Defense Daily

Defense Watch: Golden Dome Summit Canx, APKWS, Private Ranges

Golden Dome Summit Axed. The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) on June 2 abruptly canceled an industry summit for the Golden Dome air and missile defense initiative. It was set to occur in downtown Huntsville, Ala., on June 11. MDA said that “an announcement will be made on SAM.gov if/when a new date and location are planned.” In a previous round, on March 25 MDA originally planned for a summit on April 29 on Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, but then on April 9 MDA announced they were moving it to a later date and another location due to “overwhelming response from industry.” This time MDA did not confirm it would still happen at all.

IFF Refresh. BAE Systems on June 4 said it won a $30 million Navy contract to refresh the AN/APX-123A(V) Common Transponder (CXP), which will be a replacement option for the currently installed Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) transponders on current and new platforms. The work is expected to be delivered by 2027. The company said this refresh “provides time-critical insights that help prevent friendly fire incidents.” BAE added the replacement addresses obsolescence and processing capacity for future Navy needs and it has an open system architecture design that “ensures ongoing versatility and future utility through software upgrades, without the risk and cost associated with hardware modifications.” It specified the AN/APX-123A(V) CXP will be the Mark XIIB IFF certified with Mode S and Mode 5 for secure and encrypted data exchanges to meet the latest DoD standards. BAE previously delivered more than 1,500 interrogators; 6,000 combined interrogator transponder systems; and 16,000 transponders.

IBM 25.5. The Navy completed Integrated Battle Problem 25.5, led by a component of Commander, Task Force 76, Mine Countermeasures Squadron 7 out of 7th Fleet based in Sasebo, Japan. This exercise included mine countermeasures (MCM) and subsea seabed equipment to demonstrate integrated unmanned and semiautonomous capabilities to clear a way through a minefield. Participating forces included the Avenger-class MCM ship USS Warrior (MCM-10), expeditionary sea base ship USS Miguel Keith (ESB-5), MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopters from Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron (HM) 15 Detachment 3A, and personnel from Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU). Japanese Self Defense Force service members attended the event as observers. The Navy also noted the exercise integrated Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division (NSWC PCD)’s Threat Tracker system and NSWC PCD-developed Disposable Reusable Expeditionary Warfare Underwater Vehicle (DREWUV).

Low-Cost, High Volume. The U.S. Air Force has been using the F-15E Strike Eagles, equipped with 42 laser-guided Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems (APKWS) by BAE Systems against Houthi drones in U.S. Central Command. “We are learning a lot about how we need to address threats that may be low-cost and high volume [so] we don’t end up on the wrong side of the cost curve,” says Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Allvin. “Whereas before, we would have an F-15E with an AIM-9X on it at $400,000 a pop or an AMRAAM at $1 million a pop shoot down the cheaper drones…we have more recently developed capabilities to where we can have laser guided rockets which are doing the same thing against those platforms at $32,000 a shot.”

…Stitching Together. Electronic countermeasures, nets, and base hardening may all be part of what Allvin calls a joint counter drone effort to protect U.S. bases. “Within CENTCOM at the Air Force bases, I was at one over Christmas time,” he says. “They are stitching together the various counter UAS systems, but this is not only just the capabilities. It has to be [re-examining] the operational concepts on how to defend a base in a way we hadn’t thought about because they’d been uncontested for 25-30 years. Now, having a unit train ahead of time to know how to defend the base and preserve the installation and the force generation that it provides is absolutely key.”

Containerized APKWS. Based on successes in an earlier counter-drone demonstration, the containerized version of the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) is going through operational assessment with several services, Bob Hribar, acquisition and technology deputy division chief for the Joint Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft System Office, said June 4 during a media roundtable. He said the containerized APKWS is “one of the best examples” the JCO has of the services adopting a counter-drone system for use. APKWS developer BAE Systems has said the 70mm rockets have been successfully demonstrated against fast moving drones by combining guidance kits with proximity detonation fuzes to destroy their targets.

Private Ranges. The Army Futures Command’s Army Applications Library is surveying the market for commercially available test sites for unmanned systems, kinetic, and electromagnetic systems. The lab said in a June 2 notice that it is only exploring “market capacity” but will use feedback to consider new approaches to test range accessibility and inform interested organizations about these resources.

