Page 74 – Defense Daily

U.S. Lifts Pause On Security Aid For Ukraine, As Kyiv Backs Ceasefire Proposal

The U.S. will “immediately” lift its pause on providing military and intelligence support to Ukraine, after Kyiv on Tuesday endorsed a 30-day ceasefire proposal aimed at ending Russia’s invasion.

Following the bilateral U.S.-Ukraine talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the ceasefire proposal will now be presented to Moscow with a goal to have an agreement “as soon as possible.”

Secretary Marco Rubio and U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan and National Security Advisor Mosaad bin Mohammad al-Aiban, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Ukrainian Head of Presidential Office Andriy Yermak and Ukrainian Minister of Defense Rustem Umerovto attend a meeting between the US and Ukraine hosted by the Saudis on March 11, 2025 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Official State Department photo by Freddie Everett)

“Today we’ve made an offer that the Ukrainians have accepted, which is to enter into a ceasefire and into immediate negotiations to end this conflict in a way that’s enduring and sustainable and accounts for their interests, their security, their ability to prosper as a nation,” Rubio told reporters in Jeddah. “And hopefully we’ll take this offer now to the Russians, and we hope that they’ll say yes to peace. The ball is now in their court. But again, the president’s objective here is, number one, above everything else, he wants the war to end.”

The Pentagon last week confirmed the U.S. had paused providing security assistance to Ukraine, which followed a tense meeting among President Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office the prior week (Defense Daily, March 4).

After the meeting, Zelenskyy was asked to leave the White House early and plans to sign a new agreement establishing a framework granting the U.S. greater access to critical minerals in Ukraine were scrapped, with Trump having accused the Ukrainian leader of not expressing sufficient gratitude for the U.S.’ support providing aid to assist in its fight against Russia (Defense Daily, Feb. 28).

National Security Adviser Mike Waltz told reporters on Tuesday that the lift on military assistance will allow equipment included in previously approved Presidential Drawdown Authority packages to proceed to Ukraine.

“Representatives of both nations praised the bravery of the Ukrainian people in defense of their nation and agreed that now is the time to begin a process toward lasting peace,” the U.S. and Ukraine governments said in a joint statement following the bilateral talks. “The Ukrainian delegation reiterated the Ukrainian people’s strong gratitude to President Trump, the U.S. Congress, and the people of the United States for making possible meaningful progress toward peace.”

In the last weeks of the Biden administration, the Pentagon confirmed that the incoming Trump White House would have “a few billion dollars” remaining in Presidential Drawdown Authority to use for Ukraine security assistance packages (Defense Daily, Jan. 8).

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last month that European partners must provide “the overwhelming share” of future weapons aid to Ukraine (Defense Daily, Feb. 12).

Army Rebrands IVAS Next, Plans Open Competition For Prototyping Period

The Army has rebranded the follow-on effort for its Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) as the Soldier Borne Mission Command (SBMC), with plans to hold a full and open competition for the eventual prototyping period.

A new update to a previously released Request for Information details an intent to award up to two contracts for SBMC prototyping, with an expectation to have test systems delivered seven months later.

Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, test the Integrated Visual Augmentation System, Aug. 23, 2023, on Fort Drum, New York (U.S. Army photos by Spc. Kade M. Bowers)

“Technical proposals will explain the offeror’s planned approach to design, build, test and deliver SBMC prototypes and outline how the offeror will prepare for follow-on production,” the Army writes in a new notice requesting industry feedback on the SMBC RFI.

The Army on Jan. 22 released the RFI for IVAS Next, now called SBMC, and then held a virtual industry day on Feb. 11 to inform its future path for potentially recompeting the mixed-reality headset program and how the service will prioritize technology upgrades (Defense Daily, Jan. 22).

In March 2021, the Army awarded Microsoft [MSFT] a deal worth up to $21.9 billion over the next 10 years to move the IVAS augmented reality headset program from rapid prototyping into production (Defense Daily, March 31, 2021).

Following an operational test with the initial 1.0 version of IVAS in June 2022, Army officials detailed a plan to adjust the program’s timeline to address reliability, low-light sensor performance and form factor issues identified during the evaluation, and in early January 2023 awarded Microsoft a $125 million deal to work on developing an upgraded IVAS 1.2.

Anduril Industries, in a new agreement announced last month with Microsoft, is set to take over as the prime contractor for the current IVAS program (Defense Daily, Feb. 11).

