Page 15 – Defense Daily

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

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

Testifying before the House Armed Services Seapower and projection forces subcommittee, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition Brett Seidel said that while the block buy of the future USS

Enterprise (CVN-80) and Doris Miller (CVN-81) saved around $4 billion, a multi-ship buy for next round of ships, CVN-82 and 83, “would save an additional $5 billion.”

The USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) aircraft carrier steams in the Adriatic Sea on June 23, 2023. (Photo: U.S. Navy by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jackson Adkins) — The world’s largest aircraft carrier USS *Gerald* *R. Ford* (CVN 78) steam the Adriatic Sea, June 23, 2023. Gerald R. Ford is the U.S. Navy’s newest and most advanced aircraft carrier, representing a generational leap in the U.S. Navy’s capacity to project power on a global scale. The Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group is on a scheduled deployment in the U.S. Naval Forces Europe area of operations, employed by U.S. Sixth Fleet to defend U.S., allied, and partner interests. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jackson Adkins)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

GE Aerospace’s hypersonic dual-mode ramjet. Photo: GE Aerospace

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

IFF Refresh.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

EUCOM/SACEUR Nom. Trump has also nominated Air Force Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich to serve as the next commander of U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR). The Pentagon noted the NATO has also backed the selection of Grynkewich for the SACEUR role. Grynkewich would succeed Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli. The Trump administration had reportedly floated not having a U.S. military leader in the SACEUR role–an absence that Cavoli had told lawmakers would be “problematic.” “It would put us in a position where, in an Article 5 situation, we could have, for the first time since the first World War, large numbers of U.S. troops under non-U.S. command. So I think those are things that would have to be considered carefully,” Cavoli said.

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

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

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

Acting Coast Guard Commandant Wants More Counter-Drone Capacity

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

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

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

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

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

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

AFWERX Agility Prime to Take Hit in FY 2026 Budget

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Last Planned Marine Corps MQ-9A Reaper Drone Delivered

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

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

The Marine Corps received its final MQ-9A Reaper Block 5 Extended Range (ER) Uncrewed Aircraft System (UAS) from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) Gray Butte flight operations facility in California in June 2025. (Photo: GA-ASI) — The Marine Corps received its final MQ-9A Reaper Block 5 Extended Range (ER) Uncrewed Aircraft System (UAS) from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) at Gray Butte flight operations facility in California in June 2025. (Photo: GA-ASI)

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

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

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

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

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

RTX, Northrop Detail Successful Rocket Motor Tests For Stinger Replacement Offering

RTX’s Raytheon [RTX] and Northrop Grumman [NOC] said Thursday they’ve completed four successful tests of the rocket motor used for its Stinger missile replacement offering, to include a ballistic flight demonstration.

Raytheon said additional tests of the Highly Loaded Grain (HLG) solid rocket motors are planned in the coming months as it works toward a full flight test of its Next Generation Short Range Interceptor (NGSRI) solution.

Ballistic demo of the Highly Loaded Grain (HLG) solid rocket motor for Raytheon’s Next Generation Short Range Interceptor offering. Photo: RTX.

“We will have an additional ballistic flight demonstration, followed by controlled and guided flight tests in preparation for the system tech demonstration later this year,” Joe DeAntona, Raytheon’s vice president for land and air defense requirements and capabilities, told Defense Daily.

The Army in March 2023 confirmed it had selected RTX and Lockheed Martin [LMT] for the NGSRI competitive effort to develop a replacement for the Stinger missile, which has been manufactured by RTX (Defense Daily, March 28, 2023).

After two years of development work, the Army has stated plans to hold a “shoot-off” in the near future to inform next steps in the program and as it eyes a Milestone C decision around the second quarter of fiscal year 2028 to move the Stinger replacement effort into production (Defense Daily, June 25 2024).

“Then, based on affordability aspects that have yet to be determined, we may continue to carry two vendors or we may downselect to one and then go into a three-year, very intense, aggressive developmental effort to try to get to a material solution that I can transition into potentially a major acquisition pathway,” Maj. Gen. Frank Lozano, the Army’s program executive officer for missiles and space, told reporters previously.

The Army has previously said it’s seeking a replacement missile for the Stinger “to meet increasing demand and growing threat capability,” noting the Stinger-Reprogrammable Microprocessor will become obsolete in FY ‘23 and that the “current Stinger inventory is in decline.”

Earlier this year, Raytheon said it had completed a series of successful subsystem tests with its NGSRI offering, to include testing the capability’s seeker, flight rocket motor, warhead assembly and more.

