The INSIDER daily digest -- Aug. 15, 2019

This Thursday INSIDER Daily Digest has continuing coverage of a Navy appeal of the House's FY-20 defense spending bill, plus news on the Ship-to-Shore Connector program and more.

Inside Defense obtained a document which has a line-by-line Navy appeal of the House's FY-20 defense spending bill. Here's our coverage so far:

$20M congressional cut could trigger up to $43M in fees for Columbia sub program

The Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine program is at risk of incurring up to $43 million in contract cancellation fees if Congress slashes $20 million in requested funding for missile tube production.

Navy urges House appropriators to restore rescinded F-35B funds

The Navy disagrees with the House Appropriations Committee's choice to rescind fiscal year 2019 advanced procurement funding for the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter, arguing the move would set back the service's timeline for standing up the Marine Corps' second squadron of F-35Cs.

House cuts could limit LUSV concept design contracts from seven to five awards

The concept design phase for a new unmanned surface vessel may be limited from seven contract awards to five if Congress maintains a proposed $20 million cut to the program in the fiscal year 2020 defense spending bill, according to an undated document newly obtained by Inside Defense.

Document: Navy's appeals to FY-20 House spending bill

Textron Systems is slated to soon put the first Ship-to-Shore Connector off the manufacturing line -- built for test and trials -- through its paces with a load that simulates the weight of an M1 Abrams tank:

Final phase of Ship-to-Shore Connector builder's trials set for next week

The lead craft in the Navy's multibillion-dollar Ship-to-Shore Connector program is readying to execute next week the final stage of builder's trials, a prelude to follow-on government acceptance trials and then delivery this fall.

A new GAO report states the Army "is experiencing staffing, equipping, and training challenges" as it moves quickly to activate new cyber units:

GAO: Army's new cyber units struggling to gain footing

The Army may be getting ahead of itself in creating new cyber and electronic warfare units for multidomain operations without properly assessing risk, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.

Document: GAO report on Army cyber

In related cyber news, our colleagues at Inside Cybersecurity recently chatted with a senior DARPA official about artificial intelligence:

DARPA official: AI needs to be more 'introspective' to aid cybersecurity

Artificial intelligence could more reliably be used for cybersecurity applications if the machines were better able to explain themselves, according to a representative for a key government agency funding research and development for emerging technology.