Friday, April 19, 2024
Justin Doubleday was managing editor of Inside the Pentagon until June 2021, where he focused on defense-wide topics including budgets, acquisition policy, combatant commands, missile defense and cyber. He has also worked for ITP sister publications Inside the Army and Inside the Navy. Justin previously reported for The Chronicle of Higher Education. He graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 2013.
The Senate today narrowly passed joint resolutions blocking the Trump administration's emergency arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, but without a veto-proof majority, the legislation is likely to be blocked by the president.
House and Senate lawmakers are moving legislation to authorize increased funding for the Defense Department’s nascent experiments with fifth-generation wireless technologies, including a Senate bill that would set up Nellis Air Force Base as a key 5G testbed for the military.
Gen. Paul Selva, the second-highest-ranking U.S. military officer, weighed in on a controversial proposal to fold the Strategic Capabilities Office into the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, arguing combatant commands are concerned the change would add a layer of bureaucracy and impede a pipeline now effectively fostering new ideas and rapid delivery of innovative combat capabilities.
New Senate legislation would add to the conditions that must be met before the Pentagon can split U.S. Cyber Command from the National Security Agency, while also increasing CYBERCOM's fiscal year 2020 budget and directing a Defense Science Board assessment of future cyber warfighting capabilities.
Defense Department officials now say contractors can bill the government for the cost of implementing required cybersecurity measures, as DOD prepares to roll out a new cyber certification for defense suppliers.
House lawmakers introduced measures today to block the Trump administration's "emergency" arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Araba Emirates, as opposition to the weapons deals swells in both chambers of Congress and some members consider modifying the Arms Export Control Act.
Senate authorizers are proposing a new framework to help the Defense Department shore up cybersecurity throughout its industrial base, as lawmakers feel the current status quo is inadequate.
New House legislation would increase oversight of the military services' "middle-tier acquisition" programs by providing the Office of the Secretary of Defense with more information to evaluate those efforts, as well as setting a cost threshold on such programs.
The Pentagon is working with the F-35 prime contractors to identify alternative sources for the parts Turkish industry produces for the Joint Strike Fighter, as the Defense Department’s acquisition chief says there will be “no major disruptions” if DOD can stick to its plan to remove Turkish industry from the program by early next year.
The Trump administration is asking Congress to pass new legislation delaying implementation of a ban on the government sending federal dollars to companies and organizations that use certain Chinese telecommunications equipment and services.
Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord said today she is concerned defense spending plans being advanced by the European Union will shut out U.S. industry from participating.
A new inspector general audit has found the Defense Department expects to have spent $2.2 billion by fiscal year 2023 deploying Joint Regional Security Stacks to consolidate network defenses across the military, and the IG recommends the Pentagon get a better handle on the capabilities it requires for JRSS.
The Pentagon's Joint Artificial Intelligence Center is in the early stages of building a "common foundation" of tools the military services can access to develop AI capabilities, like Apple's App Store or Amazon Web Services' Marketplace, according to a Defense Department official.
House authorizers want more information from the Defense Department on efforts to secure the defense industrial base from cyber threats and protect technology critical to national security, as lawmakers are concerned the department is not synchronizing its activities.
A bipartisan group of senators announced today they will attempt to block the Trump administration's emergency arms sales to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.
Republicans on the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee failed to strip controversial nuclear weapons provisions from the panel's fiscal year 2020 defense policy bill today, as the Democratic majority voted the legislation through to the full committee.
The State Department has approved a potential $1.7 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Bulgaria, as the U.S. government eyes closer security cooperation ties with former Eastern Bloc countries.
House authorizers want to require the Pentagon to support the contract for JASON national security research studies after the Defense Department's research and engineering organization cut ties with the group of scientists earlier this spring.
Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee are criticizing the Democratic majority for putting "contentious" nuclear weapons restrictions into a subcommittee mark of the fiscal year 2020 defense authorization bill.
House defense authorizers want the Pentagon to develop a holistic policy for adopting fifth-generation wireless technologies.