Page 81 – Defense Daily

Lockheed Martin Adds Nokia To 5G Military Networking Solution

Continuing to build bridges to the commercial telecommunications sector to advance wireless battlespace connectivity, Lockheed Martin [LMT] has demonstrated Nokia’s military-grade 5G private network base station with its hybrid base station (HBS) for transmission of military data across a public 5G network managed by Verizon [VZ].

The companies began the technology integration in late 2024 and demonstrated the 5G.MIL capabilities in January at Lockheed Martin’s facility in Fort Worth, Texas, marking the first time the company has integrated and tested mobile telecommunications supplied by a top tier original equipment manufacturer, in this case, Finland’s Nokia.

Lockheed Martin on Sunday said the demonstration included connectivity of its HBS to hybrid user equipment that allows users to switch between commercial 5G and tactical LPx waveforms—a covert capability to avoid snooping and jamming—“while maintaining uninterrupted user application sessions on an Android user device.”

The companies will continue their collaboration, including permanently establishing Nokia’s 5G-base node at Lockheed Martin’s 5G.MIL Experimental Network site in Orlando, Fla., where Verizon already has its network technology. Having Nokia’s technology in at the Experimental Network site will enable “demonstration in a wide variety of military applications and DoD use cases including unmanned aircraft system integration, ground mobile applications, and military sensors and communications systems,” Lockheed Martin said.

Lockheed Martin’s 5G.MIL effort is part of company head Jim Taiclet’s 21st Century Warfighting to help the military services create a secure digital network across sensors, platforms, sensors, and decisionmakers for all-domain warfare. The company in 2021 began working with Verizon to advance networking solutions for the U.S. military (Defense Daily, Nov. 2, 2021).

“5G.MIL integrations like this strategic relationship with Nokia and Verizon will help ensure data is seamlessly routed throughout the battlespace in ways that make future mission success possible,” John Clark, senior vice president of technology and strategic innovation at Lockheed Martin, said in a statement.

Trump Picks Former Navy Diver And Congressional Candidate Hung Cao For Navy Under Secretary

President Trump on late Thursday announced he will nominate former Navy captain and congressional candidate Hung Cao to be the Under Secretary of the Navy.

“I am pleased to announce that Hung Cao will be our next United States Under Secretary of the Navy. Hung is the embodiment of the American Dream. As a refugee to our Great Nation, Hung worked tirelessly to make proud the Country that gave his family a home,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social network.

Hung Cao, former Navy captain and President Trump’s pick to be the Under Secretary of the Navy. (Photo: Hung For VA website)

Trump noted Cao has a Master’s Degree in Physics, and served in combat as a Special Operations Officer for 25 years. He also graduated from the Naval Academy.

In 2022, Cao unsuccessfully ran for Virginia’s 10th congressional seat, losing to Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.), and more recently lost his challenge to Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) in 2024.

His 2024 Virginia campaign website said he deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia working on explosive ordnance disposal and deep-sea mining.

It said he later had assignments in the Pentagon with the Navy budget process, Homeland Security Department and FBI. It claimed the Pentagon posting “included balancing the Navy’s $140 billion budget at the Pentagon.”

According to Navy biographical data, following duty stations with Explosive Ordnance Disposal Units and studying at the Naval Post Graduate School, he ultimately served in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations from late 2011 to mid-2013 and again from 2016 to 2018. The Navy did not specify what office or OPNAV he worked at, but his campaign biography referenced budget work likely occurred during one or both of these postings.

Before separating from the Navy in 2021, Cao served at the Navy Joint Improvised Threat Defeat Organization at Fort McNair and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency at Fort Belvoir.

In 2022 Cao unsuccessfully ran for Virginia’s 10th congressional seat, losing to Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.) and more recently lost his challenge to Sen. Tim Kaine (D – Va.) in 2024.

The announcement came hours after Trump’s nominee for the top role, John Phelan, had his own confirmation hearing with little controversy. A financier and Trump campaign donor, Phelan has no military or government experience (Defense Daily, Feb 27).

Cao supported Trump in the 2024 election during his own campaign in Virginia.

X-Bow Gets Another Navy Award To Help With Energetics And Munitions Modernization

X-Bow Systems last Friday said it is received a $7 million Navy contract to support the service’s energetics center of excellence with modernizing its facilities and processes with new technologies.

It is one of several startups that is racing to develop and build solid rocket motors (SRMs) to support the Defense Department’s demand for missiles and munitions to dramatically increase its magazine depth.

The Naval Surface Warfare Center’s Indian Head Division (IHD) in Maryland is in the early stages of a $2.7 billion, 15-year modernization effort that includes everything from road and utility improvement projects, which will help unlock latent capacity, to acquiring new energetic manufacturing equipment and new industrial engineering processes such as robotics and automation (Defense Daily

, Jan. 21).

The primary goal of the long-term modernization project is increasing SRM production.

IHD has served the nation for more than 130 years and its energetics expertise, and capacity, are valuable commodities for industry. But with venture capital backed companies like X-Bow, Anduril Industries, Ursa Major and others entering the SRM market, they are bringing new and advanced manufacturing techniques that IHD wants to leverage as it upgrades.

