Fighter Force Structure Exception. The fiscal 2024 defense authorization conference report appears to take account of the coming retirements of F-15s and A-10s and says that the U.S. Air Force may temporarily reduce its combat-coded fighter inventory to 1,112 aircraft. The former floor to be maintained between fiscal 2018 and fiscal 2025 was 1,145 combat-coded primary mission fighter aircraft. The one-year exception to the FY 2018-FY 2025 floor will expire on Oct. 1 next year, the start of fiscal 2025.
…Long-Term Plan.
The fiscal 2024 defense authorization conference report directs the secretary of the Air Force, the director of the Air National Guard, and the commander of the Air Force Reserve to develop a long-term tactical fighter force structure, recapitalization, training and sustainment plan. The latter is to include “the appropriate mix of tactical fighter aircraft force structure, with accompanying operational risk analyses, required for the secretary of the Air Force to meet expected steady-state, global force management allocation plans and geographical combatant commander contingency operational plans” and the “procurement, divestment, unit activation, deactivation, or re-missioning plans or actions the secretary plans to implement, fiscal year-by-fiscal year, unit-by-unit, for the next 12 years for each active and reserve component tactical fighter aircraft unit.” The conferees want the Air Force to submit the plan to the congressional defense committees by April 1.
Feeling Better. Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) said this month that his concerns about the Pentagon’s Replicator Initiative have eased a bit following conversations with Defense Department officials, including Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks, who is overseeing the effort to acquire thousands of attritable, low-cost unmanned systems in the next year to 18 months. Gallagher in October at a House Armed Services subcommittee hearing he hosted to explore Replicator said that given DoD is not seeking new funding for the initiative he is concerned that it will take from other priorities in the Indo-Pacific region such as long-range precision weapons. At the Reagan National Defense Forum on Dec. 4, Gallagher said that based on conversations he has had with Hicks and Defense Innovation Unit Director Doug Beck since airing his original concerns about Replicator “have given me hope.” He also said that if Indo-Pacific Commander Adm. John Aquilino and Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. Sam Paparo “tell me that they can use these things and fight with them, okay, that’s exciting.” Congress and DoD will have to work together to meet the “very ambitious Replicator timeline,” he said.
Navy V-22s Grounded. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) grounded all V-22 Osprey variants in the Navy Department on Dec. 6 after Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSCO) grounded its own operational stand down. The AFSOC action followed a V-22 crash on Nov. 29 near Yakushima, Japan that killed all 8 airmen aboard. NAVAIR said preliminary information from the investigation into the mishap “indicates a potential materiel failure caused the mishap, but the underlying cause of the failure is unknown at this time.” The Navy said while it is under investigation, they are implementing “additional risk mitigation controls.”
LMT RDT&E. The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division China Lake plans to procure various research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) services from Lockheed Martin for several naval missiles. A presolicitation notice updated on Dec. 4 said. The RDT&E services specifically will cover continuing to modify the Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM), Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) and Hellfire baseline weapon systems – all developed and produced exclusively by Lockheed Martin. The notice said modifications could include things like Line of Sight/Non-Line of Sight (LOS/N-LOS) technologies for seekers, multi-mode seekers, tube-launched Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), autonomous weapons employment and precision targeting, and aircraft/weapons integration. Tasking under this work will include technology demonstration efforts, product improvement initiatives, technology insertion, analysis, participation in Concept of Operations (CONOPS) development, military utility analysis, and more traditional engineering analysis and studies.
Aussie Maintenance. The first set of Australian submarine maintenance personnel from ASC arrived at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PHNSY & IMF) on Nov. 27 to start learning how the U.S. plans and executes maintenance on nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs). This cadre of more than a dozen personnel are planned to be the first of hundreds of Australians from the AUKUS Maintenance Partners (AMP) to help them understand U.S. procedures and requirements. This is needed ahead of establishing Submarine Rotational Force – West (SRF-W), where Australia will help service U.S. SSNs in Australia with intermediate-level maintenance as soon as 2027. Capt. Lincoln Reifsteck, U.S. Navy AUKUS Integration and Acquisition Program Manager, said they plan to start training the AMOS in Hawaii in early 2024, once Congress gives approval.
LHA-8. HI’s Ingalls Shipbuilding christened the future USS Bougainville (LHA-8) on Dec. 2, the third America-class amphibious assault ship. HII is also building the future USS Fallujah (LHA-9), which is also under construction and HII authenticated the keel of LHA-9 during a ceremony in September 2023.
Share Buybacks. Northrop Grumman last week said its board has authorized an additional $2.5 billion to repurchase the company’s stock, bringing the total authorization for share buybacks to $3.8 billion. Through the first three quarters of 2023, the company had spent $1.5 billion buying back its stock and about $500 million in dividends.
Anomaly Detection. Customs and Border Protection, which is being pressed by Congress to advance its non-intrusive inspection (NII) systems with artificial intelligence technology, has awarded Pangiam a contract to develop and implement anomaly detection algorithms. Pangiam has launched Pangiam Bridge, an AI-based solution for customs authorities worldwide and is working with West Virginia Univ. to support CBP’s border and national security missions. The agency uses large-scale NII systems to scan cargo conveyances and passenger vehicles entering the U.S. at land and seaports of entry, and smaller NII systems to screen mail and other small parcels.
