Page 4 – Defense Daily

EXCLUSIVE: Bussiere Approves 2 of 3 Missile Wings’ Sentinel Silo Plans

BARKSDALE AFB, La.–U.S. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink is visiting Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) here in his first visit to a service major command.

Gen. Thomas Bussiere, the head of AFGSC since December 2022, discussed the command’s modernization efforts in an interview with Defense Daily on Monday. Prominent on the list is the Northrop Grumman [NOC] LGM-35A Sentinel, which has occupied much of Meink’s program time in his first month on the job (Defense Daily, June 5).

The Air Force is restructuring the program after a critical Nunn-McCurdy breach announced by the service in January last year, and that restructuring/new integrated schedule is to happen by next summer.

A decade ago up until the Nunn-McCurdy breach, Pentagon leaders thought that they could re-use the old Minuteman III silos–and their steel and concrete–to build the then called Ground Based Strategic Deterrent more quickly and cheaply.

Now, however, the service is examining the extent it will be able to use existing infrastructure, as well as a “green fields” approach for new silos to replace Minuteman III silos that the service judges as too costly to renovate and upgrade.

“I approved two of the three wings’ plans several weeks ago” with the third to follow soon, Bussiere said.

The three missile wings are the 90th at F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo.; the 91st at Minot AFB, N.D.; and the 341st at Malmstrom AFB, Mont.

“I’ve never seen the enthusiasm for recapitalizing the nuclear enterprise as high as it is now,” Bussiere said. “There’s an understanding of the urgency of the mission.”

The New Start Treaty between Russia and the United States lapses next February, which may lead to a rethinking of minimum deterrence levels for the U.S. and whether multiple independent re-entry vehicles will be a way forward for the ICBM force. AFGSC has operated under the minimum deterrence rubric of 400 Minuteman III operational missiles with 50 in reserve.

As the U.S. prepares to counter anti-access, area denial strategies by China, Air Force leaders believe that the service is well positioned, and DoD leaders have spoken of the vulnerability of carrier battle groups to Chinese missiles.

Yet, Air Force long-range strike is facing challenges too, including conventional “magazine depth” and the service’s aging ICBMs and bomber fleets.

While the service has 74 B-52Hs, which are to receive new engines and radars to convert them to B-52Js, 20 of the B-52Hs are with the schoolhouse, and 75 percent of the remaining may be operational at one time. In addition, the service aims to replace its Northrop Grumman B-2 stealth bombers and Boeing [BA] B-1s with at least 100 Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider stealth bombers, but increasing the production rate to accommodate up to 145 B-21s is a question mark.

It looks as if the B-2 and B-1 lives may extend over the next decade–and adaptations found for those bombers, as the service awaits a critical mass of B-21s. During now retired Gen. Timothy Ray’s tenure as AFGSC head from 2018 to 2021, Boeing proposed an external pylon for the B-1, and AFGSC continues to examine that to allow the B-1 to carry the AGM-183A Lockheed Martin [LMT] hypersonic Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW), which may see new life.

In addition, an RTX [RTX] team has been developing the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM).

About six months before Trump’s election last year to a second term, then Air Force acquisition chief Andrew Hunter said that HACM would flight test by this September, and the service said that it was examining what technology the Air Force would adopt from ARRW–begun during Trump’s first term and given the moniker of “super duper missile” by Trump before the Biden administration canceled its development (Defense Daily, May 8, 2024).

BlackSky to Expand Constellation With Multispectral, Large-Area Satellites

BlackSky [BKSY] is planning to expand the capabilities of its Earth Observation (EO) constellation with multispectral, large-area collection satellites called AROS, to launch “as early as 2027.”

BlackSky explained the AROS satellites are designed to support country scale digital mapping, navigation, maritime, and 3D digital twin applications. The company said the AROS plan has been in development for the past two years and was a key factor in the company’s move to acquire the full stake in its manufacturer, LeoStella late last year.

While the new Gen-3 satellites are designed for high-frequency site monitoring, AROS is designed for broad area search, change monitoring, and refresh of large area and 3D mapping datasets.

The AROS system is planned to operate as an integrated extension of BlackSky’s existing fleet. BlackSky did not specify the number of satellites for AROS. BlackSky explained the integrated constellation will combine “very high-resolution broad area search with site monitoring to provide dynamic tipping and cueing for advanced maritime and Golden Dome type applications.”

BlackSky said it will fill “upcoming gaps in the market as legacy large area collection satellites age out of service over the next few years,” with “disruptive speed and more favorable economics.”

