House Appropriations. Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), the House Appropriations Committee (HAC) chair, has said he expects the panel’s subcommittees to have topline levels for final fiscal year 2025 appropriations bills “pretty quickly.” “I’m confident we can get the bills out of this committee, as we did last year, in time to be considered individually on the floor,” Cole said during HAC’s organizational meeting on Thursday and as Congress faces a March 14 deadline to avoid a government shutdown. The HAC Defense Subcommittee roster for this Congress includes Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) returning as chair and GOP Reps. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), Steve Womack (R-Ark.), Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), John Carter (R-Texas), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), Dave Joyce (R-Ohio), Jake Ellzey (R-Texas), Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) and David Valadao (R-Calif.). The Democratic roster for HAC-D includes Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) remaining as ranking member, returning Reps. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) Ed Case (D-Hawaii), Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and newly-appointed Reps. Susie Lee (D-Nev.), Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.).
SASC Panel Appointments. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) has been named as the new top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee panel in her first term serving on the panel. Slotkin, who was elected to the Senate after serving six years in the House, replaces Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) atop the SASC ET&C Subcommittee, which provides oversight on DoD science and technology efforts, special operations, intelligence, counterterrorism and more. SASC leadership announced on Jan. 24 that Slotkin will also sit on the Airland and Cyber Security Subcommittees. Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), the other newly-elected member appointed to SASC, will join the ET&C, Readiness and Management Support and Seapower Subcommittees.
…New Leaders. Along with Slotkin, SASC announced several other updates to leadership positions atop its subcommittees. Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) is the new top Republican on the Airland Subcommittee replacing Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), while Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) replaces Cramer’s leadership role on the Seapower Subcommittee. Meanwhile, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) has filled Scott’s former role as the top GOP senator on the Personnel Subcommittee. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) was also named the new ranking member of the Cyber Security Subcommittee replacing the now retired Joe Manchin, with all other Democrats remaining in their prior roles atop their respective subcommittees from the last Congress.
Company Additions. Science Applications Corp. (SAIC) and RTX said last week that they will comply with Pres. Trump’s Jan. 21st “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” executive order (EO). SAIC said on Jan. 23rd that “while this EO may be challenged in the courts, the company is currently required to fully comply with its requirements” and that “accordingly, all company policies, goals, and guidelines that may conflict with the requirements of this EO are no longer in force or effect.” Lockheed Martin has said that it will abide by the EO, but Northrop Grumman and L3Harris have thus far not given an indication of their intent in response to Defense Daily‘s queries. “Our highly dedicated workforce is built and advances on merit in pursuit of our mission to protect and connect the world,” RTX said on Jan. 24th. “RTX is taking the necessary actions to comply with the presidential executive orders.” Boeing removed its DEI office before the November elections, according to published reports.
New NSC-68. The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies is calling for a new NSC-68 and an addressing of the “deficiencies of the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Reform Act,” which the institute contends “are a root cause of under-resourcing our critical warfighting forces.” Declassified in 1975, NSC-68 was a 1950 Department of State/DoD policy paper that called on then President Truman to triple defense spending immediately. The new Mitchell paper said that DoD should no longer divvy up its budget in relatively equal service shares but instead move funding from the Army to the Air Force to improve deterrence of China.
Anduril Personnel Moves. Anduril Industries last week announced several promotions, including naming two of its executives as company presidents in addition to their existing roles. Chris Brose, one of the new presidents, also continues his role as chief strategy officer, leading corporate strategy, business development, government relations, communications, and international business. Matthew Steckman, the other president, is also chief business officer, overseeing corporate and executive operations, divisional activities, business performance, and revenue generations. Other moves include the promotion of Matthew Kaplan to senior vice president of corporate operations, overseeing revenue operations and corporate planning, and Joseph Larson as senior vice president of the newly created National Security Operations team, leading corporate partnerships and intelligence, customer success, and the Strategic Growth team.
Overland AI. Software firm Overland AI on Jan. 21 announced the launch of its new OverWatch command and control capability, which it said “enables tactical swarming, allowing a single operator to coordinate fleets of ground vehicles running on OverDrive – the company’s autonomy stack.” “At its core, OverWatch empowers tactical operators to intuitively communicate their objectives for teams of autonomous ground agents in contested environments,” Jon Fink, Overland AI’s chief technology officer, said in a statement. The company said the new OverWatch C2 capability “continues to be rigorously iterated and refined” with its current work supporting DARPA, Army, Marine Corps and Special Operations Command efforts.
