Acquisition
A rendering of the future ballistic missile submarine Columbia, the first of a 12-ship class of SSBNs. (Navy)
Dr. Robert Mortlock on the Future of Colombia-class SSBNs
Talk a Little, Learn a Lot, American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE)
NPS Professor of the Practice Bob Mortlock appears on the ASNE podcast to discuss his latest article appearing in the Naval Engineers Journal, “Decisions facing U.S. Navy for the future of the Colombia-class submarine.” The article presents a case analysis of the acquisition setbacks faced by Columbia-class submarine program, examining the program's issues with requirements, software development, funding, industrial base capacity and capability, and quality assurance and offering suggestions for a way forward.
Defense & Strategy
Two Air Force F-35A Lightning II fighters (Air Force photo)
JUST IN: Air Force Insufficient to Counter China, Report Finds
Tabitha Reeves, National Defense
The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies warns that the U.S. Air Force lacks the capacity, range, and survivability to defeat China in a peer conflict due to decades of divestment. To prevent a national security crisis, the service requires a steady funding surge to modernize its fleet and massively expand its munitions stockpiles.
Full Report: Rebuilding American Airpower: Balancing the Air Force’s Combat Forces for Peer Conflict
Australia refines its defense strategy and investment plan
Gordon Arthur, Defense News
In response to an increasingly unstable global environment, Australia has updated its National Defence Strategy and Integrated Investment Program to significantly bolster its military readiness. The government has pledged a substantial increase in defense spending, aiming to reach 3% of its GDP by 2034 while prioritizing self-reliance and long-range strike capabilities.
- Enduring US Alliance: Despite global uncertainties, Canberra reaffirmed that security arrangements, interoperability, intelligence sharing, and industrial collaboration with the United States remain critical pillars of Australia’s national security framework.
Full Strategy: 2026 National Defence Strategy and 2026 Integrated Investment Program
The real danger of military AI isn’t killer robots; it’s worse human judgement
Patrick Tucker, NextGov
The Pentagon's rapid integration of commercial artificial intelligence tools poses a significant risk to military effectiveness by potentially eroding human judgment and the capacity to distinguish fact from fiction. This reliance creates a danger of "cognitive surrender," where personnel prioritize AI-generated outputs over their own professional expertise and intuition.
Industry
LTG Mohan visited the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California during the last week of January to see the Army’s Operational Readiness Program first-hand. (Photo by Megan Gully via DVIDS)
When the Rules Fail: Tax Incentives and Defense Sustainment
Kevin Consedine, War on the Rocks
A shift toward private-sector maintenance threatens long-term military readiness by depleting the skilled workforce and surge capacity of the organic industrial base. By offering market-based credits to private firms that collaborate with these public facilities, the government can create a shared-risk model that stabilizes workloads and reduces overall sustainment costs.
- Eroding Industrial Core: Government depots are losing the consistent workload required to maintain surge capacity and technical proficiency as sustainment tasks are increasingly diverted to private original equipment manufacturers.
- Distorted Market Incentives: Current acquisition strategies and intellectual property constraints prioritize short-term program execution over the long-term health of the public industrial base, leading to underutilized facilities and rising labor rates.
- Strategic Readiness Gap: Recent operations in the Middle East have exposed a dangerous depletion of munitions stockpiles, highlighting a massive gap between consumption rates and the industrial capacity required to replenish them for peer conflicts.
VIEWPOINT: AI, Crippling CMMC Regulations Converge on Small Businesses
Pete Sfoglia, National Defense
The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) 2.0 imposes unsustainable financial burdens on small defense contractors while mandating obsolete security standards that fail to address emerging AI and quantum threats. This "perfect storm" risks permanently shrinking the U.S. defense supply chain as capable small businesses exit the market to avoid an unaffordable "compliance tax."
- Punitive Compliance Costs: Year-one implementation for a typical small business ranges from $200,000 to $300,000, which can completely consume the annual profit of a firm clearing 7% on $3 million in defense revenue.
- Industrial Base Exodus: Rather than weeding out the weakest, the mandate risks driving away the most capable small businesses that have commercial alternatives, effectively helping adversaries hollow out the domestic industrial base.
- Obsolete Encryption Standards: CMMC mandates encryption algorithms that will likely "fold like a cheap lawn chair" against quantum computers, ignoring established 2024 NIST post-quantum cryptography standards.
- AI-Driven Threats: Modern malware now uses AI to rewrite its own attack signatures faster than CMMC-mandated defenses can respond, creating a significant gap in real-time protection.
- Urgent Policy Fixes: To prevent a supply chain collapse before Phase 2 enforcement starts in November, the Pentagon must implement tiered subsidies, adopt post-quantum standards, and integrate a realistic AI security framework.
