United Launch Alliance to fly second Vulcan mission in September

United Launch Alliance expects its Vulcan rocket to conduct its second Space Force certification flight in September, positioning the launch vehicle to fly its first national security space missions this year, according to the company’s top executive.

Vulcan flew its first mission in January, but a second is required to confirm that the rocket can perform consistently across multiple flights. CEO Tory Bruno told reporters June 26 he’s confident the company will complete the certification process in time to meet the Space Force’s timelines.

“At the moment, we’re quite confident that the payloads will be there,” he said in a media briefing. “I’ll have the rockets. All I need are satellites, and I should be able to fly them.”

ULA, along with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is one of two companies with rockets cleared to fly national security space missions for DOD and the intelligence community. The company is in the process of replacing its legacy Atlas V and Delta IV vehicles — longtime workhorse rockets for the U.S. government — with the more powerful Vulcan.

The company previously expected Vulcan to begin flying national security missions in 2022, following certification by the Space Force that the rocket is cleared to fly high-value missions. Repeated delays — many involving the rocket’s BE-4 engine built by Blue Origin — have slowed that process.

Blue Origin has largely overcome those engine setbacks, but ULA faced a new challenge in recent months when it learned that the payload for its second Space Force certification mission — Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser spaceplane — was behind schedule.

Bruno told reporters that because of those delays and the need to certify Vulcan, the rocket will now carry an inert payload built by ULA as a backup. He described the payload as a mass simulator that will feature proprietary experiments and demonstrations that will inform future technology development for the company.

Once that mission launches, the company will work closely with the Space Force to support the necessary analysis to validate Vulcan’s performance. Bruno noted that because the service has had several months to review data from the rocket’s first mission, it shouldn’t take long to finalize the certification after the second flight.

“It’s sort of pre-staged and ready to go,” he said. “All they really have to do is receive the data from us with the analysis we also provide to them and kind of go down the list and say, ‘Yep, that’s what we expected.’”

Independent review team

ULA’s payload swap and its push toward its second certification flight follow criticism from the Space Force about Vulcan’s delayed debut and concerns that the company may struggle to ramp up the rocket’s launch cadence.

The Washington Post reported in May that Frank Calvelli, assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration, sent the company a letter relaying those concerns and calling for Lockheed and Boeing to convene an independent review team to consider whether ULA is capable of meeting the service’s launch demands.

“I recommend that you work together over the next 90 days to complete an independent review of ULA’s ability to scale its launch cadence,” Calvelli said in the letter.

Bruno said that team has since formed and is in the process of reviewing ULA’s manufacturing facilities before moving on to its launch site.

He said he welcomes input from the group. In fact, once that work is completed, Bruno plans to stand up a longer-term review team that will continue to monitor Vulcan’s progress until the company has achieved full-rate production.

“I’m a big believer in that,” he said. “When your team is working really hard in the trenches, sometimes it’s good to have some senior folks who have done it before that are stepping back from it and not driving every day, feeling schedule pressures and all that, to be taking an objective look and give you advice.”

Production ramp-up

Bruno said that amid the reviews and the company’s focus on national security space launch certification, ULA is working to ensure its factories, launch facilities and supply chain are positioned to support an increased launch cadence in the coming years.

In 2025, ULA plans to launch 20 missions, some of which will fly on Vulcan and some on its Atlas V rocket.

“It’s absolutely appropriate for everyone, including my customer, to focus on ramping up the rocket. For us, that is the primary thing we’re working on right now,” he said. “It requires two things . . . a much higher production rate in the factory and in our supply chain, and then infrastructure that supports the higher launch rate at the launch site.”

At its factory, the company has converted space once dedicated to its Delta line of rockets to produce Vulcan and is doing the same with its Atlas line, which will fly another 16 missions before it retires.

The company is nearly finished with the Vulcan rockets that will fly the two national security missions it’s lined up to launch this year, Bruno said, noting that the first will arrive at Cape Canaveral in August and the second soon after.

On the supply chain side, ULA has worked with suppliers to shore up its inventory early, in advance of the increased launch rate. And at the launch site, it’s converting an existing facility to one that can support payload and rocket integration. The company had initially planned to activate the facility next June, but Bruno said he’s accelerating that schedule to early 2025.

“The key to the higher launch rate at the launch site is having a whole other [vertical integration facility], a who other lane, if you will, so you can be building rockets simultaneously,” he said.

Safran, MTU team up to power Europe’s next-gen military helicopter

PARIS — France’s Safran and Germany’s MTU Aero Engines created a joint venture to develop a new power unit for Europe’s next-generation military helicopter project.

