The Defense Innovation Unit is taking aim at a familiar problem for defense startups: how do you get access to classified opportunities when you need a government contract to start the facility clearance process, but may need classified access to understand the government’s requirements in the first place? According to reporting from Federal News Network from the National Defense Industrial Association’s Emerging Technologies for Defense conference, DIU plans to launch a new solicitation that would allow selected nontraditional companies to begin the facility security clearance process before DoD actually purchases their technology. Under the pilot, companies in a designated technology area could provide DIU with something like a product roadmap in exchange for a prototype contract that creates a pathway into the FCL process. DCSA would still determine whether a company and its personnel are eligible for clearance, but DIU would maintain the approved facility clearance for a period expected to extend beyond one year. DIU plans to start small, with roughly 30 to 40 companies, according to Federal News Network.
The effort builds on a broader DoD push to make the classified industrial base more accessible to startups and nontraditional contractors. Earlier this year, we covered DARPA’s TurboFCL initiative, a software tool designed to help companies navigate the complicated FCL application process and submit cleaner, more complete packages to DCSA. TurboFCL grew out of lessons DARPA learned through its BRIDGES program, which sponsored nontraditional companies for facility clearances and exposed just how difficult the process could be for newcomers. DIU’s Bridge Program attacks the challenge from another angle: creating an earlier pathway for promising companies to actually get sponsored and enter the FCL process. Meanwhile, DCSA COO Blake Moore said at the NDIA event that the agency’s new “rapid FCL model” for nontraditional, venture-backed companies is producing a five-to-sixfold decrease in FCL processing time by handling certain requirements in parallel rather than sequentially and applying automation. Taken together, TurboFCL, DIU Bridge and DCSA’s rapid FCL work point to a larger effort to remove the clearance bottlenecks that can keep promising commercial technology outside the classified defense market.
Layoffs: Kilgore
Kilgore Flares Company is preparing to lay off 127 employees at its manufacturing facility in Toone, Tennessee, with the reductions scheduled to take effect by October 31. The company filed a WARN notice with the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, which lists 127 affected workers. Kilgore manufactures infrared decoy flares used as countermeasures against heat-seeking missiles.
The layoffs are tied to contracts, according to Hardeman County Mayor Todd Pulse, who emphasized that the Toone facility is not closing. Kilgore has operated in Hardeman County since 1960 and is part of British defense company Chemring Group. The cuts could have an outsized impact in the rural community, where Kilgore is a major industrial employer. State workforce officials are coordinating assistance for affected employees, while local officials are also working to connect displaced workers with new employment opportunities.
Hiring: Kongsberg
Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace is building out its Virginia workforce as it prepares to open a new 150,000-square-foot missile production facility in James City County. The defense contractor says it is seeking 187 employees across a broad mix of positions, including engineering, production, quality assurance, security, IT support, supply chain, purchasing, test technician and warehouse roles.
The Toano facility will support production, sustainment and technology refresh capabilities for Kongsberg’s Naval Strike Missile and Joint Strike Missile, both of which are being procured by the U.S. military. Missile manufacturing is expected to begin in late 2027, with production ramping up through 2028. Kongsberg has already begun establishing its local team as it prepares for the larger hiring push, giving defense and manufacturing professionals another growing employment destination in Virginia’s national security corridor.
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Opportunity to Watch
The Pentagon is putting a bigger spotlight on a workforce problem that could complicate efforts to expand the defense industrial base: there are not enough skilled workers to fill the jobs already available. Michael Cadenazzi, assistant secretary of war for industrial base policy, told lawmakers that roughly 400,000 skilled-trade positions are currently unfilled across the defense industrial base, with that shortage potentially growing to 2.5 million over the next decade. The need stretches across occupations including welders, machinists, pipe fitters and engineers, making workforce development an increasingly important piece of plans to increase production of ships, aircraft, weapons and munitions.
The department is trying to build that pipeline through its Build Freedom Initiative, a national hiring, training and awareness campaign focused on defense manufacturing and skilled trades. The initiative brings together more than 70 existing workforce projects and is intended to connect workers with scholarships, training, credentials and employment opportunities. Build Freedom initially launched in Texas, Michigan and Pennsylvania, with plans to expand nationwide. For defense contractors, the numbers underscore that expanding manufacturing capacity will require more than new facilities and contracts. Companies will also need a much larger pipeline of workers capable of doing the hands-on work behind that expansion.
