Breaking Defense's Monday Morning Briefing

A News Roundup for the Week Ahead _________________________________________________________________________

A News Roundup for the Week Ahead     Rolls-Royce power for V-280 – enhanced speed and range Presented by Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce brings low-risk AE 1107F engines to the Bell V-280 Valor, maximizing speed and range for U.S. Army modernization. AE 1107 engines are produced by American employees in state-of-the-art Rolls-Royce factories in the U.S. Learn more. Russia has what it needs for 'horrific' invasion of Ukraine, DoD leaders say By Valerie Insinna "While we don't believe that President Putin has made a final decision to use these forces against Ukraine, he clearly now has that capability," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.   DARPA's 'ROCkN' laser-based clocks will know what time it really is, to the sub-picosecond By Theresa Hitchens Optical clocks in labs today "fill out a huge room, a big room with a very complex, very sophisticated apparatus that takes multiple PhDs to run," Tatjana Curcic, who manages DARPA's Robust Optical Clock Network project, told Breaking Defense.   New Pentagon report censors details on weapons programs' performance, flaws By Valerie Insinna "By caving to pressure inside the Pentagon and hiding unclassified information behind a pseudo classification, the current leaders of DOT&E are undermining the effectiveness of their own agency," said Dan Grazier, a fellow with the Project on Government Oversight.   HII taps Chris Kastner to take the helm as president, CEO By Justin Katz Mike Petters, the current CEO of Huntington Ingalls Industries, will become executive vice chairman of the board.   Pentagon's cybersecurity tests aren't realistic, tough enough: Report By Jaspreet Gill "Cybersecurity must be built into system design, and the human defender should be included early on in cyber defense engineering and programmatic priorities for both system usability and training," according to the Pentagon's chief tester.   Indonesia's $125B air, naval splurge may mean '50 warships' at sea in next 2 years By Colin Clark Amidst incursions by China into Indonesia's Extended Economic Zone, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto is looking for a major investment in military gear.   Getting lost: Yet more delays to Space Force protected GPS program By Theresa Hitchens Some services have turned to commercial solutions for receivers as delays mount, report says.   Government watchdog to Air Force: Don't ok new KC-46 vision system prematurely By Valerie Insinna "Without taking these steps prior to closing the preliminary design review, the program may accept a remote vision system design that contains immature technologies and greater risk of cost and schedule growth," the Government Accountability Office states in its report.   Navy's problems with the Zumwalt may be hurting its hypersonic weapon efforts By Justin Katz The Pentagon's top weapons tester says the service has "limited flight test opportunities" to support putting a hypersonic weapon onboard the Zumwalt class.   The case of Ukraine, looking back and looking forward By Robbin Laird "The Russian threat to Ukrainian sovereignty is simply not about Ukraine," writes author Robbin Laird. "It is about the stability of the current European order."   Hypersonics and cyber tools: Pentagon's innovation hub highlights FY21 tech transitions By Jaspreet Gill The Defense Innovation Unit published 26 solicitations in fiscal 2021, awarded 72 prototype other transaction contracts (an increase of 31% from FY20) and received 1,116 commercial proposals.   Watch the Breaking Defense Military Space Survey roundtable [Video] By Aaron Mehta Our hour-long roundtable debates all the hot military space issues.   US warned Israel over Chinese push to get defense tech: Sources By Arie Egozi High-profile court case playing out in Israel highlights fears of untoward business relationships with Chinese influence.   China's SJ-21 'tugs' dead satellite out of GEO belt: Trackers By Theresa Hitchens "I think there are more questions than answers right now when it comes to SJ-21," Todd Harrison, director of CSIS's Aerospace Project, told Breaking Defense.   BAE, Oshkosh cold weather vehicle prototypes survive Army's Alaskan tests By Andrew Eversden BAE systems and Oshkosh Defense, with its partner ST Engineering, will now compete for the contract, with an award expected near the end of June.   With Russia's Ukraine build-up, NATO faces existential crisis of coherence By Joshua Huminski As Baltic members pledge arms, European giants France and Germany stay in the background.   How lessons learned during Afghan withdrawal relate directly to JADC2 By Barry Rosenberg The Afghanistan withdrawal and the consolidation of all in-country military networks to one base at Hamid Karzai International Airport illustrated unique challenges with direct applicability to Joint All Domain Command and Control and future Project Convergences.   Boeing racks up $402M cost overrun on KC-46 tanker By Valerie Insinna Total cost overruns for the program sit at about $5.4 billion in pre-tax charges, and all must be paid by Boeing.   Kuwaiti Air Force's new F-18s, Typhoons facing delivery delays By Riad Kahwaji DUBAI: The year 2022 was supposed to be the year the Kuwait Air Force took almost full delivery of two long-awaited platforms that would double its size and multiply its capabilities. However, delays caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic have pushed the delivery and operationalization schedule to 2023 — which may end up a blessing…   Aussies unveil new hypersonics center, signal distance from Ukraine crisis By Colin Clark A hypersonic cruise missile under development by the US and Australia uses an air-breathing scramjet engine and is meant to be carried by Australia's F-18s and F-35As, as well as the P-8A surveillance aircraft.   Columbia subs, carrier maintenance, sailor pay all in trouble under full CR, Navy says By Justin Katz In a rare press conference, the Navy's budget director said a year long continuing resolution would not impact his service's involvement in a potential Russia-Ukraine conflict.   Booz Allen Hamilton nabs $6.8M Thunderdome prototype contract By Jaspreet Gill Over the next six months, the Defense Information Systems Agency plans to produce the first working prototype of its zero-trust security and network architecture program that's scalable across the Defense Department.   Oshkosh Defense announces first hybrid electric JLTV By Andrew Eversden Oshkosh's current major customers, the Army and the Marines, haven't asked for an electric hybrid JLTV, but the company said the ones they have can be retrofitted "easily."   Lockheed-Aerojet merger on life support, facing FTC lawsuit By Valerie Insinna "We cannot afford to allow further concentration in markets critical to our national security and defense," an FTC official said.   Amid attacks, UAE quietly asks Israel about defense systems: Sources By Arie Egozi The Gulf nation said Monday it intercepted two ballistic missiles fired by Houthi rebels.   Four carriers being prepped for Navy's Project Overmatch By Justin Katz Rear Adm. James Downey said that while the upgrades being made are "not minor," they also do not require hull, mechanical or electrical changes to the ships.   The Army wants someone to make comics about its information warfare doctrine By Jaspreet Gill The intent is to generate conversation within the community and a more broad audience about potential threats and what the service can do to prepare for the future.   Anduril nets biggest DoD contract to date: Signifier or outlier for defense start-ups? By Andrew Eversden "This is hugely significant in that it sends a signal that start ups and non-traditional companies can actually succeed in the federal marketplace," said Bill Greenwalt, former deputy undersecretary of defense for industrial policy.   Hydrosat plans LEO sats to map literal hot spots for military, commercial users By Theresa Hitchens CEO Pieter Fossel explained how the temperature of the ground, for instance, can be a critical factor for helicopter-borne special operations missions.   Megaconstellations may prove a wildcard for Pentagon space planners [Video] By Aaron Mehta "I think there is a lack of focus on the issue of not just megaconstellations, but on the future role of commercial space, and how we, as an international community regulate commercial space so that it fits the international security and national security priorities and needs."       Breaking Defense 611 Broadway • New York, New York • 10012 unsubscribe