Thursday, April 18, 2024
Thursday, April 18, 2024
This Tuesday INSIDER has continuing coverage of the implications of a possible $750 billion defense budget request, a chat with the acting DOD chief management officer, the Army's new intellectual property in acquisition policy and more.
Analysts aren't sold on the Pentagon submitting a $750 billion budget request:
New defense topline could break budget cap by $100B; analysts question strategy
If the Trump administration submits a $750 billion defense budget, as multiple sources have indicated, the proposed topline could blow past Congress' statutory budget cap by more than $100 billion.
"We are not taking a knee, we are jumping up and high-fiving," the Pentagon's acting chief management officer told Inside Defense this morning:
Pentagon's reform team claims $4.4B in FY-18 'efficiencies'
The Pentagon, despite the abrupt departure last month of Chief Management Officer Jay Gibson, saved nearly $4.4 billion in fiscal year 2018 through various business reforms and remains on track to save $6 billion in FY-19, according to Acting CMO Lisa Hershman.
Alexis Ross, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for strategy and acquisition reform, who managed the job of getting the service's new intellectual property in acquisition policy written, recently spoke to Inside Defense about the policy:
Army's new intellectual property policy seeks to plan ahead
The Army's new policy on intellectual property in acquisition intends to provide overarching guidance on how the service should consider IP in negotiations and better plan for sustainment, according to one of its authors.
Next year, at Yakima Training Center, WA, the Army's Joint Warfighting Assessment team will use a roboticized version of the Assault Breacher Vehicle not yet in production and built on an Abrams chassis:
Army to test reconfigured Abrams chassis in robotic mine-clearing demonstration at JWA
The Army at the 2019 Joint Warfighting Assessment this spring will for the first time use a reconfigured Abrams tank to serve as the robotic vehicle breaching a simulated minefield.
The Missile Defense Agency's Standard Missile-3 Block IIA interceptor shot down a target this week:
SM-3 Block IIA intercepts target in key test to bolster defenses against Iran
The Pentagon's newest Aegis ballistic missile interceptor -- the Standard Missile-3 Block IIA -- intercepted a target in a key operational test over the Pacific today, a pivotal event that caps a 12-year development, sets the stage for a technical declaration of improved defenses against Iranian threats and also makes way for a long-delayed production decision.
The Navy is telling lawmakers that a new version of the MH-53 Sea Stallion wouldn't be "practical":
Navy advises Congress against 'MH-53K King Dragon,' pegs procurement at $7.6B
The Navy has deemed a theoretical "MH-53K King Dragon" helicopter as "not practical," estimating procuring such a platform could cost up to $7.6 billion in 2014 constant-year dollars for 48 aircraft, while developing and testing the aircraft could run $2.6 billion, according to documents viewed by Inside the Navy.
Some cyber defense news from our colleagues at Inside Cybersecurity:
Development of cyber deterrence policy remains elusive despite widespread support
There is widespread agreement within industry and government that the United States needs to strengthen its position for deterring cyberattacks from foreign adversaries, yet the process for developing such a widely supported policy remains unresolved even after years of debate, legislative action and an administration intent on demonstrating a get-tough resolve in countering cyber threats.