Breaking Defense's Monday Morning Briefing

A News Roundup for the Week Ahead _________________________________________________________________________

A News Roundup for the Week Ahead At Kratos, affordability is a technology directly benefiting the warfighter. Presented by Kratos Kratos is disrupting the status quo by increasing warfighter capability, delivering affordable systems and solutions including unmanned systems, turbine engines, space communications, and training. Learn more. EXCLUSIVE: General Atomics is secretly flying a new, heavily armed drone By Valerie Insinna The new yet-unnamed drone can carry up to 16 Hellfire missiles at a time — double the load of an MQ-1C Gray Eagle.   Dubai Airshow 2021 kicks off with safety measures, focus on local industry By Chyrine Mezher Above all, the event will support the UAE's "Make it in the Emirates" initiative.   Will the UAE actually get F-35? How Huawei, Russia factor into decision By Chyrine Mezher A military source tells Breaking Defense that Emirati leadership understands the severing of ties with Huawei to be a red line on moving the F-35 deal forward.   US Air Force will buy E-7 Wedgetail in 2022, Boeing exec claims By Valerie Insinna "I'm very confident that the Air Force is choosing the E-7 to replace its E-3 fleet," Mike Manazir, Boeing's vice president for defense business development, said during a news conference ahead of the Dubai Airshow.   Dubai Air Show: Fewer top US officials, more Israelis and a new Russian fighter By Valerie Insinna "The world is opening up again, and that means there will be a surge in post-pandemic demand for military systems, likely driven by the Persian Gulf region," said defense consultant Loren Thompson.   America's lesson from Gaza: prepare for disinformation war By Charles Wald A pair of retired top American officers say Israel did not respond quickly or effectively enough to the information war waged by Hamas earlier this year.   Rafael teams with GD, KMW to help sell Trophy system in Europe By Arie Egozi The new joint venture will focus its business activity on the European market, including growing existing buys in Germany and the UK, a senior company official told Breaking Defense.   Enabling the 21st century warfighter By Lockheed Martin [Sponsored] To help accelerate American and allied military modernization and preserve global deterrence, Lockheed Martin is developing a new framework for 21st Century Warfare.   'Blue Angels for geeks': Inside the Navy's plan to 'hack' its own unmanned strategy By Justin Katz In an exclusive interview, the officer in charge of the Navy's research and development enterprise said he wants the upcoming Hack the Machine event to result in real demonstrations for Navy leadership by next year.   At Dubai Air Show, Israeli firms see big business in historic rivals By Arie Egozi A warming of relations between Israel and Gulf nations provides a window for eager defense contractors.   Game Changer: Internet Operations Management is well suited to military networks By Breaking Defense [Sponsored] In this Game Changer article, we discuss how Internet Operations Management addresses the issue of centralized visibility and operational control.   MDA: Hypersonic missile tracking prototypes on point for 2023 launch By Theresa Hitchens What happens after the HBTSS prototype demonstrations, however, is yet to be determined, according to MDA and industry officials.    Chinese orbital bombardment? Don't panic! By Lee Ferran Around this time last month the defense world was sent a tizzy by a reported Chinese hypersonic orbital weapons test. While many questions remain unanswered, Bleddyn Bowen and Cameron Hunter of the University of Leicester have some advice: calm down. The following is an abridged and updated summary of a report published by the Asia-Pacific…   DoD moves out on tackling climate adaptation, energy, and sustainability By Breaking Defense [Sponsored] Guidehouse has key recommendations about how the Defense Department can reimagine traditional mission readiness planning through the lens of sustainable, efficient, and affordable energy solutions capable of mitigating the operational impact of extreme climate events on military infrastructure and resources.   China's newest aircraft carrier may launch early next year; How many aircraft? By Colin Clark In addition to the speedy construction of the carrier, analysts called attention to the shipyard's foreign customers, who appear to be effectively subsidizing the carrier's construction.   Army lost telemetry tracking data with its Precision Strike Missile at 499km By Andrew Eversden "So we're confident we get past 499 and probably further if we hadn't lost telemetry," Gen. Mike Murray said at Project Convergence.   CYBERCOM has conducted 'hunt-forward' ops in 14 countries, deputy says By Brad D. Williams Lt. Gen. Moore didn't provide details, but later said, "China is the number one priority for DoD. Therefore, it's [CYBERCOM chief] Gen. Nakasone's number one priority."   Lack of future helo doesn't stop Army's Future Vertical Lift experiments in the desert By Andrew Eversden Project Convergence 21 showed off new, networked, autonomous capabilities to be added to next-gen helicopters.   China invests in artificial intelligence to counter US Joint Warfighting Concept: Records By Lee Ferran Researchers at Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology sifted through thousands of Chinese military and defense equipment contracts. Here's what we found.   Army's SMDC Tech Center races to get space-base capabilities for soldiers By Theresa Hitchens "Air and missile defense, long-range precision fires, assured position navigation and timing — all of these rely on space-enabled capabilities and access to space," said Tom Webber, director of the Army Space and Missile Defense Command Technical Center.   Navy conducts live test of resupply drones for ashore, at-sea missions By Justin Katz The Navy and Marine Corps have sought unmanned resupply capabilities for years, but the acquisition process and exquisite requirements have slowed the process of bringing the technology to the fleet.   An easy fix to Space Force's most glaring vulnerability By Lee Ferran A rapid response space capability must be an integral component of the president's response options to not only deter an adversary, but also to avoid repeating the humiliation of revealed impotence in the face of a threat.   Capella to demonstrate first SARsat-based laser communications for SDA By Theresa Hitchens Optical intersatellite links, or OISLs, use lasers to zip data between satellites on orbit — a technology that is both the central node and the biggest challenge in SDA's effort to build a multi-layered National Defense Space Architecture.   UK, French officials gather to decide future of missile technologies By Aaron Mehta Officials and executives want to focus on mission systems and algorithms; seekers; lethal packages; propulsion; and materials, structures and electronics.   Poland pledges major new defense spending. Is it real, or political hype? By Aaron Mehta American firms may be seeing dollar signs from Warsaw's pledge to "buy more American equipment," but there are a lot of hurdles.   Viasat to buy Inmarsat, plans for polar sats to expand Arctic coverage By Theresa Hitchens "Viasat has been undergoing an existential crisis as it competes with SpaceX for the satcom market," one industry source said.    Attack sub Pasadena returns to fleet after schedule delays By Justin Katz The Pasadena's availability was done as part of a pilot project for a service-wide effort to improve the four public shipyard's efficacy.   The roadmap for naval electrification By Barry Rosenberg The US Navy answers questions about its roadmap for employing electric and battery power for lasers, radars, and propulsion over the next two decades.   Israeli space firms start thinking small, with national security implications By Arie Egozi TEL AVIV: For decades, Israel has stood as one of the smallest nations to have an indigenous space program, with a national security capability built around large, exquisite capabilities. Now, with the potential of small satellites — cheaper to launch, cheaper to design and cheaper to lose in a combat scenario — being embraced around…   Army developing software to let PNT sensors talk to each other By Andrew Eversden The effort is meant to help the service integrate new A-PNT systems faster as technology advances.   Breaking Defense 611 Broadway • New York, New York • 10012 unsubscribe