The $1.2 billion other transaction agreement from Space Systems Command (SSC) is for Epoch 2 of the Resilient Missile Warning and Missile Tracking – MEO (MEO MW/MT) program. The constellation is intended to track high-speed missiles from MEO and is part of the service’s broader plans to build a resilient architecture of satellites that can detect missiles from multiple orbits — as well as contribute to President Donald Trump’s homeland missile defense effort known as Golden Dome. 

“Epoch 2 is in alignment with the Chief of Space Operation’s top priority to provide accurate real-time information to decision-makers. This allows for additional resiliency in the missile warning and tracking satellite architecture” Lt. Col. Brandon Castillo, materiel leader for the Epoch 2 program office, said in a statement.

SSC intends to develop and launch the MEO MW/MT constellation in phases known as “epochs” that will be delivered every two to three years, with each iteration featuring improved capabilities from previous increments. According to the service, Epoch 2 satellites will include more mature sensors, optical crosslinks, data fusion, mission management and ground communication capabilities.

The contract with BAE Systems comes after the Space Force was forced to delay awarding Epoch 2 by about three months due to the federal government operating under a continuing resolution and resulting budget uncertainty. Despite the delay, the company is expected to deliver the 10 satellites for Epoch 2 — expected to provide initial operational capability to warfighters — in fiscal 2029, according to SSC.

In 2023, the service awarded RTX and Boeing-subsidiary Millennium Space Systems contracts to each build space vehicles for Epoch 1 of the MEO MW/MT constellation, with RTX responsible for three satellites and Millennium responsible for six. However, RTX was removed from the program the following year due to design performance issues and cost overruns.

SSC later tapped Millennium to deliver six more satellites for Epoch 1 to replace RTX’s space vehicles. Delivery of the first Epoch 1 birds is expected during fiscal 2026, according to the service.

The new MEO constellation is being developed at the same time as the Space Development Agency’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), which will comprise hundreds of missile warning and missile-tracking satellites stationed in low-Earth orbit (LEO). SSC is working closely with SDA and the Missile Defense Agency through a “combined program office approach” to execute the effort, according to the Space Force.

“Delivering these critical Missile Warning and Tracking capabilities on rapid timelines in a collaborative approach with MDA and SDA is a big win for the Nation and our joint forces,” Maj. Michael DiMuzio, program element monitor and assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration, said in a statement.

The post Space Force taps BAE Systems for next phase of MEO missile-warning satellite program appeared first on DefenseScoop.

“This design for the Golden Dome will integrate with our existing defense capabilities and should be fully operational before the end of my term, so we’ll have it done in about three years,” Trump said during a press conference in the Oval Office. “Once fully constructed, the Golden Dome will be capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from the other sides of the world, and even if they are launched from space.”

In addition, Trump announced that the Space Force’s Gen. Michael Guetlein will serve as the direct reporting program manager for Golden Dome. Currently serving as vice chief of space operations, Guetlein will have complete developmental oversight of Golden Dome — envisioned as a multi-layered homeland missile defense shield that will lean heavily on space-based systems.

Trump also signaled that Canada has requested to be part of the Golden Dome project, noting that their involvement would be a “fairly small expansion” but that the U.S. would work with the country on pricing and details.

Golden Dome was initiated following a January executive order that tasked the Defense Department to develop and field an “Iron Dome for America” — subsequently renamed as Golden Dome.

In a statement, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth noted that the Pentagon “has developed a draft architecture and implementation plan for a Golden Dome system of systems that will protect our homeland from a wide range of global missile threats.”

While Trump did not provide specific details on the chosen architecture, officials have previously said it would encompass proven terrestrial-based platforms, as well as several space-based systems — including new sensors and interceptors — that will allow the U.S. to destroy incoming missiles in early stages of flight.

“Our adversaries have become very capable and very intent on holding the homeland at risk while we have been focused on peace overseas,” Guetlein said during Tuesday’s press conference. “It is time we change that equation and start doubling down the protection of the homeland. Golden Dome is a bold and aggressive approach to hurry up and protect the homeland from our adversaries.”

In a statement, Hegseth said that the architecture “will be fielded in phases, prioritizing defense where the threat is greatest.”

However, developing and fielding Golden Dome on Trump’s aggressive three-year timeline will likely not come easy. 

