Page 34 – Defense Daily

Lockheed Will Leverage NGAD Investment For F-35+ To Approach 6th Gen Aircraft At Half Cost

Despite losing out on a potential new franchise aircraft program, Lockheed Martin [LMT] will leverage its investments in the Air Force’s Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) platform for upgrades of its F-35 multi-role fighter to give the fifth generation aircraft 80 percent of the capabilities of sixth generation aircraft at half the cost, the company’s top executive said on Tuesday.

Lockheed Martin will not protest the loss of NGAD to Boeing [BA] and instead but will pour the “knowledge and technology gained” from work on the sixth generation fighter into the F-35 Plus, Jim Taiclet, the company’s chairman, president, and CEO, said during the first quarter earnings call.

The NGAD lessons will also be applied to the Air Force’s fleet of Lockheed Martin-built F-22 fighters, which NGAD will replace, Taiclet said.

“I feel that we can have, again, 80 percent of the capability, potentially at 50 percent of the cost per unit aircraft, by taking the F-35 chassis and applying numerous advanced technology, some of which are already in process in Block IV on F-35 but others that we can apply, and we are going to offer, fairly rapidly to the Department of Defense to really take that chassis and supercharge it for the future,” he told investors.

These advanced technologies, some of which are classified, include radar and passive infrared sensors to sense the enemy and attack them before they know “we’re there,” Taiclet said he told President Trump previously. The passive infrared capability is critical for this to avoid transmitting signals that radar would and that enable the enemy to detect and possibly “shoot me,” he said.

Taiclet also said that the “fifth generation-plus” aircraft would benefit from stealth technology techniques the company used in its NGAD bid. These include materials, geometries, and countermeasures.

The F-35 and F-22 will also benefit from a “tracking system and a weapon that can go farther and hit the enemy plane before they can ever reach you,” he said.

“So, we’re basically going to take the chassis and turn it into a Ferrari,” he said.

The funding for the aircraft upgrades has come from the government and Lockheed Martin for NGAD and F-35 development, and from international allies that partnered on F-35, Taiclet said.

Taiclet described the fifth generation-plus upgrades as a “best value approach” to account for limited customer budgets, that also has to be “scalable” and “affordable.”

There are more than 1,100 F-35s that have been delivered to U.S. and international customers and current plans call for more than 3,500 of the aircraft, creating plenty of opportunity for the company’s upgrade plans, Taiclet said. The upgrades are designed for exportability, he said, noting that final decisions will be up to the U.S. government.

Taiclet also highlighted Lockheed Martin’s array of systems that would play a part in a future homeland missile defense system, which Trump calls the Golden Dome for America. The company already has a range of interceptors, related sensing and networking capabilities, and satellites that will be part of the solution, he said.

Evan Scott, Lockheed Martin’s new chief financial officer, said the company responded to a recent Golden Dome information request by the Missile Defense Agency with more than 100 different capabilities, with pricing, across all the company’s operating segments “with a focus on cross-domain architecture.”

Sales in the quarter increased 4 percent to $18 billion from $17.2 billion a year ago driven by higher volume on missiles and related programs like HIMARS, increased work on the Canadian Surface Combatant, radar programs, UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter production, and F-35 production. Space Systems was the lone operating segment reporting lower sales, down on work on the Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared satellite, and lower volume on the Space Development Agency’s Transport Layer satellite communications programs.

Net income rose 11 percent to $1.7 billion, $7.28 earnings per share (EPS), from $1.5 billion ($6.39 EPS), handily beating consensus estimates of $6.34 EPS. All four business segments enjoyed higher operating income.

The company maintained its guidance for 2025. Scott said the strong first quarter profits give the company guidance it can absorb any impacts from the NGAD loss and tariffs. The company still needs to “complete a thorough business assessment of these dynamics” but remains “optimistic” on meeting 2025 profit targets, he said.

Asked about new restriction by China on exports of rare earth metals, Taiclet replied the company and its suppliers have contracts “have specified non-Chinese sources for the materials.” Even if there is a disruption in rare earths, the company is confident it will meet its customer delivery targets this year given it has sufficient quantities of these materials, Maria Ricciardone, Lockheed Martin’s treasurer, said.