The 50/50 venture will work on a “100% European engine” to power a military helicopter set to enter service by 2040, and will provide the core for a partnership with industrial firms from several other European countries, the companies said in a joint statement.

The companies said the future heavy engine will be “significantly” more efficient with lower operating and maintenance costs, and allow for faster and more maneuverable helicopters with increased range. Safran and MTU are members of the Airbus Helicopters-led European Next Generation Rotorcraft consortium, which was awarded €40 million by the European Defense Fund in 2021 to study future vertical-takeoff needs and capabilities.

The joint venture “will enable us to start developing new technologies such as hybrid-electric propulsion and high-temperature materials, to meet the specifications of future helicopter projects,” Safran Helicopter Engines CEO Cédric Goubet said in the statement.

Industry eyes Ukraine war to sharpen proposals for NATO helo fleet

The new joint venture, called EURA for European Military Rotorcraft Engine Alliance, will be based in Bordes in France at the Safran Helicopter Engines headquarters, and its CEO will come from within MTU, the companies said. Creating EURA will encourage a future call from the European Defense Fund for military helicopter engines, to which Safran and MTU would respond via the new joint venture, the companies said.

The NATO Support and Procurement Agency, meanwhile, is working on its Next Generation Rotorcraft Program to develop a new-generation medium-lift helicopter, and in December awarded a first study on a new engine for the rotorcraft to GE Aerospace.

The European Union’s Permanent Structured Cooperation scheme last year kicked off yet another project called the Next Generation Medium Helicopter which seeks to “provide coherent solutions for future EU rotorcraft capabilities” though both new platforms as well as upgrades of existing ones, particularly the NH90, and prepare the European next-generation rotorcraft program.

Safran and MTU are already working together in a joint venture with ITP Aero to develop a next-generation engine for the Future Combat Air System. Safran supplies helicopters engines to Airbus and Leonardo, while MTU has been a partner for Safran on the power plant for the Tiger attack helicopter and with GE Aerospace on the engine for the Sikorsky CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter.

Pentagon to identify next Replicator capability set this summer

TAMPA, Fla. — The Pentagon will decide later this summer what capabilities to focus on in the next round of Replicator, its push to quickly field high-need technology at scale.

The first phase of the effort, championed by Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks, is focused on attritable drones and other uncrewed systems. The goal is to deliver thousands of these platforms by the summer of 2025, and in the 10 months since it was announced, the Pentagon has solicited and selected systems and started fielding them.

With the first round of Replicator in full swing, Hicks told C4ISRNET June 25 that the Defense Innovation Working Group — which vets and recommends systems for the effort — has been discussing what the next round, Replicator 2.0, will look like.

“We are beginning those discussions at my level,” she said during an interview at U.S. Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Fla. “They’re more mature at lower levels already. The DIWG are actively having conversations about 2.0. The fact that there’s a lot of enthusiasm for different potential capability areas just shows that there is buy-in to the value of the process.”

Hicks wouldn’t offer any insight into what specific capabilities the group is considering, but highlighted several attributes Defense Department leaders will factor into their decision. The systems should meet a near-term operational need, she said, and should be a capability that would benefit from senior leader backing.

“It’s not just happening on its own . . . it could benefit from this attention and focus at the senior level and probably across the enterprise,” Hicks said. “It’s that it’s senior and that it’s synchronized across multiple different areas that affect capability delivery.”

If the department identifies a capability that meets those criteria, it will work to include funding in its fiscal 2026 budget proposal, which the Pentagon will submit to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget in September.

“We would be proposing to include it in the ‘26 budget,” she said. “Of course, it’s the President’s budget, but that would be how we would envision including it.”

The Pentagon plans to spend a total of $1 billion on the first round of Replicator in fiscal years 2024 and 2025 with funds drawn from various sources including prior year appropriations, a reprogramming request, a national security supplemental approved in August and the department’s yet-to-be approved FY25 budget proposal.

The FY25 request didn’t include projections for future-year funding, but Hicks said the Pentagon will provide those to Congress as part of its FY26 request.

“We’re now inside the normal budget process, and so we will be able to put into the ‘26 budget and display for Congress how we plan to fund any follow-on Replicator efforts,” she said.

Hicks said she’s confident the Pentagon will meet its schedule and delivery targets for the first iteration of Replicator, noting that she thinks its performance to this point validates that the process is working.

“That is clearly bearing fruit in terms of the years we’re shaving off the timeline,” she said. “The ability to stick to schedule and cost itself is a significant improvement over what we too often see in the department.”