Under the arrangement, which is pending Army approval, Anduril would be responsible for building IVAS 1.2 and leading future hardware and software development of the new mixed-reality headsets while Microsoft would shift over to managing the cloud computing and artificial intelligence-related aspects of the program.

“Microsoft has submitted a request for Army approval to novate the Integrated Visual Augmentation System production agreement to Anduril. The Army will work with both industry partners throughout the process,” the Army told Defense Daily following last month’s announcement.

Palmer Luckey, founder of Anduril, told reporters at the time he believes the Army is looking at taking a “family of systems” approach with IVAS Next, now SBMC, that could involve building out an ecosystem with a “proliferation of different devices that share a common architecture and common application layer.”

“My personal vision for IVAS, and one that I have walked through with Army leadership and they are very supportive of, is that IVAS as a whole, whether it’s through this contract, IVAS Next or something else, is it is going to become a family of systems made by a variety of different companies. So I’m already leveraging a lot of my contacts, a lot of my relationships, to bring in that even normally would never consider working on something like IVAS or IVAS Next so that we can get the best of this consumer AR/VR revolution brought to bear on these problems for warfighting,” Luckey said.

In its new notice to industry on SBMC, the Army said it would plan to assess industry’s sample hardware systems against technical requirements for low light sensor performance, thermal sensor performance, display performance, human factors, power requirements, weight and weapon systems compatibility.

“Offerors will be scheduled to conduct a hands-on demonstration of the operation of their sample hardware prior to the Army’s technical evaluation,” the Army writes in the notice.

Kopin, a wearable technologies firm that offers a solution utilizing microdisplay technology, was encouraged by the Army to respond to the new SBMC RFI, CEO Michael Murray told Defense Daily.

“We are gratified to be included in a select group of companies formally requested by PEO Soldier to respond to the new Soldier Borne Mission Command RFI,” Murray said. “As a U.S.-based microdisplay and optical systems company, we bring critical technological inventions, innovations and capabilities to the table.”

HII Wins Australian Contract To Help Aussies Qualify as Sub Suppliers

The Australian government awarded HII’s [HII] Australian subsidiary a $6 million contract to deliver a new submarine supplier qualification pilot to help Australian companies qualify to enter the U.S. submarine industrial base supply chain.

“HII Australia has been awarded a contract to deliver the Pilot program over the next two years, with an initial value of $9.6 million [Australian dollars] and the option to extend based on achievement,” the Australian defense ministry said on March 6.

United States Navy Virginia-class submarine USS North Carolina (SSN-777) arrived at Fleet Base West, Rockingham, Western Australia in August 2023 following participating in the international Talisman Sabre exercise. The nuclear-powered submarine was in Australia for a routine visit to provide respite for the crew (Photo: U.S. Navy) — United States Navy *Virginia*-class submarine USS *North* *Carolina* (SSN-777) arrived at Fleet Base West, Rockingham, Western Australia in August 2023 following participating in the international Talisman Sabre exercise. The nuclear-powered submarine was in Australia for a routine visit to provide respite for the crew (Photo: U.S. Navy)

This is part of the Australian government’s efforts to expand its industrial base to ultimately accommodate servicing and building nuclear-powered submarines under the tripartite AUKUS agreement with the U.S. and U.K.

“The new Australian Submarine Supplier Qualification Pilot (AUSSQP) provides an additional pathway for Australian suppliers to access the U.S. Virginia class supply chain. Leveraging the expertise of companies like HII Australia, whose origins are rooted in our AUKUS partner submarine programs, will enable Australian industry to benefit from generations of lessons learned, and forge ahead developing a strong, skilled sovereign workforce,” Pat Conroy, Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery, said in a statement.

The government said the contract program will be delivered by HII in partnership with H&B Defense, itself a joint venture between HII and Britain’s Babcock.

Under this program, HII will identify and work with small and medium Australian enterprises, including those not already in its submarine industrial base for the current Collins-class boats.

This pilot program will supplement and build on the government’s current Defense Industry Qualification Program as well as HII Australia’s current partnership with the South Australia and Western Australia state governments to expand industrial base expansion.

“This contract represents a significant milestone in building a resilient and globally integrated supply chain for nuclear-powered submarines,” Chris Kastner, president and CEO of HII, said in a statement.

“HII has a long history of working with suppliers to ensure they meet the highest standards in safety, security, and performance. We welcome Australian partners to help build out this critical nuclear shipbuilding capability and ensure the long-term success of AUKUS,” he continued.