Backlog at the end of the quarter stood at $173 billion, down from $176 billion at the end of 2025. Free cash flow in the quarter was $955 million.

USAF Eyes Sustainment Contract for BACN Aircraft

The U.S. Air Force may award an up to five-year contract for domestic and foreign sustainment of the service’s E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communication Node (BACN) aircraft.

Bombardier Global business jets, once outfitted with the Northrop Grumman [NOC] BACN military communications package, become E-11As in the Air Force inventory.

In October, 2023, the Air Force picked Northrop Grumman to support BACN at Robins AFB, Ga.–what is to be the plane’s first main operating base (MOB), but the service has not finalized the decision.

“It is anticipated that at the start of…this E-11A platform maintenance contract, there will be three aircraft operating OCONUS [outside the continental United States] at FOL #1 [forward operating location] and one aircraft operating CONUS from the MOB,” according to a Tuesday business notice. “This may change depending on the ACC [Air Combat Command] final decision on the standup date of the MOB and/or the delivery schedule of the two additional new aircraft that will be delivered to the MOB during the base year. Additional aircraft are also scheduled to be delivered in option year 1, option year 2 and option year 3 for a final total of nine BACN aircraft.”

Northrop Grumman said last June that the Air Force had awarded the company a nearly $269 million BACN task order through January, 2027 for continued operations and sustainment (Defense Daily, June 6, 2024).

The task order announced by Northrop Grumman last summer covers operations and sustainment of current and future payloads; 24/7 connectivity; and “inclusion of the BACN platform in four large force customer exercises per year for the duration of the task order,” the company said.

In January, 2023, the Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $464 million contract through Jan. 23, 2028 for “platform maintenance and main operating base contractor logistics support establishment.”

A month later, the Air Force activated the 18th Airborne Command and Control Squadron at Robins to fly BACN. The BACN squadron under the 319th Reconnaissance Wing at Grand Forks, N.D., is expected be fully operational by ﬁscal year 2027.

In January 2021 the Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a BACN operations and sustainment contract worth up to $3.6 billion.

The BACN payload has had extensive combat field time since deployment began on Global Hawk drones in October 2008, Northrop Grumman has said.

Northrop Grumman has said that BACN will be critical in allowing Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control.

“BACN technology reduces line-of-sight issues by enabling real-time information flow across the battlespace between similar and dissimilar tactical data link and voice systems through relay, bridging, and data translation,” the Air Force has said. “Because of its flexible deployment options and ability to operate at high altitudes, BACN allows air and surface forces to overcome communications difficulties caused by mountains, rough terrain, or distance.”

Northrop Takes $397 Million B-21 Charge To Accelerate Production Rates, Prep For Program Increase

A manufacturing process change that will allow Northrop Grumman [NOC] to reduce risk, increase production rates, and set the foundation for expanded production numbers of the B-21 stealth bomber beyond current plans helped lead to a $397 million after-tax loss on the Air Force program in the first quarter, the company said on Tuesday.

The manufacturing change relates to the first five low-rate initial production (LRIP) options for the bomber, including a $226 million pre-tax reserve on the first two lots. On top of the change, Northrop Grumman said the B-21 charge also accounts for higher than expected prices and “consumption” of “general procurement materials” due to macroeconomic factors and lessons learned so far in initial aircraft production, Kathy Warden, Northrop Grumman’s chairwoman, president, and CEO, said on the company’s earnings call.

Current plans call for 100 B-21s although the Air Force has said it is considering increasing production beyond that and the process change provides “optionality” for this, Warden said. It will help the customer “de-risking options beyond the program of record,” she said.

Production of the first two LRIP lots is ongoing, and the purchase of some long-lead items have been purchased through the fourth lot, Warden said. The company does not expect to have to relearn the lessons of the manufacturing process changes incorporated in the first two production options for future lots, she said, adding that without the changes “that learning only would have compounded if we would have waited later in the program and had a higher production volume.”

Warden declined to break out the respective values of the process charge and the materials costs, but noted the former is higher. The investment in the process change was a joint decision with the Air Force, she said.