Even with the estimated $175 billion price tag, a previous report from the Congressional Budget Office warned that the architecture would likely require a higher number of space-based sensors and interceptors than previously thought.

“For the lowest-cost alternative that CBO examines here, the reduction in launch costs would cause the total estimated cost of deploying and operating the [space-based interceptor] constellation for 20 years to fall from $264 billion to $161 billion (in 2025 dollars),” CBO wrote in a letter to lawmakers on May 5. “For the highest-cost alternative that CBO examines, the total estimate would fall from $831 billion to $542 billion.”

Republican lawmakers have already proposed a $25 billion down payment on Golden Dome under the reconciliation bill, but that legislation has yet to be approved by Congress.

Despite the budget uncertainty, Trump told reporters that he’s confident the funding for Golden Dome will come through.

“We’ll have a big phase very early, starting immediately with the $25 billion. It’ll cost about $175 billion [when] completed,” Trump said, adding that he believes Golden Dome will be fully operational “in two-and-a-half to three years.”

The Pentagon is currently working with the Office of Management and Budget to develop a plan for funding recommended capabilities that will be reviewed by Trump before he finalizes his budget request for fiscal 2026, according to a statement from Hegseth. 

Others have raised alarm over the technical feasibility of Golden Dome, particularly because many of the radars that would be in the architecture use the 3.1-3.45 GHz band of the electromagnetic spectrum. Pentagon officials and lawmakers have expressed concern that plans to auction off parts of the Defense Department’s spectrum to commercial telecommunications companies could inhibit Golden Dome’s ability to operate.

Lawmakers have also questioned Pentagon officials recently about other technical challenges with Golden Dome, such as the ability to field space-based interceptors and integrate multiple platforms under a single architecture. But Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, noted during Tuesday’s press conference that there are a number of U.S.-based companies — from traditional defense primes to VC-backed startups — ready to tackle the project.

“Our technology sector is head and shoulders above any other place in the world, and they’re going to be a key part of this,” Sullivan said.

The post Trump: Golden Dome will cost around $175B, be ‘fully operational’ in three years appeared first on DefenseScoop.

Put forward by HASC Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama and SASC Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the reconciliation bill would give a $150 billion boost to defense spending. By using the budget reconciliation process, Republican lawmakers are hoping to expedite funding towards 11 high-priority defense issues without threat of a Senate filibuster.

“This legislation represents a generational upgrade for our nation’s defense capabilities, including historic investments in new technology,” Wicker said in a statement. “This is about building the future of American defense, achieving peace through strength, and ultimately deterring war.”

The Golden Dome missile defense shield would receive $24.7 billion to help kick off the massive project, if the legislation is approved.

The vision for the effort was introduced via an executive order signed by Trump in January and looks to field a multi-layered, homeland defense architecture able to defeat a range of missile threats. As outlined in the EO, Golden Dome would comprise both existing Defense Department programs as well as nascent technologies — such as space-based sensors and weapons.

To that end, lawmakers added around $15.6 billion for space systems under “next-generation missile defense technologies,” according to the bill text. That includes $7.2 billion for development and procurement of new space-based sensors, $5.6 billion to develop space-based and boost phase intercept capabilities, and $2 billion for air-moving target indicator satellites.

The bill also puts money towards other emerging technology efforts. If approved, the legislation would add $2.4 billion to development of non-kinetic missile defense effects like electronic warfare and cyber capabilities. In addition, the Pentagon’s Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonic Test Bed (MACH-TB) effort — which aims to accelerate flight testing for hypersonic weapons — would receive $400 million.

As for “layered homeland defense” initiatives, lawmakers are proposing $2.2 billion to accelerate hypersonic defense systems and $1.9 billion for improvements to ground-based missile defense radars. The bill would also add $800 million for expedited development and deployment of next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile defense systems.

Besides efforts related to Golden Dome, the reconciliation bill proposes additional funds towards other key defense priorities such as shipbuilding and munitions production capacity. Notably, lawmakers also allocated around $14 billion towards rapid fielding of emerging capabilities — including small unmanned aerial systems, command-and-control technologies and attritable weapon systems — as well as improving integration with the commercial sector.