HII underscored its experience spending about $1 billion every year with more than 2,000 suppliers in the U.S., almost half toward small businesses. It described its focus for the contract is on “assessing and developing Australian suppliers, providing technical guidance, and implementing best practices to ensure compliance with the precise specifications required for nuclear submarine components.”

It ultimately plans to establish a pipeline of qualified supporters for the broader AUKUS effort, HII said.

The AUSSQP is one component of the Australian government’s $19 billion investments it predicts in its AUKUS Submarine Industry Strategy released March 5 (Defense Daily, March 10).

Responding to DoD Direction, DiSCO Not Focused on Specific Platform

AURORA, Colo.--The teaming of L3Harris Technologies

[LHX] and Shield AI on the software-defined Distributed Spectrum Collaboration and Operations (DiSCO) electronic warfare (EW) battle management system could aid drone initiatives like DoD’s Replicator and the U.S. Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), as well as traditional platforms and command and control and intelligence systems, according to an L3Harris official.

Late last month, the companies said that they would conduct a DiSCO demonstration with “AI [artificial intelligence]-enabled unmanned systems that will sense, adapt and act while simultaneously executing physical and electromagnetic movements” (Defense Daily, Feb. 26). Such demonstrations may come this year.

L3Harris said that it began company-funded development of DiSCO two years ago to fit into the Pentagon’s Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) framework and the military services’ individual parts of CJADC2.

“We’re going into this [DiSCO] in response to the Department [of Defense]’s demand that we don’t lock them to a particular platform,” Robert “Trip” Raymond, a business director at L3Harris and a former U.S. Air Force F-16 pilot, said during an interview last week at the Air and Space Forces Association’s Warfare Symposium here. “It could be a CCA thing. It could be tied to intel community data bases. It could be tied to command and control platforms. At its core, what it allows is a software-based user interface that is cloud connected. It can ride as an application on any command and control system. It has connectivity to those leading edge effectors.”

For DiSCO, Shield AI has developed mature software algorithms under its Hivemind drone autonomy effort to enable “swarms of effectors,” while L3Harris has been working “with autonomy to optimize a non-kinetic game plan,” Raymond said.

Last summer during U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s Valiant Shield exercise, DiSCO “shared real-time radio frequency signal data between Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, and multiple EW payloads operating in Hawaii and in San Diego, California,” according to L3Harris. “Small form-factor payloads operated on two Seasats’ autonomous surface vehicles along with satellite communications links at both locations. L3Harris operators also received real-time information from sensors through the cloud and initiated rapid reprogramming actions over-the-air from Hawaii and a remote company terminal in Clifton, New Jersey.”

In addition to Seasats, L3Harris said that it has also conducted other “DiSCO demonstrations, namely at Silent Swarm and with our B-52 platform partners during customer engagements.”

The company said that DiSCO could significantly improve U.S. EW.

“If you think about how traditional electronic warfare systems have always operated–loaded before flight with some kind of threat library and Mission Data File–that dictates how that system is going to detect the threat and respond to the threat with electronic warfare,” Raymond said during last week’s interview.

“If you think about how we used to fight, every system would be stove-piped and be programmed with that capability to defend itself,” he said. “That’s how I grew up. I would fly. I’d get shot at. I’d get locked up by something. I would have an ECM [electronic countermeasures] capability in a pod. I would turn it on, [but] I really didn’t know if it was having any effect on the person next to me. The data that it was receiving and responding with never was shared. It was always just, ‘Turn it on. Hope that it helps protect me so I can get out of harm’s way.'”

“That works fine when you’re dealing with a legacy enemy integrated air defense system,” Raymond said. “The current environment is an advanced kill web. The threats are connected. They’re dense. They’re exceedingly long-range, and they’re able to change parameters with their systems in ways that render a lot of our pre-loaded threat libraries obsolete.”

Other nations’ EW threats require that the U.S. “approach their kill web with our own offensive kill web,” he said. “I’m confident we could deliver this capability in low numbers of years because we’ve already delivered a lot of it ourselves, and Shield’s done some of the things themselves. When we collaborate together, it could be a game changer.”

An L3Harris engineer had suggested the name “Stayin Alive” but the Bee Gees’ estate owns the trademark to that 1977 disco hit, and the name hence became DiSCO.

