🚀 Angry Tortoise Liquid-Fueled Hypersonic Missile In Development For USAF

📬 In Today’s Defense Brief

🛰️ Space Force To Field Electromagnetic Warfare Operations Center In Next Few Months Read More

🌺 US Replacing Pearl Harbor’s WWII Dock To Host Its Most Advanced Nuclear Submarines Read More

⚓ U.S. Navy Considering $3.5B Multiple Award Contract for 2,800 Small Boats and Craft Read More

🤖 SOCOM To Get Robotic Anti-Drone Turret For Maritime Platforms Read More

🚀 Angry Tortoise Liquid-Fueled Hypersonic Missile In Development For USAF Read More

🎱 Plus 6 other news stories you may like

📰 Full Breakdown

🛰️ Space Force To Field Electromagnetic Warfare Operations Center In Next Few Months Read More

• Space Operations Command chief Lt. Gen. David Miller said the first space EM warfare tactical operations center will stand up within months to “globally command and control” surveillance, tracking, and targeting across the electromagnetic spectrum. The aim: sustainable, forward-postured spectrum awareness and rapid response while preserving combatant command authorities.

• Over the next six months, Space Force will begin fielding core systems and capabilities, and will forward-position agile systems over the next year or two to plug coverage gaps. Miller expects “a lot of wins” in the coming year, especially in surveillance, targeting, and tracking of air, missile, and space threats.

• Acting Air Force space acquisition lead Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy highlighted acquisition reform to speed capability: improving or pivoting programs to faster, cheaper architectures and proliferating systems quickly so warfighters receive upgrades at increasing tempo.

⚓ US Replacing Pearl Harbor’s WWII Dock To Host Its Most Advanced Nuclear Submarines Read More

• Dry Dock 5 at Pearl Harbor is over one-third complete as part of a $3.4B shipyard modernization, sized for Virginia-class attack submarines and larger vessels that older facilities cannot support. The new dock will be 657 feet long and designed to last 150 years, with completion slated for 2027.

• It sits beside WWII-era Dry Dock 3 (497 feet), which lacks the size and floor strength for Virginias and becomes obsolete as Los Angeles-class boats retire. Dry Dock 5 underpins the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program (SIOP) to increase nuclear-fleet maintenance throughput.

• Pearl Harbor—one of four public Navy shipyards—anchors U.S. submarine operations in the central Pacific. With China fielding the world’s largest navy by hull count and vast shipbuilding capacity, the dock expands forward maintenance to sustain forward-deployed U.S. undersea forces.

⚓ U.S. Navy Considering $3.5B Multiple Award Contract for 2,800 Small Boats and Craft Read More

• Program office PMS 300 plans a 10-year multiple-award strategy—split into a small-business set-aside and full/open lot—to buy 2,799–2,800 boats/craft between FY26–FY36, shifting from IDIQs to a MAC to better handle volatile costs and benefit government/industry.

• The buy spans up to 15 vessel types: workboats, force-protection craft, barges, floating barracks, Naval Special Warfare 8m/11m support craft (up to 330), seaborne targets, and Foreign Military Sales boats (up to 220).

• High-speed maneuvering surface target drones make up roughly half the total—up to 110 per year/1,210 total—for live-fire training. NAVSEA targets Q3 FY26 for award.

🤖 SOCOM To Get Robotic Anti-Drone Turret For Maritime Platforms Read More

• Allen Control Systems won a SOCOM contract for Bullfrog, an autonomous turret—executed by ManTech—that turns common crew-served weapons into counter-UAS interceptors for maritime and other vehicles. It targets Groups 1–3 drones using onboard sensors and AI.

• Bullfrog can mount M240, M2, M230, M134 or non-kinetic options (e.g., laser dazzler), providing lower-cost kinetic engagements versus cheap FPV threats. Company leadership argues U.S. forces need autonomy stacks across systems as adversaries mass-produce lethal drones.

• SOCOM’s rapid adoption mirrors a broader Pentagon pivot: push autonomy/C-UAS to the edge so vehicles can be sent to a point to detect, track, and defeat drones with minimal operator burden—addressing airport/base disruptions and battlefield incursions.

🚀 Angry Tortoise Liquid-Fueled Hypersonic Missile In Development For USAF Read More

• AFRL and Ursa Major are integrating the Draper liquid rocket (closed-cycle H2O2-kerosene, ~4,000-lbf) with the front end of the ET-2 target to create the Angry Tortoise demonstrator—aiming for an affordable hypersonic weapon path. A first flight at White Sands is targeted by year’s end; a Pacific long-range shot is planned for 2026.

• Draper is ~60% additively manufactured, room-temperature storable, and has 300+ hot-fires, promising lower cost/risk than many hypersonic efforts. Initial flights may reach ~Mach 2 due to range limits, with potential up to Mach 4–5. The project leverages commercial partnerships to accelerate capability.

• AFRL stresses scale and cost: prove quick-manufacture performance, then ramp production if viable (potentially hundreds/year). Multiple commands are tracking the effort; future variants could change significantly (including solid-fuel options or different launch modes) as the DoD seeks diverse, lower-cost hypersonics.

🌏 Other Important News

⚓ Sea

• Lockheed Martin Sikorsky wins five-year contract to build up to 99 CH-53K heavy-lift helicopters for the U.S. Marine Corps Read More

• U.S., Germany finalize missile sale to strengthen NATO defenses Read More

⚙️ Industry & Tech

• Pratt & Whitney developing new family of advanced engines Read More

🛰️ Space

• DoD awards $335M to expand solid rocket motor production capacity Read More

🌍 Global & Policy

• Microsoft faces Israel boycott calls after Azure AI, Xbox named in BDS campaign Read More

• Air Force AI generates battle plans faster than humans—though some are flawed Read More

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