September 6, 2022 | International, Land
Rheinmetall, Anduril join forces on optionally manned fighting vehicle
Anduril Technologies is joining the American Rheinmetall Vehicles-led team to competitively design a new vehicle for the U.S. Army.
December 2, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
Pentagon acquisition boss: Adapting to support the war fighter
By: Ellen Lord
The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment is rapidly transitioning from the former OUSD Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics to an organization focused on enabling our services to use innovative business practices tailored to their needs. AT&L, the enterprise's former moniker, was a congressionally mandated organizational change for the purpose of streamlining business processes to speed capability delivery to the war fighter and maximize value for the taxpayer. On Sept. 4, 2018, we had our first official day as A&S.
Though Department of Defense leadership has changed, our mission to support the war fighter through acquisition innovation remains constant. Over the past year, our team has worked to refine the A&S strategy using the National Defense Strategy as our guidebook.
Six goals, each with nested sub-priorities, emerged from our senior leadership planning sessions: enable innovative acquisition approaches that deliver war-fighting capability at the speed of relevance; build a safe, secure and resilient defense-industrial base (commercial and organic); ensure safe and resilient DoD installations; increase weapon system mission capability while reducing operating cost; promote acquisition and sustainment initiatives with key international partners; recruit, develop and retain a diverse acquisition and sustainment workforce.
A few initiatives that highlight some of these efforts are outlined below.
Cyber Model Maturity Certification, or CMMC, is a strategic solution to make security foundational to DoD acquisition. Currently, the metaphorical “mark” is not being met — most defense supply chain partners are not in compliance with the National Institute of Standards and Technology 800-171.
CMMC is a DoD certification process that measures a supply chain partner's ability to protect sensitive information through an independent third-party certification. The process will be managed by an accreditation body, which will certify, train, accredit these third parties and issue certificates. Recently, version V.06 of the model was released for review with a final version ready in January to integrate (in a phased-type approach starting fall 2020), as a mandate into all federal contracts.
The Adaptive Acquisition Framework, our most transformational acquisition policy change in decades, is set to deploy at the end of this year. It is new in the sense that it directs using the minimum amount of process to enable program managers to acquire a capability versus previous models, which dictated all those things you might not do from a vast array of process steps. Essentially, this framework cuts superfluous bureaucratic process by empowering program teams to choose a pathway based on the specific product or service being acquired. It emphasizes critical thinking and “creative compliance.”
A&S recently appointed an intellectual property leader to help develop DoD guidance and training, as well as to provide assistance across the DoD associated with acquisition, licensing and management of the newly published policy on IP (DoD 5010.44). PMs must proactively address protection of data rights at the inception of each program. Concurrently, we must continue our defense against cybersecurity threats that target U.S. IP by ensuring network security.
Lastly, we are proactively strengthening the DoD supply chain against adversaries' creative market disruptions in the global marketplace. As such, we have formed a trusted capital, or TC, ecosystem where innovative companies connect with trusted investors. Though we will not promise business, we are creating an ecosystem in technology areas where we need more trusted sources for hardware, software and services to support our war fighter. Drone Venture Day, held on Nov. 13, 2019, represented the inaugural event in a series of TC opportunities to develop domestic manufacturing capabilities by growing and strengthening our defense-industrial base.
These are a few examples of how A&S is reinventing DoD acquisition to simply and cost-effectively reduce the process of equipping our military with cutting-edge capability at the speed of relevance.
