Headlines: Reforms and Shutdown?
DoW Shifting to Realistic Warfighting Posture In All Domains. AI and Autonomy Will Fuel Modern Warfare With Continuing Lessons From Ukraine.
Welcome to the latest edition of Defense Tech and Acquisition.
The Senate confirms dozens of nominees yet fails to approve a CR solution.
Multiple op-eds highlighting the enterprise reforms needed for future warfare.
Army FUZEs its innovation pipelines and hunts for ready now capabilities.
Navy explores how USVs can disrupt destroyers while Marines up their AI game.
Air Force Returning to Expeditionary Roots and Pursuing Autonomous Cargo
Space Force Fully Integrating Commercial Data While Embracing New Era
Golden Dome Needs Test Plan, and Space Force Taking Novel Approach w/SBI
War with China Would Be Different Than WII and Drone Defense Key in Europe
Partnering with Dynamic Tech Can Return the Pentagon to its Warfighting Roots
The U.S. in WWII and the early Cold War created the greatest innovation playbook the world had ever known. Then beginning in 1960s, in an unfathomable blunder, the Pentagon intentionally walked away from it.
The innovation model was taken up by Silicon Valley and improved upon by market forces and private venture capital finance. This “Dynamic Tech” model has propelled commercial development ever since.
While the DoD calcified itself in bureaucracy, process and compliance, the commercial market focused on speed, efficiency and disruptive innovation.
Rather than pursue incremental reforms that will ultimately be undermined, the new Secretary of War needs to blow up much of the Pentagon’s processes if we are to compete with China in the coming decades.
A full-scale war needs to be waged on the Pentagon’s culture as its current requirements, budgeting, acquisition, contracting, and security processes are replaced.
The first was the civil-military integration of commercial companies, technologies, and ideas into the defense industrial base that was so well documented by Arthur Herman in his book Freedom’s Forge.
This Golden Age of US defense innovation lasted less than two decades. The problem with successful innovation is that it can be messy and unpredictable.
DOD returned to the monopsonist and monopolistic arsenal system of the pre-WWII era, only with ownership being in private hands rather than government.
Programs became focused on building exquisite handcrafted unique items over long time periods to keep the base employed. The Arsenal of Democracy was transformed into the Artisans of Social Welfare.
Commercial investment has been ruthless. One succeeds or fails fast.
Focused on quickly building a MVP to test in the marketplace and then improve upon it in a series of new product releases.
Partnering with venture backed disruptive tech is the quickest way to do this. The industrial base and the acquisition authorities are there: time-based MTAs, OTAs, and waivers to go around the sclerotic acquisition system can be used now.
As was recently done with JCIDS the old system needs to be blown up and we must start anew. That means the PPBE, FAR, MDAP, CAS, TINA, business systems, certifications, security and ITAR processes need to be targeted and destroyed if the new Department of War wants to live up to its name.
Why America Needs Dynamic Defense Reform
David Ulevitch, Katherine Boyle, and Matt Cronin
The system is failing us. The Pentagon has spent trillions to defend America and deter our adversaries. Yet our fleet is shrinking, weapon systems are delivered late and over budget, and warfighters lack the tools to win the fight of the future. Even worse, in a conflict with a peer power, some key munitions would run out in a week.
Years ago, the Pentagon abandoned market principles for Soviet-style central planning for its acquisition system. It replaced bottom-up innovation for top-down five-year plans, non-commercial buying practices, and over 5,000 pages of regulations.
It made working with the Pentagon so difficult that the Defense Industrial Base has withered to a shell of its former self.
The key reforms are as follows:
Commercial First: As NASA proved, requiring commercial solutions cuts costs, boosts efficiency, and drives innovation.
Portfolio Acquisition: Let the Pentagon buy what works, not what a bureaucrat chose years or decades ago.
Past Performance Requirements: Reward merit, not incumbency.
Expanded Definition of Non-Traditional Defense Contractors: Slash red tape for start-ups trying to serve their nation.
Procurement Workforce Reform: Align incentives to fix a risk-averse culture.
They would unlock innovation, expand opportunities for thousands of U.S. businesses, and rapidly deliver the best products to our warfighters.
Perhaps most important of all, they will help usher in an industrial renaissance for the American people. A revitalized defense industrial base means new factories, better jobs, and durable middle-class careers anchored in innovation and production.
The Pentagon’s New Startup Focus is Pushing Established Companies to Try New Strategies
Decades-old defense contractors are leaning into the Pentagon’s new focus on startups, entwining themselves with emerging companies that have the technologies or even the contracts they seek.
The trend reflects the Pentagon’s new urgency—after years of pleading by commanders, lawmakers, and even defense officials—to expand the military’s industrial base and bring in more tech companies.
That has caused a shift in strategy for firms like Booz Allen Hamilton, when the company announced it was tripling its plans to invest in newer firms to $300M.
Booz is also looking at space-based services such as autonomous navigation for satellites via a company called Starfish.
Northrop Grumman, meanwhile, is also seeking to broaden its appeal to newer companies. It has a startup investor fund, and in June it launched an ecosystem for third-party testing and development of autonomous technologies.
Our Take: This is an important trend but it needs to go way beyond established primes running small, independent VC-like funds (while admirable) and is better implemented with real, equal partnerships with highly innovative and specialized firms working with prime teams to deliver a differentiated product.
How Better Communication Can Improve DoD Acquisition Outcomes
Moshe Schwartz, Michelle Johnson, and Daniella Schwartz
Effective communication is key to the success of any organization. In the DoD, breakdowns in communication—or the absence of robust communication—have led to subpar requirements, inefficient budgeting, increased bid protests, poor acquisition outcomes, increased costs, and a strained DoD–industry relationship.
A framework for achieving effective communication:
Be timely and responsive to feedback
Allow for information to flow both ways along the communication channel
Be meaningful, not formulaic
Treat individual communications as part of a larger relationship
Build new knowledge collaboratively
Establish trust
Foster an environment where communication is encouraged.
These benefits can apply in two areas of high interest in the government contracting community:
Decreased bid protests and improved future competition
Increased industry participation in the solicitation process and a diversified supply chain
To Secure America’s Future, We Must Fix Defense Procurement Now
The strength of the U.S. has always come from its ability to harness and scale innovation faster than its adversaries. Yet today, our defense procurement system does the opposite. It stifles innovation, rewards process over outcomes and leaves the DoW struggling to field capabilities our service members urgently need.
Despite taxpayers spending over $850B annually on defense, potential adversaries are catching up in both the adoption of key technologies, including AI and autonomy, and the scale at which they are able to produce new systems.
The slow pace of Pentagon acquisitions has weakened the industrial base with inconsistent demand signals and overly complex requirements that don’t always align to operational needs or keep pace with the rapid advancement of technology.
America’s shipyards, once capable of outproducing all adversaries on a global scale, have atrophied to a point where we cannot build critical vessels anywhere near the pace of our counterparts.
A new generation of defense industry backed by private capital is emerging to tackle these challenges, leveraging commercial technologies to develop cutting-edge capabilities and building manufacturing capacity to produce at scale.
Only three years old, Saronic Technologies has already brought multiple classes of Autonomous Surface Vessels (ASVs) to market, while leaning in with major investments in production capacity ahead of need.
The Pentagon should maximize procurements through more flexible commercial contracting methods, such as Other Transaction Authorities.
The Pentagon should strive to reduce the burden of compliance to enable new entrants to compete in the market.
The DoW need to shift incentives to promote innovation and speed to delivery.
We must expand the ranks of innovative new companies that can participate in the industrial base, and reward those who can deliver for our warfighters.
A more competitive and open system will deliver more effectively and efficiently, benefiting service members, taxpayers, and ultimately the security of our nation.
OMB Board Seeks to Streamline Accounting Requirements for Contractors
The OMB’s Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) Board has published two proposed rules that aim to streamline accounting requirements for federal contractors by eliminating over 60 requirements.
Under the rules proposed by the CAS Board within the OMB Office of Federal Procurement Policy, the U.S. government will now rely on Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, or GAAP, to protect its interests.
The final rule requires the CAS Board to ensure that cost accounting standards used by federal contractors rely on commercial standards and accounting systems and practices and conform CAS requirements to GAAP.
The proposed changes in the rule are expected to simplify CAS administration, reduce barriers to entry for nontraditional contractors and promote competition in federal contracting.
