The business of defense, October 21

Leidos has won a $160 million award to support U.S. Cyber Command in planning and conducting full-spectrum military cyber operations. The company announced the award Oct. 21, 2026.¹

Jason O'Connor, president of Leidos Intelligence, said the team for the work includes Kudu Dynamics.¹ Leidos announced the Kudu acquisition in May 2025, saying it would accelerate its strategy for artificial intelligence-enabled offensive cyber, electromagnetic spectrum operations and vulnerability research.²

The five-year award includes integration and coordination of offensive and defensive cyber operations, including support to secure, operate and defend the Department of War Information Network. Leidos will provide cyber defense, operational planning, emerging threat analysis and support for developing tactics, techniques and procedures.¹

Defense News reports the Air Force says it needs 1,509 combat-coded fighters by 2035. These are jets assigned to combat units. The service sent its force structure report to Congress Oct. 16.¹

The goal requires congressional funding and timely deliveries from Lockheed Martin and Boeing, Lt. Gen. David Tabor said, Defense News reports. Tabor is the Air Force's deputy chief of staff for plans and programs.¹

Breaking Defense reports the force structure report itself cites delays tied to F-35 modernization setbacks and F-15EX deliveries postponed by production struggles.²

Breaking Defense reports the requirement reflects moderate risk and uses combat coded total aircraft inventory, including backup and attrition reserve jets. Congress's floor of 1,145 tactical aircraft uses a different measure, primary mission aircraft inventory.²

Defense News reports that Air Force officials have long said the service needs to buy 72 fighters a year. The Air Force's fiscal 2027 request seeks 62. The request counts on $2.34 billion through a reconciliation bill. That would pay for 14 F-35s. If the bill fails, Tabor said, the service could shift money from other programs or push the purchases to 2028.¹

Tabor cautioned that the requirement is likely to change with world events, new requirements and new technology, Defense News reports. It excludes Collaborative Combat Aircraft. Tabor said those aircraft could reduce the fighter requirement in future reports but are not yet changing it.¹

CACI raised its fiscal 2027 revenue outlook on Oct. 21. The company now forecasts annual revenue of $10.7 billion to $10.9 billion, up from $10.65 billion to $10.85 billion.¹

Revenue reached $2.47 billion in the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2026. Organic growth of 2.1% trailed the 8.2% year-over-year revenue increase.¹

Contract awards totaled $4.8 billion, with about 61% representing new business to CACI. Book-to-bill was 2.0x. About half of the quarter's award value came from two awards, with CACI including $1.2 billion from each in awards and backlog based on current requirements.¹

Those recognized amounts differ from the awards' headline values: a U.S. Central Command award carried a $1.5 billion ceiling, while a five-year U.S. Army Special Operations Command task order was valued at $1.6 billion.¹

The Army encountered problems integrating Anduril’s technology with existing communications, Army and company officials told Breaking Defense. The 25th Infantry Division attempted to use Lattice during September’s Lightning Surge 5 exercise in Hawaii.¹

Army and industry officials said the division’s architecture is largely representative of what they must build on to field other I Corps units.¹

Earlier use at the 4th Infantry Division in Colorado paired Anduril’s Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2) technology with new, mostly commercial hardware and software. James Craven, Anduril’s NGC2 program manager, said the 25th would preserve some legacy capabilities, and not every unit would receive fresh fielding like the 4th.¹

Lockheed Martin leads integration for the 25th’s portion of NGC2 and served as integrator for Lattice. Chandra Marshall, Lockheed’s vice president of multi-domain combat solutions, said scaling with Lattice was an issue and passing data through the system was not where it should be. An Anduril official acknowledged growing pains but said they had discovered technical limitations in the broader communications architecture.¹

Brig. Gen. Shane Taylor, the Army’s portfolio management executive for command and control information network, characterized much of what the Army saw as normal growing pains.¹

Lockheed Martin's Extended-Range GMLRS (ER GMLRS) rocket has completed operational testing in its Alternative Warhead and Unitary Warhead versions, the company announced Oct. 19. The flights took place in September and October. The two successful soldier-led tests involved firing multiple rockets in succession from an M270A2 launcher at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.¹

