The State Department this week approved more than $1.1 billion in potential foreign military sales (FMS), including an $825 million deal for Stinger missiles to Morocco.
The Moroccan purchase entails up to 600 FIM-92K Stinger Block I man-portable surface-to-air missiles and related support for the country’s Army. RTX [RTX] and Lockheed Martin [LMT] are the principal contractors on the proposed sale announced on Tuesday.
The department on Tuesday also approved a potential $120 million FMS to the Philippines for TH-73A training helicopters and support, to include an aircraft simulator, spare engines, avionics, commercial GPS, aircraft hoists and lifts. Leonardo’s AgustaWestland Philadelphia Corp. is the principal contractor for the sale.
On Monday the State Department approved a potential $180 million FMS to Israel of Eitan Powerpack Engines supplied by Rolls-Royce Solutions America, Inc. The deal includes Eitan 8V199TE21-D engines and components that would be added to a previous $85.5 million FMS with Israel for the same engines.
The engines power Israel’s Eitan armored fighting vehicles.
The Defense Innovation Unit announced April 10 next steps in its Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations program to deploy microreactor nuclear systems for power reliability at select military locations.
The companies selected are:
Antares Nuclear;
BWXT Advanced Technologies [BWXT];
General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems;
Kairos Power;
Oklo;
Radiant Industries Incorporated;
Westinghouse Government Services; and
X-energy
These companies are “eligible” to receive contracts for the program for “commercially available dual use microreactor technology,” according to the press release.
“U.S. energy dominance and security are more critical than ever, especially in supporting Air Force and Space Force missions,” Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Infrastructure, Energy, and Environment, Nancy Balkus, said in the release. “To ensure our installations can respond at a moment’s notice, we must strengthen our lethality by accelerating the deployment of emerging technologies like advanced nuclear energy – delivering reliable, cost-effective, and secure power to our bases.”
According to the Department of Energy, a microreactor is transportable in size, factory-made, and able to provide 1-20 megawatts of power.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting approaches for prototype spacecraft that can autonomously navigate and be highly maneuverable in a low lunar orbit (LLO) for cislunar space situational awareness (SSA) in support of the Space Force.
Multiple Other Transaction for Prototype agreements are expected under the Lunar Assay via Small Satellite Orbiter (LASSO) effort, DARPA said on Monday. The goal is an affordable and scalable commercial capability that provides SSA for cislunar space, the agency said in the solicitation.
The usual vision for SSA for cislunar space is to outfit large spacecraft with “exquisite optics,” an approach that is expensive to build and launch, the agency said. The LASSO effort is aimed at developing more “cost-efficient” solutions that involve one or a few small satellites with propulsion capabilities to maintain LLO to enable the sensor to capture enough measurements of the moon’s surface, and to navigate autonomously at low altitudes to automatically adjust trajectories.
“SSA in cislunar space has strained current capabilities, forcing assessment of improvements in sensors, processing algorithms, and even navigation techniques required for this challenge,” DARPA said. “Sustained and advanced maneuverability for spacecraft is key to enabling further improvements of SSA in cislunar space.”
DARPA also wants sensors on the LASSO orbiter that combine data with existing “lunar data to establish a proven reserve understanding of lunar water resources,” and give high confidence that it is worth retrieving resource samples. Awardees will also conduct an economic study that compare the cost of supplying water from Earth versus the estimated costs of relying on water from the moon.
A proposer’s day is planned for May 13 and abstracts are due by May 27.
Rocket Lab [RKLB] on Monday said its HASTE suborbital testbed vehicle has been added to two multi-billion dollar Air Force and United Kingdom contracts to provide hypersonic test launches and other services.
The Air Force award is the potential $46 billion multi-vendor Enterprise-Wide Agile Acquisition Contract (EWAAC) 10-year indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract. EWAAC has 298 vendors.
Under EWAAC, the Air Force can rapidly acquire services and technologies.
For the U.K. Ministry of Defence’s potential $1.3 billion Hypersonic Technologies & Capability Development Framework, Rocket Lab is eligible to bid on services, technologies, and testing capabilities in support of the country’s own hypersonic technology.
“Keeping pace with global developments means more affordable tests at a higher rate that expands the boundaries of hypersonic technology and that’s a capability we’re already providing all in one platform with HASTE, at a commercial price and cadence that serves the mission of both nations,” Peter Beck, co-founder and CEO of Rocket Lab, said in a statement.