“So, we’ve built a good bit of experience now in building the aircraft, and as we have progressed through the build process, we made the determination working with the Air Force to reduce risk as we scale to the program of record, which will happen at the end of LRIP, and even to position us now to ramp above the program of record,” Warden said.

The five LRIP lots cover 21 B-21s. The next 19 bombers will be contracted under not-to-exceed (NTE) terms that were set at a higher price than LRIP deal. Northrop Grumman still expects to turn a profit under the NTE contract, Warden said, noting the manufacturing process change should “positively impact our ability to deliver the NTE units profitably.”

Increases in the cost and quantity of the general procurement materials could be a partial drag on the aircraft built under the NTE terms, she said.

Overall, in the quarter, net income tumbled 49 percent to $481 million, $3.32 earnings per share (EPS) from $944 million ($6.32 EPS), far below consensus estimates of $6.24 EPS). In addition to the B-21 charge, earnings also declined on lower operating profit in the Space Systems segment—down on lower sales—and the Mission Systems segment—off on investments in classified business opportunities and lower sales in microelectronics.

Segment operating margins were 6 percent versus 10.1 percent a year ago, reflecting the B-21 charge and operations at the Mission Systems segment.

Sales in the quarter fell 7 percent to $9.5 billion from $10.1 billion a year ago, with the B-21 being a $100 million headwind. Sales related to sustainment of the F-35 fighter were also down, partly due to materials timing, and the Space Systems segment also recorded lower revenue on the wind-down of work on classified space and the Next Generation Interceptor programs, declines in NASA resupply missions, and work on Space Development Agency and other classified space programs.
International business accounted for 14 percent of sales in the quarter.

The outlook for sales in 2025 is unchanged at between $42 billion and $42.5 billion and the same with free cash flow, which is forecast in the $2.9 billion to $3.3 billion range. However, segment operating income is now expected to be between $4.2 billion and nearly $4.4 billion, down from the prior range of nearly $4.7 billion to $4.8 billion. Adjusted earnings are forecast between $24.95 and $25.35 EPS, down a dime from previous guidance.

Warden also gave an update on a recent explosion at a solid rocket motor-related facility in Promontory, Utah, that produced an ingredient used in the propellant for large rocket motors. Northrop Grumman has external supply sources and does not expect an impact on its programs, she said.

Lockheed Martin Has Received Contracts for 19 TPY-4 Radars for USAF So Far

The U.S. Air Force said that it has awarded Lockheed Martin [LMT] $472 million so far for 19 TPY-4 radars under the Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar (3DELRR) program, managed by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s (AFLCMC) Electronic Systems Directorate at Hanscom AFB, Mass.

The total includes 12 radars for Air Combat Command, four for North American Aerospace Defense Command/U.S. Northern Command (NORAD/NORTHCOM), and three for Pacific Air Forces.

“To bolster homeland defense, Congress approved an estimated $100 million for the 3DELRR program office to procure four more TPY-4 systems through an out-of-cycle procurement,” AFLCMC said in an email response to questions.

Those four TPY-4s for NORAD/NORTHCOM are in the 19 under contract.

The Air Force has received the first TPY-4 radar from Lockheed Martin‘s Syracuse site under the 3DELRR program after the completion of early phase testing, the company said this month (Defense Daily, Apr. 9).

“The first delivery of TPY-4 to the U.S. Air Force represents the numerous radars to be delivered and fielded as part of the 3DELRR program,” the company said. “TPY-4’s delivery marks the beginning of government testing. The delivery coincides with the award of a contract in a series of radar purchases by the U.S. Air Force, as a part of the 3DELRR program.”

The Air Force chose Lockheed Martin as the 3DELRR contractor in March 2022 under what the service had projected to be a 35-radar, $360 million program.

Annual Air Force budget requests for 3DELRR have been below $20 million thus far, including about $8 million in fiscal 2025.

A fiscal 2024 U.S. Northern Command/North American Aerospace Defense Command unfunded priorities list to Congress said that 1980s radars, such as the Lockheed Martin FPS-117 for the North Warning System, will reach the end of their service lives this year and that these radars “will begin to fail at increasing rates.”

