Military.com
Fertility treatments that could increase the possibility of pregnancy are being debated by the Senate and could potentially be added into the must-pass annual defense policy bill—making them available to Active-Duty troops and their dependents. The treatments and services under consideration include fertility testing and intrauterine insemination, or IUI, a type of artificial insemination that can increase the likelihood of a successful pregnancy by as much as 20 percent.
Breaking Defense
The U.S. Army has selected at least one company, Lockheed Martin, to develop a new high-energy laser prototype to protect fixed and semi-fixed sites from incoming aerial threats, according to a contract notification. On July 19, the service announced Lockheed has received an “other transaction authority” deal worth up to $220.8 million to “to develop, integrate, manufacture, test, and deliver” an Indirect Fire Protection Capability-High Energy Laser (IFPC-HEL) prototype weapon system. For now, though, the Army has provided the company with $154 million in fiscal 2023 funding, and the remaining funds could be funneled toward the effort between now and mid-October 2025.
Breaking Defense
The head of Swedish manufacturer Saab told investors July 20 it is assessing merger and acquisition (M&A) opportunities across “key markets” to drive growth by potentially adding a number of “mini-Saabs” outside of Sweden, while the firm separately evaluates how Stockholm’s eventual entry into NATO might change Saab’s competitive landscape.
Defense News
The U.S. State Department has approved a sale to Germany of air-to-air missiles worth an estimated $2.9 billion. The possible foreign military sale would see Germany receive up to 969 AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles and related equipment, according to a July 19 news release by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which notified Congress of the department’s approval.
NBC News
The Chinese spy balloon that flew across North America earlier this year exposed important gaps in the United States’ ability to detect airborne threats and propelled the development of new surveillance technology, the senior U.S. commander responsible for patrolling the skies told NBC News in an exclusive interview. Gen. Glen VanHerck, head of the U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), said that U.S. surveillance capabilities have been strengthened with new technology since the balloon was spotted off Alaska in late January.
Air & Space Forces Magazine
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has defined seven Operational Imperatives for the Department of the Air Force to work on, warning that “if we don't get them right, we will have unacceptable operational risk.” From a resilient space order of battle to the development of next-generation tactical air dominance and global strike platforms, these imperatives will define the Air Force for decades to come—Dive deeper into each one with our new “Operational Imperatives” pages highlighting all the latest news and developments on these critical efforts.
Defense News
The Defense Innovation Unit is about to enter its technology scaling era. Founded in 2015 to help create a bridge between Silicon Valley startups and the Pentagon, the organization’s early work has focused on building partnerships and proving the value of commercial technology for military needs. Now, according to DIU’s new directo, Doug Beck, it’s time to make a deliberate shift toward fielding the most military-relevant commercial technologies at a large scale.
SpaceNews
The Space Force is using a software platform developed by Anduril Industries to integrate data from a decades-old network of space surveillance sensors. DOD announced July 12 that Anduril won an $8 million contract extension to field its mesh networking software at Space Surveillance Network sites through December 2024. The software autonomously analyzes data from sensors and provides an integrated picture.
DefenseScoop
Special task forces under U.S. Central Command tested a new smartphone app this week that could help the U.S. military crowdsource efforts to defeat enemy unmanned aerial systems. The tool, known as CARPE Dronvm, was put through its paces at McEntire Joint National Guard Base and Poinsett Range in South Carolina, according to a Defense Department release.
One More Thing
Task & Purpose
It’s the end of an era for cash-flush junior enlisted troops and the car salesmen who love them. The end of July will mark the end of new orders for both the Dodge Challenger and Charger. Dodge announced last year that the two muscle cars would end production in late 2023, but dealers will stop taking orders for the car after July 31. In other words, there aren’t too many days left to spend a significant portion of that enlistment bonus, money saved up from a deployment, or cash that you don’t actually have on a vehicle that will in all likelihood spend most of its time sitting in a parking lot.
