Page 24 – Defense Daily

Hegseth Directs Army Scrap ‘Outdated’ Systems, Cuts Include JLTVs, AH-64Ds, Gray Eagles

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has directed the Army to cut “outdated weapon systems” as part of a new “comprehensive transformation strategy,” with the service’s leaders confirming plans to cancel procurement of Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, Humvees, the AH-64D Apache attack helicopter and Gray Eagle drones.

Hegseth’s memo outlines a series of initiatives aimed at ensuring the Army prioritizes “defending our homeland and deterring China in the Indo-Pacific region,” to include accelerating fielding of unmanned systems and launched effects and service leaders affirming commitment to modernization efforts such as the new Future Long Range Assault Aircraft and the upgraded M1E3 Abrams tank.

AM General’s JLTV A2 on display at the 2023 AUSA conference in Washington, D.C. Photo: Matthew Beinart.

“To build a leaner, more lethal force, the Army must transform at an accelerated pace by divesting outdated, redundant, and inefficient programs, as well as restructuring headquarters and acquisition systems. Simultaneously, the Army must prioritize investments in accordance with the administration’s strategy, ensuring existing resources are prioritized to improve long-range precision fires, air and missile defense including through the Golden Dome for America, cyber, electronic warfare, and counter-space capabilities,” Hegseth writes.

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Gen. Randy George, the Army chief of staff, said the service will pursue a new “Army Transformation Initiative” (ATI) to carry out the priorities laid out in the memo.

“This initiative will re-examine all requirements and eliminate unnecessary ones, ruthlessly prioritize fighting formations to directly contribute to lethality, and empower leaders at echelon to make hard calls to ensure resources align with strategic objectives. To achieve this, ATI comprises three lines of effort: deliver critical warfighting capabilities, optimize our force structure, and eliminate waste and obsolete programs.”

David Fitzgerald, the Army’s acting under secretary, said last month the service was “systematically reviewing” its portfolio of legacy programs and current requirements (Defense Daily, March 25).

“We cannot afford to continue robbing modernization by continuing to pay for things we no longer need,” Fitzgerald said at the time. “As we free up resources and [make] hard choices, we will redirect them to the transformation of our force. The Army’s transformation plan is not just about spending on different things, it’s about spending differently.”

The memo directs the Army to end procurement of “obsolete weapon systems,” and Driscoll and George have confirmed that will include canceling plans to continue producing “outdated crewed attack aircraft” such as the AH-64D, “excess ground vehicles” like the Humvee and JLTV and “obsolete UAVs” like the Gray Eagle.

“We will also continue to cancel programs that deliver dated, late-to-need, overpriced, or difficult-to-maintain capabilities. Yesterday’s weapons will not win tomorrow’s wars,” Driscoll and George write in a new letter to the force. “This is a first step. We have already directed a second round of transformation efforts to be delivered in the coming months.”

The JLTV cancellation, in particular, is a major pivot for the Army after the service awarded AM General a potential 10-year, multi-billion dollar deal just over two years ago to build the new JLTV A2 and take over as prime contractor from Oshkosh Defense [OSK]. AM General has said it remained on track to support the Army’s plan to begin fielding the JLTV A2 in mid-2026 (Defense Daily, Feb. 9 2023).

The Army has mostly been buying the newer AH-64E model aircraft for its Apache fleet, and in March 2023 signed a multi-year contract with Boeing [BA] for deliveries of the upgraded configuration that will run through 2027 and could be worth up to $3.8 billion (Defense Daily, March 17 2023).

Driscoll said Thursday that President Trump and Hegseth have “empowered the Army to go make the hard decisions and the hard changes to reallocate our dollars to best position our soldiers to be the most lethal that they can be.”

“These are hard decisions. These are legacy systems that have been around for a long time. There’s a lot of momentum, there’s a lot of lobbyists around them. But with the leadership of [Trump and Hegseth] and our chain of command, we have been empowered to go do what’s right,” Driscoll said in a Fox News interview

Hegseth has also previously directed Pentagon officials to find eight percent of the department’s budget that can be cut and shifted to Trump administration priorities (Defense Daily, Feb. 20).