“Holding contractors responsible for properly and transparently accounting for their costs is good stewardship, but forcing contractors to maintain overlapping books and records is wasteful and creates barriers that discourage talented companies from working with the Government to meet the needs of our taxpayers.” Kevin Rhodes, OMB Advisor
The House introduced a “clean” continuing resolution bill to fund the government through Nov 21, 2025. It has specific call outs for E-7, DPA, Virginia Class Subs, and C-UAS.
Senate Democrats blocked this bill on Friday, and a Senate Democrat counter proposal failed, increasing the risk of a government shutdown if a funding agreement is not reached by Oct 1.
The House already moved to conference with the Senate on FY26 MILCON and VA, Agriculture, and Legislative Branch appropriations acts. The 12 appropriations bills are advancing in the House through regular order.
The Senate is on recess next week Sep 22-26 and will have ~48 hours Sep 29-30 to pass a funding bill.
Polymarket has a 60% chance of a shutdown. A week ago it was at 23%.
The Senate confirmed dozens of political appointees en bloc to include the following from the DoW:
Michael Dodd, ASD for Critical Tech
Michael Cadenazzi, ASD Industrial Base Policy
Katherine Sutton, ASD for Cyber Policy
Brent Ingraham, ASA/ALT
Jules Hurst, ASA Manpower and Reserve Affairs
Michael Obadal, USec Army
Justin Overbaugh, DUSD for I&S
Sean O’Keefe, PDUSD P&R
Richard Anderson, ASAF for Manpower and Reserve Affairs
William Jordan Gillis, ASA Installations, Energy, and Environment
House Intel Committee Props up FY26 Funding for NRO Commercial Imagery Buys
The bill also directs the DNI to appoint a single official to oversee the acquisition of commercially available information by all IC agencies.
The House version of the fiscal 2026 Intelligence Act would restore funds cut by the White House for commercial imagery buys by the NRO.
While the line item for NRO’s commercial spending, like the rest of the spysat agency’s budget is classified, it has previously been reported that NRO’s commercial budget hovers at about $400M a year.
Most of that goes to the Electro-Optical Commercial Layer, and the rest goes to study contracts for other types of remote sensing — such as synthetic aperture radar that can see through clouds — under the agency’s Strategic Commercial Enhancements BAA program.
The FY26 “passback” proposal by the Office of Management and Budget to chop an array of NRO funding for commercial ISR data generated vocal push back from the US remote sensing industry and market analysts, as well as some in Congress.
Critics argued that the reductions would undercut national security and wreak economic havoc on the burgeoning sector.
he HPSCI bill includes a new requirement for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to appoint a single official to oversee buying all commercially available information (CAI) for all the agencies making up the Intelligence Community (IC).
These include all the military services, as well as the DIA, NSA, and NGA.
As neither the full House or Senate have passed the FY26 Intelligence Act, it remains unclear when the two sides will get together to hash out the differences.
The Commercial-First Future of Robotics and Autonomy in Defense
Oliver Hsu and Dima Kislovskiy
The future of defense will become increasingly autonomous, and involve deploying unmanned or autonomous systems across land, air, sea, and space.
It is also true that the future of all machines, including in the civilian world, will likely be increasingly autonomous – indeed, the present of consumer products and services is already beginning to be autonomous.
How can we ensure that the U.S. leverages our autonomy technologies to the fullest extent, and that the US warfighter is equipped with the best technologies?
Expanding the defense industrial base to primarily commercial companies and taking a commercial-first approach to procurement, especially in autonomy.
A commercial-first approach is compelling because of the emergence of a software-driven autonomy stack.
In recent years, with hardware advances and tailwinds from sizable commercial investments in autonomous mobility, components like sensors and general robotics computing have become more commoditized, leaving software as the main differentiator for many instances of autonomy.
In parallel, a more software-driven autonomy stack has emerged, consisting of components for perception, localization and mapping, planning and coordination and controls.
The commercial sector makes up much of the emerging autonomy stack, and should be leveraged to provide the best autonomy capabilities for U.S. defense.
With a rapid rate of change in the dynamics of warfare, iteration speed matters. In autonomy, the best place for this kind of rapid iteration to occur is in the commercial sector.
The idea of rapid product iteration – through development, testing, and continued development – is so ingrained in the methodology of early-stage technology companies at this point that it can be considered the default mode of building a startup.
There are also areas of frontier research in robotics and autonomy that are not ready for real-world deployment yet, but may represent promising avenues for future use across both the defense and commercial sectors.
As many commercial companies have built use-case agnostic products for the autonomy stack, defense-first developers of applications and systems integrators can leverage these tools in their own solutions, adapting commercial technologies to the defense environment.
Pentagon Needs a Digital Command as Part of New Approach to Key Technologies
The Pentagon needs a Digital Command and a Digital Warfare Corps, along with other changes, to take advantage of critical new technologies.
How the U.S. military takes advantage of innovation in three fields in particular—sensors, AI and autonomy—will determine if it can maintain its technological advantage over China and other potential adversaries and offset their greater numbers of personnel and equipment.
To execute that strategy and truly treat the sensors, AI, and autonomy as a whole, the Pentagon needs to establish new organizations:
U.S. Digital Command, to take over the role of U.S. Cyber Command and also take charge of information and influence operations and EW—helping control the flow of data through sensors and AI systems and onto autonomous systems.
U.S. Digital Warfare Corps, essentially a new service branch with its own command structure to staff Digital Command and provide technological capabilities to other commands.
Joint Warfighting and Innovation Command, responsible for modernizing and transforming the joint force to fight the wars of today and tomorrow and bringing together concept development, resourcing, and innovation under one roof, with a singular focus on winning the next war.
In the three transformative technologies, the ability to produce quickly, update constantly, and replace rapidly will prove far more decisive than long-term sustainment of exquisite systems.
“People talk about sensors and data, AI, and autonomy in silos. We have to think of these three things as sort of interconnected gears that each turns the others, as opposed to isolated silos that we can pursue independently.” James Ryseff, SCSP Defense Director
War and Modern Battlefield Insights from Ukraine and the Middle East
One of the great imponderables is what war will look like when all the dimensions, new and old, are woven together—information operations, irregular warfare, cyberattacks, space warfare, and even conceivably biological and nuclear warfare.
Military historians often describe changes in warfare as either a steady evolution or punctuated equilibrium. The messy truth is that the sources of military strength and weakness—is often advanced by fits and starts.
There are, however, genuinely new developments in the techne of war. The widespread use of unmanned systems in the Ukraine war is a notable example.
From a few hundred UASs at the beginning of the war, Ukraine began deploying thousands, then tens of thousands, and is now manufacturing millions annually.
War is changing in other respects as well. It has expanded to new realms, chiefly space and cyberspace.
Axis countries could increase their commitment to defend each other in case of external attack through a deeper bilateral treaty or other agreement that commits signers to collective assistance.
Combat power is increasingly defined by the ability to fuse intelligence, orchestrate synchronized actions, and generate affordable mass through dynamic kill webs.
Technology drives change but only through the people who use it and imagine new ways of war.
A combined arms approach remains critical to contending with Russian long-range fires. Operational art will require incorporating new aerial assets into traditional formations and capabilities.
Future forces must use different combat arms simultaneously and effectively, including mechanized infantry, tanks, artillery, air defense, and antitank systems.
Intelligence is more than information; it is insight that helps policymakers avert strategic surprise.
Today, computers and data define modern intelligence, thanks to the estimated more than 400 million terabytes of data the world produces every day. That sea of information makes open-source analysis easier and more impactful than ever before, but it has made traditional intelligence collection far more challenging.
There is a growing chorus of voices who argue that the future of warfare hinges on the production and use of emerging technology, such as autonomous systems, cheap precision-guided missiles, and AI.
But U.S. military capabilities need to be grounded in a viable joint operational concept.
A U.S. offset needs to be based on solving a specific operational problem.
A PLA amphibious invasion of Taiwan offers a useful test case since reuniting the island nation is a major priority for Xi Jinping and a war close to the Chinese mainland would be a major challenge for the U.S. military.
The primary goal of a U.S. operational concept should be stopping such an invasion.