DoD Looks for Launch Alternatives, as Launch Emerges As ‘Long Lead Item’

The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is examining launch sites in Australia, Spain, Scotland, and French Guyana, as DoD searches for launch companies that can offer alternatives to SpaceX.

The latter’s manifests are full two years from launch, as SpaceX is the only DoD-certified launch provider.

“What’s going on from the launch perspective is driven by economics, ” Frank Backes, CEO of Capella Space, said during a space industrial base panel discussion at the SATELLITE 2025 conference in Washington, D.C., on Monday. “SpaceX, because of the cost and their economics, their launches fill up very quickly, and you need to commit to their launch schedules way out in advance. However, because you’ve committed to them way out in advance, they may not go to exactly the right [orbital] inclination or altitude. So then the question becomes, how do you use the satellite to address those issues, relative to I might have to change the altitude after launch.”

“For me, the launch component is the big cost piece, given that launch can cost more than our satellite,” he said. “We need to manage very much who we’re using to launch and how to plan that.”

Launch providers, other than SpaceX, may offer more rapid launch and more global launch site diversity. Yet, SpaceX Falcon 9 launches typically cost on the order of $1 million, while other providers, including Firefly Aerospace and Rocket Lab, can cost $7 million or more, said U.S. Army Maj. Robert Perez-Alemany, a space portfolio program manager at DIU and the DIU liaison with the U.S. Space Force Space Development Agency. The newer rocket companies do not yet enjoy rocket production rates to offer cheaper, “economies of scale” launches comparable to SpaceX costs.

United Launch Alliance‘s Vulcan Centaur is in the certification process. ULA is a partnership between Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Boeing [BA].

In addition to launch costs, the provision of components in the supply chain are of concern and may weigh against space companies’ locking into a launch contract years out. Such components include chemical and electrical ones for rocket propulsion and optical components. While companies are able to build the laser communications in the optical communications terminals for SDA satellites, scaling up and rapidly producing such technologies is a concern for DoD.

Anduril Wins $642.2 Million Marine Corps Deal For Capability To Protect Bases From Small Drones

The Marine Corps has awarded Anduril Industries a $642.2 million contract to provide capability for protecting installations from small drone threats.

Anduril beat out nine other competitors to win the Marine Corps’ Installation-Counter small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (I-CsUAS) deal, according to the Pentagon.

Installation-Counter small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (I-CsUAS) concept. (U.S. Marine Corps graphic by Andrew Reynolds)

“The awardee will be awarded its first order for system procurement, site survey, program management and engineering services, physical configuration audit, new equipment training immediately following contract award,” the Pentagon said in a March 7 notice, noting the deal begins with an initial $9.5 million delivery order.

The Marine Corps last year detailed plans to address a capability gap related to the “detection, tracking, identification, and defeat” of small UAS at its installations, with plans to hold a full and open competition (Defense Daily, Jan. 22 2024).

“Failure to deliver this capability places personnel, covered facilities and assets at unnecessary risk. The Marine Corps requires a modernized C-sUAS capability to counter the evolving threats. To address this capability gap, the Marine Corps intends to use advanced technologies incorporated throughout the full ‘kill chain’ to successfully detect, track, identify, and defeat sUAS,” the Marine Corps wrote in a pre-solicitation notice. “This ‘kill chain’ will encompass integrated and networked sensor nodes along with the ability to protect the defended asset both non-kinetically and kinetically as laws and policy allow.”

Anduril has not yet specified what specific capability it offered and will be providing for the I-CsUAS program.

The Marine Corps this past October awarded $200 million contracts to Anduril and Invariant Corp. $200 million each to provide Counter-UAS Engagement Systems for integration into the existing Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) to be mounted on a Joint Lightweight Tactical Vehicle trailer (Defense Daily, Oct. 18 2024).

Anduril then confirmed it would supply its Anvil autonomous drone to kinetically defeat Group 1 and 2 small unmanned aircraft threats as part of the new MADIS work (Defense Daily, Nov. 22 2024).

Australia’s New Submarine Industry Strategy Plans For $19 Billion Domestic Investment

The Australian government on Friday released a new document setting out its vision for the future submarine industrial base, including planning for about $19 billion needed to prepare the domestic industrial base to support submarine programs and ultimately build AUKUS nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs).