“We will introduce long-range missiles and modernized UAS into formations, field the [General Dynamics Land Systems [GD]] M1E3 tank, develop the [Bell [TXT]-built] Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft, and close the C-sUAS capability gap. Command and control nodes will integrate artificial intelligence to accelerate decision-making and preserve the initiative,” Driscoll and George write.

The memo also directs the Army to field long-range missiles capable of striking moving land and maritime targets by 2027, with the service already pursuing a version of the Lockheed Martin [LMT] Precision Strike Missile that integrates a multi-mode seeker, and to field unmanned systems and launched effects with every division by the end of next year.

Driscoll and George said the new ATI transformation strategy builds on the ongoing and currently expanding Transforming in Contact initiative, which has focused on testing new operating concepts with select Army units and providing troops with new technology, such as drones and electronic warfare capabilities, to gather feedback and inform rapid fielding decisions.

“We don’t have a challenge with the innovation. The innovation’s happening down with our soldiers. We’re changing formations,” George said in the Fox News interview. “We’re watching what’s happening. We know we need to change. If there’s one thing, we just can’t go fast enough. We’ve got to speed [up] that change.”

Hegseth’s memo also directs the Army to achieve “electromagnetic and air-littoral dominance” by 2027, to integrate improved C-UAS capabilities into maneuver platoons by 2026 and maneuver companies by 2027, to enable “AI-driven” command and control at the headquarters-level by 202 and to bring advanced manufacturing and 3D printing capabilities to operational units by 2026.

Leonardo DRS Opens 2025 With Strong Results

Leonardo DRS [DRS] on Thursday posted strong first quarter results with earnings and sales higher across its operating segments.

Net income increased 72 percent to $50 million, 19 cents earnings per share (EPS), versus $29 million (11 cents EPS) a year ago. Excluding impacts from income taxes, interest expense, acquisition and restructuring costs, adjusted earnings of 20 cents EPS beat consensus estimates by three cents per share. Adjusted margin increased 10 basis points to 10.3 percent.

Sales increased 16 percent to $799 million versus $688 million a year ago. The top-line benefitted from accelerated material receipts from some suppliers. Revenue drivers included tactical radars, ground and naval network computing, electric power and propulsion, and force protection programs.

The company’s electric power and propulsion efforts support Navy ship programs, and more domestic opportunities are emerging, Bill Lynn, chairman and CEO of Leonardo DRS, said on the earnings call. He declined to discuss program specifics due to “competitive reasons,” but did highlight a recent demonstration of the company’s electric propulsion technology on a medium unmanned surface vessel that showcases the versatility of its offerings as the Navy considers a mix of manned and unmanned platforms.

Lynn addressed the macroeconomic environment, highlighting the fiscal year 2025 continuing resolution that allows new program starts, funding flexibility, and a higher threshold for reprogramming authority.

“As of now, we have not seen any significant changes to customer procurement behavior and the leading indicators reinforce the durability of demand,” he said.

Tariffs are a watchlist item for Leonardo DRS, he said, pointing out that the company’s footprint is largely domestic as is its supplier base. The company has told its suppliers to alert on tariff-related costs so that it can pursue remedies with government customers, he said.

The company has been relatively unscathed by China’s nearly two-year-old restrictions on rare earth minerals. However, a sole-source optic supplier on an international infrared sensing program was unable to execute on purchase orders in the first quarter due to restrictions on germanium, leading to higher costs for Leonardo DRS as it found alternative sources, Lynn said.

“Outside of this discrete supplier issue, there have not been significant challenges with respect to supply to date, but pricing has certainly become more volatile,” he said.

The company’s outlook for 2025, which is unchanged from prior guidance, factors in the germanium related suppler challenge and related higher costs, Lynn said.

Infrared sensing is a core capability of Leonardo DRS.

Orders in the quarter totaled $1 billion and backlog rose to a record $8.6 billion, up 10 percent from $7.8 billion a year ago. Free cash flow was a negative $170 million.