Epoch 2 Details. BAE Systems, which the Space Force last week announced as the winner of the $1.2 billion Epoch 2 contract for missile warning satellites, said the 10 spacecraft will be delivered over four years. The remaining five years on the contract will cover operations and support. BAE also said it will develop the ground system to command and control, and deliver mission management to the resilient missile warning and tracking constellation that will operate in medium Earth orbit. Each satellite will include an electro-optical and infrared sensor and communication payload. The Trek satellite bus is a variant of BAE’s Elevation spacecraft product line.

Firehawk Award. Firehawk Aerospace last week said it received a two-year, $4.9 million contract from the Air Force Test Center in support of Air Force Research Laboratory initiatives to accelerate development of hybrid rocket engines, including solid and liquid rocket motor components, and manufacturing processes for strategic and tactical missiles. “Our transformative approach to propellant production will bring scalable, adaptable, and high-performance systems to AFRL that will shape the future of defense,” Michael Stark, Firehawk’s president, said in a statement. Firehawk uses additive manufacturing for rocket propellants.

Maxar-Saab Partner. Maxar Intelligence and Saab last week announced a strategic partnership that will leverage Maxar’s geospatial intelligence and mission products for space-based C5ISR and GPS resilience for drone systems. “This partnership will bring together Maxar’s industry-leading geospatial intelligence products with Saab’s highly advanced defense systems to solve some of the most complex tactical and operational challenges across the battlespace today, from powering more intelligent, real-time multi-domain command and control systems to helping autonomous systems overcome GPS jamming,” Dan Smoot, CEO of Maxar Intelligence, said in a statement. “The deal also reflects the growing realization that geospatial intelligence can go beyond powering analyst workflows to powering mission-focused software products deployed at the tactical edge.”

Smith/DOT&E. Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee, has urged Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to reconsider his “short-sighted decision to massively gut” the Pentagon’s Office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, calling it an “ill-advised course of action.” “While he may claim this reduction is intended to save money, the unfortunate reality is that these cuts would weaken our ability to ensure weapon systems meet operational requirements, hinder our ability to hold contractors accountable, and increase the likelihood that the equipment service members rely on will not work as advertised,” Smith said in a June 3 statement. In a recent memo, Hegseth directed the reduction of DOT&E office’s staff by nearly 50 personnel, down to 30 civilians, 15 military personnel and one Senior Executive Service leader. Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, last week also offered a similar rebuke of Hegseth’s plan. 

Kuwait FMS. The State Department said on June 4 it has approved a potential $325 million foreign military sale with Kuwait covering sustainment support for its M1A2 Abrams tanks. The deal would cover repair and spare parts, replacement materials and logistics and program support for its General Dynamics Land Systems-built M1A2 and newer M1A2K tanks. “The proposed sale will improve Kuwait’s capability to meet current and future threats by assisting it in maintaining higher levels of operational readiness while meeting its modernization and professionalization goals,” the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement.

CENTCOM/AFRICOM Noms. President Trump has nominated Navy Vice Adm. Charles “Brad” Cooper to serve as the next commander of U.S. Central Command. Cooper, who is currently deputy commander of U.S. CENTCOM, would succeed Army Gen. Michael Kurilla. Trump has also nominated Air Force Lt. Gen. Dagvin Anderson to be the next commander of U.S. Africa Command. Anderson, who currently serves as the Joint Staff’s director of joint force development, would succeed Marine Gen. Michael Langley in the role. 

EUCOM/SACEUR Nom. Trump has also picked Air Force Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich as his nominee to serve as the next commander of U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander, Europe. The Pentagon noted the NATO has also backed the selection of Grynkewich for the SACEUR role. Grynkewich would succeed Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli. The Trump administration had reportedly floated not having a U.S. military leader in the SACEUR role, which Cavoli had told lawmakers would be “problematic.” “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.

