Michael Marrow covers air warfare for Breaking Defense. He holds a BA in history from the University of Virginia and started out as a freelance reporter covering local news in Fairfax County, Virginia and policing in Charlottesville, Virginia. Michael previously reported on the Air Force and Space Force for Inside Defense, where he tracked major acquisitions, policy changes and modernization efforts.
As a new administration is set to take the reins of the Pentagon, the counter-drone strategy revealed today is meant to “lay a foundation for the Department to be able to get after this threat in a way that will be successful and get ahead of the evolution that we’re seeing,” a DoD official said.
“One of the key things about Falcon Peak is it offers not just the opportunity to look at the technology that’s being tested, but also at our processes,” a senior DoD official told reporters.
“This strategy to become a supplier of the US government is not a project that I have created inside of my business unit only. It is a ‘One Embraer’ approach,” Embraer Defense and Security CEO Bosco da Costa Jr told Breaking Defense.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall recently suggested his service could take over the task of defending its air bases from the Army, as long as adequate funding was provided.
Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant, chief of the Space Force’s Space Systems Command, stated that the service will not move forward with awards for the newest round of the National Security Space Launch program until Congress approves the fiscal 2025 budget.
“By all indications, sUAS will present a safety and security risk to military installations and other critical infrastructure for the foreseeable future,” said NORTHCOM chief Gen. Gregory Guillot.
DoD Comptroller Mike McCord additionally predicted that the current continuing resolution will extend until March, as the Republican Party looks to craft a “two percent better deal” once it controls Congress and the presidency come January.
The Air Force is nearing a decision on whether to recompete an ejection seat contract held by Collins. If the service changes course, it will send shockwaves through the duopoly that fights over every potential ejection seat sale.
The Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft program is expected to carry out its first flight next year and field operational drone wingmen by the end of the decade.
To help fight inflation, the Pentagon was given $1.05 billion to disperse to industry. Now, documents reviewed by Breaking Defense and interviews with key officials reveal how and why certain programs won out.
An electrical malfunction crippled some of the plane’s systems, but a Marine Corps investigation still said the pilot was at fault for the crash in South Carolina.
Most cases are probably just hobbyists flying too close, according to Gen. Gregory Guillot, who said he has not seen evidence of a concerted campaign by an adversary to fly small drones over US bases.