HII’s Earnings, Sales Dip In First Quarter; Cites CVN-30 Supply Chain Hiccup

HII [HII] on Thursday posted first quarter declines in its top and bottom-lines driven by lower sales across the company’s operating segments, and higher interest expense and taxes.

Net income fell nearly 3 percent to $149 million, $3.79 earnings per share (EPS), from $153 million $3.87 EPS) a year ago. The results handily topped consensus estimates of $2.88 EPS.

Higher interest expense and taxes more than offset higher operating income, which was up on work at the Mission Technologies and Newport News Shipbuilding Segments. Mission Technologies benefited from performance on cyber, electronic warfare, space, and unmanned systems while Newport News’ income increased on contract incentives for the Navy’s Virginia-class nuclear attack submarine program, and volume on the Columbia-class nuclear missile submarine.

Segment operating margin increased 20 basis point improvement to 6.3 percent.

Sales also dipped nearly 3 percent to $2.7 billion from $2.8 billion a year ago. The company registered declines in amphibious assault ships, aircraft carriers, Naval nuclear support services, and C5ISR work.

Newport News, which works on the Navy’s aircraft carriers and submarines, was behind plans in the quarter due to poor weather, and supply chain issues related to construction of the USS

Enterprise (CVN-80) Ford-class carrier, Chris Kastner, HII’s president and CEO, said on the company’s earnings call. Delays in receiving “major equipment” to go inside the hull of the carrier slowed overall construction, which should pick up this summer once the equipment is delivered, he said.

The first quarter results were significantly better than HII’s 2024 fourth quarter, which saw a steep drop in net income and a modest decline in sales (Defense Daily, Feb. 6, 2025).

HII maintained its outlook for 2025, with sales forecast to be between $11.8 billion and $12.2 billion. Guidance for operating margin in the shipbuilding business remains between 5.5 and 6.5 percent, and between 4 and 4.5 percent at Mission Technologies.

HII continues to expect more than $50 billion in contract awards through the end of 2026, some of which it has already received, driving at least 4-plus percent annual growth to be at $15 billion in sales in 2030.

On Wednesday evening, the Navy awarded HII $1.3 billion for the company’s work on two Block V Virginia-class subs. General Dynamics [GD], the prime contractor for the program, received $12.4 billion for the two subs, with options that would increase the value to $17.2 billion.

The Navy’s goal is ultimately to acquire two Virginia-class vessels annually, although current production rates hover just above one per year.

Kastner described the Block V contract as a “first step” toward achieving the company’s medium and long-term objectives and the submarine production target because the funding covers “targeted investments in workforce, equipment, facilities, training that will accelerate the throughput.”

Later this year, HII is expecting awards related to the Block VI submarines and the second Columbia-class vessel, both of which the company is the major subcontractor to GD.

“We’ve identified additional investments that could potentially be applied to further accelerate…as I said before, it’s going to take a while,” he said. “You just don’t build a building overnight. You don’t build a workforce overnight. But I absolutely think that these are the right investments to get at the build rate.”

In the first quarter, HII hired 1,000 craftsmen across its shipyards, a little fewer than planned, due to a new focus on hiring experienced personnel, Kastner said. The emphasis on experienced workers is helping to lower attrition, although not enough to get to pre-pandemic levels, he said.

Still, attrition is “moving in the right direction” at Newport News and Ingalls Shipbuilding, he said.

The company tallied $2.1 billion in orders and backlog stood at $48 billion, down a percent from $48.7 billion at the end of 2024. Free cash was a $482 million outflow in the quarter but cash guidance for the year is still between $300 million and $500 million.

Navy Awards Billions GD And HII Billions To Finish Last Two Block V Virginia-Class SSNs and Shipyard Support

The Navy on Wednesday awarded Virginia-class attack submarine (SSN) builders General Dynamics

‘ Electric Boat [GD] and HII Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) [HII] at least $14 billion to build two SSNs and for shipyard productivity support.

The funds are divided between $12.4 billion for Electric Boat, the prime contractor for submarines, and $1.3 billion for HII. If all options are exercised, GD would end up getting over $17 billion, but the DoD contract announcement noted these awarded amounts include $2 billion in previously announced material awards, like long-lead time material and economic ordering quantity material. If all options are exercised for both shipbuilders, the total value of the contract would rise to over $18.4 billion.

