Editor’s Note: In observance of the Thanksgiving holiday, Defense Daily will not publish on November 27 and 28.
Navy Battle Force. In the wake of the Secretary of the Navy’s announcement that the service is canceling the Constellation-class frigate program, a senior navy official told Defense Daily that the Navy leadership is currently updating its Battle Force Ship Assessment and Requirements (BFSAR) in anticipation of the release of a new National Defense Strategy. “The BFSAR will inform the Navy’s expectations. We will have more to announce in the coming weeks,” the official said when asked what Fincantieri Marinette Marine might be asked to work on to retain its workforce. The shipyard is still building the first two frigates, but the second one is expected to be delivered in 2030 and there is no other work definitely set up to maintain the production line. The official reiterated the Navy values the shipyard workforce in Wisconsin and Michigan and “maintaining this shipyard and its skilled workforce is imperative to Navy’s long-term maritime industrial base.”
SBI Prototypes. The Space Force Space Systems Command (SSC) has awarded companies Other Transaction Agreements to build prototypes for the Golden Dome program’s space-based interceptors (SBIs). “The Space Force will lead a fast-paced effort in partnership with industry to develop, demonstrate and deliver prototype interceptors,” SSC said in a statement on the awards. “The names of the contractors are currently not releasable as they are protected by enhanced security measures In accordance with Defense Federal Acquisition (DFAR) Supplement, 205.303 Announcement of contract awards, contracts under a $9 million threshold are not publicly released…Other Transaction Awards are not subject to the DFARS, so they are not required to be publicly announced.”
…Awardees? One source told Defense Daily possible recipients of the OTA awards include RTX’s Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Anduril Industries and General Atomics. Reuters reported Anduril, Lockheed, Northrop and True Anomaly as awardees, among others. While SSC has traditionally been the domain of large dollar companies, that may be shifting to an approach more akin to that of the Space Development Agency. “There’s more of a sentiment now of being sick and tired of the dead weight and the hardening of the arteries in past ways of doing business,” the source said. “The problem is gonna be on the contracting side where many O-5s don’t know what a commercial contract is, much less seen one.”
C-sUAS Summit. More than 180 personnel from the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Transportation, the FBI, Federal Aviation Administration and other federal offices met on Nov. 25 in Alexandria, Va., for a counter small unmanned aircraft system (C-sUAS) summit to delineate how the recently established Joint Interagency Task Force 401 (JIATF 401) can defend against small drones in the U.S., the Pentagon said on Friday. The initial focus is the Washington, D.C. area, the border with Mexico, and the FIFA World Cup event in June next year in Boston, the New York City area, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. “We need a common air picture that includes drones,” Army Brig. Gen. Matt Ross, the head of JIATF 401, said in a statement. “In some cases, we need cross-domain solutions that will allow us to see data that’s picked up on a secret radar and an unclassed sensor. We need to proliferate active and passive sensors that provide air situational awareness along the southern border.”
Big NGA Awards. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in late September awarded contracts to Palantir Technologies and Enabled Intelligence enterprise tools and data labeling. NGA posted the awards this month following the end of the government shutdown. The $646 million Glacier Bay award to Palantir is for the GEOINT AI Repository for NSG Enterprise Tools, which requires the back end integration of artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) and object-based production, front-end geospatial user interface and experience with user-designed workflows, rapidly deployable vertically integrated mission-based capabilities, and edge hardware support for disconnected and disadvantaged users. The $708.3 million SEQUOIA contract with Enabled supports data labeling for GEOINT AI/ML capabilities across multiple programs within NGA, Defense Department and intelligence community.
Next Gen Aircraft Protection. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s electronic warfare branch (AFLCMC/HNJW) at Hanscom AFB, Mass., has issued a Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) to hear from companies on next generation aircraft protection technologies. “AFLCMC/HNJW is developing a modular, upgradable Next Generation Aircraft Protection system based upon open architecture standards,” according to a business notice. “This CSO seeks to identify eligible vendors that are capable of developing part (or all) of this Next Generation Aircraft Protection system.” Companies sought include those with experience in “advanced sensor technologies (including but not be limited to radio frequency sensing (HF-EHF), optical sensing (infrared, visible, ultraviolet) to include laser warning receivers, and acoustic sensing), advanced processing (hardware, software, and algorithms), advanced countermeasures (kinetic and non-kinetic: including but not limited to RFCM (radar, comms) and Electro/Optical CM as well as non-traditional, emerging technologies such as High-Power Microwave and other-directed energy techniques),” according to the notice.
Pacific Deterrence Initiative. A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report recommends that the Pentagon clarify guidance on the selection of programs for the Pacific Defense Initiative (PDI) and that it consider funded priorities by U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM). “Inconsistent program selection has limited visibility and weakened the initiative’s value,” GAO said. “These issues stem, in part, from DoD’s unclear internal guidance on how to select programs for inclusion in the PDI budget exhibits.” GAO said that it visited INDOPACOM sites and analyzed more than 500 budget line items in the Pentagon’s PDI budget exhibits between 2023 and 2025.
SAIC Propulsion. Science Applications International Corp. on Nov. 24 announced it won a five-year $242 million follow-on contract from Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Newport (NUWCDIVNPT) to continue to operate, maintain and modernize its Propulsion Test Facility (PTF) to support the Undersea Warfare Weapons, Vehicles and Defensive Systems Department. The company said it will provide testing, torpedo test equipment and engineering and technical services in the operation, maintenance and upgrading of facilities that comprise the NUWCDIVNPT PTF Complex in support of the MK 48 Heavyweight Torpedo, MK 54 Lightweight Torpedo, Undersea Targets and Sensors, Unmanned Underwater Vehicles and Submarine Sensors and Equipment. SAIC has worked with the PTF for more than a decade.
Mk 41 Award. BAE Systems on Nov. 25 announced it won a $22 million contract to produce missile canisters for the Mk 41 Vertical Launching Systems (VLS), noting the award could be worth up to $317 million if all options are exercised. The award follows a previous $738 million contract for the same VLS missile launching canisters in July 2024. The company boasted this shows its “leading expertise in missile launch canisters for the U.S. Navy.” BAE noted the company is still manufacturing Mk 29 missile canisters also used on Navy and 10 allied country ships. The Mk 41 and 57 VLS canisters support missiles including Tomahawk, Standard Missile variants, Evolved SeaSparrow, and Vertical Launched Anti-Submarine Rockets.
Jamming Training. Textron Systems on Nov. 25 announced its Airborne Tactical Advantage Company (ATAC) won a $200 million Navy contract to provide five years of Stand-Off Jamming (SOJ) Jets Services training to the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract covers 2025 to 2030. ATAC will provide two contractor-owned and operated modified business jet aircraft to support SOJ training. ATAC will support Navy customers with a variety of airborne threat simulation capabilities to train, test and evaluate shipboard and aircraft squadron weapon systems, operators and aircrew on how to counter potential stand-off jamming and communications jamming. The aircraft will be based on the East and West Coasts.
Radar Search. The Coast Guard wants a new surface search radar to be its primary collision avoidance system for cutters and shore units, according to a draft solicitation. The service currently uses five different surface search radars, the AN/SPS-50, AN/SPS-78, AN/SPS-79, AN/SPS-73 and Terma Scanter 2001, which are installed across 13 cutter platforms and 113 Vessel Traffic Service remote sites, the Nov. 21 draft Request for Proposal said. Responses to the notice are due by Dec. 15.
