Archive: October 31, 2024

India’s MQ-9B buy from the US caps fruitless push for homemade drone

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — As India struggles to develop its own medium-altitude, long-endurance drones, the government pulled the trigger this month on a purchase of 31 MQ-9Bs from General Atomics.

The tri-service buy is worth 320 billion rupees, or US$3.8 billion, with 15 SeaGuardians to be delivered to the Indian Navy (IN) and eight SkyGuardians each for the Indian Air Force and Indian Army.

Officials in New Delhi have not fully explained why they opted for expensive, U.S.-manufactured MQ-9Bs instead of domestic designs that would follow the country’s dogma of localizing arms manufacturing. India’s operational needs – including observing Chinese troops along its mountainous northern border, and monitoring Chinese and Pakistani naval activity in the Indian Ocean – are urgent.

“Our MQ-9B aircraft deliver valuable, actionable intelligence over land and over sea, and allow their operators to see, know and respond faster than ever before,” General Atomics spokesman C. Mark Brinkley said. The new order stands to make India the largest operator of MQ-9Bs.

Indian defense leaders believe they can no longer wait for government agencies to satisfactorily develop domestic drones like the TAPAS BH-201, a platform that has experienced difficulties and has yet to meet performance requirements.

The Indian Navy’s vice chief, Vice Adm. Krishna Swaminathan, told reporters on Oct. 22 that “the TAPAS drones in their current form do not entirely meet our requirements,” which was why it had sought MQ-9Bs instead.

Swaminathan added: “We hope the next version of TAPAS will be much better. We look forward to that day when we can make such drones like the MQ-9B, and maybe TAPAS is the right way to go.”

India is struggling to compete with nemeses China and Pakistan in the field of high-performance drones. The latter, for example, has procured the TB2 Bayraktar and Akinci from Turkey, as well as Wing Loong and CH-4B drones from China.

Delhi initially expressed interest in the MQ-9A in 2016. The U.S. offered the navy 22 MQ-9B SeaGuardians in 2017, before the army and air force decided to also procure the type in 2018. As negotiations continued to drag on, the Indian Navy leased two SeaGuardians in 2020, one of which fell into the Bay of Bengal in September.

India signed a contract with General Atomics Global India for performance-based logistics for the new MQ-9Bs, allowing depot-level maintenance, repair and overhaul to take place in India.

North Korea launches long-range missile, signaling tech improvements

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time in almost a year Thursday, demonstrating a potential advancement in its ability to launch long-range nuclear attacks on the mainland U.S.

The launch was likely meant to meant grab American attention days ahead of the U.S. election and respond to condemnation over the North’s reported troop dispatch to Russia to support its war against Ukraine. Some experts speculated Russia might have provided technological assistance to North Korea over the launch.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observed the launch, calling it “an appropriate military action” to show North Korea’s resolve to respond to its enemies’ moves that have threatened the North’s safety, according to the North’s state media.

Kim said the enemies’ “various adventuristic military maneuvers” highlighted the importance of North Korea’s nuclear capability. He reaffirmed that North Korea will never abandon its policy of bolstering its nuclear forces.

North Korea has steadfastly argued that advancing its nuclear capabilities is its only option to cope with the expansion of U.S.-South Korean military training, though Washington and Seoul have repeatedly said they have no intention of attacking North Korea. Experts say North Korea uses its rivals’ drills as a pretext to enlarge its nuclear arsenal to wrest concessions when diplomacy resumes.

The North Korean statement came hours after its neighbors said they had detected the North’s first ICBM test since December 2023 and condemned it as a provocation that undermines international peace.

North Korean troops likely to join Ukraine war, Pentagon says

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea could have tested a new, solid-fueled long-range ballistic missile on a steep angle, an attempt to avoid neighboring countries. Missiles with built-in solid propellants are easier to move and hide and can be launched quicker than liquid-propellant weapons.

Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani told reporters the missile’s flight duration of 86 minutes and its maximum altitude of more than 7,000 kilometers (4,350 miles) exceeded corresponding data from previous North Korean missile tests.