Hegseth’s Drone Strategy and What’s Next
This summer Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced the rollout of a new U.S. strategy for drone dominance. The message was simple: the U.S. is moving aggressively to regain drone dominance, and the Pentagon is shifting its culture from bureaucratic restraint to battlefield readiness.
This posture marks a fundamental change in military procurement, strategy, and readiness with implications for future warfare.
In Ukraine, mass-produced drones have become the most consequential battlefield innovation in a generation, and they continue to show up throughout this conflict.
A posture of a cautious, bureaucratic approach to drone warfare, guided by internal regulatory constraints, has prevented the U.S. from staying ahead of the curve on the rapidly evolving demands of the modern battlefield.
The technologies’ impact on warfare is clear, and the U.S.' previous flat-footed posture posed grave risks, which are now being expeditiously dealt with.
Hegseth’s doctrine on drones and technological advancement means a focus on:
Rescinding restrictive procurement rules
Delegating decision-making from bureaucracy to battlefield commanders
Favoring American-made drones
Using private capital to boost domestic drone manufacturing
Emphasizing low-cost, AI-powered, but highly effective, drone platforms
Implementing a “process race” to out-innovate global competitors.
For national security, this means regaining the technical edge against adversaries and dissuading those adversaries through clear demonstrations of U.S. capabilities, and a willingness to employ them.
Lethality, speed, and innovation are central to the mission.
The DoW’s push is not simply about hardware, but about shifting our mindset.
Don’t Undercut America’s Military Power by Undermining Its AI
Gen (Ret) Joseph Dunford, Former CJCS
We must equip our highly trained people with the most advanced weapons and the most powerful technology available—because lives, missions, and the defense of freedom depend on it. So why would we shortchange our troops and analysts by undermining AI, the very technology that’s quickly becoming one of the most decisive capabilities in the 21st Century?
AI is beginning to deliver meaningful operational gains for the DoD and IC.
AI is being used to simulate battlefield conditions in training, process vast amounts of information in support of decision making and intelligence, enhance cyber defense, enable real-time combat system updates, and field autonomous weapons systems.
Policymakers of both parties have proposed more than 1,000 AI rules at the state level, many of which, while well-intentioned, slow the development of powerful, American-made AI models and hand our adversaries a lasting advantage.
For national security missions, that means combining high-quality, publicly available data with mission-specific, classified datasets. While models used by the DoD and IC will most often be specially trained for internal needs, they still benefit enormously from being built atop strong commercial foundations.
Some guardrails are necessary, especially where AI applications intersect with life-and-death decisions, such as WMDs or autonomous targeting systems.
But general-purpose AI models must be trained comprehensively if they’re going to help safeguard U.S. national security and support mission-critical operations.
U.S. AI policy, especially in defense and intelligence, must be guided by four clear principles:
Scale America’s AI infrastructure—energy, compute, data, talent, and more—while strategically depriving China of the critical enablers of its AI ambitions.
Ensure our policies support our strategic goals. That includes boosting R&D; attracting capital; maximizing AI model quality through broad, responsible training; and working toward a more centralized AI regulatory framework, including a state AI regulation pause and continuation of existing fair use laws, which enables AI scaling and deployment.
Protect the public against high-risk scenarios with smart, enforceable guardrails that don’t overreach.
Ensure military and intelligence access to the most capable and secure commercial AI tools available—both open- and closed-source—and that those tools can be adapted for mission-specific use.
Transparency is Key As AI Gets Smarter
Cybersecurity panelists spotlighted multiple risks and threats posed by emerging frontier AI applications.
To gain the U.S. government’s trust, advanced AI systems must be engineered from the outset with reliable components offering explainability and transparency.
Officials underscored the importance of guardrails and oversight — particularly as the DoD and IC adopt the technology for an ever-increasing range of operations, and experts predict major breakthroughs will emerge in certain areas within the next few years.
Frontier AI refers to next-generation systems, also dubbed foundation models, that are considered among the most powerful and complex technologies currently in development. These likely disruptive capabilities hold potential to unlock discoveries that could be immensely helpful or catastrophically harmful to humanity.
Both OpenAI and Anthropic have reportedly disclosed recent efforts to implement new guardrails because their models appear to be approaching high-risk levels for potentially helping produce certain weapons.
Multiple risks and threats are posed by emerging frontier AI applications. For instance, prompt injections are a type of cyberattack that happen when malicious users craft inputs to an AI system to trick the model into performing unintended or dangerous actions, such as revealing sensitive data or generating unsafe material.
Pentagon to Soon Release Data Tagging, Labeling Guidance
The Pentagon is preparing to release new guidance on data tagging and labeling, according to a senior official. The move aims to resolve a long-standing issue that has hindered the department’s ability to fully implement its zero trust cybersecurity strategy.
Randy Resnick, director of the Zero Trust Portfolio Management Office (ZTPFMO), emphasized that while zero trust efforts have focused heavily on identity and device security, data tagging and labeling have been a long-missing but essential capability for enabling secure data access.
ZTPFMO has worked closely with the CDAO to co-develop enterprise-wide data tagging and labeling guidance. The CDAO will lead the rollout of these standards, with ZTPFMO providing strategic input.
Data tagging and labeling help systems identify data sensitivity, classification, and handling requirements, which are essential for implementing zero trust principles such as identity management.
The upcoming guidance will provide a consistent framework for tagging and labeling data, enabling better data governance, more secure data sharing, and stronger enforcement of zero trust policies across the DOD.
DoW Awards $39.6M to Expand Solid Rocket Motor Industrial Base
DoW announced three awards totaling $39.6M to expand the solid rocket motor industrial base via Title III of the Defense Production Act (DPA). The awardees are:
Materials Resources LLC (MRL) in Xenia, OH
ICF Mercantile LLC (ICF) in Warren, NJ
SPARC Research LLC (SPARC) in Warrenton, VA.
These awards support the DoW’s objectives to expand the munitions industrial base, bolster supply chain resiliency, and increase domestic production in strategic priority areas.
These are three of 14 investments made by the DPA Purchases Office totaling $777M since the beginning of FY2 5.
"These strategic investments in our solid rocket motor industrial base are crucial to ensuring the DoW continues to have access to the munition propulsion systems required for our national security. By partnering with industry through the DPA, we are strengthening the resilience of our supply chains and growing domestic manufacturing capacity that is vital to maintaining our technological edge." Michael Duffey, USW for Acquisition and Sustainment
US Fields Hypersonic Missile-Killer System with 1,000-mile Range Near China
The DoW showcased its Typhon intermediate-range missile system in Japan for the first time. The land-based system is capable of firing Tomahawk cruise missiles that can hit nearly 1,000 miles, far enough to reach China’s eastern seaboard.
The two-week drill involves about 20,000 Japanese and US troops, warships, and missile batteries across Japan.
The speed with which it can be deployed enables us to forward position it when required expeditiously.
The system’s arrival in western Japan follows its deployment to the Philippines in April 2024, which drew sharp criticism from Beijing and Moscow.
Typhon, also known as the Army’s Mid-Range Capability system, can also fire SM-6 missiles designed to strike ships or aircraft at ranges beyond 125 miles.
BAE Systems and AFRL Collaborate on Quantum Sensing and Networking Research
BAE Systems FAST Labs research, development and production organization and the AFRL have signed a three year CRADA to advance quantum sensing and networking capabilities.
This collaboration aims to refine and integrate cutting-edge technologies into quantum sensors, networks, and distributed sensing research in an effort to revolutionize capabilities and enhance future security for defense and civilian applications.
Under the CRADA, BAE Systems' FAST Labs will use its expertise in developing quantum RF sensors based on Rydberg atoms, which are highly excited atoms suitable for studying quantum mechanics and enabling new technologies.
This allows for frequency-independent sensing, ideal for integration on smaller platforms
Kirsten Davies, DoD CIO Nominee, Advocates for Great Change at DOW
“America’s warfighter readiness and lethality depend upon secure, resilient, modernized systems and innovative technical and cyber capabilities. The department has challenges to overcome. It is weighed down with legacy systems and un-optimized data.
There are great people, but at today’s speed of change, skills must be constantly refreshed and future fit. New entrants with innovative tech solutions struggle with red tape and lack of access.
Cyberattacks are pervasive, and America’s adversaries are motivated and capable to inflict massive impact, and there is little deterrence. Great change is needed in this time and in this hour.
