Friday, April 18, 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's acquisition office is set to host a meeting this week where officials will begin hashing out a permanent policy for "middle-tier acquisition" programs after allowing the services to experiment with the streamlined authority over the past year.
The Pentagon plans to work with a range of commercial companies to rapidly develop artificial intelligence capabilities "responsibly and ethically," according to a new Defense Department strategy.
From advanced software to autonomous systems to directed energy weapons, the Defense Department lacks the adequate tools, ranges and skills to fully vet many emerging technologies Pentagon leaders say are crucial to renewed great power competition, according to DOD's head of operational testing.
The Pentagon wants to "aggressively" embrace cloud computing by moving the military services and defense agencies to the Defense Department's "general-purpose" cloud or designated "fit-for-purpose" environments, according to a newly published cloud strategy.
The Pentagon will as soon as March increase cybersecurity requirements for contractors working on "critical" technology programs.
President Trump confirmed today the United States would suspend its obligations under the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty due to Russia's alleged violations, allowing the Pentagon to move forward with "military response options."
The new chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee tasked with examining future threats and capabilities wants to see the Pentagon develop policies for using artificial intelligence and come forth with a plan for IT modernization, he told Inside Defense in an interview this week.
The Pentagon is directing its acquisition workforce to better assess and enforce contractors' compliance with cybersecurity requirements, as officials are particularly concerned about adversaries stealing sensitive data from companies further down the supply chain.
The Defense Department is done accepting "stove-piped" solutions for its cyberspace needs, officials pledged this week, instead indicating the department will move to implement its new cyber strategy with a more standardized set of products.
The Pentagon wants to negotiate a solution for software rights allowing contractors to maintain their intellectual property and profit incentives, while also allowing for more open sharing of software capabilities and development across weapon systems, according to a Defense Department advisor.
The United States is prepared to suspend its obligations under the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty early next month and proceed with a Defense Department program to develop longer-range, ground-launched cruise missiles, according to a top U.S. diplomat.
Pentagon leaders are reviewing a Missile Defense Agency study of how the military could develop defenses against hypersonic glide vehicles.
The Pentagon is attempting agile software development for 15 weapon and business systems under a pair of pilot programs mandated by Congress.
Former Google chief executive and current chairman of the Defense Innovation Board Eric Schmidt has been selected to chair a new commission studying how artificial intelligence will affect national security, with former Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work tapped to serve as the vice chair.
Congressional Democrats are pushing back on elements of the recently unveiled Missile Defense Review, calling into question the cost and feasibility of potentially deploying a space-based interceptor layer.
An acquisition reform panel has finished its work with a series of "bold" recommendations its members say is needed for the Pentagon to adopt a "war footing" in the technological competition with China and Russia, but the path forward for implementing the suggested changes is unclear.
The Section 809 panel has concluded its review of potential defense acquisition reforms, recommending in its final report that the Pentagon replace its commercial buying processes with simplified procedures for purchasing "readily available" products on the marketplace, in part by ditching requests for proposals.
The Pentagon is seeking ideas for how it can incentivize better performance from defense contractors after a controversial proposal to reduce customary progress payments was quashed last year.
Executives from major technology firms Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Oracle will serve on the new National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, along with former national security officials, leading academics and one sitting U.S. senator.
The Defense Department has released a new guide on using other transaction agreements to better define key milestones and terms after a production OTA was successfully protested last year.