DoD Data Generation. The founder and CEO of Scale AI, Alexandr Wang, told the House Armed Services Committee’s cyber, information technologies, and innovation panel on July 18 that the Pentagon generates 22 terabytes of knowledge each day, but that figure appears to be significantly short of the present mark. While DoD seems not to trace that each day data generation, now retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan quoted the 22 terabytes figure back in April 2017 at a Defense Innovation Board meeting, however the minutes of the Apr. 4, 2017 meeting indicate that he was referring to each day data generation by Air Force intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems, akin to U-2 imagery and F-35 radar data, to not DoD systems as a complete. Scale AI confirmed on July 21 that Wang’s HASC testimony that referenced the 22 terabytes of knowledge derived from an article in April 2017 that mistakenly said that the 22 terabytes was for all of DoD. Shanahan said in 2017 that the 22 terabytes figure was an amount twice that of the printed material within the Library of Congress. The now defunct organization that Shanahan headed starting in 2018, the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center—became a part of the Pentagon’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) in February last 12 months. The CDAO is leveraging combatant command Global Information Dominance Experiment exercises to construct a central data repository that’s to feed DoD artificial intelligence applications.
Drone Jamming.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) said that the Air Force, for the primary time, flew an organization drone, likely the MQ-9 Reaper, with a Georgia Tech Research Institute ALQ-167 Electronic Warfare Countermeasure Pod—referred to as the “Indignant Kitten—on April 27. The ALQ-167 “has flown on other Department of Defense systems, including F-16s,” General Atomics said. “GA-ASI integrated the EW pod in lower than nine months without charge to the U.S. Air Force by utilizing a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement.” General Atomics said that the Air Force is to fly the ALQ-167 pods over the following one to 2 years to develop tactics, techniques and procedures for his or her use.
40th Launch. Recent Zealand’s Rocket Lab said that its 40th Electron launch will hoist an Acadia synthetic aperture radar satellite by Capella Space into orbit, possibly as early as next week. “The mission, named ‘We Love the Nightlife,’ is scheduled to launch from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on Recent Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula,” Rocket Lab said. “‘We Love the Nightlife’ will [be] Rocket Lab’s third launch for Capella following the successful ‘Stronger Together’ mission launched in March 2023 from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 in Virginia, USA, and the “I Can’t Imagine It’s Not Optical” mission in August 2020 from Launch Complex 1, which deployed the primary satellite in Capella’s SAR constellation.” Payam Banazadeh, founder and CEO of Capella Space, said in a press release that the “We Love the Nightlife” mission will debut Capella’s third generation Acadia.
No Labels. The No Labels centrist political organization, which has floated the concept of a possible third-party presidential ticket, released a brand new policy document on July 15 that shed some light on the group’s pondering on defense spending. The document states the federal government “shouldn’t just blindly dump extra money into the Pentagon.” “So America undoubtedly must spend more to guard our security in a dangerous world, but we want to accomplish that with much less waste and with zero corruption,” the document states. The group, nevertheless, also says more is required to retain the U.S.’ place because the world’s strongest military, stating the “lead is shrinking.” “We may not have enough ships to discourage Russia and China and to patrol the Pacific and significant sea lanes, while the Army and other branches are missing their recruiting goals. America’s military spending as a share of our economy is lower than half what it was 40 years ago. Meanwhile, China actually has more manpower, ships, and submarines than the U.S.,” the group writes within the document.
USCG News. The U.S. Coast Guard earlier this month began work at its facilities to increase the service lifetime of six of its 270-foot -class medium endurance cutters. The Coast Guard Cutter Spencer will receive recent foremost diesel engines, electrical and structural work, and recent gun weapons systems with work scheduled to last 15 months. It is going to take through spring 2028 to finish the service life extension on all six cutters and the work will proceed concurrently with regular maintenance activities on each vessel. The 270-foot vessels will eventually get replaced by the 360-foot offshore patrol cutters, which have been delayed. Individually, the Coast Guard has taken delivery of its 54th 154-foot fast response cutter, the , from shipbuilder Bollinger Shipyards. The cutter will likely be the fifth FRC homeported in Boston. To this point, 52 FRCs are in service and the planned buy of 65 has been ordered.
Drone Detection as a Service. The Federal Aviation Administration is surveying the market as a part of plans to eventually acquire Drone Detection as a Service (DaaS) to observe Chinese-made DJI drone activities primarily along U.S. southern border regions and various locations near other land or coastal U.S. border areas. The FAA, which give second level engineering and logistics support to the Customs and Border Protection counter-unmanned aircraft system program, will acquire 37 Aeroscope sensors. DJI drones are probably the most widely used recreational unmanned aircraft systems and are also utilized by bad actors for surveillance and drug smuggling along the southern border.
