DoD acquisition reform guidance expected soon, with focus on rapid prototyping
"They don’t need to recreate the wheel, [but they] need strong leadership with a determined focus,” one source told Breaking Defense.
From artillery to IVAS: New starts and program pivots included in Army’s 2025 budget request
The service wants to begin a new Multi-Domain Artillery Cannon System prototyping initiative, to slow down PrSM Inc 2 production and to launch IVAS Next.
presented by
GPS: Still the gold standard in global navigation
The GPS network continues to prove its unmatched reliability, and it’s only getting stronger.
Army forges ahead on EW, ISR prototypes borne from tech competition
Latest version of the AStRA competition will focus on networking tools and power sources.
Army’s New Tactical Trucks Will Be ‘Essential Transportation Link’ In The Future
The Common Tactical Truck will be able to connect ports to forward operating positions, maybe with AI.
Army Wants Industry Input For Reliable Exoskeleton (Not Iron Man, Yet!)
SOCOM couldn't build a bulletproof Iron Man. But Army experiments with more modest lower-body exoskeletons have shown real-world potential to help overburdened foot troops.
Space AQ Council Eyes Helping Space Startups Crack CARES Act
"In space, particularly, we've got to have a model that is very different than the one we used the last century," Roper summed up. "We're going to need to evaluate companies that have the potential to commercialize successfully as a delineator of who we partner with."
presented by
Turning R&D into reality to meet the challenges of the modern battlefield
Knowing when to build on commercial systems and when to develop something new can be the difference between parity and information dominance.
Shyu To Army: ‘You Can’t Have It All’ With 31 Modernization Priorities
“My biggest concern is that when the budget goes down -- that’s only a matter of time — that, one, we’re left with a bunch of prototypes but nothing in inventory, and a bunch of legacy systems without upgrades; and two, when the prototypes finally turn into production-ready weapons systems, how can the Army afford so many big-ticket procurement bills simultaneously?” warned Heidi Shyu.
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.
Vehicle Platform Integration: Where Technologies Become Capabilities
In this era of new acquisition for ground vehicles, the Army continues to challenge industry to anticipate emerging requirements, develop required technologies, and field combat capabilities more quickly through rapid prototyping.
SMC Offers To Help Speed Deals For SDA
The Space & Missile Systems Center’s Space Enterprise Consortium has been so successful at providing competitive prototypes, fast, that SMC wants to expand its scope dramatically.
presented by
Next-generation C2 won’t be next-gen without the network transport
The network transport architecture for NGC2 could be a hybrid approach that combines high assurance communications with 5G, WiFi, and multi-orbit satellites.
Fail Fast, Not Twice: DoD’s Push For Agile Software Development
A Pentagon task force is reviewing over a hundred tools and services to speed up software acquisition.
DARPA’s R3D2: Big Company Makes Small Sat Fast
The R3D2 spacecraft's cutting-edge antenna is “compressed into a small volume and then blooms on orbit,” explains Northrop Grumman's Scott Stapp.
DoD Wants Help To Spot — & Kill — Mobile Missiles
The Pentagon has quietly asked defense contractors for ways to spot enemy missile launchers -- so the US can destroy them before they even fire.
Army Futures Command Wants YOU (To Innovate)
“I get really irritated when I’m in the audience and I hear ‘startup, startup, startup,'” Army Futures Command's chief innovation officer said this morning at the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA). “Startups are not the only source of ideas."