Inside the Pentagon highlights

Some must-reads from this week's edition of Inside the Pentagon:

1. Senior Pentagon officials told House lawmakers Wednesday that the U.S. nuclear arsenal is "nearing a crossroads" and will require expensive concurrent modernization of the all three legs of the triad and the infrastructure that enables it.

Full story: Pentagon warns lawmakers that nuclear arsenal is 'nearing a crossroads'

2. The Defense Department is laying the groundwork for a major acquisition effort to modernize and sustain the Ground-based Midcourse Defense program, a planned follow-on effort to the eight-year, $4 billion deal with Boeing to manage all aspects of the guided-missile interceptor program that expires in 2018.

Full story: DOD eyeing follow-on GMD contract, replacing nearly entire GBI fleet with new interceptors

3. The Pentagon recently canceled a Defense Science Board study examining nuclear deterrence due to an upcoming review on the same issue, according to a Defense Department spokesman.

Full story: DOD cancels DSB summer study on nuclear deterrence due to posture review