Page 47 – Defense Daily

Acting CNO: Need To Be More Sure Of Laser Output Before Going All-In, F/A-XX At Higher Levels

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The Navy’s top officer said he is not ready “to go all-in yet” on laser weapons without a more sure output while the Navy’s next-generation fighter is working its way through higher level decisions.

While the

Arleigh Burke-class USS Preble (DDG-88) has been testing the Lockheed Martin [LMT] High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS), “I’m not ready to go all in yet on buying these things until I can have a relatively sure output in an action,” Adm. James Kilby, acting Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) and Vice CNO, told reporters here at the annual 2025 Sea-Air-Space expo.

Artist rendering of Lockheed Martin's HELIOS laser weapons system used on an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. (Image: Lockheed Martin) — Artist rendering of Lockheed Martin’s HELIOS laser weapons system used on an *Arleigh Burke*-class destroyer. (Image: Lockheed Martin)

Kilby added there is no push to immediately deploy lasers, but he wants them to develop to the right level.

“There’s a push in activity. It’s for me not to buy something that doesn’t work, so I need to test it and make sure it’s actually actionable. I suspect it is. Preble will help me there, as well as the work [the Office of Naval Research] is doing,” he said.

Kilby noted while he is not concerned about expending current munitions to protect sailors and merchant shipping, “I am concerned about not having better ways to more economically attrite the threat.”

The Navy has used significant numbers of Standard Missiles to counter drones and missiles launched by Houthi forces in Yemen.

Even if Kilby doesn’t see counter-drone laser systems ready to deploy yet, the Navy decided to put more non-laser short-term systems on Carrier Strike Group 4 like the RTX [RTX] Coyote loitering munition and using five-inch rounds on drones.

Kilby also reiterated feeling remorse that as the former N9 from 2019 to 2021, he focused laser investments on higher end 500 kilowatt to one megawatt laser weapons to target missile threats rather than have “been thoughtful enough to think about UAV threat, where I think a much lesser power weapon would have done what we needed to do.”

In January, Kilby first said he regretted his higher energy laser development focus at N9. He also said the Navy has to catch up and use more lower cost self-protection alternatives the Navy has been testing and “everything’s open and on the table” (Defense Daily, Jan. 14).

On Monday Kilby added the Navy is adding capabilities to the Ford Carrier Strike Group that will have a most cost effective way to deal with the UAV threat, but the industrial base needs to improve for self-protection weapons and munitions overall.

“We have to get after the industrial base, our munitions industrial base, in the same manner we have to get after our ship building industrial base to increase more munitions.”

When asked if he thinks the Navy has enough munitions, Kilby responded, “I think we need more munitions. We certainly need the depth of magazine if we’re going to get into a protracted conflict.”

Separately, Kilby hinted the decision on awarding a contract for the Navy’s F/A-XX Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter program is being mulled over by higher-ups at DoD and the White House.

“It’s a decision at the Secretary of Defense level and above and they’re working that now.”

Last month, Rep Rob Wittman (R-Va.) said the Air Force and Navy had previously briefed President Trump and Congress on the next Generation Air Dominance programs of both services (Defense Daily, March 18).

Days later, the Air Force awarded Boeing [BA] the contract to build that service’s sixth-generation manned fighter, dubbed the F-47 (Defense Daily, March 21).

The Navy NGAD competitors are Boeing, Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Northrop Grumman [NOC].

Last October, former CNO Adm. Lisa Franchetti said the Navy was still moving forward with its sixth-generation fighter to start operating in the 2030s while the Air Force paused its program at the time over cost and capability concerns (Defense Daily, Oct. 7, 2024).

Lockheed Martin Delivers Eighth GPS-III Satellite, Launch In Late May

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—Lockheed Martin [LMT] last Thursday delivered the eighth GPS-III satellite for processing at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to in preparation for a launch no earlier than the end of May aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, demonstrating a second consecutive accelerated mission for the program, the company and Space Force said on Monday.