Having a missile fly higher and for a longer duration than before means its engine thrust has improved. Given that previous ICBM tests by North Korea have already proved they can theoretically reach the U.S mainland, the latest launch was likely related to an effort to examine whether a missile can carry a bigger warhead, experts say.

Jung Chang Wook, head of the Korea Defense Study Forum think tank in Seoul, said that it’s fair to say the missile involved in Thursday’s launch could carry North Korea’s biggest and most destructive warhead. He said the launch was also likely designed to test other technological aspects that North Korea needs to master to further advance its ICBM program.

North Korea has made strides in its missile technologies in recent years, but many foreign experts believe the country has yet to acquire a functioning nuclear-armed missile that can strike the U.S. mainland. They say North Korea likely possesses short-range missiles that can deliver nuclear strikes across all of South Korea.

There have been concerns that North Korea might seek Russian help to perfect its nuclear-capable missiles in return for its alleged dispatch of thousands of troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday that North Korean troops wearing Russian uniforms and carrying Russian equipment are moving toward Ukraine, in what he called a dangerous and destabilizing development.

Lee Choon Geun, an honorary research fellow at South Korea’s Science and Technology Policy Institute, said the early results of Thursday’s launch suggested Russia might have given a key propellant component that can boost a missile’s engine thrust. He said that a higher thrust allows a missile to carry a bigger payload, fly with more stability and hit a target more accurately.

Jung said he speculates Russian experts might have given technological advices on missile launches since Russian President Vladimir Putin visited North Korea for a meeting with Kim in June.

Kwon Yong Soo, an honorary professor at South Korea’s National Defense University, said that North Korea likely tested a multiple-warhead system for an existing ICBM. “There’s no reason for North Korea to develop another new ICBM when it already has several systems with ranges of up to 10,000 to 15,000 kilometers (6,200 to 9,300 miles) that could reach any location on Earth,” Kwon said.

The North Korean confirmation of an ICBM test was unusually quick since North Korea usually describes its weapons tests a day after they occur.

“North Korea could have probably thought that its rivals could look down it after it gave away so much in military resources to Russia,” Yang Uk, an expert at South Korea’s Asan Institute Institute for Policy Studies. “The launch may have been intended as a demonstration to show what it’s capable of, regardless of troop dispatches or other movements.”

U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett called the launch “a flagrant violation” of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions that “needlessly raises tensions and risks destabilizing the security situation in the region.” Savett said the U.S. will take all necessary measures to ensure the security of the American homeland and its South Korean and Japanese allies.

South Korean military spokesperson Lee Sung Joon said the North Korean missile may have been fired from a 12-axle launch vehicle, the North’s largest mobile launch platform. The disclosure of the new launch vehicle in September had prompted speculation North Korea could be developing an ICBM that is bigger than its existing ones.

South Korea’s military intelligence agency told lawmakers Wednesday that North Korea has likely completed preparations for its seventh nuclear test as well. It said North Korea had been close to testing an ICBM.

In the past two years, Kim has used Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a window to ramp up weapons tests and threats while also expanding military cooperation with Moscow. South Korea, the U.S. and others say North Korea has already shipped artillery, missiles and other conventional arms to replenish Russia’s dwindling weapons stockpiles.

North Korea’s possible participation in the Ukraine war would mark a serious escalation. Besides Russian nuclear and missile technologies, experts say Kim Jong Un also likely hopes for Russian help to build a reliable space-based surveillance system and modernize his country’s conventional weapons. They say Kim will likely get hundreds of millions of dollars from Russia for his soldiers’ wages if they are stationed in Russia for one year.

North Korean troops likely to join Ukraine war, Pentagon says

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirmed that he expects North Korean troops that have deployed to Russia to join the war against Ukraine, a step he warned could expand the conflict.

In the last month, North Korea has sent 10,000 soldiers to eastern Russia, where they began training across three military sites. Around 2,000 of these troops have since moved west, with some receiving Russian uniforms and equipment. A smaller group has already entered the region of Kursk, where Ukrainian forces seized land earlier this fall.

“There’s a good likelihood that these groups will be introduced into combat,” Austin said Wednesday, speaking alongside South Korea’s defense minister, Kim Yong-hyun, who was visiting Washington.