Australia’s acquisition of SSN capabilities is “one of the most consequential endeavors undertaken in our nation’s history…Developing the ability to build, sustain and operate conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines is also one of the most significant industrial undertakings in Australia’s history. We plan to achieve an ambitious uplift of Australia’s military and industrial capability, which has never been done under the timeframes of the Optimal Pathway announced in March 2023,” Richard Marles, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense and Pat Conroy, Minister for Defense Industry and Capability Delivery Minister for International Development and the Pacific, wrote in the document’s ministerial foreword.

AUKUS logo (Image: Australia Department of Defense)

They added this effort will require “unparalleled coordination and cooperation” among government, industry, unions and academia in Australia, U.K., and the U.S. AUKUS partners.

The strategy includes what is needed to ensure the current Collins-class boats are sustained and upgraded until they are replaced by U.S. Virginia-class submarines and, ultimately, the future SSN-AUKUS boats.

“The opportunities presented by AUKUS are immense. The conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarine program will see around 20,000 jobs created across Australia over the next 30 years, with unprecedented opportunities for Australian industry as we develop the sovereign capacity to operate, build and sustain conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines here in Australia,” they added.

The document said the government identified four “major hurdles to uplifting” the domestic submarine industrial base following industry consultations: uncertainty of the scope, scale and timing of future demand for services supplied by domestic vendors, economic issues undermining private sector investment, regulatory complexity increasing costs and risks and labor and skills shortages in the workforce that cannot be overcome by isolated companies.

Some of these hurdles are planned to be overcome via some financial support grants for growing their capability, grants to help make suppliers export ready to the AUKUS partners, simplifying regulation and government support to grow the workforce.

BAE Systems's concept image of the future SSN-AUKUS nuclear-powered attack submarine, which will start to be fielded by both the UK and Australia in the late 2030s and 2040s. (Image: BAE Systems) — BAE Systems’ concept image of the future SSN-AUKUS nuclear-powered attack submarine, which will start to be fielded by both the U.K. and Australia in the late 2030s and 2040s. (Image: BAE Systems)

Beyond overcoming those hurdles, the document noted opportunities for domestic suppliers are expected to increase over time as industry expands, so the first SSN-AUKUS boat will not have as many domestic contracting opportunities as a later boat or for sustainment activities.

Last year, Australia announced state-owned domestic shipbuilder ASC Pty Ltd and BAE Systems would operate in a joint venture to ultimately deliver SSN-AUKUS in the 2040s, while ASC will sustain the SSNs (Defense Daily, March 22, 2024).

Other points in the strategy include specific opportunities for domestic industry to support Virginia-class and SSN-AUKUS class submarine programs, the future Submarine Rotational Force-West, and supporting U.S. and U.K. submarine programs as qualified suppliers.

The Australian government noted the domestic industrial base investment of $19 billion is expected to encompass funds through the 2050s. This is in addition to the $3 billion it is starting to invest in the U.S. submarine industrial base to help ramp up American production, $3.1 billion planned to invest in the UK to help expand the Rolls-Royce plant that builds submarine nuclear reactors they plan to use for SSN-AUKUS, the cost of buying three to five Virginia-class submarines in the 2030s and then the cost of domestically-build SSN-AUKUS boats starting in the 2040s.

Construction Halted On Last National Security Cutter Over Conformance Issues

The Coast Guard and shipbuilder HII [HII] are negotiating to resolve “material conformance” issues identified during construction of the 11th and final Legend-class National Security Cutter (NSC), the service said last week.

The issue is alarming enough to raise concerns whether the ship will ever be delivered.

“In addition, new problems have developed with the last hulls in the National Security Cutter program, and we could receive one ship less than what Congress appropriated,” Rep. Mike Ezell (R-Miss.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s panel that oversees the Coast Guard, said on March 5.

A Coast Guard spokesman told Defense Daily the issue is just about NSC-11. The first 10 high-endurance cutters have already been delivered and are critical to the service’s global operations.

NSC-11 was supposed to be delivered in November 2024. Work has been halted since at least last November with construction only 15 percent complete.

The Coast Guard also told Defense Daily that HII notified the service in late 2024 that the earliest the vessel could be delivered is 2029.

HII and the Coast Guard are currently in negotiations to resolve the issue, which includes the ship potentially not being completed, as alluded to by Ezell.

“The Coast Guard identified material conformance concerns on NSC #11 and is working with the shipyard to reach a resolution,” the Coast Guard said in a statement to Defense Daily last Friday.

