The INSIDER daily digest -- Aug. 23, 2017

Batteries for combat vehicles, foreign military sales and more highlight this Wednesday INSIDER Daily Digest.

Inside Defense recently spoke with a senior executive from battery maker Saft:

Saft zeroes in on military vehicles programs

Battery maker Saft is focusing on lithium-ion batteries for military vehicles, pitching them for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle and the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle.

The Marine Corps' AAV survivability upgrade effort has been approved:

Marine Corps approves AAV survivability upgrade effort for low-rate initial production

The Marine Corps has approved the survivability upgrade effort of its legacy amphibious vehicle to enter low-rate initial protection, according to an official.

The Pentagon is changing the way it processes foreign military sales:

DOD plans to update initial delivery metric for foreign military sales

The Defense Department plans to change the goal for how much time it takes to deliver the first item under a foreign military sale, as DOD argues the current metric "does not provide a complete picture," according to a recent government audit.

Some news from our colleagues at Inside Cybersecurity:

McCain cyber doctrine finds home in FY-18 defense authorization bill

A long-awaited U.S. cybersecurity "doctrine" proposal from Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) has been introduced as part of the fiscal 2018 defense authorization bill, according to congressional sources, detailing powers and processes the United States can employ to deter and respond to foreign cyber threats.

News from this week's Inside the Navy:

F/A-18E/F Super Hornets to replace legacy Hornets at NAS Oceana

The Navy plans to transition 62 F/A-18A/C/D Hornet aircraft in its fleet and reserve squadrons based at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia to F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft beginning as early as 2018.

Document: NAS Oceana F-18 transition draft environmental assessment

Congress approves $9.7M in funds preventing Knifefish stop-work order

The Navy has not stopped work on the unmanned undersea vehicle Knifefish because Congress approved $9.7 million in reprogramming funds this fiscal year to continue program integration and testing efforts.

Navy buying 'proven laser weapon' system for destroyers

The Navy is looking to buy a 60-150 kW high energy laser weapon system with an integrated counter intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance laser for non-destructive dazzling capabilities against unmanned aerial vehicle-mounted sensors, according to a Federal Business Opportunities notice.

Document: Navy's HELIOS solicitation

News from this week's Inside the Army:

2nd SBCT alerted for EDRE ahead of NTC rotation

The Army's Lancer Brigade has spent the past several months building readiness ahead of a combat training center rotation designed to test its abilities against a near-peer adversary.

Army to continue metal matrix composite research for lighter vehicles

The Army's next milestone in examining metal matrix composite technology as a potential vehicle lightweighting solution is to develop additional brake drums for testing, according to one of the service's engineers.