Why the US Air Force should keep Next Generation Air Dominance alive

As a former secretary of the Air Force, I’ve “been there and done that” when it comes to budget trade-offs, making hard choices and doing my best to work collaboratively within the halls of the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill to reach the best decisions possible for our military’s current and future readiness. So I understand the challenges that current Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin are facing as they consider programmatic alternatives for the fiscal 2026 budget and beyond. However, I am deeply troubled by recent reports suggesting the possible termination of the Next Generation Air Dominance system due to budgetary constraints.

I strongly argue that the administration and Congress must unite to fund the Air Force to ensure the continuity of this vital program. They also need to explore alternative design and acquisition strategies to significantly reduce the cost of NGAD and expedite the delivery of this critical capability.

By way of background, the family of systems known as NGAD — which includes a manned, penetrating, counter-air platform and unmanned collaborative combat aircraft — is the result of extensive Air Force and Department of Defense research, which began in 2014. This research concluded that America’s current air dominance assets would not remain sufficiently competitive against the systems of potential adversaries (especially China) into the 2030s.

Then-acquisition chief Frank Kendall was instrumental in this analysis and program from the start. He even made it the linchpin of one of his seven operational imperatives after becoming secretary of the Air Force. With China confirming that it is working on a sixth-generation fighter system to be completed by 2035, the importance of the NGAD program for the Air Force has become all the more apparent.

Enter the Fiscal Responsibility Act and its caps on defense spending; deficit concerns; and the bow-wave effect of must-pay bills for programs like the B-21 bomber, the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program and rising personnel costs; the Air Force now finds itself on the horns of a dilemma for FY26 and beyond.

There’s not enough money to pay for all of it.

Moreover, the manned portion of NGAD is predicted to be even more expensive than the F-35 fighter, which, if true, does not bode well for America’s ability to eventually procure an adequate number of fighters. If the program encounters significant delays, the U.S. may once again find itself delivering a capability that has not kept pace with where the threat has advanced.

What, then, should we do?

First, I urge Congress and the DOD to provide adequate funds to the Air Force so that all these important programs remain on track.

Second, I urge the Air Force to consider innovative design and acquisition strategies — perhaps along the lines of the “century series” approach that former Air Force acquisition chief Will Roper once spoke of. This approach would involve less-expensive and quicker-to-produce fighters with iterative designs that could change every few years if necessary. Engaging in discussions with industry on such an approach is crucial, as it represents a very different way of doing business and we need to ensure its feasibility.

It’s time for us to come together, think outside the box and find new ways to support our military’s needs.

The only thing we can say for sure is that China is ruthlessly advancing its NGAD equivalent and does not appear to be slowing down due to budgetary concerns. Moreover, China is continuing aggressive actions in the South China Sea and has stepped up military drills that simulate a blockade and possible invasion of Taiwan.

The 2030s will be upon us in an instant, so we can’t afford to delay NGAD. Doing so would mean risking loss in a future conflict.

Deborah Lee James is a former secretary of the U.S. Air Force. She serves as chair of the Defense Business Board and is affiliated with several organizations and businesses.

NATO appoints outgoing Dutch PM Mark Rutte as its next secretary

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO appointed Mark Rutte as its next secretary-general on Wednesday, putting the outgoing Dutch prime minister in charge of the world’s biggest security organization at a critical time for European security as war rages in Ukraine.

Rutte’s appointment was sealed by NATO ambassadors during a meeting at the 32-nation alliance’s headquarters in Brussels. U.S. President Joe Biden and his counterparts will formally welcome him to their table at a summit in Washington on July 9-11.

The outgoing Dutch premier will take over from the current secretary general, Norway’s Jens Stoltenberg, on Oct. 1. Stoltenberg spent more than a decade at the helm. His mandate was repeatedly extended, in part to provide continuity after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

“I warmly welcome NATO allies’ choice of Mark Rutte as my successor,” Stoltenberg said.

“Mark is a true trans-Atlanticist, a strong leader, and a consensus-builder. I wish him every success as we continue to strengthen NATO for the challenges of today and tomorrow. I know I am leaving NATO in good hands,” he added.

Secretaries general chair meetings and guide often delicate consultations among member countries to ensure the organization, which operates on consensus, can function smoothly. The NATO leader also ensures decisions are put into action and speaks on behalf of all members.

Several obstacles had stood in Rutte’s way of security the post, even though he had the backing of the White House and most other big member countries including Germany. He emerged as the sole candidate after Romanian President Klaus Iohannis withdrew last week.

Hungary lifted its objections earlier this month, once Rutte agreed that Budapest would not be obligated in the future to send personnel or provide funds for a new support plan for Ukraine. NATO’s unanimous decision-making gives any member a veto over projects and operations.

