Breaking Defense's Monday Morning Briefing

A News Roundup for the Week Ahead _________________________________________________________________________

A News Roundup for the Week Ahead It's Impossible To Connect The Joint Force As One. Until It's Not. Presented by Northrop Grumman We provide powerful, scalable networks and capabilities that enable the joint force as one across every domain, service and mission.  Learn more. Some Democrats Sour On F-35 Sale To UAE By Paul McLeary; Friday, October 30, 2020 3:58 PM "The Trump Administration has made it clear that they'll put lethal weaponry in just about anyone's hands without regard to potential loss of life so long as the check clears," Rep. Eliot Engel says.   China Set To Beat US, Russia Again In Space Launch Race By Theresa Hitchens; Friday, October 30, 2020 3:46 PM China has launched 29 satellites through Sept. 30, compared 27 launched by the US. The US has far more satellites already in space.   New North Korea ICBM Looks Bigger, But… By Ralph Savelsberg; Friday, October 30, 2020 3:27 PM This new missile — if it's real — does not change the current threat or defense calculus.   DEOS: 'No One Looks Like Real Winners' In Re-Award To GDIT By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.; Friday, October 30, 2020 2:17 PM Like JEDI, DEOS is a multi-billion dollar cloud program held up for months by protests from losing bidders. This morning, the Pentagon reaffirmed General Dynamics as the winner, but cut the contract's estimated value nearly in half.   Why Those 780 Top National Security Leaders Support Biden By James Kitfield; Friday, October 30, 2020 2:12 PM Speaking publicly and in alarming terms about a partisan political issue does not come naturally to retired generals and former senior national security leaders. These public servants, many of them wartime commanders and leaders, are not given to histrionics or hyperbole. So when hundreds (it's now up to 780)  of national security leaders – including 22 retired…   North Korea's Hackers Target Tech Secrets By Kelsey Atherton; Friday, October 30, 2020 12:55 PM The alert "should raise concern for those simply focused on China or Russia as the core threat to our national security," says Eric Noonan, CEO of security firm CyberSheath.   AFRL Moves To Equip Cargo Planes With Bombs In a Box By Theresa Hitchens; Thursday, October 29, 2020 4:31 PM WASHINGTON: With its latest contract to Lockheed Martin, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has taken another step in its effort to rapidly develop a capability to drop bombs and launch cruise missiles to augment the shrinking fleet of long-range bombers.  The Other Transaction Authority (OTA) contract, announced yesterday and worth $25 million over 18…   Dems Likely To War Over Defense After Election; Navy A Big Target: HASC Chair Smith By Paul McLeary; Thursday, October 29, 2020 4:00 PM Smith sees a blue wave as exposing fissures within the party over "how much do you spend on defense, and what does your presence in the world look like," Smith said, noting that progressives are skeptical about defense spending and overseas deployments   Pentagon Unveils Spectrum Strategy; Five Eyes Talking By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.; Thursday, October 29, 2020 1:42 PM Military technology often lags so far behind Silicon Valley, one defense official says, that much of the Pentagon is "in the Fred Flintstone era," while the cutting edge is, "past the Jetsons."   BD Checks Out Army's Robotic Gun: ATLAS By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.; Thursday, October 29, 2020 12:28 PM The Army will soon hold live-fire tests of an AI that can algorithmically spot targets and aim at them — but a human still has to pull the trigger. Will ATLAS let future tanks fight better with smaller crews?   Trump Admin Sets Allied Defense Spending Targets, Taiwan Deals Lead Way By Paul McLeary; Wednesday, October 28, 2020 6:00 PM "If anything, the provocations are coming from Beijing. The bullying behavior…is where the provocateurs lie, not with Taiwan [which is] maintaining its own self defense," a top State Department official says.   Aging Air Force IT 'Biggest Challenge' To JADC2 Progress By Theresa Hitchens; Wednesday, October 28, 2020 5:36 PM "Our ability to get out from underneath our infrastructure is probably our biggest challenge," Lt. Gen. Tim Haugh, head of 16th Air Force, says.   More Bandwidth for Software Developers Means Better Apps for SIGINT/ISR/Comms [Sponsored] By Barry Rosenberg; Wednesday, October 28, 2020 5:32 PM A new, patented Microwave radio-frequency integrated circuit can operate at industry-leading frequencies to develop advanced applications for software-defined radios.   Fixing Space Acquisition Air Force's 'Harshest Fight:' AFSec Barrett By Theresa Hitchens; Wednesday, October 28, 2020 4:53 PM "I'd like to say that we've got that resolved, but it's not nearly resolved," Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett said of space acquisition.   DARPA AI Builds New Networks On The Fly By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.; Wednesday, October 28, 2020 9:00 AM Military hierarchies are, by necessity, rigid structures. DARPA's 'Mosaic Warfare' project aims for something much more fluid and adaptable, with AI doing the logistical grunt work so human commanders can get creative.   Breaking Defense 611 Broadway • New York, New York • 10012 unsubscribe