Since publicly confirming last week that North Korea had sent forces into Russia, the Pentagon has warned Pyongyang against joining the nearly three-year war. After decades of chilly relations — including years of Russia trying to limit North Korea’s nuclear program — the two countries have warmed to each other following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

North Korea has helped supply Russia’s military with munitions and other military equipment during the war, and their two leaders have held multiple in-person summits. American officials have grown concerned about what Pyongyang is receiving in return.

That barter likely includes Russia transferring advanced technology on tactical nuclear weapons, reconnaissance satellites, intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear submarines, said Kim, the South Korean defense minister.

“There’s also a high chance that they will try to replace their equipment” that may have grown obsolete, Kim said.

The U.S. does not have direct relations with North Korea and already has a raft of sanctions imposed on the country. Austin said the administration is working with allies on how to respond to the deployment, though he wouldn’t specify how.

“It does have the potential of lengthening the conflict or broadening the conflict if that continues,” Austin said of these troops fighting alongside Russia. If they do, he said, they would be fair targets for Ukrainian soldiers, including with American-provided weapons.

Pentagon and White House officials have argued that the deployment is a sign of “desperation” from Russia, which is suffering immense and accelerating casualties in Ukraine’s east — more than 1,000 per day with more than 600,000 during the whole war.

Austin went further Wednesday, saying the Kremlin is now asking Pyongyang for manpower to avoid another draft. Russia has been able to replace much of its losses through recruitment drives, offering higher pay and pensions, but a mobilization could be politically unpopular.

Russian President Vladimir Putin “doesn’t want to mobilize, because then the people in Russia will begin to understand the extent of his losses, of their losses,” Austin said.

After Russian advances toward the key eastern city of Pokrovsk this fall, Ukraine’s defenses have held. Still, Ukraine is also taking heavy losses and has a much smaller population, making them harder to replace.

Why the Defense Department needs a chief economist

The Department of Defense budget is growing, and the DOD is spending more money in novel industries and nontraditional areas than ever before. To ensure the DOD spends smartly in this new environment, Congress should authorize a chief economist to keep the DOD thinking about the dollars and cents of it all.

Since 2000, the DOD has spent more than $15 trillion dollars and has an anticipated budget of more than $900 billion for fiscal 2025. The DOD is the world’s single-biggest purchaser of bulk fuel, the largest employer on the planet with 3.4 million combined civilian and service members, and one of the largest health care providers in the world. The institution manages $3.8 trillion in assets that includes a 26 million-acre real estate portfolio and over 4,800 sites that can be found in every U.S. state and over 160 countries. The DOD’s budget ranks it as the 20th largest GDP in the world, ahead of countries like Switzerland, Poland and Taiwan.

Despite the immense scale of economic complexity managed and notable efforts in recent years to become a more versatile and active market participant, there is still a critical component missing to help this financial colossus better understand and improve its business dealings in an era of great power competition: a chief economist.

The DOD benefits from specialized staff members at all levels, with expertise in acquisitions, finance, health care, policy, intelligence, information technology and engineering. There are even a number of professional economists supporting smaller offices, such as the Investments & Economic Analysis team under the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (USD A&S), the Office of Commercial and Economic Analysis within the Air Force, and the Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation.

While most of these specialties are naturally reflected in the senior-most ranks of the department, the role of chief economist is noticeably absent among them. This absence is made even more prominent by the fact that various other federal agencies like the Department of State (DOS), Department of Agriculture (USDA) and even U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) all have a chief economist.

Although DOS, USDA and USAID manage only 4% of federal budgetary resources — compared to the DOD’s 14.7% — few would question their need for a chief economist when reflecting on some of their core responsibilities: DOS must understand the economic posture of countries around the world to monitor international conditions and negotiate balanced foreign policies; USDA must carefully watch resources and pricing dynamics to identify potential disruptions in critical food supply chains; and USAID must identify where aid-based interventions are necessary and assess how successful those interventions have proven to be. Meanwhile, the DOD must perform substantially similar duties (albeit in a different context) while also managing a much broader set of operational, technical, logistical, financial and administrative tasks to meet its strategic objectives.