The Space Force said the upcoming National Security Space Launch (NSSL) GPS III-7 mission demonstrates the rapid ability to go from pulling Space Vehicle 08 from storage, quickly integrating it with the launch vehicle, and preparing it for an accelerated launch. The spacecraft arrived on April 3 to the Space Force facility in Florida aboard an Air Force C-17 transport aircraft.

The launch aboard a Falcon 9 is a switch from the original plan to lift SV 08 aboard a

United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket. The Space Force said the future planned GPS IIIF-1 mission is being swapped from a Falcon Heavy to a Vulcan rocket. Vulcan was only certified in late March for NSSL missions (Defense Daily, March 26).

“It highlights another instance of the Space Force’s ability to complete high priority launches on a rapid timescale, which demonstrates the capability to respond to emergent constellation needs as rapidly as Space Vehicle readiness allows,” Space Force Lt. Col. Jim Horne, senior material leader of launch execution for Assured Access to Space, said in a statement.

In December 2024, the Space Force launched the GPS-III SV 07 mission aboard a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral, Fla., in what it called a Rapid Response Trailblazer (RRT), which went from conception to launch in less than five months (Defense Daily, Dec. 17, 2024). The upcoming SV 08 mission is not an RRT but is occurring on a similar compressed timeframe, Malik Musawir, vice president of navigation systems for National Security Space at Lockheed Martin, said in a media briefing here.

The Space Force said for SV 08, the launch preparation is being completed within three months versus the normal two years.

For RRT, Lockheed Martin had to truck the satellite from Colorado to Florida due to hurricane weather in Florida and the Air Force needing its C-17s elsewhere, he said.

The GPS III satellites feature M-Code encrypted data transfer, three times more accuracy than existing GPS position, timing, and navigation satellites on orbit, and are more powerful, enabling eight times more resistances to jamming, the Space Force said. Two more GPS III birds will be ready to launch by the end of 2025 although it will be up to the Space Force when they are delivered to orbit.

The first IIIF spacecraft, which will follow the GPS III birds, is expected to be launched in late 2026 or early 2027, Musawir said. Core mating of the first IIIF was completed in February, he said.

The IIIFs will have even more onboard power, making them 60 times more resistant to jamming and spoofing that the pre-GPS III satellites, he said. Additionally, the IIIF satellites, will have a payload for civilian search and rescue capabilities.

The IIIFs, like some other GPS satellites, also have a Nuclear Detonation Detection System payload to alert to nuclear detonations on Earth and in space, Musawir said. The payload communicates with the rest of the GPS constellation to check for more anomalous activity worldwide, he said.

Lockheed Martin is on contract for 10 IIIF space vehicles, which takes the current GPS III program through SV 20. The per satellite price is about $250 million, he said.

The GPS constellation consists of 31 satellites on orbit. Musawir said some of the earlier spacecraft are two to three times past their design life, increasing demand to get new capabilities on orbit.

HII Delivers Navy’s First Lionfish UUVs

HII on Monday said it delivered the first two Lionfish small uncrewed undersea vehicles (SUUV) to the Navy under a contract that could reach up to 200 vehicles.

Lionfish is based on HII’s two-man portable REMUS 300 platform, which a company statement boasted is a modular, open-architecture SUUV designed for multi-mission adaptability and developed with the Navy and Defense Innovation Unit (DIU).

The company noted this is the Navy’s first program transitioning from an other transaction prototype vehicles to full-scale production.

The Navy first awarded HII the contract worth upward of $347 million in 2023. The contract initially covers nine Lionfish vehicles but has options to last through 2028 for 200 SUUVs. (Defense Daily, Oct. 11, 2023).

The Navy will use the Lionfish to replace the Mk 18 Mod 1 Swordfish UUV for mine countermeasures and ocean survey missions as the aging vehicle has reached its computing power limit. The Swordfish was based on the older REMUS 100 vehicle.

Last October, HII announced Lionfish completed reviews that led to full-rate production (Defense Daily, Oct. 10, 2024).

“This delivery represents a key milestone in the Lionfish program. The success and on-time delivery of Lionfish is the product of close collaboration between the government and industry team that will put a critical mine hunting capability in the hands of sailors and Marines in an operationally relevant time frame,” Duane Fotheringham, HII president of Mission Technologies’ Uncrewed Systems business group, said in a statement.