“This legislation is a historic investment of $150 billion to restore America’s military capabilities and strengthen our national defense,” Rogers said in a statement. “America’s deterrence is failing and without a generational investment in our national defense, we will lose the ability to defeat our adversaries. With this bill, we have the opportunity to get back on track and restore our national security and global leadership.”

HASC will hold a markup session for the reconciliation bill on Tuesday where members can submit amendments, after which it will be sent to the House Budget Committee.

The post Lawmakers propose $25B to fund Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense shield appeared first on DefenseScoop.

Speaking during his keynote speech at Space Symposium on Tuesday, Spacecom Commander Gen. Stephen Whiting outlined ongoing initiatives to deter and defeat adversaries. The efforts are framed by the combatant command’s new “elements of victory,” and include moves to operationalize new capabilities, develop new technologies and draft two new strategies — one focused on experimentation and another on AI and machine learning.

“Over the past year at U.S. Space Command, we’ve developed elements of victory: our best military judgement for what we think we need to win in a conflict,” Whiting said. “These five elements of victory are informed by lessons learned in other domains — from the best thinking across our Joint Force, exercises and modeling and simulation — and they tell us what we need for war-winning advantage and how we will win.”

Part of the initiative focuses on getting new capabilities for warfighters across Spacecom’s different mission areas. For example, Whiting said the command is working to operationalize a data-fusion system that can create a single common operating picture for missile warning and missile defense missions.

Announced last year as a pilot program to improve data-fusion capabilities, the effort looked to address Spacecom’s ability to digest and view space domain data from multiple systems on a single screen. Since initiating the program, the command has focused on developing a data integration layer for missile warning and missile defense systems and is now demonstrating the capability, Whiting noted.

“Now we’re moving forward with operationalizing this system and placing it on our [Joint Operations Center] floor,” he said. “In the coming months, we’ll be adding additional missions to that program.”

At the same time, Spacecom continues to support research and development of technologies to enable what it calls “dynamic space operations” — or the ability to quickly and continuously maneuver systems on-orbit in order to address emerging threats in that domain.

While the command has repeatedly stressed the need for more maneuverable satellites, the Space Force has put only small amounts of money into research for the capability — and whether or not that funding will continue in future years remains up in the air. Whiting stressed, however, that development of space maneuver capabilities is imperative for Spacecom, especially given recent advancements in China’s ability to freely move their on-orbit satellites. 

To support development, the command will co-sponsor an effort with SpaceWERX — the Space Force’s technology innovation arm — that focuses on sustained space maneuver, according to Whiting.

“We will soon be identifying 10 proposals for $1.9 million each in funding over a 15-month period of performance,” he said. “This effort will continue to invest in the most promising technology from commercial industry to help us solve the sustained space maneuver challenge, so we can bring this joint function to the space domain.”

Other Spacecom initiatives include the deployment of an additional next-generation mobile radar for space domain awareness in the Indo-Pacific; working with organizations across the Pentagon to field more agile command-and-control capabilities; and meeting new demands for offensive and defensive space control.

Along with additional technologies, Whiting said Spacecom is drafting two new strategies that will help the command better prepare for conflict in space. 

“To ensure we maximize our readiness for day-to-day operations so that we are ready for conflict, we are operationalizing the command’s first-ever experimentation strategy and artificial intelligence and machine learning strategy,” Whiting said. He added that the priorities for these strategies focus on space fires, operational space command and control, missile defeat effects, enhanced battlespace awareness, cyber defenses and the command’s business processes.

The post Space Command moves to support new capabilities, strategies for warfare in space appeared first on DefenseScoop.

The Golden Dome for America initiative — previously referred to by Trump as the Iron Dome for America — calls for a multi-layered shield for the U.S. homeland. The Space Force is expected to play a central role in setting up the architecture — which emphasizes the need for space-based sensors and interceptors — and the service has already established a cross-functional “technical integrated planning team” and is reaching out to industry.

However, while Golden Dome is expected to include next-generation technologies, there could also be a role for some of the Air Force’s “traditional” capabilities such as fighter jets, suggested Maj. Gen. Joseph Kunkel, the service’s director for force design, integration and wargaming.

Homeland defense is already a key element of the service’s force design vision, he noted during a Hudson Institute event Wednesday.

