Acquisition
Sgt. Lucero Martinez, an unmanned aircraft systems operator, assigned to Detachment 1, Delta Company, 545th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, helps launch an unmanned aircraft system during a UAS exercise on June 12, 2025 at Camp Gruber Training Center, Oklahoma. (Oklahoma National Guard photo by Spc. Cambrie Cannon)
Army poised to build drone marketplace for soldiers and units
Mark Pomerleau, Defense Scoop
The U.S. Army is establishing a new drone marketplace for soldiers and units, designed to create a trusted repository for readily available, vetted unmanned systems that reliably meet specific mission needs.
- Acquisition Shift: This initiative represents a "fundamental shift" from the traditional acquisition process, which can take months to years, towards a more "free market approach". The goal is to rapidly get a greater variety of systems into troops' hands due to the fast pace of technological change in the drone space.
- Rigorous Vetting: The marketplace will ensure systems perform as advertised, with officials verifying aspects like NDAA compliance, ranges, endurance, and payloads.
- Soldier-Centric: Soldier feedback is a key element of this new approach, stemming from insights gained through the Army’s "transforming-in-contact" initiative
Artificial Intelligence in National Security: Acquisition and Integration
Paige Rishel, Carol J. Smith, Brigid O'Hearn, and Rita C. Creel, Software Engineering Institute
A recent practitioner workshop hosted by the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute (SEI) has produced insights to guide the acquisition and integration of AI into defense and national security operations.
- Mission-First Acquisition: Agencies are urged to start with specific mission needs rather than viewing AI as a universal solution.
- Data Imperatives: The success of AI hinges on high-quality, relevant datasets. Careful management of data bias is critical to mitigate serious operational risks, and the emphasis should be on field performance rather than just lab testing
- Human-AI Synergy: AI should augment, not replace, human decision-making. Continuous human oversight is crucial throughout the AI lifecycle, as AI cannot assess its own effectiveness or the significance of its outputs
- Adaptive Future: Long-term success requires evolving the Department of Defense’s Software Acquisition Pathway (SWP) to be more iterative and risk-aware for AI systems.
Navy wants vessel construction manager candidates for LSM
Abby Shepherd, Inside Defense
The U.S. Navy is seeking industry partners for vessel construction management (VCM) services for its Landing Ship Medium Block I (LSM) program. The solicitation follows a provision in the FY26 Defense Appropriations Act directing the Navy Secretary to employ a VCM to accelerate and streamline the acquisition of 8 follow-on LSMs.
RFI: Vessel Construction Manager for Landing Ship Medium (LSM) Block 1
Innovation
RQ-20 Puma in Ukrainian 148th Artillery Brigade. ArmyInform via Wikimedia Commons
Ukraine Isn’t the Model for Winning the Innovation War
Vitaliy Goncharuk, War on the Rocks
The author argues that Ukraine's defense innovation, characterized by decentralized procurement and a reactive startup ecosystem, may be an unsustainable model for long-term great power competition, which requires scalable, integrated defense systems rather than fragmented, agile solutions.
- Decentralization's Downside: Ukraine's decentralized procurement, born from a paralyzed procurement system, initially helped bypass bureaucratic hurdles, but proved less effective than centralized systems in sustained conflict.
- Scalability Issues: The decentralized system fostered numerous small defense businesses but created a "zoo of solutions" — fragmented, incompatible, and lacking deep engineering to counter modern electronic warfare. This resulted in an unscalable model for mass production.
- Cautionary Tale: While Ukraine offers valuable lessons in agility and mobilization, its decentralized model is not a strategic alternative for mature state systems or long-term defense.
Breaking Barriers: Accelerating Innovation Adoption for Defense Priorities
Andrea McFeely & Allison Reardon, MITRE
This MITRE report assesses the current challenges within DOD's innovation adoption processes and offers a flexible, efficient framework for streamlining acquisition, reducing the time from problem identification to contract award, and fostering deeper collaboration with diverse industry partners.
Defense & Strategy
F-35A Lighting II aircraft assigned to the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, fly in formation over the Utah Test and Training Range, March 30, 2017. Air Force photo by R. Nial Bradshaw
Is the Air Force budget putting US air power at risk?
Terry Gerton, Federal News Network
Ret. Lt. Gen. Dave Deptula, USAF, warns that proposed cuts to the F-35 fighter program and the cancellation of the E-7 Wedgetail surveillance aircraft will undermine alliances and leave the Air Force under-equipped against 21st-century adversaries.
- Strategic Blunder: A group of six former Air Force chiefs of staff, along with other senior leaders have sent a letter to Congress calling the Pentagon’s proposed cuts a "strategic blunder".
- Force Decline: The U.S. Air Force is currently the oldest and smallest in its entire history and is on a path to shrink further with no plan to reverse its decline.
- Manned-Unmanned Team: The future of air combat is not solely unmanned. Unmanned drones and collaborative combat aircraft rely on manned aircraft like the F-35 and E-7 for coordination, targeting data, and real-time decision-making.
- Global Impact: Reducing U.S. support for these platforms sends the "wrong signal" to allies and adversaries alike, undermining coalition interoperability and deterrence.
Industry
Navy officials tour a submarine manufacturing facility in Quonset Point, R.I., Oct. 19, 2023. Photo credit: Navy Chief Petty Officer Amanda Gray
The urgent challenges facing America’s defense manufacturing base
Terry Gerton, Federal News Network
Jeb Nadaner of Govini discusses the challenges facing the defense industrial base, particularly the concentration of resources with a small number of vendors. Coupled with decades of underinvestment and offshoring, this concentation has led to significant fragility, resulting in shortages of critical munitions and extended acquisition timelines.