The rocket is designed to extend the GMLRS family's reach to as much as 150 kilometers while maintaining compatibility with HIMARS and M270 launchers.¹

L3Harris opened its Arsenal of Freedom solid rocket motor facility in Camden, Arkansas, on Oct. 20, 2026. The company designed the plant to double current capacity, with room for additional growth. Together with additional propellant processing facilities, it will support production for the Army’s Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS).¹

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said motor production at the new plant would begin soon. L3Harris did not give a baseline capacity, output rate or production start date for the plant with the opening.¹

The facility’s completion is part of a $216 million Defense Production Act Title III cooperative agreement L3Harris signed in 2023 to support increased demand for tactical missiles, including Javelin, Stinger and GMLRS. That agreement also covered new facilities in Orange County, Virginia, and equipment and digital upgrades in Huntsville, Alabama.¹

The Navy plans to expand its attack submarine maintenance contract to include ballistic missile and guided missile submarines. Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) intends to issue a request for proposals in the first quarter of fiscal 2027.¹

Contractors would perform drydock repair, maintenance and alterations at Navy facilities without needing their own drydock. The Navy intends to set aside non-critical work, designated Lot 2, for small businesses.¹

The expansion also includes attack submarine work at the Trident Refit Facilities at Kings Bay and Bangor, Naval Submarine Base New London and Naval Base Point Loma. That adds to the existing framework for attack submarine work during Chief of Naval Operations maintenance availabilities.¹

For Lot 1 work, contractors must have the capability and capacity to meet technical requirements for critical systems. Awardees are expected to be able to complete multiple concurrent complex Chief of Naval Operations availabilities involving critical systems. NAVSEA warns that delays on those systems are likely to significantly affect the overall schedule of the maintenance availability.¹

Delivery orders are expected to be competed among contract holders under the existing five-year base ordering period and three option years. The ordering period runs through Sept. 1, 2033, if all options are exercised. Offerors must have a CONFIDENTIAL facility clearance by award.¹

The Oct. 21 presolicitation notice is subject to change and commits the Navy neither to solicit offers nor to award contracts.¹

Hyperion Materials & Technologies has acquired The Ultra-Met Company, an Urbana, Ohio, manufacturer of custom-molded tungsten carbide products for defense, aerospace and general industrial manufacturing.¹

The deal brings together two manufacturers with a history of sourcing a substantial portion of their carbide from Western producers, according to Hyperion. Hyperion CEO Ron Voigt said the U.S. defense industry needs stable Western suppliers to meet its components and tooling needs.¹

The acquisition closed Oct. 1, 2026, following customary regulatory approvals and completion of certain pre-closing conditions. Hyperion did not disclose a purchase price or financing terms in its announcement. Ultra-Met employees will join Hyperion’s broad-based ownership program.¹

Rheinmetall and Swiss shipping company MSC have won the auction for Romania’s Mangalia shipyard, south of Constanța, Rheinmetall announced Oct. 19. The partners will jointly pay around €138 million for the acquisition, which Rheinmetall expects to finalise in a few weeks.¹

Rheinmetall expects Mangalia to play an important role in its Naval Systems division’s construction of four vessels commissioned by the Romanian government. The work includes two 96-metre offshore patrol vessels. It also includes two 43-metre diver support vessels.¹

The partners plan to develop civilian and military shipbuilding in parallel for domestic and international markets, dividing the site into sectors and security zones. Tim Wagner, CEO of Rheinmetall’s Naval Systems division, said the company plans to expand and upgrade the yard after the acquisition, improving production conditions and adapting capacity to future requirements.¹

Moog projects investing nearly $12 million over five years to expand its space and defense production operation in West Valley City, Utah. The company also projects 89 new jobs over that period.¹

Indra’s $50 million plant in Olathe, Kansas, is fully operational. The 118,000-square-foot facility is producing next-generation radars and NEXCOM VHF/UHF air-to-ground digital radios for Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) programs.¹

