This Thursday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the Marine Corps' Advanced Reconnaissance Vehicle program, the Pentagon's Joint Interagency Task Force 401, space domain awareness and more.

The Marine Corps has opted to retain Textron Systems and General Dynamics Land Systems for an additional four-year, pre-production development phase of the Advanced Reconnaissance Vehicle program:

Marine Corps leveraging acquisition reforms for ARV, program manager says

As the Advanced Reconnaissance Vehicle enters a four-year pre-production development phase, the Marine Corps is leveraging a new acquisition strategy in line with Pentagon-wide reforms, according to Program Manager Col. Christopher Stephenson.

The Pentagon's Joint Interagency Task Force 401 wants to rapidly field and evaluate the advanced directed-energy capabilities that will be used to protect military installations as well as other critical homeland infrastructure:

JIATF 401 chooses five installations for directed-energy pilot

The Pentagon's Joint Interagency Task Force 401 has chosen five installations that will be used for testing and evaluating directed-energy counter-drone systems as part of a pilot program, the task force announced yesterday.

The 14 companies awarded a space domain awareness contract will now have up to $6.2 billion to work with, compared to the initial $1.8 billion ceiling initially announced:

Space Force tripling Andromeda contract ceiling, adding Silentbarker follow-on

The Space Force is more than tripling the ceiling for the contract vehicle supporting two efforts for space domain awareness, according to a notice posted this week, including one follow-on to the National Reconnaissance Office's Silentbarker satellites.

The Army's top civilian wants cheaper interceptors:

Driscoll lays out new Army plan to build low-cost interceptors

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll wants to break down the service’s current arsenal of expensive interceptors and build cheaper alternatives from the ground up, aiming to close the costly gap in counter-drone operations in the Middle East.

Missile Defense Agency Director Lt. Gen. Heath Collins recently revealed that the Space Force and U.S. Northern Command have "operationally accepted" the Long Range Discrimination Radar:

Space Force accepts LRDR, completing transition that slipped four years from original target

The Space Force has formally accepted responsibility for the Long Range Discrimination Radar at Clear Space Force Station, AK, completing at the end of February a transition and transfer that was originally targeted for 2022, according to a senior military official.