The company is building the Lionfish at its Uncrewed Systems facility in Pocasset, Mass.

Oshkosh Nabs $95 Million Army Order For FHTV Trucks, Includes Autonomy-Ready PLS A2s

The Army has placed a $95 million order with Oshkosh Defense [OSK] for more Family of Heavy Tactical Vehicles (FHTV), to include new autonomy-ready Palletized Load System (PLS) A2 trucks.

Pat Williams, Oshkosh Defense’s chief programs officer, confirmed to Defense Daily this is the second order for PLS A2s under the $1.54 billion FHTV V contract awarded last August, with deliveries to begin this December.

PLS A2. Photo: Oshkosh Defense.

“The PLS A2 exemplifies how Oshkosh Defense is harnessing next-generation autonomy to enable human-machine integration and enhance operational efficiency,” Williams said in a statement. “As the U.S. Army advances its ‘transformation in contact’ initiatives, we remain committed to engineering mission-critical solutions that deliver technologies that can be rapidly integrated within existing operational units.”

Oshkosh Defense has noted last year’s $1.54 billion FHTV V follow-on contract will continue deliveries of new and recapitalized platforms into 2031, with the heavy truck fleet consisting of the PLS trucks and trailers, Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks (HEMTT) and Heavy Equipment Transporters (Defense Daily, Aug. 20 2024).

“The flexible architecture of the heavy fleet allows significant room for growth and the integration of new technology to support unit innovation as both threats and requirements evolve,” Oshkosh Defense said last week. “The FHTV V contract enables Oshkosh to deliver future-focused enhancements to heavy tactical vehicles and trailers that support the Army’s broader modernization strategy.”

The Army in February detailed the new Autonomous Transport Vehicle System (ATV-S) program, which aims to begin fielding the first autonomous PLS A2 heavy logistics trucks in fiscal year 2027 (Defense Daily, Feb. 26).

Self-driving technology startup Forterra and autonomous systems firm Carnegie Robotics were chosen this past fall to continue working on hardware and software required to enable autonomous driving capability on PLS A2s, with the Army planning to downselect to one vendor around the third quarter of FY ‘26.

“The integration of autonomous systems for resupply, maintenance and energy distribution will be a gamechanger,” Maj. Gen. Michelle Donahue, head of the Army’s Combined Arms Support Command, said in remarks at the National Defense Industrial Association’s Tactical Wheeled Vehicles Conference. “We will capitalize on ATV-S’ autonomous replenishment of critical commodities to extend the division commanders’ operational reach and his or her endurance.”

The ATV-S program is intended to integrate with the PLS truck’s “digital backbone” to provide “manned and unmanned teaming capability for convoy operations” utilizing sensors, controllers and autonomy software, the Army has said.

“The advanced driver assistance and autonomy-ready technologies of the PLS A2 promote significant improvements to soldier safety and broadens battlefield awareness. By integrating by-wire and active-safety systems, the PLS A2 supports the Army’s vision for a technology-enabled logistics force capable of executing missions in contested environments with reduced risk to the warfighter,” Oshkosh Defense said last week.

The Army is also pursuing the next-generation Common Tactical Truck (CTT) effort, which aims to replace the current FHTV truck fleet with new variants that utilize a common chassis and meet roles for the M915 Line Haul Tractor and M1088 Medium Tractor, PLS and HEMTT platforms, and has tested prototypes from Oshkosh Defense, Mack Defense, Navistar Defense and a team of American Rheinmetall Vehicles and GM Defense [GM].

HII, South Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Sign MoU For Accelerating Ship Production

HII [HII] and South Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at exploring opportunities to work together on accelerating ship production for defense and commercial projects.

The new MoU between two of the world’s largest shipbuilding companies was signed by executives at the Navy League’s Sea Air Space conference in National Harbor, Maryland.

HII Executive Vice President and President of Ingalls Shipbuilding Brian Blanchette and Won-ho Joo, Chief Executive of the Naval & Special Ship Business Unit at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries sign a memorandum of understanding at the Navy League’s Sea Air Space conference in National Harbor, Maryland on April 7, 2025. Photo: Matthew Beinart.

