Breaking Defense's Monday Morning Briefing

A News Roundup for the Week Ahead _________________________________________________________________________

A News Roundup for the Week Ahead SNC Technology Offers Superior EW Capability To Support Multi-Domain Operations. Presented by Sierra Nevada Corporation Integrated, scalable EW solutions provide operationally relevant electromagnetic spectrum situational awareness, electronic attack & force protection capability across a range of tactical applications. Learn more. Army Completes Second Counter-Small Drone Demonstration By Andrew Eversden Some systems shot the drones, others brought hit them with electronic attacks.   Quad Pushes Chip Supply Security, 5G 'Diversification,' Cybersecurity By Colin Clark   WASHINGTON: The first face-to-face meeting between the leaders of the so-called Quad — Australia, India, Japan and the United States — has spawned several initiatives designed to help moderate or crack the hold China has on certain technologies, including semiconductor chips and 5G networks. It also includes a new civil space initiative and an…   Army Drops Nearly $350M For New Radios After Two Years of Testing By Andrew Eversden The radios recently "proved [their] worth" during a training exercise in Indo-Pacific, an Army spokesperson said.   StrikeShield APS: Game Changing Modular Protection With Lower Risk Of Detection By Breaking Defense [Sponsored] Rheinmetall's hybrid solution integrates next-generation active and passive technologies for effective layered defense in a weight and power portfolio that works.   House Passes NDAA, With $24B In Extra Pentagon Funding and Strings Attached By Aaron Mehta The NDAA easily passed and now heads to the Senate.   Navy Acquisition Commands Preparing Overmatch Liaison Offices By Justin Katz The new integration offices will play a key role in ensuring programs across the Navy are able to meet the technical requirements imposed by Project Overmatch.   As Air Force Signals Hypersonic Doubts, Key Senators Want To Go Faster By Theresa Hitchens "I'm not satisfied with the pace," Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said. "We're making some progress on the technology; I would like to see it be better."   House Passes Iron Dome Funding, As Israel Watches Warily By Aaron Mehta After three days of drama, the bill passed with massive support, and now heads to the Senate.   Top Army General: Network Modernization 'Never Going To Stop' By Andrew Eversden "This is going to be a continuous journey because the explosion of information technologies is only accelerating on us," Lt. Gen. John Morrison said.   Outcomes Of JADC2 Will Provide Decisive Advantage By Barry Rosenberg [Sponsored] "Does (JADC2) increase lethality? The answer should be yes. (JADC2) makes us more lethal. We're a warfighting organization. That's what this is designed to do."—Lt. Gen. Dennis Crall, director of C4 and CIO, Joint Staff.   In Artificial Intelligence, 'We Need To Be More Precise': Lt. Gen. O'Brien By Brad D. Williams Not giving airmen the tech they need is "like having an excellent sniper and handing him a knife that hasn't been sharpened in a while," Air Force Chief Information Officer Lauren Barrett Knausenberger said.   Schumpeter's Gale: The US Air Force, China And Innovation By Colin Clark "The notion is, you have an embarrassment of riches, and you're falling behind on speed and magnitude. This is what is sometimes called Schumpeter's Gale. The notion is, it's not about the competition — it's about you," said Jeffrey DeGraff, of the University of Michigan.   The Afghanistan Debacle: 5G And China By Dean Cheng With Washington demonstrating little competency or reliability, Beijing is likely to press countries to include Huawei and other Chinese telecommunications corporations in their 5G networks, lest they alienate Beijing.   GBSD: First Missile Test Flight 2023, Initial Production 2026 By Theresa Hitchens "We've entered into the next big phase, what we call 'CDR season,'" Greg Manuel, vice president and general manager of Northrop Grumman's Strategic Deterrent Systems division, told Breaking Defense.   