“As legacy satellites approach end-of-life, we see a critical opportunity to address market needs — not just in performance and agility — but also in affordability and AI-readiness. As confirmed through active customer and partner engagement, BlackSky is meeting the modern demands of governments and commercial users who need persistent visibility over very large areas, fast,” said Brian O’Toole, BlackSky CEO.

This story was first published by Via Satellite

Navy Freezes Hypersonic HALO Missile To Restructure Due To Cost, GAO Says

The Navy has paused and now intends to restructure its anti-ship hypersonic missile program because acquisition offers were too expensive, according to the latest Government Accountability Office (GAO) annual weapons systems assessment.

Last year, GAO noted in 2023 the Hypersonic Air-Launched Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare (OASuW) (HALO) weapon system program changed its acquisition strategy to quicken the transition to major capability acquisition pathway by two years to fiscal year 2025. It also eliminated the planned prototype flight tests from the middle tier of acquisition.

GAO argued the prototype flight tests usually help reduce technical risks.

The new report, published June 11, noted this initial planning change in 2024 led to the program reporting a $109 million or 20 percent cost decrease. However, this is not an overall decrease in total costs but just a result of moving the major capability acquisition pathway up by two years to 2025.

HALO completed its preliminary design review in August 2024, with both contractors: Lockheed Martin [LMT] and RTX [RTX].

In 2023 the Navy awarded the two companies contracts to start developing the HALO weapons that can be based on aircraft carriers (Defense Daily, March 29).

The Navy aims for HALO to help it operate and control contested spaces in littoral waters and to deal with anti-access/area denial (A2AD) environments, like those the military would experience in a conflict with China in the Western Pacific.

HALO is also intended to be a successor to the Long Range Anti-ship Missile (LRASM) fielded on F/A-18s and Air Force B-1Bs.

Navy officials told GAO that both contractors’ designs are the expected level of maturity and consistent with the department’s performance requirements, so no major design changes were needed. Ultimately, the HALO program plans to downselect to one contractor.

A Lockheed Martin rendering of LRASM. (Image: Lockheed Martin).

However, after all this work, the GAO report highlighted the program is currently “restructuring” because the Navy determined its system development contract offers from the two bidders “were too costly given the program’s budget.”

“The program stated that it is reconsidering its planned acquisition pathway as part of the restructuring.”

The report also said the HALO program is trying to better understand potential industrial base risks before it transitions into the major acquisition pathway. GAO has long-noted hypersonic missile industry risks like a limited number of suppliers for critical components and long production times for components caused by the processes used to manufacture them.

While the HALO program has not conducted an industrial base assessment, the report relayed that Navy officials said the program has engaged the two prime contractors to review and brief on the state of the industrial base as part of their transition to the major capability acquisition pathway.

“These reviews identified issues similar to what other hypersonic programs have faced. Left unaddressed, these issues can limit production rates and make systems more costly to produce,” the report warned.

U.S. OKs Potential $2 Billion F/A-18F, EA-18G Support Deal With Australia

The State Department has approved a potential $2 billion deal with Australia covering sustainment support and equipment for its fleet of F/A-18F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler aircraft.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress on Monday of the new foreign military sale.

A Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) F/A-18F Super Hornet from No. 1 Squadron taxis back to an ordnance loading area after a sortie during Talisman Sabre 23, at RAAF Base Tindal, Northern Territory, Australia, July 27, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by 1st Lt. Robert H. Dabbs)

The deal covers a range of equipment for the Australia’s Boeing [BA] F/A-18Fs and the specialized EA-18G electronic attack aircraft, to include Global Lighting joint tactical terminal-transceivers, 40 advanced electronic warfare systems and 24 Next Generation Electronic Attack Units.

Australia would also receive encryption devices, AN/ALE-47 electronic warfare countermeasures systems, Joint Mission Planning System software, aircraft spares and repair parts, software and hardware updates and development, system configuration upgrades, avionics software support, aircraft armament equipment, engine component improvements, training aids, flight test services and logistics and program support.

“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States. Australia is one of our most important allies in the Western Pacific. The strategic location of this political and economic power contributes significantly to ensuring peace and economic stability in the Western Pacific,” the DSCA said in a statement. “It will also improve Australia’s capability to support coalition operations and contribute to mutual security goals in the region.”

The State Department on Monday also said it has approved a potential $211 million with Italy for RTX [RTX]-built Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM).

