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23 May 24. Hicks Establishes SBIR/STTR Due Diligence Policy and Implementation Guidance. Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks signed a memorandum to establish policy and provide implementation guidance for the Defense Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Due Diligence Program May 13.
In accordance with the SBIR and STTR Extension Act of 2022, the goal of the Due Diligence Program is to mitigate security risks when small business concerns (SBCs) with ties from any foreign country of concern seek SBIR/STTR funding.
Under Department of Defense policy, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)) ensures consistent application of common minimum standards across all DoD services and components making SBIR/STTR awards to small businesses. The Defense SBIR/STTR Program, oversees DoD services’ and components’ establishment and implementation of their SBIR/STTR Due Diligence Programs.
“We value the innovations and technologies derived from SBCs that enhance warfighter capabilities to support the DoD mission,” said Gina Sims, Defense SBIR/STTR Program director. “Working closely with the R&E leadership and DoD services and components, we will successfully implement this plan to vigilantly protect taxpayer funds and small businesses from foreign influence.”
In early 2023, Defense SBIR/STTR Program worked with the services, components, and key stakeholders to coordinate and plan the Due Diligence Program’s rollout. Additionally, DoD worked closely with the Small Business Administration to revise SBIR/STTR policy to incorporate due diligence requirements. As a result, all proposals submitted to the Defense SBIR/STTR Innovation Portal (DSIP) must include forms that assess security risks. Proposals without these forms are non-compliant and will not receive an evaluation.
To assist small businesses, the department introduced an online course on foreign ownership, control, or influence (FOCI), which defines the issue, explains what being under FOCI means, and details FOCI’s effect on a company seeking a SBIR/STTR award.
“As we strengthen our Due Diligence Program policy and implementation guidance, we want to assure small businesses that we are with them every step of the way and will provide the necessary support to ensure success,” Sims said.
To sign up for the FOCI course, visit https://www.projectspectrum.io/#/signup. For information on the Defense SBIR/STTR Program, visit www.defensesbirsttr.mil or follow the program’s LinkedIn page at: www.linkedin.com/company/dodsbirsttr. (Source: U.S. DoD)
23 May 24. U.S. Needs Sea-Based Nuclear Capability to Ensure Second-Strike Capability. The U.S. needs all three legs of its nuclear triad, including the land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles and air-launched cruise missiles maintained by the Air Force, as well as the sea-based weapons that are the domain of the Navy.
In a nuclear conflict where adversaries launch a first strike, it’s possible they might render U.S. ground-based and air-launched systems unusable. But the U.S. still maintains deterrence though sea-based systems, which guarantee a second-strike capability— the ability to strike back.
“If you think about it from the adversary’s perspective, anything that they may think they could do as an initial strike, that force is always out there on alert, on patrol, unknown where they’re at,” said Navy Vice Adm. Johnny R. Wolfe Jr., director for strategic systems. “Certainly, if ever called upon, they are survivable and could ensure that a second-strike from our nation could be performed. That is absolutely critical, as you look at deterrence and what it means.”
Wolfe, along with Air Force Gen. Thomas A. Bussiere, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, testified Wednesday before the Senate Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee.
Since last year there have been some advancements on the Navy’s efforts to modernize its own portion of the U.S. nuclear triad.
“We have built on this remarkable history of deterrence, marking such milestones as the final demonstration and shakedown operation for our Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines establishment of a new nuclear office for the sea-launched cruise missile, SLCM-N,” Wolfe said. “Additionally, in coordination with our partners, we are initiating a nuclear weapon project to adapt a nuclear warhead for this new capability.”
The sea-launched cruise missile, nuclear, or SLCM-N, can be launched from surface ships and also attack subs, rather than from traditional ballistic missile submarines. Wolfe told senators that the industrial base that would be most responsible for building the SLCM-N has atrophied and that it’ll be a challenge to build it back.
“Significant investments are required to build back capacity to handle multiple concurrent nuclear modernization programs,” he told senators.
The admiral also stressed to lawmakers that despite challenges such as an atrophied industrial base and supply chain challenges, the Navy must advance modernization of its part of the nuclear triad.
“First and foremost, we must maintain the current missile inventory and provide the necessary operational support to sustain Ohio-class submarines through the end of their life in the early 2040s,” he said. “Secondly … we must continue to ensure a seamless transition between Ohio-class and Columbia-class submarines.”
The Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine is a replacement for the Ohio-class SSBN, which first saw duty in the 1980s. Part of that, Wolfe said, is transitioning the Trident II D5LE from the Ohio-class subs to the Columbia-class subs.
Wolfe also said that the U.S. isn’t alone in providing nuclear capability as a deterrent. He cited the British as a significant partner in that endeavor.
“One of the greatest advantages the United States has is its alliances and partnerships,” he said. “For decades, U.S. policy has recognized the contribution … an independent British nuclear deterrent adds to NATO, and indeed global stability. will continue to support and sustain this most-important relationship.”
The admiral said nuclear modernization will take time and will require investments in people, infrastructure and the U.S. industrial base.