HII noted the initiative will look to “advance technological innovation, maximize production efficiency and strengthen the global defense industry.”

“Today’s agreement reflects our commitment to explore all opportunities to expand U.S. shipbuilding capacity in support of national security,” Brian Blanchette, HII executive president and president of Ingalls Shipbuilding, said in a statement. “By working with our shipbuilding allies and sharing best practices, we believe this MoU offers real potential to help accelerate delivery of quality ships.”

Blanchette further told reporters that the collaboration under the MoU is initially focused around “technology exchange and lessons learned” on shipbuilding programs, while the effort could potentially lead to “component outsourcing.”

The new MoU is the latest example of efforts between U.S. and South Korean firms to bolster shipbuilding capacity, with the two companies noting the initiative aims “to increase the collective maritime industrial base strength” of both countries.

“In addition, both companies share a strong commitment to leading the industry [on] cutting edge technology and strategic collaborations. So if both companies work together with open minds and shared vision, I believe we’ll create significant synergy between both companies, driving mutual growth and innovation,” Won-ho Joo, chief executive of HHI’s naval and special ship business unit, said at Monday’s signing.

South Korea’s Hanwha agreed to purchase the Norwegian-owned Philly Shipyard last June and Hanwha Defense USA CEO Mike Smith has since said the firm hopes to raise the shipyard to the level of prominence it had in the 1940s during World War II (Defense Daily, Oct. 24 2024).

During the Biden administration, previous Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro led a push for increased foreign investment to revamp American shipyards, which included a trip to South Korea in February 2024 to meet with HHI and Hanwha Ocean to discuss potential to invest in U.S. dual use commercial and military shipyards (Defense Daily, March 1 2024).

Blanchette said HII will host a delegation from South Korea’s HHI at a shipyard “in the near future,” with the two firms planning further discussions on next steps and milestones related to the MoU.

President Trump before his inauguration also suggested the U.S. could “maybe” look to allies for help with building more Navy ships (Defense Daily, Jan. 7).

“We might have to. We need ships. China’s building, from what I’m hearing, every four days, they’re knocking out a ship. And we’re sitting back watching. And we’ve suffered tremendously,” Trump said in an interview with conservative radio show host Hugh Hewitt.

Voyager Technologies Added To Air Force $46 Billion Agile Acquisition Contract

Defense and space technology company Voyager Technologies recently secured a position on a $46 billion multi-award contract that Air Force manages aimed at rapidly delivering a wide range of capabilities, the company said on Monday.

Voyager in March was selected—along with 121 other vendors—to compete for work under the 10-year Enterprise-Wide Agile Acquisition indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract (EWAAC) focused on digital engineering, agile processes, and open architectures. Initially awarded in October 2021 to 55 vendors, the 10-year EWAAC now has 298 vendors competing for work.

The contract vehicle was rolled out by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Armament Directorate to rapidly meet the needs around Air Force program executive offices for weapons requirements and the “digital trinity,” which refers to digital engineering and management, agile software, and open architecture.

The EWAAC gives vendors a chance to assess the government’s needs but for Voyager it will also be an opportunity to create partnerships with other companies and create an “affordable solution” around digital, agile, and open, Matt Magana, president of the company’s Defense & National Security segment, told Defense Daily last week.

Magana’s business has capabilities in solid propulsion around divert, attitude, post-boost and reaction, and roll-control systems, guidance and navigation systems, mission processors, signals and electronic intelligence, and space-related products such as processors, radios, modems, and star trackers.

Magana said that the defense industry as a whole must partner more closely than ever before to help the Defense Department realize many of its complex challenges, such as the Trump administration’s new homeland defense effort called Golden Dome for America, and the Space Force’s push to be dominant in space as a warfighting domain.

No single systems integrator can take this on, he said, adding that connecting and coordinating the myriad space-based and ground-based sensors and other assets “is really is all centered around the fact that there’s a massively huge supply chain need out there in order to execute any one of those things,” Magana said.