Budget Delay. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chair of the Armed Services Committee, said on June 5 that the Trump administration’s detailed fiscal year 2026 budget request will likely not be available for “several more weeks.” While the White House has put forth a “skinny” budget outline and an appendix with additional topline details it has yet to provide Congress with a full breakdown of its intended FY ‘26 spending plans. The delay arrives as Congressional defense authorizers and appropriators are looking to begin work marking up the next National Defense Authorization Act and defense spending bill. “This is quickly becoming the longest-delayed budget submission in memory, and I urge the White House to deliver it,” Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the SASC ranking member, said during the hearing.

AFC/TRADOC Merger. Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) pressed Army leaders during a House Armed Services Committee hearing on June 5 for details regarding the service’s plan to merge Army Futures Command with Training and Doctrine Command, the latter of which is based at Fort Eustis in his Virginia district. “I can tell you that the rumor mill there is running wild. There is chaos there at Fort Eustis because there’s a lack of certainty. We owe it to our constituents and the folks that are in our districts to give them certainty, even if it’s to say [the details] are still under consideration,” Wittman said. “I don’t have any issue with making the transformation that’s necessary. But these are people’s lives, these are people’s families…putting them through this period of uncertainty is not really fair for them.” Gen. Randy George, the service’s chief of staff, has said previously the combined organization will be called Army Transformation and Training Command and its primary headquarters will be in Austin, Texas, where Futures Command is currently located. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said orders have been given to start making plans on how the merger will be carried out. “It is currently ongoing. And the moment that we have it clear to share, we intend to,” Driscoll said.

M-TADS/PNVS Deal. The Army on June 6 awarded Lockheed Martin a $1.74 billion to continue providing the Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision System (M-TADS/PNVS), the electro-optical fire control system used on Apache attack helicopters. Lockheed Martin has been providing the capability for the Boeing-built aircraft since 2005. Work on the deal is expected to be completed by December 2027, according to the Pentagon.

DDN Staff Email: [email protected] |

Trump Directive Wants Review Of Programs That Could Be Replaced By Drones

President Trump last Friday directed the Defense Department to conduct a review of programs that could be replaced by drones.

Within 90 days, the service secretaries are required to report on and “identify programs that would be more cost efficient or lethal if replaced by UAS,” says the new executive order.

The directive seems to stem from ongoing lessons learned in Ukraine’s battle against Russia’s illegal invasion of that country where small and medium-sized drones are used regularly to surveil and strike targets across the battlefield and even deep into each countries’ territory.

The Unleashing American Drone Dominance executive order also requires the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to conduct monthly updates of its Blue UAS List, which contains an approved set of small drones that meet the requirements of Section 848 of the fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act prohibiting DoD and the defense industry from using drones and related parts made in China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.

The Blue UAS has been slow to grow due to DIU’s resource constraints. However, the office recently outlined plans to use third party assessors to speed reviews and increase the number of approved unmanned aircraft systems on the list (Defense Daily, May 16).

The new EO also directs DIU to expand the Blue UAS List “to include all drones and critical drone components compliant with section 848…to the fullest extent practical.” It is unclear from the directive how that is different from what DIU has been doing since the creation of the list during the Biden administration.

There is a ‘Buy American’ component to the EO, but with a caveat. It requires that DoD prioritize the purchase of section 848-compliant from U.S. companies “over the procurement of drones made by all other companies to the maximum extent practicable” and allow waivers “only when absolutely necessary to accomplish the mission.”

The directive goes on to say such compliance “does not inhibit the rapid adoption of drone technology required to exceed the capabilities of our foreign adversaries.”

Another section of the EO related to DoD wants the department to work with the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration to shed inefficiencies in granting airspace access for UAS training.

The order also wants DoD to provide Trump’s national security adviser with a report on “unnecessary barriers to accessing electromagnetic spectrum for conducting UAS training.” That report is due in 90 days.

Cal Biesecker Reporter: Business/Homeland Security Defense Daily Ph: 434-242-7750 Email: [email protected] | Twitter: calvinb21

GE Eyes Dual-Mode Ramjet Tech As Option To Power Army’s Potential Hypersonic PrSM Inc. 5

EVENDALE, Ohio— As the Army explores a potential future version of its Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) capable of achieving hypersonic speeds, GE Aerospace [GE] has said its in-development dual-mode ramjet (DMRJ) technology could be an option for powering such a capability.

