Page 48 – Defense Daily

Lockheed Martin’s New PrSM Inc. 1 Contract Begins With Order For 400 Missiles

The Army has placed an initial delivery order for 400 Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM) under the potential $4.94 billion production contract it awarded Lockheed Martin [LMT] last week.

The value of the initial production order under the new PrSM Inc. 1 has not yet been disclosed.

PrSM is the next-generation, long-range precision-strike missile delivering critical capabilities to attack, neutralize, suppress, and destroy targets, supporting successful mission execution via combined Joint All-Domain Operations. (Official U.S. Army photo, Darrell Ames)

“This contract award represents a critical investment in the Army’s future, ensuring that our soldiers have the most advanced and reliable capabilities to accomplish their missions. By partnering with industry, we are strengthening our warfighters’ readiness and reinforcing our commitment to innovation, modernization, and national defense,” Maj. Gen. Frank Lozano, the Army’s program executive officer for missiles and space, said in an April 2 statement.

PrSM is the Army’s program to replace its legacy ATACMS missiles, also built by Lockheed Martin, with the base weapon capable of reaching ranges up to 500 kilometers.

The Army on March 28 awarded Lockheed Martin the new PrSM Inc. 1 indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract with a ceiling value of nearly $5 billion, with work on the new deal expected to be completed by the end of March 2030 (Defense Daily, March 28).

“Lockheed Martin is committed to delivering this deterrent capability in support of the Army’s vision for a lethal and resilient force,” Carolyn Orzechowski, Lockheed Martin’s vice president of precision fires launchers and missiles, said in a statement on March 31. “Our team remains focused on advancing the production at speed and scale, ensuring the warfighter receives this critical capability to maintain peace through strength.”

Scott Prochniak, Lockheed Martin’s manager of business development for tactical strike missiles, told Defense Daily last week that production qualification testing for PrSM Inc. 1 was nearing completion as the Army plans to move into the initial operational test and evaluation phase in early summer.

Lockheed Martin has been building initial batches of PrSM under Early Operational Capability (EOC) contracts, with Prochniak noting the company is currently in the process of delivering missiles under the EOC 2 award.

Paula Hartley, Lockheed Martin’s vice president of tactical missiles, told reporters in October the company will have delivered an initial 26 missiles for EOC 1 by the end of 2024 and that EOC 2 will cover 50 PrSM missiles.

DIU Launches Blue Manufacturing To Vet Key Commercial Tech Suppliers

The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) last week launched its Blue Manufacturing marketplace initiative, an effort to create a catalog of vetted and trusted suppliers of advanced commercial technologies that are becoming increasingly important to the defense supply chain.

Blue Manufacturing was first announced in August 2024 to mirror DIU’s existing programs that vet commercial providers of drones and related components for cybersecurity and ownership interests (Defense Daily, Aug. 8, 2024). The overarching goal is to have a stronger, and trusted supply chain to scale advanced technologies used in defense manufacturing.

DIU will assess applicants for cyber concerns, adversarial capital supply chain risk, and other factors. The initial marketplace seeks trusted manufacturers in six categories, which are parts production for large and small-format metal additive, parts production for composite or ceramic additive, parts production for automated metal machining and forming, automated and advanced post-processing, and 3D-printed tooling.

Additional areas of interest in advanced manufacturing are expected in the coming year, DIU said.

DIU Director Doug Beck said commercial providers of these technologies are looking for markets to expand into, including national security.

“The Blue Manufacturing Initiative will focus on pairing the very best hardware and software manufacturers in defense technology with the very best advanced manufacturing providers to help both strategically critical industries to scale,” Beck said April 3 in a statement.

The Pentagon’s innovation arm has created a portal for submissions.

