Guetlein Confirmed. The Senate voted to confirm Space Force Gen. Michael Guetlein as the reporting program manager for the new Golden Dome missile defense initiative. The Senate approved his position by voice vote. President Trump first announced his move to this role in May before Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in mid-June said he was officially appointed to the role. Guetlein previously served as vice chief of Space Operations, U.S. Space Force.
Comet Testing. Lockheed Martin said that it has flight tested two designs of its Common Multi-Mission Truck (CMMT), the so-called “Comet,” for possible future military use, including as a cheap cruise missile. In May, at Oregon’s Tillamook UAS Test Range, the company said it used a Rapid Dragon pallet “to test CMMT-D, a compact cruise missile designed to deploy from air mobility aircraft like the C-130.” A helicopter carried the pallet to 14,500 feet to simulate a parachute descent, and the “CMMT-D deployed its wings and entered an unpowered glide following a safe release,” Lockheed Martin said. Last month, at the Pendleton UAS Range in Oregon, Lockheed Martin affixed CMMT-X, “a smaller variant of the CMMT family,” to the pylon of a test aircraft, and CMMT-X “safely separated from the launch craft, deployed its wings and lit its engine to initiate powered flight,” the company said.
New F-35 PEO. U.S. Marine Lt. Gen. Gregory Masiello became the new program executive officer (PEO) for the F-35 fighter program on Thursday. He succeeds Air Force Lt. Gen. Michael Schmidt, who has served in the position since July, 2022. DoD acquisition chief Michael Duffy attended the transition ceremony in Arlington, Va.
Quantum Navigation Test. Q-CTRL announced a recent field trial using “software-ruggedized quantum sensing for navigation” on the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Multi-role Aviation Training Vessel (MATV), MV Sycamore. This sensor uses a quantum dual gravimeter, which measures tiny variations in Earth’s gravity as part of a “next-generation quantum-assured positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) system operable when GPS is unavailable or untrusted.” It also could be a potential alternative when magnetic navigation is less effective. This means it detects the hills and valleys in Earth’s gravity and compares the detection to known gravity maps to determine location. The company boasted it was able to use its own software-ruggedized strategies to operate when the ship motion and vibrations would usually lose the signal under conventional operating techniques for research.
…Autonomously. The company also said this first field trial had them operate for more than 144 hours of continuous operation and data collection with no human intervention during maritime operations. Unlike most field trials, Q-CTRL said the RAN trails mandated peak performance “with full autonomy and without the addition of any special infrastructure. The sensor had to operate just as a real navigation system would operate during a defense mission.” The company said it developed and fielded this system in 14 months as a strapdown configuration, meaning it was simply bolted to the floor and took up the space of one server reach in a communications room about the ship. “ The sensor consumed only 180W of power – about 10 times less than a household toaster, setting a record for SWaP (size, weight, and power),” Q-CTRL said in a statement.
RAM GMLS. The Navy awarded RTX a $74 million contract on July 10 to continue procuring fiscal year 2025 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) Mod 5 Guided Missile Launching System (GMLS) requirements and spares. The work is expected to be split between 34 percent in Germany and the remainder in the U.S. as part of a cooperative development program lasting through September 2028. The company noted this is the largest single order of RAM launchers and will cover several new launcher systems, refurbishments on current systems, spares and the hardware needed to support upgrades. The RAM is a bilateral partnership between the U.S. and Germany and the company noted it is deployed on over 165 ships in 11 countries as well as being installed on new U.S. Navy ships.
Guam Facility Prep. The American Granite construction company announced its joint venture with Japan’s Obayashi Corporation won a $158 million Navy task order to help prepare for a Guam missile defense Phase 1 test site. The work specifically covers underground ductbank, mass earthwork, water mains, structural concrete, rebar, steel water tank, fire pump building and security forces office building. This specific site spans about 120 acres on a former military housing area. Construction is due to start in late July and run through 2028.
USAF Nominations. U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Stephen Davis, the current Air Force inspector general, is to pin on a fourth star and become the head of Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) to replace Air Force Gen. Thomas Bussiere, Pres. Trump’s nominee to be the next Air Force vice chief of staff. AFGSC is the service component of U.S. Strategic Command. Trump has also nominated Air Force Lt. Gen. Andrew Gebara, the deputy Air Force chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration, to become the director of Air Force staff; and Air Force Brig. Gen. Max Pearson, the deputy director of operations at the National Security Agency, to become a lieutenant general and to serve as Air Force deputy chief of staff for intelligence.
