• At a T-REX event run by OUSD(R&E) pilots flew drones under simulated battlefield conditions in the inaugural Top Drone competition.

• USNDA’s competition structure which it says pushes small drone operators farther and faster under simulated battlefield conditions will serve as the primary venue for identifying troops with top remote pilot skills.

• Founded by a group of Marine veterans, USNDA was also involved in the development of the Marine Corps’ Attack Drone Team, the first of the military’s formal UAS-focused organizations stood-up in January 2025 that eyed competition as a mechanism for drone proliferation.

“Achieving American drone dominance is about more than scaling lethal capabilities. It’s also about developing the world-class operators who will execute the mission.” - Emil Michael, Pentagon, CTO

“Through our focus on rapid technology experimentation, we’ve seen time and time again, operator fluency is essential. Top Drone is about pushing operators to move faster and adapt to the changing operational landscape.” COL Matthew Limeberry, T-REX Director

“Top Drone will be the yardstick that can actually and objectively measure operator performance, with closed performance reporting straight to the top to ensure the guys have the training, tech and tactics they need.” - Nathan Ecelbarger, USNDA President

SOF Taps Sea Machines for Autonomy Systems

BLUF: Sea Machines Robotics secured a five-year IDIQ contract to supply its commercial, non-developmental, TRL-9 autonomy kits to US Special Operations Forces.

• The contract will allow US SOF to use Sea Machines’ autonomy systems on a range of vessels for expeditionary logistics, ISR, and maritime security missions.

• The “drop-in” autonomy kits use Sea Machines’ Autonomous Command and Control system and are designed to be installed on different types of vessels.

• The kits can be deployed within hours, allowing the systems to be adapted to different missions and operational requirements.

Forget Robot Workers, This Company Wants to Build Soldiers

BLUF: Foundation Future Industries wants combat-ready humanoid robots to be next on the frontlines of military conflicts.

• Experts say humanoid robots are still many years away from large-scale use in wars as the technology and regulations around them need to evolve further.

• Its flagship robot is the Phantom MK-1, a man-sized humanoid which can carry 40 kilograms. A second-gen robot equipped with chips from AMD is in development.

• The company can currently produce between 300-500 robots a year, and it is building another site to boost capacity.

“When a robot’s perception, reasoning and adaptive behavior get precise enough, instead of dropping a bomb in a building, you can send humanoids to actually walk inside that building and go directly to the target.” Sankaet Pathak, Foundation Founder

Lockheed’s New Modular JASSM Offers Swappable Noses and Launch Options

BLUF: Lockheed Martin unveiled its concept for a modular version of one of the Air Force’s main air-to-ground cruise missiles, opening up a range of possible upgrades and uses for the weapon.

• The AGM-158 FLEX airframe is based on the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile.

• The airframe has a removable nose cone to let users swap in different sensors and a reconfigurable tail for different launch options.

• Lockheed invested $35M of its own money on the idea, based customer demand to have increased options.

“The AGM-158 FLEX airframe concept was driven by a strategic need to keep pace with rapidly evolving threats, insert emerging technologies quickly, manage obsolescence, and provide, at scale, a cost-effective missile family that can be repurposed for a wide range of missions while delivering timely, relevant capability to the warfighter.” - Lockheed Martin, Spokesperson

Related: Fighter Jet-Maker’s Modular Airframe to Broaden Launch, Payload Options for Cruise Missile Family

$92M Deal Turns High-Altitude Drones Into Airborne Sensors for Hypersonic Flight Tests

BLUF: AEVEX Corp. landed a potential $92.2M contract to support the DoW’s SkyRange hypersonic test program.

• The three-year award brings AEVEX into flight operations across Western U.S. and Pacific test corridors.

• Its engineers will handle airborne telemetry, communications, payload integration, and distributed range systems. SkyRange is designed around a simple change in how the military instruments difficult flight tests.

• Instead of keeping critical tracking equipment at fixed sites, the program puts much of it aboard aircraft. That gives test teams mobile platforms that can follow demanding flight profiles and provide data from positions closer to the action.

• The program uses converted RQ-4 Global Hawks with specialized sensors to track hypersonic vehicles during flight.

DARPA-Funded Project Could Make Computer Chips 100x More Efficient

BLUF: US researchers have been developing a novel computer logic that uses nanoscale mechanical strain to process information and could eventually be 100 times more energy efficient than current technologies.

• Backed by $10.6M from DARPA, the method uses nanoscale mechanical strain alongside electrical signals to perform logic operations.

• The funding comes through the Fast and Curious program. It aims to create logic circuits that are at least 100 times more energy efficient than today’s state-of-the-art technologies.

• Their technology is called Mechanically Amplified Ferroic-Actuated (MEFA) Logic. It uses ferroic materials that slightly expand or contract when voltage is applied.

• This movement is amplified and sent to a nearby semiconductor channel, where it controls current flow and switches between logic states.

“Whether it’s charge, light, magnetism, or strain, computing doesn’t care how information is transported as long as it reliably represents a one and a zero.” - Asif Khan, Georgia Tech, Associate Professor

Combat Power Is Industrial Power

Greg Little and Ian Crone

BLUF: America’s defense industrial base is a system that is fragmented, expensive, and slow to learn during a period of rapid change. America cannot solve the problems with this system merely by routing more money through the same fragmented processes.

• Just as Detroit could not defeat Toyota by adding another shift to an inferior production system, the DoW cannot create a twenty-first-century arsenal by applying more funding, oversight, and reporting requirements to a twentieth-century operating model.

• What it needs is a cutting-edge industrial operating system that gets better and smarter over time.

• Ukraine is holding its own against Russia with a highly adaptive industrial system capable of developing and scaling production of drones to counter the latest threats encountered on the front line.

• More important than simply counting missiles is whether the system producing them can learn, adapt, scale, repair, and replenish faster than its competitor.

• The DoW’s first National Defense Industrial Strategy recognized the importance of resilient supply chains, workforce readiness, flexible acquisition, and economic deterrence, and its subsequent implementation plan assigned responsibilities, resources, and metrics to those priorities.

• Program leaders, suppliers, manufacturers, depots, combatant commands, and policymakers could operate from a continuously updated picture connecting operational demand with inventory, production capacity, supplier risk, workforce, and delivery timelines.

• AI could identify constraints before schedules slip, expose shared dependencies across programs, and establish faster learning loops between operators, engineers, factories, and suppliers.

• The U.S. must connect operational demand to industrial capacity, manage constraints across portfolios rather than within individual programs, and establish a shared operating picture across government and industry.

Lockheed reaches deal to boost production of secretive JATM missile

BLUF: The DoW and Lockheed Martin have reached an initial agreement to ramp up production of the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM), the secretive weapon set to succeed the AMRAAM.

• The framework agreement sets the stage for future multi-year procurement (MYP) of JATM and boosting foreign military sales.

• Lockheed will support necessary investments to drive the production increase under this agreement.

• The JATM deal is the latest in a series of framework agreements inked this year between the Pentagon and industry aimed at rapidly scaling up weapons production, with industry pledging to invest its own funds to modernize and build new facilities and the department promising stable, multiyear production deals.

• The new missile has increased range and effectiveness over existing air-to-air weapons and will be integrated on Air Force and Navy fighters including the F-22 and F-35.

Defense Industrial Base Requires Energy Security

Leah Emanuel and Will Rogers

BLUF: The U.S. is consuming munitions and critical materiel faster than it can replace them. Catching up will require energy infrastructure that underpins the defense industrial base.

• The U.S. military now relies on domestic installations for missions such as drone operations, cybersecurity and AI-enabled intelligence processing that turns raw sensor data into actionable targeting packages, which all require a lot of energy.

• Adversary capabilities, from drone swarms to anti-ship missiles, threaten the supply lines that move materiel from factory floor to forward position. When the logistics chain is contested, the margin for production shortfalls at home shrinks to zero.

• Congress took a meaningful step and appropriated money to invest in the defense industrial base, focusing on workforce and supply chain constraints.

• Congress needs to ensure adequate attention to the poles, wires, and power generation that are vital to defense manufacturing.

• Congress should consider expanding the DoW’s authorities to invest directly in fortifying the commercial power grid by providing loans to build transmission lines that would serve communities with a large defense industrial footprint.

• Congress and the DoW should ensure the DoW has all the resources it needs to use the DPA Title III designation for the power grid, which could help stockpile expensive and scarce components that are critical for grid reliability.

USA Rare Earth’s New $1.2B Plant to Produce Magnet Metals

BLUF: USA Rare Earth has broken ground on a $1.2B rare earth metal and magnet manufacturing facility in Blacksburg, SC.

• the company is targeting an annual production capacity of 6,400 metric tons (7,055 tons) of sintered neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) permanent magnets and 5,000 metric tons (5,512 tons) of strip-cast metal and alloy.

• The company expects commissioning to begin in 2028.

“A secure rare earth supply chain isn’t built with a single mine or a single factory. It requires rebuilding every link.” - Gregory Bowman, USA Rare Earth, Chief Global Policy Officer

Pentagon $450M Investment in Tungsten Will Create 1,200 Jobs

BLUF: The DoW invested $450M into The Elmet Group that develops tungsten, as part of a move anticipated to create 1,200 jobs.

• Tungsten is a dense, ultra-hard metal with the highest melting point of any element. It is used in critical components for missiles, munitions, aerospace, propulsion, naval, undersea, electronics, and industrial manufacturing applications.

• The investment is to strengthen domestic tungsten capacity, bolster U.S. industrial resilience and military readiness, and help secure an essential material for the defense industrial base.

"This investment reflects the DoW's commitment to rebuilding critical industrial capacity in the U.S. Expanding domestic tungsten processing will strengthen supply chain resilience, support high-quality manufacturing jobs, and reinforce the production base behind essential defense systems." Mike Cadenazzi, ASW(IBP)

Related: DOW $450M Investment in The Elmet Group for Tungsten Supply Chain

AFNWC Welcomes New Portfolio Acquisition Executive

The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center officially welcomed Col. T. Justin Bronder as its new PAE for Nuclear Air Delivered.

Job Opening - GS-15, Joint Staff/J8 Management and Program Analyst
Joint Staff seeks a high speed reformer in the Joint Capabilities Division to help shape new Department requirements system, mission analyses, and the future of the JROC.

Army Speeds Up Testing For New Command System

BLUF: The Army is testing two competing NGC2 command-network prototypes, led by Anduril and Lockheed Martin, in the 4th and 25th Infantry Divisions.

• The Army’s testing command now delivers assessment results within one to two weeks of an exercise, down from a previous timeline of months.

• Rather than picking one vendor to build NGC2 top to bottom, the Army is running two different approaches side by side.

• The 4th Infantry Division, based at Fort Carson, CO, has been testing a system led by Anduril Industries, working with partners including Palantir and Microsoft under a $99.6M contract the Army awarded in July 2025.

• The 25th Infantry Division has separately been testing a competing approach led by Lockheed Martin.

• Rather than treating the two divisions as rivals, the Army has had them share soldier feedback and technical data from their respective field exercises, called Ivy Sting and Ivy Mass for the 4th ID and Lightning Surge for the 25th ID.

• The Army plans to spend nearly $3B in FY27 alone, with a goal of fielding some version of NGC2 across every Army division within five years.

• Army Futures Command’s leader, Gen. James Rainey, has described the effort in broader terms, saying it’s a blueprint for how we’ll deliver future Army systems.

“We are already moving out with the converged data layer architecture.” Joseph Welch, PAE C2/CC2

Anchoring Army Modernization To Operational Problems

Matt Russell and Michael Carvelli

BLUF: Project Convergence-Capstone 6 demonstrated the value of testing emerging technology under realistic battlefield conditions. Soldiers at Fort Irwin tested emerging technologies alongside joint and allied forces.

• Uncrewed systems operated in scenarios that forced soldiers and leaders to make decisions under pressure. Army leaders observed how new equipment performed against threats and conditions designed to resemble combat.

• Army leaders should keep asking which battlefield problem a program solves as requirements, acquisition, fielding, and assessment move forward.

• Technology, threats, organizations, funding, and requirements change over time.

• Successful modernization requires leaders to revalidate that operational problem as evidence accumulates and ensure the developing capability continues to address the problem under current battlefield conditions.

• Speed serves a battlefield purpose when Army leaders keep modernization efforts connected to a validated operational problem. Rapid development needs a stable reference as technology, threats, requirements, and organizations change.

• A clear operational problem gives leaders that reference while allowing solutions to evolve.

• A clear operational problem gives modernization a common reference from early testing through fielding.

• Modernization becomes harder to manage as a capability moves from experimentation into requirements, acquisition, resourcing, fielding, and assessment.

• Repeated problem revalidation helps modernization stay aligned as battlefield conditions change.