GE Aerospace officials told reporters this week the company is looking at “a variety of opportunities” to apply its hypersonic engine technology, adding that the PrSM Inc. 5 concept “would be a target” for its 3X DMRJ capability.

“The demonstrations that we’re doing now and we’ll do in the next few years are all relevant to a weapon of that size class,” Craig Young, GE Aerospace’s executive engineering director for hypersonic propulsion and small UAV engines, told reporters at a briefing here at the company’s headquarters. 

Brig. Gen. Rory Crooks, director of the Army’s Long-Range Precision Fires Cross-Functional Team, confirmed this past December the service is exploring development of a future fifth increment of PrSM that would be fired from a larger pod to reach ranges beyond 1,000 kilometers and achieve potential hypersonic speeds, with plans to potentially start with a science and technology phase in fiscal year 2026 (Defense Daily, Dec. 3 2024).

“We don’t want to speak for the Army on their timelines, but we want to be able to support whatever timelines that they [go with]. Our roadmap is laid out to hopefully support those timelines,” Steve “Doogie” Russell, GE Aerospace Edison Works’ vice president and general manager, told reporters.

The Army is currently fielding PrSM Inc. 1 missiles, built by Lockheed Martin [LMT], with the base weapon reaching ranges up to 500 kilometers.

In March 2023, the Army tapped Lockheed Martin and a team of RTX [RTX] and Northrop Grumman [NOC] for the Long Range Maneuverable Fires (LRMF) program to work on developing long-range missile concepts to inform the design of a future PrSM Inc. 4  capable of ranges up to 1,000 kilometers (Defense Daily, March 27 2023).

Mark Rettig, GE Aerospace Edison Works’ vice president and general manager for advanced programs, said the company is “pretty tightly connected” with all the potential vendors that could pursue a PrSM Inc. 5 concept.

“We are spending a lot of time with Lockheed, but we spend a lot of time with Boeing [BA] and Northrop and all of the new entrants. We’re trying to explore the broader space as we’re looking to get into that segment,” Rettig said. 

Retting noted that, to date, GE Aerospace has taken a liquid fuel ramjet concept, aimed at powering a “Mach 4-ish kind of platform, from a clean sheet design to testing in 10 months and accomplished the same with a half-scale DMRJ design in 11 months.

“We’ve been able to move incredibly fast. We’re trying to leverage that speed throughout everything we’re developing here in this hypersonic space,” Rettig said. 

Joseph Vinciquerra, general manager and senior director of research at GE Aerospace, said this week the company plans to conduct a full-scale test event with its 3X DMRJ hypersonic engine with rotating detonation combustion by the end of the summer (Defense Daily, June 4). 

Retting noted the 3X DMRJ hypersonic engine is designed to provide about 3,000 pounds of thrust.

“We want to demonstrate the 3X and demonstrate scalability. The next thing we would want to do is fly,” Rettig said. 

“As we started this journey, we weren’t looking in the weapons segment. But as we’ve started doing subscale testing of our dual mode ramjet and scaling that up to grow capability toward an aircraft, we recognized that capability is also enabling from a weapons perspective,” Rettig added. “We’ve gone from being not at all in the hypersonic space to being, I think, a legitimate potential propulsion provider and growing beyond that. We’ve also focused not just on the capability but also the speed that we can bring it bear.”

Russell noted that GE Aerospace’s acquisition of Bohemia, New York-based Innoveering, who has worked on ramjet technologies, in September 2022 has helped advance its work in the hypersonic space. 

“You combine that with the expertise we have in building high Mach turbine engines and you have a recipe to put together a fully integrated hypersonic propulsion system,” Russell said.

GE Aerospace this week also announced plans for “significant investments” in its test infrastructure for hypersonic propulsion system work across its Evendale, Ohio, Bohemia, New York and  Niskayuna, New York, adding it will allow the company “to conduct higher-Mach, mission-relevant testing at a scale not previously possible.”

“This investment significantly accelerates GE Aerospace’s ability to meet future hypersonic propulsion needs. By enhancing our infrastructure, we’re not only enabling more representative and scalable testing but also demonstrating our ability to deliver advanced technologies faster and more efficiently, ensuring our customers have the cutting-edge solutions they need when they need them,” Rettig said in a statement. 

