SECNAV Meets Steelworkers. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro met with the President of the United Steelworkers David McCall and President of the Wessel Group, Michael Wessel, on Sept. 17 in discussions the Navy characterizes as “wide-ranging and very productive.” Del Toro congratulated them for their leadership in a Section 301 petition brought by five labor unions to the U.S. Trade Representative earlier in 2024 for relief against uncompetitive Chinese practices in the commercial shipbuilding market. The Navy also said all three discussed ways to leverage financial mechanisms and incentives to encourage more investment in the U.S. maritime industry, a key part of Del Toro’s maritime statecraft initiative that seeks to ultimately improve the industrial background for Navy shipbuilding.
T-AO 206. In late September the new Navy oiler USNS Harvey Milk (T-AO 206) finished its first replenishment-at-sea (RAS) with two Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) vessels, the MSDF training vessels JS Kashima (TV-3508) and guided missile destroyer JS Shimakaze (DDG 172, TV 3521), which has now been converted into a training vessel. This replenishment activity occurred in the Virginia Capes’ operating area in the Atlantic Ocean on Sept. 24. This was the second time an oiler in the new John Lewis-class ships replenished two ships simultaneously. The TAO-205 class provides diesel fuel, lubricating oil and jet fuel; small quantities of fresh and frozen provisions and dry stores; and potable water to ships at sea.
Malabar 2024. The opening ceremonies for the 28th exercise Malabar 2024 took place Oct. 9 in Vishakhapatnam, India. The event will include both shore-based activities and then at-sea exercises in the bay of Bengal. What started as a bilateral exercise between the U.S. and India now for the fifth time in a row includes Australia and Japan. The at-sea exercises are expected to include combined training in the surface, sub-surface, air and information domains. This will include eight ships and almost 12 aircraft. U.S. participants will include a P-8 Poseidon and Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Dewey (DDG-105) from the U.S. 7th Fleet. Japan sent the Murasame-class destroyer JS Ariake (DD 109) while Australia is represented by the Royal Australian Navy Anzac-class frigate HMAS Stuart (FFH 153) and a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. India’s participants include the first-in-class guided-missile destroyer INS Delhi (D 61), and at least four other surface combatants and aircraft.
Settlement. Precision Castparts last week agreed to an administrative settlement with the State Department to resolve 24 violations of the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Under a consent agreement, the aerospace parts manufacturer will pay a $3 million civil fine with $1 million suspended on the condition the funds will be used for remedial compliance measures.
SURGO-SALO Launches. Exact launch dates for two new tactically responsive space missions, VICTUS SURGO and VICTUS SALO, are still being coordinated and finalized but the projected launch time for the former is late summer or early fall 2026 and for the latter fall 2026, U.S. Space Systems Command (SSC) said last week. SSC earlier this month announced the two new missions, saying at the time the launches were expected in 2026. The command awarded Impulse Space $35 million for both missions, which will leverage commercial solutions to “demonstrate how prepositioning highly maneuverable on-orbit SDA (space domain awareness) assets can complement responsive launch approaches,” SSC told Defense Daily.
Border Security News. Anduril Industries in late September said Customs and Border Protection has deployed the 300 Autonomous Surveillance Tower (AST) used for security along U.S. land and maritime borders. CBP’s Border Patrol division uses the artificial intelligence-enabled Sentry ASTs to autonomously detect, track, and identify objects of interest. The AST contract was the first federal award for Anduril and became a program of record in 2020. Anduril estimates that the short-range surveillance systems provide about 30 percent coverage of the U.S. southern land border.
A Nice Win. The recent award of $250 million in Defense Department contracts to Anduril Industries for its Roadrunner-M autonomous air vehicles and Pulsar electronic warfare systems for counter-drone operations is “a significant vote of confidence” in both systems, Chris Brose, the company’s chief growth officer, told reporters last week. He added, “It’s really going to accelerate our move to large scale manufacturing and fielding of both of those systems.”
VC Infusion. Fortius Metals, which develops high performance welding wire for large format metal 3D printing, last week said it raised an additional $2 million in Seed+ funding, bringing its total funding round to $5 million. The Colorado-based startup says its “technology enables welding and wire additive manufacturing using high-performance metal alloys to meet the rigorous requirements of aerospace and defense customers.” The new funding includes Belgium-based early-stage investor Finindus.
Turnkey Screening. OSI Systems last week said its security detection systems business has begun providing turnkey screening services in Uruguay, working with the country’s Ministry of Economics and Finance to strengthen security and efficiency at its ports and borders. OSI is using its EAGLE T60 high-energy, trailer-mounted vehicle inspection systems for security screening, and its CertScan security integration platform for remote image analysis.