Our Take: Fully agree. Last year the Department cancelled the horrific Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS) and pivoting to a Joint Force Requirements System. However within the Services, they have not modernized their requirements system to operate in a modern, dynamic environment. DoW at the strategic to portfolio levels must continue to define and communicate clear operational problems for industry and defense stakeholders to design, develop, and deliver capability to solve them.

Army Awards Lockheed $1.2B Contract for PrSM Inc 2 System

BLUF: The Army awarded Lockheed Martin a $1.2B contract for an early operational capability of Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) Increment 2.

• PrSM Increment 2 is the Army’s initiative to develop a missile with a multimode seeker capable of hitting maritime targets on the move.

• It’s also referred to as the Land-Based Anti-Ship Missile seeker, and is designed to travel up to 500 km (310.7 miles) in combat.

• The Army used its PrSM Increment 1 capabilities for the first time in combat in March during the on and off again conflict in Iran.

• Increment 3 will seek to add in enhanced lethality payloads while Increment 4, for which the Army has tapped a Lockheed team and a Raytheon-Northrop Grumman team, will fly over 1,000 km (621.4 miles).

• The Army is also looking for an Increment 5 solution that can fly more than 1,000 km and fire from an autonomous launcher.

Army Gets Next-Gen Artillery Guidance Kit Built for GPS Jamming

BLUF: Northrop Grumman will produce a new version of its Precision Guidance Kit (PGK) designed to keep 155 mm artillery accurate when GPS signals are degraded or jammed.

• The new E5 variant adds anti-jamming capabilities intended to maintain that precision when adversaries interfere with GPS signals.

• The PGK E5 adds anti-jamming technology to the existing guidance kit while retaining the same form factor and compatibility with fielded artillery systems.

• The upgrade is intended to let Army and allied forces continue using GPS-guided artillery in environments where electronic warfare can disrupt satellite navigation.

• Recent testing in GPS-degraded conditions showed the PGK E5 exceeding both threshold and objective accuracy requirements.

• Production is already underway at the company’s facility in Plymouth, MN, with first deliveries expected in early 2028.

Other Army News:

• Army is looking for new drones to ferry blood supplies

• Army adds $234M in UCA funding for Black Hawk deal

• Army Picks VIKING UGV for Autonomous Breaching Trials

• As experimental drone battalion ends, Army aims to push drones to every squad

• Army can outfit small drones to each unit, but needs the training to do so

• Army awards contract to modernize ammunition management

Navy, Boeing Ink First MQ-25A Stingray Production Contract

BLUF: The Navy awarded a $562M fixed-price incentive contract to Boeing to kick off Lot 1 Low Rate Initial Production of the MQ-25A Stingray unmanned tanker.

• Boeing’s MQ-25A will become the DoW’s first unmanned tanker and the Navy’s first operational carrier-based unmanned aircraft.

• The UAV is designed to extend the life of the Navy’s F/A-18 Super Hornets and relieve the fighter jets of their aerial refueling role so the aircraft can focus on strike missions.

• The Stingray is supposed to deliver at least 14,000 pounds of fuel over 500 nautical miles, around the same capacity as the Super Hornets.

• The contract covers three LRIP Lot 1 MQ-25As and includes additional funding for components to support three Lot 2 MQ-25As.

• Initial Lot 1 deliveries are slated for 2029. The MQ-25 program of record includes 67 operational aircraft and nine test aircraft.

• The Navy completed its first successful Stingray test flight on April 25, though that demonstration lagged a year behind the service’s initial plans. The Navy estimates it will continue flight tests through the end of this year.

“Awarding this first LRIP contract marks a pivotal transition from development to operational reality and is a testament to the focused effort of our joint government and industry teams. MQ-25A will deliver the advanced reach, lethality and survivability our warfighters need to outpace evolving threats and dominate the future battle space.” - CAPT Daniel Fucito, Navy, PM for Unmanned Carrier Aviation

Related: Navy Awards First Production Contract For MQ-25A Stingray

Navy Wants Containerized, Low-cost Interceptors to Defeat Cruise Missiles, Drones

BLUF: The Navy wants to deploy containerized low-cost interceptors to defeat cruise missiles and attack drones, according to a request for white papers.

• Dubbed the Naval Affordable Interceptor, the concept seeks to field a container launcher that can carry at least 60 missiles. The system’s installation should not require permanent modification aboard its host warship.

• Interested firms should be able to produce 500 interceptors annually and operationally deploy the system within 12 months of award.

• The white paper’s request and requirements for the low-cost interceptors are for the first system planned to be procured by the Navy’s PAE Munitions Rapid Capability Cell.

• The massed low-cost missile and one-way attack drone threat has resulted in an unfavorable cost and magazine-depth problem for traditional air and missile defense.

• The affordable interceptor’s deployment method also reflects the Navy’s increasing focus on bringing offensive, defensive, sensor and EW capabilities to the fleet through containers.

MARTAC Adds Capacity for 100 Devil Ray USVs a Year as Navy Pushes for Unmanned Maritime Mass.

BLUF: MARTAC partnered with SŌLACE Boats to add production capacity for 100 Devil Ray USVs per year. The expansion supports higher output as U.S. and allied demand for unmanned maritime platforms grows.

• The agreement will use SŌLACE’s 18,600-square-meter facility in Edgewater, FL, which brings experience in vacuum infusion and catamaran hull construction to Devil Ray production.

• The additional capacity is intended to support a broader shift by U.S. naval forces from limited unmanned demonstrations toward larger operational fleets, while giving MARTAC more industrial depth to respond to demand from both domestic and allied customers.

Three Prototype Agreements On LCU 1700 Production

BLUF: The Navy has awarded three competitive Prototype OT agreements to Conrad Shipyard, Master Boat Builders, and Saronic Technologies to build Landing Craft, Utility (LCU) 1700 class craft.

• Under the agreements, each shipyard will construct two or three prototype craft and refine manufacturing plans to support high-rate production.

• The total initial construction obligation is $280M.

• The newly constructed craft will feature improved reliability, increased payload capacity, extended operational reach and compatibility with the Navy’s amphibious warfare ships.

• Deliveries are scheduled to begin in late 2028 and continue through 2029.

“By selecting three distinct shipyards, the Navy is expanding its shipbuilding industrial base capacity and building a resilient second source of supply for landing craft. OT prototype authority allows the Navy to move at the speed of relevance.” - William Mahan, PTDO ASN/RDA

Related: Navy Awards Three Prototype Agreements To Accelerate LCU 1700 Production

Navy Moves Blackbeard Hypersonic Weapon Into Production

BLUF: Castelion has received a production delivery order from the Navy to manufacture, assemble, test, and deliver an initial lot of Blackbeard hypersonic weapons to the fleet.

• PAE Aviation awarded the order, valued at up to $200M through its Future Capability Development and Integration Aviation Rapid Capabilities Cell.

• The order follows the Navy’s purchase of 50 Blackbeard Early Operational Capability (EOC) weapons in June 2026.

• Blackbeard is an air-launched hypersonic weapon designed for use against maritime and land targets. Castelion said the system is intended to provide naval aviation with a long-range strike capability and increase the number of weapons available to the fleet.

• Castelion developed the weapon with private investment and in cooperation with the Navy, Army, and Air Force. The company is using a vertically integrated manufacturing approach for production.

“The Navy’s decision to move into production reflects its confidence in the Blackbeard program, and the progress we’ve made together. We are grateful to PAE(A) for the trust and the urgency. Blackbeard was engineered from day one for the production line, and we look forward to delivering this capability to the fleet.” - Bryon Hargis, Castelion, Co-founder and CEO

Related: Navy Awards Production Delivery Order for Blackbeard Hypersonic Missile

Congress Must Save the Navy from Catastrophic Failure: Barreling toward a Hollow Navy

John Ferrari

BLUF: Congress failed to fix the broken Navy, but it now risks allowing the Navy to become something worse: a hollow force that exists on paper but cannot generate the ships, aircraft, submarines, and sailors necessary to fight and win a war.

• The U.S. Constitution clearly states that Congress is responsible “To provide and maintain a Navy.” Never has this clause been more important.

• Whether or not Congress turns things around hinges on three decisions.

  • Whether the U.S. changes a carrier design already in production.

  • Whether the Navy will be forced to absorb an indefinite war that consumes the fleet and causes deferred maintenance costs to explode.

  • Whether we adopt a modernization plan that could crowd out the unmanned and AI-enabled systems needed for the next war.

• Congress has the next four months before NDAA passage to take three critical steps: Stop the carrier redesign, fund the war’s consequences, and pass the $350B.

  • The authorizers need to prohibit the Navy from expending any funds to alter the aircraft carriers under construction.

  • The appropriators must pass an emergency supplemental to regenerate the Navy.

  • Pass the $350B reconciliation request. While many have given up on these funds, it is clear that without them, the entire modernization of the Navy comes to an end.

Building Durable Demand for American Ships

Michael Roberts

BLUF: Can Washington Build a Maritime Industrial Base Without a Market for American Ships?

• Washington is reconsidering not merely how much it spends on ships, but how the industrial system that produces them should operate.

• The Navy’s May 2026 Shipbuilding Plan calls for a “buildable and sustainable” high-low mix of platforms and a dramatic expansion of construction distributed among multiple sites.

• Navy awarded its first ever Vessel Construction Manager contract to the TOTE services company in a $2.2B deal to oversee the construction of the new Medium Landing Ships.

• President Trump directed the government to apply the ‘Finland Model’ to as many as three ship classes as part of a broader effort to revitalize American shipbuilding. In addition to restricting the Navy from imposing the kinds of iterative design changes and instability that caused serious disruptions in the Constellation program.

• Washington is fundamentally reconceptualizing America’s maritime industrial base. Considering commercial shipbuilding, naval construction, suppliers, repair facilities, ports, and workforce inside a single conceptual framework reframes the shipbuilding crisis as a larger maritime economy issue rather than a defense-production issue or a contracting system issue.

• Without a robust commercial sector to anchor the workforce and supplier networks, infrastructure will decay the moment Navy and Coast Guard procurement cycles dip.

• The proposed Strategic Commercial Fleet would involve growing the current U.S. flag fleet from 188 vessels to 250 according to the proposed SHIPS for America Act of 2025, but a one-time initiative to build 62 new commercial ships is not going to save American shipbuilding in the long term.

• What distinguishes Fincantieri's naval business is not only the manufacturing techniques it can borrow from commercial shipbuilding, but the existence of a large commercial business that helps sustain the broader industrial ecosystem in which naval construction operates.

Navy Expands Hammerhead Anti-Submarine Mine Production with General Dynamics

BLUF: General Dynamics Mission Systems has been awarded a $230M contract modification by the Navy to continue development and delivery of the Hammerhead anti-submarine mine system.

• The Hammerhead mine system provides the Navy with a next-generation, anti-submarine weapon designed for deployment at intermediate and deep-water depths.

Hanwha, Magnet Defense to Start Construction on New MUSV This Fall, Testing Next Year

BLUF: Hanwha Defense USA and Magnet Defense are planning to start construction on a new, medium unmanned surface vessel (MUSV) this fall, and begin testing that vessel early next year.

Other Navy News:

• Navy orders additional Hammerhead anti-submarine mine systems

• Navy should target carriers in fight with China

Marines Secure $7.3M Contract for Ground Robots

BLUF: American Rheinmetall, the US arm of German defense company Rheinmetall, has secured a $7.28M contract to supply autonomous ground vehicles to the Marine Corps.

• The company will manufacture and deliver 12 Mission Master SP Autonomous Unmanned Ground Vehicles (A-UGVs), five amphibious kits, associated Marine Kits, and other supporting equipment.

• The vehicles will help the service test autonomous logistics and expeditionary mobility technologies.

• Each Mission Master SP is built around Rheinmetall’s PATH autonomy system, which allows military vehicles to perform tasks with reduced human involvement.

Marines Demonstrate Rapid HIMARS Rocket Artillery Insertion Capability in Japan

BLUF: Marines demonstrated the ability to rapidly airlift and deploy a HIMARS launcher in Japan during Typhoon Crossbow.

• The exercise validated a sequence in which Marines seize key terrain, insert HIMARS, engage a target and quickly withdraw the launcher to a secure location.

• This shoot-and-move approach can reduce exposure to enemy detection and counterfire while allowing U.S. forces to project long-range fires from temporary positions across the Indo-Pacific.

• The operation demonstrated how Marine aviation and long-range ground fires can be combined to rapidly position combat power across geographically dispersed locations.

• In the strategically important Western Pacific, that ability reinforces the Marine Corps’ emphasis on mobility, dispersion and expeditionary readiness.

Acquisition Leaders Emphasize Mission Speed, Risk in Changing Acquisition Culture

BLUF: Senior acquisition and Department of the Air Force leaders took center stage to discuss the department’s ongoing acquisition transformation and the need to put operational outcomes at the center of decision-making.