“We’ve waited a long time for this type of partnership to materialize, this is the way business has to be done in the future,” Ashley Johnson, IHD’s technical director, said in a statement. “We want to be a part of that innovation and bring our facilities, our experience, and our expertise to this challenge. The country needs this type of partnership to advance innovation.”

X-Bow, which is based in Albuquerque, N.M., last December said it had received $60 million through five two-year contracts with the Navy to help modernize IHD (Defense Daily, Dec. 3, 2024). The $7 million award is in addition to the earlier contracts.

X-Bow early this year will open a production line in Luling, Texas, for SRMs and propellants based on advanced manufacturing systems and processes. The company will use its know-how gained in Luling to inform its work for IHD.

X-Bow has partnered with the design-build general contractor Roebbelen Contracting for its modernization effort at IHD. X-Bow said it “will contribute its expertise in energetics technology, processes, and equipment.”

To further strengthen its support of IHD, X-Bow last Thursday announced the grand opening of a new office in Indian Head.

“This new office will enable us to better serve our customer’s needs and accelerate the modernization of the U.S. Navy’s energetics industrial base, through both our P3 partnerships and our efforts to modernize and refit the base for the future,” Jason Hundley, co-founder and CEO of X-Bow, said in a statement.

X-Bow is developing a large SRM to be qualified as a second source for two hypersonic weapons, the Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike Weapon System, and the Army’s Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon System. Northrop Grumman [NOC] is the current SRM supplier for the two weapons, which are in development by Lockheed Martin [LMT].

Deputy Defense Secretary Nom Plans ‘To Review The Value’ Of Replicator Initiative

Deputy Defense Secretary nominee Stephen Feinberg told lawmakers he plans “to review the value” of the Pentagon’s ongoing Replicator initiative to get after fielding emerging technologies rapidly at scale.

In written responses to the Senate Armed Services Committee, billionaire investor Feinberg didn’t state any specific plans related to the future of Replicator, which is currently focused on delivering thousands of attritable autonomous systems and counter-drone systems, while adding the department must “do more” to get after innovation.

Nominee for Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen A. Feinberg listens to the opening remarks of a Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington, D.C., Feb. 25, 2025. (DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Madelyn Keech)

“The department must do more to deliver capabilities for warfighters, at scale, on the most critical operational problems,” Feinberg wrote. “Both of these operational problems remain pressing challenges and, if confirmed, I will continue to ensure the department focuses on delivering innovative capabilities to warfighters in line with the Secretary’s priorities of rebuilding our military and reestablishing deterrence.”

Former Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks launched the Replicator initiative in August 2023, with the initial effort focused on producing and fielding thousands of all-domain attritable autonomous systems (ADA2) by August 2025 “to help us overcome [China’s] biggest advantage, which is mass” (Defense Daily, Aug. 28 2023).

The Pentagon this past September then announced it will focus on counter-drone technology for the subsequent “Replicator 2.0” effort, with a similar 18-24 month fielding timeline (Defense Daily, Sept. 30, 2024).

SASC asked Feinberg to provide a response as to whether a process like Replicator is required for DoD to address “the most pressing investment areas” or whether the department could sufficiently address urgent technology needs utilizing existing acquisition and management processes.

“It is my understanding the Replicator program tailors the rapid acquisition pathway to ensure rapid acquisition and deployment for items urgently needed to react to an enemy threat or respond to significant and urgent safety situations. I believe the Department must utilize all of the authorities available to acquire capabilities to meet the most pressing and urgent needs, to include the capabilities being accelerated through Replicator,” Feinberg wrote.

Feinberg is the co-founder of Cerberus Capital Management, which has invested in a portfolio of defense contractors. He also served as chair of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board and Intelligence Oversight Board during Trump’s first term.

During his confirmation hearing, Feinberg said DoD should consider simplifying program requirements to spur more companies to work with the department, including large, non-defense U.S. manufacturers (Defense Daily, Feb. 25).

“I think we need to bring in more companies,” Feinberg said. “If we were to call up General Motors [GM] or Ford [F] and say, ‘We need you in our defense base.’ Find ways under OTA [Other Transaction Authorities] or sole-source where we can give new companies, especially the ones that scale and can operate. So much is talked about venture [capital]. Far more important, in my opinion, is scale and operations of our larger businesses.”

Defense Watch: AFA Colorado Kicks Off, SHIPS Act, Epirus/Peraton Partner, L3Harris Dividend, Gulf Yards Visit

AFA Warfare Symposium. While top DoD and military service officials have often been absent from conferences in the last four months following the November election, the Air and Space Forces Association (AFA) annual warfare symposium in Aurora, Colo., may be too high profile and perennially popular for the Trump administration to have put its finger on the scale. Next week’s all-star AFA line-up includes U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin, Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman, Air Force Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach—the head of Air Combat Command, Air Force Gen. Duke Richardson—the head of Air Force Materiel Command, Air Force Gen. Kevin Schneider—the head of Pacific Air Forces, Air Force Gen. James Hecker—the head of U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot—the head of U.S. Northern Command and NORAD, Air Force Gen. John Lamontagne—the head of Air Mobility Command, Air Force Lt. Gen. Dale White—the uniformed deputy to the service acquisition chief, Air Force Lt. Gen. Leah Lauderback—the Air Force deputy chief of staff for ISR and cyber effects operations, and Lt. Gen. Dave Harris—the deputy chief of staff for Air Force Futures.