“It is only through your continued support that the department’s highest modernization priorities can be achieved, and the Navy can deliver a reliable sea-based strategic deterrent capability,” he said.
While the Navy operates one leg of the nuclear triad, the Air Force operates two legs, with both land-based siloed nuclear missiles and air-launched missiles.
“The timely modernization of our nuclear triad … remains the command’s paramount focus,” said Bussiere.
Ongoing modernization efforts are aimed at GSC’s land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, bomber force, nuclear command and control platforms, weapons generation facilities and associated nuclear weapons, Bussiere said.
“This committee is keenly aware of the threats facing our nation today and in the foreseeable future,” he said. “We currently face the challenge of deterring two major nuclear armed competitors, the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation, both armed with modern and diverse nuclear capabilities.”
Also a threat, he said, are North Korea and Iran.
“Not only is the command leading the charge and sustaining current forces and deploying future long-range strike weapon systems, Global Strike Command is acutely aware that the nuclear deterrence mission is the bedrock of our national defense strategy, and foundational to our nation’s defense and essential to that of our allies and partners,” Bussiere said.
The DOD’s fiscal year 2025 budget request includes $49.2bn to modernize the department’s nuclear triad. Included in the request are investments for the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine, the B-21 bomber and the Sentinel system, which is a modernization for the ground-based portion of the nuclear triad. (Source: U.S. DoD)
22 May 24. DOD’s AI Chief Aims to Build on Long Strides in Delivering Capabilities to Warfighter. The Pentagon’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office is focused on maturing and sustaining its progress in delivering key capabilities to the warfighter, CDAO’s top official said today. Radha Plumb, who assumed the role as the Defense Department’s top digital and AI officer last month, said CDAO has made big strides on efforts ranging from responsible and ethical AI adoption to laying out expectations for data stewardship across the department.
In the less than two years since being formed, CDAO has also notched several victories, including taking a lead role in the delivery of an initial iteration of the Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control, or CJADC2, capability announced in February.
“Building on those foundations, the question, of course, is ‘What’s next?'” Plumb said during an address at Defense Talks 2024. The event, a gathering of military and industry leaders, was hosted by Defense Scoop, a defense trade publication, in Washington.
“At our almost two-year anniversary in CDAO, we need to mature, institutionalize and sustain our gains so we can reliably and effectively ensure these capabilities are available in an enduring and effective way,” she said.
Specifically, Plumb said CDAO is focused on ensuring data, analytics and AI capabilities are accessible across the DOD enterprise to support a variety of missions.
She also outlined initiatives focused on leveraging mission analytics to drive decision-making behavior and ensuring data-driven capabilities are understandable and usable “from the boardroom to the battlefield.”
“But of course it’s not just analytics,” she said. “What we need to foster at scale is also AI adoption. Data is foundational to applications, but CDAO is also building the tools needed to support scaled adoption.”
Doing so, she said, means building labeled data sets, machine-learning operations environments, and the assurance processes required to deploy AI models that meet DOD safety and assurance standards.
Those efforts are being carried out with partners across the department and the private sector, Plumb said.
And CDAO remains committed to driving interoperability with allies.
“We cannot accomplish successful data and AI transformation alone,” Plumb said. “The collective knowledge provided by engaging with our international partners is extraordinary.”
Plumb also underscored CDAO’s alignment with the 2022 National Defense Strategy, which outlines the DOD’s roadmap for meeting the challenges posed by near peer competitors Russia, Iran, North Korea and China, DOD’s pacing challenge.
She said CDAO’s core mission is to provide warfighters what they need to maintain the decision advantage that enables deterrence.
“The CDAO has a big piece of work to deliver to make real that NDS mission,” she said. “It’s hard to imagine a more compelling mission, really a no-fail mission, and we’re up for the challenge.” (Source: U.S. DoD)
22 May 24. Chairman Discusses Challenge Posed by Russia, Great Power Competition. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff discussed threats emanating from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and why alliances matter in an era of Great Power competition.
Air Force Gen. CQ Brown, Jr., spoke with NBC’s Courtney Kube as part of the Atlantic Council’s Commanders’ Series today.
He also spoke of how the National Defense Strategy’s list of concerns — China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and violent extremists — have all been active and working together.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine is a clear warning to the world, Brown said. “When you have a conflict in one part of the world, it doesn’t necessarily stay in one part of the world,” he said.
Putin’s invasion, and the response of the world to it, may inspire others. China, for example, may take lessons from Russia’s illegal actions and believe they can be applied to Taiwan.
The world’s response to support Ukraine in its fight against its much larger neighbor also sends a message. Brown noted that on Monday, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III convened the latest meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. “This is 50 nations have a vested interest in supporting Ukraine and providing capability,” he said. “If you just look at history, … just one, small conflict can broaden into a much larger conflict. That’s why is so important.”
Ukraine is part of Europe. It borders four NATO members. The conflict has implications for national sovereignty, the rights of nations and the ability of people to choose how they should be governed. These tenets are important around the world, he said. “It’s part of my job, I spend a lot of time thinking about all the things and getting updates on what’s going on all around the world, because one of those could be a spark elsewhere,” Brown said.
