The INSIDER daily digest

We kick off this Thursday INSIDER with news on Pentagon services contracts and more.

Keep an eye out for an upcoming DOD review of its services contracts:

Pentagon reviewing services contracts for savings

The Pentagon has launched a new review of all services contracts to ensure they are still required, according to Defense Department Comptroller Mike McCord.

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The Pentagon will be holding a meeting within the next few months to talk about rare earth materials:

DOD eyes meeting to discuss critical rare earth materials, develop strategy

The Pentagon intends to hold a meeting of its Strategic Materials Protection Board by this summer to discuss critical rare earth materials and their impact on national security with an eye toward putting together a strategy, the Defense Department's assistant secretary of defense for logistics and materiel readiness has told the Government Accountability Office.

Document: GAO report on rare earth materials management

An overview of DOD's latest operational energy strategy:

DOD's operational energy strategy targets long-term warfighting capability

The Defense Department's recently released 2016 operational energy strategy states that "first and foremost, the department's use of operational energy needs to focus on increasing long-term warfighting capability."

Document: DOD's 2016 operational energy strategy

Expect DOD to issue a new instruction on counterfeit parts soon:

DOD planning new instruction on reporting suspect counterfeit parts

The Pentagon is planning to release a new instruction laying out details for how acquisition officials should report suspect counterfeit parts into a government and industry database.

Document: GAO report on DOD counterfeit parts

Air Force and Navy next-generation fighter plans appear to be moving at different paces:

Air Force scraps FY-18 sixth-gen fighter launch; Navy dials back F/A-XX funding

Two parallel Pentagon programs -- one Air Force, one Navy -- exploring future air dominance needs that top Defense Department brass want in sync appear to be moving at different paces, according to the fiscal year 2017 budget request.

A look at defense contractor SOS International's expansion plans:

With first acquisition under its belt, SOS International seeks more growth

SOS International, which skyrocketed in size following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, is seeking to continue to grow, this time through a mix of organic growth and new acquisitions.