Related: 2025 National Security Scorecard
Congress & Government
US Capitol Building
Report to Congress on Multiyear Procurement and Block Buy Contracting in Defense Acquisition
Congressional Research Service
This Congressional Research Service (CRS) report, "Multiyear Procurement (MYP) and Block Buy Contracting in Defense Acquisition," examines Multiyear Procurement (MYP) and Block Buy Contracting (BBC), two specialized contracting methods DOD utilizes to potentially reduce weapon procurement costs compared to standard annual contracts. The report is intended to inform Congress about the use of these mechanisms, the adequacy of information provided for MYP contracts, and whether to establish a permanent statute for BBC.
Research
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy A. George administers the Oath of Office to four new U.S. Army Lt. Cols. during a Detachment 201: The Army’s Executive Innovation Corps (EIC) commissioning ceremony in Conmy Hall, Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Va., June 13, 2025. The Army’s EIC is an initiative that places top tech executives into uniformed service within the Army Reserve. (U.S. Army photo by Leroy Council)
The Innovation Imperative: Why Tactical Ingenuity is Not Enough
Matthew Revels, Small Wars Journal
This articles examines the United States military's approach to innovation, arguing that a prevalent bottom-up strategy is insufficient for sustained transformation. Instead, the authors contend that lasting change requires top-down leadership and significant integration of technical expertise at all levels of warfare.
Improving Department of Defense Financial Execution Benchmarks for University-Led Basic Research Programs
Andrew G. Proulx, Johns Hopkins University
This thesis investigates the inadequacies of DOD financial execution benchmarks as applied to university-led basic research program and advocates for an improved, tailored benchmarking system that accommodates the unique challenges of university research while maintaining fiscal accountability.
Assessing the Value of a CERN-Like Multinational Research Organization for AI
Matthew Sargent, Mary Lee, Dennis Murphy, Sabahat Zafar, RAND
This report investigates the idea of "CERN for AI," a proposed multinational research organization, adapting Porter's five forces model to analyze the competitive landscape and potential for sustained value in a collaborative AI initiative.
Events
MODSIM World 2025
National Training and Simulation Associations (NTSA)
18-20 August 2025
Norfolk, VA
Fed Supernova
Capital Factory
19-21 August 2025
Austin, TX
2025 Navy Summit
Potomac Officers Club
26 August 2025
McLean, VA
Intelligent Ships Symposium
American Society of Naval Engineers
26-28 August 2025
Philadelphia, PA
2025 Space Warfighter Forum: Peace Through Strength
National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA)
26-28 August 2025
Colorado Springs, CO
2025 Emerging Technologies for Defense
Emerging Technologies Institute
27-29 August 2025
Washington, DC
DefenseNews Conference: Deterring Threats from the Indo-Pacific
DefenseNews
Washington, DC or Virtual
3 September 2025
Creative Disruptors by the Lakes
Creative Defense Foundation
11-12 September 2025
Eagan, MN
2025 Undersea Warfare Fall Conference
National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA)
15-17 September 2025
Groton, CT
Fleet Maintenance and Modernization Symposium (FMMS) 2025
American Society of Naval Engineers
23-25 September 2025
San Diego, CA
One more thing...
"Skipjack personnel during this period have become accustomed to use of "ersatz," i.e., the vast amount of incoming non-essential paper work," Lt. Cmdr. James Coe wrote in his letter to the Navy. (Naval History and Heritage Command)
The toilet paper war: A submariner’s battle against bureaucracy
Claire Barrett, Navy Times
USS SKIPJACK
June 11, 1942
From: Commanding Officer To: Supply Officer, Navy Yard, Mare Island, California Via: Commander Submarines, Southwest Pacific
Subject: Toilet Paper
Reference: (a) USS HOLLAND (5148) USS Skipjack req. 70-42 of 30 July 1941. (b) SO NYMI Canceled invoice No. 272836
Enclosure: (1) Copy of cancelled Invoice (2) Sample of material requested.
1. This vessel submitted a requisition for 150 rolls of toilet paper on July 30, 1941, to USS HOLLAND. The material was ordered by HOLLAND from the Supply Officer, Navy Yard, Mare Island, for delivery to USS Skipjack.
2. The Supply Officer, Navy Yard, Mare Island, on November 26, 1941, cancelled Mare Island Invoice No. 272836 with the stamped notation “Cancelled---cannot identify.” This cancelled invoice was received by Skipjack on June 10, 1942.
3. During the 11 ¾ months elapsing from the time of ordering the toilet paper and the present date, the Skipjack personnel, despite their best efforts to await delivery of subject material, have been unable to wait on numerous occasions, and the situation is now quite acute, especially during depth charge attack by the “back-stabbers.”
4. Enclosure (2) is a sample of the desired material provided for the information of the Supply Officer, Navy Yard, Mare Island. The Commanding Officer, USS Skipjack cannot help but wonder what is being used in Mare Island in place of this unidentifiable material, once well known to this command.
5. Skipjack personnel during this period have become accustomed to use of “ersatz,” i.e., the vast amount of incoming non-essential paper work, and in so doing feel that the wish of the Bureau of Ships for the reduction of paper work is being complied with, thus effectively killing two birds with one stone.
6. It is believed by this command that the stamped notation “cannot identify” was possible error, and that this is simply a case of shortage of strategic war material, the Skipjack probably being low on the priority list.
7. In order to cooperate in our war effort at a small local sacrifice, the Skipjack desires no further action be taken until the end of the current war, which has created a situation aptly described as “war is hell.”
J.W. Coe
|