The top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee last September voiced concern about the lack of a radar/sensor grid to detect small drones around U.S. bases (Defense Daily, March 14, 2024).

The TPY-4 is to replace the 1970s-era Westinghouse, now Northrop Grumman [NOC] TPS-75, and Lockheed Martin has said that the TPY-4 will track small drones from hundreds of miles away, as well as missiles in jamming environments.

Lockheed Martin said that C-130 and C-17 airlifters, trucks, trains, and helicopters are able to carry the TPY-4.

Norway is to buy 11 TPY-4s and the country’s Kongsberg builds the radar’s Platform Electronics Subsystem as part of the Lockheed Martin team for 3DELRR.

Army Approves Transitioning RTX’s LTAMDS Radar Into Production

The Army has approved transitioning Raytheon’s [RTX] Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor from development into production, the company said Monday.

RTX said the successful Milestone C designation to move into production follows eight successful LTAMDS flight tests “of increasing complexity to stress the radar and prove its capabilities against real-world threats.”

RTX’s Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS)(Photo: RTX)

“This led the Army to validate that the radar has reached Milestone C, initiating the production and deployment phase of the program. LTAMDS is now officially designated a program of record by the U.S. Army and ready to support both its U.S. homeland defense and expeditionary missions,” RTX said in a statement.

LTAMDS, the Army’s new radar for the Patriot air defense system, is a 360-degree Active Electronically Scanned Array radar using Gallium Nitride that is billed as providing improved performance over the legacy capability against manned and unmanned aircraft, cruise missile, ballistic missiles and hypersonic missiles.

A recent flight test with LTAMDS involved successfully detecting, tracking and classifying a surrogate cruise missile threat while integrated with the Northrop Grumman Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS), with IBCS then directing the use of a Patriot Advanced Capability-2 Guidance Enhanced Missile – TBM (PAC-2 GEM-T) interceptor to take out the target (Defense Daily, Feb. 12).

“This is an unprecedented achievement, with a development program of this magnitude transitioning from prototype to production and deployment at an accelerated pace,” Tom Laliberty, Raytheon’s president of land and air defense systems, said in a statement. “Our collaborative partnership with the U.S. Army and our broad base of industry partners has driven the historic execution of the LTAMDS program in record time, delivering advanced 360-degree integrated air and missile defense capability.”

RTX won the LTAMDS contract in 2019 and was awarded an initial deal worth $384 million to deliver the first six production representative systems, which was followed by a $354 million contract in July 2022 for additional radars (Defense Daily, July 13, 2022).

The Army then awarded RTX a $2.1 billion low-rate initial production contract last July for LTAMDS, with $815.9 million obligated at the time of award and funds included to cover a foreign military sales (FMS) case with Poland (Defense Daily, July 31 2024).

The initial six LTAMDS production-representative radars funded by the original contract have all been delivered to date, RTX noted, with the company set to deliver the next two radars later this year.

RTX said the company “is currently manufacturing eight additional LTAMDS radars per year and is ramping up annual production to 12 units to meet global demand.”

“A dozen additional countries are requesting information about LTAMDS and receiving pricing and availability estimates,” RTX said.

The State Department in late June 2023 approved a potential $15 billion FMS case with Poland covering 12 LTAMDS radars as well as 48 Patriot M903 launch stations and up to 644 Lockheed Martin [LMT]-built PAC-3 MSE interceptor missiles (Defense Daily, June 28, 2023).

“With the introduction of LTAMDS, Poland will become the first country after the U.S. to complement the combat-proven Patriot with LTAMDS, which provides extended range and full, 360-degree coverage to detect and defend against complex, highly coordinated, multi-threat attack scenarios,” Laliberty has said previously.

Navy To Award Bollinger First LSM Amphib Hull Based On Israeli Ship

The Navy earlier this month posted a presolicitation notice that it intends to issue Bollinger Shipyards Lockport LLC a sole-source contract for the first Landing Ship Medium (LSM) based on an Israeli ship design.

In the April 7 notice, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) said it intends to give Bollinger a solicitation to construct the lead LSM Block 1 ship as its commercial/non-developmental Israeli Logistics Support Vessel (ILSV) design.

