Page 18 – Defense Daily

Embraer Shows KC-390 to Military, Congressional Staff at Joint Base Andrews

JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md.—Embraer brought its KC-390 jet tanker/transport to show to companies and Pentagon officials at the recent Aerial Refueling Systems Advisory Group (ARSAG) International meeting in Las Vegas and Special Operations Week in Tampa, Fla.

Visits to the plane included one by Air Force Gen. John Lamontagne, the head of Air Mobility Command.

On Thursday, the Brazilian Air Force KC-390 was again on display here, as Embraer showed the plane to U.S. military and congressional officials.

The company is seeking to make significant inroads in the U.S. market with the KC-390–an opportune time, as Pentagon officials say deterrence of China is their top priority and as the U.S. Air Force implements Agile Combat Employment (ACE) for far flung locations in the Indo-Pacific and elsewhere.

Embraer says the KC-390 can land on short, austere runways, air drop from 36,000 feet, and has an open architecture self-protection suite, including Elbit Systems

‘ directed infrared countermeasures, digital radar warning receiver, infrared missile warning system, laser warning system, electronic warfare pods, and chaff and flares.

Embraer also believes the Millenium could find a special operations niche.

“The KC-390 is raising a lot of eyebrows for special ops-type of missions with all its connectivity and capabilities, ” said Frederico Lemos, the chief commercial officer of Embraer Defense & Security.

Emerging needs for the U.S. Air Force look to be more air refueling booms and autonomous drones, including possibly thousands under the service’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft program.

“We see the KC-390 as a strong contender for what we also see–the need for tanking–more tanking, more booms, more baskets in the air,” Lemos said. “The 390 is here in production, ready to contribute to that effort for the U.S. and partner nations and increasing its capacity for tanking, for airlift, special missions, ISR, and palletized effects.”

The Air Force’s Analysis of Alternatives for the Next Generation Air Refueling System–a possibly stealthy tanker–has been examining required runway size, fuel carriage for long-range missions, and the need for tanker stealth.

The KC-390’s Eaton Corp. [ETN] wing refueling pod supports probe-and-drogue “basket” tanking, used by U.S. Navy fighters.

Among the KC-390 buys so far are 19 for Brazil, 5 for Portugal, 5 for the Netherlands, four for Austria, three for South Korea, two for Hungary, and two for the Czech Republic.

Embraer had been developing a boom with L3Harris Technologies [LHX] for the KC-390, but the uncertain future for the U.S. Air Force tanking fleet contributed to L3Harris pulling out last October, and Embraer has been looking for new partners on the boom project.

Embraer and L3Harris had started their boom development in 2022 as part of a range of refueling options, including a remote system, for the KC-390 to allow the plane to offload 75,000 pounds of fuel, about 30 percent the advertised capacity of a Boeing [BA] KC-46A Pegasus (Defense Daily, Sept. 19, 2022).

While the Air Force’s fleet thus far of 89 KC-46As fit under the “strategic” tanker category of the mainstay KC-135s, Embraer says the KC-390 could be an important tanking asset due to the plane’s ability to be refueled and its defensive system and short, austere runway features.

Embraer said that it is looking for a site in the U.S. to build the KC-390, if the latter meets U.S. military requirements. U.S. KC-390 suppliers include Collins Aerospace [RTX] for plane avionics and Pratt & Whitney [RTX] for the combustor/two-stage air-cooled high pressure turbine for the aircraft’s IAE V2500 engine.

“What is very important for us is to understand the critical [boom] design requirements for the Air Force–whether it’s going to be more manual or more remote,” Lemos said. “We need to listen to the Air Force, whether it’s important to have the capability very fast, working very well in a proven platform, or to have something different.”

Congress has set the minimum tanker number at 466. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Allvin said that the service foresees fixing all Category 1 deficiencies with the KC-46A’s Remote Vision System (RVS) 2.0 in the next 18 months–a timeline which would mean about a seven-year timeline since Boeing and the Air Force agreed on a re-design of the original RVS (Defense Daily, May 7).

First Orca XLUUV Minelayer To Deliver This Summer, Navy Developing More Playloads

The Navy plans to receive the first Boeing [BA]-built Orca Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (XLUUV) this summer, a Navy program office leader said this week.