• The panelists (Gen. Dale White, Dr. Erich Hernandez-Baquero, and William Bailey) described a common goal: give acquisition teams the authority, expertise and resources needed to make informed decisions quickly and deliver capabilities that have a measurable impact on the fight.

• Instead of measuring success primarily by whether a design review is completed or a test milestone is met, acquisition professionals should understand how those activities contribute to the operational effect a capability is intended to provide.

• White challenged acquisition professionals to consider how they would approach a problem differently if the nation were at war and what risks they would accept to achieve the mission.

• Bailey said acquisition professionals also should not wait for perfect requirements, additional staffing or new funding before addressing a problem and that the new paradigm means moving beyond a focus on individual program milestones.

• Hernandez-Baquero announced that the Space Force will establish a Technology Portfolio Executive who will focus on identifying promising technologies and creating pathways for them to transition into portfolios.

• Acquisition leaders need to identify which technologies provide the greatest mission value and ensure those capabilities can transition into production at the necessary rate and scale. That requires greater decision velocity.

Our Take: All fantastic points. We will await to see how this excellent philosophy translates into action.

Industrial Base Concerns Over Building F/A-XX and F-47 Remain: Top Pentagon Procurement Officer

BLUF: As both the Navy and the USAF were racing to field a new generation of advanced tactical jets, the Navy program hit a wall. The reason was concern that the U.S. industrial base could not handle simultaneous final development and production of two extremely complex new fighter aircraft.

• The Navy’s program, dubbed F/A-XX, is supposedly back on and a down-select is coming soon, but that concern appears to linger among officials.

• The concerns are “not unique” to the F-47 or the Navy’s program but the problem exists to various degrees across the industrial base too.

• With Boeing as a finalist, it is also possible that F/A-XX could be a variant of the F-47. As we noted in a past story, the Boeing render for its F/A-XX concept is remarkably similar to artwork for its F-47.

Our Take: Given slips on practically all aircraft, specifically Boeing ones of late, this is a very legitimate concern - especially if the Navy chooses Boeing for its F/A-XX. The temptation will be to follow along with the Air Force with the appeal of commonality but our experience on F-35 shows that will be less likely to reap the desired benefits and they would be better off going with a different contractor to diversify the risk.

USAF’s Fighter Drones to Make Debut in a Large-Scale Exercise

BLUF: CCAs are set to take part in a large-force employment Emerald Flag test exercise later this year which marks another important new steppingstone toward fielding the drones operationally.

• The exercise series has historically focused heavily on demonstrating new and improved aerial networking architectures and other command and control capabilities, which will be especially critical elements for future CCA operations.

• A key component of the Air Force’s vision for CCA employment is being able to forward deploy the drones to far-flung locations, including airstrips with limited infrastructure and access to logistics chains.

• Rapid, distributed deployments like this are central to still-evolving concepts of operations currently referred to collectively as Agile Combat Employment (ACE).

“That’ll be our first tip dip of the toe in an actual force integration.” Lt. Col. Lyndon “OTTO” Bartlett, Director of Operations for the Experimental Operations Unit (EOU)

Related Article: CCA Drones to Fly at Large-Scale Air Force Exercise in December

Our Take: This is a good step. The Air Force has taken small steps towards enabling real ACE ops and integrating CCA will reveal the viability and challenges.

Air Force Plans Hundreds of Autonomous Fighter and ISR Drones by 2032

BLUF: The Air Force plans to field at least 500 CCAs by 2032, and another 500 cheap reconnaissance and strike drones known as Massed Modular Aircraft that same year.

• Future “increments” of CCA could focus on other missions, such as air-to-ground strikes, reconnaissance, or electronic warfare operations.

• The Air Force is also accelerating a program called Massed Modular Aircraft, which will field drones to take on some of the missions the MQ-9A Reaper performs today.

• The Air Force plans to have multiple types of MMA drones from different contractors, similar to how its CCA program is working with multiple vendors.

• The Air Force plans to have “tens of thousands” of the new low-cost Family of Affordable Mass Munition, or FAMM, weapons in its inventory by 2030.

“Because of the steps we are taking today, we will have a significantly different force by 2032. By then, our special operators will have the ability to employ thousands of autonomous one-way attack systems, and we will have autonomous fighters like Collaborative Combat Aircraft, or CCAs.” Secretary Meink

BLUF: There are a couple budget lines in the FY27 budget that could support MMA planning next year, but we have not observed any real funding that would allow significant moves next year unless it is coming from a black line or a reprogramming is planned.

Related Articles: Fleet Of At Least 500 Collaborative Combat Aircraft By 2032 Now in USAF’s Plans and Air Force Plans to Field 500 CCA Drones by 2032

MQ-9 Replacement Opens Door to Futuristic Air War Concept

BLUF: The Air Force has a vision of a future armed and autonomous Massed Modular Aircraft being tipped off by data relayed from a space-based communications network about the location of a moving target tracked by yet another constellation of distant satellites, then firing a stealthy anti-ship missile upon some unlucky enemy vessel still hundreds of miles away.

• The MMA acquisition plan underscores a new willingness to take risks in the near term to realize the vision for connecting sensors and a new class of autonomous shooters over the Pacific Ocean’s vast distances in a hypothesized war with China.

Our Take: There are a lot of really good companies exploring options in this space. It will be exciting to add this capability to the inventory if the Air Force can manage requirements such that it doesn’t compete with CCA which increasingly seems to be able to support similar mission sets. Price point will determine the outcome and the Air Force will have to be even more disciplined then they were on CCA Inc 1.

Air Force Facing CCA Policy Challenges

BLUF: The most pressing challenge facing the Air Force unit dedicated to integrating the CCA is not a technological problem — it’s policy.

• Deploying a jet that does not have a pilot and runs instead on mission autonomy software presents new implications for operating in compliance with longstanding service doctrine and air traffic control regulations.

• The expectation that the software will mature throughout its usage is akin to the expectation for pilots to mature from their first day in the operational force.

“When you have a young wingman on your wing, there’s not a lot of trust,” Winkler said during the panel. “You pay attention to what they’re doing. And I think we’re going to find that same thing with it as we develop the autonomy.” Robert Winkler, vice president of corporate development and national security programs at Kratos

Our Take: We love this analogy. Initial mission autonomy should be treated like a young pilot that is continually learning and advancing. While we still think manned unmanned teaming is less viable than advertised, we hope this approach helps advance the progress towards certifying CCAs for autonomous flight in the NAS.

Anduril’s YFQ-44A Fury CCA Has Flown Alongside F-35s

BLUF: Anduril’s YFQ-44A Fury CCA has already flown in formation alongside F-35 fighters during Air Force testing, company executives have revealed, offering the clearest indication yet that live manned-unmanned teaming work with the fifth-generation fighter is underway.

Anduril Officials Say Company Can’t Start On CCA Production Contract Without FY27 Budget

BLUF: While Anduril has invested its own funds into building a new production facility and started buying items with long lead times, it will need Congress to pass FY27 appropriations before it can start work on the FQ-44 Fury.

“What we communicate to the Air Force is that we have invested and have gone as far as we can. Even a company like ours can only do so much without procurement dollars.” Erin Simpson, Anduril’s vice president for strategy execution

Our Take: This is a worthwhile note to all acquisition professionals that private capital is not an unlimited slush fund but should really only be seen as risk reduction.

YFQ-44A Fury Has Been Fit Checked with Air-To-Ground Munitions

BLUF: New imagery shows the YFQ-44A Fury configured with air-to-ground weapons, underscoring the fact that the CCA could take on an air-to-ground role in the future in addition to its current air-to-air focus.

• The company had already begun integration and fit checks of 500-pound Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM), 250-pound Small Diameter Bombs (SDB), and low-cost cruise missiles.

• Pods for 2.75-inch guided or unguided rockets are also seen fitted to the aircraft.

Our Take: This would open up a whole new range of potential uses for CCA including substituting for MQ-9 in a much more survivable platform.

GA-ASI Demonstrates Aircraft Passive Sensing for CCA Teaming

BLUF: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) and Tactical Air Support Inc. demonstrated how a manned fighter and CCA can share passive infrared sensor information and coordinate an airborne engagement during a large-force exercise earlier this summer.

• The flight test paired a F-5 with a GA-ASI CCA test aircraft to demonstrate Infrared Search and Track (IRST) Multi-Ship Ranging (MSR), building on earlier demonstrations of passive infrared sensing and autonomous target ranging.

• Both aircraft were equipped with GA-ASI’s TacACE (Tactical Autonomy Ecosystem) software.

• Unlike active radar, an IRST sensor does not transmit energy to illuminate a target, making it difficult for an adversary to detect the sensing aircraft based on radar-like emissions.

• However, a single passive sensor generally provides angular information rather than directly measuring target range.

• Multiple sensors distributed across aircraft can provide additional measurements that can be combined to improve target localization and tracking.

Our Take: Very cool, this would provide some incredible capability especially as CCAs are fielded in greater numbers and can swarm - and provide that multi-ship targeting solution to the right platform to deliver an effector.

Air Force’s Autonomy Push Will Significantly Change Service

BLUF: The Air Force is going to look significantly different in the next half-decade as it begins to field new autonomous platforms to complement its manned aircraft fleet.

• By 2032, the Air Force expects to have special operators deploying thousands of one-way attack systems and autonomous fighters.

• There is still a debate about whether the 500 CCA fleet in 2032 will be composed primarily of the FQ-42 and FQ-44 or include systems from future increments.

• Other considerations include:

  • whether Increment 2 will have more sensors

  • will be cheaper or more exquisite

  • whether it will have shorter or longer range than Increment 1

  • whether the aircraft will be carried by another platform or take off and land by itself

Our Take: There’s a lot of tradespace here even if we are very bearish on launched air platforms given the complexity of their takeoff and recovery.

Air Force Megatron IDIQ to Fast-Track DAF Battle Network Acquisitions

BLUF: C3BM is planning an IDIQ to provide a procurement pathway as a more agile mechanism for delivering C2 capabilities by adding both flexibility and industry expertise into the Air Force’s procurement processes.

“This contract is about integration to win. We want industry to understand the mission problem, bring their best ideas, and be prepared to deliver interoperable and adaptive capability.” Brig Gen Joshua Williams

Our Take: We won’t mince words. We love the integration vision but see this as a horrible use of an IDIQ. An IDIQ inherently does not provide flexibility because each TO has to go through the same award process as a normal contract (with some minor streamlining) and is still constrained by FAR processes. Maybe with the FAR re-write some things are easier but why they are not taking advantage of the inherently flexible OT structure (which allows for much more open and collaborative dialogue) is a mystery. This is also not a new idea as ABMS executed contracts on a BAA with a similar process for years but gained little flexibility from it.

DAF Battle Network Driving Multi-Domain Integration, Decision Advantage

BLUF: According to a panel at AFA, the DAF Battle Network has already enabled new capabilities including hybrid architecture, edge computing, air operations center upgrades, and deploying the Tactical Operations Center-Light prototype.

• Bryan Tipton highlighted integration with the Joint Fires Network and the Navy to put JFN into test and operational use, bringing new capabilities such as artificial intelligence into AOCs, and enabling dynamic mission planning.

• He also identified how ground and air capabilities are now connecting to the Space Force’s Space Data Network.

• Tipton emphasized that maintaining a robust, multilayered transport network is what allows the joint force to move data under intense adversary EW threats.

• This data-transport capability is what completes long-range kill chains at the speed of relevance.

Our Take: While TOC-L is an ongoing saga, the Space Data Network is going to be a game changer and it is good that C3BM is identifying how to best leverage that capability.

Air Force Moves Key B-52 Engine and Radar Upgrades Forward

BLUF: The Air Force has approved two critical milestones for the B-52 Stratofortress modernization effort designed to keep the heavy bomber flying through the 2050s.

• The Commercial Engine Replacement Program (CERP) achieved Milestone B in June, officially putting the initiative into the EMD phase.

• The Radar Modernization Program (RMP) was approved for low-rate initial production (LRIP) in August.

Our Take: It’s good to see these efforts finally happening but they have to be seen through a mixed lens since they are both 2 years late and both roughly 30% over budget. While that is normal for these types of programs, CERP started as an MTA effort that leveraged digital models to ease the integration. While RMP started in a more traditional way, it is crazy to us that the new radar (AN/APQ-188 AESA) was already available and that PDR completed in 2020 but only now 6 years later is it being produced. Nothing to feel good about here in our view, just lots of lessons learned.

Air Force to Extend Service of B-1, B-2 Bombers

BLUF: The Air Force launched an operation readiness campaign, dubbed the North Star Readiness Campaign, to increase the number of mission-capable B-52s and B-1s by accelerating the delivery of parts, engineering support and depot maintenance.