Decision-making should be based on key criteria like mission criticality, security and supply-chain risk, technology pace, lifecycle costs, and interoperability and enterprise standards”
Other Defense Tech News:
Army Adopts Venture Capital Model to Speed Tech to Soldiers
The Army is rolling out a new initiative, dubbed Fuze, that leaders say will overhaul how they invest in technology by borrowing from Silicon Valley’s venture capital playbook.
The Army is betting that venture-style risk-taking can shave years off procurement timelines and will determine whether Silicon Valley speed can mesh with Pentagon scale.
Fuze will help the Army to not only invest but scale promising capabilities — bridging the valley of death.
Unlike traditional procurement that starts with an Army-defined problem followed by appointing a company to solve the problem, Fuze flips the approach. The new process allows the Army to find technology to bring in that helps us think about what our problems are differently.
The program aligns four existing fundings streams: XTech prize competitions, small-business funding, tech maturation, and manufacturing technology — worth about $750M in FY25.
The Army plans to initiate the program by running an XTech Disrupt live pitch competition, in partnership with Y Combinator. The competition will focus on four technology areas important to the Army: EW, UAS, counter-UAS, and energy resiliency at the edge. The prize pool totals $500K.
“We’re really taking the approach where we’re going to deliberately make a large number of investments in emerging tech companies. Some tech might not reach the maturity that we want, but there’s going to be some companies that are going to have an outsized, revolutionary impact on our soldiers. We’re coalescing these innovation programs from a strategic, operational and execution standpoint… to help companies move through that pipeline more quickly.” Matt Willis, Fuze Program Director
“Continuous transformation is like our once-in-a-generation change for the Army to get at and prepare for the future battlefield. A key part of that is the acquisition process to really make sure that the warfighter and the soldier on the battlefield has the correct technology they need. We’re hoping to have a capability to an acquisition pathway in 10 days, and hopefully within 30 to 45 days, for the first prototype to be with an Army unit. Tech is so quickly evolving, you have to be able to acquire this quickly and iterate quickly, or else you’re instantly behind, even if you do successfully acquire it. I think that’s the risk.” Brandon Pugh, the Army’s cyber adviser
Related: Army launches VC-style model FUZE program to invest early in promising military tech
In a LinkedIn post, Army Future noted that Dan Driscoll, Secretary of the Army announced the launch of Army FUZE - a unified innovation enterprise that connects four cornerstone programs:
xTech Disrupt
The Army is seeking agile, adaptive and lethal technology solutions from eligible small to medium business attending the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Annual Meeting & Exposition in Washington, D.C., from October 13-15, 2025, to assist with critical Army priorities through the xTechDisrupt competition.
The Army seeks agile, adaptive and lethal capabilities in support of it’s imperative to “Win at the Pace of Change” across four critical focus areas:
Electronic Warfare
Power Generation / Management / Storage
Unmanned Aerial Systems
Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS)
The competition will award up to $500K in cash prizes to selected participants. Up to 36 applicants will be selected on-site at the 2025 AUSA Annual Meeting to present their tech concepts to a live panel of Army and DoD SMEs.
The Army intends to select up to eight winners to receive a cash prize of $62,500 each. In addition to the monetary award, winners will earn exclusive opportunities that extend far beyond the competition itself.
Army On Hunt For Ready Now Capabilities
To close the gap between the speed of emerging technologies and the DoD’s notoriously slow acquisition process, Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) is focusing on fielding capabilities that are ready now.
“Capabilities that are ready now are in an advanced stage of development but may still require fine-tuning to transition into programs of record and achieve wide-scale deployment. Such technology is often low density, low quantity but mature enough to be put in the hands of soldiers for experimentation purposes.” Jeffrey Thomas, S&T Integration Director.
Ready Now aims to identify capabilities that are at or above TRL 6, meaning a system or subsystem model or prototype can be demonstrated in a relevant environment.
The Ready Now initiative’s lines of effort include UAS strategy, counter-sUAS, human-machine integration and lethality.
Army capabilities that are “ready now” include:
Autonomous Mobility through Intelligent Collaboration program
Autonomous Multi-Domain Launcher
Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station — Ballistic Low-Altitude Drone Engagement
Extreme Accuracy Grenade Launched Engagement
The Army is also developing a new warfighting concept that goes hand in hand with the Ready Now initiative, built on the idea of predicting what a future operational environment could look like.
“Signaling to industry what the Army needs is exceedingly difficult because the service needs commonality and flexibility at the same time, which are broadly contradictory. This is what we struggle with now is, we want input from industry. We need the diversity of options where we describe a problem, and you bring us unique solutions, but then we still have to fuel all that stuff, but we still have to maintain and equip all that stuff.” David Meyer, Director of Futures Integration
Army Allowing Commanders to Approve 3D-Printed Parts for Faster Repairs
The Army is expanding its use of additive manufacturing in the battlefield as they now allowing commanders to repair and send back out pieces of small 3D-printed equipment, instead of waiting for permission from the Army’s higher ups.
Commanders and soldiers in the battlefield are using 3D printers to print parts for platforms like infantry squad vehicles and M777 Lightweight 155mm howitzers.
Instead of getting approval to use these parts from Army leaders not on the battlefield, the commanders are allowed to decide if the parts are good to go out.
Driscoll predicts that additive manufacturing will receive more funding in the FY27 budget, especially given the imminent threat of a potential conflict with China, which the Pentagon has said could potentially happen in 2027.
“We’re empowering our generals to take on that risk where we have the right to repair so that they can make these very small parts to get things back on and get them back into the hands of our soldiers. A lot of howitzers are down right now for very simple pieces that we could 3D print and have known how to 3D print, and actually have the design files to 3D print, but we haven’t done it. So the Army has kicked off a very aggressive approach to that.” Dan Driscoll, Secretary of the Army
Big Ships and Little Tech: A Barbell Plan for Deterrence
A force that cannot see the battlefield cannot win on it. In Ukraine, commercial sensors, cheap drones, resilient comms, and fast adaptation are imposing disproportionate costs on a larger foe. The implications for the Indo-Pacific are alarming. The lesson isn’t that drones beat ships. It’s that reconnaissance, counter-reconnaissance, and rapid replenishment decide campaigns.
In our forthcoming book The Arsenal of Democracy: Technology, Industry, and Deterrence in an Age of Hard Choices, we argue that America’s vulnerability is not a shortage of ideas. It’s a shortage of capacity and a tangle of institutions that prevent us from translating ideas into fielded capability at the speed required.
Deterrence is a system: Resilient C4ISR, credible long-range strike, hardened and supplied positions, and a robust allied defense industrial base.
Deterrence means showing the ability to make that system work faster. It is about delivering a powerful opening punch—and sustaining the fight as long as it takes.
To execute this relatively simple mission, we have created a procurement system that is maddeningly, wastefully complex.
Enormous, long-term contracts necessitated labyrinthine requirements and piles of red tape. Meanwhile, our shipyards aged, our energetics capacity shrank, and our munitions stockpiles thinned. Our industrial base lost its capacity, and more importantly its agility.
Tear out the parts of the acquisition system that are hostile to time.
Change the default. Start with commercial. When a field-ready capability exists, DoD should buy it under commercial pathways rather than launch a bespoke program.
Change the process. Fund portfolios of competing prototypes, measure against effects and time-to-fielding, and scale the winners.
Change the culture and cost of entry. Non-traditional contractors face a compliance moat designed for yesterday’s programs.
Change the incentives. Acquisition officials should be rewarded for delivering capability on operationally relevant timelines, not for process compliance.
Founders and engineers building dual-use tech can help bring about the change the system urgently needs.
Map to the kill chain, and stay historically informed.
Design for the portfolio world. Aim for an 80% solution fast under OTAs/DIU.
Engineer for attrition and repair.
Deterrence failed in 1941. We shouldn’t make the same mistake today.
Combat Craft Medium to Gain New, Improved Sibling
SOCOM’s Combat Craft Medium Mark 1 will get a new and improved next-gen sibling in the future called the Combat Craft Medium Mark 2. Currently, USSOCOM is working with ReconCraft on the first completely new Naval Special Warfare boat design since 2015.
CCM Mark 1 is a durable, stealthy, low-observable, armored double-hull aluminum boat used by Naval Special Boat Teams for infiltration and extraction of special operations forces in medium-threat environments.