This work is expected to be finished by June 2036.

While Electric Boat is the prime contractor for submarines, they generally split work with Newport News building the bow and stern sections while EB builds the midsections, including the reactor compartments, then they take turns on final assembly.

The submarine funding includes detail design and construction on the future USS Baltimore (SSN-812) and Atlanta (SSN-813), the last Block V submarines originally appropriated in fiscal year 2024. At the tail end of the Biden administration, the Navy sent an unexpected supplemental request to the Hill to account for shortfalls in the boat construction costs.

A continuing resolution ultimately added $1.95 billion more to finish SSN-212 and -813 (Defense Daily, Dec. 18).

Block V submarines will be the first to incorporate the Virginia Payload Module (VPM), an additional mid-section part of the boat that adds four large diameter payload tubes, making each submarine able to field up to 28 Tomahawk missiles.

Beyond making up for the costs of the two SSNs, the award includes “investments to improve productivity at the shipyards, and for nuclear-powered vessel programs workforce support and investment.”

Construction costs on these two submarines ballooned by almost 20 percent due to workforce costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic and government disagreements on how to pay to increase workforce wages at the shipyard.

In December, lawmakers rebuked the Navy for a lack of transparency on dealing with the submarine shortfall and negotiating with industry on how to boost shipyard worker wages to improve production (Defense Daily, Dec. 9, 2024).

A Navy release accompanying the contract announcement said this “ signals the Navy’s commitment to maintaining its warfighting advantage in the undersea domain” while continuing the teaming arrangement between General Dynamics and HII.

The service noted thus far the Navy has taken delivery of 24 Virginia-class submarines, with 16 more currently under contract.

“We recently re-negotiated the planned contract to deliver this critical capability, and appropriately share risk between the Navy and industry,” Secretary of the Navy John Phelan clarified in the release. “We will be looking at all future contracts with a similar lens to ensure the appropriate level of risk sharing and value to the American taxpayer.”

Rear Adm. Jon Rucker, Program Executive Officer, Attack Submarines, argued this award is the culmination of a “highly coordinated contracting effort across the nuclear shipbuilding enterprise, to promote stability at critical suppliers as the submarine industrial base ramps up to meet a historic increase in demand for submarine production.”

“We are continuing to work closely with the shipbuilders to improve construction schedules to support the Navy’s need for a larger, more lethal force,” he continued.

Mark Rayha, president of General Dynamics Electric Boat, said this modification “validates the unique and important role submarines and submarine shipbuilders play in our national defense” after working for two years with Congress, the Navy and presidential administrations to secure funds to increase workforce wages as well as invest in shipyard capacity improvements.

Jason Ward, Newport News Shipbuilding vice president of submarine construction that the company, “[appreciates] the teamwork that resulted in these critical national security assets being put under contract.”

During a quarterly earnings call on May 1, HII CEO Chris Kastner said the industrial base funds connected to this two-boat contract is the “product of really a couple years of effort by the Navy and the shipbuilders to evaluate the investments that were required to get at accelerating throughput. You see that in the award of that contract it was very thoughtfully put together. It’s a wage support and workforce development support. It’s very targeted investments to increase the submarine build rate. So that’s all very positive. ”

He added the submarine and maritime industrial base funding that has been applied to the supplier base is “also very positive. And you see a build-up of the infrastructure in ship building that will support the growth that we think is ahead of us. So it’s really, I would think, an industry-wide all hands-on deck effort to identify a build-out of that industrial base.”

During the call, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of HII Thomas Stiehle argued this cost-plus-incentive-fee contract is a “good mix and blend between affordability and profitability. It covers the business environment that we find ourselves operating in.”

He noted it has some constraints on parameters around the outskirts of where costs can land, but we’re happy that we were able to get that done. We worked hard with the Navy.”

Separately, on Wednesday the Navy also awarded Science Applications International Corp. [SAIC] a $136 million modification to exercise options for the production, spares, support, and repair of components for the MK 48 Heavyweight Torpedo All Up Round.