This upcoming sole source contract is allowed because the National Defense Authorization Act of 2025 specifically exempted the Navy from using a full and open competition for the lead LSM if it chose a commercial or non-developmental design.

That provision originated with the Senate Armed Services Committee’s version of the bill, authorizing the Navy to enter into an agreement to procure, lease or charter commercial or non-developmental “ship that meets core U.S. Marine Corps requirements for operational sealift and landing troops, equipment, and supplies to a beach” (Defense Daily, July 11, 2024).

Bollinger delivered two ILSVs to the Israeli Navy in 2023 and 2024, based on the U.S. Army’s Frank S. Besson-class of logistics support vessels. The ILSVs are 312 feet long, can operate on beaches as low as under 4 feet deep while carrying over 900 tons of equipment, can travel at upward of 14 knots and have a range of over 6,500 nautical miles.

That allowance came after significant Navy wrangling with the original LSM idea planned to be late to the need for Marine Littoral Regiment campaigning. Lawmakers wanted to make sure the Marine Corps had some capability to start with, aside from the leased HOS Resolution, a modified Hornbeck Offshore Services Offshore Support Vessel used to test LSM concepts as a Stern Landing Vessel (SLV).

The SLV and Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport ships have been used to test LSM concepts as Littoral Maneuver Bridging Solutions (LMBS) vessels.

In January 2024, the Navy issued its initial Request For Proposals (RFP) for the detail design and construction of six LSMs while the budget planned to procure the first one in FY 2025 (Defense Daily, Jan. 11, 2024).

However, later last year a Congressional Budget Office report argued the LSM would likely be two to three times more expensive than the Navy’s planned estimate of $150 million per hull due to adding military survivability specifications to a commercial baseline hull (Defense Daily, April 12, 2024).

Then, last December former Assistant Secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition Nickolas Guertin confirmed the Navy’s cost estimates were indeed far off and they pulled the LSM RFP due to high industry price tags (Defense Daily, Dec. 19, 2024).

Guertin had said the Navy thought it had a bulletproof cost estimate given its requirements, but the RFP led to “a much higher price tag, and we simply weren’t able to pull it off.”

The Marine Corps ultimately wants 35 LSM-type ships to transport the Marine Littoral Regiment, but it and the Navy have settled on at least 18 vessels initially.

In 2023, a Marine Corps official said the 19th through 35th vessels might not be the original LSM concepts, but could include other vessels with similar capabilities, like LMBS vessels (Defense Daily, Jan. 17, 2023).

In January, the Navy started the new process through a Request for Information to determine commercial availability for non-developmental landing ships available at U.S. shipyards. Non-developmental vessels are complete ship designs that have moved past functional design and are under contract to be built or were previously built (Defense Daily, Jan. 8).

At the time, the Navy said it wanted the landing ship to have a cargo capacity of at least 300 short tons and be under 400 feet long.

NRO Launches 10th Proliferated Architecture Mission

The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and U.S. Space Force on Sunday launched the agency’s 10th proliferated architecture mission on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., the NRO said on Monday.

The launch is the fourth in the proliferated architecture series thus far this year and brings to “more than 200” the number of satellites put into orbit by the NRO in the last two years, the agency said.

The agency said the first proliferated architecture launch was last May and that NRO satellite launch volume has increased since June 2023 to more than 100, more than 150, and now more than 200 (Defense Daily, Apr. 9, 2024).

NROL-145 is the first NRO mission undertaken with Space Systems Command’s Assured Access to Space organization under the National Security Space Launch Phase 3, Lane 1 task order awarded last October.

Last Wednesday, NRO and the Space Force launched NROL-174 aboard a Northrop Grumman [NOC] Minotaur IV rocket in what NRO said was the first Minotaur launch for NRO from Vandenberg since 2011 (Defense Daily, Apr. 16). A decommissioned Peacekeeper ICBM supplies Minotaur IV with solid rocket motors for its first three stages, and the rocket uses a commercial upper stage.

Previous Minotaur launches for the NRO include the NROL-111 and NROL-129 missions from Wallops Island, Va., in June 2021 and July 2020, respectively, and NROL-66 from Vandenberg in February 2011.