Blowin' In The Wind: A New X-Plane Program To Revolutionize Aircraft Maneuverability By Barry Rosenberg [Sponsored] BAE Systems' role in DARPA's CRANE program builds upon its demonstrator aircraft that was the first in aviation history to maneuver in flight using only active flow control technologies.   Air Force Needs 'Zealots For The Electromagnetic Spectrum': General By Brad D. Williams "[The electromagnetic spectrum is] like the oxygen that surrounds us right now. You don't have a choice. You are in it," the Air Force's director of EMS superiority said.   Are Changes Coming To US Air Force Basing In Europe? By Aaron Mehta Last time around the US announced a big change without consulting allies. This time a top Air Force official doesn't foresee "huge movement," but promised a heads up.   Air Force Expects To Award B-52 Engine Contract This Month By Aaron Mehta A contract for one of three companies is "imminent," per top Air Force officials.   Back To The Future With Nuclear Power In Space By Lee Ferran Nuclear propulsion for space-bound rockets wasn't science fiction even in the 1960s, and 60 years later multiple programs are rediscovering this promising technology.   Biden Nominates Douglas Bush To Be Army Top Acquisition Official By Andrew Eversden Given his previous work, Bush is intimately familiar with the acquisition challenges that Army faces as it pushes modernization.   Army, Navy Units To Transfer To Space Force Soon By Theresa Hitchens The Army units involved operate a payload for the Wideband Global SATCOM system; the Navy's are connected to the Mobile User Objective System sats.   Russia, PRC Intercept US Aircraft 'Multiple Times A Day' In Pacific: PacAF By Colin Clark The head of Pacific Air Force said he had no objections to India buying Russia's S-400 system "in the current environment." But — and this is a big but — he said India's action "will perhaps affect a future purchase by India, if they were interested in purchasing other defense equipment from us. But that's out of my lane, and I don't really talk about that, because it's tomorrow stuff."   Brown: Air Force Serious About E-7 Wedgetail By Theresa Hitchens Acquiring the Wedgetail "gives us a path" while the service awaits a space-based capability, Air Force Chief of Staff CQ Brown said, as "an option to be able to get the capability much faster than if we were to start a new start from scratch."   OpenSpace: Using Software, Not Hardware, To Reconfigure The Satellite Ground Segment For A 5G World By Barry Rosenberg [Sponsored] Diversifying space architectures and the need for interoperability is driving a shift to dynamic, flexible, software-based infrastructure.   New Quadcopter Drone 'Kargo' in Development, Hopes to Supply Marines By Justin Katz Kaman executives said they have been operating a 50% scale model for testing purposes and plan to build and demonstrate a representative aircraft by the end of next year.   AFRL's Golden Horde 'Gladiator' Drones To Compete Virtually By Theresa Hitchens "The win for the research lab, and for our acquirers is that we get to see the cutting edge technologies that are out there," said AFRL Director Maj. Gen. Heather Pringle.   DoD Spending On JADC2 Jumps, With Increased Focus On Interoperability: Report By Brad D. Williams Govini's Billy Fabian said that for some JADC2 problems, the DoD has a "closing window… before the next generation of capabilities are too far along in development. Otherwise, it risks making its interoperability challenges even worse."   JADC2 Hinges On Decision Superiority By Barry Rosenberg [Sponsored] Agile, open networks will let the DoD make command decisions faster, distribute its forces, and operate at a standoff distance to counter new weaponry like hypersonic missiles.    Israel Wants To Put New Equipment Inside The F-35: Exclusive Q&A With Top Officer By Arie Egozi The goal, said Brig. Gen. Nir Barkan, Israeli Air Force Chief of the Air Staff and Vice Commander of the IAF, is to add Israeli-made gear inside the F-35.   TacAir Study To Set Ranges For Aircraft Numbers By Theresa Hitchens "The TacAir study is coming to a close soon. I haven't had a chance to review it yet. But I'm hoping it will be an input that informs this National Defense Strategy, and the '23 POM and our plans going forward," said Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall.   Breaking Defense 611 Broadway • New York, New York • 10012 unsubscribe