Welcome to today's Defense Business Briefing, your weekly roundup of the latest defense industry news.

Bostjanick: CMMC program moves forward as 'deliberative' process for rulemaking continues

Companies should continue preparing for the launch of the Pentagon's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program as the process to finalize rulemaking continues, according to program director Stacy Bostjanick, who spoke with Inside Cybersecurity in a wide-ranging interview.

Navy to hold industry day exploring contractor owned and operated UAS

The Navy will hold an industry day next month to explore the use of unmanned aircraft systems that are contractor owned and operated for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.

Defense Business Board to advise Austin on DOD management

The Pentagon's top business management advisory group will meet early next month with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to discuss several defense and national security strategies.

Air Force seeks industry information on cyberspace operations system sustainment

The Air Force is seeking information from the defense industry for ways to keep its cyberspace operations system relevant, opening the possibility for a recompete on a sustainment contract currently held by Northrop Grumman.

Upadhyaya hired as Mercury's VP of finance

Mercury Systems announced this week it has hired Vivek Upadhyaya to be the company's vice president of finance.

The week ahead

Think tanks around the Washington area are scheduled to host several national security discussions this week, while senior Pentagon officials speak at a space conference.

Lockheed advances project to proffer 50-kilowatt laser alternative for M-SHORAD

Lockheed Martin has activated a 50-kilowatt high-energy laser designed for ground forces air defense, a key developmental milestone in the company's prototype design of a directed energy weapon for the Army's Stryker vehicle and an important step toward giving the government a viable alternative for a planned competition against incumbent Raytheon.

DOD readies first-ever East Coast long-range offensive hypersonic weapon test

The Defense Department is readying a first-ever hypersonic weapon test over the Atlantic Ocean, preparing to launch a rocket from Florida that will loft a glide vehicle thousands of miles into the open water in a high-stakes assessment that aims to validate design of a new, two-stage booster paired with the ultra-fast maneuvering payload.

DOT&E publicly releases single weapons assessment following transparency criticisms

The office of the Defense Department's chief weapons tester has publicly issued a single annual report today, reversing course from the previous year in which it produced a second, non-public report for Congress containing "controlled unclassified information" on the performance -- or lack thereof -- of major weapon systems.