Kimberly Aguillard, a spokesperson for HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division in Pascagoula, Miss., where the company builds Navy ships and the NSC, told Defense Daily on Monday that “We value our long-standing partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard and are proud of the work our shipbuilders have accomplished over the past two decades to deliver a total of 10 NSCs to the U.S. Coast Guard. We are currently engaged in active discussions with the USCG regarding NSC 11 and remaining issues under the contract, and expect the parties will reach a mutually agreeable resolution. We’ll share updates when appropriate.”

The original program of record for the NSC program was eight 418-foot ships, equipped with more advanced C5ISR capabilities, to replace 11 378-foot Hamilton-class high endurance cutters, all of which have been decommissioned. Former Sen. Thad Cochran (Miss.), who was the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee before retiring in 2018, led the effort to increase the number of NSC’s purchased by the Coast Guard to 11.

The Coast Guard resisted the push for 11 NSCs but the ships are important contributors to missions such as freedom of navigation operations in seas that China claims, maritime defense and homeland security missions, counter-drug interdiction, fishery patrols, and others.

A $930 million fixed-price contract option was awarded to HII in December 2028 for NSCs-10 and -11.

The Ingalls division currently has hot production lines with three Navy vessel types, the Arleigh Burke-class DDG destroyers, LPD troop and supply transports, and the America-class LHA amphibious assault ships. The company is also installing the Conventional Prompt Strike hypersonic weapon system on the Navy’s Zumwalt-class DDG-1000 destroyers.

Sikorsky Details Successful ‘Full Mission Profile’ Demos With Rotor Blown Wing UAS Concept

Sikorsky [LMT] on Monday detailed recent successful demonstrations with its “rotor blown wing” unmanned aircraft system (UAS), flying its prototype in both helicopter and “winged aircraft” mode through a “full mission profile.”

The work with the rotor blown wing UAS is continuing to inform Sikorsky’s continued development of a larger version for a separate DARPA program and as the company explores building a family of hybrid-electric advanced mobility systems.

Sikorsky’s rotor blown wing UAS prototype in airplane mode. Photo: Sikorsky

“We are trying to find a very nice blend between helicopters’ ability to hover and operate from confined areas or small ship decks and have, quite frankly, handling qualities that allows us to operate from ship decks at high sea states…and couple that with the range and cruise efficiency of winged aircraft,” Igor Cherepinsky, director of Sikorsky Innovations, told reporters on Monday.

Sikorsky’s rotor blown wing UAS tech demonstrator is a 115-pound, twin prop-rotor prototype, which is designed to take off and land vertically like a helicopter and then can transition its rotors in-air to act as propellers in aircraft mode.

“Combining helicopter and airplane flight characteristics onto a flying wing reflects Sikorsky’s drive to innovate next-generation VTOL UAS aircraft that can fly faster and farther than traditional helicopters,” Rich Benton, Sikorsky’s vice president and general manager, said in a statement.

Sikorsky Innovations, the company’s rapid prototyping group, has been flying the prototype for “a little bit now,” according to Cherepinsky, before taking on the more extensive demonstrations in January

The January demos with the rotor blown wing UAS included conducting more than 40 takeoffs and landings, performing 30 transitions between helicopter and aircraft mode and reaching a top cruise speed of 86 knots, according to Sikorsky.

“[In January] is where the aircraft took off vertically on its tail, accelerated and flipped over into the wing [mode], achieving wing-borne flight, did a little bit of a mock mission and then transitioned back into vertical flight and landed successfully. And that pretty much proves the physics of what we are trying to do,” Cherepinsky said.

DARPA in May 2024 selected six companies to continue onto the risk reduction and component testing phase for its Advanced Aircraft Infrastructure-Less Launch and Recovery (ANCILLARY) program, to include Sikorsky as well as AeroVironment [AVAV], Griffon Aerospace, Karem Aircraft, Method Aeronautics and Northrop Grumman [NOC] (Defense Daily, May 23 2024).

Sikorsky has said DARPA’s ANCILLARY program aims “to develop a Class 3 UAS VTOL X-Plane that can operate in most weather conditions from ship decks and unprepared surfaces without infrastructure.”

Cherepinsky noted the January demos with the 115-pound demonstrator were part of Sikorsky’s internal research and development effort for the rotor blown wing UAS, while the work is informing continued efforts to develop a slightly larger 330-pound hybrid-electric version for the DARPA program.

