Acquisition
Sgt. 1st Class Alfred Little, assigned to 188th Infantry Brigade, mans the Parrot ANAFI USA Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) during field training on Fort Stewart, Georgia, March 20, 2025. Photo by Staff Sgt. Marlana Cureton
Small Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (SUAS) in Divisional Brigades: Options to Improve Acquisition and Accountability
Frank Camm, Kenneth Girardini, Terrence K. Kelly, RAND
This RAND report examines the integration of additional small uncrewed aircraft systems (SUAS) within divisional brigades, focusing on the implications for various institutional and unit functions necessary for their effective use in modern combat operations. The report identifies several key areas requiring change, including streamlining SUAS acquisition, adapting property accountability policies to tolerate higher loss during training, and embracing commercial SUAS technologies.
Other Reports in this Series:
Enterprise services help Navy increase ‘value per user’
Jason Miller, Federal News Network
The Department of the Navy is adopting enterprise services to consolidate disparate systems, improve operational resilience, and enhance the value delivered to users by offering unified, high-performing solutions. This strategic shift aims to modernize the Navy's IT infrastructure and promote collaboration across different organizational units.
Could this device help catch Osprey clutch problems before disaster?
Stephen Losey, Navy Times
Shift5 has been awarded a Navy contract to test its predictive maintenance technology on the V-22 Osprey, aiming to prevent fatal gearbox problems like hard clutch engagements by providing real-time data and insights to aircrews. This technology could significantly improve the safety and reliability of the tilt-rotor aircraft.
Innovation
A rocket launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base carries a fuel payload for a National Reconnaissance Office satellite. Photo courtesy of United Launch Alliance
EXCLUSIVE: NRO, Space Force in ‘final stages’ of commercial ISR arrangement
Theresa Hitchens, Breaking Defense
The US Space Force and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) are finalizing an agreement to streamline the sharing of commercial satellite imagery and data, aiming to enhance information availability across the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community. This arrangement establishes a financial mechanism for easier collaboration on commercial acquisitions, though broader questions about the division of responsibilities for space-based intelligence gathering persist.
- Streamlined Collaboration: The agreement replaces the need for lengthy and complex Memoranda of Agreement (MOAs) with a simplified, two-page document and the use of a standard Treasury form for inter-agency payments. This streamlined approach is expected to improve day-to-day collaboration between the two entities.
- Maximizing Utility: The agreement aims to maximize the utility and availability of commercial remote sensing products. By enabling easier resource sharing and access to each other's acquisitions, both the Space Force and the NRO can potentially leverage a wider range of commercial capabilities.
Sub-drone sonar trap concept unveiled at Navy conference
Patrick Tucker, Defense One
Anduril and Ultra Maritime have introduced the Sea Spear, a novel sub-drone sonar trap system for long-duration, silent underwater surveillance. Once deployed, the Sea Spear is designed to rapidly expand up to 50 times its initial length, resembling a spring-loaded toy snake.
- Passive Surveillance: The deployed Sea Spear functions as a passive sonar system, silently listening for the acoustic signatures of enemy submarines. Unlike active sonar systems, it does not emit sound, making it harder to detect.
- Long-Term Deployment: The Sea Spear is intended for extended deployments lasting for months, providing persistent underwater surveillance. This long endurance capability enhances its value for continuous monitoring of strategic areas.
- Networked Data Transmission: Data collected by the Sea Spear is transmitted through Anduril’s Lattice network, enabling information sharing and analysis. To overcome the complexities of underwater communication, the system processes data at the tactical edge, sending low-bandwidth signals rather than high-bandwidth streams.
Defense Innovation Unit unveils advanced manufacturing marketplace
Courtney Albon, Defense News
The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) has launched the Blue Manufacturing Marketplace to connect technology firms with vetted advanced manufacturing companies, aiming to accelerate the production and scaling of innovative technologies for the U.S. defense industrial base.
Defense & Strategy
A General Atomics MQ-20 Avenger unmanned aircraft flies with a Sabreliner and two F-5 Advanced Tigers (AT) in November 2022. Credit: Tactical Air Support/General Atomics.
Logistics While Under Attack: Key to a CCA Force Design
Col Mark A. Gunzinger, USAF (Ret.), Mitchell Center
This report from the Mitchell Institute emphasizes that adequate logistics are crucial for the U.S. Air Force's development and effective deployment of Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) as a force multiplier to counter China in a Pacific conflict. These logistical considerations must inform the design, acquisition, and employment strategies for CCAs to realize their full potential.
- Logistics Critical: Adequate personnel, fuel, and airlift are essential for CCA sorties.
- Informed Design: Logistics requirements should shape CCA key performance parameters.
- Acquisition Mix: Logistics needs should influence the types of CCA the Air Force buys, as well as how they are used operationally.
