Upcoming Coyote Buy. The Army plans to purchase at least 6,700 Coyote kinetic and non-kinetic interceptors to counter enemy unmanned aircraft systems “operating at various speeds and altitudes which are targeting both U.S. and their allies’ interests at home and abroad,” the service said in a Dec. 18 notice on the government’s business opportunity site Sam.gov. The planned purchase from RTX includes at least 6,000 kinetic interceptors, 700 non-kinetic interceptors, 252 fixed-site and 25 mobile launchers, 118 fixed-site and 33 mobile Ku-band Radio Frequency System—KuRFS—360-degree radars, which sense incoming drones, rockets, artillery, and mortars and can cue the Coyote interceptors. The estimated production requirement for the systems covers fiscal years 2025 through 2029, the notice said.
Payday. Parsons’ board this week approved a one-time stock award worth up to $13 million for the company’s CEO, Carey Smith, “in recognition” of her “strong performance” and to demonstrate “the importance of retaining” her, the company said on Thursday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The award includes performance stock units accounting for 60 percent of shares, which could result in a maximum payout of $9 million. Restricted stock units make up 40 percent of the shares and are worth $4 million.
New Home Port. The Coast Guard’s 270-foot medium endurance cutter, the Harriet Lane, arrived Wednesday at its new home port at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickham, Hawaii, as a support ship for the service’s operations in the Indo-Pacific area. The Harriet Lane (WMEC 903) was homeported in Portsmouth, Va., and recently completed a 15-month service life extension program. The re-homeporting “is indicative of the Coast Guard’s commitment to the Indo-Pacific, the most dynamic region in the world,” said Rear Adm. Brendan McPherson, deputy commander for the Coast Guard Pacific Area.
Lockheed Martin News. Lockheed Martin last week said its board has elected Maria Ricciardone as vice president, treasurer and investor relations effective January 1, 2024. She has been the VP of investor relations since 2022 when she joined the company from Arrow Electronics, where, she was VP of finance. Ricciardone succeeds Evan Scott as treasurer. Scott has been appointed chief financial officer of the Missiles and Fire Control segment beginning Jan. 1. Charles Hubbs, the current CFO at MFC, plans to retire in late 2024 and will serve in a strategic advisory role until then.
Digital Success. General Dynamics’ Information Technology business unit last week said its new Digital Accelerator solutions portfolio captured more than $2 billion in contracts this year, a sign of the strategy’s success. GDIT in early 2023 launched the accelerators in zero trust, artificial intelligence for mission applications, AI for IT operations, hybrid multi-cloud, software factory, 5G, defensive cyber, and post-quantum cryptography. “Given the rapidly changing geopolitical landscape, increased cyber threats and federal mandates such as the recent AI executive order, agencies want to innovate faster to advance their missions,” said Amy Gilliland, president of GDIT. “Over the last two years, we have made investments in our Digital Consulting practices, R&D, and emerging technologies to accelerate development of solutions for our customers.”
Denmark/U.S. Defense Cooperation Agreement. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Danish Foreign Minister Lars Rasmussen signed a Defense Cooperation Agreement between the U.S. and Denmark on Dec. 21. “Denmark continues to play a leading role in ensuring Putin’s war on Ukraine remains a strategic failure,” Blinken said at the event. “It was one of the first countries to commit to supplying F-16s to Ukraine and to train Ukrainian pilots to fly them. Earlier this month, Denmark pledged to provide $1 billion worth of tanks, drones, ammunition, and to jointly fund the donation of new Swedish armored personnel carriers– all of which will help Ukraine defend its territory and its democracy.” The new agreement will enhance NATO interoperability and means that U.S. and Danish militaries “will be able to coordinate more effectively, even more effectively than they already are,” Blinken said.
