Douglas A. Macgregor's Blog, page 17

Space Rapid Capabilities Office to put radars on sats to warn of space-bound threats

WASHINGTON — The Space Rapid Capabilities Office (SpRCO) intends to award two vendors contracts by the end of the year to demonstrate that Space Force satellites can be equipped with small, inexpensive on-board radar systems to warn of potential threats from nearby satellites.

While small — worth $3 million each for 24 months — the planned awards are part of a larger effort to promote what the SpRCO calls real-time “own-ship awareness” for US national security satellites.

At a time when threats to US satellites from Chinese and Russian counter-space capabilities are growing, Pentagon officials widely have acknowledged that the current system for keeping eyes on the heavens and finding space-based threats is no longer fit for purpose, with improvements at the top of the priority list for both the Space Force and US Space Command.

Further, US military space leaders also are now more open about the fact that they see space domain awareness as a foundational capability for “orbital warfare” — not just by allowing US satellites to avoid threats from adversaries but also enabling joint force “effectors” on the ground, in the air, at sea and even in space to target enemy satellites and spacecraft.

The effort to develop “own-ship awareness” capabilities thus is major thrust of ongoing SpRCO work, which is focused on moving commercially available capabilities as fast as possible into the hands of Space Force operators. The office has underway a handful of projects to address various underlying technologies for equipping future satellites for orbital warfare missions.

Just like their counterparts routinely carried on aircraft, the on-board satellite radar warning receivers would detect and identify incoming radar signals, and alert an operator not just if another object is approaching, but whether it is being tracked and/or targeted using radar.

SpRCO first revealed in December 2023 that three early prototypes for on-board threat warning had been launched 2023, although details were scant due to the classified nature of the effort. In March 2025, SpRCO Director Kelly Hammett said the prototypes had been a “quasi-operational success” at monitoring Chinese capabilities to pinpoint the whereabouts of US satellites.

While those prototypes were carried on a commercial satellite built by Northrop Grumman, the new sensors will fly on Space Force satellites — which will be a bigger integration hurdle.

“Space RCO is equipping the Force for warfighting capabilities that keep the U.S. ahead of emerging threats. Part of equipping is the tactical awareness that allows us to close our kill chains and disrupt those of the adversary,” Hammett told Breaking Defense on Wednesday in response to a query about the upcoming radar warning receiver award.

A SpRCO spokesperson told Breaking Defense that the office worked with the Space Force’s innovation arm, SpaceWERX and the Small Business Administration to actually increase the normal $2 million value cap of Direct to Phase 2 Small Business Innovation Research grants for the threat warning radar demonstration.

The spokesperson also said that SpRCO already is in discussions with the Space Force about “integration requirements and timelines” for flying the first low size, weight, and power radar on a “candidate” satellite to be launched in geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO). Likewise, the office is “in discussions with a specific Space Force GEO program on including radar sensors on their line of future platforms,” the spokesperson said.

While the SpRCO spokesperson would not comment on the specific satellite and program in mind, Hammett has in the past referenced potential work with the Space Force’s nascent program, dubbed RG-XX, to replace its six Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) neighborhood watch birds. The service is set to issue a draft request for information for RG-XX by the end of the year.

Further, according to charts Hammett showed Sept. 17 during the annual Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance conference in Hawaii, SpRCO is already planning a follow-own SBIR award for small on-board optical payloads for threat warning.

Picogrid integrates ‘universal translator’ for stovepiped systems into Palantir’s Maven

WASHINGTON — Rising software firm Picogrid has integrated its Legion software, designed as a “universal translator” between previously incompatible systems, into Palantir’s Maven Smart System, a widely used military AI platform that pulls in data from a wide variety of sensors.

The two systems’ ability to work together in real-life conditions was field-tested at one of the Scarlet Dragon interservice exercises hosted by the XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg, the company said in a press release, where “Picogrid and Palantir jointly demonstrated real-time data streaming from field-deployed sensors and drones into MSS.”

Picogrid’s technology is important because the Pentagon is betting heavily on globe-spanning, AI-enhanced, multi-domain command networks, but a lot of its older “legacy” systems can’t even talk to each other, let alone some futuristic super-brain.

“Our focus has always been on breaking down data silos,” said CEO Zane Mountcastle in a press release shared with Breaking Defense. “By connecting Legion’s rich, real-time data streams directly into Maven’s powerful analytics engine, we’re giving commands the fastest, most complete picture of the battlefield.”

