Belgium FMS. The State Department on July 25 approved a potential $115 million foreign military sale with Belgium for RTX’s GBU-53B Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) IIs, also known as “StormBreakers.” Under the deal, Belgium would receive up to 196 SDB-II all-up-rounds. The FMS case also includes training aids and devices and spare parts. “The proposed sale will improve Belgium’s capability to meet current and future threats by maintaining its F-35 fleet in combat-ready status and providing a credible deterrent to regional threats,” the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement.
DoDNet. Leidos said on July 29 it was recently awarded a five-year, $823 million task order from DISA to provide operations and sustainment Defense Enclave Services (DES) contract’s Department of Defense Network (DoDNet) program. Under the task order, Leidos is tasked with expanding DoDNet’s effort to expand from supporting 30,000 users to more than 160,000 users. “Leidos will help ensure the DoDNet environment is secure, scalable and operational by providing resilient and flexible IT solutions, including cybersecurity support, systems engineering, network architecture and management, and comprehensive technical support,” the company said in a statement. The task order was awarded under DISA’s 10-year, $11.5 billion DES contract with Leidos to optimize network services for DoD’s Fourth Estate Defense Agencies and Field Activities as they migrate from legacy network systems to the new DoDNet.
F-35 ECU. RTX Pratt & Whitney’s Engine Core Upgrade (ECU) effort for the F-35 fighter’s F135 engine is moving along “quite well,” says John Sneden, the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s program executive officer for propulsion. “They have demonstrated great design maturity, turbomachinery, everything looks good. They’re moving forward with the requirements of the program, and we’re not seeing any significant issues at all in terms of their execution.” P&W said last month that it has completed ECU Preliminary Design Review.
…Program of Record. While Pratt & Whitney is targeting 2029 to have ECU ready, the ECU “program of record” is holding to the early 2030s for fielding. In May last year, a Government Accountability Office study cited program officials as estimating that ECU “would be available in 2032, about 3 years after the program office estimates delivery of several key [F-35] Block 4 modernization capabilities that require additional engine and PTMS (power and thermal management system) capabilities.” Sneden says that “we’re holding to the program of record,” that “PTMS and the engine system all need to move as one,” and that “overall we’re holding to the early 2030s for [ECU] deployment.”
CACI Task Order. The Army has awarded CACI a five-year task order worth up to $414 million to provide expertise and unmanned systems support for the Combat Capabilities Development Command’s C5ISR Center, the company said on July 29. CACI said its work on the task order includes providing “in-depth assessments on available technology and inform countermeasure effectiveness in response to critical requirements at the national, tactical, and operational levels.” “CACI’s extensive, specialized operational support expertise is complemented and enhanced by our technical engineering know-how,” John Mengucci, CACI’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “We deliver the unique ability to assess threats across numerous platforms and domains, placing us at the forefront of the counter-unmanned systems (C-UxS) mission. Our forward deployed personnel are in position and ready to react at a moment’s notice to meet operational demands or emerging threats facing our troops.”
Noms Advance. The Senate Armed Services Committee on July 30 approved by voice vote advancing the nominations of Tonya Wilkerson to be the next Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security and Michael Sulmeyer to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy. The panel also favorably reported out over 3,000 pending nominations across the military services. The nominations now head to the Senate floor for full consideration.
BlueHalo NGCM. BlueHalo’s solution it’s developing for the Army’s Next-Generation C-UAS Missile (NGCM) has completed multiple rounds of testing, including successful firing of its dual-thrust, solid rocket motor, the company said on Aug. 1. The Army has selected BlueHalo and RTX for the NGCM effort that aims to rapidly develop and field a $200,000 or less unit cost C-UAS missile that is capable of defeating Group 3 drones as well as larger Group 4 and Group 5 UAS. BlueHalo noted its solution is now called the Freedom Eagle, or FE-1, adding it’s a “a low-cost effector with superior maneuverability to defeat an array of short-range air defense threats.” “Fueled by strategic early investments from the company, this milestone demonstrates the FE-1’s technological maturity and readiness while significantly reducing the technical and scheduling risks typically associated with rapid development programs,” the company said in a statement.
Italian Frigates. A joint venture owned by Italy’s Fincatnieri and Leonardo won a contract worth about $1.6 billion to build two more FREMM frigates in the EVOLUTION version (FREMM EVO) for the Italian Navy, Fincantieri said on Jul 31. The companies split ownership 51-49 percent of the Orizzonte Sistemi Navali (OSN) joint venture and OSN signed the contract with the pan-European Organization for Joint Armament Cooperation, which facilitates armament programs among Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K. Fincantieri said these ships will feature systems like anti-drone defense, operational management of unmanned systems in all domains, cyber resiliency and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities from the latest FREMM ASW units in service. The ships will be built at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Riva Trigoso and Muggiano. They are set to be delivered in 2029 and 2030.
CH-53K Materials. Naval Air Systems Command awarded Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky a $120 million modification to procure more long-lead time materials to support 21 full rate production, Lot Nine CH-53K King Stallion helicopters. The work will occur at the company’s Stratford, Conn., plant and is expected to last through March 2025. The funding comes exclusively from fiscal year 2024 Navy aircraft procurement funds obligated at the time of award, which will not expire at the end of this fiscal year.
