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HII’s Weekly News Digest is compiled every Friday by the Corporate Communications team to summarize and highlight news stories of significance to the company.

Navy Ships Receive Overmatch Upgrades Following Vinson Success: Defense News reported on Thursday that Project Overmatch networking capabilities have been upgraded and rolled out to several U.S. Navy ships following testing last year with the Carl Vinson carrier strike group. Project Overmatch represents the service’s contribution to the Department of Defense’s Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control campaign. Rear Adm. Doug Small, the leader of Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, told WEST 2024 conference attendees in San Diego that the Project Overmatch improvements have been enhanced and are being replicated elsewhere, although he was short on details about which corners of the fleet are now equipped with CJADC2-related advanced networking and data handling capabilities. Navy officials have said Project Overmatch’s rollout would first concentrate on the Indo-Pacific then expand globally. Also speaking at West, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti said the service is seeking fleet-wide connectivity to support distributed maritime operations and “to achieve decision superiority and lethality at machine speed.” Defense Scoop reported Thursday that the Navy can deliver over-the-air software and capability updates to ships through Project Overmatch, regardless of whether the ships are in port or connected via a satellite link.

Franchetti Optimistic About Future Of Manned-Unmanned Fleet: Defense News reported on Tuesday that prototyping of the future manned-unmanned fleet has created optimism among Navy leadership, Adm. Lisa Franchetti said Tuesday at the WEST 2024 conference. Franchetti told attendees that she stands by a timeline published last year that the Navy viewed its manned-unmanned hybrid fleet in three phases: prototyping and experimentation in the five-year Future Years Defense Program, from fiscal years 2024 through 2028; buying programs of record and beginning to use them in the next Future Years Defense Program, from FY29-33; and having a fully operational unmanned fleet in the third Future Years Defense Program. Franchetti also noted the Navy will operate unmanned systems “at speed and scale” in real-world missions during the third phase. Meanwhile, Inside Defense reported on Wednesday that U.S. Pacific Fleet will stand up a second unmanned surface vessel squadron in May as the Navy pushes to develop uncrewed and autonomous systems. Adm. Samuel Paparo, presumptive new head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said the squadron will be a “uniformed capability,” rather than being contractor-owned, contractor operated.

Red Sea Engagements Inform Navy Updates: Defense News reported on Tuesday that the U.S. Navy is incorporating lessons learned from its Red Sea engagements with Houthi rebels and are using them to improve tactics for seeing and eliminating threats. Vice Adm. Brendan McLane, the commander of Naval Surface Forces, said U.S. ships in the Red Sea are sending data about their engagements with Houthi missiles and drones back to the Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center, for the experts there to share ideas. Elizabeth Nashold, the deputy commander of Naval Information Forces, said Arleigh Burke-class destroyer Carney (DDG 64) “was ready on Day 1″ in October when the ship responded to Houthi attacks, due to its training and focus on battlespace awareness, assured command and control, and integrated fires. Some of the updated tactics include increasing battlespace awareness so a ship commander has as much time as possible to react to an incoming threat. Defense Scoop reported on Thursday that Nashold noted the Navy is considering non-kinetic ways – meaning methods that don’t use typical ammunition such as electronic warfare, cyber, direct energy and others – to disrupt Houthis attacks.

BAE Receives Regulatory Approval To Buy Ball Aerospace: Inside Defense reported on Wednesday that the government has given the green light for BAE Systems to buy Ball Corp.’s Ball Aerospace business unit for $5.5 billion. The acquisition is expected to be completed “in the coming days,” according to a BAE statement. Space News reported on Wednesday that the deal was reviewed by the U.S. Department of Justice as well as the Committee on Foreign Investment. The acquisition was originally announced in August. Ball Aerospace will be renamed to Space & Mission Systems and the 5,200 employees at Ball’s Colorado manufacturing facility will continue their existing work on national security space programs.

DOD Selects First Replicator Systems, Announces Software Is Focus Of Second Tranche: Breaking Defense reported on Wednesday that the Pentagon has picked which systems will be fielded under the first tranche of its Replicator initiative, although the Defense Department will remain mum on the details of those systems. The first examples of Replicator, announced in August last year by Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen H. Hicks, is focused on countering China’s military mass by creating thousands of attritable autonomous systems across multiple domains within two years. The first tranche of Replicator will be focused on the needs in U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. A second Replicator tranche will focus on software that enables platforms to work together, said Navy Capt. Alex Campbell, director of the DIU’s maritime portfolio. DOD leadership is in the process of identifying the scope of the second tranche, Campbell said.

HII’s Weekly News Digest is produced by HII’s Corporate Communications team and posted to Homeport every Friday.

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