Farewell Address. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall is to give his farewell address at a 2 p.m. ceremony on Monday. Hours before that, Kendall is to participate in a forum with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Pres.-elect Trump has already picked his Army and Navy secretary nominees, but not Air Force. One name making the rounds as a possible choice is retired Air Force Gen. Terrence “Shags” O’Shaughnessy, a senior advisor to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and a former head of U.S. Northern Command.
300 Executive Orders? The first days of the Trump administration on and after Jan. 20 may be busy ones, as there may be up to 300 executive orders in the stable of the conservative America First Policy Institute (AFPI) awaiting presidential signature. That number would be nearly six times the 55 executive orders that Trump signed in 2017, his first year in office. Just before the November election, AFPI President Brooke Rollins said that it had drafted about 300 such executive orders for Trump’s signature, and the New York Times reported that such executive orders would be sweeping, including ones that could result in the summary dismissal of federal civil service workers deemed un-loyal to the Trump administration. Rollins, Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Agriculture, was his former director of the Office of Innovation between 2018 and 2020 and an adviser to former Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry, while Linda McMahon, Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Education and a former professional wrestling performer, has chaired the institute. AFPI has also counted on the advice of its co-chair, retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, whom Trump named as his special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, and Chad Wolf, a former Department of Homeland Security official in Trump’s first term. Last November, AFPI’s Form 990 reported more than $27 million in AFPI revenue in 2023. The Form 990 said that Rollins had an AFPI salary of more than $552,000 that year, Wolf nearly $388,000, and Kellogg nearly $238,000.
Regular Order. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman (SASC) Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) plans to re-introduce his defense innovation bill–S. 5618, the Fostering Reform and Government Efficiency in Defense (FORGED) Act–in the 119th Congress, which began on Jan. 3. Wicker wants to follow regular order in the consideration of the provisions during SASC’s mark-up of the committee’s fiscal 2026 defense authorization bill this year, and the bill’s provisions, which thus far look to favor non-traditional defense contractors heavily, are likely to change based on discussions among SASC members.
…5 Percent? One of Wicker’s goals is to bring U.S. defense spending up to five percent of the more than $29 trillion Gross Domestic Product, but that will be a stretch, as accomplishing that aim would mean a $570 billion boost in national security expenditures.
…Complicated Task. The 144-page S. 5618, introduced by Wicker on Dec. 19, intends to establish commercial acquisition practices as the default for DoD and scrap certain elements of the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations Supplement in the name of fielding advanced weapons systems more quickly—a longtime stated goal of DoD, but an aspiration that runs into what some acquisition professionals view as the necessities of the requirements process and lengthy testing by the Pentagon Directorate of Operational Test and Evaluation. “This is a hugely complicated set of issues, and it’s an opportunity to make substantial improvement, and we need to make sure we take the time to get it right,” said David Berteau, the president of the Professional Services Council.
Reed/Hegseth. Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, met on Jan. 8 with Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, and said the discussion “did not relieve” his concerns with the prospective nominee to lead the Pentagon. “Today’s meeting did not relieve my concerns about Mr. Hegseth’s lack of qualifications and raised more questions than answers,” Reed said in a statement. “As with any nominee for this critical position, Mr. Hegseth must undergo the same high-level of scrutiny as prior Secretary of Defense nominees.” The meeting preceded Hegseth’s SASC confirmation hearing scheduled for Jan. 14. Army veteran and Fox News host Pete Hegseth’s nomination has faced scrutiny, with several SASC Democrats having recently cited their opposition to his confirmation and outlined concerns with his position against women serving in combat roles and the sexual assault and misconduct allegations he’s faced.
7th Launch. The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and U.S. Space Force Space Launch Delta 30 launched the NROL-153 mission on Thursday night from Space Launch Complex-4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.—the agency’s first launch of 2025 and the seventh for the NRO’s proliferated satellite architecture. NROL-153 “demonstrates the ongoing launch cadence that is strengthening the NRO’s intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities,” the NRO said. “NRO achieved significant success in the past year with the deployment of nearly 100 satellites on orbit. Continuing with this momentum, 2025 is set to be another dynamic year, with approximately a dozen NRO launches scheduled. Half of these launches will focus on advancing the NRO’s proliferated architecture with additional proliferated launches planned through 2028, ensuring sustained growth and innovation.”
SM-6. The Navy awarded RTX a $333 million contract for Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) full-rate production requirements, spares, and round design agent on Dec. 20 but announced this on Jan. 9. The contract includes options that, if exercised, would raise the total value to $908 million. The base contract work is expected to be finished by October 2027, but if all options are exercised that will extend to September 2030. The Navy did not competitively procure this work because RTX is the designer and builder of SM-6.
Navy Munitions. The Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) analysis of the Navy’s FY 2025 30-year shipbuilding plan noted that if the plan is enacted the service will reduce ships and submarines that fire missiles in the next five to 10 years. However, those capabilities would grow in the 2030s and CBO said the Navy “would also need to build up its inventory of munitions” to take full advantage of that ultimate capacity increase.