The first vessel, dubbed XLE-1, has been built and is being tested in the water at Boeing’s Huntington Beach, Calif., facility and is “about to deliver this summer,” Rear Adm. Kevin Smith, Program Executive Officer for Unmanned and Small Combatants, said on May 7 during the International Mine Warfare Technology Symposium.

Boeing delivers first Orca XLUUV test asset to the Navy in December 2023. (Photo: Boeing)

Smith confirmed four more Orcas are on the way over 1-1.5 years and that while there are many potential payload opportunities for the vessel, “the sole purpose right now…is clandestine mines.”

“We’re just beginning to explore what else the Orca can do and the capabilities that can be offered. So we’re looking forward to getting XLE-1 delivered and then the additional four in the next year, year and a half and then getting those out and continue to learn from the XLUUV.”

Speaking during the same event, Eric Bandstra, Technology Development Principle Assistant Program Manager (PAPM) at the Unmanned Maritime Systems (PMS 406) program office, said they are trying to focus on delivering a “holistic capability,” beyond just the baseline Orca vehicle itself.

Bandstra repeated Smith’s note on seeking more payloads and while he did not describe what they could be, they are developing them and “looking at in the future what additional capability can we bring to these vehicles.”

XLE-1 was preceded by the initial engineering and development model for risk reduction testing, XLE-0. Boeing delivered this first model in late 2023 (Defense Daily, Dec. 20, 2023).

Bandstra said XLE-0 has logged 1,274 hours of powered testing in seawater as well as 183 hours with 505 nautical miles of autonomous sailing.

“So big advancement, big accomplishments for a first of its kind vehicle,” he said.

Last November, Boeing announced XLE-1 finished a 48-hour endurance sailing run, operating autonomously below the surface and surfaced multiple times to recharge its battery (Defense Daily, Nov. 6, 2024).

Then, during a December visit to Boeing’s California facility by former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the Navy said XLE-1 was set to be delivered in early 2025 (Defense Daily, Dec. 10).

At the time, the Navy said XLE-1 was undergoing a period of contractor pierside and at-sea testing, followed by Navy Developmental and Operational Testing (DT/OT). The service said the DT/OT was expected to last through the third quarter of fiscal year 2025. The third quarter for the federal government runs through June, which may be in line with Smith’s statements.

The five Orcas ordered by the Navy were originally funded in FY 2029, but the service later had to push back the schedule in the FY 2025 budget request due to several delays (Defense Daily, March 19, 2024).

A 2022 Government Accountability Office report warned Orca was behind schedule and more expensive than planned due to poor business planning. This was primarily focused on how the Navy did not require Boeing to demonstrate how ready it was to adapt the base civilian Echo Voyager model to the Navy configuration needs. The Navy changes to the UUV’s battery forced Boeing to get a new subcontractor, among other issues (Defense Daily, Sept. 29, 2022).

Relatedly, Bandstra also said the Navy also planned to ultimately look into additional payloads for the smaller submarine-launched UUV focused on minelaying, the Medusa.

In September 2024, the Navy awarded General Dynamics [GD] a $58 million contract to develop and build Medusa to replace similar older systems (Defense Daily, Oct. 23, 2024).

He said they are getting going, working on initial design and risk reduction testing for Medusa.

That system is constrained by the size of the torpedo tube, but they are hoping the program will deploy a system with longer range and autonomous delivery of mines.

“Then potentially in the future, delivering additional capability and additional payloads with those.”

The Navy does not plan to recover Medusa from the torpedo tubes because it will be expendable once all clandestine mine payloads are deployed.

Navy Seeks Industry Help For Foreign Partner Long Range UAV

The Navy is seeking industry input on potential solutions for a long-range unmanned aircraft to be used by an unspecified partner country.

The Request For Information (RFI), published Wednesday, specifically seeks possible solutions for a Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) to be used by an international partner to remain on station for up to 48 hours to assist in maritime domain awareness (MDA) and search and rescue operations.

Specifications include that the drone should be able to operate in static rain environments of up to one inch per hour, conduct wide area surveillance, and have cued response with localized search, vessel classification, identification and tracking.

The Navy wants the system to provide real-time full motion video via electro-optical and infrared sensors (EO/IR), with the ability to detect and monitor large and small objects in the water as well as distinguish between different types of vessels.

Moreover, the Navy said the UAS should be ready to use with minimal logistics, training or other support capable of autonomous or safe manual ground lance and recovery without runways as well as use a man-portable Ground Control Station that has all the equipment needed to monitor the system’s position and status while controlling its movement.