Picogrid’s partnership with Palantir comes after three years of quietly racking up contracts, including with the Space Force, Air Force, and Army, as well as work in Ukraine, and just a week after Picogrid announced a partnership with an even larger prime, Northrop Grumman, whose annual defense revenues are estimated at the fourth largest in the world. Northrop’s investing in modular open architecture designs that let different companies plug-and-play their software into a single system — as long as they meet shared technical standards, which legacy systems rarely do. That’s particularly problematic in counter-drone defense, which requires sharing targeting data amongst a wide assortment of different radars, acoustic sensors, guns, missiles launchers, and energy weapons. So on Sept. 25, Picogrid announced it would integrate Legion into Northrop’s AI-powered counter-drone command system, AiON.

Getting previously incompatible legacy systems to communicate in a common, modern digital language requires a lot of painstaking engineering work, said Picogrid co-founder Martin Slosarik. But, he explained to Breaking Defense, recent advances in AI allow each engineer to do more work in months than they previously could do in a year.

The Picogrid team now uses Large Language Models (LLMs) to analyze masses of detailed technical documents, Slosarik said, and trained an LLM to answer engineers’ questions about, for example, the Army’s open source Integrated Sensor Architecture. The LLMs can even write some of the required code, he said, but the AI is still only as good as an entry-level engineer, so it needs a lot of human handholding on its way to a usable product.

Once Picogrid’s humans and AIs have cracked the code on a given legacy system, Slosarik said, they build hardware and software add-ons that let it communicate using modern, standardized protocols and APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). That gives each system a common language not only with other Picogrid-upgraded systems but with any number of modern command-and-control systems, such as the widely used ATAK. Picogrid can end up replacing multiple bulky boxes of legacy tech with a single streamlined unit, Slosarik said.

Picogrid opened a new 25,000-square-foot facility in El Segundo in May, tripling its production capacity, and plans to add another site in Oklahoma, although it hasn’t announced a timeline.

In NGC2 first, Army uses beta artillery data tool in howitzer strike at Ivy Sting 1

This is part one of a two-part series on the Army’s Ivy Sting events, in which the service is working to scale up the Next Generation Command and Control prototype to the division level.

FORT CARSON, Colo. — The Army unit hadn’t originally planned to fire the M777A2 Howitzer using a new data management tool for the first time ever so soon, but the pieces fell into place, everything was set, so soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division let it rip.

When the smoke cleared from the test strike on Sept. 15, the 4th ID had taken a small but important step toward maturing and expanding the service’s critical Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2) initiative, which aims to use cutting-edge tech to push the 250-year-old organization to the forefront of modern battlefield management.

“That’s the beginning of a new era for the Army,” 4th Infantry Division Commander Maj. Gen. Patrick Ellis told reporters in September, days after the firing.

It was also the first, admittedly narrow use of a new series of test exercises, dubbed Ivy Sting, that aim to rapidly test and evaluate NGC2 tech on a rolling basis as the Army looks to scale the capability to the division level.

In mid-September, a small group of reporters visited the home of the 4th ID at Fort Carson, Colo., to see parts of Ivy Sting 1 firsthand, where the Army used its a beta version of its new Artillery Execution Suite (AXS) tool to speedily gather target information, pass it through the necessary chain and then hit its target.

In the past warfighting functions, such as intelligence, logistics or fires, were siloed in their own staff sections with their own systems slowing down sharing and situational awareness. NGC2 aims to collapse all those systems and functions into applications analogous to an iPhone so a commander or units will have access to all the data and information. AXS will be one of those “apps” within the system.

“There’s not one criteria that says a success or failure [for Ivy Sting 1],” Ellis said on Sept. 17. “Really, we already met the success criteria, which was, we thought today would be the first live fire, but the software was ready, the soldiers were ready, the gun crews were ready. We actually accelerated all this stuff, and we shot live on Monday night.”

Hitting The Mark, Quicker

The Army sees NGC2 as a years-long effort to do a generational upgrade to its command and control regime. The Army awarded Anduril and a team of vendors a nearly $100 million contract to prototype a broader NGC2 system for 4th Infantry Division between July and next summer for Project Convergence Capstone 6. More recently Lockheed Martin and its team of vendors were awarded a contract to work an integrated data layer for 25th Infantry Division under the NGC2 portfolio.

But for the first iteration of Ivy Sting 1, Ellis said fires was a more manageable place to start.

“The fires thread is a very logical thread that we all understand really well. AXS was coming along. We knew was coming online. We accelerated that because fires threads are really good,” he said. “The fires backbone becomes a very convenient place for us to then pull in all of these other threads and say, this is where I need to make all of these other things work.”

Currently, hitting something with a howitzer looks something like this: A target comes across the Army Intel Data Platform and goes to the strike cell, a staff entity within the division that fuses fires and intelligence. That cell vets targets under a very manual process.