Aussies Graduate. A group of Royal Australian Navy (RAN) enlisted sailors graduated from the United States Navy’s Basic Enlisted Submarine School (BESS), the U.S. Navy said on July 29. The service boasted they all graduated with distinction, one being named the Honor Graduate with a 100 percent score in the class. This is another step in Australia starting to train personnel to ultimately operate and maintain nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs) as part of the Pillar 1 AUKUS optimal pathway. Australia plans to procure three to five Virginia-class submarines in the 2030s. The Navy said each boat is made of 15 officers and 117 enlisted sailors. This training is separate from RAN sailors enrolled in the U.K. Royal Navy nuclear training pipeline and both nuclear and maintenance training in the U.S. These sailors will ultimately be posted to U.S.-based Virginia-class submarines.
NAVIFOR. Vice Adm. Mike Vernazza relieved Vice Adm. Kelly Aeschbach to become the next commander of Naval Information Forces (NAVIFOR) during a July 26 ceremony. Aeschbach has led NAVIFOR since May 2021, where she steered initiatives in manning, training and equipping information warfare forces across the DoD. Aeschbach is now set to retire after 34 years of service in the military. Vernazza was nominated by President Biden in May. He most recently served as commander of Fleet Information Warfare Command Pacific/Information Warfare Task Force (TF-501), Pacific at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.
AI Pilot Twin. Shield AI said it recently conducted a live, virtual, and constructive integration that entailed use of its Hivemind artificial intelligence pilot software to autonomously pilot a Kratos Defense & Security Solutions MQM-178 Firejet aerial target vehicle while simultaneously teamed with a virtual Hivemind-piloted Firejet, validating the autonomous software as a digital twin. The live and virtual aircraft collaborated “flawlessly,” and demonstrated the “seamless integration of collaborative autonomy using a combination of live and virtual platforms,” Shield AI posted on LinkedIn last week. Hivemind has been used to fly multiple fights of the Firejet jet-powered unmanned aircraft.
One Year On. Marking the one-year anniversary since acquiring Aerojet Rocketdyne, L3Harris Technologies last week offered some additional background around the investments it has been making to strengthen the rocket motor supplier and its industrial base. Internal investments in Aerojet have increased by 40 percent in the past year versus the prior year, and sub-tier supplier have received more than $25 million, L3Harris said. Additionally, more suppliers have been qualified to expand the supply chain for solid rocket motors. L3Harris previously has reported that it is expanding and modernizing Aerojet facilities in the U.S. using Defense Department funds awarded more than a year ago to Aerojet to strengthen the industrial base for solid rocket motors.
GEOINT Pilot. Satellite data analytics provider SynMax said it received an award from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) for a pilot project to apply its Theia geospatial maritime domain awareness tool to data provided by Planet Labs. Houston-based SynMax said NGA will test Theia’s ability to detect, track, and analyze maritime activities in near real-time.
Border Drone Security. The drone security company SkySafe last week said it has received a contract from Amentum to supply its cloud-based drone detection system along a portion of the U.S. southern border to help thwart the flow of illicit goods into the U.S. Amentum awarded the contract through its work for the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. SkySafe said its software-as-a-service solution for detecting, tracking, and identifying different drones will provide CBP agents with real-time alerts for situational awareness. The San Diego-based company also provides sensors as part of its solution.
Custom Satellite Line. The space technology company Umbra, which operates a synthetic aperture radar satellites that provide high-resolution Earth imagery, is opening a new business line to build custom satellite solutions for governments and corporations to purchase. “In the past few years, we’ve seen the mission-critical value our technology brings to customers, and the demand signal is loud and clear,” David Langan, co-founder and CEO of Umbra, said in a statement. He said the satellites are being offered to the U.S. and its global partners, including NATAO allies, whom are already being supported through the company’s remote sensing business.
People News. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency last week announced its first chief artificial intelligence officer, Lisa Einstein, who has led the agency’s AI efforts since 2023 as senior adviser for AI. CISA said the appointment shows its “commitment to responsibly use AI to advance its cyber defense mission and to support critical infrastructure owners and operators across the United States in the safe and secure development and adoption of AI.” Frank Avila has been named deputy director for source operations at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, responsible for collection, processing, and dissemination of imagery data” in support of the agency’s customers, he posted last week on LinkedIn. Avila previously was the agency’s deputy director of commercial operations.
Anduril in Japan. Anduril Industries last week said it and Japan’s Sumisho Aero-Systems have signed a contract to demonstrate Anduril’s Lattice artificial intelligence-enabled security platform can be leveraged by the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force. “We are thrilled to work with JMSDF to demonstrate how Lattice can fuse multiple data sources and platforms to provide information and decision advantage in a complex battlespace,” David Goodrich, the head of Anduril Australia and Asia Pacific, said in a statement. “We are proud to announce our first contract with Japan after only 16 months in the market.”