SHIPS Act Coming Again.

A bipartisan and bicameral group of legislators soon will re-introduce the SHIPS for America Act that is aimed at significantly expanding domestic production of U.S. merchant vessels, boosting the U.S. shipbuilding industrial base for military and commercial vessels by establishing a 25 percent investment tax credit for shipyard investments, making new investments in the maritime workforce, and more, Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.), said last Wednesday during a House Armed Services Committee hearing. The bill will “probably” be introduced in April, he said. Garamendi and Rep. Trent Kelly (R-Miss.), chairman of the HASC Seapower and Projection Forces panel, and Sens. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.), are leading the charge on the SHIPS Act. The legislators introduced the bill in December, but it was not acted on and the start of a new Congress in January requires the legislation to be re-introduced.

New Hypersonic Site Soon. Following its recent $1.5 billion win of the Defense Department’s Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonic Test Bed (MACH-TB) 2.0, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will announce in the near future a new hypersonic production, test, integration and execution campus in the U.S. with the customer where a lot of the work under the program will be done, Eric DeMarco, the company’s chief, said last week. Kratos will be investing in the facility in 2025 and 2026, and expects to “generate nominal revenue” later in 2025 as it begins to “receive and integrate certain long-lead hypersonic system, solid rocket motors, and other elements we ordered previously in anticipation of the award,” he said during the company’s fourth quarter earnings call. The company’s MACH-TB 2.0 work will begin at existing Kratos facilities and the program will ramp up in 2026 and accelerate in 2027 once the new facility is running, he said.

…And Another. In addition to the new MACH-TB 2.0-related facility, Kratos later this year hopes to identify and report on a location for another hypersonic system facility, DeMarco said. He called this effort Project Ares, and said customer funded work will begin in 2026.

Epirus, Peraton Partner. Epirus, which is developing high-power microwave systems to defeat drone swarms, and Peraton, a systems engineering and mission support provider, are in a strategic teaming agreement for Peraton’s contract that supports the Defense Department’s Information Analysis Center. The center collects, analyzes and disseminates scientific and technical information and is a repository that supports research and development efforts across DoD. Epirus will provide its expertise in directed energy, autonomous systems, modeling and simulation, and advanced intelligent management. Peraton was selected as an awardee on the Defense Technical Information Center IAC multiple award contract that has a $48 billion ceiling.

Unmanned Maritime News. Britain’s Zero USV in February launched Oceanus12, the first vessel of what it plans to be a high-endurance open ocean fleet of fully autonomous uncrewed surface vessels. The vessel has an endurance exceeded 2,000 nautical miles, a cruise and sprint speeds of six and 10 knots, respectively, and a payload capacity up to 2,000 pounds. The core of Oceanus12 is Marine AI’s software. The vessel is mission agnostic and can perform surveys, border control, defense, asset monitoring, geophysical exploration, and more. The company plans to lease or charter the Oceanus12 vessels.

…Launch and Recovery. Unmanned surface vessel (USV) builder Maritime Tactical Systems (MARTAC) and Sealartec, which makes autonomous launch and recovery systems (ALARS), have unveiled a system that enables MARTAC’s 38-foot Devil Ray medium USV to autonomously launch and recover its eight and 12-foot MANTAS T8 and T12 USVs. The ALARS allows for launch and recovery of the USVs in up to sea state four. “Combining this ALARS capability with our advanced AI autonomy allows us to deploy USVs at scale to perform fully autonomous missions hundred or even thousands of miles away from personnel,” Bruce Hanson, MARTAC’s CEO, said in a statement.

…Battery Power. Canada’s Kraken Robotics has received a combined $34 million in orders from three customers to provide pressure tolerant batteries for use on uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs). The largest order, and the company’s largest battery order ever, $31 million, is from an unnamed customer that provides UUVs to the defense industry. The other orders are from commercial clients with UUVs. “With the emergence of new larger classes of UUVs and greater adoption of these platforms in naval fleets, reliable subsea power requirements are increasing,” Greg Reid, Kraken’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “These new orders illustrate the robust customer demand we have for Kraken’s SeaPower batteries across the U.S., Europe, and Asia Pacific.”

…New Player. Germany’s FLANQ last Friday emerged from stealth, introducing a European-based provider of artificial intelligence autonomous maritime defense products. The company’s commercial-off-the-shelf product suite includes USVs, underwater drones, and sensor payloads, all powered by FLANQ’s AI software and hardware stack. The company’s founders were focused on marine autonomy for the commercial sector and are now applying their capabilities to European security. The company says its products include edge data processing, field proven platforms, payloads to detect, monitor, and classify surface and subsurface threats, and logistics and support.

Maritime C-UAS. Israel’s D-Fend Solutions last week introduced a version of its EnforceAir2 drone detection and mitigation for use in maritime and naval environments. The EnforceAir2 Maritime radio frequency-based system features the company’s cyber-based, non-kinetic, non-jamming, counter-drone takeover technology. Equipment added for use in harsh environmental conditions at sea include a maritime radome antenna, and maritime cradles and cables. The company said EnforceAir2 Maritime seamlessly integrates and interoperates with existing naval defense systems, and that its non-disruptive technology is useful at sea, and in ports, harbors, and along critical transportation routes.