People News. Ursa Major has hired retired Navy Rear Adm. Chris Engdahl as its chief safety and risk officer. Engdahl, whose last assignment in the Navy was as commander, Naval Safety Command, says on his LinkedIn profile he is “responsible for reducing workplace incidents, improving safety performance metrics and efficiency as Ursa Major moves into production at scale and speed to support customers and the U.S. warfighter.” Raj Shah, managing partner of Shield Capital and a former director of the Defense Innovation Unit, has been appointed as director of DIU’s Joint Reserve Detachment (JRD). The JRD is responsible for the operational employment of DIU Reservists to support combatant commands and joint forces. Lt. Col. Shah serves in the California Air National Guard and has completed combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan as an F-16 pilot. Following its acquisition of Axient last month, Astrion said it will continue to be led by Dave Zolet as CEO.
Novel Maneuver. The U.S. Space Force’s X-37B spaceplane by Boeing is to conduct “advanced aerobraking maneuvers” soon to lower the plane from its highly elliptical orbit where the spaceplane has been since December, the company said. Boeing said that this is the first time that the Space Force and the company will try “to accomplish this novel demonstration” and that the aerobraking/change of orbit will use “minimal fuel,” as the maneuver is to rely upon the drag of the Earth’s atmosphere. Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman said in the Boeing statement that the maneuver will be “an incredibly important milestone for the United States Space Force as we seek to expand our aptitude and ability to perform in this challenging domain.”
Super Tucano. Three Embraer-Sierra Nevada Corp. A-29 Super Tucanos have arrived at Edwards AFB, Calif., to be used for the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, the base said. “The arrival marks the first newly assigned aircraft for the school in nearly 30 years,” according to the Air Force. The service bought the three A-29s in 2019 for $63 million for Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) light attack, but the service did not make that “experiment” a program, and AFSOC divested the planes “after mission requirements changed,” the Air Force said. “The Air Force Test Center and school leadership saw these excess aircraft as a unique opportunity to expand the flight test and training capabilities at Edwards.”
…Modern Avionics. The Air Force said that the design of the A-29 airframe “is perfect for spin testing” and that the plane’s modern avionics and external pylons also make it ideal for research on “multi-domain sensors and weapons, reducing reliance on T-38 and F-16 aircraft while enhancing the ability to perform aspects of the developmental test mission tasked to the Air Force Test Center.”
New Facilities. Booz Allen Hamilton on Oct. 8 announced the opening of two new facilities: a flagship engineering facility in Lorton, Virginia that’s home to a Warfighter Applications and Rapid Prototyping Center and a maritime tech facility in Bremerton, Washington that will serve as a testbed for unmanned maritime technology, immersive engineering, and rapid integration. “These facilities are the latest examples of how we are investing in new tools, hardware, and capability enhancements as we continue to support clients by creating and fielding new technologies,” Judi Dotson, president of Booz Allen’s global defense business, said in a statement. “With these new facilities, Booz Allen is expanding our ability to rapidly prototype, test, and deploy innovative technologies that help to solve our clients’ most complex challenges and provide mission readiness.”
Leidos’ Security Work. Leidos was recently awarded a new six-year Army deal worth up to $249 million to continue work on the Automated Installation Entry (AIE) program to enhance security at 92 additional Army and select joint service installation access control points globally, the company said on Oct. 9. “We are proud to be the Army’s solution of choice for access control and security for all Army installations worldwide,” said Mike Diggins, Leidos’ senior vice president for homeland and force protection solutions. “Our use of cloud technology and biometrics applications is intended to enable secure, frictionless pedestrian and vehicle throughput at military access control points.” Leidos noted its work on AIE has focused on transitioning the Army’s Physical Access Control System to a “fully extensible cloud-based solution with advanced biometrics modalities.”
PEO C3N. The Army said on Oct. 9 it has redesignated Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications – Tactical (PEO C3T) as PEO Command, Control, Communications, and Network (PEO C3N). The service said the name change reflects the Army’s decision last year to merge its tactical and enterprise network efforts into a single acquisition portfolio under the Unified Network initiative. “With the addition of the enterprise network portfolios, we are now even better postured to provide enhanced high-speed, high-capacity voice, data and video communications for the force – all powered by a secure, holistic unified network,” Mark Kitz, the head of PEO C3N, said in a statement. “Over the past two years, we have already seen incredible progress towards this critical effort, including moving networked capabilities to the cloud and establish common data standards.”
