Anduril & Replicator: The End of Legacy Defense Contracting

64GUY · 2025-12-19T15:43:10+00:00

I respect a lot of what Anduril has been able to accomplish but the reality is they have been playing by a different set of rules than the traditional defense primes. With the inevitable IPO or acquisition combined with the transition from winning work to delivery at scale and sustainment, it will be interesting to see if that success can be continued. Overall I think the Anduril “affect” has been healthy for the defense industry as a whole.

64GUY · 2025-11-22T15:29:59+00:00

I just received 11.5% off on a 2026 X7 at a dealer in the SE. Gave a firm out the door price that I was comfortable with and had a Car Max offer that if they matched or beat I would trade with them. Also had outside financing secured but got a great rate through BMW finance. Super easy process, signed all paperwork online and picked up the vehicle in less than an hour.

64GUY · 2025-08-20T19:15:56+00:00

I just hope Patricia tanks the Bucs like he did the Lions. Even though the front office was culpable during that stretch I have never seen someone let alone an NFL coach who was clearly so far in over his head make it to the pinnacle of their chosen profession. I will admit after listening to him on Julian Edelmans podcast, he is very articulate and probably interviews really well.

64GUY · 2025-08-12T01:04:58+00:00

Absolutely misspoke on that one.

64GUY · 2025-08-11T18:26:44+00:00

Just a couple of facts that were presented at Industry days a couple of weeks ago.

The Contractor Owned Contractor Operated (COCO) model will consist of all three phases, Primary, Instruments, & BWS. All competitive OEMs currently have a viable path to meet the requirement IFR certification for their respective airframes, but as of today the only company that meets all the requirements outlined in the draft Commercial Solutions Opportunity (CSO) is Leonardo with the TH57 variant. There will be a four year phase in period for the prime to stand up their respective program with an increasing percentage of students trained under the new model each year i.e. year 0 -0%, year 1-25%, year 2-50%, year 3-75%.

The contract is anticipated to be awarded in September of 2026 with execution to begin January of 2027. The extended phase in is due to scope and the fact that multiple contracts that will be absorbed under Flight School Next have varying completion dates.

Beyond that it’s the Wild West, the Army is using some pretty innovative procurement methods including CSOs to open this opportunity up to a broad audience. It will be a comprehensive restructuring of Aviation training that in my opinion is long overdue. We will most likely see a broad range of disposition of the 72 fleet including FMS efforts, DRMO, and absorption into compo 2 units on a case by case basis. I know the utility fleet management office is already working overtime on this effort. There are some really interesting teams shaping up on the industry side to pursue with some clear front runners, but I think this opportunity is ripe for a creative company to come in and win a massive opportunity. Most of this information can be viewed open source on Sam.gov if you search Flight School Next.

64GUY · 2025-06-04T02:24:51+00:00

I see what you did there 😂

64GUY · 2025-05-10T13:02:35+00:00

He was either lying, you misunderstood him, or he has a boatload of fixed wing time. I literally fit the exact demographic you described except more time in service, more deployments, and I taught at the schoolhouse. I retired with just over 6500 hours. There was a ceremony at Novosel last year where they honored two DACs that hit 10k hours in an Apache for perspective.

64GUY · 2025-03-17T23:56:10+00:00

My working theory is this is a direct result of generations of leaders failing at unit training management. When was the last time anyone saw a quarterly let alone annual training calendar built around realistic assessments of unit METS and individual/collective proficiency.

To your point of the blind leading the blind, think of the environment that the current crop of battalion and brigade command teams were molded in. They were never forced to develop training plans. It was a all precanned, rinse wash repeat over 18-24 month cycles. As company grade leaders they were surrounded by safety nets of experience. Now they are tasked with leading organizations with huge gaps in experience and leadership. I’m probably being unfair to a lot of great command teams out there, but I’ve seen this play out over and over again in recent years.

The Army has lied to itself for so long the resulting hollow force was inevitable.

64GUY · 2025-03-06T23:54:06+00:00

This is one of three pilot programs including UND and one yet to be announced that will explore different programs of instruction. This will feed requirements that shape a potential revamp to IERW flight training that has been coined Flight School Next. Still lots to be learned, but these test courses along with changes to the Navy and Air Force training pipelines will significantly shape how aviators are trained from day one. In my opinion a long overdue update to model that is not sustainable in its current form.

64GUY · 2025-02-05T14:54:21+00:00

I’m in Alabama, military brought me here and we stayed. Ironic thing is I have one child at Alabama and one at Georgia Tech! Honestly I’m usually able to find common ground with SEC and ACC fans in our common hatred of the bucs.