The Navy identified several other desired specifications, including weighing under 55 pounds with payload, no more than four-person set up needs, have a minimum line of sight range of 60 kilometers, have modular and open architecture, and be at Technology Readiness Level eight or higher.

The notice never elaborated on what partner country this UAS would be for. Responses are due by May 20.

The RFI was issued by Naval Air Systems Command for Program Executive Office for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons’ (PEO (U&W)) Navy and Marine Corps Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program Office (PMA-263) at Patuxent River, Md.

Lawmakers Press Army Under Secretary Nom Obadal On Retaining His Equity In Anduril

Lawmakers on Thursday pressed Army under secretary nominee Michael Obadal on avoiding conflicts of interest with his recent employer Anduril Industries, as he plans to retain his vested equity in the firm.

“We understand you’re from Anduril and no one quibbles with that. It’s a company that does a lot of good work with the Defense Department. But if I’m hearing correctly, you are not going to divest from all of your stock. And I know you’ve got a deal. But the average soldier, as you know, would have to be open about what stock they have, what conflicts of interest they may have if they were a contracting officer,” Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) said during Obadal’s confirmation hearing on Thursday.

Anduril executive and Army veteran Michael Obadal, nominee to be Army under secretary

Obadal, an Army veteran who joined Anduril as a senior director after retiring from military service, is planning to forgo his unvested equity in the firm if confirmed for the Army under secretary role but will retain his vested restricted stock units, according to his financial disclosure form with the Office of Government Ethics.

“Because I will continue to hold equity in Anduril Industries, I will not participate personally and substantially in any particular matter that to my knowledge has a direct and predictable effect on the financial interests of Anduril Industries, unless I first obtain a written waiver…or qualify for a regulatory exemption,” Obadal writes in the form.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), in a letter to Obadal ahead of his hearing, asked the nominee to commit to divesting his equity in Anduril, recusing himself from matters involving the company, divesting his equity stock in other major defense contractors as well as committing not work with any company that does business with the Army or lobby DoD for four years after leaving government service

“This financial connection, and your holdings in other defense contractors, will compromise your ability to serve with integrity, raising a cloud of suspicion over your contracting and operational decisions. If confirmed, you must resolve these conflicts and divest your financial interests in Anduril,” Warren writes in her letter.

Obadal holds between $250,000 and $500,000 in vested equity with Anduril, according to Warren’s letter, and also owns stocks in firms such as General Dynamics [GD] and Cummins, Inc. [CMI].

If confirmed, Obadal would be the service’s no. 2 civilian and have a lead role in setting the Army’s budget priorities and overseeing modernization efforts (Defense Daily, March 12).

“The concern is [that] just this past week the Army announced its transformation initiative and a huge amount of that is geared toward drones and other things Anduril, your current company, is neck deep in. Again, I don’t have a problem with the transformation. I have a problem with the perception to our troops that their leaders can do things that they themselves cannot,” Slotkin said.

Anduril is currently involved in several major modernization efforts, to include recently assuming the role of prime contractor on the Integrated Visual Augmentation System program and currently delivering prototypes for the service’s new intelligence ground station.

“I believe in two things that I think I share with the members of this committee and that’s transparency and very strong ethical guidelines. And as with every potential senior government official, I’ve gone through an exhaustive process with the Office of Government Ethics and they have done a thorough review and presented me with the guidelines. I will abide by all of those guidelines and, as I always have, I will abide by the law,” Obadal said during his hearing.

Rocket Lab To Conduct Return-To-Earth Cargo Mission For Air Force With Neutron Rocket

Rocket Lab USA [RKLB] will conduct a return-to-Earth cargo mission as early as next year using its Neutron launch vehicle, the company said on Thursday.

The medium-lift rocket will be used as part of an experimentation effort by the Air Force Research Laboratory to create a rocket-based point-to-point logistics capability to rapidly transport items globally using commercial launch providers.

Rocket Lab last November announced its first launch deal for Neutron to deploy satellites for a commercial customer (Defense Daily

, Nov. 13, 2024). The first launch of Neutron is planned for the second half of 2025.

“Neutron is a powerful new launch option that will set a new standard for performance, affordability, and reliability for government and commercial space users in medium launch,” Peter Peck, the company’s founder and CEO, said in a statement. “This opportunity for the U.S. Air Force not only helps to advance space logistics, it also demonstrates a high degree of confidence by the DoD in Neutron’s capabilities.”