On the same subject
-
-
December 11, 2020 | International, Land
Nammo signs strategic partnership agreement with the Finnish Defense Forces
By Endre Lunde, December, 9 2020 Nammo and the Finnish Defense Forces (FDF) signed a new long-term strategic partnership agreement today during a brief ceremony at the Finnish Defense Command in Helsinki. The agreement is a continuation of a previous security of supply agreement between the two parties signed in 2014, and comes after the Finnish Minister of Defense approved the new agreement on 20 November “This agreement confirms the close relationship between Nammo and the Finnish government, which has existed since the formation of Nammo in 1998, and before that since our current Finnish factories were founded in the 1920s. We are as committed to Finnish safety and security as we have ever been, and this new agreement will allow us to take on an even greater role and build an even closer partnership with the Finnish Defense Forces,” said Morten Brandtzæg, President and CEO of the Nammo Group. Raimo Helasmäki, Managing Director of Nammo Lapua Oy, Nammo's Finnish subsidiary, is very satisfied with the agreement being signed. “This Strategic Partnership Agreement strengthens and supports Nammo Lapua Oy's position as a major player in domestic security of supply,” Helasmäki said. The Strategic Partnership is a multi-year agreement, and will remain be in force until further notice. The total value is expected to be about EUR 20 million per year. Nammo's history in Finland dates back to the years immediately following its independence, when what is today Nammo Lapua, Nammo Vihtavuori and Nammo Sastamala were founded to produce much-needed munitions for its armed forces. The new agreement continues this long-standing history, and covers every aspect of ammunition, explosives and propellants manufacturing in Finland, thereby ensuring a continued domestic security of supply for the Finnish Armed Forces. Finnish Defense Forces Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics and Armaments, Lieutenant General Timo Kakkola believes the agreement will strengthen the approach and ways of working that has been developed over the past six years by Nammo and the FDF. At the same time, it represents an important step further where Nammo becomes a true strategic partner for the FDF, helping to manage the full supply chain for ammunition, an essential part of Finnish national readiness. “Our domestic ammunition and propellants industry still has a significant part to play in our security of supply, and this agreement allows us to continue its development through a long-term partnership with Nammo,” said General Kakkola. ABOUT THE AUTHOR ENDRE LUNDE, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, COMMUNICATIONS EMAIL endre.lunde@nammo.com TEL +4790853270 View source version on NAMMO: https://www.nammo.com/story/nammo-signs-strategic-partnership-agreement-with-the-finnish-defense-forces/
-
April 26, 2018 | International, Aerospace
Fighter jet OEMs aim to keep pace with needed technology
Chris Thatcher Fighter jet manufacturers are well aware that advances in technology can take years, if not decades, to introduce, creating a constant struggle to match the pace of technological change and the evolution of threats. In a panel discussion at the Aerospace Innovation Forum in Montreal last week, executives from Airbus, Boeing, Dassault Aviation and Saab described how a change from closed “black boxes” to more open mission architecture is allowing faster and easier acceptance of technology from wider sources. Wolfgang Gammel, head of combat aircraft for Airbus Defence and Space, acknowledged the need to be much faster to market with new technology. He noted the shift in focus from “kinetic weapons” to “data fusion and the cyber piece” now driving new capabilities, but said the goal has been to “keep flexibility” in the Eurofighter Typhoon to allow customers “to adapt the aircraft as threats change.” He also noted the wealth of data becoming available on all advanced fighters, and the ability to predict maintenance requirements, better manage costs and improve availability, all of which should impact the overall life of the airframe. Pontus de Laval, chief technology officer for Saab, said the life management approach to the Gripen JAS 39 has been continuous change rather than one large midlife upgrade. The version currently operated by the Swedish Air Force is “actually edition 20.” For the Gripen NG now undergoing flight tests for the Brazilian Air Force, the aim has been to make “continuous evolvement of the platform much easier,” he said. That has been achieved in part by separating flight critical and mission critical systems, to allow Saab and the customer to introduce new sensors and other capabilities without significantly affecting “systems that keep the aircraft flying.” By using virtualization of avionics to introduce software and hardware changes, Saab has also been able to minimize the effect of one on the other as upgrades are made. “Software kills you in big programs if you are not careful,” de Laval observed. The company has also recognized the role artificial intelligence and machine learning could play, especially on the future computing capacity of a fighter, and is investing about US$400 million in research to understand to prepare and capitalize. Boeing has long bet on incremental technology upgrades for the Super Hornet, providing a “roadmap forward” for the platform. But the Block 3 will introduce the Distributed Targeting Processor-Networked (DTP-N), an open mission system “to enable these future technologies,” said Troy Rutherford, director of the company's HorizonX program. From autonomy to AI, the user experience in the cockpit will change dramatically. Boeing too has invested heavily, seeking small start-up companies to develop these capabilities. “What plays over the course of time is the ability to adapt to the threat,” he said. Any new technology must reach a certain level of maturity before it can be integrated into an advanced fighter. Bruno Stoufflet, chief technology officer for Dassault Aviation, said the company has leveraged its Falcon family of business jets “to embark some demonstrations” of new capabilities. “There is a strong commitment of the French weapon agency to have a family of demonstrations in the future based on [the] Rafale.” That has opened the door to more research with small- and medium-sized business. Previously, Dassault collaborated more with academic teams or larger players in the aerospace and defence industries. “It has changed completely. We were asked to integrate more SMEs into our research programs...so now we understand what they can bring in research and innovation projects,” said Stoufflet. https://www.skiesmag.com/news/fighter-jet-oems-aim-keep-pace-needed-technology/