DeSantis on EVs. Florida Governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said he doesn’t think climate change initiatives “ought to be an element” for the military, adding he doesn’t “need to force the Department of Defense to be using electric vehicles.” DeSantis’ comments got here in an interview aired on July 18 with CNN’s Jake Tapper, where he was asked about his policy proposal that the Pentagon shouldn’t prioritize climate policies over national security requirements. “Well, here’s the thing — how are you going to equip your fighting force to win. Are you going to place those considerations in, are you going to create probably the most lethal force available? I can let you know, China is just not going to make use of those considerations. In the event that they must burn more coal to defend their country, they’re going to burn more coal to defend their country,” DeSantis said. The Army is pursuing programs akin to the Electric Light Reconnaissance Vehicle and has cited an interest within the potential for hybrid-electric and electric vehicles to supply increased “silent watch” capability and a reduced logistics burden by shedding fuel requirements.
Emerging Technologies Interest. General Dynamics’ Information Technology business unit last week released a survey it conducted of 425 officials across defense, civilian and intelligence agencies saying that about 66 percent of their agencies are “moderately to extremely able to embrace emerging technologies” and one-third say the explanations for doing so are increased security and improved productivity. Regarding cybersecurity postures, technologies with the best impact are artificial intelligence, followed by emerging cyber capabilities, then data and predictive analytics. Cost in fact is a difficulty. The survey shows greater than a 3rd say cost and budget concerns and compatibility with existing software are key challenges. It also says 43 percent of defense respondents view increased cybersecurity as a top motivation and are leading the market in applying robotic process automation and 5G adoption. Intelligence and homeland security agencies are leading the adoption of cloud and edge computing.
Arctic Sure. The U.S. Coast Guard medium polar icebreaker, , departed Seattle on July 11 for a months-long Arctic deployment to conduct science and research missions, engage in exercises and exchanges with foreign partners, conduct maritime domain awareness, and conduct other operations as directed. The Coast Guard’s Research and Development Center will likely be working on several projects in the course of the deployment, including air domain awareness radar, high latitude underway connectivity, next-generation distress communication capability for Alaska and the Arctic, and evaluate visibility of colours for service-approved lifesaving equipment in marine conditions.
Polar Imaging Effort. Members of the intelligence community and the National Science Foundation last week agreed to supply continued public access to historical and recent digital elevation models (DEMs) using business imagery collected over the Arctic and Antarctic through 2032. As a part of the ArcticDEM initiative, the National Reconnaissance Office modified its existing Electro-Optical Industrial Layer contract with Maxar Technologies at no additional cost to supply the federal government with long-term access to regional imagery to create DEMs, that are used to quantify characteristics of a land surface. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency can share the imagery with NSF-funded university partners to update the muse’s ArcticDEM and reference elevation model of Antarctica projects.
…Easier Access. NGA Director Vice Adm. Frank Whitworth last Friday said that the brand new ArcticDEM agreement will make it much easier for academics to get DEMs within the polar regions than previously. “And now we have liberated that data which had been mired in only a weird contract now is definitely going to be made available to academia writ large into the world,” he said during a panel discussion in regards to the Arctic on the Aspen Security Forum. NGA, which is a component of the intelligence community and a combat support agency, wants “to know every inch of this Earth,” Whitworth said, adding that ArcticDEM will provide the “baseline for three-dimensional information as so what the baseline is for ice, permafrost, even water.”
More DDG(X) Work. General Dynamics Bath Iron Works and HII’s Ingalls shipbuilding won modifications of an unspecified value for shipbuilder engineering and design evaluation to provide design products in support of the long run DDG(X) guided missile destroyer preliminary design and contract design. Those are the 2 firms that currently construct the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers (DDG-51). The July 20 announcement noted the particular value of those contract awards is just not being released publicly now since it is taken into account source-selection sensitive information. The 2 firms are expected to complete the work by July 2024.
LCS-30. The Navy plans to commission the long run USS Canberra (LCS-30) Independence-variant Littoral Combat ship on the Royal Australian Naval Base Garden Island on July 22 local time. LCS-30 was built by Austal USA at its shipyard in Mobile, Ala. The ship is known as after Australia’s capital city. LCS-30 will ultimately be homeported at San Diego. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro will deliver the commissioning ceremony’s principal address with other remarks by various U.S. and Australian officials. LCS-30 will likely be the sixteenth commissioned Independence-variant LCS.
LCACs Lift. Ship to Shore Connector (SSC), Landing Craft, Air Cushions (LCAC) vessels 105-107 got a lift of opportunity (LOO) aboard the USS Gunston Hall (LSD-44), on July 14. The vessels had been at Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division for post-delivery test and trials after being delivered by Textron Systems. LSD-44 transported the SSCs in its well deck, as designed. LSD-44 is as a result of offload the three vessels at ACU 4 in Little Creek, Va., later this month. The parent unit of LCACs is on the East Coast. Previously, LCACs 101-103 arrived at ACU 4 in February 2022. The SSCs are being built to interchange the legacy LCACS with similar configurations, dimensions and clearances as older craft but with improved systems.