The new FMS case with Italy includes 30 AIM-120D-3 AMRAAMs, 40 AIM-120C-8 AMRAAMs and two AIM-120C-7 AMRAAM guidance sections as well as spare and repair parts, weapon system support and software and personnel training and training equipment.

“The proposed sale will improve Italy’s capability to meet current and future threats by ensuring Italy has modern, capable air-to-air munitions. It will also advance United States interoperability with NATO and the Italian Armed Forces,” the DSCA said in a statement.

Honeywell To Provide Auxiliary Power Unit, Cooling Solution For Army’s FLRAA

Honeywell [HON] said Monday that Bell [TXT] has selected the company to provide the auxiliary power unit (APU) and cooling solution for the Army’s Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA).

As a subcontractor on the FLRAA program, Honeywell said it will supply its 36-150 auxiliary power unit (APU) and Honeywell Attune cooling capability for the future tiltrotor aircraft.

The V-280 Valor. Bell photo.

“FLRAA will deliver new long-range high speed transport capabilities to the U.S. Army helping to ensure force readiness against emerging threats,” Rich DeGraff, Honeywell Aerospace Technologies’ president of control systems, said in a statement. “We are confident that our proven 36-150 APU and Honeywell Attune system will exceed the expectations of the Army throughout the FLRAA contract and subsequent active-duty service that will last beyond 2050. Honeywell looks forward to continuing to serve the Army on their future vertical lift fleet.”

Bell’s V-280 Valor tiltrotor aircraft was named the winner of the FLRAA competition in December 2022, beating out a Sikorsky [LMT] and Boeing [BA] team’s Defiant X coaxial rigid rotor helicopter offering for the program to find a platform that will eventually replace a sizeable portion of the Black Hawk fleet (Defense Daily, Dec. 5, 2022).

The initial FLRAA deal to Bell is worth up to $1.3 billion but could total $7 billion if all options are picked up.

The Army has recently detailed plans to move up the initial fielding of FLRAA by two years to 2028, with Bell telling Defense Daily it’s “confident” it can meet the accelerated timeline (Defense Daily, May 19).

Honeywell said the 36-150 APU for FLRAA will provide a secondary source of electrical and hydraulic power for the platform that “enhances mission readiness and flexibility of aircraft operations,” noting that versions of the capability are currently in use on the Army’s fleet of UH-60 Black Hawk and AH-64 Apache helicopters.

For the FLRAA cooling solution, Honeywell described its Attune high-density cooling technology as “a lightweight, low-maintenance and energy-efficient thermal management system” that is “up to 35 percent lighter and 20 percent more efficient than conventional systems with comparable cooling capacity.”

“Capitalizing on decades of experience producing industry-leading air cycle systems, Honeywell has developed Honeywell Attune with weight, size, and power advantages over traditional systems,” Honeywell said. “Honeywell Attune provides Bell with a lower-risk technical solution as it has been successfully introduced into commercial aircraft for both cabin and aircraft systems cooling.” In late March, GE Aerospace [GE] announced it had been awarded a subcontract to deliver the avionics system for FLRAA, which followed Bell’s prior decision to select GE as the “digital backbone” provider for the platform (Defense Daily, March 31).

Australia Test Teams Up Ghost Bat Drones With E-7A Wedgetail Aircraft

Australia on Monday said that it demonstrated pairing two MQ-28A Ghost Bat drones controlled from an E-7A Wedgetail aircraft.

The Australian Ministry of Defense explained that during the test out of Royal Australia Air Force (RAAF) Base Woonera, South Australia a single operator aboard the airborne E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft took control of two Ghost Bats to conduct a mission against an airborne target.

Artist’s rendition of a Royal Australian Air Force E-7A Wedgetail crewed aircraft teaming with two uncrewed MQ-28 Ghost Bat collaborative combat aircraft. (Illustration: Boeing). — Artist’s rendition of a Royal Australian Air Force E-7A Wedgetail crewed aircraft teaming with two uncrewed MQ-28 Ghost Bat collaborative combat aircraft (Illustration: Boeing).

MQ-28A co-developer Boeing [BA] noted the test also included a third digital Ghost Bat and that the E-7A operator controlled the aircraft to test how they plan to operate them by flying ahead of and protecting crewed assets.

The MQ-28A Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) was co-developed with Boeing [BA]’s Defense Australia subsidiary and integrates artificial intelligence and autonomy to collaboratively work with the crewed aircraft to extend its capabilities. The ministry did not disclose when the test demonstration occurred.

