Acquisition
Members of the North Carolina Air National Guard assess an Army M10 Booker Combat Vehicle before it is loaded onto a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft. (Staff Sgt. Reanna Hartgrove/U.S. Air National Guard)
Dead on arrival: Army pulls plug on M10 Booker light tank
Jen Judson, Defense News
The U.S. Army is terminating its M10 Booker light tank program, despite having spent over a billion dollars and initially intending it to be its first new combat vehicle in four decades.
- Evolving Design: Initially conceived as a "Mobile Protected Firepower" vehicle to fill a lethality gap and be air-dropped, the M10 Booker’s requirements evolved, resulting in a heavier, tracked vehicle that Driscoll described as a "Frankenstein" and not truly a "light tank".
- Lessons Learned: Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll stated the decision marks a shift from past practices. Where the Army would typically continue acquiring a program despite it being suboptimal, they acknowledge that they "got it wrong" and are avoiding making decisions on the grounds of sunk costs.
House appropriators call for new Space Force acquisition pilot
Theresa Hitchens, Breaking Defense
The House Appropriations Committee (HAC) is pushing for a new Space Force acquisition pilot program to address decades of cost overruns and schedule delays in Department of Defense (DoD) acquisitions.
- Promotion Culture: Existing statutes requiring program manager tenure have been routinely ignored by the Department, which instead favors frequent officer rotations to position them for promotion.
- Mission Focus: The pilot's intent is to implement "mission area program offices" with comprehensive responsibility, authority, and accountability for an entire mission's lifecycle, from concept through acquisition, development, fielding, and operational life.
Revolutionary FAR Overhaul: Third Round – FAR Parts 18 (Emergency Acquisitions), 39 (ICT Acquisitions) and 43 (Contract Modifications)
Christopher Yukins, Public Procurement International
The Trump administration has introduced the third wave of its "Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Overhaul," making relatively modest changes to emergency, information technology, and contract modification rules while notably bypassing standard public notice and comment procedures. This overhaul, despite its minimal direct impact on regulations, presents significant implementation and oversight challenges due to its opaque and fragmented rollout.
Innovation
An Uncle Sam poster calling for Navy enlistment. (David Pollack/Getty Images)
US Navy is aggressively telling startups, ‘We want you’
Connie Loizos, Defense News
The U.S. Navy is aggressively reforming its acquisition processes to attract and integrate innovative technology from startups, aiming to bridge the "Valley of Death" between prototype and production. This strategic shift prioritizes problem-solving over predefined solutions, thereby accelerating the adoption of critical capabilities.
- Red Tape Cut: Navy CTO Justin Fanelli has spent over two years cutting bureaucracy and shortening procurement cycles, making the Navy "more open for business" and partnerships with startups.
- Innovation Funnel: The Navy's "innovation adoption kit" provides tools to bridge the "Valley of Death," guiding promising tech from prototype to production through a structured "funnel" for "outsized outcomes".
- Problem-Led: A core shift is the Navy's "horizon" model, which now leads with problems, inviting companies to propose their own solutions rather than specifying predetermined methods.
- Fast Track: This new approach enables rapid deployments; for instance, cybersecurity startup Via moved from Request for Proposal to pilot deployment in under six months.
- Related: See Mr. Fanelli's presentation at "Creating Synergy for Informed Change: Transitioning Technology to the Warfighter," the NPS 22nd Annual Acquisition Research Symposium and Innovation Summit: Crossing the Valley of Death Faster and More Often with Bigger Outcomes.
JUST IN: NATO On Hunt for Innovative Defense Tech
Stew Magnuson, National Defense
NATO's Defense Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) program is actively seeking cutting-edge, dual-use deep technologies through grants and a six-month accelerator to rapidly deploy innovations that address the alliance's most complex defense and security challenges.
- Accelerator Program: Selected innovators will participate in Phase 1 of DIANA's six-month accelerator program, which begins in January 2026, designed to speed technologies into the field.
- Key Challenges: The program focuses on 10 new challenges derived from NATO and allied priorities, emerging technology trends, and market potential, addressing the alliance’s complex defense and security needs.
- Application Window: Interested applicants have until July 11 to submit their proposals to DIANA's challenges.
More Information: DIANA Website
Related: Webinar — Innovation Through Procurement: The NATO-DIANA Case Study
Defense & Strategy
Airman 1st Class James Meredith applies precision tape on an F-35A Lightning II at RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom, March 20. (SrA Seleena Muhammad-Ali/Air Force)
Maintenance costs will spike as militaries add advanced planes: Report
Stephen Losey, Defense News
Global military aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) costs are poised for a significant increase over the next decade, driven primarily by the escalating presence of advanced, technologically complex aircraft and drones in fleets. This projected surge necessitates strategic financial planning and supply chain adaptations to prevent negative impacts on operational readiness.
- F-35 Dominance: By 2035, the F-35 alone is projected to account for 9.5% of the total global MRO spending, more than double its current share, even though it will only comprise 4.7% of the global fleet.
Full Report: The Military’s Mounting Cost for Cutting-Edge Technology: Why Global Air Forces Will Spend More on their Fleet MRO
US needs to ‘start from scratch’ to rewrite Foreign Military Sales process: CENTCOM chief
Lee Ferran, Breaking Defense
General Michael Kurilla, head of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), is urgently calling for a complete reinvention of the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) process, warning that its current cumbersome nature is enabling China to become the preferred security partner for Middle Eastern nations.
- Industrial Lag: The biggest bottleneck is the defense industrial base, which is under-investing in production lines and cannot keep up with demand, leading to purchasers being told they won't receive items until 2029.
- Contract Solution: To address the industrial base problem, Kurilla urges lawmakers to allow the Pentagon to grant more multi-year contracts, incentivizing defense firms to invest in long-term production capabilities.