Whether it’s highly specialized components destined for a $102 million F-35 fighter jet or a $13 billion Ford-class aircraft carrier, cloud servers that will form the backbone for JADC2, uniforms necessary to equip service members for duty, traditional materials like copper used to produce munitions or the scores of more exotic minerals deemed critical to defense needs, the DOD consumes vast amounts of goods both directly and indirectly. All of these goods are affected by complex interactions between energy production, commodity pricing, component manufacturing, systems integration, labor policies, FX fluctuations, inflationary pressures and any number of related economic variables. At scale and over time, such interactions can have a profound, compounding impact on the DOD’s ability to moderate its consumption of resources and maintain productive relationships with the vendors who provide them.

Tracking, analyzing and forecasting these economic dynamics takes on even greater importance in the face of an evolving definition for asymmetric warfare and under the pressure of time and cost overruns in Major Defense Acquisition Programs. Indeed, the DOD recently issued its first-ever National Defense Industrial Strategy, which includes the key priorities of building resilient supply chains, ensuring workforce readiness, establishing flexible acquisition processes and exercising economic deterrence against adversaries. The creation of a chief economist to work in coordination with other senior leaders like USD A&S and the comptroller is a logical next step toward implementing that strategy.

While the introduction of any new executive roles or organizational components should not be taken without thoughtful consideration of the long-term costs and bureaucratic implications, the relatively small action of creating an Office of the Chief Economist within the Office of the Secretary of Defense would, by definition, help the DOD spend more efficiently, manage resources more effectively and ultimately wield the full weight of its market power in a more productive manner. The opportunity gain produced can, in turn, have a truly positive and outsized impact from the DOD level down to service members and back to the American taxpayer.

As the saying goes, it’s common sense to care about dollars and cents.

David Rader is the former deputy director of Global Investment and Economic Security at the Department of Defense.

Adam Papa has extensive experience as a technology and national security professional, including experience as a deep-tech VC investor, NATO international staff member, McKinsey consultant, CFR term member and policy researcher at the Harvard Belfer Center.

US Army buys long-flying solar drones to watch over Pacific units

The Army’s 1st Multi-Domain Task Force has used a small number of Kraus Hamdani Aerospace K1000 Ultra Long-Endurance, solar-powered unmanned aircraft system across the Pacific theater in places like the Philippines and Guam in recent years. Now the Pentagon has ordered $20 million worth of the systems for the unit as well as special operators.

The Pentagon made the award through the Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies (APFIT) program, one of the largest awards since the fund’s 2022 creation.

The K1000ULE is designed to “mimic nature by utilizing onboard artificial intelligence to silently glide through the air like a bird and generate clean onboard energy,” an Oct. 30 company statement reads. “The K1000ULE is the longest-endurance, fully electric, zero-emissions autonomous aircraft in its size and weight category.”

The K1000 will provide Aerial Tier Network Extension for communications, Electronic Warfare and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance capabilities, the statement lists.

“Over time, we have matured our technology in line with the requirements of the U.S. Army and continue to align the K1000ULE to meet the needs of the warfighter in a dynamically changing environment,” Fatema Hamdani, Kraus Hamdani Aerospace CEO and co-founder, said.

Defense News witnessed the 1st MDTF’s Extended Range Sensing and Effects Company use the K1000 on a remote island airfield in the Philippines during an annual bilateral drill called Balikatan this spring. The aircraft spent its days flying above the South China Sea collecting data for the company.

The Army has also been using the aircraft in a variety of other experiments over the past several years like the Edge exercise and Project Convergence.

The lightweight K1000, which features solar panels on its wings, previously broke the endurance record for class 2 unmanned aerial systems by flying for 76 hours. That category currently applies to drones weighing between 21 and 55 lbs.

The aircraft does not have landing gear and relies on 3D-printed skids that can be swapped out after they wear down.

The K1000 is difficult to detect, with most sensors and radars mistaking it for a bird, according to Kraus engineers on site in the Philippines.

The aircraft fits inside a standard case, and it takes users roughly 10 minutes to unload, assemble and launch. The drone takes off from a moving vehicle as it catches the wind. In the Philippines, it took off from the roof of a black SUV.