The recent testing with the HLG solid rocket motor occurred between the end of 2024 and start of 2025, according to DeAntona, and included three static firings and the ballistic flight demo.

“These tests demonstrate our ability to rapidly develop this transformational air defense capability, which can defeat a variety of airborne threats at far greater ranges than legacy systems,” Tom LaLiberty, Raytheon’s president of land and air defense systems, said in a statement.

Raytheon said it leveraged collaborative research work out of the Northrop Grumman Allegany Ballistics Laboratory in West Virginia “to rapidly develop the new extended-range motor design, transitioning from proof of concept to first flight in a record time of less than six months.”

“Developed and demonstrated in five months, this innovative HLG motor provides increased speed, range, effectiveness and mission flexibility in a very small package,” Frank DeMauro, Northrop Grumman’s vice president and general manager for weapon systems, said in a statement.

DeAntona said “at this time” he couldn’t provide specifics quantifying how much farther of an extended range the HLG solid rocket motor capability provides the system.

DoD Awards Six Small Businesses $5 Billion Contract Vehicle In Naval Integrated Weapons Systems Equipment

The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) last month awarded six small businesses $5 billion to support procuring integrated weapons system equipment and services on naval vessels, DoD said Thursday.

The original May 16 contract covers “various integrated weapons systems equipment and services” to support both Virginia-class submarines generally as well as active surface ships.

The Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Missouri (SSN-780) departs Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard on May 10, 2020 after completing a scheduled extended dry-docking selected restricted availability. (Photo: U.S. Navy by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Amanda R. Gray/Released) — The *Virginia*-class fast-attack submarine USS *Missouri* (SSN-780) departs Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard on May 10, 2020 after completing a scheduled extended dry-docking selected restricted availability. (Photo: U.S. Navy by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Amanda R. Gray/Released)

The original announcement said this Maritime Acquisition Advancement Contract (MAAC) will “expedite the procurement process for high-priority requirements, ensuring the timely delivery of essential resources” to the vessels.

The firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity MAAC contract winners are Atlantic Diving Supply Inc., ASRC Federal Facilities Logistics LLC, Culmen International LLC, Fairwinds Technologies LLC, S&K Aerospace LLC and SupplyCore LLC.

The companies are sharing the firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract that has a maximum value of $5 billion over five base years through March 2029, but it also includes five one-year option periods valued at $1 billion each, so the total MAAC value could reach up to $10 billion total.

The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency’s (DLA) Land and Maritime detachment in Mechanicsburg, Pa.

The MAAC went through a competitive acquisition process over the course of a year that ultimately led to nine total offers before DLA decided on these five winners.

On Thursday, DoD elaborated that this contract is designed to accelerate DLA’a procurement of various weapons systems and services, especially helping the Navy reach its desired two Virginia-class submarines per year build rate.

“This contract supports a mission that’s a top priority at the highest level,”

Elizabeth Allen, DLA Maritime Mechanicsburg detachment’s deputy director, boasted that this multiple award structure is required to handle the large volume requirements for the naval platforms and supports missions that are a top priority at the highest level of the department.

“There are significantly long lead times the Navy faces…this contracting vehicle streamlines and reduces our end of the administrative lead time,” leveraging innovative methods to get items into contract more quickly.

A DoD announcement quoted contracting officer Brian Stevens arguing this program shows how DLA is working on the Department priority of speed over process.

“We created this vehicle to do more with less — we can do larger contracts faster, which coincides perfectly with the Virginia-class initiative. I’m very proud of the work we’ve done,” Stevens said.

Timothy McCloskey, acquisition director for DLA Maritime Mechanicsburg, added the contract will not just benefit DLA at the Mechanicsburg location, but it can be a “benefit for any other buying activity that wants to use it.”

Allen said the DLA team leading this effort has started engaging with other detachments and naval shipyards, with plans for future roadshows to communicate with other commands that might want to use this contract vehicle.

“We’re working together with the Navy — they’re excited about this contract vehicle, and we’re engaged with industry. They’re seeing the benefits. They know the need, they know the criticality of the items and they’re ready to go.”

DoD noted DLA Maritime Mechanicsburg is located within Naval Support Activity Mechanicsburg and is responsible for procuring depot-level repairable assets to support Naval Supply Systems Command’s surface, submarine and aircraft carrier operations.

Driscoll: Army On Track To Field Hypersonic Weapon By End Of FY ‘25, Exploring Cheaper Version

The Army still anticipates fielding its first Long Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) battery by the end of fiscal year 2025, according to the service’s civilian leader, and is exploring a cheaper version that’s “one-tenth the cost.”