Norway FMS. The State Department on July 11 said it has approved a potential $2.6 billion foreign military sale with Norway for up to nine Sikorsky HH-60W combat rescue helicopters. The deal also includes 22 GE T-700 turboshaft engines, 21 Embedded Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation Systems, 10 AN/APR-52 Radar Warning Receivers and 10 AN/AAR-57 Common Missile Warning Systems. Norway would also receive GAU-21 aircraft machine guns, IZLID 200P infrared lasers, AN/ALE-47 Airborne Countermeasures Dispenser Systems, Joint Mission Planning System with “unique planning components and software,” weapons and weapons support equipment and maintenance support. “The proposed sale will improve Norway’s capability to meet current and future threats by increasing its airborne combat and special operations capabilities. Norway will use these aircraft to defend other NATO members and its allies,” the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement.
Ukraine Ammo. D&M Holding Company Inc., which describes itself as a “global leader in delivering complete solutions for ammunition, primer and propellant manufacturing facilities,” signed an agreement on July 16 with Ukrainian Defense Industry Joint Stock Company (JSC) to partner on producing specialty chemicals in the U.S. “to address the critical shortage of propellant used in the production of ammunition for the Ukrainian defense forces.” The U.S. facility will produce a single base propellant used for artillery ammunition, including 155mm rounds, the companies noted. “We have to gradually move from large-scale procurement to our own production to meet our immediate needs. It is equally important that the company will operate in a safe area. Our cooperation with American arms companies will continue in other areas,” Ukrainian Defense Industry Director General Oleh Huliak said in a statement.
EW Defeat Roadmap. The House Armed Services Committee adopted an amendment to its version of the fiscal year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act requiring the Army to provide a roadmap for accelerating its electronic warfare defeat solutions. Rep. Lance Gooden (R-Texas) offered the amendment during the committee’s markup of the NDAA, with the measure directing the Army’s acquisition chief to brief HASC by March 2026 “on the cost, schedule and feasibility of accelerating the fielding of soft kill, counter- UAS solutions for Army ground combat vehicles.” “The committee is aware that Army’s PEO Ground Combat Systems has an existing roadmap to develop soft kill, non-kinetic solutions for a variety of threats to ground combat vehicles, including counter-UAS capabilities. While the Committee is encouraged by the Army’s development of soft kill solutions, it notes that the Army’s roadmap would not field needed capabilities for at least another five years,” Gooden’s amendment states.
Hodne Nom. President Trump has nominated Lt. Gen. David Hodne to receive his fourth star and serve as the first leader of the Army Transformation and Training Command, the new organization following the planned merger of Army Futures Command (AFC) with Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). Hodne is currently deputy commanding general of futures and concepts at the modernization-focused Futures Command in Austin, Texas. The Army has laid out plans to combine AFC and TRADOC as part of its new Army Transformation Initiative. Hodne would succeed Gen. James Rainey as AFC leader and Gen. Gary Brito, the current commanding general of the Fort Eustis-based TRADOC.
New Defense Division. REGENT Craft, which is developing hydrofoiling wing-in-ground-effect Seaglider vessels for commercial maritime users, has created REGENT Defense to meet what it says is increasing military demand. The company said it will build the Defense Seagliders at his headquarters in Rhode Island. REGENT says the Seaglider offers “high-speed, long-range, and low-signature capabilities, all at significantly reduced costs compared to legacy transportation solutions. These advantages directly address the ‘tyranny of distance’ often seen in littoral operations, where resupply and transport across vast ocean stretches has historically been difficult.”
FMD Closes Deal. Fairbanks Morse Defense (FMD) last week completed its acquisition of the Rolls-Royce Naval Propulsors business, which was first announced in September 2024. The new FMD business, which is based in Pascagoula, Miss., “is the only privately owned foundry in the United States capable of casting large Navy-standard propulsor systems, making it a critical component of the maritime defense supply chain.” FMD said that the propulsor business is part of a “naval-focused defense contractor,” which means better and timelier support for the Navy.
IT Deal. Federal and commercial software services firm CASE last week acquired information technology services company Ragnarok Technologies, which also serves federal and commercial clients. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. CASE is a portfolio company of the private equity firm AE Industrial Partners.
Drone High. Heven’s Zepher Flight Labs business has successfully demonstrated a vertical takeoff of its hydrogen fuel cell-powered Z1 unmanned aircraft system at maximum takeoff weight, followed by a continuous climb to a density altitude of 12,000 feet. The flight was part of an ongoing test campaign to extend the Z1’s performance envelope. The company is coordinating with the Army Research Laboratory as it pursues a target ceiling of 20,000 feet.
People News. U.S. Central Command has hired Cyrus Jabbari as its chief data officer, succeeding Michael Foster who left last December. Jabbari previously held the same position since 2023 at for the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Experimentation. Miami-based drone manufacturer Heven has appointed Warren Brown, who has held marketing roles at Boeing, SAIC, and Fortem Technologies, as chief marketing officer. And Mach Industries, which is developing missiles and other effectors, has appointed Paul Arcangeli, a former House Armed Services Committee staff director, as head of government relations, and Ian Bennitt, most recently senior director of the White House National Security Council, as vice president of government affairs.