In addition to the NRO launches, the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center at Kirtland AFB, N.M., test flew a Minotaur carrying an unarmed Mk21A reentry vehicle by Lockheed Martin [LMT] for the Sentinel ICBM program last June 18 from Vandenberg.

NROL-174 is part of the NRO/SSC Rocket Systems Launch Program, which “focuses on the small launch market and primarily launches more risk-tolerant experimental, research and development, responsive space, and operational missions,” NRO has said.

“NROL-174 is the third NRO mission launched from SSC RSLP’s Orbital/Suborbital Program-3 contract,” the agency said.

NRC Commissioner Says Doesn’t Know the Future of NRC Under Trump, ‘Does Anybody?’

Christopher Hanson, commissioner for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said Monday he does not know where the future of the agency stands under the current Trump administration, the executive order threatening diluting power, and the current lawsuit against the agency.

“I don’t know,” Hanson said with a laugh in answer to a question by the Exchange Monitor

at a moderated panel at the 2025 Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference in Washington. “Does anybody?”

Hanson continued, “I think there are questions that are going to get adjudicated in the courts and so on and so forth. But I think having that independent regulatory body is going to be so critical here. And I think it’s worth defending.”

In February, Trump issued an executive order that gave the Office of Management and Budget power over the regulatory process that used to fall to “independent regulatory agencies,” which include the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

More recently, a coalition of five states and three private nuclear companies filed a lawsuit against the nuclear regulator in a federal district court in Texas, arguing the NRC inhibited advanced reactor development. The plaintiffs claim in the lawsuit that NRC regulations make it difficult to meet increasing electricity demands, and that NRC has stifled expansion of advanced nuclear technology with a “lengthy” and “restrictive” licensing framework.

The Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act, which then-President Biden signed in July 2024, is meant to reform NRC’s methods of issuing nuclear licenses and to require the Department of Energy to research and find ways other than the gold-standard, civil-nuclear 1-2-3 agreement to help get special nuclear materials to aspirant nuclear-power users abroad.

“Congress had some pointers for us in [the ADVANCE Act] about not unnecessarily hindering the deployment of nuclear power,” Hanson said, before adding, “I might have argued that we’ve never unnecessarily hindered the deployment of nuclear power.”

“Everybody wants us to go faster, right?” Hanson said. “Folks want things cheaper and faster.”

Hanson said he believes in “institutions,” and that even though “they need to adapt, constantly… we’re still much better off as a society with them than without them.”

Hanson said that he looks at NRC as an “institution with this incredibly rich history and a really strong performance record, and I hope that any administration coming in will look at us and say, okay, they’re doing a good job.”

Electra Raises $115 Million To Move Ultra Short Aircraft Closer To Production

Electra.aero on Monday said it has raised $115 million in Series B funding to enter the pre-production and certification phase of its EL9 ultra short aircraft it is developing for commercial and military use.

The funding round was led by Prysm Capital

with participation by Honeywell‘s [HON] ventures arm.

The EL9 features blown lift technology and hybrid-electric propulsion—allowing it to take-off and land in 150 feet—the quiet of an electric aircraft, and the ability to operate similar to a helicopter but with the safety and range advantages of a fixed-wing aircraft. The EL9 can carry up to nine passengers with baggage, or 3,000 pounds of payload up to 30 nautical miles. The aircraft’s batteries recharge in-flight, eliminating the need for ground charging stations.

The company has more than 2,200 pre-orders for operators that would use the EL9 in the commercial advanced air mobility sector, and more than 20 Small Business Innovation Research contracts with the Air Force, Army, Navy, and NASA. Electra also has a Strategic Funding Increase contract with the Air Force to develop the EL9 for military uses.

“The EL9 Ultra Short opens the door to opportunities to establish new commercial routes, connect communities currently lacking aviation infrastructure, and enable entirely novel logistics capabilities for warfighters,” Marc Allen, Electra’s CEO, said in a statement.

Electra aims to begin flight testing the aircraft in 2027, and to achieve Federal Aviation Administration type certification in 2028 or 2029 with a goal of entering commercial service in 2029.