“One of the things we’re also excited about is we’re testing a new version of it that is one-tenth the cost and we think has even better attributes. It would be early to know whether it would work, but we’re optimistic,” Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

The Navy and Army executed the launch of the Common Hypersonic Glide Body, part of the LRHW, in a flight experiment from the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii in March 2020 (U.S. Navy Photo)

Driscoll did not provide additional details on the potential for a new or additional hypersonic weapon round.

The update on the LRHW fielding plan came in response to a question from Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), who asked Driscoll about the latest on the Army hypersonic weapon, dubbed Dark Eagle.

“We saw a Long Range Hypersonic Weapon test in June and December of last year. And I was encouraged by the success of those tests,” Fischer said.

The latest event in December was a successful Army and Navy end-to-end flight test of their jointly-developed common hypersonic glide body, deemed a key step toward fielding of hypersonic weapons, and was the first time using a battery operations center and a transporter erector launcher for the LRHW (Defense Daily, Dec. 13).

The Army’s LRHW, which has been in development for about five years, will share the same all-up missile round and canister, and Common Hypersonic Glide Body (C-HGB) with the Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike program.

In 2019, the Army chose Lockheed Martin [LMT] to serve as the weapon systems integrator for the LRHW, which will be fired from a truck, while Dynetics [LDOS] is tasked with producing the C-HGB.

The Army completed fielding of the ground equipment for its first prototype hypersonic weapon battery, minus the live rounds, in the fall of 2021 to the soldiers from the I Corps’ 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 17th Field Artillery Brigade at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington, who have been testing on the equipment since then.

Final Coast Guard National Security Cutter Canceled

After construction was halted on last one of 11 National Security Cutters (NSCs) last fall, the Coast Guard and shipbuilder HII [HII] have agreed to end construction after 10 ships and put remaining funds toward those vessels.

The decision was considered a potential outcome of negotiations between the Coast Guard over what the service termed “material conformance” issues, a term never uttered by HII (Defense Daily, March 10).

Construction of NSC 11 was only 15 percent complete as of late 2024 when it was originally supposed to be delivered. The Coast Guard said HII notified the service in late 2024 that the earliest the ship could be delivered is 2029.

“The forecasted delays and setbacks were associated with a contract related dispute,” Kimberly Aguillard, a spokeswoman for HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division, said in a statement. “We worked collaboratively with the Coast Guard to reach a mutually acceptable resolution that supports and aligns with the Coast Guard’s overall cost-saving objectives.”

The Washington Examiner on Wednesday first reported the termination of NSC-11, saying the Coast Guard made the decision in March. On Thursday evening, the Department of Homeland Security issued a press release saying Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem “saved the American taxpayer over $260 million by cancelling a failing U.S. Coast Guard shipbuilding project.” Those funds will be returned to the Treasury Department, it said.

DHS also said that under the modified contract the “Coast Guard will receive $135 million in parts that will be used to retrofit, upgrade, and maintain the Coast Guard’s existing fleet of 10 Legend-class cutters.”

HII highlighted the support for the existing fleet of 418-foot high-endurance cutters it has already delivered.

“In mutual agreement with the USCG, we have signed a contract modification that identifies an alternate strategy related to the sunsetting of the NSC program, which has already exceeded the original acquisition objective of eight ships,” Aguillard said in the statement. “Rather than proceeding with construction of the eleventh ship of the NSC class, we have agreed to execute a plan that maximizes readiness of the existing NSC fleet, by supporting overall operational availability and capability of the first ten NSCs in service. We remain grateful for our partnership with the USCG and are committed to support their mission.”

Then Sen. Thad Cochran (Miss.), who chaired the Senate Appropriations Committee, drove the effort to replace the dozen Hamilton-class high-endurance vessels that the Coast Guard was retiring, but health issues led the genteel Republican to resign from the Senate before seeing his vision through. The Coast Guard’s position while Cochran was adding NSCs to its budget was that the additional ships threatened what was becoming the service’s highest acquisition priority at the time, the medium-endurance Offshore Patrol Cutter.

The Legend-class NSCs have been widely praised by the Coast Guard and are the service’s most sophisticated surface asset. The ships can provide crisis C5ISR capabilities anywhere in the world.

The fleet of NSC’s conducts a wide range of missions, including freedom of navigation operations in the Western Pacific, drug interdiction and fishery patrols, and have provided a presence in the Arctic. The ships are equipped with a flight deck for helicopter operations, the use of small unmanned aircraft systems, and small boats for boarding other vessels.