Russia’s invasion was unprovoked against a smaller nation to eliminate the sovereignty of another country. “I think we all should be concerned about that,” the chairman said. “And we don’t want that model to be repeated in other parts of the world.”
The Ukraine Defense Contact Group works to ensure Ukraine has the capability to defend itself. Right now, that means air defense, antiarmor systems, tanks, artillery and more. The focus is on the close battle, Brown said. He also noted that it is not only what the United States provides the Ukrainians, but the rest of the partners too.
Kube asked the general if it limits Ukraine to not use American weapons to strike Russian formations massing for attacks outside the borders of Ukraine. He said Ukraine has other systems it can use to attack outside the nation without using American systems. “They’ve been attacking into Russia,” he said. “We will continue to have dialogue on this.”
Brown said Ukraine has been doing well against a bigger and stronger military. “If you think about it, since the beginning of this conflict, took back 50 percent of the territory that the Russians first took,” he said. “And the defensive lines that they are sitting on now haven’t changed dramatically in the course of the past year.”
Part of this is because of Ukrainian tenacity, he said. Part of it is because of the help the international partners have provided.
Ukraine will get stronger as a new draft law goes into effect, the chairman said, and those formations receive their equipment and — importantly — the training to use that equipment.
There isn’t one “magic” weapon system that partners could give Ukraine that will turn the tide against the Russians, the general said. “It’s the combination of capability that that has been provided.”
Brown said that when the Russian invasion is defeated, U.S. service members will go back into the country to train the Ukrainian military. Currently, training happens outside the nation.
Russia is desperately looking for allies to help them in their war on Ukraine. “In our national defense strategy, we have five challenges: the People’s Republic of China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and violent extremists,” the general said. “The thing that I’ve noticed over the course of the past several years is they are all active in some form or fashion, and in some cases, working together.”
North Korea is providing capabilities and munitions to the Russians for their war in Ukraine, he said. Iran is providing attack drones. China is “providing some levels of technologies to support industrial base,” he said. “This is something that we pay attention to closely. It goes back to what I said earlier: What happens in one part of the world, … provides the opportunity for things to spread.
“The goal here is to make sure it doesn’t spread,” he said.
Kube asked the general what he is worried about that Americans are not paying enough attention to?
“That’s like, asking, who’s your favorite child?” Brown said. “The key part for me personally is, it is very easy to get focused on a particular topic of the day and then get your head down and miss something else.”
“It’s important for me to just be able to step back from some of these, so you can actually have a broader perspective, and see if there’s things that are connected,” he continued. “Then look a little bit further down the path.”
The chairman has made it a priority to understand what is happening, and also what are the longer-range implications of what is happening. “Part of that is actually kind of just pulling the strings on certain things of what could happen moving forward,” he said. (Source: U.S. DoD)
21 May 24. Pentagon asks Congress for Indo-Pacific Security Assistance Initiative. The Defense Department is proposing legislation that would allow it to establish an Indo-Pacific Security Assistance Initiative to deliver weapons to Taiwan and other friendly militaries in the region, modeled after a similar program used to arm Ukraine.
The proposal, submitted to Congress in April, asks for authorization to establish the initiative and requests $500m in fiscal 2025 to arm Indo-Pacific partners either through the program or through Taiwan Presidential Drawdown Authority replenishment.
“This proposal would prioritize allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region that are at risk of invasion by revanchist powers,” the Defense Department wrote in its proposal. “This proposed authority is similar to the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) but focused on strengthening deterrence and bolstering partners’ self-defense capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region.”
The Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative has allowed the Pentagon to place weapons contracts for longer-term support to Kyiv. It’s a key pillar of U.S. support for the war-torn country alongside Presidential Drawdown Authority, used to transfer weapons to Ukraine from U.S. stockpiles.
The Defense Department’s $500m funding request in the proposal for fiscal year 2025 would provide money to arm Indo-Pacific partners, such as Taiwan and the Philippines, under both authorities.
“The current environment in the Indo-Pacific region requires new approaches beyond the authorities developed for countering violent extremist organizations,” the Pentagon proposal states. “USAI has proven an effective tool in bolstering partner capabilities by expanding or creating opportunities for additional procurement.”
But the House’s draft text of the FY25 defense policy bill does not include the requested authorization for an Indo-Pacific Security Assistance Initiative or the $500m in funding to arm security partners in the region.
The House Armed Services Committee is scheduled to mark up the legislation on Wednesday, when lawmakers will have the opportunity to add amendments to the legislation.
The $95 foreign aid bill Congress passed in April included nearly $4bn in military aid for Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific allies. That includes $1.9 bn in replenishment funds to send Taiwan weapons from U.S. stockpiles and another $2bn in Foreign Military Financing for Taipei and other Indo-Pacific partners. The FY24 government funding bill, which Congress passed in March, included another $300m in Foreign Military Financing for Taiwan. (Source: Defense News)
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