Turkey had also voiced opposition to Rutte’s bid but lifted its objections in April.

Marines make first landing on renovated WWII airfield in the Pacific

The Marines recently landed their first fixed wing aircraft on a recertified airfield on the Pacific island of Peleliu, which jarheads captured after brutal combat in 1944.

The KC-130J Super Hercules tanker with 1st Marine Air Wing landed Saturday, marking the first time the Corps has landed such an aircraft on the installation since the service recertified the airfield in early June, according to a Marine Corps press release.

The Marine Corps Engineer Detachment Palau, MCED-P 24.1, contains engineers from the 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group. The detachment spent the past few months rehabilitating the airfield to accommodate large, fixed-wing aircraft such as the KC-130J.

“I feel privileged because I was in Peleliu in 2021 and saw the airfield transform into what it is now,” said Sgt. Brandon Gonzalez, a combat engineer squad leader who led vegetation removal and assisted with unexploded ordnance sweeping. “It truly is an honor to have been a part of this mission and see it come to fruition with a KC-130 landing.”

Marines merge air control jobs as new air defense tech comes online

That airfield puts Marine aircraft within 1,000 miles of Manila, Philippines, which is a major Pacific partner nation of the United States. The island is approximately 1,400 miles from Okinawa, Japan ― home of the 3rd Marine Division and the bulk of U.S. Marine forces in the Pacific.

Guam, which has seen a flood of military investment, construction and is the planned future home of a new Marine littoral regiment in the coming years, is about 1,500 miles from the Philippines.

The next closest major Marine contingent is in Hawaii, which is more than 4,600 miles from both Peleliu and Okinawa, Japan.

“Today is a historic moment as we land a Marine Corps aircraft on the ‘Sledge’ runway,” remarked Maj. Christopher Romero, Marine Corps Engineer Detachment Palau commanding officer. “This remarkable achievement demonstrates the strategic importance of our mission and our dedication to regional stability and security.”

The “Sledge” title is in honor of its namesake, Pfc. Eugene Sledge, who fought in the Battle of Peleliu with the 1st Marine Division and later authored one of the key Marine memoirs of the war, “With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa.”

September marks the 80th anniversary of the battle.

The Marines are experimenting with new ways of integrating airpower and covering the vast distances of the Pacific for combat and combat support operations, a far cry from what was needed in the previous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ongoing upgrades and expansion on Guam mirror improvements to facilities on the islands of Tinian and Saipan.

Commandant Gen. Eric Smith testified in a congressional hearing earlier in 2024 that the Corps also was experimenting with durable, quick installation matting to install air strips in small areas when needed.

The Corps isn’t the only service ramping up its air-focused installations in the region.

In March, the Air Force announced a $400 million upgrade to its airfield on the tiny Pacific island of Yap, about 1,000 miles southeast of China and part of the Federated States of Micronesia.

National Guard soldiers field-test Next Generation Squad Weapons

National Guard soldiers with the 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team became the first Guardsmen to field-test the service’s Next Generation Squad Weapon systems this month, officials said in a press release.

Troops with the 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team fired the next-gen weapon systems, the XM7 rifle and the XM250 automatic rifle, on June 6 at Fort Liberty, North Carolina. The XM7 and XM250 are set to replace the M4 carbine and the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, respectively.

The Guard’s field test comes after the 101st Airborne Division became the first active duty Army unit to receive the new armaments.

And while soldiers had already been testing the Army’s newest rifle and automatic rifle, they are now officially being distributed across the service’s components, marking the first time in decades that the branch has fielded such equipment, which includes a fire control system and a new caliber family of ammunition.

“Weapon advancements such as the NGSW ensures that units under our command have the best weapons possible,” said Col. Paul Hollenack, the 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team commander. “The fielding of the XM7 and XM250 is a step in making sure that we are doing just that.”

Soldiers assigned to 4th Battalion, 118th Infantry Regiment, 218th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, South Carolina Army National Guard also received the new weapons. They conducted an integrated training weapons strategy qualification table with the rifles during a week-long training event that culminated June 23, according to another Army release.

“The XM7 is a great rifle. We are training and practicing target shots,” said Cpl. Joseph Negron, a cavalry scout assigned to that unit. “My favorite thing about the XM7 is how the weapon can be easily used by righthanded and lefthanded shooters.”

“The XM7, compared to the M4, is definitely a step up,” he added. “The rifle is a little bit heavier, but it’s accuracy is definitely worth the extra weight.”

Pentagon head speaks with Russian counterpart for first time in a year

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Russia’s defense minister — the first such conversation in 15 months.

Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder announced the call in a briefing Tuesday, saying Austin initiated the discussion.