Rettig reiterated GE Aerospace will look at opportunities to apply its hypersonic propulsion advancements in the aircraft space as well, noting the company has a 10-15X design in its technology “roadmap.”

“Right now, our focus is on demonstrating the scalability of rotating detonation dual mode ramjets,” Rettig told reporters.

Matthew Beinart Reporter: Cyber Security/IT/Military Defense Daily Ph: 240-477-2677 Email: [email protected] | Twitter: mbeinart22

Last Planned Marine Corps MQ-9A Reaper Drone Delivered

The Marine Corps received its last planned General Atomics-Aeronautical Systems, Inc. MQ-9A Reaper Block 5 Extended Range (ER) Uncrewed Aircraft System (UAS) this month, the Navy said June 5.

This finishes a three-year acquisition campaign to field 18 MQ-9As so far, with two more on the way, the Navy said.

“This program has been a model of how to do things right. We leveraged a strong relationship with industry and the Air Force to move quickly, stay on schedule, and deliver advanced capability to the fleet with minimal friction,” Capt. Dennis Monagle, program manager for Multi-Mission Tactical UAS (PMA-266), whose office managed the acquisition effort, said in a statement,

Monagle added the process was smooth, proving when DoD teams line up they can move “at the speed the Marines need.”

The MQ-9A is a medium-altitude long-endurance UAS designed for missions like intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance as well as maritime domain awareness.

The program team is also still integrating new capabilities onto the aircraft via the upgraded MQ-9A with the SkyTower II airborne network extension pod. This pod is set to reach Initial Operational Capability later in 2025 and is expected to expand the Marine Corps’ long-range mission capabilities.

The Marine Corps MQ-9 Marine Air-Ground Task Force UAS set of systems has been overseen by Naval Air Systems Command’s program office for Multi-Mission Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems (PMA-266).

Rich Abott Reporter: Navy/Missile Defense Defense Daily Ph: 703-522-5915 Email: [email protected] | Twitter: ReaderRabott

Acting Coast Guard Commandant Wants More Counter-Drone Capacity

The Coast Guard has some, but not enough, capacity for countering drone threats to the homeland from maritime approaches, the acting commandant of the service said last week.

The Coast Guard’s two Maritime Security Response Teams (MSRTs) are equipped with mobile counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS), Adm. Kevin Lunday told a House panel that oversees his service. In addition, the Coast Guard has two fixed C-UAS systems, one based on a 154-foot Fast Response Cutter in New England and the other in Southern California, he said.

“But that’s not enough capacity,” Lunday told the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on June 5. “My concern is we’ve got to scale and we’ve got to scale fast to address the kind of evolving dynamic threat that…was reflected…in the in the dynamic strike that we’ve seen news reports of in Ukraine, from Ukraine into Russia.”

The Coast Guard has two MSRTs, one stationed on the East Coast and the other on the West Coast. Former Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz said in 2020 that the service’s Maritime Force Protection unit provides C-UAS support to the Navy’s nuclear submarine bases in Kings Bay, Ga., and Bangor, Wash. (Defense Daily, Feb. 21, 2020).

Lunday’s comments were prompted by a question from Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), who asked about potential threats from adversaries targeting vessels or individuals with drones similar to how Ukrainian operatives last week secretly deployed small drones hidden inside the tops of some type of trucking containers and remotely launched and controlled them to successfully strike dozens of strategic bombers and other aircraft inside Russia.

Lunday has been nominated by President Trump to be Coast Guard commandant.

Cal Biesecker Reporter: Business/Homeland Security Defense Daily Ph: 434-242-7750 Email: [email protected] | Twitter: calvinb21

Navy Acquisition Head Says Block Buy Of Fifth and Sixth Ford Carriers Could Save $5 Billion

If the Navy procures  the fifth and sixth Ford-class aircraft carriers as a block buy, it could save taxpayers about $5 billion over buying them individually, the Navy’s top acquisition official told lawmakers Wednesday.

Testifying before the House Armed Services Seapower and projection forces subcommittee, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition Brett Seidel said that while the block buy of the future USS Enterprise (CVN-80) and Doris Miller (CVN-81) saved around $4 billion, a multi-ship buy for next round of ships, CVN-82 and 83, “would save an additional $5 billion.”