The latest MK 48 order combined purchases for the U.S. Navy, Royal Australian Navy and Foreign Military Sales program and is set to last through May 2028.

Beale AFB to Be Deployment Center for CCA, As USAF Begins Ground Tests

Beale AFB, Calif.–the home of the U-2 surveillance plane–is to house the Aircraft Readiness Unit (ARU) for U.S. Air Force Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) to allow them to deploy quickly, and the two CCA prototypes have begun ground testing of their propulsion, avionics, autonomy and ground control, the Air Force said on Thursday.

A year ago, the Air Force decided to narrow the CCA Increment 1 field to General Atomics and Anduril Industries, and the service has said it plans to conduct flight tests of the General Atomics YFQ-42A Gambit and Anduril YFQ-44A Fury prototype CCAs this summer before an Increment 1 down-select in fiscal 2026 and the start of Increment 2 development that year (Defense Daily, Apr. 24, 2024).

The Air Force release on Thursday did not re-iterate this summer as the plan for the beginning of CCA flight tests but used the wording “later this year.”

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Allvin said in the Air Force statement that General Atomics and Anduril “are meeting or exceeding key milestones” for CCA. David Alexander, the CEO of General Atomics-Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) said that GA-ASI will display a YFQ-42A model YFQ-42 model at the Beale Air and Space Expo on June 7.

CCAs are to be autonomous wingmen for Air Force aircraft, including the future Boeing [BA] F-47 and the Lockheed Martin F-35 fighters.

The $150 billion DoD reconciliation bill has $678 million to accelerate CCA (Defense Daily, Apr. 28).

AeroVironment Completes BlueHalo Acquisition; Creates Two Operating Segments

AeroVironment [AVAV] on Thursday said it completed its $4.1 billion acquisition of BlueHalo, significantly diversifying and expanding its defense business with the addition of space, electronic warfare and cyber technologies to position itself as a mid-tier alternative to traditional defense prime contractors.

Following the close of the transaction, AV is realigning from three operating segment to two, Autonomous Systems, and Space, Cyber and Directed Energy.

Autonomous Systems includes AV’s prior businesses, uncrewed systems, loitering munitions, and the MacCready Works innovation arm that focuses on artificial intelligence and autonomy. It also includes BlueHalo’s counter-unmanned aircraft systems solutions.

Trace Stevenson, who previously led AV’s uncrewed systems segment, is in charge of Autonomous Systems.

Space, Cyber and Directed Energy is led by Trip Ferguson who was BlueHalo’s chief operating officer. Ferguson’s segment includes space technologies, directed energy solutions, cyber solutions, and mission services.

AV last November announced its agreement to acquire BlueHalo (Defense Daily

, Nov. 19, 2024). The combined company has about $1.7 billion in sales.

BlueHalo was a portfolio company of Arlington Capital Partners. David Wodlinger, a managing director at Arlington Capital, and Henry Albers, a principal with the private equity firm, have joined AV’s board, which now stands at 10 directors.

Marine Corps Outlines LSM Future: First Within Five Years, Sharing Second Test Ship With Australia, Hybrid Crewing T-EPFs

Navy and Marine Corps officials on Wednesday outlined the next steps in the Landing Ship Medium (LSM) program and bridging solutions until it is ready as they redirect away from the first set of requirements proved to be too expensive.

Lt. Gen. Eric Austin, Deputy Commandant, Combat Development and Integration, admitted that while the Marine Corps initially wanted the LSM to be a 35-vessel fleet of affordable beach-to-beach littoral maneuver vessels, “requirements creep” in a tough acquisition cycle made it unaffordable.

“Then we hit the reset button, which was the responsible thing to do,” Austin said during a panel at the Modern Day Marine conference in Washington, D.C.

