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yesterday

Pentagon Scraps JCIDS to Speed Fielding as Navy Creates Rapid Capabilities Office

New guidance ties faster oversight to tangible deliveries across space, propulsion, autonomy plus a nuclear‑risk AI tool.

Secretary of the Navy John Phelan and Vice Adm. Rob Gaucher, commander of the U.S. Navy’s Submarine Force, take their place on the podium during a commissioning ceremony for the fast-attack submarine USS Iowa (SSN 797) in Groton, Conn. on April 5, 2025. (Photo: U.S. Navy by Chief Petty Officer Joshua Karsten)
Tranche 1 Transport Layer spacecraft built by York Space Systems. Photo: York
Image: mPower Technology
Northrop Grumman's Advanced Tactical Hostile Engagement Awareness (ATHENA), part of its solution for the Army's Improved Threat Detection System (ITDS). Photo: Northrop Grumman.

Overview

  • A Defense Department memo disestablishes the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System, reforms the Joint Requirements Oversight Council, and creates a Requirements and Resourcing Alignment Board and Joint Acceleration Reserve to compress timelines.
  • An Aug. 19 directive from Secretary of the Navy John Phelan establishes the Naval Rapid Capabilities Office to consolidate prior rapid‑fielding efforts and address urgent operational gaps.
  • York Space Systems says it delivered 21 SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer satellites and projects the first T1TL launch by summer’s end, while the Space Development Agency declined to specify a date.
  • The National Nuclear Security Administration is partnering with Anthropic and Department of Energy laboratories to build a tool that detects when AI systems provide potentially dangerous nuclear‑weapons information.
  • Operational and industrial updates span multiple programs: Air Mobility Command reports KC‑46A boom stiffness and remote‑operation issues affecting several aircraft types; Pratt & Whitney secures a $2.8 billion Lot 18 F135 engine award; Reliable Robotics wins a $17.4 million Air Force contract for autonomous cargo integration; SpaceX targets a 10th Starship test after a ground‑systems delay as ULA and Blue Origin urge FAA limits on Florida launches; DIU Director Doug Beck resigns.