The government boasted MQ-28A is the country’s first exploration of CCAs and the first military combat aircraft designed, engineered and built in Australia in over 50 years.

In a statement, Minister for Defense Industry Pat Conroy, argued that this step in the aircraft’s development shows “the Ghost Bat has the potential to turn a single fighter jet into a fighting team, with advanced sensors that are like hundreds of eyes in the sky. Autonomous collaborative platforms enhance the integrated force’s ability to deliver a strategy of denial, by increasing the lethality and survivability with a reduced risk to our forces.”

“This trial demonstrates family-of-systems integration, the strength of our open systems architecture, and is a critical first step toward integrating mission partners’ software and communications systems natively into the E-7A Wedgetail,” Glen Ferguson, director MQ-28 Global Programs, said in a statement.

Boeing is building the MQ-28A Ghost Bat for the Royal Australian Air Force (Boeing Photo)

He added that this test both validated a key part of the Ghost Bat’s concept of operations but also “how collaborative combat aircraft can expand and enhance the role of the E-7A to meet future force requirements. It is another tangible proof point of the maturity of our program.”

Boeing noted the software used in the test was jointly developed and implemented by Boeing’s Defense Australia subsidiary, the ministry’s Defence Science and Technology Group and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory.

The company also elaborated this Wedgetail trial was part of a series of events with RAAF assets in 2025, known as Capability Demonstration 2025.

It said this focused on demonstrating MQ-28’s operational effectiveness and how CCA will integrate with crewed Australia aircraft assets and future events will add teaming with the F/A-18F Super Hornet and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

As far back as 2023, the company said it was conducting a test program with the Ghost Bat in the U.S. (Defense Daily, May 26, 2023).

Kratos Plans New Facility To Produce Engines Co-Developed With GE Aerospace

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions [KTOS] on Monday said it will open a 50,000 square-foot facility in Oklahoma to manufacture a family of turbojet engines it is developing with GE Aerospace

[GE].

The initial focus of the advanced manufacturing plant will be on the 800-pound thrust GEK800, one of a family of small, lower cost engines the companies are developing to power expendable, unmanned platforms.

Kratos said the new facility is expected to expand to 100,000 square feet and house up to five GEK engine production lines supporting thrust classes from 600 to 6,000 pounds. Initially, the companies are targeting 500 engines annually.

Earlier this month, Kratos and GE Aerospace detailed work to develop a 1,500-pound thrust GEK1500 aimed at powering the “lower end” of Collaborative Combat Aircraft designs, with plans for a prototype demo in 2026 (Defense Daily, June 3).

The plant in Bristow, Okla., will begin occupancy in mid-2026 and increase to full operations by the fourth quarter of 2026. The first engine line is expected to create 60 jobs, and each additional production line about 45 new jobs.

The facility will also include three small engine test cells for engines between 200 and 2,000 pounds of thrust, and will be operational in 2027.

“The new Kratos investment reflects our continued commitment to delivering high-performance, affordable jet engine technology to support the Department of Defense and our allies, and answers the rising demand for propulsion systems for cruise missiles and CCA [collaborative combat aircraft]-type aircraft, while being targeted and optimized for cost reduction,” Eric DeMarco, president and CEO of Kratos, said in a statement. “The Bristow facility will play a critical role in accelerating production of the GEK family of engines, including the GEK800, and strengthening America’s industrial base in this decisive era.”

Leidos Taps Pratt & Whitney For Engine To Power Black Arrow Cruise Missile

Pratt & Whitney on Monday said that Leidos [LDOS] has awarded the company a contract to supply TJ150 engines for the Black Arrow small cruise missile being developed to provide the Defense Department with an affordable strike weapons capability.

The value of the award was not disclosed.

The high-performance, single rotor, one-stage turbojet engine was used in a Black Arrow flight test last November from a U.S. Special Operations Command AC-130J aircraft (Defense Daily, March 31). The 150-pound thrust TJ150 is used to power several missiles, including the RTX [RTX]-built Miniature Air Launched Decoy. More than 2,700 of the engines have been delivered to customers globally.

“The ability to rely on a proven propulsion system like the TJ150 frees up our team to focus on optimizing the missile to meet the needs of the strike weapons community,” Mark Miller, senior vice president for missile and aviation systems at Leidos, said in a statement.

The companies begin integration studies in 2023 and the contract, which began in April 2025, runs through the first quarter of 2026. The award has an option for additional engines.