Robotics Funding Round. Gecko Robotics, a startup that develops ultrasonic inspection robots and related software to make use of the inspection data, raised an additional $100 million to extend its Series C funding round to further grow its defense business. The Pittsburgh-based company said its total Series C funding stands at $173 million and the extension was led by Thomas Tull’s US Innovative Technology Fund and Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund. Gecko in November said it received a demonstration contract from the Navy to showcase advanced weld inspection and data capabilities to decrease inspection time and reduce manufacturing costs while also improving in-service maintenance cycles. “This investment is designed to help supercharge our work ensuring the critical assets that our military relies on to protect our national security are ready,” said Jake Loosarian, Gecko’s CEO.
…One for Advanced Materials. Advanced materials startup Cambium last week announced a $19 million Series A funding round bolster its staff, research and development, quickly field demonstrations, and pilot-scale manufacturing to accelerate development of its products, including new thermal protection systems (TPSs) for defense technology and commercial applications. The California-based company’s TPSs are designed to better protect hardware against extreme conditions such as heat and fire, and from severed aerodynamic heating and pressure loads during flight. Cambium says its TPSs will be built faster than existing ones. The funding round was led by 8VC and included Veteran Ventures, GSBackers, Marlinspike, Gaingels, Kern Venture Fund, Jackson Moses, Vertical Capital, and select angel investors.
Metals Supply Chain. The Defense Department last week said it has awarded $23.4 million to 6k Additive, LLC to renovate facilities and acquire equipment to enable the materials company to upcycle waste and scrap metals into higher grade materials for defense and commercial supply chains. The award through the Defense Production Act Investment Program was made by DoD’s Office of Industrial Base Policy. DoD said 6k’s expansion will boost production capacity for titanium, niobium, nickel, and tungsten, all high-grade metals used in various defense and aircraft parts and components. 6k is expected to reach full rat production by the end of 2026.
NATO Perspective. A senior NATO official told reporters on Dec. 7 that diminished U.S. assistance for Ukraine would be a “significant change that would definitely have a negative impact” on Kyiv’s fight against Russia’s ongoing invasion. The official’s remarks follow recent comments from the White House that it will run out of money for Ukraine aid efforts by the end of the year without additional funding from Congress and as progress on the new supplemental spending package with Ukraine aid stalled in the Senate this week. The U.S.’ support remains “vital to Ukraine’s counteroffensive,” the senior NATO official noted during a Defense Writers Group discussion. The official also pointed to the burden sharing of aid efforts across NATO partners, adding that more than 50 percent of current aid to Ukraine is coming from European partners.
TWV Strategy. The final version of the fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act includes a provision requiring the Secretary of the Army to update the service’s tactical wheeled vehicle strategy every five years beginning with the FY ‘25 budget request. The Senate proposed the requirement in its version of the NDAA, while it was not in the House’s original bill. The final NDAA conference report notes the House accepted the provision, while adding that it should sunset with the budget request for FY ‘35. The tactical wheeled vehicle strategy is expected to detail the Army’s funding plans and program timelines for its fleet and associated trailers.
FARA Study. House and Senate negotiators also decided to include a provision in the final FY ‘24 NDAA proposed by the House that limits travel funds for the Secretary of the Army until the service submits the Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) study for the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) program. The Senate’s original version of the bill did not have such a proposal. Specifically, the directive would withhold 30 percent of the Office of the Secretary of the Army’s travel budget until the congressional defense committees receive the AoA study, which assesses potential procurement pathway options and alternatives for the FARA program. FARA is the Army’s program to field a new scout attack helicopter, having selected Bell’s 360 Invictus and Sikorsky’s Raider X designs for the current competitive prototyping phase.
Artillery Order. Rheinmetall said on Dec. 4 that a “NATO partner nation” has awarded the German defense firm a $152.9 million deal to supply Ukraine with 155mm artillery rounds. The ammunition is expected to be delivered in 2025 and will be produced by Rheinmetall Expal Munitions, the company’s newly acquired Spanish subsidiary. “The current contract highlights Rheinmetall’s role as the world’s largest producer of ammunition, especially in the large caliber domain,” the company said in a statement. Rheinmetall noted it’s already working under a separate contract to produce 40,000 155mm artillery rounds for Ukraine, which are expected to be delivered in 2024.
HIMARS Support. Shift5 has received a new contract from the Army to secure its HIMARS launchers “against cyber threats and provide readiness assessments to enable predictive maintenance,” the company said on Dec. 5. The new deal follows a successful test on the HIMARS platform with the Army earlier this year, according to the company. Shift5 said its data collection platform for the work “will capture, store and analyze data on the tactical edge in real time, providing operators, maintainers and commanders with critical operational insights.” “As these [HIMARS] platforms continue to operate in contested environments around the globe, and as our adversaries continue to innovate, it’s of the utmost importance to ensure they’re equipped with the best platform data collection and intrusion detection systems available,” Michael Weigand, Shift5’s co-founder and chief growth officer, said in a statement.
Germany FMS. The U.S. has approved a potential $300 million foreign military sale with Germany for up to 80 Mark 54 Lightweight Torpedoes. Along with the RTX-built Mk 54 torpedoes, Germany will also receive Recoverable Exercise Torpedoes, containers and spare parts, according to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA). “The proposed sale will improve Germany’s capability to meet current and future threats by upgrading anti-submarine warfare capabilities on its P-8A aircraft,” the DSCA said in a statement.