Our Take: There’s few details on the exact length of life extension that is being pursued and what it will cost but it seems clear that until there are enough B-21s on the ramp, the Air Force will pay any cost to keep theses platforms alive. Let’s hope the hype on B-21 plays out and that production is as seamless as its being billed.

F-35 Readiness Surged in Epic Fury; Now Pentagon and Lockheed Eye Broader Gains

BLUF: The Air Force’s experience flying F-35s heavily in operations against Iran have showed what the jet can be capable of, if maintainers get all the supplies and support they need.

• The Air Force noted that keeping a steady flow of spare parts was critical.

• The challenge now facing the Air Force, F-35 prime contractor Lockheed Martin, and other parts of the Joint Strike Fighter enterprise: how to keep that level of readiness up, even for aircraft not on the front lines of combat?

“When properly resourced, we showed without a doubt how well this airplane can perform in combat. When we send our aircraft into harm’s way and they go downrange, they enjoy a higher priority for spare parts and all the things that the logistics trail can get to them. What we saw is how remarkably well the F-35 airplane withstood and maintained really high mission capable rates over a long period of time in the toughest of combat situations.” Brig. Gen. Brian Laidlaw

Our Take: Well, this is kind of a “no s^*% Sherlock” moment to us. Of course, if you have a never-ending flow of parts, it’s a lot easier to sustain readiness. However, the aircraft was designed to have 8,000 flying hours on each part so it shouldn’t require that much maintenance for relatively limited operations in Iran. This is the element that has been infuriating in the readiness discussion, with some saying we just need to fund more spares (and we do) without any acknowledgement of the reliability those parts should have and whether that contract is being satisfied.

F-35 Engine Upgrade Clears Key Design Review

BLUF: The F-35 program has seen the Engine Core Upgrade (ECU) upgrade to the F135 powerplant, successfully pass what is known as the risk reduction design review.

• When Pratt pushed the ECU plan several years ago, it was projected to enter service by 2028 but likely won’t begin until 2031 now.

• The upgrade is also meant to restore expected engine life and support a suite of forthcoming upgrades known as Block 4.

Air Force Leaders Chart Path to Future Fight

BLUF: Air Force senior leaders (Gen. Kevin Schneider, Gen. Adrian L. Spain, Lt. Gen. Kenyon Bell, Lt. Gen. Christopher Niemi) discussed how the service can adapt to a contested environment, balance current readiness with future modernization and turn emerging capabilities into combat power.

• Schneider emphasized the need for stronger command and control nodes, resilient data pathways and logistics capable of operating under pressure.

• Spain reinforced the changing nature of the operating environment, such as the vulnerability of bases and the need to generate combat airpower while under attack.

• For Niemi, recent operations also reinforced the need to accelerate investments in point defense and rethink the balance between a small number of highly capable platforms and a broader force able to generate mass.

• The modernization challenge, however, is not simply determining what the Air Force needs next. Leaders must also decide how much risk the service can accept today to build that future force.

Our Take: They nailed the decision space. With investment budgets unlikely to dramatically expand, there is risk that will have to be taken in the near-term to achieve the longer-term goals of a more resilient Air Force. Nothing is easy here.

Related Article: Air Force Leaders Say Point Defense Is No Longer A Side Hustle, Eye Acquisition Changes

New AMC Boss Open to Unmanned Next-Gen Tanker

BLUF: The new head of Air Mobility Command said he wants to explore an unmanned option for the service’s next-generation aerial refueling system.

• Lt. Gen. Daniel Tulley said he is open to looking at emerging technologies for a future unmanned or optionally manned large aerial refueling aircraft.

• To field a next-generation tanker in the mid-2030s, the Air Force is pursuing an AoA, looking at everything from an innovative blended wing-body aircraft to more KC-46s to a stealthy and possibly uncrewed refueling platform.

Our Take: This is so frustrating to read because industry has already given the Air Force a dozen solid ideas on how to field an unmanned tanker like two years ago. The ideal scenario from our lens is not an equally big (KC-46) unmanned tanker but a smaller one that can be more distributed to support surging operations in different sectors and to keep the KC-46/KC-135s just far enough out of reach to complicate targeting. The Hudson Institute (props to Tim Walton) did a great study laying out all the details. The Air Force just needs to pick something and move out. Studying this for two more years will not result in greater insights.

Related Article: Air Force contemplates unmanned tankers

USAF Assessing Feasibility of Restarting C-17 Production as Part of Its Future Airlift Vision

BLUF: The Air Force has been taking a new look at the feasibility of restarting production of the C-17 as part of its still-evolving next-generation airlift plans.

• The service also continues to explore a wide range of next-generation aerial refueling concepts, including new stealthy and/or uncrewed tankers, but a firm vision for the way forward there has yet to emerge.

• On the airlift side, the Air Force’s stated plan to date is to replace both the C-17A and C-5M Galaxy with a single Next-Generation Airlift (NGAL) platform, starting in the mid-2040s.

Our Take: The C-17 is fairly expensive to maintain so while this is an option, given the number of aerospace new entrants who can support this work and develop novel concepts that are easier to produce and sustain. If we care about the industrial base, then take the risk Air Force and bring something new to the force, don’t fall back on retaining old platforms just because you have 10,000 hours flying it.

Related Article: Restarting C-17 Production? ‘Heck Yeah!’ Says Air Mobility Commander

Air Force Eyes New-Build F-16s to Boost Fighter Force

BLUF: Lockheed Martin is pitching the Air Force on a new version of the F-16 fighter, designated the F-16G, as a way to replace aging Fighting Falcons faster than the F-35 production line can keep up.

• The F-16G builds on the current Block 70 F-16, Lockheed’s newest production version, and would add conformal fuel tanks, 600-gallon wing tanks, an infrared search and track pod, a Sniper targeting pod and a drag chute.

• Those additions would extend the jet’s range and give it added sensor capability compared with earlier F-16 models still flying in Air Force squadrons.

Air Force Focusing on Mission Outcomes for Nuclear Systems Acquisition

BLUF: The Air Force is modernizing its nuclear deterrence capabilities to keep pace with the modern threat picture, and the service is focusing on mission outcomes to transform the acquisitions process.

• To ensure the acquisitions process modernizes alongside modern threats, the Air Force is putting together teams of acquisition professionals, requirements owners, operators and industry partners to understand the operational problem together.

“Some of you may think the acquisition change is we’re changing how we do contracts or something like that. It’s not that. It’s about focusing our teams on mission outcomes — and in this case, mission outcomes are safe, secure, credible, effective capability that we present to the Joint Force and our nation.” Lt. Gen. Mark Pye, Deputy DRPM for Critical Major Weapon Systems

Our Take: This is goodness and an excellent

Air Force Seeking ‘Efficient’ Ways to Thwart Russian Drones

BLUF: Russian incursions into NATO nations have spiked amid the war in Ukraine, with a rising number of European members reporting drones and missiles violating their airspace.

• The alliance is primarily using air power to counter the incursions right now, which has proven to be an effective option on many occasions — such as with the Italian fighter jets that eliminated the drone in Lithuanian skies — but it is not the most efficient option.

• Procuring the same systems enables ease of connection when working together. But when commonality is not an option, interoperability with NATO standards by design is a major advantage.

“The good thing is we’re doing it effectively, but … I want to get to the point where we’re doing it efficiently using lower-cost interceptors, hopefully ground-based and in some cases air-based that are cheaper to use.” Lt. Gen. Jason Hinds, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Air Forces Africa and NATO’s Allied Air Command

Air Force Learning Stand-Off Munitions Lessons from ‘Modern Conflicts’

BLUF: The Air Force is learning lessons about stand-off munitions from current operations as the service looks to increase capacity to produce the weapons and lower their costs

• In the past, the Air Force has used extremely capable aircraft — like an F-35 or a B-2 bomber — and put inexpensive weapons on them.

• From a cost-effectiveness perspective, that worked well as long as those aircraft can be operated at relatively low risk.

• One lesson from Iran is that it’s becoming harder to produce that kind of sustained, uncontested air superiority, especially against a pacing adversary.

• The Air Force is not going to abandon stand-in capabilities, but it wants to add more tools to the quiver “so that commanders in the future have more options available to them.”

“Historically, we had very few stand-off weapons, and they were very expensive. And so, what we aim to do in the force design is to increase the capacity and lower the cost to increase the options available to the warfighter.” Lt. Gen. Christopher Niemi, Air Force chief modernization officer.

Other Air Force News:

• GE’s Futuristic Fighter Engine Moves from Digital Models to Hardware

• USAF, Experts Want to Up Cyber Defense for Critical Infrastructure

• Air Force fighter pilots fall below sortie minimum to be deemed combat ready

• Air Force Set Up a Depot in UK During Epic Fury for Faster Battle Repairs

Chief of Space Operations Schiess Outlines Priorities to Strengthen Space Force Combat Power

BLUF: Chief of Space Operations Gen. Douglas Schiess unveiled his priorities to strengthen Space Force combat power and highlighted Guardians’ contributions to the Joint Force.

• Schiess described his first line of effort as the foundational priority, rooted in the Space Force’s values of Character, Connection, Commitment and Courage.

• As his second line of effort, Schiess said he remains focused on arming and growing the Guardian Force.

• In his final line of effort, Schiess described the need for embedding Guardians on the frontlines and bringing space expertise directly into the Joint battlespace.

Related Articles: Remarks by CSO Gen. Douglas Schiess at the Air and Space Forces Association’s 2026 Air, Space and Cyber Conference

U.S. Admits It Has Weapons in Orbit

BLUF: Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink made a bombshell admission this morning, disclosing that there are on-orbit “space control” weapons deployed right now to protect America’s interests in space.

• There are a wide range of means by which a platform on-orbit can attack another or otherwise defend against incoming threats. Not all of those options involve effects that are destructive or even irreversible, either.

• For instance, a laser could be used to blind optics on a target temporarily without damaging them. Electronic warfare suites could similarly disrupt a threat without causing any kind of permanent harm. Doing so could help provide extra time for a friendly asset to maneuver out of danger.

• There are, of course, also capabilities that do seek to damage and/or destroy a target, such as physical interceptors, grappling arms, aerosols that can be sprayed on optics and solar panels, or even just using one satellite as a kinetic weapon to smash into something else.

“Space control encapsulates the mission areas required to contest and control the space domain – employing kinetic and non-kinetic means to affect adversary capabilities through disruption, degradation and even destruction, if necessary. These capabilities can be employed for offensive and defensive purposes at the direction of combatant commands. U.S. military operations are conducted in compliance with international law, including the Outer Space Treaty and LOAC [the Law of Armed Conflict].” - Space Force Spokesperson

Related Articles: Space Force has deployed space control weapons to orbit and Space Force Ready to Operate Space-Based Weapons

Our Take: From our own experience, we had some awareness here, but the reality is that the capabilities in space that can create these effects are likely to be limited (and focused on specific orbital regimes and capabilities). As our adversaries also adopt more proliferated constellations for key capabilities, it will become harder to reliably generate those effects. There is also a real escalation concern here because neither Russia nor China are responsible stewards in space as has been demonstrated in recent years. The most public example is Russia’s 2021 ASAT launch that destroyed one of its own satellites in LEO and sent 1,500 new pieces of debris across that crowded orbit. Given we have many of the same vulnerabilities as our adversaries, a tit-for-tat will be highly undesirable so our belief is that we should not rely on in-space weapons for deterrence but rather continue to distribute our capabilities and build resilience/redundancy for the key ones - including by using commercial capabilities.

SPACECOM Needs More Capabilities to Target Space Adversaries

BLUF: Space Command (SPACECOM) does not have all the capabilities it needs to target adversary space systems in a conflict.

“To be able to negate threats in space, we must be able to find, fix, track and target those threats. Targeting in the space domain is maturing, but it still has a long way to go. We don’t have robust target folders like the Joint Force does in other domains. Once a target is engaged, SPACECOM needs real-time battlespace awareness in order to execute battle management.” SPACECOM Commander Gen. Stephen Whiting

Space Force Contemplating Pros, Cons of Commercial Tech

BLUF: The Space Force earlier this year released strategic documents envisioning the future fight, and commercial technology plays a key role. However, it has also had to consider the technology’s vulnerabilities and how it could be used against it.

• As integral as commercial technology is to the Space Force mission, it comes with some risk. Recent global operations have shown that adversaries can exploit commercially available space capabilities.

• A common example is imagery which has led to hyper-transparent warfare.

• One point made was that as the Space Force thinks about operationalizing commercial technology, it needs to provide venues where such capabilities can be tested in a relevant environment to understand how they play.