People News. Boeing last week said that Stephanie Pope, who had been chief operating officer since January 2024 and then added the role of president and CEO of the Commercial Airplanes segment that March, is no longer COO. Her biography on Boeing’s website says she was COO “during a period of transition” and is now “focusing exclusively on the commercial airplanes business.” A new COO has not been named. Lockheed Martin’s Terran Orbital business unit has appointed Richard Ullman as senior vice president for finance and business operations. He previously was with Boeing as senior director of finance and divisional chief financial officer for Space Mission Systems. Finally, retired Navy Adm. Doug Small has joined the board of advisers of Core4ce, which provides cybersecurity, data science and analytics, engineering, and operations support to the defense and federal civil sectors. Small’s last assignment with government before retiring in 2024 was as commander of Naval Information Warfare Systems Command.

L3Harris Dividend. L3Harris Technologies last Friday increased its quarterly dividend just over 3 percent to $1.20 per share from the current $1.16. “This dividend increase represents our 24th consecutive annual dividend increase and is part of our previously announced plant to further prioritize the return of cash to shareholders,” Chairman and CEO Chris Kubasik said in a statement. The dividend is payable March 21.

Skyraider II. L3Harris Technologies’ AT-802U Sky Warden aircraft for U.S. Special Operations Command’s Armed Overwatch mission will carry the moniker OA-1K Skyraider II when they reach the field–a delivery to start this spring when the first plane reaches Air Force Special Operations Command at Hurlburt Field, Fla. The Skyraider IIs are to perform close air support, precision strike, and armed intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. AFSOC is to have 62 of the aircraft–a reduction of 13 from the 75 planned. Skyraider II “renews the rugged and versatile nature of the A-1 Skyraider, which was in service from 1946 to the early 1980s,” AFSOC said.

sUAS Payloads. The Army on Feb. 25 issued a new Request for Information seeking industry’s input as it looks to develop common interface standards for a Picatinny Common Lethality Integration Kit (CLIK) to integrate modular mission payloads (MMP) on small Uncrewed Aerial Systems (sUAS). The Picatinny CLIK is intended to “simplify integration and qualification of MMPs for sUAS, enabling rapid prototyping, experimentation and fielding,” the Army writes in the RFI. “Responses to the RFI will be evaluated to inform common interface definitions with the Picatinny Common Lethality Integration Kit based on the size, weight, and power requirements of the existing payload,” the RFI states.

Trump/CR. As Congress faces a March 14 shutdown deadline, President Trump has endorsed taking up a “clean” stopgap funding measure that would keep the government open through the end of September. “As usual, Sleepy Joe Biden left us a total MESS. The Budget from last YEAR is still not done. We are working very hard with the House and Senate to pass a clean, temporary government funding Bill (“CR”) to the end of September. Let’s get it done!” Trump wrote in a social media post. Trump’s support for a long-term CR arrives has the House and Senate have yet to reach a deal on how to move forward on full-year fiscal year 2025 appropriations. Under a CR, the Pentagon is blocked from initiating new start programs or procurement rate increases and must operate under funding levels from the prior fiscal year.

Trump-Zelenskyy Meeting. President Trump on Feb. 28 called off a planned press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with Kyiv’s leader asked to leave the White House early following a tense meeting in the Oval Office with Trump and Vice President JD Vance. Zelenskyy and Trump were expected to sign a new agreement at the White House establishing a framework granting the U.S. greater access to critical minerals in Ukraine, before Trump accused the Ukrainian leader of not expressing sufficient gratitude for the U.S.’ support providing aid to assist in its fight against Russia. The terse meeting and canceled press conference casts further doubt on the future of U.S.’ security assistance efforts for Ukraine. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said earlier in February that European partners must provide “the overwhelming share” of future weapons aid to Ukraine.

Gulf Yard Visits. Acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research Development and Acquisition (ASN-RDA) Brett Seidle and Rear Adm. Tom Anderson, Program Executive Officer Ships, visited three Gulf Coast shipyards last week: Austal USA’s shipyard in Mobile, Ala.; Eastern Shipbuilding Group’s (ESG) shipyard in Panama City, Fla.; and Bollinger Shipyards’ facility in Pascagoula, Miss. The visits were announced by the companies on Feb. 26, 27 and 28, respectively. Austal said the officials specifically toured their aluminum and newer steel assembly lines, 10 vessels under construction and aircraft elevators to be installed on the future Ford-class aircraft carriers CVN-80 and -81 and the last Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship, the future USS Pierre (LCS-38). LCS-38 is due for Navy delivery in May. Eastern Shipbuilding is building the first four Heritage-class Offshore Patrol Cutters for the U.S. Coast Guard but is also seen as a potential competitor in upcoming smaller Navy vessel programs. Bollinger is currently building the T-AGS oceanographic ships and Auxiliary Personnel Lighter (APL) berthing barges for the U.S. Navy and the Polar Security Cutter for the Coast Guard.

…Look To Expansion. All three yards said they are interested in how to help expand Navy shipbuilding. Austal said company leaderships discussed the company’s growing variance in design and shipbuilding contracts with the Navy officials while also highlighting Austal has submarine modules in production. Separately, Joey D’Isernia, CEO of ESG, said his company is “proud to play a vital role in sustaining and expanding America’s shipbuilding capacity. This visit reaffirms the importance of investment in U.S. shipbuilding, and we stand ready to meet the nation’s needs.” Bollinger president and CEO Ben Bordelon said the visit “provided a unique opportunity to demonstrate our skilled American workforce, capabilities and ongoing commitment to fulfilling the critical needs of our national defense.”

