Pentagon

One of the leading congressional proponents of the movement to create a new Space Force told Pentagon leadership today there are major issues with DOD's legislative proposal.

The Defense Innovation Board is recommending the Defense Department share its electromagnetic spectrum with civil operators so the United States can compete with China in the deployment of 5G technologies, but the Pentagon should also prepare to operate in a "post-Western" wireless ecosystem.

The Pentagon is lining up the transfer of a second former Coast Guard cutter to Vietnam as part of a push for closer security ties with the nation, but Hanoi's financial limitations and legacy of using Russian weapons puts constraints on potential arms sales, according to current and former U.S. officials.

The Defense Department is asking industry about the feasibility of demonstrating a 1,000 kilowatt-class laser for missile defense as soon as 2025, seeking industry feedback on the potential for scaling up electrically pumped, directed-energy technology -- for an undisclosed platform and mission -- to power levels that in theory could destroy an enemy ballistic missile during the boost phase of flight.

The Missile Defense Agency is laying the technical groundwork for the Standard Missile-3 Block IIA -- a Navy interceptor originally designed to counter medium- and intermediate-range threats -- to also have an operational mission against intercontinental ballistic missiles, potentially stretching the reach of the new weapon to reinforce defense of the nation against North Korean threats.

The Defense Department has markedly curtailed what last year was a $1.4 billion five-year investment plan for a pair of programs -- the Common Kill Vehicle and the Multi Object Kill Vehicle -- that promised to deliver next-generation warheads for future ballistic missile defense in a decade.

The head of the House Armed Services Committee is raising concerns about the Air Force's launch services acquisition strategy, telling Secretary Heather Wilson in a March 28 letter the service appears to be moving forward with a request for proposals "in a way that risks undermining the Air Force's goal of maximizing and sustaining fair and open competition."

The Pentagon will nearly double its planned investments in hypersonic capabilities over the next five years, from $6 billion to $11.2 billion, a sum that is higher than one of the Defense Department's top hypersonics officials recently cited.

The Army has formalized plans with Raytheon and Lockheed Martin to wind down by September the original Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS) program of record, a key part of the service's pivot toward a new approach to accelerate the fielding of a Patriot radar replacement by 2022 through a “Sense-Off” competition beginning in May.