“Resilience within any architecture needs to be the bottom line. When thinking about what missions commercial technology would be used in, the answer is, we would use commercial in every mission that has capability. Would you rely on it solely? In some, maybe. Especially if there’s diversity of access to that commercial data, and I can meet my needs with some level of surety.” Lt. Gen. Dennis Bythewood, commander of U.S. Space Forces - Space

Our Take: We certainly agree that we need more venues to allow vendors to test and validate their emerging capabilities to know if they are on the right path or wasting time and effort.

Space Systems Command Must Leverage Commercial Data Wisely

BLUF: The space domain continues to evolve and its role in warfare is expanding, and Space Systems Command is looking to purchase commercial data and leverage it wisely,

• There are a lot of different ways to integrate commercial capabilities into space architectures, and buying data or other capabilities as a service.

• The Commercial Space Office is uniquely positioned to bridge the gap between the military and industry, and as it builds acquisition strategies, it will help the command understand how commercial capabilities are bought and how industry is structured differently.

How the Space Force Is Preparing for Its New Moving Target Missions

BLUF: As the Space Force prepares to field new fleets of satellites that can track moving targets in the air and on the ground, it’s working to ensure it has the organizational structures in place to onboard and operate those systems.

• The NRO has launched some ground moving target indicator, or GMTI, satellites as part of its multimission proliferated low-Earth orbit constellation.

• The Space Force expects to launch a new GMTI capability called Resilient Radar System-Ground in the next year or two.

• The Space Force is also on the verge of launching its first space-based air moving target indicator, or AMTI, satellites.

• As the acquisition community develops and demonstrates new systems to perform the mission, the Space Force is standing up the operational units that will manage them.

• On July 31, CFC activated the 77th Surveillance Squadron within Space Delta 7.

• The role of the 77th is to take the intelligence collected by those AMTI and GMTI satellites and deliver it to decision-makers who will determine whether to attack a particular target.

• Gen. Stephen Whiting said his team is working with the Space Force and the NRO to solidify a plan to transition those satellites to the command once they’re deemed ready for operations.

• The first space-based AMTI deliveries will provide a baseline for the rest of the architecture, allowing the Space Force to fine-tune and calibrate its satellites and processing algorithms.

“There’s a broader architecture that we need to build out for the joint force to be able to close on its long-range kill chain missions. There’s how you battle manage with that data, how you apply the processing algorithms, get that data to the weapons and the shooters that you need, and the time latencies that requires.” Brig Gen(s) Ryan Frazier, PAE for Space-Based Sensing and Targeting

Related Articles: Space Force’s GMTI Program Gets a Name with Northrop as Prime and Space Force advancing on-orbit tracking for airborne and ground-based targets

Space Force Gives SpaceX Latitude on Design of $2.3B Satellite Network

BLUF: Space Force is giving SpaceX latitude to design the Space Data Network Backbone, or SDN-B, setting performance requirements rather than prescribing the number and configuration of spacecraft needed to meet them.

• The Space Force set constellation-level requirements for coverage, capacity, number of users and data throughput to support a high-capacity communications network for moving military data through space.

• SpaceX received a $2.29B contract in May to deliver the initial backbone, an optically interconnected mesh of satellites.

• The approach puts into practice a procurement philosophy Pentagon officials have increasingly advocated: tell industry what capability the military needs rather than prescribe how companies should build it.

• The model is particularly suited to SDN because the Space Force can draw on commercial satellite communications technology and production capacity.

• The strategy is also seen as an example of requirements reform and a different way of partnering with industry.

• Although SpaceX is building the initial backbone, the Space Force says the broader network will accommodate spacecraft and communications systems supplied by other companies.

• Amazon LEO for Government, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Rocket Lab and York Space Systems received awards totaling $60M to demonstrate connections between different commercial systems and the SDN Backbone.

• The Space Force is also working to integrate SDN with the Space Development Agency’s existing Transport Layer.

• Future sensors will depend on the high-volume, low-latency communications that SDN is intended to provide.

“In other words, we put this set of requirements out there, and they propose back the specifics of the constellation. The acquisition model gives the government and contractor room to update the architecture as technology changes. We’re not going to just buy a satellite in 2026 and lock that baseline down and start delivering and continue to deliver those same satellites in 2028 or 2029. The focus of the portfolio is really space-enabled, long-range kill chains for the terrestrial fight.” Brig Gen(s) Ryan Frazier, PAE for Space-Based Sensing and Targeting

Space Force Creates Office to Accelerate Innovative Tech Acquisition

BLUF: The Space Force has created a new office dedicated to bridging the gap between the service’s operational needs and emerging industry capabilities.

• The so-called Technology Portfolio Executive will report to Erich Hernandez-Baquero, assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration.

• This is in response to concerns that the PAEs alone will not have the bandwidth needed to identify and prototype novel capabilities.

• The office will look at a broad array of research-and-development efforts and work with industry — including commercial companies — to get them on the path to prototyping.

“It will be empowered just as the PAEs, it will be a peer to the PAEs and it will be 100% focused on that valley of death — working with industry to ensure that there’s a pathway into product lines that the companies are developing, and ensuring that the PAEs have what they need to inform these on-ramp opportunities.” Erich Hernandez-Baquero

Budget Impasse Will Stall 10% Of Space Force Programs

BLUF: The Space Force estimates about 10 percent of its programs will be impacted under a continuing resolution for the coming fiscal year.

• The CR also comes as the Space Force is working to speed up its acquisition processes, making plans to start fielding large fleets of targeting, tracking, and communication satellites in the coming years.

• Further complicating the Defense Department’s fiscal ‘27 budget outlook is its reliance on a $350B reconciliation package to supplement a $1.15T base request.

• The reconciliation proposal includes a number of Pentagon priorities, including $17B for Golden Dome, and about $12B in funding for Space Force programs, like Space-Based Air Moving Target Indication and the Space Data Network.

Is Space Force Pivoting Too Soon?

Christopher Stone

BLUF: The Space Force architecture for its missile warning enterprise question is correct, but the question is whether its enthusiasm for the future architecture is diminishing the importance of completing the GEO layer first.

• The six SBIRS GEO satellites and their associated HEO payloads remain operational and are expected to serve well into the 2030s.

• Too often the public discussion treats Next-Generation OPIR as merely the successor to SBIRS. It is considerably more than that.

• NGG incorporates dramatically more sensitive infrared sensors, improved resiliency, enhanced cybersecurity, and modern spacecraft capable of operating in a far more contested environment than SBIRS was ever designed to endure.

• Rather than viewing NGG as a temporary bridge until MEO matures, policymakers should recognize it as the strategic backbone of the future architecture.

• LEO and MEO provide persistence, stereo tracking, and resilience. GEO provides continuous global stare, strategic warning, and the first detection that enables every other layer to function effectively.

• Thankfully, industry performance is no longer the principal challenge. The bottleneck has become launch availability.

• Competition for Vulcan, Falcon Heavy, and future New Glenn missions has slowed deployment just as the Space Force accelerates procurement of the new MEO constellation. That sequencing deserves scrutiny.

First Tranche of Space Development Agency’s Missile Tracking Constellation Nearly Complete

BLUF: SDA remains busy as ever as it prepares for possible dissolution and realignment under the Space Force, and it has nearly completed the first tranche of its proliferated constellation of optically linked low-Earth orbit satellites.

• The constellation, known as the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, is designed to provide global, low-latency communication and missile tracking.

• Tranche 1 is providing initial warfighting capability, delivering satellites for communication, missile tracking and targeting data.

• Once on-orbit delivery is completed, the Tranche 1 constellation will consist of a total of 154 operational satellites, including 126 Transport Layer vehicles and 28 Tracking Layer vehicles, plus four missile defense demonstration vehicles.

• Six launches remain in Tranche 1 before the agency begins the Tranche 2 campaign, which will focus on global persistence. Two launches are expected by the end of the year.

• The Space Development Agency in its current form may be going away soon but the work continues for now.

• Contracts are “out on the street now” for 36 Accelerated Missile Defense Tranche 3 Tracking Layer satellites that will support the Golden Dome for America missile defense architecture.

Related Articles: SDA Misses Self-Imposed Deadline on Orbital Mesh Network and Space Development Agency Aims for Two More Launches This Year

SDA Hopes to Keep Certain Authorities as Congress Weighs Its Future

BLUF: As policymakers and Pentagon leaders determine the Space Development Agency’s future, its personnel are focused on meeting near-term deadlines.

• The agency’s lead would like to retain existing special hiring, original classification and head of contracting-related authorities.

“I personally have some concerns, but not too many because of some of the unique authorities that we have at SDA. If we keep those, then that doesn’t change anything. Then, it’s just a name change. But if you lose some of those, then there’ll be some challenges we’ll have to navigate.”

Space Force to Prototype New Software to Fuse Commercial, Military Space Tracking Data

BLUF: The Space Force is planning to develop new prototype software designed to automate the integration of commercial and military space tracking data to provide more timely and more accurate information.

• Col. Barry Croker, who heads up the service’s Mission Delta 2, said the plan is to launch the prototype “software environment” later this fall and to build a “minimum viable product.”

• Mission Delta 2 is responsible for organizing, training and equipping Guardians to undertake space domain awareness operations.

• Improving support to space control operations, there needs to be “a bias towards timeliness” rather than seeking the highest accuracy levels as current software and processes for analyzing data from military software does.

• For instance, the prototype could include lower fidelity, but faster observations and analysis now provided by commercial firms monitoring the heavens.

• The Space Force acquires commercial space tracking information via the Joint Commercial Operations cell, and houses that information in the cloud-based Unified Data Library.

• However, that data is not fused directly into operational space domain awareness computer systems, instead running on a “parallel” system.

Air Force Awards Antares $161M to Advance Nuclear Reactor for Space

BLUF: The nuclear microreactor startup Antares won a $161M Air Force contract to develop and demonstrate a nuclear reactor for spacecraft.

• Under the program, Antares said it will conduct a nuclear ground demonstration of its R1-S space reactor and integrate the system with a spacecraft for flight certification ahead of a future launch.

• Testing is scheduled for 2027, when Antares expects Mark-1 to operate for more than six months with a closed-Brayton-cycle system that converts reactor heat into electricity.

• Spacecraft today are constrained by the amount of propellant they carry and the electrical power available from systems such as solar arrays.

• A sufficiently powerful reactor coupled with electric propulsion could, in theory, operate high-efficiency thrusters for extended periods while also supplying electricity for sensors, onboard processing and other demanding payloads.

Our Take: Yes! We talked about the potential for this for years, its exciting to see it finally get to the finish line.

Pentagon Picks 2 Companies for Reconnaissance Satellite Demo

BLUF: The Space Force and DIU have chosen two firms to demonstrate the ability of small satellites built with low-cost, commercial technology to track both friendly and adversary satellites in geosynchronous orbit.

• Northrop Grumman and True Anomaly will build prototype satellites for DIU’s GEO High-Resolution Optical Space-Based Tactical Reconnaissance, or GHOST-R.

• The work will feed into a broader, multibillion dollar Space Force initiative called RG-XX, with the goal to begin fielding a fleet of reconnaissance satellites by the end of the decade.

• It aims to address two critical SPACECOM needs: more maneuverable satellites and better space domain awareness to close gaps in its ability to characterize and track objects of concern in space.

“This approach burns down technical risk, drives down lifecycle costs, and gets vital capability to the warfighter faster to ensure a more resilient architecture. Successful prototypes will have a direct transition into the program of record.” Col Byron McClain, acting PAE for Space Combat Power

Space Force Announces CSO Strategy for SATCOMs

BLUF: PAE for BMC3I, with support from the Satellite Communications Augmentation Resource program office, is implementing a commercial acquisition strategy that leverages multiple commercial solutions openings to evaluate and procure commercially available capabilities that support mission requirements.

• The SCAR program is a phased, risk-informed approach designed to increase competition, broaden industry participation, and accelerate the evaluation of commercial solutions that can augment existing satellite C2 capabilities.

• The strategy is organized across two primary lines of effort:

  • Line of Effort 1: Evaluation and procurement of commercially available satellite communications solutions capable of supporting Satellite Control Network augmentation requirements.

  • Line of Effort 2: Leasing commercially operated satellite communications services and infrastructure that can provide operational capability and capacity to augment existing architectures.

• Through upcoming CSOs, the SCAR program will seek information and proposals from industry in several technical areas, including:

  • Antenna and Radio Systems: Commercially available antenna and radio solutions that meet SCAR mission requirements.

  • Commercial Service Delivery and Operations: Commercially operated capabilities, infrastructure, and support services necessary to provide an operationally available satellite communications capability under leasing arrangements.

  • Sustainment and Life Cycle Support: Operations, maintenance, and support activities required to ensure continued service availability and mission performance.

• The current solicitation can be found here.

DIU Challenge: Space Threat Intelligence Synthesis Engine

BLUF: The desired solution will ingest and fuse massive streams of multi-source data, including live video, satellite imagery, radar and sensor feeds, geospatial data, and classified intelligence reports.

