The INSIDER daily digest

The Government Accountability Office's annual weapon system assessment report, DOD's new disruptive combat capabilities and more highlight this Thursday INSIDER Daily Digest.

GAO's latest weapon system report is out:

GAO report on selected weapon programs

Our coverage so far (and stay tuned for more):

GAO, OSD at odds with Navy over CVN-79 cost and capabilities once delivered

The Government Accountability Office and the Office of the Secretary of Defense are at odds with the Navy over breaching the cost cap of the next-generation aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy and the capabilities the ship will have once it is delivered.

The Defense Department is revealing a sample of new disruptive combat capabilities:

Pentagon revealing new disruptive capabilities in signal to Russia, China, U.S. allies

The Pentagon is revealing a sample of new disruptive combat capabilities -- all derived since 2012 from utilizing existing weapon systems in innovative ways -- as part of a campaign to bolster conventional deterrence by signaling Russia and China, as well as American allies, that the U.S. military has a growing "strategic surprise" portfolio of never-before-seen means to strike and defend.

Don't be surprised if all Congress is able to do during this year's session is a continuing resolution:

Former GOP staffers see likely continuing resolution

It is all but inevitable Congress will be unable to return to regular order this year because of an internal GOP fight over spending, putting the federal government on course for another stop-gap spending measure known as a continuing resolution and, potentially, another shutdown, according to former Republican defense committee staffers.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff spoke this week about adversaries who don't employ all-out war:

Dunford: Military leaders to discuss adversaries operating below threshold

The Pentagon's top military leaders intend to discuss how to best respond to adversaries who purposefully act just below the threshold to provoke U.S. military action, according to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford.

Just because the Pentagon is looking for new suppliers doesn't mean legacy contractors will stay passive:

Contractors tout innovation as Pentagon pursues new suppliers

As the Defense Department looks elsewhere for new ideas, large defense contractors are speaking up about the innovative technology development they have underway.

A look at the Pentagon's information technology budget:

Halvorsen: Fiscal constraints driving risk into IT modernization

The Pentagon's fiscal year 2017 information technology budget takes risks in the area of modernization because of ongoing fiscal constraints, according to Defense Department IT leaders.

 

Keep an eye out for some strategic documents U.S. Special Operations Command is working on:

SOCOM finalizes strategic documents to help rebalance efforts

U.S. Special Operations Command has finalized a set of strategic documents intended to help rebalance its efforts to understand regional issues and forge new relationships with allies, according to a spokesman.