The EWAAC and other multi-vendor contracting vehicles are providing industry the opportunity “to come with great ideas that will help us implement some of this stuff,” he said.

LeoLabs Introduces Expeditionary Radar For Space Domain Awareness

Radar developer and manufacturer LeoLabs has introduced Scout, a new radar that adds a mobile product to its lineup for rapid deployment worldwide to help create a proliferated network of systems and close coverage gaps in space domain awareness.

The expeditionary S-band direct radiating array (DRA) radar system also gives the company more deployment options versus its larger fixed-site radars that require more real estate, LeoLabs CEO Tony Frazier told Defense Daily.

The new radar supports the company’s core missions of detecting foreign launches, tracking “highly maneuverable objects,” and debris in low Earth orbit and very low Earth orbit, he said.

Scout is containerized and is being unveiled this week in a truck-mounted version at the annual Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colo., and could also be deployed in fixed-site applications, and potentially on ships, Frazier said. The S-band technology enables deployments in smaller form factors versus LeoLabs’ existing Tracker phased array radars that are deployed in five locations globally and its Seeker ultra-high frequency DRA radar located in Arizona.

In March, LeoLabs announced a $60 million Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) opportunity with the Space Force’s SpaceWERX innovation arm to develop, deploy, and operate a much larger version of Seeker in the Indo-Pacific region, further proliferating its global radar network. That deployment is planned by 2027.

“The STRATFI will enable LeoLabs to fill a critical operational gap in radar coverage in the western Pacific for the U.S. and its allies, improving our ability to detect and characterize adversarial space activity,” Frazier said in a statement in March.

Scout can track the same size objects as Seeker but in a far smaller form factor, Frazier said in the April 4 interview. Scout grew out of an award by the Air Force’s innovation arm AFWERX last summer to mature LeoLab’s S-band technology that can detect the same size objects—10 centimeters and above—as its other radar, Frazier said.

The company is under contract to build and deploy several Scout units for testing at a location in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command area of operations before the end of 2025, he said.

Another effort the company is pursuing under the AFWERX award has been named Ranger, a fixed-site scalable S-band DRA radar that in a large enough array can detect objects as small as two centimeters, LeoLabs said. Given around 13,000 “fragments” in space—and estimates that there are more than 100,000 pieces of debris below 10 centimeters in size—Ranger is for space traffic management, Frazier said.

Shield AI Producing Upgraded V-BAT With Greater Range, Other Capabilities

Shield AI on Monday unveiled an upgraded version of the company’s marquis drone, the V-BAT, which it says now has capabilities of Group 4 and 5 unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in its smaller Group 3 package.

The upgraded V-BAT, which is in production, includes a heavy-fuel engine optimized for JP-5 maritime aircraft fuel, extending the range of the current oil and gas fueled model to more than 13 hours versus over 10. Moreover, unlike the current V-BAT that requires human assist for takeoff and landing, the upgraded version features an extended landing gear and remote start, eliminating the manual assist.

The new unmanned aircraft has a 40-pound payload capacity versus 25 pounds with the current model.

The ducted-fan design, vertical takeoff-and-landing UAS includes fixed wings for horizontal flight and operates from moving ships in high seas, rooftops, and small areas. As a Group 3 UAS, V-BAT has a maximum gross takeoff weight under 1,320 pounds. Group 4 and 5 UAS have a larger gross takeoff weight and may operate at higher altitudes.

“The most forward-thinking militaries are swapping out their larger, more expensive ISR aircraft—which are too vulnerable for how much they cost—and accomplishing the same missions with smaller, more affordable drones, like V-BAT,” Brandon Tseng, Shield AI’s co-president and co-founder, said in a statement.

The V-BAT has been used in Ukraine in a combat environment, successfully navigating a contested electronic warfare environment to enable destructive effects and battle damage assessment (Defense Daily, Nov. 12, 2024).

The upgraded V-BAT already has customer orders, the company said. The UAS has deployed on nearly every Navy ship and with all seven Marine Corps expeditionary units. The Coast Guard in 2024 selected the platform to become its new UAS, initially operating from the service’s high-endurance National Security Cutters.