Defense Watch: SecNav Message, Maven Smart System, Drone Incursions, Ukraine Aid

SecNav Message. Newly confirmed Secretary of the Navy John Phelan released his first message to the fleet on April 1, in which he reiterated that revitalizing the shipbuilding and industrial base are “crucial, and we will aggressively pursue improvements.” He mirrored many statements of recent Navy leaders that “We must build better ships and better aircraft, and put them under, on and above the sea more quickly and more efficiently.” He added that via responsible stewardship, disciplined budgeting and robust oversight he intends to restore readiness, eliminate maintenance backlogs and ensure money allocated directly contributes to mission success. While quoting several past Navy leaders, Phelan said, “it is not enough to merely prepare. We must prevail. The days of risk aversion and hesitation are behind us. Change is coming. Together we will relentlessly pursue excellence and innovation.” He also said in the next weeks he will share messages on how Navy personnel can share feedback and inform his readiness strategy.

Tiger Triumph.

U.S. and Indian forces launched the fourth bilateral two week-long Tiger Triumph amphibious naval exercise on April 1. U.S. participants include the landing ship dock USS Comstock (LSD-45) with embarked U.S. Marines and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson (DDG-114). The exercise will include about 3,000 personnel and at least four ships and seven aircraft combined, from both countries. Events include an amphibious beach landing and the first-ever subject matter expert exchange with U.S. and Indian industry partners, government representatives, and operators focused on applying autonomous capabilities for warfighter needs. The Navy underscored this is meant to advance the new U.S.-India Autonomous Systems Industry Alliance (ASIA) announced in February by President Trump and Prime Minister Modi.

T-ATS 11. The U.S. Navy and Austal USA christened the future USNS Billy Frank Jr. (T-ATS 11) Navajo-class Towing, Salvage and Rescue Ship during a ceremony at its Mobile, Ala., shipyard on March 29. The ship is named after a Korean War veteran and Nisqually tribal member Billy Frank Jr., who received an Albert Schweitzer Prize for humanitarianism; a Martin Luther King Jr. Distinguished Service Award; and, posthumously, a Presidential Medal of Freedom for his over 30-years of service to the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission. This multi-mission ship will support various missions like towing, rescue, salvage, humanitarian assistance, oil spill response, and wide-area search and surveillance.

NATO Air Chiefs. U.S. Air Force Gen. James Hecker, the outgoing head of U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa, hosted the NATO Air Chiefs Symposium 25-1 with representatives from more than 30 countries at Ramstein Air Base, Germany last Wednesday and Thursday. Among the topics discussed at the twice a year symposium were the use of dispersed forces, base defense, and decentralized command and control–what the Air Force has called Agile Combat Employment–and “integrated air and missile defense.”

Maven Smart System. Palantir Technologies’ Maven Smart System “has become the staple for our Joint All-Domain Command and Control system because it not only presents a picture of the battle space in multiple domains–most systems show one domain or another–but you can get all domains in Maven Smart System and the increasing number of layers of live data that can be brought in from undersea through space sensors displayed at the same time,” according to Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot, the head of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command. “I see it [Maven Smart System] growing in the future.” Last May, Palantir received an up to $480 million contract to move Maven Smart System from the prototype phase into production. In January, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency hired Joe O’Callaghan, an early adopter of the system when he served as an Army colonel and fires coordinator for the 18th Airborne Corps.

AV-BlueHalo Nears. AeroVironment last week moved a step closer to completing its acquisition of BlueHalo after the company’s stockholders approved the issuance of its common stock to complete the deal. The acquisition is expected to close in May. AV last November agreed to acquire BlueHalo in an all-stock transaction valued at $4.1 billion, including BlueHalo’s debt of about $770 million and $100 million in tax assets.

AI Matching Service. The Defense Innovation Unit is partnering with commercial technology companies to develop the Defense Department’s Digital OnRamp platform, a secure single sign-on platform that will leverage generative artificial intelligence tools to match DoD business opportunities with commercial companies and academia, DIU said last week. The new Digital OnRamp is a two-way street. “As a matching tool for commercial technology and the department, we are seamlessly and securely integrating data sets to help the commercial sector find the best fit for their technology matched to a defense need with the training and support needed while also making commercial and academic solutions visible to department employees trying to solve a mission problem,” Cheryl Ingstad, DIU deputy director of digital platforms and developer ecosystem, said in a statement.