Phelan On Lasers. President Trump’s nominee to be the next Secretary of the Navy specifically supported directed energy programs like the High-Energy Laser with Integrated Optical Dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS) system in his Senate confirmation hearing on Feb. 27. He referenced a recent Navy test of HELIOS in the Red Sea against drone targets “which was very effective. I think it’s a very smart way to deter drone attacks. Using $2 million missiles to take out $30,000 drones is not a a model that’s going to survive.”

Serco Frigate Support. The Navy plans to award Serco-IPS Corporation a sole source cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for Constellation-class frigate support services related to planning, design and construction, according to a Feb. 26 notice. Serco will specifically provide network architecture engineering support and cybersecurity, system and ship integration test programs, acquisition and life cycle support for the frigates and weapons systems acquisition. Other listed tasks include cost estimating, engineering analysis for small combatant ships and associated weapon systems, and Design Site Support. The notice said this is being solicited on a sole source basis “because the requirement is a bridge action.” The work covers a 30-day base year period of performance with a 100-day option period.

Sub Down Under. The Virginia-class submarine USS Minnesota (SSN-783) arrived at HMAS Stirling on Feb. 25 for the first of several SSN routine port visits to Australia set to occur this year. This is also the first of two planned U.S. SSN visits to that base in 2025, all part of increasing experience and training to ramp up to being able to establish Submarine Rotational Force-West there to then in turn prepare Australia to support and field Virginia-class submarines in the 2030s and later SSN-AUKUS boats in the 2040s.The next SSN visit is set to be three-week submarine maintenance period.

AUKUS BigBear. The firm BigBear.ai said it will participate in the upcoming Australian-based Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025 in its Resilient Autonomy and AI Technologies (RAAIT) trials section with its ConductorOS data and sensor orchestration platform. The company said the system helps enhance AI-enabled capabilities for AUKUS forces in multi-domain missions. This will be the 11th iteration of the exercise, with 19 participating countries. The company added its ConductorOS system will specifically update AI models in real-time to improve coordination between sensors and shooters and help ensure air and ground units make better operational decisions. It said the system will integrate with current ground and air-based U.S. DoD Programs of Record and Australian unmanned vehicles.

Collins Aerospace: Proposed EPACS System for F-35 Achieves Technology Readiness Level 6

RTX‘s [RTX] Collins Aerospace said on Friday that its Enhanced Power and Cooling System (EPACS)–the company’s proposed replacement for the F-35 fighter’s current Power and Thermal Management System (PTMS)–has achieved Technology Readiness Level 6 and “is now ready for aircraft integration.”

Honeywell [HON], the PTMS incumbent, and Collins have been gearing up to compete on an upgraded or new PTMS for the Lockheed Martin F-35, yet contract award

may not come until fiscal 2029 (Defense Daily, July 10, 2024).

Honeywell’s Torrance, Calif., plant builds the current F-35 PTMS, which supplies main engine start and auxiliary and emergency power needs, in addition to 30 Kilowatts of aircraft cooling. Honeywell has said that it will upgrade the current PTMS to meet the coming cooling, weapons, and mission system requirements and that a new PTMS, such as EPACS, could cost $3 billion.

The F-35 program has said that it desires a PTMS that generates up to 80 Kilowatts to cool the aircraft and power new weapons and mission systems, such as sensors.

EPACS “will provide more than double the platform’s current cooling capacity—enough to support planned upgrades for the life of the aircraft,” Collins said on Friday. “This latest milestone follows Collins’ announcement in 2024 that EPACS had successfully demonstrated 80 kilowatts of cooling capacity.”

Collins said that it “has invested millions into state-of-the-art thermal systems development labs, allowing engineers to simulate relevant, real-world combat aircraft conditions.”

“Using these labs, Collins validated the EPACS demonstrator’s performance across a range of temperatures, pressures, air flow rates and humidities to achieve Technology Readiness Level 6,” the company said. “Most customers typically require this level of maturity for a new technology before entering the Engineering & Manufacturing Development [EMD] phase, which would be the next step for EPACS, once a competition to replace the current F-35 PTMS has been launched and a winner has been selected.”

SECNAV Nominee Says He Will Work To Improve Industrial Base, Evaluate Contracts

President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of the Navy promised legislators Thursday he would evaluate contracts and improve the shipbuilding industrial base, while justifying his utility as an outsider businessman with no military or government experience.

“Every shipbuilding delay, every maintenance backlog and every inefficiency is an opening for our adversaries to challenge our dominance. We cannot allow that to happen. Naval innovation must also extend beyond hulls and keels, strengthening relationships with the defense industrial base, incorporating lessons from recent conflicts and integrating emerging technologies are essential to maintaining our competitive advantage. This requires more than just funding. It requires a relentless focus on execution, innovation and accountability,” John Phelan, the financier and Trump donor tapped to be Navy Secretary, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.

