The INSIDER daily digest -- April 22, 2024

This Monday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the Air Force buying back the intellectual property rights to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program and more.

Don't expect the Pentagon to ever again allow prime contractors to own the intellectual property rights of major weapon systems:

Lessons learned from F-35: Air Force will now purchase IP rights of its weapon systems

When the Air Force began buying the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter about 20 years ago, it took a total system approach, meaning prime contractor Lockheed Martin earned the rights to total control of the program, including the intellectual property of its technologies and mechanical parts.

The five-year plan for an Army high-energy laser system has been cut by billions of dollars:

Army guts $4.8 billion from IFPC-HEL in new five-year plan, focuses on 'try' before 'buy'

The Army has cut $4.8 billion from planned future spending on the Indirect Fire Protection Capability-High Energy Laser in the service's new five-year spending plan, a dramatic reduction that removes future funding stability for a cruise-missile-killer-and-more project that a key service official says remains a priority.

The Defense Innovation Board's next meeting will showcase final recommendations regarding studies on accelerating technology adoption:

DIB discusses studies on partnerships and technology adoption at meeting

The Defense Innovation Board held a meeting yesterday in which guest speakers presented their opinions on two ongoing studies surrounding innovation with allies and accelerating technology adoption, with final recommendations on the studies set to be provided at the board’s July meeting.

If DOD wants to win the artificial intelligence battle, working with partners to advance AI capabilities through data is crucial, according to Jinyoung Englund, chief strategy officer for algorithmic warfare in the chief digital artificial intelligence office:

CDAO official says secure data sharing is key to winning AI battle

A Defense Department senior artificial intelligence officer emphasized today the vital role that sharing quality and secure data amongst DOD, allies and partners plays in order to combat adversaries in the AI battle.

Pentagon spokesman Chris Sherwood said last week that DOD "continues to support the ending of statutory requirements for annual unfunded priorities lists":

OSD still wants Congress to repeal law requiring unfunded priorities lists, despite $30B military request

U.S. military officials have sent Congress more than $30 billion in “unfunded priorities lists” separate from their regular budget request, but civilian leaders at the Pentagon support repealing the law requiring that the annual lists be sent to lawmakers, who often use them as a blueprint for increasing the defense budget.