Drone Incursions. There were more than 700 unauthorized drone incursions during the recent Palisades Fire near Los Angeles, including one where an operator “lost track” of his small unmanned aircraft, which crashed into a Canadian Super Scooper plane that was conducting fire suppression operations and forcing it to land, Kevin Fetterman, an L.A. area fire chief, told the House Homeland Security Committee last week. The unauthorized incursions were done by more than 400 drones, which violated the Fire Traffic Area Temporary Flight Restriction, he said. During the period of Jan. 7 to Jan. 25, one drone was “even noted as high as 20,000 feet,” he said. Fetterman said the incursions “brought some of the worst air space deconfliction issues we have seen.” In California, “we say, ‘if you fly, we can’t,’” he said.

Jackals Beyond LEO. True Anomaly last week said its Jackal autonomous orbital vehicle will launch its first geostationary (GEO) and cislunar missions in 2026, adding to the company’s Jackal satellite bus line that initially is operating in low Earth orbit. For GEO, Jackal includes more payload and power capacity, improved structural shielding, an upgraded position, navigation, and timing (PNT) system, and other enhancements. For cislunar configuration, the bus features the same improvements as GEO as well as deep-space communications systems, expanded power generation, further improvements to PNT, and advanced thermal management. Jackal was designed from the start for applications across orbits and different roles.

USAID/China. The head of U.S. Africa Command told lawmakers this week China is “trying to replace” U.S Agency for International Development (USAID) services on the continent that were cut by the Trump administration. “China is responding by trying to replicate what capabilities USAID was very successful [at providing] across a number of years. They’re trying to replicate that whether it’s in health diplomacy or any development-type programs. They’re trying to use that as an extension of the Belt and Road initiative to gain favor by the African countries,” Marine Gen. Michael Langley, commander of U.S. AFRICOM, said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

Ukraine Aid. During the same SASC hearing, Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli, head of U.S. European Command, said if the U.S. were to withhold future security assistance and intelligence sharing to Ukraine it would have “a rapid and deleterious effect on their ability to fight.” “The Ukrainians depend on us principally – uniquely, I should say – for their high-end anti-aircraft systems. So the things that shoot down the ballistic missiles and the long-range attack missiles that Russians throw at them almost daily, that is mainly supplied by the United States. That would have an obvious effect,” Cavoli said. The Trump administration temporarily paused military aid to Ukraine in March, which was then lifted after Kyiv endorsed a 30-day ceasefire proposal aimed at ending Russia’s invasion. “Many of our allies have stepped up their ability to produce things for Ukrainians…There are some real advances and diversification of their supply sources,” Cavoli said. “But undoubtedly, the Ukrainians are very dependent on our assistance.”

…SACEUR Role. Cavoli, who also serves as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told lawmakers that not having a U.S. military leader in that role would be “problematic.” Several SASC members questioned Cavoli on the SACEUR role, which follows a recent NBC News report that the Trump administration has considered withdrawing the U.S. from the holding the position. “I think that would bring some challenges in terms of nuclear command and control. It would put us in a position where, in an Article 5 situation, we could have, for the first time since the first World War, large numbers of U.S. troops under non-U.S. command. So I think those are things that would have to be considered carefully,” Cavoli said. “That, of course, would be a policy decision. I merely laid out the advantages and disadvantages of it from a military perspective.”

SASC Advances Colby. SASC on April 1 also voted in favor of advancing Elbridge Colby’s nomination to be under secretary of defense for policy, sending it to the floor for full Senate consideration. Colby, who has previously argued in favor of shifting U.S. defense resources from Europe and the Middle East to the Indo-Pacific to focus efforts on China, served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development during the first Trump administration and most recently launched the Marathon Initiative policy research organization.