Once the target is nominated, it is passed to the Joint Air-Ground Integration Cell (JAGIC), a collection of multiple staff sections that serves as a capability for the division commander. Namely, it manages the airspace and effects for the division commander and select the right asset to strike the nominated target, either through kinetic or non-kinetic means.

If the JAGIC decides that field artillery is the right weapon for the target, that nominated target is then passed to the Fire Control Element, another staff element within the division. The FCE will decide what field artillery unit is best to action that target based on what unit is in the best position and has the most rounds.

The target data is passed to the Fire Direction Cell that will actually fire the M777.

That’s a lot of gates to pass data through, especially in time-sensitive combat operations in which the target might just pick up and leave at any moment. That’s where the targeting piece of the envisioned NGC2 ecosystem comes in — in this case, the AXS beta software — both to speed the entire process and to conduct some analysis on its own to relieve the cognitive burden on the soldiers and staff involved.

There is already a data management tool to help aid the process, known as Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System (AFATDS), which provides fully automated support for planning, coordinating and conducting fires — but which entered service in 1995.

Col. Charlie Brown, division artillery commander for 4th ID, said AFATDS has been successful in the “last 20 to 23 years, where it has worked mostly in a static COIN [counter-insurgency] environment.”

But, he said, “What we foresee as a dynamic, multi-domain environment, we don’t think AFATDS can get there. AXS is being introduced to help accelerate that kill chain.”

Reduce Risk, Increase The Tempo

For the exercise, the 4th ID used both AFATDS and AXS to take out one target each, but there was evidence AXS was speedier very early on.

A few days before the official live fire test, when soldiers and officials were doing their checks and dry runs, it took users over two hours of troubleshooting on the legacy system because there was an issue with how the system counts days, a not so uncommon problem in the artillery world.

That same day, with the new AXS system, forces were online and loaded up before soldiers had dug the necessary holes in the ground to stabilize the howitzer. That speed is key on a future battlefield where targets will move rapidly and static forces will be vulnerable to being targeted by the enemy.

Officials and commanders indicated that AXS could allow the Army to mass more combat power and be more dispersed on the battlefield as the mesh networking capabilities with NGC2 allow artillery batteries to operate farther apart. One of the key lessons from the war in Ukraine is forces must move quickly — seven to eight minutes — or they’ll be fired upon.

“Every second that we can shave off the kill chain reduces risk for our formation. At the same time, it puts pressure on the tempo against the enemy. So reduces risk and increases tempo against the enemy, so we see that as a huge benefit,” Brown said.

Ellis explained that having the system online before spades are even dug in helps hit home to soldiers that this capability really works.

“When I look at my 13B, my artillery men and say, ‘Okay, this technology is going to make your life better,’ they may believe me, but when they see that, he turned on the radio and he was up communicating with the Fire Direction Center, was ready to fire before they finished digging the spades in, to me, that’s the benefit of all of this,” Ellis said.

Ivy Sting 1 was, of course, a relatively narrow test case, but as the first in the series, the objective was to start slow. Officials noted the exercise was a validation of the system, rather than stressing it. There weren’t multiple field assets choose from or pass data to like a real-world situation, for instance.

That could come in the next Ivy Sting, as more and larger pieces of the NGC2 ecosystem are added and the Army expands toward division-level deployment.

Army accelerates production of Black Widow drone for short-range reconnaissance

Drones have changed the battlespace seemingly overnight and across all warfighting domains. Red Cat plays an important role in the drone industrial base through its presence on the Defense Innovation Unit’s Blue List for quadcopters and fixed-wing VTOLS.

We talked about the Army’s new Black Widow drone for short-range reconnaissance, drone procurement needs across NATO countries, and other industry developments with Brendan Stewart, senior vice president, Regulatory and Government Affairs, Red Cat.

Close the gap: Turn the Franco-German missile early warning into measurable capability

As Washington reorients toward deterring China and speaks plainly about allies doing more for themselves, Europe can no longer assume US space power will be available at historic scale and speed. European governments already acknowledge an Earth observation shortfall for defense and are moving to address it. The real gap with the United States, however, lies in high-end, niche strategic space capabilities, above all, missile early warning.

JEWEL, a new Franco-German initiative building on the EU-funded ODIN’s EYE, is the first serious step toward closing that gap. And it also provides a test case on whether Europe can draw domestic technology and financing while avoiding the workshare gridlock that has stymied other multinational efforts.

First, let’s lay out what JEWEL is. A two-tiered missile early warning effort that includes space-based infrared sensing paired with long-range ground radars, the program’s center of gravity is the ability to ingest space and radar observations, maintain custody of difficult targets, and disseminate targeting-quality tracks to a regional integrated air and missile defense picture in seconds, not minutes. An indigenous European warning layer would reduce single-point dependency on the US, strengthen deterrence, and, crucially, give European capitals agency over release decisions when timelines are tight and politics are fraught.

