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

Griffin says big contractors 'are not largely the innovators you seek'

The Pentagon's chief technology officer says large contractors "are not largely the innovators you seek," but big defense companies and those representing them say they are adopting practices like agile development and helping DOD realize innovative technologies.

SECNAV: Pentagon must develop algorithm to scrub contracts to deter adversaries

The Pentagon needs to develop an institutional algorithm for scrubbing contracts so that U.S. adversaries do not have access to sensitive information, according to the Navy secretary.

Playing catch: Dynetics wins contract to demo UAV recovery on C-130

Dynetics will prove whether it can launch and recover four small unmanned aerial vehicles from a C-130 in 30 minutes during phase three of the Pentagon's Gremlins program, beating out General Atomics for a $32.5 million contract.

Pentagon clarifies cloud competition -- again

The Pentagon said April 19 its controversial cloud contract could be won by a single vendor for a period of two years, but stressed that an initial victory did not guarantee eight additional option years.

Revenues higher for Textron's Bell unit, lower for Systems unit

Textron's Bell business unit reported higher quarterly revenues while its Systems unit's revenues were lower, the company said April 18.

Raytheon, Virsec team up on cybersecurity

Raytheon is teaming up with San Jose, CA-based Virsec to bring commercial cybersecurity tools to global government and critical infrastructure customers.

Cubic to sell Global Defense Services business for $135 million

Cubic Corp. has agreed to sell its Cubic Global Defense Services business to Valiant Integrated Services for $135 million in cash.

Lockheed may be only bidder for GPS III Follow-On

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO -- Incumbent Lockheed Martin is the only company to confirm its bid to develop the next generation of GPS III satellites, potentially forcing the Air Force to launch a sole-source acquisition for what was supposed to be a rigorous competition between at least three providers.

Serco gets new federal services business senior VP

Tom Watson has been appointed senior vice president of Reston, VA-based Serco Inc.'s federal services business unit.

Sallyport Global gets new chief growth officer

Retired Army Brig. Gen. Steven Anderson has joined Sallyport Global Holdings as the company's new chief growth officer.

The week ahead

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford return to Capitol Hill this week, while the House Armed Services Committee begins marking up its version of the fiscal year 2019 defense authorization bill.

Marines will host industry day in June to develop MUX requirements

The Marine Corps plans to host an industry day on June 6 and 7 to help develop requirements for an unmanned aerial system that can operate from an amphibious assault ship, according to a senior official.

Pentagon acquisition chief moves to streamline rapid prototyping

The Defense Department, in response to a two-year-old congressional directive, is moving to establish a "new pathway" to streamline rapid prototyping for "middle tier" capabilities that could be fielded within five years or use proven technologies to upgrade existing systems, according to a recent memo from Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord.

Air Force sensor suppliers look to next generation of ISR capabilities

Two of the Air Force's main sensor providers are focusing on autonomy, on-board processing, wide-area imagery and more as the service lays out its vision of a distributed data-collection environment where capability matters more than which aircraft a sensor flies on.

Air Force puts nearly $1B behind new long-range, hypersonic weapon; taps Lockheed to lead

The Air Force has established a nearly $1 billion program to prototype a long-range, air-launched, hypersonic strike weapon and Lockheed Martin has elbowed away two other competitors to win the project, the service has revealed.