Pentagon’s $96M wearable contract sparks protest, accusations of vendor preference
In January, WHOOP issued a second, previously unreported, protest over what it says is DoD preference for Oura rings. A response is due by mid-April.
DoD’s first industrial strategy seeks to bolster weapons production ‘speed and scale’
"The current and future strategic environment requires immediate, comprehensive, and decisive action in strengthening and modernizing our defense industrial base ecosystem to ensure the security of the United States and our allies and partners. As this strategy makes clear, we must act now," Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks writes in a forward to the new National Defense Industrial Strategy.
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Streamcaster Nexus: Empowering the connected soldier at the tactical edge
On today’s battlefield, mobility isn’t optional - it’s mission-critical.
Leave the Air Force’s new acquisition proposal in the starting gate
A new proposal from Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall seems helpful on its face, but Bill Greenwalt and John Ferrari of AEI see red flags in the details.
COVID-19: Lord Urges Defense Workers To Stay On The Job; Cites White House
The critical infrastructure rules come from a presidential policy directive signed by President Barack Obama in 2013, kept in place by the Trump administration. “That helps,” a defense industry source said, “because there’s no partisan stink on it.”
Israeli IDF’s Kochavi Plans ‘Fast & Strong’ Weapons Department
As a first step, Kochavi wants to increase the capabilities of the IDF's "Spearhead" units – the special units that hit fast and strong. This part of the plan explains the urgent need for a replacement for the old CH-53 of the Israeli Air Force, as well as for the Bell-Boeing V-22.
Artificial Intelligence: Will Special Operators Lead The Way?
“The SOF guys are less risk averse than conventional ground forces, so they’re more apt to push the limit,” said Bob Work, father of the AI-driven Third Offset Strategy. “Their commanders also have embraced AI and autonomous ops.... so I think all the conditions are set for SOF to lead the way in the more direct combat applications of AI and autonomy.”
Military & government leaders: Share your perspective
Share your insight in a 10-minute survey—$10 donated to Homes For Our Troops for every response.
New DoD Rule Might Cripple Silicon Valley Efforts: Sen. McCain
WASHINGTON: The day before Defense Secretary Ash Carter heads to St. Louis to promote outreach to the high tech communities, Sen. John Mccain blasted a proposed new DoD rule that “would have the unfortunate effect of undermining many of the key objectives” of Carter’s efforts to entice Silicon Valley to do much more business with the Pentagon. […]
SASC Pushes Bold Changes To Buy ‘Game-Changing’ Weapons Faster
CAPITOL HILL: In a bold attempt to fix the Pentagon’s creaking system to develop and buy weapons, the Senate Armed Services Committee today introduced broad changes to who controls weapons programs and tried to encourage Silicon Valley and other non-defense industries to help maintain the country’s global technological and military dominance. This is the beginning of […]
Must-Read Tale Of Predator’s Tortuous Ride To Fame
Rick Whittle’s superb book on the creation and uses of the Predator drone needs to be read by the Pentagon’s head of acquisition, Frank Kendall, and everyone else who decides what weapons America buys, including the professional staff on Capitol Hill who tell their congressional bosses what’s real and why. Whittle, who seems to be making a habit out […]
Bellwethers of the Post-Afghan Defense-Industrial Base
After three years of the “age of austerity” in Western military spending, investors’ imperatives and corporate strategies show one indication of how the defense-industrial base will evolve over the next decade. Investors want public companies that demonstrate an attractive risk-adjusted total return, not just M&A-fueled arbitrage plays. In response, companies are husbanding or harvesting their financial […]
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Not just selling into the kingdom, but building partnership with Saudi Arabia’s defense industry
Partnerships with outside industry are a cornerstone of the kingdom’s ambitious growth strategy.
How To Build A New Acquisition System: Innovate Like It’s 1959
Here’s the final piece of Bill Greenwalt’s blueprint for a new defense acquisition system. As Bill points out in this, the third piece: “now comes the hard part.” Congress and the Pentagon have proven clumsily adept at tinkering with the acquisition system over the last 20 years. But no matter how well intentioned, weapons just […]
Once More Unto The Breach, This Time For Acquisition Reform
Bill Greenwalt knows acquisition like few people on earth. For more than a decade he wrote acquisition laws — and fought off some — while a staffer on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Then he went to the Pentagon, where he oversaw industrial base issues, which often included acquisition policies. Bill, now a wise man […]
SOCOM’s Iron Man Suit Sees ‘Astounding’ Progress: Adm. McRaven
WASHINGTON: Special operations types — like those who found and killed Osama bin Laden –may stand tall and do amazing things sometimes, but they tend to be fairly plain spoken. You rarely hear them say something is “astounding,” especially a new weapon. For example, one special operator recently awarded the Silver Star said he would […]
GAO Slaps Harris For Offering Its Competitor’s Radios For Army Deal
The military can move in mysterious ways, especially when it comes to the arcane and often-dysfunctional bureaucratics of buying gear. But in our combined 31 years of covering the Defense Department, we here at Breaking Defense had never seen this one before: a defense contractor getting busted for trying to sell the government its […]