Here’s why it matters: JEWEL is not an EU-flagged program. Rather, it is a Paris-Berlin project designed to be compatible with EU capabilities and open to partners, with the intent that it be usable by non-EU NATO member states such as the United Kingdom and Norway. Seen through this lens, JEWEL is not a prestige project but a strategic adjustment.

Which brings up a final key point: that JEWEL is only a few weeks old as a concept, with the ink barely dry on the announcement. If France and Germany want strategic autonomy that works under stress, they must turn JEWEL from a communiqué into a capability with measurable performance.

Hardware will not be the bottleneck. Interfaces, budgets, workshare, and the politics of governance will.

Early warning sits inside a wider nervous system. Any European system, including JEWEL, needs a viable space backbone that is defined, not implied. That means region-wide service-level agreements, both through NATO and the EU, for assured satellite communications (including pre-negotiated commercial SATCOM surge), pooled ISR coverage from small optical and synthetic aperture radar constellations with edge downlink to corps- and brigade-level headquarters, and resilient positioning, navigation, and timing with protected signals and terrestrial backups. More importantly, it means codifying a data layer with common formats that functions in a degraded mode, because real conflicts will be contested in space and cyberspace from the start.

Launch cadence is the other determinant for success. Reconstitution of an early warning constellation cannot be an afterthought. France and Germany should book launch slots ahead of need, block-buy small satellite buses, and stockpile the parts that constrain schedules, such as infrared focal planes, cryocoolers, secure radios, and radiation-hardened chips. Planners should create rapid replenishment playbooks now and test them rigorously in exercises. A missile early warning architecture without a replenishment plan is a single-use capability.

The politics are solvable if tackled early. Data custody and releasability must be explicit: Who owns the track file, who authorizes publication to NATO and the EU, and at what fidelity and latency? Tie those rules to funding milestones so they are not renegotiated in the middle of a crisis. Industrial workshare and IP, long the bugbear of European bilateral and multinational projects, should be segmented to prevent gridlock: One partner leads on space sensors and payloads, another on fusion software, a third on ground segment and security, and so on. Lock software ownership and exportability up front; ambiguity here is where programs go to die.

Finally, Paris and Berlin should emphasize stability in their strategic narrative by embedding missile early warning and cueing in defensive terms to blunt nefarious claims that they are fuelling an arms race. Early warning deters miscalculation; it does not invite it.

To judge whether European countries are truly closing the gap with the United States, look for action, not talk. That means a JEWEL letter of intent and ODIN’s EYE implementation documents that spell out concrete latency budgets, track-quality thresholds, and interface definitions rather than restating aspirations. It means both governments announcing radar sites with clear command relationships and survivability plans, not just slick viewgraphs. It means negotiating space SLAs with EU and NATO member states for ISR coverage, SATCOM availability, PNT error budgets, and then rehearsing them in rigorous exercises that assume contested space and cyber domains. It also means French and German ministries and agencies locking down data sharing rules, including provisions for the UK and Norway via NATO channels, so stovepipes never form in the first place.

Three tangible actions would prove JEWEL is more than talk: disseminate to appropriate entities latency and track-quality targets and European/NATO integrated air and missile defense interfaces with a validation test schedule. Stand up a pilot fusion node that demonstrates end-to-end track publication under time pressure and repeat it in major exercises with degraded inputs. Finally, formalize a launch and reconstitution plan with pre-booked launch cadence and funded spares, essentially treating launch as a program element, not as an afterthought.

If France, Germany, and other partners get the interfaces, governance, cadence, and training right, Europe will own the decisive minutes in a crisis. If they fail, then today’s perceived transatlantic rift will become a very real vulnerability at the worst possible time.

John B. Sheldon, Ph.D., is co-founder of AstroAnalytica Ltd., a London-based space consultancy. Previous roles include advisor to the UAE Ministry of Defence and faculty member at the US Air Force’s School of Advanced Air & Space Studies, Maxwell AFB, AL.

Sierra Nevada reveals BRAWLR air defense system that’s already deployed — somewhere

WASHINGTON — Sierra Nevada Corp. has revealed new details about a closely held new air defense system that it claims has already helped down scores of aerial threats, though it won’t say where.

At last week’s annual Air and Space Forces Association conference outside Washington, the company for the first time publicly displayed the Battery Revolving Adaptive Weapons Launcher—Reconfigurable (BRAWLR), which SNC says can carry up to four types of rockets and missiles at once to take out enemy drones and cruise missiles from the back of a pickup truck, a trailer or the ground.

The company says the system gives troops an all-in-one defensive tool instead of forcing them to lug around multiple weapons launchers made by different companies.