“Production capacity is in place today, ahead of demand, which strongly positions the TJ150 engine for a range of high-rate production scenarios,” Chris Hugill, executive director of Pratt & Whitney GATORWORKS, said in a statement.

Pratt is an operating segment of RTX.

USSOCOM last December awarded Leidos a contract to continue expanding the flight envelop and utility of Black Arrow through 2025.

Moog, Inc. [MOG.A] is providing the control actuation system for Black Arrow (Defense Daily, May 12).

USAF Explores Possible Minuteman III Development, Operations, Sustainment Program

The U.S. Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center may hold an industry day in late August at Hill AFB, Utah to gauge industry capacity to support a possible ICBM Development, Operations, and Sustainment (IDOS) program for the Boeing [BA] Minuteman III (MMIII).

Such a contract would “ensure continued operational readiness, availability, reliability, and maintainability of the MMIII weapon system and associated programs through end of life,” according to a Friday business notice.

“The MMIII weapon system is tracked through a work breakdown structure with about 2,800 individual risk-rated line items listed/monitored with up to 125 product support initiatives tracked annually across approximately 65 working groups,” the notice said.

The Air Force has said that extending the life of the 1970s-era Minuteman III’s long-term is not “viable” and that the service plans to replace the Minuteman III with Sentinel in the 2030s.

In April, a Congressional Budget Office study estimated that Pentagon nuclear modernization would cost at least $946 billion between this year and 2034—a projection that does not include “significant additional increase in costs” that may stem from a restructuring of the program to replace MMIII–the Northrop Grumman [NOC] LGM-35A Sentinel– and delays that are to come with Air Force efforts to reduce costs after the service notified Congress of a Nunn-McCurdy critical cost breach for Sentinel in January last year (Defense Daily, May 30). Sentinel’s estimated cost has more than doubled to $140 billion, and this month’s annual Government Accountability Office weapons systems assessment said that costs could easily reach $170 billion in fiscal 2025 dollars.

“If the president determines—which is his right—that we need to maintain 400 warheads on ICBMs, there are lots of ways we can do that,” Jon Wolfsthal, director of global risk at the Federation of American Scientists and a former nonproliferation adviser to the Obama administration, told the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. “During the Obama administration in 2016, we suggested that you could take the 200 most reliable Minuteman IIIs and simply put two warheads on each of them. You would cut the reliability risk of the ICBM program significantly, because you could take the most reliable, most modern of the Minuteman IIIs and maintain two warheads on each. This wouldn’t risk inviting an attack because Russia or China would still have to strike at 200 fixed land targets. So, you still would have the sponge and a very visible deterrent, but that was rejected by the Air Force as unworkable, even though it turns out the Sentinel program is also unworkable.”

Ursa Major Gets Largest Contract To Date In $33 Million Order By Stratolaunch For Hadley Engines

Propulsion developer and manufacturer Ursa Major on Monday said it has received a $32.9 million contact from Stratolaunch to provide 16 upgraded Hadley engines that the aerospace vehicle testing company will reuse to increase flight test cadence to support hypersonic technology development.

The contract for the Hadley H13 liquid rocket engine is Ursa Major’s largest ever. The Denver-based startup’s previous largest contract was for 10 Hadley engines in April with Sirius Technologies, the U.S. subsidiary of Japan’s space launch company Innovative Space Carrier.

Delivery of the first engine is expected in August 2026 and the performance period runs through December 2029, a Stratolaunch spokesperson told Defense Daily. The company expects to perform eight flights with each engine, which will support Department of Defense and private industry customers on future Talon-A flights, the spokesperson said.

The Talon-A is Stratolaunch’s reusable uncrewed hypersonic vehicle that is air-launched by the company’s Roc carrier aircraft. In March under a DoD contract, Stratolaunch successfully conducted a second flight of its Talon-A2 hypersonic vehicle powered by a previous version of the Hadley 5,000-pound thrust engine (Defense Daily, May 5).

Engine reuse will drive down the cost of each flight and support “new test objectives and mission profiles,” Ursa Major said.

“The previous engines have not been reused yet, but they will in the future,” Chris Spagnoletti, president of liquid systems at Ursa Major, told Defense Daily in an email reply to questions. “The H13 engine uses advanced metals and is designed to fly more than double the amount of flights than the current H11 engine, ensuring Ursa Major can continue to provide Stratolaunch with the most cost-effective hypersonic propulsion technology on the market.”

The Talon-A flights for DoD are part of the department’s Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonic Test Bed, called MACH-TB, a new campaign for hypersonic flight testing.