A full-sized model of General Atomics’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (top) and Anduril’s (bottom) on display at AFA 2024 on Sept. 20, 2024. (Breaking Defense photos)
WASHINGTON — Whew, what a year, huh?
We picked sides during a Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef, partied during a brat summer (if you don’t know what that means, ask your daughter), and sat on our couches for the Olympics. And it goes without saying, but I’m sure everyone reading Breaking Defense continued to have their eyes glued on the continued wars in Gaza and Ukraine and is closely watching the fallout of the attempted South Korean coup and the fall of Assad in Syria.
But everything that happened in 2024 — at least in the United States — seemed to fall in the shadow of the election, which saw President Joe Biden withdraw and Vice President Kamala Harris generate momentum as the Democratic nominee, but ultimately lose overwhelmingly to former President Donald Trump.
In much smaller news, this year also brought me back to Breaking Defense, this time in the guise of its Congress and industry reporter. I’m so ecstatic to be back covering the fast-moving world of defense technology and the people who build it, fund it and use it. I hope that’s reflected in this list of some of my favorite industry stories I wrote during this year.
Rather than following my annual tradition of assigning thematically similar Taylor Swift songs to stories as I did in 2021 and 2022, I’m going to provide the defense players involved in the story a corresponding album recommendation. You know, for fun.
[This article is one of many in a series in which Breaking Defense reporters look back on the most significant (and entertaining) news stories of 2024 and look forward to what 2025 may hold.]
As Azealia Banks once famously said, “the girls are fighting!” When defense companies battle over a contract, they typically don’t say much (at least publicly) about the competition. This story about the potshots between General Atomics and Anduril is the exception that proves the rule. The most interesting thing about this discourse is how potentially unnecessary it is. The Air Force will choose which Collaborative Combat Aircraft variants to put into production in 2026, but leaders have said they could dole out production contracts to both Anduril and General Atomics and choose not to eliminate either company.
I may be reading too much into this, but I view the clash between Anduril and General Atomics as similar to the hostility between two literary foils. Both companies are mid-tier, privately-owned and boast a more maverick sensibility than the highly corporatized defense primes. But if Anduril epitomizes the rise of the Silicon Valley-backed defense tech firm — AI and software focused, with glossy advertisements and an irreverent founder — General Atomics feels more a part of the atomic age, a historically quiet company whose culture has been shaped by engineers and physicists running experiments out in the desert.
Album recommendation: “Brat” by Charli XCX, but also maybe the fantastic soundtrack to “Challengers” by Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor.
2. As Air Force deliberates sixth-generation fighter plans, much is at stake for Boeing
Has any defense contractor had a more difficult year than Boeing? (That question is rhetorical, because the answer is obviously no.) 2024 kicked off with a major accident involving its 737 MAX 9 jetliner. The company made major shifts in leadership, with Kelly Ortberg coming onboard to replace Dave Calhoun as chief executive, while also announcing plans to acquire Spirit AeroSystems, a former Boeing spin-off in dire financial straits.
Boeing’s defense arm didn’t fare much better. New headwinds associated with fighter production and continued difficulties on fixed-price development programs generated billions in cost overruns. Boeing defense CEO Ted Colbert departed the company in September amid those problems, and has yet to be permanently replaced.
This story isn’t about those immediate challenges, but teased out what could be an even bigger problem for Boeing: If the Air Force cancels its sixth-generation fighter, known as Next Generation Air Dominance, what kind of future will Boeing have in advanced combat aircraft development?
Album recommendation: Let’s all scream into the void along with “You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To” by Knocked Loose.
3. From Kabul to keel laying: Afghan immigrants find new careers at US shipyards
Man, I loved writing this story. The idea germinated from a throwaway comment made by Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine at a hearing, when he mentioned that Afghan refugees were being trained in Navy-sanctioned programs to enter the shipbuilding industry. I needed to know more. Who was joining these programs, and how successful were they?
While these efforts are fairly new — meaning only a handful of Afghan immigrants have completed them and found work in shipbuilding — I was struck by the resilience and determination of the Afghans I interviewed. When Rafiullah Noori told me that his job at Philly Shipyard gave him a shot at a lucrative career he thought he had lost after leaving Afghanistan, all I could think is, “This is as close to the American Dream as you can find in 2024.”
Album recommendation: I’m not a shipbuilding expert but “American Motor Sports” by Bilmuri would be great music to listen to while fabricating Navy vessels. Also “Cowboy Carter” by Beyonce, a fantastic reminder of the richness and adaptability of American country music.
4. Six months after fatal V-22 crash, an Air Force Osprey squadron in Japan prepares to fly again.
A trip to Tokyo to explore how Japan is revitalizing its industrial base led to an excursion at Yokota Air Base, home to the Air Force squadron that had recently suffered a fatal V-22 accident that resulted in the death of eight airmen. I was honored to have the first opportunity to talk to leaders and members of the 21st Special Operations Squadron about how they were coping with the tragedy and getting ready to fly the Osprey again.
Members of the 21st SOS expressed excitement about returning to flight when I spoke to them, and the squadron restarted V-22 operations weeks after this story was published. However the Osprey’s safety record has continued to be a controversial topic, and on Dec. 9, the Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy temporarily suspended V-22 flight operations.
Album recommendation: “Flight B741” by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard — an album about surviving life’s hardships and the power of friendship, all set to a bunch of flying metaphors — seems like the right pick.
5. How the Pentagon quietly spent $1 billion of inflation relief money
In this story, air warfare reporter Michael Marrow and I dove deep to answer what we initially thought would be an easy question: When Congress appropriated a special $1 billion fund dedicated to inflation relief for defense contractors, where did the money go?
More difficult than obtaining the list of 68 programs that obtained relief funds was getting a clearer picture of which companies benefitted from the funding, and why. A small number of big-name weapons programs —including the Constellation-class frigate, F-15EX fighter jet and John Lewis-class fleet replenishment oiler — clearly gobbled up the majority of the money, but what remains opaque, even to Pentagon leaders like comptroller Mike McCord, is how much funding trickled down to small suppliers desperately in need of cash.
Album recommendation: “Songs of a Lost World” by The Cure
Honorable mention: NAVSEA is in its ‘survey era,’ writes top civilian in email loaded with Taylor Swift lyrics
My other editors were off work, so I bullied Breaking Defense Assistant Editor Alyssa Schonhaut into letting me write this story.
Album recommendation: “The Tortured Poet’s Department: The Anthology,” by Taylor Swift, obviously.