The Army is retiring its Shadow UAS program, and Kraus believes the K1000 is a good candidate to fill both small and large UAS capabilities with a logistics footprint of smaller drones, the statement notes.

Leaders wrestle with a potent mix: AI and weapons of mass destruction

BERLIN — Emerging technologies have radically reshaped the arms control landscape and pose a set of major challenges, though also some opportunities in curbing the spread of weapons of mass destruction, said representatives of five major UN-adjacent disarmament agencies.

Speaking Oct. 25 on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly’s First Committee meeting – the UN’s top disarmament body – representatives discussed how the emergence of artificial intelligence, accessible drones, new reactor technologies and others have impacted their task of controlling the proliferation of dangerous weapons and materials.

For example, the advent of widely accessible large language models such as ChatGPT may make it easier for terrorists or rogue states to access instructions for making chemical weapons, said Hong Li of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Based in the Hague, Netherlands, the OPCW implements the nearly universally ratified Chemical Weapons Convention and has overseen the destruction of all declared stockpiles of chemical weapons across 193 countries – an effort for which it received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013. Only three UN countries – Egypt, North Korea and South Sudan – have not signed the convention.

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It is “critical” to track the changes in delivery systems, Li said. Inexpensive drones, particularly those built for agriculture with tanks for liquids and sprayers attached to them, “can be easily adjusted for the delivery of chemical weapons, which brings new challenges for us,” he added.

To keep up with the times, OPCW officials created a temporary working group on artificial intelligence, which will begin work in 2025 for two years. It will systematically evaluate this emerging technology’s impact on the world of chemical weapons while also taking into account how the organization could use it to further its goals of a chemical weapons-free world.

Meanwhile, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency is tasked with surveilling nuclear facilities globally to ensure no fissile material is diverted for the use in atomic bombs through a system collectively referred to as safeguards.

To stay ahead of the curve, the agency has a dedicated technology foresight team, said Tracy Brown, the agency’s liaison and public information officer. Its members keep tabs on new developments in the nuclear field, devising new tools and techniques to uncover illicit nuclear-weapons efforts.

In the past decade alone, the amount of nuclear material under the agency’s safeguards has increased by 25%, Brown said. With limited resources, this requires a more efficient allocation of inspectors’ time.

Machine learning has helped in the process, enabling “more efficient and effective video surveillance” of nuclear facilities, according to Brown. Computer systems can flag relevant events – such as when a cask carrying radioactive material is unexpectedly removed – and set off alarm bells, alerting humans to review the case manually.

The agency has also trained its own AI models to scour openly available information for material relevant to detecting illicit nuclear activities, Brown disclosed. Open-source data streams include news reports, scientific papers, satellite imagery and signals picked up by remote sensors, all of which would be time-consuming to mine manually.

Similarly, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, housed in the UN headquarters in Vienna, has been harnessing the power of machine learning to train its computer systems to use the data flowing from its global monitoring network to more quickly and accurately detect nuclear tests, a program it called NET-VISA. The CTBTO’s system of 306 stations around the globe was crucial in detecting and confirming North Korean nuclear tests from 2006 onward and in dispelling rumors about a possible Iranian test when earthquakes were recorded in the country’s heartland earlier this month.

NET-VISA will be made available to the treaty’s state parties to enhance their national abilities as well, said Jose Rosenberg, senior liaison officer at the organization.

“We are living in an age of accelerated technological change,” said Izumi Nakamitsu, the UN’s High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, who leads the organization’s Office for Disarmament Affairs. “This is also a time of heightened danger due to fraught and changing security environments.”

The convergence of technologies such as AI and 3D printing of biotechnology and nanotechnology can lower the barriers for terrorists or rogue states to gain access to weapons of mass destruction, she said.

“We need to adapt the existing nonproliferation and disarmament regime to the ever-evolving security landscape.”

Italian Navy tasks Fincantieri to design drone-laden warships

ROME — The Italian Navy is planning for a future in which swarms of airborne, surface and undersea drones will deploy from its ships and has challenged shipyard Fincantieri to build and adapt vessels which are ready for the task.