Using some of the technology from Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle, HASTE has a modified upper kick state for hypersonic technology tests and a larger payload capacity of up to 1,540 pounds. The company says the suborbital rocket can deploy technologies at speeds of more than 7.5 kilometers per second to test air breathing, glide, and ballistic payloads, and technologies to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere from space.
Epirus recently unveiled the name and test results of its new prototype high-energy high-power microwave (HPM) system that can disable various unmanned vehicle engines, the Leonidas H2O.
The company on April 8 announced it used the Navy’s Advanced Naval Technology Exercise Coastal Trident (ANTX-CT) program tests to demonstrate the system’s effectiveness against four kinds of commercially available vessel motors, ranging from 40 to 90 horsepower.
Epirus’ suite of high-power microwave counter-drone systems. (Photo: Epirus)
The company underscored during ANTX CT24 the prototype weapon was successful against each target at various “operationally relevant ranges,” but the range limitation meant the testing had to occur at about half the system’s maximum potential output power and with limited waveforms.
Last year, Epirus noted the Navy would experiment with the company’s HPM technology at ANTC CT24. At the time the company said it previously conducted preliminary work for the systems that temporarily scramble the electronics of an outboard motor (Defense Daily, April 4).
Naval Surface Warfare Center Port Hueneme’s Office of Technology coordinated the live-fire demonstration.
Epirus said its Leonidas H2O is built using its preexisting scalable Leonidas solid-state software-defined energy-based HPM platform, which emits non-ionizing radiation that is safe for ordnance, fuel and personnel.
The company noted the company’s HPM technology is tested and proven as a counter-swarm option with open architecture, an unlimited magazine and demonstrated non-kinetic effects against a range of electronic threats.
The Department of Defense has spent years of research and development and poured tens-of-millions of dollars into developing a non-kinetic vessel stop solution, with no operational system deployed to date. With Leonidas H2O, we are bringing forth a proven technology with demonstrated effectiveness to fill this capability gap, today,” Andy Lowery, the Epirus CEO, said.
Lockheed Martin [LMT] delivered the 60 kW kilowatt output high energy laser with the integrated optical-dazzler and surveillance (HELIOS) weapon in 2022, aimed at disabling unmanned aircraft systems and small boats. It was installed on the USS Preble (DDG-88) but the Navy is still testing HELIOS only on that vessel (Defense Daily, Aug. 18, 2022).
Brendan Applegate, ANTX-Coastal Trident program Principal Investigator, said Epirus’ participation in the ANTX program “helps to facilitate early eyes on leading edge technologies that are key to enabling the Navy’s mission.”
Applegate added this also provides “valuable resources” to the project team, helping them develop their technical development and assessment capabilities.
Last October, the Army proposed a new contract for Epirus to develop a second-generation of its microwave-based weapon geared at taking out small drones, GEN II Integrated Fires Protection Capability High Power Microwave (IFPC-HPM) system. This followed successful Army testing of the system against unmanned aircraft systems and swarms of drones (Defense Daily, Oct. 10, 2024).
A Navy official told a panel of senators last week that the lead Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine is currently running 12 to 18 months late, but they are trying to recover some of that delay time.
In a written statement for the Senate Armed Services Seapower subcommittee hearing April 8, program executive officers for the Navy’s nuclear-powered submarine and aircraft carrier programs as well as the manager for the Maritime Industrial Base office said the future USS
District of Columbia (SSBN-826) is more than 50 percent complete.
Artist rendering of the future Columbia-class nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), which will replace the Ohio-class submarines. (Illustration: U.S. Navy)
Shipbuilders General Dynamics Electric Boat [GD] and HII Newport News Shipbuilding [HII] started building the submarine in fiscal year 2021.
The statement said delivery is running up to a year and a half behind schedule based on shipbuilder performance, supply chain problems, the complexity of the first-in-class boat construction, and testing.
“However, we’re taking action right now to accelerate and recover as much schedule as you possibly can,” Rear Adm. Todd Weeks, Program Executive Officer for Strategic Submarines, said during the hearing.
While the Navy says SSBN-826 must be ready to start patrol to make up for retiring Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines by fiscal year 2031, Weeks projected the first boat will be ready around 2029. Between delivery and the first deployment, the boats must undergo significant testing and certification.
Last year, Matt Sermon, former executive director of the Program Executive Office for SSBNs and current Program Manager for the Maritime Industrial Base office, promised the Navy will have SSBN-826 on patrol in 2030, even if the path is difficult. At the time he said the ship was on track to deliver 12 months late (Defense Daily, Nov. 18, 2024).