It’s also allegedly already seen action. The company told Breaking Defense in an email this week that BRAWLR has intercepted more than 400 aerial threats since it was first deployed in 2023, though SNC declined to provide additional information about its use.

“SNC is providing a new breed of highly adaptable air defense systems,” the company said in an emailed statement. “These systems are designed to be able to form their own integrated air defense network or to be able to merge into an existing one with additional sensors and shooters, improving the effectiveness and relevance of all elements.”

Sierra Nevada designed BRAWLR in 2023 after the US government approached it with a request from a foreign military customer, a company spokesperson told Breaking Defense. The Nevada-based firm, which specializes in integrating disparate hardware and software into bespoke military equipment, can build the plug-and-play missile launchers within six months, according to a company fact sheet.

The 7-foot-tall BRAWLR features four weapons stations that can swap out to hold rail- or tube-launched munitions, including laser-guided Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System rockets, which can travel up to 6 km (3.7 miles); AIM-9M Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, with a range of 12 km (7.5 miles); and the British-made AIM-132 Advanced Short-Range Air-to-Air Missile, for targets up to 15 km (9.3 miles) away, Sierra Nevada said. 

When configured for “beast mode,” the fact sheet shows, the launcher can wield up to 46 APKWS rockets at once. The system can also support the medium-range AIM-120 and short-range IRIS-T air-to-air missiles, allowing troops to take out moving airborne targets. A single person can set up the launcher in 10 minutes, operate it, and break it down in just three minutes, Sierra Nevada says. 

BRAWLR is the centerpiece of a diesel flatbed truck-mounted air defense system called the Mobile Anti-Air Weapons Launcher—Reconfigurable, or MAAWLR, another company fact sheet shows. That variant requires two people and 20 minutes to set up, run, and break down, and features two X-band radars to sense smaller objects as well as electro-optical and forward-looking infrared imaging systems and a radio that can reconnect to new networks if its signal is blocked.

“Additional kinetic and non-kinetic defeat capabilities, interoperability with additional existing US command and control systems, and expanded system automation are expected to be demonstrated within the next year,” the company said in its emailed statement.

Is BRAWLR In Ukraine?

Sierra Nevada has delivered 20 of each system so far, with another 10 apiece on the way, according to the fact sheets. A company spokesperson said the system has been delivered to “several” customers.

But the firm declined to discuss acquisition details — including the customers, the price of the contracts and each unit, and the machines’ success rates — saying the information is classified. But information published by Sierra Nevada and the US government points to Ukraine as a possible recipient.

For instance, SNC advertised on its fact sheet that the MAAWLR truck can fire the AA-10, a Russian- and Ukrainian-made air-to-air missile also known as the Vympel R-27, and travel via the US Air Force’s C-17 Globemaster III cargo plane or the Antonov An-124 airlifter. The An-124, one of the world’s largest aircraft, is used for charter cargo flights, including by Ukraine’s Antonov Airlines.

Ukraine already uses each of the munitions that work with the two launchers. The systems are also compatible with US and European surveillance databases, according to the fact sheet.

In July, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced a proposed deal worth an estimated $180 million to sustain Ukraine’s US-made air defenses and provide related equipment. Though the release did not identify the specific air defense system in question, an initial version of the release noted Sierra Nevada and Virginia-based V2X as the main contractors, as well as two Ukrainian firms.

“The proposed sale will improve Ukraine’s ability to meet current and future threats by further equipping it to conduct self-defense and regional security missions with a more robust air defense capability,” DSCA said in the release. “Ukraine will have no difficulty absorbing these articles and services into its armed forces.”

The current version of the announcement on DSCA’s website no longer specifies which companies would handle the work. Sierra Nevada declined to comment on the change, and a State Department spokesperson declined to comment on the record. The Pentagon and Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense did not respond to emailed queries about the systems.

There is some recent precedent for companies to roll out equipment at defense trade shows several years after it began use in Ukraine — if that is indeed the case with BRAWLR. Last year, Aevex Aerospace brought its Phoenix Ghost family of kamikaze drones to the Association of the US Army’s massive annual trade show in Washington, putting it on display two years after news reports first surfaced that the US was sending the one-way attack drones to Ukraine.

Could BRAWLR Fight For The United States?

When Breaking Defense visited SNC’s display on Sept. 22, Pacific Air Forces Commander Gen. Kevin Schneider and Air Combat Command boss Gen. Adrian Spain stopped by and chatted with company officials in front of the system.

Sierra Nevada says it is “engaged at all levels of government,” including the Defense Department and Department of Homeland Security as well as “numerous US allies and foreign partners.” Notably, American troops used BRAWLR in August to counter drones during Northern Edge, a sweeping air and sea combat-training drill held across Alaska with US and international forces every two years. The system surpassed its testing goals, Sierra Nevada said, and will participate in several more US-led experiments and exercises if enough equipment is available.