Spectrum Tool. The Army on April 2 said it has awarded a 14-month, $6.1 million Other Transaction Authority agreement to 3dB Labs, Inc. to develop and demonstrate the Spectrum Situational Awareness System (S2AS). “S2AS is intended to modernize the U.S. Army’s understanding and utilization of the electromagnetic spectrum. By detecting and identifying signals of interest, S2AS provides crucial situational awareness of the Electromagnetic Operational Environment,” the Army said in a statement. “The system will be deployed in both handheld and vehicle adaptable configurations to meet diverse mission requirements.”

Kuwait FMS. The State Department on April 3 said it has approved a potential $400 million foreign military sale with Kuwait to upgrade and recertify Patriot PAC-2 GEM and GEM-T missiles. “The proposed sale will improve Kuwait’s capability to meet current and future threats by assisting in maintaining higher levels of operational readiness while meeting its modernization and professionalization plans,” the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement.

Haugh Fired. President Trump’s decision on April 3 to fire Air Force Gen. Timothy Haugh, the dual-hatted commander of U.S. Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency, received swift bipartisan pushback from lawmakers citing the lack of explanation for the decision. “General Tim Haugh is an outstanding leader and was doing a superb job at Cyber Command and National Security Agency. He was fired with no public explanation. This action sets back our Cyber and Signals Intelligence operations,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), chair of the House Armed Services Committee’s Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation panel, said in a social media post. Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member, noted reports have cited that Haugh’s ouster was suggested by far-right media figure Laura Loomer during a meeting with Trump. “I am alarmed and angered that, at the insistence of a far-right conspiracy theorist, President Trump dismissed one of the most skilled, accomplished officers in the U.S. military,” Reed said.

BAE VPM. BAE Systems on April 2 said it won a $70 million contract from prime submarine contractor General Dynamics Electric Boat for production of Virginia Payload Module (VPM) missile tubes for Block VI Virginia-class submarines (SSN) at its Louisville, Ky., facility. The VPM tubes sit in a new middle section of upcoming Virginia-class submarines to allow the boats to field up to seven Tomahawk cruise missiles each, ultimately making up for the upcoming retirement of the four Ohio-class SSGN guided-missile submarines. The SSGNs were previously converted from ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs). In this announcement, BAE noted the same facility builds SSN propulsors and heavy propulsor structures for Columbia-class SSBNs and the company has the capability and capacity “to take on additional work building submarine structures to further support the U.S. Navy.”

Tender Printing. The Director of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program on April 3 underscored submarine tenders currently have advanced manufacturing capabilities. “They made one of their own pure water valves. So we will make components right now that will go on submarines,” Adm. William Houston said on March 31 during a U.S. Navy Memorial speaker series event. He also noted the Navy added four standard and two classified additive manufacturers in the last year to expand the manufacturing base. “So the capacity that they’re adding is incredible, and we are making more and more components every year,” he added.

Guillot: HBTSS ‘Extremely Promising,’ Kill Vehicles Against Hypersonic Missiles Big Challenge

Pentagon officials have said that the speed and “end game” maneuverability of Chinese hypersonic missiles are concerns in setting up U.S. defenses against them, but Space Force/Missile Defense Agency Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) satellites under development by Northrop Grumman [NOC] may represent some advance.

“The HBTSS is an extremely promising satellite-based capability…and then I think that we’re gonna have to increase our commitment to defeat mechanisms, which are challenged by the maneuverability and speed [of hypersonic missiles],” Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot, the commander of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, said in response to a question from Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) at a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Apr. 1.

“We have some great defeat mechanisms, but they aren’t geared toward the speed and maneuverability that hypersonics bring,” Guillot said.

The time for NORAD to “detect, track, and predict” the targets of such hypersonic missiles may be as low as five minutes, he said. Under NORAD, the U.S. and Canada contribute to ship, aircraft, and cruise missile defense of North America, while the U.S. has responsibility for ballistic missile defense, as Canada rejected participation in that program in 2005.

