To help fight inflation, the Pentagon was given $1.05 billion to disperse to industry. Now, documents reviewed by Breaking Defense and interviews with key officials reveal how and why certain programs won out.
A report from NDIA highlights directed-energy suppliers’ struggles to get by on unpredictable “one-off” contracts for prototypes and field tests — but OSD research and acquisition officials warn there are complex tactical questions to work out before they can buy lasers in bulk.
Cybersecurity skills must evolve in near-real time as Zero Day threats continue and AI provides new challenges.
While key executives tell Breaking Defense they have adjusted to the new normal, experts worry IT supply chain vulnerabilities could be exploited in the future by adversarial nations.
"We don't want your traditional industry brief. We want capabilities that we can get after the threat quickly," explained Col. Joseph Roth, director of SSC's Front Door industry engagement initiative.
“We learned in 2016 that recovering from artificial cuts is more expensive than getting it right in the first place,” David Norquist, NDIA's president and CEO, told Breaking Defense.
“You always have to be careful when we streamline a process,” David Norquist, recently installed as president and CEO of the National Defense Industrial Association, told Breaking Defense.
Michigan’s defense ecosystem and expertise makes it a special asset for production.
Kea Matory, director of legislative policy at NDIA, told Breaking Defense the bill is a "positive first step" but won't solve America's semiconductor chip woes in the face of growing competition from China.
The second increment of the Army's Small Multipurpose Equipment Transport will likely include requirements for a platform that would provide a weapons system, a communications retransmission asset, extra batteries or a launch platform for small drones.
"If you look at 2035 to field something hybrid, ... the technology is kind of there now," said Michael Cadieux, director of the Army's Ground Vehicles Systems Center.
Incoming guidance will help to create a new framework to identify, assess, mitigate and monitor risk to its supply chains, according to Timothy Goddette, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology.
Blending superior optics, advanced stabilization and AI-powered autonomy in a compact and rugged system, ASELFLIR 600 delivers unmatched intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities.
That conclusion is part of the National Defense Industrial Association's third annual Vital Signs 2022 report, which offers an analysis of the US's defense industrial base.
The institute will concentrate on artificial intelligence; autonomy; biotechnology; cyber; directed energy; command, control and communications; hypersonics; microelectronics; quantum science; space; and '5G to Next G.'
The new Joint Warfighting Concept to guide military operations for the next 30 years is "aspirational," and now must be fleshed out as best the Pentagon can with the resources available, says Gen. John Hyten, vice JCS chair.
"It’s ultimately a political decision, and ... this demands a strong and fully staffed OSD," said Mackenzie Eaglen, of the American Enterprise Institute. "That doesn’t seem likely until much later this year."