“We expect new navy vessels in ten years will be using a large number of drones and we want to be prepared,” said Capt. Gianluca Marcilli, who heads the Technology Innovation Office at the Navy General Staff’s General Space and Innovation Office (UGSI).

A new Navy research project called “Swarm Drone Carrier,” which was unveiled by Marcilli at a Rome conference this week, has focused on how numerous drones used for search and rescue, interception and interdiction missions can be hosted on ships and integrated with sensors and combat management systems.

Officials have meanwhile tasked Italy’s Fincantieri – the Navy’s go-to ship builder – to drum up designs for future drone-friendly vessels.

“We want to challenge Fincantieri to rethink designs in a way that we can use launch and recovery systems for aerial, surface and undersea drones,” Marcilli told Defense News.

“It means looking at how best to handle storage, maintenance and loading ammunition,” he said.

Marcilli said the study was based on the concept of a vessel being able to host between six and 10 undersea drones, able to be launched through apertures in the hull, rather than being launched with a crane.

The study also envisages four to six Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) drones on board, and has used Fincantieri’s SAND USV as a reference. Launched at Euronaval in 2022, the SAND (Surface Advanced Naval Drone) offers autonomy of up to 72 hours at eight knots.

The study proposed a typical airborne component of four to six drones, using as a reference the Hero, a 200kg rotary drone developed by Italy’s Leonardo.

The Navy is also looking at how to host fixed-wing, loitering munition on vessels, Marcilli said.

A major challenge officials face is integrating purchased drones with vessels’ highly classified Combat Management Systems, he added.

The study has led to the creation of a ‘proof of concept’ Landing Platform Dock design which could act as a drone carrier.

But Marcilli said the point of the study, and of Fincantieri’s involvement, was primarily to adapt vessels which are currently being built or planned.

That means figuring out how to better integrate drones into Italy’s under-construction Trieste Landing Helicopter Dock, which will also host the F-35B combat jet.

He said planners were also looking at Italy’s new PPX patrol vessels as well as two Fremm EVO vessels ordered last year from Fincantieri. The upgrades to Italy’s Fremm frigates are meant to offer enhanced capabilities for defeating drone attacks while operating their own drones.

‘Significant’ fire reported at UK shipyard building nuke-powered subs

LONDON (AP) — Two people have been hospitalized after a fire broke out at the shipyard that builds Britain’s nuclear-powered submarines, but there is “no nuclear risk,” police said Wednesday.

Cumbria Constabulary said a “significant” fire broke out soon after midnight at the BAE Systems shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, northwest England.

Video shared on social media overnight showed flames shooting out from the Devonshire Dock Hall building while alarms blared.

“When I opened the front door, we just saw a lot of black smoke,” said Donna Butler, who lives next to the shipyard. “It was a lot of black smoke, like really thick black smoke, and it was very loud.”

The force said two people were taken to hospitals with suspected smoke inhalation and there were no other casualties. It advised people living nearby to stay indoors and keep doors and windows closed.

The 150-year-old shipyard, about 220 miles (350 kilometers) northwest of London, is currently building several nuclear-powered submarines for the Royal Navy. It is also where the four subs that carry the U.K.’s nuclear missiles were constructed, and where replacements for those vessels, due to enter service in the 2030s, are being constructed.

Pentagon unveils new plan to energize America’s defense sector

The Pentagon published a second and more detailed plan to invigorate the American defense industry this year, including the weapons it sees as most crucial to deter China.

The implementation plan, released Tuesday, builds on a strategy published this January, which described how the U.S. defense sector has withered and how the Pentagon wants to revitalize it.

“The contraction of the traditional DIB [defense-industrial base] … was a generation-long process and it will require another generation to modernize the DIB,” the strategy reads.

Improving America’s defense sector has become a top priority for the Biden administration. The war in Ukraine — and the Pentagon’s rush to defend it — exposed how brittle the industry’s supply chains and workforce had become. As the U.S. tried to surge its production of key weapons, its suppliers couldn’t keep pace.

The delays worried many inside the Defense Department that it would struggle even more in a conflict with China, which has a far larger manufacturing sector than the United States, including in important areas like shipbuilding.