“This thought of a Golden Dome that protects the homeland, that is completely in line with the force design, and how we do that is completely in line. But I would suggest that the threat and the number of threats and how the threats are being presented, presents new challenges, but it also offers opportunities for … some of the capabilities, the traditional capabilities that we would call mission area three,” Kunkel said.

“When you think about how the Air Force and … the nation has defended itself, we defend ourselves as far away from our borders as possible. And when we build this Golden Dome, we can’t think of this Golden Dome as this thing that stops at the borders. And where we’ll use this air layer is in the countering of, you know, adversary bombers that are approaching our borders and shooting missiles from those borders. So you know that combined arms approach that we took in our force design, it’s equally applicable to this Golden Dome concept where there’s going to be a combined arms requirement for that to counter the different threats that we’re going to see,” he added.

Trump’s executive order directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to develop a plan to field additional missile defense tools noted that it must address the development and deployment of capabilities to defeat missile attacks before launch.

While sensors and weapons will play important roles in the multilayered missile defense architecture, battle management will also be key, Kunkel noted.

“The sense is a big part of it. The effectors are … a big part of it. But this battle management of the whole thing is also a big part of it. I know that Air Force is right in the middle of that with DAF Battle Network,” he said.

The DAF Battle Network fits in with the Pentagon’s next-generation warfighting concept dubbed Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control, or CJADC2, which aims to better integrate the sensors, shooters and data streams of the U.S. military services and key allies and partners into a more unified network.

Kunkel sees AI as an enabler of these types of concepts.

“One of the major areas where I think artificial intelligence will help us is in decision-making, you know, that’s in battle management and those types of things, and understanding risk calculus and that. I think it’ll help us in autonomy,” he said. “There are opportunities there where AI can be introduced in some capabilities to achieve even longer endurance, you know, flights or longer-range weapons. And those are some of the areas we’re looking at. But I do think the area that is like ripe for exploitation for artificial intelligence is decision-making and how we do battle management.”

The post Air Force envisions air-to-air combat role in Golden Dome missile defense appeared first on DefenseScoop.

SDA published a solicitation on Wednesday calling for “executive summaries” from vendors interested in performing 60-day studies focused on leveraging the PWSA and other capabilities into the “Iron Dome for America” — a sprawling effort to improve the United States’ defenses against advanced adversary missile threats. Trump’s executive order about the capabilities, issued Jan. 27, envisions a modernized, multilayer missile defense posture that would lean heavily on space-based systems, including the PWSA.

According to the solicitation, SDA is interested in executive summaries of “novel architecture concepts, systems, technologies, and capabilities” to accelerate future PWSA tranches or create new capability layers that would address other emerging requirements.

“SDA is soliciting executive summaries to study and provide recommendations for an Iron Dome for America architecture. These studies will inform SDA on concepts for such an architecture and how the PWSA could contribute,” the document stated.

Trump tasked Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to develop a strategy that includes “a reference architecture, capabilities-based requirements and an implementation plan” and deliver it to the president by March 28.

While the directive calls for development of new space-based interceptors, it also pushes for expediting ongoing efforts — including “development and deployment of a custody later of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture,” the EO states.

The PWSA is a planned mega-constellation comprising hundreds of satellites stationed in low-Earth orbit, with a transport layer for data relay and communications payloads and a tracking layer for missile warning and tracking sensors. The program is led by SDA, which intends to launch the satellites every two years in “tranches.”

Trump’s executive order gives the agency the green light to develop and deploy a custody layer within the PWSA architecture. Whereas tracking sensors focus on detecting potential missile threats to provide early warning, a custody layer maintains continuous surveillance on specific targets for “left-of-launch” missile defense.

Some of the agency’s ongoing efforts are already developing custody layer capabilities, such as the experimental Fire-control On Orbit-support-to-the-war Fighter (FOO Fighter) program and the Gamma variant of SDA’s Tranche 2 Transport Layer. But the new call to industry goes a step further by asking for “opportunities to accelerate technically mature and novel phenomenologies into the PWSA Custody Layer and Tracking Layer.”

The solicitation also seeks input on ways to fast-track Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) capabilities into the PWSA’s tracking layer, referring to sensors deployed on a constellation of demonstration satellites developed by the Missile Defense Agency that launched last year.

SDA has since decided to adopt the same types of sensors — which use high-fidelity, medium-field-of-view cameras suited for sending targeting data to interceptors — in some of its tracking layer payloads. 

