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Small satellite acquisition: Contracting for success

Small satellite acquisition: Contracting for success
Small satellite acquisition: Contracting for success

Millennium Space Systems’ Vice President of Contracts Joshua Madrigal shares how contracting plays a critical role in acquisition.

Change how OTAs are used to make them an essential tool against China

Change how OTAs are used to make them an essential tool against China
Change how OTAs are used to make them an essential tool against China

DoD needs to lower the barriers to larger defense market opportunities that go beyond R&D, extending into the full lifecycle of defense systems, argues Christopher Zember.

Is It Time For OTAs To Go Mainstream?

Is It Time For OTAs To Go Mainstream?
Is It Time For OTAs To Go Mainstream?

Stan Soloway and Jason Knudson dig into whether Other Transaction Authorities actually work, and whether they should become a more common tool for the DoD.

Space Force Awards NSTXL Space Consortium Contract

Space Force Awards NSTXL Space Consortium Contract
Space Force Awards NSTXL Space Consortium Contract

The Space & Missile Systems Center has reaffirmed its choice of NSTXL to manage the public-private Space Enterprise Consortium (SpEC), rejecting allegations by The Washington Post.

Did The Space Force Just Ruin OTAs For Everyone?

Did The Space Force Just Ruin OTAs For Everyone?
Did The Space Force Just Ruin OTAs For Everyone?

Other Transaction Authority awards have soared 712 percent since 2015, helping jumpstart R&D, including on COVID vaccines. But now the Space Force’s OTAs have been derailed by a court case against contractor NSTXL – and the whole OTA system is under fire.

OTAs Soar & Army Leads The Way: CSIS Report

OTAs Soar & Army Leads The Way: CSIS Report
OTAs Soar & Army Leads The Way: CSIS Report

Army Contracting Command still accounts for 45 percent of all DoD Other Transaction Authority obligations, but the Air Force and, belatedly, the Navy are starting to catch up.

Army Tripled OTA Prototyping To $4.8B In Just 3 Years: GAO

Army Tripled OTA Prototyping To $4.8B In Just 3 Years: GAO
Army Tripled OTA Prototyping To $4.8B In Just 3 Years: GAO

Other Transaction Authority prototyping tripled from 2017’s $1.6 billion, while other non-traditional vehicles, like research grants, declined from $730 million to $590 million.

COVID Can’t Stop A Busy Summer For Army FVL

COVID Can’t Stop A Busy Summer For Army FVL
COVID Can’t Stop A Busy Summer For Army FVL

Despite disruptions worldwide, Future Vertical Lift flight tests, virtual industry days, and design reviews are all moving ahead on schedule or mere weeks behind.

FVL: The Army’s 10-Year Plan For FARA Scout

FVL: The Army’s 10-Year Plan For FARA Scout
FVL: The Army’s 10-Year Plan For FARA Scout

The Army’s urgently developing new air-launched drones, long-range missiles, and electronic architecture to go on the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft that Bell and Sikorsky are vying to build.

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Raytheon: Robotized Factory Speeds Up Army LTAMDS Radar

Raytheon: Robotized Factory Speeds Up Army LTAMDS Radar
Raytheon: Robotized Factory Speeds Up Army LTAMDS Radar

The company is using extensive automation and a new generation of high-efficiency gallium nitride materials to accelerate development of the Lower-Tier Air & Missile Defense Sensor, LTAMDS.

Pentagon Briefs Industry On 5G Experiments

Pentagon Briefs Industry On 5G Experiments
Pentagon Briefs Industry On 5G Experiments

Four bases around the country will pioneer military use of the new high-speed communications network technology.

Army Reboots OMFV, 2026 Deadline Dropped

Army Reboots OMFV, 2026 Deadline Dropped
Army Reboots OMFV, 2026 Deadline Dropped

After rejecting prototype vehicles built at industry’s expense, the Army is starting over with a competition for low-cost ‘digital prototypes.’ When will they physically build something? TBD.

Air Force Takes First Step Toward Commercial Internet Services

Air Force Takes First Step Toward Commercial Internet Services
Air Force Takes First Step Toward Commercial Internet Services

The experiment is expected to eventually lead to the wholesale replacement of the Air Force’s slow, cumbersome and ineffectual network with a modern, commercially procured one with improved speed, security and functionality. 

Pentagon Prototypes 5G With Innovation On-Ramp

Pentagon Prototypes 5G With Innovation On-Ramp
Pentagon Prototypes 5G With Innovation On-Ramp

If you want to prototype 5G networks on a military base, you need to join the National Spectrum Consortium first. That’s an increasingly common model.