Previously, the shipbuilding review released in April 2024 said the first Columbia-class submarine was running 12 to 16 months behind schedule, while the latest range estimate adds two more months (Defense Daily, April 3, 2024).
The written statement elaborated that the Navy is working with the submarine shipbuilders General Dynamics Electric Boat [GD] and HII Newport News Shipbuilding [HII] “to implement an aggressive, alternative build strategy to recover up to 12 months of schedule, improve overall performance, and deliver the lead ship as rapidly as possible.”
The officials noted Navy investments in the overall submarine industrial base have improved three main factors so far: hiring by 41 percent in 2023 and exceeded targets in 2024, increased capacity of vendors in key market spaces, shoring up single source suppliers and developing new suppliers, and strategic outsourcing and manufacturing technology is on track to help increase production.
However, outside those areas, “we have not observed the needed and expected ramp-up in Columbia-class and Virginia-class submarine production rates necessary to keep pace with the 1+2 strategy.”
The written statement argued the Navy, submarine shipbuilders and supply base all underestimated the effort needed to shift from low-rate production to the annual one Columbia-class plus two Virginia-class rate the Navy needs for “an era of near-peer competition.”
The officials said the current tactic to improve the situation is “intrusive program office deck plate presence to help inform and drive improvement,” backed by the submarine program offices, Supervisor of Shipbuilding and both shipbuilders
The Navy and shipbuilders also conducted “in-depth reviews” into the underlying drivers of performance issues for new lines of effort to push increasing production rates, which informed new production rate projections.
HII transporting the stern of the future USS District of Columbia (SSBN-826), the first Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine, to General Dynamics Electric Boat in January 2024. (Photo: HII by Ashley Cowan)
The Navy said it now projects these tactics plus ongoing investments will continue improvements to be seen from 2025 through 2029.
When asked by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) about the expected timelines of the follow-on Columbia-class boats, Weeks said the second SSBN, the future USS Wisconsin (SSBN-827), is currently on schedule to be delivered within 80 months of construction start, in 2032.
The Navy is tracking the next five ships to be on time but he noted they are “really in the early construction phase of those. So we’re not in a position yet to be able to evaluate where they are relative to the delivery schedule.”
The third boat, the future USS Groton (SSBN-828), is planned to be delivered in 2034.
Northrop Grumman [NOC] announced Monday it has opened a new 175,500-square foot facility in Madison, Alabama to increase production capacity for the Army’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS).
The company said it invested $20 million into the Enhanced Production and Integration Center (EPIC) project, which will enable it to now build up 96 Engagement Operation Centers, 96 Integrated Collaborative Environments and 192 Integrated Fire Control Network (IFCN) relays for IBCS annually.
An IBCS Engagement Operations Center (EOC) loaded onto a M1085 Long Wheel Base truck at the Huntsville Manufacturing Center in Alabama. (Photo Credit: Northrop Grumman)
“Our investment in American manufacturing with this new facility enables us to continue supporting critical modernization efforts such as producing capabilities like IBCS at scale and speed. With this investment, we’re doubling our integration space and significantly enhancing our storage and classified testing capabilities, ensuring America leads the world in military strength,” Kenn Todorov, Northrop Grumman’s vice president and general manager for command and control and weapons integration, said in a statement.
IBCS is the Army’s future air and missile defense command platform, designed to integrate and connect a wide swath of “sensor to shooter” capabilities, with the service to date having integrated a range of capabilities with the system to include the Sentinel A3 radar, Patriot radar, the new RTX [RTX]-built LTAMDS radar and the Indirect Fire Protection Capacity effector.
The Army in December 2021 awarded Northrop Grumman a potential $1.4 billion deal for IBCS low-rate production and the program was then approved for full rate production in April 2023 (Defense Daily, April 12 2023).
Northrop Grumman announced last June it had completed delivery of the first full set of IBCS equipment to the Army, which includes an Engagement Operations Center, IFCN Relays and an Integrated Collaborative Environment (Defense Daily, June 17 2024).
Bill Lamb, Northrop Grumman’s IBCS director, told reporters this past August the Army will start fielding the system “in a larger way beginning in 2025” and that the service plans to spend about $5 billion over the next five years on IBCS-related efforts (Defense Daily, Aug. 27 2024).