Dry Dock Upgrade Works. The Seawolf-class attack submarine USS Connecticut (SSN-22) docked on the recently upgraded Dry Dock 5 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility in Bremerton, Wash., on July 12 for the boat’s Prolonged Docking Chosen Restricted Availability (EDSRA). That is one in every of several dry docks being upgraded with interim seismic mitigation after a SIOP-related review found several dry docks prone to seismic damage within the region. Dry Dock 5 had been tested and recertified before SSN-22 docked there. Other mitigation work continues on the Trident Refit Facility Delta Pier in Bangor, Wash. The Navy noted the mitigation work included drilling holes for the installation of anchors contained in the dry dock partitions to enhance structural integrity and safety. “The mitigation efforts updated existing emergency response plans to raised address the prospect of a catastrophic earthquake, together with improved early-warning worker notification systems within the dry docks,” the Navy said in a press release.
EHETS Award. Oshkosh Defense has received a brand new $57 million order from the Army to provide 116 more Enhanced Heavy Equipment Transporter System (EHETS) trailers, the corporate said on July 18. The Army awarded Oshkosh Defense the EHETS contract in September 2022, which might be value as much as $263.2 million. “The continuing conflict in Ukraine demonstrates the critical need for having rigorous logistics systems able to delivering equipment and cargo across any terrain worldwide,” Pat Williams, Oshkosh Defense’s chief programs officer, said in a press release. “The EHETS trailer is a major example of Oshkosh’s commitment to providing solutions that meet the demands of an evolving battlefield. Oshkosh and our partner Broshuis B.V. are honored to proceed to supply this critical capability for the Soldier.” EHETS is designed to be pulled by Oshkosh’s Heavy Equipment Transport truck, and the corporate has previously said the combined systems are “designed to self-load and unload and might haul a payload of as much as 90 tons, allowing it to move the heaviest Army tracked vehicles.”
Austin on Tuberville’s Block. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) hold on military nominations and promotions over his opposition to the Pentagon’s abortion policy is causing a “readiness issue.” “The indisputable fact that Sen. Tuberville maintains this hold on the promotions of our senior officers, it cascades [and] it creates friction throughout the whole chain. It disadvantages families. You’ve heard us talk in regards to the impact of that. And so I might ask Sen. Tuberville to lift his hold,” Austin said during a press briefing on July 18. DoD officials on July 19 briefed the Senate Armed Services Committee on the administration’s policy covering travel money for armed services personnel to receive reproductive healthcare, including abortions, outside the states which have made it illegal and very restrictive, which reportedly didn’t change Tuberville’s position. “I feel now we have to maintain things in perspective. One in five of our troops are women. They don’t get a likelihood to select where they’re assigned. They’re serving their country. They’re sacrificing each and day by day. They usually deserve, for my part and within the view of our leadership, to have access to non-covered reproductive health care. And that’s what this policy does,” Austin said on July 18.
…Army Impact. Army Secretary Christine Wormuth has said she’s fearful Tuberville’s block will result in a “brain and talent drain” from the service. “We have now 12 or 13 three and four-star generals that we’ve already had to increase who were planning to retire. We now needed to go to them and say, ‘Sorry, you’ll be able to’t leave your jobs for the following several months.’ And the individuals who were hand chosen to return up and take those roles are stuck, mainly. And that implies that lots of our key organizations aren’t going to be led by the individuals who we hand chosen, who had all the precise experiences to take over those formations,” Wormuth said during a discussion on the Aspen Security Forum on July 20. “In the event you are a significant, a lieutenant colonel, a colonel in the USA Army, you’re looking at this and saying, ‘Is that what it means to turn out to be a general officer? Do I need to place myself or my family through all of this rigamarole, through all of this uncertainty? I don’t know.’”
SASC Advances Noms. The Senate Armed Services Committee on July 20 advanced nearly 2,700 military nominations, to incorporate the pending confirmation for Air Force Chief Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. to be the following Joint Chiefs chairman and Army Vice Chief Gen. Randy George to be the service’s next chief of staff. The nominations were reported to the ground, but will remain stalled while Tuberville’s hold is in place. During his recent confirmation hearing, Brown said the block will cause the military to “lose talent.” George echoed similar remarks during his own confirmation hearing and said the move was “impacting our readiness.”
More Cabinet Intel. President Biden last Friday invited CIA Director Bill Burns to function a member of his Cabinet, which might add to the intelligence community’s weight on the board of key presidential advisers provided that Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines can be a member. Biden said that Burns has “harnessed intelligence to provide our country a critical strategic advantage” and has led the CIA in “delivering a clear-eyed, long-term approach” to key national security challenges, including Russia’s unprovoked war against Ukraine, competition with China, and “addressing the opportunities and risks of emerging technology.” Including Vice President Kamala Harris, Biden’s Cabinet numbers 25 senior government officials.