U.S. Army

Are startup investors getting past the FOMU cycle?

The same driverless technology that Kodiak Robotics plans to put on highways in late 2024 has application to the military, which sees leveraging commercially developed innovation as smarter than creating everything itself.

Following Kodiak’s reveal of its Ford F-150-based prototype autonomous vehicle for the U.S. Army on Monday, Kodiak founder and CEO Don Burnette and I discussed dual-use technology, the recent comings and goings in the autonomous trucking space and a thawing of investor...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/are-startup-investors-getting-past-the-fomu-cycle

Kodiak Robotics makes autonomous pickup for military

Kodiak Robotics delivered a prototype of an autonomously equipped Ford F-150 pickup to the U.S. military, showing it can adapt its robotic driving system to a light-duty vehicle as well as a heavy-duty truck.

The F-150 upfitted with the Kodiak Driver contains both the autonomy hardware and software required to operate a military ground vehicle. The vehicle is designed to handle complex military environments, diverse operational conditions and operate in areas where GPS is sketchy. 

The vehicle...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/kodiak-robotics-makes-autonomous-pickup-for-military

DEPSECDEF Hicks: DoD Wants Thousands of Drones to Counter China’s Military Mass Advantage

A Saildrone Explorer unmanned surface vessel (USV) operates with guided-missile destroyer USS Delbert D. Black (DDG-119) in the Arabian Gulf during exercise Phantom Scope, Oct. 7, 2022. US Navy Photo

The Pentagon is betting that by fielding thousands of attritable autonomous systems across domains in fewer than two years, the United States can overcome China’s advantage of mass in manpower, ships, aircraft and missiles, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said in a Monday speech.

Speaking at...

https://news.usni.org/2023/08/28/depsecdef-hicks-dod-wants-thousands-of-drones-to-counter-chinas-military-mass-advantage

Largest Ever Talisman Sabre Exercise Wraps in Australia

Marines with Battalion Landing Team 2/1, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, conduct inland ground missions at Stanage Bay, Queensland, Australia, Aug. 2, 2023. US Army Photo

The largest iteration of Exercise Talisman Sabre, with more than 33,000 troops from 13 countries, concluded on Friday .

As part of the exercise, the U.S. Army established a Joint Logistics Over The Shore (JLOTS) facility in Australia for the first time. This floating pier permitted equipment to be unloaded onto a beach in...

Senate Passes NDAA Authorizing Navy to Buy 10 New Ships

U.S. Capitol on Dec. 29, 2022. USNI News Photo

The Senate passed the annual defense policy bill in an 86 to 11 vote in the upper chamber on Thursday, authorizing the Navy to buy a total of 10 battleforce ships in the next fiscal year.

The Fiscal Year 2024 legislation authorizes the service to purchase one Columbia-class ballistic-missile submarine, two Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, two Virginia-class attack boats, two Constellation-class frigates, one San Antonio-class LPD-17 Flight...

https://news.usni.org/2023/07/28/senate-passes-ndaa-authorizing-10-new-ships

U.S., Philippines Forces Training in Tandem As Countries’ Alliance Expands

Marine Corps Sgt. Samuel Whitty, a radio operator with 3d Marine Littoral Regiment, 3d Marine Division, showcases 3d MLR’s communication assets to Philippine Marines with Battalion Landing Team 10 during Marine Aviation Support Activity 23 at Naval Base Camilo Osias, July 15, 2023. US Marin Corps Photo

U.S. forces are back in the Philippines for another round of joint exercises with their Filipino counterparts as Washington and Manilla expand cooperation.

Marine Aviation Support Activity 2023 and...

https://news.usni.org/2023/07/18/u-s-philippines-forces-training-in-tandem-as-countries-alliance-expands

Report to Congress on Senate Nomination Holds

The following is the July 18, 2023, Congressional Research Service report, Hold on Nominations.

From the report

In the Senate, a hold on a nomination is a communication to the majority or minority leader that a Senator would object to approving the nomination by unanimous consent. When Senators inform their leader that they would object to approving a category of nominations by unanimous consent, such as all nominations to a particular government agency, they are said to be placing a blanket hold

https://news.usni.org/2023/07/18/report-to-congress-on-senate-nomination-holds

Cavoli: NATO Increased Ready Troops By 700 Percent

The NATO flag flies aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) in support of Neptune Strike 2022 on Jan. 29, 2022. US Navy Photo

NATO’s new force model has already given its top commander a 700 percent increase in fully ready troops, Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli said this week on the first day of the alliance conference in Vilnius, Lithuania.

The command is now “force sourcing line units” to NATO’s three regional defense areas – the Arctic and North Atlantic; southern...

https://news.usni.org/2023/07/13/nato-increases-troops-by-700-percent

DoD Modernization Should Focus on Joint Goals, CJCS Nominee CQ Brown Tells Senate

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown, Jr. testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee for the Department of the Air Force fiscal year 2024 budget request, Washington, D.C., May 2, 2023. US Air Force Photo

The nominee to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told Congress he will take a look at how the Department of Defense is set to modernize with an emphasis on developing a joint force.

Speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Gen. Gen. CQ Brown said, “there’s...

https://news.usni.org/2023/07/11/dod-modernization-should-focus-on-joint-goals-cjcs-nominee-cq-brown-tells-senate

GAO Report on DoD Bulk Fuel

Complexities with DOD Bulk Fuel Process

The following is the June 22, 2023, Government Accountability Office Report, DoD Bulk Fuel: Improved Management over Transactions Could Lead to More Reliable Financial Reporting.

From the report

What GAO Found

The Department of Defense (DOD) is the U.S. government’s largest purchaser and consumer of bulk fuel, expenditures for which totaled $10.3 billion in fiscal year 2022. DOD’s fuel process is complex in that it includes a variety of process owners, stakeholders, locations, and systems and a...

https://news.usni.org/2023/06/27/gao-report-on-dod-bulk-fuel

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