Hypersonic Investment. Venus Aerospace has received an investment by America’s Frontier Fund that the Houston-based startup will use to accelerate its flight program with the VDR2 engine, which the company says combines the “high thrust of a rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) with the efficient cruise of a ramjet,” to reach speeds up to 4,600 mile per hour. The amount of the investment was not disclosed. Venus is targeting ground test of the VDR2 later this year. Additionally, this year it plans to conduct the first atmospheric flight of the RDRE, “demonstrating the significant potential for both defense and commercial markets with faster, more efficient, and longer-range vehicles,” it says.
UKR V-BAT Training. Shield AI this month said it has a dedicated team and office in Kyiv training the Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) on the company’s V-BAT unmanned aircraft system. Shield does not have a government contract and there have not been big purchases of V-BATs, it said. The company has been testing V-BAT, and at times operating, V-BAT in Ukraine with its Hivemind autonomous pilot software, successfully navigating in challenging electronic warfare environments (Defense Daily, Nov. 12, 2024). Recently, V-BAT was flown from land for maritime operations in the Black Sea, demonstrating “its value for long-range missions across both land and sea,” the company said. “The presence of Shield AI’s team in Ukraine is a critical step in enhancing our operational capabilities,” an unnamed senior commander from the Unmanned Systems Training Group, said in a statement in Shield’s announcement.
GPS-Denied Navigation. ANELLO Photonics last week said it received a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research award from the Navy to showcase its optical gyroscope technology and sensor fusion engine for applications in GPS-denied environments. The project topic for the award is “Alternative Navigation System for Hypersonic Vehicles in GPS-Degraded and GPS-Denied Environment.”
People News. QinetiQ US has named Tom Vecchiolla as president and chief executive. Vecchiolla previously served on the company’s Special Security Agreement board and spent 15 years at the former Raytheon, leaving the company in 2017 after more than three years as president of Raytheon International. Heidi Grant, who spent the last three years at Boeing’s defense segment—first as president of business development and then as head of global engagement—last week said she has departed the company. Archer Aviation last week said that retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Scott Howell has joined the advisory board of the company’s defense business. Archer Defense, in partnership with Anduril, in December announced they are developing a hybrid-propulsion vertical take-off and landing aircraft.
7th Fleet Trainer. The commander of U.S. 7th Fleet, Vice Adm. Fred Kacher, on Jan. 16 opened the fleet’s new Navigation, Seamanship, and Shiphandling Trainer (NSST) facility in Yokosuka, Japan. Capt. Dave Huljack, deputy commodore of Commander, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15, noted their teams are already using the facilities, not just for certification but also to practice close-quarters shiphandling and tactical maneuvering. “Building more trainers surges the volume of qualified and capable mariners that we’re able to bring to the fight,” Huljack said.
F-35 FRCE Expansion. Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., marked the completion of its F-35 Lightning II expansion project with an informal ribbon cutting ceremony on Jan. 14, the Navy said on Jan. 23. This expansion provides space and aircraft bays to support increasing the F-35 modification workload. FRCE is the lead site for depot-level maintenance on the F-35B and has previously performed modifications and repair on the Marine Corps’ short takeoff-vertical landing variant of the aircraft since 2013. The depot also performs work on the Air Force F-35A and Navy F-35C variants. The F-35 Joint Program Office first looked into expanding this project in 2022 and FRCE was selected “due to its proven track record in depot performance, skilled labor force and their ability to deliver aircraft on time,” F-35 Joint Program Office Modifications and Induction Lead Jeanie Holder said in a statement.
NAWCAD Lakehurst Groundbreaking. Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division Lakehurst at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., held a groundbreaking ceremony to upgrade the Runway Arrested Landing Site testing facility on Jan. 14. The Navy intends for the updated site to feature a Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS) and an Unmanned Carrier Aviation Mission Control System for the MQ-25 and other aircraft programs. The Navy said the JPALS update will allow compatibility testing for the MQ-25 on Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment (ALRE) systems, starting with the TC-13 steam catapult and MK-7 arresting gear used on older aircraft carriers.
…Future Plans. Naval Air Systems Command noted future testing at this new testing facility site is expected to expand to the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) used on the newer Ford-class carriers. The runway update will also include the Mobile Integrated Telemetry System, which permits set up of temporary aircraft data management telemetry systems during testing.