U.S. Army Vessel (USAV) General Frank S. Besson (LSV-1) from the 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary), 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command, XVIII Airborne Corps, departed Joint Base Langley-Eustis en route to the Eastern Mediterranean on March 9, 2024. — U.S. Army Vessel (USAV) *General Frank S.* *Besson* (LSV-1) from the 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary), 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command, XVIII Airborne Corps, departed Joint Base Langley-Eustis en route to the Eastern Mediterranean on March 9, 2024. (Photo: U.S Central Command)

In April, the Navy posted a notice that it intends to issue a sole-source contract to Bollinger Shipyards Lockport LLC for the first LSM, based on the commercial/non-developmental Israeli Logistics Support Vessel (ILSV) design, itself based on the U.S. Army’s Frank S. Besson-class of logistics support vessels (Defense Daily, April 21).

Now that Congress, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) and Headquarters Marine Corps are on the same page with the next version of LSM, “I think we’re in a good place right now. And I will tell you that where we sit now is we are well postured to procure our first non-developmental item.”

Austin said they expect the first LSM to take four to five years from contract award to being in the water for delivery and it will serve as a Block 1 model while the service figures out the full capabilities it needs on a more affordable LSM model.

Following his remarks, Austin told reporters the Marine Corps wants the new LSM faster than four to five years, but they are looking at buying data rights in the contract so that multiple shipyards can ultimately build the following type, dubbed Block Next.

“I think that that’s the realistic timeline in which the ship builders can make it. One of the good things about the NAVSEA approach and the [Program Executive Office] Ships approach right now, though, is providing data rights, and they’re going to take a look at opportunities to own the design and be able to have it built across the shipyard. So we may be able to increase the velocity based on just the number of shipyards that build whatever design we go with.”

Austin said there are many issues like data rights to be resolved, but showed excitement at the process moving along and said the most important thing is to get the “ball rolling” on the first LSM, which is of “tremendous importance.”

He said the service is very optimistic about getting the first LSM “as soon as we get the resources, which is tied to our current budget environment, which will hopefully be resolved soon,” a nod to the year-long FY 2025 continuing resolution (CR) that includes the ability for DoD to shift funding more than usual in a CR.

Meanwhile, the Marine Corps continues to test LSM concepts with the HOS Resolution, a modified Hornbeck Offshore Services Offshore Support Vessel as a Stern Landing Vessel (SLV).

The service’s contract with the SLV allows for the government to buy it outright and lease additional vessels, but Austin confirmed they do not plan to buy the SLV, keeping their next procurement decision on the first LSM.

However, Austin revealed two more initiatives to increase testing and bridging solutions until the LSM Block 1 is delivered: co-ownership with an Australian SLV-type ship under construction and a mixed Navy-civilian mariner crewing of some Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport vessels (T-EPFs) for amphibious operations.

The SLV co-ownership with Australia is an outgrowth of how the Navy signed a foreign comparative test agreement with Australia’s government, which will use a purpose-built SLV currently under construction there. Austin said the vessel is slated to finish construction in May or June followed by testing and trials with Australia through the fall before it can later deploy to the first island chain in East Asia.

The HOS Resolution, a Stern Landing Vessel, in testing during Project Convergence 2024 on Feb. 23, 2024 at the Del Mar Boat Basin, Camp Pendleton, Calif. (Photo: U.S. Marine Corps by Kevin Ray J. Salvador)

Navy and Marine Corps officials compared sharing the Australian SLV as akin to timesharing, with the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab to work with the Australians on how to split operations time.

Austin said the Marine Corps could buy more SLVs, but their “wholesale purpose right now is to experiment,” so they are not currently planning to.

Austin also confirmed to reporters the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition has decided to buy the data rights to the Damen Shipyards Landing Ship Transport LST-100 design, which will serve as an option for LSM Block Next.

Last year, Australia selected the LST-100 for its new Landing Craft Heavy program. The Australian side of the co-owned SLV will be used to test concepts and practice with in advance of deploying the LST-100s.

Separately, Austin said the Navy is looking at hybrid crewing some T-EPFs to use as another long-term investment and bridging solution for the LSM mission.

He noted the original Navy-Marine Corps partnership concept for a littoral maneuver bridging solution involved use of the T-EPF, but that fell apart due to civilian mariner challenges.