Seidle agreed with Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), vice chair of the full House committee, that advanced procurement for these aircraft carriers needs to start in fiscal year 2026 to keep them on what the Navy and shipbuilder HII [HII] agree are the ideal four-year centers.

“We know that keeping that tempo up is important. We know that maintaining a less than six-year center puts us in that sweet spot as far as workforce and utilization of resources,” Wittman said.

Seidle agreed that “as you elongate those centers, it does create exactly the kind of problems that you talked about.”

He added the Navy has learned a lot from the construction process of the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) and future John F. Kennedy (CVN-79), which is “paying some dividends now” in CVN-81.

“I know we had some out of sequence material in [CVN-80] that’s caused some delays, but we’re seeing improvements on 81 even though it’s still early in the build, but I like what I’m seeing there,” Seidle said.

Wittman also warned if carrier centers increase due to later start of advanced procurement funds, more HII workers could be laid off, only to have to rehire them later.

He characterized a recent HII action as laying off nearly 500 employees at HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), which builds the aircraft carriers.

“Not the direction that we need to be going in.”

Earlier this week HII announced it was furloughing 471 salaried employees across NNS “after careful review of our salaried workforce and business needs,” NNS spokesperson Todd Corillo told Defense Daily.

“This decision was not made lightly given its impact on affected team members. We take this step, however, to increase accountability and efficiency, and to improve overall performance in meeting our current and future commitments to the U.S. Navy,” Corillo added.

He also confirmed the furloughs affect the salaried workforce but not hourly skilled trades.

The company said in contrast to Wittman’s calling it layoffs, these furloughs place the employees in a “temporary non-work, non-pay status” that it does not expect to last more than five months. HII plans to reevaluate the furlough period as it goes on.

He added that during their furlough period NNS “will be continuously evaluating business needs and existing salaried workforce to determine whether continued furlough is warranted.”

HII argued that compared to layoffs the furlough maintains the employment relationship, affords benefits to them and gives the company a more efficient way to call them back “as business conditions warrant.”

While the company would not provide a breakdown of which department or positions were included in the furlough, Corillo said these were “across the salaried workforce and affect a range of managerial and non-managerial positions.”

Rich Abott Reporter: Navy/Missile Defense Defense Daily Ph: 703-522-5915 Email: [email protected] | Twitter: ReaderRabott

AFWERX Agility Prime to Take Hit in FY 2026 Budget

In the upcoming fiscal 2026 budget request, the U.S. Air Force is to request a winding down of the Agility Prime electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) project by the service’s AFWERX innovation arm, as the service looks to save funds and winnow out efforts that show little promise of fielding.

During the Biden administration, there had also been talk among analysts of the Air Force’s lack of commitment to Agility Prime.

“One of the reasons why we looked to de-scope [Agility Prime] is with the limited capacity of budget we’re looking to find ones who did have a transition partner,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Allvin testified in response to a question from Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), a former Air Force acquisition officer, at a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Thursday. “It’s really about making sure we look at the force design and see how these capabilities can find their way into delivering capability to the warfighter. As we look at that, we are transforming our organizational structure to move toward a more Integrated Capability Command that can take those innovative ideas but be able to see more clearly their value proposition.”

Houlahan, who worked on electronics programs at Hanscom AFB, Mass., then told Allvin that many once far-fetched ideas, such as phone text messaging, eventually bear fruit.

“The art of the possible is always competing with the art of the known with respect to the readiness and modernization challenges we know of,” Allvin replied. “That’s a constant tension that we have, but I take your point that we don’t want to pass opportunities up just by focusing on the known risks.”

The Air Force began Agility Prime in 2020. Efforts there have seen some traction, including the organization’s partnership with commercial electric VTOL companies to help bring to market a hybrid-electric vertical takeoff and landing demonstrator (HEX/VTOL) aircraft with a tilt-wing configuration for commercial and military use (Defense Daily, Feb. 27, 2024).

Last year, Lockheed Martin‘s [LMT] Sikorsky said that it was developing HEX/VTOL to be a high speed, low operating cost aircraft with a 500 nautical range.

Frank Wolfe Email: [email protected] |