Other Space Force News:

• BAE Systems Gets US Backing for Space-Ready Semiconductor Tech

• US, international partners to bolster global secure communications with updated multinational agreement

Golden Dome On Track for Summer 2028 Delivery

BLUF: The Department’s initiative to build a layered missile defense architecture to protect the U.S. from a variety of aerial threats is on track to deliver operational capability by the summer of 2028.

• The program office first stood up an industry consortium to deliver the system’s command-and-control architecture, which the director described as Golden Dome’s “secret sauce.”

• The C2 system has been tested twice, most recently this summer, which validated that the program is on the right path for command and control.

• Along with the command-and-control capability, the program office has invested in space-based interceptors, radars and some munitions.

“Instead of having 13 or 14 independent command-and-control systems for different parts of the layered defense architecture, there needs to be one unified C2 platform where our operators can look at a cruise missile threat, a UAS threat, all the way up to an ICBM threat, on the same system.” Gen. Gregory Guillot, Commander of U.S. Northern Command

China’s New Giant Submarine Drone Mothership

BLUF: A new vessel spotted at a Chinese shipyard is likely the world’s first mothership designed to deploy submarine drones. It represents the latest piece in the puzzle of China’s undeclared effort to develop and deploy full-sized uncrewed submarines.

• China has already become the first and only country to build full-size submarines which are uncrewed.

• Referred to as XXLUUVs (extra-extra large uncrewed underwater vehicles), two types have been observed under testing in Hainan.

• At 35 and 45 meters (115-148 feet) long they are around 6-8 times the overall size of the U.S. Navy’s Boeing Orca XLUUV.

• It is likely that the two models are in direct competition.

• The new vessel resembles an amphibious landing ship (LPD) with a well-deck in the stern. However this well-deck is open below the submarine and a large cradle can be inserted. This is lowered below the vessel on 12 vertical ‘jack up’ arms.

• It seems the mothership will act as a mobile submarine tender for the XXLUUV, performing maintenance and keeping them out of the water when not in use.

• But it can also act as a launch and recovery platform for combat missions.

Our Take: Really wish we had one of these in the works.

USAFE Boss Shares Vignettes for CCA Drone Employment in Europe

BLUF: Manned fighter jets from NATO nations have recently been called upon to shoot down suspected Russian drones flying over allied territory, but the commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe envisions a future in which that type of work could be offloaded to AI-enabled unmanned platforms.

“One is on a deterrence perspective to be able to augment and increase our capacity to do integrated air and missile defense, because you don’t always have to have a human in a cockpit to be able to defend against a one-way attack drone or defend against a cruise missile. You could use a CCA to be able to conduct that mission set.”

“One of the other operational vignettes that we’re providing for the allies is a mission set of in the event of some type of a hostile incursion into the NATO territory, and if we have to respond to be able to push a force out, we would have to be able to reduce integrated air defense systems and potentially even attack fielded forces from an opposing nation inside the European theater.”

Lt. Gen. Jason Hinds, USAFE Commander

See our NDAA and budget posts for the latest insights and analysis.

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Task & Purpose

Undersea Warfare Conference
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Resilience Conference
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Scaling Our Industrial Foundation
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See our Events Page for all the other events over the next year.

The Acquisition Transformation Strategy (ATS) does not merely rename PEOs. It flips acquisition from a locked Acquisition Program Baseline to schedule-driven capability increments and makes “the Portfolio Acquisition Executives the single accountable official for portfolio outcomes with authority to restructure programs.”

The shift is that the focus is no longer just on delivering the first block of capability against an APB baseline, then handing the platform off for post-IOC modification packages. PAEs are now expected to continuously search for acceleration opportunities, make deliberate tradeoffs, and deliver useful capability quickly while sustaining a pipeline for the next two or three increments.

This is how acceptance of more acquisition risk translates to lower operational risk and makes the broader acquisition system an asset to the operational community, rather than something to try to find a way to work around.

First Focus on Speed, Then Focus on Scale, Then Improve

Under the traditional program model, detailed performance requirements are established first, followed by cost and schedule estimates and an Acquisition Program Baseline. Those estimates then become the primary measures of program health, even as the operational need and technology environment continue to change.

The new paradigm starts with an accelerated delivery date as the dominant planning constraint, with cost as a ceiling and mission effectiveness defined broadly enough to permit meaningful trades. That gives the PAE room to field useful capability sooner, scale it to the fleet or force, and then improve performance through subsequent increments.

Scale must be treated as a capability in its own right. A solution that works but cannot be produced in meaningful quantities does not fully solve the operational problem.

For PAEs and program teams, that shift can be reduced to a simple question:

What capability increment can be fielded fast enough to matter, and what’s the smallest requirements set that gets you there?

Start New Acquisitions for Iterative Delivery

New acquisitions should not simply reuse the structure and artifacts of the programs they replace. Start with the operational need, an aggressive delivery date, and a unit-cost ceiling, then scope the first increment around what can realistically be fielded within that envelope.

For program offices, “ready for a new start” should mean more than having a validated requirements document. It should mean knowing the smallest useful capability worth fielding, what is deliberately deferred to later increments, and how the effort fits into the broader portfolio roadmap.

Transition from Programs to a Portfolio

The approach described above is achievable within current program constraints even though it may require an adjustment of the acquisition strategy and some flexibility added to the current APB. PAEs/CPEs should move away from portfolios dominated by large, fixed programs and toward acquisition strategies that deliver suites of capabilities through a mix of S&T prototypes, rapid operational prototypes, software/AI efforts, and traditional hardware development. PAEs can use rapid, software, or traditional pathways as appropriate, but the key is defining clear operational outcomes through mission threads or a requirements backlog where progress can be measured iteratively.

This creates an innovation pipeline of efforts at different maturity levels across multiple capability areas and a diverse mix of traditional primes, nontraditional contractors, SBIR companies, and commercial vendors. With capability trade councils and the user community, PAEs can decide what is good enough to field now, what should shift to the next increment, and what should end because it no longer provides differentiated value. This can be captured as a dynamic capability roadmap that is reviewed and updated regularly.

Key questions that PAEs should ask to help restructure legacy programs into a viable portfolio include determining and continually assessing:

• Are programs getting too big and cumbersome? Should they be decomposed so different vendors can compete for components or mission elements where they have differentiated expertise?

• Where are current programs in the acquisition lifecycle? Early-stage efforts may be easier to restructure, while programs nearing delivery may be better left largely intact.

• Which capability gaps matter most over the next 12, 24, and 36 months? Does the portfolio roadmap reflect the highest-priority operational needs and user pain points?

• Which programs are consuming disproportionate money or schedule? Are there alternative investments that could deliver more value sooner?

• Where can performance be phased to support earlier fielding? What can be delivered now, what belongs in the next increment, and what should be deferred or dropped?

• How do you maintain competition and resiliency? Identify monopoly vendors, critical single-source dependencies, and opportunities to introduce new suppliers, prototypes, or commercial solutions. Continually assess which emerging capabilities can augment or replace primary efforts that are stalling, underperforming, or delivering less value.

Move Resources Toward What Is Working

A PAE can identify a better capability trade or a faster path to fielding, but those decisions have limited value if resources remain trapped inside individual program structures.

The intent appears to be greater portfolio-level flexibility to move resources toward higher-value efforts within defined and authorized boundaries. The exact limits will depend on Service implementing guidance, fiscal law, and Congressional controls, but the principle is important: portfolio accountability has to be matched with enough resource flexibility to act on portfolio priorities. Otherwise, the PAE remains accountable for portfolio outcomes while still largely making recommendations about where resources should move.

What It Takes to Make the Portfolio Model Work

Through our work with PAEs and portfolio teams, CDN sees a consistent set of actions that can help translate the portfolio construct from policy into execution across the Department, industry, and Congress.

PAEs Build a Portfolio Acquisition Strategy

A Portfolio Acquisition Strategy (PAS) can serve as the capstone document for how the PAE acquires capabilities across the full breadth of its portfolio. It can address the common elements that apply across programs so that individual programs can either adopt these elements wholesale or develop a focused annex addressing only what is unique to their situation. It also minimizes the overhead of independently generating, coordinating, and approving duplicative documents.

Congress in the FY26 NDAA Section 1805 requires portfolio acquisition strategies to include:

• Incremental capability delivery and integrated roadmaps,

• Enterprise architectures, standards, and data rights,

• Continuous market research, experimentation, and user feedback,

• Contracting and workforce strategies that support multiple vendors across development, production, and sustainment.

PAEs Execute a Portfolio Map

This is key to move away from the legacy paradigm and adopt the portfolio vision.

1. Publish the portfolio mission and 12/24/36-month delivery priorities. Define the operational outcomes the portfolio exists to produce.

2. Inventory every program, prototype, commercial effort, and major dependency. Don’t limit the map to programs of record.

3. Identify the next deliverable increment for every major capability. Assign each a delivery date, unit-cost ceiling, mission-effectiveness goal, and production quantity.

4. Stand up the capability trade council. Predefine who can trade which requirements and what remains constrained by statute, safety, or operational necessity.

5. Map critical interfaces and data rights. Determine where incumbent control prevents competition or rapid integration.

6. Identify the bottom 10–20% of activities by mission impact. Consider descoping, delaying, terminating, or redirecting their resources.

7. Map the industrial base. Identify vendor lock, sole sources, production bottlenecks, second-source opportunities, and realistic surge rates.

8. Establish a portfolio scorecard. Track time-to-field, production quantities, unit cost, mission effect, supplier diversity, integration cycle time, and transition rates.

PAEs Rapidly Prototype, Experiment, and Use Commercial First

Work with DIU, an OT consortium, or another industry outreach mechanism to map what already exists against priority portfolio needs. Use a streamlined CSO-type process (a short white paper or solutions briefing) so industry does not waste resources with a feckless RFI or a full proposal. Then talk to whoever gave you the most promising responses.

From there, craft a contracting path depending on technology maturity, the state of competition, and the prioritization of the operational need:

• Procurement for Experimentation. Acquire a few mature or near-mature solutions and put them in front of the operational and test communities to understand viability. This is the cheapest way to kill a bad assumption before it becomes a program of record.

• CRADA/No-Cost Contract. Best fit when the government and a vendor both bring something to co-develop and neither side wants to commit to a full acquisition relationship yet.

• Prototype OTs with a deliberate path to follow-on production. Use when a solution needs maturation, integration, or operational demonstration before production. Define successful completion and the transition strategy up front so a successfully completed prototype can move to follow-on production, when conditions are met, without restarting the acquisition competition from scratch.

Industry Adapt Business Development to Portfolio Construct

The shift to portfolio acquisition also changes how industry should engage with PAEs and program offices. Companies need to do more than demonstrate that a product meets a requirement. They should focus on how it fits into the broader portfolio and how quickly it can deliver mission value.

• Frame the value at the portfolio level. Instead of arguing that a product should become a new program, identify what existing capability, component, mission thread, or requirement it improves, replaces, or makes unnecessary. The strongest offering may be a subsystem, software module, sensor, effector, or production capability that strengthens several programs across the portfolio.

• Offer trade space. Show the PAE what can be delivered in 12 months at one price point, what additional time and funding would buy, and which performance attributes can be traded without undermining mission effectiveness. That gives the government something it can actually use in a schedule-driven acquisition model.

• Tell the integration story. Show how the solution connects to existing platforms, networks, data standards, and mission systems to deliver new mission effects across the broader kill chain. Address APIs, interfaces, data rights, sustainment, and what is required to integrate the capability without unnecessary friction.

• Bring a production roadmap. A promising prototype is less compelling if there is no credible path from 10 units to 100 or 1,000. Show manufacturing capacity, critical suppliers, lead times, workforce and capital constraints along with how quickly production can scale.

Congress Develop a New Funding Approach

The shift to a portfolio approach does not just apply to the PAEs but has to translate into the authorization and appropriation processes on the Hill.

• Consolidate Program Elements (budget accounts). The >1,500 PEs severely limit the PAE’s ability to move funds to the highest value activities.

• Focus on Capabilities, Not Programs or Platforms. Congress has legitimate interests in programs with significant workforce and industrial-base footprints in members’ districts and states. But if preserving individual programs dominates the process, PAEs will struggle to shift resources toward higher-value capabilities.

• Improve BTR Threshold. As PEs are consolidated, provide a greater level of BTR flexibility across funding lines so that ATRs are reserved to only the largest transfers. Require notification or veto ability (after 30 days) for BTRs above a certain level.

• Deprioritize the FMR. The Secretary directed cutting regulations to include the 7,300-page Financial Management Regulation which has been a nightmare of complexity and interpretation. Work with DoW to replace it with common-sense financial rules that address the key equities such as time, purpose, amount; bonafide need and anti-deficiency.

