⚡ Hegseth Warns: “Move Faster or Fade Away” as DoD Rolls Out Acquisition Overhaul

📬 In Today’s Defense Brief

🛳️ China Commissions First Catapult Carrier “Fujian,” Supercharging PLAN Airpower — Read More

⚡ Hegseth Warns: “Move Faster or Fade Away” as DoD Rolls Out Acquisition Overhaul — Read More

🚀 Orbit-to-Anywhere in an Hour? Inversion’s “Arc” Capsule Targets Instant Resupply — Read More

🛸 Army Eyes 1,000,000 Drones in 2–3 Years via “SkyFoundry” Surge — Read More

🧑‍💻 New DoD Cyber Plan Pivots to “Domain Mastery” with Talent & Training Hubs — Read More

🎱 Plus 6 other news stories you may like

📰 Full Breakdown

🛳️ China Commissions First Catapult Carrier “Fujian,” Supercharging PLAN Airpower — Read More

• China officially commissioned the CATOBAR carrier Fujian, its first with electromagnetic catapults, enabling heavier aircraft like the KJ-600 AEW and advanced fighters to launch efficiently. Commissioning signals a qualitative leap beyond ski-jump carriers Liaoning and Shandong.

• The ship features three EM catapults and is expected to join the South Sea Fleet, expanding operational reach across the South China Sea and toward the Taiwan Strait while full combat readiness will still take time.

• With Fujian, China becomes the third nation operating a CATOBAR carrier, narrowing gaps with the U.S. and complicating regional air and sea control dynamics in the Indo-Pacific.

⚡ Hegseth Warns: “Move Faster or Fade Away” as DoD Rolls Out Acquisition Overhaul — Read More

• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told defense CEOs the Pentagon will reward speed and volume, urging primes to invest their own capital; firms resisting change will “fade away.” The push aligns with draft reforms prioritizing commercial tech and private investment.

• Key changes include shifting to Portfolio Acquisition Executives with longer tenures and scorecards, time-indexed contract incentives/penalties, and preference for commercial/alternative contracting to cut FAR-driven delays.

• The Pentagon also moved DSCA under acquisition and scrapped JCIDS, with Congress signaling support for reforms aimed at outpacing China and Russia through faster fielding.

🚀 Orbit-to-Anywhere in an Hour? Inversion’s “Arc” Capsule Targets Instant Resupply — Read More

• Startup Inversion unveiled “Arc,” a reusable lifting-body spacecraft meant to sit on-orbit and deorbit on command, parachuting ~500-lb “mission-enabling” cargo with ~50-ft landing precision—aimed squarely at rapid military resupply.

• Arc leverages autonomous guidance, flaps, and an actively controlled parachute; vehicles could loiter in LEO for up to five years, offering near-instant global delivery for critical components and ammo.

• A first mission could come as early as 2026; the concept echoes TRANSCOM’s rocket cargo ambitions but trades C-17-scale loads for speed, reuse, and minimal recovery infrastructure.

🛸 Army Eyes 1,000,000 Drones in 2–3 Years via “SkyFoundry” Surge — Read More

• The Army plans to acquire about one million drones within 24–36 months, enabled by a new SkyFoundry public-private pilot under Army Materiel Command to invigorate the domestic UAS industrial base.

• The goal follows DoD’s “drone dominance” push and seeks low-cost mass from nontraditional vendors; leaders cite Ukraine and Russia’s production scale as urgency drivers and highlight one-way attack drones at squad level by FY26.

• SkyFoundry aims to speed design, test, and production while securing rare earths and components—scaling from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of systems annually if industry responds.

🧑‍💻 New DoD Cyber Plan Pivots to “Domain Mastery” with Talent & Training Hubs — Read More

• DoD released a revised cyber force generation plan, integrating CYBERCOM more tightly with the services and creating three entities: a Cyber Talent Management Organization, an Advanced Cyber Training and Education Center, and a Cyber Innovation Warfare Center.

• The approach emphasizes targeted recruiting, incentives, specialized training, and tailored career paths to retain operators—evolving the earlier “CYBERCOM 2.0” concept after Trump-era adjustments.

• Persistent readiness gaps and service control of billets remain friction points; the plan banks on new authorities and training pipelines to boost lethality without standing up a separate “Cyber Force.”

🌏 Other Important News

✈️ Air

• StandardAero delivers the 1,000th J85-5 engine for USAF T-38 training fleet — Read More

• Turkey’s TAI and the UK’s BAE Systems team up to explore collaborative drone opportunities — Read More

• UK and Germany accelerate work on a joint deep-precision strike missile project — Read More

🛰️ Space

• “Hyperspectral Eye” concept spotlights drone-borne hyperspectral imaging to improve detection and classification across complex environments — Read More

🌊 Maritime

• U.S. strikes a suspected narco boat in the Caribbean, killing three — Read More

🏭 Industry

• DIU awards $99M to startup Obviant for AI-driven acquisition data analytics — Read More

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