“The secretary emphasized the importance of maintaining lines of communication amid Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine,” Ryder said.

Russia has blamed the U.S. for an attack on Crimea — a Ukrainian peninsula Moscow seized in 2014 — in which Ukraine used ATACMS missiles supplied by America. Still considered Ukrainian territory under international law, Crimea is an exception to a U.S. policy that bans Ukraine from shooting long-range weapons into Russia.

This week the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy for a scolding over the attack, which killed at least four and left more than 150 injured.

“Retaliatory measures are certain to follow,” the ministry said in a post on Telegram.

The last time Austin spoke with Russia’s defense minister — then Sergei Shoigu — was March 15, 2023. According to a Pentagon readout, the two discussed “unprofessional, dangerous, and reckless behavior by the Russian air force in international airspace over the Black Sea.”

A day before, a Russian jet had crashed into an American surveillance drone, forcing it down over international waters.

Andrei Belousov, the new defense minister, was appointed this May in a major shakeup within the Kremlin. Belousov is an economist by training, and his ascendance in part reflects Russia’s ability to manage its defense industry two years into the full-scale war in Ukraine.

This is the first time Belousov and Austin have spoken. The U.S. treats any conversations with Russia as extremely sensitive, and Ryder wouldn’t answer questions about how long the call lasted, why it occurred and the state of U.S.-Russia communication.

US expected to bolster Ukraine’s defense with $150M in munitions

The U.S. is expected to announce Tuesday it is sending an additional $150 million in critically needed munitions to Ukraine, as Russia accuses Ukraine of using U.S.-provided munitions to strike inside Russia or Russian-held territory, according to two U.S. officials.

On Monday, Russia summoned the American ambassador to protest what it says was the use of U.S.-made advanced missiles in a Ukrainian attack on Crimea on Sunday that reportedly killed four people and wounded more than 150.

Pentagon: Ukraine may fire US missiles into Russia in self-defense

Crimea, which Russian seized from Ukraine in 2014 in a move that most of the world rejected as unlawful, long had been declared a fair target for Ukraine by its Western allies.

However, the Pentagon said last week that Ukraine’s military is also now allowed to use longer-range missiles provided by the U.S. to strike targets inside Russia if it is acting in self-defense. Since the outset of the war, the U.S. had maintained a policy of not allowing Ukraine to use the weapons it provided to hit targets on Russian soil for fear of further escalating the conflict.

The continued flow of U.S. munitions, which will be drawn from existing stockpiles, is intended to help Ukrainian forces repel intensified Russian attacks.

The upcoming shipment is expected to include munitions for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS. That system is capable of firing the longer-range missiles from the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, which Russia has said would prompt retaliation and risk escalating the conflict. One of the U.S. officials said they could not verify whether this aid package included ATACMS munitions, but said the aid did not include cluster munitions.

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details that had not yet been made public.

The package also includes antiarmor weapons, small arms and grenades and the highly sought after 155 mm and 105 mm artillery rounds, among other support.

Boeing’s aircraft woes drive drone focus at Leonardo facility

ROME — Work on fixed-wing and tiltrotor drones are taking up the slack at an Italian facility run by Leonardo, which has been hit by a slowdown caused by sluggish civil contracts from Boeing, the firm has said.

Leonardo had told unions in Rome that the plant at Grottaglie would need to shut down for four months to deal with a decrease in the usual amount of work performed for the 787 Dreamliner passenger.

Boeing told its staff in April it expected a slowdown in production and deliveries of the 787 Dreamliner because of a shortage of component supplies. The hitch followed quality issues that suspended deliveries for nearly two years, ending in 2022.

“Lower growth in the production and delivery of the Boeing 787 required a four-month plant shutdown to align production volumes with the short-term reduction in demand,” Leonardo said.

To fill the gap, Leonardo has started work at the facility on the wing of the new Eurodrone UAV — being built by a team of European governments and their local defense industries — and on the fuselage of the prototype of Leonardo’s remotely piloted Proteus helicopter.

Leonardo is also working on the fuselage of the VX4 electric aircraft at Grottaglie on behalf of the British firm Vertical Aerospace, the Italian company said, adding that the projects are employing 100 people.

Next, Grottaglie is to host the production of Leonardo’s AW609 tiltrotor, which the firm expects will be certified next year.

Built for civil customers with an eye on military applications, the AW609 is a long-term project that started life as a collaborative program with Bell before the U.S. business pulled out in 2011.

Leonardo said it is also focusing research work into new composite materials for aircraft at Grottaglie.

Leonardo has said delays at Boeing may cost it €50 million (U.S. $54 million) this year.