The Navy needs a high/low mix of manned and unmanned platforms
Alyssa Schonhaut, Breaking Defense
Naval expert Steven Wills argues that the U.S. Navy needs a balanced mix of manned and unmanned platforms to effectively operate in a global battlespace, particularly against challenges posed by adversaries like China.
- Manned Necessity: The Navy will always require larger manned ships for sustained operations across vast distances, providing support and force protection for smaller units. An "all or nothing" approach favoring unmanned vessels is impractical for a global navy.
- Small Drone Limits: Relying solely on small, cheap unmanned ships is insufficient for global power projection and ignores the challenges of transit, endurance, and operational readiness far from land-based support.
- Unmanned Teaming: The future lies in manned and unmanned teaming, leveraging unmanned systems for tasks like reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and as adjunct missile magazines, all under the support of manned warships.
Industry
CNAS
From Production Lines to Front Lines: Revitalizing the U.S. Defense Industrial Base for Future Great Power Conflict
Becca Wasser and Philip Sheers, Center for a New American Security
This report from the Center for a New American Security argues that without significant reforms to enhance the capacity, responsiveness, flexibility, and resilience of its Defense Industrial Base (DIB), the U.S. risks failing to deter aggression and win future great power conflicts.
- DIB Challenges: Decades of consolidation, inconsistent demand, and bureaucratic rigidity have left the U.S. DIB vulnerable, less capable, and slow to react. It lacks the capacity and responsiveness needed for modern conflict.
- Strategic Mismatch: A significant gap exists between U.S. defense strategy and the reality of its industrial base. Planning and procurement have often occurred without sufficient consideration of production capacity.
- Urgent Reform: Without significant industrial reform, the U.S. DIB risks undermining deterrence today and undercutting strategic objectives in future competition and conflict, potentially leading to a failure to win against China.
- Consistent Demand: Increased use of multiyear procurement (MYP) and block-buy contracting by the DoD will provide more stable demand and enable cost savings. Congressional approval of related funding is crucial.
- Spare Capacity: Incentives for reserve manufacturing space, material stockpiles, and workforce availability are needed.
- Inventory Buildup: The DoD needs congressional budget authority to increase overall inventories and replenish diminished materials, including new materials in the National Defense Stockpile.
DARPA adds 18 companies to spooky science Quantum Benchmarking Initiative
Sydney J. Freedberg Jr., Breaking Defense
DARPA has added 18 new companies to its Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI), surprising the program manager with the high number of qualified applicants. The QBI provides selected companies with access to government quantum experts for rigorous evaluation of their diverse technological approaches, with the goal of identifying and validating promising methods for building fault-tolerant quantum computers, rather than simply providing funding.
SPECIAL REPORT: Graybeards Spell Out Myths, True Fixes For U.S. Shipbuilding
Stew Magnuson, National Defense
Naval shipbuilding experts Eric Labs (Congressional Budget Office) and Ronald O’Rourke (Congressional Research Service) spoke to an audience in January about the persistent myths and misconceptions around U.S. shipbuilding programs. They argue that the core issues are executability challenges, including insufficient skilled labor and deficiencies in planning and design processes, rather than simply a lack of funding or capacity.
Other Articles in this Series:
Congress & Government
A US flag flies near the dome of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, February 25, 2025. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
Congress’ new Foreign Arms Sales Task Force eyes disruptive reforms
Brandi Vincent, Defense Scoop
Congress has established a new bipartisan Foreign Arms Sales Task Force to tackle the bureaucratic challenges that impede the swift acquisition of U.S. defense systems by international partners, with the goal of proposing significant reforms to enhance transparency and efficiency in the process.
- Sustaining Manufacturers: Foreign arms sales support domestic defense manufacturing and American jobs by providing a vital market for U.S. defense companies. A cumbersome sales process can deter partners and lead to a loss of revenue, demand, and market share for U.S. companies.
- Security Implications: If allies face significant hurdles in acquiring U.S.-made defense systems, this can hinder their ability to effectively cooperate with the U.S. in joint operations and address shared security threats.
Congressional biotech commission calls for $15B over 5 years to catch up to China
Sydney J. Freedberg Jr., Breaking Defense
A congressional commission warns that the United States is falling behind China in biotechnology, recommending a significant $15 billion investment over five years to revitalize the sector and address critical national security and economic concerns.
- Strategic Neglect: Unlike China, the US lacks a national plan, relying heavily on the private sector which now faces faltering investment beyond pharmaceuticals.
- Military Applications: Biotech offers potential for enhanced military capabilities, including better lubricants, explosives, rare-earth mineral extraction, and field-deployable biomanufacturing.
Research
We tried ‘fighting China’ with lower budgets. It didn’t go well.
Travis Sharp, Casey Nicastro and Evan Braden Montgomery, Defense One
Lower defense budgets have hindered the U.S.'s ability to effectively counter the growing military challenge posed by China. A recent budget exercise revealed that even a modest increase focused on key priorities is crucial. Without real budget growth, the Pentagon faces difficult and risky trade-offs that could jeopardize near-term readiness and nuclear modernization efforts.