MDA and the U.S. Navy believe that upgraded RTX [RTX] Increment 3 Standard Missile-6s (SM-6), guided by Aegis destroyer combat systems, may be able to intercept hypersonic missiles. Those SM-6s may reach the field this year. Last September, MDA chose Northrop Grumman’s proposed “hit-to-kill” vehicle over RTX’s blast-fragmentation offering for the Glide Phase Interceptor (GPI) against hypersonic missiles (Defense Daily, Sept. 25, 2024).

Lockheed Martin [LMT] was a GPI contender, but MDA left the company out of the competition in June 2022 in its decision to narrow GPI concept definition to Northrop Grumman and RTX.

Overseas, Israel’s RAFAEL said in 2023 that it had developed a Sky Sonic kill vehicle against hypersonic missiles.

Hypersonic defense is a part of the Trump administration’s proposed, multi-billion dollar Golden Dome program, which may rely on space-based interceptors, including small satellites.

Intelsat Wins US Space Force PLEO Task Order for Maritime Connectivity

Intelsat received a task order under the Proliferated Low-Earth Orbit (PLEO) contract vehicle to provide the U.S. Department of Defense with maritime connectivity.

Under the 12-month task order, Intelsat said it will provide satellite bandwidth, equipment, and services to the DoD for global maritime coverage. Intelsat said its work under this order will support global maritime operations for multiple government end users.

PLEO is a U.S. Space Force contract vehicle started in 2023

to allow the government to procure commercial LEO satellite capabilities. Intelsat was named to the contract vehicle in 2023, along with a number of other commercial companies. At the time, the PLEO ceiling was $900 million, but it has since been increased to $13 billion.

Last year, U.S. Space Force officials said that most PLEO task orders up to that point had gone to SpaceX for Starshield, the military version of Starlink, which led to the increase in funding. Viasat received a $3.5 million PLEO task order in February.

“Intelsat is uniquely positioned to offer value-added solutions to the Defense Department through this important program,” commented David Broadbent, president of Intelsat Government Solutions. “Our partnerships with LEO operators, combined with our fleet of more than 55 GEO satellites, global teleports, security operations center and one of the largest terrestrial network in the world, positions Intelsat to provide strong but flexible communications during critical missions.”

Anduril Unveils New Undersea Sensor Network

Anduril on Thursday unveiled its new AI-enabled undersea sensor node network, called Seabed Sentry, ahead of the annual Sea-Air-Space Expo next week.

The company said the new system uses cable-less undersea sensor nodes that are networked together to provide persistent monitoring and real-time communication, for both commercial and military customers, at a fraction of the price otherwise possible.

“We need a network for real-time data exchange to reliably transmit information into action. Seabed Sentry fills connectivity and perception gaps, enabling maritime awareness and kill chains in ways not currently possible without high expense,” the company said in a statement.

The company said its Seabed Sentry units have endurance lasting months to years, a depth rating over 500 meters, a payload capacity greater than half a meter cubed, and a modular reusable design. The company argued this system gives operators more flexibility and capability in the most challenging underwater environments.

The re-deployable sensor nodes can be deployed by its Dive family of large and extra-large autonomous undersea vehicles to form a defense grid over a specific region and are powered by its Lattice AI software platform and can support several payload variations. Andruil argued this will be a “fraction of the cost of legacy options” that use traditional fixed surveillance systems.

The units can be recovered from the seabed, cleaned, recharged and re-used to lower operational costs and minimize any issues linked to production delays.

The company highlighted Seabed Sentry has an open systems architecture for quick integration of first- or third-party sensors and “payloads customized to the commercial or defense missions including seabed survey, marine pattern of life building, port security, critical infrastructure protection, anti-submarine warfare, and anti-surface warfare.”

Andril also noted the system exclusively uses Ultra Maritime’s Sea Spear to enable long range sensing capabilities in remote underwater environments.