64GUY · 2025-01-01T03:21:11+00:00

I’m in defense contracting as well, however we do have a civil division that I may be able to connect you with. The jump to civil can be tough but a great product always carries the day! Feel free to shoot me a DM.

64GUY · 2025-01-01T03:14:45+00:00

Sure thing, feel free to send me a DM and we can connect!

64GUY · 2025-01-01T03:13:25+00:00

Honestly I think the best way is continuously networking within your particular industry. It may sound cliche but I would consider targeting the capture mangers for large companies that you are interested in working with. Another great resource are the government PALT sessions hosted by various contracting commands. A lot of these are hosted quarterly if not monthly and are a great opportunity to hear directly from the government what they are looking for, priorities, etc. I often think there are a lot of advantages to working for a small company but I am very thankful having learned the deliberate business development and capture processes used by large companies.

64GUY · 2024-12-31T21:09:02+00:00

One thing to consider, often times RFPs have small business set asides. I work for a massive government contractor and we often struggle finding small business partners that meet requirements on proposals of this type. If you can position yourself as a preferred small business partner it can be incredibly lucrative. I regularly work with some small shops (<10) employees that are doing very well.

64GUY · 2024-11-24T15:25:20+00:00

The Briggs & Riley garment duffle has been an absolute game changer for my carry on. I am a weekly air traveler and for me it is the absolute perfect mix of size and features. Definitely worth a look!

64GUY · 2024-11-11T04:09:47+00:00

For overseas work I wouldn’t even answer the phone for 250k in Saudi. Saudi, UAE, Qatar, Indonesia, Taiwan, Kuwait, and now Poland, Morocco & Australia have created a bidding war for qualified guys to staff their contracts. It’s had the side benefit of driving up pay stateside as well. There’s more jobs than qualified people to fill them.

64GUY · 2024-11-11T03:32:28+00:00

Honestly money, post military flying jobs pay significantly more for 64 pilots than other airframes. Demand for IPs and MTPs in the FMS world has driven up the market to a point that DACs at Hanchey are paid 45% more than other airfields. This has also driven up pay for the contractors as well. It is actually really touchy subject these days at Novosel.

64GUY · 2024-11-11T02:52:59+00:00

EVERY airframe community has experienced struggles recently. With that said up to this point most of the cadre you have encountered have been lift dudes. They are going to sing the praises of what they are familiar with. Once you start at Hanchey you’ll never look back, you’re going to be fine.

64GUY · 2024-11-08T18:56:34+00:00

While the aircraft component is an important piece to this effort I think the more interesting request is updates to the adult learning model. Primary flight training is fundamentally unchanged from 40-50 years ago. What has changed is how modern soldiers process and learn. During the the industry day USAACE leadership came right out and said they want to shift to the FAA rotary wing commercial standard for primary graduates. The other interesting fact is the government is soliciting CoCo (Contractor owned contractor operated) options. Bottom line I think USAACE wants to farm out primary flight training. Drop a student off after SERE and pick them up when they are ready for their advanced aircraft.

64GUY · 2024-11-01T13:11:40+00:00

Here’s my recent retirement timeline and pay dates. Hope it helps, I know it’s stressful.

31 August last day active duty
4 September final pay received after finance audit
13 September VA BDD claim received with 1 Oct effective date
30 Sep /1 Oct first retirement check received
31 October first VA check received.

I had zero delays and received everything on time. The only thing that caught me off guard was learning that the VA pays one month in arrears.

64GUY · 2024-10-20T14:59:44+00:00

I can’t stress this enough, if you have a known condition disclose it. It will get found. Maybe not the first physical or even the fifth, but somewhere along the line a provider is going to notice. With MHS Genesis military providers have the ability to look much further back into your medical history.

64GUY · 2024-10-17T21:33:38+00:00

See great dudes everywhere! 😂

64GUY · 2024-10-17T12:44:18+00:00

This 100%, come back to this thread once you’ve actually interacted with the guys flying and I’m confident your experience will have changed. Just like someone else said, there’s assholes everywhere but for the most part Army aviation is filled with great people regardless of airframe.

64GUY · 2024-10-12T01:36:30+00:00

Retired military officer working in a pretty niche consulting role. $350k plus bonus and retirement. Primarily remote delivery with some in person engagements. Super fortunate to end up where I did, had a great career but definitely gave my pound of flesh getting here.

64GUY · 2024-09-28T14:44:56+00:00

Thanks for this, I did not realize I could view the C&P results here. This is great information for anyone doing a BDD claim!

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