However, Austin said now acting Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jim Kilby “has charged the team to come up with an approach to hybrid crew it with a partial uniform Navy crew and partial civilian mariner crew,” and they are preparing to start training for them.

The service is preparing for four of these T-EPF mixed crew ships to be used for the bridging solution and be commanded by the Navy, similar to the Expeditionary Sea base (ESB) concept.

Austin said while he does not fully understand the role the Navy and civilian mariners operate and are split on command structure on an ESB, in these T-EPFs there will be more of a blend in functionality.

He said the Marine Corps is “encouraged by it, because there are a lot of T-EPFs at pierside right now that we love to see you put the good work out at INDOPACOM.”

While four T-EPFs devoted to this role will not solve the Marine Corps’ lift requirements, “it certainly reduces a whole lot of risk and provides a lot of affordable and agile service lift solutions.”

House Transportation Panel Approves $22 Billion In New Coast Guard Funds

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Wednesday approved its portion of a Republican reconciliation bill that includes more than $22 billion in funding for the Coast Guard, most of it for shipbuilding.

The committee on Tuesday released its reconciliation funding plans for the Coast Guard, with $15 billion recommended for various surface ship accounts (Defense Daily, April 29). Of that, $5 billion would cover the Coast Guard’s future medium polar icebreaker, the Arctic Security Cutter, and domestic icebreakers. The reference to domestic icebreakers may cover icebreaking vessels for the Great Lakes.

The bill would also provide $4.3 billion for the heavy icebreaker program, the Polar Security Cutter, which is under contract to Bollinger Shipyards. Another $4.3 billion is for the Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) program, and $1 billion is for the Fast Response Cutter (FRC) program.

“The funding will build out our nation’s icebreaker fleet, complete the first two stages of [the] Offshore Patrol Cutter program, and procure additional Fast Response Cutters, fixed wing aircraft and helicopters,” Rep. Mike Ezell (R-Miss.), chairman of the committee’s panel that oversees the Coast Guard, said during the markup. “The funding will also help the service build out its fleet of air and surface autonomous systems to target traffickers and better surveil the maritime border.”

The Coast Guard has said it wants a mix of eight to nine medium and heavy polar icebreakers. The service currently has one of each and both are aging. The service recently acquired a commercial icebreaking vessel to help close operational gaps.

Eastern Shipbuilding Group is building the first four OPCs in Stage 1, and Austal USA the next 11 ships in Stage 2. The Coast Guard plans to compete construction of the remaining vessels to reach its 25-ship program of record for the medium endurance vessels. Bollinger also builds the FRC.

The committee is also recommending $180 million for maritime domain awareness equipment and services, including $75 million for autonomous maritime systems or services. Nearly $3 billion is provided for helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, and related equipment.

The bill would also provide $3.3 billion for shoreside infrastructure investments.

The bill was approved along party lines by a 36 to 30 vote.

Govini Tapped For Navy Nuclear Submarine Industrial Base Software

Software company Govini on Wednesday said it has been tapped by the Navy to help identify issues across parts of the nuclear submarine industrial base.

The company said this means the Navy will deploy their flagship Ark product “to continuously identify vulnerabilities across its industrial base using factors such as financial health, production capacity, and foreign influence.”

The company specified this effort covers “revitalization of the industrial base of the sea-based leg of the nuclear triad,” meaning nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs). It is focused on workflows to support missile and warhead technologies.

Artist rendering of the future Columbia-class nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), which will replace the Ohio-class submarines. (Illustration: U.S. Navy) — Artist rendering of the future *Columbia*-class nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), which will replace the *Ohio*-class submarines. (Illustration: U.S. Navy)

Navy officials in April told lawmakers the first in a new class of SSBNs, the future USS District of Columbia (SSBN-826), is running 12 to 18 months late while it is currently over 50 percent complete. The second new SSBN, the future USS Wisconsin (SSBN-827), is set to be delivered in 2032, 80 months after start of construction (Defense Daily, April 14).

At the time, officials explained the delays were due to shipbuilder performance, supply chain problems, testing and complexity in first-in-class boat construction. Navy officials said the current level of submarine industrial base investments have so far largely improved industrial base hiring, increasing vendor capacity in some market spaces and working through more strategic outsourcing and adding manufacturing technology.