CACI, General Atomics, Viasat Move On In Space Laser Communication Effort

The Space Force’s Space Systems Command (SSC) has awarded contracts to CACI International [CACI], General Atomics, and Viasat [VSAT] to move into the second phase prototype effort for space laser communication terminals that would provide on-orbit data crosslinks between future Defense Department space systems.

The value of the Phase 2 awards under the $100 million Enterprise Space Terminal program were not disclosed. Last summer, the three Phase 2 awardees plus Blue Origin received Phase 1 EST contracts (Defense Daily, June 17, 2024).

The goal of the EST effort is to expand the industrial base, promote innovation, and maintain competition for the long-range optical communication links, which have been a supply chain challenge for the Space Development Agency’s first tranche of missile tracking and related communication satellites as part of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture.

The program is also aimed at lowering the size, weight, power, and cost of the laser links.

The first phase concluded with a preliminary design review from each company, who were selected “based on cost, schedule, and performance factors and were determined to be the best value for the government,” SSC said on May 8.

In Phase 2 the companies will continue design efforts and conduct lab demonstrations of their communication links in a government testbed, leading to critical design reviews.

If successful, the program will transition to Phase 3 which will assembling, testing, and delivering prototype links that will also be demonstrated in a government testbed, General Atomics said.

The EST program is leveraging prior DoD and commercial investments to operationalize a new waveform to communicate in beyond low Earth orbit (bLEO) regimes, SSC said. The crosslinks are expected to enable communications between 10,000 to 80,000 kilometers in bLEO and still operate in LEO, General Atomics said.

“I’m pleased with the progress on the EST program so far,” Space Force Lt. Col. Jeffrey Fry, MILNET program manager for SSC’s Space Domain Awareness and Combat Power Program Executive Office, said in a statement. “The EST prototypes are foundational elements to the future space data transport network that we are building. The ESTs will implement a common waveform so all satellites carrying these terminals can talk to each other. This is important as the network of satellites carrying EST compatible terminals will provide diverse communication paths for data that is critical to our national security and our way of life.”

Amentum Reports Increased Earnings, Cites Nuclear Biz

Earnings rose at Amentum [AMTM] in its second quarter, which the government contractor partly attributed Wednesday to demand for nuclear work and divestiture of a non-core asset.

Net earnings for the second quarter ended March 28 were $4 million, or $0.02 a share, up from a loss of $41 million or $0.46 a share, in the year-ago quarter. Quarterly revenue was $3.5 billion, up year-over-year from $2.1 billion.

That’s according to the financial results press release issued early Wednesday morning by Amentum.

Quarterly segment operating income for the Global Engineering Solutions segment, where Amentum oversees much of its Department of Energy and Department of Defense-related work, was $161 million up from $160 million a year ago. Segment revenue was $2.15 billion, down from $2.17 billion in the year-ago period.

“Our performance, combined with our recently announced divestiture of Rapid Solutions, highlights the strength of our business as a premier pure-play advanced engineering and technology solutions company and enhances our financial flexibility,” Amentum CEO John Heller said in the earnings release.

Amentum announced last month it is selling Rapid Solutions, a maker of national defense products to Lockheed Martin [LMT] for $360 million in cash.

The Virginia-based Amentum also made a splash in the international power market in March when it was selected as program and project management delivery partner for Sizewell C, a new nuclear power station.

During its earnings call, Amentum officials also touted the company being partners in joint ventures in two key DoE Office of Environmental Management contracts. One is for management of liquid waste at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The other is for continued nuclear cleanup at the West Valley Demonstration Project in New York state.

Amentum, which had been privately-held, in September 2024 completed its merger with the government contracting and cyber intelligence arms of Dallas-based Jacobs [J].

A link to playback of the earnings call, and the company’s financial presentation can be found on Amentum’s investor relations website.

Ursa Major Validates Rocket Motor Manufacturing Process With Denser Propellant Arrangement

Ursa Major on Wednesday said it conducted multiple static fires of a 5-inch solid rocket motor (SRM) packed with propellant in a configuration that enables longer ranges and different thrust profiles, internally validating the startup’s proprietary manufacturing process with the Highly Loaded Grain (HLG).

