Inside the Pentagon highlights

Some must-reads from Inside the Pentagon's year-end issue:

1. Senior House and Senate lawmakers are eyeing another extension to a stopgap continuing resolution that would prevent a government shutdown at midnight Friday, but much remains unclear, especially for a defense spending bill caught in the middle.

Full story: Path to preventing government shutdown unclear

2. U.S. special operators are testing out Project Maven's first algorithm for automatically processing, exploiting and disseminating full-motion-video feeds in the Middle East, according to the general in charge of the project.

Full story: DOD deploys first AI algorithms to process surveillance feeds in Middle East

3. The number of vendors receiving prime contracts from the Pentagon shrunk by 17,000 during the defense drawdown, according to a new report commissioned by the Aerospace Industries Association and undertaken by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Full story: New report finds significant decline in DOD's prime vendors

4. President Trump's initial National Security Strategy calls for fielding an "enhanced" missile defense capability, including the means to defeat threats prior to launch, a policy likely to put emphasis and funding behind new projects, including non-kinetic capabilities, lasers and possibly cyberattack weapons.

Full story: New NSS elevates 'left-of-launch' efforts to defeat missile threats

Happy Holidays! The next Inside the Pentagon highlights will be posted Jan. 4.