Northrop Grumman said the EPIC facility is double the size of the previous integration center for IBCS work, to include 129,500 square feet of “flexible production space.”
“This addition grows the company’s fully digital approach to streamlining the design and build process,” Northrop Grumman said. “The facility will ensure delivery of cutting-edge solutions and meets fielding quantities and objectives for both domestic and Foreign Military Sales production.”
Poland signed on to become the first international IBCS operator after agreeing to a $4.75 billion deal with the U.S. in March 2018 to purchase the Patriot missile defense system along with the new Northrop Grumman-built battle command system in support of the first phase of its WISLA air and missile defense modernization program (Defense Daily, March 28, 2018).
Last March, Poland and the U.S. signed a separate agreement worth approximately $2.5 billion for additional future deliveries of IBCS for the NAREW short-range air defense modernization program and the second phase of WISLA air and missile defense upgrade effort (Defense Daily, March 1 2024).
In February, Northrop Grumman said it has received $1.4 billion in new deals related to IBCS efforts, to include an Army contract for expanded software development and capability integration work with Poland (Defense Daily, Feb. 11).
NATO on Monday said has acquired the Maven Smart System (MSS) from Palantir Technologies [PLTR] for use by the alliance’s office that conducts military planning and operations.
The value of the contract was not disclosed. The NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) said the contract was awarded six months after requirements were outlined and that Allied Command Operations will begin using MSS NATO within the next 30 days.
The U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency manages MSS for the Department of Defense with a focus on constantly improving the platform, which applies artificial intelligence-based computer vision technology against imagery to rapidly detect potential targets for users on a single pane of glass. Use of NGA Maven by the U.S. military services and combatant commands has increased by a factor of four the past year to around 20,000 users (Defense Daily, April 10).
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) said that MSS NATO “should not be confused with the NGA Maven Warfighter Support System.” The MSS NATO system is the Alliance’s own version of the technology, supporting different workflows than NGA Maven. The DoD’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office awarded Palantir a contract last May to transition MSS from prototype to production and dramatically increase the supply of licenses (Defense Daily, May 30, 2024).
“NCIA is pleased to team up with Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe and Palantir to deliver MSS NATO to the warfighter, providing customized state-of-the-art AI capabilities to the Alliance, and empowering our forces with the tools required on the modern battlefield to operate effectively and decisively,” Ludwig Decamps, NCIA general manager, said in a statement.
NATO said that SHAPE will use MSS NATO to adopt new technologies such as emerging AI models, and modeling and simulation, being developed by companies in Europe.
The National Nuclear Security Administration will complete the First Production Unit of the B61-13 this fiscal year, according to a news report last week.
With production complete in December for the B61-12 life extension program, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has now transitioned to producing the B61-13 gravity bomb, a new,
According to the 2025 Stockpile Stewardship Management Plan (SSMP), which the NNSA released in October, the B61-13’s first production unit was originally planned for fiscal 2026. An NNSA spokesperson told Fox News that the agency will complete the first production unit of the B61-13 by fiscal 2025 and “significantly ahead of schedule.”
The SSMP also projects the B61-13 will finish production in fiscal year 2028.
“One of seven warhead modernization programs to ensure the reliability and effectiveness of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, the B61-13 will provide additional options against certain harder and large-area military targets,” the spokesperson added. “NNSA accelerated delivery of the weapon by leveraging manufacturing processes from the related B61-12 program, whose final unit was completed in 2024, and implementing a range of technical innovations to optimize production.”
The B61 family of bombs is currently deployed from the U.S. Air Force and NATO bases, NNSA said. The gravity bomb itself is the oldest in the U.S. arsenal, with over 50 years of service.
The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) last Saturday morning launched its ninth proliferated architecture mission aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.
The 8:25 am EDT launch of NROL-192 in partnership with U.S. Space Force Space Launch Delta 30 was the third proliferated architecture launch this year with another expected within days (Defense Daily, April 8).
The agency on Saturday said, “The rapid deployment of NRO’s proliferated constellation directly supports the needs of the people NRO serves, intelligence analysts, warfighters, policymakers, and first responders. Having hundreds of NRO satellites on orbit will allow for critical data to be delivered to NRO’s stakeholders faster than ever before.”
NRO also said it has launched more than 150 satellites over the past two years, “creating the largest and most capable government constellation on orbit in our nation’s history.” Overall, in 2025, NRO is planning about a dozen launches, and about half of them for the proliferated architecture.
