Inside the Pentagon highlights

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

1. Congress may have aimed in the wrong direction with a new provision intended to reform the way the Pentagon handles contractors' bid protests, according to a new study RAND Corp. recently delivered to Capitol Hill.

Full story: RAND study diverges from Congress on bid protest reform

2. The Pentagon's Strategic Capabilities Office will soon begin accepting proposals for a secretive project to allow semi-autonomous unmanned aircraft systems to team with manned fighter aircraft.

Full story: Pentagon soon to solicit proposals for secretive 'Avatar' project

3. The Defense Department has compiled for lawmakers a list of 56 new-start acquisition programs and 25 production-rate increases to be considered "anomalies" and granted funding exemptions under a new stopgap continuing resolution, according to a document obtained by Inside Defense.

Full story: Pentagon outlines priority programs threatened by stopgap funding