Meanwhile, MDA published its own request for information last month that similarly sought industry feedback as to how it could contribute to Trump’s Iron Dome for America. The document asked industry to provide details on “new system-level capabilities, component concepts, upgrades to existing capabilities, or new [concepts of operations] across the kill chain” that could be delivered or demonstrated in two-year time periods, beginning no later than the end of 2026.

MDA’s RFI points to lines of effort outlined in Trump’s executive order, including acceleration and deployment of HBTSS. It does not, however, specify whether that would mean a follow-on program to operationalize the constellation or development of new medium-field-of-view cameras that would deploy on other satellites.

During a posture hearing in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, head of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and U.S. Northern Command Gen. Gregory Guillot underscored HBTSS as a key system for accurately tracking hypersonic missiles.

“We have some capability already that can detect intercontinental ballistic missiles, but those are fairly easy to track because of the ballistic profile,” Guillot said. “Whereas the hypersonics are both maneuverable and much faster, so getting the space-based capability to detect and track those that could cue defeat mechanisms in the end is imperative.”

SDA’s call to industry also outlines six other potential topics for the 60-day study: high-fidelity modeling, simulation and analysis capabilities; optimization of the PWSA’s transport layer in supporting missile defense; supply chain analysis; space and ground architectures; on-orbit sensor data processing, multi-sensor track fusion and low-latency dissemination; and software solutions to enable autonomous satellite operations.

According to the solicitation, the agency is considering awarding multiple vendors to conduct studies and “strongly encourages” submissions to be delivered no later than Feb. 28.

The post SDA solicits industry studies on potential capabilities for Trump’s Iron Dome for America appeared first on DefenseScoop.

Under the directive, titled “Iron Dome for America,” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is required to develop “a reference architecture, capabilities-based requirements and an implementation plan” to address emerging aerial threats against the U.S. homeland. The strategy, due to the president in the next 60 days, must focus on defense against ballistic, hypersonic, advanced cruise missiles and other aerial platforms.

“Over the past 40 years, rather than lessening, the threat from next-generation strategic weapons has become more intense and complex with the development by peer and near-peer adversaries of next-generation delivery systems and their own homeland integrated air and missile defense capabilities,” the EO states.

The directive comes after Trump promised to create a “great Iron Dome shield” over the United States in June during his presidential campaign, referencing the Israeli air defense system built by Rafael. While Israel’s capability is designed to intercept short-range rockets and artillery, it’s clear that Trump’s vision for America’s own Iron Dome shield considers a greater range of threats and technologies.

Notably, the order calls for development and deployment of “proliferated space-based interceptors” stationed on orbit that can defeat ballistic missiles during the boost stage of flight.

The inclusion of space-based interceptors will likely be a source of contention in the executive order’s execution, Todd Harrison, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told DefenseScoop. Fielding such weapons has been a controversial matter that was floated by the first Trump administration in 2018, but did not receive traction during President Joe Biden’s term.

The concept for space-based interceptors was a centerpiece of President Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative in the 1980s, which was abandoned due to technological immaturity and expensive price tags at the time. Critics referred to it derisively as a “Star Wars” project. But the cost of putting satellites on orbit has reduced drastically in recent years, largely due to advancements made by Elon Musk’s SpaceX business.

“When Ronald Reagan wanted to do it many years ago, luckily we didn’t. We didn’t have the technology then. It was a concept but we didn’t have” sufficient tech, Trump said Monday evening during remarks to lawmakers at his Trump National Doral resort in Miami. “Now we have phenomenal technology. You see that with Israel, where out of 319 rockets [launched against them] they knocked down just about every one of them. So I think the United States is entitled to that. And everything will be made right here in the USA, 100 percent.”

However, there are still technological limitations to the weapons that require additional study and analysis before the Pentagon can field them at scale, Harrison said.

“If you have a system that’s designed so that there’s always at least one interceptor within range, you could shoot down any one missile. But if someone launches a salvo of two missiles, the second will get through,” he said. “You would have to double the size of your constellation in order to shoot down two at once, and you would have to quadruple it to shoot down four at once. So it quickly becomes cost prohibitive the way it scales.”

Space-based interceptors would be ideal for threats posed by Iran or North Korea, neither of which currently have significant numbers of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). But against nations with larger ICBM arsenals like China and Russia — considered by the Defense Department as the United States’ most pressing military adversaries — the weapons aren’t as effective, Harrison added.

