Friday, April 19, 2024
Friday, April 19, 2024
This Thursday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on defense contractor earnings, the ethics of defense contractors hiring former military personnel and more.
It's earnings season, so let's start off with several defense contractors:
GD execs: Columbia is on schedule while Virginia supply chain challenges remain
The lead Columbia-class submarine is approximately one-third complete and remains ahead of its official 84-month delivery schedule, while supply chain challenges continue to delay Virginia construction, according to General Dynamics executives.
Textron executives anticipate revenue growth following FLRAA protest resolution
Textron executives reported a slow first quarter for Bell, the company's helicopter-building subsidiary, but expect to see revenue growth for the remainder of the year as the company resumes work on the Army's Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft.
Oshkosh highlights JLTV protest, looks to upcoming combat vehicle contests
Oshkosh, amid the ongoing protest over its loss of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle contract, reported sales growth in a quarterly earnings call today that exceeded Wall Street expectations and asserted the Army is taking "significant risk" with its JLTV award to AM General.
At least one senator is concerned about a "too-cozy relationship" between the Defense Department and an increasingly powerful group of defense contractors:
Warren again targets post-service employment of ex-DOD officials
Senate Armed Services personnel subcommittee Chairwoman Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is again pushing legislation that would restrict the employment of former defense officials, citing ethical concerns about the "ugly underbelly" she says exists between the Pentagon and defense contractors.
Document: DOD's ethics testimony
Don Yeske, the Navy’s acting chief technology officer, spoke this week about his service's zero-trust strategy:
Navy CTO emphasizes data-centric security approach
Applying zero trust across the information environment -- from ships and bases to mobile devices and national security systems -- is critical to safeguarding data, according to the Navy's chief technology officer.
Air Force Lt. Gen. Clinton Hinote, deputy chief of staff for strategy, integration and requirements, spoke about unmanned systems at a congressional hearing this week:
Air Force sets requirements for first of its uncrewed CCAs
Air Combat Command has set the requirements for the first of its Collaborative Combat Aircraft, the uncrewed platform being designed to autonomously operate and partner with existing and future platforms, a top service official said Wednesday.
The Pentagon's top weapons tester found that the Marine Corps Amphibious Combat Vehicle's command and control variant was operationally effective as a stationary command post but struggled to meet mission requirements while moving:
Marine Corps upgrading ACV-C to improve command and control capabilities
The Marine Corps is implementing engineering upgrades for one of its Amphibious Combat Vehicle variants to improve command and control capabilities following an assessment from the Pentagon's chief weapons tester.
Last but by no means least, our colleagues at Inside Cybersecurity have been covering the RAS Conference out in San Francisco this week:
Contracting attorney Metzger: Concerns over small business burden could delay release of CMMC rulemaking
SAN FRANCISCO -- Contracting attorney Robert Metzger offered two potential reasons behind why the Pentagon's process to issue a rulemaking implementing its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program is delayed, following a panel discussion at an industry event here at the RSA conference.