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

Gilday details ramifications for industry if shipyards don't get back on track

The Navy can withhold payments and refuse the delivery of additional ships to keep industry accountable for shipyard delays and cost overruns, according to the Navy's top uniformed officer.

AIA chief calls on Congress for increased defense spending, timely budgets

Aerospace Industries Association President and CEO Eric Fanning has sent a letter to senior lawmakers urging them to pass a defense budget that is 3% to 5% higher than the current rate of inflation and wants them to do so before the beginning of the next fiscal year on Oct. 1.

MDA retaining option for NGI dual-production, possibly tapping both Lockheed and Northrop

The Missile Defense Agency wants to retain the option to double planned production capacity for a Next Generation Interceptor -- notionally carrying forward both Lockheed Martin and the Northop Grumman-Raytheon teams to manufacture new mega-large, guided missiles in tandem as a strategy to provide policy makers "maximum trade space."

JWCC to deliver 'complementary' solutions to existing service cloud options

The Pentagon's forthcoming multivendor, multicloud enterprise is expected to "work interchangeably" and be interconnected with the military services' existing cloud acquisition approaches once the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability comes online, according to the Defense Department's acting information enterprise chief.

DOD wants to expand emergency procurement powers to deter Russia, China

The Defense Department wants to expand its use of Special Emergency Procurement Authority to include "gray zone" missions abroad, according to a new legislative proposal sent to Congress.

Smith named HII's new Columbia-class program VP

HII announced it has named Brandi Smith to run the Columbia-class submarine program at the company's Newport News Shipbuilding division.

The week ahead

Senior defense officials are scheduled to speak at several events this week.

Pentagon moves $535M to replace U.S. weapons sent to Ukraine

The Defense Department is reprogramming $535 million to replace U.S. weapons and equipment transferred to Ukraine, covering mostly small arms, Javelin anti-tank missile systems and Stinger anti-aircraft weapons, according to a new document from the Pentagon comptroller.

DOD eyes potential refresh for autonomy in weapon systems policy as 10-year mark nears

With the decade anniversary of the Pentagon's autonomous weapon systems policy nearing, the bedrock directive could soon be in for the refresh that some have sought for years.

Top U.S. general: Russia's war against Ukraine 'normalizing' ballistic missile warfare

A top Army general believes the Russian invasion of Ukraine has ushered in a new benchmark for modern combat with wide-ranging implications for the United States and all modern armed forces: the normalization of ballistic missile attacks.