The INSIDER daily digest

We kick off this Friday INSIDER Daily Digest with news on the Long-Range Strike Bomber and more.

The Pentagon's inspector general is looking into the LRS-B competition:

IG investigating potential conflict-of-interest in LRS-B source selection

The Air Force said Friday that it's "too early to tell" whether the recent disclosure that the spouse of a top acquisition official has a Northrop Grumman retirement account will impact the ongoing protest of the Long-Range Strike Bomber award.

The Air Force wants more money to pay for additional unmanned aerial vehicle pilots:

Air Force's FY-17 budget boosts RPA pilots, combat patrols

In its proposed fiscal year 2017 budget request, the Air Force focused base budget funds on improving its ailing remotely piloted aircraft force, while relegating overseas contingency operations funds for the vehicles that could satisfy the service's insatiable ISR need.

(Need more unmanned systems news? Check out our Notification Center, where you can sign up to receive email alerts whenever a related story is posted.)

Remember that big Army blimp that broke its tether and floated over a few states? Well, it could be making a comeback:

Pentagon pushing to let missile-defense blimp fly again

Top Pentagon leaders are said to favor replacing a military airship that was hovering north of Baltimore to watch over the Washington region until it broke from its tether in a spectacular accident that attracted national attention last October, according to defense officials.

The Marine Corps wants to cut the number of Joint Light Tactical Vehicles it would buy in FY-17:

Neller: FY-17 JLTV buy reduced to protect Amphibious Combat Vehicle, new radars

The Marine Corps' top official says the service chose to cut its Joint Light Tactical Vehicle purchase by 77 trucks in fiscal year 2017 to protect high-priority programs like the Amphibious Combat Vehicle.

(Related: The U.S. Court of Federal Claims on Thursday denied Lockheed Martin's request to make Oshkosh halt all work on the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle until an ongoing dispute over the contract award is resolved. Click here for more.)

The buyer of iRobot's defense and security business has additional plans:

Private-equity buyer plans to expand iRobot defense unit's capabilities

An executive at private-equity firm Arlington Capital Partners, which has agreed to buy iRobot's defense and security business, said Thursday he expects to add to the business with acquisitions.

The Army wants to save money in the way it buys helicopters:

Army wants to lock down bulk of helicopter purchases in pair of deals worth $7 billion

The Army wants to consolidate the bulk of its major helicopter purchases into a pair of multiyear contracts beginning in fiscal year 2017 -- a $3.3 billion deal with Boeing and a $3.7 billion deal with Lockheed Martin's Sikorsky -- a move the service claims could save nearly $900 million.

The Joint Strike Fighter program is facing a new delay:

F-35 modernization program delayed by six to 12 months

The F-35 joint program office will kick off its Block 4 modernization program six to 12 months late because the program's requirements are not validated, according to an official.