Breaking Defense's Monday Morning Briefing

A News Roundup for the Week Ahead _________________________________________________________________________

A News Roundup for the Week Ahead Commanding A Squadron Of Unmanned Aircraft To Work As One. Presented by Northrop Grumman We're defining the future of unmanned aircraft. MQ-Next is an autonomous strike aircraft capable of working as one with other forces and making intuitive decisions.  Learn more. No CMMC Penalty for Companies Hit By Solar Wind Hack By Kelsey Atherton; Friday, January 15, 2021 5:31 PM "A determined adversary with the right capabilities is going to find their way in, especially if they put all their resources to bear on it," said Karlton Johnson, the chair of the CMMC Accreditation Body board of directors.   Space Force Awards NSTXL Space Consortium Contract By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.; Friday, January 15, 2021 3:44 PM The Space & Missile Systems Center has reaffirmed its choice of NSTXL to manage the public-private Space Enterprise Consortium (SpEC), rejecting allegations by The Washington Post.   Missile Defense Costs To Soar $5B A Year: CBO By Theresa Hitchens; Friday, January 15, 2021 2:20 PM CBO estimates that developing F-35-launched boost-phase interceptors to defend against North Korean ballistic missiles would cost $25 billion to $40 billion to develop, with an additional $10 billion to $20 billion a year to operate.   Geurts Out As Navy Acquisition Executive; Biden Team Considers Who Is Next By Paul McLeary; Friday, January 15, 2021 12:19 PM A retired Air Force officer who also served as the top acquisition executive, for the Special Operations Command, Geurts has been at the forefront of the Navy's push for unmanned ships. He has also championed the standup of 15 "tech bridges" across the country to spur innovation.   AI Can Save Taxpayers Money: JAIC Chief By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.; Thursday, January 14, 2021 4:30 PM Applying AI to everything from predictive maintenance to financial management can save the military billions, the director of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center told us – if the Pentagon can reform its cumbersome bureaucracy to exploit rapid advances in technology.   Roper Hints NGAD Could Replace F-35; Why? Life-Cycle Costs By Theresa Hitchens; Thursday, January 14, 2021 4:14 PM The NGAD program "represents a chance to design an airplane that is more sustainable than the F-35, if in fact the F-35 cannot get its cost-per-flying-hour down," said outgoing AF acquisition head Will Roper.   Hypersonics, Unmanned Ship Teaming Ahead for Zumwalt Destroyer By Paul McLeary; Thursday, January 14, 2021 1:59 PM Navy officials said this week that the destroyer, which still hasn't been deployed almost five years after she was christened, might find a place in the fleet after all.   JADC2 May Be Built To Fight The Wrong War By Dan Patt; Thursday, January 14, 2021 11:35 AM To compete with China, DoD needs to focus on spoiling Chinese military and paramilitary success at lower levels on the escalation ladder. This is more closely aligned with maneuver warfare concepts like DARPA's Mosaic Warfare.   Navy's Unmanned Plan Inches Forward; Ships To Have Crew Quarters By Paul McLeary; Wednesday, January 13, 2021 7:47 PM "It is too early to say where we will end up across that portfolio, but we are investigating a range of options via our prototyping efforts," Capt. Pete Small told the virtual Surface Navy convention   Colorado Politicians Vow To Fight Huntsville Choice For SPACECOM By Theresa Hitchens; Wednesday, January 13, 2021 7:15 PM Several experts said the decision shouldn't be that big of a surprise, given that Huntsville had been poised to win the first contest — in part due to its much lower cost of living, as well as plenty of available office and housing space.   Navy Acting Undersec: USS Ford, LCS 'Not Our Fault' By Paul McLeary; Wednesday, January 13, 2021 7:03 PM "Some of these people may have been in these jobs too long," Navy Undersecretary Gregory Slavonic suggested of House and Senate Armed Services committee lawmakers, suggesting they should be subject to term limits.   Space Force Reaches Out To New Partners– Eye On China By Theresa Hitchens; Wednesday, January 13, 2021 5:12 PM "Other areas we're looking for opportunities are also out in the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean, to develop new and different partnerships in space that we may not have enjoyed in other domains in the past," Gen. DT Thompson, vice chief of the Space Force, says.   Mossad Head Briefs Biden Admin On Iranian Nukes, Missiles By Arie Egozi; Wednesday, January 13, 2021 4:30 PM The head of the Mossad is expected to serve as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's main liaison with the new administration, because of his personal acquaintance with Biden and many of the new president's senior officials developed while he was head of Israel's National Security Council.   Building JADC2: Data, AI & Warfighter Insight By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.; Wednesday, January 13, 2021 3:05 PM "There's still a lot of folks who believe that, 'oh, somebody's going to bring a big box of AI and set it on my desk,'" Lt. Gen. Mike Groen, director of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, says. "This is not some black box. This is about your insight into the battlefield."   Navy's Next Destroyer Will Ensure 'No Target Is Out Of Range' By Paul McLeary; Tuesday, January 12, 2021 7:50 PM "We've done about all we can do with this ship and we've maxed out the space, weight, power and cooling," Rear Adm. Paul Schlise said. "It's time to reset to a new large surface combatant."   Breaking Defense 611 Broadway • New York, New York • 10012 unsubscribe