The rotor blown wing UAS is one of several hybrid-electric VTOL concepts Sikorsky is pursuing as part of a family of new systems, along with new HEX VTOL platforms and a potential hybrid-electric, single main rotor helicopter (Defense Daily, July 22 2024).

Cherepinsky told reporters Sikorsky is now working through the “full design” of a HEX VTOL testbed and then plans to build two air vehicles, with the company planning to hold discussions with potential customers interested in the platform.

“We’re basically going to accelerate it as much as we can,” Cherepinsky said. “We will be making production decisions sometime in the next few years.”

Sikorsky last February detailed its HEX VTOL demonstrator, which includes a tilt-wing configuration for potential commercial and military applications, noting it had partnered with GE Aerospace [GE] to integrate a 1.2 megawatt-class turbogenerator into the platform. It’s intended to have an operating range of at least 500 nautical miles and 9,000-pound maximum gross weight and would utilize the company’s MATRIX autonomy software (Defense Daily, Feb. 27, 2024).

Cherepinsky last July also said Sikorsky is designing a larger version of its rotor blown wing UAS for an “undisclosed customer” that could be 2,000 to 3,000 pounds, telling reporters on Monday he could not disclose additional details “at this time” (Defense Daily, July 22, 2024).

“But I can say the work is certainly still ongoing,” Cherepinsky added.

House GOP’s Full-Year CR With Defense Boost Faces Narrow Path, Senate Dem Pushback

The House’s stopgap funding proposal to avert a government shutdown, which includes an $8 billion defense add, faces a tight path to pass the lower chamber this week but is already meeting resistance from several senior Senate Democrats over its cuts to non-defense spending.

While the continuing resolution (CR) is likely to receive near-unanimous opposition from House Democrats, the bill to keep the government open through September 30 would require the support of several Senate Democrats to pass in the upper chamber.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) gives his remarks in honor of WWII Ghost Army veterans, formerly assigned to the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops and the 3133rd Signal Service Company, during a special ceremony at Emancipation Hall, U.S. Capitol Visitors Center in Washington, D.C., March 21, 2024. (U.S. Army photo by Henry Villarama)

“Instead of turning the keys over to the Trump administration with this bill, Congress should immediately pass a short-term CR to prevent a shutdown and finish work on bipartisan funding bills that invest in families, keep America safe, and ensure our constituents have a say in how federal funding is spent,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), vice chair of the Appropriations Committee, said in a statement.

Murray noted the final funding levels in the House GOP’s CR proposal breaks with arrangements set by last year’s Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA), to include cutting non-defense spending by $15 billion and defense by $3 billion relative to the FY ‘25 toplines set by the FRA.

“This is a shutdown bill that’s bad for the economy—let Trump shutdown whatever he wants, hurting everyday folks to use money for tax breaks for the uber-rich. Hell no!” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, said in a statement.

House Republicans released their CR proposal on Saturday, with plans to vote this week as Congress faces a government shutdown deadline at midnight on March 14.

“Funding the federal government is a constitutional obligation, and House Republicans are acting to uphold that duty. This straightforward continuing resolution ensures the government remains open and working for Americans,” Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said in a statement. “With no poison pills or unrelated riders – the bill is simple: extend funding and certainty for the nation. Democrats have a choice to join us or display their true intentions. Should they choose to vote to shut the government for negotiation leverage and their contempt of President Trump, they are readying to hurt hundreds of millions more.”

The CR proposal includes an additional $8 billion for U.S. Central Command and European Command to spend on “military operations, force protection, and deterrence” and allows the Pentagon to move out on new start programs, which are otherwise blocked while under a stopgap funding measure.

President Trump has previously endorsed taking up a “clean” CR that would keep the government open through the end of September, rather than short-term CR to avoid a shutdown and allow lawmakers additional time to pass final FY ‘25 appropriations (Defense Daily, Feb. 28).

The House Appropriations Committee notes that the CR proposal does not include any language related to savings found as a result of Department of Government Efficiency efforts.

“As their work continues to identify government waste and abuse, the House looks forward to engaging and coordinating on recissions in the future,” HAC wrote in a statement.

Byron Callan, an analyst with Capital Alpha Partners, said his firm raised their odds that Congress passes a full-year CR from 50 to 65 percent, while adding they view it as a “negative” for U.S. defense sentiment.

“We see this outcome as a negative for U.S. defense sentiment because of flat spending, and it may imply another full-year CR for FY ‘26 that would sustain real declines in DoD spending,” Callan said.