Other Sierra Nevada air defense products, including a passive wide-area infrared sensing subsystem, a modular palletized sensing subsystem, and a palletized integrated air and missile defense system, may also take part in those events, the company said.

In addition to base protection and battlefield uses, Sierra Nevada argues BRAWLR could plug into a broader military network as part of Golden Dome, President Donald Trump’s vision of a multibillion-dollar missile defense shield over the US homeland.

What’s in a name: Goodbye Maxar, hello Vantor and Lanteris

WASHINGTON — More than two years after it was acquired and split into two units by private equity firm Advent International, Maxar Technologies is no more — with Maxar Intelligence renamed Vantor, and Maxar Space Systems now called Lanteris Space Systems.

The rebranding was announced today in two separate press releases from the newly named firms.

Maxar Intelligence has been a key provider of remote sensing imagery and AI-driven data fusion products and services to the US Intelligence Community, primarily the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the National Reconnaissance Office.

For example, Maxar Intelligence was chosen as the prime contractor NGA’s Global Enhanced GEOINT Delivery system, which delivers geospatial intelligence to more than 400,000 US government users, as well as a provider under the agency’s Luno program to gather commercial analysis of satellite imagery. In addition, the firm last year won a Phase 4 contract to push forward the Army’s One World Terrain program to create a 3D virtual map of the globe for mission planning and training.

Peter Wilczynski, chief product officer at Vantor, explained in an interview with Breaking Defense that the rebrand is aimed at shifting perception away from Maxar’s original identify as a satellite imagery provider to a “spatial intelligence company” working across all domains.

“There’s a much bigger opportunity in framing the company as a company that’s solving all domain problems with space technology, as opposed to a company that’s really, really focused on satellites and satellite imagery,” he said. “It’s not 180 degree turn of the wheel, but I think it is a substantial 30 degree shift in the focus, and certainly in terms of where we’re thinking about going into the future.”

In line with the company’s pivot to a spatial intelligence company, Vantor’s release unveiled its Tensorglobe software platform, “that gives customers the tools to automatically fuse data collected across space, air, and ground sensors into a unified, continuously updated intelligence picture.”

Wilczynski said that Tensorglobe combines into one product capabilities the company has been providing separately under different contracts and programs. The platform comprises three basic subcomponents: Coretex, which provides satellite tasking and collection management; Forge, which fuzes data from a variety of sensors to create a 3D “digital globe;” and Nexus, which provides a “gateway” for customers to access that digital information.

That said, Vantor will continue to own and operate Maxar Intelligence’s four legacy electro-optical remote sensing birds, as well as its six new model WorldView Legion satellites providing both high-resolution Earth imagery and imagery of on-orbit objects.

Maxar Space Systems, now Lanteris, is based in Palo Alto, Calif., and manufactures and operates satellite systems. L3Harris last year chose Maxar Space as a subcontractor to build 18 missile tracking satellites under its contract with the Space Development Agency. It also builds the widely sold Maxar-1300 series commercial communications satellites for operations in geosynchronous Earth orbit.

“The rebrand reflects the company’s evolution into a next-generation defense and space technology company operating at the intersection of national security, missile tracking, space infrastructure, deep space exploration and commercial connectivity,” Lanteris said in its press release.

According to the release, Lanteris “roadmap” is centered on:

National Security & Defense Tech – Proven platforms for missile tracking, secure communications and resilient constellations that safeguard U.S. and allied interests.Space Infrastructure – AI-enabled solutions, industry leading power and propulsion enabling advanced mobility, defense, energy and communications systems.Connectivity & Exploration – Advanced satellites and deep-space infrastructure extending global reach and enabling human exploration of the Moon, Mars and beyond.

“Our mission is to deliver mission-critical capabilities in space — faster, smarter, and more resilient than ever before, made possible by the dedication and expertise of our people,” said Lanteris CEO Chris Johnson in the release. “From tracking emerging threats to enabling humanity’s push into deep space, we’re building the systems that will define the future of security, communications and exploration.”

Maxar was acquired in December 2022 by Advent International for $6.4 billion, which immediately separated the two sides of the business. Both Vantor and Lanteris will remain (at least for the moment) part of Advent’s stable of companies.

Coast Guard ‘naming and shaming’ amid spike in Chinese activity near Alaska

WASHINGTON — The US Coast Guard in July made a rare announcement: Off the coast of Alaska, within a maritime zone known as the extended continental shelf, the service detected a Chinese research vessel. 

