Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
This Friday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the upcoming defense budget request, the Navy's Columbia-class submarine effort, the Army's "Arcane Thunder" exercise, the Air Force's Grey Wolf helicopter program and more.
The White House Office of Management and Budget is still expected to submit the president's main budget volume on March 9 but that it will be followed -- possibly on March 13 -- by more detailed programmatic information and justification materials submitted to Congress:
DOD budget to be released March 9 without detailed program information
The White House is planning to send Congress a defense budget request on March 9, but government officials say it won't contain many key programmatic details that will be released later.
Speaking Wednesday at the Nuclear Deterrence Summit, Navy Rear Adm. Scott Pappano discussed a Government Accountability Office report indicating a lack of schedule risk analysis by the service in its long-term planning and oversight of the Columbia submarine program:
Pappano: Navy must focus on timely Columbia fielding despite schedule oversight concerns
While the Navy looks to improve its schedule risk oversight of Columbia-class submarine production, it's too late for the type of long-term risk analysis that government auditors have recommended, and the service must maintain focus on fielding the submarines on time by any means necessary, according to a top official who oversees the program.
Keep an eye out later this summer for an Army exercise called "Arcane Thunder":
Army's inaugural Arcane Thunder exercise will bring together cyberspace, EW, intel for preparedness in European theater
The Army's inaugural Arcane Thunder exercise scheduled for this summer in Germany, Poland and Romania will integrate elements of intelligence, information, cyberspace and electronic warfare.
Melissa Dalton, assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and hemispheric affairs, disclosed the U.S. role in a new radar program -- which Canada is leading -- during testimony before Congress on the Chinese spy balloon that crossed the United States earlier this month:
New 'Crossbow' radar network adds classified capability to aging North Warning System
The U.S. and Canadian governments are augmenting the aging North Warning System with a new radar network armed with classified collection capabilities called "Crossbow," which is intended to improve the ability to detect approaching airborne threats while the two nations work to develop and build a new Over the Horizon Radar system.
The Air Force's Grey Wolf helicopter program is nearing a low-rate initial production decision:
Following 'satisfactory' test campaign, MH-139A readies for production
Results from the MH-139A Grey Wolf's developmental testing have given the Air Force confidence to push ahead with a milestone C review for the helicopter program this month, a service spokeswoman confirmed to Inside Defense.
A senior Lockheed Martin executive spoke at an investors conference this week:
Lockheed Martin could see loss on production contract for classified program, CFO says
Lockheed Martin could see a loss on one of its contracts for a classified program in its Missiles and Fire Control section as the effort goes into production, Chief Financial Officer Jay Malave said Thursday at the Cowen Aerospace/Defense and Industrial Conference.
Last but by no means least, some cyber defense news from our colleagues at Inside Cybersecurity:
Tech group urges Pentagon to utilize FedRAMP program for zero-trust architecture transition
The Information Technology Industry Council wants the Defense Department to leverage the General Services Administration's FedRAMP program to help military services and agencies transition to zero trust with help from cloud service providers.
NIST outlines proposed updates to foundational publication for handling CUI
The National Institute of Standards and Technology is offering a preview into upcoming changes to its foundational guide for organizations handling sensitive federal data.