Shield AI last week also announced a pod version of its artificial intelligence-enabled Visual Detection and Ranging (ViDAR) system. The ViDAR Pod comes in a 60-centimeter tube form factor.

The passive system is used for wide-area surveillance over land and maritime domains. The pod is designed for Group 3 UAS and can be mounted on rotary wing and small fixed-wing aircraft. The ViDAR detects stationary and moving targets in day, night, and low light operations.

Shield AI acquired the ViDAR capability with its acquisition a year ago of Sentient (

Defense Daily, April 4, 2024).

Govini Nabs Spot On $919 Million Supply Chain Risk Awareness Contract For DoD

Govini on Monday said it won a position on a potential $919 million contract to supply its artificial intelligence-based software to sift through data that will increase visibility about supply chain risks and vulnerabilities for the Defense Department’s Acquisition and Sustainment (A&S) office.

The software company’s Ark supply chain platform integrates commercial and government data to expose risks that the DoD acquisition system typically addresses with slow manual processes. The Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for A&S will use Ark to “holistically screen vendors and supplier networks to ensure they are reputable, financially secure, and free from adversarial influence,” Govini said.

The March 27 award was made under the small business category of the General Services Administration 10-year Supply Chain Risk Illumination Professional Tools and Services (SCRIPTS) Blanket Purchase Agreement that is sponsored by the office of the undersecretary of defense for A&S. The contract is a multiple award vehicle.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed shortcomings in domestic supply chains and shined a light on heavy reliance on suppliers in China, combined with a U.S. shift that views China as a near-peer threat, has forced American companies and the government to shore up lower levels of the industrial base.

“Outsourced manufacturing, industry consolidation, and China’s economic aggression have shattered the strength of American supply chains,” Tara Murphy Dougherty, Govini CEO, said in a statement. “Given the urgent need to rebuild the American industrial base, GSA’s selection of Govini confirms what we’ve long known. Ark is the AI-driven platform of choice for delivering the comprehensive supply chain resiliency the U.S. government needs.”

Govini’s position on SCRIPTS demonstrates that DoD is leveraging more agile and nimble software companies serving the commercial market instead of just relying on the typical professional services contractors that are government-focused.

“It’s super exciting,” Murphy Dougherty told Defense Daily. “SCRIPTS shows that DoD is making fast progress on what have been just talking points for years—that is, adopting commercial technology rather than hiring professional services firms to build government off-the-shelf systems that will fail. Of course there are plenty of those systems still out there, but this is a big step in the right direction.”

Govini said the SCRIPTS win expands its existing footprint across the federal government.

SpaceX, ULA, Blue Origin Receive NSSL Contracts Worth Up to Nearly $14 Billion

U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command (SSC) awarded Elon Musk’s SpaceX, United Launch Alliance partnership of Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Boeing [BA], and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin nearly $14 billion in National Security Space Launch (NSSL) contracts on Friday.

SSC said that the Phase 3, Lane 2 NSSL firm fixed price awards have ceilings of more than $5.9 billion for SpaceX, more than $5.3 billion for ULA, and nearly $2.4 billion for Blue Origin.

SpaceX is expected to receive 28 of the expected 54 Phase 3, Lane 2 launches; ULA 19; and Blue Origin seven.

The new contract awards illustrate yet again how the once-upstart SpaceX, which had trouble gaining traction with the Department of the Air Force for the company’s Falcon 9 rocket, has taken over the launch market, including the military launches once provided by ULA.

“The overall NSSL Phase 3 mission manifest has almost doubled compared to Phase 2, with an anticipated 84 missions being awarded from FY25 through FY29,” SSC said. “The increased manifest enabled the program to use the dual-lane acquisition strategy, creating the most cost and time efficient solutions for NSSL launch. Phase 3 has been able to split the manifest into the commercial-like Lane 1 missions (approximately 30 missions), and Lane 2 (approximately 54 missions) which will secure assured access and the highest reliability for our most demanding, least risk-tolerant payloads.”

Last week, SSC awarded Rocket Lab [RKLB] and Stoke Space Technologies up to $5.6 billion for NSSL Phase 3, Lane 1 (Defense Daily, March 27).