DefenseScoop’s Post

“Each year, the Pentagon sends military officers to work for major corporations through the Secretary of Defense Executive Fellows (SDEF) program. The intention is for fellows to gather insights about how these companies are organized and then present their findings to high-ranking military officials, along with recommendations for reforms that the military should consider. In practice, however, the reforms suggested to the Pentagon represent a free opportunity for the large contractors hosting fellows to push the government towards adopting corporate-friendly policies. Since its creation in 1995, the largest beneficiaries of the SDEF program have been some of the nation’s largest defense contractors, including Lockheed Martin, RTX (formerly Raytheon), and Boeing. These companies receive nearly a free year of labor from their military fellows, direct insight into the activities of both the government and their competitors, and a unique method through which they can push self-interested suggestions upon their largest customer: the Department of Defense (DOD).”

Keeping Ahead of China Requires Investment in Military R&D The Pentagon has been focused too much on operational needs, not enough on strategic ones. By David C. Gompert May 29, 2024 5:29 pm ET Like most large enterprises, the Defense Department needs to strike a balance between meeting immediate demands and anticipating future ones—in business parlance, operations vs. investment. These days the Pentagon is getting the balance wrong, reflecting the current administration’s priorities. Jumping from one crisis to another, the U.S. is failing to invest enough to meet its most important defense challenge: China’s growing technological and military power. As a result, there is a risk that China will acquire advanced capabilities to target U.S. forces, bases and satellites, endangering American interests and allies in the Pacific.

This is an incredible milestone for Yurts. It speaks to our commitment toward enabling enterprises with the tooling to deploy genAI across an entire organization while maintaining the highest standard of security. For any leaders grappling with how to conduct a broad GenAI deployment, please reach out to us for our perspective!

U.S. and Chinese defense chiefs agree on importance of military talks The U.S. and Chinese defense chiefs on Friday emphasized the importance of maintaining open lines of communication in their first face-to-face talks in 18 months, as the two sides seek to rebuild frayed military-to-military ties and manage the rival nations’ increasingly tense relationship. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Adm. Dong Jun met for 75 minutes in Singapore ahead of the formal kickoff of the annual Shangri-La Dialogue security conference, with the two sides agreeing to resume telephone conversations between theater commanders in the coming months. Austin also welcomed plans to convene a crisis-communications working group by the end of the year. “Adm. Dong and I discussed regional and global security issues, U.S.-PRC (People’s Republic of China) defense relations, and the importance of open lines of military-to-military communication,” the U.S. defense chief said following his first in-person talks with his Chinese counterpart since November 2022, when he met with then-defense chief Wei Fenghe on the sidelines of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations defense ministers’ summit in Cambodia. The talks covered a wide range of topics, including the war In Ukraine, the conflict in Gaza, the situation in the South China Sea and tensions over Taiwan, according to a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of National Defense. Friday’s meeting came on the heels of China’s large-scale military exercises around self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing says is a renegade province that must be unified with the mainland, by force if necessary. Click here to read the full article https://lnkd.in/gHsUKGnM

Chinese military leaders are set to discuss sensitive topics with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday, marking their first meeting since 2022. The agenda includes discussions on Taiwan, the South China Sea, and the importance of open communication, as stated by Pentagon officials. #MarinerNews #MaritimeIndustry #ShippingNews #Shipping #Maritime

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., proposed legislation this week that would require the Defense Department to set up a new pilot program to trace all contracts that are awarded via other transaction agreements, or OTAs. The Pentagon uses this procurement mechanism to enable components more flexibility than traditional funding pathways do. OTAs are also seen as a way to support small companies carrying out technology-driven prototype, research, and production projects for the government and military. https://lnkd.in/eR9DbsWe

During yesterday’s panel at #RNDF2023, U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Dr. William LaPlante briefly discussed the Pentagon’s inaugural National Defense Industrial Strategy (NDIS) that is set to be released soon. This strategy is specifically designed to incentivize new capital investment and expand and sustain new capacity. It provides a thorough roadmap to how we can grow capabilities and modernize the defense industry. As Dr. LaPlante mentioned, however, it will take bold, coordinated action from Congress, the administration, and the private sector to get our industrial base back in fighting shape. #defense #defenseindustry #manufacturing #pentagon

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., proposed legislation this week that would require the Defense Department to set up a new pilot program to trace all contracts that are awarded via other transaction agreements, or OTAs. The Pentagon uses this procurement mechanism to enable components more flexibility than traditional funding pathways do. OTAs are also seen as a way to support small companies carrying out technology-driven prototype, research, and production projects for the government and military. https://lnkd.in/ebTkWk-6

Japan, South Korea and U.S. unveil new initiatives to cement defense ties GABRIEL DOMINGUEZ STAFF WRITER Jun 2, 2024 The defense chiefs of Japan, the United States and South Korea used a meeting at Asia’s top regional security conference to announce a series of new initiatives that will help formalize their burgeoning trilateral defense cooperation. At a gathering on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Defense Minister Minoru Kihara, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and South Korean defense chief Shin Won-sik agreed to develop a framework to institutionalize trilateral cooperation within the year. The push comes as fears grow over possible lapses in U.S. commitment to the region should former U.S. President Donald Trump be re-elected in November. There are also concerns that political changes in Seoul and Tokyo could scuttle the hard-fought cooperative agreements already reached.

New innovations will be flying fast this May in the Main Conference & Exhibits: May 7-8, 2024 at Dayton Convention Center, with hush-hush topics on the Classified Day: May 9, 2024 at U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base AFB  The 3rd Annual #Hypersonic Innovation Conference is America's official hypersonics event, featuring Senior military leaders, acquisition authorities, & technical experts from across industry & academia. This “town-hall” style forum will offer attendees from military, government, industry, and academia a wide range of next-generation products and services that are enabling the U.S. military to design, test, manufacture, and scale hypersonic missiles in an era of Strategic Competition. Senior leaders at this event will address how the DoD is working to rapidly field innovative capabilities & strengthen the supply chains of strategic systems to keep pace with the evolving threat of hypersonic weapons.