FFG-62. The Navy and shipbuilder Fincantieri Marinette Marine conducted a keel laying ceremony for the first Constellation-class guided-missile frigate (FFG-62) on April 12. This signified the formal start of ship construction. According to the recent 45-day shipbuilding review, the Navy admitted FFG-62 is currently running three years late, with delivery now planned for 2029.
C-Dome Intercept. Israel this month used the Rafael C-Dome for its first combat intercept of a hostile target at sea over the Red Sea. The Israeli Navy-based sea air and missile defense system was used to defend assets in southern Israel using a Sa’ar 6 class corvette.The C-DOME uses the same interceptor as the land-based IRON DOME.
Hypersonic Challenge. The Joint Hypersonics Transition Office (JHTO) alongside the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC Crane) on April 12 announced the winners to the Hyper-AMPD! prize challenge. JHTO seeks ideas to quickly deliver a low-cost hypersonic missile prototype from established, new and non-traditional creators. 49 white papers were originally submitted for Phase 1 with Aerojet Rocketdyne, Castelion Corporation, GoHypersonic Incorporated, Northrop Grumman, and Specter Aerospace approved for Phase II. Phase II is set to focus on building a Feasibility Study on the concept that each group designed during the Phase I White Paper. The Navy said JHTO seeks creative and cost-effective solutions that can be developed and tested within 24 months. After Phase II, up to two winners will be chosen for monetary and non-monetary prizes.
U.S.-India Carrier Tech. The seventh U.S.-India Joint Working Group on Aircraft Carrier Technology Cooperation recently finished at a Washington Naval Yard session hosted by Rear Adm. Casey Moton, PEO Aircraft Carriers. This was a three-day engagement that covered a bilateral exchange of information and best practices in carrier design and aviation integration. The Indian delegation was led by Rear Adm. Sandeep Mehta, Assistant Controller Warship Production and Acquisition/Assistant Controller of Carrier Projects for the Indian Navy. The U.S. delegation was led by Capt. Brian Metcalf, manager of the Gerald R. Ford-Class New Construction Program Office (PMS 378). These meetings started in 2015 as part of the U.S.-India Defense Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI).
Commercial TacSRT. Space Force Chief of Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman says that commercial space data provides plenty of capability for tactical surveillance, reconnaissance, and tracking (TacSRT) to meet the needs of combatant commanders. The Space Force and U.S. Space Command’s Joint Commercial Operations cell is examining how to incorporate this data into the service’s “overall architecture” to meet the requirements of COCOMs “that sometimes can’t be met through normal intelligence process.” he told the House Armed Services Committee last week in response to a question from Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.). “Operational planning products that don’t require the level of analytics that traditional intelligence products do.” Saltzman said the U.S. Space Systems Command is “dedicated to getting that.”
…SBIRS Transfer. Separately last week, Space Systems Command it has completed the trial period of the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) Baseline Release 23-1, resulting in the operational acceptance by Space Operations Command’s Space Operations Center, Missile Warning Mission Area Team. The 23-1 release, called Virtualized Processing Environment Release, or ViPER, is a modernization effort to replace obsolete hardware and cyber-vulnerable systems within the legacy SBIRS ground control station. SBIRS satellites are used to provide early missile warning and defense.
DoD Supply Chain Award. The Defense Department last week awarded $14.4 million to 5N+ Semiconductors to enhance space-qualified germanium wafer manufacturing capabilities that are critical for solar cells used in commercial and national security satellites. Utah-based 5N Semi will upgrade and expand their production facilities and make improvements in germanium sourcing, recovery, and refining, DoD said of the four-year effort. The award was made through the Defense Production Act Investment Program that is designed to strengthen the defense industrial base.
NGA Re-Upping with Maxar. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) last week said it plans to award Maxar Intelligence a sole-source contract for the Commercial GEOINT Access Portal (CGAP), a follow-on to the Global-Enhanced GEOINT Delivery (G-EGD) contract the company has with the agency. Under the G-EGD contract, Maxar provides government users with unclassified, on-demand access to commercial satellite imagery, including imagery provided by competitors. Maxar in 2022 received the third option—valued at $44 million—of three potential options under the G-EGD contract that has a total value of $176 million. NGA did not disclose the potential value of the upcoming CGAP award, which will have a one-year base and four one-year options.
ICEYE Raise. Finland-based commercial synthetic aperture radar satellite operator ICEYE raised $93 million in its latest funding round, which the company said will accelerate investment in its constellation, expand its product portfolio, and continue its international growth. ICEYE has raised $438 million through its various funding rounds. ICEYE generated more than $100 million in sales in 2023.
Counter-Drone Gun Co. Allen Control Systems (ACS), an Austin, Texas-based company developing counter-drone robotic gun systems, last week said it raised $12 million in a seed round. ACS said its gun systems will defeat drone swarms at a lower cost than currently available solutions. The funding round included participation from Forum Ventures and Rally Ventures.
Ukraine Meetings. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on April 19 participated in the latest virtual meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council. “The secretary and his fellow defense ministers will discuss the international effort to meet Ukraine’s urgent needs, to include air defense and artillery,” Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters. Ryder also noted Austin and Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will host a virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on April 26, which will once again gather defense officials from around 50 countries to discuss security assistance efforts for Ukraine. “Both meetings underscore the unwavering commitment of the United States and the international community to support the people of Ukraine as they continue to fight for freedom and protect their sovereignty from Russian aggression,” Ryder said.
New HAC-D Member. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) has joined the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), the new chair of the Appropriations Committee, said on April 16. “I have served with Chuck for over a decade on the Appropriations Committee, and I know he will bring his strong conservative values to the subcommittee as we fight to ensure that America’s military has the tools and resources it needs to protect the United States and our citizens,” Cole said in a statement. Fleischmann, who was represented Tennessee’s 3rd District since 2011, is currently chair of HAC’s Energy and Water Subcommittee. “We must continue revitalizing our nation’s nuclear deterrent, investing in modernizing our armed forces, expanding our defense industrial base, and ensuring that our troops have every single tool and resource to protect America and our national interests,” Fleischmann said in a statement.
AUKUS Export Revisions. The Commerce Department last Friday published an interim rule to reduce licensing requirements for the export of technologies to Australia in support of a defense agreement designed to provide Australia with nuclear-powered, conventionally-armed submarines, and enhance defense cooperation in key technology areas among the U.S., Britain, and Australia. The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security said the amended Export Administration Regulations relate to exports, reexports, and transfers in country to or within Australia and the U.K. to support the AUKUS Trilateral Security Partnership. Comments on the interim final rule are due by June 3.