- Small Increases, Big Impacts: The exercise's primary lesson was that a real topline budget increase of just 2 percent could significantly enhance the Pentagon's ability to deter or fight China. This additional funding would allow for larger allocations to critical areas like long-range strike aircraft, submarines, munitions, and military infrastructure.
- Risky Tradeoffs: With flat or lower budgets, there are no easy ways to increase funding for top priorities without making risky trade-offs, such as sacrificing near-term readiness for future capabilities or underfunding modernization efforts.
- Full Report: Relook Playbook: Defense Budgeting Insights From a CSBA Rebalancing Exercise
Facilitating Usage of New Tech in Defense Systems: Issues and a Way Forward
Dr. Eric W. Burger, Dr. Robin Dillon-Merrill, Ms. Erika Heeren-Moon, Acquisition Innovation Research Center
This project identifies critical issues related to the adoption and use of new technologies within the Department of Defense (DOD) from the end-user perspective. Findings highlights a fundamental gap between acquisition and actual implementation due to cultural, functional, and process-related friction.
Adopting Human-Machine Teaming Assessment in Test and Evaluation for Defense Acquisition: Social Challenges Despite Technical Capability
Glenn Lematta, Arizona State University
DOD increasingly relies on Autonomous and AI-Enabled Systems (AAIS) that partner with warfighters, making effective Human-Machine Teaming (HMT) design a critical aspect of AAIS acquisition. While HMT is a priority and the capability to assess it arguably exists, the adoption of HMT assessment in DoD Test and Evaluation (T&E) of AAIS remains low. This review examines research, DoD policy, and the HMT community's discussions in order to identify eight challenges hindering the adoption of HMT assessment.
Contracting Pilot
Dr. Patrick Butler et al, Acquisition Innovation Research Center
This report explores the application of Artificial Intelligence and Generative AI to enhance contract management within the Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground. Specifically, it details two pilot projects: one focused on automatically generating Army regulation-compliant documents, and the other on identifying and flagging invoice discrepancies, demonstrating the potential for AI to automate administrative tasks and improve efficiency in defense contracting.
Defense Command and Control: Further Progress Hinges on Establishing a Comprehensive Framework
Government Accountability Office
The GAO report examines the Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) concept, a concept aimed at improving real-time information sharing and analysis across all military domains and with international partners. The GAO found that while the DOD has been working on CJADC2 since 2019, progress is hindered by the lack of a comprehensive framework to guide investments and track progress, with individual military services pursuing projects in isolation.
Events
Acquisition Reform in the New Administration: Implications for Government Contracting
16 April 2025
Virtual
APEX
23-24 April 2025
National Harbor, Maryland
DARPA Discover DSO Day
23-24 April 2025
Chicago, IL
2025 State of the Space Industrial Base Conference and SSIB Workshops
29 April - 2 May 2025
Albuquerque, NM
Building Critical Mineral Security for a Sustainable Future
30 April 2025
Washington, DC or Virtual
Creating Synergy for Informed Change: Transitioning Technology to the Warfighter
NPS 22nd Annual Acquisition Research Symposium & Innovation Summit
7-8 May 2025
Virtual
2025 ASNE Intelligent Ships Symposium
12-14 May 2025
Philadelphia, PA
DLA Supply Chain Alliance Conference & Exhibition
11-12 June 2025
Richmond, VA
Training & Simulation Industry Symposium (TSIS) 2025
17-18 June 2025
Orlando, FL
MTO Spark Tank
24-25 July 2025
Aurora, CO
MODSIM World 2025
18-20 August 2025
Norfolk, VA
2025 Emerging Technologies for Defense
27-29 August 2025
Washington, DC
I/ITSEC 2025: Optimizing Training: Ensuring Operational Dominance
1-4 December 2025
Orlando, FL
One more thing...
Sailors assigned to amphibious transport dock USS Somerset (LPD-25), Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 1, Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 23 ‘Wildcards,’ and NASA personnel assist NASA Astronaut Andre Douglas onto the ‘front porch,’ an inflatable raft, during NASA Underway Recovery Test 12 in the Pacific Ocean, March 28, 2025. US Navy Photo
Navy Warship Getting Ready for Role in Artemis NASA Moon Mission
Gidget Fuentes, USNI News
The US Navy is preparing USS Somerset, an amphibious transport dock ship, for a critical role in NASA's Artemis II moon mission, where it will recover four astronauts after their spacecraft splashes down in the Pacific Ocean in April 2026.
Historic Partnership: Navy and NASA have collaborated on spacecraft recovery since 1961, with San Antonio-class ships now serving as prime recovery vessels.
Fast Response: The crew has a two-hour maximum response window to reach splashdown location.
Team Effort: The recovery effort involves Navy divers, helicopter crews, and medical personnel, with the Air Force and Space Force providing additional support.
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