CCM Mark 2 is slightly longer, wider and deeper than the CCM Mark 1.
The CCM Mk2 will replace the CCM Mk1 with a high-speed, aluminum-hulled craft designed to enhance USSOCOM’s maritime capabilities. It incorporates advanced materials and technologies to support multi-role capabilities for maritime missions.
This effort includes the design consulting, prototyping, fabrication and outfitting of a single CCM Mk2 prototype, with the potential for a follow-on production contract or agreement.
Can Drones Replace Navy Destroyers? Yes and No
All in all, the expansion of USV use is a promising experiment that could ameliorate the Navy’s force-structure woes—while amplifying US fleets’ combat power in a hurry.
Navy’s Task Force 66 is probing how many drones does it take to replace a destroyer. An arm of the Mediterranean-based Sixth Fleet, Task Force 66 is experimenting with the postmodern-sounding concept of a “deconstructed destroyer,” according to task-force overseer RDML Michael Mattis.
A flotilla of 20 USVs of different, heterogeneous types could perform the same missions as an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer (DDG). We think we could do it at a cost point of essentially 1/30 of what a DDG ($2.5B) would cost.
There are many attributes a drone flotilla would require to replace a destroyer.
A distributed or dispersed, fleet architecture could make its at-sea debut at long last. Naval potentates have been talking about “distributed lethality” and “distributed maritime operations” for more than a decade now. It appears that martial tech is catching up with prevailing ideas about fleet design and ops.
Battle damage to a destroyer could subtract 100% of the fleet’s capabilities. Taking out one of a constellation of twenty drones would subtract just 5%.
A resilient system can resist if not withstand damage; an antifragile system absorbs damage and comes back stronger. It reaps positive benefits from disorder.
Right now, the industrial sector is delivering about two guided-missile destroyer hulls per year, with limited capacity to expand. That’s a sluggish tempo.
But dozens of shipyards capable of manufacturing smaller craft—in the 100-300-foot range—dot US coastlines. There are your USV builders.
It’s hardly far-fetched to imagine interoperability troubles among USVs from disparate manufacturers, and between USVs and traditional crewed assets. Heterogeneity is a foreseeable problem to be managed.
A deconstructed destroyer would be a system of systems, its efforts coordinated through the electromagnetic spectrum — Which China seeks to disrupt.
The expansion of USV use is a promising experiment that could ameliorate the Navy’s force-structure woes—while amplifying combat power in a hurry.
DIU asks Industry for Non-Kinetic Tech to Help Coast Guard, Navy Disable Small Boats
DIU explicitly cited the border patrol mission that the White House has prioritized.
“The use of small watercraft by our nation’s adversaries, including transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) and state actors, to smuggle illicit cargo and aliens across the U.S.’s maritime borders presents a growing security challenge.”
The solution must be operable from a small Coast Guard boat while underway and be mature enough such that the government can begin testing within 60 days.
This solution could be, but is not limited to, localized, non-kinetic energy (e.g., electromagnetic radiation), a novel Electronic Attack method, or other novel means.
Navy Determines Planned Ship Inactivations for FY26
The Navy plans to inactivate or transfer eight ships during fiscal 2026, including two warships and six auxiliary ships.
Two Los Angeles-class attack submarines.
Two Henry J. Kaiser-class fleet replenishment oilers
Three Watson-class large, medium-speed roll-on/roll off ships
USNS VADM K.R. Wheeler (T-AG 5001), offshore petroleum distribution.
Eastern Shipbuilding Partners with HII to Boost Navy Destroyer Production
Eastern Shipbuilding Group (ESG) has announced a strategic agreement with HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding Division to support production of outfitted structural units for the U.S. Navy’s Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers. The partnership helps expand America’s naval shipbuilding capacity at a critical time for the nation’s defense industrial base.
How the Marine Corps is Moving to Upskill its Workforce on AI
The Marine Corps is deploying strategic digital transformation teams and getting set to launch a new training effort to instruct and upskill its entire workforce on AI and associated emerging technologies.
“We’re doing a lot of things and we’re really excited to continue partnering, continue growing, and to build our workforce, so that we can really deploy these capabilities in a way that makes sense — that impacts the Marines — and ultimately makes them more effective, more involved and more able to do their job.” Capt Christopher Clark, Marine Corps AI Lead
Over the last two years, officials developed a comprehensive AI strategy and implementation plan to guide the Marines’ full-scale adoption of the rapidly evolving capabilities.
They partnered with the Air Force, MIT and the Naval Postgraduate School to create new AI fellowship opportunities for Marines.
The Marine Corps is also going to host a five-day workshop in Quantico, where service members, civilians and industry will discuss key operational problems that generative AI can help solve.
As part of its new AI guidance, the Corps is deploying Digital Transformation Teams (DTTs), to identify use cases for the technology and areas for workflow integration.
These teams are meant to deliver AI solutions to their command and also integrate back into Headquarters Marine Corps as we develop policies, as we identify the requirements, to be delivered through the capabilities.
Our Take: BZ to the Marines on this one!! A Marine armed with a rifle and AI are unstoppable!!
Next-Gen AI May End Era of Invisible Submarines, Make Detection Easy
The era of stealth submarines may reportedly be coming to an end as AI reshapes naval warfare. A recent study from China, published in the peer-reviewed journal Electronics Optics & Control in August, reveals an advanced AI-driven anti-submarine warfare (ASW) system capable of detecting and tracking even the quietest submarines.
The findings suggest that traditional submarine stealth strategies could soon be far less effective against AI-enhanced naval technologies.
The new system functions like an intelligent commander at sea, combining data from sonar buoys, underwater sensors, radar, and even ocean temperature and salinity to create a real-time, comprehensive picture of underwater activity.
In computer simulations, the AI successfully located and tracked enemy submarines about 95% of the time, regardless of how skillfully they tried to hide.
Even when submarines employed advanced decoys or drones to confuse the search, the AI maintained its pursuit, adapting in real time to stay on target.
Navy Robot Spacecraft for Satellite Servicing Survives Punishing Test
NRL-developed robotic servicing technology will service satellites in the GEO orbit.
NRL’s robotic satellite service system completed its space-readiness testing.
The Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS) payload was integrated with the Mission Robotic Vehicle (MRV) spacecraft bus.
In the thermal vacuum (TVAC), the duo battled with the punishing extremes of space — intense heat, bitter cold, and the absolute vacuum — within a specialized chamber on Earth, culminating of over two decades of R&D.
NLR has partnered with Northrop Grumman’s SpaceLogistics, with additional funding from the DARPA for this initiative.
NPS Acquisition Research Symposium Call for Papers
NPS announced their Call for Papers for the Accelerating Warfighting Capabilities for their 23rd Annual Acquisition Research Symposium and Innovation Summit to be held on May 6-7, 2026 in Monterey, CA.
The goal of this dual event is to explore and promote innovative ways to enhance readiness, deter adversaries, and increase warfighting capabilities by reviving our defense industrial base, reforming our acquisition process, and rapidly fielding emerging technologies.
Paper and panel proposals are due 18 Nov 2025.
Our Take: We need the brightest minds across the DoW, Industry, and academia continuing to advance thoughtful research to advance and accelerate acquisition. Ensure the research provides practical applications for acquisition professionals and executives to act upon the insightful results.
Returning the Air Force to Its Expeditionary Roots
If the United States goes to war tomorrow, its Air Force will fly and fight as the world’s best. But the service will operate in a world where the assumptions that shaped it for more than 30 years no longer hold.
No longer can the Air Force rely on Bagram-style air bases as sanctuaries, thanks to anti-access and area-denial capabilities developed by China and others.
To deter and defeat adversaries, the service must focus on agility, adaptability, and operating with a smaller footprint in austere environments.
Leaders must refine options for getting into theater to generate tempo and seize initiative. In short, the Air Force must return to its expeditionary roots.
During World War II, Gen. Pete Quesada and the 9th Air Force brought expeditionary practices to the European theater.
As the Third Infantry Division advanced across the continent, Quesada’s teams leap-frogged forward, establishing temporary airfields every few days to keep pace with Patton’s armored columns.
Forward basing of fighter-bombers and mobile base defense, paired with air liaison officers embedded in ground units, enabled constant high-tempo combined arms to counter German Panzers.