• Demand Dynamic Reporting. Connect PAE flexibility to the amount of relevant information that is received. Require PAEs to provide portfolio reviews to key PSMs and members that is focused on capability delivery. Provide capability roadmaps for easier understanding and demand PAEs keep them updated.

Track Measures of Success

Each stakeholder should have common measures of success that determine how much progress is actually being made in the portfolio transition.

For PAEs, success means using the authority: making real capability trades, restructuring programs around deliverable increments, moving resources toward higher-value efforts, and stopping or descoping work that no longer justifies its cost and time.

For program offices, success means helping PAEs manage the innovation pipeline through continuous market research, technical insight, and identification of opportunities that improve portfolio outcomes.

For industry, winning will require showing not only that a solution performs, but where it fits, how quickly it integrates, what it costs at scale, and what existing capability or requirement it can replace.

For Congress, the bargain should be greater flexibility in exchange for greater transparency: give accountable acquisition leaders enough room to make meaningful portfolio trades, then measure whether that flexibility produces faster fielding, greater production, stronger competition, and better warfighting outcomes.

Change Will Create Friction

No transformation of this scale will happen without disruption. PAEs will make trades that disappoint programs, terminate efforts that have constituencies, shift resources toward new opportunities, and ask industry to compete in different ways. Congress will have to balance greater flexibility with new forms of transparency and accountability.

The PAE transition will succeed only when portfolios become the unit of management, programs become vehicles for iterative capability delivery, and resources can move toward the opportunities that deliver the greatest mission value. Changing titles and reporting chains is easy. Changing how the Department makes decisions is the real transformation.

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Every fall, Lucy holds the football. Every fall, Charlie Brown convinces himself this time is different. She’s smiling, the White House loves defense tech now, the NDAA has multiple reforms in it, everybody’s talking about commercial-first acquisition. So, he takes a running start. She pulls it away. He lands on his back and stares at the sky in deep surprise. He naively thought the Pentagon was different this time around.

The Kickers

SpaceX is on a good track. It received over $8B in new awards for space launch, AMTI and data network capabilities in recent months and continues to benefit from strong NASA and commercial business. Palantir has a robust commercial line plus a government-wide business. In defense, they have large enterprise contracts with the Army, CDAO, and SOCOM along with large efforts with the Navy and Space Force. Their rising stock price reflects strong financial performance.

Anduril remains short of awards at that scale but has won significant contracts for missile defense, low-cost cruise missiles, and Lattice. It also has a promising pipeline for Navy UUVs, Air Force CCAs, Army SBMC, various Space Force efforts, and ongoing c-UAS work. Saronic appears solidly positioned with a large USV production contract and a strong lead for follow-on MUSV marketplace awards.

The Defense Tech Kicking Percentage

0.84%

Despite the awards and promise, the Reagan Institute’s 2026 NSIB Report Card shows the top 15 defense tech disruptors received just 0.84% of total Pentagon obligated dollars in FY25, up from 0.7% in FY24 and 0.4% in FY23. The top five legacy primes still pull in obligation dollars at roughly 42 times the rate of those defense tech disruptors combined.

Silicon Valley Defense Group’s NatSec100 data shows that over the lifetime of the current crop of venture-backed national security startups, private investors have put in roughly $118B and gotten back only about $16B in federal contracts. That’s a 13.5% recovery rate on capital already deployed. The trend is not improving. In 2025 alone, nearly $40B was invested against $4.3B in contracts to the top 15, a measly 10% recovery rate for the year. 2026 is not shaping up to be much better with the DoW apparently doubling down on legacy system modernization.

Bain’s market-sizing work put the 2025 aggregate valuation of VC-backed defense tech firms (excluding SpaceX) at roughly $86 billion. At a 5 times revenue multiple consistent with mature defense tech comps, that valuation implies these companies need to generate approximately $17B in annual revenue. Even under more optimistic assumptions that push required revenue toward $25–30B by 2030, the sector would need to capture roughly 2–6% of U.S. defense investment accounts. That remains achievable, but only if 2026 and 2027 trend toward the goal rather than away from it.

Backyard Football vs the NFL

If you want to see where the actual money goes when Congress and the Pentagon get serious about buying something at scale, look at the last month. The Navy awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat and HII a combined $76.6B for five Columbia-class and nine Block VI Virginia-class submarines. Days later, the Army handed Lockheed Martin a $53.86B mod to its PAC-3 MSE contract and a $35.3B increase for THAAD. This week the Navy awarded RTX a $23B contract to accelerate Tomahawk missile production.

The framework agreements awarded under the Low-Cost Containerized Missiles (LCCM) program to 3 new entrants (Anduril, CoAspire, and Zone 5 Technologies) promises to order and deliver 10,000 missiles between 2027 and 2029 is a promising step forward. The promise to award Castelion a production contract for 500-12,000 lower cost hypersonic missiles is also promising. However, in context the LCCM order is only a max of ~$3B potentially spread across four companies (Leidos is also in the mix) across three years. The max Castelion buy (~$5B) would be significant, but DoW seems to only be committing to a 500 unit buy currently.

In context, these low-cost munition frameworks pale in comparison as the RTX award which exceeds the lifetime federal obligations of the entire NatSec100 cohort. The PAC-3 award is 3.4 times. The submarine award is nearly five times.

Programs like the Navy’s MUSV Marketplace and Air Force’s CCA are also promising but the MUSV only has $4.4B across the FYDP spread over some undetermined number of companies. CCAs are much better positioned to generate value for defense tech with $9.5B projected over the FYDP with RDT&E to also support the next increment. So, whether that is allocated across one or two vendors, that will be an example of a program going in the right direction.

The Football is Still Held by Lucy

Overall, this isn’t a criticism of procuring advanced systems like submarines or advanced munitions. Nuclear deterrence and layered air defense are critical capabilities, and these programs were overdue for serious investment, but it is a serious data point for investors. When the Pentagon decides to write a real check, it still reaches for a legacy prime building an exquisite platform. Autonomy, attritable systems, and software-defined capability are not competing for the same dollars at the moment, and it might be a decade or more before the Pentagon buys systems at scale that the defense tech community is offering today. Pretending otherwise sets founders and investors up for a fall.

Some may feel that the tide is turning with clear public direction from the White House, the Pentagon leadership, and Congress for commercial-first acquisition. However, most officials in key roles seem to still be executing with the same tactics they always have with a greater focus on compliance than speed or adaptability.

While the executives are setting a clear direction, two and three layers down the resistance continues. Until those Lucys are removed or directly ordered to change, commercial-first remains a desired strategy, not an execution behavior.

Where Do We Go From Here?

If you’re building or investing in defense tech, the honest read is this: assume you are not Anduril, Palantir, or SpaceX, because statistically you almost certainly aren’t. Price your business on the obligation data that actually exists, not on the multiple your last round justified. Watch what the Pentagon does with real dollars, not what it says in a strategy document. Recognize that submarine and interceptor money is not coming out of the same pool your autonomy or sensing company is chasing.

Many startups will fail. Some will be acquired by larger traditional or non-traditional defense companies at more realistic multiples. A smaller number will grow into new primes and critical suppliers that fuel competition, close gaps in the supply chain, deliver novel technology solutions, and keep continuous pressure on the established primes to perform and control costs. That is a healthy industry outcome.

If the Pentagon is truly serious about rebuilding the Arsenal of Democracy, delivering warfighting capabilities at speed and scale, and placing industry on a wartime footing, it must act differently. It must invest in a broader range of capabilities from a broader mix of companies. It must demonstrate a commercial first commitment rather than imposing a costly, heavily regulated environment that only legacy companies can navigate. It must rethink contracting norms if it expects innovative entrepreneurs to invest private capital to rapidly develop novel warfighting solutions.

At the very least, we should be getting close to that $25–30B number by 2030 to build the hedge force, improve distribution of capabilities, enable operations from smaller locations and enable enemy surprise with asymmetric capabilities.

For those founders who decide the kick is still worth attempting:

• Start with Portfolio Acquisition Executives (PAEs) who are genuinely empowered with budget flexibility, authorities that span R&D through sustainment, and a mandate to deliver at speed and scale while regenerating the industrial base.

• Rapid prototyping that pivots cleanly into production will earn the greater funding allocations. The test is simple: Can you put meaningful warfighting capability in the hands of the Combatant Commanders that improves decision speed and delivers lethality?

• Work directly with those PAEs and their program offices. Leverage CSOs, OTAs, and the Middle Tier of Acquisition to run rapid, iterative prototypes, field a viable v1, then keep iterating on real warfighter feedback and advancing technology.

• Bring the low-cost, high-volume scale that complements the few exquisite, high-cost systems rather than pretending to replace them.

• Remind every stakeholder of statute and regulation: commercial-first is required, and contracting officers already have the authority to treat non-traditional defense companies as commercial. They have the tools and authorities but often lack the will to use them.

While Charlie Brown never was able to pull off the kick with Lucy, we can build and sustain a new generation of kickers to augment the behemoth primes, build more resiliency into the industrial base and make America more secure.

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The Department of War announced another Direct Report Portfolio Manager (DRPM), this one for Unmanned Systems (UxS). Will this overcome years of institutional inertia or create greater friction among Service leaders?

Since Goldwater-Nichols (40 years ago), major Department reforms have wrestled with the same tension: how much decision authority sits at the top versus how much gets pushed to the people closest to the problem.

In 2016, Congress broke up the OSD(AT&L) enterprise into A&S and R&E, along with delegating authorities for most major programs back down to the Services. Smaller programs were further delegated to PEOs.

Over the last year, the Department rolled out ~39 Portfolio Acquisition Executives (PAEs) across the Services. These leaders are empowered to manage dynamic portfolios spanning acquisition, R&D, budgets, requirements, and sustainment, and do so to varying degrees.

The Department also established four new Direct Reporting Portfolio Managers (DRPMs) and a Munitions Acceleration Council (MAC) that report straight to the Deputy Secretary of War for select portfolios along with an Economic Defense Unit (EDU) and Business Operators for National Defense (BOND). The Acquisition Transformation Strategy empowers portfolio leaders and consolidates authority.

Where This Comes From

We started our careers in a program office then moved to the PEO level, the Air Force acquisition executive level, and finally OSD. At every stop, we kept the program office instinct: get close to the problem, trust the people closest to it, and measure yourself by what actually got delivered.

Bureaucracies have a predictable failure mode. People generally view those in layer above you as the micromanagers. They often view those in subordinate organizations as making dumb calls. Both views are usually wrong, and both are symptoms of the same root cause: nobody trusts the layer next to them enough to let go.

The 90% Problem

A former boss used to cite the Lake Wobegon effect: that if you surveyed everyone in your organization, 90% of people believe they are above average.

Program managers believe they are executing as best they can against enormous constraints. This includes being understaffed, annual budget instability, and operating in a complex, dynamic bureaucratic environment. Executives in the Pentagon often believe the program managers are missing obvious problems. Both are operating on incomplete information. This was a recurring issue we saw across major programs.

A key aspect of the new PAE portfolios is providing better metrics and reporting to provide leadership and stakeholders real insights into PAE decisions and progress. Is the portfolio delivering warfighting capabilities at greater speed and scale? Is it fueling greater industry competition to decrease costs and increase innovation?

Directing Versus Asking

The philosophy we carried up through every level was simple. Empower and mentor the people below you, let them learn by doing (and occasionally failing), and they come out better for it.

If an executive asks a manager why they did something a certain way, that question opens up a conversation. It forces critical thinking, and it puts the ownership of the answer where it belongs.

If the executive instead tells the manager how the program should be run, that closes the conversation down. The manager loses ownership of the strategy. The executive loses accountability for the outcome, because now it’s the executive’s call, not the manager’s.

When the program struggles, which most do, both sides quietly blame the other. Nobody actually owns the failure, which means nobody learns from it either.

This is the core argument against reflexive centralization: it doesn’t just slow decisions; it breaks the accountability loop that drives organizational learning.

Why Centralize Anyway

The new DRPM(UxS) will report directly to the Deputy Secretary of War and serves as Decision Authority for the unmanned portfolio, with authority over budget, contracting, technical standards, and test decisions that would normally sit at the Service level. Similar constructs already exist for submarines and strategic systems programs, and the Department is now using that model more broadly.

There’s a strong case here. Decades of entrenched process, bureaucratic hostility to autonomous systems, and platform-centric thinking do not reform themselves. Cross-cutting initiatives, like unmanned systems or munitions that touch every Service, are genuinely hard to solve through independent program offices or even a joint program structure, because no single Service has the authority or the incentive to optimize across all of them. Past attempts have failed. Higher authority gives one accountable leader leverage to force alignment, attract talent, and move faster.

