Breaking Defense's Monday Morning Briefing

A News Roundup for the Week Ahead __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A News Roundup for the Week Ahead It's Impossible To Get The Full Picture. Until It's Not. Presented by Northrop Grumman We provide powerful, scalable networks and capabilities that enable warfighters to act as a joint force across every domain, service and mission. Learn more.  Profile: Medal of Honor Recipient Sgt. Maj. Thomas Patrick Payne By James Kitfield; Friday, September 11, 2020 3:38 PM "Every man on the mission that night was engaged in their own unique problem set. My teammates were also looking for some way to liberate those hostages," said Payne.   JAIC Wants AI 'Victory Gardens' Across DoD By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.; Friday, September 11, 2020 3:37 PM Instead of the Joint AI Center building everything in-house, the JAIC is creating technical and contracting tools to help any Defense Department organization launch its own AI projects.   Ligado Exemplifies Broken US Spectrum Management: Industry Experts By Theresa Hitchens; Friday, September 11, 2020 2:19 PM "There's a lot of inefficiencies in the process. But it's basically a fight, with each community pressing its case to its own regulatory body," says Jennifer Warren, Lockheed Martin's vice president for technology, policy and regulation.   US, Allies Agree On Threats In Space But Struggle With Messaging By Theresa Hitchens; Friday, September 11, 2020 10:45 AM "I would say that it's not the fact, in itself, that we have Space Forces or Space Commands which is concerning. It is what you do with this," says Maj. Gen. Michel Friedling, first commander of France's new Space Command.   Many Government Employees Are Now Working From Home [Sponsored] By Poly; Friday, September 11, 2020 9:24 AM Poly enables them to have as much impact from their kitchen table as from their desks in the office.   Houthi Drones, Missiles Strike Saudi Capital; Iran Eyes Israelis In UAE By Arie Egozi; Thursday, September 10, 2020 5:24 PM A delegation of Israeli and Emirati intelligence officers arrived and examined locations for establishing planned intelligence bases on Socotra Island, designed to collect intelligence across the region, particularly from Bab Al-Mandab and south of Yemen, along with the Gulf of Eden and the Horn of Africa.   New Navy Ships Plan Finally Ready; On Esper's Desk Next Week By Paul McLeary; Thursday, September 10, 2020 5:17 PM "We built three different future fleets," Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist said. "We examined the ships and Marine units we have, and those we might build by 2045."   Target Gone In 20 Seconds: Army Sensor-Shooter Test By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.; Thursday, September 10, 2020 5:11 PM This fall's first Project Convergence exercise aims to feed targeting data from satellites to artillery so fast that gunners can unleash precision fire in much less than a minute. And that's just the start.   NSA Prepares Unclassified Threat Reports — From Home By Kelsey Atherton; Thursday, September 10, 2020 3:31 PM "In small ways we're redefining who we are as an agency," said Wendy Noble, executive director of the NSA.   China Is Not Ahead Of US On AI: JAIC Chief & Gen. Hyten By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.; Thursday, September 10, 2020 11:50 AM While China has invested heavily in "brute force" big data, Nand Mulchandani and aides said, US companies are far more innovative — but will they work with the Pentagon?   House Declares Defense Trade War on Best US Allies: F-35 Sales in Jeopardy? By Bill Greenwalt; Thursday, September 10, 2020 7:01 AM The House Buy American provisions will destroy U.S. jobs when these countries buy from other countries. And Congress would be ripping up and overriding signed agreements with our closest allies that have served as the foundations of reciprocity in defense trade and cooperation within NATO and with other partners such as Australia and Israel for over 40 years. Our allies are our greatest advantage and this will undermine NATO and our commitment to other global allies.   GBSD, B-21 Spending Could Top $10B In 2027: Cowen Group By Theresa Hitchens; Wednesday, September 9, 2020 6:05 PM B-21 production costs, the Cowen analysis finds, will ramp up fast, from $202 million in 2022 to $4 billion in 2027.   DoD Looks For Up To $20B For Industry COVID Bail Out By Paul McLeary; Wednesday, September 9, 2020 4:45 PM This summer, Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord estimated DoD needed about $11B to help industry cover COVID costs — that number has now gone up by $9B.   AI To Fly In Dogfight Tests By 2024: SecDef By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.; Wednesday, September 9, 2020 2:03 PM After an AI beat humans 5-0 in AlphaDogfight simulations this summer, Mark Esper announced, a future version will be installed in actual airplanes for "a real-world competition." But military AI will adhere to strict ethical limits, he said.   Space Force Strategy Out In 'Months' In Time For Budget By Theresa Hitchens; Wednesday, September 9, 2020 1:15 PM "At the end of the day, anyone who's using satellite communications doesn't really care where that information comes from," Lt. Gen. William Liquori says.   Breaking Defense 611 Broadway • New York, New York • 10012 unsubscribe