Given the growing importance of space as a warfighting domain, however, kinetic and non-kinetic space-based weapons will become more common in missile defense solutions, according to Tom Karako, director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 

“It’s not necessarily going to be 10,000 things, it may be more limited,” Karako told DefenseScoop. “But the genie is out of the bottle. The past paradigms of strategic stability have kind of vaporized and vanished before our eyes over the last decade … The world has changed, and we’re going to have to change with it.”

Trump’s executive order prioritizes several ongoing space-based missile defense programs, as well. It calls for “acceleration of the deployment” of the Missile Defense Agency’s demonstration Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor Layer (HBTSS) satellites.

The directive also tasks the Space Development Agency to develop a custody layer within its Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), a planned mega-constellation comprising hundreds of satellites carrying data relay, missile warning and missile tracking capabilities.

Harrison noted that SDA had previously considered incorporating a custody layer into its architecture as part of future tranches, and Trump’s order now gives the agency the green light to move forward.

A deployed custody layer, which continuously tracks and keeps eyes on enemy missile threats, would also contribute to the EO’s directive to deploy capabilities that can defeat missile attacks prior to launch, he added.

“Previously, they planned to just use other people’s systems and make kind of a virtual custody layer,” Harrison said. “I think that’s one of the biggest changes here, is they’re giving [SDA] the go-ahead for that.”

Space-based capabilities aren’t the only elements of Trump’s directive, as the executive order calls for “deployment of underlayer and terminal-phase intercept capabilities postured to defeat a countervalue attack.” That would likely mean bolstering the United States’ arsenal of ground-based interceptors with additional systems already available.

“The foundation for an Iron Dome for America needs to start with air and cruise missile defense,” Karako said. “That’s our biggest gap area. That’s our biggest, near-term vulnerability that we have very little capability against, and so we need to get after that.”

After submitting his plan for homeland missile defense to the White House, Hegseth has been tasked to conduct a subsequent review of theater missile defense postures. Per Trump’s executive order, the follow-on should include options for protecting forward-deployed troops; accelerating provisions of missile defenses capabilities to allies and partners; and increasing international cooperation on relevant technology development, capabilities and operations.

A large question for the Defense Department as it carries out its review will be the cost of developing and deploying such a large missile defense architecture. The order requires an accompanying funding plan that can be examined and included in the upcoming budget request for fiscal 2026, but the EO offers no insight into how much the Pentagon would have to spend.

Some previous cost estimates for a large-scale architecture with space-based interceptors have been upwards of $100 billion, although others have said it could be built for a fraction of that amount.

Harrison estimated the missile defense efforts outlined by Trump would require substantial long-term investment, likely costing billions of dollars per year over at least the next decade.

“That impacts the question of, are they going to request more defense funding overall or will this come at the expense of something else within the defense budget? It’s not clear, because the administration has not been all that forthcoming about their plans for the defense budget overall,” he said.

The post Trump revives push for space-based interceptors in ‘Iron Dome for America’ edict appeared first on DefenseScoop.

“Our job is lethality, and readiness and warfighting,” Hegseth told a small group of reporters on the steps outside the Pentagon’s River Entrance.

After narrowly winning Senate confirmation late Friday, Hegseth was officially sworn in on Saturday at a ceremony attended by his family and close colleagues. That day, he released a message directly to U.S. military personnel articulating his aims to help them rapidly field emerging technological capabilities to deter China and other competitors.  

When his motorcade arrived at the Pentagon on Monday, Hegseth was greeted by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown and media.

“In talking to the chairman and so many other folks here, [I know] we’re in capable hands. The warfighters are ready to go,” Hegseth said.

Pointing to a slew of executive orders President Donald Trump signed last week — and specifically those regarding military-involved mass deportations and U.S.-Mexico border security operations — the new SecDef noted how the administration is “hitting the ground running” to carry out the commander-in-chief’s major mandates.

“The lawful orders of the president of the United States will be executed inside this Defense Department swiftly and without excuse. We will be no better friend to our allies, and no stronger adversary to those who want to test us and try us so,” Hegseth told reporters.