Indra also plans to manufacture portable Tactical Air Navigation (MP-TACAN) systems for the U.S. Air Force at Olathe. The plant will also produce more than 1,500 ADS-B radios, Indra said.¹

Indra held the plant’s grand opening on April 20, 2026.² Olathe complements the company’s existing 40,000-square-foot facility in nearby Overland Park, Kansas.¹

Teamsters Local 710 Pension Fund sued York Space Systems in federal court in Colorado on Oct. 19. It alleges York's IPO registration statement omitted a Pentagon decision against funding Tranche 3 of the Space Development Agency's Transport Layer in the proposed fiscal 2026 budget.¹

The complaint puts that decision before an offering that it says raised $629 million in gross proceeds. It says the Space Development Agency historically accounted for substantially all of York's revenue and backlog.¹

The fund alleges the Pentagon had decided against the funding by 2025, due at least in material part to York's inadequate performance.¹

Defendants include private equity firm AE Industrial Partners, which owned York through affiliates before the IPO, and IPO underwriters including Goldman Sachs, Jefferies and Wells Fargo.¹

A complaint dated Aug. 31 alleges a Space Force budget released in April revealed an immediate halt to third-tranche Transport Layer payments. That complaint alleges York failed to disclose that onboard mission and payload software was not fully functional before satellites launched.³

Lead-plaintiff motions are due Oct. 30, according to plaintiff counsel Robbins Geller.²

Elbit Systems has completed its acquisition of International Submarine Engineering (ISE), a Vancouver-area maker of autonomous and remotely operated underwater vehicles, the company announced Oct. 20. Elbit described the purchase price as not material to the company.¹

The acquisition adds an underwater vehicle manufacturer to a naval portfolio that already includes unmanned surface vessels, underwater systems, sonar and command-and-control suites. Elbit intends ISE’s underwater autonomous technologies to further strengthen what it calls its end-to-end maritime offering.¹

ISE has more than 50 years of experience in subsea robotics and also develops and manufactures computer control systems and robotics. Elbit says ISE has delivered more than 250 underwater vehicles to customers in more than 20 countries.¹

The Marine Corps has expanded its enterprise licensing for unlimited Maven Smart System (MSS) access to all applicable networks, effective Oct. 1, 2026. The change is set out in MARADMIN 505/26, dated Oct. 16.¹

The Corps acquired an enterprise license for unlimited access through SIPRnet (IL-6 cloud) in August 2025 for specified commands and organizations.² The expanded coverage adds Marine Forces Reserve Command, which the earlier guidance had left for a subsequent iteration.^1–2

Commands are encouraged to designate MSS implementation leads, and an updated implementation plan will be published separately.¹

Tide Rock has acquired Electro-Spec, establishing a specialty surface-finishing platform with electroplating, passivation and metallurgical analysis capabilities, the buyer announced Oct. 21, 2026. The announcement disclosed no purchase price.¹

Tide Rock President Brooks Kincaid said Electro-Spec's specialized plating capability complements the metal machining companies already in its portfolio.¹

On Oct. 22, 2025, Tide Rock announced acquisitions of Precision Waterjet & Laser in Anaheim, California, and Made in America Manufacturing in Buda, Texas. That announcement identified aerospace and defense components among the businesses' capabilities.²

Electro-Spec operates facilities in Franklin, Indiana, and Lexington, South Carolina, serving original equipment manufacturers and precision machining shops. It runs automated and semi-automated plating lines. Its capabilities include selective gold plating, electroless nickel plating, passivation and micro-miniature plating.¹

The Space Development Agency issued a request for information on Oct. 20, 2026, seeking industry feedback on upgrades to its Tracking Layer mission payloads and architecture. The Tracking Layer is part of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture.¹

Following the feedback phase, SDA plans to announce a Tranche 4 solicitation that includes production contracts alongside partnership opportunities for rapid prototyping and flight demonstrations of new mission payloads.¹

SDA wants input on enhancing the baseline system and on new capabilities that could help detect and track more challenging targets across their full flight trajectories.¹

Responses are due by noon Eastern on Dec. 4, 2026. Additional details, mission objectives and architecture information are available upon request.¹