The Colorado-based company’s advanced manufacturing process is called Lynx and uses additive manufacturing to produce most SRM parts. The Navy is investing jointly with Ursa Major to expand the capability to large rocket motors (Defense Daily, Sept. 17, 2024).

The HLG approach allows more propellant to be packed into the same size rocket motor. The company said its HLG development is funded in part through work with the Navy.

Ursa Major has validated its manufacturing process for other size SRMs but the recent static fires were the first for the HLG, representing a milestone for the internally developed components and processes around the technology.

“While our solid rocket motors are already flight-tested and proven, this static fire represents the successful validation of the full Lynx manufacturing process with HLG, affirming Ursa Major’s ability to be a supplier of mission critical solid rocket motors,” Bill Murray, the company’s chief engineering officer, said in a statement.

More tests of different diameter rocket motors are planned and the company is building motors of “increasingly larger diameters,” a company spokesperson told Defense Daily on Thursday.

“With the Lynx approach, we’re validating a process, rather than a specific motor, to expedite rapid, scaled production of qualified SRMs in multiple sizes,” the spokesperson said.

The Lynx process allows the company to produce different size SRMs on the same production line, providing flexibility to meet customer needs. Ursa Major also highlights that having a common architecture to its production line allows it to produce higher quantities with fewer workers, saving time and money for the HLG and traditional SRMs.

Ursa Major’s rocket motors have been flight-tested, including with RTX (Defense Daily, Dec. 18, 2024 and March 25, 2025). The company is also one of several that was awarded contracts in late 2023 and early 2024 by the Navy to develop SRMs to become a potential alternative source for powering Standard Missiles (Defense Daily, April 8 and April 30, 2024.)

In addition to SRMs, the company is also developing and flight-testing liquid rocket engines.

Mid-Band Spectrum Crucial For Golden Dome, Arrington Tells Hill

Achieving President Trump’s vision of a comprehensive homeland air and missile defense system of systems requires continued Defense Department access to the mid-band spectrum, Acting Defense Department Chief Information Officer Katie Arrington said on Thursday.

The 3.1 to 3.45 gigahertz band is used by about 1,100 different DoD platforms and weapon systems, Arrington told the House Armed Services Committee’s panel that oversees cyber and information technology.

“That area of the spectrum is golden, and we need to protect it to maintain national security,” she said in a response to a question about the importance of the mid-band from Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), the subcommittee chairman. “And I use the word golden specifically, because the only way we can achieve Golden Dome right now is having the lower three of the spectrum.”

Golden Dome is Trump’s name for the envisioned missile defense system.

The telecommunications industry wants access to the mid-band as it continues to expand and scale fifth-generation wireless networks around the country.

Arrington’s office is responsible for DoD’s spectrum needs, and she said that working with the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office, the Office of Research and Engineering, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, “we are working to make best use of the spectrum that we have to ensure that we can provide Americans true security with Golden Dome. That is our number one priority.”

Bacon pointed out that there are areas of the spectrum where DoD “cannot trade off.”

Arrington said the Pentagon is exploring dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) to provide commercial access to the mid-band without “harming homeland defense and national security.” DoD has received bids for a demonstration this November of dynamic spectrum sharing technologies, she said. Industry has advanced spectrum sharing technologies, she highlighted.

Dynamic spectrum sharing is a potential capability but it has “yet to be determined,” she told Bacon.

“We acknowledge that developing DSS at scale will be a significant engineering challenge, requiring substantial investment,” Arrington said in her written statement. “However, with support from industry as well as Congress, the United States could be the first Nation in the world to develop dynamic spectrum sharing at scale.”

Army Ends ITEP, FTUAS, RCV Development, HAC-D Seeks Details On Planned Cuts

The Army has canceled development of the Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP), the Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) and the Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV), two senior defense officials confirmed to Defense Daily.

The update on the additional cancellations arrives as House defense appropriators have signaled support for the Army’s new wide-ranging transformation initiative, while seeking details to quell “questions and anxiety” on the service’s planned cuts.