Then came a similar announcement in August. This time, five Chinese research ships were spotted operating in American Arctic waters. The Coast Guard, in conjunction with US Northern Command, the Pentagon’s combatant command tasked with defending the homeland, deployed units to observe the Chinese flotilla.

Come September, yet again, two Chinese-flagged research ships were spotted northwest of Alaska. And once more, the Coast Guard announced the deployment of ships and aircraft to monitor their activity.

Multiple officials, including the head of US Northern Command, told Breaking Defense China’s activities in and around American waters have increased this past year, the latest development in a broader pattern that started in 2021. But the subsequent public responses and objections by the Coast Guard is new, a trend that analysts said is designed to deter Chinese activity that close to the US.

“Not only is it testing the resolve of the US in this space, but it’s also trying to normalize presence,” Daniel White, a former DHS official, told Breaking Defense. “I think that is really what is important for [North American Aerospace Defense Command] and NORTHCOM and the Coast Guard, as far as naming and shaming.”

Making the issue more complicated is China’s selective use of the American extended continental shelf. Unlike American territorial waters just off the coast, an adversary’s presence on water above the extended shelf may be provocative, but not illegal, according to former Homeland Security and Coast Guard officials. And, crucially, China has suggested it doesn’t recognize American claims to the region.

In general, every country has exclusive rights to the resources found within 200 nautical miles of its coastlines. However, some countries undertake a multi-year process to extend the geographical boundaries under which they claim rights to certain resources. 

This claim is known as an extended continental shelf, and the United States made one in 2023 under rules outlined by the United Nations’ Convention on the Laws of the Sea. (The United States is not an official signatory to UNCLOS, but federal authorities generally adhere to its constructs for governing maritime conduct.)

Through the Global Times, a state-controlled media outlet, Chinese officials previously responded to the US Coast Guard’s announcements, saying they view the United States’ territorial claim as “unilateral.” Citing a “Chinese expert” the publication said that the “hyping up of ‘China threat’ rhetoric is only to justify the US’ evil deeds in the Arctic, revealing itself as a rule-breaker and global troublemaker.”

Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, commander of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, testifies before the House Armed Services Committee in Washington, D.C. March 21, 2024. (DoD photo by EJ Hersom)Influence And Access

As the head of NORTHCOM and NORAD, Gen. Gregory Guillot’s job includes overseeing forces that are routinely tasked with detecting, tracking and intercepting any adversarial ship or plane approaching the homeland. In a statement to Breaking Defense, Guillot said Chinese military activity near Alaska has “increased significantly” over the past several years.

“The increase in activity stems from China’s construction of new polar research ships and Beijing’s aim to expand its influence and access in the Arctic,” he said.

In addition to the incidents with the research vessels the Coast Guard responded to this year, he noted that China’s navy sent a surface action group to patrol the Bering Sea each year from 2021 to 2024, with two of those patrols conducted alongside the Russian navy. 

He also said China “conducted its first ever air patrol inside” the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), when two H-6 medium bombers and two Russian Tu-95 heavy bombers overflew the Bering Sea together in July 2024.

The ADIZ is not formally American airspace but refers to certain airspace surrounding the United States and Canada, which is monitored by civilian and military authorities from both countries. When foreign aircraft enter that airspace unannounced, it can trigger fighter jets being scrambled to intercept them, much like what happened in late September when four Russian military aircraft were detected.

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard said it, too, is responding to a “significant increase” in Chinese activity in Arctic waters in the area around Alaska.

A spokeswoman said the service’s response is part of Operation Frontier Sentinel and it aims to “counter malign activities, defend sovereign interests, and promote maritime conduct consistent with international law and norms.

“The press releases are a proactive measure to inform the American public regarding the increase in activity in the Arctic and the Coast Guard efforts to safeguard our border security and territorial integrity,” she added when asked about the numerous announcements.

While Guillot chalked up China’s operations to a desire to expand its “influence and access” in the Arctic, the Coast Guard deferred a question about China’s impetus to the State Department. A State Department spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

Ice floes surround the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy in the Arctic Ocean on July 29, 2017. The cutter is the largest icebreaker in the Coast Guard and serves as a platform for scientific reseach. (Photo by Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post via Getty Images)Who And How?

Who responds to a perceived incursion matters.

The Chinese ships spotted near Alaska over the last few months were research vessels, meaning they are presumed to be unarmed and manned by civilians, so the Coast Guard responded. 

Former officials told Breaking Defense that since the Coast Guard is a law enforcement agency, it is seen as less threatening than a Navy warship or fighter jets. The difference matters because sending an armed warship to confront unarmed researchers could give China an opportunity to accuse the US of escalating or aggravating a situation.

