The Pentagon has realigned funding so the Defense Information Systems Agency can take over management of the "Sharkseer" cybersecurity program from the National Security Agency, in line with a congressional mandate.
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Key Issues Overhauling the FAR Troops in South Korea Overland AI
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 Pentagon has realigned funding so the Defense Information Systems Agency can take over management of the "Sharkseer" cybersecurity program from the National Security Agency, in line with a congressional mandate.
The Pentagon has launched a search for the next director of the Defense Security Service, as the agency is set to significantly expand with the Defense Department's takeover of the federal background investigations mission and an increased focus on protecting technologies critical to U.S. national security.
The Pentagon's research and engineering directorate confirmed today it is effectively severing ties with an independent group of scientists known as JASON, as the Defense Department says it makes “economic sense” to end a studies program that cost about $35 million over the past five years.
A Defense Department investigation has found no conflicts of interest tainted the integrity of the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure acquisition, and DOD has identified proposals from Amazon and Microsoft as the only two bids in the "competitive range" eligible to win the award, worth up to $10 billion.
House defense authorizers are questioning the roles and funding for U.S. special operations forces under the new National Defense Strategy, with a top Republican questioning whether the Pentagon is "truly building the force of the future."
A new commission is set to issue recommendations this year on how the U.S. national security apparatus should approach artificial intelligence, including a focus on how the government can work with industry to compete with China's “civil-military fusion” concept, according to the co-chair of the group.
The Defense Department is anticipating enhanced cybersecurity requirements for contractors working on critical technologies will be published by the National Institute for Standards and Technology in approximately 60 days, according to a DOD official.
The Defense Innovation Board is recommending the Defense Department share its electromagnetic spectrum with civil operators so the United States can compete with China in the deployment of 5G technologies, but the Pentagon should also prepare to operate in a "post-Western" wireless ecosystem.
The Pentagon is lining up the transfer of a second former Coast Guard cutter to Vietnam as part of a push for closer security ties with the nation, but Hanoi's financial limitations and legacy of using Russian weapons puts constraints on potential arms sales, according to current and former U.S. officials.
The State Department has approved the potential sale of MH-60R Seahawk helicopters to India in a deal valued at $2.6 billion.
The Air Force continues to lead Defense Department efforts to develop joint cyber warfare capabilities, as the service seeks a big increase for a key infrastructure platform as part of its latest budget request, while the Marine Corps eyes offensive cyber capabilities to support a new joint mission requirement.
Senior Pentagon leaders are defending their "very robust" processes for ensuring officials who previously worked in industry comply with ethics arrangements, as acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan is being investigated for allegedly favoring Boeing, his former employer.
The Pentagon is requesting $164 million for the Defense Innovation Unit in fiscal year 2020, a big budget boost for DIU as its responsibilities expand into managing a new fund for dual-use hardware technologies.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is seeking a $65 million funding boost in fiscal year 2020 for its main portfolio of artificial intelligence development efforts, as well as an array of other increases and new-start projects related to AI and machine learning.
The Pentagon is still about 18 months away from measuring contractor cybersecurity as part of the acquisition process, but the Defense Department is moving forward this year with developing the metrics and establishing relationships with third-party auditors.
Three Defense Department advisory boards are set to undertake formal studies on how 5G networks will impact the military, with the Pentagon’s research and engineering directorate planning to experiment with 5G “use cases” later this year, according to DOD’s acquisition chief.
The State Department has approved Morocco to purchase F-16 aircraft and upgrades in two potential sales collectively worth an estimated $4.7 billion.
Despite a $600 million cut to the European Deterrence Initiative, the head of U.S. European Command is not seeking specific funding increases to the fiscal year 2020 budget.
The Defense Department inspector general announced today its plans to audit how DOD takes a foreign country's requirements and develops an agreement to go through with a foreign military sale.
The Pentagon is supporting recommendations and proposed legislation to change how it approaches software, including through a new category of appropriations.