The Textron Aerosonde 4.8 HQ during the FTUAS Flight Demonstration. Photo: Army PEO Aviation

“I am not here to protect the status quo. I’m not here to slow things down when it comes to innovation,” Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, said in a Wednesday hearing. “But I am going to address some of the things that have been released by the Army with some of the programs that there’s a proposal to cancel. Because I won’t speak for all the committee members, but I know the chairman and I and our staffs have fielded lots of phone calls and lots of questions”

The Army last week detailed its new Army Transformation Initiative (ATI) that includes cutting “obsolete” programs such as the M10 Booker combat vehicle, Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, Humvees, the AH-64D Apache attack helicopter and Gray Eagle drones (Defense Daily, May 1).

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said in a recent discussion on the War on the Rocks podcast that ATI is a “complete reset” of how the Army will make decisions going forward, while Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George added the service will look to cut items that are “inefficient” and “are not going to work on the modern battlefield.”

“I think you make some good cases for why these programs need to be reviewed, relooked at, phased out or just cold cut, as you’re suggesting. But those come with a lot of questions and anxiety from people who are working on those programs and companies who have made investments in those programs. Not saying we shouldn’t do it but just saying let’s put our thoughtful hat on here for a second about how we go about announcing and moving forward with some of this,” McCollum said.

Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), chair of the Appropriations Committee, said the Army was “very helpful” and let the panel know of its planned ATI announcements, while noting that additional specifics will need to be provided.

“But I, too, look forward to just seeing more detail as that goes down the road. But I appreciate what I saw. I certainly didn’t have any objections to what was laid out. It was very positive and I was very impressed,” Cole said.

McCollum, who mentioned the ITEP, FTUAS and RCV cuts in her opening remarks at the hearing, said she “totally agrees” with the Army’s approach with ATI, while also pressing for an “open dialogue” on the decisions behind planned cancellations.

“I need to understand better how you’re going to work with Congress and work with industry, especially to ensure a soft landing for some of these Army programs that are going to be canceled,” McCollum said.

Driscoll, in the recent podcast discussion, said the Army’s received “an “incredible outpouring” of bipartisan support for the transformation initiative and that the service will work “hand in hand” with Congress on how the program cuts will be implemented.

“I think we don’t know quite yet for each system and each platform what is going to happen. But what we are doing is we are reaching out to those companies who make [those systems], we are working with Congress, we are talking with soldiers and we are trying to figure out the way forward with as many parties as we can possibly bring to the table,” Driscoll said in the podcast interview.

Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, was one of the first senior national security-focused lawmakers to comment on the ATI, calling it a “positive step” while also noting Congress is still awaiting specifics on the planned divestments (Defense Daily, May 5).

The cancellation of ITEP will end work on the GE Aerospace [GE]-built T901 engine, which the Army had envisioned as the future capability to power its AH-64 Apache and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter fleets.

As part of the Army’s announcement last year canceling the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft program, the Army noted it would also delay moving into production of the T901 engine and invest in further research and development efforts.

After receiving the first two T901 engines from GE Aerospace last June, Sikorsky [LMT] confirmed in January it had begun ground runs with the new engines on a Black Hawk helicopter to prepare for the first flight test later this year (Defense Daily, Jan. 29).

The FTUAS cancellation ends the current effort to find a replacement for the legacy Shadow drone, with the Army having selected Textron Systems’ [TXT] Aerosonde Mk. 4.8 Hybrid Quad UAS and Griffon Aerospace’s Valiant for a competitive prototyping effort to inform a production award that had been planned for late fiscal year 2025.

With RCV, the Army has now ceased its current development effort which had involved evaluating test platforms from Textron Systems, General Dynamics Land Systems [GD], Oshkosh Defense [OSK] and McQ Inc.

Those four firms were awarded a combined total of $24.7 million for phase one of the RCV program, with the Army having planned to ultimately select one company in FY ‘25 to deliver nine prototypes before making a production decision in FY ‘27.

“The concept of the RCV is incredibly important. The problem is cost. And so what we’ve seen, and this has been seen all over the world, is we keep creating and purchasing these exquisite machines that very cheap drones can take out,” Driscoll said in the recent podcast discussion. “We are the wealthiest nation perhaps in the history of the world, but even we can’t sustain a couple million dollar piece of equipment that can be taken out with an $800 drone and munition. So I think the concept of what we got from the RCV was incredibly valuable but the actual cost ratio just didn’t work.”

McCollum said HAC-D will require additional info from the Army on the expected costs to close out the planned divestments and program cancellations.

“There is a cost to close out [programs]. I get your spreadsheet, it’s saving money in the long run. But you’re going to have to spend money to close [these programs] down,” McCollum said.