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19 Jan 26. Any surge in federal troops will increase domestic unrest, security forces risks in Minneapolis. On 18 January, the US Department of War ordered an estimated 1,500 active-duty soldiers in Alaska to prepare for a possible deployment to Minneapolis (Minnesota). The US Army has placed the units on prepare-to-deploy orders in the event that violence escalates in the city. This follows President Donald Trump’s threat to invoke the Insurrection Act on 15 January, following days of protests over the fatal shooting of a woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent on 7 January. We assess that Trump is unlikely to invoke the act in the coming days, which would grant federal troops the power to enforce laws, including by making arrests. However, troops can be deployed without recurring to the Insurrection Act. Any surge in forces in the short term will intensify the deployments’ public characterisation as an ‘invasion’ and increase the risk that residents do not comply with law enforcement. In the interim, the already-bolstered presence of federal immigration officers in the Minneapolis area will sustain elevated domestic unrest risks, raising bystander safety risks near federal personnel and buildings. (Source: Sibylline)
09 Jan 26. DAF Shifts to ‘Wartime’ Acquisition Footing, Activates First Portfolio. The Department of the Air Force (DAF) officially placed its procurement enterprise on a “wartime footing” on Thursday, Jan. 8, commencing the immediate implementation of the “Warfighting Acquisition System.”
The directive, issued to align with mandates from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, fundamentally restructures the service’s buying power by transitioning from the traditional Program Executive Officer (PEO) model to “Portfolio Acquisition Executives” (PAEs). The overhaul aims to replace compliance-heavy processes with a streamlined structure designed for speed and combat relevance. From Programs to Portfolios The shift codifies a strategy first previewed by Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink in December 2025. Under the new architecture, PAEs receive broader authorities over resources, talent management, and mission-specific decision-making, effectively decentralizing power from the Pentagon to the mission level. This structural change follows the U.S. Space Force’s recent moves to consolidate acquisition and operations, such as the activation of System Delta 80 to unify launch procurement and the stand-up of the MILCOMM & PNT System Delta late last year. Commercial-First Posture For the Space Force, the implementation designates Space Access and Space Based Sensing and Targeting as the initial mission areas to be led by PAEs. These executives are charged with executing a “commercial first” strategy to bypass decade-long development cycles.
“Acquisition is now a warfighting function. We cannot be locked into decade-long development cycles,” said Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, the Space Force’s acting Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration. “Our ‘commercial first’ approach allows us to harness the incredible innovation happening in the private sector, getting cutting-edge technology into the hands of our Guardians at the speed of a startup, not a bureaucracy.”
Operational Impact The reforms grant PAEs the ability to make “smart trades” between cost, schedule, and performance without extensive external oversight. The DAF stated that the goal is to field minimum viable products (MVPs) and iterate rapidly, a philosophy Purdy described as “speed with discipline.”
Effective immediately, the Air Force also designated its first tranche of PAEs covering five key sectors:
- Command, Control, Communications and Battle Management (C3BM)
- Fighters and Advanced Aircraft
- Nuclear Command, Control and Communications (NC3)
- Propulsion
- Weapons
“This acquisition transformation is not just about buying things faster; it’s a fundamental overhaul of our culture to empower our Airmen… and deliver the integrated capabilities we need to deter and, if necessary, defeat our adversaries,” said William D. Bailey, performing the duties of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. (Source: Satnews)
16 Jan 26. Threat of military deployment will sustain domestic unrest, ethno-social tensions in Minneapolis. On 15 January, President Donald Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy military forces in Minneapolis (Minnesota), following days of protests over immigration enforcement operations. Protests have included clashes with federal officers after the fatal shooting of a woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent on 7 January. Trump stated that he will invoke the act if politicians in Minnesota ‘don’t obey the law’. We assess that Trump is unlikely to invoke the act in the coming days, though the likelihood will increase if there is a significant spike in physical attacks against federal immigration agents. If invoked, the act would grant federal troops the power to enforce laws, including by making arrests and conducting searches. This would intensify the deployments’ public characterisation as an ‘invasion’, increasing the risk that residents do not comply with law enforcement. In the interim, the ongoing deployment of 3,000 federal officers to Minneapolis will sustain elevated domestic unrest risks. Bystander safety risks will be highest adjacent to demonstrations and near federal personnel and buildings (such as the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building). (Source: Sibylline)
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Founded in 1987, Exensor Technology is a world leading supplier of Networked Unattended Ground Sensor (UGS) Systems providing tailored sensor solutions to customers all over the world. From our Headquarters in Lund Sweden, our centre of expertise in Network Communications at Communications Research Lab in Kalmar Sweden and our Production site outside of Basingstoke UK, we design, develop and produce latest state of the art rugged UGS solutions at the highest quality to meet the most stringent demands of our customers. Our systems are in operation and used in a wide number of Military as well as Homeland Security applications worldwide. The modular nature of the system ensures any external sensor can be integrated, providing the user with a fully meshed “silent” network capable of self-healing. Exensor Technology will continue to lead the field in UGS technology, provide our customers with excellent customer service and a bespoke package able to meet every need.
A CNIM Group Company
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