The INSIDER daily digest -- Dec. 6, 2023

This Wednesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on bolstering domestic arms production in Ukraine, a multibillion-dollar supplemental spending bill proposed by Senate Democrats, a DOD inspector general report on cybersecurity and more.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke this morning at the inaugural Ukraine Defense Industrial Base Summit hosted by the Commerce Department:

Austin calls on U.S. defense companies to rebuild Ukraine's armaments sector

Senior military officials are meeting with industry executives in Washington today to discuss a strategy for bolstering domestic arms production in Ukraine, with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin calling on the "full might of American industry" to aid Kyiv in what is expected to be a long-term battle against Russia.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-WA) has released a new national security supplemental spending bill:

Senate Dems propose $110.5B national security supplemental package

Senate Democrats have put forth a $110.5 billion national security supplemental funding package, highlighting $43.6 billion that would be invested in the U.S. defense industrial base, along with establishing a new special inspector general to oversee assistance to Ukraine.

Document: Senate's national security supplemental

Our colleagues at Inside Cybersecurity have the latest on a new Defense Department inspector general's report on cybersecurity "weaknesses" among defense contractors:

DOD IG identifies 'weaknesses' in cyber defenses from contractors handling CUI

A new report from the Defense Department inspector general details common cybersecurity "weaknesses" on federal contractor networks that are handling controlled unclassified information for military services and agencies.

Document: DOD IG report on contractors' cybersecurity 'weaknesses'

More coverage of this past weekend's Reagan National Defense Forum in California:

Modernization accounts squeezed in FY-25 proposal, debt-limit deal forces 'difficult choices'

SIMI VALLEY, CA -- The Defense Department's fiscal year 2025 budget request will -- at best -- squeeze investment accounts compared to Pentagon plans earlier this year as a result of the June debt-limit deal demanded by House Republicans, forcing what DOD's top weapons buyer calls "difficult choices" about where to trim planned spending.

LaPlante calls for new surge in counter-drone spending and production

SIMI VALLEY, CA -- A Navy destroyer shot down three incoming drones in the southern Red Sea on Sunday, a day after Pentagon acquisition chief Bill LaPlante announced that investments to counter unmanned aerial systems must go "through the roof" to meet an ongoing "crisis" in that area that has been highlighted by the ongoing wars fought by Ukraine and Israel.

Read our full Reagan Forum coverage here.