The Air Force’s One Force Design is a transformational framework with future operating concepts tailored to the complex threats of great power competition.
Combined, these concepts create the ability to generate combat power within dense threat areas while under constant attack, employing fires in mass against enemy forces while simultaneously operating from defendable areas to project fires into highly contested environments.
Operational concepts like Agile Combat Employment bring this framework to life, enabling the footprint to be light and lean and sustain operations from austere locations.
Department-level exercises like the one recently completed in the Pacific show what it looks like to return Airmen to expeditionary roots.
Interoperability was central. The exercise, like previous ones, affirmed that in the next fight, the Air Force will have to use what’s already there.
Pentagon Moves To Replace Weapons It Used In Operation Midnight Hammer
OSD submitted a reprogramming package to replace the munitions used in Operation Midnight Hammer including $123M for MOP bombs and $495M for THAADs.
“As the Operation Midnight Hammer strike package entered Iranian airspace, the U.S. employed several deception tactics, including decoys as the fourth and fifth generation aircraft pushed out in front of the strike package at high altitude and high speed, sweeping in front of the package for enemy fighters and surface to air missiles. As the strike package approached Fordow and Natanz, the U.S. protection package employed high-speed suppression weapons to ensure safe passage of the strike package with fighter assets employing preemptive suppressing fires against any potential Iranian surface-to-air threats.” Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a press briefing the morning after the operation
Doubts, Confusion Surround Air Force Next-Gen Tanker Plans
When the Air Force’s FY26 budget request finally appeared in June, significant funding for the Next Generation Air-refueling System wasn’t included leading many to conclude that the service had put on hold the concept.
But in late July, the Air Force said the NGAS concept was being analyzed as a family of systems with many options and variations, including current tankers with survivability mission systems.
Gen Minihan noted that the initial concept was created for NGAS to be truly next generation. He sees concepts like the JetZero platform that could be a new tanker and also do jam and spoof and electronic warfare and decoy.
Minihan said he agreed with the Air Force’s decision to buy more KC-46s, but only “because it’s the devil we know” but observed that there are huge capability gaps between the Air Force’s existing tanker fleet and its fleet of combat aircraft.
Others see funding NGAS driven by the Air Force’s focus on building runway-independent aircraft and air defense systems for Mission Area 1 while keeping enough tankers to support Mission Area aircraft (F-47, B-21 and CCA fleets).
“To be clear, we’re spending more on Air Force bands than we’re spending to invest in the next generation of aerial refueling or even the current generation when it comes to connectivity. That’s a big fat insult to the mobility community.” Gen (ret) Minihan
Startup Aims To Deliver An Autonomous Airlifter For Air Force By 2028
Teams of U.S. Air Force and industry planners, operators and technologists gathered in a conference room in 2024 to imagine an air war over Taiwan, but this wargame came with a twist.
The advent of collaborative combat aircraft (CCA)—a family of largely autonomous, jet-powered combat aircraft capable of a wide range of military missions—changed their approach.
By basing these CCAs on small airstrips in southern Japan and the northern Philippines, the air war planners found a disruptive new weapon to threaten Chinese air superiority over the Taiwan Strait.
The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, which hosted the wargame, found one problem with that plan: The Air Force lacks an airlift fleet that could resupply the forward bases within the engagement zone of Chinese missiles.
Even if enough Lockheed Martin C-130s and Boeing C-17s could be spared for the task, sending them so deep into hostile territory would incur severe risks.
Meet the Tacit Spear, a concept from the Atropos Group, a two-month-old startup.
It is an autonomous aircraft designed by Darold Cummings—a former Northrop Grumman aircraft configuration lead—to deliver a Leonardo C-27J Spartan-like payload of about 20,000 lb. with a cargo bay large enough to carry three military-standard 463L pallets.
It would come with a ferry range of 2,500 nm, which is long enough to self-deploy to staging bases in the Pacific. And its twin-turbofan, embedded engines and swept wings can take off and land from unimproved airfields as short as 5,000 ft.
With sharps chines down the upper fuselage, forward-swept inlets and canted tails, the Tacit Spear is designed to operate in hostile airspace.
The Tacit Spear is scheduled for a first flight in less than three years.
“Our first product is a clean-sheet development, test and operation of the aircraft version of the Liberty Ship for the Information Age—unmanned, autonomous, versatile, mass-producible and capable of delivering relevant mass over relevant ranges.” Atropos CEO and co-founder Colin Carroll
Air Force Gets Ambitious with Yearlong Test of Autonomous Cargo Craft
Startup Reliable Robotics announced last month that it has reached a $17.4 million deal to adapt a Cessna 208B for the mission. The aircraft is rated to carry around 3,000 pounds as far as 1,000 nautical miles.
Another startup trying to get into the automated cargo game is Grid Aero, which recently unveiled a prototype “flying pickup truck” cargo drone.
DZYNE is another: it delivered multiple autonomous cargo gliders to the Air Force that can be launched out the back of a C-17 or C-130.
Joby Aviation announced its autonomous flight technology flew more than 40 hours and 7,000 miles during the Air Force’s Resolute Force Pacific exercise, also using a Cessna Caravan 208.
“We’re going to buy an aircraft, we’re going to outfit it with our reliable autonomy system, and then we’re going to give it to the Air Force,” And they’re going to operate it for nominally about a year, doing some test and evaluation. The expectation is they’ll probably be in the Pacific theater, because that seems to make the most sense, and they’ll get used to it.” Maj. Gen. (ret) David O’Brien, senior vice president of Reliable Robotics
F-35 Lot 18 ‘Price Increase’ Due to Inflation, Rising Raw Material Cost
The Pentagon says that inflation, an ever-rising cost of raw materials and supply chain woes are to blame for a “significant price increase” of Lot 18 F-35 fighter jets, including those currently under negotiation with the Swiss military.
Following a cost dispute with Switzerland that threatens to cut Bern’s planned buy of 36 F-35As, costs for F-35 airframes and engines, have been trending higher than the initial estimates outlined in the Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) that Switzerland signed in 2022.
The rising costs are primarily attributed to inflation, significant global price increases for raw materials, and supply chain disruptions.
D.C.'s Sunk-Cost ICBM Fallacy
William J. Perry, who served a three-year stint as Bill Clinton’s Secretary of Defense, believes that “the United States can safely phase out its land-based intercontinental ballistic missile … force” and save “considerable costs.”
Submarine-launched ballistic missiles (designed specifically for stealth and the precise delivery of nuclear warheads) are adequate “to deter our enemies and will be for the foreseeable future,” and the “bomber force is a good insurance policy.”
Perry is hardly alone. In 2021, “a letter signed by nearly 700 scientists and engineers, including 21 Nobel laureates and 69 members of the National Academies” asked the commander-in-chief to pink-slip ICBMs, since they supply “no military capability that is not provided” by sub-launched nukes.
Our Take: We certainly agree that in a budget-constrained world, a change in thinking is needed and proposed some similar thoughts in a recent post.
Other Air Force News:
Space Is the New Frontier of War, Officials Say in Change of Tone
Space has become a war-fighting domain, an assessment that calls for doctrinal changes and the ability to intervene there more quickly.
The language is a step up from more diplomatic assessments at the summit last year, when military space leaders discussed growing threats to in-orbit assets, without going as far as describing space as a potential war zone or battlefield.
More than 200 anti-satellite weapons now circle Earth in different orbits.
Russia has a full range of capabilities from satellites for rendezvous and proximity operations and orbiters that pack smaller satellites like a Russian doll, to anti-satellite missiles, electronic warfare, laser dazzling and cyber attacks.
There will be a need for a common space doctrine, for example how to protect allied assets or counter adversarial offensive action.
Changing language allows to open up the discussion of future defense strategies, including the need to take offensive and defensive action in space to protect critical infrastructure.
Rather than “giant school bus-sized things” in geostationary orbit, the answers might be “tactically responsive capabilities that allow militaries to maintain a war fighting advantage.
“The rule-based international order in space is nearly over. We have to accept that space is a tested domain, is a war-fighting domain, is becoming a war-fighting domain.” Brig. Gen. Jürgen Schrödl, German Ministry of Defence
Space Force Cell Explores Reorg to Push Commercial Data to Military
The Space Force’s Joint Commercial Operations (JCO) cell is in the midst of a reorganization designed to enable routine integration of space domain awareness (SDA) data and analysis from commercial operators into military operations — not just at SPACECOM, but across all the Combatant Commands.