Trump announced Phelan for the Navy position on Nov. 27. Phelan is the founder and chairman of Rugger Management LLC, having previously served as managing partner and co-founder of MSD Capital, LP, a private investment firm that works for Michael Dell and family, the founder of Dell Technologies [DELL] (Defense Daily, Nov. 27, 2024).

During his confirmation hearing, Phelan emphasized the Navy and Marine Corps need to focus on their historically embodied resilience, ingenuity and adaptability.

“I’ve analyzed thousands of organizations. A common refrain among those that are failing is this is how we’ve always done it. Yes, there is great value in stability and tradition, which I will respect and do appreciate. But when it suffocates adaptability, innovation, collaboration and trust, it erodes an organization’s ability to win,” he continued.

Phelan said Trump is already pushing him to focus on shipbuilding, which he intends to do by working to reinvigorate the defense industrial base from several angles, namechecking the SHIPS Act first introduced last year and opportunity zones announced in September.

“I think the SHIPS Act, I know, is something that’s being considered. I think there’s some very good ideas in the SHIPS Act in terms of trying to reinvigorate the industrial base, such as opportunity zones for ship building. And I think that if we can incentivize the private sector in the right way, and I think that’s by telegraphing demand, then you will get the private sector to actually invest in these yards. And I think that that’s an important thing.”

Last year the Navy announced the first new public-private partnership for an opportunity zone meant to spur an increase in submarine manufacturing facilities in Mobile, Ala. (Defense Daily, Sept. 20, 2024).

When Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) pressed how he will help the U.S. Navy increase shipbuilding capacity and working with allies, Phelan said industrial base improvement should continue to involve partner countries and companies, like Hanwha buying the Philadelphia Shipyard, but that could also include component production outside the U.S.

“Look, this is a critical issue. I think all options have to be on the table. We cannot fall behind. We’re already too far behind. So I think that we have to definitely look at expertise and skill that foreign partners have, whether that means they build components – we need to look at that or, as you know, Hanwha recently bought the Philadelphia shipyard, so they’re going to look at enhancing that and making that better. So bringing their capital and skill sets here, I think will be important. I think this is a very, very critical thing…”

Last month, Trump suggested the U.S. might use allies to build ships to match China’s naval production (Defense Daily, Jan. 7).

Phelan also noted he plans to look at existing contracts to see where they can be modified or changed going forward to address current production timeline deficiencies and better share risk between government and vendor.

While discussing submarine production, Phelan said, “I’ve not reviewed contracts, from what I can see, I’m candidly fearful of what I’m going to find when I read some of these contracts and get in there in terms of their [provisions for the private sector side]…If they need to be restructured, then we’re going to have to do that, but we have to get back to more of a concept of shared risk.”

“I think it’s fine for the private sector to earn a profit. They should make a profit based on the risk that they’re taking, and that’s what we need to really get back to and look at,” he continued.

When Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pressed Phelan on contracts that limit the Navy’s ability on right to repair for regular maintenance and repairs of its systems without flying in contractors, he agreed that kind of thing sounds like it puts readiness at risk.

“As I mentioned earlier, these contracts are something that really need to be reviewed and better understood. And I think that if confirmed, that’s something I intend to do is focus on that.”

After Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) noted the Constellation-class frigate program is delayed at least three years, Phelan characterized it as “a mess” and he plans to dig into it quickly upon confirmation to understand the issues and tell the committee the root cause of the problem.

Artist model of the Fincantieri Marinette Marine Constellation-class guided-missile frigate. (Image: Department of Defense) — Artist model of the Fincantieri Marinette Marine *Constellation*-class guided-missile frigate. (Image: Department of Defense)

He added that from news reports it seems to be requirements creep as the parent design was modified from keeping 80 percent to only 20 percent of the original design.

Last week, former Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition Nickolas Guertin said the modified parent design choice for the frigate ended up being more difficult than the Navy thought it would be and the service can only really go fast on a program like that with enough upfront modeling, prototyping and risk reduction analysis (Defense Daily, Feb. 20).

Last year, previous Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro argued before this committee that part of the frigate problems were that the first Trump administration underbid for the ship (Defense Daily, May 24).

“I think we now have a frigate that potentially looks more like a carrier or a battleship, actually, or a destroyer, I would say. Again, I don’t know, until I get in there and go take a look at it. There are a number of issues, and there’s a lot of pointing fingers at one another. If confirmed, I pledge to work with you on this and get our arms around this and get this resolved quickly and understand what we need to do,” Phelan said Thursday.

In December, Program Executive Officer for Unmanned and Small Combatants (PEO USC) Rear Adm. Kevin Smith said the Navy is looking to distribute frigate production the way it has on submarine production to improve production rates (Defense Daily, Dec. 12, 2024).

Separately, Phelan argued his outside business perspective would be a good fit to manage the Navy and Marine Corps.

“If confirmed, I will use my business and military charitable work experience to ensure that our Navy and Marine Corps are prepared to meet the moment. The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps remain the most formidable expeditionary force in the world, but the U.S. Navy is at a crossroads, extended deployments, inadequate maintenance, huge cost overruns, delayed shipbuilding, failed audits, subpar housing and sadly, record high suicide rates are systemic failures that have gone unaddressed for far too long. And, frankly, this is unacceptable.”

He understands that some might question his background as a businessman without uniform experience.