With the investment, Jay Park, co-founder and managing partner of Prysm, has been added to Electra’s board of directors. Electra is based in Northern Virginia and has about 80 employees.

Previous funding rounds included Lockheed Martin’s [LMT] ventures unit, Honeywell, and France’s Safran.

Commentary: Addressing America’s Military Space Race Vulnerabilities

By Andrew E. Harrod, Defense Opinion Writer.

While Russia seeks Ukraine’s subjugation in Europe and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) looms as a rising danger to Taiwan across the sea in the Pacific, the military dimensions of space have grown ever more important. This is especially true given recent reports that the Pentagon is closely monitoring China and Russia’s new aggressive space capabilities.

In what some observers have called an “Anti-Satellite Age,” dangerous American adversaries like China and Russia increasingly cooperate. The corresponding uncomfortable reality is that many space and defense contractors have vulnerabilities that the PRC and Russia can exploit.

As the Council on Foreign Relations recently analyzed in a task force report, America in recent years has deployed more numerous, smaller space assets to counter satellite vulnerability, yet these efforts “have not kept up with the threat.”

Even SpaceX, which was responsible for 95 percent of all U.S. orbital launches last year, faces such vulnerabilities.

Worries about China business dealings

In last five years, a diverse group, from then-Sen.

Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, to retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, have worried about SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s China business dealings.

In particular, Musk’s Shanghai-based Tesla plant, raises fears about China’s “Military-Civil Fusion Laws.” Under these laws, corporations in China must reveal new technologies to the government, which could have inadvertent spillover effects upon SpaceX, thereby posing risks to America’s national security.

The broader point remains valid: unlike elected officials or military commanders, private companies have no duty to official policies or national defense strategies. Thus, tightened contractor vetting and oversight mechanisms — which can quickly remedy many of the vulnerabilities that contractors face — will prove essential, as will ensuring as much contractor diversity as the market allows.

Consider the stakes.

Musk’s Starlink and other satellites are key targets for China’s anti-satellite (ASAT) efforts in ongoing efforts to isolate or even conquer Taiwan, which had to develop Starlink alternatives after it rejected Taiwanese joint venture regulations.

Moreover, media reports from January highlighted research in China into new artificial intelligence–driven ASAT methods to attack Starlink satellite constellations. With this new technology inspired by whale hunting behaviors, 99 Chinese satellites could approach – and presumably destroy – almost 1,400 Starlink (or other) satellites in the first 12 hours of a war with Taiwan.

Such ASAT campaigns, combined with the cutting of Taiwan’s undersea communication cables, whose vulnerability appeared again in a recent suspicious cable cutting incident, could isolate the island from the world in the event of conflict.

Two formidable adversaries in space

These threats exist within a world of active Chinese and Russian espionage campaigns targeting America. Thus, even one unintentional security breach at Musk’s American satellite monopoly can provide two adversarial countries, already partners in space, with a significant national security advantage.

These two Eurasian dictatorships are formidable adversaries. U.S. Air Force Gen. Stephen N. Whiting, U.S. Space Command commander, has observed that “the PRC is growing its military space and counterspace capabilities at breathtaking pace to deny American and Allied space capabilities when they so choose.”

On Feb. 29, he testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee that “by 2030, the PRC will, by many estimates, achieve world-class status in all but a few space technology areas” and “seeks to match or surpass the United States by 2045.”

Gen. Whiting also stated that “Russia will remain a formidable and less predictable challenge” to the United States in this respect, with Ukraine conflict losses increasing Russian reliance on cyber and space capabilities.

Indeed, Russia recently moved to develop satellite-based nuclear weapons that not only could destroy swarms of satellites, but leave low-Earth orbit unusable for a full year. While arms control devotees note that the 1967 Outer Space Treaty prohibits space stationing of such weapons of mass destruction, Russia vetoed an American-sponsored April 2024 United Nations resolution affirming the treaty.

Such hard facts manifest how holding corporations accountable to the national interest must go hand in hand with strengthening America’s defenses in space. America cannot afford to lose the new space race and will therefore need more than one rocket man.

Andrew E. Harrod, a fellow with the Lawfare Project, is an international relations and national security commentator.