Govini argued that with their information their Ark software product finds will help the Navy make better informed decisions based on capacity, dynamics and risk indicators to field missile and nuclear warhead technologies faster.

The Navy can then make better informed decisions based on capacity, dynamics, and risk indicators to field missile and warhead technologies faster.

“As America’s adversaries aggressively modernize their forces, Govini stands with the U.S. Navy to ensure our readiness. We’re proud to empower the stewards of our nation’s strategic deterrence with unprecedented visibility into their industrial base and supply chains. With AI-powered Applications and proprietary data, Ark gives the Navy the ability to make production and sustainment decisions with unmatched speed and precision,” Govini CEO Tara Murphy Dougherty said in a statement.

Airbus, Shield AI Partner On Unmanned Lakota For Marines’ Aerial Logistics Connector

Airbus U.S. has partnered with Shield AI to integrate its autonomy software on the unmanned version of the UH-72 Lakota aircraft it’s developing for the Marine Corps’ Aerial Logistics Connector (ALC) program, the companies said Wednesday.

Carl Forsling, Airbus U.S.’ director of business development and strategy, cited Shield AI’s “record of succeeding quickly” in integrating autonomous capabilities as a key factor in the decision to work together on developing the uncrewed MQ-72c cargo-carrying platform.

Rendering of Airbus’ MQ-72C, its offering for the Marine Corps’ Aerial Logistics Connector program. Photo: Airbus.

“That’s important as we have a very time-constrained program. We want to get this capability to the Marine Corps as fast as we can,” Forsling told Defense Daily during an interview at the Modern Day Marine conference in Washington, D.C. “As we progressed through initial design activities with NAVAIR, we flushed out the concept more. It became clear that we wanted to build a best of breed team here and go beyond the skill set that it’s in Airbus Group and go find partners like Shield AI that are leaders in their field.”

The Marine Corps last April selected Airbus for the competitive ALC development effort, with an aim to have a prototype that’s ready to transition into fielding within five years (Defense Daily, May 14 2024).

Airbus has said MQ-72C, the unmanned version of its UH-72 helicopter being developed for ALC, is intended to have a cruise speed of 135 knots, a maximum takeoff weight of over 8.300 pounds and a range above 350 nautical miles.

Under the newly-announced agreement, Shield AI will integrate its Hivemind autonomy software with Airbus’ Helionix avionics suite as it continues work developing the unmanned logistics platform.

“The Lakota has been a mainstay of military aviation for years—a widely-fielded, trusted platform used across a range of missions. Integrating Hivemind onto this aircraft shows how autonomy can rapidly enhance proven systems to meet the demands of today’s missions, and it’s a key step toward fully autonomous, uncrewed logistics operations that are scalable, resilient, and built for the future fight,” Ryan Tseng, CEO of Shield AI, said in a statement.

Forsling said there will be opportunities in the development process for ALC, while still working with a manned Lakota aircraft, to start to “exercise the autonomy tools to give a capability and demonstrate that we are reducing risk, reducing the schedule and budget required to actually bend the metal and make this a fielded prototype.”

“We’ve also done a couple of demo activities, starting with basically validating the initial capabilities of the aircraft from a performance perspective, payload, range, speed etc., of the Lakota and the maintainability and the sustainability and the ability to operate that in the field for long periods of time. So we validated a lot of those capabilities,” Forsling told Defense Daily.

The Marine Corps also selected a team led by Near Earth Autonomy, that also includes Honeywell [HON] and Leonardo Helicopters, for the ALC development effort (Defense Daily, Oct. 28 2024).

The Near Earth-led ALC team is dividing the work into having Leonardo implement a fast-loading, security and unloading system for Joint Modular Intermodal Containers on its AW139 helicopter, Honeywell providing the helicopter’s autopilot that it will augment for autonomous take-off and landing and Near Earth demonstrating a full integrated logistics system with onboard autonomy to guide the aircraft and modify flight trajectory to avoid hazards.