The move will transform the JCO from what has been for many years a test bed for figuring out to share unclassified SDA data to and from commercial providers into an “enduring construct” with bureaucratic staying power.
The plan is to set up methodologies for JCO to serve as a conduit for transmitting commercial, and eventually allied, SDA information to operators at CCMDs.
Commercial SDA services would be provisioned by the JCO to CCMDs via the Space Force’s operational deltas and the service’s components that function as liaison units to the Combatant Commands.
Commercial SDA data acquired by the JCO is put into the Unified Data Library — which up to now has essentially been a static data library that did not directly interface with any space monitoring and tracking operations.
The Space Force in March kicked off a fast-track plan to update the UDL to enable machine-to-machine interfaces with operational systems.
On the acquisition side, the JCO model is based on “short duration, competitive, constant on-boarding,” where contracts with firms — e.g. Leolabs, Exoanalytic, Slingshot and COMSPOC — are made only for a four- to six-week period.
Defense Agencies Propel Demand for Earth-Observation Data
Defense and security applications provided almost half of the revenue generated by Earth-observation satellites in 2024.
While commercial and civil demand for satellite data continues to expand, the main catalyst remains rising geopolitical tension, which has revealed the strategic importance of space-based capabilities in securing national sovereignty and ensuring strategic autonomy.
Over the next decade, Novaspace anticipates rising demand for Earth-observation imagery with a resolution of 30 to 50 centimeters per pixel or even less, services that promise to frequently revisit sites of interest and speedy information delivery supported by edge computing.
The commercial market will nearly triple to $17 billion in the next decade to account for 12 percent of Earth-observation revenues.
Another key trend Novaspace sees is data fusion. Increasingly, electro-optical imagery will be paired, for example, with synthetic aperture radar and hyperspectral data plus signals intelligence.
Space Force Accelerates Reorganization of Acquisition Units
Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant, head of the Space Systems Command, said the restructuring — centered on “System Deltas” that pair acquisition officers with operational commanders — is progressing at a fast pace.
Space Force Adds Unit Tying Acquisition to Test and Training
Space Systems Command stood up System Delta 81 on Sept. 9 to partner with both Space Training and Readiness Command and Space Operations Command to help them acquire test and training infrastructure.
System Delta 81 is the fourth system delta established by SSC, which announced two such units this year with still more planned before the end of the year.
SYD 81 is the first that will be working not just with SpOC, but also with deltas at Space Training and Readiness Command, which are responsible for USSF testing, training, doctrine, wargaming, training ranges, and aggressor training.
A high-fidelity simulated training environment, where Guardians at different locations can train against realistic threats scenarios, is one clear priority.
“The efforts across SYD 81 will ensure our Guardians are equipped with the right tools, able to validate capabilities and enhance combat effectiveness.” Col. Corey Klopstein
Related Article: Space Force Activates System Delta Unit for Modernized Test, Training Infrastructure Program
Anduril, Impulse to Demo Maneuvering Satellite, With Sights Set On Space Force Missions
Anduril Industries and propulsion startup Impulse Space revealed today they are teaming up to build and fly a jointly funded demonstration satellite for rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) — in response to what company officials see as increasing Space Force demand for such capabilities.
They are confident that the service will be interested in commercially available satellites with low cost, high thrust maneuverability as on-orbit threats multiply.
RPO capabilities are foundational to the Space Force’s plans for improving space domain awareness as adversaries increasingly deploy satellites that could threaten US spacecraft and terrestrial forces.
The need for “maneuver without regret” has been championed by US Space Command for years now — who argue that RPO will be key to orbital warfare.
Impulse in October 2024 won a $34.5M contract from the Space Force and DIU to provide a Mira vehicle for the future Victus Surgo and Victus Salo missions under the Tactically Responsive Space program.
Anduril said it is bringing the payloads to the joint venture, including a new long-wave infrared (LWIR) imager, a mission data processor based on its Lattice software, as well as providing third-party sensors.
Anduril already is providing Lattice to the Space Force under a November 2024 contract to link together the various radar, telescopes and spacecraft that make up the service’s Space Surveillance Network for keeping eyes on the heavens.
Long wave provides significant benefits on orbit, particularly the ability to see very dim targets and targets when they are not made visible by the Sun.
“What we aim to demonstrate with this mission is the ability for us to commercially fund this, demonstrate it working and be an enabler to future DoD missions, and we see the demand for those missions. I just think freedom of maneuver is going to be the enabler for every space mission going forward.” Gokul Subramanian, Anduril’s SVP of Engineering
Our Take: We 100% agree from our previous experience in Space Force that the ability to move at will as adversary aggression in space increases will be key to providing uninterrupted support to warfighters on the ground and in the air. DoD has only made incremental progress in increasing the number of RPO assets - and this effort could be a more affordable to bring mass to this important mission.
Other Space Force News:
For Golden Dome To Work, It Needs To Be Put To The Test
President Donald Trump’s initiative to protect the homeland from missile attacks, the Golden Dome for America, is now underway. Initial funding was secured in the reconciliation bill, and industry will soon be unleashed to contribute to the project.
The technical challenges associated with implementing Golden Dome, however, will require integrating disparate systems across vast distances and different domains — from space-based sensors to ground-based interceptors.
Among many other challenges, rigorous and calibrated End-to-End testing is an essential but underappreciated component to ensure the Golden Dome functions at the highest possible level, and on time.
E2E testing involves leveraging novel testing methods for both hardware and software and simulating diverse, realistic scenarios, such as detecting and tracking various missile threats in space with real targets.
Over the past few years, commercial companies have developed multiple and novel testbeds for ballistic and hypersonic reentry programs.
The testing ecosystem now includes representation from large primes to innovative Silicon Beach start-ups that are increasing the capacity and capability of hypersonic and reentry testing.
As the lead engineering and test arm for Golden Dome, MDA can bring together new facilities and significant test capabilities.
The Pentagon could, through earlier and broader investment, incentivize companies to build more hypersonic and space testing facilities and make them available for broad use in support of Golden Dome testing requirements.
One way to do meet those objectives is to involve Golden Dome industry partners in the development of the integrated master test plan from the very beginning.
DoD Envisions Prize Competition for Boost-Phase SBI Prototypes
The Pentagon has proposed an unusual plan to develop boost-phase space-based interceptors (SBIs) that would require firms to build and launch prototypes to compete for relatively small prize awards — in the hopes that winning the trials will lead to big production contracts post-2028.
SBIs are a key, and controversial, node in the Golden Dome initiative designed to create an air and missile defense shield over the US homeland.
The prize model proposal’s requirement for such a high level of self funding came as a bit of a surprise to industry.
The plan is encapsulated in preliminary “lines of effort” (LOEs) that cover two types of prototype interceptors: endo-atmospheric, designed to shoot down incoming missiles before they leave the atmosphere, and exo-atmospheric, designed to hit them just after they pass over the notional line into space and achieve 120 kilometers (74.6 miles) in altitude.
Besides the SBI prototypes themselves, there are also LOEs envisioning similar prize projects for the prototyping of related fire control sensors, systems to counter hypersonic glide vehicles, and ground elements.
Somewhat mysteriously, there was no LOE issued for mid-course SBIs, despite their inclusion in slides shown during the Aug. 7 Golden Dome industry day.
For both the endo- and exo-atmospheric prototypes, the LOEs say that the initial award provided to “approximately three to five performers” qualifying to compete would be $120K with three one-year options.
The prizes — with maximum values in the low hundreds of millions — would be awarded to the winners in each of four trial phases called “gates”:
A ground test
Two flight tests to demonstrate velocity and orbital insertion capabilities
An intercept test using targets
For example, for the endo-atmospheric SBI variant, there is a total of $150M for up to three winners for the ground test; $330M for up to three winners of the first flight test; and $340M for up to three winners for the second flight test.
More than one representative of the space and defense firms asked about the SBI prize plan described it as “insane.”