- Repeated Failures: Kurilla notes that the FMS problem is not new, with the Pentagon having tried to reform the system "roughly every 18 months for the last 20 years" through "dozens of task forces" without seeing "much change," thus necessitating a "clean sweep".
Industry
An Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer (Flight III configuration) launched at Huntington Ingalls Industries. Photo released to U.S. Navy, courtesy of Huntington Ingalls Industries.
Steel and Silicon: Shipbuilding’s Defense Tech Moment
Austin Gray, War on the Rocks
The U.S. Navy's shipbuilding is in crisis, with a shrinking fleet against China's growth, necessitating a collaboration between traditional shipbuilders and innovative defense tech firms to overcome deep-seated issues and accelerate modernization. This strategic teaming is vital to address industrial fragility, acquisition paralysis, and cultural conservatism, ensuring the Navy can regenerate its fleet.
- Builder Skepticism: Traditional shipbuilders are skeptical of new tech entrants, asserting that "software isn’t bending steel" and that physical limits, existing underutilization, and workforce shortages persist.
- Unmanned Potential: Defense tech and shipyards can collaborate on smaller, unmanned ships, which many commercial yards prefer to build, potentially expanding the defense industrial base significantly.
Pitting defense industry primes vs newcomers only helps America’s enemies
Jeff Kojac, Breaking Defense
To effectively counter sophisticated threats like China, the U.S. defense industrial base must integrate traditional prime contractors with innovative new tech firms rather than pitting them against each other. This crucial collaboration will combine industrial scale and experience with agile innovation, ensuring the delivery of necessary capabilities at speed and scale.
Research
"Nuclear mushroom cloud as a reflection off a robot helmet, profile view,” image generated by Adobe’s Firefly, April 7, 2025.
Artificial Intelligence and Nuclear Weapons: A Commonsense Approach to Understanding Costs and Benefits
Herbert Lin, Texas National Security Review
While AI, particularly machine learning, offers potential efficiencies in the "nuclear enterprise" — encompassing weapons, delivery systems, and command and control — its integration poses significant risks to strategic stability, including the danger of accidental escalation. The text proposes five guiding principles for AI's responsible application.
Automated User Interface for NLP-Driven Keyword Analysis in Department of Defense Documents
Dr. Jose E. Ramirez Marquez, Mr. Bryce Lopez, Mr. Enoch Chan, AIRC
This project automated user interface leveraging natural language processing (NLP) and artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the Department of Defense's (DoD) document analysis capabilities, with an aim to overcome the inefficiencies of manual review, streamline decision-making, and significantly improve defense acquisition strategies.
IT Systems Annual Assessment: DOD Needs to Improve Performance Reporting and Cybersecurity Planning
Government Accountability Office
The U.S. Government Accountability Office's (GAO) annual assessment of 24 major Department of Defense (DOD) IT business programs revealed critical deficiencies in performance reporting, cost and schedule management, and cybersecurity planning. Despite billions in planned spending, many programs fail to meet essential oversight requirements, underscoring the urgent need for improved accountability and strategic implementation.
Events
Advanced Manufacturing for Defense
24-25 June 2025
Los Angeles, CA
MTO Spark Tank
24-25 July 2025
Aurora, CO
NCMA World Congress 2025
13-16 July 2025
Grapevine, TX
VIP START
24-26 June 2025
Potomac, MD
Navy and Marine Corps Procurement Conference
29-30 July 2025
Norfolk, VA
2025 Air and Space Summit
31 July 2025
McLean, VA
MODSIM World 2025
18-20 August 2025
Norfolk, VA
2025 Navy Summit
26 August 2025
McLean, VA
2025 Emerging Technologies for Defense
27-29 August 2025
Washington, DC
Homecoming 250: Navy and Marine Corps Anniversary Celebration
9-16 October 2025
Philadelphia, PA & Camden, NJ
100th Marine Corps Birthday Ball
10 November 2025
Philadelphia, PA
I/ITSEC 2025: Optimizing Training: Ensuring Operational Dominance
1-4 December 2025
Orlando, FL
One more thing...
The Marine Drum and Bugle Corps, better known as the “Commandant’s Own,” takes part in a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Tun Tavern in Philadelphia on Nov. 10, 2024. (Photo by Sgt. Jacquilyn Davis/Marine Corps)
Party in Philly: Navy and Marine Corps Turn 250, and You Can Join the Fun
Blake Stilwell, MOAA
The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps will celebrate their 250th birthdays in 2025 with "Homecoming 250," an celebration hosted in Philadelphia, their birthplace, and across the river in Camden, New Jersey. An estimated 300,000 history enthusiasts and sea service veterans are expected to attend these events, which are open to the public free of charge.
- Naval Festivities: Navy celebrations are scheduled from October 9-16, 2025, commencing with a parade of ships down the Delaware River for a formal "blessing of the fleet." Historic vessels slated to participate include the USS Olympia, the USS New Jersey, and replicas of the USS Providence and USS Monitor. Visitors can also view a special preview of Ken Burns' documentary, "The American Revolution," at Independence Mall.
- Marine Commemoration: The Marine Corps' 250th birthday on November 10, 2025, will be marked by the 100th Marine Corps Birthday Ball at the historic Bellevue Hotel, the venue where the very first Marine Corps Ball was hosted in 1925.
- Educational Engagement: Academic symposiums focusing on the 250-year history of both branches will be hosted by the University of Pennsylvania and Rutgers University.
- Entertainment Highlights: The celebrations will also feature performances by the Navy and Marine Corps bands and demonstrations by the Blue Angels team. Attendees can also explore the numerous history museums located in Philadelphia and Camden.
More Information: Homecoming 250: Navy and Marine Corps Anniversary Celebration
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