Breaking Defense's Monday Morning Briefing

A News Roundup for the Week Ahead _________________________________________________________________________

A News Roundup for the Week Ahead Kratos' next gen target drones prepare the warfighter, protect the taxpayer Presented by Kratos Kratos' next generation unmanned aerial target drones and their capabilities continue to evolve to represent ever changing, evolving threats from near-peer adversaries to best prepare the American warfighter while keeping costs down for the American taxpayer. Learn more. I got to leave my house and have fun with the Army: 5 Stories From 2021 By Andrew Eversden WASHINGTON: The US Army is in the midst of a generational modernization effort, a budget crunch and pivoting away from the Middle East to focus on threats in China and Russia. But that'll be the focus of a different end of year piece. For this one, we can just have fun. Here are the stories…   It's both AI technology and ethics that will enable JADC2 By Breaking Defense [Sponsored] Responsible Artificial Intelligence principles will build justified confidence in AI systems that the DoD will depend upon for all-domain operations.   Defense aviation stories as Taylor Swift songs: 5 Stories From 2021 By Valerie Insinna The only year end list about warplanes that also includes Taylor Swift song recommendations. You're welcome.   Hunting vulns, from cars to drones: 5 Stories From 2021 By Andrew Eversden From the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan to cyber threats posed by cars on military bases, networks and cyber had another interesting year.   Army awards Northrop Grumman $1.4 billion contract for IBCS By Andrew Eversden Northrop Grumman will deliver 160 Integrated Battlefield Command Systems.   Bringin' home the Space-BACN: DARPA kicks off laser link project By Theresa Hitchens Fourteen vendors have been chosen to complete designs for two different pieces of an optical terminal that can connect incompatible LEO sats.   Army to industry: What technologies will increase our ability to drive electrification to the tactical edge? By Breaking Defense [Sponsored] The Army's on-the-horizon electric, tactical wheeled vehicles need to align with the commercial market so that industry can both build and sustain them.   The underrated Navy topics you might have missed: 5 Stories From 2021 By Justin Katz Sealift, unmanned maintenance and some interesting comments by the top Marine are on the list.   Here's what we know about the classified drones the Air Force wants to buy in FY23 By Valerie Insinna The B-21 and future sixth-gen fighter will operate alongside drones, but what will those unmanned aircraft actually do?   AFRL's Arachne achieves power conversion, chasing sci-fi-esque space-based solar power By Theresa Hitchens Arachne's initially envisioned launch date of 2024 now has been pushed back to early 2025 — not because of any internal problems, but because of the difficulty of getting a ride to Low Earth Orbit.     Army hosts Plugfest-ivus at new PNT lab By Andrew Eversden The Open Innovation Lab evaluated industry solutions for the Army's CMOSS program.   Space Force moves closer to replacing aging DMSP weather sats By Theresa Hitchens DoD's effort to replace the DMSP polar orbiting constellation, first launched in the 1960s, is a historic tale tale of acquisition woe.   DARPA taps Northrop, Martin Defense Group for Manta Ray UUV Phase 2 By Justin Katz The Manta Ray is one of several unmanned vehicles moving through the military's research and development enterprises.   Deterrence during Great Power Competition: Allies must build fighter capability By Scott Cooper Real deterrence has to be underpinned by military capability, particularly in the skies, author and Atlantic Council expert Scott Cooper writes.   Silicon Valley warns the Pentagon: 'Time is running out' By Valerie Insinna After years of research and development efforts, tech startups want to see the Pentagon commit to real production work.   A resilient, layered space-based architecture is well suited to missile warning systems By Breaking Defense [Sponsored] While the GEO-based Space-Based Infrared System continues to serve US missile-warning needs, emerging threats and an increasingly contested space environment may benefit from a layered architecture in multiple orbits.   Exclusive: Space acquisition shop set for another re-org, following Congress-backed SWAC model By Theresa Hitchens The Space Warfighting Analysis Center has started laying out force designs for critical operations, but will SSC be able to transition those blueprints into real-world acquisition programs, Lockheed Martin's Eric Brown asked.   Air Force hypersonic weapon runs into trouble after a third failed test By Valerie Insinna During a Dec. 15 test, AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) booster failed to launch.   Navy's unmanned refueling drone completes first ops on an aircraft carrier By Justin Katz The successful testing onboard an active Navy aircraft carrier is a win for the high-profile program under pressure to stay on schedule.   Breaking Defense 611 Broadway • New York, New York • 10012 unsubscribe