Sentinel Directorate. Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) said that it has created an ICBM Modernization Directorate at Barksdale AFB, La. The AFGSC/A10 directorate will oversee the development, fielding, and support of the Northrop Grumman LGM-35A Sentinel and the retirement of the LGM-30G Minuteman III by Boeing. The establishment complies with Section 1638 of the Fiscal 2023 NDAA. Air Force Brig. Gen. Colin Connor is to head the directorate, consisting of a Sentinel Operating Location team, a Sentinel Requirements Division, and a Sentinel Operations Division. Sentinel is to field before the end of the decade and to be in service through 2075.
Mil-to-Mil. For the first time since July last year, the top U.S. and Chinese uniformed leaders spoke on Dec. 21, DoD said. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr. and his Chinese military counterpart, People’s Liberation Army Gen. Liu Zhenli, spoke via videoconference, DoD said. “The two leaders discussed a range of global and regional security issues as Brown reaffirmed the importance of maintaining open lines of military-to-military communications,” the Pentagon said. Pentagon spokesman Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder on Dec. 21 declined to answer whether the U.S. and China have re-established a military hotline.
…What We Have Here Is a Failure to Communicate. “Defense officials have repeatedly raised concerns over China’s lack of communication with U.S. military leaders, noting that Beijing has consistently denied or ignored U.S. requests for defense engagements at multiple levels,” the Pentagon said on Dec. 21. “Defense officials have noted a steep rise in China’s risky and aggressive intercepts of U.S. aircraft operating in international airspace in accordance with international law. According to the most recent China Military Power Report, the U.S. has documented more than 180 coercive and risky air intercepts against U.S. aircraft in the region between 2021 and 2023.”
DDG-131 Keel. HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding held a ceremony to lay the keep of the future USS George M. Neal (DDG-131) Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer on Dec. 15. The ship is named after Aviation Machinist’s Mate 3rd Class George M. Neal, who was awarded the Navy Cross for actions during the Korean War. A ceremonial keel laying is the joining together of a ship’s major modular components at the land level and a major milestone in production. As a Flight III destroyer, it focuses on modifications to field the AN/SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar. HII is also on production of the other future destroyers Ted Stevens (DDG-128), Jeremiah Denton (DDG-129), Sam Nunn (DDG-133), and Thad Cochran (DDG-135).
CVN-78 and 79. Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) Carlos Del Toro recently said the next Ford-class aircraft carrier, the future USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79), is more than 90 percent complete. Speaking during the Naval Nuclear Submarine and Aircraft Carrier Suppliers Conference in Philadelphia, Pa., on Dec. 14, the SECNAV also noted the first new carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), has been deployed for eight months and “recently reached the incredible milestone of having completed over 20,000 launches and recoveries since her delivery.” Previously, in April, manager of the Ford-class aircraft carrier program Capt. Brian Metcalf said CVN-78 had recorded over 14,000 catapult launches and recoveries. CVN-79 was also “nearly” 90 percent complete at that time.
ESB-6. The Navy plans to conduct a commissioning ceremony for the future fourth Lewis B. Puller-class expeditionary sea base ship USS John L. Canley (ESB -6) on Feb. 17 at Naval Base Coronado’s Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego. ESB-6 is set to be part of the Forward Deployed Naval Force operating from Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands. ESBs are flexible and able to support missions like Airborne Mine Countermeasure; Special Operations Force operations; Crisis Response Sea-basing; Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance; and Unmanned Aviation Systems operations. ESBs have a 52,000 square-foot flight deck with four aviation spots that can support MH-53Es and H-1 helicopters as well as the CMV-22 Osprey rotorcraft. General Dynamics NASSCO built ESB-6 and is still working on the future USS Robert E. Simanek (ESB-7).
Civilian Harm Assessment Cells. Almost two years later than planned, the Pentagon released a final DoD Instruction (DoDI) on civilian harm on Dec. 21. DoDI 3000.17 on Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response (CHMR) provides that DoD components incorporate CHMR considerations “throughout all steps of the joint planning process and the joint targeting process.” The instruction also mandates that combatant commands (CCMDs) “establish or maintain civilian harm assessment cells (CHACs) at the CCMD-level or, as appropriate, at subordinate operational commands (e.g., joint task force headquarters) in preparation for and throughout the duration of crisis or conflict.”