White, the former DHS official, said it is also important that the Pentagon’s responses on social media to these interactions has been to amplify the Coast Guard’s message, rather than issuing its own statements. While NORAD routinely announces its efforts to intercept aircraft, it did not proactively issue public statements about the Chinese research vessels venturing near Alaska this year. While NORAD routinely announces its efforts to intercept aircraft, it did not proactively issue public statements about the Chinese research vessels venturing near Alaska this year.

“It’s different when it comes from [a four-star] combatant commander,” he added.

Peter Brown, a retired Coast Guard rear admiral and senior fellow at the America First Policy Institute, told Breaking Defense a country’s rights to resources in an extended continental shelf are not all inclusive, and that foreign ships are allowed to transit and fish in those waters.

“It appears that these Chinese research vessels are researching the water column of those areas because that is not an area of exclusive US jurisdiction,” he said. They are claiming “not to be interfering with the sea floor rights that the US has in that area,” a claim Brown said he personally doesn’t believe is true.

Their activity is “very likely non-compliant with the rights that they have in that space,” Brown added. “It’s like you invite the cable guy in to fix your cable, but if he’s taking pictures of your jewelry, that’s not what he’s supposed to be there for.”

Whatever the vessels’ true purpose, White said China’s actions near Alaska amount to the same type of gray zone tactics that Pentagon officials say the country frequently employs elsewhere in the world, providing an opportunity for the Chinese to test the waters — figuratively and literally.

The Chinese are sending “research ships to prove a point. … This isn’t to go all the way up the escalation ladder. I’m prodding, I’m probing, I’m testing, and let’s see what happens,” said White. “That’s why the Coast Guard is so loud” in announcing its responses.

Michael Marrow contributed to this report.

Senate confirms Hung Cao as Navy’s No. 2 civilian

WASHINGTON — The Senate today confirmed former Navy officer Hung Cao, by a vote of 52-45, as the next undersecretary of the Navy.

Cao, a retired captain and diver, was tapped by the White House to be undersecretary in February. His nomination was sent to lawmakers in March, and he has awaited a final vote on the Senate floor since his hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee in June.

His confirmation makes him the second-most senior civilian in the Department of the Navy behind Secretary John Phelan, who was confirmed in March. Brett Seidle, a career Navy civilian, has been performing the duties of the undersecretary up to now.

The Navy’s secretariat includes the secretary, the undersecretary, four assistant secretaries and a general counsel. Of those positions, only Phelan and Cao are confirmed by the Senate; the officials holding the other positions are all in acting capacities.

Cao’s confirmation comes as the rest of Capitol Hill is ensnared in what has become the first government shutdown since late 2018 with no clear end in sight.

Separately, the website tracking White House nominations sent to Congress today indicated Vice Adm. Karl Thomas, currently the deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare, was tapped to receive a fourth star. Defense Scoop first reported Thomas had been selected as the next commander of US Fleet Forces Command, which was vacated by Adm. Daryl Caudle when he became the chief of naval operations.

A spokesperson for the Navy declined to comment on the nomination.

Valerie Insinna contributed reporting to this story.

South Korea selects L3Harris proposal for next early warning aircraft

SINGAPORE — South Korea has chosen a team led by L3Harris for a follow-on contract for four Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft, its procurement agency announced.

L3Harris proposed its Phoenix aircraft, which is a Bombardier Defense Global 6500 business jet modified with an advanced radar system, for the US ally, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said Tuesday.

South Korea had earmarked 3.1 trillion-won ($2.21 billion) for the project, which saw the Phoenix up against Saab’s Globaleye airborne early warning system with its own radar fitted on the same Global 6500 airframe, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.

L3Harris announced in a post on X Tuesday that it had been selected for the award.

Explaining its decision, DAPA said the L3Harris proposal, which will be fitted with Israel’s Elta EL/W-2085 radar, earned a higher evaluation score than Swedish defense firm Saab, its only other contender in the bidding.

Citing DAPA, Yonhap reported that there was no significant difference in the evaluation of the performance of both entrants, but “L3Harris received high scores in the areas of operational suitability, domestic defense industry contribution, and operation and maintenance costs, while Saab received high scores in the areas of contract terms and acquisition costs.”

The Republic of Korea Air Force is already an operator of the Boeing E-7A “Peace Eye” AEW&C aircraft, and the US State Department approved the potential sale of four more E-7As to South Korea in November 2024.

The current program is seeking additional aircraft as South Korea seeks to ramp up its own air defense and intelligence gathering capabilities against North Korea. The South is also seeking to bolster these capabilities as part of efforts to gain operational control of its military during a potential conflict.

Under current arrangements, operational control of the South Korean military will be placed under the South Korean-US Joint Forces Command during wartime, although peacetime operational command has come under the South Korean government since 1994.