Breaking Defense
David Spirk served as the Pentagon’s chief data officer from June 2020 to March 2022. In this analysis, he lays out four ways the department needs to rethink how it approaches warfare in the modern era, with an eye on treating data and IT as vital warfighting tools.
Politico
The U.S. failure to correctly predict how the Russian and Ukrainian militaries would perform in the early stages of their ongoing war is fueling fears in Washington that America may have major blindspots when it comes to the fighting force of an increasingly powerful adversary: China. The concerns rise as American spy agencies reexamine how they assess foreign militaries, and, according to a Biden administration official, are a key driver of a number of ongoing classified reviews.
Breaking Defense
The Pentagon is still struggling to deliver working software for its weapon systems in a timely manner, with programs lagging behind commercial standards that call for deliveries as frequently as every two weeks, according to a new watchdog report. In its annual Weapon System Annual Assessment, the Government Accountability Office surveyed 59 Major Defense Acquisition Projects (MDAPs) and Middle Tier Acquisition (MTA) programs and found the department needs to rapidly increase delivery of software to a majority of those programs.
The Associated Press
The U.S. announced that it will send an additional $1 billion in military aid to Ukraine as America and its allies provide longer-range weapons they say can make a difference in a fight where Ukrainian forces are outnumbered and outgunned by their Russian invaders. President Joe Biden and his top national security leaders said the U.S. is moving as fast as possible to get critical weapons to the fight, even as Ukrainian officials protest that they need more, faster, in order to survive.
Defense One
A set of five planned U.S. missile-warning satellites are often described as “replacing” the Space-Based Infrared Systems satellites that currently keep an eye out for enemy launches. That’s not the case, a Space Systems Command leader said. Instead, the Pentagon’s Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared, or OPIR, satellites will be integrated with the existing SBIRS constellation.
SpaceNews
Blue Origin announced that former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. John E. Hyten will join Jeff Bezos’ space company as executive director of the firm’s Club for the Future foundation and as a strategic adviser. Hyten, who retired in November 2021 after 40 years in the Air Force, was the nation’s second-highest-ranking military officer. As vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, he ran the Joint Requirements Oversight Council that oversees all military acquisitions. He previously served as commander of Air Force Space Command and U.S. Strategic Command.
Defense One
NATO must station more forces in the Baltic nations to provide a more credible deterrent after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Estonian defense secretary said. Kusti Salm, the permanent secretary of the Estonian Ministry of Defense, said the number of NATO troops in Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia today, which is intended to act as a “tripwire” for Russian aggression, is too small to deter Russian aggression or quickly push back troops from Moscow.
The Drive
Satellite imagery shows major construction at Tinian International Airport that The Drive can say with near certainty is linked directly to plans to expand the facility's ability to act as a divert airfield for the U.S. military in a crisis. More than a decade in the making, the project is intended to provide a vital alternative operating location to the U.S. Air Force's massive Andersen Air Force Base on the island of Guam, just to the southwest of Tinian, should that base be put out of action for any reason.
Federal News Network
The Air Force’s innovation arm missed the Washington, D.C., metro area after all. AFWERX closed its offices in Arlington, Va., during the pandemic, figuring it would use its offices in Las Vegas and Austin, Texas, as places to recruit innovative companies. But like in "The Godfather Part III," AFWERX may have been screaming “just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in” to Washington, D.C.
Military.com
The Department of Veterans Affairs may alter the rules for its community health care program, a system designed to help veterans see doctors outside of the VA system if they don’t have easy access to a VA medical facility, to stop that program’s growing spending from devouring its overall health care budget, according to VA Secretary Denis McDonough.
One More Thing
Military.com
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a bipartisan bill into law funding commemorative license plates for the Space Force, honoring the newest military service branch's heavy presence in the state. The introduction of the bill followed a Military.com story in February that California, Colorado, and Florida didn't offer commemorative plates for Guardians, despite housing Space Force bases in each of their states.