“And today, there are more executive orders coming that we fully support on removing [diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives] inside the Pentagon, reinstating troops who were pushed out because of [Covid-19] mandates, and an Iron Dome for America,” he said.

He didn’t elaborate much more on that soon-to-be-published guidance. 

However, one promise Trump made to voters while on the campaign trail involved creating an American version of Israel’s Iron Dome to protect the U.S. homeland from next-generation air- and space-based threats.

Israel’s Iron Dome capability is designed to defend against short-range weapons, while the system that Trump wants would likely be focused on shielding against longer-range missiles or other platforms. The Defense Department currently operates Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) interceptors at Fort Greely, Alaska, and Vandenberg Space Force Base in California that were originally set up to defend against limited ballistic missile launches from countries such as North Korea. Trump could potentially move to expand the GMD architecture, or take other steps, as part of the “Iron Dome for America” initiative.

It’s unclear at this point whether the president’s envisioned system would be totally separate from or a complement to the Space Development Agency’s in-the-making Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture.

“We are reoriented. This is a shift. This is not the way business has been done in the past,” Hegseth said. 

“Every moment that I’m here, I’m thinking about the guys and gals in Guam, in Germany, Fort Benning and Fort Bragg, on missile defense sites and aircraft carriers,” he added.

Fort Moore in Georgia was previously known as Fort Benning before being renamed in 2023. Fort Liberty in North Carolina was previously called Fort Bragg.

Responding to questions from reporters, Hegseth also said that “more rapid fielding [of capabilities and] more rapid opportunity to train as we fight will be something we want our units to do across the spectrum.”

The post Hegseth highlights ‘Iron Dome for America’, other first priorities as new SecDef appeared first on DefenseScoop.

The service in recent months has been doing market research to inform its pursuit of a “multi-domain artillery cannon” (MDAC) and hypervelocity projectiles (HVP), including via requests for information that were released in July.

“Based on market research conducted in July-October 2024 … the U.S. Army RCCTO believes BAE Systems Land & Armaments L.P. is the only responsible source capable of developing and delivering both the MDAC and HVP prototypes within the required schedule; competition of this effort is not practicable and will not meet mission fielding requirements,” service officials wrote in a notice of intent to sole source that was published Dec. 20 on Sam.gov, using an acronym to refer to the Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office.

The RCCTO therefore plans to issue a sole-source request for prototype proposal to the contractor as it looks to award an other transaction agreement, according to the notice.

The Pentagon’s Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO), which falls under the Office of the Secretary of the Defense, awarded the firm a $16 million contract a few years ago to mature and demonstrate the lethality of its hypervelocity projectile against ground targets at “extremely long ranges,” according to a company news release.

The contractor has also worked on HVP technology for the Navy.

“The HVP is a next-generation, common, low drag, guided projectile capable of executing multiple missions for a number of gun systems, such as the Navy 5-Inch; Navy, Marine Corps, and Army 155-mm systems; and future electromagnetic (EM) railguns,” according to a BAE product description. “The HVP’s low drag aerodynamic design enables high-velocity, maneuverability, and decreased time-to-target.”

When fired from 155-millimeter tube artillery, the projectile has a range of 43 nautical miles, or about 80 kilometers, and a maximum rate of fire of six rounds per minute, according to a company data sheet.

The MDAC effort, which is focused on air-and-missile defense capabilities, is a new-start project for fiscal 2025.

The technology is intended to defend U.S. military forces at fixed and semi-fixed locations against attack by “a broad spectrum” of drones, fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft, cruise missiles, subsonic and supersonic cruise missiles, and “other advanced threats,” according to officials.

In future conflicts, the Army and other U.S. military services — collectively known as the joint force — are expected to be at risk from drone swarms and missile barrages, and they’re looking for new tools to cost-effectively counter them.

“Current air and missile defense munitions require onboard guidance and targeting components that drive high munition procurement costs. In contrast, the MDAC seeks to significantly reduce munition costs and enhance expeditionary utility by developing a 155 mm artillery cannon-based air defense system capable of firing Hypervelocity projectiles (HVP)s, integrated into a wheeled platform. The HVP will communicate with off-board sensors that track both the HVP and the threat and complete the interception of the target. The MDAC will interface with an external GFP Command and Control Battle Manager (C2BM) and the Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Battle Command System (IBCS),” Army officials wrote in an RFI released in July.