The company said its recent investments in production facilities means it can “soon begin producing Seabed Sentry, providing customers with the scalable, affordable technology it urgently needs.”

In January, the Biden administration in its closing weeks announced a partnership between Ultra Maritime and India’s Bharat Dynamics Limited to supply and manufacture sonobuoys for the Indian Navy at U.S. Navy standards (Defense Daily, Jan. 8)

DoD IG Opens Investigation On Hegseth’s Use Of Signal App To Discuss Yemen Strikes

The Pentagon inspector general’s office has opened an investigation into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the Signal messaging app to discuss plans for military strikes in Yemen.

In a memo sent to Hegseth on Thursday, the DoD IG confirms it opened the inquiry in response to a request from the leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee to look into the “Signalgate” incident.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth holds a town hall meeting for Department of Defense personnel at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., Feb. 7, 2025. (DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Madelyn Keech)

“The objective of this evaluation is to determine the extent to which the Secretary of Defense and other DoD personnel complied with DoD policies and procedures for the use of a commercial messaging application for official business. Additionally, we will review compliance with classification and records retention requirements,” Acting DoD IG Steven Stebbins writes in the memo.

Last month, Jeffery Goldberg, editor in chief of The Atlantic, reported that he was added to a group chat on the encrypted but unclassified messaging app as senior Trump administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Hegseth, were discussing plans for the impending operation against Houthi militants in Yemen.

A subsequent report from The Atlantic disclosed the information shared in the Signal chat included plans for the timing of the attack and details on the weapons to be used.

Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.), chair and ranking member on SASC, then issued a bipartisan call for the DoD IG to conduct an assessment on the details of the incident and whether classified information was shared, DoD’s policies related to officials sharing sensitive and classified information on non-government networks and applications, whether these policies were adhered to in this case and how DoD’s policies in this area potentially differ from those of the White House and Intelligence Community (Defense Daily, March 28).

“I welcome this independent investigation and urge a thorough review of the incident. My top priority is the safety and security of all American servicemembers, and it is critical that sensitive operational information be handled with utmost discretion. I look forward to reviewing the findings of this investigation,” Reed said in a statement on Thursday. “The potentially deadly consequences from Secretary’s Hegseth blunder are chilling. Had the intelligence in his chat messages been obtained by the Houthis or another adversary, it would have allowed them to reposition weapons to target our pilots with dangerously accurate intelligence.”

Reed added that Hegseth “must immediately explain” to SASC “why he texted apparently classified information that could endanger American servicemembers’ lives on a commercial app with unknown recipients.”

“There is no legitimate basis for him to withhold information from the committee that he claims is unclassified and has already been shared with a journalist,” Reed said. “I have grave concerns about Secretary Hegseth’s ability to maintain the trust and confidence of U.S. servicemembers and the Commander-in-Chief.

Stebbins said DoD IG’s investigation will be conducted in Washington, D.C., and from U.S. Central Command Headquarters in Tampa, Florida.

Hegseth is requested to designate two points of contact for investigation within the next five days, one individual who is a government employee with knowledge of the subject and another that is a member of “the Senior Executive Service or a General/Flag Officer who is familiar with the subject and could serve as a point of engagement with DoD Office of Inspector General senior leaders, if necessary,” the letter states.

Army Selects 10 Vendors For Potential $4.2 Billion Aerostat Systems Contract

The Army has selected ten vendors for a new 10-year contracting vehicle, worth up to $4.2 billion, to provide services and modernization of aerostat surveillance systems.

Advanced Technology Systems, Elevated Technologies

, Leidos [LDOS], Mission Solutions Group, QinetiQ, Raytheon [RTX], Skyship Services, TCOM, Thunderbolt Software and Tyonek Technical Services will each compete for task orders under the new deal.