“I think it’s a smart approach in theory, but the dollar amounts the government is offering seem rather low. … The actual cost for companies to compete in this is likely to be many times higher than the potential award amounts, even if it is just to demonstrate a prototype.” Todd Harrison, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
Lasers in the Field: Iron Beam Clears Last Test Before Operational Use
Israel has completed a series of key tests on its Iron Beam laser air defense system, a “final milestone” before full deployment later this year.
The Iron Beam system, which will be integrated with the existing Iron Dome short range kinetic interceptor, has proven to be effective against rockets, mortars, aircraft and UAVs.
Israel began production of the system, which also has Elbit as a subcontractor, more than two years ago and has been using it in limited live-fire tests.
The potential for laser-based interception of drones, missiles and rockets is one long-desired by militaries, given the cost discrepancy between an expensive kinetic interceptor and incoming small drones or rockets.
The Iron Beam can burn or fry objects at a range of around ten kilometers. The interception takes “seconds.”
Israel’s current multi-layered air defenses consists of Arrow 2 and 3 which is used for ballistic missile and exoatmospheric threats, along with David’s Sling, which is a medium range interceptor, as well as the iconic Iron Dome.
Israeli defense officials have said that the Iron Beam system is expected to be deployed with the Iron Dome batteries that Israel has, integrating with its command and control.
Related Article: Iron Beam clears last test before operational use
Rep. Ken Calvert on Golden Dome
Video Interview
Other Golden Dome News
War with China in the 21st Century?
If these tensions escalate into conflict, what will a war with China look like?
First, it is important to note that a war with China today will not be a replay of the war against Japan in WW II.
In World War II, we built a mass-enabled military for a conventional, relatively low-tech global conflict.
Today our military is a blend of both old and new systems, and we are not fully embracing the promise of the ongoing technological revolution.
China is purposely ripping up the conventional warfare playbook and designing, innovating, and creating new and incredibly brilliant ways to kill their enemies.
Complicating matters is the anemic condition of our industrial base in certain sectors, such as conventional and precision munitions.
Conflict with China could manifest itself in one of two ways.
One view is the Communist Central Party (CCP) does not want, nor are they planning, for a protracted fight against the United States.
The CCP fears the domestic ramifications of an extended conflict and they know starting a conflict is much easier than ending it.
The CCP also recognizes that conflict is tremendously costly in terms of resources, manpower, international reputation, and domestic stability.
Their preference may be to achieve their strategic objectives via minimal kinetic and non-kinetic means.
A different view is China may be setting conditions for a 21st century blitzkrieg in the Pacific and the US homeland.
This approach would leverage the Diplomatic, Information, Military and Economic (DIME) instruments of PRC national power.
An attack by China would strive to achieve a level of simultaneity that would generate unprecedented disruption in all facets of US national power and well-being.
Prior to the attack, China would patiently and deliberately work to gain increased influence with US allies and partners in the Pacific.
They will also gain status and seek domination of multinational regional assemblages, such as the UN, ASEAN, and WTO (the PRC is the chair for many of the fifteen most influential UN subcommittees).
To counter the China threat we need to create a US defense establishment that redefines how we create, procure and maintain our instruments of war.
We need a force that leverages the US DIME and embraces emerging technology to provide integrated offensive and defensive warfighting capability – and a procurement system that can deliver those capabilities in months, not decades, by making commercial solutions the default choice where they exist.
Drone That Helped Ukraine Destroy Russia’s S-400 Eyed by Taiwan
A European drone that supported Ukraine in destroying billions of dollars’ worth of Russian military assets, including the advanced S-400 air defense system, could soon be made in Taiwan under a new defense partnership.
Portugal-based Tekever, a leading provider of AI-driven autonomous systems, announced a partnership with Taiwan’s Apex Aviation.
The AR3, a medium-sized unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with modular payload options including synthetic aperture radar and infrared sensors, has logged over 10,000 flight hours in combat operations.
The drone has apparently supported Ukraine in the destruction of nearly $2.5B in Russian assets, including an S-400 air defense system.
It can stay aloft for up to 16 hours and comes with an optional beyond-line-of-sight datalink, making it well-suited for extended operations such as intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR), border protection, artillery fire correction, and infrastructure monitoring.
NATO Bulks Up Air Defenses with ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Shootdown of Russian Drones
NATO is bolstering defenses on its eastern border with Russia following the intrusion of Russian drones into the alliance’s airspace in Poland earlier this week.
Poland has invoked NATO’s Article IV clause, which calls for consultations to discuss a joint NATO response to a threat.
The alliance launched a new operation called Eastern Sentry in response.
Eastern Sentry’s immediate focus is on air defense, especially drones.
“Eastern Sentry will be flexible and agile, delivering even more focused deterrence and defense exactly when and where needed. It will include additional enhanced capabilities, it will integrate air and ground-based defenses, and it will increase information sharing amongst nations. Foremost, it will even further strengthen our posture to shield and protect the alliance.” Supreme Allied Commander Europe Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich
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Bus-Sized Uncrewed Airship Being Tested By NATO As Maritime Surveillance Platform
An uncrewed hydrogen-powered autonomous surveillance airship the size of a small bus has been floating over Portuguese waters, collecting imagery of ships and other objects with the goal of seeing if the airship can provide NATO with situational awareness of the maritime domain.
The flights are part of the alliance’s annual demonstration seeking new robotic technology to boost its defenses.
The airship is one of several systems that NATO is evaluating during this exercise, which is called Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping using Maritime Unmanned Systems (REPMUS) 25 and Dynamic Messenger (DYMS) 25.
NATO is also trialing unmanned surface and underwater vehicles, as well as other aerial ones, as part of the exercise.
The airship being tested is made by the Finnish Kelluu company, which also operates the aircraft.
Denmark Eyes Boeing P-8 Aircraft for Arctic Surveillance
Denmark is exploring the possibility of buying the U.S.-made Poseidon-8 maritime patrol aircraft to bolster its surveillance over the Arctic region.
Initially designed as a maritime-patrol aircraft, the P-8 has also been used by several countries in an anti-submarine role to monitor Russian activities.
Danish experts say that opting for the Boeing aircraft would be logical from the perspective of building stronger ties with its current users and to help standardize platforms.
The P-8 can be equipped with a list of sensors and weapons to detect, classify and neutralize hostile submarines.
It can also drop sonobuoys, which, once they hit the water, provide a radio transmitter above the surface and hydrophone sensors, similar to underwater microphones.
Rheinmetall To Buy Lürssen Yard’s Navy Business To Move Into Warships
Rheinmetall, Europe’s biggest supplier of ammunition and tank guns, plans to move into the business of warships with the purchase of the military division of German shipbuilder Lürssen Group.
While mainly known for land systems and ground-based weapons, Rheinmetall has been expanding in areas including drones, missiles well as parts for the F-35, as the company seeks to capitalize on increased defense spending in Europe.
NVL operates four shipyards in northern Germany and employs around 2,100 people, and Rheinmetall said the yard is considered a pioneer in autonomous maritime surface systems.
NVL built the F125 Baden-Würtemberg class frigates in use with the Germany Navy, and is a subcontractor for the new F126 frigates, with delivery of the first vessel planned for 2028.
Related Article: Kraken Partners with German Shipbuilder to Scale Production
House Lawmakers Propose the Stand-Up of a DIU Office in Israel
ked into the annual defense policy bill for fiscal 2026 passed by House lawmakers last week is a proposal that would require the Pentagon to set up a new Defense Innovation Unit office on the ground in Israel.
The amendment, put forward by Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA), seeks to spark the launch of the first DIU hub to be based outside of the U.S. within roughly six months of the National Defense Authorization Act’s enactment.
Over the last few years, DIU stood up five Defense Innovation OnRamp Hubs around the U.S. to serve as an off-base, easily accessible “front door” for new people, ideas and technologies to connect with the military.
DIU also has a few other offices located strategically around the nation, as well as ambassadors that help its broader regional outreach pursuits.
Around 2023, the unit started deploying military embeds with certain U.S. combatant commands to work side-by-side with warfighters in their real-world operational environments, and ultimately advise them on technologies in the department’s arsenal that can support their work.
Other International News
U.S., German Partnership Introduces Vertical Launch Combat Vehicle
MBDA unveils STRATUS for future cruise and anti-ship capabilities
HD HHI launches next-generation Aegis destroyer Dasan Jeong Yak-yong
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Well done. Interesting and direct ideas about reforming the defense acquisitions process.