“The Navy and the Marine Corps already possess extraordinary operational expertise within their ranks. My role is to utilize that expertise and strengthen it to step outside the status quo and take decisive action with a results oriented approach.”

Army Interested In Developing Larger M-MET Logistics Ground Robot

The Army is looking to build a new, larger version of its equipment-carrying ground robot, with plans to consider approving a requirement for the program this spring.

Maj. Gen. Michelle Donahue, head of the Army’s Combined Arms Support Command, said this week the Medium Modular Equipment Transport (M-MET) concept would look to develop a platform that’s larger than the current Small Multipurpose Equipment Transport (S-MET) robot but smaller than its Oshkosh Defense

[OSK] Palletized Load System (PLS) logistics trucks.

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. David Marko, a Cavalry Scout assigned to the Reconnaissance and Strike Co., 2nd Light Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division prepares the Squad Multipurpose Equipment Transport (SMET) for movement during the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center 25-01 (JPMRC), at Dillingham Airfield, Oahu, Hawaii, Oct. 7, 2024. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Abreanna Goodrich)

The M-MET concept will be presented to the Army Requirements Oversight Council for approval this spring, Donahue said in remarks at the National Defense Industrial Association’s Tactical Wheeled Vehicles Conference, adding the idea is to have an unmanned platform that’s “tethering a forward support company to that forward logistics release point” to assist with transferring supplies.

Col. William Arnold, the Army’s chief of transportation, told Defense Daily the Army envisions the M-MET as a roughly 7,500-pound platform.

“[M-MET would be] a versatile platform designed to enhance the flexibility and responsiveness of our logistics operations. We envision the M-MET to offer a diverse load-carrying capability and off-board power generation enabling forward sustainment units to effectively resupply company-size operations,” Arnold said in remarks Tuesday at the conference.

The Army has been fielding the S-MET Inc. I equipment-carrying ground robot, built by General Dynamics Land Systems [GD], which it has described as a “single radio-controlled, eight-wheeled platform designed to carry payload, generate power for organic electronic systems and conduct unconstrained movement” capable of carrying 1,000 pounds of equipment.

This past September, the Army announced it had selected American Rheinmetall and HDT Expeditionary Systems for the S-MET Inc. II prototyping effort, with plans to potentially award a production contract in late fiscal year 2027 that may cover more than 2,000 systems (Defense Daily, Sept. 25 2024).

For S-MET Inc. II, the Army said it aims to “double the payload capacity,” while also getting after capability for higher exportable power to enable drones and communications equipment, further reducing the audio signature, supporting dismounted wireless mesh communication networks, increased reliability and further the platform’s modularity with open architecture designs for easier upgrades.

The Army has also said it will look to “drive commonality” with S-MET Inc. II as it aims to integrate payloads that expand the robotic platform beyond its equipment carrying role, eyeing multi-mission capability with weapons and equipment packages that can enable mission areas for “movement to contact” and “suppression and overwatch” (Defense Daily, Oct. 25 2024).

Arnold said the Army is envisioning a similar modular design concept for the future M-MET that would allow for reconfiguration to work with “any type of load.”

“We can put ammunition on it. We can deliver water with it. We can deliver fuel with it. [We can do that] all at the same time by having the ability to generate power and have that power available on the battlefield. That also is going to be a game changing capability,” Arnold said.

Arnold said the Army sees the M-MET as part of an ecosystem of platforms supporting future logistics operations alongside S-METs and autonomous PLS trucks utilizing the future Autonomous Transport Vehicle System (ATV-S).

“Imagine all that working together on the battlefield,” Arnold said. “That’s what we’re driving toward and that’s what we’re trying to bring to bear.”

The Army is aiming to begin fielding its first autonomous PLS trucks integrated with ATV-S in fiscal year 2027, with the program currently in a competitive prototyping phase with Forterra and Carnegie Robotics (Defense Daily, Feb. 26).

Maj. Gen. Robert Barrie, the Army procurement office’s deputy for acquisition and systems management, said this week the service plans to deliver “thousands” of S-METs and GM Defense [GM] Infantry Squad Vehicles in the coming years as it moves out on its Transforming in Contact initiative to rapidly field new capabilities (Defense Daily, Feb. 25).

DIU Lacks Performance Goals For Scaling Commercial Technology, GAO Says

A recent shift in plans by the Defense Department’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to accelerate efforts to speed the adoption of commercial technologies for use by warfighters is lacking the establishment of performance goals to measure success of the effort, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) says in a new report.

DIU needs a performance management process to define goals, collect related data, and then use the information to chart progress toward the goals and inform its decisions, the congressional auditors say in the report, DIU: Actions Needed to Assess Progress and Further Enhance Collaboration (GAO-25-106856).

“DIU does not yet have clear insight into whether it is making progress to achieve its 3.0 strategic goal of helping DoD solve its most critical operational gaps,” GAO says. “This is because DIU does not have a complete performance management process to assess its results.”

DIU is working with the secretary of defense on measurable performance goals such as the number of capabilities that have transitioned to fielding but told auditors it did not have a date for establishing success metrics. Showcasing the number of commercial technologies that transition to the warfighter is an important market to incentivize industry to work with DoD, and to demonstrate success to Congress, the report says.