Soldiers of Headquarters, Headquarters Troop, 1st Squadron, 152nd Cavalry, 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Indiana Army National Guard) prepare to moor the 17M Liberty Rapid Initial Aerial Deployment or Aerostat at Camp Liberty, Baghdad. Photo by Staff Sgt. James E. Brown

“This award is instrumental for ongoing and future intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance operations that support the warfighter,” Lareina Adams, the Army’s project manager for terrestrial sensors, said in a statement on Thursday. “As demand signals continue to increase, aerostat systems will be key in delivering persistent capabilities worldwide.”

Task orders to be awarded under the new aerostat contracting vehicle will cover “hardware procurement and services, to include engineering, logistics, operation, and program management support,” the Army said.

A total of 10 bids were submitted for the work, according to the Pentagon’s March 13 contract announcement.

“This contract contains an option for on-ramping and off-ramping of vendors to address the Army’s emerging needs,” the Army said.

The new contract will go toward supporting the Army’s Persistent Surveillance System–Tethered (PSS-T) on its aerostat platforms.

“PSS-T is a highly persistent and flexible multi-sensor information collection platform that can be integrated with other aerial and unattended ground sensor systems to provide slew-to-cue capability,” the Army writes.

Vendors will also be tasked with providing services for the Army’s current Persistent Surveillance Dissemination System of Systems (PSDS2) architecture as well as supporting “future Elevated Sensing requirements,” according to the announcement.

“PSDS2 networks take existing video and data sensors into a common architecture to support persistent surveillance and rapid dissemination of actionable information for the warfighter,” the Army writes.

Defense Industrial Base Needs Capacity, Surge Ability, Flexibility, And Resilience, Report Says

The U.S. defense industrial base (DIB) remains inadequate to give U.S. forces the edge in, and deter, a major conflict, says a new report by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS).

To rectify this, the U.S. needs to emphasize capacity, responsiveness, flexibility, and resilience in the DIB, CNAS authors say in the report, From Production Lines to Front Lines: Revitalizing the U.S. Defense Industrial Base for Future Great Power Conflict.

The demands of a great power conflict require a significant expansion of DIB capacity and the need to be responsive, which is to “surge production of key items at decisive moments and rapidly fill critical gaps,” says the report, which was released on April 3. The need for flexibility refers being able to produce a diverse mix of low-cost and more exquisite systems, and resilience covers stronger supply chains and disruptions.

“The distance between the government—which drives planning and procurement—and industry—which is responsible for production—has undermined preparedness for great power conflict,” CNAS defense analysts Becca Wasser and Philip Sheers say in the report.

Among the report’s recommendations is the needs for consistent demand signals, which the U.S. government struggles with amid conflicting priorities of Congress, the military services, and the combatant commands, the authors highlight.

Another suggestion is the creation of an advisory group to identify the priority systems where the Defense Department should increase capacity. As part of this, Congress must appropriate funding to enable increased production, CNAS says.

Flexible contracting and funding mechanisms would also help, including more use of undefinitized contract actions, which allow projects to begin before terms are finalized. CNAS also urges Congress to create various funds, including a Critical Munitions Acquisition Fund, to boost inventories.

First OA-1K Skyraider Delivered to AFSOC

L3Harris Technologies [LHX] and Air Tractor

said on Thursday that they have delivered the first “missionized” OA-1K Skyraider II aircraft for U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) at Hurlburt Field, Fla.

The Skyraider IIs are to perform close air support, precision strike, and armed intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. About 13 months ago, AFSOC reduced its Skyraider II requirement from 75 to 62 of aircraft (Defense Daily, Sept. 5, 2024).

Skyraider II “renews the rugged and versatile nature of the A-1 Skyraider, which was in service from 1946 to the early 1980s,” AFSOC has said.

The design of the Skyraider II “enables it to operate from rugged and remote airfields,” L3Harris said on Thursday.

The aircraft are to replace AFSOC’s U-28A Draco and MC-12W Liberty.

On July 31, 2022, U.S. Special Operations Command awarded L3Harris an up to $3 billion contract for the 75 “Armed Overwatch” aircraft through 2029 (Defense Daily, Aug. 1, 2022).