The plan released Tuesday had been promised and delayed for months. Pentagon officials first said it would come out in the late winter or early spring, then said it would publish by the summer. In a briefing with reporters Tuesday, the officials leading the effort said it’s still not complete.

A classified portion with more specific metrics will likely be released before the end of the year, said Laura Taylor-Kale, head of Pentagon industrial base policy.

As it stands, the plan lists six priority areas, from deterring a conflict with China to firming up fragile supply chains. That first goal — the top one listed in the plan — will rely on America’s ability to build more submarines and munitions, two areas the Pentagon has struggled to expand in recent years.

Both of these priorities have the longest time frame listed in the document, requiring more than five years to accomplish those goals, the plan estimates.

Taylor-Kale said the Pentagon intends to update this plan annually to assess its progress and that the first one will come after the president’s fiscal 2026 budget request is released early next year.

The Pentagon consulted with around 60 defense firms when writing the plan and also spoke with staff members on the relevant congressional committees, Taylor-Kale said. Their support, Taylor-Kale argued, will be necessary to accomplish its goals — especially from lawmakers, who have yet to pass a fiscal 2025 defense budget.

Adding to the uncertainty is next week’s U.S. presidential election, ensuring that the administration will change in January. The Trump White House made restoring the defense industrial base one of its top priorities for the Pentagon, publishing its own assessment of the sector in 2018.

Taylor-Kale argued that the strategy will endure no matter the outcome, having met with members of both parties in Congress.

“The feedback that we’re getting is that this will be a priority regardless of who wins next week,” she said.

US Space Force moves to make its systems battle-ready by 2026

The Space Force this summer kicked off a campaign to ready itself for a potential conflict by closing high-priority gaps in its command-and-control architecture — an effort to ensure that the systems and processes military leaders rely on for tactical decisions work together as designed.

Prodded by a request from Gen. Stephen Whiting, head of U.S. Space Command, the service has set a goal to ensure that four high-priority, classified systems are fully integrated into that architecture by 2026. The Space Force is also crafting a roadmap for integrating future C2 systems in the coming years, according to Claire Leon, who oversees systems integration at Space Systems Command, the Space Force’s acquisition arm.

“It’s really all about being ready for contested space by 2026 and having the people, the processes, the tools, the doctrine, everything in place so that we can operate effectively,” Leon said Oct. 23 at SSC’s Space Industry Days conference.

The Space Force refers to the string of systems and operations, many of them classified, that need to connect in order to respond to a particular scenario as mission threads, or kill chains. For example, if a Space Force or Missile Defense Agency system detected an anti-satellite missile approaching a U.S. asset, the mission thread includes early-warning capabilities for finding the incoming weapon, data-processing systems for characterizing it, and decision-assessment tools for developing a response.

The service has been working for years to close capability and process gaps within those threads but has struggled to balance and coordinate priorities among the other Defense Department and intelligence organizations. While individual capabilities were being matured, they weren’t being integrated through end-to-end testing.

Whiting has said publicly that having resilient and timely operational C2 systems is a top priority for Space Command.

“Space C2 enables us to protect our space capabilities from the threats we now face and protect the Joint Force from space-enabled attacks from the adversary,” he told the Senate Armed Services Committee in February. “The increasingly dynamic space environment requires a resilient C2 architecture to synchronize space forces and effects for space domain operations as well as in support of traditional terrestrial operations.”

Leon said Whiting’s directive this summer to Space Force leadership provided new urgency in addressing Space Command’s most pressing needs at a faster pace. Her team is coordinating the effort with organizations like Space Operations Command, the National Reconnaissance Office and the Missile Defense Agency.

Leon told reporters in an Oct. 24 briefing that the service is making progress on the effort and she’s confident the Space Force will have the capabilities ready for Space Command by 2026. However, she said, the service will need to shift resources toward the effort and possibly delay other projects to meet the timeline.

The biggest challenge, she said, has been getting clearances for the personnel involved in the effort.

“A lot of the capabilities that we’re talking about are at a higher classification level and we still have bureaucracy associated with getting people cleared,” Leon said. “We have enough people. We need to solve the security issues.”