But the risks are real. Decisions travel farther up and back down. The office becomes a designed bottleneck. The people who understand the engineering trade-offs, the contracting realities, and the test data in granular detail are still down at the PAE or program level. Centralizing the decision doesn’t centralize the expertise: it just adds a layer between the two.

Another problem is that fewer managers and executives across the Services are gaining meaningful experience in developing and executing high-level strategy. Without that crucible, they will be ill-prepared to lead major portfolios in the years ahead. At the same time, executives with 25 years of experience have little appetite for being treated as mere middlemen or action officers, simply executing decisions handed down from higher headquarters.

Success depends on execution and leadership personalities, not the org chart.

The Pattern this Usually Follows

Most transformation strategies inside this administration have followed a similar arc. Start with a deliberately disruptive environment to force everyone to confront the need for change. Put an experienced executive in the seat who drives the staff hard through the first few iterations. Once the organization has internalized what “right” looks like, start delegating decisions and authority back down to the level that should own them long-term.

The current wave of DRPMs and Deal Teams could be the forcing function. The real question is whether the Department follows through on delegation once the goals are met, or whether the new authorities simply become the permanent way of doing business. Both outcomes are plausible. Which one happens will say more about the institutional discipline of future administrations.

What has to Happen with PAEs

Portfolio Acquisition Executives are the linchpins. The Acquisition Transformation Strategy is explicit about empowering PAEs with a full team of subject matter experts and the authority to direct outcomes, move money, and adjust requirements without waiting on multiple layers of review. It also calls for a by-exception approach to oversight, using portfolio scorecards so senior leaders can focus on the programs that are actually in trouble instead of reviewing everything with equal intensity.

Oversight should focus on portfolio strategy and strategic trend lines: is the portfolio moving toward the capability the warfighter needs, is risk being managed at a reasonable level, are resources aligned to priority outcomes. It shouldn’t mean reviewing tactical program decisions that PAEs are supposed to own. When a large program goes sideways, and many will, that’s when leadership could get more involved, not before.

This is also the logic behind breaking large, monolithic acquisition programs into smaller, more dynamic capabilities within the portfolio. PAEs can fix issues locally before they become four-star problems.

Way Ahead

PAEs should lean forward to flex their new authorities visibly, document decisions, and explain their reasoning. They can earn more delegation by demonstrating they can handle it.

OSW, SAEs, and senior leaders should ask why before telling how. Every time they substitute judgment, they dilute ownership. Centralizing is a legitimate short-term tool. The harder discipline is knowing when and how to let go.

The spectrum from oversight to insight is still being drawn. This wave of centralization is a reasonable bet as a forcing function to drive change. Whether it becomes permanent or a remains a deliberate phase will define the transformation’s legacy.

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Over the last year, the Trump administration has prioritized procurement reform, and specifically, the acquisition of commercial products. In Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s “Wartime Footing” speech last year, he boldly stated “We will prioritize the purchase of industry-driven solutions, commercial solutions first, that meet our needs faster, even if that means bids do not meet every requirement.” The rhetoric mirrors Section 1822 of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which essentially requires the Secretary of War to approve every noncommercial acquisition. There is also Executive Order 14271 from April 2025, which requires every agency to review ongoing acquisitions that should have been commercial but were not, and Executive Order 14402 from April 2026, which mandates fixed-price contracts as the default.

These actions were welcome news for those of us who have long appreciated the straight line from effective procurement to a lethal warfighting force. The defense industry’s divergence from the commercial economy has led to unnecessary requirements and billions in waste while extending major program acquisition timelines to well over a decade—or two. Defense reformers have been burned in the past by failed attempts to encourage commercial acquisitions, but the strength of these initiatives leads many to believe that this time will be different.

Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 is the first full fiscal year under the new administration. It marks an inflection point: either we see the reforms begin to bear fruit, or FY 2026 looks much like the years before it. My new analysis of the Department of War’s spending from FY 2012 through FY 2025 shows that, based on the available data, little meaningful progress has been made in acquiring commercial solutions, buying products from commercial companies, or diversifying away from the five prime contractors. The data instead provides evidence of the acquisition workforce’s and legacy contractors’ enduring resistance to change. Breaking the bureaucratic status quo will require sustained and meaningful action.

The More Things Change

The share of defense spending on commercial technology is no higher today than it was 14 years ago—a staggering fact when one considers the hundreds of billions of venture capital dollars invested in U.S. defense tech companies in the last six years. The government is required to buy commercial technology to the maximum extent practicable per the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act (FASA) of 1994. Such products are developed at private expense and sold to the government via fixed price contracts. The logic is that industry eats the risk but also captures financial upside if its products are successful. Despite the law, the share of spend on commercial technology since 2012 has fluctuated between just 16 and 20 percent (save for 2021 and 2022, when pharmaceutical purchases during Covid led to outlier commercial spending).

The nadir of the relationship between defense and industry was 2016, when the Department of War spent just 16 percent on commercial technology. 2016 was also the year Palantir first sued the government over FASA violations—and won. If you squint, there has been some progress in procurement since then. Fiscal years 2023 to 2025 were better for commercial technology than 2016 to 2020, but only by a couple of percentage points. Even this meager progress has plateaued at around 19 percent. When the private sector outspends the government on research and development by four to one, it beggars belief that over 80 percent of defense solutions can only be built with non-commercial technology.

There’s an argument to be made that the percent spent on commercial technology is undercounted when the criteria is limited to FAR Part 12 (i.e. FASA). DoW has interpreted FASA’s “commercial item” and “of a type” provisions narrowly, limiting commercial treatment mostly to goods that already have an established commercial market—even though the statute’s language was designed to reach further, up through fully bespoke development using commercial practices. As a result, products that are privately funded and priced commercially but lack an existing commercial market do not get characterized in the data (or in preferential treatment) as commercial. AEI’s William Greenwalt proposes a different fix: rather than trying to define what counts as a commercial item, he would have DoW treat all non-traditional defense contractors (NTDC) as commercial entities, determining commerciality at the business-unit level instead of contract by contract. Another option is to establish a standardized rubric for determining commerciality that KOs can easily use.

A second meaningful data point is the share of obligations earned by NTDCs. An NTDC is any company that, within the last year, has not performed a contract or subcontract subject to the full Cost Accounting Standards. This broad definition applies to over 90 percent of contractors and includes commercial companies, yet NTDCs receive only about 25 percent of dollars.

About half of NTDC awards are not counted as commercial. If commerciality were determined at the entity level rather than the contract level, the percent of spend on commercial would rise by an additional 12 to 13 percent. This would increase the commercial number to about 30 percent—still too low, but a meaningful improvement.

Like with commercial contracts, the share of spending that goes to NTDCs has not noticeably improved over time. It’s possible that companies with a business model geared for the normal, commercial economy either cannot effectively compete for defense contracts or have chosen not to. Neither option is good.

Next, I looked at the share of spending that goes to the five prime contractors. Consistently, those companies receive one in every three dollars spent by the Department. Power law outcomes in defense contracting—and many other industries—are to be expected. During World War II, the top five contractors received 20 percent of awards. However, when there is obvious discontent about the speed at which critical new systems are delivered, it’s natural to question if continued concentration among the same set of companies has contributed to stagnation.

While programs like Collaborative Combat Aircraft and the Pentagon’s newly announced purchase of 10,000 cruise missiles make it appear like dollars are diversifying, the data does not support this conclusion. A huge portion of the defense budget remains highly concentrated among just five companies. Data to date provides little visibility into whether these legacy defense primes are increasing their use of commercial items at the sub tier level. That would be informative to understand if use of commercial technology is improving below the surface. We have seen the primes invest more into their venture capital arms and partner with startups, but it’s less clear if that is being converted into adoption of commercial capabilities.

Lastly, I looked at the share of obligations by contract type. Cost-plus contracts are the vehicle of choice for about 30 percent of dollars, and the share has remained steady over time. While it’s positive that fixed-price contracts are the majority of spend, the U.S. still spent $146 billion on cost-plus contracts in FY 2025—a sum significantly greater than Germany’s annual military spend of $114 billion.

Realistic Goals for FY 2026

The acquisition system is a formidable opponent because in any given year only about 20 percent of dollars are available for new procurement starts [1]. The majority of spend is for legacy programs, such as continuation activity, renewals, maintenance, annual funding, task orders, and more. Such dollars are already spoken for, tied up in specific contract vehicles and vendors and protected from zealous reformers.

The implication is that improvements of just five percent in the metrics reviewed would require dramatic shifts in how net new dollars are spent. Retrospective analysis of FY 2025 illustrates the limited maneuver space available for reformers:

In FY 2025, commercial spend was $93 billion, or 19 percent of $490 billion. To increase the share of commercial by five points up to 24 percent would require increasing commercial spend by $24.6 billion to $117.8 billion. However, all of that change must come from the $100 billion of marginal new spend. In 2025, 38.5 percent or $38.5 billion of new spend was commercial. Shifting $24.6 billion towards commercial would require increasing net new spend on commercial up to $63 billion, which means 63 percent of all new spend would need to be commercial. This should be reasonable to expect given the aforementioned investments that NTDCs are making to provide DoW with new capability options and the increasingly innovative commercial sector.

To summarize: for the top-line obligation number to move from 19 percent to 24 percent on commercial, marginal spend on new procurement would need to be 63 percent commercial and require a shift of an additional $24.6 billion. A similar analysis for NTDCs reveals that 74 percent of new spend would need to go towards NTDCs to increase the top-line by 5 percent to 29 percent.

Moving the needle on cost-plus is even more challenging. In FY 2025, 95 percent of new dollars were fixed-price contracts. Only $5 billion, or 5 percent, of new spend was cost-plus. All $5 billion would need to switch to fixed price to decrease the top-line cost-plus number by just one percent, from 30 percent to 29 percent. It would be impossible to move the cost-plus number by more than one percent without cancelling or overhauling legacy programs. While it’s encouraging that new dollars are overwhelmingly fixed price, the fact that bigger changes are not possible in a given year illustrates the challenges of a large legacy portfolio.

When FY 2026 is over and the contract data is available, changes on the order of one to five percentage points for the four metrics analyzed would be a real sign of progress.

Rage Against the Machine

Even modest shifts towards commercial technology will require radical action and real accountability. FOIA’d data from Executive Order 14271 on commercial acquisition shows what reformers are up against. Of the active procurements reviewed as part of the EO, 61 percent were non-commercial. Those non-commercial acquisitions were submitted for approval, where less than one percent of the submissions were denied. The machine has no ability to check itself.

The acquisition workforce has over 160,000 people. That’s about the size of the active-duty U.S. Marine Corps. Members of this shadow service are incentivized to never deviate from the status quo and to prize documentation and compliance over outcomes. The threat of audits, protests, and GAO reports hangs over the acquisition workforce like the Sword of Damocles. Meanwhile, legacy contractors face no incentive to sub-contract work to commercial companies when they can simply build custom solutions knowing they will face no consequences.

We need outsiders who will hold the system accountable. The Secretary of War should recruit an elite group of commercial leaders using existing authorities under the Federal Advisory Committee Act. This new committee of private-sector experts would review all non-commercial procurements submitted for exemption requests by contracting officers. The committee would be empowered to make recommendations to the Secretary, with a focus on where government requirements can be met with existing commercial solutions. In parallel, the DoW should staff qualified Business Operators for National Defense (BOND) agents to ensure acquisitions that should be commercial are commercial. Given the tens of thousands of acquisitions annually, an enabling technology product would be essential to scaling the operation.

Finally, contract officers should be required to publish a public notice of intent to circumvent FASA every time they pursue a non-commercial acquisition. The waiver requests could additionally be reported out in a quarterly report. This level of real-time visibility into the number of exemption requests would put positive pressure on the system.

The war in Iran is just the latest conflict to expose the fragility of the U.S. supply chain for critical weapons. America is unable to surge production because a small number of systems are made by an even smaller number of firms. We do not need more evidence that the current method of procurement is a failure mode for the long-term security of America. Rapid efforts to create a commercial industrial base will undoubtedly be painful. They should also be a national imperative.

[1] There is not an official “new start” classification in the federal obligation data. I used the following methodology on USASpend.gov data to approximate genuine new starts: Begin with base contract actions in the fiscal year, defined as transactions with modification_number = 0 for definitive contracts, purchase orders, delivery orders, and BPA calls. Then, apply a conservative keyword screen to exclude transactions with descriptors like continuation, sustainment, or renewal activity, including terms associated with sustainment, support, maintenance, repair, renewals, options, extensions, bridges, or follow-on activity. This approach is intended to avoid overcounting net-new procurement. It is not an official new-start classification and may exclude some genuinely new purchases that use continuation-style contract language. I therefore treat the resulting estimate as a conservative proxy for likely net-new procurement candidates.

Madeline Hart works Defense at Palantir and is co-author of the book MOBILIZE: How to Reboot the American Industrial Base and Stop WWIII and First Breakfast.