The term “hypervelocity” refers to speeds of Mach 5 — about 3,836 miles per hour — or higher.

According to a Congressional Research Service report, a gun-launched HVP had an estimated unit procurement cost of about $85,000 in 2018. In comparison, some U.S. military interceptors for air-and-missile defense cost millions of dollars.

The RCCTO has a requirement to develop and deliver a “full” MDAC weapon system battery by the fourth quarter of fiscal 2027 and carry out an operational demonstration in fiscal 2028.

That delivery is expected to include eight multi-domain artillery cannons, four multi-function precision radars (MFPR), two multi-domain battle managers (MDBM), and at least 144 hypervelocity projectiles, according to an RFI.

The HVP must be capable of supporting a launcher environment with peak pressures and setback greater than current surface-to-surface artillery; interface with government-provided off-board sensors that track both the HVP and threat to complete the interception of a target; interface with an inductive data transmission device to receive pre-launch mission data; enable rapid first-round response time and high rate of fire; maintain projectile maneuverability through interception of target; minimize the minimum required time of flight to intercept targets; maximize the lethal effects against threat systems; enable a rapid ammunition resupply time via manual and automated means; and demonstrate supportability, safety, and cybersecurity characteristics in the projectile design, among other requirements, officials noted in an RFI.

The Army plans to spend about $646 million total on the MDAC system project in fiscal 2025-2027 leading up to the demo, according to budget documents.

“The MDACS program will utilize streamlined acquisition methods to rapidly prototype the capability. It will leverage existing prototypes from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO) to refine requirements and address Army and Joint Force concepts. Throughout the developmental effort, Soldier touchpoints will gather feedback for Army requirements generation and prototype maturation. MDACS will use the Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS) and conduct a series of flight tests culminating in a battery-level operational assessment … in FY 2028,” per the budget documents.

Once the demo is concluded, the prototype weapon system is intended to be delivered to a “unit of action” supporting “multi-domain operations” as a “residual combat capability.” The prototype will also inform an “enduring capability requirement,” a program-of-record decision and future acquisition activities, officials wrote.

A BAE Systems media relations official did not respond to a request for comment.

The post Army to sole-source deal for hypervelocity projectiles, drone-killing artillery cannon appeared first on DefenseScoop.

The agency awarded the Boeing subsidiary an other transaction authority contract worth up to $414 million to build and deliver the platforms, which will be part of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture’s (PWSA) Fire-control On Orbit-support-to-the-war Fighter (FOO Fighter) program. The constellation is slated to be launched into orbit during the first quarter of fiscal 2027.

The satellites will be different from other vehicles in the PWSA’s tracking layer, in that they will be equipped with fire control-quality sensors to address advanced missile threats such as hypersonic weapons.

“The FOO Fighter program will provide an operational demonstration of fire control efforts separate from, but complementary to, our missile warning/missile tracking and missile defense efforts already underway in the tranches,” SDA Director Derek Tournear said in a statement. “We look forward to working with Millennium, a new teammate in the expanding marketplace of performers innovating to deliver the PWSA for the warfighter.”

Fire control systems are able to create high-fidelity tracking data of incoming threats that includes the exact position and time accuracy needed for a missile defense system to send an interceptor to defeat targets. Incorporating fire control-capable sensors is part of the Space Force’s larger plan to deploy a robust, multi-orbit missile defense architecture in space.

FOO Fighter will be include experimental and demonstration satellites that are independent from the PWSA tracking layer — part of a planned constellation of hundreds of platforms stationed in low-Earth orbit. Tournear has previously indicated that FOO Fighter will address very specific targets not addressed by the PWSA.

Although the initial request for proposals for the vehicles suggested that SDA was open to contracting with more than one vendor for FOO Fighter, Millennium Space Systems will build and deliver all eight satellites. The company will also provide the supporting ground system and perform mission operations, according to a press release from the contractor. 

“Our deep knowledge and understanding of this mission enabled us to engineer the right solution at the right cost, taking advantage of our common sensing vehicle and core components,” CEO Jason Kim said in a statement. “The mission engineering we’ve done is grounded in modeling and simulation exercises, allowing us to understand the payload and its applicability to mission execution.”

The post SDA taps Millennium Space Systems to build experimental FOO Fighter satellites appeared first on DefenseScoop.