EMI Support. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions last week said it received a $48 million contract to support the Space Force with electromagnetic interference (EMI) resolution services under the Geolocation Global Support Services contract. Work will be done in Colorado Springs, Colo., and be completed by October 2029. Kratos said it has a global radio frequency sensor network consisting of 21 sites that host more than 190 fixed and steerable sensors and antennas the company funded internally to provide government and commercial customers with space domain awareness services. These services include bandwidth monitoring, geolocation, signal characterization, interference mitigation, and tracking and maneuver detection.
Phase Four Raise. Phase Four, which is developing electric in-space propulsion thrusters for small satellites, last week announced the first close of its Series C funding round, reaching nearly 60 percent of the target goal. The new funding round was led by Artemis Group Capital. “With this capital, we’re ramping up production of our Valkyrie family of Hall Effect Thrusters to a minimum of 250 units per year,” Umair Siddiqui, the Los Angeles-based company’s chief technology officer, said in a statement. “Simultaneously, we’re advancing next-generation thruster technologies tailored for defense and national security customers.” The funding amount was not disclosed. Phase Four plans to close the Series C round by the end of the first quarter of 2025 to expand manufacturing, accelerate research and development, and deepen strategic partnerships with companies in the space economy.
C-UAS Radar for Japan. SRC, Inc. last week said it has deployed its Gryphon R1410 radar system in Japan as part of an integrated counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS). New York-based SRC provided the radar under contract to Japan’s Nippon Kaiyo for protection of a “critical facility.” SRC said the radar recently passed certification by Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, making it the first C-UAS radar approved for the radio frequency spectrum in Japan. The R1410 3D active electronically scanned array radar is designed for air surveillance with a focus on detecting small, low-altitude targets within a 10-kilometer range.
People News. Boeing this month said it has hired Dana Deasy, formerly the Defense Department’s chief information officer, as its new chief information digital officer and senior vice president, information technology & data analytics. Deasy was elected to the job effective Dec. 31, 2024, and oversees all aspects of IT, information security, and data and analytics, reporting to Boeing President and CEO Kelly Ortberg. Science Applications International Corp. said that Deasy resigned from the company’s board on Jan. 2. Epirus said it has hired Matt Markel, “a globally renowned expert in radar, autonomy and electronic warfare, as chief technology officer. He previously led the sensor software company Spartan Radar, was vice president of radar systems at the autonomous driving software developer Ghost Autonomy, led the radar team at Waymo, and was a principal engineering fellow at Raytheon’s Space and Airborne Systems segment. Leidos has appointed Megan Block, who previously did business capture, development, and proposal for large and small businesses, as its national security capture excellence executive. ManTech has promoted Kelly Miller to be vice president of program operations for the company’s Defense Sector, and True Anomaly has hired Stephen Kitay, previously senior director with Microsoft’s Azure Space, as senior vice president of space defense.
China Committee. The House on Jan. 3 voted as part of its rules package for the new Congress to continue its Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. The bipartisan House Select Committee on China, led by Reps. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), was established in the last Congress to work on policy recommendations related to the U.S.’ competition with Beijing. “We welcome the Select Committee’s renewal for the 119th Congress. The Chinese Communist Party represents an unprecedented challenge to our economy, our national security, and our values, and we will continue to meet it with the urgency this moment demands. We are grateful to Speaker Johnson and Leader Jeffries for their continued support, and look forward to working with our colleagues and across administrations current and future to protect our nation,” Moolenaar and Krishnamoorthi said in a joint statement.
SRM Funding Bump. X-Bow Systems in December said it received a funding increase from the Defense Department valued at under $2 million for static firing of solid rocket motors (SRMs) the company is developing for Army and Navy hypersonic weapons. The testing will be done at X-Bow facilities rather than a U.S. government facility, saving about 50 percent in costs, Jason Hundley, the company’s CEO, told Defense Daily last week. The funding expands on a $64 million contract the company received in 2023 to develop the advanced SRMs for the Army’s Long Range Hypersonic Weapon System and the Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike weapon. The DoD Innovation Capability and Modernization Office, with support from the Navy’s Strategic Systems Programs, funded the increase.
EMS-3. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro announced the Bethesda-class expeditionary medical ship EMS-3 will be the future USNS Portsmouth during a visit to Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, N.H. on Jan. 8. The EMS is a variant of the Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport. The EMS vessels are named after major military hospitals.
DDG-146. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro named the Navy’s latest Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer the future USS Robert Kerrey (DDG-146). The ship is named after the former naval officer, Nebraska governor and senator who also received the Medal of Honor for service during the Vietnam War. Del Toro named the ship during a recent visit to New York where he named another future destroyer the USS Intrepid (DDG-145) during a visit to the Intrepid Museum.
…T-AGOS Explorers Too. On Jan. 10, Del Toro also announced the new T-AGOS ocean surveillance ships will be the Explorer-class. He also said the first two ships will be the future USNS Don Walsh (T-AGOS 25) and USNS Victor Vescovo (T-AGOS 26). Del Toro announced the ship class and names during a ceremony at the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland. T-AGOS 25 was procured in 2022 as the first of a planned seven ships in the class. These ships are operated by Military Sea Lift Command to aid in antisubmarine warfare by gathering underwater acoustical data.