DIU in August 2023 transitioned to its current plan, DIU 3.0, which is aimed at rapidly scaling the transition of commercial technologies to meet DoD’s most critical needs. The plan was released publicly last February (Defense Daily, Feb. 7, 2024).

The plan also called for DIU to integrate two other entities, the National Security Innovation Network (NSIN) and National Security Innovation Capital (NSIC), into the office by early 2024. NSIN builds relationships among academia, startups, and defense organizations around innovative solutions that meet national security needs while NSIC provides resources to startups for dual-use hardware.

GAO says that DIU still has not said if NSIN’s and NSIC’s goals align with that the goal of DIU 3.0. Still, the report says some of these entities’ activities support DIU’s goal, highlighting that NSIN supports venture capital backed companies that are developing dual-use technologies that meet DoD needs.

DIU said it welcomes GAO’s recommendations and remains committed to quickly transitioning commercial technologies at scale to warfighters.

“With the release of the DIU 3.0 strategy in late 2023, DIU has been implementing against the plan, formally integrating the National Security Innovation Capital and National Security Innovation Network teams into a new Commercial Operations structure, embedding personnel into the Combatant Commands, re-evaluating current and future prototype projects in close partnership with the Services and other DoD components, establishing new bodies that help coordinate on DoD-wide innovation efforts like Replicator and the Defense Innovation Community of Entities that are designed to deliver critical capability fast while helping the Department build new muscle to do so again and again, and rethinking how we evaluate and measure success on accelerating commercial technology into the DoD,” DIU said on Thursday in a statement.

Kratos Ends Strong Year With Solid Fourth Quarter; Sees $1 Billion Sales Potential With Prometheus

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions [KTOS] on Wednesday reported solid fourth quarter financial results on growth across its operating segments, although bottom-line results were mixed as operating income fell but net income overall was higher after excluding a bump from non-controlling interests a year ago.

Net income was up 63 percent to $3.9 million, 3 cents earnings per share (EPS), from $2.4 million (2 cents EPS) in the fourth quarter of 2023. Adjusting for taxes, interest expense, restructuring costs, stock-based compensation, amortization and other non-operating items, per share earnings of 13 cents in the fourth quarter topped consensus estimates by 3 pennies.

Operating income fell due to lower earnings in the Kratos Government Solutions segment, down on revenue mix and resources. The Kratos Unmanned Systems segment swung to a loss on revenue mix, increased subcontractor and material costs on some multi-year fixed-price contracts, and higher research and development expenses.

The company’s sales in the quarter rose 3 percent to $283.1 million from $273.8 million on the strength of increased revenue from targeting drones, turbine technologies, C5ISR, defense rocket support, and microwave products. Growth was hampered by an expected $16.1 million decline in the space and satellite business, due in part to delays at Airbus Group

and Thales on the manufacture and delivery of software defined satellites.

Overall, in 2024 Kratos swung to a net profit of $16.3 million (11 cents EPS) from a loss of $8.9 million (7 cents EPS) in 2023. Adjusted earnings of 49 cents EPS were up 7 cents while adjusted margin rose 10 basis points to 9.3 percent. Sales for the year increased 10 percent to $1.1 billion versus $1 billion a year ago with 9 percent of the growth organic.

Kratos tallied $1.4 billion in orders in 2024, representing a book-to-bill ratio of 1.2 times sales, and backlog stood at over $1.4 billion, up 18 percent from more than $1.2 billion at the end of 2023.
The outlook for 2025 is for sales to increase 10 percent to $1.3 billion and adjusted earnings of between $112 million and $118 million versus $105.7 million in 2024. Free cash flow is expected to be negative $75 million to $85 million due to planned capital expenditures of between $125 million and $135 million in production facilities related to the Valkyrie unmanned system, microwave, hypersonic and engine facilities, and other facilities.

Excluded in this year’s capital spending plans is Kratos’ half of a $175 million investment it is making with Israel’s Rafael Defense Systems in a new energetics facility in Indiana that will leverage Rafael’s rocket motor and warhead experience in Israel to create a new U.S.-based merchant supplier. Most of the expenses for the 500-acre Prometheus Energetics facility will be borne in 2026 with production set to begin in 2027 pending certification and qualification, Eric DeMarco, president and CEO of Kratos, said Wednesday evening on the company’s earnings call.

DeMarco expects industrial-base funding will largely offset or reduce the company’s costs to stand up Prometheus, which he said will ultimately have about 300 employees. Once the facility is at rate production, it expects to generate “several hundred million” dollars in sales annually, proving the business case for Prometheus, he said.

The potential long-term sales for Prometheus are $1 billion annually as the business adds new customers, DeMarco said.

Rafael will initially be the “anchor customer” for Prometheus and eventually also address U.S. requirements for solid rocket motors and warheads, DeMarco said, nodding to the Trump administration’s new Golden Dome for America homeland air defense initiative. The various energetics produced by Prometheus will be based on the same qualified technologies Rafael uses in Israel, which will make certification and qualification in the U.S. happen relatively quickly, a competitive advantage versus the various new entrants in the domestic rocket motor space, he said.

Kratos also offered rough guidance in 2026, with sales expected to grow 13 to 15 percent over 2025 and adjusted operating margin also increasing.

During the earnings call, Kratos disclosed that it recently acquired Norden Millimeter for $37.8 million in stock, adding to its growing microwave business.