September 10, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

Why program cuts from Esper’s Pentagon-wide review could come sooner than expected

By: Aaron Mehta

WASHINGTON — U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper intends to implement changes from his review of Defense Department organizations on a rolling basis, rather than waiting until the review process is completely finished, according to the department's top spokesman.

Jonathan Rath Hoffman, assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs, said Monday that there's “no interest” from Esper to wait until the review is fully done or the start of the next fiscal year to start implementing program changes, including potential cuts.

“It's going to be an ongoing process. If he makes a decision, it's not going to be ‘I have to look through everything and then make some decisions.' If he sees a program that needs to end or be moved, he'll make that decision as quickly as he can,” Hoffman told reporters. “He's going to make changes as we move forward. If he identifies changes that would save money, there's no interest in waiting until next year to start saving money.”

An Aug. 2 memo kicked off a departmentwide review of programs ahead of the development for the fiscal 2021 budget request. The goal is to find savings and drive a “longer-term focus on structural reform, ensuring all [defensewide] activities are aligned to the National Defense Strategy while evaluating the division of functions between defense-wide organizations and the military departments," per the document.

The so-called fourth estate of the department includes 27 agencies, such as the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Defense Information Systems Agency and the Missile Defense Agency. A September 2018 report from the Government Accountability Office estimated those agencies collectively have an annual budget of at least $106 billion.

Esper has acknowledged the review sounds a lot like the “night court” process the Army used to find roughly $25 billion in savings that could then be reinvested into new capabilities. But he has so far declined to offer a target dollar figure for savings.

"It's a long road. I'm spending two hours a week, 90 minutes to two hours a week on this in formal session, so we're just going to work our way through it week after week after week,” the secretary said Aug 27. “I'm looking for programs that don't have as much value relative to another critical war-fighting capability, absolutely.”

Hoffman described the process as starting with internal reviews inside the various offices, looking at what projects are ongoing. Those are cross-checked with assessments from others in the department that are looking to find cost-sharing or cost-saving options. Those are collectively provided up to the deputy secretary of defense before being presented at regular meetings with Esper.

Esper then “holds a review with all the parties that may have equities and go through it. I sat through one of these last week. He really digs into what are the appropriate roles, what are the appropriate missions, is there someone better or capable to hold this than the equity that has it now, is there better cost savings,” Hoffman said.

Some have questioned whether Esper's plans will run into roadblocks in Congress. On Monday, Hoffman stressed that the department has been keeping Congress in the loop.

“The secretary has been very adamant he wants to make sure Congress is fully informed,” he said.

https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2019/09/09/program-cuts-from-espers-pentagon-wide-review-could-come-sooner-than-expected/

On the same subject

August 2, 2018 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR

Air Force’s future ISR architecture could feature drone swarms and hypersonics — with AI underpinning it all
By: Valerie Insinna POZNAN, Poland — The Air Force's ambitious new ISR strategy calls for a sensing grid that fuses together data from legacy platforms like the RQ-4 Global Hawk, emerging technologies like swarming drones, other services' platforms and publicly available information. And deciphering all of that data will be artificial intelligence. Such a system may sound like something out of a sci-fi book, but the service believes it could be in service by 2028. In a July 31 interview, Lt. Gen. VeraLinn “Dash” Jamieson, the Air Force's deputy chief of staff for ISR, explained the Air Force's new “Next Generation ISR Dominance Flight Plan,” which lays out the service's intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance goals for the next 10 years. In the past, “when we fielded a sensor, we fielded a sensor to answer a question,” Jamieson said. What the ISR flight plan tries to accomplish is far more extensive: “How do I get the data so I can fuse it, look at it and then ask the right questions from the data to reveal what trends are out there?" “We have to do all of that at the speed of relevance — meaning at warfighting speed — so that our decision cycle has shrunk,” she added. “We get our effects in and out, and we create chaos and confusion in the adversary. Once he gets behind, it is extremely difficult to actually catch up.” Full article: https://www.c4isrnet.com/air/2018/08/01/air-forces-future-isr-architecture-could-feature-drone-swarms-and-hypersonics-all-with-ai-underpinning-it-all/
January 14, 2022 | International, Aerospace

Thales lance une plateforme collaborative « secret-défense »
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April 16, 2020 | International, Naval

Hensel Phelps Construction nabs $54.3M for undersea training center
ByChristen McCurdy April 15 (UPI) -- The Navy has awarded Hensel Phelps Construction a $54.3 million contract for design and construction of an undersea operational facility, the Pentagon said Wednesday. According to the contract announcement, the training center will be constructed in Oahu, Hawaii, and will support a variety of functions, including operator and undersea vehicle training, applied instruction and laboratories and computer laboratories. The contract also includes a line item for furniture, repairs and equipment. The center will also include diver support spaces, administrative spaces, maintenance and repair spaces and operator's gear storage lockers and maintenance and support spaces. Construction is expected to be complete by April 2022. https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2020/04/15/Hensel-Phelps-Construction-nabs-543M-for-undersea-training-center/4831586995292

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