The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, or OUSD R&E, has increased its investment in the Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies, also known as APFIT, program, which provides financial support to small businesses that develop technologies for warfighters. 

OUSD R&E announced that five companies will receive funding of up to $42 million, which is the largest single award since the program launched in 2022. 

APFIT was established to accelerate the development and delivery of cutting-edge technologies that support warfighters. Since 2022, the program has invested over $925 million across various projects. 

Previous contracts awarded under APFIT ranged between $10 million and $20 million. 

New APFIT Funding Winners

According to OUSD R&E, a company developing electronic warfare capability for the U.S. Army secured the largest single AFIP funding of $42 million. Another contract awardee for a Ku and Ka band communications suite for the U.S. Air Force received $33.3 million.

Four projects each received $30 million under AFIP. The projects are:

• Expeditionary Manufacturing Cells for the Air Force
• Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack Systems for the Marine Corps
• Small Unmanned Aircraft Defense for the Air Force
• Vanilla Long Endurance UAS for multiple Department of Defense components

“APFIT empowers small and non-traditional companies to play a pivotal role in countering emerging threats,” explained Emil Michael, under secretary of defense for research and engineering. “The investments allow them to scale, hire talent, and deliver solutions that directly enhance warfighter capabilities.”

The Government Accountability Office wants the U.S. Army to adopt modern design technologies, such as digital twins and digital threads, to accelerate the modernization of its air and missile defense systems. 

In a report published Wednesday, the congressional watchdog said that fully utilizing such tools would enhance efficiencies, reduce costs and enable decision makers to anticipate design flaws.

GAO Findings in Report on Army Air & Missile Defense Modernization

The Army has been in the process of modernizing its air and missile defense infrastructure for years. The military branch ramped up the initiative in 2018 to ensure that soldiers are well protected against threats from near-peer competitors, such as China and Russia. 

However, GAO pointed out that the Army mostly uses 3D modeling and simulation technology to predict how a product would function in a specific situation. The organization will benefit from using digital twins, which are dynamic virtual representations of products, and digital threats, or tools that deliver real-time data to stakeholders throughout a product lifecycle. 

The report pointed out that the Army has increased its budget requests for seven air and missile defense modernizations since 2021. The service also implemented acquisition pathways that speed up the development and delivery of new capabilities. 

GAO recommended that the Army assess the benefits of modern design tools. The Department of Defense concurred.

President Donald Trump has officially nominated Gen. Michael Guetlein, the current vice chief of space operations at the U.S. Space Force and a 2025 Wash100 Award winner, as direct reporting program manager for the Golden Dome project.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, also a Wash100 recipient, announced Guetlein’s nomination along with other nominees for leadership positions at the U.S. Air Force on Wednesday.

Who Is Michael Guetlein?

Reports about Trump’s selection of Guetlein as the direct reporting program manager for Golden Dome for America first emerged in May. At a White House press conference, the president praised the four-star general’s “unmatched background in missile warning technology and defense procurement,” adding that Guetlein is known “to move fast.”

Gen. Guetlein is one of the keynote speakers at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Air and Space Summit on July 31. Register for the in-person event here.

As the Space Force’s second-ranking officer, Guetlein assists the chief of space operations in training and equipping space forces around the world, implementing space policies, developing guidelines and coordinating space-related activities.

Before his current role, he served as commander of the Space Systems Command.

Outside of the Space Force, Guetlein held positions at the National Reconnaissance Office, Missile Defense Agency and the Air Force.

Trump’s Air Force Leadership Nominees

Hegseth’s Wednesday announcement also names Lt. Gen. Adrian Spain, Gen. Case Cunningham and Gen. John DeGoes.

Spain, deputy chief of staff for operations at USAF, was nominated as commander of the Air Combat Command. He will succeed Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, who is retiring.

Meanwhile, Trump chose Cunningham, current head of the U.S. Alaska Command, to replace Spain as the deputy chief of staff, or the Air Force A-3.

DeGoes will hold the dual roles of surgeon general of the Air Force, his current position, and commander of the Air Force Medical Command.

Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll said the Army Transformation Initiative will reassess all requirements, prioritize programs that contribute to lethality, cancel unnecessary initiatives and encourage leaders to take risks, DOD News reported Wednesday.

“The Army Transformation Initiative will make us into an Army that is lean, agile and relentlessly focused on empowering its soldiers. We need to get rid of what we don’t need, acquire what we do and chisel our organization down to a lean, lethal fighting machine,” Driscoll said Wednesday during the Senate Appropriations Committee’s defense subcommittee hearing.

Analysis of Proposed Changes Under Army Transformation Initiative

During the hearing, Driscoll told lawmakers that the service will submit to Congress in 10 days an analysis detailing its proposed changes under the Army Transformation Initiative, including its plan to restructure formations, consolidate Army Futures Command and Training and Doctrine Command into one entity and cancel programs like the Robotic Combat Vehicle and the M10 Booker light tank, according to a report by Defense News.

“We’d be happy to come by any time, but I think very specifically, you will have that detail within 10 days,” Driscoll said.

According to the Army secretary, the amount of spending planned over the next five years for programs the military branch will cancel or redirect is worth approximately $48 billion.

Expanding ‘Transformation in Contact’ Initiative to Army Guard

The Army Times reported that Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George said the service has begun identifying Army Guard units for the Transformation in Contact, or TIC, initiative, which started with three infantry brigades.

“We want to do that as fast as we can in the Guard as well,” George said during the Senate subpanel hearing. “They are identifying those units who can do that in the Guard.”

TIC seeks to deliver drones, infantry squad vehicles, counter-drone equipment, electromagnetic warfare capabilities and other new equipment to operational units as they prepare for major training activities and deployments.

The general noted that the Army Guard will have access to those same systems.