Government Reports
The Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Miami enters dry dock to begin an engineered overhaul at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine, March 15, 2012. (Navy photo by Jim Cleveland)
Navy And Coast Guard Shipbuilding: A Disciplined, Strategy-Driven Approach Is Needed to Achieve Ambitious Goals
Government Accountability Office
Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Request: U.S. Government Accountability Office
Government Accountability Office
Federal Budget: Remaining Budget Authority from the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023
Government Accountability Office
Research
The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford arrives in Souda Bay on the Greek island of Crete for a scheduled port visit, Dec. 2, 2023. (Photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Delaney S. Jensen)
Future of the Ford-Class Aircraft Carrier Program
Brendan Haber, Naval Postgraduate School
A case study analysis of the Ford-class program — contextualized by a review of current literature to include acquisition policy — identified the various constraints, priorities, and impacts of acquisition strategy decisions to provide insight into future courses of action and objectives required for program success. The program has seen poor outcomes, primarily due to external pressure and an inability to mitigate constraints despite conducting detailed planning for tailored acquisition strategies. Changes are recommended to the current utilization of the Major Capability Acquisition pathway and organization of program offices and support staff to provide a clearly structured framework that mitigates constraints on the design and build process of Ford-class aircraft carriers.
Reconfiguring defence supply chains: procurement dynamics, inter-organizational dependence, and resilience under geopolitical uncertainty
Roland Hellberg, Defence and Peace Economics
Historically structured around small-batch, cost-efficient production optimised for predictable peacetime demand, the European defence industry now faces the dual challenge of meeting urgent short-term operational needs while sustaining long-term technological and industrial capability. This study examines how this post-2022 procurement surge has affected the supply chains of the defence industry in Sweden. Drawing on 45 semi-structured interviews conducted in 2022 and 2024 with senior representatives from four major defence firms, the findings reveal mounting production bottlenecks, extended lead times, and intensified dependence on subcontractors, alongside emerging, but still largely informal, customer expectations regarding security of supply in the absence of binding contractual conditions. The study contributes to theory by demonstrating how procurement dynamics shape supply chain resilience in monopsonistic markets and highlights the need for new contractual mechanisms to balance peacetime efficiency with wartime scalability.
Fiscal Year 2025 Assessment of the Civilian Acquisition Workforce Personnel Demonstration Project
Laura Werber, Susan M. Gates, et al, RAND
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) implemented the Civilian Acquisition Workforce Personnel Demonstration Project (AcqDemo) in 1999 to help improve the management of DoD civilian employees who contribute to DoD’s acquisition mission. The current study used mixed methods and leveraged existing and new data sources to address 14 legislatively prescribed evaluation criteria, covering such issues as what flexibilities are available within AcqDemo, who is participating in AcqDemo, what supports are in place for AcqDemo operations, how well AcqDemo has performed in terms of both workforce-focused and organizational outcomes, barriers to AcqDemo operations, and how AcqDemo could be improved.
Events
Modern Day Marine
28-30 April 2026
Washington, DC
Army Demand Signal Forum
Distinctive Edge
28 April 2026
Palo Alto, CA
Xponential USA
11-14 May 2026
Detroit, MI
ONR Innovation Industry Day (I2D): Power & Energy
Office of Naval Research
14 May 2026
Arlington, VA
Offset Symposium 2026
Second Front
14 May 2026
Washington, DC
Inside the Dome: Future of Missile Defense
Tectonic/Payload
14 May 2026
Washington, DC
Converge @ NPS
Naval Postgraduate School Foundation
22-24 July 2026
2026 Air and Space Summit
Potomac Officers Club
30 July 2026
One more thing...
Members of Navy Band Southwest, stationed in San Diego, CA, perform at neighborhood events throughout Phoenix in conjunction with Phoenix Navy Week 2024.
US Navy celebrates 250 years of our nation with National Parks Navy Week
Navy.mil
To commemorate the United States’ 250th anniversary, the U.S. Navy has introduced National Parks Navy Week, a celebratory tour designed to connect maritime service members with inland communities. This strategic outreach initiative features a series of educational activities, musical performances, and STEM demonstrations held at iconic natural landmarks and their neighboring cities.
- Historic Milestone: This event represents the first time the Navy Office of Community Outreach has integrated its program with National Parks, which officials describe as "cornerstones of our national heritage."
- Strategic Reach: By visiting inland locations like Hot Springs, Arkansas, and St. George, Utah, the Navy brings its mission to regions without a major naval presence to foster deeper community connections.
- Musical Outreach: Live musical performances and educational masterclasses by Navy bands will be held throughout selected parks and their gateway communities to engage local audiences.
- STEM Demonstrations: The program features hands-on displays of Navy STEM capabilities, providing a close-up look at the sophisticated technology and expertise used by Sailors today.
- Local Ties: Residents can meet hometown heroes and Sailors serving on namesake ships — vessels named after the specific states or communities being visited — to hear firsthand accounts of life at sea.
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